Everything else went flawlessly. Once again, super fan Mike was front and center and even brought along some local flyers with Svengoolie ads. They were carefully wrapped and then presented to me, which was very thoughtful of him and further illustrates how amazing my fellow Svengoolie fans truly are.

Svengoolie signed in a different booth than Friday, and in the middle of the Lord of the Rings section. Instead of neighboring Nancy Allen as before, he was alongside one of the hobbits – Billy Boyd a.k.a. “Pippin” and occupying the same spot Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee) would be signing in later. We missed Nancy Allen, but her arc in this Svengoolie tale isn’t over yet. 

After the signing, we returned to the “FEMA camp” behind the scenes to relax. Sven and his Executive Producer, Jim Roche, discussed the day’s plans while Director Chris Faulkner and cameraman Patrick Payne went on the floor to obtain convention footage for the show.

Soon, a golf cart arrived to whisk Svengoolie to his photo op while I was tasked with “preserving horror host hydration,” a.k.a. guarding his water bottle. Before leaving, Svengoolie kept joking with me, saying, “You mustn’t allow anyone to touch this water bottle! This is a VERY important job.” I admit,  I was tempted to hide it and then cry, “But I only turned my back for a minute!” when he returned, but thought better of it. 

Truthfully, I did turn my head when I noticed one of Sven’s primary Interview targets, Patton Oswalt, walk by. He was grabbing a snack in a private celebrity guest station nearby (we’d seen Emilio Estevez and Denise Richards go in earlier) when Svengoolie returned. Now, the hope was for Oswalt to Sven on his way out and, God willing, recognize him. Conventional Svengoolie wisdom states that it’s easier to secure an interview with a celebrity who’s also a fan, rather than one who has no idea who this crazy looking guy in makeup is. 

So did Patton Oswalt recognize Svengoolie? That would be a decisive YES! As soon as he saw him, he ran up and kissed him. .

Poor boundaries aside, Sven (a big fan of Oswalt’s work, including Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) was ecstatic. But did this land Svengoolie another coveted interview? That would be a rather indecisive no. Oswalt told Sven this was his first convention and was trying to figure out how everything worked. Despite Jim’s efforts to coordinate their schedules, it just couldn’t happen. Oswalt, however, did promise he’d return to C2E2 and do so then (fingers crossed). 

As if to prove the adage of life closing a door so it can open a window, two things happened in rapid succession after Svengoolie met with Oswalt: First, professional wrestler (Donovan) Danhausen showed up to meet Sven and, while posing for photos, eagerly agreed to be interviewed after his scheduled signing. 

Secondly, Nancy Allen’s manager sought us out so Svengoolie could interview her.  So much for Svengoolie conventional wisdom! The celebrity guest, who WAS a Svengoolie fan, couldn’t finagle an interview, while Nancy Allen, who had no prior knowledge of Sven until the previous day, took the effort in tracking him down for one. I’m thinking they must have Googled “Svengoolie” the night before and liked what they saw. Not only did the manager request the interview, but he also asked if I’d take a photo of him with Svengoolie using his phone before working out the interview specifics with Jim.

With time to kill, we took we went out onto the main floor in search of wrestling legend Jerry “the King” Lawler. As mentioned in my previous post, we weren’t able to find him on Friday until I randomly stumbled upon his booth after Svengoolie and crew had left. So today I guided everyone to him.

As soon as Lawler saw his old friend, he lit up, giving him a big hug.

Svengoolie is a big wrestling fan, and since I’ve been helping him out at appearances (about thirteen years now), I’ve seen him interact with quite a few. None of those encounters, however, warmed my heart as much as this one did. It’s been over ten years since I last covered Svengoolie and Lawler, with the latter overcoming some major health obstacles since. I knew how important it was to Sven to see him and that it meant much more than just an interview.

After leaving Lawler, we headed over to Nancy Allen. The interview started well until a man’s head poked through the curtain between Allen and the booth on her left (the same spot Svengoolie had been signing at the day before) and began yelling for her attention. At first, Svengoolie and Ms Allen were oblivious until after the interloper (who wasn’t in the least bit squeamish about interrupting) persisted. 

The offender was none other than Allen’s Robocop (1987) co-star himself, Peter Weller. When the discussion between Sven and Allen finally came to a halt, Weller asked her to recite a line from the movie to the people he was signing for (now also peeking through the curtain). Without hesitation, Allen started sneering while passionately delivering a line that included profanity. When she finished,  I turned to cameraman Patrick and asked, “So did you get that?” – knowing it could never air on the wholesome MeTV.  The interview began a second time from scratch and, this time, without interruption. As we were leaving,  I told Allen how much I loved her work and that I’d be seeing Blow-Out on the big screen soon. “Thank you,” She said. “That was my favorite role.” 

Having walked the length of the convention hall, we rested behind the scenes. It was during this time, Svengoolie and I discussed the horror host, Joe Bob Briggs (currently on SHUDDER). Apparently, the two have become great friends since Flashback Weekend 2023, with Sven having flown out to guest appear on Briggs’ 100th show and attend Joe Bob’s Jamboree in Vegas this past summer. He hopes that he and his co-host, Darcy the Mail Girl, are asked back to Flashback (and this proud Joe Bob Briggs “mutant” wishes the same).

We were about to leave for Danhausen when he came to us instead. The interview took place in the same spot where the two had posed for photos earlier. 

Before we knew it, it was time for Svengoolie’s Q&A panel with Word Balloon’s John Siuntres. It was just about at its end when I had to leave to catch my train. 

C2E2 2025 was a blast and, from a Svengoolie show standpoint, a fruitful event as well. As of this posting, I am slated to assist the Svengoolie crew at Flashback Weekend in August. Hopefully, I’ll get to tell you all about it.