Joel McHale Addsion Improv 2018

I enjoyed The Soup. I wasn’t a passionate watcher but I would catch it a few times a year.  I thought Joel McHale was funny. Then he popped up in X-Files. Why wouldn’t I want his autograph?

A couple of fellow hounds and I went to the Addison Improv and caught his show. He was pretty funny. After the show, we waited outside with the smokers (people still huddle together, ostracized, in the cold, to chain smoke) for an hour or so before he came out.

He posed for photos, chatted about his new show on Netflix, and signed the various photos the 5 of us had for him.

AH

Jamie Kennedy - Addison Improv

I need to thank Racer X for the help about where and when I needed to be so I could get this one. Racer X is a very knowledgeable collector in the DFW area.

Getting Jamie Kennedy’s autograph at the Improv was a little different for me. This was more of the hanging out and waiting on a street corner to get the coveted autograph; as opposed hanging out knowing someone was going to do a signing like I did with Rob Schneider.

When I got Rob Schneider’s signature at the Improv I was actually waiting for him to set up his table to sell his shirts and DVD’s.  While I didn’t know exactly how everything was going to work, I was fairly sure I was at the right place to get my autograph.

This autograph was way out of my comfort zone, although it was fairly straight forward.

I got there and hung out with Racer X. Knowing that Racer X was still there meant I wasn’t late.  It’s also good to chit chat while you are waiting.

Jamie arrived by car. We caught up to him as he was about to enter the stairwell. He saw us and stopped and he signed. No fuss; no muss.

He was very laid back and told me if I wanted a photo I could catch him after the show. I was okay with that but then he stopped and said let’s take it now.

Trying to hide my confusion I got the camera out and someone took our picture and then we went our separate ways.

The most important thing (well, to my mom it's important) - how did I look in the photo?

So this time I almost have a smile. I did remember to suck in some of my gut. Maybe, just maybe, if I get enough practice, I might learn how to take a picture in a few years.  Won’t mom be proud of me then?

AH

Rob Schneider – You can do it!

I was told that Rob Schneider was going to perform at the Addison Improv and he often signs after the show.

I’m sure you remember him from Deuce Bigalow Male Gigolo. He is often in movies with Adam Sandler and he played a small albeit iconic role in The Waterboy where he shouts out ‘You can do it!’

I got to the Improv about an hour before his show ended. I wasn’t sure where he was going to be and I wanted to scout out the place. The Improv is on the second floor of a building which is shared with a piano bar. The corridor is narrow. One of the employees from the Improv was constantly shooing people out of the corridor before the next show started. I’m assuming it was for fire code reasons. She was a ‘tough one’.  I just hung out by the stairs and I must have looked like I was waiting for a date as she never bothered me.

When Rob Schneider’s finished his show, a few people left but more were standing by the Improv’s door taking pictures. I walked over to the entrance and wondered if I could walk in. I took a quick photo and the ‘tough one’ started telling people to move and ordering people to do this and that. She made some comment about if you wanted a photo you needed to get back inside and get in line.

I took that as an invitation.

I swam up stream to the back of the line and started the slow process back to Rob.

He was gracious and posed with everyone. He signed anything. He was selling CDs and t-shirts that read ‘You can do it!’  Unlike other actors that had a trademark, he embraced this and genuinely seemed at ease with it.  It was good to see no irritation as a fan or two would shout out his catch phrase.

He was personalizing everything.  As time passed, he ended up more in the corridor and outside people would butt in and he just calmly posed with them and shook their hands or signed something for them.

As I stood in line the lady in front of me assumed I saw the show.  She commented on this joke or that.  I just nodded my head and smiled appropriately.   She was impressed I brought some DVD covers for him to sign. I told her I was hoping I‘d get this chance so I was prepared.

When I got to the head of the line, I handed over the Deuce Bigalow cover and the cover from The Animal.  He asked my name and signed them both.  He added the comment that ‘Deuce Bigalow loves you’.

I shook his hand and thanked him and left.

I need to thank ‘anm2231’ at the Texas Autograph Club for the heads up.  I would have never known about this without his posting.

AH