I WATCHED TWISTED FOR THE FIRST TIME! (and a message to StarKid fans) 

Jinn or Djinn IS the original term for genie used in Hindu and Islam. It was not used in the original Disney Aladdin but was probably used in the original story, "One Thousand and One Nights."

fun fact! the guy who yells "I don't think so!" is darren criss. he wasn't placed there, it wasn't part of the script. he was just in the audience

Rachel’s version of Jasmine is basically London Tipton and I’m here for it lmao

Fun fact: Lauren turned off all of the lights in one of the shows because she accidentally leaned up against a Light switch. I don’t know what’s funnier, her turning off the lights or the fact that there was a light switch that far down the wall 😂

Amy: "I felt bad for Cruella." The Starkid Fandom watching: "...TEEHEE!"

Joey is in pretty much every starkid musical. This is one of the only ones he isn’t in.

You can identify how many years a Starkid show has, if you compare the length of Jeff Blim’s hair 😂

Here's some clarification on a few things: -Nick Lang, one of the writers, has said that they cast shows based on who is available to be in the shows, usually people they have worked with before on either Starkid or non-Starkid projects. Currently, based on what Nick Lang has said, they write character specifically for people (He said he wrote Emma specifically for Lauren for example). For Twisted in particular, I believe they didn't have a completely set cast when the script was written, so they held auditions for it (Jim Povolo said he auditioned for Achmed, but they decided on Joe Walker for the role). -They use Djinn instead of Genie since that is the original word for genie. If you notice only Ja'afar uses Djinn rather than Genie to show his higher education than the other townsfolk. They also have Scheherazade in this story, who was the storyteller in the original One Thousand and One Nights story. -The Assassins connection was dead on! Nick Lang said when he told AJ Holmes and Kaley McMahon (Composer and lyricist) what kind of songs he wanted, he envisioned the Twisted number as the scene in Assassins where all the past Assassins confront Lee and convince him to kill JFK (Take a Look Lee). Also fun fact, when he originally wanted Judge Frollo to be one of the villains, but Kaley didn't want to write an arc to defend his actions since she thought he was too dark a villain. -*This is just an opinion* I think Starkid fans are so chill and welcoming because that is how the creators of Starkid are as well. They are always open to answering questions via live stream or Twitter (Nick Lang responds to lots of tweets). We are able to share so much knowledge about this thing we love because the creators aren't afraid to share their art and process with everyone (this is how theatre should be). *I got all of my info from live streams where they answered questions or talked about memories so if you want I can give sources to my claims.

Starship might not be their best but it’s extremely nostalgic to me and it might have one of the best villain song and I highly recommend it

'Joe always plays the baddie' Starship: aRe YoU sUrE aBoUt ThAt

The guy who played Jafar (Dylan Saunders) actually was crying most of the times that he looked like he was. Apparently he got super emotional every performance

"I was crying because I felt sorry for Cruella DeVil" - Amy says, unknowing that Cruella is the only villain that lacks a second side to the story as seen in Twisted (the song).

I would watch Starship next! It is one of their earliest musicals, so it is a bit rough but it was what made me fall in love with Starkid other than the Potter musicals. I also think it is better to watch it sooner than later, because the more you see the more your gonna see that they weren't at their full potential yet with Starship. It's real good though, and the songs I listen the most to. Joe Walker plays a good guy! The villain song is ICONIC.

Highly recommend The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals and then Black Friday. They are part of a new series that Starkid is doing

i think the starkid community isn’t as gate keeper-y like the rest of the musical theatre fandom because of where we get the content- online. it consists of a lot of people who can’t afford to see live shows or go to broadway or who may not have access to see shows. there’s less of that power dynamic, of people who’ve seen this this and that and somehow think it makes them better than those who cannot see those things. there’s a mutual understanding and we instead fuel that into a mutual love and respect for what starkid does. also the amount of interaction we get with the starkids probably helps as well. live streams, social media interactions (sharing posts such as fan art, acknowledging fans), some do acting classes over skype, merch so on and so forth. that way even the people who can’t see their shows are able to interact with the cast and feel equally as seen and like we’re able to support them as well. starkid emits so much good into the world and as an australian theatre kid who can’t see shows very often, has no access to broadway or west end and feels so guilty when watching bootlegs i am so grateful for all they do. i’m so happy you’re enjoying them, i’ve been wanting you to comment on them or react to them for a while!

One PHENOMENAL Musical is “The Trail To Oregon”. It’s so good that it got a short lived off-broadway show. It’s also unique because it had a LOT of audience participation.

