BONUS The Friday Show - Dude Perfect
Marc:Who would be the best landlord?
Marc:I'm guessing Scotty.
Marc:Like, Scotty, who seems good.
Marc:He fixes things.
Marc:He fixes shit all the time.
Marc:Captain Kirk, no.
Marc:Spock, absolutely not.
Guest:Spock would just stare at it.
Guest:He'd be like, that question of fixing that is illogical.
Guest:Chris, this is going to be a shorter one today.
Guest:I need to get this done.
Guest:I need to get done quickly.
Guest:In fact, we are already six minutes late from when I needed us to start.
Guest:And because I have from now until I cannot work anymore, I have 90 minutes.
Guest:And so that means I not only have to record this in that time, I have to edit it and post it in that time.
Guest:awesome so we have to get this done i have uh just incredibly um stacked schedule today with um my son is doing a uh a play at school he is in the the pit band for it but because of that we have all sorts of family coming in my parents are coming in and and basically from the point at which that happens i will be done for the rest of the day until late tonight and then where my workstation is i have people staying in there in that room so it's like i
Guest:I cannot be working in there tonight.
Guest:Uh, so, um, you know, I, I'm sure if there was an emergency, I could, you know, I'll try to transfer stuff into my remote work station, but I'd like to avoid doing that, especially with company over and just get everything done.
Guest:But that means I have a very limited time and that means I'm, I'm moving very, very fast.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Right now.
Marc:I can tell.
Marc:This is a stressed out Brendan, which is... You know, it's not, though.
Guest:It's not stressed out so much as it's just like, if I stop, I'll be stressed out.
Guest:But I just can't stop.
Guest:I have to keep going.
Guest:I have to be very fast.
Guest:You're like Crank.
Guest:Yes, exactly.
Guest:Or...
Guest:Or I really feel, you know, I really feel like it's Mr. Wolf from Pulp Fiction where it's like, I talk fast because I need to get results fast.
Guest:And it was so funny that yesterday I was telling Owen to clean something up because, you know, we're just trying to get the house ready for guests and company and that.
Guest:And I'm talking to him and I realized like halfway through that my clip that I was speaking to him in, the tenor, that was exactly Mr. Wolf.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Like I was like, you need to get this cleaned up before bed.
Guest:And I'm talking fast, fast, fast.
Guest:You need to go in the basement.
Guest:You need to scoop up all those little pieces of Lego and the train tracks.
Guest:Get it out of there.
Guest:I should be able to see the floor.
Guest:I don't need to be spick and span.
Guest:You don't need to eat off it.
Guest:Just give it a good once over.
Marc:You see that chocolate milk?
Marc:You got to soak that shit up.
Marc:That's exactly what it was.
Guest:That's great.
Guest:And, you know, I don't know.
Guest:There's worse people to be, worse people to emulate.
Guest:He's a fairly decent work role model.
Guest:Oh, fun.
Guest:And I also, you know, I know we were planning to talk about some WTF stuff for the, you know, that happened this week.
Guest:But I would be remiss if I didn't bring up that the trailer for Stick,
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Premiered.
Guest:I just watched it.
Guest:I think it's very interesting to get a look at what, you know, we heard for several months was Mark's, you know, misery in sitting on a trailer and what the end result looked like.
Marc:It looks sleek.
Marc:It looks good.
Marc:Mark's a focal point in it.
Marc:And yeah, it looks fine.
Guest:Although I do, like you mentioned this to me when I texted you the trailer, you said, you know, it says from the home of Ted Lasso.
Marc:That's always a problem for me.
Guest:Yeah, it's like from the studio that brought you Shrek.
Marc:Exactly.
Marc:Like that doesn't bode well.
Guest:There's nobody involved in this that has anything to do with that other thing.
Guest:Right.
Guest:It's just, you might as well just say on the thing, we want you to think of this other thing.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Right?
Guest:Like, that's what they're trying to get.
Guest:Like, it's, you know, if it's a Steven Spielberg movie and they say, you know, from the maker of E.T., they're like, oh, okay, well, now I get it.
Guest:Like, he made that, he made this.
Guest:When they're just, like, from the, like, it would be like if I was, like, from the house where we cooked dinner.
Marc:Like, that doesn't mean it's gonna be any good.
Marc:From the street that brought you that wonderful dinner party comes a different house.
Marc:LAUGHTER
Marc:Where there's no partying whatsoever.
Marc:Where we're having mushroom tacos.
Marc:It's just like, what is happening?
Marc:It could mean anything.
Marc:So yeah, I definitely take exception to the home of or the producers of.
Guest:Well, you know, I'm not giving anything away here.
Guest:I'm not like speaking out of school, but obviously this show was a play for like the Ted Lasso audience because Ted Lasso was over, right?
Guest:Sure.
Guest:But now they've announced that Ted Lasso's coming back.
Guest:What is this show now?
Guest:Is this show just hanging out there holding its stick?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I hope there's reshoots and it turns into like severance.
Marc:And it's like, oh, look, it's kind of like severance now.
Marc:Yeah, right.
Marc:From the studio that brought you severance.
Guest:These people all stuck on a golf course.
Marc:It's also from the channel that brought you this.
Guest:Well, they say in the clip from the home of.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So it would be like if, what was that bad surfing show?
Marc:John from Cincinnati.
Guest:John from Cincinnati.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:It's like from the channel that brought you the Sopranos.
Marc:I'm like, well, there's something missing there.
Marc:You know, these two things have nothing to do with it.
Marc:So, yeah.
Guest:Yeah, so that happened this week.
Guest:This week is also, you know, as I speak to you, Mark is getting into New York City.
Guest:He's going to be doing his special.
Guest:That's right.
Guest:Yeah, we'll do some review of that next week.
Guest:We'll have some bonus episodes about how the special went and any of Mark's thoughts about that.
Marc:Are you going to the special?
