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Date Posted: 19:51:53 08/30/04 Mon
Author: wwolfe
Author Host/IP: 161.149.63.110
Subject: My Adventures at the Convention (The "Buffy" Convention, That Is)
About Oakland, it was once famously said that there is no "there" there. The speaker, Gertrude Stein, clearly wasn't a "Buffy" fan, since this past weekend a large and festive convention was held in the heart of that city to celebrate that show, and I - as well as the city - was there. (For her part, Ms. Stein presumably belonged to that group unable to forgive the death of Tara.)
I flew up on a propeller plane, a mode of transportation I find both romantic (visions of Rick saying farewell to Ilsa in "Casablanca") and chilling (visions of Carole Lombard scattered across Table Mountain in Nevada). From the airport, I took BART to the Marriott at the Convention Center, and let me add my voice to the many singing the praises of that remarkable mass transit system. Comfy seats, timely service, plus the added bonus of naming itself after a great TV cartoon character.
After checking into my room, I met Jen and Bevin, with the three of us grabbing a bite to eat at the Starbuck's down the street before heading to the Friday evening Q&A sessions back at the hotel. First up was George Hertzberg (Adam), Camden Toy (Narl in "Same Time, Same Place" and the UberVamp in several Season Seven episodes), Jonathan Woodward ("Conversation with Dead People" and the lab guy who killed Fred on "Angel"), and Kelly Donovan (Nicholas Brendon's twin brother and doppelganger in "The Replacement"). I was a little worried that there wouldn't be enough questions from the audience to fill the allotted time, but it was quickly shown that there really isn't much reason for concern in this respect any time you put a "Buffy" person in front of a "Buffy" crowd. As would prove to be almost uniformly true throughout the weekend, all three of the participants were friendly and helpful. Camden Toy looks very much like Christopher Guest's character in "The Princess Bride" - if he'd been around in the 1930s and ‘40s, he would have been in every swashbuckler made on the Warner Brothers backlot. George Herzberg has the looks and stature of a leading man, and the spirit of a vaudeville clown - an appealing combination. Jonathan Woodward managed to avoid the smarmy wise-ass quality that made me not care for his work on "Buffy" or "Angel" (although I thought he was good on "Firefly"). Kelly Donovan clearly enjoys the fact that his brother's success allows him to tag along to conventions like this one - he appears as much a fan as anyone in the audience and never assumes any airs: he's just a happy-go-lucky guy who recognizes he fell into a lucky break and is having fun with it.
Next up was the Trio de la Geek. (Disappointingly, this wasn't the name used to describe them, the less memorable Troika being the preferred term.) Adam Busch spoke (a lot) about the evils of Clear Channel's dominance of radio and live performance venues, but he managed to be articulate, passionate, and self-deprecating enough that it never became a drag. Danny Strong is funny and smart and seems very comfortable with himself, vis a vis his role in the BuffyVerse. I was surprised when he said in answer to my question that it wasn't until Season Six that he knew the show's Powers That Be were going to keep using him; before that, he assumed each appearance would be his last. Of all the people I was able to observe at the convention, only Tom Lenk seemed somewhat ill at ease. He was in no way unfriendly or less than thoughtful in his dealings with the fans, but something - perhaps an innate shyness - created the slight impression that he was not perhaps able to relax and enjoy the fun as easily as his fellow participants. That said, his answers were informative and he was polite and appreciative when I got his autograph the next day, so I have no complaints.
The last panel on Friday was, in the words of Stephanie Romanov, the Est Fest: in addition to Ms. Romanov, Brigid Brannagh (Virginia, Wesley's brief fling from Season Two of "Angel"), Iyari Limon (Kennedy), and Claire Kramer (Glory). The surprise here was Claire Kramer, who was sharp, funny, and charming - in no way like the roles for which she's best known in "Buffy" or "Bring It On." I was surprised to hear that she's only been acting for five years as of now: she moved to LA after college and landed the role of Glory four months later. Knives must have been sharpened in the homes of struggling ingenues all across Los Angeles at that news. Stephanie Romanov is in Robin Williams' next movie (coming out this fall) and is trying to have a baby (not coming out this fall). Brigid Brannagh was compelling in her discussions of the attenuated nature of most roles available to women. Iyari Limon was tiny and just about as friendly as a person could be - it's baffling how likable she herself could be, having played such an intensely annoying character on the show. I blame the writers - mainly because I haven't met them, so I don't have to feel guilty about blaming them.
Following the last session, we attended the cocktail party where we got to chat with the performers who appeared at the Q&As. I was surprised by how nervous I was at the prospect of talking to these folks, but after a little judicious and appreciated prompting from Jen, I managed to slide into the group surrounding Tony Head, where I took advantage of a pause in the conversation to tell him I liked his album. He thanked me for that, so I decided to quit while I was ahead. Jen talked to Claire Kramer about the preparation required for the cheerleading scenes in "Bring It On" and I offered my interpretation of Glory as Joss's satiric version of a studio head - specifically, Jamie Kellner. She may have been wishing for a butterfly net, but she was gracious enough to laugh, for which I was grateful.
That was the end of Friday's activities. Jen and Bevin headed to the friend's home where they were staying and I headed to my room. There I made the happy discovery that from my eighth floor window I looked directly out at the lovely headquarters of the Oakland Tribune. Similar in appearance to Manhattan's Woolworth Building, at night the letters of the newspaper's name appear in a delicate and appealing red neon perched beneath the verdigris on the gabled copper roof.
