Chris Grace Disobeys Bridger - I Said No Gifts! A comedy interview podcast with Bridger Winegar

Summary5 min read

Episode Summary: "Chris Grace Disobeys Bridger"

Introduction

In the latest episode of I Said No Gifts! A comedy interview podcast with Bridger Winegar, host Bridger Winegar welcomes comedian and performer Chris Grace as his special guest. From the outset, Chris playfully breaks the podcast's fundamental rule of bringing no gifts, setting the tone for a lively and humorous conversation.

Breaking the No-Gifts Rule

Bridger begins by emphasizing the podcast's core principle: "When you're a guest in my home, you gotta come to me empty" (02:01). However, Chris effortlessly disregards this rule by arriving with a wrapped card, leading Bridger to confront him about the breach:

Bridger (24:22): "So how do you dare disobey me?"

Chris humorously responds, explaining that gift-giving is one of his love languages:

Chris (24:21): "One of my love languages is gift giving. It is, actually. I'm a very good gift giver."

The exchange highlights the playful dynamic between the two, setting the stage for the episode's unfolding discussions.

Social Media Shenanigans

The conversation shifts to the topic of social media. Bridger laments his lack of an Instagram account, which he feels hampers his ability to "spy on" his listeners:

Bridger (02:01): "I need you to get on Instagram. I don't have a Facebook account and it's making it very difficult for me to spy on you freaks."

Chris suggests an alternative platform:

Chris (03:32): "I think you should add a Truth Social account. That's probably where your friends are."

This segues into a humorous debate about the merits of various social media platforms, with Bridger expressing his confusion and amusement over Chris's suggestion:

Bridger (03:35): "Oh, my God. Why didn't I think of that?"

Pet Talk: Cats vs. Dogs

A significant portion of the episode delves into the topic of pets, particularly feral cats in Bridger’s neighborhood:

Bridger (04:17): "I have a lot suddenly in my neighborhood."

Chris (04:31): "We had a very friendly one that we called Rusty... she was like, almost like we had an outdoor cat."

The duo discusses the challenges and joys of pet ownership, contrasting their experiences with cats and dogs. Bridger shares his preference for cats due to their lower maintenance:

Bridger (09:27): "We have feral cats recently, and I'm loving it."

Meanwhile, Chris opens up about his limited experience with dogs and his accidental indulgence in schnorring purchases like Crocs and quirky shirts:

Chris (15:36): "I got some Crocs and a Robert Graham shirt."

Their banter underscores the differing responsibilities and emotional bonds associated with various pets.

Adventures and Physical Challenges

The conversation takes an adventurous turn as Bridger and Chris discuss activities like skydiving and roller coasters. Bridger candidly shares his apprehensions and humorous take on such adrenaline-pumping activities:

Bridger (28:47): "I'm open to the idea of flying through the air and possibly being thrown against the side of a wall."

Chris recounts his own experiences, including a humorous mishap during a space mountain ride:

Chris (29:20): "The last time I went on Space Mountain, I was like, that might be the last time."

Their shared reluctance and comedic reflections on thrill-seeking activities add depth to their dynamic.

Gift or a Curse: Interactive Segment

A standout segment of the episode is the interactive game "Gift or a Curse," where Bridger presents Chris with scenarios to classify and explain:

Pre-installed tombstones with only birth years:

Chris (64:38): "This is like literally a curse. This is literally asking for it."

Bridger humorously defends the idea, claiming it's a "gift in every possible way" and a unique personal expression.
Sleeping with socks on:

Chris (67:47): "I'm gonna say it's a curse because I don't like it."

Bridger counters by appreciating the coziness it provides:

Bridger (69:22): "She's a little trepidatious about going to the wedding. Get some clarity for yourself on how you really feel about these people."
Peeling a potato with a knife instead of a peeler:

Chris (70:47): "I think this is absolutely a curse. That is insane."

Bridger humorously flips the scenario, claiming it's "cool as hell" when done with swagger:

Bridger (72:56): "You've got to do this off the back of a motorcycle. You've got a cigarette in your mouth."

Throughout the game, their differing viewpoints and playful disagreements exemplify the show's comedic essence.

Listener Q&A and Wedding Drama

In the final segment, Bridger addresses a listener's email concerning wedding gift etiquette and familial tensions:

Listener Inquiry (73:43): "My cousin is getting married soon and she's being very traditional about the whole thing... What do I say to them?"

Chris offers practical yet humorous advice, suggesting Bridger enjoy the wedding without overcomplicating gift-giving:

Chris (82:08): "Lay low, let it ride, and just go and have a good time at the wedding."

Bridger emphasizes cutting off toxic relationships if necessary, blending sincere advice with comedic flair:

Bridger (83:18): "Zero contact. Change your number. Change your name."

Conclusion

The episode wraps up with Bridger reiterating the podcast's no-gifts rule, even as Chris's gifts and their humorous interactions continue to play out:

Bridger (85:14): "Your presence is presents enough. And I always already had too much stuff."

Credits roll, acknowledging the production team and encouraging listeners to follow the podcast on Instagram.

