MuggleCast 164 Transcript
Show Intro
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[Intro music begins]
Hagrid: Are you ready?
Dumbledore: Yes.
Hagrid: Is everybody ready?
[Audience cheers]
Dumbledore: Oh, they don’t sound ready, Hagrid. They might as well go home if they don’t sound more enthusiastic than that. Hagrid said, “Are you ready?”
[Audience cheers louder]
Dumbledore: That’s more like it.
Hagrid: Right, Professor…
Dumbledore: Yes?
Hagrid: …I think we need to pave the way for our dear friends to come straight down here in all this cheering and clapping and screaming. So ladies and folks, will you please give a great big round of applause for our first guy, Mr. Andrew Sims!
[Audience cheers]
Dumbledore: Oh! There he is! Andrew, oh, you look as if you’re ready to be in the sixth form, yes.
Hagrid: As you can see – aww…
Dumbledore: Andrew, when you hug Hagrid, could you stand up? Oh, sorry, you were standing. I thought he was kneeling.
[Audience laughs]
Hagrid: Yeah, he’s a midget, so it’s all right. Right! Mental or mad, I don’t think that was loud enough cheers so this time when you go even worse – oh, careful tiger.
Dumbledore: Oh, healthy feet.
Hagrid: The even wilder Jamie Lawrence!
[Audience cheers]
Dumbledore: Oh, Jamie, oh. And have you finished that essay on the 12th century properties?
Jamie: I have.
Dumbledore: You have? Oh, I’ll take it then. Oh no, that’s not an essay, it’s a jumble. All right, carry on, carry on, good to have you. Give him a kiss – ah! I didn’t realise it was like that Hagrid!
[Audience laughs]
Hagrid: Okay, go sit yourself down there, young man. Oh, he’s got some special artifacts over there.
Dumbledore: Yes.
Hagrid: What’s that all about then? Okay then, I think it will get ever wilder now, as we’re going to bring out the wonderful Matt Britton!
[Audience cheers]
Hagrid: Oh, Matt! And you come in a tie. But what happened to the hair?
[Audience laughs]
Hagrid: Oh, no! He’s one of these other half-breeds – half boy, half porcupine.
[Audience laughs]
Hagrid: Yes, come through, come through.
Dumbledore: They’re what they call troll bogies, Professor.
Hagrid: Oh. Eeeaugh!
Dumbledore: These people call it gel or something disgusting.
[Audience laughs]
Dumbledore: Let me just wipe it on there.
Hagrid: Go on, give another round of applause. Go on, Matt.
[Audience cheers]
Dumbledore: I’m glad you came in old clothes.
Hagrid: And then, who’s left? Ah, we’re a bit unbalanced with the sexes at the moment.
[Audience laughs]
Dumbledore: Shall we bring her out, shall we? Elysa? Shall we bring her out, yes?
Hagrid: Would you like her to come down the aisle now?
[Audience cheers]
Hagrid: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Elysa Montfort!
[Audience cheers]
Hagrid: Oh, golly! Good to see you. Yes. I’m sure you have problems in the airport with the metal detectors.
[Audience laughs]
Dumbledore: Right, Hagrid. Are we going to hand it over to them?
Hagrid: Absolutely. One more round of applause for all the guys here!
Dumbledore: It’s a very, very special night tonight.
[Audience cheers]
Dumbledore: LET’S MAKE SOME MAGIC!!!
[Audience cheers]
Andrew: Thank you, Hagrid! Thank you, Dumbledore! Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to MuggleCast Live in London 2!
[Audience cheers]
Andrew: Three, this is three. We’re all very excited. Is everyone excited for Beedle the Bard?
[Audience cheers]
Andrew: Who was here when we were here for Book 7?
[Audience cheers]
Andrew: A few people in the audience raising their hands. Of course, we’re all here. We’re all very excited for Beedle the Bard. General… what we’re going to do, we’re going to treat this like a normal MuggleCast. We’re going to be talking about the latest news and then we’ll get into some Beedle discussion. Then we have some really cool prizes brought to you by Alivans. So we’ll get to those later on. But first, there’s been a lot of – besides Beedle the Bard, what has been the other big story?
[Audience member shouts something]
Matt: Yeah!
[Elysa laughs]
Half-Blood Prince Trailer Discussion
Andrew: No, I’m not talking about that. No, Harry Potter wise, the Half-Blood Prince trailer that just came out a few weeks ago. What did everyone think of it?
[Audience cheers]
Andrew: Some lost hesitation. We still haven’t gotten the thoughts of Matt and Elysa yet so I want to get them now.
Matt: Yeah you did.
Jamie: No actually it’s me.
Andrew: Oh no, sorry. Jamie and Elysa. Yeah. Jamie, what did you think about this trailer?
Jamie: I really…
Andrew: While I sip this beautiful looking water.
[Audience laughs]
Jamie: Oh yeah okay. I really liked it actually. I thought – I think starting with movie three, Harry Potter has taken on like a – they look more like proper films. Not to say one and two aren’t very good because I’ve realized I’ve just said they are bit…
[Audience laughs]
Jamie: I just think they started to look like proper movie trailers. I think quite a few movies like the first year Harry Potter ones, you watch them and you think, well, they look very fantasy. They look very Harry Potter-ish. But starting at three, I feel they started to take on that darker tone that Cuarón brought out and I think Half-Blood Prince looks awesome in that light. You know, I think it’s really going to be dark. It’s going to be a good film and it’s going to be scary which is good and they’re probably still going to give it a 12A rating.
[Audience laughs]
Jamie: So everyone can go and see it because that would be unfair if they couldn’t, so yeah, I’m really looking forward to it.
Andrew: And Elysa, your thoughts?
Elysa: Yeah, I agree completely. I mean, my favorite part about it was probably the opening line where Harry’s just like, “I’ve just sort of learned to go with it at this point.” I really liked that. I like that it was sort of coalescing humor and like the darker sides of it at the same time which I really thought Half-Blood Prince was all about. But, so far, definitely my favorite trailer.
Jamie: Harry wouldn’t say a line like that though, would he?
Elysa: What?
Jamie: “Well, I’m just going to roll with it.”
Elysa: Well, maybe not, okay, maybe not like out loud in the book, but I think he’d say…
Jamie: He doesn’t have the personality for it really though does he?
[Audience laughs]
Elysa: I think he’s learned to roll with it though. He’s had to.
Andrew: Can you guys believe the film would have been out for two or three weeks now…
Elysa: I know.
