My chat with a cosplayer: Spotlight on Joanie Brosas

"Cosplay," as defined by the trusty dictionary.com, is "the art or practice of wearing costumes to portray characters from fiction, especially from manga, animation, and science fiction."

That seemed really weird to me back in September of 2013. There I was, a first-time convention-goer  at Salt Lake Comic Con. I basically refused to dress up. "Dressing up is for losers," I said. So there I was in my Back to the Future t-shirt (which is very cool, mind you), but I was faced with a dilemma. As part of the non-costumed minority, I realized that I was the loser! I was the one who felt like he didn't fit in. Dressing up, it seems, can be cool if you do it right. And nobody does it better than people like professional cosplayer Joanie Brosas.

Brosas' life took an unexpected turn when she was in attendance at a Star Trek convention several years ago and was approached by Dan Farr, the eventual founder of Salt Lake Comic Con. Farr, at that time, was heading a 3D modeling company called DAZ 3D. Brosas was dressed in her favorite Star Trek costume - an Orion slave - and Farr asked if she wanted to go model for his company's booth. That chance encounter led to a dramatic shift in Brosas' modeling career and her eventual relocation to the Salt Lake Valley.

These days, although she maintains a normal job on the side, Brosas still tries to attend as many conventions as possible, including an annual trip down to the Star Trek show in Las Vegas. Her love for costuming has turned into a bit of an obsession - but for good cause, as she has occasionally been asked to appear as a special guest with other professional cosplayers.

One such convention where Brosas made a special appearance was April's Salt Lake Comic Con FanXperience. As part of the media, I was put in an opportunity during the convention to interview several of the pro cosplayers, including LeAnna Vamp, Kristen Hughey and Nicole Marie Jean. But with Brosas living here locally, I figured I had better talk to her, too. It was probably the most nervous I've ever been in my entire life and I had to promise each of them that I was with the newspaper and not just some pervert or something. Anyway, I recently sat down with Miss Brosas to talk to her about her life, her career, her fascination with all things science fiction and the reason behind why Utah is such a nerdy state. Here are some of the highlights from that interview.

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Signs of the Times: When you do cosplay, describe your style to me. Is the Star Trek [costume] your favorite one or do you have a theme for your other costumes, as well?

Joanie Brosas: I don’t really have a theme. I mean, Star Trek is obviously my favorite. Like, I love talking about "Star Trek." I want to dress up in things that I can talk about with other people because it’s like… I absolutely love it. I’m working on Chun-Li [from "Street Fighter"]. I keep getting frustrated with it, but I’m working on it! That was the first video game I ever played – "Street Fighter 2" – and I loved it, and, like "Kirby," I play "Kirby,’"but I don’t know what I would dress up [as] in "Kirby." …  I know there’s a lot of women out there that aren’t exactly comfortable or secure with themselves and I’m, like, super tiny. I’m super petite. ... I’m trying to just encourage girls to just be comfortable with themselves. I didn’t really start getting comfortable with myself until I started modeling and seeing what I look like on camera. I’m like, "I can be that pretty." So, I just try to do it to encourage other girls.

SotT: How many costumes do you have?

JB: Oh my goodness. They’re like one-and-dones. I am so cheap! (Laughs) But that’s also my other kind of theme, I guess you could say, is kind of, you know, going on a budget because you find what’s in your closet and do it because you’re out there to have fun. Some people are more about accuracy and stuff, you know? As long as it makes sense when you see it and people will be like, "Oh! I know that!" That’s kind of the goal, but, you know, it’s whatever you’ve got and then, you know, just work towards it. ... I’ve got my Vampirella ... I’ve got my Aphrodite IX… I did a Felicia cosplay at one point, but that one definitely was a one-and-done because it was all glue (laughs) ... and then my Orion Slave. I’d say at least four or five so far. I’m getting more as I go, but yeah: four or five, right now. I’ve got three more in the making.

SotT: I saw on Twitter the other day that you asked what movie-quality costume you would want. What is your answer to that question?

