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If you haven’t heard of it before, the Supanova Pop Culture Expo is a huge event crossing the country, celebrating all things gaming, anime, comics, collectibles, TV - and anything under the huge “pop culture” umbrella.

Whether its Star Wars, Harry Potter, Halo, DragonBall Z, Spider Man, Lord of the Rings, Pokemon, Transformers, Star Trek, Superman, Tomb Raider or any other number of imaginary universes, Supanova Pop Culture Expo is the place to check these all out, and to meet many of the stars who act in, or produce, the things we love.

Click below for more info + how to win!

So whether you are five or fifty, the place to be for everyone is Supanova, where the imaginary meets reality for one really cool weekend.

TNB this year are official partners of the event, and I myself attended the Brisbane Supanova.

As I attended, I thought it would be fitting to give you a little preview of the event, and what you’re likely to expect at the awesome event. (Note: TNB will also be covering the Sydney event)

OK, so this was my first Supanova expo. I went in expecting to be significantly entertained and I wasn’t disappointed. Though how much enjoyment you will get out of the Supanova expo would depend on your interests. My interests were of course in the realm of games and, to slightly lesser extent, anime, and due to the fact I was only able to attend one day (Saturday 5th April), the JB Hi-Fi Seminar room was were I spent most of my day. Here is the first Q&A presentation I attended.

My first (and best) Celebrity Q&A of the day was by far the most entertaining (after catching the last bit of Teryl Rothery’s Q&A). This isn’t surprising when the star is a man with a million voices. Michael Winslow is an actor and comedian who struck stardom when he was cast as Cadet Larvelle Jones in the Police Academy movies, a character (Winslow explained) was created specifically for him after the producers saw him opening for a local jazz musician.

Michael went through the Q&A with an upbeat energy and an obvious love for what he does, even to the extent of voicing the sound effects for everyone from the guy passing the microphone around to people going to the toilet. When asked if he ever gets sick of doing voices or sound effects for people who recognise him on the street, he explained that he loves his job and he knows that if it wasn’t for the people who enjoyed his work then he would be out of a job. He also mentioned that he is always eager to do his sounds and voices as it takes years of practice, trial and error to learn any skill, not just his. This went on to be his main theme in the Q&A, as he continually encouraged people to “do, because we learn by doing”.

Over the Q&A I learnt a few tidbits about Michael Winslow, like for example he honed his skills by muting the TV and just doing as many voices and sound effects as he could for the show. And after all these years he still admits he has much to learn, even to the extent that unlike some impressionists he will not even attempt an impersonation live unless he knows he can do it to a certain quality.

The other fun tidbit I learnt was that Michael Winslow voiced Michael J. Fox’s shoes in Back to the Future Part III. More specifically in the scene where a gunman forces him to dance by shooting the ground near him and he proceeds to dance and moonwalk. Apparently it was cheaper and quicker to get Michael to just voice the sound of scuffling feet than to get a professional sound mixer to time rubbing shoes on soil in the right timing.

Michael’s big performance of the Q&A was a fantastic demonstration of his sound making skills as he proceeded to voice all the sound effects in a scene from Star Wars. Everything from the ships flying past, lasers, computer consoles, explosions and wookies, he did it all live on stage. It was so impressive I thought nothing could beat that, but I had of course forgotten about his legendary Jimmy Hendrix impression, with which he finished off a great presentation with.

Also, from a TNB request, he did this for us. Brilliant.

Supanova will next be hitting Sydney on the 20th - 22nd of June, and Perth on the 27th - 29th. Michael Winslow will be at the Sydney event, so be sure to check him out. While you’re at it don’t forget to check out his official site.

Well, enough of my rant. How do we win the tickets, you say!

Well, as stated above, tickets to the Supanova Pop Culture Expo 2008 are up for grabs. More specifically, a double pass + a 2007 Supanova signed cast poster, featuring all the stars from last year. One runner up will also receive a double pass.

To be eligible to win one of these awesome double passes, all you need to do is join the forums, and make 5 posts. That’s it. (If you’ve already made 5 posts and want to win, let us know also!)

One thing you have to do after making the five posts, is email supanova@thenintendobasement.com and let us know your username.

We will then randomly select two winners, they will be announced on the site, and will be receiving their abovementioned prizes.

Sound easy? Well it is! But be quick, as the competition closes midnight, 14th June. Also, as the Melbourne and Brisbane Supanova’s are over, the competition only applies to Sydney and Perth, unless you’ll be in either state at the time of expo.

Good luck!