Conversations with guests

[StuartG2198]

So I was out in the garden today and randomly thinking about some of the incredible guests I've met over the years, some guests I've managed to have conversations at length with others not so much so, it got me wondering what do the rest of you say when you finally reach the end of the queue and there they are sat right in front of you?

[andyfilm_1]

I was a nervous wreck at my first con and mumbled! However, over the years I've grown far more confident. I just bring my hand out for a shake and say, "Hi, I'm Andy. Nice to meet you!" and take it from there.

It is hard, however, to think of new questions that they haven't been asked a million times before. So I just ask them how their day is going.

:)

[thewizard]

I always get a handshake first and say hello. Here's the thing right and I know it will irritate me this year just like has since 2007 when i first went to a convention but because my accent is a Glasgow accent, a lot of people have trouble understanding it. It's not like an Edinburgh accent or Aberdeen where it's a bit more pronounced so I need to watch what I say and I'd be lying if i said it didn't bother me at times and If i do speak "properly" it just comes across as being phony and well i am being phony aren't I if i do that? As much as I don't like London I actually feel most at home there because everywhere I go there's people with different accents. I feel like anytime I walk into a McDonalds down there it's fine, we're all in the same boat lol. We don't all understand each other and I like that. The only time I ever really meet your average English person is at the shows but I love the fact that most people that work in all the places I go to in London tend to be from other countries because I'm from another country. Then of course most of the people i meet at the shows are American so that's a whole other load of fun and games there but it's fine. I get through it.

 

I usually ask how they are, if they have an upcoming project I will ask about that and if it is just one franchise you are a fan of then mention it, it doesn't matter if lots of other people have. For instance i will meet Sherilyn Fenn because of Twin Peaks so naturally I will ask about the show coming back. There's tons of stuff I can talk to Malcolm McDowell about With Emily Kinney i can talk about Walking Dead or ask her about the different albums she has released maybe she will have something for sale I wont have heard before. I've never been a person that wants to ask about a certain film or TV show or project or how it was made or stuff like that. I've heard all that on DVDs and stuff and the people that I would ask those kinds of things of have never been to a show over here before so I wouldn't get that chance anyway and even then it would be about things like deleted scenes, outtakes, stuff like that.

[WaxworkScream]

I was also a wreck at my first and only con last year, but thankfully my tattoos started the conversations when meeting Lance Henriksen and Robert Englund.

 

This time I'm going to man up and not let them take all the glory!

 

Might even manage a 'hello' without melting into a fan girling puddle

[Gmorris2504]

Last year in July when I met Carrie Fisher I was a nervous wreck and said nothing but hi and thank you. But in October when I met her again we had an amazing chat and lots of laughs. The best conversations I've had have been with Jeremy Bulloch. It normally starts with Hi I'm George nice to see you. And go from there. Jeremy is always great as he seems to remember people he's met more than once. And he generally says to me "Hello again" which I follow with "hi again Jeremy how's it going?!"

[thewizard]

You're from Edinburgh Waxwork, at least they'll understand your accent. I certainly had an experience with Robert Englund when I met him.

Edited June 8, 2015 by thewizard

[Pinhead1987]

My first time was last July and i met Tyler Mane, it was towards the end of the day and there was no que at his table so i walked over and i was like hey whats up and he shook my hand and was very cool and i asked him, dude it must have been surreal to put on the michael myers mask on for the first time in front of the camera, and boy did he get all excited lol he got really into detail about the question and this was at about 3pm and he offered me a seat and we just kicked back with eachother and talked about the halloween movies and film making and rob zombie lol and then before we knew it there was a que starting up lol he said to me you are a real cool guy and he offered to sign anything and Got my pic with him using my phone and i went to give him the money for the autograph and he was all noway dude this is on me and that ill never forget. the coolest guy i have ever met.

[tompain100]

In my head as I'm queuing I'm planning all these cool, unique questions and building up to a good conversation, but when I get there it ends up somewhere along the lines of "fjejdfhfjfjdjshdhfh.....hi".

[Not_Pennys_Ship]

I'm like to ask them a question like, "Hi Mr Fox, there are n sweets in a bag, 6 of the sweets are orange. The rest of the sweets are yellow.

 

Hannah takes a random sweet from the bag. She eats the sweet.

Hannah then takes at random another sweet from the bag. She eats the sweet.

The probability that Hannah eats two orange sweets is 1/3.

can you tell me why n² – n – 90 = 0?"

[Wrong Name]

I'm like to ask them a question like, "Hi Mr Fox, there are n sweets in a bag, 6 of the sweets are orange. The rest of the sweets are yellow.

 

Hannah takes a random sweet from the bag. She eats the sweet.

Hannah then takes at random another sweet from the bag. She eats the sweet.

The probability that Hannah eats two orange sweets is 1/3.

can you tell me why n² – n – 90 = 0?"