If you turn on the subtitles it says Darren Criss is the one who says "I don't think so " when Jasmine asks the audience if Jafar is right

Amy: a whole song for the baddies!!! Me: ROUGES ARE WE!!!

When Jasmine says “because it IS you, you’re just wearing different clothes” i can imagine Aladdin’s pea-sized brain going “wait... you’re actually smart? WELL WTF AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THAT?!”

If your looking for... A meme-able musical: Trail to oregen A gory musical: The guy who didn't like musicals or Black Friday A musical with amazing music: Holy Musical B@tman or Firebringer That's my recommended list

I just have three things to say: 1. Get ready to fall in love with Robert Manion 2. Twisted is the best starkid musical (in my opinion) 3. No One Remembers Achmed is the best song (in my opinion) Welcome to starkid Amy! :)

Amy: Joe Walker is most of the time the villian Starship: *exists * All jokes aside, you should watch starship its my favorite musical!

What I’ve seen about Starkid fans, they’re just so damn happy that anyone else is willing to watch a dozen full length musicals and talk about them nonstop. It’s a real community.

They call him "Djinn" for the same reason they keep referring to Jasmine as "Princess". They were already on the verge of copyright infringement for putting this show on, so they had to change the names somewhat. Just enough that Disney won't sue them. In the titles, Dylan's character is called "Ja Far" for that very reason.

As someone who watched most of the starkid musicals as they came out it's weird not seeing her get excited when people like Jeff Blim or Meredith or Denise come out because this is her first time seeing them even though they were already staple starkid fan faves by this point.

Last time I was this early, people still remembered Achmed.

“There’s a lot of expletives” oh just wait for the guy who didn’t like musicals. There’s not a single clean song and It’s amazing

When she was talking about the Starkid fandom being nice, i was like "That's riiiiiight!"

They have multiple people who write, depends on the show as to who, then they cast from the company and often bring in new people (usually only people they already know/have worked with before, one exception was where they actually had a fan contest and Robert Manion won the chance for his work to be in AVPSY so they got to know him as a fan first - now he's a staple!)

Personal preference here but - you should watch starship! My favorite way I’ve seen someone describe it is “it’s not starkids best musical by a long shot, but it’s my favorite starkid musical”

Twisted: "um, a dramatic love duet is playi-" Amy: "she has such good skin"

A newer musical of theirs ‘the guy who didn’t like musicals’ is probably one of my favourites along with twisted, and I’ve seen some other people recommending ‘Spies are forever’ by the tin can bros, as quite a few actors overlap. They’re both really good. I really love your reactions and these videos. I’m so glad I found them. :)

“Joe Walker seems to always play the baddies” the he plays Batman. That made me laugh real hard

"The question then is whether 'tis nobler in the mind to be well-liked but ineffectual or moral but miligned" is also very similar to the beginning of the To Be or Not To Be speech from Hamlet: "To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them."

I think I actually cried when I first saw the end of twisted where he sings the “let my life be twisted” part because his story is so tragic and I literally get chills at this part every time

Pretty much every Starkid musical is amazing, but I feel like a lot of people overlook Starship, but it’s such a sweet one. If you like joe, you should definitely give it a watch

The musicals I would suggest you watch next: The Trail to Oregon! Firebringer Holy Musical B@man! Spies Are Forever (it's a Starkid adjacent show, meaning it's done by a different group, but several actors overlap) The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals and Black Friday are must sees, but I would suggest you watch the ones above before those because these two are their newest, and I think you would enjoy seeing the progression of the group.

I feel like everyone is forgetting about Holy Musical Batman! D:

I personally love “Starship” but it’s often overlooked, you should give that a watch.

To answer some basic questions/what happens on the other shows: The writers will often create a character with a specific starkid in mind (Achmed was written for Joe, Father was written for Jeff), and other times they will audition, but most of the time you can tell who will play a character based on the acting/singing/dancing required. Occasionally they will cast a show and then create extra characters for Starkids that weren’t casted (schwoopsie in Firebringer was written because Jamie didn’t match any characters in the already written show). Joey, Brian Rosenthal and Corey (the set designer) teamed up when some of the starkids moved to LA and formed the Tin Can Brothers (TCB). They have two shows, a musical called spies are forever (about spies in the 1950’s), and a play called Solve It Squad Returns (Scooby Doo but they’ve grown up). The most recent two Starkid shows are The Guy Who Didnt like Musicals and Black Friday, they take place in a town called Hatchetfield, and are incredibly well-written. Before that was Firebringer, about cavewoman and the discovery of fire. Trail to Oregon is easily the funniest of the starkid shows, and at the same time they also produced Ani, a parody of Star Wars. They have also put on shows called Me and My Dick (the name speaks for itself), Holy Musical Batman, and Starship. So glad to see you start watching these! I hope to see more of this series!

