Rex Lee
The first night was the big celebrity to-do, with my first time on or near a red carpet. While tweeting about the event and the celebs that were around, my mother demanded via Twitter that I get a picture with Rex Lee (Lloyd from Entourage). In the relatively compact space of the lobby, he was easy to ask and even better, was patient enough to wait for multiple people to unsuccessfully try to take pictures on my phone.
Ahmed Best
After that, I figured I’d hit up Ahmed Best (Jar Jar Binks). Really, really genial guy. I told him how my mother waited on line for hours for Return of the Jedi while pregnant with me. When I saw him a few days later in the fest, he seemed like he recognized me and was happy to see me, which made me happy to see him, as well.
Later on, at the party at J Lounge, I figured I’d try my luck asking Scott Thompson (from Kids in the Hall) for a pic. He gladly, but tiredly, obliged.
Scott Thompson
Donnell Rawlings
I talked to Donnell Rawlings pretty much every time I saw him, which was every day of the festival. He called me “tall guy” and used the line “still tall,” as a greeting to me the second day. Later on in the day, I considered the comeback “still black”, figuring if anyone would appreciate it, he would. The next day, he said “still tall”, I said “still black”. He seemed impressed enough to reference it in the below video.
Dave Foley
There was a list of the celebrities who were supposed to be coming to the event, but Dave Foley wasn’t on it. And he was the one I was most excited to see. I caught up with him at J Lounge and told him that he was one of my favorite straight men. We ended up talking for a bit. I told him what I do (i.e., traveling), and he said he was jealous, as he was either working or broke most of the time.
We talked for long enough that he gave me a couple of fake punches goodbye and we exchanged a hug.
While I was talking to him, Phil LaMarr came up. That was a cool surprise, as he’s consistently funny and a solid voice actor.
Phil LaMarr
Talking to Donnell Rawlings and Dave Foley can be found here:
——————————————————————-
Lynne Stewart
Being a big It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia fan, it was cool to have a picture with Charlie’s Mom.
Wayne Brady
During his panel, Wayne Brady made it clear that he wasn’t happy about being put into an artistic box. After the panel, I went up and told him that while I loved him on Chappelle’s Show, I had totally forgotten about the skit while he was talking and just was thinking of him as a talented guy. He told me, “Cool, then I don’t have to hate you.”
Gracious enough to take pictures with everyone that wanted to, despite obviously being in a hurry, but also a man who is deadly serious about his craft.
Carlos Alazraqui
Despite just doing a set, Carlos Alazraqui (from Reno 911! and more voice acting gigs than you probably realize) took the time to talk to me for a bit. I wished him well on his first daughter, who could very well have been born by time you read this.
You can see Carlos Alazraqui host the award show here:
Pictures you won’t see
Jeff Garland
After he was on the panel, I figured I’d try to get a video with him. Not wanting to feel stupid for not recording, I ended up trying to talk to him on video, which didn’t go well. So by trying to not feel stupid, I…. ended up feeling stupid.
You can see that at 2:09 on this video (it’s already cued up):
Aaron McGruder
I asked to get a picture with him, which he originally declined, but then felt bad about, saying that he just didn’t want it on the internet at all. I told him that it was cool, we didn’t have to, but he didn’t want to be a too-cool celeb, so I got the picture. And, as I agreed, it isn’t going online.
And here are the last of the LA Comedy Shorts videos that I have yet to put up on here:
That wraps up my LA Comedy Shorts posts and vids. Tomorrow: Hitchhiking into Iraq.
More From roniweiss
Recent Comments