Iman Crosson
Encyclopedia
Iman Crosson is an American actor
, impressionist
, dance
r and singer
known on various Internet
website
s under the pseudonym "Alphacat" and is known for his impersonations
of U.S. President
Barack Obama
, and for his use of the Internet
to independently promote
his career.
Crosson's propensity for dancing, acting and comedy manifested at age 5, his parents enrolling him in a school for the creative arts at age 12. Crosson showed interest in various performing arts. Crosson found early work as an actor at an amusement park, a hip-hop
dancer, and a runway model before entering college to major in dance and minor in acting. He was recruited into a dance company. After moving to New York City
, Crosson worked as a waiter, finding occasional work as a dancer and actor. In 2005, he began promoting his talents on Internet
website
s, especially video sharing website
YouTube
.
During the summer of the 2008 U.S.
Presidential election
campaign, Crosson won Denny's Restaurant
's nationwide contest for the best impressionist
of the then-candidate Barack Obama
. Obama's election victory brought recognition for Crosson's comedy-, vocal-, musical-, and dance-laden video characterizations of a President
during national crisis. Within months of the election, Crosson was featured on numerous entertainment, culture, and news television shows, blog
s and newspapers, and performed at Aretha Franklin
's March 2009 birthday celebration. Two of Crosson's videos occupy spots in the top ten most "favorited" videos on YouTube (Entertainment category). Crosson has had engagements at corporate events, parts in national commercials, and voice-over
parts on Newsweek
.com's The District and on two prime time
television shows. Crosson co-edited and sang in the charity music video "We Are the World 25 for Haiti (YouTube Edition)
," whose participants were collectively named ABC News' "Persons of the Week" by Diane Sawyer
. He also spoke at the 66th Annual Radio and Television Correspondents' Association
Dinner, impersonating Barack Obama
who was not personally present at the event. Crosson produced "President Obama on Death of Osama bin Laden (SPOOF)
" as a spoof
of Obama's May 1, 2011 speech announcing the death of Osama bin Laden
, the video being named one of the top five Obama impressions
by Matt Wilstein of The Huffington Post
.com.
character at a Cincinnati amusement park. Crosson then landed gigs as a hip-hop
dancer (The Nickelodeon Show
) and a runway model (Essence magazine
fashion show) before entering Wright State University
in Dayton, Ohio, where he studied dance (ballet, jazz, modern, tap, African, hip-hop) with a minor in acting. The Dayton Contemporary Dance Company recruited Crosson into their student company. His experiences impelled the 20-year old to move from the Midwest
to New York City
.
Once in New York, Crosson practiced hip-hop
dancing, performing on the set of MTV
's Wannabe's show and during New York Rangers
halftime show
s. Crosson worked as a waiter while acting in student films and commercials. He said that during this period he was "so stressed out about money" and he "needed to start doing what he enjoyed... quickly." His lack of an agent
limited his recognition, so Crosson took career promotion into his own hands.
account with screen name
Alphacat. Crosson explained that "Alpha
" means leader, "cat" being the slang expression for guy. Crosson later explained, "The alpha part is about the fact that most guys are alpha males in their own right."
Crosson's Alphacat YouTube channel, whose videos originated from what he called "The Lion's Den," was at one time subtitled "YouTube's most diverse channel." His self-produced YouTube videos ranged from comedic, spoof, and dance and physical comedy to serious-issue discussion blog
s, slice of life renditions, and autobiographical blogs. By July 2007, one of Crosson's videos had become a "promoted" video on YouTube's front page, and by November 2007 another of Crosson's videos was "featured" on YouTube's front page. During the June–December 2007 time period, Crosson's channel grew from about 1,500 subscribers to over 5,000 subscribers.
In June, 2008, YouTube suspended Crosson's account in response to a copyright infringement claim from a foreign film production company. Crosson's counterclaim caused YouTube to reinstate his account.
Continuing to work as a waiter in early summer of the election year 2008, Crosson said he did not initially take seriously the "Obama" comments from his co-workers, but "then (he) had an epiphany" and began uploading Obama impersonation videos to his YouTube account.
campaign, Crosson's 30-second video won Denny's Restaurant
's nationwide contest for the best impressionist
of the then-candidate Barack Obama
. He said that he "went from unemployed to self-employed in literally a matter of a month." Saying he "had outgrown New York and needed more space to grow as an artist," Crosson moved from New York to California.
A month before the election, a video of Crosson spoofing Obama preparing for a campaign debate, was posted by YouTube video publisher and Sarah Palin
impressionist Lisa Donovan (LisaNova)
. A week later, Donovan
, whose video description had called Crosson "The Best Barack," also posted Crosson's spoof of Obama in debate. Almost contemporaneously, outside YouTube, Crosson's voiceover work had been combined with the animation of The Denver Post
's editorial cartoonist Mike Keefe
in a video cartoon, "What the Next President Inherits."
On election day
2008, Crosson posted a spoof of Obama singing a variation of T.I.
's song "Whatever You Like," a comedic portrayal of a President-elect
facetiously gloating, "I can do whatever I like." The video was viewed more than 11 million times in its first seven months.
Obama's election victory brought recognition for Crosson's vocal-, musical-, and dance-laden video characterizations of the President
during national crisis. Within YouTube, Crosson's popularity was recognized by an invitation to perform at YouTube Live
in November 2008. Outside cyberspace
, early jobs involved voice-over
work for commercials.
Within a month after Obama's election victory, Crosson said that he had received offers from several agents. In January, 2009, less than six months after posting his first, 30-second Obama impersonation video for the Denny's contest, Crosson was invited to be on the America's Got Talent
television program.
The day before Inauguration Day 2009
, Crosson posted a comedic dance and musical video ("Beyoncé Single Ladies Spoof") spoofing Obama's assumption of the Presidency
, its lyrics including "I got hope on my lips, BlackBerry
on my hip" and repeating "change is on the way, know it."
