Travel With Mike - Star Tribune ripoff St PauL Minnesota

C.J.: Robin Williams in person? No, in an impersonation
C.J., Star Tribune
September 16, 2004 CJ0916

I got punked by a Robin Williams impersonator at the airport Friday. The guy I interviewed matches the photo of a guy identified as Michael Clayton in an April Web story by Mark Spain at First Coast News of Jacksonville, Fla. Spain's photo shows Clayton wearing the same wild shirt he had on when I snapped him. That explains why the guy smelled like he needed a shower. According to Spain's story, this is the serious side of Clayton, a musical impersonator, on a mission to educate school kids about the evils of drug use.

Oh, the red flags are flying now. Suddenly, Michael Pool, the alleged Twin Cities-based Midwest agent for Williams, isn't returning calls from the 651 number he gave me. I've been trying to reach him because Twin Cities school reps have been asking me if they can get "Williams" to talk at their schools. I called the number last week while waiting for Pool at the airport. I got a woman at the number to describe Pool to me. When I asked point-blank if he was honorable and trustworthy, she said he was. Ha! When Pool arrived with "Williams," I was surprised by the blond hair. My suspicions eased when I saw Clayton's hairy arms. (Williams is famously hirsute.) I was also taken aback by how Williams has aged. This guy looked to be in his 60s, which I don't think Williams is. But once he lapsed into Williamsesque shtick, I was completely suckered.

There's a reason it's called acting. Since Clayton was in the company of a Northwest Airlines escort, I called NWA Wednesday to ask if they willingly participated in a hoax on the media or if they were also duped. I mean, aren't travelers supposed to present ID while flying? Hey, maybe he wasn't actually on a flight. A NWA spokester told me she had not been able to find out anything, and "Right now, we have no reason to believe we were [duped]." Here's a reason: Williams' L.A. lawyer confirmed that our "Robin" was a fake and didn't sound amused at all by him. Guess I'm going to have to start treating "celebrities" the way I have others. For example, I made Daryl Murphy, the man who is suing Eddie Murphy, come show me proof of his identity so I could be sure to whom I was speaking. Guess I'll pass on Pool's offer to introduce me to Julia Roberts later this month. As I said before: I consider everything a hoax until proved otherwise.

This man has left a cloud of problems for myself, talent agencys, travel agencys and top named Legends in the Country Music field in whom I'm in contact with. I was informed by one of the travel concerns on the above article.

Frank
Duluth, Minnesota
U.S.A.