I have a "thing" for great Vegas-type acts and it's time I wrote about one of my favorites. Ever since singing impressionist Danny Gans began selling out showrooms in Sin City (@ $100+ per ticket), the town has been filled to overflowing with guys who get up there and try to warble like Frank, Dino, Sammy, Tom, Elvis and others, one after the other. Gans is very good, though not as good as his ticket prices would indicate. For years, the best of them — playing intermittently in lounges and smaller rooms up and down The Strip — has been a long-time practitioner of the art, Bob Anderson. He's an amazing talent and he's one of those impressionists who teaches others.
You see this on the comedy circuit a lot: No one is doing a certain celebrity…and then someone with a good "ear" figures out how to do the person; how to caricature the voice and maybe the gestures, as well. Then suddenly, everyone's doing the celebrity…because the first guy showed them all how to do it, what to emphasize. Bob Anderson is such a pioneer. A lot of folks believe that when you see Billy Crystal doing Sammy Davis, what you're seeing is Crystal doing Bob Anderson doing Sammy. There are also voices that Anderson does that almost no one else does — The Righteous Brothers, Mel Tormé, Otis Redding, etc.
There's a 2-and-a-half minute video demo over on the Official Bob Anderson Website that will give you a little taste of what this man does. Unfortunately, it doesn't include some of his more obscure impressions (which are the most amazing) and the brief snippets don't adequately convey how Anderson captures not just the pitch of his subjects but their manner and presence with an audience. He doesn't just manage to sound like Frank…he really transforms himself into Ol' Blue Eyes for a few minutes there, then does a sudden left turn and becomes Neil Diamond.
So where you can see this man? Amazingly (and sadly), not in Vegas anymore. He recently announced that following an upcoming booking in Laughlin, he's abandoning Nevada and taking up residence in Branson, MO where he has a new and permanent gig. I don't know where or when he'll be performing but to those who've followed the Vegas entertainment scene, this is a stunner. He told The Las Vegas Sun, "There is a changing entertainment scene in Las Vegas, and for whatever reason, there is no place anymore for some acts that may have thrived here in the past, and may one day thrive here again." This is bad news for the town…and worse news for those of us who loved going to Vegas and seeing Bob Anderson, especially in a late night lounge performance. I never get to Branson — though maybe I will, someday. I now have one more reason to go.