The Hope And Change Of An Obama Impersonator
TIME Magazine correspondent Michael Scherer

Barack Obama is traveling to New York City on Thursday. He won’t meet Louis Ortiz. But thanks to the New York Times, you can.

Barack Obama impersonator Maxwell Price appeared on an Election Special for The Maury Show, appearing alongside host Maury Povich.

Barack Obama impersonator Maxwell Price appears on John Stossel's show Stossel, which aired on FOX News and FOX Business. Price performs the speech that Stossel wishes the real President would perform, including honest admission of mistakes that Stossel feels Obama has not been truthful about.

By Marie-Joëlle Parent, Journal de Montreal

New York est un bastion démocrate depuis près de 80 ans. Faites déambuler un sosie d’Obama en plein coeur de Times Square et c’est la cohue assurée. J’ai suivi le sosie new-yorkais de Barack Obama, Louis Ortiz, pendant un après-midi dans les rues de Midtown. Voici le résultat…

J’ai rencontré Louis Ortiz pour la première fois en 2009, peu de temps après l’investiture d’Obama. Il était l’attraction de la soirée dans un pub irlandais du Upper East Side. Trois ans plus tard, Ortiz, 41 ans, surf encore sur la vague de l’élection historique. Sa ressemblance frappante avec Obama est devenu son principal gagne-pain et il prend cette “responsabilité” très au sérieux. Il répète les phrases signatures d’Obama comme “Make no mistake”, “Every single American” ou “Here’s the thing” avec quasi perfection.



Je suis né avec le look du siècle. Ce n’est pas un boulot d’acteur comme les autres. Ça vient avec une responsabilité. Je dois bien me comporter, je ne veux pas décevoir les gens, dit-il.

Ortiz a réalisé qu’il ressemblait à Obama en août 2008 quand le Sénateur de l’Illinois a remporté les primaires face à Hillary Clinton. Le Portoricain d’origine, ex-technicien de la compagnie Verizon, était sans emploi depuis 2 ans. Il a reçu l’appel d’un ami qui lui a dit: «Hey! tu fais la couverture des journaux aujourd’hui!» Il décide de se raser la barbichette et enfile un costume. Est ensuite venu le temps de tester son apparence. «Je me suis présenté dans un Comedy Club de Manhattan. Une fille est sortie de la file et m’a sauté dessus, m’embrassant partout sur la bouche en criant “I love you Obama”, raconte Ortiz.



Je l’ai suivi dans la zone la plus touristique de Manhattan. Les Oh my God, c’est Obama!” et “good luck!” ont déferlé. En quelques secondes, il a été assailli par une horde de touristes qui voulaient se faire prendre en photo avec lui. Il a serré des dizaines de mains, pris des centaines de photos, embrassé quelques bébés et répondu aux questions des indécis.



Un touriste du Pakistan avait d’ailleurs des suggestions au rayon politique étrangère. À chaque fois, Ortiz pige dans les répliques d’Obama pour répondre. “Je ne sais jamais si les gens sont sérieux ou non”, m’a-t-il dit plus tard, de retour dans le lobby de l’hôtel. Nous avons dû fuir la foule pour faire l’entrevue. “Certains sont complètement ahuris”.

«J’essaie de ne pas marcher sans sécurité, parce qu’il y a des Républicains ou des racistes qui peuvent me dire des trucs horribles. On m’a déjà lancé: ‘On va lui mettre une balle dans le corps”, m’avait-il confié en 2009.

This article refers to Maxwell Price by his given name, Louis Ortiz. Maxwell Price is Louis' stage name.

By Kristina Puga, NBC Latino

Four years ago, Louis Ortiz was just an average Puerto Rican man living in the Bronx, NY. He says he just wanted to be a regular American citizen working a 9-to-5 job, but life had other plans for him when he lost his job as a Verizon field technician.



Unemployed and preoccupied with personal problems in August 2008, he says he almost overlooked the fact that people were joking about his striking resemblance to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Little did he know this joke would lead to his future career, which would keep him working around the clock. Ortiz says he quickly went from a simple man without a passport or a full suit, to an international traveling actor and comedian with a closet filled with only suits.



Four years ago, Louis Ortiz was just an average Puerto Rican man living in the Bronx, NY. He says he just wanted to be a regular American citizen working a 9-to-5 job, but life had other plans for him when he lost his job as a Verizon field technician.



Unemployed and preoccupied with personal problems in August 2008, he says he almost overlooked the fact that people were joking about his striking resemblance to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Little did he know this joke would lead to his future career, which would keep him working around the clock. Ortiz says he quickly went from a simple man without a passport or a full suit, to an international traveling actor and comedian with a closet filled with only suits.