Andrew: …if it weren’t for the delay.
[Audience groans]
Andrew: I hate to get everyone down. But it’s almost surreal that it would be over and done with at this point. But, yeah, so and we made that big post on MuggleNet. I’m sure Warner Bros. didn’t appreciate us reminding people but…
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: Yeah. Whatever.
Jamie: How many of you guys think Twilight is a poor like…
[Audience boos]
Andrew: [laughs] This is the wrong crowd bring it up in front of. Boo. Get out of here.
Jamie: I know. I just alienated everyone.
Andrew: What do you know?
Matt: Jamie just shut up.
Jamie: Oops. Oops.
Andrew’s Encounter with Twilight Cast/Crew
Andrew: We’ll say real quick, I’m sure some of you heard about this now, Matt and I, on our flight over here from L.A., the director of Twilight, Catherine Hardwicke and the lead Kristin Stewart who plays Bella were both on our flight.
Matt: Yeah.
[Audience murmurs]
Andrew: When we saw them I turned into the biggest fan girl you would imagine.
[Audience and Matt laughs]
Andrew: I never reacted like that before, but just something about them – actually, like, seeing them. I don’t know.
Matt: No, it was funny because we were just sitting there and you were playing with your iPhone or something…
[Audience laughs]
Matt: …and I was looking somewhere off and I saw this woman just walk by me and I said, “Catherine Hardwicke!” And then you were like, “What are you talking about?” And then he just starts screaming.
[Audience laughs]
Matt: Like, “Oh my god, Oh my god! Oh my god!”
Andrew: Yeah, I really was. It was really exciting, but then – sort of a funny story and then we’ll move on – we got to baggage claim in London, and I was like, “Okay, some people aren’t going to believe this, so I have to take a picture,” and we couldn’t find Kristen, but Catherine was there waiting by us. So I had a magazine or something, and I just sort of stood up, and I just went like this. [demonstrates]
[Audience laughs]
New Half-Blood Prince Release Date
Andrew: I got like three takes just in case, you know, one of them turned out bad, and that’s on my Facebook now so – but anyway, that’s what happened. Back to Beedle, before I start fan girling again. Is everyone okay with the July release date now for Half-Blood Prince?
Audience: No!
Andrew: No? But isn’t it good now, there’s something to look forward to this year?
[Indecisive responses from audience]
Andrew: And it’s all because of that DVD that’s coming out Monday, Dark Knight.
Jamie: Oh that is true.
Andrew: Oh well.
Audience Member: And James Bond.
Andrew: And James Bond.
Jamie: On that note, did people like the new James Bond film?
[Negative responses from audience]
Matt: Yeah, I didn’t like it either.
Jamie: It did suck.
Beedle the Bard Discussion
Andrew: And one other bit of news today. The AP – Associated Press reported that eight million copies of Beedle the Bard are being printed today, or will be – the initial print run. 3.5 million in the U.S., and I don’t think they announced the U.K. Does anyone know how many books are in the U.K. for Beedle? A lot?
[Audience Member responds]
Andrew: Seven million? Okay, well that math doesn’t add up. Maybe – I dont know, maybe that was just…
Jamie: Did she say seven billion?
Andrew: No, million. I thought she said billion.
Jamie: Two for every person who lives in the world.
Andrew: Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about, yeah. Yeah. So you guys got a few copies. All of them are here, actually, because – anyways. Let’s move on to the Beedle discussion. What’s everyone’s general expectation of the book? Because we know we’re all excited, and they’ve added things that weren’t exactly in the original – book that J.K. Rowling wrote. Matt, why don’t we start with you? What are your general expectations of this book? Are you hoping to be enthralled?
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: You can’t put it down?
Matt: I don’t – What is it about?
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: It’s the Tales of Beedle the Bard. Actually, well one of…
[Andrew knocks his mic]
Andrew: Oh, I’m sorry. One of Elysa’s friends saw the books already. They’re about the size of like the Fantastic Beasts and the Quidditch through the Ages books, so…
Matt: I’m hoping it’s going to be a good read. I mean, I don’t know how many times I’m going to re-read it like I do with the Harry Potter books but…
Andrew: Yeah. Well, what’s going to keep me interested, and we’ll get to this in a second, but what’s really going to keep me interested are the notes from Dumbledore…
Elysa and Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: Because when I read the descriptions of those I got really excited. Elysa, how about you? What are you looking forward to?
Elysa: Um, I don’t know. Well, I’m sort of hoping that we see some other sort of direct relevance to the series, like obviously we know with the one story and the Peverell Brothers that’s you know, hugely significant but I’m hoping that some of the other tales in there, we’re going to be able to spot some sort of – red herrings or symbology in there as well. That’d be really neat.
Matt: Yeah, are there really going to be that many red herrings or something in the book?
[Prolonged silence]
Elysa: What?
[Audience laughs]
Matt: Are there…
Elysa: A little slower if you don’t mind actually.
Matt: Yeah.
[Elysa laughs]
Matt: I forgot what I said.
Andrew: And Jamie, how about you? I mean, are you excited for the Dumbledore stuff mostly or what?
Jamie: I’m looking forward to it but I worry it’s going to be kind of like Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts which I did enjoy but I thought they were written kind of away from the books so you could read them but it’s not like reading a Harry Potter book, so I’d like to see some direct references to what happened in Book 7. I’d like to see her answer some questions that people are still wondering about but I don’t know if she’s going to. And like, I thought in Fantastic Beasts, I think it was when it said like “This book is the property of Harry Potter.” I thought that was kind of bad to be honest.
Andrew: Wait – that was like a little library book, right? From the…
Jamie: Yeah, and it was like hangman stuff. I thought that was a bit unnecessary.
Andrew: Maybe he got bored of reading it. Are you sure that wasn’t you who drew that in there when you were bored?
Jamie: No because I wouldn’t put “This book is the property of Harry Potter.”
Andrew: Oh, okay.
[Matt laughs]
Andrew: So, let me quote what Amazon said about the Dumbledore description because I think this is going to be one of the most interesting things. “Enlightening and comprehensive commentary including extensive footnotes by Dumbledore who brings his unique wizardised perceptive to the collection.” Do you think Jo and the publishers decided to add this to maybe sell the book more? Because do you think it would sell as well if this book would have been published just how it was?
Jamie: It sounds like it’s written to sell. Like, “enlightening and comprehensive commentary, including extensive footnotes,” and stuff. I don’t know.
