Photo of Charlie from the FeelGood Crew. Private photo.
Charlie from Magicon’s Feel Good team talks about working at Magicon
‘What happens at Magicon?’ my friends ask me. What would I, someone whose idea of fancy dress is to repurpose his 3-year-old pirate outfit with the effort of a drunken sailor have to do with Magicon? Well, not a lot, really. I wasn’t into the cosplay scene at all a few years ago
I’ve lived in London most of my life, but thanks to university, I’ve met a ton of people around the world. After navigating the UK immigration system, many headed back to their respective countries and I’m lucky enough to visit and hang with them. For some reason or another I’ve always gravitated towards Norway. Many of my best friends live here, and a lot of that is down to the culture and the circles of friends I have – though never sure if it’s the latter or not.
London vs Norway vibes:
In London, my circle is a lot about going out, watching bands, laughing at each other, going for walks, go karting, or something very random – there’s a lot for the city to offer. In Norway, everyone is a lot more chilled, literally! As I write this, it’s a chilled -8°C. I went outside in my “English Tuxedo” (T-Shirt, jacket, and jeans) and made it to the driveway before realising, “that’s enough,” and turned back to the house.
Days with friends in my Norwegian circles are geared towards board games like Kingdomino, where you collect land and aim to have the highest value of land squares, or Betrayal at House on the Hill, where you explore a house until someone becomes the bad guy via a dice roll and we all have to figure out how to escape alive. Then there’s the metrically organised parties I’m so not used to. At home in London, we often say “I’ll see you at 6” which means, ‘the host might be there around 6:30 or so, others come when you feel like it’. That culture is likely pushed by the London transport system where you can easily miss a bus or train, and then it would most likely only be 2 or 5 minutes until the next train. Often you end up not planning so much as the world of transport seems to be ready when you step out.
In Norway by contrast, you might be waiting an hour if you’re outside of Oslo for the next bus – in freezing temperatures – so everyone is used to making plans. In retrospect I’m likely comparing city life to towns in Norway. Parties in my circles are so organised, people know when different guests will likely arrive, there’s always a theme and it’s planned so much in advance that the guests’ costumes put my English Tuxedo to shame. I will be there at the party in my cat T-Shirts, but at the end of the day it seems accepted that us Brits can’t do planning or organising as well as the Nordics.
Then there’s the nerds here. My thought is that everyone has a lot of free time on their hands – being less affected by London’s cost of living and comparatively lower wages at entry level. I assume it’s related to the slower pace of life that the locals embody. I know in New York, the stereotype is everyone runs 2 jobs and is hoping for their 3rd to be the one they love, with London being the ‘Diet Coke’ of that. In contrast, everyone in Norway seems to know a ton more about even the British Lore of the Royal Family along with completing Final Fantasy games, which would have rounded up countless hours that would have any Londoner gawk in disbelief.
I should address my ADHD…
Katrix Media
At this point, I ask my friend how I’m doing in the post. He asks, “What was the name of the title”? I repeat: ‘What happens at Magicon?’. He just sighed. Well, Mr X, my ADHD does take me on tangents but that’s pretty much what Magicon is in many ways. It was born from these circles of knowledgeable friends who know about so much lore, niche’s and acceptance – the latter so much so that I don’t notice them smoothly drift into English when I’m in an earshot of a conversation they know I might want to join in on.
Mr X told me about how great Magicon was in the first year, how it pulled these different circles of friends together and pulled more friends into those circles together – people who loved games, anime and movies. Giving them a stage to showcase 2D makeup skills, or talk about how their hobby instagram page blew up.
Joining Magicon’s “Feel Good Crew”:
For Magicon’s second year, I decided I’d join and see what the fuss was about. It seemed like a good opportunity to learn about what my friends are into and figure out what I’m missing out on. I joined the Feel Good Crew and was told our job was to elevate the vibe of our visitors and be a safety net for other staff when things fail – think of a scenario where you’re doing a task and someone doesn’t show up or something breaks and you need someone to go and get you the tools to fix it because you can’t leave your station – and you’re kinda close to what we do.
Photostegi
What I saw at Magicon:
On my first day of Magicon, I was astounded. Around 90% of the attendees were in costumes. All skills were on display and what people could do with both high budgets, and low budgets was awe-inspiring. Even though I didn’t recognise most of the costumes (I still hadn’t properly played a Final Fantasy game at this point!), the atmosphere was infectious. The main lobby was a sea of friendship groups catching up and newcomers vibing over their matching themed cosplays while waiting for the Opening Show.