JB: Oh my gosh! So I was thinking about this the other day and I really, really want a "Halo" costume. That would be just mind-blowing, for one, but I want it to be pink! I want a pink Master Chief costume. I think it would be so awesome, but I know – I’ve been looking up tutorials and they are so hard! You need, like, a workshop for it. But one of these days! One of these days I’m going to have help, I’m going to do it. Yes. [Even] if it’s foam an plastic, I’m going to do it. (Laughs)

SotT: What do you like the most about doing cosplay?

JB: Talking to people. It just gets people talking. Yeah, it’s definitely just… I don’t know. It’s finding people that love what you love and getting to talk about it because, I mean, as you can see, I’m a talker. (Laughs) I talk way too much. I love, I mean, even the whole… the biggest conversation starter is Star Wars versus Star Trek – and you get that all the time, but it’s just a conversation starter where you can get to know people. There’s people from, like, Germany. You get people from Ireland. Everywhere. You get different kinds of people and they just come together to love the same thing. It’s awesome.

SotT: What is the most difficult thing about it?

JB: Oh my goodness. I guess, finding the confidence to do them sometimes? Me, being as small as I am, there [are] a lot of women out there – and I love these women. They’re the most [awesome] women in the world. They have curves or they got curves, you know? And sometimes, I’m just not feeling it today. I kind of focus on my abs because, you know, you feel flat-chested some days.

SotT: I know the feeling. I feel your pain.

JB: There you go! See? It’s … just getting the confidence and what gets me there is saying, "You know, there are other girls that are feeling the same way that I do. Go out and show them that they can do it, too." It’s really hard. It’s like waking up in the morning and saying, "You know what? I’m doing it. Just do it. Get it on." And people love it. People end up loving it. And that’s what changes my mind.

SotT: Do guys give you a hard time? Do you have a lot of trouble with guys being perverts or being creepy?

JB: You have to expect it. ... I just laugh it off because it’s funny. ... I really don’t care. I do a lot of motorcycle shows and those are probably the most kind of crazy people out there who’ll say whatever they want, you know? So I’m kind of immune to it. I get it a lot, so it’s just funny. I love it. ... I get a lot of negative stuff. I get "Eat a cheeseburger" like 20 times a day. Whoop-dee-do. I don’t care.

SotT: "No, YOU go eat a cheeseburger."

JB: Exactly.

SotT: Did you have a good time at FanX?

JB: I did. Yeah. I wish I could walk around more. I usually don’t and then I forget to eat. It’s all bad. You just kind of go on auto-pilot. You talk to people, and then you realize that it’s 8:00 at night. You’re like, "OK, it’s done."

SotT: "I should probably go eat some lunch or something."

JB: Exactly, yeah. I just… I don’t walk around much and I guess I don’t enjoy them as much because I don’t get out there. I just need a reminder – like, I need an alarm clock on my phone to say, "Hey, go out and have fun a little bit."

SotT: When you’re doing conventions, do you have celebrities that you want to see? Like, is there anybody where you get star-struck a little bit?

JB: Oh, star-struck? I don’t know. I don’t get too often star-struck. I get star-struck about the stupidest things. Well, not "stupid." They’re not stupid to me, but first, some people are like, "Who is that?? I don’t even know who that is." My favorite author – and [he’s] actually local; I went to one of his signings – is Brandon Mull. I’m sure you know his books. I am like a super-fan of his books. He has my favorite books. I love Harry Potter, but I love his books more. That’s a lot to say. I love Harry Potter; I love [Brandon Mull’s] books. I flipped out when I saw him! It was the dumbest thing. … I can talk to William Shatner, [but] I kind of freaked out a little [after meeting Brandon Mull]. I didn’t freak out so much to meet him, but after, like, I flipped. But when I talked to him, my hands were sweating and I was like, (screams), and I couldn’t stop talking… They actually had to say, "Well, we’ve got a lot more people to go…" I was like, "OK-I-gotta-go-bye!" Ugh. It was crazy. But yeah, so I get a little bit star-struck on those people. My favorite person to meet is Brent Spiner.

