Grant Imahara + Alex Arato (Carolla Classics)

Summary

Adam Carolla Show: Grant Imahara + Alex Arato (Carolla Classics)

Release Date: January 5, 2025

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1. BattleBots and Robot Fighting Insights

The episode delves deeply into the world of BattleBots, featuring Grant Imahara sharing his extensive experience from the veteran engineer and former MythBusters cast member perspective.

• Evolution of BattleBots:

  • Grant discusses the technological advancements in BattleBots, noting the shift from rudimentary plastic components to sophisticated alloy parts. At [03:00], he remarks, “There’s nothing off the shelf you could get for any of those cars. You design it on your computer.”

• Design and Engineering Challenges:

  • 3D Printing Advances: Grant and Gina explore how 3D printing has transformed custom part manufacturing, with Gina explaining at [04:29], “It’s great to have something that you have designed come to you in a box.”
  • Material Choices: Gina highlights the transition to stronger materials, stating at [08:25], “I switched that to titanium, which I had to have water jet cut.”

• Personal BattleBots Anecdotes:

  • Grant recounts his BattleBots experiences, including mishaps like controlling a flipped robot ([14:04]), and the intense competition environment ([16:06]).
  • Gina shares details about her robot, Dead Blow, mentioning at [06:23], “It came in second place in its weight class and won two rumbles.”

• Impact of BattleBots on Engineering Skills:

  • The hosts emphasize how BattleBots serves as an IQ test for engineers, fostering ingenuity under strict constraints. Grant analogizes it to a “punt, pass and kick competition for engineers” at [10:36].

2. Technological Advances and Future of Robot Fighting

Grant and Gina explore the current state and future possibilities of robot fighting, comparing traditional BattleBots to newer concepts like Megabots.

• Megabots Initiative:

  • Discussed at [21:14], Gina mentions her consultation with Megabots, a project aiming to build giant, two-story robots capable of high-stakes competitions, potentially against international teams like Japan.

• Real Steel Comparisons:

  • The conversation transitions to the feasibility of real steel robot fights, with Gina expressing skepticism about the visual impact versus actual mechanical durability ([20:49]).

3. Personal Stories and Humorous Anecdotes

Interwoven with technical discussions are light-hearted and personal stories that add humor and relatability to the episode.

• Hollywood Sign Prank:

  • The hosts humorously discuss the incident where Zach Fernandez altered the Hollywood sign to “Hollyweed.” Grant muses at [31:50], “You can hike around and what you find is... the world's coolest fire station.”

• Romantic Gestures Gone Awry:

  • Grant shares a personal story about surprising his wife with a horseback ride near the Hollywood sign, which humorously backfires when she decides not to proceed ([33:00]).

• Parenting Challenges:

  • Grant recounts a comedic ordeal at Marie Callender’s involving managing his children in a public restroom, complete with humorous reflections on toilet etiquette and societal norms ([47:00]).

4. Current Events and Social Commentary

The episode touches on contemporary topics, blending celebrity news with comedic insights.

• Top Concert Earners of 2016:

  • Grant and Adam discuss the highest-earning concert tours, with notable mentions like Bruce Springsteen and Beyoncé. Grant humorously misestimates the earnings at [36:30], before Adam corrects him.

• Celebrity Apprentice and Pop Culture:

  • They critique the new Celebrity Apprentice reboot featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger, with playful mockery of celebrity selection and outcomes ([43:37]).

5. Listener Engagement and Interactive Segments

The hosts engage listeners with interactive segments, sharing personal anecdotes and inviting humorous participation.

• Robot Fart Competitions:

  • Grant introduces a mock competition involving accuracy in urination, blending absurdity with robotics engineering humor ([85:29]).

• Collaborative Storytelling:

  • The dynamic between Grant, Gina, and Alex fosters a narrative that intertwines personal histories with exaggerated humorous tales, such as Grant’s experiences with his friend Ray's antics ([70:00]-[75:00]).

6. Reflections and Closing Thoughts

Concluding the episode, the hosts reflect on the blend of technical expertise and personal storytelling that characterizes their discussions, leaving listeners with a mix of laughter and admiration for the engineering feats discussed.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Grant on BattleBots Evolution:
  “[04:06] Gina Grad: Yeah, but it’s not something that’s available to everyone… [04:29] Grant Imahara: … design it on your computer.”

• Gina on Robot Projects:
  “[03:18] Gina Grad: I try and keep making things when we’re not filming, and that way I keep the skills sharp.”

• Grant Comparing BattleBots to Sports:
  “[05:58] Grant Imahara: BattleBots is a sort of punt, pass and kick competition for engineers, inventors…”

• Humorous Parenting Story:
  “[47:32] Grant Imahara: …so someone will go like, oh, let’s kidnap…”

• Celebrity Apprentice Commentary:
  “[43:33] Grant Imahara: There’s something that Alex doesn’t know. I’m gonna tell Alex about a story…”

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Conclusion

This episode of the Adam Carolla Show offers a rich tapestry of engineering discussions, personal anecdotes, and humorous banter. Grant Imahara provides insider insights into BattleBots, while personal stories and current event commentaries keep the conversation engaging and entertaining. Whether you're a tech enthusiast, a fan of BattleBots, or simply enjoy witty banter, this episode serves as a comprehensive and entertaining listen.

Transcript

[Adam Carolla]

At Walden University, we get the W. We come here for more than just a degree. We come here to make an impact. We step up when everything is on the line and we create opportunities. At Walden University, we learn the skills to get us to the next level. Plus, with flexible online learning, we can do it on our time. Now it's your time. Get the W. Walden University set a course for change. Visit waldenu. Edu to learn more. Certified to operate by Chev.

[Giovanni]

Welcome to Coral Classics. I'm your host, superfan Giovanni. This is the podcast we play the best moments, highlights and fans like the clips from all 15 years of the Adam Carolla Show. We have a companion podcast titled Coral Classics. The ad free archives are exclusively available through Adam Kurilla's substack. All right, coming up for today's clips, we have ADAM Kurilla Show 1979 Grant and Mihara James Mitchell, Gina Gratt, Brian Bishop 2017. This is Grant's one on one of the show. It's great. Grant's kind of a hero. If you're a fan of Mythbusters, you probably love Grant. The only major cast member who appeared was Kari Byron, who appeared on the morning show back in 2008. And she said the phrase gotta express the anus in regards to a dog's anal gland. Brian caught that as a drop and never let her live it down. And she never returned to the show. She actually left quite early because that drop kept playing. Aside from that, this interview with Grant is great. Rest in peace, Grant.

[Grant Imahara]

And now Alcoa presents Definitely Not a Jew on the Adam Carolla show. Dateline, Naples, Florida. A 45 year old woman held a lighter to a propane tank in front of deputies before being taken into custody. The woman resisted arrest and bit the hand of one deputy, but failed to cause injury because she had no teeth. Definitely not a Jew. Grant Demihara. Did I screw that up or I got that right?

[Gina Grad]

You got it right.

[Grant Imahara]

Thank you, Grant Studio the show White Rabbit Project streaming now on Netflix. What a time we're living in. So much great content out there. Such an exciting show. Formerly of Mythbusters. After 10 years, Grant's getting out doing his own thing. An engineering degree from usc. Man must have been excited about that Rose bowl yesterday.

[Gina Grad]

I'm really not a football guy, so I didn't watch it. I was in the shop.

[Adam Carolla]

But you have a good reason.

[Gina Grad]

I was in the sh. I was cleaning my shop actually, which I try and do in the off season.

[Brian Bishop]

Your porcelain doll shop or like my.

[Gina Grad]

Machine shop there you Go.

[Grant Imahara]

Done a lot of. Started off Industrial Light and Magic. Done a lot of visual effects, done the Craig Ferguson robot and that kind of stuff. What are you working on when you're in your shop normally?

[Gina Grad]

Well, I've got a number of projects. I try and keep making things when we're not filming, and that way I keep the skills sharp. So right now it's all projects for friends. 3D printing, a pip boy from Fallout. It's a video game. It's like a thing you wear on your wrist.

[Grant Imahara]

Where are we at with 3D printing? I know it's coming a long way. I know they're doing metallic stuff now and there's a lot of really cool stuff. Eight years ago, you'd go to Leno's garage and he would show you a crescent wrench or an adjustable wrench that was done out of PVC material. And it was the coolest thing in the world. It actually worked. But it's a plastic wrench. Not a lot of good. But now that they're doing a lot of it out of alloys and stuff.

[Gina Grad]

Yeah, but it's not something that's available to everyone. It's a sort of thing that you order from a company online. It's your design and you send them your design and then they send you back the metal part. Currently consumer grade. Oh, it's not as fun, but it's great to have something that you have designed come to you in a box.

[Grant Imahara]

Right. Because when you're doing this stuff is bespoke. I mean, you're doing this robot or whatever it is, you need parts and shapes and things. All the race cars I have in the other shop, I have guys over there with stamps and presses and bends and torches and stuff, and they're making the stuff. There's nothing off a shelf you could get for any of those cars. You design it on your computer. And is it a CAD?

[Gina Grad]

Yeah, it's in CAD. It's in a 3D file and you.

[Grant Imahara]

Just send it to this company and X amount of days or weeks later and you specify the alloy.

[Gina Grad]

I don't think that you can get that specific, but they'll. Because the process is slightly different. I believe it's sintered, so a powder that then is fused into the metal form. So you can't really spec out a specific alloy if it's something that is so technical that it needs a certain strength or a certain grade alloy. Still, CNC is the best process for a custom part.

[Grant Imahara]

You know, I feel like. I don't know why, but you know, it's like, I feel like you're Jean Claude Van Damme, but you will stop there. But we keep saying, you gotta get in the ufc. You gotta go in the octagon. We gotta see. I feel that for that with you. It's BattleBots.

[Gina Grad]

Oh, yeah.

[Grant Imahara]

Well, I feel like a lot of talk about making funny robots. Let's get some Battlebot going.

[Gina Grad]

It was my calling. In fact, in 1999, the first incarnation of Battlebots was on Comedy Central.

[Grant Imahara]

I know.

[Gina Grad]

And I had a battlebot in there called Dead Blow.

[Grant Imahara]

I don't know gay slang, so slow down.

[Gina Grad]

And it came in second.

[Grant Imahara]

Oh, really?

[Gina Grad]

Yeah. Came in second place in its weight class and won two rumbles.

[Grant Imahara]

They used to have weight class. I remember that one. Wow.

[Gina Grad]

Was it more of a. Oh, there it is.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah, yeah.

[Adam Carolla]

So it has a hammer that came.

[Gina Grad]

It has a hammer. Yeah. And a pointed tip on the hammer. And it was a pneumatic hammer. So it was really quick.

[Grant Imahara]

I tell you, that show is so fun to watch with me and my son because it's. It's a perfect sort of father sonny show to watch because he's into the action, I'm into the mechanical. Yeah. This is back when they used to have it at the armory or wherever it was on the island outside.

[Gina Grad]

They had it at Fort Mason. They switched it around to a few places, but Fort Mason was one of them.

