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ChicagoTARDIS wrapup
Nov. 27th, 2012 07:11 pmSo, the promised wrapup post - which is basically a "Tony Lee is an amazing entertainer" post.
At the writing panel, he was talking about how he believes in starting with the second act climax, and then working out how the characters got there in a series of "Why? Because." statements. When he teaches writing, he uses the example "The Sheriff of Nottingham is about to hang Maid Marion. Robin Hood is hidden in the trees..." The next step is not "and Robin does X," it's "why is the Sheriff about to hang Maid Marion? Because..."
He says that the kids tend to come up with things like "she was shoplifting at Tescos." But by the time you figure out how the characters ended up at that scene, you know where they're going. In this case "Maid Marion is a terrible person, Robin Hood is about to shoot her in the face and run off with the Sheriff, who he loves."
Then the how NOT to write panel, he and Andrew Cartmel really cut loose, with the worst advice anyone can give. "Self publishing is best. Look at how many self-published books there are out there compared to published ones!" "Editors are there to cut out all your best bits." Also, "Editors live to be helpful. If you send them an email at 4:00, they will put down everything and read it right away, and if they haven't answered you right away, you're totally in your rights to email again at 4:30." "Better yet, call at 4:30!" "The more copyright notices, the more professional the manuscript looks." (Simon Brett said something similar at Malice Domestic, including the line "She even had the one about how 'The characters in this story bear no resemblance to anyone living or dead' and I thought 'how right you are, lady!'")
And my personal favorite: "With Siri you don't even have to write anymore! Get drunk, dictate the whole thing to her to write up - you don't need to check it, because of course it's perfect - and then say 'Email to editor.' Done!"
For the halftime, Tony did an audience participation street act that he used to do in London called "The Scarlet Blade." He brought up two of the Captains Jack to play the Scarlet Blade (playing conjoined twins, although the mousier of the two tended to hide behind the BlackLeather/BigGun!Jack), a Rory to play the plucky sidekick Bucky, Ballerina!dalek to play the kidnapped princess, and Jack the Ripper to play the evil baron, while the audience provided a whole series of sound effects.
Of course, after the princess was rescued, Tony pointed out that as an author he needed to throw in a twist. So he let the princess become an action heroine, then asked the audience to decide if:
1) The princess is rescued by (the) Jack(s) and goes off with them.
2) The villain kills (the) Jack(s) and Rory. (The villain pointed out that this would take a while, considering.)
3) The Master (we once again had a wonderful "Master" of Ceremony) runs off with (the) Jack(s). At which point the Master pranced across the stage and threw himself into Leather!Jack's arms and they posed there, arms around each other, each with a leg kicked up behind them, grinning madly.
Slowly, inevitably, Jack's hand started wandering south...
I'm not sure what the final decision was, or if there was one, over the roar of the audience's laughter. I think at one point Tony had to stretch it out for the judges, but honestly? Nobody minded!
Oh, and I got my CD signed! A friend with free autographs (due to membership level) got my copy of Live 34 signed for me. Yay!
And that was ChicagoTARDIS. I got the reserved membership for next year - while there wasn't often trouble finding seating, some of the events were very full, and next year's the anniversary. Also, it was announced that there won't be incremental membership price raises through next year - buy it before the end of the year, because otherwise, it's going to slam up to the highest level on January 1.
Also - on the way home, we had one of *those* Southwest flight attendants. "In a moment I'll be dimming the lights to enhance my appearance." And my favorite: "There is no smoking inside the aircraft. However, if you'd like to step outside on our deck, if you can light 'em, you can smoke 'em. Movies we're showing on the deck include Gone With the Wind, Bye Bye Birdie, and Lost."
( 3 photos under cut - tiny!4, femme5 dancing with the TARDIS, and the TARDIS suit. You can't see it, but even his shoes matched! )
At the writing panel, he was talking about how he believes in starting with the second act climax, and then working out how the characters got there in a series of "Why? Because." statements. When he teaches writing, he uses the example "The Sheriff of Nottingham is about to hang Maid Marion. Robin Hood is hidden in the trees..." The next step is not "and Robin does X," it's "why is the Sheriff about to hang Maid Marion? Because..."
He says that the kids tend to come up with things like "she was shoplifting at Tescos." But by the time you figure out how the characters ended up at that scene, you know where they're going. In this case "Maid Marion is a terrible person, Robin Hood is about to shoot her in the face and run off with the Sheriff, who he loves."
Then the how NOT to write panel, he and Andrew Cartmel really cut loose, with the worst advice anyone can give. "Self publishing is best. Look at how many self-published books there are out there compared to published ones!" "Editors are there to cut out all your best bits." Also, "Editors live to be helpful. If you send them an email at 4:00, they will put down everything and read it right away, and if they haven't answered you right away, you're totally in your rights to email again at 4:30." "Better yet, call at 4:30!" "The more copyright notices, the more professional the manuscript looks." (Simon Brett said something similar at Malice Domestic, including the line "She even had the one about how 'The characters in this story bear no resemblance to anyone living or dead' and I thought 'how right you are, lady!'")
And my personal favorite: "With Siri you don't even have to write anymore! Get drunk, dictate the whole thing to her to write up - you don't need to check it, because of course it's perfect - and then say 'Email to editor.' Done!"
For the halftime, Tony did an audience participation street act that he used to do in London called "The Scarlet Blade." He brought up two of the Captains Jack to play the Scarlet Blade (playing conjoined twins, although the mousier of the two tended to hide behind the BlackLeather/BigGun!Jack), a Rory to play the plucky sidekick Bucky, Ballerina!dalek to play the kidnapped princess, and Jack the Ripper to play the evil baron, while the audience provided a whole series of sound effects.
Of course, after the princess was rescued, Tony pointed out that as an author he needed to throw in a twist. So he let the princess become an action heroine, then asked the audience to decide if:
1) The princess is rescued by (the) Jack(s) and goes off with them.
2) The villain kills (the) Jack(s) and Rory. (The villain pointed out that this would take a while, considering.)
3) The Master (we once again had a wonderful "Master" of Ceremony) runs off with (the) Jack(s). At which point the Master pranced across the stage and threw himself into Leather!Jack's arms and they posed there, arms around each other, each with a leg kicked up behind them, grinning madly.
Slowly, inevitably, Jack's hand started wandering south...
I'm not sure what the final decision was, or if there was one, over the roar of the audience's laughter. I think at one point Tony had to stretch it out for the judges, but honestly? Nobody minded!
Oh, and I got my CD signed! A friend with free autographs (due to membership level) got my copy of Live 34 signed for me. Yay!
And that was ChicagoTARDIS. I got the reserved membership for next year - while there wasn't often trouble finding seating, some of the events were very full, and next year's the anniversary. Also, it was announced that there won't be incremental membership price raises through next year - buy it before the end of the year, because otherwise, it's going to slam up to the highest level on January 1.
Also - on the way home, we had one of *those* Southwest flight attendants. "In a moment I'll be dimming the lights to enhance my appearance." And my favorite: "There is no smoking inside the aircraft. However, if you'd like to step outside on our deck, if you can light 'em, you can smoke 'em. Movies we're showing on the deck include Gone With the Wind, Bye Bye Birdie, and Lost."
( 3 photos under cut - tiny!4, femme5 dancing with the TARDIS, and the TARDIS suit. You can't see it, but even his shoes matched! )
