It's like the Richard Wilson episode of Father Ted, when Ted sees the One foot in the Grave actor a on holiday and says "you know what he'd love!" to Dougal before going over to him and screaming his catchphrase "I don't believe it!!!!" at him as if he's the first ever person to do so.
It must be very similar to someone like Michael PalinImagine that you're doing your shopping and people constantly come up to you saying the same catchphrase and asking for you to write your name on a scrap of paper (i've never worked out the obession of someone famous's scribble on a piece of paper being worth 111c£50 or whateverBut that's just me)
It must get rather annoying and it's the thing of 'you can't sign EVERYONE'S scrap of paper' Maybe Mr Palin signs ten people's autographs whilst out shoppingNumber eleven asks and he says 'Sorry i'm out shopping' and they get offended that they've been snubbed.
Some celebs don't even sign ANY autographs for that very reason.
If you were eating in a resturant with your family and some students kept saying 'The Knights who say Ni!' and laughing it would be very annoying. Celeb's have time off just the same as plumbers/shop assistants etc.
I live in Brighton and see Steve Coogan around town a fair bit, but never have i shouted "A-ha!" in an Alan Partridge voice because what would be the pointWould he say to me "Well done mate, no one's said that to me beforeHere, have a part on my new show!"? Of course not
Comedians don't (sadly) walk around cracking jokes all dayBuying petrol probably doesn't require you to be firing off zingers like it's open mike night at comedy central.
If a bunch of strangers came up to me talking rubbish i probably wouldn't be very enthusiatic about it and would be quite rude to thembut then they wouldn't be immediatley on the IMDB saying "Guess what laslopaniflex said to me!! What a bastard!"
(Well maybe they do)
Maybe if people didn't grandstand "celebs" so much (ala Heat magazine etc) they wouldn't get so upset when they were just normalwhoever reads this post can be nice, and can be grumpy as wellSo why can't Michael Palin, Boris Johnson, Hitler, Bodger (from Bodger and Badger fame!) Dame Judi Dench, David BowieWhoever!
"I'm taking Viagra and drinking prune juice - I don't know if I'm coming or going."

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I once attended a book signing by theological writer Karen Armstrong and when it came my turn to present my book for signing, she seems a tad bit curt. But then I remembered - she'd just flown in from the UK, she also happens to be an epileptic and has to time her medications, it was late at night and she'd just given a long speech to a big crowd, she might have not had a lot of time for a decent meal, and all this just goes to show that there's a LOT of different things going on with people when they do book-signings.
Lack of rest from travel, any health problems the person might have that aren't immediately visible to the eye (like a headache or whatever), jet lag, etc might contribute to a person's attitude once they're sitting at that table signing books.
I'm sure it's happened to Mike at times too.

I don't know, I work at a book-shop where he did a book-signing recently, and he was very nice with both the people waiting for the book to be signed and with the employees of the shop. He signed all of the books we had reservations for, he came out about an hour earlier than expected to try and sign everyone's book, and waited until everyone's book was signed.
He seemed pretty nice to me :).

I haven't met himyet, but I have heard several negative experiences, just like yours.
I think maybe he has just been labelled nice because he's very nice with his close friends(that includes the Pythons), and the journalists.
Anyway, I also have read some statements like some of the bove in which he was alright.
I must say I agree that celebrities should be as nice as possible, especially if they're doing some kind of publicity event: like books signings, or performance appearances or whatever. These are the events in which fans most likely will want and be willing to spend some time with their heroes, or simply get a smile back. And it's true that if they don't they go back home somewhat dissapointed.
I really can't understand how someone should be grumpy in those occasions, especially if the person in question is Michael, but, oh well, maybe he's very tired of the label "nice" and just decided to completely change that forever.:-)
On the other hand, I can understand him not being nice on other occasions, like when he's socializing, walking to his offices or anything that has to do with his private life. Because that's the part where he's not obliged to satisfy anyone else but himself, IMHO.

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I doubt anyone could be 'nice' all the time and certainly, even Michael Palin can have and is allowed his 'off' days like anyone else. Why do ordinary people expect celebrities to be pleasant to them all the time? If I was a celebrity, I'd tell most people to bugger off and leave me to eat my dinner/drink my tea or enjoy a day out shopping.
I have met a couple of 'celebrities' in Cardiff. One was Mark Gatiss (of the League of Gentlemen and Doctor Who fame) who was really okay and the other was Bryn Terfil, the Welsh opera singer who was very polite and pleasant. I suppose the trick is to remember that these are ordinary human beings, like you and I and not to be too gushing and lovey with any of them. Just say how much you enjoyed their work and hope they have a good day, that's all. Then get on with your life. Anything else would annoy even the nicest of people.

