Who knew that you had to buy the book being promoted at a book signing in order to meet the author?
Everybody but me, apparently.
To be fair, I had never been to a book signing before in my life, but this one caught my attention.
A factoid about myself that should surprise no one is that I am an avid reader of wrestling autobiographies. From HBK to Bret Hart to Batista, if a wrestler writes a book, I'm usually all over it. That said, some guys are simply better writers than others, so I definitely have my favorites among the bunch. Near the top of that list is Chris Jericho, as his first book, "A Lion's Tale: Around the World in Spandex" was a great read. The hilarious stories, honest tales from behind the scenes, and typical Jericho humor made that book an absolute pleasure to peruse.
Suffice to say that the first book's ending at Jericho's WWF debut (one of my favorite moments as a young wrestling fan) was essentially a cliffhanger. Fans like myself have been anxious for the sequel and the time has finally come for the official release. Lucky for us New Yorkers, Mr. Jericho just happened to be appearing at The Book Revue in Huntington for a signing on the official book release day.
With that in mind, I marked the date February 16 on my calendar and anxiously awaited its arrival. Most of my excitement lay in the fact that I simply had never been to a book signing and wanted to learn about this phenomenon. Having previously met Jericho at a hockey game in Tampa (a yearly tradition in my family on Thanksgiving Eve), the prospect of meeting him again was simply part of the experience.
When the date finally arrived, the journey began. Though not all of my wrestling contingency were able to make it that day, SM Punk and I set sail on a 45 minute journey to Huntington with only a stop at my friend Sandy's house stopping us from reaching our destination. With Jericho's first book and camera in hand, I was ready for the adventure.
Upon arriving at this quaint yet sizeable bookstore, we found that a lot of people were a bit more conscientious than we were about this whole thing. Not only had people starting lining up hours before, but some were dressed in wrestling garb and one guy even had a folding chair from an ECW event (conceivably at least a 10 year old item). The line was already at the door and we were quickly told that we'd have to wait outside if we wanted to be on line. Never one to relent (or be cold), I stepped inside the store and figured that we'd get on line when it gets a bit shorter. I mean, whether you are first or last, you are still meeting the same guy, right?
Wrong! Next came the dagger, which admittedly I should have been aware of previously. Apparently, you have to buy the book, which is like 30 bucks, to get on line to meet the author. Herein lies the problem: Sandy's broke as she just moved to Long Island from Rockland county, SM bought Jericho's book on his kindle and wasn't going to buy it again, and I have previously met the guy.
We sat in the philosophy section (Sandy's favorite) and muddled the situation. Do we (and by we I mean me) buy the book so that everyone gets a minute of facetime with Jericho, or do we come to the realization that the premise of these signings was not what we figured it would be?
It is at this point that I start to wonder about the bigger picture. Hundreds of people are lined up to get merely a minute of facetime with one of their favorite superstars. I begin to suspect that many of these people will buy the book simply to get the signature and will proceed to only pick it up to show friends the autograph. These people were here for the experience, as meeting Jericho would likely make their day, or week, or more.
The question to be asked here: is that the case with us? Would meeting Jericho make any of our days? weeks? months?
While I cannot fully speak for my friends, it was an easy decision for me. Having failed to secure an interview at the event, it felt odd to me to go from the optimism of interviewing the man to waiting on line like everybody else. That feeling comes now from ego, but from simply not being starstruck. To me, paying to meet a celebrity has always been a concept that I'm steadfastly against. Hell, I've never gotten an autograph in my life that I paid for! Sorry, I just don't get it and it's not my thing.
Still, we had come 45 minutes now to NOT meet a superstar? That would seem like a total bust, right? WRONG!
The event actually ended up being a lot of fun once we made the decision against waiting on line. I sat down in the middle of the stoor and initially, I people-watched. It was quite a spectacle to see hundreds of people wrapped around a store like they were waiting for a roller coaster. What really caught me though was the spectrum of people in the crowd. You had everything from the stereotypical overweight wrestling fan to the young children who had dragged their parents there to meet their hero (or anti-hero since Jericho was basically a bad guy for most of their young lives).
As I pondered this paradox of child thought, I realized that I had to talk to these fans. I had to understand how important that one minute of face time truly was to them. I had to see things from the other side.
Sometimes life just throws you a meatball over the heart of the plate. Just as I came to this revelation, a young fan (teenager) wandered aimlessly into my vicinity. Armed with Jericho's first book as well, we had a jumping off point.
"Great minds think alike huh?" I asked the now startled kid, who might I add was about a foot taller than me.
"Looks like it" he replied softly.