[Grant Imahara]

It was fort. Yeah. And there you were. And so now you're doing this. That's when they had weight classes.

[Gina Grad]

That's.

[Grant Imahara]

They don't have him anymore. You must have done battle with Ziggo at some point, maybe. Son of Whayatchi.

[Gina Grad]

Ziggo was a lightweight, and Son of Guayachi was a heavyweight. So I didn't. I didn't face. I faced Hazard, which was a middleweight spinner.

[Grant Imahara]

Ah. Oh, Spinners are rough. Again, I don't know gay slang, but I do know BattleBots. Yeah. You didn't want to mess with Ziggo. Ziggo was one of my all time favorites.

[Brian Bishop]

What's the one that was like a Roomba but just whirled incessantly? Was that the one? Because that was impossible to destroy.

[Grant Imahara]

Ziggo of Huayahatchee. And then Vlad the Impaler.

[Gina Grad]

Oh, Vlad was great.

[Grant Imahara]

Vlad. Vlad was heavy. Simple. It's just £300 with a big old, like, rod in front of it. And that was it. It just grew up like a little.

[Gina Grad]

Forklift that would just pop them up and push them all over the arena.

[Grant Imahara]

So you. You placed.

[Gina Grad]

I did yeah.

[Grant Imahara]

That's awesome.

[Gina Grad]

Back in the day, what was the weight?

[Grant Imahara]

You see, we were like the middle weight.

[Gina Grad]

120.

[Grant Imahara]

120 pounds?

[Brian Bishop]

Yeah.

[Grant Imahara]

And what did you so obviously bang for your buck? You wouldn't want. You'd use as much aluminum as you could.

[Gina Grad]

Yeah. 6061 was most of it. 2024 for parts that mattered. The arm after the first year where they sliced it as a part of the combat, part of it flew off. I switched that to titanium, which I had to have water jet cut.

[Grant Imahara]

Wow. And did you're that nerd the number.

[Gina Grad]

I am saying I'm the definition proudly. You look in the dict. There's a picture of me.

[Grant Imahara]

In terms of like making a living doing anything related to BattleBots. Can you even break even? I mean you came in second place. You obviously hammered a couple of checks.

[Gina Grad]

Well, you know what happened was they took a dozen of the most popular robots and made toys out of them.

[Adam Carolla]

Merchandising.

[Gina Grad]

And so I got a cut of that, as did all the other guys. But. But considering how much I spent on developing the robot, this is over several four year span. I really just broke even because titanium ain't cheap.

[Grant Imahara]

No, it is not.

[Brian Bishop]

I like the idea of him getting a job letter. Well, Grant, I see. I'm not going to lie to your resume is very impressive. But bad news. The guy who came in first is in the other room. That's right, we're going to hire him. Again, very impressive resume.

[Gina Grad]

There's a bunch of guys now, in truth, there's a bunch of former BattleBots champion guys and guys that place that work at a consulting company that does prototypes for military and whatever companies. They're like a think tank. And so it's kind of like. I call it the famous Robot Builders Club and we have lunch. They're not far from here actually.

[Grant Imahara]

Well, it's interesting in terms of a real. Here comes a football reference. Be prepared to doze off.

[Adam Carolla]

Grant and I will grab a smoke.

[Grant Imahara]

They used to have these things called punt, pass and kick competitions and they do it at the halftime of the football game. And they do it for like teenagers and 9 year olds. And the idea, the reason it was a punt, pass and kick is they want to go like, who's the best? Like overall potential football player.

[Brian Bishop]

Sure, that guy can throw, but how well does he kick?

[Grant Imahara]

Right, right. And all that. So in a weird way, BattleBots is a sort of punt, pass and kick competition for engineers, inventors and whomever's. Because you go, here are the rules. Can't weigh more than £300. What else? I don't know. Can't emit gas, fire. And you're like, all right, what else? That's it. Well, what do you want to do? Well, go ahead. Go figure it out. And then you get the spinners and the rammers and the whatever. But it really is a way to go who's the smartest and who has the most ingenuity in this room? Because our rule is you can't go over £300 and you can't explode. And other than that, do whatever you want. And you see stuff that's. It's doomed to fail as it goes out there. Like, you go, oh, how's this gonna go? That thing made of sand and marzipan. I know medieval castles should strike fear, but they don't.

[Brian Bishop]

Is that macrame?

[Gina Grad]

And then it's a macrame now macrame bot. Didn't do well.

[Grant Imahara]

Didn't do well. The ones that never well are the ones that have the minions, the little flying drones that come with it, like, mainly because no one knows how to fly those yet. So they just always sort of buzz around and then get caught in their own fire burst or whatever it is. But it is a real just IQ test for engineers, wouldn't you say?

[Gina Grad]

Oh, it has to work in the arena. And there's a huge difference between designing something in a computer and having it work inside the battle box because it's a punishing environment.

[Grant Imahara]

Oh, yeah.

[Gina Grad]

If you don't test ahead of time, that was one of the big things that I was a really big proponent of. And whenever I would consult, it's, you have to try your design out. And in truth, in those days, there was a show at Easter and one at Thanksgiving. She did two major competitions a year, which is barely enough time to do a redesign. And so your instinct is to keep designing and kind of, you know, make your build envelope all the way up to just before the competition. But you can't do that. You have to test. You have to punish it.

[Grant Imahara]

Speaking of testing, Jimmy and I went and did it when it was back on Comedy Central as the Comedy Central guys. And I had some experience, like, flying, like, remote control airplanes or something. So they said, well, you can work the thing. And it was. It was me. It was our robot, which they just gave us, you know, against, like, Chinzilla, I think was. I think it was Jay Leno.

[Gina Grad]

That was a Lenobot.

[Grant Imahara]

Jay Leno had a robot.

[Brian Bishop]

Yeah, Scooper kind of thing, right?

[Gina Grad]

Yeah, the chin was a scoop.

[Grant Imahara]

The chin was a scoop. And so, like, they got us into the Lucite cage and like, all right, we're gonna get started. And I was like, all right. And they handed me a remote that was pretty familiar, like the kind you'd fly the remote control planes with. And I remember they'd go, look, the stick on the right, push that forward. It goes forward, you pull it back, it goes backwards. I go, okay, I'm just giving a little test. And turn right, turn right, turn left, turn left. So I go. And I push it forward and it goes backwards, and I go, huh? And then I pull it backwards, it goes forward, and I go, wait a minute, what's going on here? And I go, oh, it's flipped over. The bot, which had, like.

[Brian Bishop]

Which had like 10 inch works on both sides.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah, it had 10 inch saw blade tires or something, was sitting in a way that it was flipped over. So forward meant backward and backward meant forward. And I was like, we should flip it over. Right. Way right. And they're like, ah, we don't have time for that. Here we go. I was like, well, this is going to be. I'm not going to be very effective at all if everything is exactly reversed. Like, I don't know how fast you could turn a hot lap at Laguna Seca. When you turn right, it means you go left, and when you turn left, it means you go right. Now the brake, so the cow accelerator pedal down. Like, it's going to take my mind just a few short years to figure this out. And then they're going five. And I'm like, we're never gonna beat. We might beat Conan on a good day, but we're not gonna take Leno out. Not Chinzilla, not now. And I remember that, like, I thought, this is TV, isn't it?

[Unknown]

@ Walden University, we get the W. We're not here to have our hands held. We're here to lend ours because we want to create positive change on the world around us. And Walden University teaches us the skills to make it happen on our time. Now it's your time. Learn the skills. Make an impact. Get the W. Walden University set a course for change. Visit waldenu. Edu to learn more. Certified to operate by Shep.

[Grant Imahara]

And all I did was look like I was insane because, why is he going backwards? What's he doing? He should be. And I was like, ah.

[Gina Grad]

You're like, oh, that's a clever strategy. It looks like he's running away. He's drawing him in.

[Brian Bishop]

Adam has mastered retreating. He's off, Mike.

[Gina Grad]

They're backwards at that. Oh, that's Treasure Island.

[Grant Imahara]

Which one? This one again? I don't know. The gay livestream. There's two of us for. Jimmy just abandoned his radio. So actually physically attack the driver. That's against Chinzilla. We don't allow it. Shinzilla. Let's go down for the start. Shin Killa. We present a three on one challenge.

[Adam Carolla]

Is that a bucket?

[Grant Imahara]

I don't know. Introducing in the middle of the arena, a robot so devastating, stating that he demanded to fight three robots at the same time, Jay Leno's infamous Chin Killa. I don't know.

[Unknown]

He looks a little tired.

[Grant Imahara]

I've seen a lot of Chincilla. Is he up for this fight? Are the opponents in the red corner, driven by Comedy Central's robot combat enthusiast and host of the man Show, Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla. And by the way, now would be Kimmel. And then he'd count to 15 Mississippi. There you go. And Adam Farrell. And behind me, cool robots. Chris Joe Carlberg presents the coolest killer.

[Brian Bishop]

Dreadnaught Magic, the Gathering city of.

[Grant Imahara]

All right, I don't want to see anything.

[Gina Grad]

Sponsors.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah. So beside your own, who do you remember? So you're in that whole class with the son of Wiachis and the Ziggos and the Vlads.

[Gina Grad]

Oh, yeah. Bio Biohazard was a big one.

[Grant Imahara]

Oh, yeah.

[Gina Grad]

Vlad the Impaler. Those were two of my favorites.

[Grant Imahara]

Was there ever any sticky situations about. Obviously, you're putting this thing together. It's got a pneumatic hammer that comes down with a ice pick on the end of it. I mean, obviously if that thing ever hits your hand, it's just gonna go right through it. Right.

[Gina Grad]

No hesitation at all.

[Brian Bishop]

Instant stigmata.

[Gina Grad]

Instant right.

[Grant Imahara]

Instant stigmata. Obviously, you have to be careful, but was there ever any situation where something malfunctioned?

[Gina Grad]

No, thankfully. I mean, having been there from 1999, which was even before it was on the air, it was like this kind of. Even before that was Robot wars, which is an underground event.

[Adam Carolla]

Fight club.

[Gina Grad]

Yeah. It's like Robot Fight Club. And in the pits, it used to be very, very dangerous because people would just work on their. You know, they're in a rush between matches, they're trying to fix a robot, and they wouldn't take the precautions like getting the robot up off its wheels. They just start working on it.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah. And also, when you fly these model airplanes, you realize there's only a certain amount of frequencies. So if someone turns their radio on and you turn your radio on, you could be controlling their plane or robot or whatever it is without knowing it, which has happened.

[Gina Grad]

And they had to institute a radio impound. So you had to go check out your radio with a frequency clip. And there was a guy whose job it was to make sure that nobody else uses your frequency. I've seen fires, I've seen robots, somebody short out a high voltage system and cause it a giant flash in the pits. Not like two pits over from me. It used to be very, very dangerous. And then people.

[Grant Imahara]

Lear, I gotta say, I've been studying about you and learning about the Lucasfilm stuff and all the various things, but I just sort of stumbled into this whole robot business. I did not. I had no idea that you were so steeped and immersed in this.

[Gina Grad]

I do. I live and breathe robots.