A similar experience happened to me after attending one of David Copperfield's shows (the magician). Rude, unfriendly guy. VERY different from his stage image where he's all smiles and joking with the audience.

Let's be honest - ANYONE would be pissed off at sitting for hours writing your own name hundreds of times. I'm sure he is quite ncie really, but he's knocking on in years and that sounds like a lot of stress that I'm sure he'd rather not have to bother with. You have to remember that just because you recognise him, he hasn't a damn clue who you are so it might still be weird for him to have to have a conversation with a hundred strangers a day. Some people never get used to talking to strangers. Don't worry, I'm sure he appreciates his fans really.

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Well when I met him in La he was super nice. There was a thing on his career at the directors guild and harry shearer was the host for the night. Palin couldn't have been nicer.

Yes. That's right. Mike doesn't like to be the nicest anymore. He is already too nice for his own good.
http://pythonline.com/plugs/palin/notnicest.shtml
Go and read this and you'll see what a lying bustard he really is.
Lying isn't very nice,now is it?
Michael Palin

• Abominably rude, lying untrustworthy, decadent, hypocritical, cheese-eating delinquent from hell.
  So THERE!
  the annoying fish.

Does it really matter? Would you prefer a talentless nice guy or someone who is a bit of a grump but who is genuinely talented? Dunno about you, but not many of us would queue up to sign the book of some pleasant non-entity. At the end of the day, we like MP for his talent, not for his personability.

What did you say? Sounds like you might have said something stupid

You make some really good points. I know I would hate to be famous. It would be fun for maybe a week or two; then I think it would just get old fast. Having people come bug you whenever you leave the house; the whole world knows about it when you screw up; when you find a new girlfriend/boyfriend/husband/wife; when you brush your teeth in the morning; take a crap at lunchtime
I think I'd just get sick of it. I would probably be one of those celebs that refuses to talk about my personal lifein interviews I'd only talk about my work.
And I hate getting my picture taken as it isI don't even let my friends or even my mother take my pictureyou think I'd want 87 people a day asking me to pose for a picture with them? Hell no.
I've never met a celebrity either, and I think that if I ever saw one, I wouldn't even go talk to them. I'd just let them enjoy their dinner or morning coffee or tennis lesson or whatever in peace. (Of course I say that now, but let's see what really happens if I ever do bump into someone famous :-P)
Protection from what? Zee Germans?

What people have to realise is that you can't expect somebody who's always in the limelight, getting snapped by photographers and harrassed by obsessive fans (I want it known that I'm not pointing the finger at anyone in particular here) to be happy 24/7. They are humans just like you and me. They have their good and bad days. You can't judge a character purely on a grumpy face.
But then again, I've never met a celebrity in my life But if I did see someone who I admire I would probably just go up to them and say, "I'm sorry to disturb you, but I just wanted to tell you that I really admire your work." and then go back to whatever the hell it is I happen to be doing at the time.
And maybe, with any luck, they'll call me back over, thank me for being so courteous and respecting their privacy, invite me to join them for lunch, and offer to sign an autograph. And not just a piece of paper with their name scribbled on it but an authentic one, saying something along the lines of, "To ______ (insert name here), _______________ (insert message here), __________ (sign name here)".
After all, one day I may become famous, and if I do, I don't think I would appreciate being followed around by obsessive fans and having my picture taken without my permission. Although I would happily sign autographs or have a picture taken with a fan if they asked nicely enough.
However the happenings in the third paragraph would probably occur only in my dreams =P
"But why is the rum gone?!"

john cleese has said that michael palin is his favorite python to work with. i'm going to take his word for it. besides, monty python fans have been around for almost 40 years. thats longer than (hopefully) any of us have been alive and the fact that he still doing things like this is enough for me.

You say that you've "seen him", is that the same as knowing a person? If iv got it wrong and you do know him how did you become friends?
"The rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated"-Sir Paul McCartney

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Or maybe he was just trying to disprove the theory that he's the nicest Pythonif you've ever been to www.pythonline.com; one of their websites, he's got quite a long rant on there about being labelled as the nicest Pythonthe label seems to anger him

I've met him before. He could be a nun.
Det. Lennie Briscoe: I want to go to law school so I can learn how to turn gold into lead.

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