I was shaking some parmesan onto a slice from Pudge Brother’s tonight when a guy on a skateboard through open the door and shouted “Flash Gordon is at the bar!”

Flash Gordon, the comic book hero? But isn’t he fictional?

The skateboard guy didn’t seem to have much more information. He just shrugged, said he had no idea, but a crowd of people seemed excited about it, so he was, too.

Good enough for me.

A crowd of about 20 or 30 people had gathered outside Kate’s Pub, cameraphones ready and with the eager anticipation of teenagers at a Justin Bieber concert. I asked a few people what was going on, but everyone seemed to have the same information, or lack thereof: Flash Gordon was coming. What sort of Flash Gordon, and why he was coming to Kate’s in Wallingford? These questions seemed uninteresting.

Then, at 9:00 pm sharp, a brushed steel Delorean came out of the fog of 45th St, and out stepped Flash Gordon, aka Sam Jones, star of the 1980 cult classic film adaptation of the comic book hero.

Cameras flashed, crowds cheered. Sam went into Kate’s, leaving the Delorean available for photo opportunities, and led the crowd in a rousing sing-along of the Flash Gordon theme song.

Sam’s in town for the Sci-Fi Film Festival, where he’ll be kicking it off with a showing at Cinerama tomorrow night, May 1st.