LOGAN SQUARE — A crowd of over 100 gathered in Logan Sq. Saturday for the second superstar lookalike contest to strike Chicago in two weeks. The superstar beau of alternative? None apart from DePaul College alumni and “Stranger Issues” star Joe Keery.
Sizzling on the heels of the Jeremy Allen White lookalike competitors final week in Humboldt Park, the competition sought to seek out the one who most intently resembles Keery, who performs teenage jock Steve Harrington within the hit Netflix sequence “Stranger Issues.”
Every of the 9 contestants on Saturday who gathered close to the Illinois Centennial Monument was requested to carry out their greatest Keery impression, with viewers applause deciding the winner. Two Keery doppelgangers tied for first place: Max Rocchio, 20, and Troy Farsakian, 30, cut up the coveted prize of $50 and an Outdated Fashion beer.
Farsakian, 30, from Roscoe Village, says he’s no stranger to being mistaken for Joe Keery’s twin.
“I’ve been stopped a number of occasions all through the years,” he stated. “Particularly when the present got here out after which when his Domino’s business got here out. I used to be getting stopped on the streets and shops and issues. It was fairly wild.”
Farsakian additionally occurs to be a Keery fan. The 2 met seven years in the past when Keery was enjoying a present together with his band Publish Animal in Milwaukee.
“He realized [the resemblance] instantly. He was like, ‘You appear to be me,’” Farsakian stated.
Co-winner Max Rocchio, 20, confirmed up on the final minute after his roommate instructed him concerning the competitors. Rocchio is a scholar at DePaul College, the place Keery himself graduated with a bachelor’s diploma in appearing in 2014.
“We anticipated I used to be gonna win, as a result of I get that I appear to be him on a regular basis,” he stated.
Autumn Little from Belmont Cragin attended the occasion along with her canine Liberty after seeing the competitors’s flyer on TikTok.
“I hoped they’d include sailors costumes from Scoops Ahoy,” Little instructed Block Membership whereas surveying the contestants at Saturday’s occasion. “It’s a little bit chilly [out], however I believe they need to commit.”
(“Scoops Ahoy” is the title of the sailor-themed ice cream parlor that Keery’s character, Steve, works at in “Stranger Issues.”)
Keery lookalike Kolin Lawler, 23, didn’t disappoint when it got here to the “Scoops Ahoy” temporary. Lawler got here straight from the thrift retailer the place he picked up a classic sailor uniform.
“I figured this may enhance my odds a little bit,” stated Lawler of his naval costume.
Columbia Faculty scholar Emily Pavlick got here with a gaggle of associates to take a look at the Keery dopplegangers on Saturday.
“My greatest buddy is head over heels in love with Joe Keery so I used to be like, ‘I’ll stake out the competitors for you,’ and I do love his music.”
Keery was the drummer for the Chicago psychedelic rock band Publish Animal earlier than embarking on a solo music profession in 2019 underneath the title Djo. Keery’s sophomore album “Determine” earned him a Billboard Sizzling 100 title for his tune “Finish of Starting,” which might be learn as a love letter to his former dwelling with lyrics like “And once I’m again in Chicago, I really feel it” and “You’re taking the person out of the town, not the town out the person.”
Saturday’s occasion was organized by Logan Sq. resident Elizabeth Kohler, 27, who wished to create a contest for her superstar crush after seeing the excitement round related lookalike competitions in New York and San Francisco.
“Joe Keery is my primary crush, so I used to be like, let me simply get a gaggle of all my favourite kind in a single room. I simply wished it to be enjoyable and foolish,” Kohler instructed Block Membership.
Upfront of the occasion, Kohler printed out flyers and pasted them round Logan Sq., Humboldt and Wicker Park. The flyers have been shortly circulated on TikTok and a Joe Keery Twitter fan account.
With 4 superstar lookalike competitions occurring in Los Angeles alone this previous weekend, some are questioning if the superstar lookalike craze has jumped the shark. Nonetheless, all of it appears to be good enjoyable, a chance to get individuals collectively for a short second of levity.
“Truthfully, I didn’t even suppose one individual was gonna present up,” Kohler stated after the occasion. “It turned out to be the proper quantity of individuals, and only a enjoyable factor to do on a Saturday.”
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