I was at the Vancouver airport boarding a flight to Toronto last year. Couple of guys in line behind me were carrying those black cases that musicians carry with “Arkells” stencilled on the side. I’d heard of the Arkells but at that point didn’t know their music. So I go “What takes you guys to Ontario?”
One guy answers “Max here is presenting at the MuchMusic video awards.” I was like “Ah cool. You ever play at The Kee to Bala?” He said no, they hadn’t. I said if they ever get the chance to play there they totally should, it’s a great venue to see a band at. Chitchatted a bit while walking to our seats, then when I got to mine they had to keep going so I wished them a good flight and said to Max “Good luck with your award presentation” and he gave me a big smile and said “Thank you!”
So of course I Googled to figure out who I’d been talking to. Turns out Max is the singer and I was talking to the bass player, Nick.
The funny part of this story is that this past July I swear to God they played at The Kee to Bala. I didn’t go because I didn’t want to drive up there and back by myself so late at night. It’s a little town up in Muskoka.
Anyway, we were driving through a mall parking structure in the Valley when J.K. Simmons (and his wife and kids) were walking through. They kind of appeared in the middle of the aisle we were driving through, but it wasn’t like there was any screeching of tires or anything. They seemed to be in a bit of a hurry, but my recollection is that his wife gave a half-wave of acknowledgment because we stopped.
In terms of actual encounters with a celebrity, the last one I can recall was Adam Sessler. I ran into him smoking outside of a mall while he was in LA for E3. I came up to shake his hand, but his body language strongly indicated he wasn’t too thrilled about it, and I left him alone.
Okay this isn’t my story, but it occurred in front of one of my best friends. He was going into a Hooters in the central Florida area in the late 80s or early 90s when the Pittsburgh Steelers were in Tampa for a pre-season game with the Bucs.
He sees a guy at a table by the bar and says “Hey, aren’t you Bubby Brister?” (at the time, a journeyman QB who was the QB for the Steelers.)
The guy says “Yes, I am” in a way that shows that he is very happy someone recognized him.’
The friend of my friend says “You throw the best bounce pass in the NFL.”
Brister responds “You asshole.”
I wish I had been there to see it.
I once stood in line for the bathroom in the basement of the Innoventions building* at Disneyland, between Blair Underwood and Rosanna Arquette. (This was at the after party for a new Snow White stage show Disneyland had for a few years; they were VIPs in attendance, I was press).
I talked to neither of them. They also did not talk to each other. THe law of bathroom-related silence held sway.
*Innoventions was a horrible theme park attraction but was actually kind of cool when turned into something of a night club for an evening.
To which Isaac Hayes responded, without missing a beat, “Hello there children!”
NYC, mid/late-90s. I worked in the same building as KISS-FM, the radio station he worked at then. A female co-worker and I were on the elevator when the door opened and he got on.