Guest:i will definitely be there i usually i usually go to these things and i i the last time i was there um like you know he does two he did two shows and this was you know when he taped uh from bleak to dark and he did his first show and you know if you've heard him talk about that uh special taping he talked about how you know the first it basically didn't use anything from the first set i i think you know maybe other than maybe like
Guest:one pickup line or something they they edited in from the first set it was almost all the second set oh wow and he he just thought the energy was too amped it didn't like it was it was like people who were like just thrilled to be there like an event as opposed to you know him kind of settling into his act right yeah but like he was he he came back after the first set and we were backstage and he was like talking about like blowing up the whole thing oh really
Guest:What if I do this?
Guest:And I, and I just kind of like was like, you know, the, you know that this thing when you open works real well, blah, blah, blah.
Guest:And it was like, after the fact, his manager came up to me and he was like, Hey, what do we got to do to get you back here at all of these things?
Guest:Great.
Guest:Just like the calming force that keeps him on the level.
Marc:Voice of reason, for sure.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:You're the other devil on his shoulder, and his other devil is just him.
Marc:Him, right.
Marc:Exactly, yeah.
Guest:And my devil never goes full devil.
Guest:That's the key to it.
Guest:Yes, that is the key.
Guest:But yeah, so I'll go.
Guest:I'll just hang out with him.
Guest:And then I always like to walk around in the back.
Guest:I don't usually sit.
Guest:I go to like, you know, I like to watch from different spots.
Guest:I like to see how the audience is reacting.
Guest:I'll go up to the balcony or whatever.
Guest:Okay, so your whole family's not going there?
Guest:No, no, no.
Guest:It'll just be me.
Guest:It'd be weird to have Dawn there because I would abandon her.
Guest:You know, it's like, you go send the audience.
Guest:I'm going to be backstage with the guy freaking out.
Marc:Right, right.
Marc:Yeah, well, I'm not going to be there.
Marc:This Mother's Day, it's a perfect recipe for...
Marc:My wife's mom wants to do tea with the girls on her side of the family.
Marc:And for me, my mom, I invited her to a mech game, something that she has in the past enjoyed, and I'm hoping she'll enjoy again.
Marc:So I'm taking her to the mech game instead of going to Mark's special.
Guest:Oh, well, that's very nice of you.
Guest:You guys are going to see the Mets and the Cubbies.
Marc:I'm hoping it goes well.
Marc:I mean, there's a limited amount of things that could possibly turn the conversation towards like Trump and like bullshit, right?
Marc:Like...
Guest:Like, I mean, I mean, there's a game going on the whole time.
Guest:Anytime anything like that comes up, you'd be like, well, look at that guy threw a crazy splitter there.
Guest:Did you see that?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And then like even during in between innings, look, look, there's a there's a big ferry boat for Staten Island that's going to run around the outfield.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So hopefully that can sedate any sort of possible bullshit that I have to deal with with my mom.
Guest:I love the defensive Mother's Day planning.
Guest:That's always what the card companies assumed when they started that holiday.
Marc:I'm also really excited that my Sunday is completely free now because both mothers will be satisfied.
Marc:So now Sunday, I can just be home and like, Aaron's a cat mom.
Marc:Oh, you know, we'll do something fun.
Marc:We'll probably plant some flowers.
Marc:But like, that's exactly what I want.
Marc:I just want a week, at least a day to do absolutely nothing.
Marc:By the way, I loved your mom's special bonus episode.
Marc:That was really well produced, I feel like.
Marc:I liked using Mark's intro to say who he's talking to.
Marc:You didn't have to come in and tell everyone who it was.
Marc:I thought that was really smart.
Guest:Yeah, I try to do... Some people may think I'm making this up, but I try to keep my voice on this thing to a minimum.
Guest:I really do.
Guest:It's like on the producer's cuts, it's like when I can lay out and just let several things play one after another, I would prefer that.
Guest:I get it.
Guest:It's like...
Guest:you know, I'm facilitating a bunch of the stuff here, but like, you're not paying for me.
Guest:You're paying for the show predominantly Mark.
Guest:And like, yes, I can help get you there.
Guest:But I have always felt from this minute we started doing this.
Guest:And especially from once I had to, you know, transition us out of doing it in a studio together to him doing it at home.
Guest:It's like, no, no, you don't want characters.
Guest:You don't need me.
Guest:You don't need a board op.
Guest:You know, like, this is just be you.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And so, yeah, whenever I can figure out ways to make that happen on the on the bonus material that I'm editing together, then then absolutely.
Guest:And yeah, I like putting that thing together.
Guest:I got an interesting comment here from Elizabeth, who wrote into the comment section and said, after listening to the moms episode, I'm very curious if you have a process to index episodes while you edit them.
Guest:Are you recording topics and timestamps so you can quickly find information when pulling together clip shows or answering listener questions?
Guest:So that's an interesting question actually made me think about my process a little bit.
Guest:And, you know, so much of this, if you notice in not just this episode of collections, but in other ones that we've done.
Guest:I draw a lot of it from, I would say, the first seven years of the show, seven and a half years, because that includes material that I went through when putting together the book, Waiting for the Punch.
Guest:So I do have a lot of stuff cataloged by topic, but only up until that point.
Guest:And then what I'm relying on after that is, you know, if I need to, it's stuff that I've
Guest:written down in the episode description so like if i go to um you know the the uh search function that i have on our website and search for andy kaufman i know then every time andy kaufman got talked about because i put it into the episode notes or put it as a tag you know like a topics tag in the metadata so that stuff's somewhat easy to find i think honestly what i rely on most is the fact that
Guest:it's gonna be if it's something that i remember then it's worth putting in right like so a great example is that within the the clips that i had for the um the mom's episode uh most of those were from the you know first half of of the show like the when i say half i mean like the first seven and a half eight years and it was stuff that was already in my memory from having done the book and like
Guest:stories that i really liked i love that wanda sykes thing and and uh you know i i remember all of them because i've been through them a few times and going forward i feel like it's the things that jump into my memory that are the ones i'm going to then pull in so like brooke shields i had a distinct memory of that as something that was good and
Guest:in terms of being complimentary to everything else that was talked about because it was specifically about postpartum depression.