Notable Quotes

Bridger: "Your presence is presents enough." (85:14)
Chris: "I'm a very good gift giver." (24:21)
Bridger: "I need you to get on Instagram... I need to keep tabs on you freaks." (02:01)
Chris: "This is like literally a curse." (64:38)
Bridger: "That's who you are. Now." (32:50)

Insights and Themes

This episode masterfully intertwines humor with relatable topics such as pet ownership, social media habits, and navigating family dynamics during significant life events like weddings. The playful violation of the no-gifts rule serves as a catalyst for deeper conversations, all while maintaining a comedic undertone. The interactive game segment further engages listeners, offering both entertainment and a glimpse into the hosts' personalities and viewpoints.

Overall, "Chris Grace Disobeys Bridger" exemplifies the podcast's ability to blend genuine conversation with humor, making it accessible and enjoyable for both regular listeners and newcomers alike.

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Transcript975 lines

[00:02]
Chris Grace
This is exactly right. Abc, Wednesday. Tim Allen and Kat Dennings star in the new family comedy Shifting Gears.
[00:12]
Bridger Weiniger
Dad, I'm broke and I need a.
[00:14]
Chris Grace
Place to stay until I figure out what the rest of my life looks like. So a couple of days when his daughter moves back in. The last time you walked out that door, you looked back at me and.
[00:22]
Bridger Weiniger
Gave me a double bird.
[00:24]
Chris Grace
I was 18.
[00:25]
Bridger Weiniger
The double bird was how I ended all our conversations.
[00:27]
Chris Grace
The wheels come off. Can we try to talk to each other like rational adults?
[00:31]
Bridger Weiniger
Have you watched the news lately? That's not a thing anymore. Series premiere Wednesday, 8, 7 Central on ABC and stream on Hulu.
[00:38]
Chris Grace
Hi, I'm Paul F. Tompkins. My name's Lauren Lapkis. And I'm Scott Aukerman. And we're from the show Threedom. It's a show where three friends get together, we laugh, we talk about our lives, and we have fun playing games. It's really just that simple. There's not a lot to it.
[00:54]
Bridger Weiniger
Tell you everything we've ever done in.
[00:55]
Chris Grace
Our whole entire lives. You'll hear every story that we have. Twice, at least. New season's out now and you can get it wherever. You get your podcast. We don't care. You get your podcast.
[01:05]
Bridger Weiniger
Get them up your butt.
[01:06]
Chris Grace
News is out now.
[01:21]
Bridger Weiniger
When I invited you here.
[01:25]
Chris Grace
I thought I made myself perfectly clear.
[01:29]
Bridger Weiniger
When you're a guest in my home, you gotta come to me empty.
[01:37]
Chris Grace
I said no Guils.
[01:40]
Bridger Weiniger
Your presence is presence enough. And I already had too much stuff.
[01:47]
Chris Grace
So how do you dare disobey me?
[02:01]
Bridger Weiniger
Welcome to I said no gifts. I'm Bridger Weiniger. We're here in the studio after, you know, a white knuckle drive here. Multiple wrong turns, the wrong freeway. Just an experience, but I made it and we're here. It's cool and quiet. Cave like, what is going on? Not a lot. I mean, I would just take a second. Something I've been struggling with recently. The least. I mean, the people I liked least in high school have got to get something other than Facebook. I'm talking to you. I need you to get on Instagram. I don't have a Facebook account and it's making it very difficult for me to spy on you. I need to keep tabs on you freaks. Get an Instagram account, and if it's private, fine, but have a little, you know, at least a photo of yourself for the profile. I want to. I want to catch up with you. And I feel like a lot of people are begging for this. Everybody, you've got to open at least another account. Some social media other than Facebook, where most of us have left, and that's probably why you're still there. But please, for my sake, open an Instagram account that's a little. Just a little public service begging. And I think my life other than that, other than trying to spy on people I don't like, is empty. So let's get into the podcast. I love today's guest. It's Chris Grace. Chris, welcome to. I said no gifts.
[03:32]
Chris Grace
I think you should add a Truth Social account. That's probably where your friends are.
[03:36]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, my God. Why didn't I think of that?
[03:38]
Chris Grace
That's probably where they all are.
[03:39]
Bridger Weiniger
That's certainly where they are. Oh, my God. Wow. Have you been on Truth Social?
[03:44]
Chris Grace
I have not. I've never been.
[03:46]
Bridger Weiniger
I assume it's like Twitter.
[03:48]
Chris Grace
I think so, yeah.
[03:49]
Bridger Weiniger
That's kind of the format of a.
[03:51]
Chris Grace
I mean, I have an account. I just don't publish my. Yet my main media manager posts on Truth Social.
[03:57]
Bridger Weiniger
For me, all of your more secret opinions.
[04:01]
Chris Grace
I just say what my hot take of the day is, you know, and then they type it up.
[04:06]
Bridger Weiniger
You're huge. Untruth Social.
[04:08]
Chris Grace
There used to be a lot of feral cats in my neighborhood. I live in East Hollywood near Koreatown. Sure not as many recently. Also rising immigrants to the neighborhood.
[04:17]
Bridger Weiniger
