It’s the 1950s. Ottawa, Canada is the mise-en-scène. Imagine a middle school homeroom teeming with students when suddenly, the class clown rises and lampoons the teacher, who, of course, is facing the blackboard. Laughter from peers? Possible disciplinary action?
Fast-forward a handful of decades to the Laugh Factory at the Tropicana Las Vegas where Rich Little explains how classroom impersonations helped him earn his stripes.
With his career now spanning many years, the comic and entertainer focuses on looking back at the talent that made him a household name. His one-man gig at the Tropicana gig is a trove of comedy sketches delivered in-person and through recorded pieces on television monitors peppered throughout the venue. A sole keyboardist offers light commentary à la talk-show co-host and musical emphasis.
Little owns the intimate Laugh Factory with his convincing artistry. His entertaining vocalizations cover the likes of John Wayne, Johnny Carson, Clint Eastwood, George Burns, Dean Martin, and Carol Channing. He offers presidential impersonations of Nixon, Reagan and Clinton. He introduces a compelling Paul Lynde, the center square of the 70s game show “The Hollywood Squares.” His version looks and sounds so authentic that one expects then-showmaster Peter Marshal to suddenly appear stage left. His exact voice dupe of “60 Minutes” news commentator Andy Rooney is so eerily faithful that he nearly summons the curmudgeon back to life. The audience responds in the only human way possible, demonstrating that the people he brings to life are so much more than wax figures at Madame Tussauds.
The sixty-minute retrospective closes with a rendition of Neal Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” that has audience members joining in. And yes, Little can belt out a surprisingly decent note at age seventy-seven.
Impersonations are a talent Little commands so well, even in his advanced age, that one would believe the impersonated’s DNA had been injected into the entertainer’s gifted cells, thus creating a Doppelganger capable of spot-on recreations of human quirks, mannerisms, and vocal cues. Many believe he is indeed what voice-peer Mel Blanc referred to as “The Man of a Thousand Voices.”
Little’s look-alike, sound-alike skills are remarkable and demonstrate an understanding of his craft that can only come thorough careful study. His voice is strong, his delivery rhythmic, his pauses well-timed, and his energy abundant.
After bringing so many characters to the stage, the seasoned showman may have created a life-force multiplier that ensures his voices keep coming.