Pee-wee’s Misadventure a Problem for Look-Alikes

This isn’t an easy time to be a slight jester with a bow tie, screechy voice and shrunken suit.

When actor Paul Reubens was arrested on indecent exposure charges in a Florida adult theater last month, his persona, Pee-wee Herman, was not the only one to plummet in popularity.

Impersonators of the zany character--such as Torrance resident Mike Weisner, who plays “Wee-wee Herman”--say they feel as if the charges are hanging over their heads too.

Once a popular entertainer at local children’s parties, Weisner says he is now the brunt of crude jokes. Meanwhile, his gray suit and bow tie are not getting as much use these days.

“I feel like I am being persecuted too, and I wasn’t even in the theater,” said the 34-year-old Weisner, who as Wee-wee is a dead ringer for Pee-wee.

Weisner has performed impersonations since he was a child and can sound just like Cher and Popeye. He became Wee-wee five years ago, after hearing again and again how much he resembled the comic character.

Weisner learned Pee-wee’s unique waddle and his “Huuh huuh” laugh. He watched his movies and now-canceled Saturday morning television show--”Pee-wee’s Playhouse”--so many times that he memorized lines of dialogue.

As Pee-wee became a household name, Weisner began to be recognized wherever he went. There were giggles and finger-pointing, but none of the comments he hears these days.

“Have you been to any porno shows lately?” he said he was asked recently.

The Wee-wee character is squeaky clean, but other look-alikes are cashing in on Pee-wee’s misfortune by spicing up their acts.

Bookings for children’s events are down, said Ron Smith, who runs Celebrity Look Alikes in Hollywood. But Pee-wees willing to joke about the XXX South Trail Theater in Sarasota, Fla., where Reubens was arrested, are becoming hot property for adult affairs, he said.

Smith’s 17-year-old firm, which contracts out thousands of look-alikes worldwide, has about two dozen imitation Pee-wees.

Time will help the scandal pass, Smith predicted, citing the rebound of Vanessa Williams, who was stripped of her Miss America title after photos of her appeared in Penthouse magazine.

Smith said the best thing for Reubens, who has pleaded not guilty, would be to come out of hiding and, regardless of the outcome of next month’s trial, make fun of himself.

“Take lemons and make lemonade,” he advised.