Distractible Podcast: "Hide The Penny"
Release Date: March 7, 2025
Hosts: Mark Fischbach, Wade Barnes, Bob Muyskens
Episode Overview
In this delightfully unhinged episode, the Distractible crew—Mark, Wade, and Bob—turn hiding a coin into a multi-layered game of improv and deduction, using the “theater of the mind” to create elaborate, sometimes grotesque, imaginary scenarios. The main event: a competitive hide-and-seek game with imaginary pennies in increasingly bizarre locations, from a bustling coffee shop to a haunted attic. The banter also touches 3D printing, truck culture, customer complaints, and why Mark had such a rough week. Hijinks, bickering, and creative problem-solving abound.
Tone: Chaotic, playful, and self-deprecating, with plenty of classic Distractible tangents and inside jokes.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
Opening Banter (02:52–06:53)
- Mark's Small Talk: Mark details a rough week—tummy aches, late-night streaming, and DnD ("Woke up in immense stomach pain, and I barely existed today." – Mark, 10:27)
- Deodorant Trickery: Wade “tactical reloads” his deodorant, prompting ribbing about internet smell-o-vision.
- New Points Constitution: Bob jokes about Distractible’s new “constitution” (Whose Line Is It Anyway–style).
- Coin Stuff: The group compares their “game coins”—old, sad, patinaed, or plastic—all part of the new scoring system.
3D Printing & Bamboo Lab Tangent (05:26–09:15)
- Wade develops a fascination for "forged" carbon fiber parts via 3D-printed molds, noting "you can get all your molds from 3D printing" and make custom, strong parts quickly.
- Controversy around Bambu Labs’ policy changes—Wade openly shills for printers, Bob laments his cheap printer woes.
“Bambu Lab. I know everyone's kind of mad at you right now, but I’m willing to sell out for more 3D printers. Is that convincing?” – Wade (06:53) - The hosts riff on the similarities between Play-Doh spaghetti toys and 3D printers.
Wade’s Truck & Drawer Saga (09:33–16:54)
- Wade updates on his new truck and drawer system ("decked" drawers) but launches into an epic rant about the cringe/manual being written for “toddlers” and product misrepresentations.
- Mark rails against Ohio truck drivers: “Apparently there’s a club where you’ve got to be a dick and probably high and/or drunk to get a truck...” (12:03)
- The group gripes about over-promised product photos and cross-talks about the truck accessory/aftermarket industry.
Product Demo Drama & Audience Relatability (14:48–16:54)
- Wade’s tantrum over inaccurate product marketing earns Mark’s “big baby tantrum” point.
- Bob sums it up: "We are the most relatable podcast on the market. I’m pretty sure our problems are the ones everyone has." (14:53)
The Hide the Penny Game Showdown
Game Instructions (20:39–24:06)
Bob introduces an imaginary game:
- Each player hides and seeks imaginary pennies in creatively described scenarios.
- Players can interrogate, deduce, or roleplay their way to discovering the hidden coins.
- “It’s a game in the mind—theater of the mind.” – Bob (22:05)
Scenario 1: The Busy Coffee Shop (24:06–38:22)
- Players vividly narrate penny-hiding strategies: Mark tries surveillance tricks, Wade crowd-sources the barista, both perform D&D-style charisma checks on the manager.
- Memorable Improvisation: “I stand on a table and I shout to everyone in the coffee shop, I’ll give $100 to the first person that points to where you saw someone hide a penny.” – Mark (28:03)
- Mark fixates on “hidden up high” clues, Wade searches orange juice cartons and shoe prints. Bob narrates cafe drama ("the snot man").
- Mark’s penny is in a toy train, Bob’s in the “take a penny, leave a penny” tray, Wade’s is hidden in bathroom absurdity involving a penny on a paper towel dispenser.
- Notable Moment: Mark and Wade use elaborate, almost RPG-level roleplay to pursue clues—tactical hand-raising, seduction for camera access, and even tackling bathroom strangers.
