Madden impersonator met the real man

What happens when comedian Frank Caliendo comes faceto-face with celebrities he has incorporated into his act over the years? “Most of the time they’re not sure how to take it until you do the impression in front of them and they find out the kind of person you are,” said Caliendo.

Caliendo’s character work and impressions are well-known from his time on “MADtv” and Fox NFL Sunday. But nothing quite prepared him for John Madden, who he first met at a Super Bowl game.

“I had been doing an impression of him for eight or 10 years by that point, it was what I was known for mostly at the time,” Caliendo said.

“Jimmy Johnson was standing next to him, and I was on the other side of Jimmy like, ‘Can you believe I’m this close to Madden?’ And Jimmy says, ‘What? You haven’t met him?’ He taps Madden on the shoulder and Madden turns and is like (growls Madden-like). He was with his grandkids and had this look on his face of pure terror. So I broke the ice with the kids and I’m like, ‘Hey, I’m the guy who talks like your grandfather. (Madden voice) ‘If you don’t finish your dinner, you don’t get any dessert!’

“The kids look at Madden. They look at me. Nothing. It was the longest three seconds in my life. And suddenly the kids start to crack up, and then it was like a light bulb went on in Madden’s head: ‘I get it now!’ ”

But when Caliendo was just starting out, most of his gigs were at college campuses. And one performance was memorably excruciating.