Iman Crosson (born March 27, 1982), better known by his stage name Alphacat, is an American

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

, and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

personality known for his impersonations of former

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

and his starring role in independent film ''Along the Roadside''.

YouTube and Barack Obama impressions

On December 14, 2005, a 23-year-old Crosson opened a YouTube account with screen name Alphacat. In July 2008, at the urging of his fellow waiters Crosson created spoof videos of then U.S. presidential candidate

During the summer of the 2008

U.S. Presidential election The election of the president and the vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C., cast ballots not direc ...

campaign, Crosson's 30-second video won Denny's Restaurant's nationwide contest for the best

of the then-candidate

. He said that he "went from unemployed to self-employed in literally a matter of a month." Crosson moved from New York to California, obtained an agent specializing in helping talent cross over from online to mainstream, and was invited to be on ''America's Got Talent.'' On YouTube, Crosson specialized in mashing up his Obama impersonations with hip-hop songs, his spoofs of Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" and T.I.'s "Whatever I Like" being viewed 20 million times each. After Obama's January 2009 inauguration, Crosson was featured on several entertainment and news television shows,

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

s, and newspapers. Crosson was called a "YouTube sensation" by

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

Neil Cavuto Neil Patrick Cavuto (born September 22, 1958) is an American television news anchor, executive, commentator, and business journalist for Fox News. He hosts three television programs: ''Your World with Neil Cavuto'' and '' Cavuto Live,'' both on F ...

. Crosson's post-inaugural work included

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-Diegetic#Film sound and music, diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, th ...

s in '' Newsweek's'' ''The District'', a video series in which Crosson narrated Obama's first months in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

from the President's

point of view Point of view or Points of View may refer to: Concept and technique * Point of view (philosophy), an attitude how one sees or thinks of something * Point of view (literature) or narrative mode, the perspective of the narrative voice; the prono ...

."The District Ep. 1 The Challenges We Face - Newsweek.com" video
archive
which aired on newsweek.com on February 2, 2009, and was posted on YouTube's "NewsweekVideo" channel
archive
on February 4, 2009. The word "District" refers to the District of Columbia (DC), the U.S. capital. ''The District'' season finale "'The District' , Ep. 9 , Season Finale -- video.newsweek.com"
archive
aired on March 30, 2009. Crosson impersonated Obama at the 66th Annual

Radio and Television Correspondents' Association The Radio and Television Correspondents' Association of Washington, D.C. (RTCA) is an American broadcast journalism group of news reporters from around the world who cover the United States Congress. In October 2012, Crosson performed as Obama in the YouTube series ''

Epic Rap Battles of History ''Epic Rap Battles of History'' (ERB) is a YouTube web series and music project created by Peter "Nice Peter" Shukoff and Lloyd "EpicLLOYD" Ahlquist. The series pits historical and pop culture figures against one another in a rap battle format. ...

'' in the " Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney" episode, the

music single In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separate ...

of which was

certified gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. Additionally, Crosson appeared as President Broccoli Obama in an episode of

The Annoying Orange ''Annoying Orange'' is an American live-action/animated comedy web series created by Dane Boedigheimer (known online as DaneBoe). The series follows an anthropomorphic orange who annoys fruits, vegetables, and various other objects by telling ...

. In December 2013, Crosson contributed to an Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare") health care exchange's "Tell a friend – Get covered" social media campaign for raising awareness among young Americans to enroll in Obamacare-compliant health insurance, by releasing a video spoof of

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

's "

Drop It Like It's Hot "Drop It Like It's Hot" is a song by American rapper Snoop Dogg featuring fellow American musician Pharrell Williams. It was released on September 27, 2004, as the lead single from Snoop Dogg's seventh studio album, '' R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): T ...

." In February 2014, YouTube content creators including Crosson met with U.S. President Obama at the White House to discuss ways in which government could connect with the content creators' viewers, concerning awareness of and enrollment in health insurance policies and other issues. On May 28, 2014 Crosson as well as other

rs and

Viners Viners is a United Kingdom brand of cutlery, kitchenware and dinnerware products, founded in 1901 in Sheffield, England by Adolphe Viener and his sons. By the 1960s, it had expanded to subsidiaries in Ireland, Australia and France. In mid-2000, ...

( Andrew Bachelor (King Bach) and

DeStorm Power DeStorm Power ( ) is an American Internet personality who began his career on the social media platform YouTube. Life and career The fourth of eight siblings, Power was born in Arlington County, Virginia and raised in Baltimore, Maryland by h ...

) appeared in

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "Will-I-am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is the founding and lead member of the musical group Black Eyed Peas. ...

's Vine music video for "

It's My Birthday "It's My Birthday" (originally "Birthday") is a song by American rapper will.i.am featuring American singer Cody Wise. The song was recorded in 2014 and released as a single in Australia on May 27. The song is about celebrating every day as if ...

" ft. Cody Wise. Crosson has been the voice actor of Barack Obama in ''

Our Cartoon President ''Our Cartoon President'' is an American adult animated satirical television series that premiered on February 11, 2018 and ended on November 8, 2020, on Showtime. The series was created by Stephen Colbert, Chris Licht, Matt Lappin, Tim Luecke ...

''.

Films

Crosson played the male lead role in the

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

''Along the Roadside'' with supporting actor

Michael Madsen Michael Søren Madsen (born September 25, 1957) is an American actor. He has starred in many films and television series, frequently collaborating with director Quentin Tarantino, most famously in the latter's debut film ''Reservoir Dogs'' (19 ...

, the film debuting at the February 2013

FEST Fest may refer to: * Fest, Danish/German/Norwegian/Swedish/Breton for party * Fest, a type of festival * The Fest, music festival in Gainesville, Florida * Joachim Fest (1926–2006), German historian and journalist * ''Fest Magazine'', is an Edin ...

with its commercial release on March 17, 2015. Crosson played U.S. President Barack Obama in the 2016 Bollywood comedy sequel, '' Tere Bin Laden: Dead or Alive'', which was filmed in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, India.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crosson, Iman 1982 births Living people African-American male actors Male actors from California American impressionists (entertainers) Wright State University alumni RPM channels RPM people American YouTubers YouTube channels launched in 2005 21st-century American comedians People from Louisville, Kentucky

YouTube and Barack Obama impressions

Films

See also

References

External links