Andrew: Right, yeah. I don’t know. Do you guys think, would you guys be as excited if it didn’t have the Dumbledore stuff because personally that’s what I’m most excited about. You are?
Matt: It’s a Harry Potter book!
Andrew: Just go with me, come on. I know, yeah. And – also “Professor Dumbledore also includes fascinating historical background including tid bits such as ‘The History Pursuit of Magic Wands'”? What could that be about?
Matt: Probably the historical pursuit of magic wands.
Andrew: Yeah I know, jokes aside.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: What could it really be about? Would he go really in-depth like this? Because I know how Jo can’t resist you know being about to go in-depth in something like this.
Matt: Sorry, go on.
Jamie: Go on Matt…
Matt: I had nothing to say.
Jamie: I can’t remember what I was going to say really.
[Audience laughs]
Jamie: Andrew, you’re the host, you can save us now.
Andrew: Okay, thank you. And what else was there? And a brief comment on the Dark Arts and its practitioners, which is also pretty cool.
Jamie: Is that going to be from Dumbledore? Like him talking…
Andrew: That’s him writing, yeah.
Jamie: That would probably be quite interesting.
Matt: That would be kind of cool.
Jamie: Yeah, because he kind of dabbled in it well you know, sort of with Grindelwald – so I think it is going to be interesting to hear his view on it because so far we’ve seen everyone say the Dark Arts are really, really bad, and we’ve seen it from Voldemort’s point of view where he loves them, and the good people’s point of view where they hate them, the Order of the Phoenix. But if we have it from Dumbledore I think him – like he has experienced it and he is not – doesn’t really think good and bad, black and white.
Matt: Yeah.
Jamie: So I think it would be interesting to hear what he says.
Matt: Yeah, it would be interesting to hear Dumbledore’s view points on Dark Arts through his point of view and not him like telling Harry or something.
Jamie: Is he going to feature Grindelwald though? Is he going to talk about him?
Matt: I don’t know, I haven’t read the book.
Andrew: I would think so because that…
[Everybody laughs]
Andrew: Grindelwald is Dark Arts, I mean.
Elysa: Yeah.
Andrew: You could argue.
Jamie: One of the worst wizards ever.
Andrew: Yeah, yeah. And then the other question that I thought would be fun to discuss was, we know there were seven copies, handwritten by Jo, one was auctioned off to Amazon and then we know one went to Arthur Levine, Scholastic editor, and a second copy went off to Barry Cunningham, the Bloomsbury editor. And there are four other copies – so who do you think the other four could have gone to?
[Audience Member responds]
Andrew: Her sister? But how about someone in the movie, like David Heyman…
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: Fiddy, her assistant, definitely.
[Answers from the audience]
Andrew: Daniel Radcliffe? No.
Matt: Yeah, doesn’t he have everything though, else?
Andrew: Yeah, he doesn’t need anything else, he has enough.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: Didn’t you get a copy? You were influential.
Jamie: Uh, well I don’t know about that influential. I think it worked like a Willy Wonka type thing where she hid them…
[Andrew laughs]
Jamie: Five bars of the chocolate.
[Everybody laughs]
Jamie: Someone is going to find them.
Andrew: Yeah, Arthur and Berry got very lucky.
Jamie: Yeah, that’s so lucky, the two editors who do the books.
Andrew: Who knew? What were the chances? Elysa, what do you think?
Elysa: Um, God, I don’t know.
Andrew: I think Fiddy definitely. It’s people who were very involved in the book series.
Jamie: She probably gave her something a bit nicer, though. It’s nice, a handwritten copy, but since she’s been working with her for so long you’d think, like – she’d, like…
Andrew: Something nicer? Bought her a house? Yeah.
Jamie: Something like that.
Andrew: Yeah. All right. So, what we’re going to do now, if – does anyone else have any other thoughts about that, before we move on?
Audience Member: Didn’t she have a friend she based Ron off of?
Andrew: She had a friend she based Ron off of?
Jamie: The guy who drove her around all…
Audience Member: Yeah.
Jamie: Yeah. She might’ve given him…
Matt: Didn’t he sue her, or something?
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: No, that was her brother?
Audience Member: Cousin.
Andrew: Cousin.
Matt: Oh.
Andrew: Yeah. On that lie detector show. That was dumb. That was probably fake. But yeah I don’t know. So I think it would be interesting. I don’t see why it might – like – okay obviously those four remaining people aren’t going to boast about it, but I feel like – you know – we should know. We have the right to know.
[Matt laughs]
Elysa: Human rights.
Andrew: Did anyone see the – did anyone get the Amazon Collector’s Edition?
Audience Member: Yeah!
Andrew: A few people? I really want to get it, but…
Matt: Oh the…
Andrew: The Special Edition that costs one hundred dollars.
Matt: Yeah that one looked really nice.
Jamie: It’s one hundred dollars?
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: What extra do you get with it?
Andrew: You get a lot of stuff.
Matt: You get a really nice cover.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: No, but you get like ten special drawings from Jo, what else does anyone remember? It’s a lot. It’s well worth the extra money.
Audience Member: It’s got, like, the proper fake cover.
Andrew: It’s got the proper fake cover, yeah.
Matt: Yeah.
[Audience Member says something]
Andrew: The what, sorry?
Audience Member: The gems.
Andrew: Oh yeah it’s got the gems in it, yeah. But when that first came out, I think I first said this on MuggleCast, I was so amazed at the price difference. It went from ten to one hundred dollars. It’s like, what’s that ninety really giving you?
Matt: Well, I mean, come on…
Andrew: It’s worth it.
Matt: Yeah it’s worth it.
Jamie: Can she draw, though?
Andrew: Yeah.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: Have you seen the pictures? She has drawn – they’re not, you know – insert good artist here. Picasso. They’re actually kind of like Picasso.
Audience Member: They’re still by JK Rowling.
Andrew: Yeah, they’re still by JK Rowling.
Jamie: That is a fair point.
Beedle the Bard Trivia
Andrew: We’re going to do some Beedle trivia right now. What we’re going to do – we’re going to pick specific people in the audience and I think we have people standing in the wings with microphones. Where are they? Do we have our wing people? Okay there’s one mic. That’s all we need. Oh theres two. Okay so raise your hand if you want to participate. These are Beedle related questions, and you’ll win a fabulous prize sponsored by Alivans. That’s Alivans.com, master wand makers. Raise your hand. Okay we’ll start with this girl right here.
[Audience murmurs]
Andrew: Yeah, go ahead stand up. No no, no! Back two. There you go. Hello? What’s your name? Hold on, wait a second.
