Celebrity SC's.

[WHShit]

I worked at a Mexican restaraunt here in London when I first moved here, and one afternoon in walked the whole cast of Green Street...including Elijah Wood!

There were about 11 of them in all...all the cast of "Football Lads" and a few extra people. They were in full make-up (which meant they were made to look beat up, black eyes and all). I was not their server, but I made sure to help.. I serevd Elijah his chicken fajita, and he was very nice. His eyes were sooo friggin' blue.

The party tipped their server 100 pounds and left a 70 pound tip on the credit card to even out the bill!!! Very nice

Weird thing was, Elijah was shorter than me...and I am 5'3!

Also, I went to see one of my favorite bands (Dredg) at an intimate gig in a very small London bar. When I say small. I mean about 30 people fit in there...so I was pretty much gauranteed to meet the band. I met the singer, Gavin, and he was so very nice. He took 3 pics with me and my friends and I told him how cool it was to hear an American accent again! I felt like an idiot!

[RecoveringKinkoid]

"Weird thing was, Elijah was shorter than me...and I am 5'3!"

Well....he IS a hobbit.

Yeah, I know. Cheap shot.

Lady Chablis (did I spell that right) used to come into Kinko's (drag queen, Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil, and all that.). I'm afraid she's a bit of a Sucky Customer. She used to do the thing where she'd bring in copywritten photos with no release and then bitch and scream when we asked for a release.

You'd think someone in her line of work would know about releases and whatnot.

I think I posted once where Dennis Hopper came in. He was nice enough. Low key enough I don't think many realized it was him (I didn't.)

I met a number of local and not-so-local celebrities working in Public Television. Most were super nice.

Jim Sonefield from Hootie and the Blowfish used to bring his black and white film to my lab. Not so suprising, as I worked in the best lab in town, and Hootie is from my town. Sonefield is into photography. Seemed nice enough. I forget those guys were huge, as I can remember when they were just another college band in a college town. I have a funny Hootie tale for later.

[Rahmota]

When I worked Security at a corporate event in cincinnati I met Marge Schott. She was not that bad to me but then all I had to do was nod and say hello when she walked in. She looked like one of her dogs though and was either distracted or grumpy as all I got back was a nod and gruntted good evening. I got told by my relief that when she left she was in a much lighter mood. Somehow I'm thinking a few glasses of champagne or wine would do that.

[PuckishOne]

Flying home from Edmonton, I spotted a guy a few rows up from me on the plane, sleeping, and couldn't help but think he looked like Ray Ferraro, ex-NHLer and occasional hockey commentator for ESPN and the like. Well, it turns out it was Ray Ferraro, and as we were waiting at the terminal to disembark, I asked him to autograph a hockey magazine I had with me. Very, very, nice, humble gentleman (and, as always seems to be the case, shorter than I expected!)

I also got Cam Neely (legendary ex-NHLer, Hall of Famer, blah blah blah) to say a few words to me at a charity hockey game. Another soft-spoken, very nice man.

[Seanette]

Haven't had any professional meetings with anyone famous, but have been a fellow browser/customer in a store someone well-known was in, such as the time DH and I were checking out a novelty/magic shop in LA, and Harry Anderson (probably best known for "Night Court") cruised in. A helpful employee very quietly told me that yes, the very lively, cheerful gent who'd just come in was who I thought he was and that he was a regular. No, I didn't interact, just let the man shop in peace (he did seem to be having fun). Seemed the polite thing to do.

Then there was the time I was chatting with another browser in a hard-to-describe shop in Santa Barbara, when my husband identified my new acquaintance as Ruth Buzzi (he's seven years older than I am, so remembers "Laugh-In", which I don't). Very nice, pleasant, seemingly very "just another person" lady, absolutely nothing about her that would have suggested anything unusual to someone who couldn't recognize her from being familiar with her performances. One thing that confused DH: we thought we were talking to someone in her early 50s at the latest. We later checked the IMDB, and she was about 65-ish at the time.

[Jester]

I did forget a couple, to be honest. And while I was looking for celebrity SC's, neither of my additions is.

Kelly McGillis lives here and owns one of the better restaurants, and I see her and her dogs around so often I never think about her. Pretty cool lady, nice restaurant, sponsors a lot of cool stuff. (Also, my friend just started dating her ex-husband's niece.)

