Last night I got one of the thrills of my life when I got to meet Weird Al Yankovic backstage after his show here in Minneapolis! I've been an Al fan since I first heard the "Weird Al" In 3-D album in 1984 and I've been a big fan ever since. I only have two artists' full libraries on my iPhone, The Beatles and Al. So yeah, I'm a fan.

Not only did I get to see him perform live (my fifth time seeing him), but I got to give him and his drummer Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz copies of my "Meeting Al" piece:



Both Al and Jon were awesome and I can't thank them enough for allowing me and my friend Natalie to meet them. I want to say a special thanks to Jon, who could not have been kinder or friendlier, for responding to Natalie's e-mail about possibly meeting the king of parody. Jon suprised me by saying "he doesn't know you're here, he's gonna love this". I was really honored to be able to give them both print copies of my piece.

Just before Jon snapped a photo of the three of us Al turned to me and told me I should send my piece to someone at Gallery 1988, where he had just done a show. "Your work is as good as anything I saw there", he said. I remember nothing after that. Just white noise. Those words will be burned in my brain forever.

Al and Jon were kind enough to chat with Natalie and I for a few minutes while other meet-and-greeters waited and I can't thank them enough for making the experience a memorable one.

What a great night.

Here are Natalie and I before the show. Me with my print and Natalie dressed as the "dental hygienist with a spatula tattooed on her arm" from "The Weird Al Show Theme":



The only photo I took during the show. This was during their encore, while they performed "The Saga Begins" with members of the 501st in costume on stage with them:



The backstage pass:



Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz, Al's drummer (he's been with Al since the beginning) and all around nice guy:



Meeting Al!



Here's Al signing copies of my "Meeting Al" print for me and Natalie.



Thanks again to Al & Jon and thanks to you for reading!

-Otis

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Issue #1 of my webcomic Escape From Planet Nowhere is now available for purchase as a digital download (PDF) at The Illustrated Section! After downloading the issue, you can read it on your desktop computer, laptop, tablet or phone.
Issue #1 contains Part 1 of the webcomic (27 pages), behind the scenes info & images as well as a gallery of guest art from Dani Jones (My Sister The Freak), Mike Maihack (Cleopatra In Spaaace!) and Grant Gould ("The Wolves of Odin").

43 pages. Full color.

All for just $.99!

Go here to purchase the comic, see a preview or write a review: [link]

Thanks in advance!

-Otis

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Read my webcomic "The Song of Xanthia" here on DA starting here:



Visit "The Song of Xanthia" website: [link]

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Read my webcomic "Escape From Planet Nowhere" here on DA starting here:



Visit the "Escape From Planet Nowhere" website: [link]

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COMMISSION STATUS (Dec. 6th, 2011):

Due to my comic workload, I am not currently taking on commission work.

Please check back after the new year when I may open up commissions again.

You can go here to read about my commission pricing and options: [link]

Thanks!