‘Obama’s like Elvis, there will always be demand’: Indonesia’s bootleg Barack
US president may be due a job change, but his Indonesian doppleganger sees career mileage yet in link-up with ‘Putin’
US President Barack Obama will be looking for a new job in less than 100 days, but his Indonesian doppleganger Ilham Anas – who has made a windfall impersonating America’s first black president – sees no need for a career change.
Anas shot to fame when an amateur photograph of him dressed as his alter-ego went viral online in 2008, is experiencing a rise in bookings from advertising firms across Asia even as his real-life counterpart prepares to leave the White House.
“Surely there will be a future for me as an Obama impersonator. He is like Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter. There will always be demand for impersonators of such popular people,” said Anas, 43.
Dressed in Obama’s trademark dark suit, with hair dyed grey, protruding ears and a megawatt, teeth-baring grin, Anas is accustomed to drawing whoops of glee and requests for photographs.
At 175cm, he is ten centimetres shorter than Obama, but the resemblance is still uncanny enough for him to be recognised.