I mean, coincidence. Put two and two together, Put two and two together, put racism and racism together, you get double racism. Wait, so the. But have you seen many feral cats recently? I've got a lot suddenly in my neighborhood.
[04:31]
Chris Grace
Well, we just have. We have ones that we are like, oh, what happened to the. And then, you know, sometimes you don't see them anymore and you wonder what happened to them.
[04:38]
Bridger Weiniger
That's scary.
[04:39]
Chris Grace
We had a very friendly one that we called Rusty that would actually come up to us and let. She would let us pet her. Aw, very cute. Almost like we had an outdoor cat, right? Haven't seen Rusty in two months.
[04:50]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, that's tough. What color was she?
[04:52]
Chris Grace
We called her Rusty because she was a black and orange tortoise or something Calico. I don't know. But we thought it was a bo. And then they were like. A friend of mine was like, oh, tortoiseshell cats are almost always girls.
[05:05]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, that's an interesting thing. I feel like with orange cats, it's a similar thing. I think almost all ginger or orange cats are males.
[05:12]
Chris Grace
Oh, okay.
[05:13]
Bridger Weiniger
But now that we've both shared this fact, I'm wondering if people just say that about every color of cat and none of it's true.
[05:19]
Chris Grace
Most redheaded humans are males almost exclusively.
[05:23]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah. I feel like there's probably three or four redheaded women on Earth. The rest of them are men.
[05:28]
Chris Grace
Carol Burnett, Amy Ad.
[05:31]
Bridger Weiniger
We lost Lucille Ball a long time ago.
[05:33]
Chris Grace
Pippi Longstocking. Those are the three.
[05:38]
Bridger Weiniger
No, I've heard that about cats. And recently I heard that a lot of white dogs are deaf.
[05:44]
Chris Grace
I haven't heard that. I don't know why this strikes me as funny, but it does.
[05:47]
Bridger Weiniger
I think that something. Of course, this is what's wrong with podcasts.
[05:53]
Chris Grace
Those white dogs can't feel the groove. Is that what you're saying? They're always clapping on 1 and 3.
[05:58]
Bridger Weiniger
Most white dogs cannot dance. That's a fact. No, it may be white, like pit bulls or something, but there's something about that where a lot of them are strangely, they can't hear. I don't know how that lines up genetically. How does it make any sense to me? Oh, interesting. I mean, the kindness of their. Of their owners, big hearts of Americans adopting them. But I have a lot of feral cats recently, and I'm loving it. I don't know where they're coming from, but I think one must have had babies a while ago, and now suddenly the whole family is large.
[06:37]
Chris Grace
We had a little storage tent, zipper thing. You know what I mean? Like, it's not really a storage shed, but it's a. Oh, okay. You can zip up a little enclosure. And I had a bunch of stuff in the back of our house, and there was a little litter of cats in there one day. And, like, basically we put out some stuff for them to. So the mother could get food and stuff.
[07:00]
Bridger Weiniger
Right?
[07:00]
Chris Grace
And then next day, they're all gone. And then I see them there on the side of our house underneath, like, a little bin, storage bin. And then once we saw. Once the mother realized we had seen her there, she took them. She kept moving.
[07:14]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, my God. The family really moved around.
[07:16]
Chris Grace
And I had video of her moving from that. So, like, she would take one in her mouth, disappear a couple minutes later, come back for another one. So it was fun. And then a neighbor adopted out all the kittens and got the mother whatever medical procedure she needed.
[07:33]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, fantastic.
[07:34]
Chris Grace
That mother had a right to reproductive health.
[07:36]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah, exactly. Our cats still have it. That's very sweet. I mean, it's very cute to see a mother cat carrying the kittens, but it must be the most tedious thing in the world for the mother cat having to do that over and over.
[07:48]
Chris Grace
And over, and then having to Go find food for them and all that stuff. Or for herself.
[07:51]
Bridger Weiniger
The struggle of a single mother, cats, while the father's out there doing God knows what, Working, trying to put food on the table.
[08:01]
Chris Grace
The saddest thing about that was. And I didn't tell my. Well, I told my husband about this, but I didn't subject him to this, which was that in the first location in the storage tent, not all the little kittens made it.
[08:13]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, I don't like to hear this.
[08:15]
Chris Grace
Well, I'm going to go into excruciating detail. No, I'm just kidding. But I mean, it wasn't anything. It wasn't like, gross in any visceral sense. It was just that, like, two of them weren't breathing. And so it was upon me to. And I tried to give them a little, you know, a goodbye.
[08:35]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, that's very sweet. Oh, that breaks my heart.
[08:38]
Chris Grace
I know. It was very. But I'm sure that mother was just like, that's the way it goes.
