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Episode 3: We Stole Frodo (Sort Of) · CONversations with Coffee

• Liz: Yeah. Kent: Alrighty, alright. Hey, I'm Kent and this is my that is right. This is Liz and we are here to talk to you guys about Comic Cons really and our podcast is conversations with coffee. So Liz, cheers. Do you have your tea or are you drinking coffee today? my goodness. my gosh. my goodness. Liz: I'm Liz. Tea! A nice giant cup of Yeah, like okay this is it like next to my head. And when we when we talk about gallons of tea we are not messing around. Kent: that holy cow hold that thing up humongous. No, we're not like that's crazy. Holy cow. Liz: But we love comic cons. We absolutely love them. We love them so much that we started working for them, with them, and we just can't seem to stop. I started working, I think it was 2018. I was volunteering. And... Kent: We do, we do. How long ago did you just start working? Okay. Well, you're up on almost 10 years. Liz: Actually, yes, eight years, my goodness. And so I was volunteering and then, then I started with, a con that started to pay. I mean, they pay like minimum wage. It's not much, but it's enough to cover food, maybe hotel. So I considered it worth it for the sheer joy. Yeah. They, in fact, the... Kent: Yeah, eight years, two more. We've got the wind for the con. Liz: The one con I started working for described it as drinking the Kool-Aid. And it's true. I did. I drank the Kool-Aid. I'm still going. I'm still volunteering at some shows. I prefer to be paid, but I still volunteer just for the love. Kent: you did you eight years later. Nice. Yeah. And again, just so the audience knows, not everybody gets to do this. Like what we do as handlers, it takes a lot of time and practice and volunteering for a lot of shows to get even paid. I always joke about that because people come up to me and they're always like, my gosh, I want to do what you do thinking that what I do is a full-time job. Well, first of all, I'm already retired, so I don't have to work. But I love doing Comic Cons and I love doing this. If you make any money on a weekend as a handler. You just have the cherry on the top of the ice cream most of the time you're just breaking even, you know, you might get your hotel take care of some food. That's about it. But Liz: You break even? You make something? I have barely broken even once. Kent: Ha ha ha. There you go. See? So letting the audience know this is not a glorified Liz: So I call it, I call it, I call it the most expensive hobby in history. Kent: It is a hobby because think about it, you're traveling, which a lot of people can't afford to travel. Those that are in the city still have to travel. They got to get to the con. They got to pay for parking. They got to pay for the tickets to get in. They're there to see the vendors or the panels or the celebrities. And so that all takes money. And then you got to eat there, which is overpriced food. So it is an expensive hobby. But the cool thing about it is you're with your people. You're with people that love comic cons and movies and TV shows and all kinds of geeky, nerdy, dorky stuff, which is awesome because I always say nerds rule the world. So when we get together and forces like that, it's just amazing. And just watching the people smile and you know, people dress up in cosplay, they become a whole different person. I mean, I know you've seen this, where somebody that's, yeah, it's a safe place. Liz: and it's a safe place to play. I mean, that's why they call it cosplay. It's not just costume. It's like you can just go for it and be your character and get your picture taken and nobody's... Kent: Yeah. Yeah, and you've seen it before where somebody shy and quiet and stuff like that and then they get into, you know, a daredevil costume or a Some cosplay costume and they become that person and then they're outgoing and like and people will come up to them and like I want to get a picture with you and they're like, my gosh People want pictures with me and so they love it then they buy into it even more and some of the people have more than one cosplay costume They they'll change two three times a day out of those costumes, which I love it because I mean i've been doing this longer than you list and i've seen some really good costumes like people put a lot of work into and then I've seen the ones that are just thrown together the night before but the thing is is everybody loves them. Liz: Do you have a favourite? I mean one that stands out from all the years? Kent: My gosh, I you know, I like the ones that are handmade like That just stand out like okay This is me geeking. I Brought the first Iron Man costume to San Diego Comic-Con. Like I had And this is back in the day we didn't have war blood and stuff like that or the technology we did. We this was made out of fiberglass. I'll have to find the pictures and show it to you. Yeah, I cosplayed in a fiberglass. Mask and suit and everything. A buddy made it. We had to modify it to fit me because I'm six three. Liz: You cosplayed that? You cosplayed that? Kent: and my buddy Dave helped me modify it because he's very good at modifying costumes and he's part of the file of first just like I am and this was right when Iron Man started and there were no costumes and no joke I could barely get through the door without getting mobbed of people taking pictures for me. So that was a highlight and we're gonna have to invite my buddy Dave on to talk about cosplaying and creating, you know, the costumes and stuff. that was my highlight. But I love seeing like last year at New York Comic Con Galactus. There was it was was it debuted at San Diego or no, it was at San Diego. Liz: I bet. Plus. What is... Sorry, forgive my ignorance. Kent: Galactus, he's in all the well, he's part of the Marvel Universe, but he's purple and he's giant. eats planets and stuff like that. somebody made that costume, like nine, nine or 10 feet tall. The thing the his headpiece moved and stuff just looked amazing and it's one of those ones where you see it and then you have to do a double take and you're like, my gosh But i've seen a lot of professional cosplayers, know have some yeah, I think I I literally worked for a bluetooth tech company And we created trading cards for cosplayers Liz: I mean they always look fantastic. We're hitting it. Kent: Yeah, I'm have to make