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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The GOP's 'boneheaded' Obama impersonator 'debacle'

New York – Obama mimic Reggie Brown was pulled from the stage at the Republican Leadership Conference this weekend, after telling a series of off-color jokes

The video: The Louisiana state GOP had a surprise for attendees of the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans this weekend: A comedy routine from Obama impersonator Reggie Brown. In 18 minutes, Brown managed to get off "a series of off-color jokes poking fun at Obama's biracial heritage and a gay member of Congress," as well as Mormons, Michelle Obama, and several GOP presidential candidates, says The Washington Post. (Watch the video below.) At one point, Brown displayed a picture of Fred Sanford from TV's Sanford and Sons, suggesting that's what President Obama would look like when he left office. The organizers cut off Brown's mic and escorted him from the stage before his act was finished. "I just thought he had gone too far," said RLC president Charlie Davis. "He was funny the first 10 or 15 minutes, but it was inappropriate, it was getting ridiculous."

The reaction: The media has largely made it sound like the audience was "offended that Brown made jokes about black people in hideously poor taste," says Kirsten Boyd Johnson at?Wonkette. Not true. They were "in stitches" through all the awful "'Obama is black' jokes." Brown only got booed when he started roasting Republicans. Well, his act was really "more tone deaf than offensive," says Joshua Green in The Atlantic. But no doubt, it was a "boneheaded" decision to hire him. Brown's impersonation is quite good, but if anything, he "seems like quite a fan" of Obama, which makes him an odd choice for a GOP event. The RLC could have avoided this "debacle" if they'd just watched Brown's act on YouTube. (Judge for yourself below, or watch the entire routine.)

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Obama impersonator pulled from Republican Leadership Conference stage

 

Barack Obama impersonator Reggie Brown briefly stole the spotlight this weekend at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans after making a series of racial jokes and taking digs at several 2012 GOP candidates--the stars of the show--before being pulled from the stage.

When the routine mocked the president and other Democrats, it seemed to get a positive reception from the conservative audience--but the crowd let loose a smattering of groans and boos when Republicans became the butt of jokes.

Brown opened by saying Obama only celebrates half of Black History Month because he is biracial, that the president's "mother loved a black man, and no, she was not a Kardashian," referencing the reality-show sisters who have dated and/or married black men. Brown later compared the Obamas to the stars of "Sanford and Son," to wide laughter.

But when Brown started taking on the GOP's base, things grew tenser. He insulted Barbara Bush's appearance, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's Mormon faith, suggested former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty doesn't have a spine, and joked about former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Just when he was about to make a dig about Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) the comedian was ushered off stage.

As media outlets reported, former Republican National Committee spokesman and current GOP strategist Doug Heye responded to the performance via Twitter, writing: "Wonder why many minorities have problems with GOP? Hiring Obama impersonator to tell 'black jokes' at SRLC, for starters. Our own fault."

Brown was asked on CNN Monday morning if he believes he was yanked due to content or for time. "I do believe that I was over time for a few minutes and I also believe the material was starting to get to a point to where maybe they started to feel uncomfortable about where it was going," Brown said.

Event organizer Charlie Davis told The Ticket via email Monday morning: "I pulled him because his content was inappropriate for the conference."

After asking Davis why Brown wasn't pulled off stage sooner if the comments were "inappropriate," Davis followed up, writing:

The RLC is designed to showcase the top Republican leaders and ideas in the country. To talk about limited government, fiscal responsibility and rebuilding the American economy.

Had I been in the room I would have pulled him sooner. We have zero tolerance for racially insensitive jokes. As soon as I realized what was going on I rushed backstage and had him pulled.

You can watch highlights of Brown's set below:

UPDATE 10:35am EST: Event organizer Charlie Davis confirmed to The Ticket that Brown was pulled for "inappropriate" content.

UPDATE 11:55am EST: Davis follows up to say the racial comments were "inappropriate."

(Photo of Brown: Patrick Semansky/AP)

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