A Visit To Wizard World

Saturday August 11th, 2007 - Lake Villa, IL

I woke up this morning fully intending to put a dent in all my pending projects. I was not going to let anything get in my way and I even skipped the Waukegan Auto Auction. That totally means I’m serious because I usually like to go there and hang out if I’m in town.

My phone rang at 10:00. It was Mike Preston asking if I could help him out by being his camera man at the ‘Wizard World’ comic book show out in Rosemont. I like Mike a lot so I couldn’t say no and I remember from when my cousin owned comic book stores how big of a freak show it would be so I told him I’d be there. I can do my personal chores later.

Living out here in the nether regions makes everything more difficult to get to. I have an extra drive time no matter where I go and everything out here is under construction. I told Mike I’d meet him in a Target parking lot so we could drive together but I was late due to all the traffic and construction hassles. I hate being late but it’s sure happening a lot lately.

Mike wasn’t angry but I was still stressed out from driving. Warwick came along too for an extra set of hands and because Mike asked him to. We took one car because it cost $11 to park at the convention center where the show was held. It is the same place I’ve gone a few times to attend baseball card shows over the years. It’s all union and they nail you for everything they can.
Parking and admission and snacks are all insanely priced but it is what it is. Mike was able to get press passes for all of us so we didn’t have to pay admission.

We got to the show and all of our jaws dropped when we walked in. This was without a doubt THE biggest collection of freaks, geeks, kooks, nuts, wackos, oddballs, lunatics and fanatics I’ve ever seen. It was stunning. Just looking around with mouths closed and eyes open we were treated to a visual buffet I doubt I’ll ever be able to match. Some of it was a treat and some of it was disturbing. Some of it was right in the middle and I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry. People were walking around in full costume and I felt like the freak.

I have a black t-shirt I found a long time ago that has a big picture of Darth Vader on it and says ‘Vader Was Framed’ underneath. I don’t remember where I got it but I thought it was funny so I bought it. I dug it out and put it on today because I thought it would be fun to walk around the show and see if people would notice. It got a lot of reactions all day.

People would pass me and laugh or give me a thumbs up or nod and smile. One guy said
‘No he WASN’T!’ and tapped his finger on my chest. He happened to be dressed as a Star Wars storm trooper and had three others with him. I laughed and then a guy in a full Darth Vader costume came walking around the corner and he gave me a hug. It was so surreal.

These people were SERIOUS about comics. There were science fiction freaks and many other kinds of freaks and just like baseball card shows there were dealers there who had all the collectibles in mint condition priced as far out in space as the people looking at it all. It got to be overwhelming in a hurry but it was just so fascinating I had to keep pressing on.

Mike and Warwick and his assistant Stephanie were interviewing kooks and flakes of all levels. It was amazingly entertaining to watch and to see the reaction of the people seeing the camera rolling. It was like moths to a flame and more wackadoo types kept coming up to see what was going on. Both sides of the camera was a freak show and we loved it all.

Just like a baseball card show there were autograph guests. Many of them were artists of comics I never heard of but those people knew them and it made me feel even more out of place than I already do on this planet. A few people I heard of but most of them weren’t at their booths. I did see Lou Ferrigno sitting by himself. He was selling fitness books but I’d think this would be the last place those would sell. These weren’t exactly buff people and I am in that category myself. No wonder he was sitting by himself. I wanted to go up to him and say hello but I wasn’t prepared to drop $20 on a book. I’ve got too many books right now as it is. He was in fantastic shape and looked huge. I hope he saved his TV money.

One surprise I didn’t expect was that one of the guest celebrities was Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan. He was one of my all time heroes from professional wrestling as a kid. He was an amazing talker and a total smartass bad guy and he ‘managed’ Nick Bockwinkel, my other boyhood wrestling icon. I got to have lunch with Nick last year in Vegas and that was one of my all time thrills. Here was Bobby Heenan and I waited in line and paid $20 to get his autograph and shake his hand. Lou Ferrigno is a lot more famous to the masses but not to me. Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan is right up there with just about anyone I could name. He’s one of the guys that I watched on TV as a kid and to meet him in person was a big thrill.

For about ten seconds. He is in his 60s now and had throat cancer a few years ago and is not looking well. He’s not able to talk very well either because of an operation and it made me feel uncomfortable to look at him. I tried to make conversation because I know a lot of people that know him including my friend Steve Hall who wrestled with Bobby for years. I said I was a friend of Steve’s and Bobby’s face turned serious. ‘He is NOT my friend. I am not going to pretend I like that guy when I don‘t. Don’t believe a THING he says.’ Oops.

I felt like a total ass and so did everyone around him. I’ve known Steve for years and he wouldn’t lie to me. He told me they wrestled for years and I know they did. I apologized if I offended him and he just looked down and signed my picture and shook my hand. I felt it was not a good time to press the issue so I just said thank you and left. I didn’t even really want to keep the picture after that but since it cost $20 I felt I shouldn’t just throw it out.

What a let down that was. Meeting Nick Bockwinkel was a thrill of a lifetime. I was able to sit for an hour and have lunch and it was with Steve Hall who is a friend of Nick’s. This was a totally opposite experience and it was my first letdown of meeting a hero. I loved to watch him on TV as a kid but that was a long time ago. Now he’s a bitter old guy who has cancer and I sure hope that’s not me in the future. I will be careful not to act like he did.

Meeting George Clinton was a thrill and he was fantastic. Rodney Dangerfield was nice to me but I could tell he wasn’t a happy person. Bobby Heenan has a jag against some guy he used to work with and took it out on me. Even still, it was worth attending the show.