[Grant Imahara]

How far away are we from robot fighting? And I don't mean wield robotics. Real steel, but I just mean. Yeah, real steel. Yeah. Hugh Jackman.

[Brian Bishop]

That's right.

[Gina Grad]

You know, there was a show last year, or maybe it was a year before that, that had. It was essentially real steel. It was Robot Fighting League. And they would fight each other on camera. And these are. I know the guy who built them, Martzatrakian, a friend of mine, and he built really sturdy robots. The problem is, when you see these robots fighting each other, it doesn't look as incredible as it is in real life. It just looks like they're kind of hitting each other.

[Adam Carolla]

Rock em, sock em.

[Gina Grad]

And you would think in your mind, you wanna see heads flying off and arms flying off. But it's hard with robots fighting each other.

[Adam Carolla]

You have a real bloodlust, Grant.

[Gina Grad]

Well, you know, you just want to give the people what they want to see.

[Brian Bishop]

You all Pacific Rim ye.

[Grant Imahara]

What people want to see is a homeless guy dropped off in the cage and you and Ziggo and son of Huayachi going after this guy. And if he can make it five minutes, we'll give him a 40 ounce and we'll let him go on his way. Oh, yeah, we are watching now the.

[Gina Grad]

Show where the robots are fighting, these things are punching. I mean, they can punch the side of a car in, punch through a door, and they're punching each other. And the thing that actually made it more visceral is that they have hydraulic fluid. And so when they break an actuator, you see like hydraulic fluid spewing out.

[Adam Carolla]

But you're right, because they're both. They're both so tough, you don't get to see the impact.

[Unknown]

Exactly.

[Gina Grad]

I Mean, they're hitting each other, but they're made so well that they're not falling apart as you would expect.

[Grant Imahara]

The. God, this is just what the terrorists.

[Gina Grad]

Think we're doing, you know, with the giant robots. I was consulting on a team called Megabots, and these are the guys that are building a giant two story robot. They challenged Japan to a robot competition which was supposed to happen at the end of last year, but it's going to happen, really. And so these are, you know, this is more like what people want to see with robot jocks transforming and so. So they're still working on it and hopefully they'll have that competition this year.

[Grant Imahara]

Wow. So we're going to take on.

[Gina Grad]

Yeah, there it is.

[Grant Imahara]

Japan. And then later, the winner takes over Mexico, actually takes over the government.

[Brian Bishop]

That's the prize. Hi.

[Grant Imahara]

Hi. You thought the Chupacabra was bad. Move over. Giant robots coming into town. Take care of those drug lords. All right, the show, White Rabbit project. Ton of fun stuff like recreations and. God, there's one now. You went down to the salt flats and we're going after a speed record on one of them. Can you tell us about that? I say salt flats, but I don't know where.

[Gina Grad]

Yeah, the whole episode is about speed and kind of like fastest things in the world, but not regular things. And so I had the fastest radio controlled car in the world, the second fastest. They're going after the world record and you think, well, a radio controlled car, we're familiar with that. So think about 18 inches long, does over 200 miles an hour.

[Grant Imahara]

Wow.

[Gina Grad]

It's so fast you can't even track it. The guy has to get on a lift so he can track it down the Runway.

[Grant Imahara]

What are the rules? You have to make two passes and an average speed.

[Gina Grad]

Yeah, two passes, one in one direction, one in the other direction with laser timers. And if you're going for the world record, you have to fly in an adjudicator, an official adjudicator from Guinness from New York to wherever it is that you're trying to.

[Grant Imahara]

We had to do that for this podcast, I kid you not. Like, we wanted the world record. Guinness Book of World Record. And they're like, you got to fly the guy in because otherwise we're going to, you know, if we go out to talk to every yahoo who thinks he's got a record on, something will be out of business. Got to buy hotels and tickets and everything else. So, yeah, you got to pay for these guys. And they come out now in the world of speed. In terms of full scale automobiles, there are categories. There's rear wheel driven engine, transmission, differential axles and things like that. And then there's rocket powered, which is the thing just coasts and it's a giant rocket that just powers it with no transmission or anything like that. Is this thing powered by a bottle rocket or does it have a motor? And does that motor go through a transmission? And is that part of the rules?

[Gina Grad]

I believe that the rules for this one are radio control, first of all, battery powered, electric motor. And there might be a separate category for gas, I'm not sure. But the guy that he was trying to beat was also electric powered. And the other thing is it has to be maneuverable before and after. So you have to be able to burn up on internal turn in a circle. You can't like.

[Grant Imahara]

See, I have another category. It's not powered by the rear wheels or powered by gas or electric or rocket engine. It's whose wife is more pissed off. See, I like to do that. Like when I see the guys who are into drag boat racing and then the guys that are into tractor pulling with the five blown hemis on the tractor, they have a tractor that they have $272,000 into, but it's worth $18,000. And now I'm going to include the radio controlled speed record car guys whose wife is more pissed. Yeah, you know, I mean, because I know wives that are like reasonably perturbed that their husband's spending a little too much time in his roto league. Yeah.

[Brian Bishop]

Fancy football.

[Grant Imahara]

A little too much with the fancy football. He's on the computer. A little too much with the fancy.

[Brian Bishop]

Football game every Sunday from day out.

[Grant Imahara]

But the guy who never leaves the garage because he's either building a drag boat, a tractor to pull a weight of nothing. By the way, it's not like. Well, we pulled over a thousand refugees last year, sweetie. How can you argue with that? No, you just have a big sled with a weight on it that just goes forward that is just designed to stop you from pulling. Or the radio controlled speed record guy. Yeah, I feel like it's. See on one hand in the drag boat racing, you can get killed, but that could be a plus for a.

[Adam Carolla]

Lot of the wives.

[Grant Imahara]

Just hammer that, hammer that insurance policy, the tractor pull. Guys like, you got five blown hemis and you're blowing a head gasket every pull.

[Brian Bishop]

If you're doing the tractor, you probably have a barn or some large amount of space.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah. But the car, I don't know. Oh, the car, the radio control car guy. Single. There you go.

[Gina Grad]

This guy, actually, this guy was married and he was building it in his garage. And he was also. I think his wife knew what she was getting herself into because he's like a world ranked radio control guy. In other. Not just speed, but around the track.

[Adam Carolla]

Once your world runs different.

[Gina Grad]

He's known. She knew what she was getting into.

[Grant Imahara]

All right. Well, at least she knew going in. Yeah. The guys, the craziest is. Well, not the craziest, but they have a. In Florida, they have a Top Gun, but with radio controlled planes. And they have turbine jets going all day long. And if anyone's ever really seen turbine jets fly miniature. They sound exactly like a fighter jet. They do insane things. We should be way more impressed by these guys that go 300 miles an hour. And when they spool them up, they just spool up and they just take off and the gear comes in and stuff. I mean, the amount of work and time involved with that is insane.

[Gina Grad]

Oh, yeah. And these are tiny, tiny actual jet engines. Turbine engines. And it's. The scale is incredible. And they're so, so fast.

[Grant Imahara]

They're the size of a thermos, like an old school lunch pail thermos, but they go over 100,000 RPMs, Gary, just for fun and take your time. There's plenty of stuff on YouTube.

[Gina Grad]

SR71.

[Grant Imahara]

Just those things firing up and find one that's in the pits, so to speak, because you hear one just fire up and spool up. And you guys being a podcast, tell me at home if it doesn't sound like you're just on the tarmac and there's a Learjet or a fighter jet that's fired up and is spooling up.

[Adam Carolla]

I wonder if they tap these guys for the military because so much of it's remote control. They clearly know what they're doing.

[Grant Imahara]

Oh, boy. Now, I mean, in order to operate something that's going 250 miles an hour past you and these things, they put a gallon of gas on them. They don't really glide very much. There's not much wing to them or anything. Everything is swept. I mean, it's really. It's really crazy. Gary, you'll find that. All right, let's just listen to the thing spool up. If you can find that, Gary.

[Unknown]

At Walden University, we get the W. We're not here to have our hands held. We're here to lend ours because we want to create positive change on the world around us. And Walden University teaches us the skills to make it happen on our time. Now it's your time. Learn the skills. Make an impact. Get the W. Walden University. Set a course for change. Visit waldenu. Edu to learn more. Certified to operate by chef.

[Grant Imahara]

That's an afterburner. It's a model airplane, everybody. Anyone want to guess where they make the miniature turbine engines? All right, I'll give you three guesses. Jamaica.

[Brian Bishop]

Okay.

[Grant Imahara]

The aforementioned Mexico. Germany. Now give me some time. You better write it down.

[Adam Carolla]

I have two guesses.

[Grant Imahara]

Of course they make it in Germany. That's a miniature model jet engine that propels those things at 250 miles an hour. It is pretty badass. All right. Oh, man. Let's just do a little bit of news, shall we?

[Adam Carolla]

Let's do it.

[Grant Imahara]

Give you the news with grad. News with Geno Grad. Breaking viral. All those crazy trucks. We give me news with Gina grad. Trouble in the Middle East, Celebrity drunk meltdowns. Big news with Gina. Gina the news with Gina Grad.

[Adam Carolla]

Well, Grant, your robot stuff is cute, but can you put a tarp over a sign? Think about that. The guy who turned the Hollywood sign into the Hollyweed sign might have revealed himself by slapping his signature on the evidence. According to tmz, Zach Fernandez, who goes by Jesus hands on social media. Media had his handle all over the iconic sign the day the recreational pot became legal in California. He's also taking credit for it on Instagram and other social media posts. Fernandez has not been nabbed, but cops are on the hunt. Whoever did it faces misdemeanor trespassing charges. Here's a clip of Fernandez bragging about the feat online.

[Grant Imahara]

Okay, so the mission's like 95% complete? No, it's probably like 50% complete.

[Brian Bishop]

But keep an eye out and have.

[Grant Imahara]

A safe new year. Mission completed.

[Brian Bishop]

Welcome 2017.

[Grant Imahara]

I feel great. I'm wishing you all a beautiful year. What are you doing to the sign? Turn in Halloween or something?

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah, basically just wrapped a black tarp around the bottom of the O's so it says Hollyweed. Because now recreational pod is leaving.

[Grant Imahara]

Probably old fashioned, but I miss the days when people would just kill themselves by jumping off of the sign.

[Adam Carolla]

It's very romantic.

[Grant Imahara]

You know what I mean?

[Brian Bishop]

The ladies didn't work out.

[Adam Carolla]

There it is. I'm glad he didn't do actual damage to the sign. I'm glad it was just a harmless.

[Gina Grad]

Lighting and they had it down because we woke up because I live near the sign in Beechwood and. And we woke up and heard about it. And by the Time we'd run out there to take a picture, it was gone. It was already halfway down.

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah, they said about 10:45 they started.

[Gina Grad]

Taking it down and it was down quickly.

[Grant Imahara]

I used to live up Beechwood too, and I could just see it from my bedroom back in the day. So although I wouldn't wake up before noon, so they probably would have had it down, it was fun. You can go hike around and what you find is you can hike like a sort of fire trail, horse trail that goes behind it up to, I don't know, the world's coolest fire station because there's an Olympic sized swimming pool up there. And I'm not sure why there's a big swimming pool up there, but there is a big swimming pool up there. Then there's also this one. Once every 12 and a half years I attempt to do something like quasi romantic. That seems like something a husband might do.

