When Frank Albenesius (Iota Beta/Missouri State 2013) was in middle school, he would stand in front of the mirror and attempt to move his eyebrows like actor Dwayne Johnson – better known as professional wrestler The Rock. Unfortunately, that talent was not to be. But, Albenesius discovered that he had another talent – the ability to move his hairline. With practice his hairline became more and more mobile, and he eventually developed his uncommon talent into a full routine. He taped himself and posted the video to YouTube and then Reddit.
Over the holidays “Frank’s Hair” went viral with more than 600,000 views, eventually catching the attention of one of the assistant producers of “The Tonight Show.” Brother Albenesius was invited to California to participate in a segment of the program called “Meal or No Meal,” where three audience members are selected to perform their talent before a panel of three judges who decide if the audience member’s act is worthy of a free meal.
On Jan. 11, 2013, Albenesius sat in The Tonight Show audience to perform his mobile hairline act before Today Show co-host judges Al Roker, Savannah Guthrie and Matt Lauer. All three judges found Albenesius’ act worthy of a meal.
“It all happened pretty fast,” says Albenesius of the experience. “I was in a couple of very short and informal rehearsals, so a lot of the questions and answers all seem like a blur with what actually happened during the live show. I was mostly focused on my talent during the actual show, because I was worried that it wouldn't really be all that impressive or exciting (it's been just a silly part of my life for years). So while we were talking I wasn't really thinking about who or how many people would be watching later. It went really well, though, so I was ecstatic after getting the meal and managed to do my hair trick a couple more times on camera in the background.”
After the show, Albenesius got to meet Jay Leno and take photos.
“He (Leno) was really nice and he just seemed like a guy at work going through his normal daily routine,” he said.
When asked if his campus status had changed at all since his appearance on The Tonight Show Albenesius said, “My status on campus hasn't changed. Now when I see friends I have to go through the same basic questions about the TV experience a lot, but once that's done its all the same as it used to be. I was really excited to hear about the huge amount of friends I had who watched the show. Some of them got together and had watch events and sent me photos of all the people there.”
To see Frank's routine, view the Jan. 11, 2013 Tonight Show here (Frank comes on at around 2:45):