YouTube
's official listing showed Crosson's spoof videos "T.I. Whatever You Like" (posted November 2008) and "Beyoncé Single Ladies" (posted January 2009) as being the seventh and ninth "most favorited" videos of all time (Entertainment category), having been "favorited" over 142,000 times and over 135,000 times, respectively, as of July 15, 2010.
, The Insider
, New York Daily News), culture (The Atlantic) and news (Fox News
, ABC News
, CNN
, Time
.com) television shows, blog
s and newspapers. Crosson was called a "YouTube sensation" by Fox News
' Neil Cavuto
, who "had a feeling (Crosson) would go very very far." New York
magazine called Crosson "the man who proved Obama can be made funny."
Crosson performed at Aretha Franklin
's sixty-seventh birthday celebration in March 2009.
Crosson's post-inaugural work included voice-over
s in newsweek.com's The District, a video blog series in which Crosson narrates
Obama's first months in Washington
from the President's point of view.
Crosson entered into commercial endorsement agreements with companies, including Sanyo
for its Xacti
camcorders. Crosson collaborated with Rhett and Link
in their March 2009 "Phatdippin' Rap" video, which contained overlays that said each YouTube star used a Sanyo camera for filming, and whose video description contained a hyperlink
to Sanyo's website. The resulting music track "Phatdippin'," including Crosson's Obama impersonation voice, was released on a Rhett and Link
album in January 2010.
The success of Crosson's YouTube videos, recognized by his acceptance into YouTube's "partnership" (ad revenue-sharing) program, reportedly gave him a degree of financial independence permitting him to focus on creative pursuits. Acknowledging YouTube's statement that hundreds of video producers receive thousands of dollars per month in ad revenue-sharing, Reuters
said that Hollywood studios perceive the profitability of the Internet
as an entertainment medium and distribution outlet to be uncertain, noting that "the Web
remains mostly a springboard for performers to launch a career" and citing Crosson in particular as "one of a lucky few."
Crosson's Presidential portrayals were not only musical and dance adaptations, but constituted editorials on the political, racial, ethnic and social issues of a critical time in national history. Two months after Obama's inauguration, in March 2009 Crosson's spoof of T.I.
's "Dead and Gone
" included an introduction: "Have you ever felt the weight of the future of a country on your shoulders?" A musical collaboration with YouTube personality Lisa Lavie
, Crosson's version of "Dead and Gone
" adapted T.I.
's lyrics to support Obama in his wrestling a national crisis in which "so many things are wrong, dead wrong."
In May 2009 Crosson and totallysketch.com followed his earlier Obama impersonation videos with a satire of the personal and political "blame game," transforming Jamie Foxx
's "Blame It (On the Alcohol)
" into a collaborative spoof whose lyrics chide those who blame their situation on the economy ("Blame it on the news, taxpayer blues Blame it on the loans, ... on Bush
, ... on Cheney
).
After the late-2009 disagreement between the Obama administration
and Fox News
, Crosson's newly formed Tour de Force Entertainment LLC produced a collaborative acting, musical, and dance parody
video, "Obama Does Thriller". Crosson's parody was fashioned after Michael Jackson
's 1983 Thriller video, with Crosson playing the Presidential role in a manner sympathetic to Obama and humorously portraying Fox News viewers as zombie
s. The Entertainment Tonight
television program previewed the Thriller parody video, with explanation of the background politics, on October 30, 2009, the day before Halloween
. Asked about certain major media outlets saying that Crosson's video is "a slam at Fox news," Vernetta Jenkins, who played the part of First Lady
Michelle Obama
in the video, responded "With lyrics like 'Fox news is Thriller! It’s a fright! They claim they’re fair and balanced but I know they can’t be right!' This THRILLER parody is definitely a calling on the carpet for Fox News."
In February 2010, Crosson sang in, and with Lisa Lavie
co-edited, a YouTube musical collaboration video "We Are the World 25 for Haiti (YouTube Edition)
" for relief of victims of the January 12, 2010 Haiti earthquake
. A collaboration of 57 unsigned
or independent
YouTube musicians, the YouTube video was posted as a video response to the celebrity version We Are the World 25 for Haiti
that was released eight days earlier. The YouTube collaboration video received its first half-million views on YouTube in two days and became the subject of worldwide media attention, including multiple features on CNN
, and a primetime news broadcast on ABC World News with Diane Sawyer in which the video's participants were named ABC News "Persons of the Week."
Crosson spoke at the 66th Annual Radio and Television Correspondents' Association
Dinner on March 17, 2010, impersonating Barack Obama
who was not personally present at the event.
Crosson's collaborations include comedic spoofs of the "Kendra
" reality television
series, in which Crosson plays the role of professional football player Hank Baskett
, husband of television personality Kendra Wilkinson
who is played by fellow YouTube personality Lisa Lavie
.
Three days after Barack Obama
's May 1, 2011 speech from the East Room of the White House
announcing the death of Osama bin Laden
, Crosson posted a video spoof
, "President Obama on Death of Osama bin Laden (SPOOF)
." The spoof, delivered in rap
and including comedic dancing in an East Room-appearing backdrop, was said to "fast (become) a viral hit, ... (and) .... works in almost every meme
from the last month." The video was viewed at least 233,837 times in its first 24 hours, and accelerated during its second 24 hours to achieve its millionth view about fifty hours after being posted, and its two millionth view about 92 hours after being posted. Bailey Johnson of CBS News
.com contrasted Crosson's rap and dancing performance with Obama's "model of confidence, restraint, and calm authority," further stating that the video "seems to perfectly capture the national mood." Al Jazeera remarked that Crosson's satirical interpretation "cuts through the usual diplomatic platitudes and delivers - what seems to be - a more honest and rhythmically tuned account of what happened." Matt Wilstein of The Huffington Post
.com named the video among the top five Obama impressions
.
Crosson expressed that it is his dream to "perform Obama for Obama," that is, to perform for President Obama himself. "My ultimate hope is that Obama will see it one day and laugh."
About his creation of YouTube videos, Crosson explained, "I'm a one-man band. I write 'em, edit 'em, post 'em on YouTube. I come up with bullet points I want to touch upon and I just turn on the camera and sit there and ad-lib
."
