The Man, The Myth, The...Underwear

Recently, I had the opportunity to take my family to their first nerd-con. Shoutout to GalaxyCon, what a great event. I had sneakily found the celebrity guest list on their website months ago and had tried my best to keep what I had in store a secret…But, for those that may know me, you know how bad I am at keeping a surprise from my kids. Anyway, the fateful day came that we packed up in the car and headed to the big city to shake hands with some of our heroes!

                We had the great luck to meet 3 of the cast of Once Upon a Time, one of my wife and daughter’s favorite tv shows. It was in this first meeting, that I began to realize just what I was in for as the day would progress. A quick hug from the Robin Hood (Sean Maquire) and The Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla) had left my wife in giggles and my daughter in joyous tears. It was going to be a great day. Next, we made our way around the booths and were able to visit with one of my childhood heroes. A man that has gone by many names: Cactus Jack, Dude Love, and Mankind...

WWE’s Mick Foley. I have never felt as welcomed as I was when Mick Foley smiled at me and pointed at my t-shirt (a yellow happy face wearing the leather mask of Mankind) As we posed for a quick picture, he reached under the table to pull out the mask I had seen him wear countless times in the squared circle. I couldn’t have been happier to meet such a charismatic man. We wandered, checking lines and names off our list: Timothy Omundson from Psych, Brent Spiner from Star Trek TNG, John De Lancie from Star Trek TNG, Daphne Zuniga from Spaceballs, and even catching a glimpse of the amazing George Takei. Everyone we met left us a smiling and more than a little starstruck.

                We decided to walk around and see some of the venders and artists, stopping to admire all the amazing cosplayers that we stumbled upon. Eventually finding our way to the fanclub area of the event. We were all thrilled to take a family photo standing with the Ecto 1 from Ghostbusters as well as seeing the joy in our kids’ eyes sitting in JP10 (the Jeep from Jurassic Park). Watching my son stare wide eyed as a platoon of stormtroopers marched by us in the walkway was priceless. It was an amazing series of memories we were making.

But, back to the unorthodox title of this post…Man? Myth?....Underwear?? What could it mean? I brought my family back to celebrity row and found the booth for Barry Bostwick. Now, many younger readers may not know who that is, but anyone in my generation will recognize Mayor Randall Winston of NYC from Spin City, or more importantly, Brad Majors from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. We had barely started talking to his assistant to pay for our autograph before he jumped into the conversation and immediately made us feel like long lost family. Barry has so much warm charisma and love for talking to his fans. We hadn’t even picked out a picture for him to sign before he was out from behind his table giving my wife and I each a hug and

striking up conversation with our kids. It was at this point I noticed the sign on his table….a wooden plaque holding an aged pair of tidy whities, autographed with a small sign saying “Buy my underwear. Seriously, we have two kids in college, please buy them.” I was sure it was a joke, but upon asking, found it was an honest offer. I couldn’t resist. To my wife’s shock, I bought Barry Bostwick’s underwear. Now, before you get grossed out and block my site, they were brand new from the package. But, none the less, I bought Barry’s underwear, signed with his signature phrase “Dammit Katlin, I love you. Barry Bostwick” My wife didn’t know what to say, it was such a great throwback to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but what do you say to someone that hands you personalized, celebrity autographed, underwear?

Now, fast forward to being back home after the adventure had ended. My wife and kids can’t stop talking about how much fun it was to meet everyone at GalaxyCon and we now have the most unique conversation starter ever hanging by our movie shelf. A framed pair of tidy whities, personally signed by Barry Bostwick, and a truly amazing story to go along with them. If

you ever get the chance to attend a GalaxyCon (they happen all around the country) I can’t recommend it enough. Seeing our heroes from the silver screen and getting to shake hands and feel like you’ve become friends is a feeling I can’t fully describe. It’ll certainly change the way you watch your favorite films and leave you with one-of-a-kind memories to cherish and share.

https://galaxycon.com/