Hacker News Reader

Comment by mmanfrin | Hacker News Reader

I think part of the fame is that he says things like "no one will ever believe you" to people whose events he shows up to, and doesn't self-publicize. People then go on to talk about it, and incredulity is sometimes met with proof in the form of photos of Murray holding a tequila bottle or whatnot. These little bits of truth make all the other legends (true or not) seem true, giving life to the legend.

View on HN

I was a musician playing at the Beauty Bar in Austin during SXSW a few years ago. Bill Murray turned up to the party and jumped behind the bar. He asked me what I wanted and I asked for a whiskey coke. He came back over and said "Shot 'a tequila and a beer!" He handed me my drinks, winked at me and moved on. Just about every single person who saw him that night had a better night because he was there. That's a pretty interesting effect to have on people.

He does stuff like this all the time and the legends just grow from there.

A friend of mine was at a bar in the LES and Bill Murray got behind the bar and started serving people. No matter what you ordered he'd just make you a gin and tonic.

Another friend of mine was at Bembe in Brooklyn a few years back and Bill Murray came in, skipped the line out front, and came out a few minutes later with two bottles of water and just walked away. My friend asked him if he really went in to just get water and he said "Yes. Your friends will never believe you."

Both are friends I completely trust to not be lying, but Bill Murray was right. I don't believe them.

You mean the fictional Bill Murray they lied about was right?

I've loved BM since Meatballs, but I thought this was an interesting point, "lost in the funny retellings is the melancholy reality of an older, divorced dad partying with 20-somethings." It made me wonder how I'd view my own father if he was doing things like this on a regular basis. Probably not too favorably.

But Bill Murray is an entertainer by trade. His employer is a studio, but he performs for an audience. So he isn't really partying with them in any normal sense, he is dropping in on his clients in their environment and just being cool. This guy is just extremely cool, that's what makes it different, a level of cool only a handful of people can occupy at any point in history.

He is a movie actor.

He doesn't have to "perform for an audience" in parties and social scenarios -- tons of actors don't do any of those things.

Bill is rock and roll. He's old school SNL. One thing is for sure, the guy definitely needs to perform.

That I agree with. I meant he doesn't "need to" as something that necessarily "goes" with the job.

Maybe let your father live his own life as he wants it and don't judge him?

(Ironically, that's a common advice people give to parents regarding their kids).

Besides do you know what's REAL melancholy for an "older, divorced dad"?

NOT partying at all, and not having people to love/care for them. Second worse, would be only having boring older people conversations and pass-times. If they can be that relevant that even 20th year olds are OK to hang around with them, more power to them.

What would be indeed be lame would be to TRY/WANT to party with younger people, and them rejecting you. Or partying with younger people but not being able to connect with another person out of "party" scenarios. Which I'd guess is not the case here.

That sort of reinforces his point. His dad, or most people's dad, would likely be that lame person trying to party with younger people, but failing because they aren't famous.

>but failing because they aren't famous.

Well, in that case he should still let him live his life.

But besides that, it's not just "fame" that does it. If the person is interesting, that can be enough.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com