Laura’s fan report

Tallyhead Laura files this report about her encounters with Office folks at the SAG Awards and other various events. Lucky girl!

It has been quite an exciting month for me with several Office-related encounters. Since Tanster appreciates firsthand accounts, I decided to share some of the highlights with other OT readers. I hope you enjoy. Sorry I didn’t take more pictures, but I’m trying to “savor the moment” more often and worry less about snapping pictures. :)

At the end of January, I flew to southern California to visit some good friends and relatives in the area. As luck would have it, my scheduled vacation time coincided perfectly with several very fun events taking place in the Los Angeles area.

First off was the SAG Awards. Though it was a cool and rainy day, my friends and I were very excited to sit in the first row of tent-covered bleachers that spanned the red carpet. I had no real confirmation that the Office cast was going to be in attendance, but I figured the chances were high due to the waiver granted by the WGA.

As the celebrities started trickling onto the carpet, I spotted the magnificent Jenna Fischer making her way towards our section. Having missed Jenna at The Office Convention, I was thrilled to see her! Trying not to be too obnoxious, I called out her name and waved. She motioned that she would come over after she posed for the hundreds of professional photographers situated directly across from us, and she did.

It was such a thrill to finally meet her! She was so incredibly kind and took the time to talk to my friends and I and autograph a few items. Here are a couple of pictures of the moment (didn’t she look beautiful?):

Not long after, I was scanning the sea of faces on the carpet and noticed a cute little blonde pregnant woman waving to me from about 40 feet away. OMG! Angela Kinsey was waving to me!

Yes, I had met her before briefly and occasionally commented on her MySpace page, but the fact that she recognized me in the stands was totally incredible. It just goes to show how wonderful these people are and how much they appreciate the people who support them and the show! Right next to Angela was the dapper Mr. Brian Baumgartner, and they also came over to us after being photographed.

There was brief chit-chat about Angela’s adorable baby bump, her upcoming IO West show, and well wishes for another SAG win before they made their way down the line. By this point, many people sitting around us were amazed at how nice The Office cast members were, and I heard many comments such as “I need to start watching that show!”

Things started getting very crazy on the carpet shortly thereafter. I was able to wave to Phyllis and Melora. Creed managed to come over for a quick autograph. I saw Oscar, Leslie, Kate and Rainn but wasn’t able to compete with the very loud photographers for their attention. A quick but exciting moment was a wave from Ricky Gervais!

Unfortunately, my camera decided to revolt at that moment. And, sorry JKras fans, but he happened to stroll past us at the same time as Angelina and Brad. There was absolutely no way to get his attention at that moment. :(

A big disappointment of the afternoon (other than the leak in the tent above me!) was not seeing Steve Carell on the carpet. I figured this was my one opportunity in life to perhaps say hello and basically gush on and on about his total genius. Ah well …

After a wonderful following week of vacation, my friends and I attended The Lampshades show in Hollywood the following weekend, starring the multi-talented Kate Flannery. If anyone ever has the opportunity to see this show, do so! You’ll be amazed at Kate’s incredible voice (and her flexibility!).

Oscar was in attendance that evening, which was a nice surprise. When an opportunity presented itself, I simply congratulated him on the SAG win, and he graciously thanked me. After the show, Kate came out and thanked us for coming and was very kind as always.

On my last night of vacation, I attended another show at IO West. It was the special Armando Show featuring Kate, Angela, Ed, and Oscar, which various OT fans recapped several weeks ago. They already did a great job summing up the evening, so I will only add a few of my personal highlights.

I was able to talk to Angela a bit more and congratulate her husband, Warren. Also, Kate and her boyfriend Chris spent several minutes chatting with me and another Office fan outside the club after the show — even though it was chilly.

Kate mentioned that she had spotted me in the bleachers on a particular SAG Awards red carpet highlight show, which was very sweet. She also informed me she and Brian Baumgartner would be in my hometown of Minneapolis in a few weeks (Feb 19) to judge Last Comic Standing auditions.

Since Kate was the one to mention it to me, I figured she thought of me as a harmless devoted fan and not as a freaky stalker. :) Thus, I reserved a couple of tickets to the show. Unfortunately, my friend got the flu and couldn’t attend with me, but I still had a great time. Kate and Brian chose some very funny finalists to perform in the evening show. One of the contestant’s last names was actually “Kapoor”! I think it was rigged. :)

After the show ended, quite a few anxious fans gathered around Kate and Brian hoping for pictures and autographs, and they were happy to oblige. Since I had met both of them previously, I hung back and waited for a chance to say “hi.” In the meantime, it was fun getting to see excited fans whispering and smiling in delight. When I was finally able to greet them, it was fairly brief, but they were both very warm and thanked me for attending.

I feel very fortunate to have had so many opportunities to interact with this incredible cast over the past year. They truly are wonderful people and I can’t wait to see them back on our favorite show next month!

See all of Laura’s SAG Awards photos here