marcherwitch: online home of writer Holly March

So I was doing one of my several times rewatches of Tripod vs The Dragon which I’ve been watching for twelve years on youtube and dvd as well as the songs rarely leaving my playlists, crying along to the second to last  song, and I realised I’ve run out of close friends to recommend it to hence… acceleration on this particular blog.

Tripod are an aussie comedy folk trio who are huge in Oz and niche everywhere else.

“They can trademark the name all they like,

It’s all ripped off Tolkien anyway…”

Tripod vs the Dragon is a musical set in a game of DnD, or based loosely in a legally distinct way, and pays homage to the way ttrpgs make us feel, save us from ‘normal’ kids, give us an outlet…

…but also about how Gatesy’s low intelligence fighter is a muppet, Skod’s wizard has little wisdom, and the most powerful took available to Yon’s priest is The Guilt Trip.

The last song will become an anthem.

Next I have to choose a Starkid production. Just as Tripod can be a bit “australuan” sensibility wise in other stuff, so Starkid are weighed down by having got big with the Harry Potter musicals. But fortunately, despite the loss of Darren Kriss to Hollywood and many, many others to Broadway, they got better! So I’ll feature two:

Holy Musical B@man is for people who thought Lego Batman is the best batman film and it came out years before! It is also the Batman vs Superman story done worlds better!

“Superman… or should I say… Clark Kent?”

“Who told you!?”

“Lex Luthor… at golf…”

My other favourite is also apt right now, since it gave Aladdin the Wicked treatment before Maleficent even came out.

The casting in this one is sublime, it was one of the times they nailed the puppets too, and it will break your heart and split your sides!

“Why does the sun go down at night?”

“Why is everyone in the kingdom whiiiiiite?”

So youtube had this thing where talented people would like… help each other and collaborate… It still happens now and then, the abridging community, the ttrpg community… Starkid, Pemberley Productions, WillSave, Shipwrecked, Tin Can Bros… so you’ll see familiar faces from here!

Muzzled the Musical got three episodes through kickstarter and it still guts me that no studio picked this up as a regular show (though it absolutely paved the way for Galavant and the Descendents films). Set in a Totally Not Disney world where princesses are a breed of 1% ers with telepathic and telekinetic song powers, our hero is a member of the conquered underclass if Darkhearts.

“We can’t kill ourselves, Damon, my dad’s king of the underworld and he hates it when I have friends over!”

She wants to sing. And if she has to start a war and topple a regime, she will.

And talking of Tin Can Bros, this list would not be complete without the cold war spy thriller Spies Are Forever. Where else do you get songs about torture, alcoholism, and how awesome nazis are sung by a Jewish actor while being tickled pink?

No freakin where, that’s where!

“Oh, whiskey on the rocks, very fancy! You’re getting whiskey with ice!”

There are more but I’m trying to keep these as snippet posts not essays. Please let me assure you that this happy rabbithole will lead you down to a treasure trove.

This selection from spies to disney to ttrpgs should bring joy to every type of nerd, and if not, hey Starkid have done a star wars musical, and an oregan trail musical so… have at!

Stay cosy during the long nights, stay cool during the summer [delete where applicable for your hemisphere].