The Guild is the hit webseries about a group of online friends from an MMORPG who end up coming together in person after one of the members decides to cross the line and meet in real life. And of course, much hilarity ensues as a result. The show is now into season 3, and it's cast has become quite the draw at comic book, gaming, and sci-fi/fantasy conventions all over the country.

I recently had a chance to chat with The Guild's Sandeep Parikh at the GameX video game expo and media convention in Philadelphia, which was held the weekend of October 23rd. Parikh plays the love struck character named “Zaboo,” who shows up on the doorstep of fellow guildie, Codex (played by Felicia Day), all ready to move in. He is also the creator, writer, and director of the equally funny webseries The Legend of Neil.

Be sure to stay tuned for interviews with The Guild's Robin Thorsen (Clara) and Jeff Lewis (Vork), who were also interviewed at GameX!

On with the interview!

Kelly Rowles: I know you guys have done San Diego Comic-Con before, and you did BlizzCon, but is this the only other con you guys have done?

Sandeep Parikh: No, no, we've done a handful. I went to PAX this year, which is up in Seattle, Penny Arcade Expo, and then went to ConnectiCon, did a small convention in Houston, gosh, just a bunch. Yeah, so we've made the convention circuit this year.

KR: What made the cast of The Guild decide to start attending cons? Did you guys just start getting invites, or was it was it someone's idea?

SP: Uh yeah, we just got invites. Well, the first thing we ever did was South by Southwest, actually, a couple years back after the first season. We were nominated for an award there [for Best Original Production] and so Felicia [Day] and I, and Kim Evey, our producer, we all went down. We won that award, which was a total shock to us at that time. And then, you know, we really enjoyed our time there and we knew that Comic-Con would be a great place for us, and so we just started going to the bigger cons and then we have just since been getting a bunch of invites to these smaller cons that are really fun. They're more intimate. We get to meet and spend more time with fans. Whereas the bigger ones are crazy lines. You're like: “Hihowsitgoing, okay next!” You know what I mean? We feel that it's tough because they wait in these big lines and then we can only see them for like.... We try, of course, to engage them as much as possible. But here we can spend a little bit more time with people and chat with them. It's cool.

KR: A lot of people here at GameX would probably say gaming is their passion. That's what they love. What is it that you love? What's your passion? What would you go to a convention for?

SP: I do love to game, I dunno that I'd necessarily go to a convention to game. I'm more of a casual gamer personally, but I mean, film making and, you know, acting and directing and writing are all my passions. So uh, yeah, that's what I love.

KR: Yeah, I've actually seen your other webseries, Legend of Neil.

SP: Oh, great!

KR: How did [Legend of Neil] come to exist? Was that before or after The Guild?

SP: It was sort of concurrent. I think I filmed the first episode of Legend of Neil before The Guild ever existed, and that was just sort of a pilot that I shot. And then Comedy Central was interested in funding the rest of it, and took it about a year to even get that deal done. I always knew that I that wanted Felicia to play in it, cause Felicia and I are friends, from long before The Guild, and Legend of Neil. And so we actually filmed another short called Blood Oath of Three Men and a Baby. It was like a weird little sketch that I did with a couple good buddies of mine and Felicia and Mike Rose, who plays the old man [in Legend of Neil], and also plays Valkyrie in season 3 [of The Guild]. He's in that as well. So it's like, all of us have sort of been hanging out and improvising long before this stuff came together.

KR: So you've got Legend of Neil and The Guild going on, but I understand that you actually prefer to be on the directing side versus the acting side. What is it about directing that appeals to you?

SP: You know, they are apples and oranges, really. And I love apples and oranges. So it's like, the acting thing sort of fell in my lap. I didn't go to LA to become an actor. I did a lot of improv on stage, mostly to help with writing. The brain is a muscle, and it helps that comedic reflex, and you get to understand timing better. You get to understand a lot more about yourself when you're improvising as well. The unintended consequence was that I was cast in The Guild and, you know, I can never say “no” to Felicia. So when I saw the part, I knew it'd be a lot of fun and I warned her that I wasn't much of an actor.

KR: I dunno, I think you do a pretty good job!

SP: Well, I appreciate that! And you know, I think I discovered about how to act and I'm forever grateful to her for giving me the part because I don't think I would really have explored acting as much if it wasn't for that.

KR: Well, thanks so much for doing the interview! I'm such a fan of the show, and it was great to meet you.

SP: Thank you!