She actually did it. She watched Twisted. The madwoman. Also, you should totally watch Starship next imo!!! It’s my second fave Starkid musical (right under tgwdlm) and I think you’ll really like it! The puppetry is super nifty and as other comments have said, it has one of the absolute BEST villain songs out there! And I’m really glad you’ve been so welcomed into the fandom! Welcome!!! :)

technically it’s not starkid but you have to watch Spies are forever by the Tin Can Bros. It’s made by the same people and stars many starkids. Personally i think it’s the best ‘starkid’ musical

“Gaston my favourite!” Oh Amy don’t you mean “Robert Manion my favourite!”

The kindness that radiates from the Starkid fandom I believe is a direct result of the kindness and love that the Starkids have for themselves and each other. You can tell that even though it's been 10+ years they are all extremely close friends and that has allowed many fans to become friends as well. Also all their shows, show a great respect and admiration of the original source material (Harry Potter, Disney, Superheroes, etc.). All their parodies come from a place trying to honour instead of mock.

From my experience, the Starkid fandom is one of the kindest, open fandoms I've ever seen. Most of us just want more people to know about Starkid, so it's basically the opposite of gatekeeping! We want you to join!

Amy @ Jeff: “He’s scary” just wait for The Guy Who Doesn’t Like Musicals 😂 Starship would be good next!! Darren wrote the music and Joey is the main!! And Dylan plays the most adorable character, what more could you ask for?!

When jasmine talks to the audience someone says don’t trust him or something like that that someone is Darren criss

Starkid fans are pretty well known for watching and loving people who are watching for the first time! Starkid fans tend to really really love watching reactions to the musical for the first time, which I love personally because it reminds me of the joy I had when I first watched it.

Also yes welcome to starkid, we swear a lot

Yes, you are coming closer and closer to the Starkid Cult... I mean family, yes family...

The trail to Oregon!! If your missing Joey, he's most of the side characters

4:54 Monkey comes on stage with its crazy eyes. Amy: Look of fear and disgust. Amy: "That monkey is so cute!"

I know a lot of people want you to watch The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals next, but I recommend watching the older shows before that to be more familiar with how they work. I feel like Trail to Oregon and after has a way different vibe than the older ones, so I would recommend Starship or Holy Musical Batman. This way, going back to the older ones isn't such a jump. They are all great though! (I have been in the fandom for 2 and a half years and started with AVPM and went to twisted after that like you did)

Darren Criss write the music for Starship, if that influences your choice at all . . .

"they always cast Joe walker as the baddie" well, check out the the starkid musical "holy musical, b@man" (because they don't want to get copyrighted)

About how they cast each show. I asked them that question during one of their live-streams and they said that the casting is different for every show. Sometimes they audition for the parts and sometimes they are written with a specific Starkid in mind. :) Here's the live-stream where Nick Lang answers my question: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Ddj6lLviPFU.html At- 3:51:47

They call Genie “Djinn” because it is accurate to the original folklore and to get around Disney copyright. That’s also why they spell it Ja’far and only call Jasmine “Princess”. The cowboy camp joke is a Toy Story 2 reference. I agree with everyone saying you should watch Spies Are Forever ( and Solve it Squad!) but if you do, please bear in mind that it’s actually a Tin Can Bros. production. Please do not frame it as Starkid because they are separate production companies and the actors have asked us to respect that separation by not tagging them as eachother. But if you would rather stick with Starkid, I completely agree with everyone recommending Starship! It has most of the original actors and it’s one of my favorites!

It’s fine, Amy. Don’t worry about changing your content - you’re THE Amy Lovatt, and imo you’re up there with Kath Steele. We all have lots of respect for you 💕 Also if you wanna see more of Lauren as a boy, watch Trail To Oregon

Bro the starkid fandom is literally the chilliest fandom ever

in terms of your question about casting: - certain roles are written for certain actors, for ex achmed was written for joe walker - despite some of these roles being written for specific actors, everybody still has to audition like any other show - most shows are written just without regard for the cast, but are often revised and revised several times throughout the process to play to the casts strenghts - a good example of that is the fact that avpm was revised so many times w the music etc that they even learned one song about 2 days before opening & added a cast member about 3 days before or something like that

My personal recommendation would be to wait a bit for The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals. It is very good, but I think it's easier to get into if you've seen some of their early work. It's also more of comedy horror than a straight comedy, so a bit of a departure from what you have been watching so far. You should watch Starship, The Trail to Oregon, or Holy Musical Batman next!

