World of Weird Al Yankovic

Yup. Which is what makes him taking the extra time to talk to us afterward -when he can- all the more special.

You're right. I just hope I get to meet him one day soon. It's been a dream of mine since I was a child. Speaking of dream, I had another one last night. Will be heading over to the dream forum soon!

Orthography Enthusiast @ Jul 13 2007, 07:04 AM wrote: Offstage he's more quiet,

My wife thanks you for posting that picture.

*bump*
Sorry to bring this back but Al describes this little Al/Weird Al thing as
"Weird Al isn't an alternate persona, I kind of have a volume dial, I can turn it up or keep it on low-key" THats not an exact quote, but its close enough

Ya, in one interview he says, "I'm weirder on stage than when I'm shopping for broccolli."
I think that's a perfect description.

childofthespiral @ Jul 13 2007, 06:35 AM wrote: Well, I can only speak from personal experience. And when I met him 2 weeks ago he seemed nice enough while I was talking to him about my great grandmas' illness, and when I thanked him for his music, he looked at me as seriously as anyone I've ever talked to. And the hug he gave me was more than sincere.

Oh my an Al hug. I want one.

I think that what a lot of people fail to understand is that we can't expect him to
always be a people pleaser offstage. When meeting any band/artist say by chance, they're not at work and don't expect to have to entertain others and I see this often in younger fans and immature fans who the moment they end up running into a celebrity expect them to spend the time being the exact same persona that they see on television.

I take that with a bit of experience from meeting one and talking to him for a bit. We even kinda fell onto that topic for a bit actually. Al can't just try to crack jokes for too long to any fans that would run into him accidentally. I was even thankfull enough to get the time to meet who I did and I respect any person for that. Even if it is for only 30 seconds and Al has every right to live hsi everyday normal life like we can.

Ok that's it for now.

I totally understand what you all mean. When I saw Al in concert, you can see the big difference from Al's interviews playing during changing or whatever and Al performing. He looks so into it that all I see is Al throughout the whole evening. He's so serious about being funny, that you feel this connection with him the whole time. Its simply amazing.

weirdalisthephantomoftheopera @ Jul 23 2007, 06:57 AM wrote: He's so serious about being funny

Oh, the irony

UnderSupervision @ Jul 23 2007, 05:52 AM wrote: I think that what a lot of people fail to understand is that we can't expect him to
always be a people pleaser offstage. When meeting any band/artist say by chance, they're not at work and don't expect to have to entertain others and I see this often in younger fans and immature fans who the moment they end up running into a celebrity expect them to spend the time being the exact same persona that they see on television.

Well, that's it. It's unreasonable to expect to receive several minutes of professional-quality entertainment merely for the "price" of casually encountering an entertainer in public. And Al doesn't make any effort to keep his high-octane onstage wackiness going once he's offstage. What does make him unusual offstage is that he shows what I'd consider to be an extraordinary degree of ordinary courtesy. He really pays attention to you while he's listening-- and while he obviously can't remember everything people say to him, he does remember enough to make it clear that it isn't well-faked attentiveness, it's the real thing. What I think people don't fully realize is that autograph and photo requests properly belong in the professional context. I'm sure Al would still be polite and friendly if you met him while broccoli shopping, but it's better to wait for the autograph until he's appearing as "Weird Al." Actually, come to think of it, before the SOL release signing I met a woman in Hollywood who actually DID meet him in a supermarket while he was shopping for things to smash for those stomped-weasel noises, and he was polite and approachable. She recommended he buy some corn chips.

So, I wanna get something straight. Some of you make it sound like he's totally laid back and unfunny outside of his work. I had always figured that, while he might not be as crazy or try as hard to be funny, he would still naturally try to kinda cheer people up and crack some small jokes or just in some small way be naturally funny.

And by naturally funny, I mean like maybe one of your friends you hang with is always quick to make you laugh, I imagine Al would be something like that, even if he isn't always Weird Al and being crazy.

I haven't spent any length of time with him. Guys? Fill me in.