Alumni 'Walken' the line of success
by Victoria Nguyen, A&X Editor
OCTOBER 26, 2008 9:53 PM

It began as an inside joke.

Between classes and in the hallways of SF State's theater department, two friends began doing Christopher Walken impersonations. Now, eight years after graduation, SF State alumnus Patrick O'Sullivan has created Los Angeles' longest running comedy show that's "All About Walken."

"It hit me one day five years ago: everyone I know loves Christopher Walken," O'Sullivan said. "What if I did a show and make it about his life, his movies and add a little bit of pop culture?"

After six months of research and writing, O'Sullivan's idea blossomed into a full-fledged comedy show that is 75 straight minutes of impersonators doing their very own "Walkens." The cast performs original skits, as well as ones that are loosely based around the famous actor's life and cinematic works. Last weekend, "All About Walken" premiered in San Francisco for the first time at The Clubhouse theater.

"When I came up with the idea, I knew the concept was good," O'Sullivan said. "But I knew the show had to be good, also, in order to survive."

"All About Walken" chronicles Walken's life from a 9-year-old boy working in his parents' bakery in Queens, N.Y. to his Oscar acceptance speech for the 1978 film, "Deer Hunter." Highlights from his performances in films like, "The Dead Zone" and the cult classic, "Pulp Fiction" are parodied through a series of skits.

The fast-paced comedy show also has original skits that feature Walken impersonators as Santa Claus and an owner of a matchmaking Web site. In one scene, O'Sullivan—sporting a mad scientist's wig and dressed in a pair of exaggeratedly stuffed underwear—plays Walken pinned against former wrestler The Rock in a wrestling match. According to cast member, Kenzo Lee, the original skits are what get the audience doubling over in their seats.

"We've begun incorporating more original stories, because that's what really gets them going," said Lee, after Saturday's sold-out performance.

The current cast of "All About Walken" features seven actors, many of who say they had never done Walken impersonations before joining the show. But according to the actors, everyone has their own inner Walken—it's just a matter of tapping into it.

First, Lee explained, it's a matter of bulging one's eyes to create an intense stare. Second, it's capturing Walken's speech. "It's about his cadence, or the way he speaks," explained Lee, an original cast member. "The way he talks has no punctuation, and when he does use it, it's all over the place."

Another important aspect of capturing Walken, according to the cast members, is his carefully coiffed hair. Amy Kelly, an original cast member and the show's unofficial hair stylist, studies pictures of Walken's hair and recreates it by brushing the sides straight up, and combing the front of the hair to the rear of the head.

"[His hair] is like a box," Kelly said. She giggled and widened her eyes to express her awe of it. "The thing is you have to comb it up on the sides and create a flat top—it's so weird! You have to wonder if Christopher Walken is really bald."

Like her fellow cast members, Kelly plays a variety of characters in the show, such as film stars Robert De Niro and Jennifer Tilly. For the past two years, the actress has been a regular performer in the show, though her involvement goes back much further. According to the SF State alumna, she and O'Sullivan have been doing their Walken impersonations since their college years together.

"We would impersonate Christopher Walken all the time," Kelly said. "It was an inside thing, and people would either [understand] it and think it was funny, or be like, 'Shut up with the Christopher Walken thing!'"

O'Sullivan said he knew he wanted to cast Kelly in the show since its conception. However, the director admitted it took "a little convincing" to get his friend aboard.

"When [O'Sullivan] approached me in L.A. [to do the show], I was like 'Are you kidding me? You're going to base an entire show off of one man's impersonation? That's absurd!'" Kelly said.

However, at the first rehearsal, Kelly changed her mind. "[Being in the room with all the cast members, I just got] this feeling you have when there's a good idea and everyone around you is fired up about it. I thought, 'This could be something really amazing.'"

During its two-year run, "All About Walken" has received national attention from National Public Radio and Fox News. The show has had guest performers come through, such as Efren Ramirez from "Napoleon Dynamite" and Cameron Manoghan from "Click." A few of the cast members brought their Walken impersonations to VH1's first season of the improv show, "Free Radio."

The shows at The Clubhouse theater last weekend were a success. After selling out the first two shows in just weeks, O'Sullivan decided to add a third matinee show for those who missed their opportunity the first time around. The Clubhouse manager, Melissa Gans, said that it was an honor for her to have "All About Walken" make its Bay Area premiere at the theater.

"The show was fantastic. It's a different idea," Gans said. "Everybody has their own Christopher Walken impersonation and it's neat how they put it together."

Audience member Derek Turner, who described himself as a huge Christopher Walken fan, said the impersonators did the actor justice. "It was absolutely hysterical," said the massage therapist. "It was a laugh fest—I like how it was so random."

Lily Seman and her friend Ariel Clark had front row seats to the Saturday night's premiere. Seman said she loved the show, and even though she didn't know all the movie references, her experience was not affected.

"I feel Walken is a persona in and of himself, it's not about the movies," she said. "He really is a character."