Houston comicpalooza

5/28/2015

Dan Starkey Interview

In the Q&A with Dan Starkey, which I neglected to get on tape but wish I had, he was asked by Sylvan, about the makeup application process and having only having three fingers to act with, as well as his Butler costume and his space suit armor. Dan said that it takes about 2 and a half hours to get into his makeup and once it's on, he has a lot of trouble hearing the other actors. Because it makes his chest, arms, and head so much larger than normal, he also has a hard time not bumping into furniture, doorways, and people. He has a really hard time doing things with only three fingers, like pouring tea and operating dials and other "controls" on board ship. He says he prefers his Butler costume to his space suit armour because it's actually made of cloth and is easy to put on and take off. The space suit armour has to be powdered before he can get the pants on and even then he has to have help pulling them up. Because the costume, makeup, and gun weigh so much, Dan has a hard time just completing the tasks his character has to do on screen but he says the crew is extremely sensitive to his needs and allows him to sit down whenever he needs a break. One interesting thing about the costume and makeup is that because it's so bulky, almost like being in American football pads, he's allowed to do all his own stunts. He can fight, run, fall, and jump and not get hurt when he's wearing all that padding.

Here is a video that the BBC did of Dan getting his Strax makeup on. It's time-elapsed and condenses the 2.5 hour process into less than 2 minutes.

This interview was done in London in 2013 before Peter Capaldi was announced as the new doctor. The journalist asks him much the same questions that he was asked in Houston. The bit about his costume and makeup comes up at the 6:04 minute mark.

In Dan's Q&A, he mentioned this interview that he'd done in makeup and costume for the BBC. He answers kids' questions about his character and the show as Strax. Dan does an amazing job thinking on the fly and coming up with what Strax would say. He's such a wonderful person and so sweet for doing this for kids.

Andrew Love Interview

Former McLennan theatre student, Andrew Love, has done hundreds of voices in the last ten years after graduating from the University of Houston's theatre department. His resume is filled with anime shows, which I have included in the gallery. He signed a photo for my son Sylvan, who watches some of the shows he's done voices for. He asked Sylvan if he wanted a vampire, a werewolf, or a Frankenstein. Sylvan picked vampire because Vampire Hunter D was the first anime show he ever saw. Of course that movie was made when Andrew was 4, so he wasn't in it, but Sylvan doesn't care.

While we were catching up I asked him about his career. Even though he's done a ton of voice work, he still has to have 3 other jobs to pay the bills. His day job is working for a law firm. There's a wikipedia article on him. Too bad it doesn't mention that he went to MCC. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Love
And he's listed on this website for voice actors as well: http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Andrew-Love/

He also worked with the Classical Theatre Company to read Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, a New Hope. for us at the Con. Yes, a man named Ian Doescher adapted the Star Wars films into Shakespearean verse in 2013. It is getting pretty popular to do readings of his adaptations for Comic Cons as well as for Star Wars Day, May the 4th. Our own Banskton's Comics supports a group here in Waco that does these. During the Fall HOT Con they did Star Wars: Verily a New Hope and during the Spring HOT Con they did The Empire Striketh Back.