The Impressions Show With Culshaw & Stephenson

Impressionists Jon Culshaw and Debra Stephenson are accomplished performers but their material struggles to match their talent. There's fun to be had in the unlikely relationship between chirpy John Craven and Stephenson's deadpan Lady Gaga, but yet another send-up of Simon Cowell's taste in trousers is just lazy.

Any sketch show is bound to be a hit or miss affair, but the celebrity parodies done by Jon Culshaw and Debra Stephenson are so amazingly accomplished, you can forgive the odd item that doesn't quite work. There's an ongoing gag threading through the show about how Katie Price is marrying Michael Winner, while Culshaw's take on Harry Hill as a UN peace negotiator ("I like North Korea with its Communist-style dictatorship ... but then I like South Korea with its democratic republic...") is inspired. Also right on the money is the impression of EastEnders' Pat Evans meeting Coronation Street's Ken Barlow in a motorway caff and BBC business editor Robert Peston's curious inflections as he presents a doom-laden weather forecast.

The Impressions Show Review: Fame Shamed

Jon Culshaw has always lived in the shadow of more popular impressionists such as Alistair McGowan and the superb Rory Bremner, but greater recognition could await him yet. Even though Bremner may be a better impressionist and shows a greater ability to contextualise his sketches, the quality of Culshaw's jokes has improved.

The Impressions Show review

Series 2 of The Impressions Show is one of those moments when you question whether BBC commissioning editors are losing their minds.

For this second series, impressionist John Culshaw and ex-Corrie actress Debra Stephenson have a raft of new caricatures to add to their repertoire. Highlights include a typical night in chez Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter.

Jon Culshaw and Debra Stephenson interview

Now that they're back for another series of their Impressions Show, we gave Debra Stephenson and Jon Culshaw a ring to chat about the impersonating business, Eamonn Holmes's less-than-thrilled reaction to their send-up of him, and why Lady GaGa takes fashion advice from them...

Debra Stephenson interview

Debra Stephenson is going back to her roots with a second series of The Impression Show, alongside Jon Culshaw...

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