You look like me (but please don’t turn into me)
Wow, well, there you go, lots of people share my general suspicion of haircuts. A few people rated the experience at a disastrous 0/10, the kind of score normally reserved for such divisive subjects as coffee and Gok Wan in the Very Late Review. Jane controversially said she would rather go to the dentist. Megan spoke out against strangers ‘futzing with my noggin’, and rightly so. Sarah remarked that hairdressers have a tendency to marvel at the fact you have more hair than when you were last there, something which in context should hardly come as a surprise (amusingly, I’ve been doing standup along these very lines recently). But Sarah also turned out to have a hairdresser who looks a bit like me, if I were Turkish. I’ve been wanting to meet such a person for some time.
The key, not surprisingly, turns out to be to find one hairdresser you like, and stick with them. A bit like marriage. So in conclusion, my scientific study shows that people enjoy having their hair cut more, and feel stronger emotions of trust and warmth, if they are warm and trusting towards the people who are cutting their hair and will hence enjoy it more. And that is social science in action.
Back to this person who looks a bit like a Turkish me. Surprisingly often on Twitter or my Facebook page and so on, I get a message which says ‘my mate Craig/Brian/the Colonel looks like you!!!’ Or occasionally it even happens after a show. The funny thing is that pretty often, they DO look like me, because I have a pretty generic skinny/short hair/glasses/long nose combination, plus the facial hair obscures the shape of my head a bit and makes it easier for vague resemblance to pass as something closer.
So I was thinking, there used to be Elvis lookalike competitions (probably still are). Why can’t we have one with lookalikes of me? The answer is, because Elvis is a famous rock star and icon and I am not. But when we have ever let such considerations get in the way of doing something fun? I’ve always been interested in the idea of lookalikes – I wrote one of my novels about people who do it professionally – and I like the idea of being the least famous person ever to have a competition to resemble them. LET IT COMMENCE! The inaugural Mark Watson Lookalike Contest.
So, to enter, simply take a picture of the person in your life/person you pass in the street/other willing or unwilling participant who you think looks a bit like me, and post it. As usual, this is best done by sticking up a link to Flickr or Facebook or whatever else the new generation does to share photos online. Sarah, I am hoping at some point you will set a marker by snapping your hairdresser and putting it up as a yardstick.
If we get enough entries, we could even get someone to put them all together on one page like we did with the anniversary cakes.
I realise this could take a while, so this competition is ongoing till say the end of May. But the sooner you come up with one, the more likely you are to attract support I guess.
You cannot win by just getting a picture of David Baddiel a few years ago or John Oliver slightly fewer years ago.
The ingenuity of this blog’s readers has been proved many times, but I will be interested to see if anyone can make headway with this challenge. Off you go.
Posted by Allie on April 22, 2011
I apologise for the lateness of this comment…I will have to confess that I am a couple of days behind in keeping up with your daily blog. My partner decided to take my mind off the importance of keeping up with your comings and goings by proposing!!! Anyway enough of such trivial things, of much more interest to everyone is the fact that (I think) my son looks just like you. I wonder if anyone agrees?? http://flickr.com/photos/alliet/
Posted by Suzy on April 21, 2011
This link is better (more clickable) http://twitter.com/cheersphilip
Posted by Suzy on April 21, 2011
What about the guy on Twitter that you had a conversation with a while ago? I ended up following him cos he was quite interesting … http://twitter.com/#!/cheersphilip
And Aislinn that’s brilliant!
Posted by Rachael on April 21, 2011
@Aislinn That is amazing!
I will keep a eye out for mark-a-likes.
Posted by Megan on April 21, 2011
Doh, got excited and hit ‘submit’ before praising Aislinn’s amazing work. It’s excellent, Miss.
Posted by Megan on April 21, 2011
I don’t know any Watsonalikes, but I do have one of those faces. No, I don’t look identical to anyone, but I am frequently asked if I am from a certain city (usually on the East coast), or if I have a sister who went to such-and-such high school, or whether I have a cousin who might have worked at a certain government department. I look a *bit* like a gajillion different people, I guess?
Posted by Cathy (traineeflorist) on April 21, 2011
Haha Suzanne that is hilarious, a hairdresser that lacks tact, not good for repeat haircuts!
so you’re a senior Watsonian, how senior is senior (says I, born in the 60s)
Posted by Suzanne aka Senior Watsonian on April 20, 2011
Aislinn – that is FANTASTIC!!! What a talent!!!
