The Chunky Backstreet Boy

When I was younger, I was told that I looked like a young Robert Redford.  And then when "Karate Kid" came out, I was constantly called Billy Zabka.  (The "bad guy", in case you don't know who I'm talking about.)

I didn't mind any of these.  Why should I?  

And then, a few years ago, it started taking a strange little twist.

I have been a mobile DJ for about 15 years now.  At one of my first gigs at a Junior High stomp, a girl came up to me and said, "You look like the chunky Backstreet Boy".  At first, I didn't know what to say.  I mean, on one hand, I looked like a Backstreet Boy, but on the other hand, she made sure to mention it was the chunky one.  

A few years after that, I was doing a remote for a radio station.  One of my listeners came up and said, "I am so happy to meet you.  You look different than I expected."  (I could hear the disappointment in her voice.)   I said, "What were you expecting?" and she said, "Well, not Drew Carey."  (This was before Drew lost all of his weight and looked like...well...me.)

Another time someone said, "You look a lot like Tom Arnold."

Or Chris Farley.

Or John Candy. 

I started to see a trend.

At first, it kind of hurt because I wasn't being compared to Redford any more, but to heavier actors.  

The lowest point, however, was when I was working as a DJ at a bar and some drunk girls said - I'm not kidding - "You remind me of...oh what's his name?  You know!  The fat actor!"

This - along with 100 other reasons - is why I am here.  I am going to make people see me for who I am, and not automatically associate me with the chunkiest member of a boy band.