Armchair Anonymous: Twins

Summary

Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Episode: Armchair Anonymous: Twins
Date: April 24, 2026
Main Theme:
This special "Armchair Anonymous" episode features remarkable, funny, and moving stories from listeners who are twins or have twin-related experiences. Dax Shepard and Monica Padman are joined by guests who share firsthand accounts about twin telepathy, mistaken identity, wild deceptions, and the lifelong dynamic of sharing your DNA (and sometimes your identity) with another person. The tone is warm, curious, and often hilarious, focusing on the quirks and “messiness” of real life as twins.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: Twins and Prompts (00:00–04:07)

• Dax and Monica introduce “Armchair Anonymous: Twins” – Listeners submit their wildest twin stories (00:00).
• Similarity Week: Dax notes recent episode themes of doppelgangers and twins (00:16).
• New Prompts Announced: The hosts encourage the audience to submit future stories about bad roommates, theft, graduation, camping, and crazy neighbor experiences (00:38).

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2. Story One: Casey & Sarah – Twin Telepathy and the Wild Child (04:07–14:03)

Background (04:07–07:11)

• Casey calls in from Glen Ellen, Illinois.
• Casey and her twin sister Sarah grew up encouraged by their mother to develop separate identities: separate classes, no matching outfits, different friend groups (05:20).
  • “She wanted us to have our own personalities, have our own friend groups, all of that.” – Casey (05:20)
• They spent most of their lives unsure if they were fraternal or identical twins until a genetic test in 2024 confirmed identical status.
  • “The probability of this match occurring between two random individuals is approximately 1 in 7.46 x 10^27.” – Casey, reading DNA test result (06:24)

The Story: Twin Intuition (07:11–11:57)

• Casey describes an instance of strong twin intuition: at 19, she felt overwhelming anxiety one night, convinced something was wrong with her sister Sarah, who was out with friends (08:14).
  • She’d had similar feelings in the past, including a year earlier when Sarah broke her femur in a moped accident (09:04).
• That night, Sarah falls from a pier while drunk and imbalanced (partly due to her previously broken leg) and is knocked unconscious. The family was notified when Sarah was already in the hospital (09:48).
• Casey notes many accidental parallels in their lives and affirms her belief in “twin telepathy” (10:38).
  • “I can definitely say in my case that it is [real].” – Casey (10:38)
• Sarah joins the call, confirming her reputation as the “troublemaker” and shares she’s now pregnant and out of the rebellious stage (11:57).
• On being twins in public: Casey says they were scrutinized more as children; now, their social circles have merged, but they never had the same taste in partners.

Memorable Moments:

• “She broke the unspoken rule we had of getting pregnant at the same time.” – Casey (12:18)
• Dax jokes about which twin is the more daring one and being the second-born by eight minutes, playing into the classic ‘oldest’ twin trope (12:25).

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3. Story Two: Anna Marie – The Real-Life “Prestige” Nanny Scam (14:06–27:47)

Name Talk (14:06–17:11)

• The group sympathizes over the “Anna” vs “Ana” pronunciation struggle and name-correction anxieties (15:08).
  • “There is something also elevated about not giving a shit.” – Dax (16:03)

The Story: The Nanny With a Twin (20:07–26:53)

• Anna Marie grew up in London as an expat, with a series of live-in nannies. One particular nanny from South Africa seemed forgetful and sometimes smelled like cigarettes (21:19).
• The nanny was inconsistent—sometimes ignoring vegetarian rules or not remembering routines, giving rise to suspicions (22:12).
• One night, Anna’s father spots not one, but two identical women in the nanny’s apartment. It’s revealed the nanny was secretly a pair of identical twin sisters sharing the job and apartment, without telling the family or agency (24:41).
  • “Yeah, she didn’t deny it… that was the reason she never knew what was going on. Because there were two women taking care of us.” – Anna Marie (24:47)
• The parents quickly fire the twins after five months of this deception.
• The hosts compare the story to the movie The Prestige, joking that Christopher Nolan may owe these twins royalties (26:13).

Memorable Moments:

• “It is the Prestige. She was living the —” – Dax (24:29)
• “If you’re playing an ultra-competitive co-ed soccer league in Boulder, Colorado… you do not want to be confused with your brother.” – Scott (38:52)

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4. Story Three: Scott – Mistaken Identity in the (Very Serious) Soccer League (29:08–41:13)

Twin Experiences (29:08–35:21)

• Scott, an identical twin, talks about the odd joy and burden of being mistaken for your twin; people’s attempts to distinguish them often revolve around unflattering physical descriptions (30:13).
  • “I don't need to know how you tell apart me and my brother. Keep it to yourself. Super happy for you, but…” – Scott (30:56)
• Despite living on opposite coasts, they are sometimes still mistaken for each other, including by a student of his chemistry professor twin in Portland (31:46).

The Story: The Soccer League Ambush (35:21–41:13)

• Scott and his twin both attended UC Davis, then both (independently) landed at grad school in Boulder, different programs but same city (32:56).
• In a hyper-competitive co-ed soccer league, Scott invites David (his twin) to fill in for his team. David fouls a particularly aggressive player (“Beefstick”).
• Soon after, Scott is unexpectedly tackled hard, concussed, and sits out the rest of the game (38:11).
• The opposing player, “Beefstick,” apologizes—to David—revealing he intended to attack David for the earlier foul, but confused the twins.
  • “Sorry I confused you for your brother out there.” – Beefstick, as recalled by Scott (38:47)
• The hosts joke about the perils of being mistaken for your sibling, especially in competitive scenarios.

Memorable Moments:

• “You might pay for the crimes of your brother.” – Dax (39:12)
• Twin humor: “Our joke is we have telepathetic powers, which means we don’t have any ability.” – Scott (39:42)

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5. Story Four: Amy – Twin ID Swap for Healthcare (41:37–50:03)

The Heist (41:37–47:03)

• Amy and her identical twin Amber were born on April Fool’s Day. Parents didn’t know they were having twins until the week before birth (42:37).
• The story: In college (2003), Amy, newly moved into Amber’s college town and lacking insurance after a skateboarding injury, uses Amber’s student ID to receive free medical care (44:11).
• Amy is immediately greeted as “Amber” by everyone on campus and must improvise through medical questions about thyroid medicine and doctor’s names (45:00).
  • “It was like immediate stress… I have no idea what milligram of that medication I’m on.” – Amy (45:41)
• She forges doctor’s notes to give to her work and makes it through the ordeal without a bill, but at the cost of major anxiety and a broken foot on her sister’s medical record (46:55).
• Ironic coda: She later breaks the same foot herself while skateboarding, updating her own record.

Twin Differences & Similarities (47:32–49:43)

• Despite genetic identity, Amy and Amber led very different lives and were heavily influenced by different parents.
• Despite these differences, they often find serendipitous similarities (shopping habits, peculiar underwear choices) when they reunite.
  • “An entire year will go by… and we’ll have the exact same polar bear underwear on.” – Amy (49:06)
• The hosts are both amused and fascinated by the nature-vs-nurture debate.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “She broke the unspoken rule we had of getting pregnant at the same time.” – Casey (12:18)
• “Are you two people?” – Anna Marie’s mom confronting the nanny twins (24:41)
• “Sorry I confused you for your brother out there.” – The soccer “Beefstick” to Scott’s brother (38:47)
• “Our joke is we have telepathetic powers, which means we don’t have any ability.” – Scott (39:42)
• “An entire year will go by… and we’ll have the exact same polar bear underwear on.” – Amy (49:06)
• “You might pay for the crimes of your brother.” – Dax Shepard (39:12)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–04:07 – Intro, prompts, podcast housekeeping
• 04:07–14:03 – Casey & Sarah: Twin intuition, hospital scare, family dynamics
• 14:06–27:47 – Anna Marie: Nanny twins scam, London anecdotes
• 29:08–41:13 – Scott: Twin confusion in soccer league, sibling closeness
• 41:37–50:03 – Amy: Healthcare ID switch, nature vs. nurture, twin “coincidences”

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Tone and Style

The episode mixes heartfelt reflections, deadpan jokes, and lively group banter. Guests are encouraged to share vulnerable moments and the hosts toggle expertly between empathy and comedy. Dax’s anthropological curiosity and Monica’s thoughtful asides give the stories warmth and depth, embracing the “messiness” of being human and, especially, being a twin.

