Dealer Room

Neil Gaiman event for Toronto's Luminato

(picture what I took) ---------------->

The lovely Lesley Livingston and myself were fortunate enough to snag a couple tickets to this event. I say fortunate because, according to Devyani Saltzman from Luminato, it had sold out in 3 minutes when tickets had originally gone on sale.

Yeah.

This dude is the rockstar of genre fiction, and was totally treated as such (with the usual Canadian restraint, cheering and applause at his introduction lasted only maybe 5 minutes before we realised - "I believe we ought to let the man speak eh?").

At any rate, arriving at the Jane Mallet theatre was overwhelming, so much so that Lesley and I, desperate to find each other in the crowd, and not quite understanding each other over our cell phones, discovered we were standing right next to each other.

We went into the theatre which was filling up at a lovely relaxed pace, and discovered we were sitting in the second row, stage right. Perfect nose hair viewing angle, we would learn, when Neil (because I feel like we ought to be on a first name basis) came out to read.

Before he did though, SPACE guru Mark Askwith delivered a lovely funny introduction (the text of which can be found at the The Circuit's Blog - along with his unique perspective of the event). Then the man of the hour came on stage to, as I mentioned before, great cheers and applause. He proceeded to read from his Newbery Award winning The Graveyard Book (the man has an incredible reading voice - which, knowing authors as I do, is not as common as you would think), sat for a nice interview with Mark - lots of wonderfully insightful thoughts on the writing process - took some questions ('How do you feel about Douglas Adams's death?" ". . . Well . . . it wasn't a good thing . . .?") and then read from the Blueberry Girl and Who Killed Amanda Palmer.

He then signed, I have it on good authority, for over two and a half hours. He signed for anyone who wanted something signed (with the caveat of one item per person). Totally awesome for him to do so.

In all a delightful evening, marred only a bit by this nagging cold I have (I had to use every applause and laughter as a cover for my hacking up a lung - fortunately there was plenty of both [well, all three: applause, laughter and hacking]). There was one moment when I was sorely tempted (considering how darn close we were to the stage) of leaning over and asking: "Neil . .. psst. . . Neil! Hey, yeah, Neil, um could I just have a sip of your water there?" But I didn't.

So yes, a wonderful event, and a demonstration of the awesomeness of Luminato (events are still going on all over the city, totally check out their website here).

Okay and also a demonstration of the awesomeness of Neil Gaiman.

But you know, like, whatever . . .

Tags: blueberry girl, jane mallet theatre, lesley livingston, luminato, mark askwith, neil gaiman, newbery award, space, the graveyard book, who killed amanda palmer

9 Comments

Comment by Miles Baker on June 9, 2009 at 1:59pm: That man is a Prince. PRINCE I TELL YOU.

Comment by Joe O'Brien on June 9, 2009 at 2:43pm: Lesley and I, desperate to find each other in the crowd, and not quite understanding each other over our cell phones, discovered we were standing right next to each other.

Why is it so easy for me to picture this?

Comment by Archie on June 9, 2009 at 3:48pm: Mr. Gaiman never seems to disappoint. He truly is an inspiration with all the works he’s compiled in a wide variety of story-telling media. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

Indeed Luminato is one of the nicer things to have happening around Toronto. I wish general interest in the arts throughout the city was sustained at this level for more than just a few weeks each year.

Comment by Robert Harding on June 9, 2009 at 5:03pm: It is Archie... just in different forms.

I wish I had been able to go to this. Heck, I wish I could make it out to a lot of Luminato events. I have yet to make it to one... ever :(

Comment by Drew Bartlett on June 9, 2009 at 5:32pm: Wow I didn't even know he was coming!!! You're so lucky you got to go to that. I don't think there's a thing that Mr. Gaiman has touched that hasn't turned to gold, in my eyes. My particular favourite was the "Neverwhere" novel from a while back. if you haven't read it I suggest you do.

Comment by Jon Marvin on June 9, 2009 at 7:06pm: It does appear that the man is genuine, the same on stage as off. It gets harder and harder to attend any of his TO appearances anymore, though. I'm glad someone I know managed to snag tickets.

Comment by Douglas on June 11, 2009 at 12:33pm: In your defense, it's hard to find Lesley in a crowd - she's wee. But also loud, so I calculate you had a 50/50 chance of locating her. Glad yo uconnected, and glad too you got to share some time with the esteemed Mr. Neil. Connections really *do* count!

Comment by Joe O'Brien on June 11, 2009 at 6:35pm: You'll be pleased to know, Adrienne, that Gaiman linked back to this very page on his blog today.

Comment by Adrienne on June 11, 2009 at 6:39pm: I am pleased to know that! I would be more pleased if he'd found the link because he's secretly been stalking me, but yes, this is second best!

Neil Gaiman event for Toronto's Luminato

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