And how could I forget....the incomparable Mojo Nixon. Got to see him at a show years ago, and since I WAS management of the college radio station at the time, I got to talk to him briefly. Not only did he break out a quick and brilliant station ID for my station without even bothering to prepare, he ALSO did the exact same thing for my radio show. THAT was cool!

Oddly, one celebrity I have had NO encounters with is Jimmy Buffett. I say "oddly" because I have been living on his favorite island for seven years and have several good friends who are friends with him/have worked for him. (I only used the "pull" I have in this area once: to get my best friend's husband (who is a huge Parrothead) killer tickets and backstage passes to Jimmy's concert in Phoenix.)

Oh, and one more minor one: a regular at my friend's magic bar and damn nice guy is Gunnar Hanson, the original Leatherface from the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

[DesignFox]

I haven't really dealt with anyone famous as a customer, but I have had the pleasure of meeting quite a few rock artists. An ex-boyfriend of mine worked for a couple different record companies-
I have met the members of SevenDust- really nice, really awesome guys! The lead singer even complimented my hair (which was very long at the time). I have met MegaDeth who even signed an extra poster for me at a record signing (the limit was one per person, but my neighbor was really into them, so they let me sneak an extra through)...they were also really nice guys! and yes, shorter than I thought! I shared drinks on the Powerman 5000 tour bus- they signed posters and albums for me and I got my picture taken with Spider... Also fantastic guys! In addition, I have met all the members of Coal Chamber and had photos taken with/posters signed by them. The drummer was walking his dog in the park near where the concert was held, and we hung out and chatted for awhile. I also met the drummer from the Bloodhound Gang- they are as crazy in person as their music would suggest- the drummer was a super nice guy, though! Never had any bad experiences with celebs I've met.

Closest that I can come to having served a celeb was a woman that came into my current place of employment- I helped out her kids and everyone had a really great time. When my boss was ringing her up- he realized that she has a talk show host on one of our local radio stations! After he mentioned who she was, it struck me how (when I was talking to her) I felt like I knew her from somewhere- even though I knew I had never seen the woman in my life! But I sure knew I recognized that voice! She was a fantastic customer, BTW; and, as funny in person as on the radio.

[Kiwi]

well he wasnt a customer of mine

but I met Marcus Nusland in a bar once (captian of the Vancouver NHL team) and I was slightly sloshed, and VERY happy to see him....

so I guess I was his sucky customer err... sucky fan?

but still guys IT WAS MARCUS NUSLAND!!!!!!!!!

[booger]

I have never had a celeb customer! Although, apparently on one of my days off almost a year ago, R Kelly came in, the cashier was all excited because she was a fan, and R was a SC because he tried to cut everyone in line. The lady who *was* in front of the line was all like, "I don't think so!" and made him go to the back. Awesome!
It would have been interesting to be there, but R Kelly is such a perv that I don't think I missed out any.

[Spiffy McMoron]

I just remembered these-they are not my stories, but that of a co-worker who used to be the drummer in a fairly popular local band-he's opened for several big-name acts, including The Headstones, Bif Naked, Motley Crue, and the Dave Matthews Band.

He said that he didn't really get to talk to the guys from Motley Crue and DMB much, but they seemed nice enough.

However, he did say that Bif Naked's manager really hated the guys in the band. The first time, they were opening for Bif Naked, and rented some lights for the show-nothing fancy, just some coloured lights that would flash on and off randomly. They set them up after the sound check, only to have the manager come screaming at them because "they would upstage Bif Naked." This was at the time when "Spaceman" was huge, so my co-worker and his bandmates just sort of ignored Bif's manager. Unfortunately, the manager got the owner of the venue involved, and threatened to take Bif out of the show. The lights came down.

The second story happened about eight months after the first story. The band was playing at an all-day show in Calgary that also featured so extreme atheletes, like BMXer's, skateboarders, etc. Their sound check was at nine, and the performance was at two. They finished their soundcheck, and were escorted to a tent for them to hang out in by a Molson executive. (The concert was sponsered by Molson) So the band just chilled out for a couple of hours, munched on the deli try, and enjoyed the bottled water.

