Comedian John Hodgman admitted Saturday he’s no match for Jonathan “Banana Man” Niederer, the fruit hawker at the Maine Turnpike service area in Kennebunk that Hodgman has helped turn into a minor celebrity.

Niederer is known for his soft, melodic call of “fresh bananas here,” sometimes adding that they’re unsalted, as a come-on to harried travelers who are mostly looking for a quick break and a cup of coffee before returning to the highway. His pitch has helped increase sales of the fruit at the shop, which sells healthy snacks and live lobsters and is located in a small alcove of the rest stop, strategically stationed between the entrance doors and a pair of restrooms.

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Comedian John Hodgman, right, visits Jonathan ‘Banana Man’ Niederer at the Kennebunk service plaza Saturday. Hodgman says Niederer’s pitch has a traditional ring. Jill Brady/Staff Photographer

Hodgman, who spread the word about Niederer after seeing him at the southbound rest stop last summer, tried his hand at banana sales during a visit Saturday.

“Fresh bananas, we have fresh bananas,” Hodgman yelled before concluding that his louder approach makes him “come across as a little more punitive.”

Hodgman and Niederer had promoted the visit for a few days on Twitter. Hodgman was returning Saturday to his home in New York from another summer visit to Maine – he bought a house on the Blue Hill peninsula this summer – and thought a second meeting with Banana Man was in order.

Hodgman is perhaps best known for portraying the nerdy “PC Man” on Apple computer commercials in the mid-2000s. He’s also a stand-up comedian, author of three books and plays a character called “the deranged millionaire,” a mostly clueless type who shows up to defend the viewpoint of the put-upon rich in appearances on “The Daily Show.”

Hodgman said he stopped at the Kennebunk service area with his daughter last summer and was halted in mid-step when he heard Niederer. The sales technique, he said, sounded like the pitches of fruit and vegetable vendors on the streets of New York a century ago.

“I stopped,” Hodgman said. “I thought, ‘What is going on? Have I stepped through a time portal?'”

He promoted Niederer on his podcast, “Judge John Hodgman,” as a genius and the two corresponded by email and tweets over the winter.

Soon, travelers asked to be photographed with the Banana Man, a youth choir serenaded him with their own banana song and his fame grew. Niederer kept up the sales while also taking computer technology classes at Southern Maine Community College.

His approach amused most and he got some smiles and a few sales Saturday as he wiggled his fingers over a basket of bananas and sang of the fruit to the tune of “Cheek to Cheek.” However, some travelers did pick up their pace and avoided eye contact as they headed out to the parking lot.

Hodgman’s appearance attracted a small crowd, including Jan Wertheim of Kennebunk, who brought along one of Hodgman’s books for him to sign and then bought two bananas for Hodgman and Niederer to sign, even though the price of $1.19 each struck her as close to, well, highway robbery.

She and her husband had been encouraged to check out Hodgman’s visit by their daughter, a big fan who lives in New York, Wertheim said. She and Hodgman speculated on ways to preserve the signed banana, but didn’t come up with a solution.

“I’ll save the book, but not the banana,” she said, saying it would go in the trash when it started attracting fruit flies.

Hodgman photographed Niederer, hands wiggling above the bananas, for his blog and videotaped him explaining where the next leap in computing was going to come from.

Hodgman gave Niederer some advice should he decide to try to parlay his fame into a career in performing, including the necessity of making sure he has a Sharpie on hand for signing autographs.

But as he watched Niederer do his thing, Hodgman said, “Clearly, I don’t know anything about showmanship.”

“He’s a young man with a lot on his mind and a lot of things to say and it’s been fun to be a small part of facilitating that,” Hodgman said, while Niederer seemed unfazed by it all.

“A couple of people have asked me if I’m going to go on tour,” Niederer said. “I still don’t know what that means.”

Before someone tries to emulate Niederer’s success by copying his approach in the northbound service area, Hodgman says it’s impossible, especially given that the north side sells Popeye’s Chicken, which Hodgman seems to particularly dislike.

“The southside plaza is a source of light,” he said. “The northbound plaza is sort of evil.”

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