GOOD comedians are hard to find, but impressionists that make the grade are rare as hen’s teeth. While we can all just about muster Yorkshire or American tones, give us a celebrity and we start to fluster.

“I think mimicry is instinctive,” said impressionist Jan Ravens. “It’s like perfect pitch – you either have it or you don’t. It is a combination of real observation and astute people watching, as well as having the vocal dexterity to move between different voices quickly.”

Jan’s career has largely been in topical comedy, starting with Spitting Image and Carrott’s Lib. Today, she is probably best known for her work on the BBC series Dead Ringers where she highlighted and exaggerated the characteristics and tics of newsreaders Fiona Bruce and ‘the Kirsties’ (Young and Wark), national treasure Thora Hird, Anne Robinson and others.

Next week, you can catch her one-woman show A Funny Look at Impressions when she brings it to the Tivoli Theatre in Wimborne.

“It’s an odd business, it’s like you are borrowing someone else for five minutes,” she said. “You need to be able to draw out the elements of caricature.”

When Jan left school she wanted to be a drama teacher, but while studying at Cambridge, she became the first female president of Cambridge University Footlights and as director of their revue The Cellar Tapes won the first Perrier Award.

As a change of direction she went into comedy and producing, working on Spitting Image and Carrott’s Lib as well as doing some theatre. But by then she realised that her strengths lay as an impressionist.

“I realised that while I could act and loads of other people could act and be good comedy actresses, not so many could do good impressions,” she said. “I am a good actor but I am a very good impressionist and there are not many impressionists about .”

Jan Ravens’ A Funny Look at Impressions tour comes to the Tivoli Theatre, Wimborne on Thursday, May 7 at 7.30pm. Tickets are £14.50 from the box office on 01202 885566.