From there, we started talking about the crowd and the signing itself and I found him to be quite centered about the experience. Even when I ran into him an hour later with his friend, his father, and autographs in hand, he was still very rational about the experience.
"I've met him before, so you try and get your one question in, and you barely even get to take a picture."
Not exactly a positive review, but Sam (this kid's name which I've neglected to mention until now) and his friend Austin were satisfied with their signed book nonetheless.
Other fans were a bit more exctied.
I met a couple named Randy and Leigh and what struck me about them was Randy's paraphenalia. While you have to buy the book, Randy brought an old school Intercontinental title belt for Jericho to sign. I'm talking white strap baby!
While this couple was significantly older than Sam and Randy (they were in their mid 20s), the enthusiasm was much higher.
"Any time you get to meet a star like Chris Jericho it's worth it" Randy told me as he showed me Jericho's signature on the strap.
"It absolutely is worth the wait" Leigh added. "It's only a couple of hours and you get facetime with a great guy."
As I stood there chatting with Randy and Leigh, I scanned the stairs where fans came down with their autographs from "the best in the world at what he does". Everyone seemed happy, but I wasn't getting the vibe that it was "life changing". It was an odd sense, as wrestling fans are generally the most passionate around. Why are they all of a sudden subdued?
The common sentiment I got from short conversations is that your time with Jericho is so limited, but that he is down to earth. In a way, his common man appeal seemed to take away the "larger than life" aspect of this occasion, and the fact that he is shorter than many on line probably kills the illusion that he IS larger than life. The guy is 5'10" in boots and if not for his flamboyant style, would probably blend right into the crowd. Believe me, when I met him at the hockey game, most of the people around wouldn't have known who he was if he wasn't just on the ice yelling "let's play hockey!"
This lesson explained to me why fans were a bit subdued AFTER the meeting, but I sought to find out if the excitement was there before. There was a checkpoint of sorts where a member of the Book Revue staff would let a certain amount of fans up the stairs so as not to clutter the area where Jericho sat. I came to this area towards the end of the signing and found a lot of young fans probably fighting off exhaustion to stay up and meet a wrestler. It crossed my mind that these kids have probably never seen Jericho as a good guy on TV, but having a band, two books, andTV shows among other things can change anybody's perspective.
Still, these kids were excited, but not over the over the top fandom I've seen at shows. I remember videoing fans at the Fatal 4 Way Pay Per View in the summer and the kid fans there were so energetic and excited to be there. Being inches away from an actual superstar apparently didn't provide the same excitement if said superstar wasn't performing breathtaking maneuvers or delivering catchphrases.
While I was watching the line, I got to talking with the staff member there and questioned her on this trend that I was seeing.
"This is the norm for these crowds" she said. "We've had Mick Foley as well and the crowd for that was pretty tame as well."
I wondered if they ever got a celebrity signing that caused chaos, and the answer I received should shock no one.
"Oh my g-d. The Snooki signing was out of control. Those 15 year old girls we thought would kill each other!"
Leave it to a diminutive drunk from New Jersey to cause more chaos than men who fight for a living........
As the last group made their way up the stairs, Arielle (the employee) and I continued to talk about these events. Apparently the staff gets a meet and greet with each author before they emerge for the signing. A pretty good perk of the job, but Arielle had never met one herself. Oh, how I wanted to ask why! I felt bad though since she told me that she was at the store for 12 straight hours, so we ended on that note and she went home for some much needed R&R.
The final autograph seekers finally got their time, and concurrently, I found Sandy mid-conversation with an older gentleman about the Middle East. It never ceases to amaze me what you can come across when sitting in a book store! I notified her that the store would be closing soon, and it looked like Jericho was packing up as well.
As he strutted down the stairs (he has this way of walking with his shoulders jutting out that is quite effeminate), we knew the night was over. Before he left though, Jericho locked eyes with me and said "thanks for coming guys" as he waved to the remaining staff in the store (other than the old guy, it was my friends and the staff left in this place).
I responded "have a good night, man" as if we just hung out for the night and I was dropping him off at home. Not my most creative line, but I didn't spend two hours on a line trying to think of one to impress the man either.
We left the store after three hours autograph-less and with minimal interaction with the author. Bust? I think not!
Of course, after refusing to buy the book to meet Jericho, karma struck. We approached my car and I realized that the book I had planned to get signed, the one I read two years before and inspired me to go that night, was STILL IN THE STORE!
Moral of the story: if you wanna meet the man, you gotta bring the cash!
(Special thanks to Sam, Austin, Leigh, Randy, Arielle, the rest of the staff at the Book Revue, Seth, and Sandy for their accompaniment and sociability as without them, I wouldn't have been able to come up with this article idea on the spot!)
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