SotT: Did you meet him at FanX?

JB: I met him at my first Star Trek convention and I’ve talked to him at every single convention [that we’re both at]. He remembers me and I love it. It makes me so happy. He’s so awesome. He’s so funny and he’ll sit there and talk to you for five, ten minutes – it doesn’t matter how long his line is. He will dedicate himself to each person in line and he’s so awesome.

SotT: There was an article that recently went viral about Utah being the “nerdiest state.” Some of the criteria there was, like…

JB: Star Wars, Star Trek, Dungeons and Dragons…

SotT: Cosplay was one of them.

JB: I didn't know that!

SotT: And Utah was number one [in that category].

JB: “Because everybody knows how to sew here! Like, everybody! I don’t, really. I got a sewing machine, I learned it… I’m not like a pro, but lots of people know how to sew here! So I understand that. There’s EA here, there’s eBay, there’s tons of video game places, so I don’t doubt it at all. We’re huge geeks. I went to a Star Trek convention once, I dressed up as an Orion slave, I met three other Orion slaves – which nobody dresses up as … - and there were two dudes and one girl – the sweetest people you’ll ever meet – but we were like, "Oh hey, you’re an Orion [slave]. Let’s all take a picture together!" And we were all from the same state! It was really, really weird. So yeah, I totally understand that.

SotT: I was going to see if you knew why [Utah was number one], but everyone knows how to sew. Good point.

JB: Yeah, sewing – if you know how to sew. Plus … I think it was "Game Informer" magazine? It was showing all the top schools for video game designers and stuff – and this is one of the states where – I don’t know if it’s in, like, third place in the country or whatever – but it’s one of the top states for computer graphics, all that stuff. ... [Utah is] full of talented people and I think they’re, like, nerdy-talented people, you know?

SotT: The last question I have is that we talked a lot about why you’re doing it – to encourage people and things like that – so I was just wondering what advice you have for people who are thinking about getting into it or people that are [already] into it, but struggling to get going or whatever. What advice would you have for people like that?

JB: I would say, "Just do it." Even if you don’t have all the parts, get something that looks like all the parts. If people aren’t going to understand the costume, make sure they’re going to understand it. I mean, look in the mirror and say, "Are they going to know who this is?" OK, if they’re going to know who it is, you’re fine. Go to thrift stores – because I think all of us [cosplayers] go to thrift stores.

SotT: That’s another thing we have a lot of in Utah. Thrift stores.

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Joanie Brosas can be found on Twitter at @TheOrionSlave.

A-Town takes Salt Lake Comic Con

My name is A-Town and I attended the first ever Salt Lake Comic Con. I had an amazing experience at Utah's first pop culture convention and I'd like to share a few of my thoughts.

Initial expectations: Heading into Salt Lake Comic Con, I really wasn't sure what to expect. I had been turned on to San Diego's world-famous Comic Con a couple years ago and even registered to get tickets to the 2013 Con, but the web traffic on the day that tickets went on sale made attending in Southern California a practical impossibility. I saw on Facebook that Salt Lake City decided to start up their own convention and I thought it would be fun to go. There were maybe seven or eight celebrities signed on to come to town, so I thought that was a cute little idea. It was originally slated to be held at the South Towne Expo Center, but, as the event gathered steam and more celebrities, authors, and artists agreed to show up, they moved Comic Con downtown to the Salt Palace. Ticket sales boomed and, as the weekend approached, my expectations became less and less defined. Last Wednesday night, I honestly had a little bit of a hard time sleeping because I really had no idea of what to expect.

