Judge Reinhold Joins the JohngysBeat.com Jay Leno Club

I recently wrote about actress Jennie Garth joining the JohngysBeat.com Jay Leno Club at REWind Con.  The next weekend, actor Judge Reinhold joined the club at Days of the Dead Chicago 2016.  Sometimes these things come in bunches.

I was talking to some people at Days and we were near Reinhold's table.  He stood up and walked away from his table a bit to take a picture with a fan in line.  As he moved back to his table, he saw me and said that he wanted to take a picture with "Jay Leno."  I never refuse a picture request (I don't get many), but especially a picture request from a celebrity (I get even less of those).

Reinhold asked me if I ever heard that before and I had to burst his bubble and tell him that I hear it fairly often.  I did brighten his day by telling him he just made the Jay Leno Club, though.  I'm sure that ranks up there with his other awards and acknowledgements.

Reinhold is the 17th celebrity to join the Jay Leno Club.  He's also the second Seinfeld character (Patrick Warburton is the other) to be in the club.  You never know when or where another celebrity will join the club, but when it happens, I will report it right here.

Jennie Garth Joined The Johngy's Beat Jay Leno Club

Over the years, I have heard many times that I resemble Jay Leno   I usually laugh it off and joke that I wish I could make it profitable.  As I started to cover the various conventions and sporting events, I started hearing it from celebrities.  Thus,. the Johngy's Beat Jay Leno Club was formed.

The most recent addition to the Jay Leno Club is actress Jennie Garth.  At REWind Con 2016, as I approached her, Jennie made the reference.  I chuckled and told her I hear that a lot.  Then she grabbed her Beverly Hills 90210 costar Luke Perry and pointed it out to him.  He didn't seem too impressed.  Actually, I think he was just busy.

Jennie thus becomes the 16th cdelebrity to join this exclusive club.  As you'll notice by the picture below, many of the club members are in the world of pro wrestling.  Spider One and Peter Tork are musicians.  Jennie joins Patrick Warburton from the acting field.  Vince Papale is a former fotball player and the subject of the movie Invincible.

It's funny, because I never really expect it.  I can always tell it will happen though, because it usually starts with "Did anyone ever tell you...?"

As I continue covering events, the Jay Leno Club is bound to grow.  When it does, I'll report it back here.

Sean "XPac" Waltman Joins the Jay Leno Club

For a long time, I have had people mention that I look like Jay Leno.  To be honest, I don't really see it, but many people have made the reference.  I started to hear it from celebrities and I started the Johngy's Beat Jay Leno Club for those celebrities.

I don't remember which celebrity was the first.  I think it was the Iron Sheik.  I know it wasn't the Honky Tonk Man, much to his disdain.  In fact, he wasn't even the first at one specific convention, where Terri Runnels beat him to it, much to his real disdain!

For some reason, a large percentage of the celebrities in the Jay Leno Club are wrestlers.  Of course, I meet a lot of wrestlers, but it is still disproportionately heavy on wrestlers.  Maybe wrestlers watch a lot of late night television.  Maybe wrestlers are just a bit out there and they make the connection.

In any case, the latest celeb to join the Jay Leno Club was also a wrestler.  Sean Waltman (aka XPac) achieved that highly respected status at the recent C2E2.

I was at the booth where Scott Hall and Waltman were appearing on behalf of Dream Wave Wrestling.  We were just about to take a photo, when Waltman stated, "I didn't know we would meet Jay Leno today."  I was caught off guard and laughed out loud, messing up the picture.  Then everyone laughed and we redid the picture.

With that, Waltman became the newest member of the Jay Leno Club.  Clearly, he won't be the last member either.  When the next celebrity joins the club, I will report it right here.

