Shy People Approaching Shy People

• Lori Palminteri
• Uncategorized
• October 24, 2024

I’ve been to New York Comic con a couple times in the past. For those of those who’ve never been, Comic Con is a huge event for nerds, dorks and pop culture enthusiasts. I am all three! There are panels and sneak peak glimpses in what’s to come in the world of movies, tv, comics and video games… but mostly it’s a giant flee market of people selling merch, either stuff of their own creation or things they’ve collected (some of it very cool treasures, some of it actual trash).

I hadn’t been to Comic Con since pre-pandemic when I went with my buddy and fellow comedian, Greg Stone, who is a Marvel/DC/Star Wars savant action figure collector man child (said with love, Greg is my homeboy). Greg has a popular podcast and he got a couple free passes to Comic Con, and he was kind enough to bring me along. We didn’t stay long, however, because the Javits center was so packed with people, we both became overwhelmed and left.

It was somewhat of a surprise to me when my sister said she wanted to go to Comic Con this year… until I learned there was an Outlander panel and my sister is obsessed with Outlander. I love to make fun of my sister when it comes to her love for the sappy time traveling romance novel turned television series. And yes, I’m fully aware of the irony in calling her passions “totally gay and stupid” while wearing a cosplay costume. I had agreed to go with my sister under the condition that I would resurrect my Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff costume that I wore a couple Halloweens ago which is a really cool costume that I look great in and spent far too much money on. Comic Con is a hot spot for cosplayers, from loosely fit pajama looking costumes on people with doughy bodies, to amazing costumes that look like they should be in movies that must of cost them a lot of money and time making.

In previous years, I didn’t dress up. And this year, the reason I was going to wear the costume was to promote my comedy special on YouTube, “Weird Enough.” My thinking was, I’d look super cute and cool so people would want their picture taken with me and then I’d hand them my custom sticker that has my Insta on it and gain followers and fans. Pretty good plan, right? I thought so. Plus, it was a fun outing with my sister who works really hard and raises two of my favorite little people and like most moms, she needs and deserves breaks sometimes.

By theory, this was a good PR stunt. Additionally, Elizabeth Olsen aka Wanda Maximoff, would be there herself! Charging $240 for a picture! I wasn’t charging anything! In reality, I ultimately gained only a handful of new followers and fans. Because even though I did get lots of compliments and took a decent amount of pictures, people were generally too shy to talk to me. Which isn’t THAT surprising. Comic Con might as well be called “introverts con.” These people are real Morty’s (Rick and Morty reference). My sister chastised me for not being assertive enough, saying that anyone who makes eye contact and stares so much for more than a second or gives a smile, I should approach them and brag about my comedy special. To her credit, she is right, and all my comedian friends would have said the same thing. But despite being a stand-up and wearing this costume, I too am an introverted introvert and doing such things goes against the fabric of my personality.

The people I did talk to and take pictures with were really sweet and impressed that I was a stand up comedian. I did have people who couldn’t afford pictures with Olsen happily take pictures with me instead, saying that I really look like her (what a compliment!). This one small and somewhat mousey girl came up to me, asking for a picture. I went to put my arm around her for the photo but then she said, “oh I don’t want to be in the picture, I’ll ruin it. You look so perfect, I’d rather have the picture of just you.” Geez, talk about low confidence. “You wouldn’t ruin the picture!” I tried to assure her, but then allowed her to take a picture of just me, posing. Then, I told her about my comedy special.

I was happy my sister decided to go opening day (Thursday) and not Friday or Saturday because it wasn’t so crowded that I felt I needed to leave. She went to her Outlander panel where she got to sit in the fifth row so she was happy. We walked around and drank, joking, while looking at stuff and occasionally buying stuff. I ran into a group of Wanda’s and we took group shots together. It was a fun day. I wondered if I wore my Princess Leia golden bikini if I would have gotten more attention (aka gotten more people to watch my comedy special).

It’s a world of shameless promotion that we live in. And I don’t just mean artists. These days even hair salon owners or landscapers have to have a presence on social media. Truthfully, I don’t love constantly posting “look at me” photos. And though I do, on occasion, use thirst traps to keep people coming to my pages, I also like to post less flattering, no make up pictures of myself because I think it’s important to “keep it real” in a world that feels more distant from reality than people dressed as cartoon characters at a convention. So we try to put our best selves forward, as narcissistic as it is, it is a necessity. But, my life, like everyone else’s, isn’t always perfect so I don’t paint it as such. Sometimes, we are possessed by the Darkhold, and I prefer to show varying chapters of myself.