Convention Fans

This is the second part of a two part interview with Toby Markham, a well know face at conventions and on YouTube. You can read Part 1 here.

————————– Part 2  ————————–

You’ve done a lot of costumes based on Johnny Depp characters: Jack Sparrow, Willy Wonka, Don Juan, Sweeney Todd, and Edward Scissorhands. What is it about those characters? Is it based on resemblance to Depp alone, or is there something more?

Toby: That’s my one slight peeve. Depp does something new, [con goers/fans] immediately think I’m going to do the costume. The answer is no. He just happens to do a lot of roles that have a really interesting costume & character combo.

This is how all the Depp stuff originally began: For a long time, I wanted to make an Edward Scissorhands. The costume is cool, the movie is great, and you don’t usually see many people doing it. And if they do, they take the easy way out, and go with the white shirt/pants/suspenders combo. No, I wanted the whole leather outfit.

Then Sauron came along.

I had hoped to have he & Edward done for Dragoncon. It never happened, because I spent every non-working hour working on him, for 3 months. All the way up to the weekend before Dragoncon.

That was also the year that Pirates [of the Caribbean] had come out. Also the year that I had wanted to finally wear something that was non Star Wars, for Halloween. Edward would’ve been that costume, but he didn’t happen yet. I didn’t want to wear Sauron, cause I couldn’t even get the helmet on & off on my own. I wanted something comfortable. I had seen the trailer for Pirates, didn’t think much of it. But I thought Depp’s pirate look was pretty interesting. I thought the movie would be a flop. A ride made into a movie, much like a video game made into a movie.

My ex told me that I should do it, cause I’d look hot. Haha. I figured that it didn’t have a mask, so I should be plenty comfortable! So I went out, grabbed some fabrics, and threw something together in about a week or so. I wore it out on Halloween, I had fun & people loved it. The rest is history (for Jack).

That’s when all the prodding began to happen.

The next year, I was finally able to finish Edward, like I’d always wanted. By then, they were talking about Willy Wonka.

Are you going to do Wonka now? You should!

People say the same thing about Mad Hatter now. I tell them the same as I did then, we’ll see. If I like it, maybe. For the record, I’ve seen that pic of the Hatter, and I think it looks horrendous. I can only hope that it’s a badly lit shot.

At this point, I may just make it, cause I’m sure people will want to commission me to make parts for them. We shall see.

Anyhow, back on topic. Wonka started popping up, and the details on the coat caught my eye. I wanted to figure out how to put dotted pinstripes on velvet. After Wonka, I started to tire of wearing Jack to the ren faire all the time. I had nothing else I could wear to it. That’s where Don Juan came in. I liked the movie, I can relate to him, and he’s sort of like Jack Sparrow, in a way.

Sweeney Todd? The movie was awesome. And once again, it was that coat. I had to see how I could etch lines perfectly into leather. I just had to do it. And that helped get me very deep into pewter casting.

What is your favorite character to portray, and why?

Toby: Jack is a really fun character. I can act like myself. Make funny/obnoxious comments, and get away with it. When wearing it at one of the Star Wars Celebrations, people would ask what Jack Sparrow was doing there. I told them that I was in town for a book signing. The Kama Sutra. How many other characters can go around saying that??

Joker is pretty fun as well, as I can really freak people out. But the shaving, makeup and gluing down of the wig don’t make it as practical of a costume. At least with Jack, I can easily just throw everything on in less than 5 minutes.

How long does it take, on average, to put together a screen accurate costume from start to finish?

Toby: Not including the research of materials & gathering of pictures, I can sit down and throw something together in about 2 weeks. Is it finished by then? Not by a long shot. Edward was the only one that was done right the first time. Although I have been wanting to remake my hands. Mainly to make them lighter. Using aluminum this time, instead of a mix of steel & other mediums.

But after the first version is done, I always find a few things to tweak. Maybe it’s an alteration to the pattern, or I just happen to come across a better match in fabric. People ask how long it took to finish Jack. I tell them the first version was done in a week, but it probably took 3 years to get it to where it is today. To where I can sit back and say that there is nothing more I can do, to make it any more accurate than it already is.

Jack is the only costume that took that long. I think that part of the fact is that I personally inspected a screen worn costume. So I KNEW exactly what everything was supposed to be, and how it went together. Nothing would ever suffice until it was exactly as I had seen.

If you can tell us, how do you get a hold of the molds of screen used items, in order to make your replicas?

Toby: Usually it’s just about knowing the right person. With Jack, it was simple, I just took molds of everything myself! But Pirates stuff is really the only thing I can boast as screen used copies. The closest any other costume can come, would be my Joker tie. I bought that from the company that supplied production. They had a small batch leftover, and have long since sold out forever.

Finally, if you had infinite resources and resemblance wasn’t a factor, what costume would you create for yourself?

Toby: If it’s something I wanted to make, I’d have made it by now! I’ve actually 2 costumes I want to make. I started on one, a year ago, but I’ve also not touched it in a year. The other I haven’t even started thinking about how I’ll make. Once again, it’s always about the challenge of learning something new.

And yes, they are both secret costumes. 

Toby, thanks again for this interview! If you want to see the amazing costume pieces Toby has for sale, or just more pictures of his costumes, you can visit his official website by clicking here. For his videos, be sure to subscribe to his account on YouTube.

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