Challenge! Animal Impressions Roundup [Party Entertainment / Performance]
Power through with momentum!
Here’s an article that compiles ideas for animal impressions!
It’s tough to come up with elaborate performances, right?
When you’re thinking, “I don’t have time to prepare, and I don’t even know where to start,” just learning even one of the ideas in this article might get you through.
Also, with celebrity impressions, sometimes the audience doesn’t know the person.
In that sense, with animal impressions you don’t have to worry about that.
Each one is short, so doing them as a medley could be a good idea!
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- Conquer “Do something funny!!”: One-hit gags that fire up the office
- Popular comedy and manzai bits that elementary school kids will love. Simple one-liner gags.
Challenge! Animal Imitations Roundup [Party Entertainment/Acts] (11–20)
anteater
It’s an animal with a distinctive look—long nose and sharp claws—that lives mainly in South America.
It usually walks slowly, swaying its long body, but when a threat appears, it uses quick movements and an intimidating pose to keep the opponent at bay.
This threatening pose, where it stands on its hind legs and spreads its forelegs wide to appear larger, actually comes off as rather cute thanks to its gentle-looking face.
When recreating its movements, it’s recommended to start with relaxed motions and then shift into the adorable intimidation pose.
gibbon
They are apes that live mainly in Asia, characterized by their small build and long arms.
How about trying an impression of a gibbon? Their striking way of moving through trees with their long arms can be recreated by raising your arms high as you move; adding vocalizations will make it more convincing.
I recommend starting with a high, resonant, animal-like call as if reaching distant companions, then transitioning into the scream-like call that draws attention as an “old man’s wail.”
sheep
Let’s try recreating a sheep with fluffy wool by focusing on subtle movements.
Keep the facial expression unchanged as it slowly moves forward, and incorporate details like tongue and facial motions, as well as bleating, to evoke a slightly eerie atmosphere.
Even when it senses danger and flees quickly, its expression never changes—use this to clearly highlight the sheep’s gentle nature.
If multiple people portray a flock of sheep, it will likely amplify the mysterious ambience of the scene.
How do animals eat food?
This activity focuses on imitating the feeding motions of animals to learn about differences in their bodies and movements.
We’ll try acting out how it would look if those motions were scaled to human size—for example, animals that move their large jaws vigorously or ones that peck at food with force.
The session proceeds as if eating vegetables served on a plate, but since some recreations involve striking the face down sharply, it’s recommended to use paper plates and a cardboard table to prioritize safety.
It’s also important to include vocalizations and non-feeding movements so it’s clear which animal is being portrayed.
Condor landing
This is an impersonation of a condor landing that captures fine details.
You need to reproduce the wing-folding and neck movements.
By mimicking the sequence from flying to landing across the entire stage, it becomes a large-scale performance.
owl
Owls are adorable with their big, surprised-looking eyes and the way their necks rotate smoothly in circles.
Just like cats, when they track moving objects with their eyes, the rotation of their necks looks almost like pantomime.
Why not try imitating an owl and see if you can pull off movements that would be impossible for a human?
chimpanzee
Don’t you think animals that are closer to humans are easier to imitate? With that in mind, my recommendation is the chimpanzee.
If you’re not sure how to do it, it might be a good idea to use Shingo Yanagisawa’s impressions as a reference.
Also, a notable point about chimpanzees is that they’ve been the subject of many works, such as Planet of the Apes.
Trying impressions of famous chimpanzees that appear in films or manga is definitely an option.
By the way, sticking out the jaw is said to be a characteristic chimpanzee movement.
horse
Speaking of horses, “bururu” and “hihiin” are the classics, right? How about an idea where you play a horse being interviewed in a sketch and answer every question only with “bururu” and “hihiin”? And if it’s a gathering of horse racing fans, you could act out “Oguri Cap’s hihiin” and “Narita Brian’s hihiin,” then wait for someone to quip, “They’re all the same!!” — it might get a surprising laugh.
There are lots of horses in Disney, too.
Bulls-eye from Toy Story and Philippe from Beauty and the Beast, for example—watching animation to learn horse mannerisms could be great!
Elephant
Elephants are the stars of the zoo, and if you could show off an elephant impression at events with lots of kids, you’d instantly become a crowd favorite.
Speaking of elephant impressions, TV personality Satomi Shigemori is famous for hers.
Her elephant impression is incredibly realistic—so much so that it feels like there’s a real elephant right there.
It seems she vibrates her lips at high speed, and with practice, you could become an elephant master like her.
The contrast with your usual appearance will probably get laughs too, so it’s a great recommendation even for people who don’t normally do impressions!
dog
A surprisingly popular animal is the gorilla.
Their rich facial expressions may be one reason they feel so familiar to us.
When doing an impression, it’s recommended to mimic their distinctive gait and chest-beating.
By the way, although chest-beating is often imagined as done with fists, it’s said that they actually strike their chests with open hands.
Also, when performing an impression, it can help to prepare props like a banana.
Just holding a banana should instantly give off a strong gorilla vibe.