Obama in disguise? President jokes about mustache on Broadway

NEW YORK -- Monday wasn’t the first time President Obama spoke whimsically of shedding his security “bubble” to be able to walk freely, if just for a moment, through Central Park.

But never before did we learn of a potential workaround -- a president in disguise. Specifically, a mustache.

“I tried it on and I thought it looked pretty good. But when I tested this scheme with the Secret Service, they said it didn’t look good enough,” Obama said, drawing laughs from an audience of about 1,700 at the New Amsterdam Theatre in Times Square.

The tale of deception foiled by security protocol came at a joint fundraiser for Obama and former President Clinton, one of three the duo held in Manhattan on Monday night to benefit the president’s reelection effort.

Obama shared the anecdote after acknowledging Clinton, his “opening act” at the “Barack On Broadway” event, and thanking one of the “producers,” Margo Lion.

It was Lion who sent Obama the mustache years ago, after he had shared with her his occasional desire to regain a sense of normalcy and everyday life.

“I guess she got [it] from one of the makeup artists on Broadway,” he said.

His security detail said no, but Obama said he kept the mustache anyway, for a potential second-term escape.

“So if a couple years from now you see a guy with big ears and a mustache, just pretend you don’t know who it is,” he joked.

michael.memoli@latimes.com