[Brian Bishop]

Are you almost due?

[Grant Imahara]

Almost.

[Adam Carolla]

A couple years.

[Grant Imahara]

Another couple on our Anna on Lynette. And my anniversary must have been about 10 years ago. I'd heard that if you went up Beechwood Canyon, they have a horse ranch at the top. And if you get on one of those horses, you can take a ride over the hill to this Mexican hacienda and you can have drinks and Mexican food and then ride the horses back to the little horse ranch which was at the top of Beechwood. And anyone who that was under the Hollywood sign lives up Beechwood somewhere. So I surprised her because she rode horses growing up and she used to go with her dad and had a little outfit and everything and her dad would go with her and rent the horse and took riding lessons and everything. And I said, all right, good news. I got a surprise for you. And we got in the car and we drove up there and I said, I know how much you love horses and this is going to be excellent. Right? Congratulations. Happy anniversary, whatever.

[Brian Bishop]

Congratulations on marrying me.

[Grant Imahara]

And she said, yeah, these are rental horses. And I said, yeah, aren't all horses rental horses? Like I don't know who owns. I know people lease horses. I don't know. Only Shatner owns horses. And she said, I'm selling horses. Yeah, but these ones are like, eh, these ones aren't good because they go back and forth all the time, whatever. And I went, so do you want to do this? And she's like, not really. And I was like, good, let's go. Wow. We went home, I beat all and looked at the Hollywood sign. It was awesome. The greatest gift you've ever given Me, woman is the gift of not living. So she was like, I don't want to do this. I was like, me neither. Good. All right, let's go home. We got two TV sets. Let's go. And that's what we did. Turn around and went home. I lived up that Beechwood Canyon for like eight years. I always heard. Heard about the horse trail up there. And I never gone. I did it one time and Lynette said, let's go. And I said, I'm right in front of you. And that was the end of that.

[Brian Bishop]

Be sure to keep us abreast of your next romantic venture.

[Adam Carolla]

Grand gesture.

[Grant Imahara]

We're not gonna go in a hot air balloon.

[Gina Grad]

How about that?

[Adam Carolla]

Gonna drive to Temecula, not get in it.

[Brian Bishop]

We're not gonna frolic in the street.

[Grant Imahara]

We're not wine country. Yeah, but they do have a little market up there.

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah.

[Grant Imahara]

And they take credit.

[Adam Carolla]

Oh, they do.

[Grant Imahara]

You can run a little account with them and they'll like deliver the groceries and stuff. It's a little bit of old school Mayberry market. Yeah.

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah, they took credit.

[Grant Imahara]

Well, I don't know if they take credit as much as you not having your wallet and going, but yeah, they will take a little credit. Right.

[Adam Carolla]

That's cool. Well, the concert industry publication Polestar has released its list of the top 10 earners for worldwide concert tours of last year, 2016. I'm wondering if you'd like to guess who made the list. Top 10 musical earners of 2016.

[Brian Bishop]

Just musicians or like stand ups?

[Adam Carolla]

Include just music.

[Grant Imahara]

I must say, I was half hearing this on radio this morning. And so. I know, but now the question is, how much was I listening? I wasn't thinking that this would come up again. I'm going to say number one was Bruce Springsteen at 256 million or 254 million.

[Adam Carolla]

Way off? 268.

[Grant Imahara]

Oh, 268 million. So then number two was like Beyonce at 254 or something.

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah.

[Grant Imahara]

You're really listening something like that, right?

[Brian Bishop]

Yep.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah. This, by the way, when I talked to my wife and she goes, I told you we were meeting him at 6:30 for dinner. And I go, you said 6:00. I told you 6. I go, you said 6:40. Believe me, if I hear it usually this. I wasn't even paying attention to this.

[Adam Carolla]

And you're still doing all right.

[Grant Imahara]

Bruce was number one.

[Adam Carolla]

You got one and two made me angry.

[Grant Imahara]

Beyonce was number two. Now three was the rolling. No, I know Celine Dion's in there. I know the Rolling Stones are in there.

[Adam Carolla]

They're 9 and 10.

[Brian Bishop]

Guns n Roses has to be on there because they.

[Grant Imahara]

Guns n roses. 5. For some reason or something up there. 4. The thing that was interesting is like Celine Dion. I'm trying. Oh, that. It's also about calories burnt because I think. I think it was like the Rolling Stones, which were number.

[Adam Carolla]

I'm sorry, there were nine. With 90.9 million.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah. They only did like 12 gigs, though. Some other people were doing it.

[Brian Bishop]

Per screen average.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah, right. Per screen average is very high.

[Adam Carolla]

And I don't know if she's still doing it, but I would assume Celine Dion had a residency like in Vegas.

[Grant Imahara]

They weren't. I don't think you would count your residency. It's how many weekends you would go out. That's what she calls wham. Walking around money. Where she'd go. She's making 50 million in Vegas, but she'd go out and pick up another 86 million or whatever is. And change going out and doing those events. I remember the Stones. I don't know how many. They did like 12 gigs or a 16 gigs desert trip or what.

[Adam Carolla]

Two of them.

[Brian Bishop]

Adele must be on there.

[Adam Carolla]

Adele is number five.

[Grant Imahara]

Beyonce.

[Adam Carolla]

Beyonce. I was actually surprised by number three. I just. Personally, they're not really on my radar. Number three. Coldplay.

[Grant Imahara]

Coldplay.

[Adam Carolla]

I was a little surprised about that. Six, seven, and eight. Justin Bieber, Paul McCartney and Garth.

[Grant Imahara]

Oh, yeah. Paul McCartney.

[Adam Carolla]

Oh, yeah.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah. And McCartney just never stops earning.

[Adam Carolla]

No.

[Grant Imahara]

God, yeah.

[Adam Carolla]

Really went for it. So there's your top earners. 2016.

[Grant Imahara]

Fine. People go out, make money. They got no problem with it. Has McCartney let any gray creep in around his temples yet? Well, it's starting to anger me.

[Brian Bishop]

It's a new year.

[Adam Carolla]

A dusting around the ears. Yeah.

[Brian Bishop]

Did anyone here see any of those concerts? I saw a day I saw.

[Adam Carolla]

I was at Desert trip.

[Brian Bishop]

Was that. Oh, that was the old cello thing.

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah.

[Grant Imahara]

How was Adele?

[Brian Bishop]

Adele was awesome. Adele was a great show.

[Grant Imahara]

Great voice. Right.

[Brian Bishop]

It was just her, a few backing musicians like literally in the background. It wasn't the whole thing. The stage show with the dancers. I mean, she. Her voice is the star. She's. She's that talented, at least as a singer.

[Adam Carolla]

I can't imagine her with background dancers to. Hello.

[Brian Bishop]

No, there's a little video show on the screen and there was, you know, the musicians. But man, she. She's. She's the. She's the star.

[Grant Imahara]

She's destined to be a chubby chick. She's fighting it yeah, but she's got a problem. She's got the Kirstie Alley syndrome.

[Brian Bishop]

Big face.

[Grant Imahara]

Oh, no, Other way.

[Brian Bishop]

Other way around. Yeah.

[Grant Imahara]

She's got the cleft in the chin with the nice face. What happened to Kirstie Alley is she ballooned up, but her face never changed. For the first hundred pounds, she still looked like Kirstie Alley, but everything around her. So then all of a sudden, you just start dressing like a founding member of the Fleetwood Mac or something. You start putting on more and more layers, more and more flowing stuff. But when you go on Ellen and you see yourself, you don't go, oh, my God, I've packed on a bunch of weight. Because you see it in your face. When you go and do a talk show, it's the first thing you'll notice. They put the camera sort of down low. You're leaning back in the chair, and you go, oh, my God, I have a huge head. What happened to my head? I got to stop eating so much. Kirstie Alley, she got from, like, 135 to over 200 pounds and never looked at herself at a talk show and went, oh, my God. What's going on? Oh, you just wear bigger, flowier, darker stuff.

[Adam Carolla]

Smart.

[Brian Bishop]

Her headshot never changed.

[Grant Imahara]

Adele has got that thing. And if you don't believe me, the chicks who traditionally have the eating disorders in Hollywood, the Juliana Rancic of the world and stuff like that, their head is big and their body isn't. And if they put on four, if they're not insanely underweight, their head looks big on camera.

[Adam Carolla]

They're called lollipop heads.

[Grant Imahara]

These are my theories, Grant, but I'm telling. If you find out any of the chicks that had the eating disorders are all the ones that put on ten pounds and nine goes to their head. Kirstie Alley's head stayed the same size while her ass got as wide as Son of Waiachi.

[Brian Bishop]

Timely.

[Grant Imahara]

Who's back, by the way. Yeah.

[Gina Grad]

In the new series.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Gina Grad]

Couldn't keep him away. Heavyweight, big champion.

[Grant Imahara]

All right, one more.

[Adam Carolla]

The new Celebrity Apprentice, with Arnold Schwarzenegger taking the boardroom reins from Donald Trump, premiered Monday night on NBC. Boy George, Carney Wilson and Motley Crue singer Vince Neil, by the way, who sounds exactly like Sam Kinison. I realized yesterday.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah, just maybe it's just me from doing that show, but so is the. You know, when they do the. Like, the morning show, jocks are like, who's the new crew coming on? And they go, a Boy George. Oh, boy. And then they Go Vince Neil. Oh, boy. And then they spit out the next name, George Takei, and they go, oh, they're really scraping the bottom of that. So you can't even call them. Well, you've heard of them.

[Adam Carolla]

They were iconic at one point.

[Grant Imahara]

Right. You can't get Matthew McConaughey. You can't get the guy who. The lead from, Jeff. Not Jefferson.

[Brian Bishop]

Hamilton.

[Grant Imahara]

Hamilton.

[Adam Carolla]

Lin Manuel Morani.

[Grant Imahara]

Probably not gonna get him.

[Brian Bishop]

Ironically, couldn't think of the guy's name.

[Grant Imahara]

Ironically, couldn't think of his name. No. But I mean, you're not getting a listers. You need 13 or 14 people. You are going to end up with some names you've heard from the past. Like, you can't do the eye rolling on everything. You don't get Bradley Cooper on Dancing with the Stars. Like, what do you expect? You're going to get a Real Housewife of New Orleans. That's just how it works. Right? You're right.

[Adam Carolla]

Well, they. They did the show. They did the premiere Monday night. Second challenge was to write a song and record it and produce a music video for Trident Gum. Here's who got cut first, complete with two new catchphrases. You're fired's out. These are the new catchphrases.

[Grant Imahara]

Therefore, Connie, you're terminated.

[Adam Carolla]

Awake.

[Grant Imahara]

Hasta la vista, baby. Oh. Who could have ever seen it coming?

[Adam Carolla]

Of course, had to be both.

[Grant Imahara]

Carney Wilson got.

[Brian Bishop]

Carney Wilson was scraping the bottom of the barrel.

