Brent
Spiner in Blackpool, May 1997
Brent appeared at The Mission convention, Blackpool, England,
on 3rd and 4th May. He was a delight both days, but seemed more
relaxed on the Sunday. The atmosphere on both days was good. I
hope it is clear from the transcripts that there was a lot of
joking going on between Brent and the audience, all of it good
humoured. He was having a lot of fun with our different accents,
and each time that happened, the person he was teasing enjoyed
it too. The audience response was warm and happy, and I think
Brent probably enjoyed himself as much as we did. There were no
"sticky" moments. Earlier on Saturday, Richard Hurd was attacked
by a woman who went on and on telling him that "England is not
a country, the United Kingdom is a country" while we felt embarrassed
by such foolishness; some people asked her to sit down and be
quiet: he was polite about it, but it took a while to shut her
up. I was very glad nothing like that happened while Brent was
on.
The stage was only about 3 feet high, so we could see all of
him, not just from the knees up as at so many cons. Happily, no-one
asked for hugs or autographs. Several people did ask very politely
could they give him something, and Brent was very kind, saying,
"Of course" and telling them to come up to him. He had asked that
flashes be taken only when he came on, and spent several minutes
giving us all a chance for pictures, turning round and round and
making sure everyone in the audience had a chance of some good
shots. On Sunday, while he was doing that he included an Elvis
impression!
In the transcript you will see that Brent (like the other guests)
had some problems with our accents, and he was anxious to reassure
people that it was not their fault that he had to ask for questions
to be repeated. Blackpool, in the north west of England, has quite
a strong accent, rather like the Beatles, and Brent was enjoying
copying it. He acknowledged people in the audience, including
Jackie Edwards (Patrick Stewart's PA).
On Saturday Brent wore a long-sleeved shirt and loose trousers
- he indulged the jeans fantasists on Sunday, when he wore them
with a top with sleeves pushed up.
The con ran for four days and was sold out some time previously
for Brent's two days. (There were about 2000 of us there.)
|