a note. I'm saying that but I'm gonna have to make a note so I can find I have a whole box of them still because we were giving them away at New York Comic Con. And we still had a lot but to this day the cosplayers that we use on the trading cards there was like 56 trading cards. Six of them were done by body paint. Yeah. my gosh Ivy doomkitties one of them Jesse near he isn't one There were so many people That did this that contributed to it and I still have the training card. So I'll get the training cards out I'm gonna write a note trading cards So I don't forget Liz: Well, one of my favorites was, you would never expect it, but it was such a great costume. was at DragonCon a couple of years ago. And remember, your old granny used to keep her toilet paper in a thing that was, it was like a doll and then a knitted dress that went over the toilet paper? Yeah, I mean, okay, then you're great granny. Kent: you're going old school, Les. You're old. Liz: But you know everybody's granny had one of these things the doll the doll with the toilet paper dress crocheted or whatever somebody dressed up as that they had like a full round toilet paper crochet cover and they were the doll it was absolutely amazing again i probably got the picture but the effort Kent: Okay. Sure. Right. Now talking about yeah, yeah, and that's that's the effort. And I've literally seen people crochet Pikachu. Like a full costume of Pikachu crocheted. I'm like, first of all, that takes lots of hours in skill to that thing has got to be super hot because think of a crochet blanket and now you're putting it on as a costume. you sweat to death and that stuff. And I know Liz: Yeah. Yeah, well, well I think, I think an- Kent: being a stormtrooper for the final first, you'll sweat about 10 pounds in that plastic. Liz: We could do a whole episode just on hot. Hot at cons. I mean, can you imagine? Yeah, you just imagine about the how hot furries get. The guys that are in actual like fox costumes with the fur. mean, once or twice I've seen them take the head pieces off and they are just drenched, those poor things. Kent: Yep, yeah, and we're not talking about hot flashes. my gosh. yeah. Clear. It's crazy, but yeah, there's I mean some of the ladies Actually some of the guys too they know how to use war blow which is a Foam that you can use heat to mold and and do stuff I've seen some video game costumes that my gosh look just just like the Cartoon or the character in the video game. I mean Liz: Yeah, I mean the... Kent: Yeah. Liz: some of these things are amazing, you know, as old and jaded as I am. I took pictures this weekend of neat cosplays. There was one which I thought was delightful. One day when I figure out how to share pictures on this, I'll show you, it was Lord of the Rings, course, but it was this lady dressed up as the head ringwraith, the Witch King, and it was bling. There was bling and the helmet and the Kent: Did you? Mm-hmm. Liz: and it was like that is so wild that's so hilarious but again huge effort and it looked marvelous and I couldn't resist getting a picture Kent: Yeah, again, Some of these cosplayers have been doing this for a while and they have literally millions of fans follow them like jessica nigri she's got like three million followers and just Uh-huh. yeah, there's Liz: Yes! And Freckle Zelda is another one, has so many followers. And I'm amazed. mean, somehow it's a living for some of these guys. Of course, for most cosplayers, it's just a labor of love. But I mean, and real love. mean, you know, you've got people that make wings with a six foot wingspan. And you're like, how are you going to get in a taxi? Kent: yeah, no, they make money doing this. yeah. And then they actually fold up. Yeah, they fold up and then they spread out and stuff like that. Yeah, it's crazy. Liz: just incredible. You know what Kent, we should grab some, put together a little collage of the best cosplays we photographed and maybe show it on here because I mean it's a wonder to see some of these things. Kent: yeah, yeah. yeah, Yeah, that would be cool. Like and some of them have been around as long as I have like Yaya Han is one of the top costume makers. mean, she's won awards. She's done costumes for movies. Like some of these cosplayers are. Taking their knowledge and skills and upping the bar and actually a couple other ones I know have created costumes for movies and sold them so It's crazy Liz: Yeah, really is amazing. In fact, I think we should do a whole thing about cosplays, well we just did, but cosplays 501st, which again is... yeah. Kent: sure, we'll bring on some guests from the 501st, we'll bring on some guests from some of the cosplayers and have them on here just talking about why they do it and what's exciting about it and the fun things they see. now here's the question, where has been, you probably mentioned it, I would say DragonCon, but where's been the best place that you've seen a costume? Don't think too hard. Liz: Well, yeah, no, there's... I would say all the cons have some amazing ones. I feel like DragonCon might have been the most concentration, or maybe that's because everything was so crowded, kind of, you know, it was concentrated. Kent: Yeah. Yeah. No, in my many years of doing this, I would say Dragon Con is the cosplay Comic Con. Of all all of them. I mean I've been to New York I've been to Megan con San Diego Salt Lake all those places and there's great cosplays but the one that has the most I would say a 60 40 ratio meaning 60 % of the audience dresses up 40 % doesn't where the normal Comic-Con is more like seven 30 70 30 dress up 70 % don't Liz: Mm-hmm. that much. Kent: Dragon Con is the one and it's the one where people will work 365 days on their costume to show it off at the masquerade ball and get judged and there's different levels of the masquerade ball and stuff like that. yeah, just three. And I'm talking like they're working on their costume 365 days like they're working on of the day of the contest still. Liz: Mm. Well, I was speaking. Kent: So yeah, it's crazy. Liz: I was speaking to a lady in a line, in a con, in a city at some point and she had some fantastic costume on and we were just talking about it and she said she has a whole bedroom full of cosplays that she wears at different times. I thought, man... Kent: far, far away. Wigs too. Liz: actually has to have real estate devoted to it because it's