The Conning of a Con (OR THE "OH MY GOD THE MUGATU WANTS TO PLAY GAMES!" Syndrome)
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Conning of a Con (OR THE "OH MY GOD THE MUGATU WANTS TO PLAY GAMES!" Syndrome) |
| Publisher: | Winston A. Howlett, publisher of Probe |
| Editor(s): | |
| Date(s): | 1976 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Costuming, Star Trek: TOS |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Conning of a Con (OR THE "OH MY GOD THE MUGATU WANTS TO PLAY GAMES!" Syndrome) has the subtitle: "A True Story."
It is an eleven-page zine consisting of an interview with "Warlock," a male fan who dressed as a woman for the 1975 Al Schuster's International Star Trek Convention costume contest. NOTE: "Warlock" is the same person as Winston Howlett. For a similar essay by Howlett, see I Didn't Know Uhura Had a Cleft in Her Chin!.
The interview was conducted by Paul Kirby.
The interviewee was "Warlock." He states that he decided to enter the costume contest as a female character. His entry card read: "Barbra Wheadon...New York City...as Dracona, the vampire queen of Ka-Lahn"
The reason for his choice of costume was to stick it to Al Schuster in some way: "Well, to put it quite bluntly... I don't like Al Schuster. I know what's really been going on, the con game he's been pulling. And when I first heard about 'Al Schuster's Fourth Annual International STAR TREK Convention', I said,"Okay, that's it!" I decided I wanted to "stick it to him" at his own con, in a way that was not illegal, not immoral, and nobody would get hurt."
Warlock, as "Barbra Wheadon," made it to the top 18 (out of 46) finalists. Other finalists were Shanna, the She-Devil; a Klingon; a Horta; Spock's left ear, a werewolf, and a Mugatu (alien from "A Private Little War).
It is unclear what the Mugatu, aside from being a finalist and doing a little dance on stage, has to do with the title or the topic. It is also unclear how a man dressing up as a woman, especially when when this is never revealed, in a costume contest was supposed to be a negative action against Al Schuster.
The Zine's Introduction
The zine's introduction is by Winston A. Howlett:
When we found out what had transpired at the Costume Call of Al Schuster's Fourth Annual International Star Trek Convention, we decided we just had to get the whole story down on paper, for all the world to read. We found the guy — whom we will refer to here as 'Warlock' — and he consented to an interview. This is an edited transcription of the 'rap session' he had with Paul Kirby — WAH)
Excerpts
Warlock: Nope:. Never [had I been in a Costume Call before]. Nor had I even considered anything like 'Barbra' before.. But the whole thing didn't come together until I saw a film piece on a local news show in November. A hosiery shop on Madison Avenue was losing its lease because the landlord didn't like the fact that the owner was not only selling stockings and foundations to women, but also supplying stuff for female impersonators!
Paul Kirby: Oh, wow!
W: Yeah. I took note of the address and went down and checked the place out. And sure enough, there was everything that I would need. Especially the 'female shell.'
PK: You mean the 'cleavage' thing?
W: Yeah, It's like a woman's front from the neck down to a couple of inches above the navel. It's made of latex-rubber. I had to paint it with some Max Factor makeup to get it to my skin shade. I call it 'the Convincer' because it was the main thing that made people believe that 'Barbra Wheadon' wasn't something other than 'she' appeared to be.
PK: You must've gotten a lot of strange looks when you bought the rest of the clothing, like the cape and the long skirt...
W: No, not really. You see, I bought most of the stuff just before Christmas, so the salespeople automatically assumed the stuff was for gifts.
PK: Did anybody know what you were up, to?
W: Well, I told one girl that I know, and she almost flipped out! I figured it was safe to tell her 'cause I knew she wasn't going to SchusterCon. I dropped a couple of hints to a few friends of mine, but not enough for them to guess.
W: There was only one person out in the hall — a girl — and she tried to pretend not to notice me...as though she was perfectly used to seeing 6-foot-tall girls wearing green Halloween masks!(Laughs)The panic really started when we got into the elevator! I was forced to stand in the front, just inches before the closing doors, because of a huge luggage rack a maintenance man was taking down to the lobby. Nobody said anything when the vampire queen got on, but a few floors later, some wise guy in the back 'says," If you're a girl, I wish you luck...If you're a guy, I wish you even more luck...and if you're something in between, I wish you all the luck in the world!"
[...]
... I was careful, though, to keep away from Destiny, who came as Shanna, the She-Devil...
PK: Why did you have to stay away from her?
W: ...Well, it's been said that some women can spot a phony woman in a split second. For some reason, I felt that that sexy 'bombshell' would be able to spot me a mile away! But only good things happened on the terrace, particularly with the photographers...
PK: What happened with them?
W: When I let the cape open, they took immediate interest in Barbra Wheadon's cleavage.'They surrounded the vampire queen in a semi-circle and fired away! I felt like a model in a weird 'Cover Girl' commercial! I did three or four different poses, including the old vampire's-cape-hiding-the-lower-half-of-the-face routine. They loved it! a little later, I just sat down in a chair on the terrace waiting for the Costume Call to get started. They had delayed the start, waiting for some of the judges...
