I had planned on just staying home for the weekend after the intense schedule of traveling I had been enjoying for the past six weekends in a row, fully prepared to just hibernate in the house. But there was one thing that could rouse me to action and get me out – a celebrity encounter. When my former schoolmate Deborah Hileman posted a picture of herself standing next to Rob Schneider, my interest was piqued. He had played the Friday show at the Funny Bone comedy club, and when I checked I noted that he was there all weekend. I also sent her a quick Facebook note to ask if Rob simply came out to meet the crowd afterward. He did.
Rob Schneider isn’t really the type of guy you’d expect to get the chance to meet. After all he’s not doing any celebrity autograph shows; he’s far too busy actually working to do those. He’s starred in many, many recent comedy films including a string of films with Adam Sandler like The Waterboy, Big Daddy, Little Nicky, 50 First Dates, and the list goes on and on. He was a regular on Saturday Night Live from 1990 to 1994. He’s even held the starring role in several films including two installments of Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo and The Hot Chick. He’s even been in Seinfeld! Quite frankly, I couldn’t believe he was even performing at such an intimate little club as Funny Bone.
I couldn’t find anyone to go with me last minute, so I just bought a ticket online for myself to go see him on Sunday, August 19, 2012. I had a nice table to myself off to the side where I enjoyed a burger, fries, and a Coke, and then watched the show.
The opening act was a large black gentleman whose name has eluded me. It was something like Johnny D or Timmy T, but I couldn’t find the info anywhere after the show. In any case, he was a funny guy – but twice was distracted when he saw ‘red lights’ in the audience. Turn out one of them was mine, and if he had been able to see me properly, he probably would have embarrassed me and incorporated me into his act. By the way, I wasn’t breaking any rules. The club simply stated no ‘flash’ photography. It was the little orange light on my camera that distracted him and made him lose his concentration.
The opening comedian spots me and loses his place
Rob Schneider performed for well over an hour and was quite funny. He sniffed a lot and said ‘ya’ know’ quite a bit – but overall he came across as a seasoned stand-up comedian. He covered a wide range of topics, touching briefly on politics, but mostly focusing on domestic life with his pregnant Mexican wife. His routine about gold was a stand-out.
Photo taken from my seat
After the show, I could tell he was a really nice guy as he worked his way around toward the exit door, shaking hands and thanking everyone who came out to see him. There were about 25 people hanging out in the lobby bar after the show, and within ten minutes he came out to greet the crowd.
I must admit that I haven’t been on my game lately about getting things signed, but my number one goal was just to get a photo with him. Afterward, I realized that I could have easily brought along my DVD of Grown Ups, on which he appears on the front cover. Duh. I’ll do better next time… (And you can bet I’ll be keeping my eye on the Funny Bone line-up now that I’ve realized the caliber of performers who are playing there)
But I did get my photo. In fact, I was the first to approach him. I had a guy who was planning to get a photo signed take the snapshot, which included far too much background and not enough us. Thankfully, my new camera is high enough quality that it even turned out ok when I cropped out 75% of it.
It was so refreshing to see a relatively ‘big name’ treat his fans so respectfully. He was extremely friendly and seemed genuinely appreciative of everyone who came to see him. Keep going Rob… you can do it!
Return to August 2012…
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