Lord Xerus takes on the frantic traditions of the holiday in Lord Xerus and the Christmas Savings.

It’s no secret that SCIFI.radio derives its strength from the celebration of the works of others. Creativity is a special kind of joy all its own, and we do our best to bring you what bits of it we can throughout the year.

Today’s selection is another one such: it’s Lord Xerus and the Christmas Savings, presented here in its entirety. In this remarkable two part epic tale, Lord Xerus must rescue Santa Claus and the elves from the clutches of Evil in order to save Christmas itself. The two parter makes use of simple, yet stylish, animation and live action sequences, combined with the the use of miniatures that work just well enough to provide the settings for each scene. Since it’s a comedy, they don’t have to work very well, fortunately for producer and audience alike. It’s all part of the charm.

The first part details the plight of Santa Claus and the world that depends on him for Christmas as evil entrepreneur Jim Bozos, owner of Azhole, wrings his ly wrings his hands over the brilliance of his Evil Plan to take over the world, with the elves working for Azhole in misery. Lord Xerus, the Crunk Knight, receives a letter directly from Azhole pleading for help to rescue Santa Claus. Off he rides on his trusty stick horse Windbreaker to storm the Azhole castle and save the day, but gets wrapped up in the evil plot himself.

The second part begins with a recap, showing how Lord Xerus became embroiled in Jim Bozos’ evil plot to usurp Christmas itself! Can Lord Xerus unravel the billionaire’s twisted scheme and find Santa Claus in time to save Christmas?

The episodes took much longer to produce than creator Lord Xerus (that’s his Society for Creative Anachronism name) planned on, and the second episode, due out by Christmas of 2021, wasn’t released until March of 2022. But as your favorite armor-clad protagonist would say, “Better late than never!” When you ride with Lord Xerus, anything is possible! So what are you waiting for? Strap in for this epic quest’s thrilling conclusion. Watch as the Crunk Knight stumbles his way to victory!

Lord Xerus (Al Romero in real life) has been making comedic videos since 2018, all themed around his Bumbling Knight in Shining Armor character. The videos were created in cooperation with a fairly large number of his friends, including (but obviously not limited to):

• Miguel Ceballos as Cooly Elf
• Ethan Ceballos as Quiety Elf
• Susan L. Fox (yes, that Susan L. Fox, our station’s executive producer) as Sassy Elf
• Nataly Poce-Galarza, Remy June Gnirs, Annalise Hernandez and Ariana Hernandez as Christmas kids
• Drew St Marie created and performed with the Igor Rant reporter puppet, and played the Company Goon
• Penjamin Penguin was animated by Drew St. Marie and voiced by Charlie Kemmerer
• Cybal Del Vecchio as Fally Elf
• Bob Boberton as Mopey Elf
• Robert McButters as Oldy Elf
• Timothy R. Hernandez as Dad
• Stacy Hernandez as Mom
• Briana Sandoval as Melody Elf
• Gerald the Giraffe was performed by Drew St. Marie and voiced by Justin Donaldson
• DarkComputerGirl was Norma Fae
• Hal Rudnick was Jim Bozos
• Susan Apple was Alessandra AZhole
• Drew St. Marie was Squire Kodak
• Kristi A. Fojtik played Lady Saystine
• Al Romero as the plot-essential Lord Xerus

The role of Santa Claus was filled by Santa True, one of the best Santa Claus performers in the world, as well as being a recognized expert in myth and legend, who happens to live right here in Southern California and is personal friends with Lord Xerus.

Happy Holidays from all of us at SCIFI.radio. May 2023 be less crazy than the past five years have been.

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