Steve Bridges as Mr. President

ARTICLE:
AMERICAN ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE
January/February 2004

Steve Bridges: The Incredible Reincarnation
By Darcel Rockett

George W. Bush caused 45 minutes of aching jaws and sore stomachs at a life insurance investment conference for executives in Las Vegas earlier this year. As the keynote speaker, he provided solid laughter that garnered recommendations and positive comments that still litter the Internet.

Was it that his speech was that moving, that in tune with the voting masses to scratch their funny-bone? Or was it, the President of the United States slumming it and trying to show up the many comics that spoof him? No. It was Steve Bridges, so realistic as President George W. Bush that people were still trying to determine if he was the real thing after it was over.

The comedian, actor and impersonator/impressionist has been doing Bush for the past two years and has been doing him so well that The Tonight Show with Jay Leno considers his version of the "Ruler of the Free World" the best and only one they need. His likeness to "W” has also been featured on Judy Woodruff’s "Inside Politics" (CNN), “The Early Show” (CBS), "Good Morning America" (ABC), and Nickelodeon.

He's shared the spotlight with Washington D.C. insiders like political consultant James Carville, former Senator Bill Bradley and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Bridges amazingly accurate mannerisms, voice, and characterization of the President is so good, it served to inspire Academy Award-winning prosthetic make-up artist Kevin Haney (Driving Miss Daisy) to create a perfect "George W. Bush" appearance to match.

"l don't look a thing like the President until Kevin Haney gets me all pieced together and then bam, the magic happens," said Bridges, a Dallas-native. "The amazing thing is I’ll do the show and afterwards when people are taking pictures, they'll look at me and say: 'It must be difficult, looking just like President Bush.' I've had some people say, how do you go to the grocery store? People must be mobbing you because you look exactly like George Bush, even your hair looks like George Bush's, and I look at them and say I don't look a thing like him and then they'll look at me like, what? I don't think there are too many people doing what I do with the prosthetics. I guess this can be considered a little new school. Even "Saturday Night Live" doesn't go to the extent that we go to."

After moving to northern California 's Oakland Bay area as a toddler Bridges - a big Rich Little fan - started doing impersonations in his youth of the Three Stooges. By the time he entered high school, he had honed and expanded his characterization to include contemporary political figures; back then, his biggest laughs came courtesy of Jimmy Carter. "I never thought of it as something I would do as a living," he recalls. "I didn't start doing comedy until 1991 and it was mostly impersonations. I had a lot of people tell me you're really good at this, you ought to consider doing it for a living and I was getting hired, little by little all the way back to college for banquets and emceeing events, being the host of the evening and that's when I really started thinking maybe I want to give this a shot. So right around '91 I started doing standup and it was a combination of impersonations and comedy and I was doing well, making a living."

The son of a Baptist preacher, Bridges was going down a similar path as a youth pastor in Los Angeles before this, using comedy and impersonations as a way of identifying with the tough audience of youth. Doing celebrities, cartoon characters, and anybody that he could impersonate, Bridges would put them in his routine and took up some acting and improv classes along the way.

Studying with the Groundlings in LA and picking up stints on shows like "ER" and "The District," Bridges attests his claim to fame was playing a doctor on "Power Rangers." "Because after all, the Power Rangers need doctors," he said. "You fight these people from another planet, you've got to have stitches."

The self-described late bloomer in show business has since then mastered political characters including Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Senators Phil Gramm, Ted Kennedy and Strom Thurmond and even the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Newsmen Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather, Geraldo Rivera and Sam Donaldson and television characters like Regis Philbin and Homer Simpson are also voices Bridges is familiar with. Bridges not only accurately voices these and many other characters but he instantly switches between them to create "conversations" among two or more of them at the same time.

So how did Bridges' Dubya come out to play at banquets, awards dinners, corporate meetings, political rallies and trade shows? "I was traveling around doing my standup comedy and doing impersonations of Clinton, Bush, Perot and all those characters," Bridges claims. "I had done an "on-hold" message of Bush for someone and Randy (Randy Nolen, manager) heard my Bush impression and he called me up and we talked. Randy hired me to actually do a show in Chicago for Motorola and one thing led to another and Randy started asking around the entertainment business - who is a makeup artist that can make someone look just like President Bush and Kevin Haney's name kept coming up. So the three of us met in Burbank , California . Kevin said, "I can make him look exactly like Bush." So we started a process and got going and spent the first year, running around really promoting it and working hard at getting it out there. We found a good comedy writer named Evan Davis and it just goes over brilliantly with pretty much everyone. We have not had one show where people complained, everybody seems to really love it. It's the combination of the impersonation, the body language, the brilliant job that Kevin does on the makeup, Evan's writing and Randy's booking and his work behind the scenes. The whole thing comes together for an almost synergy, a real magic that just makes for a very successful show that's a real blast."

