A comedian’s impression of a dearly departed food icon is touching hearts — and tickling funny bones.
On Jan. 13, Jonathan Kite posted a video to TikTok and Instagram in which he took an imaginary trip to Costco as Anthony Bourdain, the chef, author, TV personality and bastion of acerbic culinary greatness who died by suicide in 2018.
“Welcome to the holy temple of high-calorie indulgence, Costco, a land of abundance where your wildest snack dreams and deepest regrets are sold by the pound,” Kite says in the video, utilizing his best — nay, anyone’s best — Bourdain impression. “Everywhere you look, rolling fields of clothing, couches and cod.”
Kite, threaded in a leather jacket, scarf and sunglasses much like Bourdain was known to wear himself, walks around the “mounds of groceries and flat screen TVs” in the warehouse store’s aisles before sampling the food court’s wares.
“First, the chicken bake: Somewhere between a calzone and a fever dream, it’s packed with chicken, bacon and enough cheese to make your cardiologist cry,” he says.
Kite-as-Bourdain calls his next treat, the double chunk chocolate cookie, “so dense it probably has its own gravitational pull.”
“Finally, the pièce de résistance: the soft serve ice cream sundae, a towering edifice of dairy majesty topped with a cherry-colored mystery sauce that whispers, ‘I’m probably not fruit, but I dare you to care,’” he says.
“Costco’s food court isn’t a Michelin-star destination, but it is an honest, greasy love letter, so no matter what, it’ll affect your heart,” he concludes the clip. “Eat well, live boldly and as always, save room for dessert — or at least, the next free sample.”
Kite’s “spot-on” impression scored 2.8 million views on Instagram, 2.1 million on TikTok and thousands of positive reactions.
“I thought this was lip synced at first,” commented one Instagram user.
“This may be the greatest impersonation of all time,” wrote another.
“Costco Confidential 👏,” joked yet another, referencing “Kitchen Confidential,” Bourdain’s bestselling book published in 2000.
“Tony would be proud and annoyed by this amazing performance! Great writing!!” a TikTok user commented.
Several folks admitted that his impression brought them to tears.
“Bro I cried a little,” wrote a TikTok user, while someone on Instagram said, “I cried yesterday when I saw this on TikTok. I immediately sent you a message on IG to thank you from the bottom of my heart. You reignited something in all of our souls.”
“This hurts in a good way,” commented another TikTok user. “Like hearing a voicemail from a loved one who is no longer here.”
Kite says his impression riffs on Bourdain’s distinct speaking voice and cadence, heard in interviews as well as popular culinary travel shows like “A Cook’s Tour” on the Food Network, “No Reservations” on the Travel Channel and “Parts Unknown” on CNN.
“There’s a thoughtfulness to his poetry, to his rhythm. But it’s not so elevated that it sort of isolates people,” Kite tells TODAY.com about honing the impression — one that he describes as a smoker with a deep register and an ASMR-like quality.
“He talked differently in life than he did in those voiceovers,” Kite adds. “There’s a melody that we can all sort of rhythmically understand. Sonically, it sounds pleasing and sort of comforting.”
Kite’s been doing Bourdain for years: His very first TikTok posted in 2020 includes it, but his impression actually originates from 2017.
“My father had been diagnosed with cancer, and I went home (to Chicago) to spend time with him before his surgery,” Kite, who lives in Los Angeles, says. After his father recovered, he drove back to L.A. — and on the way, he learned a new voice.
“I had a lot of time to myself, a lot of thoughts in my head,” Kite says. “Emotionally, I was just very grateful and very thankful and in an open space mentally, driving across the country, and I always enjoyed Anthony Bourdain.”
The actor, who played Oleg Golishevsky on sitcom “2 Broke Girls” for six seasons, says he honed his talent for accents and impressions for the Jamie Foxx-produced sketch show “In the Flow with Affion Crockett,” which aired on Fox in 2011.
Kite plans on doing more of his Bourdain impression — but in a respectful way.
“I don’t want to say things that he wouldn’t say, but I have to update, because he’s not around anymore,” he says.
In the time since, Kite has built a roster of impressions from Ryan Reynolds to Mark Wahlberg, but it’s his Bourdain impression that has elicited such an emotional response from the internet — something that is not lost on the comedian.
“It’s cool that you can celebrate someone in a respectful way after they’re gone, because he made people feel so much. I’m just happy to be a part of it,” Kite says. “I appreciated what he was for a culture, for a people.”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
