Issue 9 - Yipe!

Also available forBar Mitzvahs.of people who were wearinglarge costumes or extremelyhigh heels.)Dear Jason and Kevin:Welcome to summer’s homestretch, the last third of theyear, and for me, the jobmarket is starting to improveas student start to go back toschool. All of this has nothingto do with the fact that I havetwo issues of Yipe! to respondto. I’ve got Vol. 2, Nos. 7 and8.Vol. 2 No. 7…I thought dregswere the last foods and drinks(and fans) left over at the endof a dead dog party. The staffpicture of Jason looks like he’sbeen in a fight, and lost.Jason: That issue beat mewithin an inch of my life.When we were winding downour costuming career back inthe late 80s, we worked thestage, backstage and dressingroom, and there was still toomuch drama and personalempire building. Still, beinga stage ninja was fun, andpeople appreciated the factthat they would need helpoff the stage, especially iftheir vision was burred witha costume piece or headpiece.Most of our small hotels usedfor conventions have shallowrisers about a foot or so tall,so the stage ninjas usuallywind up looking after theelectronics of recording theperformance, lighting andmaking sure that people areready to go out in the assignedorder.Kevin: One of the thingsI’m really looking forwardto as director of the 2011WorldCon masquerade is theuse of the Tuscany ballroom.The ceilings are 25’ under thechandeliers, and I have a 13’ceiling in the green room! Italso means we have a 40’x60’4 foot tall riser on which tobuild our set (the usable areafor contestants will probablybe about ¼ of the total squarefootage). We also seem to havea hotel whose AV departmentis actually excited about theMasquerade and Hugos beingheld at their property.(This past weekend, Yvonneand I took part in yet anothersteampunk fashion showat the Fan eXpo, which isbecoming Toronto’s versionof the San Diego Comicon,with what is estimated tobe over 70,000 people inattendance. Our team savedthe masquerade becausewe had the equipment torecord the masquerade whilethe convention centre teamscrewed up royally. And, I hadto be stage ninja for a coupleKevin: I ran and emceed theConjecture masquerade oneyear where the av system was aboom box next to the podium(I had to push the button)and we had someone in theaudience with a big flashlight.We made it work. One thingI appreciate about most fanrunconvention audiences isthey want the costumers tosucceed rather than wait forthem to fail, and are game toplay along with crude facilitiesas long as everything is donein good humor (and not theresult of fupuckery).España’s report shows mewhat others are saying aboutWestercon…small all around.It may be that it’s not theconvention that’s gettingsmaller, but that interestin a particular part of theconvention is losing interest.Some cons here have doneaway with the video room,especially when whoeverstages the room monitors it,and finds that few people areever in the room; half thetime, it’s empty.Jason: Westercon has alwayshad the misfortune of beingon 4th of July weekend,but the rise of Anime Expomakes it hard to get evenCalifornians to attend.