Interviewed about his creative process, Crosson explained that his comedic inspiration often comes from random moments of humor in everyday life, and that creating "infectious ideas" comes from observing things seen by everyone but not yet expressed. For artistic innovation he credits self-knowledge—knowing and applying one's own talent and passion.
Interviewed by YouTube on its fifth anniversary in May 2010, Crosson remarked "Now here I am (referring to the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association
dinner two months earlier), impersonating the President of the United States. It's amazing and I'm sitting there on stage thinking: this all stemmed from some videos I posted (on YouTube
). I'm really, at the end of the day, an average Joe. ... I kind of shy away from (celebrity); I'd rather just be that guy on YouTube--for now."
Contrasting to entertainers who rely on blue humor
, Crosson remarked "One thing that has been important to me is to make it funny without making it profane or obscene."
Crosson's facebook page indicates his political views as "other" but Crosson characterized himself as a "big Barack fan," wanting to "support him with humor and positivity."
CNN
,
TIME
,
Fox News,
Reuters
,
ABC News
,
CBS News
,
and Al Jazeera;
entertainment television including
Entertainment Tonight
,
The Insider
, and
G4 TV
; metropolitan newspapers and magazines; national magazines; radio; online news consolidators and entertainment news websites; and popular commentators.
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, impressionist
Impressionist (entertainment)
An impressionist or a mimic is a performer whose act consists of imitating the voice and mannerisms of others. The word usually refers to a professional comedian/entertainer who specializes in such performances and has developed a wide repertoire of impressions, including adding to them, often to...
, dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
r and singer
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
known on various Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
s under the pseudonym "Alphacat" and is known for his impersonations
Impressionist (entertainment)
An impressionist or a mimic is a performer whose act consists of imitating the voice and mannerisms of others. The word usually refers to a professional comedian/entertainer who specializes in such performances and has developed a wide repertoire of impressions, including adding to them, often to...
of U.S. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, and for his use of the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
to independently promote
Promotion (marketing)
Promotion is one of the four elements of marketing mix . It is the communication link between sellers and buyers for the purpose of influencing, informing, or persuading a potential buyer's purchasing decision....
his career.
Crosson's propensity for dancing, acting and comedy manifested at age 5, his parents enrolling him in a school for the creative arts at age 12. Crosson showed interest in various performing arts. Crosson found early work as an actor at an amusement park, a hip-hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
dancer, and a runway model before entering college to major in dance and minor in acting. He was recruited into a dance company. After moving to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Crosson worked as a waiter, finding occasional work as a dancer and actor. In 2005, he began promoting his talents on Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
s, especially video sharing website
Video hosting service
A video hosting service allows individuals to upload video clips to an Internet website. The video host will then store the video on its server, and show the individual different types of code to allow others to view this video...
YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
During the summer of the 2008 U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Presidential election
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
campaign, Crosson won Denny's Restaurant
Denny's
Denny's is a full-service coffee shop/family restaurant chain. It operates over 1,500 restaurants in the United States , Canada, Curaçao, Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica, Japan , Mexico, New Zealand, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.Denny's is known for always being...
's nationwide contest for the best impressionist
Impressionist (entertainment)
An impressionist or a mimic is a performer whose act consists of imitating the voice and mannerisms of others. The word usually refers to a professional comedian/entertainer who specializes in such performances and has developed a wide repertoire of impressions, including adding to them, often to...
of the then-candidate Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
. Obama's election victory brought recognition for Crosson's comedy-, vocal-, musical-, and dance-laden video characterizations of a President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
during national crisis. Within months of the election, Crosson was featured on numerous entertainment, culture, and news television shows, blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
s and newspapers, and performed at Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
's March 2009 birthday celebration. Two of Crosson's videos occupy spots in the top ten most "favorited" videos on YouTube (Entertainment category). Crosson has had engagements at corporate events, parts in national commercials, and voice-over
Voice-over
Voice-over is a production technique where a voice which is not part of the narrative is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations...
parts on Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
.com's The District and on two prime time
Prime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
television shows. Crosson co-edited and sang in the charity music video "We Are the World 25 for Haiti (YouTube Edition)
We Are The World 25 for Haiti (YouTube Edition)
"We Are The World 25 for Haiti " is a massively collaborative charity song and music video produced by Canadian singer-songwriter Lisa Lavie and posted to the YouTube video sharing website to raise money for victims of the January 12, 2010 Haiti earthquake."We Are The World 25 for Haiti " is the...
," whose participants were collectively named ABC News' "Persons of the Week" by Diane Sawyer
Diane Sawyer
Lila Diane Sawyer is the current anchor of ABC News' flagship program, ABC World News. Previously, Sawyer had been co-anchor of ABC Newss morning news program, Good Morning America ....
. He also spoke at the 66th Annual Radio and Television Correspondents' Association
Radio and Television Correspondents' Association
The Radio and Television Correspondents Association is an American journalism group best known for holding an annual dinner in Washington, D.C., not to be confused with the higher profile White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.-Officers:...
Dinner, impersonating Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
who was not personally present at the event. Crosson produced "President Obama on Death of Osama bin Laden (SPOOF)
President Obama on Death of Osama bin Laden (SPOOF)
"President Obama on Death of Osama bin Laden " is Iman Crosson's spoof video posted to the YouTube video sharing website, including a spoof of U.S. President Barack Obama's May 1, 2011 speech announcing the death of Osama bin Laden...
" as a spoof
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of Obama's May 1, 2011 speech announcing the death of Osama bin Laden
Death of Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden, then head of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, shortly after 1 a.m. local time by a United States special forces military unit....
, the video being named one of the top five Obama impressions
Impressionist (entertainment)
An impressionist or a mimic is a performer whose act consists of imitating the voice and mannerisms of others. The word usually refers to a professional comedian/entertainer who specializes in such performances and has developed a wide repertoire of impressions, including adding to them, often to...
by Matt Wilstein of The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
.com.
