Rat Pack Impersonators Or Tribute Artists – What’s The Difference?

September 28, 2009

What’s the difference between a Rat Pack impersonator and a Rat Pack tribute artist?  How about an impressionist?  A look alike?

The differences may seem subtle, but I had an occasion to discuss this with Art Poco, producer and Dean Martin character in The Rat Pack Now tribute show.

“We are tribute artists. That’s what we do. The craft of the tribute artist entails the look, the sound, the movement and the attitude.  With a tribute artist, when supreme excellence is attained, you’re capturing the soul of your subject.

If a performer has two of those elements nailed down, they’re not really a tribute artist.  If they have the look, but not the sound, they’re a look alike.  That’s a different business.

If they have the sound, but not the look, they’re an impressionist.  Like an artist singing in the style of Sinatra, for example, but not really going full out to re-create the feeling of being in the room with him.  That’s a different craft than what we do.”

Art further elaborates on the differences by example.  He cites the late Frank Gorshin who was an impressionist, as well as Jim Carrey who can slip in and out of characters in the blink of an eye.

“An impersonator might go this step further than the impressionist and put on the outfit.  Fully change, wear that outfit completely and authentically.  The basics of a good impersonator should be to have the voice and the look really strong.  I don’t know if an impersonator who really doesn’t sing or do standup comedy or creates a stage act becomes a tribute artist, because you really become a tribute artist if you start putting that many elements together.  So, that’s a thin line in there.”

When The Rat Pack Now does a preshow meet and greet, at that time, they are working as impersonators.  They wear the outfit, have the look and wear the persona, but they are not singing and doing their show.

“A tribute artist really has to go a level deeper and neatly put in the moves and really capture the soul.  I know it sounds a little surreal there, but you have to do that.  You have to capture the soul of your subject… the turn of the head, the nod, the way they smiled… that kind of thing.”

One way to really get a feel for how well the Rat Pack tribute artists accomplish this, is by going to their website and watching their promotional videos.  If the tribute artists do not have video on their website, this should raise some red flags as to the professionalism of the act.   A great example of professional video demos can be found at: http://www.RatPackTributeShowNow.com.

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