“It was pointed out to me when he was running against Hillary in the primaries,” says Ortiz about when he was first told about his resemblance to the now President of the United States. And today, after years of impersonating Obama, Ortiz jokingly sings, “I’m losing my identity” to the beat of the R.E.M. song, “Losing My Religion,” with an understated charisma also similar to the President.



He says he was initially approached by someone in the entertainment business who convinced him to shave off his mustache and goatee, and once he did, the similarity began to become evident to him too.



“I said, ‘Let my try this,’” says Ortiz, who got some head shots done, and shortly after signed with a non-exclusive talent agency. “Four days after the election, I get a phone call from my agency asking me if I wanted to audition for a role on ‘Flight of the Conchords’ on HBO…I was in complete awe. Everything was going so fast, and I didn’t realize how big this really was.”



This was Ortiz’ first acting role ever, so he decided to take acting classes. He says year after year, he would get gigs impersonating the president.



“I shot a comedy movie in Japan,” says Ortiz who has also been to South Korea and Australia for a Web series where Obama has a funk band with Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr., the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa, called “The Nobel Funk Off.”



He says the opportunity to perform for the Dalai Lama and having the chance to meet him has been his favorite experience as an Obama impersonator.

“He looked at me and kind of froze up for a second, and he said, ‘Ohhh very similar,’ just like that – It was hair-raising. Simply just hair-raising,” says Ortiz. “I’ll never forget that handshake – it was like the golden touch…It was something that I’ll take with me to the grave. Deepak Chopra…Dalai Lama – these are inspirational people, spiritual people, that I hope that most Americans, and most human beings, know about.”



He says this whole experience has been a roller coaster experience for him, and he’s been busier than ever.

“What if this guy gets reelected?” says Ortiz about the profession which could be just beginning for him. “Today I have a little downtime…In no time, there will be another phone call. Whether it’s a paid gig or not, I’m always working. I’ll take a little nap here or there.”

Ortiz’ days are now filled with interviews, tours around the country with Politicos Comedy Brigade, and taking photos and signing autographs wherever he goes. During his downtime, he says there’s always practice and rehearsal.

Four years ago, Louis Ortiz was just an average Puerto Rican man living in the Bronx, NY. He says he just wanted to be a regular American citizen working a 9-to-5 job, but life had other plans for him when he lost his job as a Verizon field technician.

Unemployed and preoccupied with personal problems in August 2008, he says he almost overlooked the fact that people were joking about his striking resemblance to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Little did he know this joke would lead to his future career, which would keep him working around the clock. Ortiz says he quickly went from a simple man without a passport or a full suit, to an international traveling actor and comedian with a closet filled with only suits.

“It was pointed out to me when he was running against Hillary in the primaries,” says Ortiz about when he was first told about his resemblance to the now President of the United States. And today, after years of impersonating Obama, Ortiz jokingly sings, “I’m losing my identity” to the beat of the R.E.M. song, “Losing My Religion,” with an understated charisma also similar to the President.

He says he was initially approached by someone in the entertainment business who convinced him to shave off his mustache and goatee, and once he did, the similarity began to become evident to him too.

“I said, ‘Let my try this,’” says Ortiz, who got some head shots done, and shortly after signed with a non-exclusive talent agency. “Four days after the election, I get a phone call from my agency asking me if I wanted to audition for a role on ‘Flight of the Conchords’ on HBO…I was in complete awe. Everything was going so fast, and I didn’t realize how big this really was.”

This was Ortiz’ first acting role ever, so he decided to take acting classes. He says year after year, he would get gigs impersonating the president.

“I shot a comedy movie in Japan,” says Ortiz who has also been to South Korea and Australia for a Web series where Obama has a funk band with Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr., the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa, called “The Nobel Funk Off.”

He says the opportunity to perform for the Dalai Lama and having the chance to meet him has been his favorite experience as an Obama impersonator.

“He looked at me and kind of froze up for a second, and he said, ‘Ohhh very similar,’ just like that – It was hair-raising. Simply just hair-raising,” says Ortiz. “I’ll never forget that handshake – it was like the golden touch…It was something that I’ll take with me to the grave. Deepak Chopra…Dalai Lama – these are inspirational people, spiritual people, that I hope that most Americans, and most human beings, know about.”

He says this whole experience has been a roller coaster experience for him, and he’s been busier than ever.

“What if this guy gets reelected?” says Ortiz about the profession which could be just beginning for him. “Today I have a little downtime…In no time, there will be another phone call. Whether it’s a paid gig or not, I’m always working. I’ll take a little nap here or there.”

Ortiz’ days are now filled with interviews, tours around the country with Politicos Comedy Brigade, and taking photos and signing autographs wherever he goes. During his downtime, he says there’s always practice and rehearsal.

