Wiffle Lever to Full!

by Bob Fischer

He may not have a TARDIS or an X-Wing Fighter, but Bob Fischer is boldly going where, um, lots of men have gone before. And, to a lesser extent, possibly even a few women. Encountering gay Cybermen, obsessive Janet Ellis fans and Douglas Adams devotees hell-bent on destroying Blakes 7 lovers with water-pistols, Bob embarks on a marathon twelve-month journey around the country's sci-fi and cult TV conventions. Part fun travelogue, part field report, part misty-eyed childhood memoir, Bob freewheels his way from Doctor Who to Discworld, Star Wars to Star Trek and Robin Of Sherwood to Red Dwarf. In space, no one can hear you scream. And don't expect much sympathy in Peterborough, either.

Genres: Nonfiction, Humor, Biography, Comedy, Doctor Who

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bob Fischer recounts his sci-fiction and fantasy loving youth as he spends a summer visit the conventions of Dr Who, Star Wars, Star Trek, Robin of Sherwood(!), Blakes 7, Discworld, The Prisoner and Red Dwarf. My rating of 3 out of 12 says all I need to say.

[Lyn Lockwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Bob Fischer who writes about 70s tv, folk horror and hauntology for the Fortean Times. This book tells the story of his first love- sci-fi. He is very close to me in age so I can identify with his affection for Star Wars, Robin of Sherwood, Dr Who and so on, plus his Teeside based escapades remind me of my family in Middleborough. A really funny, intelligent read and my copy has a picture of Paul Darrow from Blake's Seven drawn by Bob in the front. Thanks, Bob!

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this, not least because I'm a year older than Bob, from the same part of the world (Redcar, not posh Yarm), have worked for the same football fanzine, went to the same University, and grew up watching all the same shows and movies. As a consequence the unashamed nostalgia might as well have been targeted directly at me. I have never attended a convention dedicated to any of the titles covered here, though of course I've 'enjoyed' them all in the past. There's little escape from the influence of STAR WARS, James Bond's ubiquitous hold over our lives given the constant TV screenings and continuing entries to the series, the hold of Terry Pratchett that's so complete you can almost record time as BP (Before Pratchett) and after the first book of his that you read.

Of more interest were the chapters on DOCTOR WHO, an important part of my childhood that started to ebb when the BBC lost interest and the American imports were always better looking and less creaky, and BLAKE'S SEVEN, which to me as a child was borderline incomprehensible and cheerfully cheap. Honestly, check out some of those money shots of the Liberator in mid-flight and feel the cringe. The one I was really looking forward to was the section on ROBIN OF SHERWOOD, at the time the best TV show I had ever seen, clearly had money spent on it, was packaged with the classy sheen of Clannad's music, and introduced elements of Britain's lost mystical past while refusing to explain much of it so that it just about held together. Years later, I bought the lot on DVD and most of it still holds up. To anyone wondering what the fuss is all about, I recommend the feature length 'The Swords of Wayland', in which Rob's merry men get possessed, Rula Lenska plays a witch and Satan himself puts in a cameo appearance.

It's a book that trades on fuzzy childhood memories, the sort of formative years that are quite different from those my son experienced with heightened senses of the world's dangers, fast internet and the ability to see just about anything you like at the click of a button. I'll confess to finding a lot of common ground with Bob, and while he said nothing that would make me change a self-imposed ban on going to fan conventions, there was plenty here to remind me of the wonder years, and that's never a bad thing.

[Dex · Rating 2 out of 5]

This tour of sci-fi conventions is part autobiography and part a series of anecdotes about listening to convention circuit minor cult celebrities providing anecdotes.

Yes, the book has humour if you happen also to have a passing interest in the cultural geekery of sci-fi and fantasy television programming. Yes the book provides an insight into why certain pre-pubescent boys (and increasingly girls) never quite escape the toys of their childhood. However, the only real message I get from this book is that most sci-fi anoraks who go to conventions will always be sad, lonely and disappointed people because they regularly confront the fact that the heroes of their youth have turned into middle-aged, wine-swilling lovees!

Don't ever go to a sci-fi convention about your favourite sci-fi film. Keep the dream alive. Don't sully it with tales of how the reality of the dream was achieved by an extra with a damaged fingernail! Star Wars is real. It's not a set in Elstree!

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part memoir of a sci-fi youth, part exploration of cult TV convention culture. Fun enough although the gags are pretty naff at times. Almost made me want to try a convention though...

[Gareth Howells · Rating 4 out of 5]

The attraction for me to this book was probably unusual, in that it was my lack of science fiction conventions that made me interested in reading it. I have been a science fiction fan all of my life, and been very geeky and fact seeking about that fandom all of my life too, and found endless hours of pleasure in magazines related to my favourite books, movies and TV shows. Now youtube offers similar delights for me to brush up on what’s coming, or looking in more depth at what’s already been out. I never had the money to go to conventions until relatively recently, and once I could, but had over 3o years of rationalising about not missing much, to make myself feel better, it was a struggle to motivate myself. So this book was a great insight into the experience, I hoped, from an author that is the same age as me. His interests absolutely run parallel to mine, and often I was reading sentences that I would have said myself about Blake’s 7, Doctor Who, Robin of Sherwood, Python, Discworld or Star Trek. My one difference to the author seems to be that my love of Star Trek runs deeper, but all in all, here was a book with many statements and opinions that I could relate to. It was also witty throughout, and with a wit that was endearing and to the point, which doesn't always occur.
There was some differences in the last chapter of the book, which I will avoid the details of in the context of spoilers... although the more I think about that last chapter, there was a moment in my life where I went through something similar. It does make you examine your own habits a bit, i'd say...all in all though, a very enjoyable insight into the convention world, with its own internal conventions of having the “bluffer’s guide” and the embarrassing incident moment in each chapter.
Thoroughly recommended to like minded people.

[Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

A memoir of British sci-fi geekdom in the 1970s and 1980s, written by a radio presenter from "Up North". This one starts off strongly with oodles of humour on every page - Fischer loves bizarre digressions, strange remembrances and wordplay - as it gradually unfolds around a series of visits to sci-fi conventions around the country. I've been to very few, so it was all of interest to me, particularly the meetings with various celebrities and the inevitable drunken antics that play out. Although I love sci-fi, I've discovered while reading this that I'm not really a geek, and some of the stuff - like the water fight at the quarry - left me cold. I also felt the descriptions of the TV shows smacked of padding, and the inclusion of an unreadable childhood story screams hubris. But it's still likeable, Fischer himself is likeable, and of course it's all oh-so-British.

[Richard Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got to about halfway, reading on the train, before it began to pall. Before this there were some laugh-out-loud moments and some incidents that had me shoulder-shaking with the giggles but, eventually, it all becomes a bit samey: 'By this time I was a bit pissed...' I welcomed the nostalgia and recall my 5 year old self crouching behind the sofa during the Dr Who theme. (It was only the opening credits I found scary.) However, I've never understood the British (and American) obsession with what is a very naff series, with the honourable exception of David Tennant's incarnation. Similarly much else is risible and - Blake's 7 - is frankly embarrassing.

[Ian Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea I was such a sci-fi/fantasy geek. I really enjoyed this book as it brought back a lot of happy childhood memories. Kind of keen to go hunting for a connection now. Well worth a read if you looks Star Wars, Doctor Who, Ref Dwarf, Monty Python, etc. An absolute hoot, cover to cover.

[Ian Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvelous

Great stories of TV show conventions (pre comic-con) written by a true sci-fi fan (despite what he may say) and a self written sci-fi adventure throughout. Try Flaming Hot Monster Munch, and Smash sandwiches.

[Kerry Lawrene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I have to binge watch at least four shows now.

[Godzilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title alone drew me to this in the bookshop - and the subject matter sealed the deal: I'd always wondered what sort of people attended Sci-fi conventions - aside from the stereotypical depictions.

The book is written in a warm and friendly style - with some frank and honest confessions from the author as to his "geeky" childhood.

I wasn't too enraptured by his own childhood attempt at a story being sprinkled before each chapter, but it's not too obtrusive.

The range and diversity of the conventions was fascinating, and there were several moments where I wished I'd been in attendance.

I always wondered if people were trying to recapture their youth, but in reality it seems they just never moved on from that pivotal film/tv series which enraptured them as a child - so it's not about recapturing, more about sustaining.

I'll also admit that part of enjoyment was the way that the author also suffers as a fan of Middlesbrough FC, in the same way that I do - something I can definitely empathise with!

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Up until about 3 years ago when I finally got a proper job and had to start acting like a grown-up, I used to attend conventions on a regular basis; they’ve taken me everywhere from Glasgow to Los Angeles to Milton Keynes. For me it was interesting to read Fischer’s accounts of the conventions he attended during one hectic summer (some of which I’d never even heard of) and the people he meets (think I recognised at least one of them) and also the stories from his childhood, which brought back a lot of shamefully geeky memories from my own mis-spent youth.

This is a fun book, written in a friendly and engaging style, and is well worth a look if you’ve ever felt partial to dressing up as a Time Lord and spending a weekend in an alcoholic haze. Although I’d advise skipping the extracts from his sci-fi “novel” at the start of each chapter; that’s just silly.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

In places this is an affectionate look at the sf convention experience, but there's some shameless padding. The inclusion of chapters of a story the author wrote as a child is fatally self-indulgent, and the "bluffer's guide"s are pointless: anyone who's likely to pick up this book doesn't need to be reminded of the plot of Star Wars.
And there are a lot of rambling asides and digressions which are obviously more amusing to the author than they were to me.
But it's good on the camaraderie between fans, the evolving relationship with geekdom through childhood and into adulthood, and the sense of belonging and acceptance it provides. The chapter on Discworld is a definite highlight, while some other chapters amount to little more than drunkenness and being shy when asking an actor for an autograph.

[Geoff Lynas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very funny account of Bob Fischer's adventures at SF and Fantasy conventions across Britain. In a swirling timeline, he reminisces about his very youthful self, his teen years and adulthood (if you can call it that). Bob has an amazing memory. All the more impressive given the vast quantities of alcohol he claims to have drunk. Obviously, Bob was a very talented young writer as shown by his epic SF tale "The Battle to save Earth". This tale (written when Bob was 8 1/3 years old) is serialised throughout the book. I loved his infant style and I love his very dry, witty delivery now. The book is a nostalgic hoot. Read it.

[Narrelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a bit over-written and could have used a firmer edit - some funny sequences lost their punch by becoming laboured and too-clever-by-half. That said, there's a lot of natural humour in this, and it's a fun, affectionate trip down SF geek memory lane. I might even try to get to the Monty Python convention some time...

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could have been my childhood if there had been mentions of Abba, Blondie and Siouxsie And The Banshees.

[Jenn Morgans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, warm, and charming.