Celebrities you've met in person.

[Cotton]

What famous people have you guys met? I've met Bill Clinton at a Wal Mart for his autobiography book signing of "My Life". Stephen Chow from "Kung fu hustle" at a restaurant, Jackie Chan at a target when he was promoting his first "Rush Hour" movie. How about you guys?

[Paradox]

I usually go out of my way NOT to meet celebrities. I don't want that kind of relationship with them. They're not "real people" to me, because I only want to know them through their work. I don't want to know about their feet of clay or that they're just a regular person.

That said, I've met a handful of comic pros at cons, and once sat for a while at a table at a strip bar with Marilyn Manson's band (not Marilyn himself...he went back to his hotel).

[Cotton]

Well in most of my situations where I've met the celebrity in question, they were promoting their sh*t and wanted attention.

Edit: how embarrassing, I've misspelled "where" as "were".

[Paradox]

Right. Those are generally the type of things I notice from across the street and then go the other direction.

Keep in mind, I'm an insular hermit, so don't think anything from me about how a normal person might react.

[Paradox]

Oh, I forgot one. Once, completely out of the blue, Gary Burghoff (Radar O'Reilly) walked into our hotel and got a room. I told him I'd liked his work and then I got him his room PDQ, because he had that traveling face that said "I don't want to talk to anyone, I just want to go to sleep".

[Michael24]

I've met a number at various conventions: Bruce Campbell, John Carpenter, Jason Statham, Danielle Harris, Ernie Hudson, Robert Picardo, Marc Singer, Heather Langenkamp, Stan Winston (RIP), Kevin Conroy, to name a handful. All were great experiences. Tony Todd was rude, though, and Val Kilmer was a total jerk.

Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, also met a few sports players as well, like Joe Montana and Jerry Rice from the 49ers.

Met Emilio Estevez at a Halloween party.

Also (literally) bumped into Huey Lewis at Disneyland when I was a kid. That was particularly awesome.

[Cotton]

I've met a number at various conventions: Bruce Campbell, John Carpenter, Jason Statham, Danielle Harris, Ernie Hudson, Robert Picardo, Marc Singer, Heather Langenkamp, Stan Winston (RIP), Kevin Conroy, to name a handful. All were great experiences. Tony Todd was rude, though, and Val Kilmer was a total jerk.

Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, also met a few sports players as well, like Joe Montana and Jerry Rice from the 49ers.

Met Emilio Estevez at a Halloween party.

Also (literally) bumped into Huey Lewis at Disneyland when I was a kid. That was particularly awesome.

Just curious, how was Val Kilmer a joke?

[King Of All Nerds]

I've met a few pro-skateboarders & a bunch of musicians at shows & after parties. Most of which none of you would know except for maybe Questlove of the Roots. I had a funny conversation with Jackie "The Joke Man" Martling from the Howard Stern Show at a con in Philly a few years ago.

[Paradox]

Cotton gets to the heart of the matter:

Just curious, how was Val Kilmer a joke?

I knew it! You're just fishing for celebrity dirt, aren't you?

[Cotton]

Yes, next question.

[GozertheGozarian]

A few porn stars and Rob Van Dam while working at the club. And, while not really a celebrity, spent a day watching anime at Tom Artis' house with some friends.

[nepenthes]

I encountered a handful of the Wu-Tang Clan backstage and showed Raekwon how to use the motion sensor taps in the bathroom. He was seriously acting like he'd never seen them before. I later found out he ate something like 12 servings of dumplings sitting alone in the restaurant attached to the bar.

I was on plane from the US to Sydney and in the morning as the passengers were all waking up this old lady got up and started doing tai chi in the aisle, really slowly (as you do) in full view of an entire 747. They were obviously drawing alot of attention so I was pretty surprised when I realised it was Iggy Pop. No one bothered him during his session which was cool but when he was seated my 14 year old nephew walked up to say a few words and said "Nice to meet you Mr.Pop" which I found hilarious. Mr.Pop complimented him on his Rage against the Machine beanie and they talked about bands that were joining him on tour.

I've seen Russell Crow around town a couple of times however on one occasion we were fishing outside his house at night (sounds weird but he lives in a penthouse on a very public pier which is also a decent spot). We'd had a bit to drink so were feeling jolly and called out, including a joke or something about the national rugby team he was an owner of at the time. He began to lumber over and in the darkness on the edge of the water I actually got very nervous, I thought he might start throwing punches or something and we'd all have to fight him but he was actually champ and smoked cigarettes with us for 10 minutes and talked rugby and restaurants. I asked him about Robin Hood 2 and he said maybe and winked.

Have also encountered Sam Worthington (arsehole he stole a ladies taxi) and Harvey Keitel who looked much smaller and older in real life.

[Paradox]

Cotton opens the floor:

Yes, next question.

How do I get my linens their whitest white so my mate will love me?

[Cotton]

Paradox asks:

How do I get my linens their whitest white so my mate will love me?

That is an ancient Chinese secret that I will never reveal.

[Michael24]

Just curious, how was Val Kilmer a joke?

I "met" him at San Diego ComicCon in 2004, which required the purchase of a $30 ticket earlier in the day that guaranteed you a signed photo that evening. Of course, I'd heard stories over the years, but I thought I'd give him the benefit of the doubt. After standing in line for over an hour, I finally got to his table, and there he was . . . wearing sunglasses and listening to music on headphones. There was hardly any interaction between him and the fans. You set your item in front of him, he'd sign it, with no motion to shake your hand and barely a nod of acknowledgement, and you'd move on. If you wanted your picture personalized, you had to tell the much friendlier assistant girl your name, then she'd write it on a piece of paper and show him.

I'm glad I've got a signed Madmartigan picture, but for that price and time I stood in line, I expected at least a handshake and chance to say something along with it.