London Film and Comic Con 2011

Friday 8th July

I left Wrexham on the 13.00 train to Chester where I changed to the direct Virgin trains service to Euston. This train was about half the size of the usual one and to make matters worse the seat reservation service was out of order so it was a free for all. I was lucky to get a seat but a number of people had to stand all the way to London.

When I arrive I get the underground to my hotel the Hilton Olympia, it is a nice hotel but it is out of the way and awkward to get to as the only station is Kensington which has very limited service to it.

I Head over to Earls Court where The London Film and Comic Con is having a preview night, I was able to get some photographs and autographs early to save me some time tomorrow. I met Vivica A Fox who was very nice and friendly, as she was signing for me Brent Spiner came over to say hello to her.

 I talked to Brian Tochi from Police Academy and one of my favourite films Revenge of the Nerds for a while, he seemed genuinely happy to be there. Finally I got two free autographs from Jessie Cave who was in Harry Potter and Trevor Steedman who was in Aliens.

I left at 7.20 and went over to the HMV Hammersmith Apollo to see Steve Martin who was performing.

I have to admit I was expecting more of a stand up performance but it turns out to be all Blue Grass with him playing the banjo, but it was entertaining all the same.

Afterwards I waited to get his autograph which I did but unfortunately was not able to get a picture with him because he was swamped by people trying to get signatures. After which I headed back to the hotel for the night.

Saturday 9th July

It is going to be a busy day today, probably the busiest of any convention that I have been too as there is so many people I want to meet and get pictures with, so after breakfast I head over to Earls Court where London Film and Comic Con is.

There is a load of people queuing up when I get there but luckily as I have a Gold Pass I don’t need to wait in it.

After a short walk around, the first person I meet is Sandahl Bergman from Conan The Barbarian, she was really nice and came all the way around the desk to have her picture with me.

Next was Christopher Lambert, Highlander is one of my favorite movies so it was a real pleasure to meet him and to get him to sign a picture of himself as Connor MacLeod.

I them head over for a photoshoot with Vivica A Fox closely followed by Shawnee Smith.

I then meet Christopher Lloyd from Back to the Future and get him to sign my Back to the Future Poster and Chuck Poster, I have met him before so don’t need to get him to sign a photo for me.

I then get Robert Knepper to sign my Heroes poster before heading over to Stephen Furst best known as playing Flounder in Animal House. If I am honest I got a little star struck when speaking to him (something that never happens to me). Animal House has always been my favorite movie from as long as I can remember so this was a real highlight of the show to meet him. He was very gracious and we talked for a short while.

After meeting Stephen I went for my photoshoot with Lisa Marie from Mars Attacks and Ed Wood, followed by a photoshoot with Stephen Furst.

I then go over to get Tom Sizemore’s autograph and have a picture with him, he was moaning to Mark Sheppard (in a funny way) about all they give him at this place is coffee and water.

I then go over to meet Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa from Heroes, James Bond and many others. He signed my Heroes poster.

Then I went over to meet Corey Feldman and have to say I was a little disappointed, after turning up late he would rather speak to his entourage and text on his phone than look at his fans, I am also a little annoyed that he would only personalise things which I don’t mind on my photograph but would rather not on my Gonnies Map as I prefer cast signed items to be un-personalised as it saves space and makes it look neater.

I then head over to Jeffrey Weissman and Ricky Dean Logan and get them to sign my Back to the Future poster and get pictures with them. Both were very friendly. Quickly followed by Lea Thompson to sign it, I have met her before so just get her to sign my poster.

Next up was Joel Gretsch from Taken and the 4400, and he has to be one of the nicest stars I have met at a signing show. After asking me where I was from and my family we talked about my son Matthew for a good couple of minutes and what it is like to be a father, a genuinely nice guy that I would happily meet again.

The last two signatures of the day was Shawnee Smith who was great, I just wish they had some different pictures other than from Saw as I am not a big fan of the movie as I much prefer he TV days in Becker. The I met Lisa Marie who did not really talk and had a no pictures policy which I did not understand as there was no body waiting for her, I got her to sign a Mars Attacks picture.

I then had a photoshoot with Christopher Lambert.

My first talk of the afternoon was Brent Spiner and he was very entertaining. Followed by Corey Feldman, the acoustics for this was terrible and I don’t think he could hear anything.

I then sat through a bit of the Karen Gillian talk before heading over to the Corey Feldman photoshoot.

During this shoot when it was my turn to have a picture with him he decided to have a conversation with one of his entourage, again I think this is very rude and to be honest I have always liked him and his work but he has gone down a little in my estimation since meeting him this weekend.

I leave the show and head back to the hotel to drop off my bags and freshen up before going into town.

I go to the Comedy Theatre and get a ticket for that night’s performance of Betrayal staring Kristen Scott Thomas and Ben Miles. I then go to he stage door of Much Ado About Nothing in a hope of getting David Tennants autograph but I am too far back and he best I can do is a picture of him.

I get some dinner at a cheap Chinese restaurant before going to see Betrayal.

Betrayal is a story of three people two of which are married and the other who is having an affair with the wife told as short snippets of their life regressing in time to the initial point of their relationships to one another. If I am honest I did not like it and thought the acting was a little clumsy with poor dialogue.

After the performance I went around to the stage door and was able to get autographs from the stars; Kristen Scott Thomas, Ben Miles and Douglas Henshall.

I then went over to the Garrick Theatre and was able to get Diana Rigg, Rupert Everett and Kara Tointon before heading back to my hotel.

Sunday 10th July

No need to get up early today so stay in bed for a while then go down for breakfast which was as awful as yesterday.

I then head over to Earls Court and get an autograph from Beatie Edney who played Heather in Highlander and she even took a picture of us both together, she seemed a really nice lady and was genuinely pleased to be there.

I then watch a bit of the Hellraiser talk before getting a photoshoot with Christopher Lloyd in the Back to the Future Delorian car.

Finally I attend the talk of Tom Sizemore before leaving for the station and my train home, before which I make full use of the First Class Lounge at Euston.

On the train I am a bit annoyed as the wifi is not working in First Class, it is during the two hour train ride that I usually upload and write this blog to save time when I am at home but not this time the conductor did not know how to fix it. The free wifi is one of the main reasons why I pay the small weekend supplement for first class.