Most people go to eBay for autographs, and a lot of the time, they’re unauthentic. But sometimes, if the person is still living, you get lucky.
The only autographs I’ve gotten were Chef Robert Irvine’s, and Chuck Comeau of Simple Plan’s. Here’s the story of how I got the autograph of perhaps the most famous ventriloquist of all time.
I saw Jeff Dunham and his suitcase posse on the Passively Aggressive Tour at Amalie Arena in Tampa. As if the show wasn’t great enough, I wanted to add onto my experience. So after making my way out of the venue, I couldn’t help but notice I took the exit on the other side of the arena, close to where the backstage area is. Maybe Jeff would come out and take some photos. I thought I’d give it a shot, although I felt in my bones that we’d get catfished.
My brother and I made our way towards that area, and obviously, there were gates guarding it. Of course, that’s totally fair. I’d want that as well if I were playing there. But anyway, there were three other fans waiting who weren’t scrounging for a quick buck to make off of his autograph. About fifteen minutes or so pass, and Jeff comes walking out the backstage door. One of the fans calls out “JEFF! Can we have a picture?!” He waved at us and held up his index finger. Clearly that meant, “Just give me a few minutes and I’ll let you guys know.”
Another ten-ish minutes pass, and one of Jeff’s roadies starts walking towards us with a marker and some sticky notes. “Hi guys, how are ya?” He asked. This guy knew that we were real fans. He then told us that Jeff would be happy to sign some things for us. Clearly, he wasn’t going to come out and take pictures, which of course is what any true fan would have wanted, but you know what? He was probably exhausted, since this was his last stop after being on the road all year long.
The roadie had the sticky notes to label everything he was given by who had what. I bought Jeff’s book a few minutes earlier, but if he’s going to sign something, I want to keep it in a frame that anyone can see, not a closed book. So I gave him mine and my brother’s ticket stubs. (My brother wanted him to sign his new $45 talking Walter, but we had a ride waiting for us for an unexpectedly long amount of time.)
Within three minutes, the roadie comes back out of the tour bus. Everything has been personally signed with a blue Sharpie. Unfortunately, the “j” in my name got smeared a little bit by Jeff, but that means that I also have his fingerprint, so that’s always fun to archive. He also put my name on my brother’s stub, and my brother’s name on mine. But you know what? To quote Walter, who the hell cares?
I think it was out of sheer luck too, because one of the people standing with me said that normally, if there’s a lot of people waiting, (probably more than 10) he’ll just wave and leave. But either way, this is another object I’ll cherish forever.
Now, to find a frame…
Josh Bradley Live 