DANA CARVEY

United Airlines Red Carpet Club

Los Angeles, CA

July 5, 2000

Photo credit: Dana Carvey

I was at LAX headed to Europe on a flight that had been delayed several hours. My delay was beyond running late though it hadn’t yet made it to we’re putting you up in a hotel for the night. Hoping to find a new flight, I headed over to the United Airlines Red Carpet Club.

I was at the front desk chatting with an employee when the door opened and in walked Dana Carvey. Not much was getting accomplished in my conversation so I let him belly-up to the counter and give it a shot. He looked exhausted but was very nice and said his flight was delayed seven hours.

All three of us had time to burn so we started our long haul talking about nothing important. At a comfortable lull, I told him about My Celebrity Photo Album. I wanted to present this as a fun opportunity and if he was willing to participate, he was looking at seven hours of total creative freedom. “Okay, what do you need me to do?” he asked flatly. “If you could just take a picture of me, that would be great.” That didn’t really come across with the flair I’d imagined but he agreed.

He was obviously drained of all pep but when I handed him my camera he perked up. “Who else has taken your picture?” he asked. “Greg Kinnear and Weird Al,” was all I could say. “That’s it?!!” I didn’t think to tell him he was getting in on the ground floor.

As he snapped the photo I made a mental note: promoting this concept as an elite club to future celebrities may be the way to go. Right now this club is a smidge too elite with only three members. At any rate, I was still refining my approach and this one went well, all things considered.

The lady behind the counter offered to take a picture of us together and I didn’t turn her down. Dana was a good sport and instinctually struck a pose. Click. “Sorry about your delay,” he said, then he headed off to the farthest corner of the room to settle in at the bar and wait for his flight.

Only six hours and 58 minutes left to go.

Photo credit: The lady behind the counter