"All I have to say is San Francisco is like a huge movie set. For Aladdin." That is Philadelphia-based YouTube celebrity Jesse Wellens's assessment as he was shooting the viral video above, here in SF, for the YouTube channel he produces with his girlfriend, Prank vs. Prank. Needless to say, with his clever use of a Boosted Board disguised as a magic carpet, it already has over three million views.
When Wellens was shooting this last week, it obviously got a ton of attention from tourists and people on the street, who can also be seen Instagramming his appearances in the video on Lombard Street, at Alamo Square, in the Castro, and all around the Marina and the Palace of Fine Arts, which here doubles as Jasmine's palace and in this case, Jasmine is being played by an SF actress named Jessica, not by his girlfriend of 10 years and usual YouTube partner in crime, Jeana, with whom he also makes videos for the BFvsGF channel. (As he explains, they needed the actress because they needed to find someone with the Jasmine costume on a tight deadline. "No one get mad at me or get jealous," he says.)
Below, a full 10-minute behind-the-scenes bonus in which you can see some wipeouts and near wipeouts. And yes, his cameraman was on a Boosted Board as well, obviously.
And who ended up snagging the magic carpet? He left it at the corner of 16th and Anza last Monday, for anyone to take.