Little did Michael Winslow realize 25 years ago that the sound-effects comedy he was doing in the first “Police Academy” movies would turn into a music mini-phenomenon.

“The beatboxers are the ones who say I gave them the inspiration to start doing it,” Winslow said in a telephone interview from his home in central Florida. “Glad to help the cause.”

Beatboxers — who make rap sound effects with their voices and bodies — are emulating part of what Winslow has been doing for more than 30 years.

The 50-year-old Washington state native returns to Penguin’s Comedy Club, inside the Freight House Complex in downtown Davenport, for four shows beginning tonight.

His appearances come just as commercials for the Isle hotels — which was Penguin’s former home in Bettendorf — are hitting television.

Winslow, who claims more than 10,000 voices and sound effects in his verbal repertoire, got the chance to riff while playing a telephone operator in the casino commercials.

“I thought, ‘What can I get away with? Can I get my own slot machine?’ ” he said.

On the larger screen, the veteran of seven “Police Academy” movies and “Spaceballs” appears in “The Great Buck Howard” in a scene that also features stars Colin Hanks, John Malkovich and Gary Coleman.

“It was tough to get us all in a frame,” said Winslow, who is also at work on a children’s TV series with Bill Cosby.

The “Police Academy” movies paved the way for everything that’s happened since, he said.

“If you use it right, you get the chance to do other things,” he said. “There’s always somebody saying, ‘What are you doing next?’ ”

He calls his performance a “soundscape,” mixing impersonations with music and visual effects.

“People really need to relax and take a few minutes to help them forget about their problems. My job is to let them forget about the rent,” he said. “I want to make sure people forget about outside.”