[08:41]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, yeah. She knows how nature works. The rest of us have.
[08:44]
Chris Grace
Well, actually, around the time I was reading about mothers and their kittens, and once she gets them sort of up to speed, she sort of kicks them out of her territory.
[08:55]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, no.
[08:56]
Chris Grace
Like, they're not really going to be able to hunt in the same area as the mother because it's like. No, this is competition. Yeah. Like, go off and find your own.
[09:06]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, that's rough. That's rough living.
[09:10]
Chris Grace
Well, I guess that's the way it is when we go to. After high school. We got to get out of there.
[09:14]
Bridger Weiniger
I kept eating all my mom's food and she asked me to leave.
[09:17]
Chris Grace
Yeah, exactly. That was her territory.
[09:20]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah, exactly. She got very violent.
[09:23]
Chris Grace
That cold stone was hers.
[09:26]
Bridger Weiniger
Do you have any pets?
[09:28]
Chris Grace
We had two cats. We had.
[09:30]
Bridger Weiniger
I'm sorry.
[09:31]
Chris Grace
Yeah, they passed away two years ago within 48 hours of each other.
[09:35]
Bridger Weiniger
Do you think it caused, I mean, the effects of the first.
[09:39]
Chris Grace
I think so, actually. I think there was some sort of chemical effect or whatever. And at some point I think we might get some more. But it's the. Do you have pets?
[09:49]
Bridger Weiniger
I had a dog.
[09:50]
Chris Grace
It's the sort of pro and con of, like, you miss having them. But also the house is really clean.
[09:58]
Bridger Weiniger
Sure, sure.
[09:59]
Chris Grace
It's like there's not just suspended fur in the air constantly, you know, and then also, like. Cause my husband loves dogs as well. But also there's the, like traveling and.
[10:12]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah, I mean, it's a lot. I mean, it's like, yeah, we lost our dog last Year. And that's like the one sliver of like, well, this is one part of our life that's a little bit easier.
[10:21]
Chris Grace
How old was the dog?
[10:22]
Bridger Weiniger
She was nine.
[10:23]
Chris Grace
Yeah. I've never, as an adult, had a dog.
[10:26]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh.
[10:27]
Chris Grace
But I always have. So I have friends that I. I understand taking care of dogs is harder than cats, and I also understand that taking care of human children is harder. But I sometimes suspect that dog owners and newborn parents, or, you know, parents of newborns, are maybe 10% exaggerating. How quickly they gotta get home from your party.
[10:48]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, my God. 100%. I mean, it was every time.
[10:53]
Chris Grace
We gotta get home. Yeah. We got the dog.
[10:55]
Bridger Weiniger
Look, it's 8, 15. We've gotta get home.
[10:58]
Chris Grace
It's like, I think that animal could survive another 20 minutes. So we could finish this game of Uno.
[11:03]
Bridger Weiniger
No, no, no. That is an enormous benefit to having any type of pet, is an immediate escape from any situation.
[11:11]
Chris Grace
Yeah.
[11:11]
Bridger Weiniger
And people can't argue. There's nothing they can do.
[11:14]
Chris Grace
I can hack into your ring camera and monitor that dog.
[11:19]
Bridger Weiniger
Wow. You've never had a dog as an adult. That's going to be a very different experience. Did you have one as a kid?
[11:24]
Chris Grace
I had one as a kid, but I wasn't the primary caretaker of them, so I've never been the one that had to regularly. And also, when I was a kid, we had a big yard.
[11:31]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay.
[11:32]
Chris Grace
So we. I don't remember walking the dog ever. The dog would just get to roam in the yard.
[11:37]
Bridger Weiniger
Exactly. Right.
[11:38]
Chris Grace
I'm open to it.
[11:39]
Bridger Weiniger
Sure. Small or big?
[11:41]
Chris Grace
My husband likes German shepherds and golden retrievers.
[11:44]
Bridger Weiniger
High energy.
[11:44]
Chris Grace
He's, I think, reluctant to do it in LA because our house is, like, not super big and.
[11:49]
Bridger Weiniger
Right.
[11:49]
Chris Grace
So. And I don't particularly want a small dog.
[11:52]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay.
[11:53]
Chris Grace
Sure. I think if we had. We might as well have a cat. I think if we do that. But actually, I don't really know.
[11:58]
Bridger Weiniger
I mean, a small dog can have all sorts of personalities. You can have a real vicious one, very docile.
[12:04]
Chris Grace
Yeah.
[12:05]
Bridger Weiniger
But you kind of never know what you're gonna get until it gets to the living room.
[12:08]
Chris Grace
Everybody loves having them. It's like kids, too. You know, people are always like, once they have the kids, they're like, you gotta do it.
[12:14]
Bridger Weiniger
I think that that's a trap. I think that that's just people being like, well, we've gotta drag more people into this situation.
[12:20]
Chris Grace
I think hormonally they believe what they're saying.
[12:23]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah. Evolution is telling them.
[12:25]
Chris Grace
Yeah.
[12:26]
Bridger Weiniger
Basically tell other people to keep Reproducing.
[12:30]
Chris Grace
