'Dave, Jerry Seinfeld just walked into your store': For Powers Comics owner, comedian's surprise visit was the thrill of a lifetime
ASHWAUBENON - Have you heard the one about the legendary comedian who walks into a local comic book store on a Saturday afternoon?
Turns out it’s Jerry Seinfeld, who was out and about in Green Bay ahead of his sold-out performance that night at The Weidner.
But here’s where it gets really good. The owner of the store? A massive “Seinfeld” fan — one of those guys who knows every episode of the sitcom backward and forward — who never saw it coming.
“It was totally out of the blue,” said David Powers, who has owned Powers Comics at 2180 S. Ridge Road for 17 years. “I actually liked that it was out of the blue. That he just showed up, just like a normal customer does. Just walk in.”
Although, he jokes a little later, “I was a little disappointed he didn’t have his puffy shirt on.”
Saturdays tend to be busy at the store and this one was especially so. Powers and his wife, Kelly Powers, were both working, along with their two full-time employees. It was early afternoon when one of the regular customers David Powers was waiting on whispered to him.
“Dave, Jerry Seinfeld just walked into your store.”
“No, he didn’t,” Powers pooh-poohed, but when he looked across the store, there in a baseball cap and sunglasses was indeed Seinfeld.
Powers did what he does whenever a customer stops in. He walked over, thanked him for coming and asked if there was anything he could help him find. Seinfeld and the gentleman with him said they were just browsing.
Powers went back behind the counter to wait on another customer when it wasn’t long before the two men signaled for assistance. With David and Kelly Powers both busy with customers, one of the store’s employees went over with not a clue as to who he was about to wait on.
The employee, whose first name is also Jerry, was immediately starstruck and stumbling over his words. David Powers went over to help bail him out. “Jerry, meet Jerry,” he said and then asked how he could help him.
“This is my favorite part of the entire visit, because he did such a Seinfeld-ism. He said, ‘Well, I’m a comic looking for a comic,’ with that ... smirk that he has,” Powers said. “It was beautiful.”
He was in search of a Superman comic book from the 1960s
Seinfeld was looking for a Superman (he's a fan) comic from the 1960s. Powers knew right away which one when he described the cover, but he didn’t currently have it. Seinfeld spent about 20 minutes browsing. It was clear it wasn’t his first time in a comic book store, because he knew to flip through the back issues boxes that have some of the older stuff.
“The really neat part about to me is that Jerry Seinfeld is worth like a billion dollars. He could easily order any comic book he wants, even the most expensive one in the world, without a problem,” Powers said. “He could have ordered that on eBay. A lot of the true collectors don’t want to go do that. They want to go dig.”
Other customers in the shop caught on to who he was but nobody bothered him, Powers said. His wife tried to convince him he should ask for a photo with him, but he couldn’t make himself do it.
“I said, ‘I’m not doing that. I’m not going to be that guy. I’m just going to let him shop and be a normal person.'"
But when Seinfeld was about to leave Kelly Powers asked on his behalf, telling him that her husband is the biggest “Seinfeld” fan she knows and how when she first met him, he and his roommate watched the show every night “over and over and over.”
She wasn’t exaggerating.
“His show is hands-down my favorite comedy of all time, by far. There’s nothing even close,” David Powers said.
Seinfeld’s response to the photo ask was a friendly, “Sure, of course. Why not?” Then he thanked David for having them and was on his way.
Powers Comics has hosted its share of celebrity athletes, writers and artists over the years. Before Saturday, former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was probably its most famous guest, but Seinfeld eclipses them all.
“I don’t know if there’s many people that would top that for me if they walked in the door," he said. "Maybe Michael Jordan and Dave Grohl. I’d probably be like a teenage girl at a (Justin) Bieber concert if Dave Grohl walked in, honestly.”
The funny side note is Powers and his stepson, who is also a “Seinfeld” fan, had planned to celebrate their April birthdays together by going to his stand-up comedy show at The Weidner, but when Kelly Powers made plans for a birthday party, the only night it would work out for everybody to make it was April 20 — the same night as his show.
“When he came in the store it was like a stab in the heart,” Powers said. “Oh, he’s in my store and I’m not even going to see him tonight. It’s killing me.”
Whatever Powers may have missed out onstage, he more than made up for by meeting him in person.
"It was fantastic," he said.
A 'super, super polite' Seinfeld enjoyed breakfast at The Creamery Downtown
Pop-Tarts aren’t on the menu at The Creamery Downtown or you might have expected the writer, director and star of “Unfrosted,” the upcoming Netflix movie about the made-up origin of the toaster pastry, to go that route.
But Seinfeld, the creator of the “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" talk show, did have coffee while he enjoyed a leisurely breakfast on Saturday morning at the Green Bay restaurant at 114 Pine St.
Owner Scott Vann and manager Jim Jansen knew in advance he would be dining with them at 9 a.m. Someone from his team had called Wednesday to make a reservation for him and his guests.
“I think he appreciated his privacy,” Jansen said. “Obviously, we gave him a ton of respect as well. We wanted to give him his own space.”
His server described him as just a normal guy, Jansen said, and while a couple of tables asked their servers if that’s who they thought it was, nobody came up to him. The Creamery has had celebrity guests before, including Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love, so staff is well versed in making sure they can enjoy their time there uninterrupted, Jansen said.
Seinfeld felt comfortable enough to hang out for a while after his meal. Before he left, he came up to the bar to go grab a photo with Vann and Jansen, who had asked in advance.
“He was super, super polite and super friendly," Jansen said. “... It was really cool for us to showcase Green Bay and have him come in for breakfast.”
The Weidner always excited to work with Seinfeld, his touring staff
Seinfeld, who has been selling out The Weidner since 2004, had not been back in Green Bay since 2018.
Unlike many touring acts that book shows through a promoter, he has his own touring staff that works directly with the venue to rent the hall, said Stephanie Maufort, program and event manager at The Weidner.
“They’re great people to work with. We’re always really excited. His tour manager said they would try to make it back to Green Bay a little sooner this time,” she said. “He hadn’t been here since before COVID, and he usually tries to make sure he has all new material before he hits the market again. But since we sold out so quickly, hopefully he’ll be back in another two or three years.”
Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or [email protected]. Follow her on X @KendraMeinert.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Jerry Seinfeld's surprise visit to Powers Comics thrill of a lifetime