such a huge thing. Kent: You know how you collect all that stuff behind you? People collect cosplay costumes like that. So real estate. Yeah, mean, just wigs alone. Some people have like 20, 30, 40 wigs just for all their cosplays. Liz: I wanted to... yeah. Yeah, and if you're into anime cosplays, you know, you've got all these sharp angles and colors and amazing. Hey, you know what I collect? Kent: Yeah. What do you collect? Liz: lanyards this is this isn't even all of them i got these too Kent: holy cow. Hold on. I'm going to I'm going to make sure that everybody sees this. I'm going to. you go ahead and talk. want to I want to make sure that they see you. Hold on. Liz: Hahaha Yeah, so these are lanyards. Not all cons hand them out. Quite a few do. You just get them. Sometimes you'll just get the black string ones, which is fine. Kent: If I ran around my desk right now, I probably can go into a box right behind my monitor and I could pull out probably a good 80 to lanyards right now. Liz: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I actually haven't, that's my little collection, but I haven't, haven't... Kent: Let me see that again. Let's just hold them up right about there. Oh my goodness, Liz. I was wondering what was clinging around. I was like, holy cow. Liz: There's those and there's these. Oh, is it making noise? I need to take them off? Kent: you're good. You're good. I just heard them. I'm like, hmm, she got something like Liz: But I haven't even added this year's cons. Kent: And those are the ones that have lettering and stuff like that. Not just the plain black rope ones that sometimes you get. Yeah. that's a, yep. Liz: Yeah, so this is a San Diego one. Oh, this one I like. This was New Orleans Fan Expo, a year or so ago. Kent: Okay, you know we could do an episode just on lanyards Actually what we could do is just start adding the lanyard of the day Each week we just bring a lanyard and show here's the lanyard. got from the con this week or here's my favorite lanyard like That would take us like three years just to go through all our lanyards and then we get new ones Liz: We could. Great idea. It probably would. And some of course are duplicates because you know they might use the same style year after year. Kent: sure, that's... see now you got me... yeah, now see I'm writing down lanyards just because I got trading cards, I got lanyards, I mean... Liz: Ha ha! But that also brings me to stuff I collect. And I mean, we're not talking... Not talking super expensive collectibles. They're just stuff I have accumulated because I like them. And one of them is this honey, which... Let's see if it shows up. That is Frodo. A cardboard cutout of Frodo. It's a cutout. Life-size Hobbit. Kent: What do you collect? Gotcha. is that Frodo? That's Frodo. my gosh. Is that a cutout? life-size hobbit. So you have a life-size hobbit next to your desk. Liz: I do. There he is. Mwah mwah mwah. Love him. Elijah Wood. So last weekend I was at Planet Comic Con in Kansas City. Guess who was there? Kent: Elijah Woods. Great guy. Yeah, yeah. Okay. let's see. Mark Wahlberg. Liz: Elijah would. So we decided to steal Frodo. Kent: my goodness. Look at, there we go. he, Elijah Wood is stealing himself. So Frodo stealing Frodo. Love that. Liz: I got it. Yes. Yes. And I'm helping. I was like, I'll never get him and the cardboard cut out in the same place. And it happened and I was driving. So I talked. Kent: Yeah, I was going to say, did you drive that down to where you were at? my goodness. Liz: Yeah, Kansas City. So it wasn't a horrible drive, but it was, I've never had the opportunity to actually take something large like that to a con. And I thought, would that be silly? Would that be dumb? I thought, doesn't matter. I want to do it. And I was. Kent: Hmm. No, think that I mean, you got it. It's something that you want to do. You had the opportunity to do it and you wanted to create that moment. And there you go. Liz: Yeah, and he was actually really tickled by the whole affair. So that was fun. he did. He did. So that was great. Kent: I bet. Did he laugh about that? Now you, I know you took it with you and put it in the green room because you were working the green room. Did he laugh when he saw it? Liz: I actually didn't put it on display. No, I didn't put it on display because it didn't feel quite appropriate to have that one fandom thing represented, but not all of the other millions of fandoms. I would have, but I don't have a... Kent: Mm-hmm. Right. don't want to make the other people jealous. Liz: Yeah, though it's Elijah Wood and everybody loves him. So it probably would have been okay, but I didn't feel like it was appropriate. So I stashed him away in a corner and then used him for the photo op. Kent: He's a great guy. Yeah, yeah. So speaking of Elijah Woods, you know, we had talked about this, like meeting your heroes. And I know you have a whole topic on that and just meeting the heroes. So go ahead and share about meeting your heroes. Liz: Yes. Yeah, so last time we did talk about it a little bit about what's offered at the table when you approach your celebrity. What we do as handlers is to sell autographs, selfies on your phone, if there are toys or books and combos and all kinds of stuff. Kent: combo. Liz: So the big thing there, which a lot of people don't realize is that these things do cost money. we talked about it being the average cost these days would be somewhere around $60, maybe $80. But they range from 40 to 400, 500. So you just never know. Yeah, yeah. So we had said, you know, people like... Kent: Depending on who you're getting an autograph from, do your research. Liz: Tom Hiddleston, people like that, you're going to be paying three, $400. Kent: yeah. Well, and again, the comic con that you're going to always has a website. They always have who the list of people are. And a lot of them put the prices on there ahead of time so that you can be prepared for the charge of an autograph or a selfie or a combo and stuff like that. So do your do your due diligence. Like just don't show up and go, They charge for autographs. Yes, it's their business. It's the celebrities business because when they're not on screen or they're not at the studios, they're not getting paid. And this is their business is that's how they survive during the slow times when they're not on the TV studios or the movie studios and stuff