I think that there is something that happens to my friends when they had kids. Like, whatever. Parts of them were sort of like not lazy, but like, oh, I'm never gonna get around to like writing that screenplay or doing that thing or whatever. A lot of them get kicked into overdrive when they had a kid.
[12:46]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh.
[12:47]
Chris Grace
Cause it was like, uh, oh, I gotta like establish myself or make some money or whatever.
[12:51]
Bridger Weiniger
Right now something else depends on me.
[12:53]
Chris Grace
Yes.
[12:54]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah. Okay. Well, maybe I will have a kid.
[12:56]
Chris Grace
Do it for your career.
[12:58]
Bridger Weiniger
To spark my career need.
[12:59]
Chris Grace
Yes.
[13:00]
Bridger Weiniger
I'm have a lot of kids in quick succession.
[13:03]
Chris Grace
Yes.
[13:04]
Bridger Weiniger
And then when things don't go right, I blame them. So win, win.
[13:08]
Chris Grace
Parents do do that. That's true. They do that all the time.
[13:12]
Bridger Weiniger
Do you have any interest in having kids?
[13:14]
Chris Grace
No, I just don't think that like I can't get my credit cards paid off.
[13:20]
Bridger Weiniger
Right.
[13:20]
Chris Grace
Like what? You know. And also I do buy a lot of stuff. I told you before we recorded that I was in Burbank all day. Yes. And one of the part of that was that I was walking around the Glendale Galleria.
[13:33]
Bridger Weiniger
Did you get anything?
[13:34]
Chris Grace
I bought a lot of stuff and I was like, ooh, this is why I don't walk around malls.
[13:37]
Bridger Weiniger
What did you get?
[13:38]
Chris Grace
I got a new case for my iPhone, which I needed.
[13:42]
Bridger Weiniger
Very nice.
[13:43]
Chris Grace
That's why I was going to the Glendale. I was picking it up from the Apple store. Then I decided to walk around and I got a Robert Graham shirt.
[13:52]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, fantastic.
[13:53]
Chris Grace
Which I don't think that I knew that this was a gay brand.
[13:57]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh. I. Okay. I mean when I. Let's just be all cards on the table. I have no idea what this brand is. I acted, of course, I'm like.
[14:04]
Chris Grace
So here's what I thought it was. Do you know the Koch brothers?
[14:08]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah, of course.
[14:09]
Chris Grace
Okay. So one of them has a child named Wayne Koch.
[14:12]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, now I'm very. Oh, of course.
[14:14]
Chris Grace
And he has a brand and I thought it was his brand. So I thought it would be funny to buy a shirt from his brand. Cause they're kind of ridiculous. If you ever watched I Think youk Should Leave. There's this thing called Dan Flash's shirts that are like these extremely busy pattern shirts. And Wayne Koch, the son of the richest people in the world, he designs these like Dan Flash's type shirts. So I just wanted to see what they're. They're pretty bad. But his brand is actually called Wayne Ingraham.
[14:39]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh.
[14:40]
Chris Grace
So I went in there going like, this is that guy's brand. And then I'm like looking at it, I'm like. And they are like flashy. Like, they are similarly intricate.
[14:49]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, interesting.
[14:50]
Chris Grace
And then I was just googling. I was like, okay, what was the guy's name? And turns out it's a completely different brand. But then also Robert Graham, which is the store I was in, is a prominent gay men's. It is very. Like, most of the shirts in there are. They're like the kind of shirts that Cam would wear on Modern Family.
[15:07]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay, sure.
[15:08]
Chris Grace
And they're very like your 70 year old couple friend from Palm Springs.
[15:13]
Bridger Weiniger
I mean, you didn't need to say any of this. I am picturing this type of shirt.
[15:16]
Chris Grace
Yeah.
[15:17]
Bridger Weiniger
I mean, I assume we'll all end up in that period of our life when that's entire wardrobe. But you're starting tip to toe.
[15:24]
Chris Grace
This is my first one.
[15:25]
Bridger Weiniger
Kind of by mistake.
[15:26]
Chris Grace
Kind of by mistake.
[15:26]
Bridger Weiniger
We can blame the Koch brothers.
[15:28]
Chris Grace
But I found. Exactly. But I did find one shirt that I liked and I got it. And then I walked and got. I got some Crocs.
[15:37]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, my God. Just lose control.
[15:40]
Chris Grace
And then I got. I did need a belt from Uniqlo. And I got some pants from Uniqlo. I love Uniqlo.
[15:47]
Bridger Weiniger
I bite them all the time, of course, for all sorts of staples, all sorts of stables.
[15:51]
Chris Grace
Their clothes seem to fit me well. Like they're cut in a good way for me. I don't know if it's because I'm Asian and they're Japanese. You know, it could be, but yeah, the Crocs might have been. I've kept the receipts for all these things.
[16:01]
Bridger Weiniger
What color are the Crocs?
[16:02]
Chris Grace
The Crocs are a dark purple.
[16:04]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay. I'm glad you picked an actual color.
[16:07]
Chris Grace
Yes. Oh, as opposed to like a gray.
[16:09]
Bridger Weiniger
