March 29, 2024

Rocking The Sherlock: An Interview With Michael Charlow

Meet Michael Charlow.  Artist, QA Engineer, and Sherlock Cosplayer.

What makes Mike unique, beyond going Full Metal Cumberbatch down to his body language, is he’s also an artist at cons.  I met him at AODSF where he was at his table, hands steepled, fully in character, and of course being a fan magnet.

We don’t think of Sherlock cosplay a lot because really, it’s down to a few people in clothes we’d wear everyday.  But Mike’s in-costume art gig, his charm, and sense of humor made it easy to ask him questions.

1) Let’s get this out there – you cosplay while selling art.  Does that help?
Absolutely! I had heard it boosts sales, but I didn’t realize it for myself until I had people saying out loud “Hold on–I have to buy something from Sherlock!” When people really appreciate your cosplay, they want to support you even if it’s purchasing something small. It’s a very sweet gesture, and it definitely got me more business than I’ve ever had at previous cons.

2) So why Sherlock beyond the fact you look the part?
When a friend introduced me to the show I was hooked on it very quickly. It finally pushed me to read Doyle’s stories (which I knew I’d like, if I could sit down and read them) as well. In reality though, I’d always wanted to dabble in cosplay, but my thought was always “Cosplay! Who wears a mask?” since the only character I thought I resembled without one would be Luigi, and let’s be honest–no one wants to be P2. I did realize that I bore a similarity to the character though, so I came up with a shabby outfit for Fanime2012 and have been fine-tuning it ever since, even doing a classic Sydney Paget portrayal of the character, deerstalker and all.

3) I see Sherlock cosplayers at many conventions – the outfits seem simple, so I’m curious why you think people do them?
You’re right–it is (for the most part) pretty simple. In fact, when I was justifying the cosplay to my confused parentage, I remarked “I can wear all of it outside of a convention!” It’s very reusable. People do think they can pull it off with what they have in their closets, but those (as I proved at Fanime) will sometimes be slapdash at best. Don’t forget though that people did the same with characters like L from Deathnote who really only required baggy jeans, under-eye makeup, and a white shirt. What I’m more interested in is less the collecting process (My outfit comes from a dozen stores and ebay sellers), and more the gender of the people doing the cosplay. A fantastic Moriarty at Fanime informed me that I was the only male Sherlock in the joint (or that she’d seen) and that the rest were women. Some tried to be the male version, and others went as their genderbent “Shirley Holmes.” I take a lot of pride in people starting to just refer to me as “the Sherlock!”

4) Sherlock seems huge in the anime community, why do you think that is?
I attribute a lot of it to the age of the average person in the fanbase and tumblr’s allowing people to share a variety of things in one place instead of it being decentralized across several forums. Watching these shows and reading these comics is a time commitment that’s better suited to a hobbyist who has the time for it, which is usually the younger audience who has less responsibilities to distract them from the pop culture that we sort’a move away from as we get older. Fanbases also tend to overlap–it’s hard to pinpoint a single reason. Sherlock also has a bromantic vibe which the female audience (the most outspoken fans) fauns over. Yaoi, BL, bromance…that’s probably one of the bigger links.

5) Have you ever been to one of the Sherlock cons?  And is it any surprise they exist?
I have not! I was told after some convention that apparently there was going to be a mini Sherlock convention/viewing somewhere in the south bay, but I never followed through on it. I’m not as surprised as I am curious with regards to how much there is to do at them. Sherlock Holmes has a number of spinoffs, stories, and adaptations, but it seems a little small to base a convention around. I suppose I’ll have to find one and see for myself!

6) Sherlock seems to be part of a wave of “not-costume cosplay” – I’ve seen Sherlocks, Watsons, Castiel, plenty of Doctors.  It’s cosplay that’s got a “human” look to it – do you think that’s a trend?
You certainly have a huge wave of people who are discovering BBC programming, and it’s mixed with other live-action series like Supernatural as you’ve mentioned (The trinity appears to be referred to as “SuperWhoLock”). I think fans can appreciate having characters who look human and aren’t super outlandish. They don’t have spiky yellow hair, skimpy clothes, gigantic muscles, or ridiculously oversized weapons, which is also excellent for those interested in cosplaying as them. I think the fact that it’s not terribly difficult to pull off does have a very strong appeal to people who may not have the time, skill, or resources to craft some of the more elaborate or less conservative costumes (like me!). Some of us happen to make more convincing Sherlocks than Gokus!

7) So since you look enough like Benedict Cumberbatch, looking forward to the next Star Trek film?
I am! I’m ashamed to say I haven’t seen the original Wrath of Khan though. I made it through the first season of the original Star Trek, but I got sidetracked before I could ever finish the rest, or see the movies…At least people will hopefully understand what I’m playing at when I scream “KHAAAAAAN!” now though!

(Author’s note – everyone insists Cummerbach is not playing Khan.  I have no idea because that’s just what they would say . . .)

Thanks for taking the time Mike!

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at http://www.stevensavage.com/.

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