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| "LOVE that Joker!" |
Asbury Park Comicon kicked off my 2014 convention season last weekend and was a grand success! Hosted at the Berkley Oceanfront Hotel, this was the first of this specific show that I've attended in my further attempts to try out new venues for my Artist Alley tables. Hotel shows vs convention center shows both have their own sets of pros and cons. Hotel shows are definitely more intimate than convention center shows- the winding series of smaller, carpeted exhibition rooms you find in a hotel versus the singular, echoing concrete box of a huge convention center have various effects on you. I attended with my pal and frequent convention tablemate
Maria Danalakis, who actually was placed in another room from me, so it looked like we were both flying solo. Which was interesting, as our room experiences were both very different yet enjoyable. Maria's table was out in what I called "The Veranda" which had numerous windows facing the ocean breeze and a porch with seating so you could laze about in the sunshine reading comics. How delightful.
My table however was located in a dimly-lit, windowless room with a
heater running on high all day Saturday. It smelled weird. My makeup was
melting and I was getting progressively more and more sleepy as the day
stretched on. I eventually started to call it "Nerd Hell". BUT, I
totally had great entertainment to make the day go by quickly. My table
neighbors were the costume contact company
Macabre Eyes, which was run
by this dude
Paul who is a character actor that all day Sunday played
The Joker without breaking character. It was totally amazing. I felt
like I was at a psychotic Disney character breakfast (without the
breakfast). Plus, he's portraying the smarmy, middle-aged Jack Nicholson Joker,
which I appreciate in this day of guys trying to be all 'sexy' Heath
Ledger Joker. To add to the insane spectacle of the show was that my
table was facing the celebrity row of Asbury Comicon, so I was a mere
aisle's width of distance from frigging Dante from Clerks himself, Brian
O'Hallorhan; the Chewlees Gum Guy from Clerks, Scott Schiaffo; frigging
Rick Derris and a couple guys from Comic Book Men on AMC that were
hocking their own indy creations. Every time I heard Dante say something
to someone I had to chuckle a little to myself, and go "Hey, Coach
Dante!" cuz I'm actually a huger fan of the Clerks cartoon than even the
movie. Also I was able to capitalize on some of the gawkers who would
get held up in front of my table during massive photo sessions.
Financially
the show was a win. I sold out on quite a few items, namely bracelets
and my Poison Ivy/Harley Quinn pinup merch. Overall, while the show had
some hiccups it was an enjoyable and fruitious time.
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| Setting up my table on Friday afternoon. |
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| Sunday's outfit |
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| In our satin tights, fighting for your rights! | |
