Worldcon question

[nwhyte]

I see Cheryl Morgan's roundup from Worldcon includes this comment: I’ve also heard a few complaints about Chris Priest. I’m not exactly happy about what happened at the Hugo ceremony myself, seeing as it was on my watch, so to speak. But having talked to a number of people who know Chris better than I do I’ve been reassured that he was trying to

Comments

[coalescent]

I believe it was the title-based puns when he was reading out the Hugo nominees. He seemed to still be in I'm Sorry I Haven't An SFin Clue mode (and hadn't warned anyone he was going to do it). I thought it was funny, personally ...

[nwhyte]

Yeah, I remember now - I thought it was great.

[chance88088]

me too! I can't imagine someone being offended even if they did not thing it was particularly funny.

[swisstone]

We did drop a few rounds on Thursday night, so he had material prepared that he didn't get to use ...

[sdn]

was it how he named off the five best novel contenders (punning mixed-up titles and things) and then said "we have two ians, two irons, and a woman"?

[nwhyte]

That must be it. "And the woman is the winner."

[sdn]

i thought it was enormously witty of him.

[nwhyte]

...which kills any arguments about his humour not travelling across the Atlantic.

[despotliz]

I presume it was his way of announcing the nominees and winner for Best Novel, as he made jokes about them and didn't read them straight out.

[nwhyte]

Yeah, I suppose. For a geek like me, that made it all more interesting. However if any of the shortlisted authors was upset by it, that's a shame. (But do we know that they were?)

[autopope]

Personally, I thought the Hugo announcements were side-splitting. And I heard about the closing ceremony (I wasn't there) and .... guess what? I happen to know Chris from of old, and I think it sounded like a good joke at the time.

Anyone who thinks I was offended didn't ask my opinion.

[swisstone]

He certainly wasn't short of Charlie Stross jokes, as he showed at I'm Sorry I Haven't An SF-ing Clue ...

[anonymous]

Came across this due to a blog search on "Worldcon" I have set up. My personal problem with Priest's bit at the Hugos was that he never read the actual names of the nominees or their authors.

Don't get me wrong; I enjoy humor during the Hugo Ceremony with the best of them. But until Priest, as far as I know all Hugo presenters have also remembered that at the end, the ceremony is about the nominees and winners, *not* the presenter. I strongly believe that we should honor those that make the final Hugo ballot during the ceremony by actually stating the names/titles of the nominees and winner. If Priest had done his routine and then read the actual names, no problem. But by not reading them, my impression was that he gave his presentation a "See how clever I am, this is about me being clever" feel rather than honoring the nominees and winner.

Tom Galloway

[fjm]

But until Priest, as far as I know all Hugo presenters have also remembered that at the end, the ceremony is about the nominees and winners, *not* the presenter.

I remember hearing Connie Willis as presenter, with her "oh yes, and let's just go on for a minute more before we get to it" shtick and just hating it. Everyone else was rolling in the aisles.

I think the mistake Priest made was simply forgetting that not everyone is as familiar with the list.

[del_c]

Not to mention George R R Martin, pounding his "here I am, presenting the The Big One, and never got one myself" joke into the ground. He was still telling that joke two years later. Also, the actual titles were projected behind Chris all the while he was punning with them.

I don't think it's that big a deal, but if future organisers want to ask Best Novel announcers to be more sober, fine. Just let's not pretend announcers in that spot haven't been indulged in their whims for years.