Stuff from my Studio: Excalibur!

Not everything in the studio is Batman related! In a corner resides the mystical sword Excalibur! I tell anyone who asks me about the sword that I won in playing blackjack… which is sort of true.

Back in the early 90’s I took a trip out to Las Vegas just for fun to draw caricatures for a weekend at the Excalibur Hotel and Casino on the Strip. At the time, the Excalibur was a pretty new place. The caricature concessions were owned by my former boss Steve Fasen, several friends of mine were working there, and it was a really busy place to draw. So, I went there and did caricatures for a couple of days as a little adventure. This was back in the more easy going days of the world where one did not need to go through multiple background checks, 3 days of sensitivity training, and a full body scan, just to work for a few days at a concessions stand. I got a temporary ID and was able to draw at Excalibur over a weekend. Yes, I had to wear a goofy Renaissance outfit. No, there are no pictures that I know of.

While I was there I played some blackjack, and breaking from usual tradition I left the tables about $200 up. I thought I should spend it on something to commemorate my trip, and I had spotted an Excalibur sword for sale in a shop in the hotel. Using one of my friend’s employee discounts, I spent some of my winnings on it. So, in a way, I won it playing blackjack. That’s my story anyway, and I’m sticking to it.

I don’t remember how I got it back home on the plane… things were more easy going in those days but not THAT much more.

This has been another exciting episode of