Probably the most famous person I’ve seen in person close up is Steve from Gamers Nexus. He’s in my area and I saw him in a bakery I was at once. I didn’t speak to him though, didn’t want to cause a scene or take up too much of his time, though thinking about it I’m sure he would have been stoked to have a fan say hi. Whoops!

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

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.

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

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?)

Back in the 90s, I worked for a major record company, and met a LOT of incredibly famous musicians. Most were cool, some were dicks, and some were really really nice.

One of my favorites was Lindsey Buckingham, who has a prickly reputation. After he sang three songs in our conference room with his acoustic guitar (amazing!), he sat to sign autographs for us. I got to him, and said “Lindsey, I meet a lot of people and I never get star struck, but you’ve been one of my guitar idols forever, and I really am pleased to meet you.” He had been going through the motions, but at that he gave me a big genuine smile, and said, “Thats really kind of you, man, you want to take a picture?” He hadn’t taken a pic with anyone else.

Of course I said yes, and sat next to him. He threw his arm around me, and I have cherished that photo, with both of us with big wide grins, ever since.

I’ve always heard he was a real asshole, but he was nothing but genuinely really cool to me in the 3 minutes we interacted.

Cheech Marin at an art show/book signing. He was every bit as affable as I had hoped.

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.

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.

If theres any germans here:

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

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

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’').

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

Met G.W. Bailey once at a Houston, won a meet and greet with Charles Martinet and got harassed by a drunken Amy Winehouse in Camden.

That’s about it.

The entire Dallas Mavericks and Texas Rangers teams, Oprah, Michael Jordan, at least a dozen fortune 500 CEO’s, and former President Bush.

The most notable person for their behavior was MJ. That guy is 110% asshole.

Most of the other athletes were pretty cool. We would talk about all kinds of things, not just sports.

Oprah did not give me a car and I was bummed about that but she was pleasant otherwise.

All CEO’s were assholes except Mark Cuban. There is something about the personality of a person that is a CEO that I despise. IMO they are subhuman.

Bush was a husk. His eyes looked as if there was not a thought in his head. When someone talked to him he seemed surprised. Like he was not fully aware of where he was.

There are many more but these were the most notable.