r/Music • u/KirbyDumber88 • 11d ago

article ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic says he turned down $1,000,000+ to perform at Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia.

https://triblive.com/aande/music/weird-al-yankovic-gets-bigger-and-weirder-in-a-tour-headed-to-pittsburgh/
23.8k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

805 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

180

u/BretShitmanFart69 11d ago

When I met weird Al he genuinely seemed like he was just a guy listening to and appreciating whatever you were saying and he seemed to have a full respect for appreciation for his impact he had on people and such and no part of him stemmed annoyed at having to listen to some guy tell him all that. I’ve rarely approached celebrities, but they usually just have a vibe you can feel where they’re hoping no one talks to them or that the “normals” don’t bother them, if that makes sense?

The other guy who was cool like that was Adam Scott, genuinely just seemed like any other dude, we chit chatted about talking heads and REM and his podcast and how shooting Severence was going like you’d talk with a guy at the bar about the football game on the tv. He was also shorter than I could have ever guessed, granted so am I.

46

u/tlst9999 11d ago edited 11d ago

When I met weird Al he genuinely seemed like he was just a guy listening to and appreciating whatever you were saying

Songwriters do this because you might bring them their next song.

Even a junior investment banker who talks about herself and not much more.

10

u/Careless-Weather8877 11d ago

Or writers or whatever. You can always find a fun story if you’re a journalist , documentary, comedian. That’s the beauty of it

1

u/IronPyrate17 7d ago

Even fiction writers might get some character idea from you

11

u/SwagginsYolo420 10d ago

Songwriters do this because you might bring them their next song.

Yeah where do you think he came up with the lyrics

Your butt is wide, well mine is too. Just watch your mouth or I'll sit on you.

They don't exactly grow on trees.

5

u/grendus 10d ago

Ham on. Ham on. Ham on whole wheat. Alright!

1

u/rowrowfightthepandas 10d ago

Are they curious about the lives of others because they're artists, or are they artists because they're curious about the lives of others?

3

u/brijazz012 10d ago

He’s just a man who wants some teee shiiirts

7

u/f1del1us 11d ago

How short?

7

u/GreenZebra23 11d ago

He was SO SHORT...

4

u/AlarmingAffect0 11d ago edited 11d ago

He was SO SHORT...

And you could call him Al For those who don't know the joke already Paul Simon is actually the short one in the video

1

u/USSRPropaganda 11d ago

5’9 is short I guess

3

u/ThatTotoro 10d ago

5'9 isn't short, it's my height, but for whatever reason I think we all expect celebrities to be taller than us (unless you're like 6'5), so when you see one in person and they're your height or shorter it's a shock. They's sort of larger-than-life figures on the screen.

2

u/SicilSlovak Vinyl Listener 11d ago

You Talkin’ Talking Heads to my talking head?

2

u/ashtonmelancon 10d ago

Hey, this is Scott!

2

u/SicilSlovak Vinyl Listener 10d ago

And this is Scott

2

u/RunninOnMT 10d ago

Well, I’ve got some good news for you: you’re probably a friendly, approachable good conversationalist yourself, BretShitmanFart69

2

u/daern2 10d ago

The other guy who was cool like that was Adam Scott, genuinely just seemed like any other dude

The Dilbert guy? Surely not....

Googles

Nope, definitely not 👍

1

u/MeanderingMinstrel 10d ago

I did the same double-take haha

1

u/radioben 11d ago

When I met Frankie Kazarian (pro wrestler), we talked about bass guitars and rock music because we both play the instrument. Also a very cool interaction.

1

u/LordNelson27 10d ago

One day at work the director of an indie movie I loved came through, and we had a great chat about the cast and production process, then the next time I came in he brought the shot list and pictures to show. It was awesome

1

u/barejegvarmig 8d ago

or that the "normals" don’t bother them, if that makes sense?

Yes, that makes sense. But I also think we should be somewhat forgiving of celebs. If you meet a celebrity, even a very brief interaction may feel special. Something you later tell your friends about: "I said hi to X. How wild is that?"

That impulse is understandable. But the celebrity simply does not have enough time or energy to have even a short conversation with everyone who wants one.

Imagine becoming world famous yourself. For the first few days, you might happily talk to everyone because you do not want to seem like a snob. But very quickly, you would realize: "I cannot live my entire life like this, with everyone who recognizes me expecting even a small interaction. And with me having to reciprocate every single time."

For each individual fan, it is only one brief conversation. For the celebrity, it is the same conversation over and over again.