Jamie: This works kind of differently, in that you have to give the answer before he asks the question.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: Oh, yeah – check? Do it again. Good?
[Mic fails to work]
Andrew: Okay, well we’ll – so where are you from?
Audience Member: I live in London but I’m originally from a place called Blackpool.
Andrew: Oh, okay, cool.
Elysa: Ooh, very nice.
Andrew: Yeah, woo, Blackpool! Yeah, I haven’t been there.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Ok [laughs]. Here’s your question, okay, and you’re going to be able to pick from – we have a few things up here. We have scarves from Alivans…
Matt: No, it’s a secret, it’s a secret!
Andrew: Wands, sweaters, and tattoos…
Matt: Never mind.
Andrew: You can just take the tattoos, too.
Andrew: Ok, the question is – and don’t yell it out, unless you want her to get it, of course.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: Actually, don’t yell it out. What was the final selling price for the seventh copy of the handwritten book?
Matt: [gasps] Oh my gosh…
Andrew: This was, of course, purchased by Amazon, it was a lot of money. You can ballpark it, I mean, if…
Audience Member: Is this in pounds or dollars?
Andrew: Ah, either.
Audience Member: Um, four million dollars?
Andrew: Yeah! 3.98 million. There you go!
[Audience cheers]
Andrew: Everyone’s like, How’d she know that!?
Matt: I know! How did you know that?
Elysa: I didn’t know that.
Andrew: No, that’s good. Come collect your prize at the end – no, you can come up now.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: What do you want? You want a Harry Potter scarf?
Audience Member: Yes, please.
Andrew: Okay, perfect.
Matt: Well she’s got a Slytherin shirt.
Andrew: Where’s the other stuff? Elysa, do you have it?
Elysa: Yeah.
Andrew: Can you just put it on the table? Okay.
Jamie: Andrew, while you’re doing that, do you think I could just throw a t-shirt into the audience? I’ve always wanted to do that.
Andrew: Yeah, sure, go ahead.
[Audience laughs and cheers]
Andrew: These are the wonderful – a lot of you can get them,
we have a lot of extras that we’re going to be giving away at the end, too.
Jamie: That was so cool, I’m going to have to do that again.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: I’ve waited my life for this! I’ve waited all my life…All
right, one more, go ahead. Make your dreams come true.
[Audience cheers as Jamie throws]
Andrew: You feel better now?
Jamie: No, I’m going to have to do it again.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: All right, hold on.
Jamie: I’ll see if I can…
Andrew: Ok, next question – who wants to – how about this girl right here. Saw her hand up first. Okay, what’s your name?
Audience Member: Beth.
Andrew: Where are you from?
Audience Member: Iowa City, Iowa.
Andrew: Oh, wow. Why are you here?
Audience Member: I’m studying abroad for the semester.
[Audience cheers]
Matt: Oh, cool. Yeah.
Andrew: Where at?
Audience Member: With my program for Purnell College.
Andrew: Cool, cool. Okay, nobody be thrown off by her American accent. It’s normal.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: Okay. On what day was it announced that Beedle the Bard would be published in the U.K. and the U.S.? What day – it had special significance.
Jamie: It’s quite significant, yeah.
Matt: Very.
Audience Member: July 31st?
Andrew: Yes, Harry’s birthday. There you go. You win a fabulous prize from Alivans.com.
[Audience cheers]
Andrew: Come up here. You can pick a prize.
Matt: Do they get to pick? Do they get to pick?
Andrew: Yeah you guys can pick. There is a variety of wands up here. Next question, how about this guy right here? I’ve got to get a guy. What’s your name dude?
Audience Member: Steven.
Andrew: Steven where you from?
Audience Member: London.
Andrew: London, awesome.
[Audience cheers]
Andrew: Are you – Are you good with your Beedle the Bard knowledge? Have you brushed up?
Audience Member: Maybe.
Andrew: Maybe? Okay. Let’s see.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: Okay. Well this could be challenging. I don’t know. Name three of the five stories found in Beedle the Bard.
Matt: Oh. Oh.
Andrew: You can pass it off to someone if – if you feel like this maybe…
Matt: I know that one.
Andrew: …too difficult a question. He’s thinking hard.
Audience Member: The Tale of Babbitty Rabbit or something.
Andrew: Close enough.
Matt: Yeah that’s…
[Audience laughs]
Audience Member: The Tale of the Three Brothers.
Andrew: Yes.
Audience Member: And the Wishing Pot?
Andrew: Close enough.
[Audience laughs and cheers]
Andrew: That was like a combination of two titles, but whatever. So you got like two and a half, two fourths of each. All right…
[Matt laughs]
Andrew: Trying desperately for him to win something. All right, thank you. You won an awesome prize from Alivans. Okay question four – what are we at? Four, let’s see. How about – You’re too close to the other girl who – sorry no. Okay fine right here – right here. And then we’ll get someone from over this side and then one more. What’s your name?
Audience Member: Alex.
Andrew: Where you from, Alex?
Audience Member: Norway.
Andrew: Norway wow.
Matt: Wow!
Andrew: What are you here for?
Audience Member: To see you guys.
Andrew: Oh stop.
Matt: Awww.
Andrew: Why you win a prize just for that.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Okay here’s the question. How many copies of Beedle the Bard did Scholastic say will be in the initial print run in the U.S.?
Jamie: Hasn’t this already been said?
Matt: Yeah didn’t we just say this?
Andrew: Did I say that?
Matt: Yeah you did.
Andrew: We’re making sure she’s listening. So go ahead.
[Long silence]
Andrew: See she wasn’t listening! Okay.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: You can ballpark it.
Audience Member: Eight?
Jamie: To the nearest ten million.
Andrew: Eight what?
Audience Member: Million?
Andrew: Oh million? I’m sorry that’s not correct. But come up and get something anyway. We’ll have someone else answer it. How about this guy right here?
Matt: What? I thought – I thought that was right.
Andrew: Well no, no, in the U.S. specifically.
Matt: Oh.
Andrew: But it’s – it’s, okay. That was good enough. This guy right here, in the Gryffindor scarf. What’s your name?
Audience Member: James.
Andrew: James, what – How many copies was in the U.S.?
Audience Member: Was it 3.5 million?
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: That’s correct. You win a prize from Alivans.com.
[Audience cheers]
Andrew: Actually, we have two more questions. Ah, look, we’re getting contestant pictures, what is this? All right, microphone, over here. This girl right here.
Audience Member: Hi. I’m Ashley.
