I hung out with New York City's Cheeseball Man
On Saturday, Nov. 16, "New York's Okayest Superhero" defeated his archnemesis, the Cornhead Killer, and hung up his cape for good. I got a glimpse behind the scenes.
A few weeks ago, I fulfilled one of my journalism fantasies: I spent time with a superhero. Not like Spider-Man or Batman — I wasn’t knocking back brewskis with Robert Pattinson (I’m manifesting that though). No, it was a real, not-fictional person. That superhero was New York City’s Cheeseball Man: more man than myth, more cheeseball than man — known throughout the city as the man who ate an entire tub of cheeseballs at Union Square Park.
Cheeseball Man first popped up on my radar back in April, when I saw posters plastered around Manhattan promoting the masked crusader’s public endeavor to consume a whole tub of cheeseballs before a crowd of onlookers. After the public stunt got a lot of attention among New Yorkers, and even a few media outlets, Cheeseball Man became an ironic pseudo-superhero figure. Playing into the newfound fame, he organized superhero costume contests and other events around the city over the next few months.
But back in October, a mysterious villain named Cornhead Killer confronted Cheeseball Man at Washington Square Park — challenging the hero to a fight. This evil-doer had been doing evil around the city and documenting it since August: pasting “Push” signs over “Pull” ones, putting up fake electrical outlet stickers in airports, really terrible stuff. And now, he declared that it was time for the two to face-off and set the record straight. If Cornhead Killer won, he would get access to Cheeseball Man’s social media accounts. But if Cheeseball Man won, he would get to unmask the Cornhead Killer to the world. Cheeseball Man accepted the challenge, and a legitimate boxing match was set to occur on Saturday, Nov. 16 at the Church Street Boxing Gym in Manhattan’s Financial District.
After I saw the video of the face-off at the park, I was hyped. This was exactly the type of New York shit I was waiting for: the perfect photojournalism project. I reached out to Cheeseball Man via Instagram DMs on a whim. I was skeptical he would actually reply to my request to take photos of him leading up to the fight — but to my surprise, he responded relatively quickly, and was happy to humor me.
I had no idea who he was before I spoke to him — his identity truly was secret — until he texted me with his real name: Anthony Po. Little did I know that Anthony was actually very familiar to the public eye. After doing some digging, I discovered that Anthony was a popular YouTube personality, known for his wacky public stunts and vlogs. He even organized the Timotheé Chalamet Lookalike Contest, which spawned a trend of public events nationwide. Over text, I explained to him my idea for the project, and I arranged to meet him in person for the first time at his home/office in Jersey City three days before the fight.
Anthony greeted me at his home and gave me a brief tour before returning to work in his “goffice” (garage/office). I stayed with him in the dimly-lit garage for three hours, watching through my camera’s viewfinder as he created graphics on Photoshop, organized the boxing event over Discord and FaceTime and edited budgeting spreadsheets. His goffice was chock-full of interesting items and decor from his career as a YouTuber and influencer, as well as boxing gear for his fight preparation. I asked if he knew who the Cornhead Killer was, and he told me he “literally had no idea.” After we did a quick portrait shoot toward the end of my time with him, he was kind enough to drive me back to the Hoboken PATH station in his Volkswagen Bug.
I met with Anthony again the day before the fight, but this time in Hell’s Kitchen. I met him at the Columbus Library on 10th Ave, where he was doing work on his laptop in the common area. He was waiting for his friend and collaborator Tamir Omari — another popular social media influencer — to talk about preparing for the boxing match the next day. I spent the next few hours walking around with them around Hell’s Kitchen as they chatted and planned before heading back to Brooklyn to edit my photos.
Finally, the day of the boxing match, I arrived at the Church Street Boxing Gym a few hours before the event. I found myself surrounded by characters: BLT Boy, Sickly Sweet, The Pickled Man, High-Five Man, Sonic Savior — even Drake was there! Except it wasn’t the real Drake (probably a good thing, honestly). It was John Dour, a professional Drake impersonator from the Bronx, who resembled the 6 God so accurately that numerous people swiped up on my Instagram story asking how I was hanging out with Drake. Before the main event, Tamir introduced different opening acts who performed for the burgeoning crowd — including a dance routine to K-Pop bop “ETA” by NewJeans by Stunt Double Man and his stunt doubles, a soulful sax medley by Sonic Savior, a jaw-dropping drag routine from Sickly Sweet and a rap performance by New York rapper Khantrast.
After the opening performances, it was time for the main event. With Tamir and Khantrast in the commentator booth, the crowd roared as Cheeseball Man arrived on the scene with his team in tow. Him and “Drake” ducked under the ropes and entered the ring, getting the audience primed with a lip sync to “Hotline Bling.” Soon after, a choir of boos erupted as the diabolical Cornhead Killer made his villainous entrance. Once the two geared up, they squared up in the ring, and it was time to begin.
The three-round bout commenced between the two masked challengers, and it was quite a sight to behold. I was perched on the corner of the ring, my left knee resting on the mat just outside the ropes, my camera flashing nonstop. Jab after jab, hook after hook, the hero and villain dueled viciously as roars and jeers echoed throughout the arena. Cheeseball Man took the first two rounds, but Cornhead Killer made a valiant comeback effort in the third to keep things interesting. The final bell tolled, and the panel of judges deliberated inside the ring, their whispers inaudible over the pandemonium of the crowd. And now, it was time for the moment of truth.
Tamir emerged to announce the results, and like a young Bruce Buffer, heartily declared Cheeseball Man the victor. The crowd went crazy — evil was vanquished, and good had triumphed. I climbed into the ring, barely squeezing under the ropes with my giant backpack on my back. And as it was agreed upon, Cornhead Killer kneeled in the center of the ring, preparing for his exposure to the world. Cheeseball Man grabbed nemesis’s mask, pulled it off and revealed his villain’s identity to the world. Andrew Levitt, an LA-based YouTuber, revealed his scheme and commended Anthony for his bravery. Not many people would hop into the ring with zero boxing experience to fight a complete stranger.
Anthony took his mask off too, telling everyone that this was the end of Cheeseball Man. He was finally laying the persona to rest, figuring it was best to end on a high note. After the dust settled, I thanked Anthony for letting me document his journey. It was exhilarating to experience such a silly event that would fit perfectly on the pages of a comic book. And the best part was, I didn’t have J. Jonah Jameson breathing down my back demanding to see pictures of Cheeseball Man.
To view the photo series in full resolution, visit the gallery on my portfolio website.
Next we need a Cheeseball man lookalike contest!