like that. So they've got bills to pay to just they're not all like Tom Cruise or Nicole Kidman or, you know, some of these big names that don't Liz: Yeah. Yeah, and, and voice actors, voice actors do a job. They're done. And they're done. That's not like, yeah, it's not like they're gonna have ongoing income, though they might with royalties or however that works. But yeah. Kent: I mean, their royalties are so big that, yeah. Done. Yup. They get paid once. It's few and far between because the people I work with, the voice actors that they get paid one time to do the job, they're done and that's it. Like they just got the notoriety that they did that voice or that character. That's why these Comic Cons, yeah, and my yeah lead to another job. for them going to the Comic Cons, that's awesome for them. They love that because one, they want to meet the fans, but two, Liz: Yeah. and that might lead to another job. Kent: They're finally getting recognized for the work they've done and now they can make that extra income from their voice. Liz: Yeah. Yeah. I, I... Yes? Kent: Speaking of popularity, and I know we kind of talked about heroes, but you're good at this one, lines of the celebrities. Like, you know, a voice actor line versus Elijah Wood line. ooh. Liz: Yes. Yes, I can speak muchly on this. I've done, I also have done lines for years and you know, most people are very understanding and very patient and then sometimes you get angry people. I mean, you're going to get that wherever you go. So because they've been waiting a long time because the celebrity had six hours. Kent: Yes. Why are they angry? How long is a long time? Liz: Maybe. Or, you know, the celebrity went to get lunch and someone's unhappy about that. It's like, well, it's kind of hard work being nice to people signing, talking, you know. Kent: Yeah. Well, and again, it's the popularity of the person. Like, I could tell you there are voice actors that, you know, they don't have long lines. It's just a steady line. So you might wait five, 10, 15 minutes. But then you have voice actors like Johnny Young Bosch. You're going to wait two, three hours just to get his autograph. And it's just because he's signing as fast as he can, doing the quotes, doing all that stuff. And he's talking while he's doing that. Liz: Yes. Kent: But he's, you know, got to get up, you to do a selfie and that takes, you know, for every person you figure that's two, three minutes. There's only 60 minutes in an hour. So, you know, if you're at the back of the line, you're going to be waiting, you know, just like I was just at a comic con this week. And on Friday, because there were some actors that weren't there on Friday, Christopher Lloyd was there. Liz: Yeah. Yes, Kent: All right, from Back to the Future, Star Trek, Clue, a whole bunch of other movies he's Roger Rabbit. See? But his line was so long, they had overflow in two other actors booth because they weren't there. And people were waiting like on a Friday, three hours to get an autograph from Christopher Lloyd. And he was a big draw at this comic con was at in Lexington. Liz: Frotcha rabbit. Yes. Kent: You know, so Liz: Yeah. Kent: you will wait and but the thing everybody. If you start talking and you have a conversation with them, it's going to take time out of everybody else behind you. And I know there are those people. actually had a lady that was like, I don't care about the people behind me. And I was like, wow. Like just have a little respect because eventually you're gonna be behind that same person that's gonna say the same thing and you're gonna get pissed off because the person in front of you is like I don't care about other everybody behind me and I told the lady like that and she's like I don't care and I was like Wow, I hope that cookie gets crumbled a little bit there because you know Liz: Well, mean, lines is like Disneyland. Lines is just part of the experience. If yes, well, yes, getting into the con itself, then getting autographs. get people running, you know, running when they enter to get to an autograph line. You, that's so... Kent: especially if you're wanting to get autographs. Yeah. Liz: It's funny, like you said, there's like voice actors who you wouldn't normally expect because you don't know their face, you know their voice. But you get voice actors like the guys from Avatar, Last Airbender, they have huge lines and they'll be waiting, yeah, three or four hours. And... Kent: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, Greg Baldwin. Yep. Yep. Liz: You don't expect that. I remember the first time I saw Dante Basco, who plays Zuko on Avatar. I remember the first time I saw that he was at a con, I thought, well, I'll just wander up when I have a minute. No, no, there's a couple of hours right there. But the thing about lines is. Kent: huh. Yep. not gonna happen. Liz: It's really great if you can just be talking to people around you. You can make friends, obviously. You have a similar fan taste, you know. You're in line for Rob Paulson and you can talk about how much you love him in all of his different roles. And it's wonderful. I actually got a job from somebody I met in a line when I was doing line control. Kent: Yeah. Yeah. Liz: and a job at another con because it was a con owner in the line and I was like so I get to chatting and he says I need people like you I'm okay that's great Kent: Oh cool, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I can tell you I've made friends at Comic-Cons. that I've now known over a decade. Just like my buddy Adam met him at San Diego Comic Con. He was standing in front of me. We were in the Hasbro line to get a collectible. And we just started talking. We exchanged numbers. We bumped into each other a couple of other times at other lines and stuff like that. And I've known him well over 10 years. And we still help each other with different things, collectibles and things like that. So, yeah. when you're in line take the opportunity to meet the people around you you know doesn't mean you have to like everybody but at least hey where you from what brought you to the comic-con you know just ask a couple questions you know why do you like the person that you're standing in line for what did what's your favorite thing that they did you know because if you're standing in line for Christopher Lloyd I mean Liz: Mm-hmm. Kent: I might be in line for Clue and you