That show opened with: Star Wars troopers marching on stage, an offensively awesome light and dance show with performers accurate to the source material doing dances focused on a particular anime – not one that I knew (I don’t know many!) but epic and amazing to say the least. Then there was Salty dressed in drag, lip syncing to music in a special dress that had a big reveal to another dress during the performance. There was a violinist playing a medley of themes from video games, shows, anime – the crowd roared as the violin glistened between themes from Super Mario to Final Fantasy and from Game of Thrones to Zelda. The lights were sync’d to change from colours pink, purple, blue and green and move with the music adding to the captivating mood.
- A small disclaimer: It’s only here, when reviewing what I’ve written that I should add a small disclaimer: Salty didn’t perform on the opening show but the ending show for Sunday. In general, take what I’ve written as truth but honestly, I can’t always decipher from memory the differences between each Magicon. Each show I’m running 100% on everything as there is so much going on and after 3 shows, there’s not much to say in the importance of when it happened but ‘where’.
The opening show set the tone of Magicon. As it ended, everyone took out their phones to visit the Magicon website or Instagram to remind themselves of the schedule. There are tons of different events happening all for visitors with different priorities. The venue was buzzing: I’d see visitors making their way over to one room where a guest had a presentation about how to make wigs that defy gravity, or other attendees skipping over in their costumes to a chat about making armour and battle worn axes. Working at Magicon allowed me to wander around many talks and get glimpses of captivated visitors asking questions during presentations about their own style and how they’d “level-up” their own cosplay creations.
Open at all times were the Artist Galleries where you’d see tons of fan and original art, and merchandise around many fan-loved favourites. I’d see handmade knitted plushies of One Piece on one stand, and Skyrim themed facemasks 3d printed and hand finished in jewels, golden trimmings and per-zaz on the next. It wasn’t a healthy place to be for my wallet as there was so much on offer. While exploring the stands, my phone buzzed to remind me I needed to head over to help out with the parade. At the entrance was a huge group of cosplayers, flags and a line of Storm Troopers. Our mission: Remind people bullying sucks, cosplay is awesome and we know how to dance on the streets of Oslo. We were gone for about 30 minutes and my legs were killing me by the end because I insisted I wanted to dance the entire journey, it was that much fun. Also, seeing Storm Troopers help stop traffic at red signals to help us all cross the road with extra safety was one of my “inner-child” highlights. I was giddy with joy.
Re-fueling and back to duties:
Heading back, I helped myself to some sugary drinks at the bar along with lunch before heading out again. I was helping to show judges where the cosplay competition was, and oh my, the room was packed with so much bling, music, lights and skill. Seeing music play and recognisable characters from games and anime take to the stage showcasing their work was brilliant. The room was huge but had a ton of attendees – one of the most popular events at the show I figured on my first visit.
In between tasks, I wandered through other talks, doing my best to ensure visitors and guests were having a good time. Whenever I spotted someone looking a bit lost, I’d point them towards a panel. One of my easiest recommendations was a comedy set where someone dressed as Philomena Cunk – a character representing the type of Brit who understands very little about the world (I felt very seen, haha!) – was interviewing other cosplayers on stage. I also made sure to mention the professional photography room. It was tucked away from the noise, offering attendees free, high-quality edited photos for their socials – a hidden gem of the event.
Michael Solberg
Not sure how to summarise this:
Rugile
Approaching a stranger to introduce yourself can be a bit daunting, so during our prep (and oh yes, there is an offensive amount of preparation in the months leading up to this 2 day affair), we design and print “ice-breaker cards”. Over the years, they have evolved into “achievement unlocked” reward cards. I’d hand out a card that says ‘I love your cosplay’ or ‘You elevated the vibe!’, the latter I remember giving to someone who had a Star Wars robot on a ball (I’m sure many of you are screaming the name of it… it wasn’t R2D2… like an earlier orange version of it was it?… I digress), and was sharing the controls with other cosplayers in the main entrance area. One visitor had lost their friend and was extremely tired so I stuck with them until they found their friend group again (and messaged my team about it and to cover for me in the meantime).
Hosting a presentation:
My phone buzzed again: a reminder for my own presentation. This year, the organisers realised that while Magicon has incredible technical talks, having too much intense cosplay content can be overwhelming. They needed something a bit more “irrelevant” to lighten the mood, and apparently, I was the first person they thought of (which says a lot about me, haha!).
Still, public speaking wasn’t something I’ve done much – talking to a room of friends is one thing, but a room full of people I’ve never met before? Magicon told me to keep it light, so I decided to talk about cats. For the big moment, I changed out of my staff gear and into my finest English Tuxedo – a T-shirt featuring a giant cat taking down a ship – and spoke for an hour. I filled the screen with cat memes, ranking them from S-tier to D-tier while the crowd shouted out their favourites. At one point, I ended up dancing on stage to the Nyan Cat video while the audience joined in. It was chaotic, surreal, and brilliant. All my fears about stage fright were unfounded; it turned out I’m actually alright at public speaking, and it’s become a genuine life highlight.
