Yesterday a friend and I drove north for lunch, and passed a big lighted display for one of the Indian casinos. It was advertising "celebrity impersonators."
What a strange thing. We've all seen Liza Minnelli acts and Elvis impersonators and tribute bands that mimic the Beatles or Journey or Kiss. We've seen drag shows with Dolly Parton or Marilyn Monroe or Carol Channing. Shows like American Idol and America's Got Talent feature nobody performers mimicking a famous singer. TikTok has thousands of videos of people dressing up like or dancing like somebody famous. The world of impersonation is vast and vibrant, especially among the gay community for some reason. A desire to be somebody else? A need to hide who you are?
Sometimes when I'm listening to music, I hear something cool and I can hear how it was done and I think to myself, "I could do that." But somebody's already done it, so there is no reason to copy it again.
Yet so much music today is directly or almost directly lifted off somebody else's plate. Originality is all but dead.
Impersonation has become not only a nostalgia thing, it's become a mainstream form of artistic endeavor. Why is that? What does it mean?
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