What's at stake:
A trophy was given to the best “Weird Al” Yankovic lookalike Friday night — and a crowd of about 40 people picked a certain victor out of a line up of 11 impersonators wearing funky outfits.
Just a few months ago, Justin Merriam donated all of his Weird Al shirts.
So when he heard of a “Weird Al” Yankovic lookalike contest in Fresno, he zipped over to a thrift store to find something the famous parody musician would wear. Merriam settled on a blue vacation shirt covered in bright flowers.
“There’s those retired dad kind of shirts — really muted — but this looked like something right out of one of (Weird Al’s) photos,” Merriam told Fresnoland.
But his thrift store find was just one small detail that helped Merriam win over a crowd of at least 40 people Friday night. Merriam’s beard and long curly hair, along with his grandma’s accordion — and flowery shirt — got him the loudest and longest cheers, crowning him the best lookalike out of a line up of 10 others wearing funky outfits.
Why did Merriam win? “It’s probably 50% above the shoulders and 50% the accordion,” Merriam said.
The lookalike contest put Fresno on a list of many other cities to bring their communities together to judge celebrity impersonators in recent months. That includes Timothee Chalamet in New York, Jeremy Allen White in Chicago, Dev Patel in San Francisco and Shohei Ohtani in Los Angeles.
A screening of the 1989 comedy film “UHF,” which stars Yankovic, followed the lookalike contest Friday night — all organized by Cen Cal Cinema at CMAC in downtown Fresno. The organization is planning four more film screenings in the Fresno region thanks to funding from the Fresno Arts Council’s distribution of Measure P grants.
Roque Rodriguez of Cen Cal Cinema said he had no idea what to expect for the event’s turnout. A half hour before the lookalike contest, no one was there, but a few minutes after 7 p.m., more than three dozen people were there to judge 11 lookalikes. At least 50 people stayed to watch the film screening, too.
“This is exactly what I was hoping for,” Rodriguez told Fresnoland.
‘Music that’s genuinely fun as a kid will translate into adulthood’
On Friday, each of the lookalikes took turns either impersonating Weird Al or speaking to how much they loved him and his music. The crowd whittled down the stage of 11 Weird Al impersonators to three finalists, which included Merriam.
His grandma’s accordion wasn’t just for show — Merriam played it a little bit for the crowd while singing a few lines from Weird Al’s 1992 song “When I was your age.” Merriam said his grandma brought the accordion over from Greece, and it holds sentimental value for him.
“We have accordion players on both sides of the family,” Merriam said. “This one’s special to me. She just passed away.”
Merriam has seen Weird Al live around seven times, he said. The first was at the Madera fair in the late 90s. Merriam added his appreciation for how Yankovic always got permission from the original artists of pop songs he wanted to parody, even though he didn’t have to.
“I’ve always appreciated how he went to the artist and asked permission before just releasing it,” Merriam said. “In today’s world that’s all done — it’s like ‘I’m gonna parody that and we’ll deal with the repercussions.’”
Merriam thought back to how Yankovic got permission from Michael Jackson before releasing “Eat it” in 1984. He also recounted how Kurt Cobain said in the early ‘90s that Weird Al’s Nirvana parody was a sign the rock band had “made it.”
“I always thought that was a cool quote, because even the music industry was responding to how much of a phenomenon he was,” Merriam said.
Merriam counts himself a second-generation fan of Weird Al. He was first introduced to Yankovic’s music through his parents and his allure to the musician didn’t fade over time.
“I grew up with it and it didn’t fall to the wayside because now I understand the lyrics,” Merriam said. “It’s just fun — I think music that’s genuinely fun as a kid will translate into adulthood.”
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