"he's so scary." AHHAHAHA YES. Jeff is indeed. Scary.

Honestly the Starkid fandom is the kindest and best fandom I've ever been a part of. I've met some lovely people and this fandom and those people have pulled be out of so many dark times. So welcome to the fandom haha! It's a really great group of people.

PLEASE watch The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals or The Trail to Oregon next please. In my opinion, they are the funniest ones

Watch Starship! Dylan Saunders is terrific. The puppetry is killer! You’ll love it!

Dylan is the master of duets, he’s got amazing ones in both Black Friday and Starship. His voice is just incredible

PLEASE watch spies are forever, I know it's not technically starkid but it's got a lot of the starkids in it and its FREAKIN FANTASTIC

Fun fact:the guy who shouts "I dont think so" when jasmine breaks the fourth wall is actually darren chris

Aw that’s such a sweet intro! I really agree, I think occasionally the fandom can be a bit Much (coughworkingboyscough) but I don’t think I’ve seen people be toxic in the way that most other shows/fandoms are. And yes, twisted>>>>>>>>

6:28 "Ugh I love him" Join the club dear (the club being the entire starkid fandom)

I recommend starship next, but as for why the fandom is so lovely, I think it’s because of the amazing people who make up Team Starkid! They are really good friends and it reflects onto their fandom :)

From experience, I can tell you that the Starkid fandom is one of the loveliest fandoms and easiest to get into, especially considering how dedicated a lot of us are. It’s such a wonderful, sweet part of the theatre community without some of the same drama and gate keeping

PLEASE watch “the guy who didn’t like musicals” and then “black friday” next!! you have to watch them in that order because they are connected and are apart of a new series starkid is currently doing!!

I love Twisted, it's one of my favourite Starkid musicals. They had to avoid a lot of copyright stuff with this one because of Disney. Aladdin is public domain but they had to change the spelling of Jafar's name, and the princess is never actually called Jasmin in the show. I think that's why they keep calling the Genie, Djinn. If you want to see Joe Walker as a good guy he plays Batman in Holy Musical Batman. If you want to see Joey Richter (Ron) in a bigger role, he is the lead in Starship. Which the creators themselves have called "The Little Mermaid, but in space!"

Basically Nick and Matt Lang have an idea for a musical then they get a basic idea for a script , then they get ppl to audition , Jeff Blim writes the music . Basically Jeff Blim writes all the music in all the shows and he's a damn genius he can sing , dance, act and write .

omg..im so glad u watched this..iconic show

*chanting and dancing in a circle* FIRE BRINGER FIRE BRINGER FIRE BRINGER FIRE BRINGER

Now u gotta watch the guy who didn’t like musicals!

here in the starkid fandom we pride ourselves on being as kind as possible and welcoming :)

OK AJ HOLMES WROTE THE MUSIC FOR THIS ONE AND I CANNOT STRESS TO YOU ENOUGH HOW FRICKING GOOD IT IS FROM A LISTENER STANDPOINT AND A COMPOSITIONAL STANDPOINT???? IM DOING A SCORE STUDY OF THIS MUSICAL FOR MY DEGREE (IM STUDYING TO BE A COMPOSER) AND HOLY FRICK HE'S A GENIUS AND I WOULD DIE FOR HIM AND DYLAN SAUNDERS

The guy who wrote the music for this (AJ Holmes) was Elder Cunningham in Book of Mormon in the West End! He had a one man show in London a few months ago and it was amazing 😍 I really recommend watching the Twisted Hangouts, they discuss the songs and the writing process. It's really interesting to get a behind the scenes look into the show. Also did you clock that the cute duet from the start of the show 'A Thousand and One Night's' is the pop song playing over the credits?! Honestly I love this show so much because of details like that and I'm so happy people are still discovering it!

Jeff Blim is one of my favorite Starkid members! Twisted is definitely one of their best shows (although, let's be real, they're all amazing!)

I gotta say I agree with your assessment of the Starkid community! I’ve always had great experiences with other fans! And ugh it’s just so fun watching you discover them for the first time!! Twisted is my personal favorite so I loved this. My vote for the next one is Starship!

Can confirm "No One Remembers Achmed" is one of the greatest songs of all time, and I'm really enjoying seeing you watch these musicals for the first time. I don't even normally watch reaction videos, but seeing a lover of musical theater discover StarKid is great.

I was in the audience for the tapings of this show and Firebringer! These shows were so so fun to see live! Twisted still ranks as my favorite! Also, that song with all the villains was meant to be a kind of mashup between Assassins and No Good Deed from Wicked.

it’s not starkid technically, but please do spies are forever!