The early days
After graduating from SCPA, Crosson's first entertainment job was his portrayal of a self-created RomulanRomulan
The Romulans are a fictional alien race in the Star Trek universe. First appearing in the original Star Trek series in the 1966 episode "Balance of Terror", they have since made appearances in all the main later Star Trek series: The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager...
character at a Cincinnati amusement park. Crosson then landed gigs as a hip-hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
dancer (The Nickelodeon Show
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
) and a runway model (Essence magazine
Essence (magazine)
Essence is a monthly magazine for African-American women between the ages of 18 and 49. The magazine covers fashion, lifestyle and beauty with an intimate girlfriend-to-girlfriend tone.-History:...
fashion show) before entering Wright State University
Wright State University
Wright State University is a comprehensive public university with strong doctoral, research, and undergraduate programs, rated among the 260 Best National Universities listed in the annual "America's Best Colleges" rankings by U.S. News and World Report. Wright State is located in Fairborn, Ohio,...
in Dayton, Ohio, where he studied dance (ballet, jazz, modern, tap, African, hip-hop) with a minor in acting. The Dayton Contemporary Dance Company recruited Crosson into their student company. His experiences impelled the 20-year old to move from the Midwest
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Once in New York, Crosson practiced hip-hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
dancing, performing on the set of MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's Wannabe's show and during New York Rangers
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
halftime show
Halftime show
A halftime show is a performance given during halftime, the period between the first and second halves, or the second and third quarters, of a sporting event. Halftime shows are not given for sports with an irregular or indeterminate number of divisions , or for sports that do not have an extended...
s. Crosson worked as a waiter while acting in student films and commercials. He said that during this period he was "so stressed out about money" and he "needed to start doing what he enjoyed... quickly." His lack of an agent
Talent agent
A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, film directors, musicians, models, producers, professional athletes, writers and other people in various entertainment businesses. Having an agent is not required, but does help the artist in getting jobs...
limited his recognition, so Crosson took career promotion into his own hands.
Alphacat on the Internet
On December 14, 2005, the 23-year-old Crosson opened a YouTubeYouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
account with screen name
User (computing)
A user is an agent, either a human agent or software agent, who uses a computer or network service. A user often has a user account and is identified by a username , screen name , nickname , or handle, which is derived from the identical Citizen's Band radio term.Users are...
Alphacat. Crosson explained that "Alpha
Alpha (biology)
In social animals, the alpha is the individual in the community with the highest rank. Where one male and one female fulfill this role, they are referred to as the alpha pair...
" means leader, "cat" being the slang expression for guy. Crosson later explained, "The alpha part is about the fact that most guys are alpha males in their own right."
Crosson's Alphacat YouTube channel, whose videos originated from what he called "The Lion's Den," was at one time subtitled "YouTube's most diverse channel." His self-produced YouTube videos ranged from comedic, spoof, and dance and physical comedy to serious-issue discussion blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
s, slice of life renditions, and autobiographical blogs. By July 2007, one of Crosson's videos had become a "promoted" video on YouTube's front page, and by November 2007 another of Crosson's videos was "featured" on YouTube's front page. During the June–December 2007 time period, Crosson's channel grew from about 1,500 subscribers to over 5,000 subscribers.
In June, 2008, YouTube suspended Crosson's account in response to a copyright infringement claim from a foreign film production company. Crosson's counterclaim caused YouTube to reinstate his account.
Continuing to work as a waiter in early summer of the election year 2008, Crosson said he did not initially take seriously the "Obama" comments from his co-workers, but "then (he) had an epiphany" and began uploading Obama impersonation videos to his YouTube account.
Breakthrough: From Denny's Breakfast to "I Can Do Whatever I Like"
During the summer of the 2008 U.S. Presidential electionUnited States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
campaign, Crosson's 30-second video won Denny's Restaurant
Denny's
Denny's is a full-service coffee shop/family restaurant chain. It operates over 1,500 restaurants in the United States , Canada, Curaçao, Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica, Japan , Mexico, New Zealand, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.Denny's is known for always being...
's nationwide contest for the best impressionist
Impressionist (entertainment)
An impressionist or a mimic is a performer whose act consists of imitating the voice and mannerisms of others. The word usually refers to a professional comedian/entertainer who specializes in such performances and has developed a wide repertoire of impressions, including adding to them, often to...
of the then-candidate Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
. He said that he "went from unemployed to self-employed in literally a matter of a month." Saying he "had outgrown New York and needed more space to grow as an artist," Crosson moved from New York to California.
A month before the election, a video of Crosson spoofing Obama preparing for a campaign debate, was posted by YouTube video publisher and Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
impressionist Lisa Donovan (LisaNova)
Lisa Donovan
Lisa Donovan is an American actress. As of September 2011 her YouTube channel has 712,000 subscribers and 200 million video views, putting it in the top 100 channels on YouTube. Lisa is one of the co-founders of Maker Studios, which helps develop YouTube personalities.She is also a founder of...
. A week later, Donovan
Lisa Donovan
Lisa Donovan is an American actress. As of September 2011 her YouTube channel has 712,000 subscribers and 200 million video views, putting it in the top 100 channels on YouTube. Lisa is one of the co-founders of Maker Studios, which helps develop YouTube personalities.She is also a founder of...
, whose video description had called Crosson "The Best Barack," also posted Crosson's spoof of Obama in debate. Almost contemporaneously, outside YouTube, Crosson's voiceover work had been combined with the animation of The Denver Post
The Denver Post
-Ownership:The Post is the flagship newspaper of MediaNews Group Inc., founded in 1983 by William Dean Singleton and Richard Scudder. MediaNews is today one of the nation's largest newspaper chains, publisher of 61 daily newspapers and more than 120 non-daily publications in 13 states. MediaNews...
's editorial cartoonist Mike Keefe
Mike Keefe
Mike Keefe is an American editorial cartoonist best known for his work at the Denver Post, for which he has drawn cartoons since 1975. His cartoons are nationally syndicated, and have appeared in hundreds of newspapers as well as in Europe, Asia, and most major U.S...
in a video cartoon, "What the Next President Inherits."
On election day
Election Day (United States)
Election Day in the United States is the day set by law for the general elections of public officials. It occurs on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The earliest possible date is November 2 and the latest possible date is November 8...