“I’m always calling my mom and my fiance, but it’s been tough,” says the 41-year-old Ortiz, a father of two kids, and sometimes finds himself in two states in one day. “I can imagine how the real President lives his life. That must be crazy, because I know my life is crazy.”

He says there’s high demand for Obama and Romney right now, and he’s ready to follow in the President’s footsteps if he wins the 2012 election.

“I might be based out of Washington, DC very soon,” says Ortiz, who now goes by the stage name “Maxwell Price.” “I’m going to Boston next week for a comedy debate tour…Hopefully we get everyone to vote so we can get this man in again.”

He says if the president doesn’t win the approaching election, his work will slow down a little, but there are many other windows of opportunity that living Obama’s life has opened for him.

“I can’t complain,” says Ortiz, who now feels rich in his heart. “ I’ve put smiles on a lot of people’s faces and what’s more beautiful than putting smiles on people’s faces?”

NOTE: This story covers Maxwell Price by his given name, Louis Ortiz. Maxwell Price is Ortiz's stage name.

By Ryan Murdock, New York Times

What if one day you looked in the mirror and saw the most powerful man in the world staring back at you? In this Op-Doc video, we meet Louis Ortiz, an unemployed Puerto Rican man from the Bronx, whose life turned upside down when he discovered his uncanny resemblance to President Obama.

The first time I talked to Mr. Ortiz on the phone he said, “I’m so glad you called. I’ve been living in the Twilight Zone for the past three years.” That was the spring of 2011. In the week between that call and when we met in person, Osama bin Laden was killed. When I went to the Bronx to meet Mr. Ortiz, people were high-fiving and congratulating him. I knew instantly I had to drop everything else and follow him around.

Mr. Ortiz is a walking, talking image of Barack Obama. When people encounter him, they see the version of Mr. Obama they want to see. And when Mr. Ortiz looks in the mirror, so does he.

Ryan Murdock is a filmmaker who has produced for PBS’s show “Nova” and recorded more than 300 oral histories for NPR’s StoryCorps. This video is adapted from his forthcoming documentary “The Audacity of Louis Ortiz” and a recent episode of “This American Life.”

This article refers to Maxwell Price by his given name, Louis Ortiz. Maxwell Price is Louis' stage name.

By Sara Debbie Gutfreund, Aish.com

Louis Ortiz was an unemployed Puerto Rican living in the Bronx. One night while sitting in a club, the bartender said to him, "Do you know who you look like if you would shave off your mustache? Obama! You look exactly like the President."

Ortiz went back to his cramped, dilapidated apartment and looked in the mirror. He shaved off his mustache and gasped at his image. He did look like the President! Staring down at his stained, ragged clothes he suddenly felt a sense of hope. He went to the closet and put on his nicest clothes. The stares of people on the street when he emerged from his apartment told him that he had a new job opportunity on his hands.

He has since posed for pictures and appeared in movies. He is thrilled with his new job. Everywhere he goes people ask to shake his hand and crowd around him. "Sometimes I want to shout out, ‘It's just me!’ But it's not just me anymore." Dressed in a suit and tie, he stands on the corner of streets in Manhattan and signs people's photos. "I'm living some weird dream right now." Ortiz says. "I looked in the mirror and thought: I can turn my life right side up."

I heard a related incident by Rabbi Yaakov Galinsky who spent four years imprisoned in Siberia. He was sharing a room with a Polish prisoner and every night this prisoner would put on his army uniform that he kept under his bed. He would stare at himself in the mirror, and then quickly remove his uniform and hide it under his bed. This went on every night. “Why are you doing this?” Rabbi Galinsky asked him.

"Before I was captured,” he replied, “for years I was a distinguished general in the Polish army. When I put on my uniform every night, even just for a minute, I see my true self. I don't see a broken, weak prisoner. I see a general in the Polish army, and this is how I keep my sanity here."

Sometimes we are too quick to dismiss the importance of our appearances. “It's the inside that counts,” we hear repeatedly. That’s true, but it's more complicated than that. Yes, who we are is far more important than what we look like. But what we wear does affect our character and behavior. When Louis Ortiz dressed like a poor street beggar, he thought of himself that way. When he dressed like the president, he began to actually act presidential. He started to walk differently, to speak differently. And ultimately, he started to see the world and himself differently.

Studies show that students who dress up for an exam outperform students dressed in their regular clothes. This is why top athletes and coaches wear suits to big games before they put on their uniforms. When a person dresses seriously, he begins to take himself seriously and he begins to believe that he can win.

Putting effort into a dignified appearance also makes people happier. Like the general who put on his uniform every night to keep himself sane, a person who dresses in a respectable way feels better.

Obama's look alike is a poignant example of what psychologists call a "keystone habit,” a habit that creates a significant rippling effect. Exercise is a prime example. Researchers find that those who begin and maintain an exercise routine suddenly start eating better, working more productively and spending less money.

