In the dark days before I started writing for this fine rag, I was hired on at an ice cream shop for a very silly reason. It was during a group interview and, when asked if I had any special talents, I offered that I could do an impression. Rather than doing Jack Nicholson or George W. Bush or any number of more immediately recognizable celebrities, I did an impression of Lou Gentine, CEO and spokesperson of Sargento Cheese. It was because of this odd specificity, this utterly useless party trick, that these people made the mistake of hiring me.

They'd come to their senses and fire me a couple months later, but that's besides the point.

When an impression is done right, it's like a magic trick. Certain people are able to access the essential qualities of a person and present them in a new light. Seeing a good impression triggers this instant recognition, but the people that are the best at it manage to put their own unique spin on familiar characters. There's no shortage of hacky impressionists out there, but people like James Adomian, Anthony Atamanuik (not quite a household name, but I'd wager you've seen his excellent Donald Trump), and Dana Carvey breathe life into what can be a stale art form.

Jonathan Kite belongs in that category of performers that elevate that act of impersonation. Anyone that can somehow evoke someone like Vince Vaughn - someone who you'd never think could really be captured - deserves all the praise they can get. You may best know Jonathan Kite from his role as Oleg on 2 Broke Girls, but he's also an accomplished comedian and a gifted impressionist.

"The first impression I ever did was of Peter Lorie, the Hungarian movie actor," said Kite. "I watched a lot of his films as a kid and really enjoyed the way he sounded. I was probably 4 or 5 years old. ... Each impression is unique. Some of them I can get very quickly and others take a lot of time. Sometimes I need to learn the younger version of someone in order to really nail them in their current state. Also, it depends on how close the person's tone is to my own. It's actually easier for me to learn impressions of people who sound nothing like me."

Recently, there was a bit of a dustup on Twitter between Alec Baldwin and the aforementioned Anthony Atamanuik. Both of them do Trump impressions, and it was suggested by a fellow comedian that Baldwin stole his take on Trump from Atamanuik. While the argument was petty, it does bring up the intriguing question of whether an impression can actually be stolen.

"I think there is a pride in developing and creating an impression that no one else has unlocked or mastered," said Kite. "I think I've been doing it long enough that I can tell when someone has learned an impression or are just mimicking someone else's impression. Obviously, one can never own a sound alike, but I think the key to being a good impressionist is finding your own take and perspective on the person you are impersonating rather than just being a mimic of a mimic."

Like my earlier experience impressing people with Lou Gentine, Kite's impressions find their power in specificity. Unlike Kite, I only had the one; Kite's reportedly got about a hundred. When he comes to the Tacoma Comedy Club, treat yourself to one of the masters of the art form.

Jonathan Kite, 8 p.m., Thursday; 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, March 23-25, $16-$22, Tacoma Comedy Club, 933 Market St., Tacoma, 253.282.7203, tacomacomedyclub.com