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Summary Takeaway

"Armchair Anonymous: Twins" delivers a playful yet poignant exploration of what it means to share your identity, your secrets, and sometimes your fate, with someone just like you. From “psychic” connections and sibling screw-ups to twin-fueled medical capers and real-life “Prestige” scams, these stories showcase both the extraordinary bonds and real-world complications that come with being a twin.

Transcript

[Dax Shepard]

Welcome, welcome. Welcome to Armchair Anonymous. I'm Dax Randall Shepherd. I'm joined by Monica, Lilly, Padman.

[Monica Padman]

Hello.

[Dax Shepard]

And today we have twins. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

[Casey]

Win.

[Dax Shepard]

We also have a twin coming up.

[Monica Padman]

We do. I wish we had arranged this. There's a little better.

[Dax Shepard]

Unintentional sims. What was the other one we just had? Doppelgangers. Doppelgangers. We stumbled into a few weeks of doppelgangers.

[Monica Padman]

So fun.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. Well, twins. This is twins telling us crazy stories of being twins. And we just love them. We love twins. We love them, love them. Also, we have new prompts. Yes, new prompts.

[Monica Padman]

Submit, please.

[Dax Shepard]

Submit, please, please, please. You submit at www.armchairexpertpod.com. tell us a crazy story about a bad roommate.

[Monica Padman]

We know you got him.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Come on. Tell us about a time you stole something. Tell us a crazy graduation story. Tell us a crazy camping story. And I'm going to throw this one in there. Am I allowed to do this, Rob? Yeah, whatever you want. Okay. Because someone just suggested it in the comments and I thought it was. And it kind of pairs well. Crazy neighbor stories.

[Scott]

Crazy neighbor.

[Dax Shepard]

Let's add crazy neighbors. So if you got a crazy neighbor, crazy roommate, you stole something, you graduated and went haywire. Or a crazy camping story, please submit and we will chat with you.

[Casey]

Yay.

[Dax Shepard]

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[Casey]

Hello.

[Dax Shepard]

Hello. Is this Casey?

[Twin Sister Casey]

This is Casey. How are you?

[Anna Marie]

Good.

[Dax Shepard]

Where are you, Casey?

[Casey]

Look at this shirt.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, my God. Yo, it looks very cute.

[Monica Padman]

It does.

[Twin Sister Casey]

Repping the best.

[Monica Padman]

Ah, it looks so chic.

[Dax Shepard]

You could be a model for the sweatshirt.

[Twin Sister Casey]

I think anytime you want to hit me up, I'm happy to do so.

[Dax Shepard]

So where are you at?

[Twin Sister Casey]

I am Glen Ellen, Illinois, so Rob

[Scott]

should know that I know Glen Ellen.

[Dax Shepard]

Have you gotten into trouble there, Rob?

[Monica Padman]

No.

[Scott]

I played soccer there, though.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, okay.

[Twin Sister Casey]

Yeah. Not from here. My husband lived here, but I grew up in Batavia. Not a far drive.

[Dax Shepard]

So you moved to this town for your husband, Correct.

[Twin Sister Casey]

My husband bought a house here.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. How long have you guys been together?

[Twin Sister Casey]

Eight years now.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, my goodness. You've made it past the seven year scratchies.

[Twin Sister Casey]

I know, right? Eight years together, less than a year married.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, okay, wonderful.

[Monica Padman]

Can you make that up? So seven year scratches because. Seven inning stretch.

[Dax Shepard]

No, seven year itch is the famous saying.

[Monica Padman]

Okay, I have heard that.

[Dax Shepard]

And I change it to scratchies real time.

[Twin Sister Casey]

I like it.

[Casey]

I do too.

[Dax Shepard]

It's made it through the scratchies. Okay, so are you a twin?

[Twin Sister Casey]

I am a twin. So my story has to do with being a twin. Firsthand experience.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, wonderful. Let us in on it.

[Twin Sister Casey]

I would say that we didn't grow up My sister and I, as typical twins. I would partially blame my mom just because from kindergarten onwards, she put us in different classes. She didn't dress us alike. She wanted us to have our own personalities, have our own friend groups, all of that.

[Dax Shepard]

Can I quickly ask, are you fraternal or identical?

[Twin Sister Casey]

Actually, we didn't know if we were identical or fraternal. To be quite fair. We were born in the 90s. When we were born, we came out, the doctor had essentially said there was one placenta, but then he also countered and said it was two placentas that might have fused into one. So he was confused. So essentially, for 31 years, my sister and I were walking around either saying that story or just being like, we don't know, and then kind of avoiding all further questions. And it wasn't until actually 2024, my husband was so sick of us telling the story that we didn't know that he bought a genetic test off of Amazon. So we did do the testing in 2024, and the exact verbiage I had to look it up was the probability of this match occurring between two random individuals is approximately 1 in 7.46 times 10 to the 27th.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my God.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, so pretty good odds it could happen to anyone.

[Twin Sister Casey]

So I would say our DNA is pretty similar at the end of the day.

[Dax Shepard]

Whoa. Okay, now quickly, to mom's desire for you both to have your own personalities. I understand it in some sense. Like, you're a parent. You're worried. You think your kid's gonna go out and need to create their own life, and they can't be so dependent on another person. But then I also would imagine that's informed by someone's own disposition about how independent they want to be seen. You know what I'm saying? Do you know what her main driving reason was for wanting you guys to be separ Separated and all that?

[Twin Sister Casey]

I think it really just at the end of the day was that she just wanted us to develop our own personalities and have our own friendships. I think when you're a twin, you rely so heavily on your other half. Sometimes even other twins start speaking for the other one. I feel like always these dynamics kind of come into play. Type A, type B. And I just think from the get, she wanted us to be two separate people when we were out in the world.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. And she herself wasn't a twin?

[Twin Sister Casey]

No. They say twins skip a generation, but I think when we looked back at genetics, it was like years and years and years ago that there were ever twins on any Side. So we just weren't that typical. I was the more type a, studious, riding horses, hanging out with my girlfriends on the weekend. And then my sister was more the rebellious type, got in a lot of trouble when we were younger. She was out there breaking rules. So it was a warm Summer Night in 2011 and I had just gotten this really weird feeling that something was going on, that something was wrong. And I had gone over to my mom and I had asked her what was going on, if she had heard from my sister at and she had kind of brushed me off and said no, she's in the city with a few friends. I haven't heard from her, she's fine. Carry on with your day.

[Dax Shepard]

How old would you and she have been at that time?

