It was great news to hear that the "I'm Still Standing Tour" was coming to town with comics Gary Gulman, Jay London, and Bert Kreischer. Being fans of NBC's "Last Comic Standing," we knew that we couldn't miss out on trying to get their 'graphs. Gary Gulman and Jay London happen to be two of our favorites from the show and now we had a chance to meet them. We left for the show a little early just to ensure we would be there before they arrived. Little did we know that this was going to be one of the most memorable autograph outings we've had.
There were no signs of buses, limousines, or anything out of the ordinary around the venue so we figured we would just hang out and watch both the exit and entrance. We had a lot of time on our hands, but we passed the time watching people come and go at the box office and by watching many interesting individuals walking around our city. Earl was bored and was looking at the adjacent buildings when he spotted a gang coming our way. No this wasn't a bad thing because this wasn't a gang consisting of thugs and criminals, but instead funnymen.
That's right this gang was none other than Gary Gulman, Jay London, and Bert Kreischer! All of them were in a group and walking from their hotel to the venue, what a sight. It was almost like the scene in the film "Armageddon" when all the crewmembers are walking on the runway in slow motion. All that was missing was the slow motion... and of course, Bruce Willis, but we're getting way off track here. After notifying Sterling both of us prepared ourselves for the inevitable encounter.
They crossed the street and once they got close enough Sterling politely asked for an autograph. Gary smiled and said, "Sure" and Jay London stopped and agreed to sign as well. Bert Kreischer on the other hand just walked by and was going to leave. That is until Jay London stopped him and said, "they want your autograph too, you're a part of this as well". Bert Kreischer isn't on "Last Comic Standing", but was touring with them and figured we only wanted the hotshot stars of the show. We reassured him that we wanted his autograph as well so he came back to sign.
Things at this point went a little crazy and chaotic because all three of them were talking to us and it was hard to concentrate on what was actually going on. Gary Gulman was the first to sign and took Sterling's index card, adding his autograph and a witty comment. As they were signing we told the guys that we were going to the University and that we were both majoring in entertainment. Sterling told the guys that he is majoring in Theatre to become an actor.
At that moment, Burt perked up and told Sterling that he had an audition for a show the following day and was wondering if Sterling could do a cold reading with him. Sterling never thought that he would actually be helping a celebrity with an audition for a part while trying to get some autographs. Bert is a funnyman, but he wasn't joking and took out the script and both of them started acting out the scene. This was the craziest thing ever and it was so funny, even Gary Gulman was cracking up.
While Sterling was auditioning, Jay London was trying to figure out Earl's mysterious major of Media Arts. After Earl explained that he wanted to specifically be a cinematographer London was still puzzled. Summarizing the job description a little more Earl said, "You know I work with the film cameras". London understood and continued signing; Earl didn't know why he was so curious about this information until... he muttered something Earl didn't understand at first. He was trying to come up with a funny inscription on Earl's autograph and this is what he came up with: To Earl, I'm camera shy, I had too many flashbacks as a kid -Jay London. Jay said it was kind of stupid and silly, but Earl assured him that it was great.
Sterling had finally finished rehearsing with Bert and soon after Bert took off, aftering signign for both of us. Gary and Jay were still standing there and it was the perfect opportunity to get a picture with both of them. When Earl raised the camera to take a picture of Sterling with both of them Jay London asked if it was okay for him to use Earl's camera.
He said that he knew of this store up the road that has been a part of his family's history for over a century. He wanted us to go up there and take some pictures of the sign so he could send them to his mother. He also wanted pictures of his name on the marquee because he told us that his mother wouldn't believe that his name was up on the venue as just LONDON. Of course we agreed to help Jay London out and Gary Gulman remarked "I can't believe this guy". We thanked Gary Gulman and he headed into the venue, he was such a great guy.
As for Jay London he told the event staff at the door that he would be back and the three of us headed down the street. This is the most quality time that we've ever had with a celebrity and walking a few blocks with Jay London will always be a highlight in our celebrity encounter stories. We talked about other comedians and some other stuff just to ensure that things didn't get awkward on this stroll downtown.
Jay talked in more detail about how his family was connected to this store and how his mother would just love to see a picture that he was there. On a random note he also brought up the fact that legendary comedian W.C. Fields only slept when it rained, interesting huh? These are the crazy thoughts of Mr. Jay London and he couldn't have been a more down to earth guy.
We finally reached the building and it was funny because we were directing Jay all over the place trying to make sure he was in the photo, funny stuff. After taking a couple pictures from each of our cameras (Sterling's black and white, Earl's color) we headed back for another picture of him in front of the marquee. He gave us his mother's address so we could mail the photos to her and started searching for money to pay for the costs. We told him that he didn't owe us a thing, he was cool enough to stop and sign and that's payment enough.
The final picture was taken of Jay in front of the marquee and we thanked him as we headed off. It was just an out of this world experience for the both of us. If you ever have the honor and privilege to meet or even just shake hands with these fine comedians, we suggest that you do because they are truly one of a kind.
