
1. For those of us who don’t
know, tell us about yourself.
I’m
James Aukett, and have been into Fighting Fantasy since my early teens.
I
remember buying The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain (which was my first FF
gamebook) at a second hand bookshop in Muswell Hill during the mid-1990s and
have always maintained an active interest in the series since then. I was
interviewed by FF author Jonathan Green for his book You Are The Hero which
chronicles the history of Fighting Fantasy, and also filmed a couple of the
talks at 2014’s Fighting Fantasy Fest.
Talk
on The History Of Fighting Fantasy: https://youtu.be/m_TeRorwV8o
Talk
on The Art Of Fighting Fantasy: https://youtu.be/VgJuTw0FCOQ
2. Where did the idea
about the first Fighting Fantasy meet-up come from?
The
idea for the first FF meet-up was initiated by Rob Learner, and Steven Green
created a Facebook event for this as a result. This meet-up took place at The
Black Friar pub in London – Rob and Steven were there, along with myself and
Luke Blaxill. Steven had a copy of You Are The Hero with him on the table and
this gave Rob the inspiration to nickname any future FF meet-ups as You Are The
Beer-O, a name which has stuck with these events ever since.
3. Where do you meet?
We
have had two You Are The Beer-O events so far – and both of these have taken
place in London pubs! The first was at The Black Friar (as previously
mentioned) and the second was at The Salutation in Hammersmith, the latter
being only a few minutes away from Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone’s original
Games Workshop retail premises. The third You Are The Beer-O will again be at
The Salutation, as it gives those who couldn’t make it last time another chance
to look at the first ever Games Workshop site, which nowadays is home to a
venue known as the Coco Club.
4. Do you plan anything
for the meet-ups?
There
isn’t any particular agenda, however as the title of You Are The Beer-O
suggests it generally involves a bit of drinking and of course plenty of
Fighting Fantasy discussion! Although come to think of it, maybe one day we
could have a playthrough of The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain board game or even
read one of the multiplayer books such as The Riddling Reaver or Clash Of The
Princes.
5. Does anyone need to
bring anything to the meet-ups?
All
that we ask of people if they do come is to just bring along a nostalgic
fondness of Fighting Fantasy, no matter how big or small! Personally I also
tend to bring along a few of the Puffin green spine books and place them on the
table where we are sat, as I believe they would help any newcomers to find us
quite easily. The distinctive green spines of the Puffin Fighting Fantasy
gamebooks were a key element for me when locating and collecting them back in
the day, and I tend to think that this is a factor agreed and shared with my
fellow enthusiasts as well.
6. How often to do you
intend to do the meet-ups?
As
present we have a You Are The Beer-O every three months, although we would be
happy to do one-off specials to tag alongside events such as a future Fighting
Fantasy Fest (if this does occur though I’m always confident it will do given
2014’s event was such a success). Whilst the meet-ups usually happen in a
London pub, maybe one day we could take an adventure outside of the capital.
Steven has also suggested for a You Are The Beer-O to be held at a beer
festival instead of a conventional pub, so many a possibility for forthcoming
You Are The Beer-O events.
7. Have you got names
related to the Fighting Fantasy books prepared for all of them?
I
reckon we’ve got up to as far as the first ten, but I don’t want to give away
the names for the future ones just yet! You Are The Beer-O 2 was entitled City
Pub Of Chaos and whilst You Are The Beer-O 1 didn’t officially have a proper
name at the time of it taking place, I’ve since referred to it as The Black
Friar Of Firetop Mountain (in honour of the venue where it was held).
8. When and where is
the next You Are The Beer-O?
The
third You Are The Beer-O is entitled Forest Of Doom Bar and will happen on
Saturday 28th May from 2pm, again at The Salutation in Hammersmith –
please see the flyer on this page for details. If you’re a fan of Fighting
Fantasy then you are more than welcome to come along and join us, it would be
great to see you.
Link
to the event on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1538233589814823/
No comments:
Post a Comment