2008, Crosson posted a spoof of Obama singing a variation of T.I.
T.I.
Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. , better known by his stage name T.I., is an American rap artist, film and music producer, actor and author. He is also the founder and co-chief executive officer of Grand Hustle Records....
's song "Whatever You Like," a comedic portrayal of a President-elect
President-elect
An -elect is a political candidate who has been elected to an office but who has not yet been sworn in or officially taken office. These may include an incoming president, senator, representative, governor and mayor.Analogously, the term "designate" An -elect is a political candidate who has been...
facetiously gloating, "I can do whatever I like." The video was viewed more than 11 million times in its first seven months.
Obama's election victory brought recognition for Crosson's vocal-, musical-, and dance-laden video characterizations of the President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
during national crisis. Within YouTube, Crosson's popularity was recognized by an invitation to perform at YouTube Live
YouTube Live
YouTube Live was a 2008 event streamed live on the Internet from San Francisco and Tokyo. It was hosted by a variety of YouTube celebrities, including The Black Eyed Peas rapper will.i.am, Tom Dickson of Will It Blend, Michael Buckley, The Happy Tree Friends, Fred, Smosh, Esmée Denters and singer...
in November 2008. Outside cyberspace
Cyberspace
Cyberspace is the electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.The term "cyberspace" was first used by the cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson, though the concept was described somewhat earlier, for example in the Vernor Vinge short story "True...
, early jobs involved voice-over
Voice-over
Voice-over is a production technique where a voice which is not part of the narrative is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations...
work for commercials.
Within a month after Obama's election victory, Crosson said that he had received offers from several agents. In January, 2009, less than six months after posting his first, 30-second Obama impersonation video for the Denny's contest, Crosson was invited to be on the America's Got Talent
America's Got Talent
America's Got Talent is an American reality television series on the NBC television network, and part of the global British Got Talent franchise. It is a talent show that features singers, dancers, magicians, comedians, and other performers of all ages competing for the advertised top prize of...
television program.
The day before Inauguration Day 2009
Inauguration of Barack Obama
The inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States took place on Tuesday, January 20, 2009. The inauguration, which set a record attendance for any event held in Washington, D.C., marked the commencement of the four-year term of Barack Obama as President and Joe...
, Crosson posted a comedic dance and musical video ("Beyoncé Single Ladies Spoof") spoofing Obama's assumption of the Presidency
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, its lyrics including "I got hope on my lips, BlackBerry
BlackBerry
BlackBerry is a line of mobile email and smartphone devices developed and designed by Canadian company Research In Motion since 1999.BlackBerry devices are smartphones, designed to function as personal digital assistants, portable media players, internet browsers, gaming devices, and much more...
on my hip" and repeating "change is on the way, know it."
YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
's official listing showed Crosson's spoof videos "T.I. Whatever You Like" (posted November 2008) and "Beyoncé Single Ladies" (posted January 2009) as being the seventh and ninth "most favorited" videos of all time (Entertainment category), having been "favorited" over 142,000 times and over 135,000 times, respectively, as of July 15, 2010.
Evolution after the Inaugural "I, Barack Obama"
After Obama's inauguration, Crosson was featured on entertainment (Entertainment TonightEntertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
, The Insider
The Insider (TV series)
The Insider is an American tabloid television news program covering events and celebrities. It debuted on September 13, 2004 as a spinoff of Entertainment Tonight and started as a popular segment that took viewers "behind closed doors" and gave them "inside" information...
, New York Daily News), culture (The Atlantic) and news (Fox News
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
, ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
.com) television shows, blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
s and newspapers. Crosson was called a "YouTube sensation" by Fox News
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
' Neil Cavuto
Neil Cavuto
Neil Patrick Cavuto is an American television anchor and commentator on the Fox Business Network and host of three television programs, Your World with Neil Cavuto and Cavuto on Business, both on the Fox News Channel and Cavuto on sister channel Fox Business Network.Cavuto also tapes a nightly...
, who "had a feeling (Crosson) would go very very far." New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
magazine called Crosson "the man who proved Obama can be made funny."
Crosson performed at Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
's sixty-seventh birthday celebration in March 2009.
Crosson's post-inaugural work included voice-over
Voice-over
Voice-over is a production technique where a voice which is not part of the narrative is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations...
s in newsweek.com's The District, a video blog series in which Crosson narrates
Narrative
A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...
Obama's first months in Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
from the President's point of view.
Crosson entered into commercial endorsement agreements with companies, including Sanyo
Sanyo
is a major electronics company and member of the Fortune 500 whose headquarters is located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo targets the middle of the market and has over 230 Subsidiaries and Affiliates....
for its Xacti
Xacti
Xacti is a brand of Sanyo hybrid digital camera and camcorder. They use a distinct pistol-shaped format with most controls operated by the thumb and able to shoot both video and picture simultaneously...
camcorders. Crosson collaborated with Rhett and Link
Rhett and Link
Rhett and Link are the comedy, filmmaking, musical and advertising duo of Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal. They star in the television show Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings on the Independent Film Channel. They are known for their videos, songs and commercials and are one of the most subscribed...
in their March 2009 "Phatdippin' Rap" video, which contained overlays that said each YouTube star used a Sanyo camera for filming, and whose video description contained a hyperlink
Hyperlink
In computing, a hyperlink is a reference to data that the reader can directly follow, or that is followed automatically. A hyperlink points to a whole document or to a specific element within a document. Hypertext is text with hyperlinks...
to Sanyo's website. The resulting music track "Phatdippin'," including Crosson's Obama impersonation voice, was released on a Rhett and Link
Rhett and Link
Rhett and Link are the comedy, filmmaking, musical and advertising duo of Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal. They star in the television show Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings on the Independent Film Channel. They are known for their videos, songs and commercials and are one of the most subscribed...
album in January 2010.