Guest:And it's like, well, that's different.
Guest:Like you could go through and find all sorts of anecdotes through every episode we've done where people are talking about parenting or motherhood, even from men, you know, they talk about their moms.
Guest:You can find mom stories all throughout, but what I'm looking for in putting together an hour are specifically complimentary things, things that, you know, either contrast to each other or, you know,
Guest:We feel like they flow into each other better.
Guest:And so I am just kind of going through that stuff from memory.
Guest:And I remembered that Brooke Shields bit.
Guest:So it's kind of a combination of having done the work for like the earlier way, way back stuff.
Guest:And that stuff, I do have a folder that's just on my computer here called Waiting for the Punch.
Guest:And it's just like filled with...
Guest:search easily searchable documents and transcripts.
Guest:But for that, the stuff that's been in the last seven or eight years of the show that I am kind of going on memory and kind of relying on my memory to key up highlights, which it's easy enough to do.
Guest:I mean, like, I can't think of a single episode of this show where I don't remember something from a given episode.
Guest:Like if you brought up any person who'd been on the show, I'll be like, oh yeah, that person and say something from their episode because it's what's stuck in my head after going through the talk a few times.
Guest:It's just going to happen with you.
Guest:It's probably happened with anyone at any job where you're like, oh yeah, I filled out that form.
Guest:I remember writing that thing down.
Guest:That's just how it goes.
Guest:Right.
Guest:right right and you know for for most people they don't have as good a memory though uh you uh what you're omitting is you have a elephant memory so that does help right but i i also think there's sometimes where in this case it wouldn't matter right like you know my memory works well with recalling trivia right because like i can make those like connections this thing makes me think about where i was at at this point and then i remember this and
Guest:You know, I've had other people who have a similar process with being, you know, being good at trivia or being good at remembering things.
Guest:And we've talked, we've like compared notes and that's how they do it too.
Guest:It's like they remember things in their lives, timelines and places.
Guest:And once they can make those connections, it's easier to connect to the trivia, right?
Guest:Mm-hmm.
Guest:with these shows, I'm just remembering sitting in this chair or on my couch or wherever I was doing it and what it sounded like at the time that I was listening to it.
Guest:So, you know, it has to kind of rise to a certain level of, you know, Oh, that was memorable.
Guest:Like I can't, I can't just do the Mary Lou Henner thing and remember every single thing that was ever said by anyone at any time.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Right.
Guest:But yes, so that, that, that type of memory thing is, is good and helpful.
Guest:And frankly, you know,
Guest:It helps me to know I'm not losing my mind, that I can still pull these things together.
Marc:So are you planning on doing a Father's Day edition?
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:We'll see.
Guest:That's a little more depressing, I think.
Guest:I think the dads go through a little bit more of a ringer on this show.
Marc:also you might have to like not use any louis ck stuff which which you know there's a lot of louis ck probably dad stuff that's true right yeah but there's also it's like i i'm trying to think like are there guys on the show who had like nice relationships with their dads it's like very few it's like will ferrell and like that's about it but like paul sheer you can probably lift a whole bunch for paul yeah right happy father's day i'm gonna stab you with a pitchfork
Marc:By the way, Elizabeth Banks really hit the nail on the head with about mourning the womb stuff.
Marc:Like, look, it's not my story to tell personally, but like that's something that I've experienced with my wife.
Marc:And, you know, it's so hard to articulate that.
Marc:And she did it in such a...
Marc:really moving way.
Marc:And like, I doubt she was planning on talking about that to Mark when she sat down with him, but it's, it's really nice to, you know, hear that from someone like her.
Marc:Like, I really appreciated that.
Marc:So yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Thanks for putting that on there.
Guest:Well, I also think that's a fairly early episode in the 200s or 300s.
Guest:And it's such a kind of like little signifier of how Mark developed as an interviewer.
Guest:And I'm not saying it was the wrong thing to do.
Guest:In fact, I think it's the right thing to do.
Guest:And it's...
Guest:it just shows how his, he's, he's probably a little more deft at doing it now.
Guest:But in fact, the lack of deftness did not hinder him.
Guest:And it's that like, you know, she talks, he says like, and you have your kids through, you have both kids the same way.
Guest:She's like, yes, through surrogacy.
Guest:He's like, how does that work?
Marc:Like, just astonished.
Marc:Like what?
Guest:And, and then she just tells like that, that's, that's a, that was a great aspect of those years of like Mark, you know, just basically coming into his own as an interviewer.
Guest:It's like those instincts were correct.
Guest:Like that got the better answer than if you tipped like the type of thing I would do would be like, how do I tactfully approach this?
Marc:You know, instead of just bluntly being like, well,
Marc:Well, how does that even work?
Marc:That's a weird thing.
Marc:I also like Ali Wong, just like breastfeeding that, you know, or, you know, pumping.
Guest:That was like a seminal moment for the show because I do remember we were like, is this the first podcast where someone pumped on the mics?
Guest:And it was like, and if that's the case, how is it our show and not like a parenting show?
Guest:Yes.
Guest:Because like, I remember thinking at the time, I'm like, this was done absolutely appropriately.
Guest:Like she's explaining it.
Guest:She uses all the proper terminology.
Guest:She says like the letdown and all that.
Guest:I was like, I remember, you know, I was just a few years removed from like having gone through all that stuff with my wife.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Like, you know, doing all the lactation consulting with people and stuff and, you know, remembering everything she said about doing it wrong to start.
Guest:And like, I was like, wow, we're like, we're doing like an educational show.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:That's like a PSA.
Marc:Yeah, 100%.
Marc:Like, oh, the baby was coughing up blood.
Marc:You're just like, oh, my God.
Marc:Like, she should definitely have gone to a class.
Marc:But yeah, she seems to have, you know, have it down at that point.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Also, I don't understand.
Marc:Amy Poehler...
Marc:you know, went around the plane telling everyone like, Hey, I have, you know, it's me.
Marc:And yeah, I'm going to, you know, we have kids.
Marc:It's going to be fun.
