Elizabeth Holmes and Nathan Fielder lookalike contests held in NY, SF

Contestants in the NY Elizabeth Holmes lookalike contest
You Can See Everything, Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s three hour Elizabeth Holmes documentary, unmasked itself to an unsuspecting world in September at the Telluride Film Festival. As soon as we learned of the doc’s existence, saw the first trailers, and got confirmation it would be released in October, the horror film jokes were ripe for the making. I mean, the unblinking eyes, psychopathic stare, unbearably awkward pauses pregnant with impending doom… this thing had spooky szn written all over it! So it was a no-brainer that Elizabeth Holmes and Nathan Fielder costumes would spike for Halloween. Some people started the fun early by theme-dressing just to see the movie in theaters, and cities got in the spirit by holding lookalike contests. New York kicked things off with a contest held on the Sunday before Halloween:

Washington Square Park on Sunday afternoon looked like a cross between a vigil, a corporate mixer, and a low-budget film set.

It was, in reality, an Elizabeth Holmes and Nathan Fielder lookalike contest, as fandom about the documentary “You Can See Everything” spilled onto the streets.

…Maddy West, a New York-based comedian and Fielder fan, organized the event with a friend. The organizers had about a week to set up the event, from the registration to securing the guest judge, Kor Skeete, who starred in an episode of Fielder’s series “The Rehearsal.” West said more than 200 people responded to a registration form on the event’s Partiful invitation.

The prize ultimately went to Joe Sivick and Nicole Travolta, the post on X said. Travolta, an actress and comedian, said she’s been doing impressions of Holmes since 2022, and already owned the costume and wig. She said she got around 100 Instagram messages from fans urging her to participate in the contest and mainly went because she thought it would be funny.

“In the world that we’re living in, everything is so heavy, and I think if you are choosing to go to something like this, you’re doing it to be silly and fun,” she said.

Travolta thinks her spoken impression is probably what secured her the win, since everyone looked eerily similar to Holmes. Her eyes were somewhat bloodshot on Monday morning, after keeping them wide open in the sun for hours.

Neither Sivick nor Travolta wanted the $50 cash prize, West said, opting instead to just keep a purse made by a local business.

Both West and Travolta said Sivick’s impression was so convincing, they momentarily thought he was Fielder himself.

“When he showed up to the event, I saw him from a distance, and he was wearing sunglasses. At first glance, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, did Nathan Fielder actually show?” West said.

[From Business Insider]

Neither winner wanted the $50 prize? In this economy?? That’s bonkers! In any event, that contest was such a success that NYC hosted a second one this weekend, in which a dog and Muppet were robbed of the crown but two women tied and each accepted her prize of an orange jumpsuit. Meanwhile, back in Holmes’ old backyard, the city of San Francisco got in on the fun this weekend, too. Get this: a Stanford medical student won for her Holmes getup!

Contest winner Sierra Stingl, a plastic surgery resident at Stanford University – where Holmes famously dropped out to start her blood-testing company – said she entered the competition because people have long told her she looks like Holmes.

Much like the Theranos founder, the 30-year-old Stingl received funding from Stanford to develop a medical device, she explained between selfies with gushing contest attendees.

“It’s a little eerie, given my background,” Stingl said of her victory.

…Beyond gauging resemblances to Holmes and Fielder, the contest featured challenges to determine the winners. One challenge had Holmes look-alikes pitch start-up ideas, and Fielder look-alikes explain how they would market them.

A Holmes look-alike pitched a dandruff-testing device that would predict the month – but not the year – that your immediate family members would die. “Why would I deceive you?” she asked.

Alex Kesin, 22, took first place in the Fielder competition. Asked how he felt about his win, he responded simply, “It makes me happy,” in Fielder’s signature deadpan delivery.

[From SF Chronicle via Yahoo]

Extra points to the SF contest for making Holmes lookalikes pitch start-ups and Fielder lookalikes the marketing plan. Call it the talent portion. HamiltonBuhl headphones have probably never seen such a good month in sales! Anyway, I like these events — they’re pops of creativity in a chaotic world. It feels like there’s been a real drop-off since the Timothée Chalamet contest two years ago. Right after that there was a flurry of them — Jeremy Allen White, Glen Powell, Shrek, Pedro Pascal!! — but the only other one I recall from this year was a JFK Jr. contest timed to the release of Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette. Let’s keep them coming!

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3 Responses to “Elizabeth Holmes and Nathan Fielder lookalike contests held in NY, SF”

  1. Tn democrat says:

    Thank you, Kismet. 😆 😂 😆 😂 😆 😂

  2. Jferber says:

    Watch the Druski skit on Holmes on SNL. Stellar!!!! The actress who played Holmes and he nailed it to hell and back. He is hilarious!!!!

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