Your best interaction with a celebrity

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

Well, this is timely.
Met Paula Poundstone, back in '91. Apparently she hadn’t made the move over to the dark side yet. She was very nice, got her autograph. Might be worth nothing now.

Met Brian Setzer after a show. Very nice, wear’s the same clothes off stage as on.

Andy Dick at the Improv Olympic anniversery show. I was the only ‘non-thespian’ there and I was bored. So I waved to him and he motioned me to come over and sit outside with him and a bunch o’people. So we’re sitting there talking for about 5 mins and these guys with a video camera come over and want to do an interview. I did my best to get out of the shot, but I was sitting right next to him. During the interview, Andy say’s "Is this going to be much longer, this is my girlfriend and we haven’t seen each other in a while and gives me a HUGE kiss. We goofed around on camera for a minute or so. I was so worried it was for some REAL TV show, but it was just for the owner of the Improv. I can only imagine her watching it, and thinking "Who the hell is that girl? That’s not his girlfriend!

Met Tim Meadows at the same part. He was kind of an ass.

I met Mike Lukas a couple of times at Zanies on Wells. I wanted to take him home! Very nice guy.

Just recently met David Sedaris at a book signing. He’s very funny and really nice; although my sister and I suspect that he spent more time talking to the cute boys than us.

My sister used to work at an upscale health club in downtown Chicago and has met quite a few. Michael Jordon (who actually introduced himself to my sister’s boyfriend! As if Scott wouldn’t know who he was!)

Several former Bulls Players (she was also a LuvABull), and few Bears from the '85 team.

One day when she was running along the lakefront with her now husband, there is all this commotion on the lake. They finally realize that everyone is making a fuss about these two guys on Ski-Doos. They ignore it until they guys on the lake get closer to shore and they hear, “Hey Janet - its me - Juwan!” It was Juwan Howard. I didn’t know who he was, but he plays for the Washington Wizards.

And last one I can think of is when she and her husband were jogging in LA were they now live, and someone yelled out to Scott. Turned out to be some girl in a car, that he went to high school with. The car stopped and the girl introduced them to her friend Sean who was driving. It was Sean Hayes from “Will and Grace” Janet is a HUGE fan and told him probably more about himself then he even knew. He asked her if she knew what color underwear he was wearing. Despite Janet’s ‘stalker-like’ behaviour, he was very nice.

22

I spent a few years working the Upper deck and skyboxes at Wrigley Field.
Most of the Cubs were pretty aloof but I spent my time more with the visiting celebs.

Sarah Brady (of Brady Bill infamy) was a total bitch [sub]but my NRA pin may have had some small part in that;)[/sub]

Michael Jordan and I ate shrimp cocktail and watched a Mets game once. He said I was the only Crowd Control person to not ask for his autograph or otherwise try to bother him so he invited me in and we chatted. Nice guy.

Eddie Vetter was a really nice laid back guy. He grabbed my hat and signed it, then it got stolen out of the equipment locker.

Harry Caray…what can I say.
A month and a half before my second wedding anniversary I was escorting him downstairs and jokingly asked him to save a couple nice pork chops for me as I was having dinner at his restaurant. Nothing else was said about the matter until the week before. We were walking downstairs and he asked me what day specifically it was. I picked my jaw off the ground and told him. “Make sure you tell the Maitre’d and I’ll have something for you”
Well, the night comes, Anne and I show up. We are immediately whisked to a private table and we have dinner with Harry and Dutchie. Ron Santo came by and sat with us for a litte bit as well. Santo is a nut! (in a good way of course) He picked up the tab and wished us good luck. He was a really smart guy- the schtick was just that IMO.

23

Just remembered another one: I met Boris Vallejo once, in Philly. Almost got him to do some cover art and ads for the comics company I was starting. If we hadn’t folded, he probably would have done it too.

24

My favorite was Rodney Dangerfield at a convenience store across the street from my apartment in Vegas. He told me to go wash my car.

Also ran into Mike Tyson at a 7-11 in Vegas. Short guy. Brick Shithouse.

25

Three years ago, I was invited to go on the Rammstein tour bus to have drinks and watch t.v. I sat right next to Till (the lead singer, the man of my dreams, the sexiest man alive) and we were watching the video for Closer by NIN. At the end of the video Till leaned over to me and my friend and said (in his growly, velvety German accent), “Trent Reznor is a very naughty man…even worse than me.”

I thought.

I was going.

To die.

That was, by far, my favorite celebrity experience. Although I did have an hour long conversation with Todd Bridges once and he was super nice and smart and friendly. Nice guy.
jarbaby

26

This one didn’t really involve conversation, but I was in Chicago a year or two ago, and was on an elevator with Gary Sinise.

27

Mike Tyson’s following me, actually. When I lived in Ohio, he moved to Southington, the next town over. He bought comics at a comic store run by friends of mine (he reads X-Men). I moved to Phoenix five years ago. Next thing I heard, he’s packing up and moving to Scottsdale - next town over.

