Wizard People, Dear Reader

About

Wizard People, Dear Reader is a film featuring comedian Brad Neely dubbing over the film Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone. Reading over the events of the film as though it were a 35-chapter audiobook, Neely's inaccurate portrayal of the film's characters, his drunk/rambling imitation of Steven "Jesse" Bernstein,^[1] and nasal timbre have helped make Wizard People, Dear Reader a cult classic among Harry Potter fans.

Origin

As Neely tells it, he came up with the idea following a night at a bar when Neely noticed a patron listening to an audiobook. Someone suggested the patron was listening to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, which prompted Neely's conception of the Wizard People, Dear Reader narrator.^[4] The first presentation was in 2004, at the New York Underground Film Festival.

Spread

Following its debut, it was hosted on the website illegal-art.net. However, after a couple live performances, Warner Brothers forced theaters to cancel future performances. Several different versions are uploaded to Youtube, including a version on HarryPotterCentral.^[2] Another upload that goes over the original film's audio was uploaded by Scott Chapman.^[3]

Notable Jokes

Misnomers

Neely gives nearly the entire cast of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone different names in Wizard People, Dear Reader. For example, Ron becomes "Ronnie the Bear," Hermione becomes "The Wretched Harmony," Snape becomes "Snake" (and a woman), Hagrid becomes "Hagar the Horrible," etc.

Harry's Alcoholism

Neely also paints Harry as a bitter alcoholic, with references to Harry taking swigs of alcohol that obviously are not on screen. For example, Neely mentions Harry using a "Wine-Out-Of-Nowhere spell," and later finds him "nursing a head that's had one too many cognacs."

Popular Scenes

Notable scenes include Harry engaging with "Snake" in a staring contest (shown below, left) and the Quidditch ("Cribbage") match (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References