by Hayley Charlesworth

Last weekend marked the inaugural Film and Comic Con Manchester, the newest addition to the Showmasters convention family. But with Manchester already having the popular MCM Manchester Comic Con in July, is there space in this city for another event? I’m With Geek went along to find out.

The short answer to that question is yes. Film and Comic Con Manchester attracted a smaller crowd, but this can easily be explained by its freshman status. A large venue and well-organised event means that FCCM has plenty of potential to expand in coming years, and even with this first event, they were able to attract some huge names, including horror legend Robert Englund, Red Dwarf’s Craig Charles, Lance Henriksen, David Hewlett, and a whole host of Doctor Who stars. While there was only a small showing for comic artists, and the event did not have the variety of independent comics available that MCM does, the event was an impressive enough first outing to attract more comic names in the future.

by Jennifer Drewett 

When I started Cosplay With Me, I was determined to show off as many facets of cosplay as I could.

I’ve been writing this for five months now and the amount I’ve been able to cover has pleased me so far. But I know I’ve got a long way to go especially with the way the cosplay community is growing and evolving. For every cosplay veteran with an intricate costume, there’s a new cosplayer starting to unfurl their wings and dive in. The same can be said for events: for every London MCM or San Diego Comic Con, there’s a fledgling new event having their debut. I got to attend Wycombe Comic Con this Saturday, the first con in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

by Laura W 

Well, The Tonys are done for another year, sadly. However, the nice thing with Tony coverage is it lasts for another few weeks. Sunday, June 7th was a truly epic night. There were a few obvious wins, such as Fun Home winning for Best Musical (and the most awards of the night) and Helen Mirren snagging another Best Performance by a Leading Actress Tony for her performance as (who else) Queen Elizabeth II in The Audience. There’s a reason people have started calling that particular award the Helen Mirren Award.

by Aaron Nash 

As a kid I loved watching wrestling on TV, I really did but as I grew older I went through a long hiatus (from when I was in my early teens during the attitude era of WWE (then WWF) until 2013) of not watching any at all. I don’t really know why but I guess I couldn’t get my head around the ‘soap opera’ like nature of the storylines.  In the last couple of years I have gotten back into watching Wrestling big time. From WWE, through to TNA, to Shimmer, to Ring of Honour and even back to ECW, I love it all. As I was getting back into watching WWE I had no idea who a lot of these new ‘superstars’ were and one of the names that I constantly heard but never really knew was Daniel Bryan.  

What better way to get an understanding of who he is than to check out the new biographical DVD set charting Bryan’s wrestling career from little league indie wrestler to becoming one of the most popular stars in the sport.  The DVD set contains 3 Discs which I will break down below;

by Jennifer Drewett

When people think of places that cosplayers go to meet up at events, a lot of the time locales like London MCM spring to mind. This is pretty much down to the fact that a lot of media press tend to focus their attentions on cosplayers at the big events. That’s not the case here at I’m With Geek. ‘Cosplay With Me’ is dedicated to showing cosplayers wherever they may show up and represent all facets of cosplay. I spent the last Saturday of May crewing with The Galactic Knights at UK Games Expo, a weekend event that took place at Birmingham Hilton Metropole. I gained a valuable insight into the workings of a professional costuming group and some of their members.

by Cookie N Screen

Following on from the success (and expense) of the Sherlocked convention, the BBC have announced something incredibly exciting for Whovian’s globally. Yes, hold on to your TARDIS' (TARDII?), we’re going through a journey of time and space because the company, the creatives and the cast have come together to create this year’s hotly anticipated convention who Whovians everywhere. Yes. Forget LFCC, forget MCM, this November will see the official Doctor Who Festival. 

by Helen Langdon

We’re into June! And you know what that means for I’m With Geek – time to tell you all about what’s going on with the BAFTA Learning and Events Team. Every month, they hold lectures, masterclasses and screenings across the country (and occasionally, beyond) to celebrate the creative industries, help professionals further their careers and give members of the public an insight into what goes on in the worlds of film, TV and games. So, what events could you be attending this month?

by Laura W 

A few things usually define award shows. The speeches, the outfits, and the nominations.  There is also one defining moment that will ensure whether or not the audience is paying attention. That would be the opening number. Not every number can compare to that of Hugh Jackman’s opening for the Oscars (he is Wolverine!), or the 2013 “We’re Going Bigger” opening for the Tony Awards. The Tonys, fortunately and unfortunately, heavily rely on its opening numbers. Last year’s number, through no fault of Hugh Jackman’s, was an absolute bust. Actually, the entire show was a bust, despite some brilliant wins.

So let's hope this year's number is great. To celebrate, here are just a few of the best opening numbers.

by Jennifer Drewett

There’s so much to the cosplay world and there are some events where this is beautifully shown for all to see. This is definitely the case with the London MCM Expo which took place this weekend at the Excel centre. There were over 122,000 attendees and amongst them were thousands of cosplayers from all around the country enjoying the atmosphere, shopping and showing off the costumes they’ve worked so hard on. It’s pretty difficult to cover all of the aspects of cosplay during the entire weekend but in the true I’m With Geek style, that wasn’t going to get in the way. 

by Jennifer Drewett 

One of the things I love most about cosplay is the fact that it’s such a broad and accepting spectrum that allows one to dress up from an almost infinite range of sources. It’s something I truly enjoy. I must admit that I do notice some popular themes with some cosplayers seemingly basing their cosplay ideas on what anime/tv show/film/comic etc. is popular and what might get them noticed most. Occasionally this brings about a uniformity in cosplay with a massive amounts of the same character in one place. Whilst this isn’t necessarily a terrible thing, it does take away the chances of coming across unique people and unique ideas. Someone who definitely isn’t running out of different ideas is cosplayer Alex Borley. Whilst he’s definitely quite new to the scene but there’s a definite sense of something different in his cosplay page Punx Dead Cosplay. I interviewed him to discuss his journey and what he has planned next.