might be in line for Back to the Future, but it's the same actor that we're going after. Liz: Yeah, it really helps to pass the time as well. If you're having an animated conversation with somebody because you love Lord of the Rings, you can be da-da-da-da-da-da-da, and suddenly an hour has gone by and you've moved forward 20 feet or something. So as a line control person, I do that too. I ask them, Kent: Mm-hmm. Liz: you know, why are you here or what role are you here for? And, and yes, I love that too. And you just kind of get in conversations. I remember at I was at DragonCon, I was doing overflow lines for Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk. And so I never I wasn't actually in the same room as them. But I had several shoots of lines. Kent: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Liz: And, and you know, people can kind of meander between lines and you don't want that. You want them to be keeping their place. So I played with the line. said, okay, this shoot, you are my fireflies. This shoot, you are my rookies. You are my castles. You are my this, that, and the other. And in fact, yeah, one of Alan's lines was called Destiny because he was in that game. And then somebody said, you are my density from from back to the future. So then that line became the densities. So just silly, silly. And you can make it fun or you can make it miserable. It's it's really your choice. Kent: Yeah. And again, it's just part of the Comic-Con, especially when you go to large Comic-Cons. know, like you said, there's lines to get in and get your badges. There's lines just to stand for the panels. There's lines for the celebrities. Like there's lines just to get food at the food court. So it's just ATMs again. Liz: ATMs, lines for the ATMs. Kent: when you go to a comic con bring cash because cash is king not all people can take credit cards you think that there's a you know 80,000 people at a comic con all using the Wi-Fi haha it bogs it down so you know I always tell people cash is king one because you have it two you don't get any surcharges where you would with a credit card and stuff like that and three it just makes Liz: Yes, yes you do. Kent: it go faster all around, you know. And while you're in line... Liz: And also, go ahead. Kent: Be prepared, prepare yourself. What do you want? Like, kind of get a feel of what picture you want because when you come up to the table and you're standing there like this, I know it's a lot, but know the genre that you want. Do you want a Back to the Future, Star Trek? you know, do you want Lord of the Rings or do you want other things that the celebrities done? Have that ready. Do you want your name on the autograph? Do you want it personalized to you or do you just want their inscription, their signature? know, telling us this helps us, but it also makes the process smoother and easier for not only you, but everybody that's in line. Liz: And we usually will write down, if you want a personalization, we will write down the spelling of your name. Because as we all know, you you spent, spelled all kinds of names, all kinds. Yes, Kent, Kent has an X in it. No, that has an X, it does have an X. But you know, sometimes us, you know, they'll be like Kelly and it's spelled some, what, yeah. Kent: Elizabeth different ways or Carrie No, there's only one Kent. No, there's no accident K-E-L-L-I-E, K-E-L-L-Y, K-Y-L-I-E. Liz: And don't get me started on Megan and Kayleigh. So that also helps. Sometimes people say, no, I don't want my name. And then they change their mind by the time they get to the celebrity. So it just helps mostly. Also, if, go ahead. I was going to say, if you bring something to sign, like a poster or a Funko pop, Kent: yeah. Yep. Yeah, yeah. Now, go ahead. Go ahead. No, no, that's on you. Liz: It counts as a premium item, so it may be more expensive to get signed. But have it ready. Have the Funko out of its case. Have the poster at least out of its tube and ready to go. So that you don't waste those precious moments trying to fumble with openings and catches and things. Also, as Kent said, cash cash cash. In fact, I don't know of any celebrity that does not take cash. I'm pretty sure most of the screen actors I've seen, yeah. Kent: they all take cash, but some of them will take a square or things like that just because they know some people don't have cash. Liz: Well, and also... use... yeah. Kent: But I'm telling you, is king. Because when you get swiped on that Square Reader, you're getting charged a fee and it doesn't go to the celebrity, it goes to you. So that $60 autograph now becomes $66. And that adds up. Think about that. If you get two autographs, that's $12 extra in fees that you just spent. Liz: but I like to use my card when I can for emergency autograph needs. that if I emergency, you know, suddenly it's like, man, I didn't realize that guy was here. And I just spent my last $60 over there. Well, I'd much rather put it on the credit card so that I have an emergency fund. Kent: Emergency. sure but you can also have an emergency fund cash too yeah yeah speaking of meeting your heroes and standing in line and stuff like that we know that some people feel that if the celebrities don't have a line it's okay to come up and have a long conversation with a celebrity or well you've talked to them once Liz: Well, that's what I mean. Yeah. But. Kent: and they still don't have a line, so they're gonna come up two, three times again to ask 20 more questions. What are your thoughts on that, Liz? Liz: That's tricky. It is tricky because there is a sense of the pleasure of seeing somebody again. So it's almost like you now do have a bit of an acquaintance ship. But on the other hand, maybe they just need a little bit of downtime, whether not talking to anyone, not talking to us. It's like they just might need to check their messages or, you know, they just need a little bit of time alone. maybe maybe one more return to say goodbye if there's no one there. But to, you know, to come up again and again, I think it can be quite tiring for the celebrity. you know, if you are buying, yeah, I need to buy one more autograph. Obviously that's going to work for us. But if it's hellos, that can get quite tiring. Kent: And the reason I brought this up is just because I was just at a show and there was a gentleman that came up, got an autograph, asked a question. And of course, the