Ryan Miller explaining the wizard wax.

Words and video by B.J. Bales

Ryan Miller (Moline, Ill.) first brought the wizard wax to me in May of 2008. Seeing this orange and red wax wizard feeding a baby dragon with a bottle was a bit odd the first time around, but I didn’t realize the effect that sculpted wax would have on the Quad Cities rollerblading scene (as stupid as it sounds). You may have seen the wizard popping up in photographs lately, but his influence goes beyond the cameras.

At first the wizard wax held a very unimportant part in our scene, but after a while more and more people started to notice the oddly-shaped wax. Soon enough the wizard traveled with us everywhere, becoming our mascot and the wax we used for any obstacle.

But beware because this wax carries a curse. Three people: Brian Krans (Davenport, Ia.), Caleb Smith (Pekin, Ill.), and myself, have gotten hurt after leaving the wizard wax behind somewhere.

It started with me when I left the wizard at the Bettendorf skatepark, and killed my tailbone the very next day in Macomb (see clip below). Next was Brian, who was the last to touch the wizard at a local ledge, breaking his ankle at Skatechurch the day after the wax slipped his mind. Finally, Caleb left the wax at a new kink rail in Davenport, and the curse got a hold of both his shins the very next spot.

While the “curse” has touched only three people, the wizard wax helps us to become more responsible and reliable by possibly forcing someone to remember it. For a long time, countless pieces of wax, that eventually add up, were forgotten and never retrieved. But now, we have the wizard. And, possibly his curse.

The wizard curse in action.