Marc:And it's like, I honestly, and you've also expressed the fact that like, Oh, I have kids, you know, around me and they're making noise.
Marc:I never care if kids are on my plane.
Marc:I guess it's because I have those headphones that are noise canceling.
Marc:I don't give a shit, you know, like I'll just deal with a screaming kid.
Marc:It's not like, I think you should leave where like, you know,
Marc:I'm going to come back 50 years later and start, uh, get revenge on a guy.
Marc:Like, I don't know.
Guest:No, I mean, I, I listen, I think basically, especially if you've had kids, I mean, I never brought a young child on an airplane and had him cry, but I've definitely had him in situations where I was like, well, this is inconveniencing everyone.
Guest:And you just have to be like, I hope there's some grace afforded to me right now for this.
Guest:And so like,
Guest:You know, it was more when we were just recently on an airplane and there was some, you know, we were like in the middle of like a Bermuda Triangle of screaming kids.
Guest:It was Owen who was freaking out about it.
Guest:Not freaking out.
Guest:I should give him more credit than that.
Guest:He did handle it very well.
Guest:But he was having a hard time.
Guest:Like he was like gritting his teeth and he was like, what do we do about this?
Guest:And I was like, you tolerate it.
Guest:Like I was like, you don't have to like it.
Guest:Nobody likes this.
Guest:It's not pleasant for anyone, but you just, it's just one of those things in life you have to tolerate.
Guest:And I was like, do you think those parents are having a good time right now?
Guest:Do you think this is fun for them?
Guest:Right.
Guest:And, and that's it.
Guest:Like it's once you have that little element of empathy, it's just, just a shard of empathy.
Guest:Yes.
Guest:Yes.
Guest:We'd be like, okay, I'm not dealing with that right now.
Guest:Like I, you know,
Guest:And it also, I don't know if you do this too, but like I look around the plane and thankfully I've never been in a situation where someone's been a dick and then I've had to say something.
Guest:Like I would do that.
Guest:Like if someone like yelled at a mother for their kid crying, I would be like, sit the fuck down or whatever.
Guest:Sit the fuck down, fat boy.
Guest:This doesn't concern you.
Marc:Exactly.
Guest:But...
Guest:i i will look around the plane or bus or wherever subway and i will clock the faces of the people who give the the parent stink eye and i'm like oh good i don't want to be that piece of shit right like that's like i'll i'll memorize that face let me memorize that face okay i don't want to be you you piece of garbage yeah
Guest:watching fucking real housewives and you can't deal with the, somebody else having a problem.
Guest:You think it has to involve you.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I've, I've had mothers like apologize, like to me, like before and after.
Marc:And like, I have told them, I do not care.
Marc:Like, like they, they'll be like, we're all in this together.
Marc:And like, I know it's stressful.
Marc:Like,
Marc:let's just get through it.
Marc:It's fine.
Marc:Like you're fine.
Marc:They're fine.
Marc:Like, it's just a thing that's going to happen.
Marc:I'm like, I don't know.
Marc:I feel like people make up such a big deal about everything, but like, you know, it always bothered me about that.
Guest:It has nothing to do with babies, but it was people on cell phones, right?
Guest:And,
Guest:I feel like it happens less nowadays because people take fewer phone calls, but there was like a period of time where like, you know, people just take calls wherever.
Guest:And like, I can tell you, like I'd be in so many situations where someone would be talking on the phone and not loudly talking, just talking like they're on a, you know, train or bus or something.
Guest:And they're like, yeah, uh-huh.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:And like people next to them, like...
Guest:oh you know getting all bent out of shape i'm like they're just talking like you're just pissed you can't hear the other end of the conversation like what is your problem let them fucking talk like i could i could understand it if a person was being rude and scream like yell talking on the phone or whatever and even then it's like
Guest:Unless you're doing it for an hour, just settle down and the person will be done pretty soon.
Guest:And then, yeah, that's their thing.
Guest:But the huffing and puffing and shushing, like I never got it.
Guest:It's like, why are you so triggered by this person having half a conversation?
Guest:Like, I just didn't get it.
Marc:Well, that's better than hearing the whole conversation on speakerphone.
Marc:So, like, I'm thankful for just the person talking on the cell phone.
Marc:Like, that seems to not be a problem.
Guest:Yeah, but that's the other thing.
Guest:Like, the speakerphone, or nowadays, it's just like people have just this desire to play their videos at full volume.
Guest:Oh, I can't stand that.
Yeah.
Guest:I don't get that.
Guest:That is one of the things where I'm like, that's just a level of courtesy.
Guest:You don't have to do it.
Guest:Every single person who has a phone or something has headphones.
Guest:So you don't have to.
Guest:So if you are deliberately going out of your way to not do the courteous thing, then you're an asshole.
Guest:Yes.
Guest:Exactly.
Marc:Like I see people riding around city bikes with like speakers and I'm just like, you know, you, there are headphones.
Marc:You don't need to listen to music also at this exact moment.
Marc:You can just enjoy the nature of the city or the park or whatever.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Everyone's brains are broken.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And, you know, it's kind of like if your dog pissed in the studio or in the garage.
Marc:I feel like Mark handled that with Tom Green and Tom's dog in such a beautiful way where Mark's like, oh, yeah, look, the dog's puking now.
Marc:Like, oh, okay, you're okay, dog.
Marc:Like the disdain for that animal, like that it isn't a cat is so palpable.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:like in that although I loved his reaction though that he was like now I have to clean up the dog but then he's like oh you're it's he did it it's the old Tom Green he's back he brought the puking dog this is a whole bit isn't it he pranked me
Marc:loved that episode i think tom green is like salt of the earth he is oh he's greatest yeah like what an easy hang also i've never heard of this comics unleashed thing that they were talking about oh byron allen yeah but byron allen who has been a guest on wtf had had this weird show that was just like is it direct tv or something
Guest:Not even.
Guest:It was, like, the kind of thing that would get played at, like, 2 a.m.
Guest:But, you know, if you go back and listen to that episode with Byron Allen, he explains his whole, like, media empire.