Andrew: Hi. Go ahead. Stand up.
Audience Member: Stand up?
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: What? You don’t want to? Okay. What’s your name? Ashley?
Audience Member: From Philadelphia.
Andrew: From Philly!
Matt: Wow!
Andrew: You two were at Enlightening!
[Audience Member responds]
Matt: Why are we picking Americans in London?
Audience Members: They’re studying!
Andrew: Oh they’re studying. Everyone is studying here.
Matt: Anyone here who is English?
[Audience cheers]
Andrew: Okay. How many people – are you listening? This is very important. How many pages is the original, handwritten copy of Beedle the Bard? How many pages?
Audience Member: Twenty-seven?
Andrew: Oh no! Oh, God. No, I’m sorry. This girl, right back here. Hold on, this girl in the blue.
Audience Member: One hundred?
Andrew: Close! This girl, right here, go on.
Audience Member: Isn’t it ninety-six, or ninety-seven, or something like that?
Andrew: No! Unless I got the number wrong, but I’m pretty sure I have it right. Anyone else? This girl?
Audience Member: Is it one hundred and twenty-eight?
Andrew: No, closer. Higher. Go ahead.
Audience Member: One hundred and fifty!
Andrew: One-fifty-seven. Yeah. Did anyone know that? I hope I got the number right. I read it online. I got it off Wikipedia, so it must be right.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: I didn’t get it off Wikipedia. For the record. Yes, that is where we get all our information. Okay, and one last, final question. I hate to make you run around, but you – no, no, come over this side! This girl, right here, in the black cap. Here we go, she’s going to win a fabulous prize. Oh, who guessed the one-fifty? You can come up here and get a thing.
[Audience Member responds]
Andrew: Yeah, if you want. Okay, last question, go ahead. This girl in the black cap. Are you ready, do you have the microphone? I can’t see.
Audience Member: Yeah, yeah.
Andrew: Sorry, okay.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: This is a recent news story. So, hopefully, you’ve been checking the fansites. What tale – what tales did Scholastic editor, Arthur Levine, recently compare the Tales of Beedle to?
Audience Member: Something to do with – Grimm!
Andrew: Yes, the Grimm Brothers, yes. There you go!
[Audience cheers]
Andrew: Yay! Thank you Alivans, for those – thank you Alivans for those wonderful prizes. And, now, what we’re going to do do, we’re going to open up the floor, and we want to take lots of questions from you guys, to ask you anything – if you want to talk about anything related to Beedle, or anything related to the movie, or JK Rowling’s art…
Jamie: First, can we just check who’s come the furthest today?
Audience Member: Me! Australia! Australia!
Jamie: Oh man, that’s got to win…
Matt: Oh my god!
[Audience murmurs]
Jamie: Should I test my throwing arm, and see if I can get a t-shirt all the way back there?
Andrew: Don’t hit the light!
Jamie: Oh yeah, the light’s going to…
Andrew: And – hit the light! No, I’m just kidding.
Jamie: You can come up and get one.
Andrew: Yeah. We have lots of shirts back here, so once we’re done, you guys can come up.
Matt: And every time you ask a question, you get a sheet of these awesome scar stickers.
Andrew: Oh, man! Cool!
Jamie: And a t-shirt.
MuggleCast 164 Transcript (continued)
Question Time with the Hosts
Andrew: Those are also brought to you by Alivans. Okay, who’s got a question? Just a general question, or… What’s up, David? Just wanted to say hi? [laughs] Go ahead. Anyone – anyone raising their hand. That girl, right there, who just won the prize.
Audience Member: This is kind of cheeky, but where’s my Pickle Pack shirt?
Matt: Ooh…
Andrew: It’s in the mail!
Audience Member: Is it still in the mail?
Andrew: I’ll get it to you! Give me your address after the show.
[Audience laughs]
Audience Member: Okay.
Andrew: Geez.
Jamie: We should have brought some Pickle Pack shirts.
Andrew: I know, we should have been prepared for this! Okay, how about someone else? This guy in the blue? What’s your question?
Audience Member: Do you think this’ll be a book that really little kids read, like parents read to toddlers, or whatever?
Jamie: It doesn’t really seem like it.
Andrew: I don’t know. I don’t think so.
Jamie: I don’t think it is, like, I don’t know if adults think it’s going to be part of Harry Potter or if it’s more like a fan book, or…
Matt: Well, it’s got a huge Harry Potter thing on top, I mean, it’s kind of Harry Potter.
Jamie: Yeah, but it’s not Harry Potter and the Tales of Beedle the Bard, it’s more of a companion book. I don’t know, though.
Elysa: It can stand on its own, though, so I would imagine that people would. I mean, I would.
Jamie: They probably love it, like, after Order of the Phoenix, which is that thick, when they can read the child a book that is a lot thinner.
Elysa: Yeah.
Jamie: They’re gonna love it.
[Audience laughs]
Matt: They would rather read that than read Harry Potter.
Andrew: Do we have any little kids here – I don’t know, ten, eleven, twelve…
Matt: Two!
Andrew: How old are you?
Audience Member: Eleven!
Andrew: Eleven. Are you really excited for Beedle?
Audience Member: Mmm.
Andrew: Yeah, see, there you go. Question answered.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: No, I think that – I think – I mean, let’s be honest, it’s not going to sell as many copies as Harry Potter did. And I mean, this has been totally expected. I was reading an article today comparing – Book 7 had twelve million copies in the initial print run just for the U.S., and so, I mean, you know, it’s still going to be a great book, but all I’m saying is, that I don’t think it’ll appeal too much.
Jamie: It’s still quite a big print run though, compared to Book 7.
Andrew: How old are you? You look young. This kid right here.
Audience Member: He’s twelve.
Andrew: Twelve? You don’t look a day over ten.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: I don’t mean that in a bad way, though. I really don’t. I didn’t mean that in a bad way. But you’re excited to read it right?
Audience Member: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah, of course. All right next question.
Matt: Okay.
Andrew: How about this girl right here.
Audience Member: How do you feel about the way that Harry is portrayed in the trailer? Like he’s a bit cocky.
Jamie: Yeah, he is cocky.
Audience Member: He says, “I am the chosen one.” Whack.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: I think that was a really funny line, though. It was some comic relief and it was…
Jamie: I don’t know, I still stick by this thing where I just don’t think he has the personality for that. I don’t think Harry Potter‘s that kind of thing.
Audience Member: Yeah, that’s true.
Jamie: Can I say that?
