Impersonator in the context of 2018 North Korea–United States Singapore Summit

A comedy club is a venue where a variety of comedic acts perform to a live audience. Although the term usually refers to establishments that feature stand-up comedians, it can also feature other forms of comedy such as improvisational comedians, impersonators, impressionists, magicians and ventriloquists.

Some forms of comedy can have distinguished venues such as improvisational theatres, which host improv or sketch comedy, and variety clubs which may also host musical acts along with comedic acts.

Howard Lee, known professionally as Howard X, is a Hong Kong-born Australian music producer, political satirist and media personality. He is best known as the world's first professional impersonator of Kim Jong Un, the Supreme Leader of North Korea.

Amongst Howard X's most well-known pranks are his appearance at the Rio Summer Olympics in 2016 and when he visited North Korean cheerleaders on Valentine's Day at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in 2018 which attracted media attention. Throughout his career as a professional impersonator he has also worked with multiple organisations and celebrities to create parodies and to stir up conversations of politics and human rights. He believes that humour is a very powerful weapon and he often makes it clear that he imitates the dictator to satirise him, not to glorify him.

Joe Wiegand (born April 15, 1965) is an impersonator who has portrayed U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt after a career as a political consultant. Wiegand performed at the White House on October 27, 2008, as part of the celebration of the 150th anniversary of Roosevelt's birth. In 2012 he was the model for a Theodore Roosevelt sculpture commissioned by the American Museum of Natural History. He has performed in all 50 States. In 2024 Wiegand joined the cast of the Medora Musical in Medora, North Dakota to portray Roosevelt. Wiegand is a member and contributor of the Theodore Roosevelt Association.

An impressionist or a mimic is a performer whose act consists of imitating sounds, voices and mannerisms of celebrities and cartoon characters. The word usually refers to a professional comedian/entertainer who specializes in such performances and has developed a wide repertoire of impressions, including adding to them, often to keep pace with current events. Impressionist performances are a classic casino entertainment genre.

Someone who imitates one particular person without claiming a wide range, such as a lookalike, is instead called an impersonator. In very broad contexts, "impersonator" may be substituted for "impressionist" where the distinction between the two is less important than avoiding confusion with the use of "impressionist" in painting and music.

An Elvis impersonator is an entertainer who impersonates or copies the look and sound of American rock singer Elvis Presley. Professional Elvis impersonators, commonly known as Elvis tribute artists (ETAs), work all over the world as entertainers, and such tribute acts remain in great demand due to the iconic status of Elvis Presley. In addition, there were several radio stations that exclusively feature Elvis impersonator material. Some of these impersonators go to Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, on the anniversary of Presley's death to pay tribute to the beloved artist.

While some impersonators perform a wide variety of Presley's discography, his songs from the 1950s and 1970s remain fan favorites.

Impersonators of American entertainer Michael Jackson work all over the world as entertainers, and such tribute acts remain in great demand due to the enduring popularity of Jackson.

A Madonna impersonator is an entertainer who impersonates American singer-songwriter Madonna. Professional or dedicated Madonna impersonators have existed since at least the mid-1980s, and were sometimes sorted as "tribute acts". As an established artist, Madonna impersonators have seen a notable demand, many of them performing in front of thousands people and visiting several countries in their professional Madonna career as some media outlets have reported. Notable Madonna impersonators include Chris America, Denise Bella Vlasis and Venus D-Lite. Others impressionists have included Madonna in their repertoire, such as Tracey Bell, Charlie Hides and Véronic DiCaire, while Nadya Ginsburg and Alejandra Bogue dedicated Madonna-inspired monologues.

First impersonations on Madonna started with her fans, mainly young female audience when they copied and emulated her no later than 1985, and which were counted by thousands around the world. This phenomenon was later defined as the "Madonna wannabe". Prominent look-alikes contests were made and received press coverage. An example occurred in 1985 led by Macy's and had Andy Warhol and Nina Blackwood among others as judges. The winner gained nationwide briefly fame as "the best Madonna look-alike" according to MTV. Over the years, impersonations on Madonna have been documented among her fandom, through fan conventions, tours, and themed parties among other cultural manifestations, such as competitions and TV shows.

A political decoy is a person employed to impersonate a politician, to draw attention away from the real person or to take risks on that person's behalf. This can also apply to military figures, or civilians impersonated for political or espionage purposes.

The political decoy is an individual who has been selected because of a strong physical resemblance to the person being impersonated. This resemblance can be strengthened by plastic surgery. Often, such decoys are trained to speak and behave like the "target".

A sound-alike is a recording intended to imitate the sound of a popular record, the style of a popular recording artist, or a current musical trend; the term also refers to the artists who perform on such recordings. In the voice-over world, it may also refer to those who recreate the voice and vocal mannerisms of a given celebrity's vocal performance (see also impersonator).

Sound-alikes are usually made as budget copies or "knockoffs" of popular recordings. The cost of writing and recording a new song that sounds similar to a popular song is usually negligible compared to the cost of music licensing for playing the original recording or the royalty fees to record a cover version. If the sound-alike recording is dissimilar enough to avoid infringing the original writer's copyright, the user of a sound-alike can evoke the spirit of a song, or sometimes make listeners believe that the work being played has been recorded by a particular artist, without the expense of engaging a highly paid artist.