Guest:He's, like, a billionaire.
Guest:Like, legit.
Guest:Yeah, I think, I remember when he was on, I, like, checked, like, is he the, like, highest net worth of a person we've ever had on the show?
Guest:And I think he might have been.
Guest:How?
Marc:And I've never heard of him?
Marc:Like, barely heard of him?
Guest:No, he...
Guest:Like his media empire was developed by like just buying up like domains for like very simple things like floor.com.
Guest:I'm making that up.
Marc:But it was like, you know, that sort of thing.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And then he at one point owned the weather channel or at least weather.com.
Marc:Is he Jewish?
Marc:Is that why people say that the Jewish people control the weather?
Guest:No, it's not because of Byron Allen.
Guest:It is also, we need to have a racial draft here because Byron Allen is a black man.
Marc:No way!
Marc:I would not have expected that.
Guest:Yeah, well, that's what I'm saying.
Guest:It's the name.
Guest:You're like, oh, Byron who pushes glasses up on his nose.
Marc:It's like that 30 Rock joke of someone named Wesley Snipes.
Marc:You're named Wesley Snipes?
Marc:That's insane.
Marc:No, it's insane that Wesley Snipes is named Wesley Snipes.
Guest:uh yeah so uh that that show was like it was like a thing that they would he would make like hours and hours and hours of it and then you just sell it in bulk the way you'd sell like you know infomercials or whatever oh wow um so yeah it'd be the kind of thing you'd be drunk on 2 a.m and you turn it on and there's like you know tom green in a fish tank
Marc:Amazing.
Marc:So I guess you watched that because you were doing everything.
Guest:I don't think I did watch it.
Marc:Oh, okay.
Marc:Because I was like, how do I find this?
Marc:Because I searched online, I cannot find it.
Marc:If anyone can find it and send it in to Brendan, that would be swell because I would love to watch this.
Guest:I mean, like, I think I've seen glimpses of it from back in the day, but I don't remember ever watching it because it wasn't the type of thing I would watch.
Guest:It's like it was structured like, you know, like Bill Maher at the time, politically incorrect.
Guest:But there was no moderation.
Guest:Right.
Guest:It was just like Byron would have these comics come out.
Guest:four of them usually and they'd sit around and he'd be like oh man so mark tell me about your your your cat you know and then he just mark would do his material it was like mark riley talking to four comedians
Marc:then talk about this like yeah that's great yeah so probably not in your wheelhouse no yeah gotcha gotcha oh i'm just so glad you left the charlie puking in the episode was there ever a chance you but yeah no not a chance no no no chance no like in fact i was like oh that's it i thought this was gonna go on longer i was hoping yeah
Marc:totally oh man also mark left his fucking computer at the airport and a was going to just be like all right i'm just gonna buy a new one that's crazy and b was like oh i'm worried about them having to open it up and log in with my password like like i also love that like like oh well there's no port on there
Marc:Like, I don't watch porn on the computer.
Marc:On the phone, sure, but the computer.
Marc:It's like, what is this, 1999?
Marc:Like, why would I do that?
Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Well, Mark used to have an old bit about how like he, he saved the porn for like, he didn't put any porn on his Mac because it was too pristine and nice.
Guest:So you had this old whore of a PC in the garage that, that was all filled with viruses.
Guest:And like, you go out there to use it and it'd be like, you still want to fuck me?
Yeah.
Marc:What special is that from?
Marc:Do you know?
Guest:I think, I can't remember.
Guest:It's on, I definitely, I definitely think it's on an album.
Guest:I don't think, I think it predates when he had specials.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:I don't think he ever did it on a special.
Marc:That's such a funny, funny joke.
Marc:I had to find that.
Marc:Also, I'm sorry, Tom Green rented a house from William Shatner.
Marc:That would have been amazing.
Marc:I would have broken, I would have just broke stuff just to have Captain Kirk come in and like diagnose what was happening.
Guest:Okay, so that, I'm glad you brought that up because all I could think about that whole time was like...
Guest:And Tom Green was saying, like, oh, he was a nice, enjoyable guy, pleasant guy.
Guest:The guy who Mark talked to in the garage, who Mark got quite a kick out of, you know, talking to William Shatner and his ways, I...
Guest:Cannot imagine that guy being a landlord.
Guest:Like, what a ball buster.
Guest:Like, you could never go to him for anything.
Marc:Never.
Marc:No, no.
Marc:Like, whoa, you're wearing your shoes in the house, huh?
Marc:All right.
Marc:I wouldn't do that.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:I feel like I'd ask him to fix a leak and he'd be like, what is a leak?
Guest:Is it even real?
Guest:Do you even really have a leak?
Guest:Isn't it just more water around the other thing that has water?
Guest:I'd be like, all right, just get the fuck out.
Marc:Fine.
Marc:I'll call someone else, I suppose.
Marc:I mean, I kind of wish it was Bones that had a tenant because that would have been more fun.
Marc:It's like, I'm an actor, not a pool man.
Marc:That would work.
Marc:But yeah.
Guest:Or Spock, he would just have all this philosophy about your problems.
Guest:And it's like that scene in The Simpsons.
Guest:Hey, anybody want to change seats with this guy?
Marc:100%.
Marc:Who would be the best landlord?
Marc:I'm guessing Scotty.
Marc:Like, Scotty, who seems good.
Marc:He fixes things.
Marc:He fixes shit all the time.
Marc:But Captain Kirk, no.
Marc:Spock, absolutely not.
Guest:Spock would just stare at it.
Guest:He'd be like, that question of fixing that is illogical.
Marc:Yes.
Marc:Yohora would just be eavesdropping the entire time.
Marc:It would just be a nuisance.
Marc:So, yeah.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:You'd never be able to have any private conversations.
Marc:Not at all.
Guest:She'd hail you all the time.
Marc:So much hailing.
Guest:I also love the detail.
Guest:And by the way, here's a little secret.
Guest:Mark reacted in this interview like it was news to him.
Guest:It was not news to him.
Guest:That Samantha Crane and her whole family were power lifters.