[Twin Sister Casey]

We were probably 19. So the feeling hasn't subsided. The best way I could describe it, it's like an elephant sitting on your chest. It's like your anxiety being at a 12 out of 10. You just know innately that something's not right. So I go back to my mom again and I say, again, I haven't heard from my sister Sarah. I've tried calling, I've tried texting. Have you heard from her? And again, she brushed me off. She's like, no, Casey, you're fine. She's fine. We haven't heard from her. Everything's good. And I will preface this with saying I have gotten this feeling a lot. Again, she was a rebel rouser. She got in a lot of trouble, mind you. A year previous to this, she had been in a motorcycle, a moped accident down the street from her house. She was causing trouble driving the moped she had flipped off of it shattered her femur.

[Dax Shepard]

Femur.

[Twin Sister Casey]

And had ended up in the hospital. Broke her leg and one of her legs. Now her left leg is about half an inch shorter than her right leg.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, tell her Usain Boltz is also. Don't let that slow her down.

[Twin Sister Casey]

Trust me, it did not slow her down. So I had had this feeling previously there had been a lot of weird parallels in our life where this had come up and accidents had occurred. So we went to bed. A dreaded phone call came up about 11 o' clock at night letting us know that my sister actually had gotten into an accident in the city. She was with a handful of. They were walking along the Chicago lakefront trail and being underage, drunk, imbalanced, left leg shorter than the right. She'd actually fallen.

[Dax Shepard]

Left leg shorter than the right.

[Monica Padman]

That did.

[Casey]

Wow.

[Dax Shepard]

I guess it's a variable we Gotta consider. Yeah, yeah.

[Twin Sister Casey]

She's a normally clumsy person. And then you throw in one leg being shorter than the left, and that just really adds to it. So she unfortunately had fallen from one pier on the Chicago lakefront trail to another.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh my goodness.

[Twin Sister Casey]

And had been rendered unconscious. And the phone call my mom had gotten was when she was already at the hospital. A friend had actually stayed with her and called my mom. And that was just kind of that feeling, that intuition of knowing, you know, that my other half, there was something going on. So I know there's been a lot of speculation that I've heard from you guys. Is the twin telepathy or connection real? And I can definitely say in my case that it is.

[Monica Padman]

Whoa, this is horrible for you.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah. Because you didn't really warrant or earn any of this anxiety. But your identical doppelgangers out there.

[Monica Padman]

And she causes trouble. And now you have to live in this world where you know that she's always at risk and it's upsetting.

[Dax Shepard]

It feels like a children's book. It's kind of also the ID and the superego. What were her total injuries? How well did she recover? Is one side of her face a half inch shorter than the other now? What's going on with her?

[Twin Sister Casey]

She recovered great. She was in the hospital. And I called my mom to check in on this story to make sure all my details were lining up as well. And she had said that we had drove down there and she was at Rush Copley, which is right outside of Chicago. And she was actually sitting in the hallway. Cause I didn't have enough rooms to put her in. And that she was unconscious, I think for a brief amount of time. But as far as I know, the only screws are loose are a few. But I don't think that aided to anything.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, okay. And where is she at now? How's she doing? Is she leveled off or is she still a daring?

[Twin Sister Casey]

I have her here with me.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, this is so exciting.

[Casey]

Hi.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, wait, she's not in. Yeah, you have that thing on. You gotta get closer. Oh, yay.

[Monica Padman]

Wow, this is so exciting.

[Twin Sister Casey]

Here's the troublemaker.

[Monica Padman]

How dare you?

[Dax Shepard]

Have your troubles passed? Are you now a safe, law abiding citizen?

[Twin Sister Casey]

Somewhat. I'm pregnant. So no more. I went through the rebellious phase up until probably I hit 21 and drinking was fun.

[Dax Shepard]

Anymore you wore it out quickly. Well, congratulations on the forthcoming baby.

[Twin Sister Casey]

Thank you. She broke the unspoken rule we had of getting pregnant at the same time.

[Dax Shepard]

But she's the daredevil. She's got to go first.

[Monica Padman]

And the oldest by how much?

[Twin Sister Casey]

Eight minutes.

[Monica Padman]

Wow.

[Dax Shepard]

You took your sweet ass time, Casey. You were like, tell me how it is out there, and then I'll decide if I'm coming. Oh, that kind of makes sense. She came first. She's like, I got it. I'll come up first. I'll see what's on the other side of this unknown.

[Scott]

True.

[Monica Padman]

I'll check it out for you.

[Dax Shepard]

Do both. Both of you listen to the show or just one?

[Anna Marie]

Both of us.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, okay.

[Twin Sister Casey]

She got me into the show because

[Dax Shepard]

we're like, good boys and girls.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, you probably listen to Smart List.

[Dax Shepard]

She listens. I call her daddy.

[Twin Sister Casey]

I got her into it. And if I could do a shout out to my husband, Huge shout out to Mike as well. But this was so exciting, so surreal to see you guys.

[Dax Shepard]

So nice to meet you. We love twins. It's so fun. I don't know which one to look at, which is exciting. I'm bouncing back and forth.

[Monica Padman]

Okay, now, being a twin, do you feel like everyone's just staring so hard at the two of you when you're together because they're trying to determine what's different? Like, I wouldn't want someone investigating my face like that.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you feel examined? I guess is the question.

[Anna Marie]

I think so.

[Twin Sister Casey]

I think growing up, we looked a lot more similar, but now I would say we do hang out with each other more and our friend groups have kind of evolved into one.

[Dax Shepard]

Did you guys ever like the same boy?

[Twin Sister Casey]

No. Very different taste in men.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, I like that. Are your husbands like each other?

[Twin Sister Casey]

I would say my husband is like her and my husband is like us.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Missing halves.

[Twin Sister Casey]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, lovely meeting you, sisters. This has been so fun. Take care and congrats and good luck on everything.

[Twin Sister Casey]

Thank you so much. Thank you.

[Monica Padman]

Bye.

[Dax Shepard]

Hello. Is this Anna Marie?

[Anna Marie]

It's Anna.

[Monica Padman]

We have an Anna.

[Dax Shepard]

We have a very close Anna. Do you hear us say Anna?

[Casey]

I do.

[Anna Marie]

And I rarely hear people say Anna. It's usually Anna. So I always appreciate that. It's the right pronunciation of our name.

[Dax Shepard]

It's wreaked havoc in our friendship circle in a sense that once I finally got used to that, then Anna Kendrick. I always call Anna Kendrick now and then our friend Hannah when I'm first around her. And I've been around Anna a lot. I'll call Hannah Hannah on accident. Monica doesn't relate to the anxiety, but I certainly have it.

[Anna Marie]

It's hard. Especially my husband's name is Dash. That never gets messed up. I have the type of personality that's really bad at correcting people. So I'm often Anna.

[Dax Shepard]

Bad in that you do correct them or bad in that you don't correct them?

[Anna Marie]

I'll correct the first time, and then after that, it's kind of like, I'm not sure how to do this gracefully without you feeling weird. So if your friend Ana has any tips.

[Monica Padman]

She doesn't because she does the same thing. And I always feel really awkward when I'm there, too. And someone we know well is calling her Anna. I'm like, at this point, you should

[Dax Shepard]

know you can make an argument for both. So one is like, oh, yeah, you should advocate for yourself and insist on people calling you. So that's the one argument. The other argument that I think is just as valid is like, I don't really care. Every time I give my name at a Starbucks, I go, dax. They go, dex. I go, yeah. Every time it gets mangled, it's like, it's not worth me spending any time correcting it.

[Monica Padman]

If I was calling you Dex, you would care, and you should care.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, first of all, you never call me by my name, nor do I really call you by yours. So it becomes moot pretty quickly in relationships. Right? No, I'm never like Monica.

