Wil Wheaton: The definitive discussion
As some of you may or may not know, I was lucky enough to be 10 feet away from Wil Wheaton during his recent reading in Brookline.
It was an event Susan and I had been looking forward to for months, so to have it actually happen, was amazing. We were joined by musiqadikt282 & novamystique, and they were the perfect addition to the day.
Just before the show started, we all noticed this striking woman walk in, and so began the murmurings "Is that Anne? Is that Wil's wife?" And, yeah, it was. She was telling stories to those around her about their CruiseTrek trip they had just completed and other funniness.
Just after 1, Wil came on, throwing his traditional \m/ to the crowd, and getting plenty of applause. His fear had been that there would be 7 people in the audience. They had to bring in additional folding chairs to accommodate everyone. I think he may have gotten more than 7.
He talked for a few minutes about Net Neutrality (his one trip into politics), let us, the audience, know that the Blogger event in Hollywood would be dropping on DVD later this year, and pleased me greatly. I think I was the only one who was excited, but that's ok. Fuck everyone else.
He dropped into a pair of readings, the first known as "The Trade," about being a kid and trading toys. I don't know who else out there did that regularly, but much of what he said always got to me and reminded me of what I had done as a kid. Then he rolled into "Fireworks," about moving from the kiddie table to adults tables (so to speak) in relation to lighting fireworks with his family.
His ability to write and speak, to draw you, the reader or listener, in and make you care is simply astounding. I don't think anyone would believe you if, in 1991, you said "Yeah, that kid who plays Wesley Crusher is going to be an amazing writer and speaker." Nonetheless, he is. Due to time constraints, we had only a short Q&A session, and then over to Brookline Booksmith where he was signing.
The 4 of us took a long, slow crawl through the store, waiting (im)patiently for our turn to come. We passed through the knitting section, children's books, poetry, mythology, politics, and a few other, all stirring new thoughts, interactions, conversation, as we some how managed to go from favoured children's novels to a postcard describing the accidental killing of a person's dog in the Postsecret book.
As we crept up to Wil, I know I began to get nervous. He's just a guy with a family trying to make a few bucks doing what he loves. On that level he is neither greater than nor less than me, but at the same time, this is Wil Wheaton, a guy who I've come to admire and respect as he's moved from being an actor to a writer. But it all went well. And the guy has a killer handshake. He looks you in the eye and shakes your hand. That's impressive to me.
I was first up and asked him the only question I wanted to as he signed my book: "What did you do with good Wil?" I said. Looking confused he asked "Good wil?" I brought up the goatee, and that's all it took for him to launch into a great description of a series of events that led him to become the "Mirror Mirror" version of good ol' Uncle Willie. He was a great sport and explained that he was, apparently, "pulling a Riker." Those who know, will laugh, the rest, don't worry.
Because musiqadikt282 can't resist getting celebrities to kick his Irish ass, he explained to Wil what he wanted. Looking a bit hesitant at first, he really got into it, so far as to smash him across the face. It was a priceless moment, and truly makes me giggle.
I left there quite content. I'd wanted to see and hear a live reading by wil for almost 2 years, and I got to finally enjoy it with some good friends.
Photos: Wil Wheaton @ the Coolidge Theatre
I'll have video, available through a Creative Commons license, available later this week, of his performance of "The Trade."
Edit:
Thanks to a kindly member of Wil's hawesome posse, Raphael, I've got video uploaded to archive.org:
The Trade: 640x480
The Trade: 320x240
Specs: The files are xvid mpeg4 video with mp3 audio. The video was shot on a Casio EX-2750 (Exilim).