Dealing with interviews and kig

      Dealing with interviews and kig

      One thing at renaissance faires that happens occasionally are people from the press, be it a local TV station or some college show wanting to interview people. Sometimes it is fairly organized, and happens during a pre-arranged event where the interviewers know what is going on, what people are doing, and are able to interview people as both actors and characters. You can tell the true professionals because they come with the vans with the extremely quiet generators, and make the process of getting a story quite painless for all involved.

      Normally, actor/character isn't that big a deal. However, out of respect for the art, once I get my true anime gao character going for the renaissance faire stuff, I am looking at keeping a significant degree of separation between my character and my "normal" self. Most likely, I will be with a handler, but I wonder what would be the best thing for the handler to say to the interviewer, especially if I'm in character. I live in Texas, so a reply about the way the art is done or something pertaining to the "rules of kig" will leave them scratching their heads at best, perhaps asking more snide questions if it is a less professional team. Even something more obvious like, "He doesn't speak because the mask makes talking difficult and muffled" might elicit a response of, "why doesn't he take it off to talk with us?"

      If I'm not in character in any way, shape or form, I want to keep well away from connecting myself and the kig character, so I can describe what characters I previously did during seasons, while not mentioning anything about what I will have currently.

      Any suggestions on how to handle interviews? Especially with people who have never seen kig before.

      I think the best solution there is for your handler to relay to the interviewer to pre-prepare their questions; and don't forget the good ol' "no comment".

      If your outfit permits in the event of not having a handler about on-the-day, you could keep a small jot pad, or even a yellow office stick-it pad, and pen in one of the pockets or you could make a gesture that you want something to write on. One would expect that professional interviewers would have had something in their disability training around how to conduct themselves with the mute or those with significant speaking impairments.

      This video* should give you some idea; it's in german with english subtitles.

      * This video cannot be directly shown here due to its embed setting at the time of posting.
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      Thanks for the pointer to the vid. I saw that a while back, and thought it was interesting how each kig interviewed differently. One just talked through the mask, another demasked. There is always Cici's interview with the test as well, and there is the recent vid on YouTube with someone's voiceover.

      If I had a choice, the ideal would be the voiceover, explaining the character. That way, one doesn't have to demask or try to talk.

      I just wonder how to handle the surprise people... the ones who want to try to get you to break character. I've had that happen at the renaissance faire before, especially if people know your real name. Those are the ones I wonder how to deal with. Thankfully there is a lot more separation between actor and kig (and hopefully not many will know my character's link to me.)

      scath01 wrote:

      Thanks for the pointer to the vid. I saw that a while back, and thought it was interesting how each kig interviewed differently. One just talked through the mask, another demasked. There is always Cici's interview with the test as well, and there is the recent vid on YouTube with someone's voiceover.

      If I had a choice, the ideal would be the voiceover, explaining the character. That way, one doesn't have to demask or try to talk.

      I just wonder how to handle the surprise people... the ones who want to try to get you to break character. I've had that happen at the renaissance faire before, especially if people know your real name. Those are the ones I wonder how to deal with. Thankfully there is a lot more separation between actor and kig (and hopefully not many will know my character's link to me.)

      To deal with those types of people, you can still say 2 words via one finger. (jk)
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      Post was edited 1 time, last by “KineticIsEpic” ().

      well there are a important thing to start: do you want to give a interview?
      If it's a no, you use something to write and tell you are not taking, act shy and refuse to take a mic( I remember a video of a Japanese kigu performer doing it, and then answered few questions by writing on an pen board ) and stuff like that you you don't have a handler to tell for them

      If yes, you do want to give a interview, and no handler to help you to ask for doing in private and stuff. do it writing on something , asking them to make stuff in private , or if you don't mind, take out the mask and just talk. Anyway any idea goes here hahah

      One time with MTOF and I went to a con, he was with his kigu and me just as handler, them some guys come wanting to interview for their youtube channel, they liked the cosplay and wanted to know more but MTOF don't wanted to take out the mask and we agreed that me doing it as a handler over him would be bad, so no interview for them XD
      ( ^w^)/ hey~

      scath01 wrote:

      There is always Cici's interview with the test as well, and there is the recent vid on YouTube with someone's voiceover.

      If you can, would you mind linking to that/those?

      KineticIsEpic wrote:

      To deal with those types of people, you can still say 2 words via one finger.

      That's just staring at trouble full-in-the-face as well as risking bringing kig cosplay into disrepute.
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      Takami wrote:

      well there are a important thing to start: do you want to give a interview?
      If it's a no, you use something to write and tell you are not taking, act shy and refuse to take a mic( I remember a video of a Japanese kigu performer doing it, and then answered few questions by writing on an pen board ) and stuff like that you you don't have a handler to tell for them

      If yes, you do want to give a interview, and no handler to help you to ask for doing in private and stuff. do it writing on something , asking them to make stuff in private , or if you don't mind, take out the mask and just talk. Anyway any idea goes here hahah

      One time with MTOF and I went to a con, he was with his kigu and me just as handler, them some guys come wanting to interview for their youtube channel, they liked the cosplay and wanted to know more but MTOF don't wanted to take out the mask and we agreed that me doing it as a handler over him would be bad, so no interview for them XD

      I'd just like to add that those guys had a "troll" channel and were interviewing cosplayers while poking at them and doing other "(not) funny" things, so they'd probably make fun of me during the interview, that's why we just said no to it.
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      I can't seem to find the link to the interview, but subtitles were added after the interview was done, explaining why Cici didn't talk, and some kig basics.

      I think Rin hit the nail on the head. There are a lot of trolls out there, be it people who want to make a quick buck on YouTube with a nasty response, or push their political agenda. There is also the fact that as a cast member, I also represent the faire, so if I do something unprofessional, it looks bad on everything as a whole. I am already pushing it with something very unconventional, which is why I'm looking for ways to defuse interview situations, especially with people who have never seen a kig before, and don't get why someone just doesn't start talking, mask or no mask.

      One thing that I've learned over the years is that cameras are everywhere come this. This is why I adhere firmly to keeping a mask on when playing, because even if I pop it off for a second, there will be a picture taken. One actor decided to go for a smoke break for 30 seconds while on site... and there were pictures of the actor with a cig in the hand all over social media. I know I overthink things, but I'm an IT person, and don't want to be caught unawares.

      Worst case, I can bow or wave, then run off.

      MTOF-Rin wrote:


      I'd just like to add that those guys had a "troll" channel and were interviewing cosplayers while poking at them and doing other "(not) funny" things, so they'd probably make fun of me during the interview, that's why we just said no to it.

      Oh I had no idea :x

      next time I ask to see one of their videos first :v

      BTw I found that video i told about

      ( ^w^)/ hey~

      Post was edited 1 time, last by “Takami” ().