[Monica Padman]

It sounds so familiar.

[Twin Sister Casey]

Oh, you do that all the time.

[Anna Marie]

No, it's awkward. If it's someone I know well, yes.

[Monica Padman]

And it happens. I'm not gonna call anyone out on the pod right now, but I'm thinking about someone.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you see the argument I'm making, though? Like, there is something also elevated about not giving a shit.

[Anna Marie]

I'll take that. Happy to appear elevated.

[Monica Padman]

No, you don't have to do that.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Like, do you know, would you rather be happy or. Right.

[Monica Padman]

No. You'd rather people pay enough attention to know your name.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. This probably files into that insecure, secure attachment style.

[Monica Padman]

You don't get to have an opinion on this. You have such specifics.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. That people mess up all the time.

[Monica Padman]

Strangers.

[Dax Shepard]

No, People that I deal with a lot that still can't help but call me Dak. Your father fucked up my name when we were together the other day. It came out because it gives you anxiety, that ex. And he said, dak, and it's like, I don't really. I don't care. I know it's going on. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Whenever he talks about you, he says nails it correctly.

[Scott]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

So he knows your name, but maybe you made him really nervous.

[Anna Marie]

Okay, let's get to your story really quickly, Monica. You've met my little sister.

[Casey]

What?

[Anna Marie]

She works at Bucatini.

[Monica Padman]

I love her.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, you know her?

[Anna Marie]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

You're positive?

[Twin Sister Casey]

Get out.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, how many people work there?

[Monica Padman]

Mainly one.

[Anna Marie]

Yeah, it's mostly Leah.

[Monica Padman]

She's so sweet. And she's a huge armchair. Until now.

[Dax Shepard]

Why?

[Monica Padman]

That she's mad at dad?

[Dax Shepard]

No, I just wanted to know how you knew. Like, is there only one employee? Like, if there's four women. She said, my sister works there. And you go, I love her. I'm just curious how you.

[Monica Padman]

She also looks a lot like you. Both of you are very beautiful.

[Anna Marie]

Thank you. We get confused for twins. Even though I'm seven years older than her.

[Dax Shepard]

That's a feather in your cap. Big time.

[Anna Marie]

I know, right?

[Monica Padman]

Is she as cool as she comes across?

[Anna Marie]

She's so cool.

[Dax Shepard]

And Ana, where are you at?

[Anna Marie]

I'm in Brooklyn. Hence the no closet that I can fit into.

[Casey]

I think you're cool too, but for

[Dax Shepard]

an apartment in New York, I'm digging the vibe.

[Anna Marie]

This is my little studio. My husband's studio is on the other side of that bookshelf that he built.

[Monica Padman]

Well, cute.

[Dax Shepard]

We are supported by Apple Watch. Scroll long enough, you'll hear it all. Miracle diets, fitness trends craze, celery juice, you name it. Well, with iPhone and Apple Watch, you get meaningful insights about your health that are backed by science. And best of all, the information you're getting comes from a very trusted source. Your body. Because the information you get should reflect the body you're in. With Apple Watch, you can track your sleep quality, your cycle, your cardio fitness, and more. Then you can dig into all of that on your iPhone. All of these health insights are developed with clinical experts from start to finish, and you can even share that data directly with your doctor. Find out [e-mail] health this message was brought to you by Apple and T Mobile. Apple Watch is not a medical device and should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice. This episode is supported by Skims. Monica, I have a question about your skims obsession.

[Monica Padman]

Well, I wouldn't really call it an obsession. It's more of a lifestyle choice.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, but here's the thing. There are like a thousand underwear brands out there. What makes skims the one you actually

[Monica Padman]

recommend to people because they fixed all the problems. I didn't even realize I was tolerating. Like, I used to think it was normal for bras to be just kind of uncomfortable. You just kind of get used to feeling not good or underwear to just not really fit right and then I tried skims and realized, oh my gosh, it does not have to be this way.

[Dax Shepard]

So what's this new Everyday cotton thing?

[Monica Padman]

Okay. It's their newest collection and honestly I just love it because it's so comfortable and breathable and it's not moving around your body. It fits properly and you want that in your underwear.

[Dax Shepard]

That's actually a really good pitch, which

[Monica Padman]

is why you should check it out. Shop everyday cotton and all of my favorite bras and [e-mail] after you place your order, be sure to let them know we sent you select podcast in the survey and be sure to select our show in the drop down menu that follows.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, so you have a twin story and it's not that you're confused for your sister that works at Boot Bugatini Bucatini.

[Anna Marie]

I have three siblings and we're each three years apart. And we grew up moving around a fair amount. But most of our childhood was spent in London because of my dad's job.

[Dax Shepard]

Was he MI5? What did he do in England?

[Anna Marie]

He worked in telecom and this is the early 90s, so that was a different time for telecom. But because of the nature of his job, he was not around that often. And since we were all pretty little and in a new country, my mom was pretty overwhelmed taking care of us all solo. So we were fortunate enough to have a live in nanny. The way the setup worked is we lived in a house that had what the British call an in law apartment.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh.

[Anna Marie]

So the bottom street level had a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, like a whole separate entrance. So when we would have these nannies, they would live in the basement. It was private, we would never go there. And they would go in through the street level and we would go up the stairs to enter the house. We primarily worked with this one babysitt agency and as you can imagine, it was kind of hit or miss. Like we had some freaks.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Anna Marie]

But one babysitter that we had I was obsessed with, she was young. Most of these nannies, it was their first time living independently and oftentimes they just moved to the UK and it was like, ooh, my own apartment, big deal. And this one nanny, she was probably early 20s and she just moved to London and she had like long glossy brown hair. She was soft spoken.

[Dax Shepard]

Where had she moved from? From?

[Anna Marie]

From South Africa. So she had a South African accent.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, yeah, Very fun.

[Anna Marie]

She was just very cool. And as a lot of young girls do with their nannies, I idolized her and just wanted to be her. And Thought she was so cool.

[Dax Shepard]

How old were you at this time?

[Anna Marie]

I was seven. Brother was like nine. And then my other sister was six. My other sister was three. I loved her, but there were a few things that didn't really jive. Most of the time she had, like, a really nice florally smell, but sometimes she stunk a cigarette. Cigarettes.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, cigarettes. Okay.

[Anna Marie]

At that age, you're like, oh, my God. Smoking. Like, oh. So it was very noticeable. My siblings are all like, I think she smokes. But it was weird because it wasn't consistent. And also, she seemed to be very forgetful. She would not remember our nighttime routines, or we'd tell her something the day before, and she wouldn't know what we were referencing. We started to think, like, maybe she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. This was maybe a little difficult for her to keep track of all the kids. And, you know, my mom was. Mom was very present, so she was also aware of this. But she was just so grateful for the help that she was like, oh, I'll let it slide. But, yeah, she would forget where to pick us up at school or forget we were all vegetarian because of mad cow disease. My parents were, like, terrified of us getting mad cow. So she would forget that.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, yeah, that's like a huge thing to forget.

[Anna Marie]

Yeah. Or like, one time she got us candy with gelatin, which we weren't allowed, and we were like, oh. Like, it was very exciting. Like, we fully took advantage of these little things. She would forget quickly.

[Dax Shepard]

Did you ever notice, I'm sure she loved that you had such an affinity for her. Did you ever notice that sometimes she was connected to that and sometimes she was not? Or was it that across the board?

