this post was supposed to be dedicated to Mssrs Wood and Astin instead I am relegating that to a later post in favor of a certain Mr. Andy Serkis, who is absolutely the most gracious and cool guy I've ever met.


So Andy Serkis is directing a little play called "Double Bass" and when I was in line for the FotR screening on Sunday night, I met a guy who was talking about it. All he really told me was that Andy was involved and that he was going to be doing a q&a after the play on monday and tuesday nights. It sounded interesting and he gave me the number of the playhouse. So yesterday I called and reserved a ticket.

Typically, I showed up late, because, typically, I got lost. But I begged the woman to let me in and she did. The theatre was tiny, three bench rows of seats, it probably held about 75 people max. And the play was a one man experimental play originally written in German by Patrick Suskind.

It would be impossible to really explain what the play was about, but all I can really say was that it was phenominal. Bev Willis was the actor, and he was amazing, it was just an incredibly powerful play because it all went on inside his head, and was very intense. Andy was the Director and Designer for it.

After the play ended, they had a short break and about half the audience left, and about 25 of us stayed behind for the discussion session with Andy and Bev. They asked if we had any questions, and then asked for comments on it. Andy wanted to know if we had had any problems with the play, or if we had found it difficult to identify with the character. And he was really genuine in wanting our opinions.

We all talked for a few minutes, and got a lot of positive responses, and then Andy said that it would probably be a good idea to end on a good note (this was after a very positive response to the play from one woman). So the discussion kind of broke up and we got to approach both Andy and Bev.

I talked to Bev first, complimented him on the play and such. And talked about school and various things. And once Andy was free I told him that I hadn't been able to see him at Collectormania, but that I was excited to meet him and that the play was incredible.

So here's where you all are gonna get jealous (well, only if you like Andy) he invited us all to go out to the pub a little ways down the street. So of course I went, especially because I really wanted a chance to talk about the play some more and ask a few more questions. When we got to the pub I was just about to pull my wallet out when Andy turned to me and asked me what I'd have.

We all ended up hanging out at the pub and talking for about two hours, and Andy is just the absolute sweetest guy ever. He is just so nice and I can't get over how good the play was. It was just so powerful, and completely fascinating. And at the end of the night Andy gave me a big hug and I congratulated him on the play.

Seriously, it was just the coolest thing to ever happen to me. And it's honestly not because he's famous. It was just a really really cool night.

Oh yeah, and I did ask what he really thinks about conventions and all the autographs and stuff, he said that it's really tiring to sign al the autographs but he said that it really is fun to meet people and feel everyone's enthusiasm for the movies. He said he really enjoys doing the conventions and stuff. I thought that was pretty damned cool.

Andy Serkis? You've got a fan for life.