Guest:because oh it was like we were like well that's something that this whole interview is going to be about like when we when we found out that detail that her family and her are were like legendary power lifters we're like oh i need to know everything please tell me everything and i love that it's like it stems from like this like weird kind of christian tent revivalism that it's like oh
Guest:yeah they would do this like come to town and talk about jesus while they lifted heavy things yeah um well i did also i wanted to mention something i was thinking about something you and i did earlier this week we went to see a robocop hell yeah we did that was great
Guest:It was really great, but I, I did.
Guest:And, and, uh, although we did not bring Oreos, um, and, uh, and we did not have, uh, Peter Weller there with us, but I, you know, there was something I was thinking about in terms of like, well, how do I want to talk about this?
Guest:Uh, you know, when we're, when we're talking on Friday and,
Guest:And somebody wrote into us about something totally unrelated.
Guest:And I did wind up kind of making the connection with the two.
Guest:And let me see if you can kind of get where I'm coming from here.
Guest:But the connection is between the Big Lebowski and RoboCop.
Marc:Oh, interesting.
Guest:Don't worry.
Guest:You won't get there without a little more explanation.
Guest:So here's what I'll say.
Guest:This person wrote in, it's an unnamed person.
Guest:They said, have you guys thought about doing the equivalent of your talks on Tarantino movies, but with the Coen brothers?
Guest:I would love to hear your discussions on their filmography, especially on the Big Lebowski, which might be the movie I have seen the most in my life.
Guest:Now, here's what I'll say about doing Coen brothers movies.
Guest:First of all, I was always, you know, in thinking about it,
Guest:prior it was always a little kind of intimidated by it as a a thing like look you and i we can like talk out our ass about this stuff all we want but it's like coen brothers movies in some ways it's like kubrick movies like there's lots of scholarship on them right there's like you know it's almost like pros talk about it yeah it's a little daunting and but
Guest:I will say I have a built in excuse now, and I guess I don't know that they've made this public.
Guest:So I will not out them and I will not give any further details other than to say I know that a popular podcast is going to be doing a series on the Coen brothers.
Guest:That's all I'll say.
Guest:I'm sure people out there who know what I'm talking about know what I'm talking about.
Guest:And I won't tell you why I know that.
Guest:But I do know that a popular podcast is going to be doing the films of the Coen brothers every week.
Guest:So I don't feel like we can do that.
Guest:Right.
Guest:At the same time, it started making me think about The Big Lebowski because this person said I might have seen it the most in my life.
Guest:And it's definitely up there for me, too.
Guest:I've seen it as many times as other movies I've seen countless times.
Guest:And probably it's the Coen Brothers movie I've seen the most.
Guest:I would also say it's probably like for me...
Guest:The Coen Brothers movie I enjoy the most, if not the one I think is the best.
Guest:Like, I think I think Fargo and No Country for Old Men are their best two movies.
Guest:And I could probably go on for a very long time about why.
Guest:But I also think Big Lebowski is like the one I enjoy the most.
Guest:It's like hanging with friends, right?
Guest:Yeah.
Yeah.
Guest:And it just kind of got me thinking, it's like, what makes that happen?
Guest:Why does this happen?
Guest:Why are there these certain things that are so much more pleasurable, even if you can identify a better example of an artist's work as something that represents them better is a more thorough work of art, which I think Fargo, No Country, both are.
Guest:What is it about something like The Big Lebowski?
Guest:And I guess, let's start here.
Guest:How did you come to that movie?
Marc:Oh, I remember the first time seeing that movie.
Marc:It was, I was visiting a girlfriend in college and their friend had...
Marc:had it on, you know, was about to play it.
Marc:And yeah, we just sat and watched The Big Lebowski for the first time.
Marc:And I was like, oh, I love Fargo.
Marc:Sure, let's watch this.
Marc:And The Big Lebowski is completely different than that movie.
Marc:And what was your reaction the first time you saw it?
Marc:Did you like it right away?
Marc:I thought it was different and funny, but I didn't,
Marc:Instantly love it.
Marc:I needed to see it on my own terms, if that makes sense.
Marc:I needed to sit down with it myself, and I think I bought the tape of it and watched it from there, and then I fell in love with it.
Guest:Right.
Guest:I feel like that's almost everyone's experience with the Big Lebowski.
Guest:It was like a grower.
Guest:You had to let it grow, especially coming after Fargo.
Guest:And, you know, people were like, damn, this seems like they're just kind of fucking around with this one.
Guest:It's not as serious.
Guest:What...
Guest:At what point, if ever, were you keyed into the idea that this was a detective story and that it was like their version of like those hard boiled film noir detective pulp stories like The Big Sleep?
Marc:Years later, like years and years later, because like I would watch it for the comedy.
Marc:I would watch it for John Goodman and Donnie.
Marc:Like it would just be a comedy.
Guest:But that became a thing for you.
Guest:You then got that.
Guest:yes yeah okay because i think that's central right i think it is central to the idea that you can grow that a movie grows with you that you can watch something and appreciate it for a different reason than you appreciated it in the start at the beginning and like i was thinking about it lately with the big lebowski where i don't know is maybe like two or three times ago when i had it on
Guest:and probably you know at this point seen it two dozen times or whatever i'm watching it and i'm starting to realize something about the dude like how would you describe the dude if somebody's never seen this movie describe the dude for them slacker um you know older guy who is just floating through life and uh just trying to get by and uh smokes a lot of weed and uh and yeah just uh
Guest:And he's thrust into a circumstance that's bigger than him.
Guest:He's got to try to figure it out.
Guest:Is he good at figuring it out?
Guest:No, not at all.
Guest:So here's the, this is the thing.
Guest:So there's two things that happened.
Guest:You didn't say anything that I wouldn't say or probably anyone else trying to describe.
Marc:Although he does figure it out, doesn't he?
Marc:He does.
Marc:He does.
Guest:He figures it out.
Guest:He also, he fucks things up.
