Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
MIND JARRING TOWN — Really good impressions are tough to do, and Jim Meskimen is one of the best out there. Meskimen is an actor and impressionist, and a guy you know you recognize but you're not sure why.
One look at this IMDb page and you'll understand why. He's been in just about everything, from "Two and a Half Men" to "Magnolia." But the reason you can't put your finger on it is because in these well-known shows and movies he played parts like "Gangster #2" and "Forensic Scientist."
Meskimen may not be a household name, and you may not remember his turn as Minister in one episode of "The Big Bang Theory," but he is an incredibly talented performer who has more than 250 acting credits to his name. In addition to acting on the small and big screen, Meskimen is an incredible impressionist. In this video he reads a poem he wrote about impressionists, but he reads it in 20 different celebrity voices.
The poem "Pity the Poor Impressionist" is pretty funny on its own, and the impressions are so spot on you may forget it's not actually Nick Offerman or Joe Pesci. But Meskimen took this video a step further and had deepfake maestro Sham00k insert the celebrity faces over Meskimen's for one of the trippiest videos you've ever seen.
A deepfake is when artificial intelligence software is used to superimpose one face onto another and create a realistic image. While some people use this technique for nefarious reasons, this is the kind of stuff we love to see it used for.
Enjoy some clever writing, some impressive technology, and some amazing impressions in this sometimes mind-blowing 2.5-minute video.
Have You Seen This?