The Bella Twins Join Johngy's Jay Leno Club at Wizard World

The Jay Leno Club has expanded, thanks to the Bella Twins at Wizard World.  The Jay Leno Club is comprised of celebrities who have mentioned a Johngy-Jay Leno resemblance.  Now, Nicole and Brianna Bella (aka the Bella Twins) have joined this prestigious group.
The Bella Twins are former WWE divas.  Each Bella held the WWE Divas championship once during their stay in the WWE.  The Bella Twins are also known as Brianna Monique Garcia-Colace and Stephanie Nicole Garcia-Colace.
If their names confuse you, their beauty will amaze you.  I am also happy to report that they were both as sweet and pleasant as could be.  Matt and I had a fun exchange with them at their both and I saw plenty of other fans walk away happy and impressed after meeting them.
Lots of talented people pass through the WWE and then disappear.  I believe the Bella Twins will go on to bigger and better things.  I hope so, because they seem like very genuinely nice women.
I hope to see them again at a future convention.  No matter what though, they will always be special to me and the Jay Leno Club.
My only real problem though is how to count them.  Are they the fourteenth member or the fourteenth and fifteenth members of the Jay Leno Club?

Spider One Joined the Jay Leno Club

At the Days of the Dead convention, the Jay Leno Club gained a new member.  Just as a quick recap, the Jay Leno Club is comprised of all of the celebrities who have made a reference to me resembling Jay Leno.
I posted the interview with Spider One about a month ago.  Right at the start of the interview, he asked me if anyone has ever told me I look like Jay Leno.  Thus, he joined the Jay Leno Club.
For those who missed the interview (and do not wish to burn the calorie by clicking above to go to it), I am showing the first 11 seconds, which contains the Leno reference.

Even without the Leno comment, I really enjoyed talking to Spider One.  He is the founder of Powerman 5000 and the brother of Rob Zombie.  We also talked about his interview work during conventions.
Spider One became the first member of the Jay Leno Club to join during the interview.  He also became the 13th celebrity to join the Jay Leno Club.
Who will be the 14th?  You will just have to keep checking here to see who is next!

Peter Tork Joins the Jay Leno Club

Last summer at Wizard World, Peter Tork joined the Jay Leno Club.  As regular readers know, the Jay Leno Club is comprised of celebrities who have made a reference to me resembling Jay Leno.

The magic words were stated as I approached Tork's booth.  I laughed about it and explained the Jay Leno Club to him.  As he signed my photo, I announced his induction into the club (as captured on the video below).
I was really looking forward to meeting Tork, who as part of the Monkees, was one of my childhood favorites.  Tork did not disappoint.  We talked for a few moments (pretty long considering the number of fans in line) and then took a picture together.
Tork is the twelfth member (and third non-wrestling member) of the Jay Leno Club.  As longtime reader, sometimes contributor and Jay Leno Club member himself Evil Zebra stated, "First a zebra and now a Monkee in the Jay Leno Club...what's next?"  What is next indeed!  Nobody knows, but when it happens, I will report it right here.

"P Diddy" Joins the Jay Leno Club?

The Jay Leno Club is usually reserved for celebrities who have mentioned me resembling Jay Leno.  On my trip to San Francisco earlier this summer, I almost had another inductee into the club.
While we were riding the famous cable car, the conductor asked my friend Jim if he thought I looked like Jay Leno.  Of course, my ears perk up any time I hear "Jay Leno".  I started laughing and said that I get that a lot.  The conductor then said he hears that he looks like P Diddy.
Because he did bear a resemblance to P Diddy and he made the Jay Leno reference, I tried to snap a picture (which wasn't easy considering it was night and the cable car had no interior lights).  I would have asked for a picture together, but he was kind of busy at the time (driving the train and all).
He doesn't officially make it into the Jay Leno Club though, because he is not a celeb.  The club would be too big if I included every regular person who made the connection.  Still, he gets an Honorable Mention or maybe a special plaque when I get the museum built.
If he has his own site and he has a P. Diddy Club, I wonder if he will write a similar post about "Jay Leno" joining that club.

Cable Car Conductor in San Francisco, CA-July 2011.

