Neil Diamond tribute here Sept. 24

He looks nothing like Neil Diamond. More like Patrick Swayze, say fans.

It is a given that after every performance there will be at least a couple of women who ask Joey if he knows who he looks like.

"As soon as I hear, 'Do you know who you look like?', I know they will want to tell me, 'Patrick Swayze', so I answer: 'Danny Devito?' . I make a joke out of it now. It took getting used to being asked almost every day. At first it was somewhat eerie. Now I see it as a sort of icebreaker for conversation."

Joey may not look like Neil Diamond, but he sure sounds like him.

At every show there is at least one patron that will ask a venue staff member if he's lip-syncing. "I am thrilled to hear that," he says, "because it is the ultimate compliment and all the hours of perfecting the impersonation have been worth the effort."

He has two costume changes for every show. For the first set, he wears the mid-seventies garb with the bell-bottoms and huge collars and vest.... The second set is glittery pastel-sequined shirts with scarfs.

Born in Montreal, the 37-year-old was blessed with the gift of mimicry and was bestowed with the passion for music through his dad who played records and sang around the house.

"My dad sang constantly and I remember watching the thick 78-speed records he brought over from his native Italy spin on the turntable. I would sing along to those Italian songs. When I was six, he gave me a few quarters to buy discount records that were being sold at this mom-and-pop neighbourhood record store. Soon I was singing all the time."

"I was introduced to karaoke about eight years ago by an actor friend. I joined group of actors who would get together weekly to sharpen and hone their talents as performers. I took to it immediately, especially since I could now work on vocal impersonations."

Joey's impersonations include Elton John, Gordon Lightfoot, James Taylor and, Creed lead singer,   To read more go to www.leamingtonpostandshopper.com.