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Award Show Autographs

There's one big problem with having a job in media and being somebody that is into autographs. It's the fact that, if you're at an event or interviewing a celebrity, you lose credibility if you ask for an autograph. It just looks unprofessional. Now, the years I worked in radio, it was a lot easier. The bands come in for an interview, you whip out the latest CD and ask them to autograph it. They were thrilled. It was a win-win.

Now that I'm doing movie reviews and often interview actors...if it's somebody I really love...I will bring a DVD. When the interview is over, I'll ask them to sign it. It's usually not a problem and their PR person is slightly relieved, probably thinking that if I asked for an autograph I'm a big fan, and will be kinder in the piece I write or the interview of the latest film.

When I am at a movie convention in Las Vegas (CinemaCon), I usually don't ask for autographs. A lot of the movie theatre owners will get selfies with the stars, and I've done that a few times. Yet sometimes things happen so quickly and it really looks bad in those situations. For example, while interviewing the cast of the latest Star Trek. They were coming up to each reporter, and we had a few minutes to throw questions at them, before they moved on to the next reporter. I'm not about to pull something out and ask them to sign it.

Now, all this leads to my first time attending the Critics' Choice awards last weekend. As a member of the Broadcast Critics Association, attending this incredible event is one of the perks. If you want to read my story on it, it's here: http://fox5sandiego.com/2016/01/19/critics-choice-awards-the-best-d...

There were many stars I saw that I didn't pester for autographs. Those people would include Matt Damon, Sylvester Stallone, Christian Bale, and the very funny Amy Schumer. The only one of those stars I actually talked to was Stallone. I merely said, "I loved Copland. One of the best cop movies ever."

I had thought about bringing a bunch of the DVDs from the movies that these actors were there for. The problem is, the ones the studios send often don't have the cool cover photos. They're just in a white envelope. Also, I didn't want to try fitting about 20 DVDs in my jacket. The program had nice photos of the stars, but then you'd have to try and flip to the proper page, the ink would smear, and again, I didn't want to bother. So with the few autographs I got, I did it on the back of the nice tickets that were printed up. And again, I only did it with the stars I liked and had a good conversation with.

At the after party, Jeffrey Tambor was sitting alone on a couch. I went up and told him everyone is praising his show Transparent (which he won an award for that evening). I told him my favorite thing he did was The Larry Sanders Show. He thanked me, telling me how the show changed his life. The way he and Rip Torn interacted was always a thing of beauty to watch. I asked him for his autograph and he wrote "To Josh, thank you, Jeffrey Tambor."

I hadn't planned on asking Adam DeVine (Pitch Perfect, The Intern) for his autograph. He was there to present an award. But we were talking at the after party and when I was telling him how much I loved his show Workaholics, I then asked him to sign the ticket. He wrote "Stay Weird" saying, "I have to add the shows tag-line."

Another comedic actor was there. He won for his show Master of None. That would be none other than Aziz Azari (Parks and Recreation). I told him I was front row at his comedy show in San Diego a few months earlier. His sloppy signature reminded me of Al Pacino. Just a big, circular mess. It was cool to meet him, though.

During the awards show, Kirsten Dunst (Spider Man, Bring it On) went to use the bathroom near me. Since a few other critics asked for selfies, I figured it wouldn't be a big deal t

o ask for her autograph. She was polite with all of us, and honored all our requests.

America Ferrara (Ugly Betty) came to the same bathroom, and also signed my ticket. I had earlier done a joke with her when she came off the red carpet. It bombed. I reminded her of that, and she smiled, saying it was funny and she knew what I meant. So, I felt vindicated.

My favorite autograph was my favorite for a few reasons. One of my favorite movies of the year was Room. It's the story about a young woman who is abducted, raped, and has a child with her abductor. She's trying to make the life for them as good as possible. Yes folks, it can be dark at times, but if you have a chance, see this movie. It ends on a positive note, and is one of the best experiences you'll have watching a movie.

Anyway, the young boy in it -- Jacob Tremblay -- showed up with his parents. I was telling his dad how great he was in it, and he stuck his hand up to shake mine, saying "Thank you, sir."