A good way to find out which guests passed their GCSEs!

[Xenomorph]

because my accent is a Glasgow accent, a lot of people have trouble understanding it.

 

Yup, it really is a nightmare. Like you said, we have to concentrate, slow down and pronounce everything properly... it feels so false.

 

Not to worry... Iain Glen and Sylvester McCoy will understand us easily enough

[StuartG2198]

In my head as I'm queuing I'm planning all these cool, unique questions and building up to a good conversation, but when I get there it ends up somewhere along the lines of "fjejdfhfjfjdjshdhfh.....hi".

There has been times where I have done exactly the same.

[Khalessi Kate]

Not asked any questions as such. Usually just strike up a conversation about anything.
First time I attended LFCC was 2013 and Joe Dempsey was interested in the book I had brought to get signed (Game of Thrones graphic novel volume one) and asked if he could look through it before he signed it for me. Sure, I said and even managed to get a pic of him as he looked through the book

[chrisrus]

My best experience was when I met Burn Gorman.

 

I had my Photoshoot with him and I was wearing my Stereophonics t-shirt on and he said "Stereophonics, good band" and he asked if I'd seen them live and a said four times. He said "proper fan"

 

Then about two hours later I went to get his autographed and he remembered from the Photoshoot and said "was it four times you'd seen them"

We then had a good chat about Stereophonics.

[thewizard]

 

because my accent is a Glasgow accent, a lot of people have trouble understanding it.

 

Yup, it really is a nightmare. Like you said, we have to concentrate, slow down and pronounce everything properly... it feels so false.

 

Not to worry... Iain Glen and Sylvester McCoy will understand us easily enough

 

 

 

Do you not think it can ruin conversations a bit? sometimes with the noise around too you need to raise your voice a bit. I think another thing is that you only have limited time. Like if we were having a job interview or a meeting with someone in Glasgow, something professional, you would watch what you say and not have the accent on too thick but it would be relaxed just like if we spoke with someone from another country like America, after a few minutes we would probably be fine and would know how we were coming across but I think at these shows you feel as if you only have so long to talk and it adds to the stress a bit and yet the irony is it's a good talking point, if they catch on that you've came from Scotland to meet them. You can even ask them if they've ever been here. Scottish guests like you said already know all this lol.

[Gmorris2504]

Also have a good story from my first LFCC in 2013. Had my Dave Prowse photo shoot then went to get an auto later in the day. He remembered me and we had a chat, also as I handed over the £15 for his autograph he started signing ABBA "money money money" so I joined in and we had a little sing song great first exprience

[Radio_Jim]

I always tend to ask a guest I'm meeting a question like "Is this the first time you've done a convention in the UK" (Yes, even the British guests for some reason) or "Will you get to see much of the city while you are over here". I've always wanted to ask a guest for a personalised video message but I imagine I wouldn't be allowed.

 

In any case, it wasn't until I met Guy Siner at the 2014 summer LFCC that I found out he does additional voices on Spongebob, and we ended up having a long discussion about Tom Kenny and the series in general. He was really great to talk to, and I even got a photo with him at his desk. :)

[thewizard]

Of course you can Jim. Ask them next time you're at a show. Go on Youtube and you'll see lots of stuff people have filmed at shows whether it's interviews, messages for your website/youtube channel, message for someone who couldn't be there.

[Vicky_Tait]

Glasgow accents can be hard for other people to understand. Luckily I don't have too much trouble with mine. The most common thing is my name getting mistaken for becky & it drives me nuts haha. My accent isn't too thick though, I think my acting has helped with that as I have learned to pronounciate better. We'll see how it goes. For MJF I'll just be a puddle on the floor so don't think it will matter much.

[thewizard]

One problem I have is with my first name, sometimes they don't always catch it right away or if they do they might not spell it right because there's two ways of spelling it and not many spell it the way I do so that can be a problem. I've actually noticed the spelling I use is the way a lot of Scottish people spell it compared to the rest of the world.

 

 

If you're an actor then it's fine, you can treat it like a performance but for regular folk like myself and Xenomorph when we're not used to watching how we speak. Having said that I am writing at the moment, one day I'm gonna make it! If i cast you in a role one day i'll make sure you are cast in the role of a Glaswegian girl and use every slang word known to man. Even Scottish people will need subtitles to see what's going on!

[misskitten]

It depends on the guest, really. Some guests I've had proper conversations with, others I've just barely exchanged a greeting with. It just varies, some of it for natural reasons like how some guests have constant long queues and others don't really have much queue, or the timing of when I head over. It also depends on whether the guest is very talkative, and whether I really have that much to say. So a lot of different factors, really. I usually just do whatever comes natural, which sometimes means chatting a bit and other times just a greeting and a thank you, lol. There are a couple of factors with me that sometimes prompts a conversation from the guest's perspective. Firstly I tend to have brightly coloured hair, so some comments on that, and secondly my name is not an English one, so they tend to ask me how it's pronounced, what language it's in, what it means and so forth. Was actually pretty funny when I met Miltos Yerolemou last year, when he heard that I was Norwegian he started telling me about a musical he would be doing this year in Bergen (which is where I live, actually).

