George Clooney admits — and shows how — he cuts his hair with a Flowbee. A what?
If you hoped that the “George Clooney uses a Flowbee†narrative would go quietly into the night, you are sorely mistaken.
In fact, “The Midnight Sky†star and director on Wednesday performed a live demonstration with the vacuum apparatus, teaching TV host Jimmy Kimmel and at-home audiences how they too can cut their own hair with the device.
The fixation on the former Sexiest Man Alive’s grooming routine sparked this week after Clooney revealed in a “CBS Sunday Morning†interview that he’s been using the black-and-yellow contraption to trim his hair for years. And apparently, he isn’t immune to the inexplicable magnetism of a good infomercial.
And for those who missed the whole Flowbee craze from the 1980s: It’s a gizmo that attaches to the hose of a home vacuum cleaner and clips hair by sucking it toward the clipper’s recessed blades. It developed a cult following among the infomercial-loving late-night TV crowd. And it has made several comebacks since then, especially for the masses performing DIY haircuts in quarantine these days.
According to The Times’ grooming experts, it’s the right time to invest in the $98.95 Flowbee. Alas, they’re currently out of stock (and likely will be for a while thanks to Clooney’s glowing endorsement).
Infomercial nostalgia, YouTube haircut tutorials and the piercing pain of at-home nose-waxing are at your fingertips.
The 59-year-old actor and producer has had the device for 22 years, he told Kimmel. He said his assistant originally bought it through an infomercial — a revelation Kimmel razzed him about immediately — and then it broke down and he had to buy another one. He too had problems tracking it down again.
Kimmel replayed the product’s original commercial, which had a surprising cameo from the two-time Oscar winner. That’s when the in-person interview devolved into a communal barber shop with both men trimming their hair with the gadget.
“You turn this on. [You turn] the vacuum on. You turn the buzzer on. You go to town, like this, on your hair,†Clooney explained, as he moved the device in circles on his head.
In lockdown for weeks, Angelenos are yearning for crisp shape-ups and fresh fades. They are turning to internet tips and, increasingly, secret at-home appointments.
But wait! There’s more! Clooney has taken up a series of other domestic tasks while quarantining in Los Angeles during the pandemic: cooking, laundry, mopping and doing dishes. He also wood-stained his entire house and lamented that he had to turn his beloved office into a nursery for his 3-year-old twins with wife Amal Alamuddin.
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