[Anna Marie]

I was very shy and quiet, so I don't know how much she picked up my little crush.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Anna Marie]

One night, my mom was coming home and witnessed her, like, putting a key under the mat in front of her door, which my mom's like, young girl living alone for the first time. Maybe boyfriend, girlfriend, she's having someone over. But still didn't jive the idea of the key to the house being out. And then she started throwing parties in the basement. Not ideal. And then the smoking was, like, one of the house rules. Like, don't smoke in the house. So there were a few things working against her. But again, my mom was just so happy to have someone around to help that she was like, we'll figure it out. But one night, my dad came home really late from a trip. He was exiting the taxi, and because it was night, and because her apartment was street level, if the curtains were up, you could see everything. And so as he was getting out and about to go up our stairs, he saw her in the kitchen and was like, oh, she's home. And then, like, out of frame, into frame, another woman appears. And she's identical.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. The Prestige.

[Monica Padman]

It is the Prestige.

[Dax Shepard]

That's the Prestige. She was living the.

[Twin Sister Casey]

Stop it.

[Monica Padman]

And it's parasite all at once, hiding in the basement.

[Dax Shepard]

In the basement. Oh, my goodness.

[Anna Marie]

So, yeah, the next morning, my mom confronted her and said, are you two people?

[Twin Sister Casey]

Yeah.

[Anna Marie]

And, yeah, she didn't deny it. It was a great way to get a two for one rent in London and two for one job. But, yeah, that was the reason she never knew what was going on. Because there's two women taking care of us.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my God.

[Dax Shepard]

One was a smoker, one was not.

[Monica Padman]

You'd think they would. If they're going through all this trouble of really coming up with this scheme, which is a good scheme, they would talk and be like, so they're vegetarian.

[Dax Shepard]

Right. But that's. If you're the type of person that isn't pulling, like, a fun scam and in your 20s in London, throwing parties in a house, you know, you should like, they've kind of already demonstrated that's not their scam. I know, but that's the paradox. You can't, because you wouldn't. But you would be really good at making sure you guys have the same story.

[Monica Padman]

Dang.

[Dax Shepard]

How did mom and dad handle this? For me, I might be, like, cool, two for one, but they've been lying

[Monica Padman]

and tricking and betraying you. You can't.

[Anna Marie]

Yeah. I think just the idea of a stranger having taken care of your kids and lived with for five months, I think that was enough to say, maybe this isn't the right fit. So they told the agency. So I'm not sure what happened. I don't know what their next scheme was.

[Dax Shepard]

I think they met identical twin boys and they lived happily ever after.

[Anna Marie]

I hope that for them. They were very cute girls.

[Monica Padman]

Of course they were. You don't get away with this for that long without being cute.

[Dax Shepard]

I wish you had their info. I do want to ask them if they saw the Prestige. Did you see the Prestige?

[Anna Marie]

I did. What year did that come out? Because this was, like, 96.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, wow.

[Dax Shepard]

Not terribly long after it was, like, 2007.

[Monica Padman]

I think Christopher Nolan owes them some

[Anna Marie]

money, maybe based on them.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

That's wild.

[Dax Shepard]

Hannah. That was tasty. You guys had a Real life prestige happening there.

[Monica Padman]

Slash parasite.

[Dax Shepard]

I wish they would have had a little fun with it. Like play hide and seek with you.

[Anna Marie]

They could have.

[Monica Padman]

Who knows?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. And then they pop out from somewhere. That would be impossible.

[Monica Padman]

Then these people would never trust anyone ever again.

[Dax Shepard]

Or they would think they had a version of Mary Poppins, like she's mag. She could be in any room of the house.

[Anna Marie]

Two places at once, actually.

[Dax Shepard]

I hope they graduated to more complex crimes with bigger payouts.

[Anna Marie]

I hope so, too. Maybe it'll end up being another story on here.

[Dax Shepard]

What age did you guys then leave England?

[Anna Marie]

We moved to New York when I was in Middle School. So 12.

[Dax Shepard]

Did you happen to listen to Amanda Peet's episode? Yeah, this is kind of her story. She was over there and.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Came back to New York.

[Monica Padman]

God, you guys are so cool.

[Dax Shepard]

I know. Did you have an English accent when you came back to New York?

[Anna Marie]

I did, because I learned how to speak in London, but I got made fun of pretty bad, so I tried to fit in. The most embarrassing thing is that at least in our school, because I went to a British school, when you raise your hand in class, you don't do this. You do this.

[Casey]

Oh.

[Dax Shepard]

You put a finger up for the listeners, not a whole hand.

[Anna Marie]

When I first started school in New York, I did that and got made fun of.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, it doesn't look good.

[Dax Shepard]

It looks up. It's almost like. And another thing.

[Monica Padman]

And another thing I want to say.

[Anna Marie]

Yeah, there are a lot of moments like that.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, Ana, it's delightful to meet you. For someone who's shy, you did a great job. You must have outgrown your shyness sometimes.

[Anna Marie]

I'm definitely the least likely of the siblings to have done this.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, good for you.

[Anna Marie]

Thank you. My sisters listen as well. Leah and my other sister, Sonia. So they were, like, hyping me up.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, how cute. I'm probably gonna go to Bucatini today,

[Dax Shepard]

give her a feedback.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. And I'm gonna say, you did great.

[Dax Shepard]

All right, well, have a great rest of your day. Take care in Brooklyn.

[Anna Marie]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Now I do think you're a twin, like Lincoln thought. And now I think it. Ew.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, I love it.

[Twin Sister Casey]

No.

[Dax Shepard]

What's the other part of me doing right now? Riding a motorcycle.

[Monica Padman]

No. That guy is, like, sick.

[Scott]

He's looking in windows.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, exactly. Oh, wow.

[Casey]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

While you're doing work, while I make

[Dax Shepard]

the money, he's out peeping in windows.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

We would probably work out an attic schedule. It's like, you can make a mess of your life in six months increments and then you gotta tag back in.

[Monica Padman]

What if your twin wasn't an attic? That would be really interesting.

[Dax Shepard]

It wouldn't be my twin. I'd be like, you're not my twin.

[Monica Padman]

I know. And then he's like, I'm your twin, dude. I look exactly like you.

[Dax Shepard]

No. Smoke this cigarette. Okay? Now don't you need another one? He's like, no, yeah, you're not my blood.

[Monica Padman]

Then you'd kill him.

[Dax Shepard]

You killed your twin cuz he wasn't an addict. Hi. Cute shirt, Scott. Oh my God.

[Monica Padman]

The cutest sweatshirt around.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, why they say shirt? I'm so embarrassed. That's clearly a sweatshirt shirt. Scott. I'm sorry.

[Scott]

It's okay, I'll let it slide.

[Dax Shepard]

Where are you, Scott?

[Scott]

I am Portland, Oregon.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, Portland or Beaverton or Wilson?

[Scott]

Downtown Portland. Up by the zoo.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, okay, great. And how long have you lived there?

[Scott]

Since 2011.

[Dax Shepard]

And where'd you come from?

[Scott]

So I came from California by way of Colorado, which we'll get to in the story.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, wonderful. All right, Scott, tell us your twin story.

[Scott]

So I'm an identical twin. My brother is my identical twin and his name is David. He will feature prominently in this story. So we look very similar. Especially when we were younger. People would often confuse us. Friends and family could tell us apart if we were standing next to each other, if we were on the street or something like that, People would struggle, right? They'd confuse us. If we were in a class and they knew Scott was supposed to be there, it was pretty clear who was who. But you know, we would routinely confuse people.

[Dax Shepard]

Scott, when the people that knew you were looking at you and they could tell, were they observing personality differences or were there a few key subjects, Subtle physical things they saw.

