#genie lore

[levyfiles]

[Puppet History] The Great Molasses Flood (x)

[lucypiper413]

I WAS RIGHT ABOUT THE FUCKING GENIE LORE GUYS

In my own words, from my world renowned posts about the genie lore:

"But, the Professor also mentioned that the Genie actually meddles with history, and tries to get the puppet in trouble for stuff he didn’t do. This begs the question; why would the Genie resort to a relatively harmless source of mischief to target the Professor, instead of just taking whatever is owed to him? This almost implies that whatever it is the Professor owes the Genie has to be given willingly. Hence, why the Genie is making his life 'a living hell'."

"We also get the confirmation that the Professor’s time machine resides inside his satchel, since he uses something in there to escape the Genie in Boston."

WHAT'S IN HIS SATCHEL?? JELLYBEANS! WHO TOOK THE LAST JELLYBEAN?? RYAN. RYAN DID. RYAN DOOMED THE PROFESSOR, MAKING HIM TOO WEAK TO TRAVEL AWAY, TOO WEAK TO RESIST ASMODEUS.

THE FUCKING FORESHADOWING OF IT ALL.

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Ep 4: Nish Kumar (Christmas Special), 2:40

E: Merry Christmas. N: Merry Nish-mas. J: [genie noises] E: What was that? J: Me appearing. N: ... Is that Christmas-y? You appearing suddenly? J: [small] Yeah? I’m a genie. N: Are y—wha—a Christmas genie? J: Yeah, a Christmas genie. That’s why I’m covered in tinsel right now. E: I’m glad I’ve got Nish here now, because me and Nish will very much occupy the same brain space on this, I can just take a break and let Nish have a go at you for deciding to be a genie. Let alone a Christmas genie, which is not a thing! N: Also—I’ve, I’ve very much added “Christmas” genie, to try and rationalize what he could possibly be doing. J: Yeah. E: No, he’s a genie waiter in this podcast.   J: Yes! N: [laughing] Alright, okay. J: A genie waiter in this podcast, and now I’m a Christmas genie waiter. E: What makes you a Christmas genie? J: I’m—covered in tinsel, I’ve got a Santa hat on, E: Yeah, [laughing] J: and I came out of a stocking. E: Came out of a stocking,— [laughing] N: Someone rubbed a stocking and you came out. J: Someone rubbed a stocking and I came out of it. E: Hooh. [small] It doesn’t happen when I rub a stocking. J: Y—Yeah? [laughing] E: [laughing] J: ... Very blue early doors. N: Very blue early doors! E: Ay, come on. N: Can I just ask, you have the stocking over your dick, is that what you’re implying? E: No, that has to be—[outside noises] sorry, they’re having a fucking Christmas party outside. N: [laughing] J: Mum and dad have arrived for Christmas. E: [laughing] Oh no, they’ve caught me rubbing a stocking! J: It’s not what it looks like! It’s not what it looks like! N: I was tryin’ to fuck it! J: I was trying to push the presents in deeper! E: I was wearing the stocking just imagining that my leg was a lady’s leg!

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Ep 9: Selasi Gbormittah, 56:38

J: Yeah, next door, there’s a church—the vicar’s a genie, not me— E: The vicar’s a genie? J: Yeah. E: Why does the vicar have to be a genie? J: It’s—the person who runs the church, he has to be a genie, E: I think that’d be too fleshy for a vicar, ’cause you’ve—you’re already in there praying to god, aren’t you? The—why would the vicar be running around like a genie? That’s— J: Mm? Well. E: Genies—genies are pretty holy, right? J: So god is a genie. Is that what you’re saying? E: Well god is—a genie’s a type of god, isn’t it. J: So you would rather that—god is a genie, and, uh, E: And—and life is a dance floor. J: God is a genie, life is a dance floor. E: [laughing silently] J: Life is a roller-coaster, and I’m gonna ride it.

