Hi,
Barrett Deems seemed to make for good anecdotes.
This article (An Englishman Remembers Barrett Deems)
http://www.jazzinchicago.org/educates/journal/articles/englishman-remembers-barrett-deems
speaks to his hyperactive and hard-to-travel-with character. Good reading. Louis Armstong notes "You're the only guy in the world that makes coffee nervous>"
Seems he was a drum collector:
"Researching for a programme on Armstrong a few years ago, presenter Campbell Burnap and producer Terry Carter called at Deems's home. It reflected the drummer's personality. By now he collected drums and one bedroom was jammed to the ceiling with them. One of the largest was a bass drum that had been used in Sousa's original brass band. The six cats and three dogs that ran about the house were unimpressed."
There are variations on the stories about the "World's Fastest Drummer" sign. In the book Harold Jones, the Singer's Singer, it's said that when he played a house gig at the Brass Rail (Chicago) he was billed as "World's Fastest Drummer". A club across the street brought in Buddy and put up a big banner "Buddy Rich World's #1 Drummer", then Barrett Deems put up a big banner at the Brass Rail promoting "Barrett Deems World's #2 Drummer"
Probably a few dozen other variations on that chestnut by now.
More good reading here:
http://www.jazzinchicago.org/taxonomy/term/21/all