celebrity didn't have a long line, which is fine. And we always as handlers give people the due diligence or the time that they need. And then more people were coming up. So he left and took off. Well, then, you know, an hour later, there was nobody in line. So he came back and he's like, well, you know, I forgot to ask this question. So he started asking a question, and then asked the question, talent answered it, and then he stood there. And he was like trying to think of more questions, and then he ran, and then he took off. And I was like, okay. And then he came back another 30 minutes later asking a thing. He's like, got more questions. And I'm like, OK, just because they're there doesn't mean you need to spend all your time asking them questions. You know, you're here. There are other celebrities that you can go and meet and talk to and stuff like that. Just again, and this is sharing information to the listeners that are listening to us if we got one person listening. But it is, how would you feel if somebody came up five times to your table asking you question after question after question? You'd probably not like it, but they smile and they do it anyways. Liz: I suppose it's be sensitive. Kent: So know your social cues or don't overstay your welcome. You know, hey, I loved you. You did this. Hey, what about this? Great. You know, but when you come back four or five times for the same stuff, oh, I love you. I just wanted to tell you I saw you had no line. OK, but you don't have to do it two, three times. And again, we're just giving people tips, you know, because again, this this might be the first time you've met a celebrity and we as handlers are very excited for you because we know how that is but you gotta also understand this is not the talent's first time out of comic-con so when they've got repeat people coming back and forth it kind of makes them raw Liz: Mm. Kent: about it. So and sometimes I've been with talent where like all right I'm going to take a break for a couple of months because of stuff like that. Liz: no, really? Kent: Yeah, again, most celebrities are introverts, not extroverts. You got to understand they act the role because they don't like being around people and they can act and do their skill, but they're really introverts. And going to a comic con uses all their energy. Liz: Yes, they act, they act a role. Kent: the end of the day I've literally seen talent like I'm going to my room I'm gonna get room of service to my hotel room and then people are like how are you enjoying this city they haven't left the comic-con and they haven't left their room because they are so spent that they don't get to Liz: or the room. But you and I, you and I, we go out, we stay up half the night, and we're having a great time, but then we're not putting, putting out as much effort to... Yeah. Kent: Sometimes. but I'm an extrovert. love meeting the people that come up to the tables. I love hearing the stories and then yeah I'm gonna go explore the city because you know I'm there. Speaking of cities I was in Lexington this weekend and you you collected your little... did you you said you got to meet Elijah Woods right? Yeah and you had the Frodo taking Frodo right? Well I got Liz: Yeah? Well, we did that in New Orleans. Yeah, yeah, well, yeah. Yeah, yeah, so I got to speak to him at another time, not during the photo op. Kent: Well, I got to hang out with some nostalgic guys. I got to hang out like people that have changed the marijuana industry have been spoke people like, yeah, man, you know what I mean? Like, yeah. Oh, yeah. I got that little cheat to chon going on there. Liz: like Hahaha Yes I do! Very nice! Chichen Chong! yeah, I mean that's icons, icons. Kent: Yeah, I got to hang out with those guys are hilarious. Well, I mean, think about it. One is seventy nine and one is eighty eight. Liz: 88? Wow! Kent: 79 and 88. So they are, I wouldn't say relics, but they've been around for a long time and have. Liz: Hahaha Yeah. Kent: done so much. And it's Liz: You know. Kent: funny because when they're in the green room, everybody comes running up to them all the different talent, because they all know them because those two guys have helped so many people in the industry, writing songs, doing scripts, getting them into I mean, he Cheech was telling me like he helped two of the actors that were in the green room get roles for these big TV and movie parts. Liz: Really? Kent: Yeah, yeah, it was crazy. I was like, I was hearing all kinds of great stories. I was like, but those two together like brothers, like just picking on each other. Yeah. Liz: that's terrific. that's great. Well, that's another thing we have the privilege to see is celebrities interacting and fanboying over each other. I just, it's such a pleasure. mean, I've actually introduced celebrities to each other because they were fans. I love that. That's wonderful. Kent: Yep. Yeah, and the big the name. I mean, I've actually taken big names like Carl Urban and introduced him to like, Mike Coulter from Luke Cage, like, yeah, they just introduced and they're both fans. But they're scared to introduce talk. I'm like, you guys, you're in the same industry. You like you should just network. Liz: right, right. Yeah, absolutely. Kent: Yeah, it's crazy. Liz: So there was one other small thing about being prepared at the table. When you come up there, hopefully you have realised what the cost is that you've investigated. It's really nice when you have your cash ready and flat and dry. Kent: Sure. dry? Why would the money be wet? Liz: Sweat. Sweat. Yes, I have had damp money given to me and it's, it is not pleasant. Have you? Kent: of course people put them in the weirdest places like to stick some of the money in their bras Liz: you. So, yes, dry flat money, much appreciated by handlers. Exact change, very nice, but not necessary. It's just very convenient. Kent: No, and that's the thing people come up all the time and like autograph might be $80 and they give you 100 and like, do you have change? We always have change to make sure that you're paying your $80 not I mean, unless you want to give me a $20 tip for standing there dealing with this situation. Sure, I'll take it. Liz: I've tried that. I've tried that. It doesn't usually work, Kent: never works. I've actually had people feel bad for me and like go and get me a coffee or like I always Liz: Rune! Kent: