For Caliendo, it's about favorable impressions

Don't know the name Frank Caliendo? That's OK. Even after seven years on "MADtv," countless appearances on Fox's football programs, and his own show, "Frank TV," on TBS, Caliendo knows people have a hard time placing him. That's probably because he's so good at his job, mainly, creating uncanny impressions of celebrities ranging from Robin Williams to Dr. Phil.

"Sometimes you say Frank Caliendo, and people are like, 'Who?' " says Caliendo, who plays the South Shore Music Circus tonight and the Cape Cod Melody Tent tomorrow. "Then you go, the guy who does the Madden, the guy who does the Bush impression. 'Oh, yeah! That guy.' "

The dirty little secret to most impressions, including Caliendo's, is to grab onto a couple of features and exaggerate them, rather than go for complete accuracy. Caliendo admits that football commenta-tor John Madden, for example, doesn't act exactly the way he portrays him, but just duplicating what Madden does wouldn't be funny.

"If I can't do an impression really well, that's what I do - make it a goofy, cartoonier voice. And people get mad, they're like, 'You're not that good at that one.' Well, you're right. I don't care. But was it funny? Did you laugh? Fine with me."

Plus, as some critics pointed out, it can be tough for the cherubic Caliendo to physically inhabit characters like the wiry Al Pacino. "I watch myself and go, 'Geez, you are just a weirdo,' " says Caliendo. "A chubby weirdo. 'Frank TV' to me, it's funny because I think of it as live action 'South Park' - a bunch of little round guys running around."

Caliendo's live act does feature his impressions but doesn't rely on them completely. "People who come and see my act see a lot of different stuff that I do," he says. "The impressions are in there - it's what I do best, so why should I deny that?"

And if you happen to forget when "Frank TV" returns this fall, don't worry, you'll see an aggressive ad campaign during the baseball playoffs on TBS again this year.

"I'm going to apologize in advance," he says. "but if you're seeing me too much, it means your baseball team's winning."

Back to the stage

Last October, Jimmy Tingle faced a tough decision - renew the lease on his Off Broadway Theatre in Davis Square or give up on five years of hard work booking an eclectic mix of stand-up comedians, musicians, and plays. He chose the latter, and he hasn't looked back.

"I find that I always have had a lot of balls in the air, and it's exhausting, trying to juggle so many things," he says. "I don't want to do it anymore. Now I'm working on this show, let me concentrate on making a really good show."

The new show, which begins a three-week run at Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown, is "Jimmy Tingle for President." And while running a theater may have been draining for Tingle, it also allowed him all the stage time he wanted, a big reason why he says the new show is his best yet.

"I'm a much better performer and writer than I think I ever was. I'm a lot more comfortable on stage," he says. "I performed a lot of shows there for a lot of hours on stage."

As always, Tingle focuses on the topical, using the premise of a faux political campaign. Everyone from Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh to '60s comedian Pat Paulsen has used that formula, but Tingle says it fits his material.

"I'm talking about these issues that the candidates are talking about, and they're almost like comedic platforms," he says, mentioning his proposal for underwater substance abuse treatment centers and wind-power traffic lights.

Even though Tingle says he has learned his lesson and is trying to focus on one thing, he always has plans for the future. And now he should have time to pursue them.

"I just have a lot of things I want to do professionally," he says. "I want to do this show, I want to finish a film that I'm working on, I have other ideas for radio shows, television shows. And I want to get to all of these things before I'm 108 years old."

Around town

Maria Ciampa, Sean Sullivan, and Christian Lynch are on the bill tonight and tomorrow at the Comedy Studio. . . . Bob Gautreau presents Comics in Concert tomorrow at 6 p.m. at Spiegel Auditorium in Cambridge with Denise Richardson, Amy Tee (who is in the upcoming film "Laughing Matters . . . More!"), and Ann Marie King, followed by Gautreau's show, "Xmas in July," at 8. . . . Paula Poundstone plays two shows at Stoneham Theatre Thursday.