PK: Who were the judges?
W: William Shatner, Harlan Ellison, Heash, Jimmy Doohan,Mason Reese --
PK: Mason Reese?!
W: Yeah, the little Underwood Chicken Spread king himself! I think he had to sit on a phone book to be seen...
PK: What were you afraid of?
W: Well, first of all, here I was in front of people I had dreamed about meeting for years: the captain of my favorite starship, his engineer, one of the world's greatest science-fiction writers, a world-famous television personality...Here I was, standing in front of all them in drag! The utter wildness of the moment was almost too much. And then, on top of that, I was sure a certain one of them would see through the disguise...
PK: William Shatner?
W: No, Harlan Ellison. With his 'bear trap' of a mind, I had little hope of fooling him... But then, as I faced them, I realized I was getting the world's most peculiar grin from William Shatner! It was then that I remembered that he had done the same thing I was doing --
PK: Where?! When?!
W: On the STAR TREK set, one day during production. I heard the Makeup and Wardrobe helped him pull off the gag one morning: false eyelashes a wig, a long dress, rhinestone earrings, playing Spock's harp and singing "Tiptoe Through The' Tulips" in falsetto...
PK: You mean that's it? You didn't plan to unmask?
W: Well, 'yes' and 'no'. While I was on stage as a semi-finalist, I decided that if I won one of three top prizes I would quietly walk over to Phil Seuling, the M.C., take' off my tiara and hand it to him, and then take off the mask and wig and watch the whole room explode, and Al Schuster go into cardiac arrest!
PK: Why wouldn't you do it if you lost?
W: Because it would make me seem like a sore loser...Besides it would've taken attention away from the three winners who fully deserved their time in the spotlight...
PK: Did you tell anybody after it was all over?
W: After I got out of the costume and packed it away, I put on some of my regular clothes -- male clothes — and went upstairs to the room of some girls I know. I very subtly "laid it on 'em"...and they didn't believe me! Then I tried telling them straight out, and they still didn't believe me!
PK: Did you tell anybody after it was all over?
W: After I got out of the costume and packed it away, I put on some of my regular clothes — male clothes — and went up-, stairs to the room of some girls I know. I very subtly "laid it on 'em"..,and they didn't believe roe! Then I tried telling them straight out, and they still didn't believe me!
PK: Oh, wow!
W: I considered going all the way back down to my room to get part of-the costume to show them, but I was too tired, I decided to call it a night, went back to my room and went to sleep... Oh, and there was one more thing that happened:while "Barbra Wheadon" was standing in the left side aisle, waiting for the semifinalists to be announced, one of the Helpers approached 'her' and asked her if 'she' would like to be on the GERALDO RIVERA'S "GOODNIGHT, AMERICA" SHOW... in costume!
PK: Oh, you mean that segment they did, interviewing Bill Shatner?
W: Right. There were about a hundred conventioneers in the studio audience, some of them the masqueraders in their costumes. But when Barbra Wheadon was asked, 'she' very slowly shook 'her' head "No".
PK: You mean you turned down a chance for a free ticket? Why?
W: Because my mother didn't raise an idiot.' I don't believe in pushing my luck!
PK: Yeah, that would've been wild: high heels clicking in the Men's Room...
W: You know it! But, as it turned out, the vampire queen was on that show...
PK: How?
W: ABC had a film crew at the Costume Call, shooting stuff for that show. They caught Dracona on film!
PK: What?
W: A seven-second close-up of her face and hood.
PK: So, you made nation-wide television after all, eh?
W: Yeah. When I saw the show, I almost died. Nobody who was around me knew why I was laughing so hard...
PK: Okay, I have just one more question, and this is just to clear the air. I hope you won't take it personally.
W: Yeah, I think I know what you're going to ask, and the answer is "No, I am not a transvestite." Just like any other STAR TREK fan, I'm just a lover of illusions...
PK: Huh?
W: Well, every time we watch STAR TREK, we're seeing a long string of illusions. We believe we're looking at a big vessel that can span the galaxy, instead of a batch of plastic, plywood, and miniature light bulbs. We believe we're looking at an acid-spitting Horta... or a Gorn...or a deadly Mugatu, instead of guys in costumes with sound effects added.
And that's all I did, created an illusion: a living, walking, breathing 'special effect'. Putting on an effeminate costume doesn't make me a queer any more than — Look, at Infinity Con I saw three people at that Costume Call come as "Fafrhd; The Gray Mouser; and The Dark Force". I don't read very much Sword & Sorcery, but do know that in the stories The Gray Mouser is a man! I didn't hear anyone at that con call the woman who played The Gray Mouser a 'butch'! If there is going to be equality of the sexes, I think that that's - another part of the sexual double standard' that is going to have to be removed...
PK: Good point... sort of like "Men's Liberation"...
W: Right...
PK: You have any other projects like Barbra Wheadon set for the future?
W: It depends on whether or not Al Schuster has another "jive turkey" convention. Maybe next time Barbra Wheadon will come there pregnant...