Gressloek
Back to the event:
Michael Solberg
After the talk, I headed back to the showfloor to check-up on our visitors to ensure nothing was spoiling the mood. I checked in with staff at the technical desk; they were so busy they couldn’t tear themselves away, so I gladly raided the staff room for chocolates, sweets and sodas to keep them going before our onslaught of pizzas arrived for lunch – all while I was pumped with my performance.
By late afternoon, the vibe was electric. I saw groups dancing in the corridors, parents looking on in total bewilderment at the costumes, and a few “socially exhausted” visitors taking some well-earned me-time on the sofas in the quiet areas. It was a perfect snapshot of the convention: high energy for those who wanted it, and a safe space for those who just needed a breather.
High-Stakes Cosplay:
The lobby grew quiet as people filtered into the main hall for the main cosplay show. I remember sneaking a look the first time, wondering why the rest of the venue had suddenly become so bare, and I was astonished by what I saw. This was a pro-level, highly selective competition involving acting, visual art, and theatre. It wasn’t just for fun; contestants were performing for industry-level judges for the chance to represent Norway in an international competition.
I watched one performer use perfectly timed coloured fabrics, thrown from her hands in sync with the music, and a duo re-enacting a dramatic scene from a game I didn’t recognise (though the rest of the crowd clearly did!). It felt like a show like The X Factor, but with far more glitz and glamour- and without the manufactured “sob stories.” This was the raw deal: pure talent and dedication. While other events were still ticking along, it was clear that for many, this was the highlight of the entire weekend.
Gressloek
There to help:
Katrix Media
The rest of the day followed very similar energy, but new “quests” for me to take on regarding keeping the vibe high and making sure things were cool. I spotted some spilled water on the floor: got that quickly cleared. Asked the venue to investigate why a disabled toilet was locked for so long keeping someone waiting – turned out some visitors liked to group into the disabled toilet to take photos, do their makeup or whatever at the expense of someone needing to use it for its intended purpose (I mention this just so we can all agree it’s a bad thing to do).
I also pointed out where presentations and certain events were for our attendees. We’re often reminded our goal is to make sure the vibe is up and that the visitors are happy. I was definitely into the swing of things and felt I was elevating the mood.
The final day:
The final day follows much of the previous day’s rhythm with one major exception: the Grand Closing Ceremony. While the previous day’s end wrap-up is great, the final show is on another level. I’m usually backstage helping out, but from what I see through the curtains it is always exciting! A full audience in the largest hall of the venue, with dancers, cosplayers and professionals dancing to Disney, anime the like. It’s a high octane extravaganza with more glitz than you could shake your glitter wand at.
The judges announce the competition winners to much applause and the further performances keep the vibe up for the final ending, where myself and the other volunteers who help run the show walk out (or dance out depending how we’re feeling) to show visitors that we’re here and we enjoyed hosting you all once more. There’s then the big reveal for next year’s Magicon’s theme and date along with (what he’s now infamously known for) few words from Magicon’s Producer-chan. This moment is when staff and attendees get to see each other in terms of numbers – the event is often a blur that it’s hard to see how many people there are and this is really the reminder of how much staff and how many visitors are attending, which all make up Magicon. You have to be there to know the answer and that feeling.
After Magicon:
Katrix Media
Once the visitors leave, we continue to wrap-up. It’s all hands on deck as we tidy up the venue, and then have a much needed brief with each other talking about what we loved about this year’s Magicon. We save anything to improve on for de-brief meetings in the weeks to come, right now we’re exhausted, still high on adrenaline from the show and just want to remind ourselves about being in the now and bringing communities together for the mutual cause of friendships and sharing interests.
About being English:
I should also mention something I often take for granted: the sheer amount of work that happens in English. All the admin, the planning documents, the discussions, and the late-night meetings are conducted in my native tongue helping to keep me in the loop. The same friends who switch to English at house parties are the same people dedicated to making their passions accessible to everyone. When talking to visitors, they’re talking to me in English as if I wasn’t a visitor to Norway but just part of their cosplay community.
There are plenty of international events outside of the UK, but Magicon is the only one where I completely forget a language barrier even exists. It’s not for lack of trying on my part; I spent ten years studying French at school, only for locals in France to hear my juvenile attempts and immediately reply in English. Having everything here run in English is the only reason I’m able to volunteer, mentor guests, and help with the prep. It allows me to stop worrying about translation and just soak up the cosplay lore.
Rugile
Retrospectively:
Katrix Media
Looking back at how much I’ve changed over a few years of Magicon, I’m reminded to always stay curious. Living in London, it’s easy to get stuck in the routine of a single “type” of life. But discovering my friends’ passions – along with observing and absorbing the passion of this community – has reminded me to do the same: keep life exciting, commit to your hobbies and share them.
Questions or concerns?
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