Visiting the Set of Svengoolie

I recently had the privilege of visiting the the set of Svengoolie in Chicago (no, not Berwyn) and wanted to write about it. But first, some history!

You never really know a man until you’ve walked a mile in his coffin. (Photo by Kevin Reisberg)

I first met Svengoolie (aka Rich Koz) in 2014 at the Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo (C2E2). I’d been familiar with the concept of late-night horror hosts on TV since I was a kid, but it was only when Svengoolie’s show went national with the Me-TV network a few years back that I finally had one I could regularly watch, and I quickly became a fan.

After hitting it off at C2E2 2014 I decided to create a portrait of Svengoolie which I presented to him as a gift at C2E2 2015. Sven seemed sincerely surprised and delighted by the portrait, and I has hugely flattered that it was added to the TV show’s set! I wrote about all this and the story behind the portrait in more detail here: “A Portrait Worthy of Svengoolie”.

Svengoolie and me at C2E2 2014.

Svengoolie signs my personal copy of the portrait at C2E2 2015. (Photo by Gregory Parks)

I had done my best to keep in touch with Rich and his producer Jim Roche since then and had been extended a generous offer to come visit the set some time. I finally managed just a few weeks ago to make it to Chicago at a time that coincided with Svengoolie filming a few weeks ago and got to make my long-awaited visit.

The set is smaller than you’d expect, but is densely filled with ghoulish, geeky detail. It is lavishly stocked with statues, figures and props, and most fans have likely noticed that it gets redressed for each episode with figures specific to that week’s movie. Many of those figures are pulled from the personal collections of the crew and staff that makes the show happen, and when not drafted into on-screen use most of those figures reside around the desks and cubicles of those crew members! The craftsmanship on Sven’s gimmicked-out coffin is as impressive in person as you’d hope, and the cameras are automated so they can be run from a control room down the hall!

I got to watch Sven and his crew record intros and outros for four upcoming episodes while I was there, and also recorded an interview with Sven that will be included with the Svengoolie episode “The Black Cat” on March 2, 2019. But most importantly, I got to throw rubber chickens. Watching the show I always think of the chickens that pelt Sven during these segments as coming in from beside the camera, but actually the chicken throwers are sitting on rubber mats on the concrete floor in front of the camera, lobbing the rubber chickens up in the frame, trying to get *close* to Sven without a) smacking him hard, b) their hands coming up too high were they’ll be seen by the camera, or c) having a wild throw take out any of the collectible nik-naks displayed around the coffin. All these things can happen – and have!

I was kicking myself after the day was over that I got photos with Svengoolie but not with Jim Roche or any other members of the crew I met that day who were all so gracious and made me feel so welcome. Oh, well – next time!And yes, if you’d like your own copy of the Svengoolie portrait, they are for sale. If you can’t get if from me in person at one of my convention appearances, you can always purchase it from my Etsy store.

Updated: Here’s the interview segment from the episode.

Keep an eye out for my live tweets during episodes. When I’m at home I’m watching I’m usually commenting as @chrisjonesart. See you online my fellow Sven-fans!

A Portrait Worthy of Svengoolie for C2E2 2015

The late night horror host Svengoolie has been the on-air persona of Rich Koz since the mid-70s, and fans of his show know that it features vintage horror films served with generous helping of cheesy jokes along with background information on the films he shows and their stars that conveys a real love of the material. Ever since Me-TV came into the Minnesota market a few years ago, I have made sure to catch the show whenever I could. I really enjoy it. I didn’t know that Svengoolie would be at C2E2 last year until the 11th hour, and wrote on my twitter that I hoped to get away from my own Artists Alley table long enough to visit Sven at his signing, but I was skeptical that I’d be able to. Lo and behold, Sven and his camera crew stopped by my table as they did a tour of the convention, capturing material to be used in upcoming episodes of the show! It was tremendously cool!

Svengoolie and me at C2E2 2014

I did a little video with Svengoolie (which was really fun), and then gave him a gift of my Re-Animator print, which seemed like the most appropriate of the selection I had. Given the body of all ages and animation-based comics I’ve done I’m amused by how many people don’t know I got my start doing a lot of horror comics, including the original comic book adaptation of the Re-Animator film! Sven seemed to really like it, and I honestly don’t even remember that his crew was still filming when I gave it to him. I determined right then that if I saw Svengoolie again at C2E2 in 2015, I wanted to do something more to express my appreciation for the show.

It didn’t take me long to settle that would be fun to do a portrait of Svengoolie in a gothic, over-the-top haunted house kind of style. I got the idea of trying to evoke the style of Basil Gogos, who is best known for having done many great portaits of figures from classic horror as covers for Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine.

 

Hal reached out to Svengoolie producer Jim to share the finished artwork and see if it would be possible to surprise our favorite horror host with the gift at C2E2 this year. I spent the whole of Saturday at C2E2 2015 looking forward to Svengoolie’s visit after his scheduled signing. When team Svengoolie made their appearance, I was able to give Rich a framed copy of my Svengoolie portrait and he seemed delighted. I had a few extra copies for Jim and members of the Svengoolie crew, and made a point to get Sven’s signature on my own personal copy of the print for my living room.

Svengoolie and me at C2E2 2015

Presenting Svenoolie with my gift

Svengoolie signs a print for me (Photo by Gregory Parks)

The portrait as it now appears on the Svengoolie set. Thanks to my friend Tom Hogan for capturing the video for me to screengrab.

I’m pretty over the moon about this whole thing.

If you’d like your own copy of the Svengoolie portrait, yes, you can get one. If you can’t get to one of my convention appearances to get it from me in person, you can always purchase it from my Etsy store.

I’m looking forward to seeing Svengoolie again, but I don’t know if I can top this!