For a few years of my life I had a standing happy hour at a bar in the building I worked in. I was out sipping a beer with my friends, and the trailer park boys walked in!

I’m a huge fan so I was starstruck. Eventually I worked up the nerve to say hello, and they were delightful and funny. Got a quick picture, wished them luck on their show, and I went back to leaving them be. 10/10, would bother again.

Like most Londoners, I have shouted “wanker” at boris johnson.

Some bands when I was young (it used to be much easier to sneak backstage) U2, Warren Zevon, Rush, Tom Petty, all were nice.

Some bands before they were famous, Nirvana came here in their little white van to play at a club and I bought a shirt from them. Would have asked them to sign it if I’d had any idea they would get popular.

Once I was literally being frisked against a wall when the British punk band GBH walked by and they yelled shit at the cops, and encouragement at me, which was an experience that made me question the nature of reality. It was surreal. I didn’t meet them, but it certainly made an impression.

One politician, our governor at the time Bob Martinez, when he was working at a restaurant. He looked so fake.

I think all people are just people, basically. Musician, actor, politician, those are just jobs.

Met Laura Jane Grace after a show once. She was chill

David Foster Wallace, shook hands and chatted at a book signing… He was very pleasant, shy-seeming, like you’d expect. RIP!

Philip Seymour Hoffman, shook his hand and chatted briefly, after seeing a play he was in. Oddly similar to DFW: shy, warm, very human. Also RIP!

(I guess, don’t shake my hand?)

I’ve seen Ron White live on stage. Not really much to say there we didn’t meet but I was in the same room as him physically. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I’ve shaken Arnold Swarrzenegged’s hand when he was governor of California. Wasn’t a very long thing, I just happened to be somewhere he coincidentally was doing a rally nearby, and when I saw him shaking hands with people, I went over to join. He was shorter than I expected; I was an inch or two taller (I was, and still am, 6’6’').

I’ve briefly spoken with I think three Nobel prizewinners in chemistry: Lehn, Feringa, Sauvage. Feringa and Sauvage hadn’t won when I met them.

If theres any germans here:

Freaking Bruce Darnell casually strolling by me at a main street sidewalk in one of the big NRW cities

Only a few porn stars. And Katie from Kinky Katie Radio. They are regular people just like anyone else.

Anthony Joshua used to come into my work place often when he was training nearby. Lovely guy, absolute giant.

I shook the hands of Mr. T and David Hasslehoff at Toys 'R Us grand openings. Went to another one where it was just the Care Bears and that was super lame.

I’ve hung out with the Reel Big Fish and Streetlight Manifesto, and met Bruce Springsteen. Everybody was super down to earth and chill.

Once I was at a punk festival and chatting with a stranger about which upcoming sets we were excited for, and when this person was unfamiliar with a classic punk band I exclaimed “how can you not know Joan Jett and the Blackhearts?” only to hear that sentence repeated by someone behind me. It was Joan Jett, and I got to hang out on stage with their VIP group during their set.

I’ve met a bunch of small YouTubers. Fame is completely relative, but within their small circles they are famous. There was a local YouTuber convention, so I decided to try it out. Had it been over 50 km away, I wouldn’t have gone, but I’m glad I did. I listened to some interviews, took fan photos, watched a few on stage shows etc. It was fun.

John Carpenter was very kind. I turned into an imbecile but he was nice enough to let me do my job.

You know that thing where two people, on opposite sides of a door, try to turn the handle and open the door at the same time? I did that with Bob Hope. Later that day I was playing foosball with some kids and their aunt, Bonnie Raitt, came over to talk to them. I was a stage hand for a relief concert.