Post your interesting/funny brushes with fame here

[Mr B]

Ran into Robin Williams post ride once in Austin. He gave me a hug. He was quite sweaty. One of the few times I've had someone take a picture of me with someone else. It was awkward, yet awesome at the same time.

Same thing here, only with Danny MacAskill. Super-awkward - we have our arms around each others neck/shoulders but there's nearly a foot of space between our torsos in the picture.
I ain't posting it up here

[Matthew Strongin]

I saw one of the chicks from MTV's Teen mom on the street.

I've bumped into plenty of famous/infamous people over the years, which isn't particularly unusual growing up in Miami and then spending a number of years in Washington, DC. Your comment made me laugh, though, as it reminded me of how my wife and I repeatedly bumped into one of the Teen Moms over a period of months. I guess she was living down here. The first time was at a mall. Then a restaurant in a different part of town. Then a park. It started to get weird that we kept seeing her. She was the one that briefly went on to some fame in a different, more adult, part of show business. You could tell how uncomfortable she was with all the people staring at her while she walked around or played with her kid.

[dogrange]

I played guitar for 2 weeks on a tour in a band that was famous in the '90s called Bush, so I guess you'd call that a "very close encounter". They aren't nearly as famous now, but I'm pretty bad at knowing how famous people are unless they are cultural fixtures like Madonna or Tom Cruise or people like that.

[Chad]

Sam Kinison autographed the back of my attorney's business card in college. He was playing pool after a show at the Lied Center. Very nice guy, before camera phones.

Saw Vanilla Ice at Disney World. Tried to get my kids to ask him to sign their Disney autograph books.

[Vlad Luskin]

I played guitar for 2 weeks on a tour in a band that was famous in the '90s called Bush, so I guess you'd call that a "very close encounter". They aren't nearly as famous now, but I'm pretty bad at knowing how famous people are unless they are cultural fixtures like Madonna or Tom Cruise or people like that.

George H.W. on rhythm guitar, George W. on drums (with brushes), and Jeb on keys?

[woodworker]

I saw Van Morrison at the café at A Clean, Well-lighted Place for Books in Larkspur about 20 years ago. I was a huge fan. I ran into the book store section and bought a huge rock anthology that had a great photo of young Van -- with hair (!) -- which I hoped he'd autograph. I borrowed a pen, approached him and said, "Mr. Morrison, ...." He looked up at me and bellowed, "NO, NO, NO! His female companion looked at my sympathetically. I slunk away. At least the book store took the book back.

I'm still in therapy over that encounter.

Not really.

Then there was the time I met George Plimpton on Sproul Plaza back in 1984. It was early Saturday morning and he was just poking about alone. Had a very pleasant chat about his books -- I'd read two of them.

Met Jerry Rice at John Wayne airport, waiting for oversize luggage to arrive. He was very nice. We shook hands. I wear size Large cycling gloves. Jerry would wear XXXXXXXXXL.

Don't feel bad about Van Morrison. Not surprised at all.

Huge fan too and been to a number of his concerts, Masonic, Great American Music Hall. At the latter venue, he shut down the band because, I think, someone near the front kept making song requests (Brown Eyed Girl, I'm guessing). First, he yelled at the guy, told him to "give it a rest." I understood that. Then a woman near me innocently shouted out, "We love you Van," which only provoked him. He looked up and shouted "Shut the f*** up." I looked over, and she was in tears. The band all had that look of sympathy that you mentioned, just waiting to see what Van would do. Eventually he started up again. But it was pretty quiet at the Hall.

... I like his music too much to stop listening just because he can be a touchy a**hole on occasion. Good music has little to do with good people.

[ZenNMotion]

I stopped in at a tiny McDonalds near my office a block from the White House one day for lunch, it was super crowded, a few suits and the usual mid-Summer tourists as the place is (was) one of the few cheap places for tourists to eat in the area. I was lucky to get a table for a quick 10 minute stress meal before I was off to a meeting when this huge dude in a flannel shirt and truckers hat and his two redneck buddies approached my table, and asked if they could share. Shit- I really was in no mood to talk to anyone from East Podunk about how to find the Lincoln Memorial. The dude scrunched me into the far corner of the both and began unloading his enormous bag of grease. "hi, I'm Mike", yep. Mike, just let me finish and scram, K? Then I looked again- it was Michael Moore and part of his video crew on lunch from taping an episode of his cable TV show. We had a chat about the non-profit I worked for, I got my office building supervisor to give him access to the roof for some shots of the White House from above, I rescheduled my afternoon meeting and I got a tour of his fleet of media trucks- those things are awesome inside.

I also got to sit between Alan Alda and Valerie Harper at a fundraising dinner my organization was hosting. Both funny lovely people- we talked about funny overseas travel stories.

[monadnocky]

I saw Van Morrison at the café at A Clean, Well-lighted Place for Books in Larkspur about 20 years ago. I was a huge fan. I ran into the book store section and bought a huge rock anthology that had a great photo of young Van -- with hair (!) -- which I hoped he'd autograph. I borrowed a pen, approached him and said, "Mr. Morrison, ...." He looked up at me and bellowed, "NO, NO, NO! His female companion looked at my sympathetically. I slunk away. At least the book store took the book back.

I'm still in therapy over that encounter.

Not really.

Then there was the time I met George Plimpton on Sproul Plaza back in 1984. It was early Saturday morning and he was just poking about alone. Had a very pleasant chat about his books -- I'd read two of them.

