Can I just say I would love to be invited over to
Nathan Fillion’s house for a barbeque some weekend? Once I got past the awkward
speechlessness and staring I think it would be a great time. He tells great
stories, gives people gifts and just seems like a guy you’d want to hang out
with once you got past the awkward speechlessness and staring.
Saturday afternoon at Phoenix Comicon was beyond
crowded. It was wall to wall people wearing Jayne hats and Firefly t-shirts
competing with those of us wearing Castle shirts and Dr. Horrible costumes. We
were a zillion sardines crammed into several hundred thousand square feet of
space all vying for a choice spot when the panel started.
I am pretty sure there were at least four thousand
people wedged in line outside the auditorium while another four thousand had
already stake their claim to Nathan’s panel inside. My only complaint here was
if the staff at Comicon was really going to enforce their rule of everyone must
exist at the end of each panel then they needed to put bodies in the room to
make sure that happened. There were probably two thousand people in line behind
us that didn’t get in but stood in line over an hour anyway. Just a thought for
next year if you can coerce Mr. Fillion to come back – have two panels and put
them on different days.
We got two seats in the nose bleed section on an end
but were happy to have them. The auditorium has great audio and video screens
everywhere so there was still a great view regardless. The panel started at
4:30 and it was the fastest hour in my life. The man is charming, funny and
handles an audience deftly.
After the cheers and poses upon his entrance Nathan
made the obligatory remarks about how hot Arizona is in the summer. For those
that have never been here, imagine putting your head inside a convection oven.
It’s hot. Nathan commented about how bright it was outside and that he suffered
from Phoenician blindness. It’s true that effect does occur – the sun goes
right through your eyes and seers parts of your brain.
Then, he took questions from the audience for the
rest of the panel. When he’d answered the first fan’s question he gave her a
watch. Everyone was stunned and there was instant “aww” factor until after the
next question and there was a new watch on his wrist. We were all so mesmerized
by him speaking we didn’t notice he’d slipped another watch on. I think he gave
away probably twelve or fifteen watches and then moved onto the envelope they
came in and the water bottles on the table.
One of the fans who asked a question was wearing a
salt blaster with her costume and this turned into a story involving wasps at a
barbeque and Nathan’s addiction to gadgets. Evidently, this gun shoots salt at
bugs but when Nathan shot it at the wasps one of the bugs flew up the shorts of
a friend’s dad. Can’t imagine the wasp was too pleased by that bit of business.
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