Here's how it looks in the sun:
http://www.worldfromtheweb.com/Parks/Oakland/P5090046.html
On Saturday morning, we met at 11:00 for an early lunch-slash-late breakfast, choosing the Burger King down the street, with its perplexing faux bookcase adornments on the walls. As we walked to the counter, we passed between two elderly black gentlemen engaged in idle conversation; one of the two, who'd made the unassailable fashion choice to don a very dapper yachting cap, eyed Jen up and down and announced in no uncertain terms, "Too fly, motherfucker!" Who could argue?
After making a quick tour of the memorabilia room, we lined up for our autograph session. The woman who ran the event, apparently having interned at the PR firm of Himmler, Goering, and Associates, charmed everyone with her uncanny imitation of a nasty egomaniac screeching over a microphone. The performers themselves, happily, were remarkably pleasant for what must be in some ways a tedious activity. Among the ways a person could spend lots of money real fast was to win the right to eat dinner with an actor, via the auctions held early Saturday afternoon (some of which were emceed by Claire Kramer, by the way). The woman in front of me in the line to get Nick Brendon's autograph announced to him, "I'm having dinner with you tonight!" I told him, "I'm not, but it's nothing personal." I count as a happy moment that he laughed at this - somehow, making the guy who played Xander Harris laugh felt like paying a major karmic debt.
After the autograph session came the day's Q&As. Saturday brought out the big guns, starting with Tony Head and Nick Brendon. If vaudeville weren't dead, these two would make an excellent comedy team. Nick seemed to possess an unfailing ability to crack up Tony, while Tony was able to apply the needle to Nick in a very deft manner. It was not unlike Giles and Xander, except much more ribald. One moment that caught me up short: in answer to a fan's question about what was his most emotionally difficult scene to play, Nick said the dream scene in "Restless" where his father came down the basement stairs, saying that it hit too close to home for him. Although he quickly added that his dad wasn't abusive, it struck me as a revealing, even poignant, comment amidst the funny. On a happier note, Tony made a point of stating in no uncertain terms that a family atmosphere existed among the cast - all the cast, he made very clear - right up to the very end of the show. That was nice to hear, and very decent of him to say, after all the speculation to the contrary on the fan sites. Since he was there and I wasn't, I choose to accept his version of events.
Next was Alexis Denisoff, who was a total mensch. The basic approach to a Q&A is to assume a joking attitude to most questions, with perhaps an occasional serious reply. In contrast, Alexis was clearly thinking about each answer, making a sincere attempt to offer an incisive and informative response. He also was unfailingly kind and generous to his colleagues on both shows, while exhibiting a good sense of humor, in most cases at his own expense. This was his first convention in America, so perhaps he won't have the energy or the interest needed to continue with this level of effort forever, but he made a lot of fans with this appearance.
Last was James Marsters, who, it's safe to say, owned the room. James uses a nice balance of Tony and Nick's jocularity with Alexis's carefully considered answers, plus, of course, his own touch of the rock star. The most revealing, and gratifying, comment was when he spoke of the moment when he realized that a certain segment of the audience was seeing him as a sex symbol, and nothing else; he, quite understandably, wanted to use and protect his talents as an actor (he ought to, since he's a fine one), so he took direct and effective action: he stopped working out. Heh. I liked what he told Joss, as well: anything you write, whether I've got one line or hundred, I want to be in it.
After the Q&As, we stuck around for a short improv session with George Hertzberg and James Leary (Clem); both were game, and they've got potential as a sketch comedy team, but they'd be helped by a venue that wasn't big enough to house the Spruce Goose.
After dinner at a micro-brewery down the street, Jen, Bevin, and I said our farewells. I had a very good time. Much like the Boards at their busiest, there were a handful of strange people who were a little irritating - 600 photos in one Q&A session is too many! - but most people were just there to have a good time and to show their appreciation to the performers. And the performers made it clear how much they appreciated us. It's nice for both of us to have a chance to do that.
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Re: My Adventures at the Convention (The "Buffy" Convention, That Is) -- Kuzibah, 08:57:29 08/31/04 Tue (12.175.117.195)
We had the opportunity to meet Camden Toy earlier this month at Horrorfind, and found him to be quite charming. He actually came out from behind his autograph table to pose for photos with us, and introduced himself. In general, Buffy folks at the cons have impressed me, maybe because the insane cult following was so unexpected.
Glad you had a good time.
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Re: Photos. -- wwolfe, 11:50:21 08/31/04 Tue (161.149.63.100)
Danny Strong did the same for me. I bought Volume Two of the "The Watcher's Guide" and had all three of the Troika sign it (they should've signed Volume Three, but it wasn't available in the memorabilia room). I asked Danny if I could have my picture taken with him and he said, "I'm not supposed to, but I won't tell if you don't." That was nice of him, I thought.
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Re: My Adventures at the Convention (The "Buffy" Convention, That Is) -- Mcookies, 10:02:32 09/03/04 Fri (66.28.244.34)
wwwolfe, I have so missed your writing. I'd enjoy your review of the phone book. :-)
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Thanks. -- wwolfe, 11:11:20 09/03/04 Fri (161.149.63.110)
That phone book - it's a real page-turner.
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Slows down a bit around "R." -- Grim ,_,_), 11:20:30 09/03/04 Fri (66.95.229.84)
But picks up unexpectedly around "X."
I saw the end coming, but I won't spoil it for you.
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I'm so tempted to read the last page, but I'll resist! -- Mcookies, 12:56:41 09/03/04 Fri (66.28.244.34)
I like to be surprised.
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Just had to say that I agree with Mcookies. -- fiRechild, 07:34:44 09/10/04 Fri (138.130.218.110)
wwolfe, you are such a great word smith. Combined with your knack for taking note of minor, yet important details, and your wicked sense of humour, makes your factual writing as compelling as Kuz's fictional.
I thank you both.
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Hee hee. Glad you had such a good time. :) -- Delirium, 01:53:38 09/08/04 Wed (67.127.232.231)
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