Traveling with Haney to insure the illusion of "Mr. President," Bridges' political spin team consists of idea man, Nolen and publicist, Jim Howard. 'The closer he looks like Bush, the more the show is a success," Haney said. "Steve has always sold the makeup, even when the makeup looked more like Michael Caine than the President. Steve would sell it with the brilliance of the performance. His mannerisms and everything and even when I'm not at my best, he's always at his." Haney and Bridges do at least four shows a month, and as many as 12.

And now with the inclusion of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger into the corporate speaking repertoire, that number will continue to grow. "We've had Arnold up and running now just very recently and been on the "Tonight Show" twice with that, they seem to love it," Bridges said. He elaborated on why the President is such a big hit at corporate events: "You just can't go wrong with the President. Everyone loves to see an impersonation of the President. I think part of it is we just like to see our top dog being spoofed. It's somebody who's larger than life. He's the most famous person, really in the world. I'm amazed at how many shows I've done where I've met people afterwards that know President Bush. So many shows where people have met him. There was a guy, when we did a show in Texas, who said (in a Texan drawl), 'l knew Bush when he was a governor, I have talked to him, I have worked with him and man I've got to tell you, looking at you right now is spooky'. He said, 'You've got him down, down to the shoes.' And is was funny, because we've had the affirmation from people that have actually met him, talked with him, worked with him and know him."

The Dubya gang got to meet the big man himself in Feb. 2003 at the Oval Office after a speakers bureau in the Capitol asked for a customized video tape of Bridges', a.k.a. Bush, introducing Barbara Bush. It went over so well, Bridges said a copy was sent to the real Dubya. He said, "I saw that tape that you made for mom! And we laughed. He said (in Bush's voice): I got to tell you something, You see a tape where somebody looks like ya', acts like ya, talks like ya, that's weird."

"I think the fact that we got invited and had the opportunity to meet with him, pretty much told me that he was cool," Bridges said. "l don't like to use the words, making fun of him, because there's no meanness to the show, but we are kind of cracking jokes about him, let's face it we are, but it's not coming from a mean place. It's all in fun. In the name of comedy and entertainment."

The show that Bridges delivers is client-driven, the sole focus being the event's success. So what if he has to carry a 35-pound makeup mirror or Haney has two suitcases that are full of makeup, prosthetic pieces, paint, glue, spray gun, paintbrushes and remover. So what if it takes roughly two hours to put on the pieces and color, and about an hour to set up before that. Bridges says the two have it down to a pretty compact show, which is always open to what the client wants or needs done, customizing shows to current events for clients, thanks to Evan's regular updating of material.

"He's really good about striking the balance of keeping it current, but also keeping the stuff that he knows will go over great," Bridges said. "We stay in touch with him and he writes the stuff for both Bush and Arnold. That's why people hire us, because they want to find something that is unique and different. I'm there to make sure it goes over like gang-busters. I like corporate events because that's really where I cut my teeth and honed my material and comedic timing, more in the private area, not in comedy clubs. I understand where that client is coming from. It's got to be clean, but it's gotta be hysterical."

No problem there. While Bridges' work never stops on working on new nuances for the former Terminator and Bush, the bookings keep coming. The election year of 2OO4 is filling up and the demand is strong for both, according to Bridges. And while two government leaders are in demand, he said there's always a possibility of doing the front-runner that the Democrats choose to run in '04, as well as standing in for the real president like Kevin Kline in the movie, "Dave."

"My own politics don't get involved at all with this," Bridges said. "I'm an equal-opportunity impersonator. If the person is popular enough and the demand is there, I'll get it down, and I think Kevin's got the confidence that he can make me look like anybody, so we'll do it, we'll get that character down."

Even though everyone breathed a sigh of relief after Gary Coleman lost to the recall election. "I admit Gary Coleman would have been tough to impersonate," he said. "It's hard to be short. Arnold just looked like it's almost too good to be true. Here's this superstar who's going to be the Gov. of California and "The Tonight Show" just jumped all over it. He hasn't been governor less than a month and we've been on "The Tonight Show" twice, it's just that funny."