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Ep 14: Jack McBrayer, 18:54

J: That is very lucky. All I think about—because all my favourite stuff is unhealthy. I love it so much, I love chocolate and ice cream, it’s all I would eat if it was—if it was okay and allowed. E: Yeah, James eats like a bin. Like, as soon as you hit 40, it’s gonna be a nightmare. J: Yeah. JM: Except that you’re a genie. E: [laughing] Oh, yes, J: Yeah. So— JM: Just wish it away. J: —none of it has any effect on me. E: Sorry guys, I stepped outside the scene. J: Yeah. Thank you, Jack. E: [laughing] J: You know what? It feels good to have a guest who knows me better than my co-host does.

[lucypiper413]

The Professor and The Genie: A Full Breakdown

Welcome one and all to A Comprehensive List of All The Genie Lore In Puppet History, With Theories. If you aren’t familiar with what I’m talking about, go watch all of Puppet History made by @wearewatcher on YouTube and come right back here. No dilly-dallying. For those of you who are, you’re probably also aware of the recurring character of The Genie on the show, whose role has been the subject of much speculation among the show’s audience. I couldn’t find a compilation of references/ theories, so I made one! 

The show, which tells somewhat obscure stories from throughout history, accompanied by a special guest each episode and a musical number at the end of each tale, is hosted by The Professor, a little fuzzy blue puppet, who commonly references The Genie, with whom he holds a deep-rooted grudge. I will be going through all the existing information on this guy so far, and discussing a few theories as to what all this is about. It’s like my very own BuzzFeed Unsolved except I’m just one very bored person with way too much time on her hands. 

Let’s compile all of the currently known information: on April 10, 2020, in the video entitled, “Surviving The Titanic: History's Luckiest Woman • Puppet History” the Genie is first mentioned, at 16:10, in a question about what Violet Jessop saw while peering off of the ship. The answer choice reads, “A Genie??????????????????” 

On August 14, 2020, in the video entitled, “How America’s First Female Detective Saved Abe Lincoln • Puppet History” the Genie again comes up, at 23:04, in a question entitled “What’s the matter?!?”. The answer choice reads, “The secessionists had found a magical genie!” The pattern was starting to emerge. 

On September 4, 2020, in the video entitled “The Disastrous 1904 Olympics • Puppet History” the genie is once again mentioned, at 5:06. The genie is referred to as “fickle” and apparently keeps making things worse, no matter what the Professor says. From this we can gather that the genie may have gone back on some sort of promise he made to The Professor, and is escalating the situation. 

On September 11, 2020, in the video entitled “Isaac Newton's Nemesis • Puppet History” the genie is mentioned in an answer choice at 6:45, reading “A genie that will stop at nothing to make my life a living hell, even though I followed his silly rules to the letter and I don’t owe him anything.” Clearly, things with the genie are only getting worse. The genie is harboring some sort of grudge against the Professor, be it the Professor’s fault or not. The Genie also provided rules for something-- we’ll return to this later.

On September 18, 2020, in the video entitled, “The World’s Greatest/ Rudest Samurai • Puppet History”, The Genie once again comes up in the answer choices at 24:52, as “A genie who insists I owe him, and I wish I had a wish left so I could wish Musashi were here to teach him a lesson.” Once again, we see evidence that the Professor may have made some sort of deal with this genie, and whether or not he fulfilled his end of the bargain is still up in the air.

On September 25, 2020, in the video entitled “Policarpa: The Revolutionary Teen Spy • Puppet History”, the Professor makes not one but three references to the genie! We get so much lore here! First up, at 1:05, Ryan Bergara asks The Professor how old he really is. The Professor responds with this: “Yeah, you know, you start jumping around in time and things get a little funky…”. Just a few seconds later, the Professor says, “Well, if you could ask the subject of today’s story, which, how could I, it's not like you can just wish to be able to time travel…“ The pain in his voice here is apparent, devastating, and very real. Lastly, later on in the video at 20:05, The Professor gives the following answer choice to the question, “What happened?” (to Policarpa). The choice reads, “A magical genie meddled once again with history, and turned Policarpa in, and tried to pin the blame on a bespectacled puppet, who is at this point starting to suspect he may have made a deal with the devil.” Now here’s where things get real interesting. The Professor is now alleging that not only is the Genie out to get him, but the Genie is actually influencing history. 

