"Oh yeah, that guy!" That's the reaction many people get when they hear stand-up comedian and master impressionist Pablo Francisco do his signature voice, Don LaFontaine.
Who is Don LaFontaine, you ask? If you ever sat through a movie preview, you know Don Lafontaine. More widely known as "the movie preview guy," LaFontaine was best known for his deep, gravelly voice and many movie previews that began, "In a world…," and Francisco nails it exactly. Francisco uses this impression to weave a tapestry of voices that often include Arnold Schwarznegger, Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino as Tony Montana and even Kermit the Frog in a manner never dreamed of by Jim Henson. His impression is so good, in fact, that when word of it got back to LaFontaine, he wanted to meet the guy who could mimic him so precisely. "You have a better voice than I do," LaFontaine told Francisco when they first met. This led to lasting friendship between the two. So close, in fact, that LaFontaine left his recording studio equipment to Francisco when he passed away in 2008.
When asked how he got started, Francisco says,
This article appears in Mar 3-9, 2010.