While introducing the inaugural subject of “Cassie Workman is Witchy AF,” the host pertly pulls a bait-and-switch. She opens her monologue by describing a hypothetical figure born to great privilege. A small sketch of Elon Musk lurks in the foreground, but she never so much as side-eyes its frame.
Due to hubris, laziness and drug abuse, Workman continues, the person in question decides it’s easier to grift, spout right-wing nonsense and abandon reality. With that, she places another picture in front of Musk’s and says, “And that person is Aleister Crowley.”
Behold the Australian comic embracing her season. As Gen Z takes a turn en masse toward the world of woo-woo and anti-trans legislation pollutes politics here and abroad, Workman, a transgender immigrant, is unapologetically promoting the lighter side of popular wiccanery from her fictional occult bookstore. “I am expecting some pushback on the internet,” she deadpans.
Maybe not. “Witchy AF,” executive produced by Lilly Wachowski, is undeniably entertaining. Think of it as a cocktail mix of “Mystery Science Theater 3000” and “Drunk History” for Etsy spellcasters, starring the lovechild of Patsy Stone and Bauhaus front man Peter Murphy. Most of Workman’s tales are fact-based and reenacted with puppets, although she also stumbles off-site to her local dive bar or her apartment for occasional “Interview with a Demon” segments. Accompanied by her sidekick and netherworld patron King Grimsquawk – a crowned raven-baby holding a scepter – Workman conjures up one of the funniest small-screen comedies that isn’t officially on TV.
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But its good witchery also contextualizes the quest for sanity in mad times like ours with comforting observations about occultism’s role during eras of social upheaval.
“If there’s anything tumultuous happening now . . . I wouldn’t know, I haven’t been paying attention,” she jokes, “just remember that historically, an enlightenment of epic proportions is probably not far off.” If that’s true, may Workman’s sweet, intoxicating humor hasten its arrival.
New episodes of “Cassie Workman is Witchy AF” debut Wednesdays on Etch’s YouTube channel.
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from Salon’s Culture newsletter, The Swell
