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You impersonating me? Huh? Are you punk?

Anyone who watches Monday Night Football in the fall knows how entertaining color commentator… Anyone who watches Monday Night Football in the fall knows how entertaining color commentator John Madden can be. His sometimes witty but almost always inane comments about the action taking place on the field can make watching the game between Crappy Team A and Really Crappy Team B (Note: these are not real football teams, don’t go on eBay looking to buy their merchandise for cheap) somewhat worthwhile.

What’s even better than listening to and watching the real John Madden is watching an extremely exaggerated impersonation of John Madden. Everyone who tries comedy tries to duplicate this famous figure. Only one has it down so well that he has made appearances as John Madden — his name, Frank Caliendo.

You may be sitting there thinking, “Who in the world is Frank Caliendo?” You know who he is. You just don’t know you know. If you have ever watched a single episode of “Mad TV,” you know who Frank Caliendo is.

Born in Chicago and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Caliendo grew up entertaining family members with his impersonations and hadn’t thought about taking comedy seriously until he was in college. Luckily he found his niche and continued on his path — landing a spot on the sketch comedy show “Mad TV.”

On the FOX program, Caliendo portrays a number of famous faces including an OK impersonation of Robin Williams and a dead-on characterization of Al Pacino. Aside from his popular John Madden impersonation, Caliendo also does a perfect mirror image of sports analyst Jim Rome, nailing every mannerism, irritating comment and pause.

Caliendo made a name for himself this football season when he made appearances on the FOX Football Pre-Game Show doing a full set of impersonations of analysts Jim Brown, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and Jimmy Johnson.

Frank Caliendo brings his arsenal of impersonations to the Improv at the Waterfront this weekend from Thursday through Saturday. For more information or for tickets, call (412) 462-5233.

Pitt News Staff

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