Republicans stop laughing after Obama impersonator turns jokes on them | Richard Adams

Obama impersonator Reggie Brown on stage at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans. Photograph: Patrick Semansky/AP

Maybe it was the steamy weather in New Orleans but delegates at the Republican Leadership Conference quickly lost their sense of humour when an Obama impersonator switched from jokes at the president's expense to poking fun at the Republican presidential contenders.

Reggie Brown, a comedian and Obama look-alike, had attendees rolling in the aisles with his racially-tinged one-liners aimed at Obama, including one referring to Obama's parentage:

My favourite month is February, Black history month. You see, Michelle celebrates the full month, and I celebrate half.

But the laughs turned to boos when Brown began targetting Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Tim Pawlenty among the Republican presidential contenders, with the conference organiser turning off the microphone and having Brown escorted from the stage.

Reggie Brown performing at the Republican Leadership Conference

The president of the Republican Leadership Conference, Charlie Davis, said he made the decision to take Brown off, telling the Washington Post: "I pulled him off the stage. I just thought he had gone too far. He was funny the first 10 or 15 minutes, but it was inappropriate, it was getting ridiculous."

Organisers also blamed the abrupt finish on Brown's act over-running its alloted time slot.

The first part of Brown's act made reference to the so-called "birther" controversy, mentioning Obama's place of birth Hawaii "or, as the Tea Partiers still call it, Kenya" before venturing further into dangerous territory in comparing the president's mother to the Kardashian sisters reality TV stars:

My father was a black man from Kenya and my mother was a white woman from Kansas. So, yes, my mother loved a black man and, no, she was not a Kardashian.

The allusion there – apparently understood by the largely middle-aged Republican audience – is to Kim and Khloe Kardashian, who have both had relationships with high profile black athletes, with Khloe married to Lakers star Lamar Odom.

Brown's act included "computer technology to predict what Michelle and I are going to look like at the end of my first term," flashing up a photograph of Redd Foxx from the 1970s sitcom Sanford and Son (the US version of the British comedy Steptoe and Son)

Scattered boos started when Brown/Obama began making fun of the various Republican presidential contenders, and was just starting on a joke about Michele Bachmann when the sound was cut and a moderator appeared to usher Brown off the stage.

How bad was Brown's act? According to Ta-Nehisi Coates at the Atlantic:

It doesn't strike me as offensive so much as really, really, really off in every way possible. Just a lack of self-awareness all around.

You can watch the full 20 minutes of Brown's act here, starting from the 2:04 mark.

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