Magical Retailism

July 1, 2024 5:11 AM

Mall Wizard is (so far) two episodes of a short Youtube animated series, created by Alistair Boubli, about low-level employees Adya and A Wizard, who both work at a mall pop culture store, where the wizard keeps making magical trouble: New Guy and Children of Cotton. Episodes about three minutes each. Another project of his is Hugo's Mind Palace (14m), currenly only a pilot, also about retail shlubs trying to make ends meet. Not by Boubli, but relevant to Mall Wizard, are the animations Sunday at Castco (2 1/2 minutes) and 3 AM at SchmArby's (40s). Why are all these mages going to the mall?

Because I'm coming to believe ever more strongly in linking to personal sites to help keep the web healthy and not just the surface-visible ends of each of Google's tentacles, here's Alistair Boubli's home page. Here's his Youtube user page.

posted by JHarris (9 comments total)

Oh, one more I wanted to add, just for fun, not about mall magic but just a skeleton and a pumpkinhead hanging out on Halloween: Humans are so weird (2m).
posted by JHarris at 5:16 AM on July 1, 2024

I don't think I'd be as chill with being turned into a skeleton, but that's just me.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 6:15 AM on July 1, 2024

Why are all these mages going to the mall?

The board game Magic Maze might have something to do with it, maybe?
posted by jedicus at 6:39 AM on July 1, 2024

> Why are all these mages going to the mall?

"One weird thing in a familiar environment" is a great way to ground a work of fiction. It's also a great way to not have to design an entire setting from first principles, which is a shit-ton of work, and leads to a horrible temptation to open things with an endless dreary recitation of five thousand years of made-up history.

How familiar that environment is to anyone growing up now, in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic dealing a huge blow to the already-wobbly fortunes of malls, is an open question.
posted by egypturnash at 7:31 AM on July 1, 2024 [1 favorite]

Where is Oodles of Strudels? (Don’t put your hand in the strudel portal).
posted by skookumsaurus rex at 7:43 AM on July 1, 2024 [2 favorites]

Oodles is Strudels is delightful, all except how much of a massive jerk Manager Biff's character is. "Your questions cause me think you don't believe in Oodles of Strudel as a brand." "The sauce has to be HOT! The sauce HAS TO BE HOT!" It reminds me deeply of other petty tyrants I've known.
posted by JHarris at 1:40 PM on July 1, 2024 [1 favorite]

Brennan Lee Mulligan has a true gift for portraying the banal horrors of life.
posted by skookumsaurus rex at 3:08 PM on July 1, 2024

I was disappointed that nobody came up with 'strudel extruder'.
posted by Marticus at 3:08 PM on July 2, 2024 [2 favorites]

Or "strutruder."
posted by JHarris at 4:52 PM on July 2, 2024 [1 favorite]