Another way of telling how old you are……

…is by how many TV impressionists’ subjects you recognise. When I was a child, Who Do You Do? was a hugely popular impressionist sketch show. The likes of Freddie Starr and Janet Brown did impressions of old movie stars like Jimmy Durante and Mae West but I remember having to ask my dad who they were. During the Spitting Image/Rory Bremner/Alastair McGowan heyday, I knew exactly who they were doing but lately, I’ve become bewildered again. Contemporary impressionists are impersonating reality TV stars and other people as unfamiliar to me as Jimmy Durante and Mae West. Durante, with his huge nose, clipped gravelly voice and Noo Yoik accent was a gift to impressionists and, if he hadn’t died in 1980, would have been 122 today. But the sentiments of this famous song are as true today as they were on the day he was born.