John Simm at the London Film and Comic Con
Last Sunday I was lucky enough to make it to the London Film and Comic Con, at which I managed to meet the legendary koala creature that is JOHN SIMM. So in case anybody's interested, I've written a little about my experience here.
I arrived with my sister just in time to grab a virtual ticket for a Simm-meeting before we had to go line up for our photoshoot. It was kind of hard not to flail and embarrass myself in the queue, but I think/hope I managed fairly well! I'm not sure how many photoshoot tickets were sold in the end, but it must've been at least 175 - I think that was the last group of numbers I heard being called before we were ushered into the photo area anyway, but there could've been more. The photoshoot happened very quickly and it felt like it was over in a flash, but Simm was very lovely - He said hi as we walked up, posed as the camera flashed, and then welcomed the next people over as we left. He seemed like a pretty good sport about poses too, from what I saw of a few other photos on the table - He was holding and pointing a laser screwdriver in one, and somebody had a back-to-back one taken. I was photo!n00b however, and was slightly too jittery to ask for any special poses, but HE TOUCHED MY BACK HAW HAW HAW. Aaaand here's the result!
So after that, we met with Mountland and Culf and wandered around until Simm was back from lunch. Then it was time to use those virtual tickets and meet Simm properly. That poor man's arm must've been numb by the end of the day, as the tickets we had were numbered around the 450-550 mark. God knows what the number was up to by the time he went home! Sadly I didn't manage to get any sneaky shots of him as we were queueing - cameras were forbidden in the area where he was sitting. (Though if you check the John Simm tag on Tumblr a few ninja!folk managed to grab a couple of shots, apparently!)
It turned out that we only had roughly 20 seconds each with John in the end, as the queue moved pretty rapidly like a conveyor belt, but that was understandable. There was also a bouncer standing right behind him who looked like he'd be able to headbutt Stonehenge into space, so that kept the line moving! XD Before me, Mountland got Simm to sign the inside of his Sam Tyler plushie's jacket, which was awesome. Simm almost signed up Plushie!Sam's leg, but the signature went on the jacket in the end. Then when it was my turn I kind of just blurted "Hi! I drew a Sexby for you!" and handed him a print of this picture. I was kind of thrilled with his response to it, which mostly consisted of a very slight double-take, a 'wow' and a 'thank you'. The one thing I know I should've done was to look at him more, but I was so AGAHAGH that he'd just taken my drawing that I ended up looking down at his hands a lot more than his face XD But I got some eye contact and a smile as he handed me my autograph and we exchanged thankyou's.
Here's the autograph I got:
Sadly Simm didn't seem to notice my shirt, but he was so rushed I can understand why he didn't! It was a bit of a blur! We did meet one other person there who was wearing the LoM Qwertee shirt in the queue to see an actor from Once Upon a Time (I think...). I didn't know who he was, but he seemed to think the three of us wearing that shirt were in a cult. And also one of the con staff said they liked my shirt, but that they were confused because I looked too young to be born in 1973. They hadn't watched the show before, apparently!
One more good thing about this con is that there was slightly more Life on Mars merchandise than I've seen at previous cons. Usually there's a little LoM section of photographic prints on a stall, but there were a few larger sized John Simm prints this time too. There were a few odd T-shirts from shotdeadinthehead.com and also Life on Mars mugs, which I've never seen at a con before. Photo below, complete with grubby tea rim. (Sorry! Washing up takes effort >.>)
So yes! To sum up, it was a brilliant day, and for somebody who we know isn't too comfortable with lots of fan attention, Simm did come across as very smiley and friendly and did the best he could for each person with the time he had. And for him to actually attend a con at all was a massive surprise, so I'm grateful that he agreed to do it, and I hope he knows how many people he made very happy that day.
I arrived with my sister just in time to grab a virtual ticket for a Simm-meeting before we had to go line up for our photoshoot. It was kind of hard not to flail and embarrass myself in the queue, but I think/hope I managed fairly well! I'm not sure how many photoshoot tickets were sold in the end, but it must've been at least 175 - I think that was the last group of numbers I heard being called before we were ushered into the photo area anyway, but there could've been more. The photoshoot happened very quickly and it felt like it was over in a flash, but Simm was very lovely - He said hi as we walked up, posed as the camera flashed, and then welcomed the next people over as we left. He seemed like a pretty good sport about poses too, from what I saw of a few other photos on the table - He was holding and pointing a laser screwdriver in one, and somebody had a back-to-back one taken. I was photo!n00b however, and was slightly too jittery to ask for any special poses, but HE TOUCHED MY BACK HAW HAW HAW. Aaaand here's the result!
So after that, we met with Mountland and Culf and wandered around until Simm was back from lunch. Then it was time to use those virtual tickets and meet Simm properly. That poor man's arm must've been numb by the end of the day, as the tickets we had were numbered around the 450-550 mark. God knows what the number was up to by the time he went home! Sadly I didn't manage to get any sneaky shots of him as we were queueing - cameras were forbidden in the area where he was sitting. (Though if you check the John Simm tag on Tumblr a few ninja!folk managed to grab a couple of shots, apparently!)
It turned out that we only had roughly 20 seconds each with John in the end, as the queue moved pretty rapidly like a conveyor belt, but that was understandable. There was also a bouncer standing right behind him who looked like he'd be able to headbutt Stonehenge into space, so that kept the line moving! XD Before me, Mountland got Simm to sign the inside of his Sam Tyler plushie's jacket, which was awesome. Simm almost signed up Plushie!Sam's leg, but the signature went on the jacket in the end. Then when it was my turn I kind of just blurted "Hi! I drew a Sexby for you!" and handed him a print of this picture. I was kind of thrilled with his response to it, which mostly consisted of a very slight double-take, a 'wow' and a 'thank you'. The one thing I know I should've done was to look at him more, but I was so AGAHAGH that he'd just taken my drawing that I ended up looking down at his hands a lot more than his face XD But I got some eye contact and a smile as he handed me my autograph and we exchanged thankyou's.
Here's the autograph I got:
Sadly Simm didn't seem to notice my shirt, but he was so rushed I can understand why he didn't! It was a bit of a blur! We did meet one other person there who was wearing the LoM Qwertee shirt in the queue to see an actor from Once Upon a Time (I think...). I didn't know who he was, but he seemed to think the three of us wearing that shirt were in a cult. And also one of the con staff said they liked my shirt, but that they were confused because I looked too young to be born in 1973. They hadn't watched the show before, apparently!
One more good thing about this con is that there was slightly more Life on Mars merchandise than I've seen at previous cons. Usually there's a little LoM section of photographic prints on a stall, but there were a few larger sized John Simm prints this time too. There were a few odd T-shirts from shotdeadinthehead.com and also Life on Mars mugs, which I've never seen at a con before. Photo below, complete with grubby tea rim. (Sorry! Washing up takes effort >.>)
So yes! To sum up, it was a brilliant day, and for somebody who we know isn't too comfortable with lots of fan attention, Simm did come across as very smiley and friendly and did the best he could for each person with the time he had. And for him to actually attend a con at all was a massive surprise, so I'm grateful that he agreed to do it, and I hope he knows how many people he made very happy that day.