Nerd Alert News grabbed a few minutes with Ben Browder to catch up with everything from projects in the works to geeking out over old computers. Ben still has his old 386 Pentium and might even play his old Age of Empires again! Yes, Ben belongs with us nerds. StarFest Denver attendees were treated to hilarious stories by Ben Browder last week Apr. 26-28, 2019. Originally from Memphis, TN this actor, writer, director is a favorite of “Stargate SG1” and “Farscape” fans.
Colleen Bement: Are you having a good time here at StarFest Denver?
Ben Browder: I’m having a good time. Denver’s a great town. I first came to Denver in 1976 back when there were only 400,000 people here. It was a western town; they had cows walking down the middle of the street, it was a great spot.
CB: I miss that.
BB: (Laughing) Colleen used to ride bulls downtown to the rodeo!!
CB: Ya, that was me. UM….no.
CB: What do you think about the atmosphere here at StarFest? We think it’s all about family and friends.
BB: It’s very relaxed. There’s a lot of people with their kids. You’ve been here more than I have, it’s only my second time here. The first time I was here it was right after legalization and it was right on 4/20, and my thought was I walked into the place and they had a huge Klingon contingent. Can you imagine if you showed up here in Denver; we’re here to do some skiing, and we’re just stopping in Denver for one day, and WOA WEED’s LEGAL. Then you hit the dispensary then you walk through the doors and you go oh man, Klingons, wow, 1,000 Klingons in one place. I was like this has got to be a mind bender for people. It’s very chill, very relaxed and a good family spot.
CB: Your panel yesterday was hilarious. I know you said that your wife wants you out of the house, so what projects do you have in the works?
BB: She wants me out of the house other than the fact that I still have plumbing to fix. I gotta fix the stove and paint the bathroom. I’m looking for work–I’m an actor, that’s what we do. We look for work and the next job will hopefully roll in soon. I’m sure she’ll be happy.
CB: That’s important. I know, I’m married.
BB: You know what, 30 years.
CB: Congrats, that’s amazing! If you had another project would you like to do some writing or producing?
BB: I am involved in doing some writing right now. I’m hammering out some stuff on my 10-year old MacBook.
CB: If it still works, why get a new one.
BB: Well I’m supposed to get a new one but I don’t know I keep looking at it and backing it up and see how long it goes. It’s testing the technology. I had an old 386 Pentium that I fired up just to see if I could manage the C prompt; yeah I’m a little geeky that way. I fired it up and it worked! That’s it! I’m loading up the original Age of Empires!
CB: You are SO in the right place!
BB: If you love your old Pentium like I love my old Pentium, you need to be at StarFest too!
CB: When she’s not making you do plumbing, what do you do with your free time?
BB: I don’t have free time.
CB: She keeps you going?
BB: No, life does. There’s a lot of stuff to do in life. I hike. I surf occasionally when properly motivated. I coach high school pole vaulters. I go to auditions and I write and I binge watch sci-fi television.
CB: You watched all of “Stargate SG1” in two weeks.
BB: I did. I watched all of “Stargate” the first eight seasons in two weeks. You know how it is when you binge watch something: If you do more than two or three seasons, and now it’s shorter. It’s 8-10 episodes in a lot of these shows, but “Stargate” was 24 episodes in eight seasons. That a while! I think I had a birthday somewhere in the middle of that.