Jason Hewlett isn’t a magician, but he does a disappearing trick on stage when he becomes Jim Carrey, Michael Jackson and Elton John.

Audiences forget they are looking at a 30-year-old father of three when he adopts the voice, body language and costuming of musical icons from the past several decades.

As the most popular impressionist entertainer in Utah, Jason has performed for hundreds of corporate parties and conventions. Recently he did a rare public performance at the Sandy Amphitheater, and old friends came up to say things like, “I can’t believe you made a career out of all that weird stuff you used to do at scouts!”

Growing up, Jason planned to be an NBA player. Although that career path wasn’t a slam dunk, he does draw a crowd when he takes the floor — in fact, he is currently booked a year out.

Many local business leaders have seen his routine more than once, and they aren’t out of laughs yet. One of his favorite all-time performances was for Pleasant Grove’s Close to My Heart. (Turn the page to find out why.)

Jason’s overexaggerated characterization of musical artists brings laughter — and sometimes tears — to his audiences both in and outside Utah County.

Not bad for a guy who has never had a real job and talked his wife into marrying him even though the only gigs he was booking at the time were for free.

“I somehow convinced her to believe in me,” he says. “I am a lucky boy. I can’t believe I made that sale.”

Here’s a portion of the conversation Jason and I had right after he spontaneously bought an electric guitar on the way to the Utah Valley Magazine offices.

UV: Take me through a performance day.
Jason: I get up at 8 and feed the kids, change them. It’s about a two-hour process just to do that because we have three kids under age 2 1/2. Then I check my e-mail. By mid-afternoon, I get showered. I like to show up three hours early to a performance because there are always glitches with the sound system. And then I get paid to wait my turn. I feel like a pitcher in the bull pen just waiting to get in. People usually tell me I’ll go on around 8 o’clock, and it’s usually an hour or two later than that. I always do the best show I can. I’ve been lucky to have my shows received with standing ovations.

UV: Do your performances vary or do you deliver the same routine each night?
Jason: I have a proven show, and I’m confident in it. I do customize a few things for my clients, and that gets a great response. I have an hour and a half that I can throw in or out. If they are liking the ‘70s, I do more of that. There are staples in my show such as Michael Jackson, Elton John, Bee Gees, Ricky Martin and Jim Carrey. When you go to a concert you hope the artist will play his greatest hits. Well, those impressions are my greatest hits. Ninety-five percent of the time I get great responses. The other 5 percent keep me guessing.

UV: Do you have a busy season?
Jason: My busy season is December when I do company Christmas parties. It used to be that I would work all year to get gigs for December, and that would sustain us through the whole year. Now I work all year — I do about three corporate dates a week. Luckily, they are mostly in Utah. I only have to perform out of state five to 10 days per month.

UV: When you travel, what is your airplane routine?
Jason: I always say hello to the person next to me. I usually don’t share with them what I do for a living because I don’t want them to ask me to do impressions on the plane. I like to read or write in my journal. I write in my journal almost every day. I’ve found that when I start writing I might mention the negatives — such as how an audience didn’t react like I thought. But by the end of my entry I am writing about how grateful I am for my life. Writing in my journal helps me think clearly and positively.

UV: What other jobs have you had?
Jason: I’ve never had a real job. I tried to work for my dad a little bit after my mission. He owned a golf company. I was getting a paycheck, but I didn’t deserve it because all I was doing was researching Mickey Mouse voices.

UV: Are your parents funny?
Jason: My mom is very funny, and the music comes from my dad’s side. On my mom’s side, my grandpa was hilarious. He died when I was 2 or 3, but I have tapes of him doing Donald Duck at me and I am laughing so hard that I am crying.

UV: In high school were you the class clown?
Jason: If you asked somebody from my high school, I think they would say no. I was the studentbody president at Waterford in Sandy, which is a private school. I was an honors student and played basketball. I don’t think people would call me a funny guy — my parents were paying too much money for me to be messing around at school.

UV: What did your teachers think of you?
Jason: I had a couple of teachers who took me under their wing. They would say, “Just don’t do your stuff in class, and I’ll give you time at the end.” That changed my life.

UV: What is your best performance of all time?
Jason: One of the funniest ones I did was for Close to My Heart. They had 2,000 women there — it doesn’t get better than that! They were all screaming, jumping up and down. And I’m up there thinking, “This is the funniest thing ever!” I started to lose it while I was on stage because it was so crazy and fun. Another time I was asked to do 15 minutes for the Champions Challenge Golf Tournament. At the end, Jack Nicklaus started the standing ovation. That was one of the highlights of my life.

UV: Do you ever feel nervous?
Jason: Never. I’ve always felt that I belonged up there. I love to hear laughter — I thrive off audience reaction. The more they give me, the more I can give them.

UV: Favorite sound?
Jason: Babies laughing.

UV: What makes you laugh?
Jason: Listening to music and thinking of what I could do with it to make it funny. I love watching other one-man performers.

UV: Favorite TV shows?
Jason: “The Big Idea” and “ESPN News.” As far as comedies, I like “The Office” or “Seinfeld.”

UV: Favorite place to eat out?
Jason: I’m always on a diet. I struggle with my weight. A guy at a show told me I needed to lose 20 pounds. Ever since then I’ve been trying to keep it off. I have to look the part.

UV: Do you feel like you’ve “made it”?
Jason: My original goal was to make enough money to live. And I’m doing that. Now I’m trying to reinvest so we can have a greater influence for good by promoting other artists who want to perform but don’t want to compromise their values. My real dream is to have my own theater in Park City and be the Danny Gans of Park City. I could perform for all those families who don’t know what to do with themselves on a summer night.

UV: What is it like to perform for people you know?
Jason: I did my first headline gig at the Sandy Amphitheater a few days ago. I was nervous nobody would come, but between 2,000 and 3,000 people showed up. I saw so many old friends. People said, “I remember when you were doing that in church! I can’t believe you made a career out of all that weird stuff you used to do at scouts!”

UV: Wow! Your routine has been in the making for years. With your busy December schedule, are you a Christmas Eve shopper?
Jason: I do it early. Before I left on my mission, I took about a week and bought gifts for my brothers and sisters and parents for their birthdays and anniversaries — everything I would miss for two years. I put them all in the basement with instructions. I’ve always liked to plan ahead. I got my Eagle Scout really early. What can I say? I like to be prepared.

UV: Thanks for doing this interview. Now can you do an impression of me?
Jason: All I’d have to do is type really fast.