Matt: Yeah, I guess.
Andrew: You’re just a hater, man. You’re talking with face paint. What are you saying?
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: Looks good.
Audience Member: It’s a Gryffindor lion.
Andrew: Yeah, well. I think it was really funny. Dan’s been really – his acting’s really good. It’s because of Equus. That’s what everyone says.
Jamie: It’s probably because of that.
Matt: If you get naked in front of a full audience, I think your acting had better get real good.
[Audience laughs]
Jamie: You have to be good, yeah. Who here saw Equus?
Audience Member: Me! [laughs]
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: “Me! Woo!”
Jamie: This is a stupid question, but did you enjoy it?
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: She’s crying. She – just had a flashback.
Jamie: The memories that have been brought back now.
[Andrew laughs]
Jamie: Wow.
Audience Member: It was really good.
Andrew: It was really good, yeah. It was really good, I think just for the acting. I really believe that.
Jamie: Richard Griffiths is so cool as well.
Andrew: We’ll go right back here, down the aisle. Oh. Hold on, we got a second – got a second microphone.
Jamie: MuggleCast shirt, too.
Andrew: Oh, yeah. Awesome.
Matt: Oh, nice.
Andrew: What’s your name?
Audience Member: Jemma.
Andrew: Jemma.
Audience Member: I was wondering whether you think they are going to make Ron into the comic relief again, in this film.
Andrew: I think he really is.
Matt: Yeah.
Jamie: We saw in the trailer. Didn’t we? Like with Romilda Vane.
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: I don’t know.
Matt: I don’t like him when he does comic relief so much.
Jamie: I don’t either.
Matt: They do it all the time. I liked him in Order of the Phoenix because he didn’t have much comic relief.
Andrew: Well, he’s sort of Harry’s wingman so he can do stuff with that.
Matt: Yeah, but…
Andrew: I don’t know. Elysa, do you like it?
Elysa: Yeah, it’s sort of his character, too, in the books in a way.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Yeah but he’s a little cooler in the books.
Elysa: Okay, well. Maybe you should just be cast as Ron then. [laughs]
Matt: I should have!
Andrew: All right, next question.
Audience Member: Hi, I’m going to break a little bit of taboo…
Andrew: Okay.
Audience Member: And ask a question about another podcast
Andrew: Okay.
Audience Member: That has to do with Potter.
Andrew: Uh-oh.
Audience Member: Oh my goodness. Did you guys read Melissa Anelli’s Harry, A History?
Andrew: I started reading it.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: It’s good!
Audience Member: What did you think?
Andrew: It’s good! It’s a good book, Harry, A History. Is it on sale here?
Audience: Yeah.
Andrew: Okay, yeah. It’s a good book! I don’t think anyone else has read it though.
Elysa: No, I haven’t. I want to.
Matt: No, no I haven’t, sorry.
Andrew: No, we burned it!
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: No. Read it, guys, read it. This girl right here. Yeah, Jamie?
Jamie: I was kind of annoyed though, because Andrew and Ben are mentioned. I was getting excited.
Andrew: [laughs] Go ahead, what’s your name?
Audience Member: Hi, I just had a quick question. You know the covers for all the Harry Potter books? I’ll put you on the spot. Which one – individually, actually – do you prefer the American ones or the British ones?
Audience Member: Ooh!
Andrew: I like the English ones because of how colorful they are, I think the artwork’s really good.
Jamie: I think the American ones are pretty shocking to be honest.
[Audience laughs]
Jamie: I really like the English ones. I think they’re kind of childish, the American ones.
Andrew: No – I think the U.K. ones are more childish! They just look – it’s just because of the way they were sketched, you know.
Jamie: Andrew, when you come to London, you’re in our country.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: Oh right, I’ll get chucked out the window, stuck on the – what’s that street there? Piccadilly. Piccadilly, yeah. It’s a one-way. How about you guys?
Elysa: Hmm…
Matt: Hmm…
Elysa: I don’t know, I like them both.
Matt: You skipped me!
[Audience laughs]
Elysa: I did skip you! Because you didn’t get on it. I like them both. I think if I had to choose, I’d probably say American just because I like how their color schemes match with the tone of the book.
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: Yeah. But the images are just – oh sorry, Matt.
Matt: Yeah, let me talk, Jamie!
[Audience laughs]
Jamie: Sorry, Matt.
Matt: I like – I guess I like the American ones better just for the way the people are drawn. I like how the trio’s drawn in the American versions better than the U.K. Although, I like the scenes they draw in the U.K. ones better.
Elysa: Yeah, I was going to say I like the scenes better.
Matt: I like the Deathly Hallows one much better, though, than the American version.
Andrew: Sort of related to this, there was the press unveiling of the Arthur Levine’s copy of Beedle the Bard in New York City today. Did anyone see pictures from that yet? Okay, they just came out a few hours ago because, you know, the time difference, but it’s really weird. They have a – they have the Beedle the Bard, the actual thing and it’s in glass and they have a poster behind it. And the order of the books is really weird, and I feel like the printer screwed it up, because it goes: Sorcerer’s Stone, Order of the Phoenix, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, Half-Blood Prince, Deathly Hallows. And it’s like, why are they – why is that? I don’t know. I just noticed that and I was really interested.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: I think it’s interesting. Why would they do that? Anyway, next question. So you guys are all going to go home and look at it and wonder the same thing.
[Audience laughs]
Audience Member: Which story are you looking forward to the most in Beedle the Bard?
Andrew: Ah, that’s a good question. I’ve read that – when reading – did anyone read Amazon’s summaries of the…
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: The one story – I think they said – the one that they said was the craziest was my favorite, and I think it was The Fountain of Fair Fortune…
Matt: Yeah, that’s right.
Andrew: …that they said was the craziest one? Or it is, like, the most purest of the fairy tales. I don’t know. What is everyone else looking forward to? Are there any that really stand out specifically?
Audience Member: Babbity Rabbity.
Andrew: Babbity Rabbity. That looks really cool.
Matt: Yeah what is that?
Andrew: I just love the names.
Audience Member: A rabbit with no legs.
Andrew: Yeah.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: And a stump that cackles.
Matt: Isn’t it – wouldn’t it be more like – Rollaby – Stump…
Andrew: Mm-mm.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: How about you guys? Elysa? Jamie?
Elysa: Oh yeah.
Jamie: I agree with that one.
Elysa: Yeah, I was going to say Babbity Rabbity too, just because I read in a quote that she sort of put herself in a bind because she had come up with the name, and then now she had to form a story around it. So I’m interested to see…
Andrew: Oh yeah! Yeah!