[Adam Carolla]

Got the first chop.

[Grant Imahara]

The first challenge was a jingle.

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah. For Trident. Yeah.

[Grant Imahara]

Wow. I feel like that's Carney's wheelhouse. You know what I mean? Like, she's musical.

[Brian Bishop]

Yeah. She was in Whistle Phillips.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah.

[Adam Carolla]

Vince outranked her.

[Grant Imahara]

Oh. Were they both leading the team leaders?

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah, I believe so.

[Grant Imahara]

Right.

[Brian Bishop]

For what it's worth, while the crew had more catchy songs. Wilson Phillips.

[Grant Imahara]

Oh, hold on.

[Gina Grad]

I'll go toe to toe.

[Adam Carolla]

Hold on.

[Grant Imahara]

I found that record inspirational. I wouldn't buy it, but my roommate Ralph bought it. And I would sneak it into my player. Yes, I would. Yes, I would. Dude, are you gay? I was going through a very difficult period of my life.

[Unknown]

You're gay for saying that.

[Grant Imahara]

I used to listen that hold on song and I think, hold on One more day. One more day. Release me are gay. Yes. I'm sorry. I stand by that album.

[Adam Carolla]

Great song.

[Grant Imahara]

Yes, thank you. So the team leader doesn't always have to get the boot.

[Adam Carolla]

No. Well, you tell us. Right? The project manager. Sometimes they get thrown under the bus. Sometimes they find somebody else.

[Grant Imahara]

Right. And you'd think if it was riding a jingle for gum that couldn't do.

[Brian Bishop]

It, gonna be up her alley.

[Adam Carolla]

All right, maybe the person who sang it was tone deaf. Maybe she was.

[Grant Imahara]

So that's on now?

[Adam Carolla]

Yep.

[Grant Imahara]

Monday nights, I keep seeing spots for Celebrity Match Game, which I'll be in coming up, but I haven't. I've just seen them. I haven't. I haven't really heard them or I'm not sure. I think that's coming back too. Hey, Gary, see if you can find out whenever the hell I'm gonna be on that. On that show, just for shits and giggles. All right, let's bring it on.

[Adam Carolla]

You got it. I'm Gina Grad, and that's the news.

[Grant Imahara]

Gina. Gina. That was the news with Gina Grad, Grant, his show, White Rabbit Project. This thing looks spectacular, man. And it's streaming now on Netflix. And you can binge watch it because it's all. All 10 episodes are up, right?

[Gina Grad]

All 10. You can watch them in whatever order you want, however long you want. We do heists, incredible jailbreaks, World War II weapons.

[Grant Imahara]

It's really fun, and it's really intense. So go check out Grant show. And until next time, this is Adam for Grant, Gina and Bolt saying mahalo. Yeah. Well, there you go.

[Giovanni]

All right, this is Adam K Show, 1979, with the late, great Brandon Mahar. Coming next we have Adam Kulishow, 343, Shooter Jennings, Teresa Strasser, Brian Bishop from 2010.

[Grant Imahara]

All right, the other experience I wanted to share before we got going with the news is I took the kids out solo today to Marie Callenders and Posh. Couple things. Wife's in Vegas. I took them out to Marie Calendars. Well, they know the lay of the land there. And it's never crowded.

[Unknown]

You can't take kids to any restaurant. It has to be kid friendly.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah, they have to have credit crayons, otherwise you ain't living.

[Unknown]

Crayons, high chairs, and patrons that aren't gonna hate you.

[Grant Imahara]

Right. And who kind of know you and like you. So there's this. So we're sitting there and we're eating, and all they want to eat is bacon and trying to feed them. We're doing a whole thing. And then at some point, Natalia announces she's got to gotta make a pee pee. And, yeah, kids can't hold it. I've tried, you know, I've done the. Can you wait till we get home? It's like no candy do. So we got to get up, we got to go Pee pee. And so now there's this weird thing where as a dude, where do you take. Can't go into the woman's room.

[Unknown]

Yeah, but it's weird to take her into the men's.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah, it's weird, but it's the lesser of two weirdnesses. Yeah. To go into the men's room because I as a guy, can't go into the women's room at Marie Callender.

[Unknown]

You need a lookout. You should have put Sunny outside to make sure no other dudes can.

[Grant Imahara]

I try to. I try to leave Sonny alone in the booth, but I left him with the iPhone, thinking they would take the iPhone before they got to him.

[Unknown]

I like your thinking.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah, someone will go like, oh, let's kidnap.

[Unknown]

Wait a Second, is that a 3G?

[Grant Imahara]

And then his buddy go, we can't rape an iPhone in the woods. And go, yeah, but we can sell.

[Unknown]

There's not an app for that. Rape me. I rape.

[Grant Imahara]

So. So I. Sonny wanted to come too, so I took Sonny. So now we're just both go into the Marie Callender's men's room. And there's one stall, there's one toilet, there's a urinal, but that's no good for the lady. Right. We got to get into the stall. And of course, soon as we walk in, we're like the Partridge family coming in there off the, off the bus, Mr.

[Brian Bishop]

Mom.

[Grant Imahara]

And there's a car here. I hear the familiar rattle of the belt buckle. And by the way, you can hear by the rattle of the guy's belt buckle how morbidly obese he is. You can hear that big hubcap sized belt buckle in there and you see the boots, you know, and it's like there's a lumberjack planted on the pot. So now normally you just go in there and take a leak or you just back out and go, eff it, I'll shit when I get home.

[Unknown]

Right, you abort.

[Grant Imahara]

But I need the pot. I need the pot. But there's one pot in the whole place. And now we're in there, we don't know what to do. And the town's walking for the door. And I'm like, clear out of there, there. And then we get. Now we got to go like sort of into the hall and hover.

[Gina Grad]

Yeah.

[Grant Imahara]

But then there's that weird uncomfortable thing where you don't want eye contact with the guy who was the place up. You know, he's doing some damage because he's eating at Marie Callenders. A a b He's a, he's a big man. I saw him when he walked out.

[Brian Bishop]

Moose pie month.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah, I heard. I, I, I heard the belt buckle and I heard, I, I saw the boots through, through the floor and so now we're just like hovering by the payphone trying to figure out like what to do. And he comes out the door and now I don't know what to do. What's the grace period?

[Unknown]

Oh, I see.

[Grant Imahara]

Toilet seat still hot.

[Unknown]

Yeah. You want to let the scent dissipate.

[Grant Imahara]

Well, not only that, but just big 250 pound man ass was just grilling that thing.

[Unknown]

And now your little daughter is gonna sit on there.

[Grant Imahara]

She put her little white ass on there, right?

[Adam Carolla]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

I mean, I guess you could use a toilet cover.

[Grant Imahara]

Except for her ass. It's nothing but net, right? You know?

[Unknown]

Yeah.

Swish right through.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah. There needs to be some sort of reduce or something that steps down.

[Unknown]

They don't have that.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah, like they, you know, it's, it's, you know, in, in, in, in woodworking they have routers and they'll have like a half inch chuck, you know, for like a half inch bit. But if you want to use a quarter inch bit, you'll drop in a reducer.

[Unknown]

You don't have to tell them.

[Grant Imahara]

Know, See, sorry. Preaching all you use, you know, router.

[Unknown]

I know routers and reducers.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah. We were just talking about half inch shanks versus quarter inch shanks.

[Unknown]

I'm a quarter inch girl.

[Grant Imahara]

That's. I know. Now I'm really getting interested. Birthday's coming up. Oh, wait, we just passed. It's next year. I got to get you the router bits. Thank you. So we stood out there in the hall, sort of waiting and trying to figure out what to do with ourselves. And then Natalia announced she didn't have to take a anymore because. I don't know, you don't get into it because.

[Unknown]

Oh, she had to go number two.

[Grant Imahara]

Oh, no, actually she had to go number one. You're right. It's just I, I got, I got that guy confused with my daughter. Yeah. She had to go number one when they. You have to wipe their ass, by the way.

[Unknown]

I was wondering about that.

[Grant Imahara]

There's some sort of weird thing. You wish. They just combined the two. There's some sort of weird waiting period between themselves and then being potty trained and then wiping their ass. Ass. There's, it's this weird thing like somewhere around three they start, they stop shitting themselves. Yeah. Between two and three, but it's somewhere around four And a half is when they master the wiping of the ass. I think it's a subtle who's in charge.

[Unknown]

I see.

[Grant Imahara]

Because Natalia, do the daddy wipe me and I'll go wipe yourself. You know, she goes, wipe me and then just, literally just bends over and spreads the cheeks, like, and you gotta wipe it. There's not much, not a whole lot of choice.

[Unknown]

And then, and like baby poop isn't gross, but toddler poop, that's, that's like human grown up.

[Grant Imahara]

She looked down at it in the toilet and announced it looked like a turtle today. Yeah, this is great. So did that, then had, that had that weird little moment where our waitress, you know, 50 year old woman working at Marie Calendars, kind of that thing where she was probably 42 but looked 50, definitely loved and lost and then maybe lost again.

[Unknown]

Gained from eating the pies, then lost.

[Grant Imahara]

And yeah, like, like just hard, you know, that look of. I've got some mileage. I've seen a lot of things I shouldn't see. Kind of.

[Unknown]

Yes, I, I, my dad was an alcoholic and so were my first two husbands.

[Grant Imahara]

Right, right.

[Unknown]

That's my kids and juvie.

[Grant Imahara]

Let's not make this about you, Theresa. I want to focus on the waitress for more than 30 meetings in 30 days. Point is, she had that wow, I've seen a lot look. And again, you know, you don't really think about it, but you know, when you're 40 something and you're waitressing, you know, at Marie Callender's on a Sunday.

[Unknown]

That'S a grueling job, by the way.

[Grant Imahara]

And there's nothing there that costs more than eight bucks. And there's a bunch of cheap fucks showing up there that are going, you know, there's, I'm looking around the booths. I'm seeing a lot of elderly couples and guys with stroke hair and they do that shit where they go out. They go, all right, now, my wife and I both ate it. It came to 1372. 18% of 1372 is $2.09 and a half cents. Let's round down 209. You know, they're getting their little change purse out. It's like, just leave the $5.

[Unknown]

They're on a fixed income, you know, but she's probably walking with 60 bucks at the end of her shift, right?

[Grant Imahara]

Maybe. And so, but one thing I noticed, and my daughter immediately notices is she has a ladybug on her name tag and it's like sort of glued on there. And my daughter's like, oh, ladybug Ladybug. She's real sweet, but it's that kind of sweetness that's born from pain. I'm not going to let anyone. I'm going to overcompensate with other people's kids. And she's. And then she does this one. She goes, yes, it brings me love, luck. And I'm like, yeah, wow.

[Unknown]

It is obviously very effective.

[Grant Imahara]

If you're lucky, you'd be working at Caro's, so.

[Unknown]

Or at least Applebee's.

[Grant Imahara]

At least Applebee's. That would be a nice move up. And then later on, so my daughter keeps like kind of poking at. Look, it's the ladybug. She said, yes, it keeps me lucky. It brings me luck. And I thought, wow. And then I just, I just thought, God, what did she get through? What has she seen?

