Wizard World day two

Yesterday may have been the official start of Wizard World Chicago, but it seemed like the convention truly began today. With about twice as many attendees, three times as many panels, and an additional two hours of open show floor compared to Thursday, the con has met my high expectations once again. To be honest, with Thursday’s turnout I was a little nervous that I had over-hyped the convention and would go home disappointed, but after today my fears are gone.

The day started off on a high note. As soon as we made it to the con, my sister and I attended two back-to-back panels, the first one being a trivia competition and the second a special effects makeup discussion with contestants  of the SyFy series “Face Off.”

Both were fun, but the latter was definitely the better of the two. In it, audience members were encouraged to ask the professional makeup artists questions about their experiences on the show or for tips on how to succeed in the industry. It was informative, funny, and just a generally pleasant panel. I was able to record the main panelist, Tate Steinsiek, answering a fan’s inquiry as to what his favorite challenge on the show was. You can watch it for yourself here, just make sure that your volume is turned up- Steinsiek is a crowd-pleaser.

Once the panels we wanted to see had finished, my sister and I wandered around the show floor for a few hours. There were comic books galore, tattoo artists from the show “Epic Ink” giving con-goers geeky body art, and rows and rows of artists selling prints. There was even a booth that would let you hug a puppy if you donated a few dollars to an animal shelter!  It was a nerd’s paradise.

After I purchased yet another graphic novel at one of the booths, my sister and I thought it would be best to escape the temptation that accompanies the show floor. We decided to scope out the autograph area in hopes of sighting a celebrity. Unfortunately, a lot of the special guests for conventions only come on weekends, so there weren’t too many celebs to stare at from a distance.

The lack of celebrities today was fine by me, though, because I was able to meet one that I was hoping to: Barry Bostwick, the actor who played Brad Majors in the “Rocky Horror Picture Show. “ His autograph line wasn’t very long, so he took a few minutes to have a small conversation with each fan before the convention closed for the day. Ours somehow ended up with us talking about swim team. Apparently he was a breaststroker. Who knew?