When many of us were children, we wrapped ourselves in bath towels and chased our siblings through the house while swinging around cardboard paper towel tubes and yelling “VRUUM VRUUM” in imitation of the famous lightsaber sound effect. The average person gives up that kind of thing when they get older, but not the members of the DC Stunt Coalition, a group of performers who grew up but never grew out of their love for action.
DCSC appeared at last year’s inaugural Escape Velocity convention and was one of the most popular attractions. For an hour, attendees assumed the roles of padawans, learning the basics of Jedi fighting styles and lightsaber dueling. Not limiting themselves only to the world of Star Wars, however, the team also demonstrated techniques using the Klingon bat’leth. They plan to make this year’s show even better.
“Last year was great,” said Dylan Hintz, founder of the DCSC. “We had so much fun participating in it that we were absolutely giddy when we got the invitation to come back. We changed how we do workshops because of Escape Velocity, because we learned so much more about the educational aspect of it when we created the Sci-Fi Fighting Style workshops.”
DCSC will appear all three days of Escape Velocity. In addition to workshops each morning where they will demonstrate and teach the fundamentals of fighting choreography, you will also be able to see them Saturday night during Science Fiction Trivia where they will be doing stunt performances in between rounds.
If you are looking for something less physically intensive, the team has something for you as well. Coalition members will lead the “Phasers and Sabers” panel Sunday from 12:15 where they will discuss some of the most iconic weapons throughout sci-fi history, how they supposedly work, and what might happen if one encountered another.
“Outside of lightsabers, people don’t really seem to talk about what happens in the sci-fi weaponry world,” said Hintz.
“We will be giving you possibly the most in-depth and nuanced breakdown of what sci-fi fighting looks like, in both the behind-the-scenes version and would you would hope to do if you were actually in the situation,” said Elliot Merker, DCSC member. He would go on to say he promises to be “fully decked out” in his Jedi robes during the convention, proof that we can still display our love for our childhood passions at any age — cardboard tubes optional.