| Season 3, Ep 52 - Critic (w/ Edgar Momplaisir) | |
| Hello from the Magic Tavern episode | |
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| Air date | August 3, 2020 |
| Episode no. | S03E52 |
| Episode Link | |
| Cast | |
| Hosts | Arnie, Chunt, Usidore |
| Guests | Jarmaine the Critic |
| Production | |
| Producers | Arnie Niekamp, Matt Young, Adal Rifai |
| Post-production coordination | Garrett Schultz |
| Earwolf producer | Kimmie Lucas |
| Editor | Stephen Dranger |
| Logo | Allard Laban |
| Theme music | Andy Poland |
| Special assistance | Ryan DiGiorgi |
| Sponsor | |
| — | |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Former Sheriff" | "The New Activia" |
| List of episodes | |
"Critic" is the fifty-second episode of season three of Hello from the Magic Tavern. It was originally released on August 3, 2020.
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Table of Contents
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Description
A famous critic joins the podcast to talk about his strange relationship to the plays he reviews. Maybe he'll review the podcast!
Summary
While checking in with Chunt, Arnie sees that Chunt's muscle body is still decomposing. Despite this, Chunt can't imagine going back to his stick body, neither by force or by choice. He continues on, musing with Arnie and Usidore with the idea of a fan page. Usidore would probably have a decent following if he started a fan group, but Arnie is not so sure what he could offer.
Usidore admits that he's been rather bored in the Shattering/Fragmenting. Although he has his bar in his hat, it was lonely with the other two, only having other tiny Usidores to serve as staff and other patrons. Out of all the the things he is unable to do now, he misses the theater and seeing plays live. In that respect, he invited Jarmaine, a famous theater critic with an unconventional style to his reviews, to the podcast. In his list of oddities, Jarmaine does not write his reviews on scrolls; instead he goes house to house and telling his experience. Second, he joins the actors on stage, engaging in the piece. Later in the podcast, he reveals that he is reviewing the podcast.
Jarmaine's favorite play is called "By the Moon", where the main character, named Ed or Piss, kills his father and marries his mother. Jarmine gives the review as commentary on the writer, Malcolm Duval, who may be married to his own mother. During one of the productions, Jarmaine entered the stage and killed Malcolm as Malcolm was playing Ed or Piss. He then admits that he hates his own reviews as he finds himself calling out the audience instead of the play he is reviewing and finds most of the plays hard to understand. Over time, even other critics notice Jarmaine while he is on stage and includes him in the reviews of the play.
Before being a critic, Jarmaine was actually an actor. His eccentric personality extends to back then as he would sit in the audience while acting, creating his interest in becoming a critic. His career as an actor was cut short as he had to take care of his wife, who was 40+ years his senior. When asked about his dad, Jarmaine recounts an unrelated story of killing a taller version of himself when he was young. The group assumes that Jarmaine is just like the character of "By the Moon".
Usidore asks how Jarmaine has been able to handle the Shattering since they are all under its affects. Jarmaine has a black box, trapping the actors and crew so he can rewatch plays. As he lists some of the plays he had seen in his box, he admits he cannot read or write, making sense of the oral manifestations of his reviews. Arnie suggests that maybe, because of his illiteracy, that the plays he had seen may have different titles than he assumed and that this might be the reason why he has trouble understanding them.
Chunt tries to run the conversation back to Jarmaine's wife/mother, asking details about his wife's passing and what happened with his mother. Jarmaine said that he received a message shortly after his wife dying that his mother has died too. Both had similar last words/proverb that were told to him, which made the idea finally click that Jarmaine's mother and his wife were the same person, shattering his perspective. Due to his active participation and change in world view, and himself, Jarmaine gives the podcast 5 out of 6 stars. Arnie asks what's next for Jarmaine, and he replies writing a play, which he would still have to learn how to read and write.
The post credit scene shows Jarmaine releasing his actors from his black box, which they proceed talking about auditions for their next performance.
Emails
There are no new emails this week.
New characters
- Malcolm Duval, writer of "By the Moon"
- Shakespear
- Barther Billard
- Marilyn the Crow
- Joe de Mage Gio
- Tony, a guy with an award
- Paul Debears
Returning characters
- Talbot
Mentioned
Earth References
- Chicago Theater District
- Columbus Statues
- Kevin Sciretta
- Pandemic Rent Relief
- OnlyFans
- Fan Service
- Oedipus Rex
- Realism/Hyperrealism
- Validating Parking
- brechtian theatre
- Chekhov's Gun
- Pee Wee Herman
- "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls
- Black box theater
- Shakespeare
- Julius Caesar
- Hamlet/Lion King
- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee
- Marilyn Monroe
- Joe DiMaggio
- Arthur Miller
- Tony Awards
- Pulitzer Awards
- Inspector Gadget
- Hamilton, "My Shot"
- Borat's "My Wife"
- Hero's Journey
Notes
- Arnie has a Masters in Creative Writing
- Usidore mentions "Cor' Blimey" although he seems to be referring to a person, it was said by Winky Silks as part of his many accents.
- Throughout the episode, Chunt and Arnie are referred to as Chuntworth and Arnold respectively.