Bill Apter Joins the Jay Leno Club

As previously explained, the Jay Leno Club is a group of celebrities who have made some sort of comment about me resembling Jay Leno.  Long time journalist Bill Apter is the newest member of the club, although I might have cheated him out of an earlier entry.
Bill is considered to be the best wrestling journalist.  He has been informing and entertaining wrestling fans for over 25 years.  Currently he can be found at 1Wrestling.com and also at wrestling conventions.  I have met him a few times and he is a great guy.
I recently exchanged emails with Bill about some of his celebrity stories.  In one of his responses, he said that he remembered me from the Wrestle Reunion in 2005 and then he referred to me as the Jay Leno lookalike.
Obviously, that remark put him into the Jay Leno Club.  I am just not sure if he called me that at any of the events when I previously met him.  It doesn't really matter.  There are no lifetime stats for longevity in the Jay Leno Club.
I am proud to induct Bill into the Jay Leno Club.  The membership now stands at eleven.  Who will be the twelfth?  Who knows?

Greg Valentine Joins the Jay Leno Club

I have been told many times that I resemble Jay Leno.  While I don't really see it myself, I hear it often.  A while back, I started the Jay Leno Club, which consists of celebrities who have made the Jay Leno connection.
For some reason, wrestlers dominate the club, with 8 of the 10 members being in the wrestling world.  I have no idea why wrestlers make the connection at a much higher rate than the rest of the celebrities I meet.  Maybe wrestlers are just more talkative and thus they mention the Leno thing, where other celebs simply are quieter.
At the Motor City Comic Con, Greg "the Hammer" Valentine became the latest member of the club.  While casually talking about the convention and  wrestling, Valentine brought up the topic.  I laughed and told him he wasn't the first.  In fact, some of his friends (or at least colleagues) had made the Leno reference to me over the years.
The Jay Leno Club now stands at 10 members.  As always, I never know when the club will grow, but as always, when it does, I will report it right here!

Vince Papale Joins the Jay Leno Club

Vince Papale has accomplished a lot in his life.  He caught the first pass in the history of the World Football League.  He tried out for and made the Philadelphia Eagles at the age of 30, thus becoming the oldest non-kicker rookie in the history of the NFL.  He was named special teams captain.  He was the subject of the movie Invincible.  Perhaps most importantly, he is a cancer survivor.  Papale added one more line to his impressive resume on January 18, 2011.
Papale asked me if anyone ever mentioned that I look like Jay Leno.  With that simple question, Papale joined the very exclusive Jay Leno Club, which is comprised of various celebrities who have mentioned my alleged resemblance to Jay Leno.  The Jay Leno Club now stands at nine members, including Patrick Warburton and wrestling personalities Evil Zebra, King Kong Bundy, the Iron Sheik, Larry Zbyszko, Nasty Boy Brian Knobbs and Terri Runnels.
Who knows when and where another celebrity will make question me about my Jay Leno resemblance?  When it happens, I will be sure to induct that celebrity into the club and report it right here!

The Jay Leno Club:Part 2

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about the first group of celebrities to join my Jay Leno Club. To recap, the Jay Leno Club is comprised of celebrities who have mentioned my alleged resemblance to Jay Leno. Currently, the club consisted of Patrick Warburton, Larry Zbyszko, the Honky Tonk Man, Terri Runnels, Brian Knobbs and the Iron Sheik.
After I wrote about my encounter with the Honky Tonk Man at the Motor City Comic Con, the Evil Zebra saw the piece and contacted me. When I knew I would be going to the Ultimate Collectors Show in Oaks (PA), he informed his buddy, King Kong Bundy, that I would be there and looking for him. Bundy was a lot of fun. He also joined the Jay Leno Club by making the reference.
Therefore, without further adieu, I present the 2 newest members of the Jay Leno Club, the Evil Zebra and King Kong Bundy! It is quite fitting that these two wrestling legends should be inducted together.

The Jay Leno Club

I don't remember when it started, but it was several years ago and seems to be picking up steam. The previous statement refers to my ever-increasing gray hair and to people alleging my resemblance to Jay Leno. Perhaps the increases in both are relational.
Frankly, I don't see a real resemblance. Oh sure, we both have a pronounced chin. We also have a shock of salt-and-pepper hair. (I would also say we both have a great sense of humor, but I am too modest.)
However, whether I see the resemblance or not, others do and they tell me about it frequently. Therefore, I have decided to start the Jay Leno Club and list all of the famous members.
The active members of the Jay Leno Club are Patrick Warburton, Larry Zbyszko, the Honky Tonk Man, Terri Runnels, Brian Knobbs and the Iron Sheik.