The time came to do their set, and they tore up the joint-the fans loved them, and a crew from MuchMusic that were in town to interview Bif gave them an interview. They did the interview in their cushy tent, and some of the people that watched the show came over to get autographs. They signed some autographs, and then started to give out bottles of water to the fans. Soon they ran out of water, and started handing out the meats and cheeses that were on the deli tray. After they ran out of that, they resorted to tossed packets of mustard into the crowd. After it was all said and done, the band had tossed everything that was not nailed down into the crowd.

Then out of the blue comes Bif Naked's manager, screaming at them at the top of his lungs. The band didn't know what the hell he was going on about, and ignored him. A little while later, the manager is back with a Molson executive in tow who was very red-faced. Apparently, Bif was on her way, and needed a tent to stay in. Too bad that the exec had screwed up, and given Bif's tent to my co-worker's band-which the band had just finished trashing! By all accounts, Bif was not a happy camper that day.

[Discourtesy Clerk]

I live in the middle of nowhere compared to some of you guys, so I've never had a celebrity at work. The closest thing we get are the rich so-and-so's everyone knows (and who are quite uppity).

I've only been near a "real" celebrity once - I saw Kirstie Alley at Disneyland when I was in middle school. Not too many people noticed, she was keeping a pretty low profile. I only knew who she was because my mother used to watch a lot of Cheers reruns.

[AFpheonix]

We don't really get a lot of celebs either, just a few local newscasters, and the mayor of the city my store's in. (Not Portland Mayor Tom Potter) This particular guy is a complete dickhead, though. Woo! I'm the mayor of this town! Kneel before Zod!

[friendofjimmyk]

I've met a few working at the arena back in the day...well, I didn't actually meet them - but saw them. Approaching a celebrity there for an event was a HUGE no-no! Fire you on the spot.

I saw the guys from ZZ Top. Sebastian Bach walked by fresh out of the shower, hair in a towel, no shirt - RE - OW (that's when he was still young and fresh in the biz)

There were some you weren't supposed to even LOOK at. No kidding. Neil Diamond was one of them. If you were working his show and in the backstage area and he was coming, he had someone walking ahead of him to make sure that you were not looking at him by asking you to leave the area or turn around. Usually, ushers were already at their posts when most bands did their sound checks - but not Neil, all ushers had to be out of the arena and the drapes leading into the section had to be shut while he did his sound check.

Sammy Hagar was at a Cavaliers game once. I've seen a bunch of wrestlers from WWE before it was the WWE - Brutus the Barber, those guys, um, Sean Michaels and his tag team partner, and one whose name is escaping me now.

I obtained backstage passes for Guns N Roses and met Duff, Dizzy, and Matt. I did not meet Axl or Slash because only "certain" girls were allowed to go further backstage. That royaly pissed me off, I was 17 at the time and I was told that you had to be 21 to meet Axl. I was so angry. Axl was like a God to me from the time I was 14 until that night! I didn't have to be 21 to buy Appetite FOUR times. (I listened to the tape so much it wore out three times!)

[El Barto]

I havent had any big celebrities in my store. We do have a local radio DJ in our store. He's a great guy, one of our best customers.

My Dad used to manage a CVS less than a block away from a local TV station. He said all of the people that came into his store were really nice, except for one of the weathermen. He's a real jerk and had one of those I'm on TV so I'm better than you attitudes.

My Dad and I have seen NY Giants players in one of the local malls a few times. This past summer my cousin and his friend where in a bar and one of the better known NY Giants players was there and he was drunk like you wouldnt believe. He wasnt a nasty or mean drunk, he was a nice guy and apparently bought a round or two for everyone in the bar. From what my cousin told me he was good and drunk by the end of the night. He managed to get away with this becase most of the team was out of town for a pre-season game but he stayed behind at the training camp.

[brazenfire1]

I work in a family restaurant in a town known for having basketball tournaments. This past year, I was working when who came in---Little Romeo and Master P. Romeo was playing in the tourney and Master P had brought his other children and his wife. We asked if he minded if some of the staff took pictures of/with he and Romeo, and he happily obliged us, saying we could take all the pictures of them we wished, but we were NOT allowed to take pictures of his daughters, wife and new baby (which we understood). As a matter of fact, some customers figured out who his daughters were, and he sent his wife and daughters back to the hotel (it was literally behind the restaurant, within walking distance). He said that although Romeo was his child too, it was different for his daughters because they were not in the industry, and he wanted to shield them as much as possible, which I thought was pretty cool. They were both very nice, and we hope to see them again next year.