One morning, Thaddeus Kalinoski stood in front of the mirror and thought about his recent misfortunes. He had lost his job at the hotel two weeks back, and his wife had walked out on him over a week later.
What he saw was a fat man with a dirty mop of hair and a beard left untrimmed for weeks. Suddenly he realized: his new self looked kinda familiar . . . he had become a splitting image of Alan in “The Hangover”. And that’s when it all started.
Today, Thad makes a living as an “Alan” impersonator.
“People started telling me when I was out at night that I looked like him. So for kicks, I decided to see if there was some money in doing this as a part time job to earn some extra cash.”
After moving to Las Vegas with his plastic baby, his life has never been the same again.
I moved to Atlantic City to see what people thought and I had some fun, but then me and my buddy went to Vegas for a weekend away — and it all changed.”
He is now a regular performer at The Strip…
This is Thad with the other street performers. That’s a smoking monkey and a Mike Tyson look-alike.
…and is living like a king.
Every night, he gets gigs and tips from strangers. He also gets VIP access to exclusive Las Vegas clubs. Everyone is treating him like the real Alan in the movie.
“Alan” now earns $1,000 per event appearance and $250,000 per year.
“Groups often ask me to join them for dinner or a night at a club. It felt strange to be with strangers at first, but what was easy for me was that acting like Alan meant it wasn’t awkward.”
He says he works hard and parties even harder.
“As long as I acted like him, most of the groups would just make jokes and have fun. It is a fantastic experience dipping into people’s lives like that.”
Of course, he frequently gets real-life hangovers too.
Even celebrities want to have a photo with the Alan doppelganger. Like Gene Simmons of the band Kiss…
…the real Mike Tyson,
…and even the one and only Bradley Cooper.
Reach for the stars Alan, you rock.