He doesn't mind accepting freebies?

"Why not?" he said and crinkled a smile that looked very Gere-ish.

Jones was one of scores of impersonators at the Imperial Palace on Sunday for the Reel Awards, a celebrity impersonator awards show.

In the hallway, while I interviewed Jones, who is a Ford model from Oshkosh, Wis., women surrounded him, stared and giggled. I asked him a few times to cite the romantic perks of not-really-being Richard Gere, but he only smiled and didn't answer.

Among the other impersonators at the Reel Awards was a guy who looked exactly like Brad Pitt (Ryan Fraley), and a great Johnny Depp (Ron Rodriguez), plus carbon copies of Whoopi Goldberg, Simon Cowell, Tim McGraw, a few Jack Nicholsons, many Elvi and Marilyn Monroes.

The most unexpected was a Dr. Phil McGraw look-alike. Who wants to look like Dr. Phil? Dan Schneid, that's who.

Three years ago, a friend pestered Schneid to grow longer sideburns and a mustache to strive for Dr. Phil status. Schneid finally caved in and complemented his baldness with facial hair.

Now Schneid -- "I'm a Home Depot store manager" in Laguna Niguel, Calif. -- works on the side at corporate functions and personal parties.

Like other impersonators, Schneid gets stopped all the time by celebrity fans, especially at airports, but also at his day job. He tries to tell people he's a Home Depot manager. They don't believe him. He shows them his driver's license. They don't believe him. They scoff, "I understand you have to say that. I bet they give you a fake I.D. so nobody will bug you."

Sometimes, he relents and gives them Dr. Phil-esque family counseling.

Schneid's girlfriend, Jacquie Hicks, sometimes gets worse treatment when she's in public with Schneid, because some fans think she's a mistress of the married Dr. Phil.

"I get a lot of dirty looks from little old ladies, like, 'Hussy!' 'Homewrecker!' " Hicks said.

The Reel Awards was a fun little spectacle that flew under the radar. Few outsiders bought tickets. With a bigger production and marketing budget, it could make a nice little splash.

One impersonator looked like the late rapper Tupac Shakur (Josh Harraway). Harraway is an ex-philosophy major who aspires to be a director/"modern-day Voltaire" in L.A. He filmed a documentary series called "Tupac Alive." He's planning to post it online this summer. (The trailer's a good time at Harraway.com.)

There are downsides. Harraway has traveled with a bodyguard, since eight tough guys in L.A. accosted him for looking like Tupac. He's more tight-lipped about benefits.

"Girls love Tupac. That's all I want to say. I don't want to incriminate myself," he said.

Women also love George Clooney. A Clooney impersonator (Ken Schumaker) posed for photos with super excited tourists. He picked up one woman in his arms, and she was in heaven.

I asked him for the secret to dressing like Clooney. "Keep it black," he said.

The Reel Awards are part of an impersonators' convention at the IP. Today's panels include "The Art of Mix and Mingle" and late-night dancing and karaoke.

If you sneak in, look for a Sean Connery named Dennis Keogh from Arizona who speaks in a perfect 007 slur: "I never pay for a drink, even when I'm in civilian clothes."

David Born is a dead-on Robin Williams, if slightly more rotund than the real Robin, because, Born said, "He did the drug thing. I did the beer thing."

CORRECTION

While writing about the UFC in Monday's paper, I typed a wrong word in the title of the organization. Obviously, I meant to call it Ultimate Fighting Championship.

IN VEGASLAND TODAY

Check out my blog at lvrj.com to see how I spent Memorial Day weekend with Hooters girls, The Police, "Girls Gone Wild," these celebrity impersonators, and the real Robin Williams.

Doug Elfman's column appears on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Contact him at 383-0391 or e-mail him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He also blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.