What if there was a way for you to make insane amounts of money, and all you had to do was dress up and attended some parties? While that may sound like a dream, it is actually a viable way to make some money. The only requirement for this “job”: you’ve got to look exactly like a Hollywood celebrity, a VIP, or someone that is famous. Surprisingly enough people will actually pay money for celebrity look-a-likes to party with them or to attend various events, and that is exactly what Thaddeus Kalinoski did.
Thaddeus is just your everyday American that was living his life in relative peace. However after a series of unfortunate events, Thaddeus found himself divorced and without a job. He was hurting pretty bad and he put on some weight a grew a beard. Then one day he looked into the mirror and realized that he looked exactly like Zach Galifianakis’ character from the Hangover series. So Thaddeus wanted to see if he could fool anyone. He purchased an Alan costume online and headed to Vegas looking exactly like Alan from the Hangover. When he got to Vegas he was quickly surprised and shocked as nearly everyone mistook him for Zach. People wanted to party with him, get his autograph, and take pictures with him. Soon he quickly realized he could make a lot of money off of this, around $250,000 per year, so he moved out to Vegas to do this full time.
Now Thaddeus “works” full-time pretending to be Zach Galifianakis. While some people know he’s not the real deal, people are still paying him money to pose as Alan. His normal duties include: attended bachelorette parties, going gambling with groups, partying with others, and taking pictures with people while he is dressed up like Alan and acts in character. In a recent interview, Thaddeus exclaims that he can make up to $1,000 dollars per event posing as Alan. All he really has to do is dress up and then meet with people at the bars. He’s living the dream.
Thaddeus is not just a fringe example of people that pretended to be famous. There have been Elvis Presley impersonators for as long as I can remember, and they make a pretty good living as well. Bob McArthur is 46-year-old former radio personality who dresses up like Elvis, Neil Diamond, and the guys from The Blues Brothers. All of this started back in 2002 when he left his job to pretend to be Elvis. It seems insane, until you find out how much he makes. Bob charges anywhere from $200 to $2,000 dollars per event. He’s also an ordained minister and a DJ, so he can pretty much run an entire wedding dressed as Elvis. Like Thaddeus, Bob completely immerses himself into the character: he looks like Elvis, he talks like Elvis, he dresses like Elvis, and he even walks like the man too.
This is a trend that is not just seen in Vegas, but in many major cities in the world. In various parts of New York or Los Angeles you’ll also find celebrity impersonators who you can take pictures with. Some even make a name for themselves. You know the Naked Cowboy? He’s that guy in Times Square who wears just underwear and a cowboy hat while he plays the guitar. yeah, he makes around $100 dollars an hour. You can actually make a living as a street performer, as it would seem.
Now obviously not everyone can do this. If you want to become a paid “look-a-like” then you kinda have to be born into it. I can’t make myself look like Brad Pitt, but if you happen to look like him, you can dress up and make money off of this gig. It’s also important to note that if you are charging people for pictures or for you to attend events that they fully understand you’re not the real deal, as to avoid any legal consequence. Once you do that, you’re all set. While not everyone can do this, those that look like a famous person can, and as it turns out you can actually make quite a good deal of money from it and you virtually don’t have to do anything. Sounds pretty okay to me.
Photo from instagram.com/zachgalifianakis_lookalike
