I don’t know when they started handing book deals out to likable comedic character actors with popular podcasts, but I do not object to the decision to publish Paul Scheer’s memoir, Joyful Recollections of Trauma. Scheer is best known for the How Did This Get Made? bad movie podcast, which he co-hosts alongside Jason Mantzoukas and his wife, June Diane Raphael, as well as The League, Black Monday, and literally over 180 credits on his filmography. I suspect that includes almost every sitcom since 2010 that has run for at least one season.

Recently, he appeared on Conan O’Brien’s podcast to promote his memoir, and in addition to sharing stories about how he proposed to his wife (she thought it was a bit), and a great story about Christopher Walken, he also told a hilariously awkward story about an encounter with Robert Downey, Jr.

The short version is this: Scheer relays a story about meeting an unnamed actor on the set of a movie who repeatedly insists that he knows Robert Downey, Jr. Later when Scheer goes to Comic-Con, his friend tells him to say hi to “RDJ.” Scheer doesn’t think he’ll have the opportunity but ends up in an elevator with Downey, Jr., and for reasons he doesn’t understand, he greets Downey — a man he’s never met — using this nickname, “RDJ.”

This immediately causes his wife to let go of his hand because he’s so humiliated. Downey looks confused, and despite Scheer’s attempts to explain their mutual connection, the situation only gets worse. Feeling awkward and misunderstood, Scheer inexplicably suggests that maybe he’s confused RDJ for someone else and mumbles under his breath, “Robert Downey Senior,” and quickly leaves the scene. He’s so embarrassed that, later, when he is invited by a friend to the set of The Avengers, Downey recognizes him, and Scheer is so horrified that he has to leave.