You’ve seen the giant, red double-decker buses whisking tourists around Hollywood. The charismatic tour guides on board dutifully describe celebrity homes and habits, but their own lives could make for some interesting tales as well. 

Jason Kirkhuff, 30, has been a guide with Starline Tours for several years, but before that he dabbled in a career as a paparazzi, and ran his own agency for three years.

Originally from Philadelphia, Kirkhuff has lived in Los Angeles for six years in an apartment near the Kodak Theatre. He takes visitors on tours as often as five times a day, six days a week. 

Hollywood Patch: How did you end up living in Hollywood?

Jason Kirkhuff: When I was about 23, I had a friend who moved out [to Los Angeles] and I came out to visit him. I decided I was going to move out here. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but luckily I got a job my very first day with a tour company. It was a little walking tour company. I did that for about a year, and then I quit that to become a paparazzi. I ended up starting my own paparazzi agency, and I did that for about three years. I started out making really good money. Then, the market became really flooded with paparazzi, and the Internet really hurt print magazines, so the magazines cut their budgets. The guy who gave me my first job here was no longer with that company, and he was the director here at Starline and asked me if I wanted to be a guide.  

Patch: What kind of tours do you do?

Kirkhuff: I do the one-hour tour a lot. It’s a one-hour double-decker tour of Hollywood. I also do the Grand City Tour, which is the biggest tour that they offer, a five-and-a-half-hour tour of the city. It does Hollywood, Beverly Hills and downtown Los Angeles. And all the private charters that come in.

Patch: Any cool private charters?

Kirkhuff: I did a charter for the Chilean miners when they were here. All the 33 miners, their families and the rescuers. CNN was on board, and they provided the translator. I did the tour in English, and the translator said everything in Spanish. 

Patch: What’s your favorite tour?

Kirkhuff: My favorite tour is the downtown Los Angeles one. There are a lot of movie sets down there. Just about everything you can think of is shot down there. So, there’s a lot to talk about with movies. There’s also so much history down there.

Patch: How would you explain Hollywood to someone who’s never been here before?

Kirkhuff: Well, even if you’ve never been here you know about Hollywood: This is where the movies come from. So I keep it very light and fluffy. I talk about the movie sets and where the stars are. I talk about this history of Hollywood. It’s all about the movies, really.

Patch: Do celebrities say hi to the people on the tours of celebrity homes?

Kirkhuff: All the time. If they see them driving, they’ll pull up next to them and wave. We drive by Dr. Phil’s house all the time and he’s a really nice guy. Bob Barker is always outside waving. 

Patch: Can you tell me one interesting fact that you share on your tour?

Kirkhuff: Brad Pitt used to dress as a chicken on the corner of Sunset and La Brea. He was the El Pollo Loco chicken there. I’ve been told that was Brad Pitt’s first job. 

Patch: Do you ever get questions that stump you?

Kirkhuff:  Not really. Every once in a while people will ask me about the trees. I need to study my botany or something. Sometimes, someone will be like, “What kind of tree is that? It’s so beautiful.” And I have no idea what kind of tree that is, I’m sorry. 

Patch: What’s one of the most common questions that you get?

Kirkhuff: Where does Justin Bieber live? I get that from kids all the time.

Patch: Where does he live?

Kirkhoff: I don’t know. When I was a paparazzi Justin Bieber wasn’t even a star yet.