Yes, You Are Seeing Double

This past weekend and every August for fifty-one years (!), thousands of twins descend on Twinsburg, a small town in Ohio, for the Twins Days Festival, the world’s largest twins festival.

Heather and I had a chance to experience this festival in our twenties. This weekend I was showing my triplets some of the photos and videos, and it had us reminiscing.

“Hollie. Heather. Whoever.” It was something we heard a lot growing up. As identical twins, our good friends could always tell us apart, but some people didn’t even bother to try. We used to get so annoyed, desperate for people to see us as individuals. I remember being fifteen and having a huge fight with Heather and being like, “I’m going to live with Uncle John in San Francisco, so I don’t have to compete with you.” (Not an option, but I was always prone to theatrics!)

It wasn’t until much later we both realized what a gift it was to be a twin. (And yes, in hindsight, it might have helped people tell us apart if we didn’t have identical hairstyles or dress alike or similarly, but we never even considered it. People just needed to try harder.)

Our first year in college, we were living in San Antonio when we submitted headshots to Twins Talent Management, a talent agency created by identical twins, Debbie and Lisa Ganz. We didn’t get the part, but we told them we were planning to move to New York for drama school that fall. They said, “Hit us up when you’re in town. We’ll meet up.”

Two days after we moved into our shoebox apartment on the Upper East Side, we met Debbie and Lisa at Mustang Grill. We left lunch with much-needed hostess jobs at that Mustang, and they became our twin fairy godmothers.

While we struggled with our individuality, they embraced their twinness, building a successful management and casting business. They even owned the world’s largest twin restaurant called Twins, which sadly closed before we moved to New York. They also published a book all about twins, which we loved and still have. They showed us that our fighting was normal (they elevated it to an art form) but also just like us would do anything for their twin

Debbie and Lisa put twins in the spotlight, but they also gave back to other, raising money for various causes, including the year after 9/11, when they held a fundraiser to help twins who’d lost their twin in the attacks.

In New York, we finally realized we could use our twinness to our advantage. Free drinks. Skipping the lines at nightclubs. We went to twin events hosted by Debbie and Lisa, and met tons of other twins, including actor and now filmmakers, Gary and Larry Lane. Fun fact, they won Fear Factor in a twin’s episode in the second season!

I don’t think we truly understood the power of the twin bond until Debbie and Lisa convinced us to go to the Twins Days Festival. At first, we weren’t even sure we wanted to go, but the Ganz twins promised we’d have a blast. They also insisted we dress alike. We tried to explain that it felt silly. We hadn’t done that since we were teens, but they told us we’d regret it. “It’s like showing up to a Halloween party, and you’re the only one without a costume.”

That was true. Everyone was matching. Thankfully, our mom sent us a care package of identical clothes since money was tight. Imagine thousands of people, and they all have a doppelgänger. While most events require ice breakers, this one didn’t. We all knew each other’s struggles. People asking who was who, if we felt each other’s pain, or if we’d ever played tricks on people.

There were twins from everywhere. We met twin gas station owners from Iran, who’d moved to Washington DC to take over the family business. They were so sweet, they bought us ice cream and matching necklaces (though we were pretty clear we weren’t interested in anything more than friendship).

There were twin sisters in their 50s, one of whom had been married three times because her husband kept making her choose between them and her sister. Some twins told us some very weird things that I’m not going to share because, well, to each their own.

Everyone who visited Twinsburg loved being a twin and wanted to celebrate it. We were all taking photos and sharing stories. There was a huge parade and the festival grounds had tents with fun booths for twins, their families and the twin-curious to visit.

Researchers even set up stalls to interview and sign up twins for future studies. They had a “Most Identical” and “Least Identical” contest. In our first year, Heather and I won second place and returned the following year to claim the top title.

Funny story, there weren’t a lot of triplets, but the ones who went were treated like rock stars. Who knew years later, I’d have a set of my own triplets?

Over the years, we’ve been lucky to keep our connection to the twin world. In 2013, I applied for a gig promoting Air New Zealand. The job was advertised as an acting/modeling gig, but we found out when we arrived, we would be dressed in twin-themed costumes and handing out tokens in a Bart station.) Total bait and switch, but the trip to San Francisco was free, and Heather was still living in New York, so we were excited to see each other. When we arrived, we learned they’d hired ten sets of twins, including our old friends, Gary and Larry, whom we hadn’t seen since our New York days.

It wasn’t long before we were all living in Los Angeles, and we’ve been able to cheer them on as they do amazing things, including making their debut film Hollywood to Dollywood. Most recently, they produced and directed Still Working 9 to 5, a documentary that challenges the cultural impact the film 9 to 5 has had on generations.

They’ve recently begun doing live events. You don’t want to miss their upcoming live action Halloween event Burbank Clown House. We are also grateful for all their support of our creative endeavors too.

We recently had a twin date, catching up over chips and salsa at El Coyote. The funniest part of our two-decade-long friendship? We can’t tell them apart, and they can’t tell us apart.

Experiencing Twinsburg was one of our coolest twin experiences. It reminded us that when a lot of people saw our twinness as an oddity, our fellow twins saw how unique and special we were. It opened our eyes to the fact that it isn’t just the two of us who are lucky to have this bond. It’s thousands of other twins who understand the gift of having a person to do this crazy life with.

We’ve always had an idea for a film, part-documentary, part-scripted, that takes place at Twinsburg. If you’re interested and want to help us make it happen, let us know!

Sadly, we haven’t made it back to Twinsburg since our 20s, but after the girls saw all the fun to be had, they haven’t stopped talking about it. Here’s to making it happen and showing them how lucky they are to be part of the multiples club.

If you're a twin or have twins in your family, we'd love to hear your experiences. Did you ever feel like a novelty? Have you been to Twinsburg? Tell us your twin story in the comments.