I'm trapped with a black pair. And it's just so boring to wear.
[16:12]
Chris Grace
I try to buy colors in general. Like, you know, and sometimes I actually try to buy a. Like if I'm buying a shirt, sometimes I'll just buy a shirt that's like, I don't think. I don't know if I would wear this color. I'll just buy it and then.
[16:24]
Bridger Weiniger
Do you regret it ever?
[16:26]
Chris Grace
No. I've been in a lot of hot pinks and fluorescent oranges and I don't know, I've enjoyed them.
[16:31]
Bridger Weiniger
I can see you in both of those colors.
[16:33]
Chris Grace
Yeah, I'm enjoying them. This shirt I bought at a Tesco grocery store in United.
[16:38]
Bridger Weiniger
It's from a grocery.
[16:39]
Chris Grace
Oh in the UK Outside of London.
[16:42]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay. That makes it. I mean, I was gonna say if you had bought it from, like, a Ralph's esque store, that would be shocking because it's very stylish. Yeah.
[16:48]
Chris Grace
If I bought it from Food 4.
[16:50]
Bridger Weiniger
Less Smart and Final.
[16:51]
Chris Grace
But, I mean, that's kind of what it was. Yeah.
[16:53]
Bridger Weiniger
But I mean, I think the UK always has a little edge on.
[16:56]
Chris Grace
UK's grocery stores are so much better than ours.
[16:59]
Bridger Weiniger
They're beautiful, gorgeous stores. I think most European countries have really nice grocery stores compared to whatever we're dealing with here.
[17:07]
Chris Grace
They do. There are a lot. You just have to get used to the fact that if you want, let's say mustard, you have maybe two to pick from.
[17:15]
Bridger Weiniger
Right. You're not just assaulted by an entire wall of mustard.
[17:18]
Chris Grace
But, I mean, is that losing that much really?
[17:20]
Bridger Weiniger
Like, yes.
[17:25]
Chris Grace
Screw those countries.
[17:27]
Bridger Weiniger
No, we need. In the United States, we need the illusion of choice, and it needs to be the biggest possible illusion. And that's why our mustard. I mean, it's an entire aisle of mustard.
[17:37]
Chris Grace
I think probably we use more purchasing things. I know everyone does this, but I think we particularly use, like, the thing we buy as a statement every time we buy it. You know, like, if you're getting the Heinz Simply Organic, you're asserting a tiny sliver of your identity when you buy that.
[17:59]
Bridger Weiniger
Right. That you make mistakes shopping.
[18:01]
Chris Grace
And I think that. Yeah, you make bad decisions. I think that a British person doesn't care that much which ketchup they get. Not necessarily their desire to be individual expression every time they pick a condiment.
[18:16]
Bridger Weiniger
Every single thing they're buying.
[18:18]
Chris Grace
And I think we are open to that in every single thing we buy.
[18:21]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah, that's probably very true.
[18:23]
Chris Grace
Yeah.
[18:23]
Bridger Weiniger
I mean, on the topic of mustard, though, I will say there are so many.
[18:28]
Chris Grace
This is mustard cast.
[18:29]
Bridger Weiniger
I love all mustards. Do you? Every single mustard.
[18:32]
Chris Grace
Okay.
[18:33]
Bridger Weiniger
Have you ever been to Worst Kucha, the sausage crusher?
[18:36]
Chris Grace
Is it downtown? Yes, I have.
[18:38]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, the mustard's on display at this place. I get every bottle. I've got one bratwurst, but I eat, I try every mustard while every time I go. Because I like all of them so much.
[18:48]
Chris Grace
Do you like them all or do you have a hierarchy of.
[18:50]
Bridger Weiniger
I like the seedier one, like the whole grain one. Yes, but I don't think that. I think they basically are level for me. I like the honey mustard. I love the yellow mustard. So it's just. It takes me about six hours to eat one bratwurst because I'm trying the.
[19:04]
Chris Grace
Different mustard and that's not a euphemism.
[19:06]
Bridger Weiniger
No, it's not.
[19:08]
Chris Grace
Do you. Is there some kind of cultural, genetic reason for this, do you think? Is there any.
[19:13]
Bridger Weiniger
I feel like there are a lot of dramatic. There's got to be a reason for a lot of my problems.
[19:16]
Chris Grace
Well, this doesn't sound like a problem.
[19:18]
Bridger Weiniger
I think is some German in my family. And so maybe there's this mustard love dormant somewhere in me that's just whenever I go to a bratwurst place, heaven.
[19:29]
Chris Grace
Forbid you ever go to Berlin or something.
[19:31]
Bridger Weiniger
I'll collapse. I'll just disintegrate. Have you been to Berlin?
[19:35]
Chris Grace
No, actually, I am not going to next week. The Berlin Improv Festival. And I was invited to go, but I couldn't because. Just tell me if you agree with this reasoning. It would have been that next week I go to Berlin. The weekend after, I would go to Vegas for another event, and then the weekend after that I would go to Edinburgh, Scotland. And I felt that the jet lag, whiplash of those three weekends in a row was gonna be too brutal.
[20:00]
Bridger Weiniger
That, I mean, I was ready to say, you're wrong, but I guess I agree. And just the fact that it's Las Vegas in particular in the middle, it's a real tough place to be, even just on its own.
[20:13]
Chris Grace
Yes.
[20:13]
Bridger Weiniger
In between two huge international flights.
[20:16]
Chris Grace
