Went to see an advance screening of 'Hamlet 2' with Jordan and Steve. It was followed by a Q and A with the lead, Steve Coogan. Steve Coogan is a star in England, but is only really beginning to break through over here. Jordan and Steve are huge fans of his. I'm a pretty big fan myself.

Before the screening Jordan and Steve debated various questions they could ask during the Q and A, trying to craft superior Steve Coogan questions.

Jordan: It has to have the right balance. Knowledgeable, but not presumptuous.
Steve: And we're seeing the movie beforehand so its probably good to work that in somehow.

The screening was packed, but we quickly realized that bad seats for the movie (front row) equals great seats for the Q and A (FRONT ROW!). And so, the three of us, slightly headache-y from watching the movie at an awkward angle, were front row center when Coogan came out.

Jordan asked his question. "How do you go about creating your characters, like Alan Partridge and Saxondale?" Coogan talked at length about how he's drawn to characters that almost challenge you to like them.

A guy close behind us asked the next question and from the second he opened his mouth, from the smug look of self-satisfaction on his face, I could tell it was going to be long on obscure reference, short on actual question. I don't remember what he asked, but the not-so-subtle subtext was, "I know you, I know your work, I am the superior fan, I am proving myself to you." Literally no one in the audience responded to his references. I don't think even Jordan and Steve got them. Coogan smiled politely and said something like, "I'm not going to answer that, but I appreciate the depth of your research."

I didn't really intend to ask a question. As I've said before, I've sort of shied away from engaging celebrities over the last few years. But there was a strange lull during the Q and A, no one ready with a question, and I was right there in front, so I shot my hand up.

'Hamlet 2' by the way, is basically about a failed actor who gives up and goes "where dreams go to die"... Tucson, Arizona. He teaches drama to high school students there. Mostly badly. I thought about saying, "I taught high school drama in Arizona. I went there briefly, leaving my dreams behind," but instead just stuttered out something about whether he knew when more of his British television work would make it to DVD over here.

After a few more questions, the Q and A ended. Jordan had his camera ready. "I'm going to try to get a picture. Or at least shake his hand." But Coogan was out of there too quickly.

The three of us skulked around the theater for a while afterward, Jordan and Steve trying to... almost profile Coogan. "So the screening's over... where would he go from here?" When we went into the bathroom I saw them nervously darting their eyes under the stall doors to see if they would recognize Coogan's legs there. He was clearly gone, though, and the three of us joked about how ridiculous we were being.

Since it was raining outside, Jordan and I decided to grab a drink at the bowling alley attached to the theater. Steve had to get home so he took off. As he walked away we needled him a little by saying, "We're probably going to run into Steve Coogan in the bar."

And then we did.

Or... we saw him.

Jordan: He's here. He is here. Should we just go up to him? Do we sit at the bar and wait?

Coogan seemed deep in conversation (or interview) with someone so we sat and the bar and subtly (I hope) kept our eye on him.

Jordan: This is weird right? We're essentially stalking him now. But we're not really stalking him. What do you do? What's respectful and what's just wimping out?

We half joked, half seriously talked about this for a while.

Me: Uh... you know that guy who asked those really terrible nerdy questions during the Q and A?
Jordan: Oh no. He's here? He's here too?
Me: I'm pretty sure he's sitting right over there.
Jordan: [laughing] Oh no. We're him. We ARE that guy. You try to tell yourself you're cool. You're a fan but you know the right level. You can do it the right way. But nope, nope. We're that guy. We're just really that guy.

Eventually Coogan stood up and joined a group of people who had been sitting nearby (friends? assistants?) and they all walked out together. We didn't approach them, just watched them go.

We had a few more drinks and joked about how stupid, but also genuinely exciting the whole thing had been.