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Arts and Entertainment

Video: What Happens When You Pretend To Win An Oscar

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As long as you're donning a tux and gripping a phony yet realistic-looking Oscars statuette on the night of the big awards show, it apparently doesn't matter if you're not really a star: you will be treated like royalty.

In a video from New Media Rockstars , the online magazine sends out improv actor Mark David Christenson dressed all dapper out in Hollywood during Oscars night last Sunday, having him run around telling everyone how happy he is that he just won an award. Nobody recognizes him, but with a little convincing and a lot of excitement on his part (by just having people chant "Whiplash" and "The Imitation Game" in bars), people fall for his prank and can't help but celebrate and take a bunch of selfies with him.

Christenson shows us just what you can get if everyone thinks you're an Academy Awards winner—from free food and drinks to snagging a "free car" and access to exclusive Oscars after-parties. At one point, he tells a bouncer he doesn't have identification, to which the bouncer points to his statuette and says, "That's your ID."

Everyone seems to find the excitement contagious, even Christenson himself. Towards the end of the video, he feels his prank helps the people he met believe they can follow their dreams. "Now there are people that think anything is achievable because it's in their world," he says. Single tear.

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[h/t: The Daily Dot ]

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