I always say chocolate and licorice are good briberies. And people have brought back chocolate bars for me. Licorice, black, red, I don't care. I'll eat it. Licorice is licorice. So they brought in packages of licorice for me. And, know, those are the little things that stand out to, you guys, you just got VIP scoot of the line kind of thing. Liz: we should talk about VIP tickets! Kent: Oh my goodness. Do we have the time? All right. We got about 15 more minutes and then we're going to end this because you know our listeners have other things to do except listen to us. Liz: Okay, so... Nah, no. Kent: Hey, speaking of which, if you are enjoying our conversation or we're given some good nuggets of information, please follow us on our social media conversations with coffee. We're on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube channel. So please like us, follow us. We've got tons of information and we are going to start bringing in some guest speakers, whether it's a cosplayer or voice actor or a celebrity, they wanna be on our show. I've told them that we're having this podcast and they're like, I wanna be on it. So I'm like, more, yeah, there's more candy in the pot. Liz: But so briefly with VIP status you get the tickets are usually what three times the amount of a normal ticket so Kent: More? Yeah, because you're getting head of the line cuts for autographs and panels. Yeah. Liz: And that is the big thing. That is the big thing. You do get a bit of swag, maybe a bag, maybe a t-shirt, one or two things like that. But the huge thing is if you want autographs, that fast pass, line jumping, front of line. Kent: Yeah. like a fast pass at Disneyland. Yet more rides. Yeah, especially if you got to get a lot of autographs at a big show. Everybody I hear it's worth it. Liz: Yeah, it is absolutely priceless because Yeah, I mean... Yeah, I once got one. was the year Stan Lee was in Denver and I forked out the money and it was just amazing. You don't get in right away, but they'll take something like three VIPs for one general admission. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but either way. Yeah, or less, you know, it might be three hours and 10 minutes, so it's really... Kent: Yep. So instead of two hours in line, you get 30 minutes in line. Liz: If you really are excited about a person to meet or the panels as you said, it is really worth it. It's a ton of money. yeah. Yeah. Kent: Well, you were just at MegaCon. you were just at Megakon and all the Lord of the Rings people were there. So if you got a poster and you're going to get eight or however many there were, just say 10 people and you need to get all those autographs on that poster, you're not going to stand in line for two, three hours for one autograph. Because think about it, you're only going to get you're only going to get two or three autographs a day and you've got to get 10. So is it worth the VIP pass? Yes, because you might only say Liz: and then go on to the next one. Yeah. Kent: spend 30 minutes to an hour and then think about it. You can get eight, nine of those autographs in a day on a four day con and then you get to enjoy doing the panels and all the other stuff the rest of the time. But yeah, if you've got to get a lot, it's worth it. Liz: Yeah, going shopping. Yeah, I don't get to go shopping that much, but there's so much to buy. Kent: You go shopping more than I do. Liz: Yeah, because you get free stuff. Kent: No, I don't. Liz, who just went and got a sword? Liz: that was a gift. Kent: okay, so but who just got a huge Lord of the Rings sword? Liz: I did. Me. But it was a gift from an absolutely amazing gentleman. that was just very much loved and appreciated. Because I would have bought it, but then I probably wouldn't have a husband anymore. Kent: Yep. Awesome. Yeah, bonus. Well, and then you know, that's that's part of the comic-con is going through the vendor hall and and seeing all the stuff that people make I mean, I know I have a group of friends from Dragon con that go to awesome con and They literally go to awesome Awesome cons in Washington DC and they will go to awesome con because the turtle tee booth is there and they buy Liz: you Where is AwesomeCon? okay. Kent: all the turtle tees. t-shirts and they wear them to the dragon cons and different comic cons and stuff like that. So yeah, I mean there are people that just go to the comic con they're not into the celebrities they're there for the panels and the swag and the the stuff that the vendors have, you know, the posters or you know, whatever it is. I mean, there's one stand that makes, you know, mugs with different genre that could be the Lord of the Rings. It could be anime, Star Wars. Star Trek, Doctor Who, but they have all the different coffee mugs of all the stuff that you want and then you're like, my gosh, I have always been looking for that scream mug or the terrifier mug and you know, I mean, I work for an agent, she loves terrifiers. So anything terrifier out in there, we just get. But yeah, that's the fun part. Liz: He's not a pretty clown. He's scary. Kent: I don't watch horror, so I don't know about it. I just know how scary the terrifying clown is. And the honking of the horn, yeah. I've learned as I hear conversations of different parts of the movie and I'm like, okay. Liz: Did you know that, I mean, he's a lovely man. I've seen him at a number of cons, but did you know that he does full makeup for his professional photo ops? So when you get a photo op with, is it David Howard Thornton? That's his name, I think. When you get a photo op with him, it is full on hideous makeup. And it is so elaborate. Kent: David? All the Yep, yep, all makeup. Liz: you'd never know. It's just amazing. can't imagine a more wonderful photo op if you like horror. Kent: There are people that literally have to wait five, 10 minutes standing there in the photo op area because they are so scared of him because of what he does in the movies that they are scared to stand next to him in the makeup. And so they have a holding cue at some of the photo shoots. They have a holding cue in some of the photo shoots because people are so scared of the terrifier, the clown. Liz: Really? way. Kent: that when they see them, literally lock up and freeze. And so they have a little cue so that people can calm down and relax and then get in the photo shoot. yeah, it's a big thing. Liz: I had