My San Diego Comic Cone Experience Day 2

Even though I did not have a ticket to actual Comic Con that day, Friday was by far my favorite day of Comic Con. This is mainly because of Zachary Levi’s (Chuck) Nerd HQ event that happened all weekend at Petco Park across the street from the San Diego Convention Center.

I mentioned Nerd HQ briefly in my post about day 1 about Comic Con, but I thought I would give some more information about it today. Nerd HQ is kind of like a mini Comic Con. Just like SDCC, there are panels you can attend, but these panels are very exclusive and cost money. Each panel only holds 300 people and costs $22 a panel. The ticket is definitely worth the money though. These 300 person panels are much more intimate than the panels within SDCC. Nerd HQ also has a thing called Smiles for Smiles where celebrities pose for pictures with fans for $20 a photo. I ended up spending more money on Nerd HQ panels and photos than on my SDCC tickets, but it was totally worth it. 

All of the money from the panels and the Smiles for Smile goes to a charity that fixes cleft lips in children in third world countries. It costs around $20 to fix the cleft lip of one child so every ticket and every photo sold saves one kid. It is an amazing cause and a great event.

Unlike Thursday, I let myself sleep in a bit on Friday and did not arrive at SDCC until 9:30am. The rest was much appreciated. When I arrived at the SDCC area, I went straight to Nerd HQ and walked around all of the free games and activities that were being held in Petco Park.

My first Nerd HQ panel of the day was Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, the production company run by Seth Green that makes Robot Chicken. The panel was extremely funny and I was amazed at how close I was to Seth.

As the panel went on, Seth Green introduced us to the creators of a new show called team Unicorn that his company is producing. They showed a clip from the show and it was absolutely hysterical. The show is about a group of girls who are able to turn into unicorns by shooting rainbow beams out of their boobs. Despite being a show about people with unicorn powers, it is definitely a pg-13 show. Alan Tudyk (Firefly) also came to support the show!

My next panel of the day was with comedy musical duo, Garfunkel and Oates (Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci). Although Garfunkel and Oates sadly did not sing, they were also a riot. They described in detail some of their dirtiest songs and it was great to watch Zachary Levi as he tried to tone down the raunchiness of the panel.

My next panel was with the cast of Let’s Be Cops (Dayman Wayans Jr., Keegan-Michael Key from Key and Peele, and Rob Riggle). The cast definitely had a lot of chemistry and I really enjoyed them poking fun at each other throughout the panel. I was front row for this panel so I was so close!

 

My fourth Nerd HQ panel of the day was a panel with Evangeline Lily from Lost and the Hobbit. Evangeline was there to promote her new book called The Squickerwonkers, a new children’s picture book that she wants to turn into a full series. I was skeptical at first because I don’t tend to trust actors who write books, but the book is actually really interesting.

It is very different than any other children’s book that I have ever seen. The imagery in the book is very creepy and cool and the storyline is very unique when compared to other children’s books. There are no characters that are all “good” or all “bad” in her book. Every character is flawed in their own way and that is refreshing. 

After her panel, I got to meet Evangeline and have her sign a copy of her book! I definitely suggest you check out the book, especially if you have kids.

My final panel of the day was a panel for The Maze Runner which was attended by Kaya Scodelario (Skins), Dylan O’Brien (Teen Wolf), Will Poulter (We’re the Millers), the director of the movie, and James Dashner (The author of the book). This panel was absolutely amazing. The actors seemed to be very invested in this movie and were very passionate when they talked about it.

Near the end of the panel I was able to ask the cast a question and I took full advantage of the situation. I have always been a huge fan of the British TV show Skins and Kaya Scodelario’s character was always my favorite character on the program. When I stood up to ask my question, I told Kaya how much I loved Skins and I asked her if she would sign my dvd of my favorite season of Skins (Season 3).

I could tell that the audience and Zach were not to pleased with my request, but Kaya said yes! I passed my dvd and my silver sharpie to Zachary Levi at the front of the panel and he gave it to Kaya to sign. She left me a very nice message and this experience blew my mind.

After The Maze Runner panel I was walking on air. I couldn’t believe that I had gotten Kaya to sign my dvd. Around 7pm, a friend and I waited in line to try and get into a party for the tv show the Last Ship on an actual warship. The party would also include musical performances by MGMT and Grimes. Sadly after waiting in line for over an hour, we found out that we could not get in. 

We then stopped and got some food at a food truck nearby and decided to see if there were any other after parties that we could get into. We discovered that Magic the Gathering was having a free party so we went there and got some free Magic swag.

After stopping by the Magic party for a little while, we tried our luck at celebrity spotting outside other parties and we actually had a lot of success! The first celebrity we saw was Matthew McConaughay as he ran from a club to his car. We didn’t get to take a picture with him or anything, but I was literally less than a foot from him at one point.

After that, we didn’t have any success for an hour or so, but around 10pm we saw someone we knew outside the Hard Rock Hotel and we stopped to say hello. While we were there suddenly a bunch of security guards showed up and then Maisse Williams (Arya Stark from Game of Thrones) and Natalie Dormer (Margery Tyrell on Game of Thrones), and John Bradley (Sam Tarley on Game of Thrones) walked by. We couldn’t get pictures with them either, but they were really nice and said hello! I absolutely love Natalie Dormer so I was ecstatic. 

Right after the Game of Thrones cast walked by, The Maze Runner cast (Kaya Scodelario, Dylan O’Brien, and Will Poulter) walked by! They also weren’t taking pictures, but I asked Kaya if she remembered me from the panel and she stopped and talked to me! She even remembered my name! I was able to get a picture with Kaya (At the top of the post) and that was my favorite part of all of SDCC. 

The rest of the night I was in complete shock. I met the Game of Thrones cast, got Kaya Scodelario to sign my dvd, and got a picture with Kaya! I could barely sleep that night.

If you want to watch any of the Nerd HQ panels I was at in full (including the one where I asked a question) they are all on youtube under the Nerd Machine channel. Also, if you want to read about my day 1 at comic con, go to this link! My San Diego Comic Con Experience Day 1