The Cult of Celebrity

The notion of celebrity is really bizarre. Maybe I just feel that way because the people that I consider “famous” are folks who upward of the 99% of the world has never heard of let alone would recognize on the street. If I saw writer/director Wes Anderson or DNA discoverer/Nobel Prize winner James Watson strutting through NYC, I’d be impressed. But, most of my actual sitings elicited little response beyond recognition.

However, often when I told people that I went to school in New York, they’d ask me if I have ever seen a “famous person”. And actually, I’ve compiled quite a back catalogue of sitings. So, what follows is a list of people that I’ve seen and where I’ve seen them. Some of them are “full blown” celebrities and some are just members of my own personal cult of celebrity. (Note: this list excludes band members I’ve met at shows or people I’ve interviewed for work.) Listed in temporal order:

Madonna-I was working on a Chuck Schumer’s 1998 U.S. Senate campaign and the headquarters was located at 53rd St. between 8th and 9th Avenues. Apparently Madonna has a pad on CPW near 53rd Another worker on the campaign rushed into headquarters all out of breath and proclaimed “I just walked past Madonna!” We all gathered around the window and watched her mail a letter at the post office across the street.

James Brady-Okay, this one might be a little bit of cheating. While I was working on the same senatorial campaign, former Press Secretary James Brady rolled his presidential-assasination-attempt-surviving self into headquarters. It was pretty amazing to meet a man who had a bill named after him. It was even more impressive that a member of the Reagan administration was throwing his weight behind an uber-liberal Brooklynite for Senate.

Jerry Orbach-To earn extra money, I bartended and cater waitered at private parties through a student-run agency at school. The character actor and star of Law & Order was at a birthday party for these two women who lived on the Upper West Side. I was walking around picking up empty glasses and napkins and I asked the room if anyone needed their drink freshened up. He was sitting with his back to me and turned around and asked if he could get another club soda and lime. Whenever he needed another drink, he’d ask the other party-goers if they’d seen me.

Kevin Corrigan-You might not recognize the name, but this guy is in tons of movies (Slums of Beverly Hills, Henry Fool, Buffalo ‘66, Detroit City Rocks to name a few) and that Fox television show “Grounded for Life” (which I’ve never actually seen!) I was in Tower Records on Broadway at 66th Street and he was looking at CDs.

Lance and J.C. of N’Sync-This one was actually really amusing. My parents came to visit me and I headed downtown on St. Patrick’s Day to meet them at their midtown hotel. As I walked up to the hotel, there were hordes of little girls screaming and I glanced over and saw Lance
Bass and J.C. Chasez (frightening I know their last names!) getting into a limo. When I entered the lobby of the hotel, a group of middle-aged adults then began asking me who it was outside that all he little girls were screaming about. As Bill Clinton used to say, in informing them, I was building a bridge to the 21st Century!

Joey Fat-one of N’Sync-For some reason, the boys of N’Sync just keep following me around. It was a Friday night during summer and my friend Michelle and I were walking around Times Square lamenting how ironic it is that tourists always make it a destination cause all it harbors are chain stores. A wave of squeals passed through the crowd and I looked up just in time to catch sight of Joey Fatone (aka Fat-one, cause he is in fact that fattest of the N’Sync members) walking by. All I could do was laugh. Three members sighted, two to go.

Robert Christgau-Actually, I’ve stood next to this amazing rock critic/writer at a couple of shows in the last year or so. But, the first time was when Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks performed a live show at the Bowery Ballroom in January. Christgau was standing next to me making comments to his female companion about how amazing Malkmus’s guitar playing was. Despite my disagreement with regards to that performance (and Malkmus’s solo career in general) it was incredibly fascinating to be situated next to one of the people who truly inspired me to write and listen to a wide range of music in the first place.

Reggie Miller-My brother and I sited the Indiana Pacers guard as we sat outside of Lucky’s Juice Joint on Houston Street during a warm May day. It wasn’t particularly exciting, but it happened.

Tom Cavanaugh-the title character on T.V.’s “Ed” and I crossed paths at 68th and Broadway as I was heading to the movies. He was dressed like he had just come from the gym. Maybe he had just played basketball with Reggie Miller.

Campus Sitings: Over the years, there have been some famous students, guests, and faculty who I have seen on Columbia University’s campus including: Conan O’Brien (who visited my freshmen year floor after giving a talk in the building’s basement), Julia Stiles, the kid from Third Rock from the Sun, Anna Paquin, Vice President Al Gore, and Monica Lewinsky (who apparently goes by the name Monica Lewis in class!)