The intrepid duo DrunkCameraGuy offer an account of how their Comic Con weekend went down, from the travails of parking to super-celeb action inside the Tampa Convention Center.
SATURDAY
9:20 a.m. We check into our room early, have breakfast at the hotel, then take the shuttle. This is definitely the way to deal with the parking mess. I’m just bummed that the traffic and parking hassles made us miss one of our favorites from last year, Geekapella, who were scheduled for 9 a.m.
10:33 a.m. I wanted to go to the exhibitor hall first because I’d brought my Deadpool 1, Mark Waid’s first work for Marvel, for him to sign, so I wanted to see about getting that taken care of first. We got to his booth and saw a sign that he wasn’t going to be there until 12:30, so we walked to the far end of the hall to begin snaking our way through.
This year there was a cosplay alley, with both men and women (but mostly hot, young women) dressed as a variety of characters and happy to pose with their fans. Fan favorite Sexy Mario was there, as usual, putting on his famous plumber’s pout.
Noon With a balance of giddy excitement and skepticism, we made our way into Ballroom B to wait for Carrie Fisher, THE Princess Leia. Her time slot was the shortest I’d ever seen at any con that I’ve been to over the last 20 plus years. She was on the schedule for 12:30-1 p.m., a scant 30 minutes. When there was still no sign of her at 12:38 p.m., I started getting a little anxious that the excitement that had been building in me for months was all for naught. The emcee was doing a great job of distracting the crowd, though, asking the audience about which movie was their favorite and having Jar Jar fans (they exist!) out themselves to the room.
12:40 p.m. Finally, the doors opened and Carrie Fisher entered the room in a pink sheath dress and a long flowing black cardigan, accompanied by her service dog, 3-year-old French Bulldog, Gary.
She did let us in on some things, like how working with Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill was like like they never stopped doing the movie, that it was just like they’d had a really long lunch break and came back looking bad, like whatever they ate made their skin really loose.
The audience wasn’t allowed to ask any questions, but there was a woman on stage with her prompting her with discussion topics, and one of them was whether Gary has a cameo in the new movie. Carrie hilariously said that she wanted him in the movie so badly that she slept with every director, eventually realizing that’s probably where she went wrong. She was affable, hilarious, and self-effacing the whole time, charming the entire room.
We learned that the most fun she ever had making a movie was doing The Burbs with Tom Hanks, which reminded me that it’s been way too long since I’ve seen that insanely weird and funny movie. She was also asked about Blues Brothers, but she explained it was the ’80s and she wasn’t really able to remember it, much like everyone else who was in it (who's still alive).
But with all of her amazing stories and zingers, probably my favorite line was when she explained how hard it was for her to keep secrets, explaining, “I'm an open person. Spread eagle.” My love for Fisher is stronger than ever, and I can’t wait to see that self-assured princess in December!
2 p.m. I love a good beard, so I was excited to see the first Tampa Bay Comic Con Ultimate Manly Man Facial Hair Competition. There were plenty of fine specimens competing in categories like Just the Stache, Grizzliest, and Audience favorite. The host, DragonWagon, was hilarious and it was almost more comedy show than competition.
3:49 p.m. While we’d planned to be at the con much later, all the vending machines were ransacked, there was basically no caffeine left in the building, and the little food that was available was incredibly overpriced, so we decided it was time to head back to the hotel to rest our feet before the after party.
12:36 a.m. The official TBCC after party was at the Orpheum this year, which usually does a sink or swim night on Saturdays. I wasn’t sure how the rain combined with the lack of sink or swim would affect turnout, but there was a great crowd with lots of costumes. Even before the costume contest started, Bender was working the crowd into a froth, leading cheers of “BEN-DER! BEN-DER!” as he was assisted onto a podium in the middle of the dance floor, where he was surrounded by ladies. It was no surprise then that Bender won the costume contest, but there was definitely stiff competition from Groot, Salad Fingers, and a group of road warrior muppet hunters who were my personal favorite.
11:37 a.m. We planned to take Sunday a little easier after the prior night’s festivities, so our first step was the League of Legends Little Kids Zone. Just as I’d hoped, it was full of adorable kiddos in cosplay, like Wolverine playing with legos and a tiny padawan playing with giant blocks.
11:46 a.m. Across the way was The Grid: Electronic Gaming Arena hosted by Gamerz Vault, which is a local family who raise money All Children’s Hospital through tournaments and cool items available for purchase. They’ve done lots of Florida cons and are the ones who take care of the gaming consoles at All Children’s, but this was the first.time there had been an electronic gaming room at TBCC. It was packed, with kids lining up to compete in the tournaments, so I’m sure they’ll be back next year.
12:02 p.m. We ran into a friend in amazing costume makeup who led us to Tabitha Sclafani, who also had a row of people lined up to become their favorite characters. We watched as she transformed one lucky customer from handsome young man to such a frightening Suicide Squad Joker that he gasped when he was handed the mirror.
When a little girl asked if she was scared when she saw the Terminator for the first time, she said she wasn’t, but was very frank in adding that the role of Sarah Connor gave her nightmares afterwards because it brought up so much loss and grief due to her character to losing so many people. It was so great to hear from another strong, influential female actress from my formative years.
Somehow, after dozens of cons I still haven’t perfected my strategy, but next year I have to try and convince myself that it’s worth carrying a slightly heavier bag in order to bring water and snacks. If anyone else has some good tips, let me know! Maybe next year I’ll be able to stay until karaoke.
As I walked out of the Convention Center amid throngs of teens, families and adults, I was really proud of what TBCC has been able to develop in just five short years and excited for next year! I know it’s just going to keep getting bigger and better, so I hope Tampa doesn’t float away before then.
Here are some more shots from the big event:
This article appears in Jul 30 – Aug 5, 2015.