
I'm a huge fan of impersonations, but the thing about most celebrity impersonations is that they are of the same 10 people: Jack Nicholson, Christopher Walken, Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Nic Cage, etc. etc. I understand why: Those people have the most distinctive voices and they're easily recognizable, so they're the impersonations most people are going to want to pull out in their stand-up special or late-night talk show bits.
But what I really appreciate is when someone does an impression of someone that's very rarely impersonated instead of yet another Seinfeld impersonation. That's why Jay Pharoah was, for a while, a breathe of fresh air on Saturday Night Live because he was doing impersonations of being I hadn't heard impersonation of before: Denzel Washington, Will Smith, T.I., etc.
So, I spent my afternoon surfing YouTube and trying to track down unusual celebrity impersonations performed mostly by OTHER celebrities so that you can spend the rest of your afternoon enjoying them. Some are better than others, but most are just downright fantastic.
Joel McHale's Impersonation of Craig Ferguson (at the :35 mark)
Topher Grace's Brief Impersonation of Michael J. Fox (at the :40 mark)
Bill Hader's Impression of Gizmo from Gremlins
Tom Hiddleson's Impersonation of Owen Wilson (at the :28 mark) and Chris Evans (at 1:45)
Jon Culshaw's Impersonation of Ricky Gervais (at the 1:40 mark)
Hank Azaria Impersonates Richard Kind (at the 2:20 mark)
Paul F. Tompkins Impersonates John C. Reilly in an Act-Off with Jon Hamm
Matt Damon Impersonates Matthew McConaughey
Michael Caine's Impersonation of ... Michael Caine
Bill Hader's Impression of Taunton in The Empire Strikes Back
Bonus: Everyone does an impression of Christopher Walken, but Bradley Cooper does an impression of Walken along with the funniest Walken story I've ever heard.



jay mohr’s colin quinn is spot on.
Shame he’s a bit of a prick though.
Jay Mohr is a prick or Colin Quinn is?
I always love Hader’s James Carville impression. Or, you know, practically anything Hader does.
Alan Alda and Keith Morrison.
I’m a huge fan of impersonations…
Sometimes you really do like the worst things, Dustin. Celebrity impressions are the laziest form of comedy that exists. Even puns are better.
Well, saying “I’m a huge fan of impersonations” is probably a little much, but if you don’t at least enjoy them, you’re probably a big snob.
Sometimes people think the entire Internet is made for their personal enjoyment. It’s the laziest form of self-entitlement ever. Even impersonations are better.
Putting Hank Azaria in here is a bit unfair to the other people, he basically does impersonations for a living. That said he did an episode of the Kevin Pollack Chat Show where they were talking shop about doing voices and it was very interesting/funny.
#coolstorybro
You couldn’t give the GammaSquadders a treat and include Brent Spiner doing Patrick Stewart?
Paul F. Tompkins does some great impersonations (especially his John Lithgow), and whatever comedian it is that does that Jesse Ventura impression is amazingly perfect.
That’s James Adomian. His Jesse Ventura is spot on.
I hear Bradley Cooper also does a mean Gerard Depardieu.
Funnier than Jay Mohr re: Walken and having a tail?
I love Bill Hadar. Not many humans can do that tauntaun sound. Amazing.
James Adomian probably isn’t famous enough to be on this list, but some of his impressions are incredible, and he’s actually funny in his own right unlike a lot of impressionists.
Here’s his Paul Giamatti: [www.youtube.com]
Hiddleston is the man, and Tompkins’ John C. Reilly is always enjoyable. But that Azaria-Kind one made my day.
Believe it or not, David Spade does a great Michael J. Fox.
I don’t know how you could link to a Michael Caine impression(s) and not have it be this:
[www.youtube.com]
I think Gillian Jacobs’ “Michael Caine as a fish” one also deserves a mention. I can’t find a link though, so maybe that’s why it ain’t on the list.
Ah: [telly.com]
I lov…er, hate you Joel McHale, you magnificent bastard. Had me dying from the start.