Top 5 Highlights from WizardWorld Chicago 2015
I started this entry several times, mostly in my head, trying to figure out how to approach it. In the end, as the con was two weeks ago, I decided to listen to Shia and
The best way seems to be a highlight reel, as no one should be subjected to the blow by blow (excepting of course my con crew, as we’ve all spoken at great length of our mini-vacation). So here goes, an attempt to condense four days of awesome into five bitsy bullet points!
1. I got to feed the bird with Nathan Fillion. NATHAN FILLION. Nathan. Friggin. Fillion.
I have friends, coworkers, cousins, and other various voyeurs of my life (and facebook feed) that, upon seeing pictures like the above, react basically the same way: “OMG! I can’t believe you got to meet Nathan Fillion [or fill-in-the-blank]! YOU ARE SO LUCKY.” After learning that I paid money for the pleasure of taking my picture with Nathan, the tide turns and it turns ugly: “You paid how much? For a PICTURE?!” As if that somehow cheapens the exchange. Like yes, I paid to take a picture with Nathan (and a whole lot of other people!), and for his autograph, but really, what do people expect? I live in the Midwest, not L.A. or NYC, so the chances of bumping into Nathan are slightly less than the chances of me winning the lottery and building a castle in the clouds. Plus, the man has to make a living somehow, and even though there were plenty of people in line to get his autograph because they’re fans, there were also a crapton of people waiting to get his autograph so they can sell it, a sale which nets Nathan nothing, even though it’s an essential part of his livelihood.
I would apologize for the rant but a) I run into this issue a lot and b) I’m really not sorry. Bottom line is I have a picture of Nathan Fillion feeding the bird, and no one can make that uncool.
2. I was Touched By An Arrow.
There’s not a whole lot I will say about this except Stephen Amell is the perfect height. Perfect I tell you!
3. Burt Reynold’s panel.
This was a surprise highlight. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Burt Reynolds, but my knowledge of Burt is limited to his guest spot on Golden Girls (I friggin’ love that show!) and Archer, and I only happened to see the panel on accident, as I was merely keeping a spot for a later panel. I’m glad it worked out the way it did though, because Burt was a delight. It was also interesting seeing how diverse his fans were, from old white dudes banging on about Smokey and the Bandit to a 13 year-old-kid asking about Burt’s voicework in GTA:VC (which impressed me on two fronts, because at 13 I’m surprised he remembers Vice City).
Anyone who’s ever been to a con is familiar with the Storytelling Questioner, the person who really doesn’t have a question at all but is hellbent on wasting precious panel time on a personal story that has no relevance whatsoever. Burt nipped that in the bud! After the first SQ took up seven minutes (on a thirty minute panel!), Burt told it straight: “That. Well, that was a long story. And it had no ending!”
4. The Firefly panel.
If you’re a Firefly fan you will want to watch this panel! When Adam Baldwin drops the mike, I was nearly rolling in the aisles! But seriously, this video has three of the most charming actors and one of my favorite moderators ever. So watch it.
- My Firefly motivational poster.
This one is probably my favorite bit of this year’s con. Alan Tudyk was supposed to be in Chicago this year, but he had to back out to film Star Wars XIII (some people just have no sense of priorities). Luckily, I gotten his autograph at a previous con. It was a bit of a running joke amongst my con crew, because without prompting Alan had written: “MELISSA, KEEP FLYING” as big as he possibly could (in his defense, I had caught him off-guard, but that’s a memory for another time). The question was where would everyone else sign, but I wasn’t super worried about it because I wasn’t honestly sure when I get more (if any) signatures. The more I looked at the poster, the more I dug it, because it reminded me of a motivational poster you’d see in an office, only a hundred times better. I resolved that if I should procure any more, I would try to get more inspirational expressions. Happily, they all obliged, even Summer Glau, who I was too busy chatting to to actually ask.
Chicago brought my little poster up to 4/9, almost half way! Chatting with Firefly cast members, even for just a few minutes at a time, was the best highlight of the show!
And as a bonus, Bruce Campbell lets me know why I’m still single:
If it helps put this in perspective, this is what I was going for:
Some non-convention highlights included our Funko Spike DJ, competitive see-sawing, a spontaneous five-way duet, and eating a single slice of pizza that was bigger than my head. Sometimes, I really love my life.