Escape of the Pointy-Eared Nerds
Which ears would you like to try on? The troll? Perhaps the Hobbit or the high elf.
Those are just a few of the 13 varieties on offer at the Elven Caravan, a booth that travels the fantasy convention circuit selling latex ears to match your inner mythological spirit animal. The world of fantasy and superfans has crossed into the mainstream.
Holly Black, a best-selling fantasy writer, tried on a pair of the Caravan’s prosthetics, affixed to the top of the ear in styles that range from small points to donkey-like protrusions, and was so pleased she set up an appointment with the Finnish body-modification artist Samppa Von Cyborg to make the look permanent.
“These people who come to me are influenced by fairies and goblins,” Mr. Von Cyborg told The Times, adding that pointed ears inspired by Spock from “Star Trek” are his most popular request.
Ms. Black is content with her new elfin look, but she told The Times that people are often incredulous. “People said, ‘Well, what happens when you’re old? And I thought, imagine the joy I will give someone in a nursing home to take a tray to the old elf down the hall.”
Surgically modeled ears aside, nerd culture has seeped into everyday life.
Even the name of your Wi-Fi network is no longer just a name. It’s “an extension of how you want your home to be perceived,” Natalie Zfat, a social media entrepreneur, explained to The Times. “The attention to detail you put into decorating your home, you put into naming your network.”
Ryan Denehy agrees. He is the 30-year- old founder of Electric, a company that manages more than 100 Wi-Fi networks in New York with names like DropItLikeItsHotspot and Abraham Linksys, a pun on a brand of router.
The trend spans generations. Paige Morgan-Foy, 66, named the Wi-Fi at her North Carolina dance studio “PointeToMe,” a homage to ballet shoes. Her husband, David, took a more literal approach.
“The man that lives across the street rented part of our land and has his goats on it,” Mr. Morgan-Foy said of his network’s name, GoatHill1.
Ms. Zfat compares Wi-Fi branding to internet screen names. Your network’s name, she said, is “sort of the name of your house, is it not?”
Nerds have also infiltrated New York’s nightlife scene.
On a recent Thursday in downtown Manhattan, fans of the BBC series “Doctor Who” piled into the Slipper Room. Lilly Hayes walked on stage in a pair of jeans, white button- down shirt and denim jacket, the signature look of the show’s River Song.
Pink’s “Trouble” played and Ms. Hayes began to dance. By the end of the song, she was naked aside from two strategically placed black signs that read “Spoilers,” River Song’s catchphrase. This is nerdlesque. Hotsy Totsy Burlesque, the troupe that staged the show, is just one of several ensembles cashing in on the rise of nerd culture. They have a catalog of performances inspired by hits like “Mad Men,” “American Horror Story,” “The Muppets,” and “Golden Girls.” Their Harry Potter tributes (this year’s was “Harry Potter and the Cursed Pastie: Parts Left and Right”) always sell out.
The shows are meant to be an escape.
“Life is hard, and work is tedious,” Brad Lawrence, who helps stage the monthly shows, told The Times. Fans can watch a funny striptease with their favorite characters and “they can feel better at the end of it. If that is the only thing I can contribute to the world, that’s fine.”