PORTLAND, Ore. — Walking down the streets of New York City, comedian and impressionist Matt Friend said his run-ins with celebrities are mostly by chance. Once he has their attention, he keeps it by doing a very accurate impression of them, or in some cases impersonating radio host Howard Stern in an impromptu street-side interview.
"I ran into Andy Cohen on the street in New York," Friend said before starting to talk like Andy Cohen. "He was like, 'You're the guy who does the impression of me. It's really funny, yeah it's great!'"
On another occasion, he said he and comedian and Last Week Tonight host John Oliver were at the same event. "I was like Mr. Oliver, what do you think of this impression? He goes, 'Well, first of all, honestly, it's not bloody bad!'" Friend said.
Friend will perform Thursday night at Mississippi Studios. The show starts at 6:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at this link.
His accurate Howard Stern impression even caught the attention of the radio host himself. On one of his shows in October 2022, Stern complimented Matt to co-host Robin Quivers. "Matt's got something going on," Stern said. "I have to say, I've never really been impressed with someone who's done an impression of me."
Friend said he has a list of more than 250 voices he can impersonate, ranhing from "Michael Bublé to Jennifer Coolidge, to also voices like my high school principal to Roger Federer."
His most recent impression is of actor Stanley Tucci.
"I like doing Tucci, because it's right here in the throat and very easy to access," he said. "Some develop and I can hear the improvements as I record myself."
He said his favorite impressions are of politicians, but it's a diverse list. "Actors, politicians, athletes, musicians and trying to doing as many as I can," he said.
Friend's love of impressions started at a young age, after he said his mom let him watch one of the Austin Powers movies at the age of 4. And he started doing impressions, right then and there.
"She claims I don't give her enough credit in my TV interviews," Friend said, laughing. "So here you go, Ma! It's because of you!"
"There were just moments from it. Like when GoldMember would pick his skin off or like Fat Bastard smelling his farts. I don't know why certain things stuck with me," Friend said.
As a kid, he said he loved to watch the older shows with the comedy greats, including The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson or the Dean Martin Roasts.
"I was watching these things on repeat as a kid," he said.
The old adage of 'Practice makes perfect' is what make Friend's impressions so spot-on. "It's definitely a very obsessive skill," he said. His practice comes in the form of talking to himself as he's alone in his apartment or walking down the street doing impressions out loud.
"My goal is to mix the vocal accuracy of Rich (Little) and physical accuracy of the comedy of Dana Carvey or Phil Hartman," Friend said.
When asked how he does each voice, he said it depends on the person he's impersonating.
"Some impressions have different parts, like Barack Obama is kind of in the side of the throat where I have to move my head this way in order to get there," he said. "Then Ted Cruz is kind of in the nose, he's right over here, very nasally guy, I don't know where it comes from. And Bernie Sanders is a little bit deeper, down over here."
When the audience watches his show in person, he wants them to laugh, maybe at something they may not have been able to laugh at before, and also gain a better understanding of who Friend is as a person.
"A lot of my comedy is topical, political, pop culture. So I'm writing bits every day," Friend said. "Being in my 20s, and dating, and how I feel like others might perceive me, and just like things that happen in my life and observations about things happening in the world."
You can find more of Matt's impressions across his social media channels: @themattfriend or on Snapchat.
For tickets or information about his tour, go to his website at mattfriend.com.