Guest:constantly throughout the whole movie but every time he fucks something up it's because he has the idea to do something right that's kind of smart like he sees jackie treehorn scribbling on the notepad yes and he goes over and tries to decode what he wrote yeah he finds a dick drawing but still like right right
Guest:And so I remember a couple times ago, like that was already there with me.
Guest:I'm like, the dude actually is like not a bad detective.
Guest:Like he's kind of okay.
Guest:And then I keyed into this idea that like, wait a minute, I laugh at this movie a lot.
Guest:It's very funny.
Guest:Comedy is good.
Guest:But...
Guest:what am i like the dude am i laughing at him being a buffoon like maybe sometimes like he crashes his car or whatever but no a lot of the dude's jokes are caustic sarcastic asshole lines like he's a douche to a lot of people a lot of times like you know right from the beginning of the movie you know the guy picks up the bowling ball what's this obviously you're not a golfer right yeah
Guest:All the stuff with Philip Seymour Hoffman, with Brandt, where he's like deliberately antagonizing him as he goes through that wall of stuff.
Guest:Like, you know, like, oh, different mothers, you know, or whatever.
Guest:You know, Jackie Treehorn says to him, you know, oh, dude, did you know the brain is the largest erogenous zone?
Guest:And he goes, hmm, on you maybe.
Yeah.
Guest:Or when the Big Lebowski has him come over, like when they're going to kind of set him up for the whole plot and he's telling him that Bunny got kidnapped and he presents him with the ransom note and he's like, is that what makes a man, sir?
Guest:And the dude's like, hmm.
Guest:Yeah, that and a pair of testicles.
Guest:And then the big Lebowski's like, what?
Guest:And he's like, I don't know, sir.
Guest:Like these jokes are all like to himself.
Guest:They're at the benefit of no one but his own amusement.
Guest:He...
Guest:you realize in that moment that like he thinks less of the world than, than they think of him.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Like he's, he's not suffering fools and yet he's still the guy who's like the put upon like klutz in this movie.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And it was like combining that with like what you, you,
Guest:is discovered about, you know, how this movie is just basically their version of a Raymond Chandler novel, like, you know, with a hard-boiled detective.
Guest:And I'm like, Humphrey Bogart could say half of these things.
Guest:Like, I could hear him saying, he fixes the cable.
Guest:You know, like, these are all, like, very detective type of things put through, like, 90s stoner SoCal surfer culture.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And that was...
Guest:I don't know, 20 years after seeing the movie, 23 years after first seeing this, like it is still rewarding me.
Guest:It is still paying off.
Guest:And I thought about it in terms of when we watched the Tarantino movies that like you and I both jumped forward.
Guest:once upon a time in Hollywood to the top of the list over Pulp Fiction.
Guest:And I would say we clearly both of us probably still love Pulp Fiction, but in terms of the rewatching, I think the once upon a time in Hollywood is more rewarding.
Guest:It keeps uncovering.
Guest:You keep peeling back layers.
Guest:They didn't know were there, especially as you know that there's more backstory to these characters.
Guest:You read the novel, you read the, you get the idea that there's inner life going on with all these people.
Guest:And,
Guest:It's like intrinsic to re-watching something is the idea that you're going to newly discover things.
Guest:It's not just going to be the same experience.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah, that's true.
Marc:And I would agree that Big Lebowski is the movie I've seen the most and the one I enjoy the most.
Marc:I mean, I would like to re-watch a whole bunch of them, but like, you know, yeah, looking at the list –
Marc:you know, Raising Arizona is great.
Marc:And like Martin Fink, like they're all great.
Marc:But yeah, Big Lebowski is the one that I definitely rewatch the most.
Marc:But so how does this get us to RoboCop?
Guest:Well, so here's the thing.
Guest:RoboCop, you and I saw this when we were kids, right?
Guest:You know, we walked and it was, it was a staple, right?
Guest:It's like Predator, you know?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And it's ridiculous because, like, it's so violent and, like, kids should not be watching anything.
Guest:But this was, like, marketed to kids.
Guest:There were toys.
Guest:I was playing with RoboCop toys.
Guest:Yes.
Guest:So that's, like, hilarious.
Guest:But, like, and that's also, like, a kind of, like, we have a nostalgia for it from that level.
Guest:But watching it this time...
Guest:The satire of it is so pointed and entertaining.
Guest:It's not heavy-handed.
Guest:I mean, it is heavy-handed, but that's kind of what is fun about it.
Guest:It's funny that it's so blatant about where consumer culture and infotainment are taking us.
Guest:And also like, you know, defense spending and, you know, militarization and corporatization of law enforcement.
Guest:Meanwhile, all the cops are getting killed and everything.
Guest:It's very smart.
Guest:It's a smart movie.
Guest:And I just recently watched Network and I'm watching this Robocop and like Network is thought of as a classic.
Guest:People talk about all the time.
Guest:It's like one of the greatest scripts ever written.
Guest:And even me, like I'm watching and I'm like, hmm.
Guest:that part's a little not great right now like you know like there's some it's got some creakiness to it robocop it was killing like all the all the things of like the news anchors the whole audience was howling with laughter and it was like spot on these like the the the treatment of it as satire
Guest:And I'm like, I could sit down with and watch this again, like tomorrow.
Guest:Like, and it made, this made me think about the big Lebowski.
Guest:It's like these things that you can pull up at different times in your life and enjoy them for entirely different reasons.
Guest:Like,
Guest:Yes, I still like the guy going through the toxic waste, but like that used to be the reason to watch the movie.
Guest:Now it's like a little sprinkle on top.
Marc:Yes.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I mean, putting cocaine in little vases, glass vases, one of my favorite parts of the movie for sure.
Marc:And also the the I'll buy that for a dollar.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Can I just ask, is that a real comedy thing?
Marc:No, it's from that movie.
Marc:It's just in-universe comedy?
Guest:Yes, it's like from the Lego movie, the, honey, where are my pants?
Marc:Yes, and it is exactly like that.
Marc:Yes.
Marc:And it's funny.
