Con Bravo in Hamilton – Day Two with Doug Walker and more!

By Tribute on July 30, 2017 | Leave a Comment

The good times just keep on rolling here at Con Bravo. We’ve got exclusive interviews with the Nostalgia Critic himself, Mr. Doug Walker! We also spoke to Channel Awesome’s Lewis Lovhaug, best known as Linkara to comic book fans. Let’s dive right in, shall we?

Doug Walker & Malcolm Ray Q&A
Doug Walker is undoubtedly the star of Con Bravo 2017. Since 2007, Doug’s short-tempered alter-ego — The Nostalgia Critic — has been amassing a fan base that today is in the millions. Hundreds poured in to see Doug, along with his NC co-star Malcolm, answer fan questions.

He began by apologizing to Canada, and to the rest of the world, for American president Donald Trump and what he may or may not do in the future. When the time came for fans to form a line for the Q&A, Doug joked at how orderly his Canadian fans are compared to what he’s witnessed at American Q&As.

One thing fans noticed was Doug’s decision to shave his head after years of balding. “I don’t miss it,” he said of his long-lost locks.

Doug is looking forward to the 2017 film adaption of Stephen King’s It. After all, every October is Stephen King month for the Nostalgia Critic. While he thinks the movie will be scary, Doug is not yet sold on the character design for Pennywise the clown. He thinks the decision to make the clown scary also makes the clown less duplicitous and perverse. According to Doug, Tim Curry‘s portrayal of Pennywise works because he was charming and genuinely funny, making the underlying evil all the more unsettling.

Malcolm Ray, a voice actor in his own right, recited his McDonald’s commercial for the fans. He also joked that his character on Ru Paul’s Drag Race would be named “Malcolm HEY!” Doug joked his character would be “Drag Walker.”

On the subject of CG, of which The Nostalgia Critic has been critical, Doug clarified he doesn’t blindly hate it — he thinks it’s overused. “What a wonderful mix of both puppetry and CG,” he said of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The Nostalgia Critic has often pointed out that CG works best when its blended seamlessly with other visual effects. Doug also pointed out that if cosplayers can make realistic costumes of CG characters with their own money, surely movies with multi-million dollar budgets can too.

Lastly, Doug gave his fans a sneak peak on what’s to come for his annual Disneycember. Disneycember 2017 will cover Disney Channel original movies! This means fans will get to hear Doug’s thoughts on the first two High School Musical movies, Camp Rock and more!

Lewis Lovhaug Interview
After the Doug Walker panel, it was time for our exclusive with the king of comic book nerds, Lewis Lovhaug a.k.a. Linkara. Linkara is different from most internet personalities in that he isn’t overly profane. “Sometimes it can feel like a substitute for humor,” he says. “I felt I could prove I could be funny without using the f-word or the s-word.”

On the subject of comic book movies and how well the source material translates to the screen, he said, “The Marvel Cinematic Universe has done a wonderful job of capturing that feeling… D.C. has always had more success on the TV side.”

While it’s no surprise Lewis enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, some Linkara fans might be surprised to learn he loved The Fate of the Furious. “I never expected to love The Fast and the Furious movies,” he said. “I love the soap opera dynamics. I love the exciting action. It’s surprising how great that series is.”

Shrimprov
Next it was time for Shrimprov. It was the Channel Awesome vs. Team Four Star. Two geek/nerd websites duking it out in an improv comedy contest.

Each team was given a word from urbandictionary.com, and then asked to give their best guess as to what the word meant. Channel Awesome got “dipwab.” Doug Walker came up with a lewd scenario involving Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit. In truth, “dipwab” means to simultaneously perform the dance moves “dab” and “whip.”

Team Four Star got Dusty Snowball. Both the real answer and Team Four Star’s guesses were incredibly lewd and bawdy. The audience loved it.

The highlight of the panel was when both teams had to go on double dates with two “lucky” audience members, while real shrimp was served. The opposing team would then narrate how the “lucky” participants really felt. With shrimp involved, the jokes were crude, much to the audience’s delight.

Doug Walker Interview
It was an absolute thrill speaking to Doug Walker, the biggest star of Con Bravo 2017. He doesn’t carry himself like a star. Doug Walker is as down to earth as they get. He began our discussion with sarcasm.

“I am excited to see a film that is currently zero percent on Rotten Tomatoes,” he says of The Emoji Movie. After a few laughs, he spoke from the heart.

“I saw Dunkirk, which was great. I haven’t seen War for the Planet of the Apes but everyone says it’s great. It’s been kind of a great summer for movies. Wonder Woman was great. Spider-Man: Homecoming was great,” he says.

Doug, who lives in Chicago, loves Canadian food. Prior to our interview, he had eaten an Elk burger with a side of poutine from The Works. He confessed he might have eaten too much. “It’s eating me,” he joked.

While Doug helped blaze the trail for making a living on YouTube, he questions if others could do the same now that the market is so saturated. “Why I am where I am is really luck and good timing,” he says. “The reason there was so much attention on me is because I was one of the first people to do it.”

He ended our conversation by thanking his fans. “I’ve got the greatest job in the world,” he says. “I’m so thankful I’m allowed to do pretty much what I want.”

And that was day two of Con Bravo. Only one more day 🙁

Do you agree with Doug and Lewis about the 2017 summer movie season? Let us know in the comments ~Photos and article by Yanis Khamsi.

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