[Scott]

This was a really good point to just as a public service announcement on behalf of all twins, Regularly people get super excited when they could tell twins apart. So excited, in fact, they want to tell you how they could tell you apart. I know how everyone who tells apart, they'd say, my face is fatter. You know, my brother's the sad twin.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, always pejoratives, it sounds like.

[Twin Sister Casey]

Yeah, rude.

[Scott]

Someone always came out negatively.

[Casey]

Oh yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I mean, in here I was more looking for like, oh, oh yeah, you have a small scar in your eyebrow. That's not bad.

[Monica Padman]

That's cool inherently though. So like, maybe they didn't say that. Maybe they said, well, David has a.

[Dax Shepard]

They might have said skinnier face.

[Monica Padman]

No, just like there's a thin face. And then you heard it.

[Scott]

They definitely said fatter face.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, well, this is bygone era, I

[Scott]

guess the service announcement is. I don't need to know how you tell apart. Me and my brother. Keep it to yourself. Super happy for you, but always do something different.

[Monica Padman]

This is a good psa.

[Anna Marie]

I like.

[Dax Shepard]

That is good.

[Scott]

I look at my watch or something else, you know, but that's fine. People found lots of different ways to tell apart. I think we look very different. We have different personalities. But I have proof that people confuse us often as I'll get to in the story. So as a twin, you know, I have lots of little crazy twin stories, and they kind of accumulate over time, and it's kind of your norm. I have a couple I wanted to share that kind of show some of the stuff that you deal with as a twin. So even as adults, we live on different coasts. So I live in Portland, Oregon. My brother, he lives in Winston Salem, North Carolina. We still manage to confuse people unintentionally. My brother's a chemistry professor at Wake Forest.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, shit.

[Scott]

He has lots of students. And one of his students was visiting Portland with her family, and they were on a walk in our neighborhood. I was also walking in our neighborhood.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, wow, that is sim. That's weird.

[Scott]

Yeah. And so she looked and she's like, that's my chemistry professor. And her parents were like, no, that's not. The person clearly lives here. And their parents convinced her, no, she was crazy. And then months later, my brother had casually mentioned that he has a twin brother living in Portland. And she was like, I knew it.

[Twin Sister Casey]

Wow.

[Dax Shepard]

Good for her.

[Monica Padman]

That's fun for her.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Small world mystery.

[Scott]

So we have lots of things like that. Even as adults, we just find out that we, you know, confuse people. But growing up, we were very similar. We had a very shared childhood. We did very similar things. We had the same friends. We were very close for each other's best friends. Then we went to UC Davis in California, and we both were majors in chemistry. You know, we lived together, but then we decided that we both wanted to go to grad school. And we're trying to figure out what we're gonna do, and we're kind of like, all right, we're gonna have to, like, separate at some point. My girlfriend and I at the time, we were trying to figure out which grad schools we were gonna go to, and David was doing his own thing, and we had one school in common, which was the University of Colorado in Boulder. My wife Rochelle and I decided we're gonna go to Boulder. And then a month later, my brother independently decided, like, all right, this is the. So we ended up going to the same grad school. The programs we were in were different, though. His was biochemistry, I was physical chemistry. So we had different classes. We really didn't overlap much, and we didn't see each other that often. Cause I was living with my girlfriend.

[Dax Shepard]

Was that part hard? You had been so inseparable. Did you feel any kind of missing feelings or was it fine because you were in love?

[Scott]

Yeah, I think it was like a new experience. We were still physically in the same school, so I knew that he was close by. We could still go do stuff. And so I think it was really comforting to have him by. But we were kind of doing our own things. There was some tension there. I was like, hey, do stuff with me. I was like, oh, we're gonna do something.

[Monica Padman]

Did he have a girlfriend or it was just you with the girlfriend?

[Scott]

At the time, it was just me. And I got married before he did and then ended up buying a house, getting a dog, like, doing all the stuff. And so we really were differentiating. But even then, we'd still manage to get confused because we ta these large gen chem classes, right, with hundreds of people. And so I'd be walking on campus and someone be like, hey, Dave. Do you wave and just hope they go away, or do you have to have the conversation? Which is always awkward?

[Dax Shepard]

This is a version of being famous, Scott. Like you're getting to experience a little bit. Like, they're yelling Dave. Which might be your character name from tv. Tv. You're like, I'm not Dave in real life. I'm Scott in real life. And then you're obliged to have a conversation explaining what you're doing there.

[Scott]

It's always the same. It's like, oh, you're trying to talk to my brother. Okay, yeah, I'm a twin. That's crazy. I know. What's your name? Where do you know I'm from? I would tell him you said hi.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes.

[Monica Padman]

God, what if you hated your twin? Your life would be miserable.

[Dax Shepard]

You'd probably not be at the same school as them. Luckily, you know, you had a distance yourself.

[Scott]

Even as we're trying to separate, like, we'd still have crazy stuff. Like, I ended up breaking my wrist playing soccer. My legs, left wrist. A week later, my brother broke his same left wrist skiing.

[Dax Shepard]

Skiing. Wow, wow, wow.

[Scott]

So then we had matching cast walking around like. So we're trying to do our own thing, but we're still having the same shared experience. Okay, so those are smaller examples. But there's like one incident that kind of stood out that I wanted to share today, even though I don't remember all of it. So soon after I moved to Boulder, I wanted to start like a soccer team and they had this co ed soccer league. You know, I decided to sign me and some friends up. The team was mostly made up of grad students, undergrads. It was kind of like a ragtag group of people. We're all fit, not super competitive. And so we decided to set up a team. Boulder Inject General is a hyper competitive place that permeates all aspects of life. Have you guys been to Boulder? Do you know what I'm talking about?

[Dax Shepard]

No. This is shocking. I think of Colorado as being very laid back and smoking weed and rock climbing and snowboarding.

[Monica Padman]

But like a lot of outdoor sports though, right?

[Scott]

Yeah. What you find is generally there's people that are world class at anything they're doing and then there's lots of people trying to keep up. If you spend any time there, it's very clear if you figure this out. And so it's a large league. It has 36 teams in it, which is like a lot for a co ed soccer league, for adult league. And they were broken up into six divisions. Then they used a promotion relegation system, kind of like you'd have in the Premier League. The structure of it's competitive.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Scott]

And then on top of that, they had teenage referees that were generally apathetic and underpaid.

[Anna Marie]

Right.

[Scott]

So you're setting up the situation where there's going to be tension in the system, there's a code leak. So we're like equal men and women on the field. That generally lowers testosterone level a bit. So you think, like, this is going to be fine.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, buffers it.

[Scott]

Let me take you now to a warm spring Wednesday evening in 2009. The game was at this, like, large field complex. So lots of games going on. Everyone's rushing to make the 5:45 game start time. It's midweek, so it's hard to get players there. So I asked my brother David, who's not regularly playing on the soccer teams, like, hey, can you help cover? Come play for the team. We need some players. We had worked our way up. So we're like mid tier in this league. So we're not in the most competitive league, but we're not at the bottom anymore. We've done enough to like get right in the middle of the divisions. So most of the Games are pretty chill. However, it was clear once the game started, this was not going to be a chill game. Tensions were already high, fouls happening. The refs aren't calling things. They're disinterested in controlling the the game. As things happen, people are getting more and more excited. And there was one person in particular, one big dude who was being extra aggressive, and he was pushing, fouling, doing stuff that was really ramping everything up. And for the sake of the story, let's call him Beefstick.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, Great, great, great, great. Yeah, Fake name.