Will keep looking for an MW lookalike and report back, as and when …
Catching up with the whole hairdresser debate … I had my hair cut today and love it because I get on so well with Vicki and we always chat like long lost friends!! In fact she’s become a very good friend – I’ve looked after her children from time to time as well …
Many moons ago I went to a new salon and during the usual neutral chit-chat we spoke about names … when I told her mine she said, “Oh, you don’t look like a Suzanne at all (???????) … I have a niece called Suzanne and she’s absolutely lovely and so intelligent and sophisticated!!!” Guess how many times I went back!!! Or was I being over sensitive???
The Vicki Experience gets 10/10: Suzanne’s Aunt gets minus a million/10!!!
Posted by Aislinn on April 20, 2011
I don’t know any lookalikes, but I done a picture what sort of looks like you. It’s the best contribution I can make.
http://breakforcake.tumblr.com/post/4781015407
Posted by Josh (the magnificent one) on April 20, 2011
Daniel (is that you, mini?), I think the one second from the left looks a lot like Ed Milliband.
I see a lot of people who look like you, Mark, but I can never remember who they are and thus don’t have any photos.
Posted by Daniel on April 20, 2011
Matt Hudson, who is the media manager at Colchester United, looks pretty similar to you. Watsonians, have a look at this photo and let me know what you think. Matt / Mark is the one on the far right.
http://www.cu-fc.com/page/News/0,,10424~2341903,00.html
The photo is from when Matt finished the marathon on Sunday, so he even shares the same sadistic jogging tendencies as you!
Posted by Jen on April 20, 2011
hehe i love the David Baddiel comment at the end…when i met you in Edinburgh i posted the piccy on my facebook and my friend said exactly that…my dad could possibly pass as you in your 50s but i think that might be stretching it abit…hehe!!Jx
Posted by DeborahF on April 20, 2011
No sorry can’t help with the lookalike at the moment but just wanted to say Katy has set the bar pretty high with her photo already. however, I will be keeping my eyes peeled in case I pass someone on the streets of Sheffield or Derby.
Also like Amycool I’ve had a really crap day firstly with a difficult four hours of conference phone calls with the same client – then my train is now 35 minutes late and still counting.
So thanks everyone for cheering me up as well – I really needed it today
Posted by Lydia on April 20, 2011
I don’t know anyone that looks like you. I’m sometimes watching tv and have a “Oooh! That looks like Mark Watson!” moment. Which is usually because it is you.
I will have a look around. Unfortunately I have to spend the next 2 days in the middle of nowhere with my gran talking about how miserable my mum is. I will use this task as a distraction.
Posted by Tibbs on April 20, 2011
I don’t know anyone who looks like you, but I shall keep my eyes peeled! Katy, that picture is pretty impressive. I’m looking forward to seeing other entries (especially the Turkish hairdresser). But I’m going to have to look up David Baddiel and John Oliver.
Posted by LisaD on April 20, 2011
Dammit! Last week I passed a guy on the street who looked so much like you I actually turned to stare at him and then have a little check in with myself: no, Mark is in Australia and if he weren’t he still wouldn’t be in Boston, Massachusetts on his way to a Red Sox game…probably. So now all I have to do is stalk the 50,000 people who were at the game that day and find the one that looks like Mark Watson…No problem!
Posted by Misha on April 20, 2011
Katy, that’s mental!
I met my lookalike in Edinburgh, a lady called Elf, although since i’ve hacked off my hair I guess there isn’t the resemblance now.
I don’t know any Mark lookalikes, and yet, every time I see him in a non-stage context, for example in Edinburgh, I find myself thinking. That man looks remarkably like Mark Watson, oh no wait, it is.
Having said that, every time it happened and Mark came over he’d say something like “you’re taller than I remember” so at least the feeling is mutual.
Posted by Sarah on April 20, 2011
Oooh, pressure! Problem is, I’ve only just had my hair cut, so it may be a while before I go back… but I’ll see what I can do. I’m going to have to pretend I’m texting or something to take a sneaky photo!
Posted by Katy on April 20, 2011
Right I dont know if this will work but I’m going to try and link to a post in my Tumblr I’ve just done which is my best mate Lee looking like you. You have in fact seen this photo before because you’ve signed it but hey ho.
Also last time we were out drinking someone shouted in the street “look theres Mark Watson” and me, being slightly foolish, actually looked round as if you’d be stumbling out of Rock City at 2am.
Right, picture – http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljxz2vlG561qiy766o1_500.jpg hopefully that works!
Posted by amycool on April 20, 2011
Don’t know any lookalikes but I just wanted to mention that this blog made me grin, which is pretty impressive considering the terrible mood I’m in.
Posted by Michael King on April 20, 2011
I don’t know anyone who looks like you, Mark, but I did hear someone answer ‘Watson’ to ‘The lead vocalist and lead guitarist with Dire Straits was Mark who?’ on The Weakest Link last night. So hey, at least one person thinks you’re a famous rock star!