On October 2, 2020, in the video entitled “The Grisly Journey of the Donner Party • Puppet History”,  The Professor goes on a longer than usual tangent about the genie at 18:38, saying, “He had cached a trove of treasured items, including a magical lamp that only a creature about the size of a human hand could get to, and inside the magical lamp was a Genie, capable of granting any wish, up to and including turning a seemingly everyday item into a secret time machine, but that if you wished for that, THE GENIE WOULD BE A TOTAL PRICK ABOUT IT, SO MAYBE BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR.” The genie appears in a short montage of clips, with the professor’s above monologue in the background. The genie shown is just Shane in eyeliner and an Aladdin-style genie costume, cackling and looking mischievous. The professor rubs the lamp in the skit, and the genie does that evil villainous hand thing, and casts some sort of spell. There’s a lot to break down. First up, we may have gotten a glimpse into the Professor’s actual past here. It seems as though at some point in his life he was either told about, or found out about this cache of treasure deep in the mountains, that only a creature about the size of a human hand could get to. This is important because it debunks one of the most popular theories circulating the internet right now-- that the Genie somehow turned the Professor into an immortal, time-traveling puppet. The Professor was clearly already a puppet, as he had access to this treasure trove. Next we get the part about the time-machine. If we can assume that the Professor is projecting his past experiences onto the poor guests on this show, we can surmise that the Professor used his wish to wish for one of his ordinary objects to turn into a secret time machine. We will delve more into this later. 

Finally, on December 25, 2020, in the video entitled “The Story of St. Nicholas • Puppet History”, The Professor goes on another rant about the Genie in the answer choices, saying “The same curse that eventually befalls all of God’s creatures-- an evil genie was pursuing him through time and space to steal something the genie himself had made magical!” From this we can gather that, after the Professor wished for his time machine, the Genie gave him some rules and conditions he had to agree to. The Professor may have broken these, hence why the Genie is pursuing him across time and space. 

Now that we have all the existing information, assuming I didn’t miss anything, let’s get into the theories. 

My current, working theory is that The Professor happened across this lamp somewhere deep in the mountains, and wished for a Time Machine from the Genie inside. The Genie (who appears malevolent in the Professor’s flashback, but I’m gonna chalk that up to personal bias) agreed, but gave the Professor some conditions and rules to follow regarding the Time Machine. The Professor agreed, and promptly broke these rules. The Genie then demanded something in return-- This could be the Time Machine itself, but given Shane’s twisted mind I would assume the Professor owes the Genie something more. Perhaps… his soul?

Or maybe just a fine, I don’t know.

The Professor refused to pay up, possibly time traveling away to hide from the Genie, and is now on the run. A fuzzy blue fugitive. But, the Professor also mentioned that the Genie actually meddles with history, and tries to get the puppet in trouble for stuff he didn’t do. This begs the question; why would the Genie resort to a relatively harmless source of mischief to target the Professor, instead of just taking whatever is owed to him? This almost implies that whatever it is the Professor owes the Genie has to be given willingly. Hence, why the Genie is making his life “a living hell”. 

The puppet also seems to be immortal, or at least old enough to not remember how old he is. In his words, time is “funky” when you travel around it too much. 

We also don’t know which of the Professor’s objects could be the Time Machine. Some have speculated (some being me) that it’s his satchel, or hat. But, when you think about it, it seems most likely that it’s actually the theatre itself. The Theatre does often seem to transport you back in time to the actual stories, although that could just be Watcher’s killer editing skills. Either way, the Time Machine seems to be a source of great trouble for the puppet, so maybe just… get rid of it?

