Trump’s back in town . . .
Comedian Alexander Sparrow is back with his third – and possibly final – rendition of American President Donald Trump.
First there was The President in 2016, followed by DJ Trump last year, as well as a trip to Los Angeles to compete as one of the world’s top Trump impersonators.
‘‘It’s interesting to me playing him, I don’t have to establish who he is,’’ Sparrow said.
‘‘For me, the most important thing is entertainment. I don’t want to tell people what to think, so if you come to my show, you can expect to laugh, see a different side of some controversial people and leave with something to think about.’’
In his latest iteration, Sparrow steps it up a notch: he’s not just playing Trump, he presents a whole host of characters, from Oprah and Dr Phil to a cameo from Russia’s Vladimir
Putin. And the kicker: in this show, Alexander Sparrow In Becoming Trump, the president dies.
‘‘I did the first one to challenge myself to do impressions, which I hadn’t done on stage since I was 8. The second one was trying to show the private side of Trump. This time is to try and almost make a horrorcomedy movie happen on stage.’’
Sparrow said once people saw the show, they would realise this was probably as far as he could take the US president as a character. ‘‘This will be the end of the Trump trilogy.’’
Playing the president had been a journey
for the comedian. He had explored a more personal side of the president and said there were enough people calling him a ‘‘big orange clown’’.
‘‘I like to play Trump because it gives me the opportunity to make fun of him but also use him as a mouthpiece to make fun of media bias in the US – both Left and Right.’’
Using Trump, Sparrow was able to make fun of the American political system too, as well as celebrity and how it can stand in place of genuine political experience.
Next Sparrow, who is trained in both comedy and theatre, is hoping to take some material overseas. He’s also looking at doing some darker acting in the upcoming Fringe Festival in Palmerston North.