[Scott]

David was playing defense throughout the game, and oftentimes he was interacting with Beefstick.

[Twin Sister Casey]

Right.

[Scott]

They were really going at it and getting into it. And my brother and I are rule followers. Right? We follow the rules. Monica.

[Monica Padman]

Yes. I appreciate it.

[Scott]

I get so angry when people don't follow the rules, as does my brother. And so in this instance, my brother was going to be the fair police. He's going to be a bit more assertive playing defense. And he committed a strong but not malicious foul. The ref called it. But this did nothing to help with the tensions. Right?

[Dax Shepard]

It didn't de. Escalate anything.

[Scott]

It escalated, in fact, and I was doing my best to stay out of the drama. And at one point, after he had fouled Beefstick, he checked out of the game. He subbed out, and I was still on the field. I was drilling the ball kind of off balance, trying to get around and play. All of a sudden, bam. Hit a brick wall. I was tackled. I didn't see it coming. And I was laid out on the ground in, like, the back of my head, hit the grass. And at this point, I don't remember much of the story, so it gets a little blurry. And I had to fill in details from other people. What I heard is I played another five or 10 minutes, like there was a commotion. People were angry. Tensions were still very, very high. This did not help. I kept playing, and then I eventually checked out of the game, laid down, and was immediately, like, disoriented and confused. This is 2009, so concussions are not top of mind. People are not so worried as they are now.

[Dax Shepard]

It's a skin knee still.

[Scott]

That's right. And luckily there was someone there who had some medical training who was recognizing symptoms, though it was pretty obvious. I was trying to text my wife to figure out how we were going to meet up. I didn't know how my phone worked. I couldn't understand it. I didn't know what day of the week it was. It was weird. For everyone. And people on the team started realizing how serious this injury was, including the other team. And our friend Beefstick finished the game. Everyone was like, frustrated, but you know, afterwards you're shaking hands, you're saying, good game to everyone. And I didn't. I was still just sitting down, figuring out where I was. And Beefsteak came up to my brother. He's like, sorry I confused you for your brother out there. Implying that he actually meant to take out my brother.

[Dax Shepard]

Concuss your brother.

[Scott]

The takeaway I have from this is like in life as a twin, normally it's fun. People confuse you. You get a good story out of it. Everyone has a good time. However, if you're playing in an ultra competitive co ed soccer league in Boulder, Colorado, that is not the case. You do not want to be confused with your brother. I had to go to the er, had to get X rays, a CT scan.

[Monica Padman]

TW can cause cte.

[Scott]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

You might pay for the crimes of your brother. Yeah.

[Scott]

Yeah, right. That's my crazy twin story.

[Dax Shepard]

How often do you see David now? Just like on holidays?

[Scott]

Yeah, on holidays. It's hard, man. We each got two kids. Airfare's not cheap. Right. And flying across the country, it's an ordeal. We try to see each other, you know, once a year.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. I don't know why I feel. Yeah, I feel sadness more than, say, my brother and I being separated, because I feel like if you have an identical twin, you're so close.

[Monica Padman]

Something different. Have you had telepathy?

[Scott]

Our joke is we have telepathetic powers, which means we don't have any ability.

[Dax Shepard]

Pathetic intelligence.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, that's funny.

[Dax Shepard]

And are you a teacher?

[Scott]

I work at intel as my brother. Say I sold out. He's fighting the good fight.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, when there's two of you, one can afford to get a little cage and the other can pass it forward. Oh, well, Scott, lovely meeting you. Please send our love to David. He's a part of the story.

[Monica Padman]

Are you actually David? Is that gonna be the big mov?

[Scott]

There was a suggestion to have my fake name be David, but I spent enough of my time trying to get people to get to know my real name. So, you know.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Scott]

A couple shout outs. So I just wanted to say that I look forward to all the new episodes. Like you, Dax. Look forward to F1 weekend. And Dax, I really appreciate the role model you put out there for men with the parenting, vulnerability, how you carry yourself in the world. It's important to have role models out there. And I really Appreciate you put yourself out there.

[Dax Shepard]

Thank you.

[Scott]

My wife often references you about things that I could do better and improve on differently.

[Dax Shepard]

Tell her the grass is always greener.

[Scott]

Can I bring her in?

[Dax Shepard]

Yes, yes, yes. Hello. What is your name? Oh, and there's little people.

[Casey]

Rochelle. And then this is Avery and Rylan back here.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, my God. Hi, guys. They're so cute.

[Casey]

My daughter and I listen to Armchair Anonymous all the time in the car on the way to kids activities. We love it.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, how sweet.

[Monica Padman]

I think she can listen to this one.

[Dax Shepard]

All right, well, our love to everyone there. So nice meeting you, you guys.

[Casey]

Yeah, nice to meet you too.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, take care.

[Monica Padman]

Pair of twins is like pair of jeans. It's like. You shouldn't say that.

[Dax Shepard]

Is that what we say? Pair of twins?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, I said it. It just came out.

[Dax Shepard]

You can't say a set of twins because the set is three.

[Monica Padman]

You can't say anything. You can't say anything these days.

[Dax Shepard]

Yet another thing you can't say these days. Hello, Is this Amy?

[Casey]

This is.

[Dax Shepard]

Is there been an avalanche of pillows?

[Casey]

It's a beach blanket. I'm in a closet.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. With a blank. Yeah. Wow, you really doubled up in a very soft chair. Is that a soft chair?

[Casey]

Yeah, it is a very soft chair.

[Dax Shepard]

And what's your shirt say? I'm very nosy.

[Casey]

Black Label.

[Dax Shepard]

That's a coffee, right?

[Casey]

It's a skateboard company. Oh, it's related to my story.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, that's a great name for a skateboard company.

[Casey]

Yes.

[Monica Padman]

You feel a little.

[Dax Shepard]

But there is Black Label beer.

[Monica Padman]

I know, but you should know skateboarding.

[Dax Shepard]

I should. I should. But in my defense, I stopped skateboarding in probably 92.

[Casey]

I mean, they were big in the 90s.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, fuck. Okay. Would have turned out I never skateboard. Skateboarded. We found that out. It was all revealed.

[Monica Padman]

That was your twin.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. Amy, where are you?

[Casey]

I'm in Benton Harbor, Michigan.

[Dax Shepard]

Get outta here. Okay. So, Amy, you have a twin story.

[Casey]

I do have a twin story. Well, quick twin. Fun fact is that me and my sister were born on April Fool's Day. And my parents did not know they were having twins until seven days before we were born.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, wow. Wow. A real April Fool.

[Casey]

Real April Fool. April Fools. We had the same heartbeat the whole pregnancy. And at the very end, we moved. And then they heard too. I mean, this was 40 something years ago. So, like technology wasn't there yet.

[Dax Shepard]

Wow.

[Casey]

Anyway, so this story takes place in Indiana. My sister does not want me to tell you the town or the college that it Happened at. But her name's Amber, by the way. So it was about 2003 ish. She was, like, in her senior year of college, and she was going to be married and moving out to California. She lives in San Diego.

[Dax Shepard]

Can I ask if you're identical or fraternity, or is that part of the story?

[Casey]

We are identical. And I did send pictures of us.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh.

[Monica Padman]

Oh.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, my God, yes. Oh, you guys are so cute.

[Monica Padman]

I want a twin.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, oh, tie dye phase coming. Very identical. You nail the stereotype.

[Scott]

Okay.

