Michael Klimkowski, the leader of the "Dabs Den" sketch comedy troupe, looks so much like Houston megachurch pastor Joel Osteen that he managed to get on stage at the televangelist's event at The Forum in Los Angeles without any credentials.
"Let's go bless people," Klimowski said as he drove into The Forum's large parking lot, smiling and offering "God bless you"'s to event staff who all recognized him as the star of the show.
The video follows Klimowski as he meanders through the event, at times asking for alcohol but finding the closest drink is soda. He pauses multiple times to take selfies with Osteen fans.
"I've got these long arms," Klimowski-as-Osteen tells a fan with whom he took a selfie. "I'm 6'3 -- Jesus was 5'5."
"I think we should try to get you onstage," one of his cronies half-jokingly offers.
"Dude, that's insane," Klimowski responds. Nevertheless, they find security and do end up touring the stage, pausing along the way to take more photos and "bless" more audience members in the process.
As one fan takes his hands and points out how cold they are, Klimowski seems to reference Osteen's recent controversial decision to only open his megachurch to people seeking shelter from Hurricane Harvey after a social media outcry.
"I'm used to that Houston weather, that humidity -- out here in L.A. it's the winter for me," he says.
Eventually, security catches up with him, telling onlookers he's an impersonator and telling Klimowski and his crew that they're going to jail. But as Dabs Den crew member Reggie Henke told The A.V. Club, the "real police" found it amusing.
"Especially because Mike, our ‘Joel,’ never really dropped character and kept getting approached by ‘fans’ even as we were detained," Henke said.
Watch convincing Osteen impersonator Klimowski gain access to the televangelist's stage below.