I would recommend the following order from now on: The guy who didn't like musicals Just so you can see what Starkid is able to do. It's full of heart, very clever and it's obvious that everyone involved has the time of their lives. Also it's just so good because the actors progressed so much. Also after the incredible Twisted you have something similar good. Twisted and TGWDLM are the best ones so far I think. Starship The best villain song, great characters, but a little bit slow (just 8 songs in 3 hours). You will appreciate the style. It's There little mermaid meets Starship Troopers. Just too cute. A very Potter Senior Year By now you can appreciate every second of it. Hold your tissues. Firebringer Is a little awkward in regards to comedy, but has great pacing, great story and catchy songs. Trail to Oregon The most experimental of all of them. Catchy tunes, dumbshit hilarious characters and Joe Richter as the bad guy (with a great bad guy song) Me and my Dick A little rough, but worth a watch. Very underrated songs. Holy Musical B@man Pacingwise more on the bad side, but great villains, great (candy) puns and absolutely hilarious. Black Friday Really, really good. They pull out everything they got, I personally don't like it as much as all the others. Can't tell why. Doesn't seem too rewatchable. The only musical I've just seen once.

If you loved Dylan Saunders in this, then you will definitely love Starship. He plays two very different roles in this and he’s absolutely amazing at both. That show literally made me fall in love with him. Also Joey is the lead in this show (and Tyler Brunsman has a cameo). Starship is my favourite show after Twisted and it’s really just a fun and cute show and probably one of their best produced shows. Although Holy Musical Batman and Trail to Oregon are really great too. With AVPSY, don’t let the fact that it’s a reading stop you from watching it, it’s still a great show and definitely worth the watch. Also to answer your question about casting. All of the shows (except Trail to Oregon) are written by Nick and Matt Lang, although they do collaborate with other people for some shows. I believe some roles are written with certain people in mind but there’s still an audition process, particularly if they’re casting new actors. Also, maybe after watching the Starkid shows, I recommend you watch Spies are Forever by The Tin Can Brothers (they’re a group formed by some members of Starkid). It’s a phenomenal show and features a few Starkid actors. Also the reason why the music is so amazing in this is because it is written by AJ Holmes (and lyrics by Kaley McMahon) who is a god.

Next up: Holy Musical Batman! (and I have a sneaking suspicion you'll like who plays the lead role (; it is one of the more controversial ones as for its quality, so I think it's a good jumping off point from (imo) the best of the best, Twisted (praise Dylan, our one true starkid soloist).

7:06 I remember seeing somewhere that when they (Nick and Matt Lang to begin with, then others like Jeff Blim) write the shows they often have certain cast members in mind, but everybody still auditions for pieces. I don’t have a source for this (just the echoes of memories past) but if anyone knows where/when they said this, it’d be much appreciated!

If you liked the song “power in me” check out the demo sung by Aj Holmes and Andrea Ross, it’s amazing.

I’m so glad that Starkid is getting more recognition.

It pissed me off so much that the Aladdin remake forgot Achmed.

The guy who didn’t like musicals is one of my all time favorites, and Black Friday has a super interesting twilight zone kind of plot so you can’t go wrong with either of them!

You should definitely watch The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals next And sadly Tyler and Darren are only in the Potter Musicals

Your message really made me smile ! 😁 Also Jeff (the guy who played Aladdin) is always that scary

Yesss! Twisted is my favourite Starkid show! You should also check out Spies Are Forever. It's not Starkid exactly but it has lots of their actors in it and it's literally one of my favourite musicals of all time! Also this video series makes me so happy! Even if you don't like a musical as much as I do, it's still sooo much fun to watch you discovering Starkid since the company has been a big part of my life for years now!

You've GOT to watch Spies are Forever. It's so good!

They have a core group of reoccurring actors that they pool from, and they have said that sometimes they will tailor a character toward a specific actor, and other times they go through the audition process with the group. It seems that they typically add people to their repertoire only through recommendation, but for their latest musical they did have to hire outside of that. At its heart, Starkid is successful because of the genuine friendship everyone has. The best thing about being a fan is getting to see this wonderful group of individuals tackle a different character every year (and getting to explore the minds of the Lang brothers with each show). And when new actors get added to the group, it's even better! This past summer they did a reunion concert for their 10th anniversary, and they had around forty actors who have all been in a show at some point. It was AMAZING and I DID cry.

I think the reason everyone is so nice is because the cast always model that behaviour and we just want to share their talent with everyone because we think the deserve the world for being good actors and good people