London Film and Comic Con - July 2014

July brought Showmasters' biggest convention back to London and it was their biggest and best yet with the one of the best line ups of guests they had ever had. It was also the busiest, with queues heading around Earl's Court for a good ten minute walk! Sadly, many people complained for many reasons and despite how busy it was and the typical "let's randomly stand in the middle of the aisle" people in attendance, we had an amazing time both days we attended.

Over the weekend, we met: Adjoa Andoh, John Hurt, Billy Dee Williams, Michael Madsen, Jenna Coleman, Jemma Redgrave, Summer Glau, Bernard Cribbins, Jason Mewes, Juliet Landau, Stan Lee, Lena Headey, TJ Thyne, George A Romero, Colin Baker, Jason Narvy and Paul Schrier. Considering how busy it was, I am amazed we managed to meet so many of the guests we wanted to over the weekend. While all of them were amazing, there were definitely some stand outs!

Jenna Coleman was definitely a must meet guest for us, after having missed a number of opportunities to do so. I found out after the convention that Jenna had not been feeling well the day she attended but kept going despite this. She was our first photo shoot of the day and she obliged to pose with our Captain America bear (she had a minor part in the first movie). Took us a couple of attempts to get her autograph due to her being at lunch and us being given the wrong time that she would be back, but eventually we got her. She was lovely, a little quiet and sweet enough to a cheeky little photo with Rachael. 

Summer Glau and Lena Heady were both lovely. Mattie thought they both pretty and wanted to be one who had the photos with them and not me! Lena actually got upset when he ran past her at the photoshoot as she wanted a cuddle with him! Mattie was very pleased to be able to see them again when we got their autographs!

A very cool guest to meet was Jason Mewes! I am a huge fan of Dogma so it was absolute honour to meet Jason. He was very approachable and was fantastic with the kids. I have to admit I was worried he might swear or say something naughty! He encouraged Rachael to be in the photo with us, despite her having no idea who he was! What I loved most though was the fact he refused to sit behind the table and instead be in front of it so he was able to interact with the fans better!

A surprise fave guest was TJ Thyne. He is best known for his role in Bones, but I have to admit I have never seen it and chose to meet him for his minor role in Charmed. He was fantastic to meet and hugged everyone who came to get his autograph and willingly posed for photos as well. He wrote a fab autograph for me, referencing how his character got eaten by the Charmed ones!

Despite having met him in Cardiff a few months before, I chose to get a professional photo taken with Bernard Cribbins. I had only paid for one photo but ended up with two with both Mattie and Rachael in the shot. Whenever I have a photo, I always get the kids to stand the other side while I have it done, but this time Bernard encouraged them to be in the shot. No crew member or even the photographer argued with him about! He was fab with the kids and we ended up with two funny shots, one with him pulling Mattie's ears and the other with his hands on Mattie's head!

The last amazing guest of the weekend had to be the legend that is Stan Lee, who was appearing at his final ever European convention. He was the main reason why the convention was so busy. We were very lucky in comparison to many of those who attended as we had a photo booked and we were able to get his autograph which we had authenticated. We didn't have much interaction with him due to the number of people having photos and autographs, but I did manage to thank him for the autograph. 

The weekend was manic, busy and so amazing! Definitely the best convention we have attended so far. I shall be attending next year as always, though I doubt I will spending as much as I did this year!

The Book of Mormon - July 2014

I am going to put this out there right now and I am not ashamed to admit it either: I really hate South Park! I think it is disgusting, crude and not at all funny. So imagine my surprise when I found myself desperately wanting to see The Book of Mormon after seeing performances of the Broadway cast. Now being a huge fan of Frozen, finding out not long after the Oscars this year that Robert Lopez, one half of the writing team behind the Oscar winning "Let It Go", also happened to be one of the crazy minds behind The Book of Mormon.  It was the clincher I needed to be convinced to go and see the show. And I am very glad I did!

Tickets for the show are not cheap and finding good deals are not easy. However, in comparison to other shows, The Book of Mormon have a number of offers available. I took advantage of the No Booking Fee deal. I booked 12 weeks in advance via the official website and did not have to pay the booking fee. Best deal I could find with a guaranteed seat to the show. I ended up choosing the cheapest ticket available at £37.50 (if I remember correctly) for a ticket near the back of the circle of The Prince of Wales theatre. Luckily, no matter where you sit in this theatre, you generally have a good view.

The Book of Mormon follows the story of two young missionaries as they journey to Uganda. Simply put, it is an outright piss take of Mormons and their beliefs! It is absolutely hysterical! Though I do advise anyone who is in any way easily offended, I would not suggest you going to see it! The show starred at the time of me going to see it, Gavin Creel as Elder Prince, Jared Gertner as Elder Cunningham, Alexia Khadime as Nabulungi and an amazingly talented ensemble! It is definitely one of the most vocally impressive shows I have seen this year!

As always after the show I went to the stage door and met the cast. I got to speak Alexia about the fact she was, besides Idina Menzel, the only (at the time) actress I had not seen as Elphaba in Wicked. It was nice to finally to see her perform despite knowing who she was for quite some time now! It was fantastic to meet Jared and Gavin after the show, as I discovered from some fans that they were due to leave the show barely a couple of weeks later! I feel lucky I got to see them as they had done much longer than the standard year most leads do!

I definitely plan to go back and see the show at some point. But right now, listening to the Broadway cast album on repeat will have to make do! If you can, go and see the show! And watch out for the fantastic running joke of Elder Cunningham not being able to pronounce Nabulungi's name, resulting in some very weird and unexpected results (which I am told are made up on the spot)!

Tour de France - July 2014

The beginning of July saw the Tour de France come to the UK, the first since 2007. Being that British riders had won for the past two years, I thought I would take the chance to go into London to see the race come through the streets and cheer on our British riders! The race was Stage 3 of the tour, with the riders cycling from Cambridge to London, with the finish line being on The Mall, near to Buckingham Palace. 

My friend Kirsty and I chose to view the race on the Victoria Embankment, near to the Golden Jubilee and Hungerford Bridges. Kirsty arrived early to get us a good spot and I followed at around half two. Our spot gave us a view of them coming under the bridge and also towards the Houses of Parliament! Crowds were not too bad and slowly swelled leading up to the riders coming past, with hoards of people standing on the bridges! 

Despite our best efforts to figure out when they would turn, with someone following the race on the phone app and us trying to guess if it the last cars had past, the riders caught us by surprise, speeding past us. We cheered loudly and took photos, but we had no way of knowing who was who or who was leading! We held out right until the last riders, giving them a big cheer of encouragement. We even cheered for cyclists who were not part of the race, but were allowed to follow it on the condition they did so after the race had completely past. 

We got the news shortly after the last rider had past that there had been a crash just up the road from us, on the turn onto Parliament Square and by the time we went to leave, the race had finished! That absolutely amazed me! Definitely was an amazing experience!