The success of Crosson's YouTube videos, recognized by his acceptance into YouTube's "partnership" (ad revenue-sharing) program, reportedly gave him a degree of financial independence permitting him to focus on creative pursuits. Acknowledging YouTube's statement that hundreds of video producers receive thousands of dollars per month in ad revenue-sharing, Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
said that Hollywood studios perceive the profitability of the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
as an entertainment medium and distribution outlet to be uncertain, noting that "the Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
remains mostly a springboard for performers to launch a career" and citing Crosson in particular as "one of a lucky few."
Crosson's Presidential portrayals were not only musical and dance adaptations, but constituted editorials on the political, racial, ethnic and social issues of a critical time in national history. Two months after Obama's inauguration, in March 2009 Crosson's spoof of T.I.
T.I.
Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. , better known by his stage name T.I., is an American rap artist, film and music producer, actor and author. He is also the founder and co-chief executive officer of Grand Hustle Records....
's "Dead and Gone
Dead and Gone
-Remixes:*"Things Gotta Change" - Avery Storm*"When We Rock" - Bone Thugs-n-Harmony*"I Don't Like White People" - Rucka Rucka Ali-Cover versions:...
" included an introduction: "Have you ever felt the weight of the future of a country on your shoulders?" A musical collaboration with YouTube personality Lisa Lavie
Lisa Lavie
Lisa Lavie is a Canadian singer and songwriter originally from LaSalle, Québec, Canada.Lavie is known for using the Internet to independently promote her own music and concerts...
, Crosson's version of "Dead and Gone
Dead and Gone
-Remixes:*"Things Gotta Change" - Avery Storm*"When We Rock" - Bone Thugs-n-Harmony*"I Don't Like White People" - Rucka Rucka Ali-Cover versions:...
" adapted T.I.
T.I.
Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. , better known by his stage name T.I., is an American rap artist, film and music producer, actor and author. He is also the founder and co-chief executive officer of Grand Hustle Records....
's lyrics to support Obama in his wrestling a national crisis in which "so many things are wrong, dead wrong."
In May 2009 Crosson and totallysketch.com followed his earlier Obama impersonation videos with a satire of the personal and political "blame game," transforming Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx
Eric Marlon Bishop , professionally known as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, singer-songwriter, stand-up comedian, and talk radio host. As an actor, his work in the film Ray earned him the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Actor as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a...
's "Blame It (On the Alcohol)
Blame It
"Blame It" is a song by American singer Jamie Foxx, released as the second official single from his third studio album, Intuition. It features singer T-Pain and was written by Christopher "Deep" Henderson, Nate Walker, James T. Brown, John Conte Jr., and Brandon Melanchon and produced by...
" into a collaborative spoof whose lyrics chide those who blame their situation on the economy ("Blame it on the news, taxpayer blues Blame it on the loans, ... on Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, ... on Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
).
After the late-2009 disagreement between the Obama administration
Presidency of Barack Obama
The Presidency of Barack Obama began at noon EST on January 20, 2009 when he became the 44th President of the United States. Obama was a United States Senator from Illinois at the time of his victory over Arizona Senator John McCain in the 2008 presidential election...
and Fox News
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
, Crosson's newly formed Tour de Force Entertainment LLC produced a collaborative acting, musical, and dance parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
video, "Obama Does Thriller". Crosson's parody was fashioned after Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
's 1983 Thriller video, with Crosson playing the Presidential role in a manner sympathetic to Obama and humorously portraying Fox News viewers as zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
s. The Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
television program previewed the Thriller parody video, with explanation of the background politics, on October 30, 2009, the day before Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
. Asked about certain major media outlets saying that Crosson's video is "a slam at Fox news," Vernetta Jenkins, who played the part of First Lady
First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...
Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is the wife of the 44th and incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady of the United States...
in the video, responded "With lyrics like 'Fox news is Thriller! It’s a fright! They claim they’re fair and balanced but I know they can’t be right!' This THRILLER parody is definitely a calling on the carpet for Fox News."
In February 2010, Crosson sang in, and with Lisa Lavie
Lisa Lavie
Lisa Lavie is a Canadian singer and songwriter originally from LaSalle, Québec, Canada.Lavie is known for using the Internet to independently promote her own music and concerts...
co-edited, a YouTube musical collaboration video "We Are the World 25 for Haiti (YouTube Edition)
We Are The World 25 for Haiti (YouTube Edition)
"We Are The World 25 for Haiti " is a massively collaborative charity song and music video produced by Canadian singer-songwriter Lisa Lavie and posted to the YouTube video sharing website to raise money for victims of the January 12, 2010 Haiti earthquake."We Are The World 25 for Haiti " is the...
" for relief of victims of the January 12, 2010 Haiti earthquake
2010 Haiti earthquake
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks...
. A collaboration of 57 unsigned
Unsigned artist
The term "unsigned artist" or "independent artist" is used in the music industry as a marketing technique.-History and current scene:Many unsigned artists used to sell their music and music-related merchandise without the financial support of a record label, while often seeking a recording contract...
or independent
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
YouTube musicians, the YouTube video was posted as a video response to the celebrity version We Are the World 25 for Haiti
We Are the World 25 for Haiti
"We Are the World 25 for Haiti" is a charity single recorded by the supergroup Artists for Haiti in 2010. It is a remake of the 1985 hit song "We Are the World", which was written by American musicians Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and was recorded by USA for Africa to benefit famine relief in...
that was released eight days earlier. The YouTube collaboration video received its first half-million views on YouTube in two days and became the subject of worldwide media attention, including multiple features on CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, and a primetime news broadcast on ABC World News with Diane Sawyer in which the video's participants were named ABC News "Persons of the Week."
Crosson spoke at the 66th Annual Radio and Television Correspondents' Association
Radio and Television Correspondents' Association
The Radio and Television Correspondents Association is an American journalism group best known for holding an annual dinner in Washington, D.C., not to be confused with the higher profile White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.-Officers:...
Dinner on March 17, 2010, impersonating Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
who was not personally present at the event.
Crosson's collaborations include comedic spoofs of the "Kendra
Kendra (TV series)
Kendra is an American reality-based television series that debuted on E! on June 7, 2009. The program details model - and former girlfriend of Playboy owner Hugh Hefner - Kendra Wilkinson's life after moving out of the Playboy Mansion, including her engagement and marriage to football player Hank...
" reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
series, in which Crosson plays the role of professional football player Hank Baskett
Hank Baskett
Henry Randall "Hank" Baskett III is a wide receiver who is currently a free agent. Baskett has played for three NFL teams, the Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles and Indianapolis Colts....
, husband of television personality Kendra Wilkinson
Kendra Wilkinson
Kendra Leigh Baskett , professionally known by her maiden name, is an American television personality and glamour model...
who is played by fellow YouTube personality Lisa Lavie
Lisa Lavie
Lisa Lavie is a Canadian singer and songwriter originally from LaSalle, Québec, Canada.Lavie is known for using the Internet to independently promote her own music and concerts...
.
Three days after Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's May 1, 2011 speech from the East Room of the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
announcing the death of Osama bin Laden
Death of Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden, then head of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, shortly after 1 a.m. local time by a United States special forces military unit....
, Crosson posted a video spoof
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
, "President Obama on Death of Osama bin Laden (SPOOF)
President Obama on Death of Osama bin Laden (SPOOF)
"President Obama on Death of Osama bin Laden " is Iman Crosson's spoof video posted to the YouTube video sharing website, including a spoof of U.S. President Barack Obama's May 1, 2011 speech announcing the death of Osama bin Laden...
." The spoof, delivered in rap
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
and including comedic dancing in an East Room-appearing backdrop, was said to "fast (become) a viral hit, ... (and) .... works in almost every meme
Meme
A meme is "an idea, behaviour or style that spreads from person to person within a culture."A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena...
from the last month." The video was viewed at least 233,837 times in its first 24 hours, and accelerated during its second 24 hours to achieve its millionth view about fifty hours after being posted, and its two millionth view about 92 hours after being posted. Bailey Johnson of CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
.com contrasted Crosson's rap and dancing performance with Obama's "model of confidence, restraint, and calm authority," further stating that the video "seems to perfectly capture the national mood." Al Jazeera remarked that Crosson's satirical interpretation "cuts through the usual diplomatic platitudes and delivers - what seems to be - a more honest and rhythmically tuned account of what happened." Matt Wilstein of The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
.com named the video among the top five Obama impressions
Impressionist (entertainment)
An impressionist or a mimic is a performer whose act consists of imitating the voice and mannerisms of others. The word usually refers to a professional comedian/entertainer who specializes in such performances and has developed a wide repertoire of impressions, including adding to them, often to...
.
Artistry and influences
Asked about his "secret to mastering the president-elect," Crosson explained "It's all in the speech patterns and vocal cadences, and a whole lot of uhhs. I've learned to lower my register a little bit. He's very pensive. ..." His impressions are based on careful study, Crosson studying Obama telecasts closely, focusing on his vocal inflections, catch phrases, word delays and other mannerisms. Crosson’s delivery of Obama's vocal cadence has been reviewed as "uncanny," his pauses and emphasis being "dead-on."Crosson expressed that it is his dream to "perform Obama for Obama," that is, to perform for President Obama himself. "My ultimate hope is that Obama will see it one day and laugh."
About his creation of YouTube videos, Crosson explained, "I'm a one-man band. I write 'em, edit 'em, post 'em on YouTube. I come up with bullet points I want to touch upon and I just turn on the camera and sit there and ad-lib
Ad libitum
Ad libitum is Latin for "at one's pleasure"; it is often shortened to "ad lib" or "ad-lib"...
."
Interviewed about his creative process, Crosson explained that his comedic inspiration often comes from random moments of humor in everyday life, and that creating "infectious ideas" comes from observing things seen by everyone but not yet expressed. For artistic innovation he credits self-knowledge—knowing and applying one's own talent and passion.
Interviewed by YouTube on its fifth anniversary in May 2010, Crosson remarked "Now here I am (referring to the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association
Radio and Television Correspondents' Association
The Radio and Television Correspondents Association is an American journalism group best known for holding an annual dinner in Washington, D.C., not to be confused with the higher profile White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.-Officers:...
dinner two months earlier), impersonating the President of the United States. It's amazing and I'm sitting there on stage thinking: this all stemmed from some videos I posted (on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
). I'm really, at the end of the day, an average Joe. ... I kind of shy away from (celebrity); I'd rather just be that guy on YouTube--for now."
Contrasting to entertainers who rely on blue humor
Off-color humor
The term off-color humor is an Americanism used to describe jokes, prose, poems, black comedy, blue comedy, insult comedy, cringe comedy and skits that deal with topics that are considered to be in poor taste or overly vulgar by the prevailing morality of a culture...
, Crosson remarked "One thing that has been important to me is to make it funny without making it profane or obscene."
Crosson's facebook page indicates his political views as "other" but Crosson characterized himself as a "big Barack fan," wanting to "support him with humor and positivity."
Performances and awards
- National Winner, Barack Obama Impersonator Contest, Denny'sDenny'sDenny's is a full-service coffee shop/family restaurant chain. It operates over 1,500 restaurants in the United States , Canada, Curaçao, Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica, Japan , Mexico, New Zealand, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.Denny's is known for always being...
Restaurants, August, 2008.
- Voice actor, voice-overVoice-overVoice-over is a production technique where a voice which is not part of the narrative is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations...
of Barack Obama, "What the Next President Inherits," Mike KeefeMike KeefeMike Keefe is an American editorial cartoonist best known for his work at the Denver Post, for which he has drawn cartoons since 1975. His cartoons are nationally syndicated, and have appeared in hundreds of newspapers as well as in Europe, Asia, and most major U.S...
's intoon website, October 9, 2008.
- Performer, YouTube LiveYouTube LiveYouTube Live was a 2008 event streamed live on the Internet from San Francisco and Tokyo. It was hosted by a variety of YouTube celebrities, including The Black Eyed Peas rapper will.i.am, Tom Dickson of Will It Blend, Michael Buckley, The Happy Tree Friends, Fred, Smosh, Esmée Denters and singer...
, San Francisco, California, November 22, 2008.
