FanBolt Exclusive: The Virtual Pop Expo and The Geek Gatsby, Bernie Bregman

Bernie Bregman

This past weekend I had the privilege to be invited to join The Virtual Pop Expo by Bernie Bregman, aka The Geek Gatsby, and head MC of the event. 

Bernie Bregman is a host/MC, actor, and event producer. Since 1997 he’s been performing on stages around the US, most recently taking the comic con scene by storm as the premier live-show MC hosting masquerades, cosplay championships, streaming shows, and after-party/nightclub events. Bernie is a professional hype man with a versatile style though he often takes a WWE/Arena approach to entertain large crowds he is also adept at more dulcet tones to host QA and intro shows and films.

Under his stage persona The Geek Gatsby, Bernie has taken over hosting for MGM’s Stargate Command platform hosting weekly re-watches of SG1, Atlantis, and SGU on the company’s YouTube streaming channel as well as hosting “Nerd Talk Live” for Nerdbot Media on Monday evenings. Bernie produced and hosted Stan Lee’s 95th birthday celebration following his handprint ceremony at The Chinese Theatre by Legion M and can often be found at a convention bringing his streamlined brand of entertainment to those in need.

Now he’s helming this Expo which was created to help a struggling comic con economy. While there’s been a handful of attempts at online conventions, there’s was unique in a number of ways that helps become the closest approximation of the traditional con experience that’s currently possible virtually. More importantly, however, is the impetus: An integral part of the pop culture convention eco-system is the vendors and exhibitors whose entire livelihood is the con circuit. While many people have lost a few weeks to 2 months of income so far during this crisis, the impact on those small business vendors is far greater: upwards of 80% annual income lost with no timetable for the return of these events in their traditional sense. So the focus was on using engaging content to drive people to a unique virtual exhibit floor. 

I became part of the engaging content….or I’d like to think I was engaging lol. Jordan Elizabeth Gelber of Starbaby Enterprises and I took over the Virtual Pop Carpet; Which was the after Panel Q& A.Made sense then, to also check in with Bernie himself. 

Here’s what he had to say. 


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