Alistair McGowan is probably the most famous impressionist in the UK, so for him to be playing Chorley Little Theatre was some coup. And, he acknowledged, he wasn't expecting it to be quite so 'little'. Small it may be, but it was packed out with a largely middle aged audience for his 'Not Just A Pretty Voice' tour.
His hour and three quarter act centres upon a run through the wide repertoire of famous and not so famous voices that he mimics, providing a smorgasbord of characters from TV and the world of celebrity from panel shows to Dad's Army.
As a former voice of Spitting Image McGowan has had many years' experience of mastering some voices, but what was particularly interesting was just how varied a range of people he chooses to imitate. Whether it's up and coming comics who have appeared on Dave a few times (some of which references were admittedly lost on me) or Sky Sports' Jeff Stelling, McGowan is clearly a keen student of the media.
And McGowan is clearly a clever man, as his impression of Roger Federer giving a post match interview in three languages demonstrates.
Despite his obvious talent, however, the strongest material was the more personal storytelling such as his tale explaining what passed for in car entertainment when he was a child going on holiday with his family. I would have preferred more of this to the Diane Abbott or Andrew Neill impressions and a pretty laboured Michael Portillo gag.
More up to date political satire would also have added spice, but the fact that no Cameron or Clegg impressions feature in McGowan's act speaks volumes about their lack of presence and their indistinguishability as politicians. Instead William Hague, whose thick Yorkshire brogue is clearly a godsend to an impressionist, and Ed Miliband were neatly parodied.
McGowan's best imitations were of comedians Frank Skinner, John Bishop, Alan Carr and Dara O'Briain. With their mannerisms also neatly captured, it was possible to believe that they and not McGowan were strutting the boards of Chorley Little Theatre.
So a great night's entertainment in the company of almost 50 household names, and all for the price of a curry and a pint.