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Grant Imahara]

What did she survive? That she's considering bringing my kids their burnt bacon on a Sunday morning. A lucky. Lucky. And it just. I didn't want to know what. And it was funny because Natalia was like, can I have it?

[Unknown]

I was like, no, the ladybug. You think it's a curse?

[Grant Imahara]

Well, I don't want her working at Marie callenders when she's 47 and a half, let's put it that, that way, with that ladybug.

[Unknown]

No, this could be a made up movie because if you get a hold of the ladybug, bad things happen.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah. Or if you say ladybug three times in the mirror. Wait a minute. Scared black man will appear. All right, T bone, you have the news, by the way? I do.

[Giovanni]

All right, that's Adam K Show 343. Come next we have Adam K Show 1882, Alex Arado, Gina Grad, Brian Bishop. This one's from August of 2016. This one's great. Hope you guys enjoy.

[Grant Imahara]

Hey, it's Adam Kroll from the Adam Kroll the show. Betonline is the world's most trusted betting platform and your number one source for online betting. From the earliest odds to in game live betting, Betonline provides you with all the action and the ability to watch and bet on games as they happen. With the largest selection of odds on everything from football, NBA, college basketball as well. BetOnline has NHL, MMA and championship boxing. All your betting needs in one place. Head to betonline today to get in on the action with America's most trusted site for online wagering. So have some fun. Make these games in these events, in these combat sports a little more interesting with bet online. Betonline, the Game starts here. Special guest today, my buddy Alex. He's here to tell a story or two. I'll get into that in a second. First, good day, Gina Grad.

[Adam Carolla]

Good day to you.

[Grant Imahara]

Handball. Brian, this is really fun. Oh, that's right. All right, so my buddy Alex, in from out of town. Now, remember, I talk about I have a successful friend. And I say, he's an attorney. He's the smart one. And then there's all my other friends.

[Adam Carolla]

There's everybody else.

[Grant Imahara]

This is the successful friend.

[Adam Carolla]

Oh, wow.

[Grant Imahara]

And so successful, he's able to travel. Okay, when you speak your of the.

[Brian Bishop]

Hebrew Heights friends who went to Stanford and Cal, is he one of them?

[Grant Imahara]

He's one of the Hebrew Heights friends who went to Stanford and Cal. Just Cal. Just Cal. But he was. And it struck me as he was leaving, he was in town for a couple of days. I said, pop over and say hi. And we walked around a little bit, and then he was leaving. And I thought, now, wait a minute. I've told a lot of stories about Ray where Alex was actually present. And I said, most of these stories sound like some sort of yarns that been passed on from village elder to. And they keep getting inflated as they go along.

[Brian Bishop]

It's a little bit implausible, right?

[Unknown]

If only that were true.

[Grant Imahara]

There was one in particular where I explained that Alex, who would always buy Ray a hamburger, but it wasn't just a hamburger. It was a double king cheese, a fat burger. And then he would.

[Unknown]

Fair is fair.

[Grant Imahara]

He would add on fries and a shake and stuff. But we were driving home and Alex experienced something from Ray, who was in the front seat because he rode permanent shotgun, experience something. But I just want to make sure, not only if you guys know, I'm not using any hyperbole when I tell you these stories about Ray, but also that I just want to check my own memory of it. So. And it's very vivid for me. But, Alex, you tell me.

[Unknown]

We were driving back to school from lunch, as Adam said, I was buying for Ray for the thousandth time. And as usual, Ray was, on the one hand, very appreciative, but also very demanding. Sure, a hamburger would be great, but you got a double king cheese. So how come I don't get a double king cheese? And explaining to Ray that I was the one buying sort of made a difference there didn't really. It just didn't resonate.

[Grant Imahara]

So we're a young Bernie Sanders, and.

[Unknown]

We'Re driving back in, in my car, which normally would not be noteworthy, but it is a hard top. And all of a sudden I feel.

[Grant Imahara]

As if it was a VW Rabbit four door silver as I recall, with.

[Unknown]

A red interior which was about to be fouled. And all of a sudden it was obvious that the car had sprung some sort of leak from the roof. And I realized that Ray, who is sitting in the passenger seat, has as usual decided it would be a perfectly appropriate thing to do to pee on somebody. And that somebo me. And what now you see a lot.

[Grant Imahara]

Of PSAs about distracted driving. You know what I mean? Texting, music too loud. Yeah. Doing one's makeup and other things that we've all been guilty of. But the visual billboard, it could wait. Yeah. Being urinated on by 230 pound man I would say is a form of distraction.

[Adam Carolla]

It's right up there.

[Grant Imahara]

It's right up there.

[Unknown]

But it's not normally one people would think to warn you about because it's sort of in the come on, let's get serious, that would never happen category.

[Grant Imahara]

Especially if you, bottom line, yes.

[Unknown]

And it was happening. And then in a way that only Ray can turn being the perpetrator into immediately becoming the victim. When I completely lost it and pulled the car over and said, get out Ray, looking as if I had somehow had an aneurysm. Says what?

[Grant Imahara]

That's what I loved. It always reminded me of in Slap Shot when the Hanson brothers had the guys on the ground and they're punching the guy in the face like you out. Like for what?

[Unknown]

It's exactly what it's like.

[Grant Imahara]

And that was on Tahunga, as I recall. We're heading toward Moorpark.

[Unknown]

Yes. And heading towards where Henry's tacos used to be. And Ray just can't understand my rage at all. And I can't understand his complete blissful. What?

[Adam Carolla]

Self unawareness.

[Unknown]

And the hard part then is convincing because it is a case of convincing the 230 pound man child that he really needs to listen to the 150ish pound Jewish boy who is saying, you need to get out of my car right now.

[Grant Imahara]

I remember Ray was indignant just.

[Unknown]

And again, it's disbelieving.

[Grant Imahara]

He was confused as well, which I like about Ray.

[Unknown]

We would have been able to communicate better if he had never spoken English because the more I spoke it was like that RCA dog thing, you know, where his head is tilting. What? And finally I think he just thought he needed to get out of the car because I had gone insane. But still to this day, I guarantee you if you hooked him up to a Lie detector. He would A, confirm the story is true, and B, the needle wouldn't budge at all if you said, so did you do anything wrong? And he would say, no. And he. And that's. That's Ray.

[Grant Imahara]

He pulled over. Ray was like, Ray's apartment at that time was probably about a mile from where we were because, you know, he wouldn't have dropped him off in Nevada.

[Brian Bishop]

No, that's.

[Grant Imahara]

But he dropped them off about a mile from his mom's apartment and just said, you're walking. And Ray's like, what? What for? And, I mean, there's still this urine dripping off the headliner.

[Unknown]

I'm still wet.

[Grant Imahara]

He's confused as to why. Now, luckily, some weeks or months later, when we're in my dad's VW Rabbit and our other buddy Chris did the exact same thing to me while I was driving the Rabbit. Thankfully, I had a large root beer from Snacks Fifth Avenue I was able to throw in his face. Although of course he then threw his giant root beer in my face too, because there needed to be retaliation.

[Brian Bishop]

Unprovoked attack.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah, you're just minding your own business, urinating on the person who's operating protocol. All of a sudden, you get hit in the face with a soccer.

[Unknown]

Chris is at least doing it to get a rise out of you and knows there's going to be reaction. Ray is acting like you've barged in on him in your car where he's going to the bathroom on you. He gives you this, well, what were you expecting? And then you have to realize you should have expected exactly what happened. I don't think Ray was too upset, though, because one of the differences, of course, was I was in a rush to get back to school. Ray was in no such hurry ever in his life.

[Adam Carolla]

Did you go back to school covered in pee?

[Unknown]

You know, when you put it that way, it makes me think that maybe I didn't make the best of decisions. But, yes, I did.

[Adam Carolla]

Wow, good student.

[Brian Bishop]

Do you think your experiences with the Ray made you a better lawyer?

[Adam Carolla]

Understand the insane better?

[Unknown]

It made me a better parent. I don't know that it made me a better lawyer, if only because my kids, as ornery as they can sometimes be, could never get to you. Just look at them. It's like, hey, nice try, Scooter.

[Adam Carolla]

But you know Ray.

[Unknown]

You know Ray. And then I'm thankful every now and then to thank God they're not Ray. So it works well for everybody involved, perhaps even for Ray.

[Grant Imahara]

Is there. The jury's still out speaking of lawyering. Is there any stories Mulholland Club or any stories that I may be missing out on? Now keep in mind, Alex was the good one, one of the good ones. So he didn't quite dirty his hands with a lot of the super ultra dirty work that was going on. But he saw it, he got to experience it. But he doesn't. He was not out in some of the more nefarious stuff because he had a future.

[Unknown]

I never went. I never went to the Mulholland Club with any of you idiots.

[Adam Carolla]

At least not when it was closed.

[Grant Imahara]

Imagine, by the way, this is what goes on inside of a VW rabbit at 12:30 on a Tuesday with the sun shining and everyone's soaked. Imagine what could go on at the Mulholland Club at 1am when everyone's drunk on a Saturday, right?

[Unknown]

I was never part of any of the Ray solid waste shenanigans. But I do enjoy reading the books. And every now and then someone saying, is that true? And I have to invariably confirm that all of it is completely true. Much to my dismay. Reading it again after all these years.

[Grant Imahara]

Alex had a weird. This just jumped in my mind. But his house was laid out in such a way where two things. Well, first off, Ray and I and everyone else found out that he had chocolate chip Danish from Webby's, the Jewish bakery, and they were kept in supply at his house. And as soon as we found that out, I was like, oh my God, it's got Danish and it's got chocolate chips in them. We're going over to Alex's house.

[Adam Carolla]

And real quick, by Danish does he mean rugalach?

[Unknown]

No. Much like a rugala on multi doses of steroids.

[Adam Carolla]

Gotcha.

[Grant Imahara]

Sorry.

[Unknown]

Like the size of your. Like a bear claw sized.

[Grant Imahara]

But it was always. We'd have to come in and go, where, where's the, where's mom? Where's dad? What's going on? Like, we'd always have to kind of find out who. If there's any supervision around. And I remember one time, the way this house was laid out, you'd walk through the entry doors, there's a big sort of high vaulted thing and. And you'd turn to the. If you made a hard left, you'd be in the living room that no one ever goes into because you can see the tracks in the carpet. Then you gotta go rake it like it's the seventh inning, like a bunker, right? But that room no one ever went into. But if you went down to the hall a few feet later, made a left you'd end up in the family room. And the family room had a TV at the end of one room. And the sofa in front of it like would be the normal configuration. And I walked to the back of it and I looked around and I let one of the loudest farts go I've ever let go in my life. I couldn't see anybody around. And then I just yelled, sort of after the fact. I went, alex, is your mom around here? And I just saw hands slowly come up from the sofa. She was laid out flat, obviously not sleeping enough where I awoke her. But just the hands slowly came up from the sofa.

[Unknown]

And then she said, hi, Adam. My mother at that time was at her peak height of I think four'eleven she's not anywhere near that tall anymore. So you wouldn't have seen her even if she was standing in front of the sofa.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah. And then the morbidly obese.