Biggest disappointments: Scheduling was a little iffy on Thursday, especially. The times listed online were not entirely clear, so we ended up arriving at the Salt Palace at 10:00 in the morning and ended up wandering around aimlessly and people watching for five hours before anything started. That was not amazing. I feel like, by and large, the Comic Con volunteer staff was almost entirely worthless. Most of the times that I approached them for help, they shrugged me off with an "I'm not totally sure" or a "Go ask him." Really? Perhaps the biggest disappointment of all would be one of the things I was looking forward to the most - Adam West. I was really looking forward to seeing Adam West and Burt Ward - Batman and Robin from the iconic '60s television show - but, to my utter dismay, Friday rolled around and the Dynamic Duo (*cough*Adam West*cough*) had canceled their Q&A panel. I quickly formulated a back-up plan, so that wasn't that big of a deal, but for the rest of the weekend, Mr. West would gladly sign autographs for adoring fans (for a very pretty penny, by the way), but would not allow anyone to take pictures with him. I obviously didn't get a chance to talk with him or even hear him speak at all last weekend, but he sure came off as a jerk.

Biggest annoyance: People who bought Saturday-Only tickets and walked around like they owned the place. You know, bless their little hearts if they couldn't get Thursday and/or Friday off, but it was like I was a senior in high school and some punk little 9th graders showed up and thought they were the big men on campus. Generally, stereotypically, many of the Saturday-Onlies were the punks who showed up either because A) they heard something cool was going on and wanted to be part of the "in crowd" or B) immature kids looking for an excuse to cross-dress. That wasn't a problem Thursday or Friday. Just sayin'.

Best moments: My favorite moments from Comic Con probably came from the celebrity panels. I was able to sit in on four of the Q&A panels and had an overwhelmingly good experience with them. -- I sat on the fifth row to see the first celebrity, Ray Park, who played Darth Maul in "Star Wars," Toad in "X-Men," and, most recently, Snake Eyes in the "G.I. Joe" films. Ray seemed like a very nice guy and the audience totally loved him. At the end of the panel, Ray brought a bunch of kids up to the stage and taught them how to do a Jedi pose, which must have been an incredible experience for the youngsters. -- On Saturday morning, I headed up to the Salt Palace early to see Dirk Benedict and Dwight Schultz, who played Face and Murdock in the original "A-Team" series. They discussed their thoughts about the original show and made a couple comments about the 2010 movie adaptation, but spent most of the time talking about their experience on the set, including several hilarious stories about Mr. T, and reflecting on the unceremonious cancellation of the iconic TV show. As a guy who watched three seasons of that show a couple years ago, it was really cool to see Face and Murdock up close and personal. -- Immediately following the "A-Team" reunion, I stayed in the mail hall to see the Fonz, himself - Henry Winkler, who was making a guest appearance at Comic Con. I've never really seen a whole lot of "Happy Days" or much else of Winkler's work, but I did respect him as a legend of American pop culture and loved him in "Here Comes the Boom" [slight chuckle]. Unlike many of the other panels, Mr. Winkler did not have someone interviewing him or asking him questions. Rather, he controlled the mic and worked that stage, giving some powerful advice to avoid pessimism and promote positive thinking. "Don't put a period on the end of a negative thought," he urged. I wasn't sure what to expect from the man they once called "Fonzie," but a motivational speech probably didn't ever cross my mind. He was a great, emotional speaker and is very good at what he does. Also, he was incredibly kind to the audience, asking to know people's first names and even agreeing to give a 23-year-old girl her first kiss, on stage! Because I was so impressed with his panel, I went directly to the back of the vendors' floor and back to the autograph booths to meet Mr. Winkler and thank him for coming. I waited for a few minutes in line to greet him and eventually made my way up to the front of the line, where he shook my hand, asked for my name, and took a few pictures with me. I thanked him for his panel, which, I told him, I thoroughly enjoyed. That was so cool for me - not only to be there for his amazing and inspirational panel, but to be able to speak with him one-on-one about it, shake his hand, and photographically document the experience. I have a tremendous newfound respect for Henry Winkler, who is not only immortal in terms of cultural significance, but also one of the most genuinely friendly and kind people I have ever met. -- On Saturday night, my brother and I waited in line for an hour and a half to get into the panel with "the Godfather of Comics," Stan Lee. Yes, THE Stan Lee, creator of Marvel and king of all nerd-dom. The wait was long, but not unpleasant, and they only ended up talking to him for about 20 minutes (likely because he was a last-minute addition to the Comic Con celebrity lineup), but those were 20 awesome minutes, all right?? Stan was sarcastically arrogant and pretty funny as he responded to cliche questions like "Who would win in a fight between Wolverine and the Hulk?" and everyone there was salivating over his every word. It was crazy and a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I'm glad I had.