My first encounter, though, I had so much trouble getting my voice to work, I was completely star struck (however I met the same guest 8 years later and managed to hold a proper conversation with her, lol)

 

 

One problem I have is with my first name, sometimes they don't always catch it right away or if they do they might not spell it right because there's two ways of spelling it and not many spell it the way I do so that can be a problem. I've actually noticed the spelling I use is the way a lot of Scottish people spell it compared to the rest of the world.

 

Do what I do, write your name at the back of your autograph ticket in clear capital letters. If I don't write it, I have to spell it out as I introduce myself, so might as well just write it down and make sure it's correct

[Swissangel4616]

depends on how long the line behind me is. Im from switzerland and my english isn't quiet perfect but mostly I can handle it. LOL but im not the only foreign speaking guy at the event... so at all its fun. sometime guys behind me listen to my questions too. But sometime (specially when its busy and im nervous) I forget the english words... ;-)

 

I love to talk with the guests and not only getting the autographs. I like to listen their stories. Billy Dee Wiliams did looks last year a bit tired when I went to him and I was a bit scared to ask him.But then when I did.. he looked up... and he change completely to a wonderful and nice chatty guy.

 

My experience: the most guests are very interested to meet and talk with people from around the world - even when there is a language barriere. Just a few guests I met haven't been chatty.

 

My tip: i startet with preparing some question about their work/movies... maybe life (charity, travel, language).

[andyfilm_1]

I always bring post it notes with my name or friend's name written in capital letters on it and stick it to the pic I want signed. Really does save time! :)

[Wondermoose]

A selected few guests you dont have to worry about what to say, but they dont grow on trees the ones that talk to you and run the talk for you. (John ryhs davis is a perfect example of this! )

 

But I usually say something like "hello, how are you. Having fun in london? " etc.... usually works nice :) But not always. Sometimes it doesnt even start up a conversation and your visit is over.

 

Peter Dinklage... Well that became very fun. "Did you have a nice time last night?" this I asked Saturday morning cause I figured that he propably went out on the friday. He asked "Were you there?"... I said for fun "Yes offc" .... His reply was epic. ... "Were you the one in the shower?"

 

In some cases Ive asked "how it was or how it is to work with a certain actor or crew". I dont think Ive gotten that many good answers from that. Most of the answers has been "They/He/She were the best" and that was it, which seems like a standard polite answer. But a few times they have talked more about it. For instance one of the Doctor Who companions of the old series didnt much enjoy the Doctor she worked with. But now when they do radioshows together she really enjoys it :)

 

Last year I had an epic conversation starter. I wanted them to sign my wedding guestbook. This was something that became something really good to talk about in many cases :) (although sometimes they didnt say much cause they were concentrating on what to write )

 

I think if you want to make the most of your time with an actor/actress you have to read up on how they are in person and then out of that find something good to start up the conversation with. Might not work at all. But that would be my best suggestion :)

 

As a final note. Sometimes they aren't in the mood and it doesn't matter what you do. I have some bad experience when the persons hasn't been very nice at all. But just have that in mind that the experience might not be what you were expecting. But for the most parts it is very nice :)

Edited June 9, 2015 by Wondermoose

[timlux]

depends on how long the line behind me is. Im from switzerland and my english isn't quiet perfect but mostly I can handle it. LOL but im not the only foreign speaking guy at the event... so at all its fun. sometime guys behind me listen to my questions too. But sometime (specially when its busy and im nervous) I forget the english words... ;-)

 

I love to talk with the guests and not only getting the autographs. I like to listen their stories. Billy Dee Wiliams did looks last year a bit tired when I went to him and I was a bit scared to ask him.But then when I did.. he looked up... and he change completely to a wonderful and nice chatty guy.

 

My experience: the most guests are very interested to meet and talk with people from around the world - even when there is a language barriere. Just a few guests I met haven't been chatty.

 

My tip: i startet with preparing some question about their work/movies... maybe life (charity, travel, language).

I think you are the first who says something nice about Billy Dee Williams, I had not a great experience with him last year, he barely said hello, and was intrested in nobody at least when I was at his stand, and I had to stop him because he wanted to sign my DVD with Lando^^.

I had my longest chat with Bernard Cribbins , he was really intrested that I came all the way from Luxembourg, to get a picture with him and to have my Doctor Who DVD signed. So he was talking about his own travels to Luxembourg. Great guy :)

And I had a nice chat with Curtis Armstrong, who started the conversation actually with me on a break with Oh I love the smell of nerds on a sunny afternoon XD

You don't have to be nervous just say hello and start talking to them :)