INTERVIEW — HOLY SHAT! William Shatner Live at Orlando MegaCon 2011

Costumed heroes and villains set aside their differences (and their dignity) and joined together in Orlando this weekend to celebrate geek-fandom goodness at Orlando MegaCon.

Held at the Orange County Convention Center, MegaCon is not just a comic book convention but a gathering of vendors, artists, fans and celebrities. Stars such as Lou Ferrigno, John Schneider (Bo Duke!), Kevin Sorbo and The Walt Disney of comics: Stan Lee showed up for the fans/cash. But somewhere between the lady from Tron and what could only be described as “Fat Iron Man,” was the main event: Captain James T. Kirk himself, William Shatner.

We were there as “The Shatman” (no one calls him that) spoke to an enormous crowd about his “Shat-com” on CBS, his infamous music career, and his recent documentary that features an assembly of every Star Trek captain… cleverly titled The Captains.

After all these years, William Shatner can still captivate an audience at length. The hour-long panel featured “Billy Shats” (© 2011) doing what he does best; talking about himself in a manner that’s one-half amusing anecdote and one-half stream-of-consciousness ramble. However, it was during his reaction to an auditorium-wide rendition of “Happy Birthday” (in honor of him turning 80 last Tuesday) when the conversation took a serious turn as Mr. Shatner pondered his mortality and legacy.

While not ecstatic to be turning 80-years-old, he’s showing no signs of slowing down. Afterward, there was a brief Q&A where Shatner kindly answered some fan questions. Despite receiving the usual “Who’s your favorite Star Trek character?” question, he remained pleasant and approachable the entire time. At least he didn’t respond like this:

Coincidentally, his longtime friend and co-star Leonard Nimoy also turned 80 this week.  I had a moment to ask if they had spoken, and if so, what message did he have for his old Vulcan friend?

“Live long and prosper.”

Classic Shatz.

For more information on Orlando MegaCon, visit megaconvention.com.