There are 2 main schools of thought here, in my own opinion. The idea that the Genie is in the wrong, and is relentlessly torturing this poor Professor for no good reason, or the idea that the Genie is actually justified in his anger at the Professor, and that the Professor brought this on himself. 

Theory #1: The Genie is a malevolent entity, and tricked the Professor into making an unfair deal with him. This is clearly what the Professor himself believes, or wants us to believe. The Professor says, and I quote, “starting to suspect he may have made a deal with the devil.” If this is true, and the Professor is actually on the run from the Devil himself, then that would imply that the Professor sold his own soul for this time machine, the most commonly referenced deal with the devil. However, since that would be a little far-fetched even for Shane (although, let’s be real- would it?) we could go with the second option- the Genie is just a Genie, but he did trick the Professor into making a bargain with him, and the Professor still believes he has held up his own end of the deal. 

Theory #2: The Genie is just doing his job, and the Professor’s the one at fault. Now I don’t want to take any sides here, but this does seem to be the most plausible theory. Even the Professor, on several occasions, has implied a set of rules that he agreed to when he wished for his Time Machine. What these rules were we may never know, but the Genie clearly thinks that he broke them and is now owed something. Historically, in folklore from all over the world, Genies are tricky creatures, and will try to deceive you into wishing for stupid stuff, or agreeing to things that you maybe shouldn’t agree to. However, in almost all cases, if you manage to outsmart them, or keep your word, they will leave you alone. Let’s say The Professor knew what he was getting himself into when he wished for the Time Machine. He agreed to the rules, and he understood that if he broke them he would owe the Genie something. Yet he went ahead with it, and now the Genie is after him. He clearly broke the rules and the Genie is just collecting on his bargain.  

All in all, we don’t have enough information yet to actually know what this Genie’s DEAL is (see what I did there). Is the Genie an evil being trying his very best to ruin the unlucky Professor’s life? Or is the Professor the one who wronged the Genie, breaking his word and escaping via Puppet TARDIS? The answer will remain… Unsolved.

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Ep 11: Krishnan Guru-Murthy, 8:34

J: If you’re the manager of the restaurant, does that mean you’re my—boss? E: I own—I own the lamp. Yeah. J: So you’re the one who gets to—make a wish and set me free? If, if that— E: Yeah, if I wanted to do that, I could set you free. I found the lamp in a bric-a-brac shop. J: Ooh. E: Yeah. J: [sounding hopeful] In Kilkenny? E: Y— [laughing] Sure. Why not?

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Ep 1: Scroobius Pip, 2:20

J: Well the waiter is, it’s—it’s more of a passion thing. E: [laughing] J: It’s my passion. E: So this is not—this is not anything you’re being paid for. J: No, I do it for the love. That’s why I like chatting as well. E: Does the imaginary restaurant that you’re working in― J: Yes. E: ―know that you’re working there? Have you applied to work there or have you just turned up in a little waiter’s uniform? J: I like to think that like—it’s almost like I’m—I’m a genie. And like the― E: A genie? J: Yeah, but the whole restaurant— E: I’ve—okay, I think it’s confusing enough that you’re pretending to be a waiter in our pretty laid-back food chat podcast, J: Yep. E: With a loose structure of favourite starter, main, side, dessert. J: Yes. E: You can’t also be a genie. J: But like if the—but it’s a magical restaurant. Because they have to—because they are able to order food from any time in their life, from any time they had it, and like, you know, it’d be one of those things where like, if it was a film, E: Yeah. J: In the film, you know, I would just appear like I’m the waiter. And then they will realise there’s something magical about the restaurant and then they’d realise that actually I’m the only member of staff there. E: Right. J: And the whole thing is just magic and I’m a genie who created the restaurant. E: … Do you see what I’m saying when I’m telling you that that seems like you’re overcomplicating it?