New Jersey with David, from the other side of the table

In April of 2000, my husband, Tom, and I flew to New York to meet with Sylvie and attend the Chiller Theatre fan conference in New Jersey. David Soul was the guest of honor at the con and had agreed that I would work as his assistant for the weekend.

It was a big thrill to see David in New Jersey with all his fans. I felt so lucky to get to spend almost the entire time just twelve inches away from him. I must thank Sylvie for this wonderful opportunity. If not for her, I would not have met David two years ago or on any of my other visits to London. It was because I had met David several times before that he was comfortable with my being his assistant at the con. Tom also has developed a relationship with David. He helped David learn to use his computer during our visit to London in October of 1999 and they have been in contact via e-mail ever since.

Sitting next to David while he was signing was only the beginning of my experience this weekend. David also graciously asked us to join him for meals at every opportunity. It was great spending time with David and his son, Brendan, and seeing how the two related to each other. They have a wonderful relationship – their love for each other is quite obvious. Brendan is a wonderful, charming young man. My husband and he spent the afternoons together while David was signing and had a great time.

It was quite interesting to see all of the fans as they approached David for his autograph. I saw myself in so many of the women that came to him visibly shaking and so nervous that they could hardly speak. Seeing this made me remember my first meeting with David and my own nervousness. Fortunately, I have become more confident over time, but I do still find myself saying the dumbest things in his presence.

 I was charmed by how grateful David was for my help. He thanked me several times each day and sent a follow up thank you email when he got back to London. Of course, it was my pleasure! I can’t help but think that any one of his fans would have paid for the opportunity to be his assistant. He gave me nickname "The Sergeant" on Saturday because there were a few instances that I had to be a bit pushy to keep the line moving or to deal with questions regarding the fees. One time in particular, in order to keep the line moving I had to yell over to Sylvie to speed up her picture taking process. It came out a little harsher than I intended and I saw David cover his eyes and smirk. He whispered to me, "You get ‘em, tiger."

All in all, it was the experience of a lifetime. I can only dream that I will have the opportunity to work side by side with him again in the future.

Janice Starbuck

Read about my first meeting with David

Dead Monkey times two

Here's the story about the final performance of Comic Potential