No party curtain is able to impress your unsuspecting friends more than a perfect imitation of a celebrity. By learning to recognize good candidates for imitations and to develop a simple exercise path, in an instant you will make your friends freak out with laughter.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: The Choice of Imitation
Step 1. Choose a celebrity with a particular voice or accent
It is much easier to make an accurate imitation of someone with an immediately recognizable way of speaking. Although the physical appearance of an imitation is also important, a good vocal imitation will make a difference, for better or for worse. The list of characters suitable for this purpose includes:
- Jack Nicholson
- John Wayne
- Al Pacino
- Christopher Walken
- Mike Bongiorno
- Silvio Berlusconi
- George W. Bush
- Pippo Baudo
- Joe Bastianich
Step 2. Choose an imitation that matches your physical connotations
To make a convincing imitation, it helps to choose someone you already physically resemble. Maurizio Crozza made an excellent imitation of Arrigo Sacchi because they both have similar features and baldness.
Alternatively, it can be comical to perfect the imitation of a celebrity whose physicality is diametrically opposed to yours. A petite girl who makes a convincing imitation of Giampiero Galeazzi could be hilarious
Step 3. Understand the character's "point of view"
The imitator Jim Ross Meskimen suggests that, like an impressionist painter, the imitator has the goal not to create a perfect mirror of the imitated, but to capture the "essence" of that famous person. Discover the element that makes that celebrity unique and amplify it. A character with a point of view is much easier to play than one without one.
- Al Pacino, for example, always gives the impression of being on the verge of having a tantrum in some of his films. Our imitation of him as an angry person in the act of exploding should fill your performance.
- Joe Bastianich has the peculiarity of the American accent and the distortion of some words. These elements should be central to imitation.
Step 4. Practice using dialects
If you want to imitate Christopher Walken, it helps to have a strong New York accent before you try. If you want to imitate Antonio Razzi, first practice with the inflections of Central-Southern Italy.
Once you are familiar with generic dialects, start going into more detail. Among the Italian dialects, Sicilian, Roman, Sardinian, Venetian, Piedmontese, Tuscan etc. they are all incredibly different and unique. A good voice actor can even distinguish between the Brescia dialect and the Bergamo one. Studying dialects will help you more easily identify the peculiar speaking patterns of the celebrity you are trying to imitate
Method 2 of 3: The Study of Attitudes and the Voice
Step 1. Make a list of all the peculiarities of your character
As you watch and listen to the person you are imitating, keep taking note of the quotes, gestures and expressions he makes. Use a lot of adjectives in your list. Here, you are already creating an imitation, describing them in words and transforming their presence into your voice. Use this list to gradually start working on your imitation.
Step 2. Find the “quid”
The R moscia, for example, or the pronunciation errors are essential in some imitations, or the ways of walking of Baudo, the pauses of Celentano … A good imitation is formed by both physical and vocal components, which intersect to define the specific one. personage. Start by perfecting the "quid" and develop your imitation from there.
Often times, a celebrity will have their own specific catchphrase or movie quote that you can build from. A good Mike Bongiorno would be incomplete without “Allegria!”. Even if you can't physically imitate it yet, perfecting the most common sentence is a great start
Step 3. Pay attention to the way you speak
Voices can be nasal, that is high and plaintive, as well as they can come from the diaphragm, therefore more serious and calm. Mario Giordano, for example, was imitated by De Luigi almost in falsetto, while Batman has a disguised, deep voice. Where does the voice of that particular character seem to come from? Hearing how a person speaks can help you trace the origin of their voice.
Practice speaking from different "parts of the body" to understand the range of your voice, before worrying too much about not exactly resembling the character you are working on
Step 4. Focus on one physical characteristic and one vocal characteristic at a time
It can be too challenging to try to grasp all the particularities that make up a character in one go. But since it is a combination of physical and vocal details, it will be worth trying to do them at the same time. It begins, to say, with the scream of Al Pacino combined with exasperated eyes. When you are satisfied, move on to the next points on the list.
Method 3 of 3: Train your Imitation
Step 1. Record your imitation
Your voice sounds different to you than what others hear. To get an idea of the sound it has while doing the imitation, register with your phone or other device and listen to yourself to understand what progress you are making.
Step 2. Practice in the mirror
Jim Carrey is known for exercising many hours a day in front of the mirror. It's hard to tell if you're exaggerating or limiting your facial expressions if you can't see what you're doing.
Step 3. Read aloud from a book or magazine
Inventing something to say in another voice can be complicated. To give yourself plenty of phrases, just read in the entry you are working on. Vary the rhythm and emotion behind the reading as you do it, to put into practice the different timbral ranges of the voice you are trying to imitate.
This will also help you figure out which types of words or phrases work with that voice and which ones don't. In this way, you can start building a better imitation
Step 4. Repeat what you hear on the radio
As you drive, turn on the radio and repeat what is said or sung in the voice you are working on. It works especially with imitations of singers. Singing a Britney Spears song with Carmen Consoli's voice will also be comical for your friends to hear.
Step 5. Keep working on it
Like playing an instrument, good imitation needs to be trained. Don't let your Adam Kadmon get rusty. Even when you think you have arrived at a good point, go back to practicing that imitation every now and then and try to keep it fresh. Consider the idea of extending the imitation. Will Ferrell's imitation of Bush has acquired complexity over the many years he has used it.
Advice
- If your voice isn't suitable for imitations, reproducing the person's body language would help parody in general. So people can recognize the person you are trying to imitate.
- Try to understand which sentence was always said by the person you want to imitate, memorize it and use it. It can be useful for increasing the quality of your imitation.
- If you really intend to dedicate yourself to it, you can increase your range of action step by step. Do vocal exercises and don't rush. Again, if you overdo it, you can get hurt, but proceeding gradually can prove beneficial.
- If a person's voice is out of your reach, don't worry and find someone else; If you strain your voice too hard to get the perfect range, you risk ruining your vocal cords forever.
- Try to imagine yourself in the shoes of the person you are trying to imitate. It will be subconsciously easier to show that person's subtle attitudes and behaviors.
