In June of 2011, a group of prominent political figures got together in New Orleans for the Republican Leadership Convention. But the man who stole the show was not a presidential contender—in fact, he was not a politician at all.
On the third day of the convention, Barack Obama impersonator Reggie Brown delivered a bi-partisan comedy sketch that made headlines. The crowd laughed at his jokes about Joe Biden, Anthony Weiner and Bill Clinton, but some began to jeer as Brown made jabs at the Republican presidential contenders. In the middle of a joke about Michelle Bachmann, his microphone was silenced and an RLC liaison emerged from backstage. “That’s it,” he said. “Sorry Reg, your time is up.” Brown, still in character, smiled and gave a presidential wave. “Gotta go!” he told the audience. “God bless you! God bless the United States!”
Moments like this make Brown reflect on the true impact of his work. “Being a performer and speaker, it’s one of my obligations to keep people socially aware,” he said. “I think the media has the power to control what people think by immersing everyone in the message they want to send, and I found that to be true when I got taken offstage at the RLC.”
Aside from the controversy that comes with the territory of political impersonation, Brown truly enjoys his work. “I’m basically living my dream right now,” he said. In recent weeks he has traveled to Africa to entertain a convention of CEOs in Tanzania, performed with the USO for troops in Guam, and appeared at a Microsoft corporate event in Seattle. He also regularly appears on national radio broadcasts and television programs, including his running gig on Fox News’s Governor Mike Huckabee Show. Requests came pouring in after his attention-grabbing RLC performance, giving him the chance to get his own message out to America. Brown appeared on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, HLN's Joy Behar Show, and CNN's John King USA.
His success is due to more than just a lucky resemblance. Brown was signed as a model during his college years, but one unfortunate encounter interrupted that trajectory. “I was actually jumped on my way home one night,” Brown said. “Some kid just blindsided me, and I ended up having to get plates put into my face. That took me out of school and out of modeling; it was probably the lowest point in my life.”
As Brown recovered, he decided to develop a different skill set. “People always said I had a broadcasting voice, so I started taking acting classes and voiceover training,” he said. Soon Brown was working as a radio personality and event announcer.
“In the meantime,” he said, “my brother was the first one to tell me that I looked like a guy named Barack Obama. Once he became senator, I started hearing it all the time. And when the 2008 campaign began, people would tell me every single day.” When Obama won the presidency, Brown decided to try his luck as an impersonator. “The next week I put a video up on the internet and met up with my first manager in Los Angeles, and we went from there.”
Today, Brown is represented by Dustin Gold, CEO of William Gold Entertainment, a talent management agency that develops and brokers America's premier political impressionists, including iconic impostors of Sarah Palin, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. “Dustin is amazing at what he does,” said Brown. “For people who do what I do, it’s basically all about corporate events. But we broke out of that; we work in new media, film, television, radio—every different project that fits within our brand.”
With another presidential election around the bend, business looks promising. Brown is eager to continue with his work. “I think I was born this way for a reason,” he said. “Unlike other people who attempt to make a living out of the Obama character, I do feel a sense of responsibility to uphold a certain level of respect towards the president. I take that seriously!”
Readers are encouraged to follow @iamreggiebrown on Twitter to stay up-to-date on Brown’s upcoming projects.
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