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Jambi
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First Appearance
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Last Appearance
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Supporters
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Pee Wee Herman
Cowboy Curtis Mrs.Yvonne Reba the Mail Lady Dr. Jinga Janga(Sick,Did Somebody Say Sick) Playhouse Gang (The Gang's All Here) Pterri And Globey(Fire in the Playhouse) The King Of Cartoons |
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Likes
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Dislikes
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His allergy to dogs,
People screaming in his face, Being sick with the wish flu, Headhunters |
Jambi is a blue-faced (later green) genie who lived in a jeweled box, first appearing in The Pee-wee Herman Show. Usually appeared once per show to grant Pee-wee a wish, often with unexpected results. Sometimes he appeared more than once per show or not at all. His catchphrases included "Wish? Did somebody say 'Wish'?", and the magic words "Mecca lecca hi, mecca hiney ho" (which grew more complicated in select episodes; John Paragon later confirmed that it was "fake Hawaiian"), and once a wish had been granted, "The wish is/has been granted. All hail/Long live Jambi!", after which the doors to his box would close. After the incantation he would either nod his head or gesture, and send forth blue or green energy rings that, when in contact with the wisher, will grant the wish.
Rather than granting people three wishes or an unlimited number of wishes like most genies, Jambi is a special kind of genie that grants people only one wish a day, and he constantly reminds Pee-wee of this when the man-child selfishly asks for more wishes. Jambi says the rule is actually "one wish per show" (due to time constraints most likely); such as when one time Pee-Wee felt he had no desires and wished he knew what to wish for, Jambi granted that wish, but Pee-Wee had used up his wish, and asked Magic Screen to replay the event, to which Pee-Wee felt taken advantage of. Also, Pee-Wee can transfer his wish to another, as in the case when Cowboy Curtis wished to replace his worn-out boots. Jambi warns that will forfeit Pee-Wee's daily wish, but Pee Wee says it is good to let someone else take advantage of wishing for things instead of it being just him monopolizing the wishes; the same thing occurs later when Miss Yvonne wishes for a pair of clogging shoes, earlier when Jambi himself wishes for another cup of tea, and later when Cowboy Curtis wishes for a set of pajamas. However, Jambi cannot grant wishes involving dogs, as he is very allergic to them, although he says he would love to. In Fire in the Playhouse, although he states that it would be weird to do so, Jambi grants Pterri's wish to go into the dream world and see what Pee-wee is dreaming about.
The episode Sick, Did Somebody Say Sick? reveals that the real reason why he grant people only one wish each day is because his power is finite; too many wishes granted causes him to lose his power and suffer a form of burnout.
Jambi's wish-granting often obtained the desired results, but can sometimes run into trouble. When Pee-Wee turned himself invisible from a mail-order magic kit in Now You See Me, Now You Don't, he cannot reverse the process and figured Jambi can bail him out. Jambi actually cautions Pee-Wee against wishing, as mixing magics is dangerous and unpredictable. This proves true as Jambi makes Pee-Wee partially visible, but his head is still invisible. Jambi agrees to wishing again as that is more of an emergency and he is working with the other Playhouse characters, the audience, and fellow spirits of magic to save Pee-Wee, using an indeterminate amount of his powers to save him.
In the Christmas special, when Pee-Wee and Jambi are readying everything for the party, Pee-Wee says he would like an extra wish, angering the genie. However at the end, Jambi agrees to an extra wish as it is the holiday season.
Appearance
Jambi is a human head with a red turban with designs such as jewels and a red feather. He wears blue/green face paint, blue eyeshadow, blue blushes, and pink lipstick. When performing the character in the 2009-2010 revival of The Pee-Wee Herman Show, John Paragon wears black cloaks over his body.
Trivia
- Jambi has never granted Magic Screen, Chairry, Conky, Mr. Window or Mr. Kite any wishes during his time on the program.
- Jambi is one of the few live-action characters who have been clay-animated, which happens once in Sick, Did Somebody Say Sick?. Some others include Pee-Wee and Pterri.