I saw Gary Sinise at a hockey game a couple of years ago - I don’t think anybody recognized him, though - he is kind of unremarkable looking. At least, nobody was fawning over him. I stopped, gasped and looked, causing one of my friends to crash into me. He kind of smiled and nodded, I guess indicating that he really was who I thought he was. Then we continued walking our separate directions.

I was at the '94 Figure Skating National Championship (yes, the one featuring the Nancy Kerrigan clubbing) and got in line to buy a frozen yogurt. Nicole Bobek was in line right behind us. I liked that she was “real” enough to stand in the line herself.

My brother met Chris Isaak at the airport. Said he’s real nice, but that he was also really, really tired at the time. He was heading off to start making his TV show.

Oh! And I dated a guy (who was more than twice my age at the time) whose claim to fame was that, in the early days of the Beatles (1962-ish), he was in a band that opened for them. Paul McCartney told him to fuck off.

28

I used to work for a concert promoter and at a local recording studio, so I have many celebrity stories. Bands I worked with include Goo Goo Dolls, Collective Soul, Rancid, 311, Marilyn Manson, Fugazi, Def Tones, 9mm, Weezer, Gin Blossoms, Guided by Voices, Sponge, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Bosstones, etc. The most interesting interactions are as follows:

Henry Rollins: Picked him up at the airport, drove him to the venue, hung out with him during the day until show time, watched the show (spoken word) then took him to the hotel afterward. We talked about the beautiful fall weather and the changing of the leaves and the best places to go, etc. Very cool, he’s much better when he’s not “on”, and he’s HUGE!

Perry Farrell: On tour with Porno for Pyros. After the show, a girl somehow got to the backstage area and wanted to give Perry a necklace that she personally made for him. I went to the dressing room, announced that I was coming in (I’m female, there were no doors to the room), they yelled come on in!, I go in and there’s Perry in his tightie whities! I told him there was a girl downstairs who wanted to give him something. He threw on some pants and a shirt and came over to me and took my hands in his and looked at me all serious “Did she look decent to you? Do you think she’s sincere?” I said yes, I wouldn’t have even bothered him if I thought she would be a nuisance, and he smiled, kissed my hand and said thank you, and walked with me downstairs to meet the girl. He’s a total sweetheart.

Frances Bean Cobain: My first ever show, I was asked if I could babysit for a while so the nanny could get a few hours free time. I said sure, not realizing who it was for. Hung out on the bus with her for several hours, she was about 2 at the time, about 8 months after her father’s suicide. She cuddled with me as we watched Dumbo and Snow White, she fell asleep laying on me in the tour bus. She was an absolute angel. She kept pointing at herself in the mirror saying “pretty”! The mother was an idiot, no further comment.

Sorry to ramble, but I’m at work and I’m bored.

29

I watched a movie with Gil Gerard (Buck Rogers) at a cinema in Little Rock. He had dated one of my theatre professors back in the day, and we had a very nice chat.

Then about 12 years ago, I was at EPCOT at Disney World with my 8th grade class for a field trip. It was the day after the official opening of the Disney/MGM Studios theme park, and there had been lots of celebrities in Orlando that week. As I breezed into a tea shop in the “U.K.” area of the World Showcase, I stepped around and said “Excuse me” to GEORGE LUCAS!

Gunter Schultz of KMFDM took my picture at their concert a couple of years ago, aaaaand I smooched Groovie Mann of My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult.

We also saw Michael York (“Basil Exposition” from the Austin Powers movies) on a plane to Minneapolis. Nice guy. Very small.

30

KIND OF UNREMARKABLE LOOKING? He’s on my list of stars I’d like to F. I think he’s so so so so sexy.

I got to meet Gary Sinise at a theatre get together and talk to him about promoting small theatre. He was very serious and focused, but friendly and accomodating to all of my questions.

I love gary.
jarbaby

31

I met Marina Sirtis in Chicago recently. I asked her totally non-trek questions and tried my best to keep eye contact (even tho she had a tank top on). She was a delight to talk to and very sincere. But she did have man hands :open_mouth:

32

Okay - he doesn’t really stand out in a crowd. I agree that he’s attractive, but he’s of average height, average coloring - it’s his intensity and intelligence that make him sexy.

33

When I was about 10, I once rode up a ski lift with Amy Carter, who was then about the same age. When you’re skiing alone, you’re supposed to yell “Single!” so the chairlift people can pair you up with other solitary losers and balance the load on the chair. I did, and wound up with this girl about my age, stringy long hair, big goggles over big glasses, quiet. As we rode up the mountain, we chattered about what runs we were going to try, and so on… I noticed that the two men in the chair in front of us and the two men behind us were all wearing red, white, and blue ski caps and commented on the (to me) odd coincidence. She smiled and said, “Those are my secret-service agents.” She invited me to come ski with them, but the secret-service guys ran me off.

Remember Thomas Haden Church, the guy who played Lowell on Wings and Ned on Ned & Stacy? Well, back when he was plain old Tom Cassata, he used to hang out at my mom’s bar, where I was the bouncer. Once Wings took off he moved to L.A., but he used to come into town and stop by the bar once in a while. All the bartenders hated him because he would sit at the bar so he could admire himself in the mirror, and didn’t drink fast enough to suit them. He used to come in and jokingly hand me his I.D. Nice guy, although he really WAS kind of vain.