Yes, unfortunately. But I have heard wonderful things about Berlin, and I do want to go.
[20:20]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah. People go crazy for it.
[20:21]
Chris Grace
Yeah. There's this super exclusive club called Berghain.
[20:27]
Bridger Weiniger
What's this?
[20:28]
Chris Grace
That is like, you wait seven hours in line, and it's very difficult to get in. I mean, not really my speed, but I'm intrigued.
[20:38]
Bridger Weiniger
What are you as a person after seven hours, Perfect.
[20:42]
Chris Grace
To get rejected from Berghain. I mean, I waited for. I think I waited for maybe two hours to get into the tunnel in Manhattan way back in the day.
[20:51]
Bridger Weiniger
2 hours is too much on the west side.
[20:53]
Chris Grace
And got rejected because I was wearing khakis. And the bouncer, she was like, sorry, guys, it's too casual. Not gonna be able to do that tonight. But then someone told me, like, oh, just go back. And the same night, I went back at, like, 1, and they were letting everybody in.
[21:07]
Bridger Weiniger
After midnight is khaki hour.
[21:09]
Chris Grace
I think that, you know, people are leaving and they.
[21:11]
Bridger Weiniger
They're just trying to keep the club full. They should have somebody policing the line up and down the line looking for khakis. Don't make somebody wait two hours before you say, no khakis. It's ridiculous.
[21:22]
Chris Grace
That was one of the only times that I ever went to a club and like, left at 10am where people.
[21:27]
Bridger Weiniger
Were starting their day, that just does not exist within me.
[21:34]
Chris Grace
I think I've only done that maybe twice my whole life, but, yeah, I.
[21:38]
Bridger Weiniger
Don'T know that I could do it.
[21:40]
Chris Grace
I was in my twenties in New York City.
[21:41]
Bridger Weiniger
You know, I don't care what age I would be. It would kill me. No problem.
[21:45]
Chris Grace
No circuit parties.
[21:46]
Bridger Weiniger
No, but maybe that's waiting for me. Maybe there'll be like a new chapter when suddenly I've got the second wind.
[21:52]
Chris Grace
The one thing is that gay men, you have access to the circuit party life until you are dead. Like, there is no maximum age as long as you're only wearing white. Or if you want to be the guy that does the flags in the corner, that'll be me. Yeah, I mean, the guys that do the flags, it's like, oh, they of skill and they. I'd never seen more than one at one party, but.
[22:16]
Bridger Weiniger
Right. Well, I'm going to dominate that part of the circuit party scene.
[22:21]
Chris Grace
Have you done stand up? Do you do stand up?
[22:23]
Bridger Weiniger
No, I don't do stand up.
[22:24]
Chris Grace
Maybe this is your time in the corner to do it.
[22:29]
Bridger Weiniger
Who knows? There's always something waiting for us. A new chapter.
[22:33]
Chris Grace
I mean, the relentless youth of the gay man as he ages. You know what I mean? Like, they just don't give up on anything.
[22:40]
Bridger Weiniger
They never really realize, clinging to their 30s.
[22:43]
Chris Grace
I mean, I bought some of those sweatshirt swoveralls. You know, I have a few.
[22:48]
Bridger Weiniger
What's this?
[22:49]
Chris Grace
It's overalls made out of, like, sweatshirt material.
[22:51]
Bridger Weiniger
Wow. How have I never come across these?
[22:53]
Chris Grace
Very comfortable. But also they do make me look like I'm trying to be like 20.
[22:58]
Bridger Weiniger
Years old or a baby. Yeah, yeah, it's baby clothing.
[23:01]
Chris Grace
Or, you know, gay men wearing those, like, caftans and stuff.
[23:05]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, I'm familiar. I've basically been given one on this podcast. There you go. It's more of a tunic, but, you know, like a loose, flowing piece of material.
[23:14]
Chris Grace
But I mean, I think there's something to be admired about that, you know, that I think we feel like we can just have access to anything we want our whole life. Like, we never age ourselves out of anything. You know, we're never just like, maybe I shouldn't go to precinct and do poppers till 1am or whatever, you know, like there's no, you know, I mean, it's also to be despised as well.
[23:34]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah, of course, of course. I mean, speaking of things to despise, Chris I was very excited to have you here on the podcast today. I thought, he'll come by, we'll just chat, get to know each other, wrap the podcast and we'll go home. No feelings hurt.
[23:53]
Chris Grace
Yes.
[23:54]
Bridger Weiniger
The podcast is called I said no gifts. Yes. I assume you got an email about this at some point with the title of the show.
[24:01]
Chris Grace
Yes.
[24:02]
Bridger Weiniger
Pretty clear directive. So I was a little thrown when you waltzed into the studio holding what could not more clearly be a gift for me.
[24:15]
Chris Grace
Well, this is a card that says Bridger on it, so I guess you could assume that. But one of my love languages is gift giving.
[24:21]
Bridger Weiniger
Is that true?
[24:22]
Chris Grace
It is, actually. I'm a very good gift giver.
[24:24]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, I wish I was a good. I'm good for like one gift a year for one person and everyone gets. Well, we'll test it.
[24:32]
Chris Grace
I mean, we'll see. So. Yes, unfortunately. And it says. It does say sorry.