Guest:funny every time well it's especially funny because everyone thinks it's funny there's people like in the office quoting it to each other as like a you know a thing you don't even think about like you just say it like you'd say like you know a catchphrase from a tv show and no one would have to reference it yeah did i do that you know yeah yeah
Marc:It's exactly like that.
Marc:And he was – the director was able to just do that.
Marc:And like those news clips, it was like something in like Bounty Law from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Marc:It was like you have a news clip and then they go to commercial and you're watching like nuclear – you play nuclear explosion with your parents.
Marc:Yeah, nuke them.
Marc:And then you go back to the news clip.
Marc:It was fascinating that this was actually able to be a thing when it came out.
Marc:Like, really fascinating.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, I was very taken with watching it again, and I would recommend it.
Guest:If you haven't seen RoboCop in a long time, give it a shot.
Guest:I think it holds up much better than you remember.
Guest:I also – it did remind me that when I was a kid –
Guest:there was no such thing as spoilers.
Guest:In fact, I was like, I, I sought them out.
Guest:I, I think I knew the entire movie of RoboCop before I ever saw it because I just grilled every kid at school who saw it.
Guest:I go, then what happened?
Guest:Then what happened?
Guest:And it was like, you know, like, no, then the guy drives into toxic waste and he melts.
Guest:And it got me thinking like, I, that was like, I couldn't wait to see that part.
Guest:Like I was so, I was like waited with bated breath.
Guest:Like,
Guest:Oh, here it comes.
Guest:I see that thing.
Guest:It says toxic waste.
Guest:I knew it was going to happen.
Guest:And I was thinking about this and maybe this is a larger conversation for another time.
Guest:It's cause just a little mind grape I have right now.
Guest:Maybe other people have some thoughts about it.
Guest:I think a big reason that like our generation is the one that gets like prop the pump primed for nostalgia all the time.
Guest:And, you know, they're always rebooting things that came out in the eighties.
Guest:And I think a big reason for that is that,
Guest:Our imaginations were captured in such a way by movie magic that at this time... I was thinking about my kid.
Guest:You could tell him something was in a movie, and he wouldn't have any question about it.
Guest:You could put anything in a movie.
Guest:It's all made in computers now.
Guest:You could do literally anything you think of, and it happens.
Guest:If you...
Guest:We're making a movie in the 80s and you told the person like then a guy on screen melts to death from toxic waste gets hit by a car and liquefies like you're like, are you serious?
Guest:I'm going to see that like like that.
Guest:You're bullshitting me.
Guest:There's no way you actually see it happen.
Guest:It happens off screen, right?
Guest:No, no, no.
Guest:It happens on screen.
Guest:And then part of the magic of going to the movie was like, how did they do that?
Guest:How did they make the guy melt of toxic waste?
Guest:How did the Ark of the Covenant get the guy's face to fall off?
Guest:Like, right?
Guest:Like all of these things aided your enjoyment of the movie.
Guest:And like...
Guest:I think that's missing now because you can just do anything, do anything you want at any time.
Guest:And there's no questions asked.
Guest:No one will ever bat an eyelash about anything you created for a movie now because it's, it's all at your fingertips.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:That's a good point.
Marc:You know, it's funny you, you and Steve from the cinephiles, you were, you guys were talking about like, well, you know, we had movies and, you know, and like,
Marc:you know, when we were kids and they were, you know, for us, right?
Marc:Like we had these like, you know, 16 Candles and Breakfast Club and like our parents didn't have those movies, right?
Marc:Like when they were kids, like they were watching like Casablanca, which is about adults, you know?
Marc:And like, you know, they didn't have movies catered to 17 year olds or, you know, whatever age range.
Marc:And like, since then we've kind of grown up and,
Marc:those movies are still kind of for us.
Marc:And it's, it's, it's, I don't know.
Marc:I just find it interesting.
Marc:I think there's something there that now movies are just for adults and also for kids.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:It's like, it's, it's, it's, it's the idea now is to make it for kids and loop adults into the kiddom.
Guest:And that's why you have just adults who never grow up.
Guest:We're still into all the same IP they were into when they were kids.
Marc:Right, like Shrek fans and stuff.
Marc:Like these movies are for both.
Marc:Then like they kind of lasso them all in.
Marc:So yeah, I don't know.
Marc:I just find that interesting.
Marc:I'm thinking back to that episode where you and Steve were talking about.
Guest:Well, heady concepts on the enjoyment of movies.
Guest:If you have any thoughts about this stuff, go to our comment link in the episode description and send us your thoughts.
Guest:I did get this note from Rick from Queens Village that I can address directly.
Guest:He said, my lady and I are planning a trip
Guest:for the week of may 12th to los angeles what are the odds of mark performing at the comedy store during that time uh very low in fact mark says he probably won't i asked him i said are you going to be performing the week of may 12th he said i think i'm going to be wiped out i might want to bring myself down after you know doing the the the set uh the the special and so he's
Guest:probably not going to be there this week so i'm sorry about that rick but uh that's just a psa for anyone wondering if mark is going to be at the comedy store next week he he says he probably will not also i should just do this as a little parting uh note here someone wrote this in chris you might want to listen up to this uh
Guest:I just thought this was a great comment.
Guest:This comes from an unnamed person saying little late.
Guest:So I'm sure, you know, by now, but I just listened to the Jack Frost episode and Chris had it backwards.
Guest:Michael Keaton performed all of the human scenes, any scene in which he is not a snowman.
Guest:It was him.
Guest:He did none of the snowman scenes.
Guest:That was a dude in a snowman suit.
Marc:Doted.
Guest:Yes, I just wanted that to be out there.
Guest:Put that on the record.
Guest:Okay, if you have any comments about this episode or any other episode that we've done, please feel free to write in.
Guest:And the link is there for you in the episode description.
Guest:We will be back next week with a less speedy show, one that I don't have to do, you know, the Speed Racer final course through.
Marc:Brendan's doing this on the toilet.
Marc:He's editing it on the toilet.
Marc:Exactly.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Oh, if you only knew.
Guest:All right.
Guest:But until then, I'm Brendan and that is Chris.
Guest:Peace.