FRESH APPEAL:‘Geek’ activities are gaining new ground
EVERYTHING from cos playing – dressing up in homemade costumes – to larping – living as another character for an entire weekend – is cool because it is now “hip to be geek”.
Geek culture is growing in South Africa, with comic-book stores reporting more buyers and geek conventions drawing big crowds.
The rAge expo, which attracted 31 000 people in Johannesburg last year, is now opening a Cape Town leg, in March.
What does it mean to be geek?
These are people who are passionate about interests not mainstream, Les Allen, of the Geek XP website, says.
Typical geek hobbies such as playing board games, role-playing in full costume or collecting action figurines or comics were much more acceptable now. “Geek is ‘sheek’,” he said. “I know a CEO of a large marketing company who loves action role-plays.
“He puts on elf ears and runs around a forest pretending to be another character for a whole weekend.”
There is money to be made selling computer games, limitededition figurines depicting action heroes or comic-character merchandise.
“Geeks, often children of the ’ 70s and ’80s, tend to have disposable income and rabid loyalty,” Allen said.
Kasia Jadrzemski, who runs the website, darkcarnival.co.za , said: “Geeks get a bad rap but we are not all pasty-faced virgins sitting in the basement playing games.”
Karyn Brocklebank, owner of Cosmic Comic which opened in Johannesburg 13 years ago, has noticed a change in clientele.
“When we started, 99% of customers were white males,” she said.
“But now we have a lot of women visiting, and a lot of black high school children come in. We have a large coloured and Indian fan base.”
-Katharine Child
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