[Unknown]

Duchess.

[Grant Imahara]

Duchess. The dog. The beagle. The beagle.

[Unknown]

The ottoman.

[Grant Imahara]

Yes.

[Adam Carolla]

Did you ever go to Adam's house?

[Unknown]

I went to the Adam space, the carport, the Adam houses. I think I was allowed in the kitchen once, but it was. It wasn't as if Adam's mother or father were forbidding us from coming in. Adam just made it pretty clear, trust me, you just don't want to go in there.

[Grant Imahara]

There is no Danish.

[Unknown]

There is no Danish. No, the Danish used to be in the bread basket, you know, or like the little bread hutch. And it had to keep being moved. And Ray in that sense was like a German Shel. He was going to find it, you know, it was a German shepherd in a Jewish house and he was on the hunt. And that was part of the genesis later for dtr.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah. Don't tell Ray. From the day I was born. Yeah. And also Inglourious Basterds with Christoph Waltz where he'd come in and go. So if you want to look for Danish, you have to think like an Oldhofer. Yeah. Or a Jew Danish hiding under the floorboards.

[Adam Carolla]

Quiet.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah. Alex. There's something that Alex doesn't know. I'm gonna tell Alex about a story that he doesn't know that sort of changed my life. But you can tell me, Alex, if you have any recollection of this, because we've never discussed it after the incident, but it was life changing story I've never shared. Brian Ryan, let's hear it. You've heard them all a million times.

[Brian Bishop]

You can run it by me and I'll tell you.

[Grant Imahara]

All right. So we figured out that the Ray whiz after the fat burgers exactly as I've described it. And I was actually surprised that he eventually got out of the car. But I think that was the determination that you had in your voice that.

[Adam Carolla]

He was responding to, to get away from crazy Alex.

[Unknown]

It was better. I was going to cry.

[Grant Imahara]

I had a.

[Brian Bishop]

In the movie version of this scene, we pause as a freeze frame. The little guardian angel pops up on Alex's shoulder, says, hey, Alex, you're gonna be the second most successful person in this car.

[Grant Imahara]

He's like, what?

[Brian Bishop]

We see a diplosia.

[Unknown]

Yeah. And then Ray would have jumped scholarship under his arm. Ray would have jumped up and down thinking that meant he would be the best.

[Brian Bishop]

He's going to the NFL.

[Unknown]

Exactly.

[Grant Imahara]

It's gonna be some sort of wiz Olympics. I'll crush everybody. So the story I've never told Alex, I've never told on the air or I don't think I've ever told anybody, was Alex went off to college. I had a couple of the friends that went off to the colleges, and then there was Ray and me, Chris and the rest of us. And we hung around and the economy sucked, and we applied for jobs at supermarkets and liquor stores and clean carpets and eventually started picking up garbage on construction sites. And at some point, Alex had returned from college for the winter break or whatever it was. And I was talking to you and our friend Carl and I went over to your house to get some Danish because, like, you know, Alex is back. We can go get some Danish now. And we had some sort of moment in your kitchen where you and Carl's, who also went to college, and maybe you're in your first or second year, but you probably second or third year, probably. And you sort of saw what I was doing, which is living in a garage and picking up garbage on a construction site. And you both sort of said, like, what's going on? And I said, I just trying to get by, man. And you're like, yeah, but what's the plan? And I was like, I'm trying to get a job. Like, I'm struggling. I don't really have any money. I'm trying to save up to, like, move out and trying to get out of the garage. And then Carl sort of jumped in and went like, yeah, what's up? And I'm like, I don't know. I'm not having any success here, but I'm trying. And you were like, we got to start trying harder. What are you. You going to be a loser? And I Was like, wow, I just came here to steal Danish.

[Unknown]

There is no danger.

[Grant Imahara]

I'll take my Danish and leave. Good sir.

[Adam Carolla]

Nice day, sir.

[Grant Imahara]

Throw my cape over my shoulder and go back to my moped and go down this hill. And you both were first sort of feeding off each other a little bit. And there was like. There was part of. It was a. There was a good message in there, but it was some pretty tough love. And you're like, we're going to college. We're looking at our future. What is your plan? And I was like, I'm trying to get seven bucks an hour. And, like, that doesn't sound like a plan. And I remember just being, like, sort of devastated by it. Like, just really, like, going like, my God. Like, my friends, they think I'm a loser, and I wasn't. Say, I was the captain of the football team and the class clown, and now I'm the guy scrounging around trying. Picking up garbage on a construction site.

[Brian Bishop]

Was it implied or even explicit? Like, hey, man, you're talented or you're funny or whatever? Or was that just kind of implied?

[Adam Carolla]

Did they goodwill hunting you?

[Grant Imahara]

I wish they had. There was more of an emphasis on God given.

[Unknown]

I didn't think he was that funny.

[Grant Imahara]

I wish there was more of an emphasis on God given. Talent they funded for the other guy for class clown. No, it's just. It was a little more of a focus on loserdom than it was squandered. Alex was class clown the year before, and he abandoned that and moved on to go to Cal.

[Brian Bishop]

You took my crown and you sullied it.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah, I don't.

[Unknown]

It was all down here.

[Grant Imahara]

Do you remember that conversation?

[Unknown]

I remember that conversation. I remember more the year before, we were playing basketball, which. Which was quite a challenge for Adam to make me look completely inept because I can take care of that all by myself. And at some point, he mouthed off, and I said, you know, I was class clown the year before you were, and you had just started doing improv and sassed back. Yeah, well, I'm doing something with it, but. So, I mean, I don't remember exactly that minute, but that certainly sounds like me feeling like I was on top of the world because I had convinced my parents to pay for college. Like, that was my plan.

[Grant Imahara]

But just another topic that comes up.

[Brian Bishop]

But you do remember that conversation, though.

[Unknown]

I do.

[Brian Bishop]

Over the Danish.

[Unknown]

And. Well, every con telling me that it was over Danish doesn't help narrow it down.

[Adam Carolla]

That was every conversation.

[Unknown]

It was in the kitchen.

[Grant Imahara]

So Danish wasn't Right.

[Unknown]

I think when we moved, it was about three years until Webby's closed because the pipeline no longer had a taker.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah, it's like they say, you want to shut down the cartels, you know, shut down the demand supply. Yeah.

[Adam Carolla]

Did you have one of those sort of soulful walks home? Like, what does it all mean?

[Grant Imahara]

I remember thinking, like, I wasn't feeling really good about my station in life before I got to Alex's kitchen. Now I'm feeling really bad. But I also sort of remember thinking, wow, my friends think I'm a loser, and rightfully so. You know, I was. But I just remember kind of going, God, this is bad. This sucks. And there was nothing. It wasn't one of those situations where I was like, like, you know what? I'm gonna go ahead and take the bar and become an attorney now. Like, it wasn't. I didn't have anything to go to except for I'll do more carpet cleaning or something. So there was no.

[Unknown]

Well, I think part of it was that you had been going to Valley and you were like, I'm taking a couple of classes. And then he just decided, I'm not doing that anymore. That's not part of the. Whatever the plan is. This isn't part of the plan. But there was no replacement plan. And I think that's where we were starting to think, okay, well. Well, fine. College isn't for everybody. All you need to do is go to college to figure that out. It's the same thing with law school. Not everybody there should be there, but there just seemed to be nothing else that's completely rudderless.

[Grant Imahara]

And this is a song that was.

[Brian Bishop]

Playing in your little walk.

[Adam Carolla]

The leaves are sort of falling around.

[Brian Bishop]

You kicking a can.

[Adam Carolla]

Hands in your pockets.

[Unknown]

Hands, no Danish.

[Grant Imahara]

I pass the hobos over the trash can with the fire and I go, that could be me soon.

[Adam Carolla]

There but for the grace of God.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah. So I remember thinking like, oh, my God, I'm a loser. But the part you're saying like, well, did people know Adam was funny? I tell people this all the time, and I don't think they believe me when they go like, yeah, but you always knew you had a little something something, you know, you knew that this. This was going to be short lived, this construction labor job. You knew you could fall back on or move up to or whatever it is. And I'm like, no, I did not. And they're like, yeah, but you're cracking up your buddies. And they must have encouraged you to go out because every Standup is like, ah, my buddy signed me up for an open mic. I worked with them. I cracked them up. They pushed me up on stage, and I'm like, no, no, no. Did not. Nobody did that. Nobody did that.

[Adam Carolla]

And.

[Grant Imahara]

And it's like. But they knew you were. And I was like, no, Alex, you. Now, Alex was a class clown. So Alex was funny. I was like, alex is funny. He's like, you're funny. Now Alex is going to go to Berkeley and become a lawyer, and I was going to go to construction site and pick up garbage. That's what we're going to do with our class clown mantle. But, Alex, please back me up in that. There wasn't any discussion about you got to get into comedy.

[Unknown]

That is the truest thing you've said all day.

[Grant Imahara]

Wow. Wow.

[Unknown]

No, I mean, it's not that we didn't think you were funny, but nobody thought we were watching, you know, comedy gold. And, you know, you've got to share it with the world.

[Brian Bishop]

Easy, Alex. This isn't a roast.

[Unknown]

But.

[Adam Carolla]

But how long can you stay? Do you have an hour?

[Unknown]

Apparently I do. But the part that you don't know is that when you're in corporate America, people all the time are like, well, who's going to plan my next step? Who's going to give me my next opportunity? Who's going to do that? And all those people who come into my office and ask me that.

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Certified to operate by Chevy Always get really tired of hearing the same story, which is, I tell them your story. Cause I think you started at the Groundlings and wanted to move up to be in the. Whatever, the A team.

[Grant Imahara]

This is the first Sunday show, and then the ground. Then an actual Groundling, not taking classes.

[Brian Bishop]

Varsity.

[Unknown]

And then, you know, got to whatever it was, the B level, and they said, yep, that's. That's as far as you're going to go. And then you started another troupe all together, and like, oh, well, when are you getting theater? Well, I'm a carpenter and built that. And then, you know, I tell them, you know, it gets to the point where he's still sitting. He's still my house sitter on the weekends when I went on my honeymoon with my wife, he was tortured by our puppy, Barney. Barney the Destroyer.

[Grant Imahara]

And his house was next to the Zancoo chicken that I had to march out of because they wouldn't give me the 50.

[Unknown]

50 Shawarma plate. Which, when we got back to the US and I called and said, hey, how did the. It wasn't our honeymoon, but it was a cruise. I said, how's the dog? And Adam just said, you'll just have to see for yourself, and hung up. Because there was no way to describe the chaos that had ensued. And that was around the time of the Michael the maintenance man, Jimmy Kimmel. Jimmy Kimmel. And Adam just picked up a phone and called and said, hey, I could train one of these guys. And I always tell people there were three things that could have happened. One is they just hang up. Two is they say, okay, here's Michael the maintenance man. At which point I could now tell people, you know, I know a guy who cleans the radio station.

[Grant Imahara]

Right?

