Screech's Forwell Hall comedy act more rough than diamond
First the show was postponed and then he was late, but according to hardcore Screech fans, that didn't matter.
“He's the shit,” General Arts student Phil Mahy said about his childhood idol Dustin Diamond, better known as Screech from the popular Saturday morning teen show Saved by the Bell. “I watched every episode growing up.”
Diamond was on campus last week entertaining students by answering questions and trying his best to be funny.
Hundreds of admirers, male and female, waited in line to get an autograph, photo or hug from the former television geek after the performance.
“I grew-up watching Screech. He was my favourite on the show,” said General Arts student Jennifer Lakey, who waited in line to get an autograph. “Are you kidding me, [the show] was better than I expected to be.”
Lakey said the autograph would go on her desk.
But Diamond wasn't as gracious as his devoted fans, calling some of them fanatics.
He even told the crowd about the weird things crazed fans have done to get his attention.
“Some people want autographs, some people want hugs, some people want me to sign their breasts - that was a plus,” he said.
Diamond recounted that one fan even wanted him to send her bodily fluids and a lock of hair. At one point in his career, he was even in jeopardy of being kidnapped and stalked.
“[The kidnapper] thought if he hung out with me than he would become famous,” said Diamond, who explained that people like that are the reason why the 29-year-old actor has a direct line to the FBI star stalking division.
Most questions from the crowd were associated with Diamond's relationship with the rest of the SBTB cast and his younger years.
“I had to go through my gangly years, like everyone goes through, except I was on television,” said Diamond, who claims he weighed 120 pounds when he starred on the show. Now weighing in at 210, the washed-up actor's scraggly beard and extra pounds couldn't hide the fact that he is still the old geeky Screech deep down.
“I was 11 when they were 15. [The cast was] going through the hormone thing before me…I was like the tag along brother.” He even went as far as to say the other cast members didn't want him around.
Instead, Diamond stuck to the extras, claiming that was where he got lucky with girls.
“It was like a smorgasbord,” Diamond said of the female extras back stage. “That's where I set up camp, pitched the tent, if you know what I mean.”
He said Tori Spelling, who played Screech's girlfriend Violet in a few SBTB episodes, was “high maintenance.” He tried to set Spelling up with Mark Paul Glossar, who played Zack, but that it didn't pan out.
Not only were most of Diamond's attempts at humour lost on the crowd, they weren't remotely funny. He couldn't even redeem himself after a couple of audience catcalls.
Instead of the loveable and geeky television star that everyone turned out to see, Diamond resembled an awkward teen, who tried to impress his buddies with reminiscent anecdotes of the good old days.
“He's the shit,” General Arts student Phil Mahy said about his childhood idol Dustin Diamond, better known as Screech from the popular Saturday morning teen show Saved by the Bell. “I watched every episode growing up.”
Diamond was on campus last week entertaining students by answering questions and trying his best to be funny.
Hundreds of admirers, male and female, waited in line to get an autograph, photo or hug from the former television geek after the performance.
“I grew-up watching Screech. He was my favourite on the show,” said General Arts student Jennifer Lakey, who waited in line to get an autograph. “Are you kidding me, [the show] was better than I expected to be.”
Lakey said the autograph would go on her desk.
But Diamond wasn't as gracious as his devoted fans, calling some of them fanatics.
He even told the crowd about the weird things crazed fans have done to get his attention.
“Some people want autographs, some people want hugs, some people want me to sign their breasts - that was a plus,” he said.
Diamond recounted that one fan even wanted him to send her bodily fluids and a lock of hair. At one point in his career, he was even in jeopardy of being kidnapped and stalked.
“[The kidnapper] thought if he hung out with me than he would become famous,” said Diamond, who explained that people like that are the reason why the 29-year-old actor has a direct line to the FBI star stalking division.
Most questions from the crowd were associated with Diamond's relationship with the rest of the SBTB cast and his younger years.
“I had to go through my gangly years, like everyone goes through, except I was on television,” said Diamond, who claims he weighed 120 pounds when he starred on the show. Now weighing in at 210, the washed-up actor's scraggly beard and extra pounds couldn't hide the fact that he is still the old geeky Screech deep down.
“I was 11 when they were 15. [The cast was] going through the hormone thing before me…I was like the tag along brother.” He even went as far as to say the other cast members didn't want him around.
Instead, Diamond stuck to the extras, claiming that was where he got lucky with girls.
“It was like a smorgasbord,” Diamond said of the female extras back stage. “That's where I set up camp, pitched the tent, if you know what I mean.”
He said Tori Spelling, who played Screech's girlfriend Violet in a few SBTB episodes, was “high maintenance.” He tried to set Spelling up with Mark Paul Glossar, who played Zack, but that it didn't pan out.
Not only were most of Diamond's attempts at humour lost on the crowd, they weren't remotely funny. He couldn't even redeem himself after a couple of audience catcalls.
Instead of the loveable and geeky television star that everyone turned out to see, Diamond resembled an awkward teen, who tried to impress his buddies with reminiscent anecdotes of the good old days.
