Star struck

On one visit home to Montreal, Darlene and I stayed at the Delta hotel during the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival. The Delta is the headquarters for the festival so we knew we'd be seeing comedians in the hotel - and we did. On the morning we were checking out, we got to the elevator on our floor just as Kevin Pollock, John Candy and his family were coming down the hall toward us. I opted to wait.

Being a huge SCTV fan, I had always wanted to meet John Candy. When he got to the elevator, his assistant invited us to share the elevator with them, after a nod from John. Needless to say, I was in another world. Here I was in the same elevator as John Candy. I was so lost in the moment, I had no idea what was happening in the physical world around me. So I was completely oblivious to the fact that the elevator hadn't moved, even though many seconds had passed. Oblivious that is, until John looked down at me and said, "I think your bag's in the door". Our luggage was blocking the elevator door, preventing us from going anywhere. My face drained of all colour and I pulled the suitcase out of the way.

Once we were off the elevator, Darlene said she was going to check out. I nodded and said I was going to try and get Mr. Candy's autograph. I followed John and his family into the gift shop and approached him for his autograph. He said "sure" and asked if I had a pen. Not having one, I dashed to the cashier of the shop and tried to get her attention, but she was too busy chatting on the phone. So, not wanting to let John slip away, I grabbed a pen off the counter and ran back to claim my prize.

I still have that autograph - he signed my parking stub from the hotel.