Video Starring Oak Forest HS Grad Earns Webby Nomination

Thanks to an online comedy video, an Oak Forest High School graduate is being mentioned in the same breath as supermodel Bar Refaeli and Omar from the HBO series The Wire.

Actor Vince Rossi, 22, is part of the cast of "Gay Men Will Marry Your Girlfriends," (editor's note: this video is NSFW for language and content) a comedy short from the College Humor website. The video, which already has racked up more than 5 million views on YouTube as of April 10, makes a satirical case for legalizing same-sex marriage as a way to ensure gay men won't be forced to marry the girlfriends of hetero men.

Now, it's been nominated in the 17th annual Webby Awards, which honors the year's best web content. The video is one of five finalists in the running for a People's Voice Award in the comedy category for online shorts.

READ: OFHS Grad Making Waves in Tinseltown

Here's a look at the other videos also vying for that award (Editor's note: Depending on your employer, these clips might be NSFW because of language and content):

• "Real Actors Read Yelp": An episode starring Chris Kipiniak (Law & Order, The Good Wife) of a series that is exactly what it says it is, real actors reading reviews from Yelp, the online business directory and review site.
• "The NFL: A Bad Lip Reading": Game clips featuring voiceovers of some very inaccurate—but hilarious—attempts at reading the lips of players, coaches and officials.
• "Bar Refaeli's Sex Tape Kickstarter": The Sports Illustrated swimsuit model tries her best to persuade viewers to bankroll her dream project (don't spoil the tragic twist ending).
• "Wire: The Musical": Some of the stars of the critically acclaimed pay-cable drama examining the drug war in Baltimore—Michael K. Williams, Andre Royo, Sonja Sohn—parody their characters in this fake ad for a musical version. (The role of "The Burner" could be this generation's Rum Tum Tugger.)

That's pretty strong competition. But unlike other stuck-up honors, such as the Oscars and the Medal of Honor, the Webby's People's Voice Award lets viewers choose the winner. Cast your vote for Rossi and his fellow College Humor performers on The Webby Awards site.

Voting ends April 25, and the winners in the People's Voice categories will be announced April 30.

Want to know more about Rossi? Like what his acting goals are and how he reacted to the viral success of the video? Check out Patch's interview with him from November of last year.

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