033 ATP – Impersonating The President – The Reinvention and Branding of John C. Morgan

Summary: BRANDING and REINVENTION FOR ACTORS AND ENTERTAINERS In this episode of Actors Talk Podcast, we'll explore the concepts of REINVENTION and BRANDING and how they relate to those of us who are actors or other entertainers. BRANDING is a hot topic these days. Everywhere in social media circles people in all manner of businesses, in and out of show business, are told that to maximize their success in those endeavors they must be aware of their BRAND. They must avoid all things that are 'off brand." Be sure to check out John C. Morgan's web site for information on his services and appearance schedule: John C. Morgan As President George W. Bush And don't miss the YouTube Channel for some very funny video content! REINVENTING THE PRESIDENT - FINDING A NEW CAREER John C. Morgan made a reluctant entry into the world of the celebrity impersonator during the first term of former president, George W. Bush. Some twenty years before, John had given up on his dream of making his career in the music business as a singer-songwriter. John says a combination of fear, rejection and a realization that he was not 'serving his family well' led him to give up on that dream. After putting the music business aside, John went back to the family business and helped his mom and dad run their appliance store in Orlando, FL. There John became what he describes as a 'pretty ambitionless guy', a 'couch potato', active in his local church but not doing much else with his life . I wanted to do a lot more...but hesitated because of a lot of fears, mistrust and self-doubt...I just chose contentment rather than going for my dreams. One gets the feeling that giving up on that dream had taken a toll and he had just decided to settle for what it appeared life was going to offer him. YOU LOOK LIKE W After George W. Bush came to national prominence, people started tapping John C. Morgan on the shoulder, telling him how much he looked like W. While he apparently found that amusing, it really didn't mean anything to him at the time. John says he was completely unaware there was a thriving industry of celebrity look-alikes: Cher, Lucy and Ricky and of course, Elvis and many others. Everyone knew of the Elvis impersonators but Morgan was oblivious to the possibilities of using his resemblance to the President as a way of earning extra money, much less of making that the basis for a reinvention of life as he knew it. A friend in the entertainment business suggested he should capitalize on his resemblance to George W. Bush but still, John just didn't see that as his future. ...It didn't fit in my paradigm of normal, and normal is what I wanted to be. So he dismissed the idea. FROM A DEAD SLEEP TO A NEW CAREER John may not have been all that interested in the possibilities of pursuing the celebrity look-alike business, but his wife's interest was piqued. One evening John's wife, Kathy saw a George W. Bush impersonator on a late night talk show and she did a web search to see who else was working in this arena. As John says: It was really the speaker fees that caught her eye. When she saw how much they were making for an appearance, she actually woke me out of a dead sleep, dragged me to the computer and said 'I just found your new career. You are going to become a George Bush impersonator. FEAR OF REJECTION This is a concept with which most actors are familiar and it's one that John struggled with as well. We talk quite a bit about this fear and about the struggle between self doubt, faith and fear. There's no doubt in my mind that I was born to perform. Those twenty years that I gave it up were difficult for me to deal with...I was being molded into a man that God could use...There are reasons not to do something, but fear is not one of them. I didn't want to look back ten years, and it's now been ten years, and wonder what could have been. REINVENTING AND BRANDING FOR ACTORS