Elysa: …how she does that, yeah. How she pulls that off.
Andrew: That’s true, I forgot about that.
Jamie: I don’t know. I don’t think that sounds very PG.
[Audience and Elysa laughs]
Andrew: “Babbity Rabbity”? You never know. It sounds like an actress’s name, you’re trying to say?
Jamie: No I’m not saying anything.
Andrew: Okay.
[Audience and Matt laugh]
Andrew: All right, another – how about this guy back here.
Audience Member: Just what Jamie’s saying about the other books that have been released before not feeling like Harry Potter books, do you think a Harry Potter book can feel like a true one without Harry? I mean like…
Andrew: Yeah.
Audience Member: Obviously it wouldn’t be a Harry Potter book, but it’s in the – same type of story.
Andrew: Right. Well, like Matt said earlier, at the top it says, “A wizarding classic from the tales of Harry Potter” – “from the world of Harry Potter.”
Jamie: I think it depends on the storyline as well. Like we started off in Philosopher’s Stone we went through to Deathly Hallows and each one continued that saga. I think a book like this has to be a companion book more than – like, it doesn’t really feel like a Harry Potter book because we found out everything that we can find out. Although obviously it’s going to give some extra tid bits of information it’s not going to continue the story.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Well actually, I hope that she writes more books.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: I mean she created that huge Wizarding World and everything, and she’s just going to focus on just one character.
Andrew: Well yeah, I mean…
Matt: I kind of wish she adds on.
Andrew: She has the potential now to write stories about Harry’s children – everyone’s children.
Matt: Yeah.
Elysa: Yeah.
Andrew: And I think it would be really interesting, and everyone – that would sell like crazy.
Jamie: We have to hope that she’s feeling the credit crunch…
[Andrew and Audience laugh]
Jamie: …so she has to write to make more money.
Andrew: After that VAT drop, I doubt – I think she’ll be fine.
Jamie: That’s true, yeah.
Andrew: See how I knew that? The signs are everywhere.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: How about this girl right here. Hi, what’s your name?
Audience Member: Emma.
Andrew: Hi Emma.
Audience Member: I’m just kind of going off what you were just saying, do you think that J.K. can’t really let go of Harry Potter?
[Andrew laughs]
Audience Member: She’s like, interview, finish…
Andrew: That’s a good question.
Audience Member: The encyclopedia. Maybe she should go on and do more things?
Jamie: I don’t know. I think she kind of has though, because you know she – the epilogue of Book 7 kind of ended it. Kind of said, how can she really write more after she said what’s going to happen to them. She can write past that point, but I don’t really think she can go back and write before that point.
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: I think she kind of let go with that, but I don’t know. Again, if she’s – feeling the pinch…
Andrew: I mean, after you’re doing that for what, ten years, you’ve got to feel like…
Jamie: Yeah.
Andrew: You can’t let go of it, really. Right?
Elysa: Yeah, I mean, I haven’t let go of it.
Andrew: Yeah. [laughs] Nobody has.
Elysa: So I’m hoping she…
Andrew: Well yeah, that’s thing too. I mean, I think as long as J.K. Rowling keeps seeing this huge fandom surrounding it – because, you know, the big question around Book 7 was, “Oh, what’s going to happen to the fandom after…” And here we are, almost a year and half later, and nothing’s happened.
Matt: Well, a lot of authors tend to disconnect from their material more than the fans do. Like Tolkien, he actually got upset because he seemed like, he was the only person in the entire, you know, Lord of the Rings…
Andrew: Fandom?
Matt: Story that could, that could – not disconnect from the world, except him.
Jamie: You can get exhausted with a character as well as exhausted with a story. I think she probably does want to move on and write something new. Start from the beginning, and also…
Matt: Doesn’t she want to do a crime drama or something? Suspense novel?
Elysa: Yeah, I read that.
Andrew: Suspense?
Matt: Something like that right?
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: That’s going to be awesome.
Andrew: Yeah. Well anything she does now is going to be – it’s going get huge hype around it. Because how could it not? Imagine starting another suspense novel or whatever, and starting this whole trilogy all over again. It won’t be as fun as Harry Potter, but…
Elysa: Didn’t she say though that if she published anything else outside of Harry Potter she was considering…
Andrew: [laughs] A pen name.
Elysa: …using a pseudonym?
Andrew: A what?
Elysa: A pseudonym, like changing her name.
Andrew: Oh.
Matt: To like, Joanne Rowling?
Andrew: Wasn’t she just joking though? I mean.
Elysa: I mean, I couldn’t tell.
Jamie: It would get leaked as well. We’re going to find out.
Andrew: Yeah.
Elysa: Yeah, oh no, I mean, we definitely would.
Andrew: [laughs] Oh yeah, I mean that would be really hard to keep it a secret.
Elysa: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah. Stephenie Meyer is actually Stephenie Meyer, for those wondering.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: Hi.
Audience Member: Just – this is something a friend of mine and I were talking about. It’s kind of going back to the fandom thing. There’s the Harry Potter books, the literary part of it and how great they are and well written, and then the fandom of it, that you guys are a part of, you know, with the MuggleCast and everything like that. With – keeping all that in mind, how do you guys feel about the theme park coming out?
Matt: I kind of want to see it.
Andrew: What? You can almost see it?
Matt: I want to see it.
Andrew: Oh, yeah, well I think…
Audience Member: Well I think they have some plans…
Andrew: Yeah, yeah yeah.
Matt: Oh. Nice.
Andrew: I’m excited! But like, when this theme park was just a rumor, people were like, “Oh, well that’s sort of really, that’s kind of selling out,” that’s what some people were sort of saying. Because whoever thought Harry Potter would ever be a theme park? And then the theme park was the biggest hint that Harry wouldn’t die, because everyone was saying that, “Oh, well if Harry dies, then nobody would want to go to…” well, people would go, but it’ll be a sad mood if Harry’s dead, and…
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: Everyone’s like, “Whee! I’m riding Harry Potter’s Firebolt! And he died.”
[Audience laughs]
Matt: I think it’d be really cool, though. I mean, you could actually go in to the Three Broomsticks or something and actually order a drink.
Andrew: Yeah, that’s pretty sweet.
Matt: That’d be sweet.
Andrew: Now, as U.K. people, do you hesitate with the trip? Because it’s going to be a good…
Audience: No.
Audience Member: Yes!
Andrew: No? Okay.
Matt: No.