no idea. That is... I mean, it's... it's so surreal. Yeah. Kent: Yes, I know it's a baffling to think about that, but he does such a good job in makeup. Like I've literally seen him walk across the con, you know, in front of some of the signing booths just to go to photo ops in costume and he'll honk his horn and people scream. Like, let him murder because they think he's after them and all he's doing is walking to his photo shoot and he'll honk the horn. Like, and they're like, yeah. He's my height. He's my height. He sticks three. Yeah, I hang out with him. I. Liz: And he's so tall, he really stands out. Is he? Okay, he feels taller. Kent: I see him quite a bit. Liz: Because of your friend, yes. Kent: Yes, yes, yes, yes. But yeah, it's crazy. And that's the fun part of going to the Comic-Cons is just seeing stuff like that. That's why we do this. We, Meanie, me and Liz and several of our friends do this all the time because we enjoy this. This is our expensive hobby. But we also created this podcast because we really want to share the tips and tricks with you so that you get a better feel because there's a lot of people that have never been to a Comic-Con and they're like, What do I need to do? Yeah, so you know each episode that we do we will try to keep it at 30 minutes You know like this one We talked a lot Yeah, well we were just at a show both at shows, but you know we want to make sure that you as the listener know You know the ins and outs what helps the celebrity what helps you what helps the lines what helps you know the ATMs and stuff like that Liz: Should I dress up? Yeah. This one was double. Kent: You know, it's just we're there to help you We want to give you tips and tricks to make your con experience better because between Liz and I we've got 30 years of experience doing this and We know a couple of things that can help you out to have a better experience. So that's why we put this podcast together Plus it gives us a chance each week to you know reminisce and talk about old stuff or new stuff and you know Liz, where are you going next? Liz: Well, it's holiday coming up, so nowhere this weekend. Easter! For us more traditional people, it is Easter. And then in the middle of April, I've got two cons local to me, so I'll be driving to both of those, volunteering at both of those, because local shows, I like to help out. Kent: Holiday? What holiday? April Fool's? Okay, there you go. Okay. Annoyce. Yeah. Liz: and then in May I don't remember. Kent: Well, makes away we got more episodes till May. So we're just talking April and stuff like that. Me. I'm actually going on a con cruise this week. actually leave tomorrow to go to Jacksonville to hop on a cruise and go do that. And then after. Nope. Yeah, and then next week I will be in San Antonio. Liz: So what about you? Can you say which which con it is? Okay then. Kent: At a mall. This promoter does mall signings. We just had a My Name is Earl there. It's Clowns or something like that. But I got two of the Scream Queens. got one from Scream and one from Terrifier that I'll be there. Voight is one of them. And I can't remember the other one. I'll to think about it. I'll mention it next week before I go. And then I'm doing... Southern Texas Comic Con. So I'll be in Texas twice this month. Yeah. Liz: Wow. And, and for you out there, I hope you know there are... Yes, definitely that. Kent: Come up and say hi if you see us at the booths. I always love that when people say hi and then the celebrities looking at us like, do you know everybody? Yes, we do. Liz: Yes, I get that a lot too. Kent: Hey, who knows I mean we I mean if we have more than one follower subscriber, know that could be pretty funny like standing in line Waving at us and then the celebrities like why are they waving at you? just my podcast. That's all Liz: Yeah and then we pull out some 8x10s from our backpack of me and Kent. It's like yeah. Kent: I will sign those for free. I will sign those for free. Nobody wants my autograph, let alone a headshot of me. So that's all right. But. Liz: Hahaha Kent: It's fun to connect with people. I really if you're at a comic con you see me or liz come up and say hi We love to meet our listeners. We love to meet new people You know, we're in your cities a lot of time and we don't know where to go So, please give us the tips and tricks of where to go eat things to do things to see help us navigate around the town that that is awesome Like I was just in where was we we were just up in Liz: Please do. Kent: Richmond and we got to go to the guar bar the band guar G W A R guar Liz it's not in your genre I know it's not like Eddie Van Halen or somebody like that but you know or Frank Sinatra but guar bar popular band and so we went and checked that out that was fun that was fun Liz: It's a band. Hey, hey. Alright, well, well, I think we're just about to hit one hour, so we should probably, probably bid you farewell until next time. Thanks for bid you farewell. Kent: Yeah! You talk a lot. How do you say that, Biddu? Liz: What can I say? I'm British. Kent: What can you say? Yes, you are British Liz. And that's why she goes by. So if you see her at a comic con, Hey, British Liz. Doesn't didn't you get a nickname from one of the celebrities British Liz, or non British Liz or or were you being a stalker? Liz: That's me. Yes, fake. No, I, well I probably was, but yes, he, he decided to make up a bit where I became fake British Liz. How I put on the accent and, and then he decided I was from Brooklyn, actually. So it just became this Brooklyn Liz. So it became this thing. Very silly. But yeah. Kent: Brooklyn Liz, huh? Awesome, awesome. Well, we are conversations with coffee. My name is Kent and this is Liz. We're super excited to have you here. Thank you for listening to us. Come back for our next episode to learn more tips and tricks. And who knows we might have some surprises or treats to share with you. I know we're talking about possibly giving away some swag to our listeners. Liz: So we've had, we had some fun. Yes. Yeah, maybe one of these. Yeah. Kent: there we go. That's how you can get rid of those lanyards. Yay! All right, everybody. I hope you have an amazing day. Keep smiling because you never know whose world you're going to change. Go out there. Be the rock star that you are. And we will see you next time right here at Conversations with Coffee. Bye. Liz: Bye! Bye!