Oh, and George “Goober” Lindsay from The Andy Griffith Show was the commencement speaker at my high-school graduation. I wasn’t fat then like I am now, but I was still a big guy. When I got my diploma and shook his hand, he asked me where I was from (it was a military school) and I told him “Texas,” he looked me up and down, whistled, and said, “Gawrsh, they really DO make 'em big down thar, don’t they?” Sayyyyy… you guys don’t think he was coming on to me, do you?

34

Our next-door neighbor was Steve Garay, who had a bit part in one episode of the old Dick van Dyke Show. My father wrote a play which was produced by ACT in San Francisco; it starred Michael Leonard, Peter Donat, and David Dukes (Paul Dukes? The one who’s not in the KKK).

I was helping a friend move once. I was loading boxes onto the truck, handing them to this big guy with a beard who introduced himself as Joel. I wandered back inside and asked if that was Joel “I release the power from my staff” Halpern (long gaming story which was the foundation of Steven Brust’s Dragaeran novels). They said no, that’s Joel Rosenberg.

Author of Guardians of the Flame, one of my all-time favorite fantasy series.

Oh, I said.

35

but it would be tacky to tell you who. But I’d have to say that would probably be “best” interaction.

Second best? Hmmmm… ** Sam Kinison ** gave me a sweet, drunken hug one night. But hanging out at ** Warren Beatty’s ** house for an afternoon was pretty cool. I went up there without knowing where I was going, because a friend was there and told me to come on over and “hang”. So I drove into the hills, past the gate, knock on the door and he answers with a towel around his waist.

Hung out for about 4 hours, by the pool and in the kitchen. He spent a great deal of time on the phone and watching C-Span, but we blabbed some. I was trying very hard to be cool. To my enormous chagrin, my hands were sweating profusely.

At the time, his house was wall-to-wall white, not very cozy. With all the kids he and Anette have since had, I’m sure she’s made it much homier.

Oh, and that was my first experience with a bidet. Gotta have one some day…

stoid

36

Alan Ginsberg–“what is this, a fucking autograph session?” as he signs my copy of the piss-poor Cosmopolitan Greetings as Michael McClure looks on (I have pics!). Yeah, it is, asshole. It’s the 50-year Beat reunion at NYU and I drove 3 days with a bunch of gassy (as in fart) grad students in a minivan.

Steven Tyler–personalized autograph.

Jack Blades (Night Ranger & Damn Yankees, on the Damn Yankees tour), “Do you guys have any books on the old Nazi Volkswagens?”

Tommy Shaw (Styx & Damn Yankees, on the Damn Yankees tour), “No, I don’t use the Digitech, they just pay me to put it on top of my amp.”
Got autographs from both, though.

Barry Switzer, somewhere between the Sooners & the Cowboys, autographing his book at the B. Dalton in Penn Square in Oklahoma City…had to have a 32 oz. iced tea with 1 3/4 Sweet & Lows.

Junior Brown…signed a quick autograph, and ditto for Peter Frampton & Delbert McClinton.

Brian Bozworth is an ass.

I think that covers it.

37

The “celebs” I meet are all artists: Robert Rauschenberg, Jim Rosenquist, Ed Ruscha, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, William Wegman, etc.

My favorite experience from this group was probably hanging out with Rosenquist in a bar for many hours one night, getting drunker and drunker. A great storyteller of the “Easy Rider” school, and he picked up the tab to boot.

38

I sat in a racing shell(row boat) with Chris O’Donnell for five hours in the blistering sun while filming a scene for Mad Love. We both got sunburns.

While filming the same movie, I was standing outside the wardrobe trailer when Drew Barrymore came out of nowhere and ran inside. She started pulling off her pantyhose before she even closed the door. I stood there watching and she saw me, started laughing, smiled at me, and said “Oh, gaawwd!”…SLAM!!!

Then I went to a little cast get-together back at the hotel and spent an hour in the hall talking to Matthew Lillard(Scream, Scooby Doo, not out yet). He drank milk out of the half gallon carton. I drank beer. Drew didn’t go to the party cause she was sleeping.

I talked videos with John Corbett(Ford commercials, Northern Exposure, Sex in the City) at the little tiny video store close to my house. He lives nearby.

I know Kris Novaselic.(Bassist for Nirvana)

I sat next to Isiah Thomas on the airplane. He sat quietly and played games on his Palm Pilot. I tried not to ask too many stupid questions.

I taught Tony Danza how to adjust the settings on his ski bindings.

I know one of the original founders of Microsoft. He is not famous but he is richer than Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson put together. I think he originally wrote Word.

39

Junior Brown signed a shirt for me once too. I’m not into collecting autographs very much, but his show at The Bottom Line in NYC just blew me away. I’ve now seen him live five times.

At one show, a friend said the follwing about him:
“I’d give my right arm to be able to play the guitar like that…”

At another show, yet another friend said:
“Damn, he does everything but fuck that guitar…”

40

I got drunk with Louis Black once after a show. He’s extremely nice.

–Tim