Box-Eyed: Did Jon Culshaw make a good impression?
By Dan OwenFor many people, impressionists are only above ventriloquists on the ladder of entertainment. Both are "party trick"-style skills that audiences find diverting, but the actual content of their material can leave a lot to be desired. Consequently, both have their peaks and troughs in widespread popularity, but there's generally an appetite for lighthearted impressions-based sketch shows – something less politically-motived than Rory Bremner, and more along the lines of Alistair McGowan's Big Impression or Dead Ringers.
The latest attempt to make audiences giggle at mimicry is The Impressions Show, headlined by Dead Ringers' own Jon Culshaw. He's joined in this new venture by actress Debra Stephenson; best-known for her roles in Bad Girls and Coronation Street, who actually started her career as an impressionist when she won TV's Opportunity Knocks at the tender age of 14.
It's common that first episodes of sketch shows tend to be amongst the best, because they include the strongest material to hook an audience. And for impressionists there's nothing to equal the first time an audience hear a new voice you've been working on. The Impressions Show was therefore an entertaining watch, if only to hear additions to Culshaw's repertoire: a good Michael McIntyre, a perfect Ray Mears, a decent Simon Cowell, and a passable Gene Hunt transported into Jane Austen's world, amongst others. Stephenson's impersonations were less memorable, but not bad: she did an okay Davina McCall (well, the crazy gurning struck a chord), a decent Anne Robinson (if not a patch on Jan Ravens'), and a good Christine Bleakley (although bigger teeth would have helped), but celebs like Cheryl Cole and Kylie Minogue felt like generic Geordie and Aussie accents, respectively.
A mixed bag then, but that's par for the course with impressionists – some voices are spookily accurate, some only show a general flavour of a person. Sometimes it's not really the precision of a voice that matters, but the mannerisms and gusto with which they're performed, as Culshaw proved in a sketch where bald, cockney consumer expert Dominic Littlewood proved himself cheerfully useless at haggling. Sadly, in terms of material strength, there were more clunkers than I care to remember; from obvious gags (strident Brian Blessed as a librarian), to shopworn jokes (Eamonn Holmes is fat, Ricky Gervais has an ego), or sketches that just didn't click (we meet Kylie and Dannii Minogue's uncouth sister.)
The Impressions Show got off to a rocky start in some ways, but it was an easy and undemanding watch – although quite why BBC1 have decided to broadcast it at 9.45pm on a Saturday is anyone's guess! It would find a more appreciative audience around 8pm on a weekday, if you ask me. Even worse, the second episode has been postponed for a fortnight because of the Festival of Remembrance, and I'm not sure there was enough here for people to make a mental note to check back in a fortnight. BBC1, SAT, 9.45PM.
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If you enjoyed Box-Eyed, why not head over to Dan's Media Digest for more entertainment-related news, reviews and musings?
It's common that first episodes of sketch shows tend to be amongst the best, because they include the strongest material to hook an audience. And for impressionists there's nothing to equal the first time an audience hear a new voice you've been working on. The Impressions Show was therefore an entertaining watch, if only to hear additions to Culshaw's repertoire: a good Michael McIntyre, a perfect Ray Mears, a decent Simon Cowell, and a passable Gene Hunt transported into Jane Austen's world, amongst others. Stephenson's impersonations were less memorable, but not bad: she did an okay Davina McCall (well, the crazy gurning struck a chord), a decent Anne Robinson (if not a patch on Jan Ravens'), and a good Christine Bleakley (although bigger teeth would have helped), but celebs like Cheryl Cole and Kylie Minogue felt like generic Geordie and Aussie accents, respectively.
A mixed bag then, but that's par for the course with impressionists – some voices are spookily accurate, some only show a general flavour of a person. Sometimes it's not really the precision of a voice that matters, but the mannerisms and gusto with which they're performed, as Culshaw proved in a sketch where bald, cockney consumer expert Dominic Littlewood proved himself cheerfully useless at haggling. Sadly, in terms of material strength, there were more clunkers than I care to remember; from obvious gags (strident Brian Blessed as a librarian), to shopworn jokes (Eamonn Holmes is fat, Ricky Gervais has an ego), or sketches that just didn't click (we meet Kylie and Dannii Minogue's uncouth sister.)
The Impressions Show got off to a rocky start in some ways, but it was an easy and undemanding watch – although quite why BBC1 have decided to broadcast it at 9.45pm on a Saturday is anyone's guess! It would find a more appreciative audience around 8pm on a weekday, if you ask me. Even worse, the second episode has been postponed for a fortnight because of the Festival of Remembrance, and I'm not sure there was enough here for people to make a mental note to check back in a fortnight. BBC1, SAT, 9.45PM.
.....
If you enjoyed Box-Eyed, why not head over to Dan's Media Digest for more entertainment-related news, reviews and musings?
