On the road again: Balticon, day 4

The morning began too early for my taste, which is to say that it was still a.m., with a volunteers' breakfast. The goal was to let those who do the hard work of the con get to spend some time with its guests, which is in principle a goal I support. I was barely awake, however, so I'm afraid I mostly sat at a table, nibbled a bagel, and spoke with the few other folks sitting near me.

After that, we rushed to the Baen Books panel, where we fought the projector, ultimately triumphed, and did a ninety-minute presentation on upcoming Baen titles, cover designs, and so on. We also gave away a lot of free books, ARCs, and other stuff. The crowd was a pretty good size, and I think everyone had a nice time.

I exited that room with about one hour to go to my one-man show, Science Magic Sex. I spent part of the time reviewing the act, part setting up, and part waiting. The hotel escalator was having problems, so we started five minutes late to allow folks to get settled. I don't know the exact size of the audience, but all the estimates I heard put it well north of a hundred and possibly as high as a hundred and fifty, which didn't fill the room but was still big enough to give it good energy.

I had planned a fifty-minute set, which is the time the con asked panels to run, but I had a clear hour slot with a free half hour after me, so I did a bit over an hour. Everyone laughed when they should have, didn't laugh at the wrong times, and at the end I received quite a lot of very nice applause. Friends who I think are telling me the truth all agreed that the show was very good and of professional comedian quality, which is what I was seeking. We also raised some money for RIF through the t-shirt sales--though shirts still remain. I did get some notes I trusted, and I made some of my own--and will, no doubt, make more when I get to watch a recording. Still, to the degree that I am able to be, I'm happy with how it went.

Now, I hope other cons ask me to do it again.

Dinner was at The Woodberry Kitchen, a delightful place where we all ate too much but not so much that any of us was in pain.

I'm now off to walk a bit and contemplate more of today's work.