• themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    That reminds me of when I went to see Gallagher Too. My mom thought she had bought tickets to see Gallagher, but it was in a tiny comedy club in New Jersey. The guy did Gallagher’s act, and we had fun, and we bought shirts he signed after the show. “Ron Gallagher” was his signature.

    We later learned it was Gallagher’s brother, who was later sued to stop the impersonation act.

      • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        His brother, the famous one, Leo Gallagher died in 2022. Piecing together the story from various interviews, it seems like Ron initially had Leo’s blessing to do some of the act, and had even had Ron replace him on occasion to see the act from the audience, but Ron took it too far from tribute towards deception. There was nothing in his act that indicated he wasn’t the Gallagher, and it wasn’t until after the show that I was able to convince my mom that we were duped.

        This was the late 90s, early internet days, and in 2002 Leo won the lawsuit that prohibited Ron from doing the sledge-o-matic routine or using deceptive advertising that might fool people into thinking Ron was Leo. Ron retired from entertainment after that.

        It’s a shame, because Ron did the act really well, and had a bit more edge to his routine. It had a chaotic energy that worked really well in a small club, and I can’t imagine seeing the famous Gallagher in a giant stadium would be as much fun. But I completely understand Leo not wanting his brother to tarnish the brand, or engage in deception. After the show, I found a few boards where people had posted about Ron’s act, saying that they felt cheated and warning others not to buy tickets to his shows.