[Casey]

I had broken my foot dropping in. Like, I was learning how to skateboard at that time. So I was dropping in, rolled my foot. I had just moved to the college town that she lived in because she was going to leave the state after graduation. So, like, I moved out down there. I was just working at this local hardware store, and I was learning how to skateboard. Broke my foot. I, like, walked around on it for a solid two days because I'm poor. I don't have insurance because I just started this job. And at some point I'm like, I got to go get this checked out, but how am I going to pay for it? And then my sister was like, well, just take my school IDs to the student center.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes.

[Casey]

And it'll all be free. And everybody's like, yeah, that's, like, such a great idea. Let's do this. Nobody thought that this would be a bad idea.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm signing off on it right now. I think it sounds like.

[Monica Padman]

Sounds great.

[Casey]

Why pay for it if we don't have to? And then also because it's Indiana. The two days before I was skateboarding, the two days later, I was brushing snow off of my car to go to the doctor's office. So. Well, the student center. So I'm oblivious to this being a bad idea until I walk in to the student center. And my sister's a senior at this point, so she's lived on campus for four years. She knows everybody. As soon as I walk in, it's like, hey, Amber. Hey, Amber, what did you do? I don't know if she has known these people for five minutes. I don't know if they're her neighbors. I have no idea who they are. So I go up to the desk. The person at the desk is like, oh, my God, Amber, what did you do? And I'm like, I broke my foot.

[Dax Shepard]

This is really fun to think about. You're moving through the world, and you're like, a fraud. Yeah, you're playing a character.

[Monica Padman]

Fraud.

[Dax Shepard]

Yep.

[Monica Padman]

It's exactly that you're in a really

[Dax Shepard]

big scheme and everyone that's coming up to you is going to induce panic. And then you start thinking, how would my sister act right now?

[Monica Padman]

This is a lot of stress.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, it's like twilight zoning.

[Casey]

It was like immediate stress. So I get through the front desk, I'm like, I've made it. That's got to be the hardest part. I get into the room and they're like checking out my foot and like my heart is racing. And they're like, amber, how are you doing with your thyroid medication? Are you keeping up on your thyroid medication? I'm like, I don't actually know what milligram of that medication I'm on. I have no idea what it's called. I have no idea. And they're like, who's your primary care doctor? I'm like, I just switched doctors. I'm not sure what their names.

[Dax Shepard]

Were you also thinking, oh shit, I should be on thyroid medication. My identical twin needs it.

[Casey]

No, actually our health journeys are so opposite. That's a whole nother story. I even did a DNA test to make sure we were identical twins because we're so different. But spoiler alert, we are. So they're like, well, you should really get that checked out. That's concerning. Your heart should not be racing like this. Well, of course, obviously I'm lying my ass off. So I did make it through that. But then from there I have to go to a specialist. I'm having to do it all over, fill out the forms. They say Amber's name on it. I have to go to several different doctors and pretend that I'm Amber and listen for the name Amber. And it's like, all right, Amber, you ready? And I'm like looking for Amber. And I'm like, oh yeah, that's me.

[Monica Padman]

Real life parent trapped.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah. Or body switch comedy too.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, Parent trap.

[Casey]

So then I get through that. But then work is requiring me to have like all these doctor's notes for missed things that they all say my sister's name on it. So then I'm like altering doctor doctor's notes to say my own name. Because I'm like, this says Amber. This does not say Amy. But also again, 20 something years ago they're like, eh, my prescriptions all had my sister's name on it. All my follow ups. But I mean, at the end of the day I did not receive a single bill.

[Monica Padman]

Oh wow, it works.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Casey]

10 out of 10. Do not recommend. It was very short lived the stress, but it was Very, very stressful.

[Dax Shepard]

You didn't have surgery or anything. Would they throw you in a cast at some point?

[Casey]

I was on crutches for about 12 weeks, so there was, like, physical therapy once I was off of campus. They had no idea who I was. And then my sister has this broken foot on her permanent health record. But I redeemed myself because I started skateboarding again last summer, and I broke that same foot.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, no, that's ridiculous.

[Scott]

And now it's up to date.

[Dax Shepard]

Time to go to Amber's town. Do you guys live close?

[Casey]

No, she lives in San Diego.

[Dax Shepard]

Is that hard?

[Casey]

It's very hard, yeah. We talk like, 500 times a day. We probably see each other, like, once a year. And she has texts, texted me, like, 50,000 times. She's like, I've never been so jealous in my life. She's like, I want to be on Armchair Anonymous. I'm like, wow. That's the only crazy twin story we have, though.

[Dax Shepard]

That's great. Well, this is nosy. So she went to college and you didn't. How do you explain that?

[Casey]

I always tell people that I feel like we were raised by, like, two different sets of parents because we could not be any more different. Our voices are exactly the same and our mannerisms are exactly the same, but our personalities are very different. Like, I was, like, really stressed out about this. I'm like, oh, my God, I'm an appeal. And she's like, no, just be excited, you know? But, like, our health journeys are different.

[Monica Padman]

Dax has an idea that twins live the exact same life. I mean, you really do.

[Dax Shepard]

I want that to be the case. Of course it's more exciting. I just think it's fascinating how much nurture gets in there.

[Casey]

Yeah, I say nature versus nurture all the time because our real dad did not raise us like, he was not in the picture until we were adults. And my sister's personality is identity to his. I'm more like my mom, but I don't think that has anything to do with her being there. But it was like, my dad raised her solely, and my mom raised me solely. She's very artistic. Like, she's musical. I can't draw. So opposite.

[Dax Shepard]

I actually like it. As much as it's fun to think you're identical, I'm always a little disappointed that it's so much nature as a parent, because you want to have some sense that all this energy you put into into it has an impact.

[Casey]

An entire year will go by, and, like, we won't see each other, and then she'll come to my house, or I'll come to her house, and we'll be in the bedroom getting dressed, and we'll have the exact same polar bear underwear on.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, wow.

[Casey]

We'll have the exact same mascara or. Little things like that are very random but so different in every other way.

[Dax Shepard]

How about your taste in men or women?

[Casey]

Well, we both have been married and divorced and married again, and we both only had one kid, so, like, she has a daughter and I have. Have a son. We both had C sections. That's very similar, but, like, she married somebody a lot like my biological dad, and I married somebody more like my stepdad.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, it's all wild.

[Monica Padman]

So interesting.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, Amy, lovely meeting you. And give our love to Amber. Sorry she couldn't join in.

[Casey]

I will shout out to my husband for being so supportive of me being nervous. And then one of my very good friends, ladonna, is number one arm cherry. So she's like, I would absolutely die if you say my name.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, shout out. Yeah, shout out. Out to everyone. Well, lovely meeting you.

[Casey]

Good to meet you.

[Dax Shepard]

All right, take care.

[Monica Padman]

Bye.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, Michigan.

[Monica Padman]

I want to get tricked by a twin. I mean, I am by you. Well, as I just figured out.

[Dax Shepard]

Good trick, though.

[Monica Padman]

Really good trick. You won't even finally admit it.

[Dax Shepard]

I will. On my deathbed, because you'll be visiting me dying, and then I'll tap you on the shoulder and go, don't worry. Only one of us is dying. One of us is healthy.

[Monica Padman]

So scary.

[Dax Shepard]

But you're not sure which one.

[Monica Padman]

Ew.

[Dax Shepard]

The one you went to Michigan with or the one you went to Minnesota with?

[Scott]

Do you want to sing a tune or something? When it was a theme song.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, okay, great. We don't have a theme song for this new show, so here I go. Go, go. We're going to add some random questions, and with the help of arm cherries, we'll get some suggestions on the fly rhyme dish. On the fire rhyme dish. Enjoy.