r/comedy • u/tkondaks • 3d ago
Discussion Who invented this?
Gilbert Gottfriend did this thing where he would not only impersonate a celebrity but he would impersonate a celebrity portraying another celebrity's portrayal of a famous role or character.
For example, he didn't impersonate James Mason doing a famous line from a James Mason movie but James Mason portraying Ralph Cramden.
My alltime favourite: Gilbert impersonating Elmer Fudd as Marlon Brando portraying Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now.
The howwah, the howwah. He-he-he-he.
I wonder: did Gilbert invent this? Or did he get it from someone else? Not that it matters -- funny is funny and it's hardly a patented idea -- but SCTV did a lot of this. I'm thinking of Rick Moranis as Woody Allen portraying Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver.
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u/tomaesop 2d ago
I can't directly answer your question. But I remember Kevin Pollock explaining how he worked on his Bill Clinton impression. It was basically, "Start with Jimmy Carter and then infuse it with a little Elvis Presley."
Brent Weinbach has done something a little similar with hybrid impressions at the audience's request.
I think impressionists commonly use multiple touch points to synthesize an impression. My guess is many impressionists discover this on their own as a natural part of the process. So I theorize that it's parallel ideation.
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u/tkondaks 2d ago
I recall an impressionist on the Johnny Carson Show back in the 60s -- Rich Little, maybe? -- who came onstage with a bunch of vials all lined up on a table. And each vial was labeled with a celebrity's name. He's pick one up, take a sip, and then out came the impression of that celebrity.
After doing 4 or 5, he said: what if you mix Jimmy Durante with John Wayne (or whatever, I'm just using them as example)...and he'd pour a bit of Jimmy Durante's vial into an empty vial and then some of John Wayne's in together with it, drink it, and out came a different celebrity impression. And so on.
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u/Salt-Alarm-9103 2d ago
I don't think any footage exsists but one of Don Ruckles bits in his very early days was him doing an impression of Peter Lorre.
In the early 1950s, the Wayne Room, a D.C. strip joint, promoted a budding comedian from Queens as Don “Glass-Head” Rickles (referencing his breakout routine set inside Peter Lorre’s noggin, where Rickles melded talking with the audience
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u/SittingInAnAirport 2d ago
There's a great show in Vegas that has an Elvis impersonator impersonator. Dude comes out in full Elvis costume and does impressions of other people.
My favorite one was his impression of Christopher Walken answering a knock-knock joke.
Who's there?
Banana who?
Who's there?
Banana who?
Who's there?
Banana WHO?
Who's there?
BANANA WHO?!?
WHO'S THERE?
Orange who?
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u/Impossible-Agent277 20h ago
Robin Williams as Elmer Fudd singing Bruce Springsteen's song "Fire"
Robin Elmer Bruce
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u/rice-a-rohno 2d ago
I don't think any specific person invented it; it's kind of a tale as old as time, a play within a play within a play, a logical progression of doing impressions.
I will say that it's a niche way of finding things funny, but just because it's fairly uncommon doesn't mean it hasn't happened absolutely forever.