Impressionist Frank Caliendo changes up Vegas formula

Nobody misses George W. Bush more than Frank Caliendo, or cares more about what Charles Barkley and John Madden are up to.

The impressionist opts for the few instead of the many, changing up the standard Vegas formula. Sure, he can do the cruise ship gallery of usual suspects, and does throw in some of the usual Al Pacino, Jay Leno and Jack Nicholson.

But for the most part the high-profile impressionist, best known from NFL Sundays on Fox, boils it down to the few voices people associate him with -- the ones he really owns.

I'd say no one but Barkley himself gets more mileage out of Barkley's voice. Caliendo makes him a virtual co-star, singing nursery rhymes to "Don't Fear the Reaper" and even giving voice to the impressionist's talking hand late in the going, when Caliendo for some reason finds himself flat on his back.

Bush, Bill Clinton and Madden -- which is just uncanny in its resonance and nuance -- also turn up again and again as sort of a Greek chorus, chiming in whenever they get the chance.

It's an interesting twist on the usual smoke and mirrors of an impressionist trying to bombard you with 50 or 60 celebrity voices, hoping you won't notice how few of them are really strong.

The big drawback? The issue of what to do when your crown jewels start to fade.

Bush has gone virtually off the radar since he left the presidency, and, as Caliendo illustrates in a credible attempt, Barack Obama just isn't as funny. And Madden? He's better known to younger folks as a video game. That leaves Barkley to -- Caliendo hopes and prays every day -- keep saying outrageous things as a sports analyst and commercial pitchman.

So Caliendo's show hasn't changed much since he tried a full-time residency at the Monte Carlo in 2010. But it's not a fatal flaw, thanks to the comedian's own inherent likability and timing.

He has a fun, talk show-like banter with his four-piece band. He's a master of the "call back" technique of referencing earlier jokes, even one from opening act George Kanter. And it's hard to parse out the fake ad libs from the real ones.

Of course, on this night in his first of two weekends from The Venetian, a chicken-dancing Canadian in the audience helped you deduce the genuinely spontaneous moments, of which an imitation of Bill Cosby if he was drunk seemed to be one. It made you wish Caliendo winged it more often.

In less-spontaneous moments, the band coaxes along Bill Clinton singing "I'm Too Sexy" or a "Flashdance" with sloshing water. "Don't make me spit-take twice in my own show," Caliendo scolds the musicians.

Most of all, he seems like such a nice guy we roll with him even when we wish the jokes were better. He's so nice, he apologizes for his mostly nonpolitical imitations of political figures.

He even apologizes just in case someone thinks he's making light of drunken driving, in a riff on -- who else? -- Barkley getting pulled over in possession of wine coolers and bear claws.

Bill Maher recently opined in a "Please Stop Apologizing" editorial in The New York Times: "I don't want to live in a country where no one ever says anything that offends anyone. That's why we have Canada. That's not us."

Fair point, especially for comedy, and a comedian who could perhaps do more with his gift for political mimicry. And yet, if you look around at Caliendo's crowd -- a slice of middle America having fun in Vegas, laughing at someone they've seen on TV -- it looks a lot like us indeed.

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.