Met Jerry Rice at John Wayne airport, waiting for oversize luggage to arrive. He was very nice. We shook hands. I wear size Large cycling gloves. Jerry would wear XXXXXXXXXL.

^^ I am 100% sure I saw Plimpton walk out of a 7/11 in Wolfeboro, NH in the late 90's Absolutely sure.

[theflashunc]

I played guitar for 2 weeks on a tour in a band that was famous in the '90s called Bush, so I guess you'd call that a "very close encounter". They aren't nearly as famous now, but I'm pretty bad at knowing how famous people are unless they are cultural fixtures like Madonna or Tom Cruise or people like that.

Bush might have been part of the soundtrack of my adolescence. Gavin Rossdale at least as good a dude behind the scenes as he makes his public persona out to be?

[theflashunc]

One other brush with the famous.

Just a few weeks back. Connecting through SLC back to the Bay Area on a flight home from a work trip. I board -- row 45F, right in front of the crapper, of course -- and who's sitting in the first row of first class? Mitt Romney. Was he reading the WSJ? Of course he was.

I read later he was at some event at Stanford later that day.

[monadnocky]

One other brush with the famous.

Just a few weeks back. Connecting through SLC back to the Bay Area on a flight home from a work trip. I board -- row 45F, right in front of the crapper, of course -- and who's sitting in the first row of first class? Mitt Romney. Was he reading the WSJ? Of course he was.

I read later he was at some event at Stanford later that day.

Okay this is getting weird. I see Mitt all the time - again, in Wolfeboro, NH where he has a *cough* "little lake house" *cough*.
It's very modest, not showy at all like he totally doesn't want anyone to know how completely loaded he is.

[dogrange]

Bush might have been part of the soundtrack of my adolescence. Gavin Rossdale at least as good a dude behind the scenes as he makes his public persona out to be?

I'm not sure how nice his public persona is, but he is indeed a nice man in real life. I haven't talked to him in a long time, but I'm sure he is doing well.

[Brandon White]

I played guitar for 2 weeks on a tour in a band that was famous in the '90s called Bush, so I guess you'd call that a "very close encounter". They aren't nearly as famous now, but I'm pretty bad at knowing how famous people are unless they are cultural fixtures like Madonna or Tom Cruise or people like that.

Did you play in Columbus Ohio or Dayton Ohio at any point? I would have seen you.

[BShow]

I feel like I have a bunch of fleeting moments that I can't remember. The ones I do remember? Hmmm....

As a kid, probably 11 or 12 years old, My family and I walked across Rodeo drive with Roger Moore. I didnt know who the hell he was, but my Mom sure did.

Around that same time, my friend's parents hired Lenny Dykstra to make an appearance at his birthday party (I wonder what that cost them?). This was a couple weeks after he wrapped his SL600 around a tree following a bachelor party. He was driving a new, red, SL600. He was visbly intoxicated and reeked of alcohol for his early afternoon appearance to meet a bunch of 12 year olds at a batting cage. I just checked his wikipedia story and it's awesome. Class act, that guy is.

I shook Bill Cosby's hand and exchanged a quick word at the Penn Relays one of the times I raced there.

I was at Virginia Tech at the same time Michael Vick was there, but not once did i see the guy. I was friendly with another football player who was on the track team with me. He was a wide receiver who was later drafted by the browns.

A local TV meterologist used to be on my racing team, but she's not famous, famous.

edit: Buddy Guy sat next to my brother inlaw in the middle of his show and solo'd for what seemed like an eternity. I was in the next seat over.

[seanile]

highly recommend listening to this story, really funny "encounter" with fame (from a to-be famous guy)
The Moth on Tumblr, “I looked over and Jim Morrison was dancing the...

[maunahaole]

I was up skiing at Alpine Meadows some spring day. Riding the chair we see some dude running gates on a course that was set up going much faster and looking far too smooth for any mortal. Turns out it was Daron Rahlves. So we started to follow him around the hill. We kept up, barely, both in speed and control. He mentioned to me that he liked my jacket. That really pissed off a pal of mine.

After I moved here and didn't have a job, I worked security for a PGA event and the Pro Bowl. Johnathan Ogden is possibly the biggest human being ever. I had to stop and scold Troy Polamalu for not wearing his proper credential. Dude is super chill.

Shook hands with Andre the Giant at rasslin' one time.

Have pics with Didi the Devil and Phil Liggett.

[zetroc]

I met Neil Armstrong backstage at a speech he was going to give and we talked for a few minutes. One of the nicest, most humble people I've ever met.

[nahtnoj]

Around that same time, my friend's parents hired Lenny Dykstra to make an appearance at his birthday party (I wonder what that cost them?). This was a couple weeks after he wrapped his SL600 around a tree following a bachelor party. He was driving a new, red, SL600. He was visbly intoxicated and reeked of alcohol for his early afternoon appearance to meet a bunch of 12 year olds at a batting cage. I just checked his wikipedia story and it's awesome. Class act, that guy is.

Nails. What a total fuck up.

[defspace]

Alan Alda

For years I've had the feeling that Alan Alda is dead. I know he's not. I just can't shake the feeling. It's weird.

[Noteddy]

Stood next to Susan St. James at the top of the wall on the Morgul-Bismark stage of the 1986 Coors Classic to watch Hinault win his last stage race. She was nice. He was still pissed about the TDF.