So we were tossing around links this morning looking for something fun to show you, and we happened across this Star Wars fan film.

“This short won the top prize – the Filmmaker Select Award AND the Best Comedy Award in the 2018 Official Star Wars Fan Film Contest. This is the longer version that originally showed on Youtube, including Professor hans Von Puppet as Yoda. “

Well okay then, they had our interest. We started watching, and – wait, that guy looks familiar. Is that Travis Richey in the role of Luke Skywalker, the same Travis Richey that starred as Professor Spacetime on Community and again on his web series An Untitled Motion Picture About A Space Traveler Who Also Travels Through Time? And he’s talking to possibly the most crude Yoda puppet we’ve ever seen.

And it just gets strange and uncomfortable from there – and that’s the point. It’s the funniest bit of Star Wars fan production we’ve seen in a long time.

Pause the SCIFI.radio music stream while you watch. Use the controller at the upper right.

They’ve really gone to great lengths to make all this feel authentic enough to pass for 1983’s Return of the Jedi, in which Yoda dies. The goofy appearance of the upholstery foam Yoda is belied by the complexity the puppet obviously has. It can emote, and has facial expressions, and when we saw the puppet doing that, well, we knew something was up.

We’ve always thought that bit where Ben Kenobi’s ghost fesses up and admits that Darth Vader really was Luke’s father was a little strange, and this short film seizes that moment and runs with it.

The film was directed by Mark W. Gray, stars Mark W. Gray as Obi-wan Kenobi and Travis Richie as Luke Skywalker, and was filmed at Youtube Space LA.

With the final chapter of the Skywalker saga Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker releasing this year on December 20, 2019, it’s good to remember just how much creativity Star Wars has, and will continue, to inspire.

Excellent work, guys.

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