The Walking Dead Event in Singapore 11 Jan 2014

Some weeks I received an email from Starhub about a promotion. I took interest because it mentioned The Walking Dead. I have watched all 4 seasons, individual weekly episodes as well as a marathon weekend zombie blast, enough to have zombie nightmares. I had a chance to win invites to meet Andrew  Lincoln and Norman Reedus live. Say what? Me and Rick The Sheriff and Daryl The Redneck Robin Hood within eyeshot, standing on the same ground, breathing the same air?! Why hell yes thank you very much. I had to submit a question that if I had the chance could ask them in person. Hmmm. This had to be a good one, something intellectual and  thought provoking. Nothing like 'which co-worker would you shag on set?' or 'so is your character gonna get killed off?'. I came up with "The show deals with the end of humanity and how we cope with really awful things. Has it changed the way you live your life, perhaps a greater appreciation of everything?" And that got me the invites. Woo hoo!

Last Saturday I went to the event with a friend. She had watched all of The Walking Dead too, while alone and in a foreign country no less. I think that's why she came back to Singapore, to be around other zombies. We met in Little India for breakfast (We overdid it a little. Masala thosai, vadai, appam) then ambled over to LaSalle College Of The Arts, that black and white building with the funny shapes along Rochor Road. First time I was there. A crowd was gathered at the front foyer. I thought these people were here to partake upon the magnificence of television but they were staring at the window cleaners. (The building had glass walls at odd angles so washing them from the outside required men rappelling down from the roof. Quite a sight and quite hard work). We made it down to the basement to register and were given Fox Action Movies cushion as gifts. Hmmm. Soft but hard to walk around with. What to do, a prize is a prize. We then had to find the bathroom next and boy, was it difficult to locate.

We went to the main entrance and lo and behold, a large crowd of TWD fans had gathered to wait for their heroes. There was an obstacle course with zombie actors roaming about. Now this was getting interesting. We waited, the crowd grew, it got hot. I met an ex-colleague who's a media strategist who was there because his client NERF was sponsoring the weapons of actors' choice. A bunch of taxis pulled in and out of the foyer entrance and each time the audience craned their necks and gasped. Nope. Then a white London cab shows and lo and behold, out pop Andrew and Norman. And the crowd goes wild. Screaming, clapping and shouting. Sheer terror for the actors I bet who were possibly expecting a milder and calmer reception. The heat probably got them faint already and now a few hundred fans were set upon them. Well not really. Adrian Pang, funny man and MC of the event took charge, welcomed them and quickly got them scared with the challenge of completing the obstacle course. I thought it may have been a little too harsh for the actors. They just off a plane, were jet lagged and probably hadn't had a decent breakfast and now had to pretend to be awesome for us. They took it in their stride. They also took every opportunity to take pictures and sign autographs. So nice. Especially Norman. He was practically throwing himself at the fans. Many a fan-and-I selfie was taken.  By the time Andrew did the course, I was sweaty from jostling for a good view. I stepped back into the cooler environs of no man's land, and let the scene play out. Adrian continued to be funny as he commentated on the proceedings. I bet the visiting angmohs didn't quite get the bits of Singlish and other local colloquialisms. Soon it was over. Andrew won, Norman didn't care. Everyone proceeded to mob the actors. Snap snap snap. Screams and cheers. The zombies however kept in character and ironically didn't ravage upon the masses. Maybe they were vegetarian.

We proceeded downstairs to the underground theatre to wait for the actors' interview. We waited a while. I bet the actors had food and drink. We on the other hand were hungry and thirsty. Good thing my friend and I had quite a big breakfast. Now we were hankering for a beer.

Rick and Daryl showed up on stage about half an hour later I think. Much cheering ensued and Adrian set about asking questions. The man is funny and quick on the draw with the comments and quips from the actors. Andrew and Norman were fooling around like teenagers. They got serious enough to answer deep questions about their acting philosophy and experiences, and expressed how lucky they were to work with each other and the other great actors on the AMC show. They talked about how difficult it is to be an actor and how different their individual styles are. There were LaSalle acting students in the audience and I think they got quite a lot out of this engagement. Both stars were down to earth and took a light hearted view to their success. They seemed grateful and sincere. They spoke about their families and how perhaps the show helped them realise their real priorities. It was heartwarming to hear.

The event closed off with open questions from the floor. Some were smart, others were plain dumb. Forgive me, but seriously, you can't ask Hollywood actors the plot of the new season and hope they've might reveal a smidgen of storyline. They'll get fired dude!

After about 3 and half hours it was time to go. We were exhausted enough to forget to collect the autographed promo card for the new season. The beer! We needed a cool drink pronto! Sigh.

I contacted Starhub and collected the signed card a few days later. Woohoo!I might eBay it for the retirement funds.

Now for the series to begin. I drool in anticipation.