Tales of con: Meet The Sleepy Klingon

While nerdlebrities are a big draw at comic-cons these days, as we’ve noted in the past, trying to throw a celebrity-only show can be a dismal affair. But with the rise of nerd culture, autograph shows seem to be picking up, even on the local level. For example: while going through our mail, we found a press release for a show called The American Music & Pop Culture Expo. Sounds promising. The event was held this past weekend in a Hershey, PA gymnasium and headlining guests included Bronson Pinchot and Butch Patrick. If that was not enough to excite you:

Other guests, who will be appearing at the expo, include Paris Themmen (best known as Mike Tee Vee in the classic film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory), Matt Hardy (professional wrestler), Geri Reischl (best known as Jan Brady from Sid & Marty Krofft’s Brady Bunch Variety Hour), David Orange (best known as the Sleepy Klingon from the motion picture Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country), and Triston Johnson (Zombie Barn Walker from AMC’s hit series The Walking Dead).

Now, we’re sure that those who attended had a swell time—organizers promised a “brisk and fantastic” show—but isn’t it time to really start demanding some kind of credentials for nerdlebrities?

“The Zombie Barn Walker” and “The Sleepy Klingon.”

Is that really what it has come to?

“Hey Dad, what did you do in the 80s?”

“I was a sleepy Klingon, son. They need 40 winks or it’s the Doomsday Machine over and over again.”

As for the Zombie Barn Walker— did you SEE how many zombies were in that barn????? How do you know it was really him?

We have nothing against those who brushed with fame using the scrapings from the fame lint remover to make a buck or two but…give us working cartoonists any day. No matter how dismal the comics industry may seem at times, it’s got to be better than being known as the third Romulan from the left.

So how was the event? Chris Mautner of Robot 6 went and seems to have had a good time.

The event itself was a bit like a schizophrenic flea market. At one table you might find a gentlemen selling vintage toys. A few steps away someone else might be selling vinyl records. Across the way someone else might be selling dolls, or hot sauce, or antiques or a mish-mash of stuff that suggested they had recently cleaned out their basement. One inventive gentleman was selling light switches with decoupaged Marvel comic book characters on them.

The piece includes an interview with the Sleepy Klingon himself. We won’t spoil it. Let him have his moment in the sun.