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"Elvis" Visits Presque Isle!

 

By:  David Deschesne

Fort Fairfield Journal, May 24, 2017

 

   Joseph Hall, an America's Got Talent alumnus, recently flew into Presque Isle to perform his Elvis impersonation show at a private party for Phil and Theresa Howard at the  Presque Isle Inn & Convention Center (a/k/a Keddy's). 

   Hall is from Nebraska and has been doing his show for ten years.  Starting out in the restaurant business with his father, the Elvis gig seemed to come along on a whim.    “I was in the restaurant business with my father.  I was his general manager.  There came a time when we had an employee Halloween party and I went as Elvis Presley,” said Hall.  “I got pulled on stage and did a few songs.  There was a lady there who was a big Elvis fan.  She came up to me after the show and asked, ‘Boy, how long have you been doing Elvis?’”  He then explained to her it was just a one-time thing and that he had never done it before.  She turned out to be the owner of bar in town, and a huge Elvis fan, she subsequently invited him to perform an Elvis show at her bar. 

   “I said, Okay, alright I can do it.  One night, one night only Joseph Hall does Elvis Presley I could do that.  I did it.  I was scared, boy I was shaking.  It was pretty scary my first time.”

   Afterwards, Hall returned to the restaurant business but continued to be asked by customers if he was the one who did Elvis.  When he answered yes, he was invited to perform at a few birthday parties in the area. “I did a few birthday parties and after that word kind of got around, birthday parties turned into corporate parties.”

   For about a year Hall continued to work in the restaurant full time with his dad and on the side dressed like Elvis at night.  “I was doing it for about a year and my father called me into his office one day and said Joseph you got your first gig outside of Nebraska, it's in Chicago.  I said, Chicago, fantastic, I'm ready let's do it.  He said it was a private party, just go out there and go do your thing.” 

   “I flew out to Chicago and my grandmother, bless her heart, was there.  She took me where I needed to go and I stood in line for eight hours not realizing that I was getting ready to audition for America's Got Talent.  Bless my grandmother she was in her early 70s and she stood out there for eight hours with me, my cousin was there as well. 

   Hall and his grandmother waited with a whole group of other America's Got Talent hopefuls before he was allowed to audition.   “It's just like you see on TV, all those people waiting outside, that's true.  They keep you waiting all day.  Finally I got admitted into a small auditioning room.  There were just two people there.  They said, alright what's your act.  I said, I do Elvis.  They said you got 90 seconds.  So I did my thing and they said alright well, go on to the next room.  So I went into the next room and all these people from England were right in front of me.  They said do your act again.  So I did it again.  They said alright, we'll call you.  The next day I got a call and they flew me out to LA where I did my audition for America's Got Talent.  It was really an amazing experience for me.  I made it all the way to the top ten.  I didn't know what I was doing the whole time, I had no idea.  But it was the support of the fans that called in every week that kept me going.” 

   From America's Got Talent Hall went into the Elvis show full time and travels all over the country.  Hall, who will be 33 in August explains his is truly a family show.  “My sister runs the sound board.  It's really a family business.  My father's my manager, my mother does all the backstage stuff, costumes, jewelry and my wife stays home with our three boys - 10, 5, and 2.”