- Featured, Entertainment TonightEntertainment TonightEntertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
television series, January 28 and 29, and February 4 and 5, 2009.
- Featured, The InsiderThe Insider (TV series)The Insider is an American tabloid television news program covering events and celebrities. It debuted on September 13, 2004 as a spinoff of Entertainment Tonight and started as a popular segment that took viewers "behind closed doors" and gave them "inside" information...
television series, February 3, 2009.
- Voice actor, voice-overVoice-overVoice-over is a production technique where a voice which is not part of the narrative is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations...
of Barack Obama, “The District," Newsweek.com's online blogBlogA blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
series, February 2, 2009 through March 30, 2009.
- Performer, Aretha FranklinAretha FranklinAretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
's Birthday celebration (by personal invitation), March, 2009.
- Performer, "Downloaded" event, Highline Ballroom, New York, June 3, 2009.
- Curator of Black History MonthBlack History MonthBlack History Month is an observance of the history of the African diaspora in a number of countries outside of Africa. Since 1976, it is observed annually in the United States and Canada in February, while in the United Kingdom it is observed in October...
"Spotlight" videos on YouTube's front page, February 2010.
- Performer, 66th Annual Radio and Television Correspondents' AssociationRadio and Television Correspondents' AssociationThe Radio and Television Correspondents Association is an American journalism group best known for holding an annual dinner in Washington, D.C., not to be confused with the higher profile White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.-Officers:...
Dinner, personally meeting U.S. Vice President Joe BidenJoe BidenJoseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. is the 47th and current Vice President of the United States, serving under President Barack Obama...
(March 17, 2010).
- Vocal performer and co-editor, "We Are the World 25 for Haiti (YouTube Edition)We Are The World 25 for Haiti (YouTube Edition)"We Are The World 25 for Haiti " is a massively collaborative charity song and music video produced by Canadian singer-songwriter Lisa Lavie and posted to the YouTube video sharing website to raise money for victims of the January 12, 2010 Haiti earthquake."We Are The World 25 for Haiti " is the...
," a musical collaboration video whose contributors were collectively named "Persons of the Week" by Diane SawyerDiane SawyerLila Diane Sawyer is the current anchor of ABC News' flagship program, ABC World News. Previously, Sawyer had been co-anchor of ABC Newss morning news program, Good Morning America ....
on ABC World News, March 19, 2010.
- Selected for "My YouTube Story" feature on the website's fifth anniversary, May 12, 2010.
- Selected for delivery of "State of the YouTube Address" at "VidCon 2010" conference, July 9, 2010.
- Voice actor, voice of Barack Obama in the Lea ThompsonLea ThompsonLea Katherine Thompson is an American actress and director. She is best known for her 1990s NBC situation comedy Caroline in the City and her portrayal of Lorraine Baines McFly, Marty McFly's mother, in the Back to the Future trilogy...
motion picture "Mayor Cupcake" (2011).
- Crosson's video President Obama on Death of Osama bin Laden (SPOOF)President Obama on Death of Osama bin Laden (SPOOF)"President Obama on Death of Osama bin Laden " is Iman Crosson's spoof video posted to the YouTube video sharing website, including a spoof of U.S. President Barack Obama's May 1, 2011 speech announcing the death of Osama bin Laden...
was named in top five Obama impressionsImpressionist (entertainment)An impressionist or a mimic is a performer whose act consists of imitating the voice and mannerisms of others. The word usually refers to a professional comedian/entertainer who specializes in such performances and has developed a wide repertoire of impressions, including adding to them, often to...
by Matt Wilstein of The Huffington PostThe Huffington PostThe Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
.com, August 4, 2011.
Media coverage
Crosson or his work have been featured by national and international news organizations includingCNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
,
TIME
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
,
Fox News,
Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
,
ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
,
CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
,
and Al Jazeera;
entertainment television including
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
,
The Insider
The Insider (TV series)
The Insider is an American tabloid television news program covering events and celebrities. It debuted on September 13, 2004 as a spinoff of Entertainment Tonight and started as a popular segment that took viewers "behind closed doors" and gave them "inside" information...
, and
G4 TV
G4 (TV channel)
G4, also known as G4 TV, is an American cable- and satellite-television channel originally geared primarily toward young adult viewers, originally based on the world of video games...
; metropolitan newspapers and magazines; national magazines; radio; online news consolidators and entertainment news websites; and popular commentators.
See also
- List of YouTube personalities
- YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
- YouTube LiveYouTube LiveYouTube Live was a 2008 event streamed live on the Internet from San Francisco and Tokyo. It was hosted by a variety of YouTube celebrities, including The Black Eyed Peas rapper will.i.am, Tom Dickson of Will It Blend, Michael Buckley, The Happy Tree Friends, Fred, Smosh, Esmée Denters and singer...
- Social impact of YouTubeSocial impact of YouTubeYouTube, by providing a video hosting service, has been involved with popularizing Internet trends in popular culture. Its users represent of society and it is part of a set of social networking sites that people and organizations often maintain a presence on. YouTube has created some internet...
- We Are the World 25 for Haiti (YouTube Edition)We Are The World 25 for Haiti (YouTube Edition)"We Are The World 25 for Haiti " is a massively collaborative charity song and music video produced by Canadian singer-songwriter Lisa Lavie and posted to the YouTube video sharing website to raise money for victims of the January 12, 2010 Haiti earthquake."We Are The World 25 for Haiti " is the...
(video) - President Obama on Death of Osama bin Laden (SPOOF)President Obama on Death of Osama bin Laden (SPOOF)"President Obama on Death of Osama bin Laden " is Iman Crosson's spoof video posted to the YouTube video sharing website, including a spoof of U.S. President Barack Obama's May 1, 2011 speech announcing the death of Osama bin Laden...
(video) - ParodyParodyA parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
(includes "spoof") - Chroma keyChroma keyChroma key compositing is a technique for compositing two images together. A color range in the top layer is made transparent, revealing another image behind. The chroma keying technique is commonly used in video production and post-production...
(includes "green screen" compositing) - Barack ObamaBarack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...