Nathan Woodworth wows county fair crowds

Local impressionist Nathan Woodworth brought his wacky collection of personalities to the Eberhards/Verizon stage at last week's Deschutes County Fair And Rodeo.

"Wednesday I did a new 20-minute act and the response was huge. It got a lot of laughs," Woodworth said. "I was afraid it might bomb, but luckily it didn't. I try to do a wide range of impressions to keep everybody happy. I did Captain Jack Sparrow, Shrek and Donkey, Jimmy Stewart, the Joker from 'The Dark Knight'."

Fed up with everyone, even friends of 10 years, getting his last name wrong, Woodworth changed his stage name to Nathan John.

"The two Saturday shows were great, an energetic crowd and I featured new impressions of William Shatner doing a GPS navigation voice-over, Christopher Walken as a pop psychiatrist and Arnold Schwarzenneger as a wedding coordinator. Weird Al was doing his concert at the Hooker Creek Event Center so there was a huge overflow of people waiting to get in who stopped to watch my act, which was cool."

People got excited when the emcee told the crowd Woodworth had been on "America's Got Talent" last season.

"I made it to the Top 100 in Vegas, then got cut," Nathan said. "It was a great experience and gave me confidence in myself and a glimpse of what the industry is really like. Some of it is pretty cutthroat."

Woodworth has been doing zany impressions since he was nine.

"My first real impression was Jim Carrey's character in 'Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.' I didn't have the voice down yet but did all the physical stuff. The first voice I did was Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter."

He's entertained thousands in area talent shows, special events, and two special performances for the Fourth of July military sendoff in Sisters. He thinks people love impressions because it's fun to laugh at political figures, celebrities and legends brought down to earth, all juggled together in one act.

Where else can you have Dr. Phil counseling Gollum from "Lord Of The Rings?"

"There's a great tradition of comedic impressions dating back to the vaudeville days," said Woodworth. "I see a definite art to it and each impressionist has their own style and ways of approaching things. There are very few of us left and I want to carry on the legacy."

For the future, Woodworth would love to join The Groundlings comedy improv troupe in Los Angeles where Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon and Paul Reubens started their careers.

"You audition and get passed through four levels: improv, character, sketch writing and the final level where you write a show and perform it in L.A.," he said. "From there if you're lucky you get voted into the Sunday night company, and then up to the main stage and touring group.

"I'm finishing my AA degree in business first, then I'll work on polishing my material for The Groundlings and my demo for voice-over work."

Woodworth finds inspiration for new characters by watching lots of movies and TV.

"It's not always what I like but more what is popular," he said. "I'm constantly working up new material. People are always encouraging me to write out my act, but the one time I did it was the worst performance of my life. I write down ideas and improvise from there. When it's loose it's fresh and the audience responds better."

For bookings or information visit Woodworth's Web site at http://www.nathanjohn.us or call 541-420-8123.