Owner of the
Hello Deli, Rupert Jee is also a celebrity. On September 20th on 1993,
David Letterman invited him onto his show (The
Late Show with David Letterman) to take part in a new segment – “meet the neighbors”. Rupert has since become a fairly regular member of the Late Show, appearing every once in a while. Sometimes he helps David Letterman with interesting
pranks for the show, basically taking a
hidden camera, microphone and heading out to
cause trouble. In one particularly memorable prank, I remember him dressing as a waiter, and trying to
cause as much trouble as possible, insulting patrons, etc. He received directions from Letterman via a receiver in his ear. He once talked his way into Regis Philbin’s office, claiming that “
the little weasel owed him money”.
Despite the pranks, Rupert is also a
genuinely nice guy. I had the pleasure of meeting him during my last trip to
New York, and he was a very humble, nice guy. He even let me get a picture with him. I’ve heard stories of him delivering
hot soup to members of the Late Show’s studio audience on
cold days.