Russell Brand

Russell Brand was at Barnes and Noble at the Grove in Los Angeles Friday, May 1st, signing copies of his best selling memoir, My Booky Wook. I was fortunate enough to able to attend and was able to line up early enough to be able to sit in the second row. It was a truly amazing experience on so many levels, and I’m working on a blog which will be posted in a day or two.

In the meantime, I wanted to share with you all a video from the book signing. As some background, although it wasn’t detailed on their event listing, Barnes and Noble apparently has a wristband policy for book signing events. Many fans didn’t find out about the policy until last minute, and many more didn’t find out about it at all. Wristbands were handed out starting when the store opened the morning of the event, and Barnes and Noble required attendees sitting in the front two rows (green wristbands) to purchase a $25 Barnes and Noble membership as well. There were several colors of wristbands, and although there was plenty of room, only a relatively small number were allowed in the event area - the rest were herded like cattle back behind the bookshelves.

A few fans sent tweets to Russell complaining about the policy in the days leading up to the book signing, while others posted comments on the forum on his website. Still other fans were discouraged and decided not to go, thinking they’d never be able to get in because they couldn’t come to the store until after work. Russell didn’t respond about it on Twitter, although I know he reads as many of his fans’ tweets as possible. On the morning of the event, I was thinking how difficult it must be for him, not personally being in control of the event, having his hands a bit tied and not really being able to respond to his fans’ concerns.

But I underestimated Russell. He is an amazing and compassionate human being, always looking out for his fans and the have-nots, and his entrance and handling of the situation made me fall for him even more. In the end, he was there until after 10 p.m., signing books and spending a few minutes with each and every person who showed up.