Upcoming X-Files Conventions

The San Diego X-Files Convention Review!

The first Official X-Files Convention was held by Creation Entertainment in participation with FOX Television on Sunday, June 11th, 1995 in San Diego, California. I felt honored to be in attendance, and even more honored that I *won* my tickets from FOX itself!! The lobby was decorated with various X-Files related memerobilia, venders were present with newly released posters, tee-shirts, hats, coffee mugs, books, comics, and they had psychics, vampirologists, and UFO experts waiting to answer questions. Guests included X-Files Creator Chris Carter, X-Files writer Frank Spotnitz, Doug Hutchison the notorious "Tooms," Brad Dourif "Beyond the Sea"'s Luther Boggs, vampirologist Hal Bodner, UFO Magazine publisher Don Ecker, and renowned psychic Sylvia Browne.

They opened with a musical montage of X-filey songs (theme, "Beyond the Sea," and that song that played in Duane Barry's car in "ascention") and clips... the crowd was happy to see their beloved duo on such a huge screen. (Ah, DD in surround sound.. ;) ) That didn't last long, so they brought out the first speaker- Story Editor Frank Spotnitz. He couldn't go into a whole lot of detail when people asked hime questions, since he'd only worked as an X-Files crew member for a short time.

Next they brought in the Vampirologist Hal Bodner. I don't really go for the vampire stuff, so I left to visit the X-Files Prop and Costume Display. The X-Files Prop and Costume Display included Mulder and Scully's snow suits from "End Game", skeletal remains from "Aubrey," Tooms' dog catching suit from "Tooms", Boggs' penetentiary suit from "Beyond the Sea," and a whole bunch of little "evidence" items from assorted episodes (jar of alien fetus, flukeworm..). Having looked at the entire display in about 2 minutes, I ventured downstairs into the world of merchandice. You name it, and they had it- Comic #5 (the only comic there), a FREE X-Files promo trading card (which you could get autographed by the artist), X-Files books "Goblins" and "Whirlwind" by Charles Grant, as well as the first couple of books in the children's series based directly on the episodes themselves. They also sold a gaggle of t-shirts, two posters, coffee mugs, the TV guide X-Files edition, and hats. It's all stuff you can order from a catalog, only you don't have to pay shipping.

The next speaker was Brad Dourif the notorious "Luther Boggs" from "Beyond the Sea." He wasn't very much help either when it came to answering questions . (since he only appeared on one show) Brad explained how he got there, and the crew was so wrapped up in what they were doing that he felt like "Hi, I'm Brad, and I'll be working with you." And got little response. I think I left for the restroom at that point..

Sylvia Browne the world-famous psychic came out then. The lines to ask her questions were HUGE!! She kept reminding people- "Don't ask what you don't really want to know." People were asking questions about their health, the well-being of their families, etc. and they didn't always hear what they wanted- she told one guy to have his prostrate checked, and told a girl that her long lost biological mother is dead. Yow! Good thing I didn't ask her how I'd do on my final exams!

By far, the best speaker was Doug Hutchison- known to X-Philes as "Tooms." He was lively, entertaining, and full of energy. He kept persuading us to ask CC to "bring back Tooms!" He also discussed what it was like to be covered from head to toe in refrigerated, yellow KARO syrup. He explained that the script called for Tooms to be in his dog cathcer's unifrom, but Brad felt it would be more appropriate for a 200 year old freak to dwell in his cocoon completely naked. He went on to say that the syrup stuck to everything as he crawled throught the escalator shaft, and thus all his ahem-- "appendages" stuck to things... :) Then he noted how DD complained for getting a little of the stick concoction in his hair as Brad stood there COVERED from head to toe in the wretched stuff! He was a great speaker. A note to CC- "BRING BACK TOOMS!"

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see CC speak, as I had to race back to school to study for my chemistry final exam :( But, my mom and brother heard him speak, and talked to him later, so if I can convince them to describe what they thought.

Actually, the part that I enjoyed most, and hardly anyone saw, was a series of "Behind the Scenes" clips from our favorite show. This was playing on a VRC in the lobby. It sponatanously started up, and I had watched a good fifteen minutes of it before a convention official turned it off and took the tape away! I sure hope they air it! It was HILARIOUS! They were mostly out-takes for line screw-ups, uncontrollable laughter, and co-star pranks, but there were also intentional "funnies" like Mulder taking on the phone to Scully, putting her on call-waiting and seducing the woman on the other line, going back to Scully, being rude, then going back to the other woman. I guess you had to be there! Autographs were given by all speakers, and by X-Files Comic cover artist Miran Kim. The Topps X-Files Trading Cards made their debut in a slide show. The other highlight was the X-Files merchandice auction which benefitted the ERAS Center for Autism. A set of #1-5 X-Files Comics autographed by Chris Carter sold for a total of $320!! Can you believe it? I only paid $2.50 apiece for mine, and got 'em signed by CC for free! That's the way to go! A total of $1500 was raised for the charity.

As a side note, when CC autographs, he often writes "Trust no One-" but when we got to Doug Hutchison's autograph table, he wrote "Trust me!" Hehehehe... :-)

Along with the convention review comes this advice

1. Bring a backpack! You can carry anything you buy without wrinkling it!
2. Bring a Camera/ Camcorder!! They don't seem to care one way or another if you tape or take flash pictures! I wish I had my camcorder!
3. Bring all of you X-Files merchandice to be autographed! They sell the same stuff there, but why buy it when you can bring your own? I am still kicking myself for not bringing my X-Files #1 Comic book... (
4. Get in line EARLY for autographs! I, unfortunately, had to retrn to school for a review session at 7pm and had to leave early, but my brother stood in line for autographs from 6-8 30 pm!!
5. Don't ask questions that can be asked elsewhere... especially don't ask for SPOILERS!! It ruins the fun for everyone, and ticks Chris off!!

Agent Mollder's Sacramento Convention Review

Ziggy's Sacramento X-Files Convention Review

Greg's Valley Forge, PA Review!