Joel Osteen and impersonator

Screengrab via Joel Osteen/YouTube Reggie Henke/YouTube

A Joel Osteen lookalike trolled everyone at a Joel Osteen event

He blesses a lot of unsuspecting fans.

 

Tiffany Kelly

Internet Culture

Posted on Nov 9, 2017   Updated on May 22, 2021, 11:39 am CDT

Michael Klimkowski is a comedian who just happens to look a lot like televangelist Joel Osteen. He decided to use his looks to pull off an elaborate prank at one of Osteen’s recent Los Angeles area events: He pretended to be Osteen. It was a smashing success. (Watch below.)

Klimkowski skipped parking fees, passed through security checkpoints, took selfies with many people, and actually walked down to the stage at the Forum. Not a single person on the video doubted that he was the real Osteen. It all ends, however, with security catching on and threatening to take him and his camera crew to jail.

On Thursday, Klimkowski did an AMA on Reddit. When asked if anyone figured out that he wasn’t Osteen, Klimkowski replied, “They did! I would just laugh and say I’m his tall brother!!” When asked what was edited out of the video, he replied, “We left out some stuff of people opening up and me having to break character to keep things from getting out of the comedy realm.”

Klimkowski didn’t actually get in any sort of real trouble. He was kicked out of the venue and told that he couldn’t return. And the cops actually enjoyed his performance.

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*First Published: Nov 9, 2017, 12:19 pm CST