Andrew: “Yes”? I heard one “yes.”
Matt: They’ve got time to save up.
Audience Member: Why isn’t in the U.K., though?
Andrew: Because – no offense, but we’ve got Disneyland, we’ve got Disney World…
[Audience Member starts to argue her point]
Andrew: Personally – I think it would have been a lot cooler to do an entire Harry Potter theme park rather than putting it in Universal. Because Universal’s limited.
Jamie: Yeah, but that’s a big deal, doing an entire thing for Harry Potter.
Andrew: Yeah, I know. But think about how many Disney fans, and then think about how many Harry Potter fans there are. Think about how many Universal fans of all those movies that are there, like – what’s there? Dr. Seuss I think, Jurassic Park – I’ve never been there – The Hulk. Yeah, all Univeral movies and stuff like that.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: The Harry Potter thing would reach out.
Matt: It’s a good thing Harry Potter‘s a Universal movie, too.
Andrew: Yeah, that doesn’t make sense, but…
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: I think we have time for a couple more questions. How about this girl over here. [Starts singing] Dead air. Okay, go ahead. What’s your question?
Audience Member: As David Heyman is directing the next films, do you think it will suck as much as Order of the Phoenix did?
Andrew: Yates, you mean.
Audience Member: Compared to the books? Yates.
Andrew: You don’t like it?
Audience Member: No. It was terrible.
[Andrew and Audience laugh]
Andrew: Does everyone think David Yates is going to be good – be able to carry it through? I do. I mean, here’s why I’m excited about Half-Blood Prince: I think that – this is the second time we’re seeing a director direct two Harry Potters. And I think Chamber of Secrets did definitely get better after Sorcerer’s Stone. And now David Yates has a lot to look back on, and be like, “Okay, here’s what I can do differently.”
Jamie: Yeah, but he wants them to bring their own style to it. Like, Heyman said, didn’t he, that he wanted every director to not look back? Didn’t he say that? And he wanted everyone to treat their – like, one Harry Potter film as their project and stuff, and not look back to previous films?
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Yeah, but then – that’s why the movies don’t really connect to each other.
Jamie: Well no, yeah, that’s true. They don’t at all. But do you think Half-Blood Prince is going to be good, or do you…
Audience Member: I hope so. The trailer looks good.
Elysa: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah, the trailer looks good.
Matt: The trailers always look good, though.
Andrew: Yeah, they do. They really do. Yes?
Audience Member: I just wanted to add a comment to that, because I sensed from all the extras on the DVDs that all the actors really love working with him compared to the director before.
Andrew: Yeah.
Audience Member: And as the movies get more intense, the acting needs to get more intense, so I’m really excited about the nuances for the new movies.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: I think David Yates is – as we’ve seen him – is probably more passionate, and more – wants the fans to like the movie more. Because…
Andrew: You know, I heard that – sorry.
Matt: Sorry. No, go ahead.
Andrew: I heard that too, that Mike Newell didn’t really connect with the kids very well, if that’s who you’re talking about.
Audience Member: He actually yells a lot.
Andrew: Yeah, I heard that somewhere.
Audience Member: I think it was somewhere on the DVD clips.
Andrew: “I yell at the kids! It makes them good! I hate them! Grr! But it makes good acting.” Okay. And we’ll do one final question, and then we’ll start wrapping it up, and then we’ve got Beedle the Bard in 45 minutes. You look like you want to say something. Do you? She’s like, “I don’t know!”
Audience Member: Well, I’m not sure if everyone will agree, but I’m not particularly a big fan of Emma Watson’s Hermione. I feel like the cheeks sometimes are over dramatic. And I just…
Matt: And her eyebrows constantly move.
Audience: Yeah!
[Audience cheers]
Matt: I mean, every time she opens her mouth, they go up.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: I wish we just had a mic on the whole audience, because you just heard all these little, [whispers] “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: [laughs] “Finally, somebody said it!” I think she’s good, but I think in the Half-Blood Prince trailer, that crying was a little “eh.” As we said on the live show, people were very excited about her bushy hair. But I think that just came from being electrocuted or something. Because if you look at…
Elysa: It didn’t look that way in the rest of it.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: What?
Elysa: It didn’t look that way in the rest of it. It was just that one part. I saw the same frame.
Matt: But that one part was heavenly.
[Audience and Elysa laughs]
Andrew: If you look at Seamus standing next to him, I think he looks a little dirtied up.
Elysa: He did.
Andrew: So that’s why…
Matt: His face blew up, that’s why.
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: Again!
Elysa: His face always blows up.
Matt: Oh, all right, okay. Sorry.
Andrew: Okay, one last – you were – you already went! This is not fair!
Audience Member: I think I know why Hermione’s hair is bushy in that particular scene.
Andrew: Why?
Audience Member: In the book, there’s the description when Harry’s sort of cheating by using the Half-Blood Prince’s potion book. Hermione’s getting more and more frustrated.
Andrew: Oh, right.
Matt: Yeah, yeah! That’s exactly what I said, see?
Audience Member: At one point, she actually pulls out a bit of her own hair to put in the potion. And I might have knew Seamus has been blowing up probably in potions.
Andrew: Cool. That’s a good point. Yep.
Jamie: Very good point.
Andrew: Definitely. All right guys, unfortunately we do have to start wrapping it up. Of course we’re going to hang around and hang out with everyone…
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: …until Beedle the Bard in 45 minutes. We can all have our personal MuggleCasts once we stop recording.
[Audience cheers]
Andrew: [quietly] We’re doing another show, but Waterstone’s doesn’t know!
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: Anyway, thank you everyone for coming out tonight. Is everyone so excited for Beedle?
[Audience cheers]
Andrew: Real quick, is everyone – I mean, you know, we all stayed up for Book 7, so everyone’s going to stay up all night reading the…
[Audience laughs]
Andrew: I hope it’s substantial.
Matt: Yeah, it will only take you two or three hours.
Andrew: It’s going to be handed to us, and we’re going to be like, “Awww.” [makes fart noise] No, we’re just kidding. We’re very excited. Thank you so much to Waterstone’s. Thank you to the crew who’s been doing this for us, everyone back there. Jill James especially, she’s been coordinating this whole event with us, so thank you very much to her.
[Show music starts]
Matt: Thank you, Jill.
Andrew: And thank you guys for coming. We’ve got lots of t-shirts up here, they’re free. So come on up.
[Audience cheers]
Andrew: Thanks again to Alivans.com, too. All right, thanks everybody.