"Embodied cognition" is a growing scientific field that explores the keystone habit of changing one's clothing. It purports that we think with our bodies as well as our brains. Our thoughts are often based on physical experiences that trigger related abstract ideas. Clothing is one of those physical experiences. We look at ourselves in the mirror, and we take on the role that the dress or suit is associated with in our minds. Other people's perceptions of us change as well.

Think of how differently most people interpret a person dressed in ripped jeans versus a man wearing a designer suit. Clothes don't make the man, but they may make the mind. A white lab coat induces people to pay more attention to their environments. An artist's smock may make us more creative. And dressing like people we admire may bring us one step closer to becoming like them.

It's the inside and outside together that count, connecting everything we do and wear with our true inner selves.

By Leslie Bridgers, Staff Writer for the Portland Press Herald

OGUNQUIT – Mike Cote never paid much attention to politics, but the presidential election in November could give him a second career. "A vote for Mitt is a vote for Mike," said Cote, who believes he's the most sought-after Romney look-alike of this campaign season.

A New Hampshire-bred drywall hanger, Cote starred in Republican candidate Rick Santorum's "Rombo" ad earlier this year and now can be seen slugging a faux Obama on the cover of the September issue of The Atlantic.

"If (Romney) wins the presidency, I might have a new career," said Cote, 57, who has long aspired to be a comedian and has opened for Larry the Cable Guy and Maine's Bob Marley with his stand-up act.

Cote said he knows an Obama impersonator who made more than a half-million dollars last year. Jay Leno paid a George W. Bush impressionist $2,000 a week just to be available, he said.

Cote has Romney's walk down -- straight back, small steps -- as well as the wave -- one arm stuck straight out with fingers flapping at the crowd.

Problem is, he sounds more like John F. Kennedy.

"I have to say my r's now," Cote said, standing at a lectern in the upstairs den of his girlfriend's house just off Route 1, where he practices squinting, smirking and making promises for the next four years.

"He's a blue-collar kind of backwoods Maine guy who we're trying to turn into a country club yachter," said Dustin Gold, a Washington-based talent agent who represents a slew of political impersonators, including the original Bill Clinton impressionist and two Sarah Palins.

Gold has been working with a couple of Romney impersonators and plans to sign one of them to a contract if the Republican candidate wins the presidency.

Gold discovered Cote when a Google search turned up YouTube videos that Cote had made when Romney was campaigning in the 2008 Republican primary.

Cote hadn't given the clips much thought, since Romney dropped out of that race right after Super Tuesday -- until he got an email from Gold just before Christmas last year.

"I knew my life changed," Cote said.

Soon after, he met Gold in Connecticut and they went into New York City, where a makeup artist showed Cote how to brush white dye into his sideburns and use mascara to thicken his eyebrows.

He met with a voice coach who has worked with comedian-actors Will Ferrell and Bill Murray. Gold wasn't encouraged.

But even limited to non-speaking roles, Cote has made about 20 appearances as Romney, including on Fox Business Network's "Stossel" show and in a staged street fight with an Obama impersonator in New York's Washington Square Park.

Gold, who books most of Cote's gigs, charges $1,500 to $5,000 for an appearance by Cote, who gets about 60 percent. Cote also has gotten some gigs on his own.

He got a call last week from a marketing firm in Florida that hoped to get him to Boca Raton for events leading up to the final presidential debate, held Monday, but the plans fell through.

Instead, Cote did a drywall job for a friend in New Hampshire on Monday morning and went to a dentist appointment that afternoon.

He stopped at home in between and turned on the television to Fox News. His issue of The Atlantic and a New Yorker magazine with an article about him sat on the coffee table.

In khaki cargo pants and a baggy red overshirt, Cote looked much less like Romney, without black dye combed through his gray hair and the pinstripe suit he bought at Brooks Brothers.

Still, he looks enough like Romney naturally to get stopped on the street and interrupted while dining out.

Not long ago, a woman came up to him at a craft fair in Ogunquit. "Hey, you know who you look like?" she asked. Cote thought so.

"Scott Brown," she said.

The senator from Massachusetts suddenly had a new supporter.

"If he runs in four years, I can do that one," Cote said.

After appearing in the President Gaga musical parody released only days ago by Youtube's famous The Hillywood Show, Barack Obama impersonator Maxwell Price appears in the behind the scenes documentary about the making of the video alongside the show's stars, Hilly and Hannah Hindi. From The Hillywood Show: "Little Monsters! It's time for you to go on set of PRESIDENT GAGA by The Hillywood Show®! Filmed in 8 days, see how Hilly and Hannah Hindi created this wild, presidential parody! This feature includes over 20 minutes of behind the scenes footage, bloopers, studio recordings, dance rehearsals, and more! "