Nerdiest moments: Three moments stick out in my mind: First, when a kid was on the verge of tears as he thanked Ray Park for making "Episode I" worth watching; second, the moment when a girl approached my friend and fellow blogger, Crystal Nichols, about LARPing; and third, the guy I overheard while in line for Stan Lee who was complaining about Spider-woman's web-slinging abilities. So nerdy. So hilarious. So awesome.

Biggest surprise: Hands down, the biggest surprise of the entire weekend was that I actually came away from Salt Lake Comic Con with a handful of new friends, which I never expected to happen. On Thursday, I was pretty self-conscious and reserved - almost nervous - to talk to strangers, ask questions, or take pictures, but, as the weekend progressed, I realized that everyone there was super friendly and, in most instances, actually wanted you to take pictures with them. With the help of a little personal confidence, that same talk-to-everyone attitude I learned on my LDS mission, and a little activity called, um, Sci-Fi Speed Dating, I was able to meet a lot of really cool people of both genders that I never in a million years would have met otherwise. Now, post-Con, I want to talk to people everywhere I go - the gym, the store, church - and I've returned back to the sad reality where very few people are outgoing and absolutely nobody wants you to randomly stop them for a picture. What the heck is up with that?

The problem: The fire marshal almost had to shut down Comic Con on Saturday because we had filled the Salt Palace to maximum capacity and were still trying to get people in the doors. Now, this is actually a pretty good problem to have. Salt Lake Comic Con exceeded - scratch that - BLEW AWAY its expectations and was wildly successful on almost every single front. Undoubtedly, this was an enormous financial success, not only for the city, but for the entire state! But it to the point where there were basically just too many dang people at the convention. It was inconvenient, it was frustrating at times, and it was just plain hot in there! So there's that. -- The other big problem with Salt Lake Comic Con's monumental success, going forward, is two-fold: 1) ticket prices will undoubtedly increase and 2) ticket availability will undoubtedly plummet.

The solution: Stop selling tickets at some point. I don't mind having tons of people at Comic Con, but it needed to get to the point last weekend where they stopped selling tickets to people at the door on Saturday. First come should mean first served, but instead we had a bunch of late-comers clogging up the halls and increasing line length.

Overall experience: Salt Lake Comic Con was one of those weekends that I'll look back on and say, "Dang, that was really, really awesome." I absolutely loved it. Sure, there were some points where I was tired of waiting in line or trying to navigate through the sea of humanity on the vendors' floor, but as a whole, Comic Con was a total blast. I'd use the term "once-in-a-lifetime" again to describe last weekend, but they'd be freakin' idiots if they didn't turn Salt Lake Comic Con into an annual tradition for years to come. Now that I'm back at work and living life in the real world, I just wish I could go back to the convention. What's more is that, for those of you that know me, you know that I'm not a big fan of Halloween. In fact, you could easily say that Halloween is one of my two least-favorite holidays. I just don't really like dressing up anymore. With that being said, if I had to do it over again, I think I would definitely dress up in costume for Comic Con. I'm actually almost looking forward to Halloween in 2013, thanks largely to my experience last weekend. As I recently heard somebody say, "Comic Con is my new favorite holiday." It was an incredibly fun experience from start to finish and I can't wait to go back next year. Bravo, Dan Farr and associates, and thank you for a wonderful time at the first-ever Salt Lake Comic Con!

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Did you go to Salt Lake Comic Con? If so, what did you think? If not, why? Let's get your feedback in the comments section below!