Iman Crosson (born March 27, 1982), better known by his stage name Alphacat, is an American
actor,
impressionist, and
YouTube personality known for his
impersonations of former
U.S. PresidentBarack Obama and his starring role in independent film Along the Roadside.
YouTube and Barack Obama impressions
On December 14, 2005, a 23-year-old Crosson opened a YouTube account with screen name Alphacat. In July 2008, at the urging of his fellow waiters, Crosson created spoof videos of then U.S. presidential candidate
Barack Obama.[1]
During the summer of the 2008
U.S. Presidential election campaign, Crosson's 30-second video won
Denny's Restaurant's nationwide contest for the best
impressionist of the then-candidate
Barack Obama.[2] He said that he "went from unemployed to self-employed in literally a matter of a month." Crosson moved from New York to California, obtained an agent specializing in helping talent cross over from online to mainstream, and was invited to be on America's Got Talent.[1]
On YouTube, Crosson specialized in mashing up his Obama impersonations with hip-hop songs, his spoofs of Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" and T.I.'s "Whatever I Like" being viewed 20 million times each.[3]
After Obama's January 2009 inauguration, Crosson was featured on several entertainment and news television shows,
blogs, and newspapers. Crosson was called a "YouTube sensation" by
Fox News'
Neil Cavuto.[4]
In December 2013, Crosson contributed to an
Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare") health care exchange's "Tell a friend – Get covered" social media campaign for raising awareness among young Americans to enroll in Obamacare-compliant health insurance, by releasing a video spoof of
Snoop Dogg's "
Drop It Like It's Hot."[10]
In February 2014, YouTube content creators including Crosson met with U.S. President Obama at the White House to discuss ways in which government could connect with the content creators' viewers, concerning awareness of and enrollment in health insurance policies and other issues.[7][11]
Crosson played the male lead role in the
independent filmAlong the Roadside[13] with supporting actor
Michael Madsen,[14] the film debuting at the February 2013
FEST with its commercial release on March 17, 2015.[13]
^Denny's press release of August 28, 2008, entitled "Americans Select Best Presidential Posers, Denny's 'Vote For Real' Contest Names Best Impersonators" (
archive).
^"The District Ep. 1 The Challenges We Face - Newsweek.com" video (
archive) which aired on newsweek.com on February 2, 2009, and was posted on YouTube's "NewsweekVideo" channel (
archive) on February 4, 2009. The word "District" refers to the
District of Columbia (DC), the U.S. capital. The District season finale "'The District' | Ep. 9 | Season Finale -- video.newsweek.com" (
archive) aired on March 30, 2009.