We all have people we look up to. People we are fond of. People we admire. People we idolize.
I myself have several comedy icons...George Carlin, Howard Stern, Norm Macdonald, David Letterman, Stephen Colbert...the list goes on and on and on...but am I fanatical about any of these guys?
What does it mean to be a 'fanatic'...or as
urban dictionary would say, a 'fanaddict'?
Fanaddict:
- A person so consumed by a celebrity or team that he or she has created a lifestyle around his or her infatuation. This person may close down a business during all team sports events, spend money recklessly to see their celebrity or team, and/or ruin relationships over their devotion to said fan-addiction. Examples include superfans, impersonators, etc.
By and large I think I keep myself in check...but I might be Krazy about one Kanuck:
Tom Green. Tom Green? Green Tom? TOM GREEN?
Yes,
Tom Green.
I won't go into the reasons why I think he's a comedic genius and an ultra-talented fellow. I'll leave that up to the real fanaddicts. However, I won't deny that I'm probably (probably) his biggest fan. I've read his book a couple times, own a few of his DVDs and tapes...heard all his music CDs...including the elusive
MC Face album. But is it really that weird to cop stuff he's released?
How can a person determine if they are truly fanaddicts? A friend of mine suggested that if you have
ten extraordinary connections to the celebrity, you're probably in that category.
Here are my ten weird, odd, possibly obsessive links to Green Tom.
1. I recently spent a shitload of money to see Tom Green perform on his
world stand up tour in NYC, bought a shirt, got a tape signed, and even got him to do a Station ID for my radio show. (Editor's Note~I had already booked my hotel in NY before even learning that Tom Green would be there the same week...it was a lucky coincidence...cut me some slack!)
A true fanaddict would frame this.
To be fair, I found this VHS tape in a Salvation Army for $1. So there.
2. I've driven by Tom Green's old house...and taken a picture...it only
sounds creepy.
It's actually a pretty common tourist destination.
3. I've performed stand up on the
same stage in Ottawa that Tom started at way back when, which has since shut down.
4. I biked up all the way up to the former location of
Casa Acores.
Talk about niche. For the explanation click
here.
5. I'm the only person to upload, and apparently, be interested in the
Midnight Caller Archive.
6. I took a video production class at
SAW Video taught by
Ray Hagel, Tom's old cameraman/producer.
7. Ended up being invited (sorta) to crash a reunion of the
Rogers 22 team that put on Tom Green's
old basic cable show. Met
Derek Harvie (writer),
Glenn Humplik (sidekick/co-host), and
Sean Cooley (phone-screener/talent-booker).
8. Ended up screening calls/guest-hosting on Sean Cooley's
Moonrappin' at
CHUO 89.1 FM...the old home of Tom's Midnight Caller.
9. I've scoured the internet and read
Tom's first blog...and followed
Glenn Humplik's journey on the web as well. Okay, so that one's kind of creepy.
But that's it!!! There's no number 10. I'm not that much of a creeper. I'm not that insane. It's slightly unhealthy. That's all.
So I think I've shown pretty clearly I'm not a fanatic or fanaddict. I just have a good memory and lots of webpages bookmarked.
Showin' my O-Face, with MC Face
Check out
Tom Green's World Standup Comedy Tour in a town near you!
-JS
P.S. I'M NOT CRAZY!
P.P.S. ~ March 13, 2010 ~ I remembered #10 while I was trying to sleep last night.
I remember watching this clip from Tom's show on Rogers Public Access, and thinking I had heard the background music somewhere else...
I ended up going through all my SFX library I had on my computer. Earlier in 2009, I had spent some time at the station, ripping a boxset of sound effects (around 30 CDs in total), about 885 SFX in total. To make a short story long, I found the source of background music, which you can now hear on my show whenever I interview Peter White:
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