[Unknown]

And instead it was Jimmy and the rest. Just. So you always had a lot of, like, roll up the sleeves initiative. And that's what sort of made the sitting on your ass doing nothing all the more. Well, you gotta do something at some point.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah. Yeah. I didn't. Well, it's. It's. It's hard to get off.

[Brian Bishop]

Take a knee.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah. Motivational, Alex. And if there's any other. I'll tell you what, I'll buy you a couple of minutes, because I didn't come in here. I just wanted to hook up with Alex and say hi and get caught up. But I just started realizing, if you have another Ray story. If you can think of another Ray story. By the way, it should be noted that Ray's mom was a waitress at the Far East Terrace. And she would leave with a handful of fives, tens, and singles every night after a shift. And she would peel ray off 7 bucks to go eat lunch. But Ray figured if I put all that money in a Sparklets bottle, I'll have, like $2,000 at the. My senior year of high school, and I'll just get Alex to buy me a double king cheese. And then if I can just find folks to urinate on. Buy. Ooh, buy the burger first, then urinate on. I could then sock away all this money.

[Brian Bishop]

I'm getting paid to pee on people.

[Unknown]

He was ahead of his time.

[Brian Bishop]

Yes.

[Grant Imahara]

All right. Think of one more good race story. All right, Alex, is there anything I know I'm putting you on the spot. But does anything jump out from the campus?

[Unknown]

I'll narrow it down to two. One would be that Ray's mother, the bar matron at Far East Terrace, a lovable woman, but German to the core, would say just truly awful things to Ray. The all time favorite always being that she didn't give birth to him. She had squeezed him out of a bar rag.

[Grant Imahara]

I like that.

[Brian Bishop]

Which I said, sounds better in the original journey.

[Adam Carolla]

Wait, you made Ray's mom sound like the sweetest little thing in the whole world.

[Grant Imahara]

No, she was tough as. She was tough as nails, but she was, she cooked a lot, which I like.

[Unknown]

And then when we would go out at night, it was the same deal all over again of Ray just being a mooch. And it was never enough. And you know, Ray would. We would be at a different fat burger and Ray would ask somebody if he could bum a cigarette off them. And then a second later, the guy would always have to sit, can I have the pack back? And Ray again with that bewildered, oh, did you want these expression. But Adam at this point later was able to actually buy his own meal. It was quite an achievement. I was very proud. And Ray still couldn't. And then when Ray would start to mooch, Adam would just dig in with a rant that.

[Brian Bishop]

Adam Carolla.

[Unknown]

Adam Carolla. It was a long time ago. He was funny and he.

[Brian Bishop]

It was a long time ago.

[Unknown]

He would start by telling Ray all the things that would have to happen before he would buy Ray food.

[Grant Imahara]

Oh, that's right.

[Unknown]

And then it turned into how much. He would never allow himself to buy Ray food. And Ray would get angrier and angrier. But once the rant started, you had to hear the whole 15 minutes. It. And this was right around the time of the government cheese surplus cheese handout. And he would say to Ray, ray, seriously, if I had a warehouse full of cheese, and Ray is, you know, holding his hands over his ears like a five year old. Stop it, stop it, stop it. And Adam, like any good bully, is just, oh, you don't like this? Well, now here it really comes. And he would say, and the government told me I had to give cheese. I had to give cheese away. And. And I would still hire one security guard and give him one photo and it would be you. And I would tell him, this guy gets no cheese.

[Brian Bishop]

You softened in your old age.

[Unknown]

It was great. It was priceless. Because the rest of us are crying, we're laughing so hard, and I still end up at the end of all of this still having to pay for my own entertainment and buy Ray another burger. But it was worth it. It was absolutely worth it.

[Grant Imahara]

I remember being at the Fat Burger in Westwood. That was. Would be the big thing. We're going to Westwood. We're going to Fat Burger. Alex with the very funny but dry sense of humor, as you have heard. And we're standing in line. I hope you remember this one, Alex. It always cracked me up because it was very thrown away. We're, for some reason, standing in line, waiting in our burgers. At Fat Burger, it'd be the Double king or the Double King with the egg or the cheese or whatever. And at some point, I don't know why, but some guy behind us in line tapped Alex on the shoulder. He said, hey, man, how are the hot dogs here? And Alex went, I wouldn't know.

[Unknown]

Wow.

[Grant Imahara]

It was a great. The guy.

[Brian Bishop]

That's a verbal sniff.

[Grant Imahara]

It's called Fat Burger Douche. We don't eat hot dogs here. It was a super snobby.

[Unknown]

I wouldn't sound like me. It has the ring of Alex to it. Yes.

[Grant Imahara]

All right, Alex. Rod, give him a plug. But he doesn't need one. He went to Cal. Everybody come by anytime.

[Adam Carolla]

You're more than welcome.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah, Alex, thank you very much, my brother. And we'll see you next time you're in town or going back to New York. Yeah. Shouldn't say anything. All right. Moving around. We'll get to that soon. Yeah. See you, brother.

[Unknown]

Well, thank you for having me.

[Grant Imahara]

Thank you. All right. So was there any part of the ray urination in the rabbit story that I exaggerated or missed?

[Adam Carolla]

You may have underplayed it.

[Brian Bishop]

I was gonna say I did not realize. Maybe I missed this detail, but the liquid in question rained down upon Alex. I did not realize that I thought he was peeing on his leg.

[Grant Imahara]

Well, this is another thing I need.

[Brian Bishop]

Yeah.

[Grant Imahara]

Any one of you is free to try this. I would recommend doing it in the shower, if you like. But I can tell you right now that there was a technique that we'd pioneered. I hope we pioneered it. It was called brewing. And one could grab the end of one's honker. Like one puts his finger on the end of a fire hose and pinch it. And if you pinch it, you can pinch it dry. And then if you let it go and the arc's right, it's watertight, and the hips don't lie.

[Adam Carolla]

Sails she got.

[Grant Imahara]

We had had a couple competitions in my back courtyard from my old room.

[Brian Bishop]

You lose in accuracy, you make up for in power.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah. My buddy Chris could go about 18, 19ft. Number one. Number two. In the old bathrooms with the 10 foot high ceilings in high school, for some reason, old high schools have unnecessarily high ceilings everywhere. Like, I get it if you're in a cathedral or we're making music in here or something. But this is a bathroom. So all it is is people throw gum on it so nobody janitor can't get to it, you know. But he could hit the ceiling on a ten foot ceiling. And that's a high ceiling. Standard design. Yep. And he could. Or we could. With the brewing technique, you could sit in a car at a stoplight and brew it out the window and do a little hook action and bend it like back and go over a couple lanes. So when everyone is always saying, Ray's whizzing on you or someone's whizzing on somebody, and they're like, all right, so he's taking a whiz on you. They're picturing a dog and a fire hydrant. No, picture a dog at a step ladder up about 8ft and you dodging it. That it was more of a. And if you don't believe me, think Lee Harvey Oswald. Go. Yes.

[Adam Carolla]

Go to second pier on the grassy knoll.

[Grant Imahara]

When you take your shower, or, and I hope it's not every day, but when you take it, pinch it, brew it, and see if you can't get up to that piece of tile that's up about eye level. Oh, you can. I am telling you, you can.

[Brian Bishop]

This is a good hotel activity. Maybe not in your own home.

[Grant Imahara]

You're in the shower. If the tile's going up the side of the wall, you can make it. But give it a shot and I'll guarantee you will be impressed by what you're able to do. Yes. When. When Ray or Chris or even myself, although I wasn't as good at it, was sitting next to you in a car, the motion to get out of the way was not to move out of the way. It was to duck.

[Adam Carolla]

Oh, God.

[Grant Imahara]

It was a ducking motion.

[Brian Bishop]

So as best case scenario, it goes over you.

[Adam Carolla]

Right.

[Brian Bishop]

It clears you.

[Grant Imahara]

Yeah. Well, it was always a kill shot. We weren't trying to hit anybody in the upper arm. It was always a headshot. And the idea was a headshot, you would duck. It was quite easy. And I'm always surprised that more people haven't discovered this phenomenon, but it's pretty effective. And again, mind numbing. That. And during the competitions, I mean, the tape measure Would come out. I mean, it was. I'm not saying it was 13ft. I'm saying it was 19ft. And now, to be fair, at my dad's old house, to step up to my room, there was about a 10, 11 inch. You'd be stepping up, so you have.

[Brian Bishop]

A little height that's good for another foot.

[Grant Imahara]

And I can't account for when, but consistently about 19ft or so.

[Adam Carolla]

So, yes, that's very impressive. Was Alex in the car for the drive through incident with Ray?

[Grant Imahara]

No, that was just me and Ray and my mom's front hose baby. And whoever that soul was who was in that McDonald's. Jack in the box. Sorry. In 1979. Nah, it's probably 1980. 81. No, that was just me. And like I said, Ray couldn't drive a stick, and we'd borrowed somebody's Toyota. So I didn't have a car, Ray didn't have a car, But Ray couldn't drive a stick. But I could drive a stick, so I had to drive. So Ray was in the passenger seat. Got it. But that was just us. I don't know how we got cut off and just somehow landed alone in North Hollywood on a Saturday night. But we said, weirdly enough, people didn't.

[Brian Bishop]

Want to be in the car with us anymore.

[Grant Imahara]

We had to make our own fun. Oh, yeah. I mean, what happened? What happened with Alex? Again, those were during school hours, during the weekday. And people do this thing all the time. You know, Dr. Drew used to do it. I was like, hey, man, alcohol makes people do a lot of things that they. No, no, this is not alcohol. There's no alcohol involved. Zero alcohol involved and zero drugs and zero nighttime and zero weekends. This is school time. These are working hours.

[Adam Carolla]

These are business hours.

[Grant Imahara]

This took place in an automobile that Alex was driving. One could argue, you know, the guy who would want whoever operating this vehicle to be urinated on the least would be the person who's sitting shotgun in that car.

[Brian Bishop]

One person having not bothered.

[Grant Imahara]

But I'll tell you, there was no. Whatever went on on campus was every. Every bit as informative and eye opening as what happened in that car. There was no boundaries, as a matter of fact. In fact, the plan was always do whatever you're gonna do. Whatever you can do, do it at school, during school hours while people are there, because it's going to put a couple zeros behind whatever the humiliation factor is. Look, go ahead and fart in the desert with a wind blowing, who cares? But do it in a. Do it, do it. In a funeral when they take a moment of silence. That's a completely. So the fart's the fart. It's more the. Yes.

[Brian Bishop]

That tail will live forever.

[Grant Imahara]

This is. That's the way they would do it. So they would look for these. They were sort of like Isis in that they wanted the bad publicity. Spread the word. Yeah. Great terror. Now imagine how you would feel next time you're driving Ray in your car.

[Adam Carolla]

Terrified.

[Brian Bishop]

Yeah.

[Grant Imahara]

Ptsd.

[Brian Bishop]

Can't rest.

[Grant Imahara]

I forgot it was after he bought him lunch. That's what makes it so much better.

[Giovanni]

All right, that's Adam Kurillo show 1882 with Alex Serato. That does it for today's cruel classics. Make sure to tune tomorrow for even more clips. Until next time, Mahal. And get it on.