One thing that is often forgotten by comedians who impersonate other people for laughs is how devastating this mockery can be to them. A very extreme and sad example of this seems to be the recent suicide of celebrity plastic surgeon Dr Frederic Brandt.
By all accounts he was severely depressed. As is so often the case with this illness there were several factors at play. But one of them was the fact that he was clearly the inspiration for a character played by comedian Martin Short in the comedy show The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
The caricature was clearly based on him, even having a similar sounding name. Obviously Short had no intention of hurting him so deeply. But this seems to have been the case.
Makes sense that someone who valued appearance so highly had his own physical characteristics, among other aspects of his character, ridiculed in front of millions.
Obviously you just can't predict how people will react to impersonation. Nobody likes it, unless the parody is affectionate. That kind of thing tends to be rare. It's usually not that funny if it's the case. Sad to say, but a caricature usually has to have an element of cruelty for it to be funny.
Politicians cop this kind of thing all the time. But they are used to mockery and derision, copping it from their political foes and journalists as well. They usually have the hides of rhinos.
To be honest I've never been a big fan of this direct and obvious form of mockery, in which the character is clearly based on one person. I think comic characters that have their own identity and operate within a kind of parrellel universe, are more interesting. Sure, they may have certain elements drawn from public figures we know, but these are combined into something unique and enduring. As well as being more interesting and complex, they're not limited by the circumstances of their originals. For example, if you have a character based on Prime Minister Tony Abbott it will become a lot less marketable if and when he's voted out of office. But if you have a more original character you can still cover a lot of the same ground. But you're not so constrained, since he live in his own fictional world.
By all accounts he was severely depressed. As is so often the case with this illness there were several factors at play. But one of them was the fact that he was clearly the inspiration for a character played by comedian Martin Short in the comedy show The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
The caricature was clearly based on him, even having a similar sounding name. Obviously Short had no intention of hurting him so deeply. But this seems to have been the case.
Makes sense that someone who valued appearance so highly had his own physical characteristics, among other aspects of his character, ridiculed in front of millions.
Obviously you just can't predict how people will react to impersonation. Nobody likes it, unless the parody is affectionate. That kind of thing tends to be rare. It's usually not that funny if it's the case. Sad to say, but a caricature usually has to have an element of cruelty for it to be funny.
Politicians cop this kind of thing all the time. But they are used to mockery and derision, copping it from their political foes and journalists as well. They usually have the hides of rhinos.
To be honest I've never been a big fan of this direct and obvious form of mockery, in which the character is clearly based on one person. I think comic characters that have their own identity and operate within a kind of parrellel universe, are more interesting. Sure, they may have certain elements drawn from public figures we know, but these are combined into something unique and enduring. As well as being more interesting and complex, they're not limited by the circumstances of their originals. For example, if you have a character based on Prime Minister Tony Abbott it will become a lot less marketable if and when he's voted out of office. But if you have a more original character you can still cover a lot of the same ground. But you're not so constrained, since he live in his own fictional world.
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