Scenario 2: The Messy College Dorm Room (38:22–50:50)
- Scene description: “Not our room, just some random dorm, suspiciously filled with empty beer bottles, energy drink cans, a mountain of condom wrappers, and... something shuffling in the corner.”
- Peak Absurdity: Wade (and then Mark, miniaturized à la "Honey I Shrunk the Kids") searches through “crusty socks” and “used but not actually used” condom wrappers.
- Mark’s penny is hidden in a condom wrapper, Wade’s inside a crusty sock in a vent, Bob’s is anticlimactically just in his own hand.
- Memorable quote: Bob, after Mark’s demise: “And tiny Mark died at 3 inches tall of a nicotine ingestion.” (50:43)
Scenario 3: Grandmother’s Spooky Attic (52:59–69:12)
- Attic is described as “video game horror level with trunks, mannequins, and a randomly rocking chair.”
- Wade begins by stripping each host naked, looking for coin concealment; the three end up covered in dust.
- The search for the source of an ominous rattle yields a secret wall hiding a “room filled with 30–40 bodies.” Wade and Mark both hide their pennies in the eye sockets of the same corpse—a “ferryman’s coin” horror trope.
- Wild Synchronicity: Mark, aghast: “So I guessed your spot before we even started, thereby guaranteeing my own defeat by not searching my spot because we were of the same mind. That’s incredibly awful for me.” (67:18)
- Mark’s alternate hiding spot: a penny disguised as Abraham Lincoln’s spider face in cobwebs.
Improv, Points, & Final Tallies
- Both Mark and Wade earn points for imaginative hiding places, tantrums, and best lines.
- Final score: Mark 11, Wade 10.
- Tiebreakers include who looked best (Mark's deodorant earns him the win) and a bonus point for eating the most (Wade and his chocolate-covered peanut).
- Notable exchange:
- Wade (conceding): “I am going to concede this to Mark for one reason. He put deodorant on at the start of the stream, which enhances his smell...” (71:57)
- Bob summarizes: “Fate tried to steal Mark's victory. But fate could not make it.”
Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)
- “Everything I do is for me.” – Wade, channeling toddler energy (03:28)
- “Apparently there’s a club [for Ohio truck drivers]... you’ve got to be a dick and probably high and/or drunk to get a truck.” – Mark (12:03)
- “I went through hell in this episode.” – Wade, post game (70:58)
- “I shrank. Bob’s too good at hiding his penny. I don’t think we’re ever going to find his penny.” – Wade (48:46)
Timestamps for Key Segments
| Segment | Timestamp | |--------------------------------------------|-------------| | Opening small talk | 02:52–06:53 | | 3D printing & Bambu shilling | 05:30–09:10 | | Wade’s truck drawer rant | 09:30–16:54 | | Hide the Penny game explanation | 20:39–24:06 | | Coffee shop scenario | 24:06–38:22 | | College dorm room scenario | 38:22–50:50 | | Attic scenario (Grandma’s house) | 52:59–69:12 | | Finale, wheel spins, results | 70:17–74:12 |
Closing Thoughts
"Hide The Penny" is classic Distractible: an imaginative, unpredictable romp where everyday annoyances morph into full-blown theater of the absurd, all fueled by the cast’s quick improvisation and willingness to push each other to ever-weirder heights. For fans, it’s a showcase of the trio’s chemistry and their commitment to the bit—even when the bit involves sock monsters, naked detective work, and hidden coins in a haunted attic.
Moral of the episode: Keep looking up. Keep playing along, no matter how sticky or absurd the penny-hunt gets.
Listen for:
- Competitive improvisation with RPG vibes
- Layers of meta-humor and callback jokes
- An escalating spiral of bizarre, bodily, and lowbrow, but always creative, hiding places
Recommended for: Fans of chaotic, improv-heavy podcasts; anyone who wonders where three friends will go with too much imagination and too few boundaries.