Any time there are mischievous friends or relatives near a Celeb-4-a-Day location in Texas or California, a quiet dinner could turn not so quiet – and fast!

Imagine that you and a friend are having a quiet dinner in a nice restaurant in Austin, the capital of Texas. Austin is one of America's trendiest cities, thanks to its lively music, academic, and high-tech scenes.

At a nearby table, a large group has been cheerfully celebrating the birthday of someone named Linda, who looks vaguely familiar.

As those guests rise to leave, chaos suddenly erupts! Three photographers and an aggressive news reporter barge in, rush Linda's table, and pepper her with flashes and loud questions!

Nobody relishes getting ambushed by meddlesome paparazzi.  But every once in awhile, the experience can be fun and flattering

No pictures! Leave her alone! scream her companions, as they throw up their hands and hustle her out the door. But the paparazzi are in hot pursuit, and you and others find yourselves reaching for your own pocket cameras to record this amazing scene. Someone even runs after Linda, hoping to get her autograph.

Only Linda is not a famous person. And the paparazzi are not tabloid photographers and obnoxious journalists.

It was all a show, a gag – sort of guerrilla theater. Linda's husband and friends had pooled their money – $250 or more – to surprise Linda and have great fun. The amount can run as high as $1,500 if fake bodyguards and a limousine are employed.

Any time there are Celeb-4-a-Day . . . what should we call them? surprisees? . . . get a tabloid-like page and digital photos as souvenirs of their experience

The whole, bizarre experience is the brainchild of Tania Cowher, a commercial and advertising photographer, who formed the Celeb-4-a-Day service and recruited her friends to play the paparazzi. Things have gone so well that Celeb-4-a-Day has expanded to Los Angeles and San Francisco, cities where celebrity mob scenes are common.

As for the Lindas in these wild dramas, they get the photos taken by the phony paparazzi, plus a celebrity-style magazine cover of the event. And, of course, laughs for many years.