TIME: Fauxbamas: The Search for a Good Obama Mimic
By M.J. Stephey
Dec. 10, 2008
If there's one thing this country needs — other than a cosmic bailout — it's a decent Obama impersonator. Saturday Night Live's Fred Armisen, a 42-year-old comedian of white and Asian heritage, just doesn't cut it, at least according to the President-elect, who said of Armisen during the presidential campaign, "Compared to Tina Fey and what she's doing with Governor Palin, my imitator isn't doing as great of a job."...
Admittedly, America's comics have had it easy for the past 16 years. George W. Bush's malapropisms and Bill Clinton's hoarse Bubba twang made them broad targets for satire. Obama's biracial heritage and personal gravitas make him a far more difficult President to imitate — and that's before taking his unique preacher-professor cadences into account. "It's somewhere between Ted Koppel and an alien," impressionist Frank Caliendo said of Obama's voice during an appearance on Late Show with David Letterman, admitting he's struggled with his Obama impression (and not just because he happens to be a short, fleshy white dude). Another comedian, Donald Glover, told Tina Brown's Daily Beast that Obama's speech sounds like a cross between Laurence Olivier and Elvis Presley....
But while there might be a shortage of convincing Obama doppelgangers on TV, the same cannot be said of YouTube. The site boasts thousands of mimics, ranging from excruciatingly off-the-mark to the exceptionally spot-on. Take Iman Crossun, a 26-year-old Ohio native, who posted his first Obama impression three months ago. "I just thought it would be funny," Crossun told TIME from his new home in Los Angeles. His videos now draw hundreds of thousands of viewers, which prompted the aspiring actor to move to L.A. "As of yesterday, I finally have a manager," he said....
(Link to Iman Crossun video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt_TnQqkVyk)
***
Imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery, but some blame Obama for the lack of effective satire. Novelist Joan Didion recently told a group of New Yorkers that because of the political wunderkind, America has become an "irony-free" zone. "You know, you're allowed to laugh at him," Daily Show host Jon Stewart quipped in July to an unresponsive audience after several Obama jokes fell flat....
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1865369,00.html?cnn=yes
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
