Convention Report: Ad Astra, Day Three
Posted April 13th, 2008 by Howard TaylerIt’s always hard to leave a convention, and Ad Astra was no exception. Sunday seemed very, very short, especially by comparison to Saturday. I only had three events, and at the end of the third one (my signing session in the Dealers’ Room) Sandra and I were supposed to hook a cab to the airport.
The first of my events was a weird one: I was to do a reading from some of my work. I decided to read the “Tub of Happiness” bonus story, occasionally (but only occasionally) showing the pictures. I suppose the fact that this succeeded marks my humor as verbal rather than visual. You just have to read the text right, and make a few funny faces.
This was followed by the “Art of Comedy” panel, in which several of us discussed how we be funny. I love having this discussion at conventions, especially when there is a good selection of other humorists present, as was the case at Ad Astra.
Interestingly, one of the anecdotes I shared as an example of the “wrong joke for the audience” came back to haunt me just yesterday. Word got back to one of my friends that I’d told a story about something that happened at Dragons Keep, and he asked me to tell the story again. Unfortunately, the story’s point was about taking care not to unduly offend your audience, and the audience at the time included some of the very people offended during the original event. Ah irony, when shall I escape your salty, metallic clutches?
That last hour of Ad Astra was super hectic. We were all packed except for a few leftover unsold items, so it should have been pretty simple… except that a few of the people who discovered my work during the convention realized I was leaving sooner than they thought, and I was swamped with book-signing right up until the end.
It’s a nice problem to have.
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April 13th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Ah, I have a deep understanding with my foot as well. That’s why I try to keep some chocolate syrup on hand to step in just prior to putting it firmly in my mouth. I wouldn’t sweat upsetting folks, since it’s bound to happen more often than you’d ever expect. Since you can’t please everybody all of the time, nor fool all of them even most of the time, just keep your amusing anecdotes to the facts and change the names to protect even the guilty. The greatest power humans have is the ability to laugh at ourselves, but usually when we don’t have to endure the public embarrassment. So what if we recognize ourselves or our friends in the process? Forgiveness and laughter go hand-in-hand with friendship, and anyone unable to either laugh at themselves in retrospect or forgive a “happy accident” that proves humorous to others (especially those pranks that cause no one permanent harm) is someone that might not really be a friend.
Time wounds all heals, or something like that. Thanks for sharing the rest of your report, especially since Ad Astra has been on my list to visit some year. I’m glad to see they also recognize your unique talent and are willing to spotlight it!
‘Drew
April 14th, 2008 at 9:50 am
It was a pleasure to meet both you and Sandra in person, Howard. I’m glad you had a good time at Ad Astra, and I (though I’m sure I’m not the only one) hope you can make it out to Toronto again some day.
In the meantime, I’ll be thinking of what sketch to ask for when the next book goes on presale. =) (I love the drawing of the anti-anti-missile-missile missile)