Stop with the Kicking

Kevin Pollak treats his 1991 HBO hour Stop with the Kicking as a dedicated showcase for his celebrity impressions. Instead of stringing together random voices, he builds extended premises to house them. He explains the birds and the bees as Christopher Walken, sends Arnold Schwarzenegger to a dance club, and anchors the set with a long routine that recasts the crew of the Starship Enterprise with actors like Peter Falk and Christopher Lloyd.

Directed by David Steinberg, the broadcast caught Pollak just as his film career was gaining serious momentum following roles in Avalon and L.A. Story. He was a year away from a dramatic breakout in A Few Good Men, and the performance highlights the technical control that made him a reliable character actor. He does find time for observational material on religion and the police, but the most memorable moments are structural oddities. He takes an extended detour to mock the rise of obscure martial arts actor Jeff Speakman, and includes a staged intermission segment where Pollak practices a Robin Williams impression in a mirror, only to have the actual Williams standing nearby to loudly correct his mechanics.