on the evening of the last robin williams show at the acme comedy club in minneapolis, i went in early to get my ticket. since i so never eat at the sticks restaurant attached to the place, i walked a few blocks over to toast wine bar and cafe to eat (the people who run the place used to cook at auriga, and i generally love the pizzas. and the cheese plate, for that matter...).

my table was in a corner, facing the door. while i was eating, i was also reading, so i wasn't looking up as people came and went. but as i was nearing the end of my dinner (pizza, of course), i heard the very nice person who runs the front of the house (seriously, she's so much better at her job than anyone i've seen work the same) start talking to the people on the other side of the corner, asking brian how the shows were, and about touring.

since i know brian setzer (former singer of the stray cats, currently of the brian setzer orchestra, for those of you wondering) lives someplace in the twin cities (good to have a large database of pointless knowledge to draw from for reasons other than winning pub quizes), from the context i was pretty sure she was talking to him.

i waited until their conversation was done (and he wasn't eating yet), and went to go get an birthday greeting sort of autograph for a friend of mine. he was at the table with his wife, and a friend of hers. he was very, very nice about it (one of the nicest famous people i've met, actually), signed the autograph, and when i asked for a picture (the camera phone pays off?), as i thought it would be proof that i had met him. he suggested someone at the table take one of the two of us.

the picture didn't turn out too dark, and only a bit fuzzy.

then i went off to the robin williams show. though i didn't meet him (though apparently he was spending a lot of time in the twin cities at a bike shop with a three-legged cat).

© the bent sun as risen