Later I saw them backstage, after he won the award for "best young actor." He was holding a huge cupcake, so I didn't want to bother him to sign anything. Plus, I thought it might look weird to his father to even ask his son. So what I did was...shared this story with his father. Ron Howard once told a story about signing his first autograph. He could barely write when a man asked him. He looked up at his father who said, "Go ahead, son." It was at a convention with a number of TV stars, and as he slowly and shakily wrote "Ron" and was just getting ready to write "Howard," the man grabbed the pen and paper and said, "There's Jerry Matthers (Leave it to Beaver)." So, Ron Howard was excited to sign his first signature, only to be usurped by the Beaver.

The father laughed and so then I asked if Jacob has signed any autographs. He said he has signed a few, so I said when he is done with the cupcake I would hit him up. They went back to their table and I figured I blew my opportunity.

Later I saw them leaving, and I asked for the autograph. He wrote out his first name slowly, and as he looked up at his dad before starting the last name, I said "Your first name is fine." I didn't want to keep them, when I knew they were getting ready to leave.

I told them I'd be following his career and that any movies he does, I'll give him accolades in my review.

They thanked me and left.

Tags: Adam DeVine, America Ferrara, Jacob Tremblay, Jason Statham, Ken Jeong, Kirsten Dunst, Ron Howard, Ugly Betty

4 members like this

Comment by Paul on January 21, 2016 at 2:12am: All i can think about is Ken jeon in the hangover, saying just a little bump. Snort.

Comment by Adam Halloran on January 21, 2016 at 3:53am: Wow amazing story! Thanks for sharing!

Comment by Coachgd on January 21, 2016 at 5:14pm: Great stuff, Josh!!

Comment by Joe W. on January 21, 2016 at 8:34pm: Outstanding read!

Comment by CJCollector on January 23, 2016 at 7:37am: Great read for sure!!!

Comment by Greg Jeranek on January 24, 2016 at 12:58pm: Josh, Love your blogs! Great gigs, I'd probably be thrown out asking everyone for their autograph.

Comment by Brian Burger on January 25, 2016 at 4:43pm: Love your adventures!

Comment by Josh Board on January 26, 2016 at 6:36pm: Greg Jeranek -- two things, you made me think of. When I worked in radio in the early 90s, I had a press pass to interview the "Dream Team." They were practicing in my city of San Diego. The press pass had a list of rules. First being...NO AUTOGRAPH REQUESTS. I was 21, and thought about going for it. But I didn't. I had this fear that they'd kick me out AND it would look bad if it came back to my radio station. But as a basketball nut...it's tough to be talking to Magic, Jordan, Bird, Ewing, Barkley, and not get a single signature!!! I made the mistake of asking john Stockton if I could take a picture of him dribbling, since my he's my friends favorite player. He started screaming at me, about how he just practiced for hours, he was tired, and who the hell was I. He threatened to get me thrown out. It was so....odd. He seemed so nice, and...I didn't ask to take a picture with him, but of him dribbling. And I'm in the media. Those are photos that are used for publication purposes.

And...I've told this story before, but...our night time DJ was going to interview RUSH (not Limbaugh, but the Canadian trio). I brought a drum symbol (gotta love that Neal Peart). Their female tour manager said, "Absolutely not. You will not bring that into the room. They are being interviewed, not signing autographs." Then, she decided I wasn't even allowed in the room, just the DJ.

(I found out years later, Peart is weird about meeting "fans" and signing autographs)

Comment by Null on January 27, 2016 at 6:53am: Great stories as always Josh. I think a lot of us have been in those situations where you know if you ask for the autograph, the person will instantly think of you differently. I partied with Yasiel Puig for 3 hours, and I knew if I asked for an autograph I would be CUT OFF immediately lol. It's just one of those things where you have to decide if you want them to view you as just another fan, or potentially just "be one of the guys" for a little bit.

The Dream Story story reminds of a book I read recently about Michael Jordan. It mentions how Bulls players families/friends all wanted Jordan's autograph, and they weren't even allowed to ask him to sign. Scottie Pippen even said he used to get so many requests to get MJ's auto from friends/fans that he would sign as MJ, but eventually stopped doing it since it was MJ's problem, not his.

The Selfie vs. Autograph debate is an interesting one. Obviously with technology these days, I see way more people just going for the selfie. Very rarely is there time for both. I just go for the autograph LOL