Apr 4, 2008 - Barry Malzberg Cancellation - We regret to announce that Barry Malzberg will not be appearing at I-CON 27.

Apr 4, 2008 - Jon Rosenberg and Steven Cloud will not be appearing - Due to circumstances beyond our control, Mr. Rosenberg and Mr. Cloud are unable to appear at I-CON 27.

Mar 28, 2008 - Conrad Brooks Cancellation - Due to circumstances beyond our control, Conrad "The Gielgud of Bad Movies" Brooks will not be appearing at I-CON.

Mar 27, 2008 - Rocky Horror Picture Show! - It's a contest! You can be a mad scientist, biker zombie, or suburban housewife losing her inhibitions. Win fabulous prizes!

Mar 18, 2008 - RepRap Demo Cancelled - We regret to announce that RepRap.org's Zach Smith will be unable to attend I-CON. The RepRap demonstration has been canceled.

Mar 16, 2008 - BattleStar Galactica Season Premiere! - Come see the season premiere of the hit series on a big screen, with 700 of your closest friends. Win BSG DVD sets!

Mar 9, 2008 - GM Signup - Interested in running an RPG? Sign up to be a GM.

Mar 9, 2008 - Awards Banquet - Tickets are now available online for the Awards Banquet. This event is held each year honoring guests for outstanding achievements in their field or genre. This year, the Awards Banquet will be held at the Holiday Inn Ronkonkoma on Saturday April 5, 2008 starting at 5:30pm. For more information or to purchase tickets please visit the Awards Banquet page

Mar 9, 2008 - Cosplay Competition - This I-CON 27 Cosplay Competition is now open to all types of cosplay, not just anime! Registration closes March 28, so hurry over to the Anime page to register online!

News Archive

Website: http://billywest.com/

Billy West's voices are heard all over the world, whether it's in a cartoon or a commercial, the sound is out there somewhere at any given time. A self-proclaimed Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck etc.) devotee, West says that the cartoons he saw on TV in the 1950's hit him over the head like an anvil. More like a cartoon anvil, that is. "I listened to everyone from Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, Gene Pitney, Roy Orbison and Spike Jones to Daws Butler (Yogi Bear, Huck Hound, Elroy Jetson, Quickdraw McGraw etc, June Foray (Rocket J. Squirrel and Natasha No-goodnik) Don Messick (Boo Boo Bear, Ranger Smith and Scooby-Doo). "I knew deep down even back then that I wanted to be one of these screwy adults with magic voices," says West with total resolve.

Billy West was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1952 and did a lot of daydreaming and blurting out surreal voices and noises. In 1963, Billy's mom and his two brothers moved to Boston, Massachusetts. He learned to play trumpet in Detroit and learned guitar growing up in Boston and started to perform with different bands for over 17 years.

"I still kept doing voices and routines onstage and people would get all excited," recalls Billy. In 1978 he left the musician's life and tried his hand at standup comedy. "Nobody told me you had to have an act. I just went up and screwed around. While wildly amusing, it was the voice characterizations and impressions that rang the bell." It was at this time he started going to MIT's college radio station WMBR. Billy recorded bits that he wrote and voiced all the characters involved. It was played in Boston on Saturday nights but it wasn't a paying job. Ironically, a friend had gotten a tape West did into the hands of WBCN's morning man and was invited to come in to voice things and produce the morning show called "The Big Mattress." It was for very little money but I was real messed up on alcohol and drugs so I basically got what I deserved in a way. I was so ill-behaved that the program director "Oedipus" banned me from the station when I wasn't on the clock! Lucky for me he was a man who absolutely understood artists and had a soft spot in his heart for them. He broke bands like The Police, Talking Heads, Blondie and lots of "new, new music" to American radio. West got sober in 1985 and left Boston for New York and Howard Stern." Boy, was that an eye-opener, working with this firebrand who was kicking and slapping and smashing all of radio's dusty old rules and the throwbacks and suck- ups that clung desperately to them. Billy spent 1989-1995 voicing grotesque send-ups of the pretentious glitterati of the time and performed in the rarified air of unscripted radio comedy. Billy West had already gotten two jobs with Nickelodeon by then and found himself voicing the starring roles for "Doug" and the cult hit "Ren and Stimpy." He left the Stern Show because there was no real money in it...not even long term. The work lead to Hollywood and a Matt Groening cartoon - Futurama - and the show plays on the "world's stage" somewhere everyday. West continues doing hundreds of cartoon characters to date.

Billy also has a band "Billy West and the Grief Counselors" and made a CD.