Tuesday, March 8, 2022

The Magic Shelf (RiffTrax Shorts)


RiffTrax Year:  2016
Riffers:  Bridget Nelson, Mary Jo Pehl

Soup!  Won't you?

That's about the extent of what this short is about.  The Magic Shelf is a short produced by Campbell's Soup showcasing the many ways you can both enhance their delicious canned soup and how you can improve your every day meals with the addition of soup.  And in addition to the soup recipes featured in today's short, we also start off with a magic show to snap us to attention before it bores us and/or makes us hungry.

Perhaps I'm underestimating The Magic Shelf, as it was made during a period in which we didn't have Martha Stewart giving us recipe tips, a full time Food Network, Gordon Ramsay screaming at you for making food wrong, or even YouTube videos letting the world know your own personal recipes.  The Magic Shelf probably served a function to house wives of the 50's who are looking for tips for their next meal so their husband doesn't run off with his secretary.

Bridget and Mary Jo seem a bit taken aback by the short more than anything.  They don't understand the magic act, while the recipes in the ten minute finale don't seem to appetize them at all.  They seem bemused by it, possibly because they've had experience as family home cooks themselves and they think what's on display is weird.  Trust me, you do not want me fixing a meal for you, so I'll probably have to admit I'm not quite with them on this journey because I'm practically unsalvageable in the culinary arts.

I didn't really laugh a lot during this one.  I enjoyed a quip at Breaking Bad calling our hostess the "Walter White of the kitchen," though nothing really sticks out.  I also enjoyed Bridget's little breakdown at the end.  But while the short is pleasant, I think Bridget and Mary Jo were more amused about what was going on than I was.

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