[24:35]
Bridger Weiniger
There's an immediate apology, which I. I appreciate. Every card should just have a sorry underneath it. Just a lower expectation.
[24:42]
Chris Grace
Any preamble as to what this. I. I mean, this is.
[24:45]
Bridger Weiniger
Does this need context?
[24:46]
Chris Grace
This is meeting the minimal definition of wrapped, by the way.
[24:49]
Bridger Weiniger
This is much more wrapped than a lot of games given on.
[24:51]
Chris Grace
Oh, I didn't. I didn't know that. Oh, wow. Well, then I'm. I'm in. Clearly in. In the median of.
[24:56]
Bridger Weiniger
You're like a nice average.
[24:58]
Chris Grace
Oh, good.
[24:58]
Bridger Weiniger
You'd pass.
[24:59]
Chris Grace
Oh, nice. That. That says something poor about your previous guests.
[25:02]
Bridger Weiniger
I would say I'm happy to say a lot of bad things about previous guests.
[25:09]
Chris Grace
Did you know that parents rank financial literacy as the number one most difficult life skill to teach? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app for families. With Greenlight, you can send money to kids quickly, set up chores automate allowance, and keep an eye on your kids spending with real time notifications. Kids learn to earn, save and spend wisely. And parents can rest easy knowing their kids are learning about money. With guardrails in place. Try Greenlight risk free today@greenlight.com Spotify. Oh, such a clutch off season pickup, Dave. I was worried we'd bring back the same team. I meant Those blackout motorized shades lines.com made it crazy affordable to replace our old blinds. Hard to install? No, it's easy. I installed these and then got some from my mom. She talked to a design consultant for free and scheduled a professional measure and install hall of fame son. They're the number one online retailer of custom window coverings in the world. Blinds.com is the goat shopblinds.com right now and get up to 40% off select.
[26:05]
Bridger Weiniger
Styles plus a free professional measure.
[26:07]
Chris Grace
Rules and restrictions may apply.
[26:09]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay, so it's in this nice little brown envelope and I'm opening it and I'm seeing that it says typo on it, which I do know is a store in the Glendale Gallery.
[26:22]
Chris Grace
I left off one stop. I will say the card I got at today, but the gift I did not get today.
[26:29]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay. Okay.
[26:30]
Chris Grace
The gift was not a last minute thing.
[26:32]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay. This is again. And I will say a lot of the gifts on this podcast were probably found in someone's glove box on their.
[26:38]
Chris Grace
Way to or in studio here.
[26:41]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah, you're killing.
[26:41]
Chris Grace
I'm giving you a Canon camera.
[26:44]
Bridger Weiniger
I wish. Okay, so this. Okay, so the card says goodbye, which is scary.
[26:51]
Chris Grace
Inside is just anthrax. I like giving cards that are just don't fit the occasion at all sometimes.
[26:57]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah, I don't know that this fits any.
[27:00]
Chris Grace
I actually, I also thought that this was a funny card because if you look on the inside, you can unfold that later. But like there's no. It's a blank card. Right.
[27:09]
Bridger Weiniger
This is a very cold, scary.
[27:11]
Chris Grace
So it just says goodbye on the outside and nothing on the inside.
[27:14]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, so this is. You give this to somebody before, you know, assassinating, executing, or when someone's in.
[27:23]
Chris Grace
Hospice, maybe giving them a card. You're giving them one last thing to throw away as they're. And their hospice room is getting all.
[27:32]
Bridger Weiniger
Cluttered for the nurse to throw in a plastic.
[27:34]
Chris Grace
Yeah, exactly.
[27:35]
Bridger Weiniger
Goodbye. That's a tough card to get. Oh, God. I'm going to have to be careful driving home tonight. Okay, so now we're opening. There's a piece of paper in here that I'm unfolding. I am thrilled about this. It's a voucher for ifly, which is the thing where you go in the cage and there's the.
[27:56]
Chris Grace
And you do parachuting or skydiving or.
[27:59]
Bridger Weiniger
Whatever where they blow you up into the air.
[28:01]
Chris Grace
That's right.
[28:02]
Bridger Weiniger
Have you done this before?
[28:03]
Chris Grace
No, I listened to. I think maybe it might have been a Jimmy Pardo episode or something. But you were saying that you don't like you're getting too much clutter.
[28:11]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, my gosh.
[28:11]
Chris Grace
And you guys specifically mentioned that you wanted an ifly.
[28:15]
Bridger Weiniger
Wait, did I really say that?
[28:16]
Chris Grace
You did. This is the kind of gift giver I am.
[28:18]
Bridger Weiniger
Wow, you're incredible. You should do this as a second career. I mean, that's amazing. I don't have any recollection of that. But of course, this is something that I would love to do and would never buy for myself.
[28:31]
Chris Grace
Yeah, right there. Universal City, I believe, is where it is.
[28:35]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, my.
[28:36]
Chris Grace
And it's. Yeah, I wouldn't get that for myself either. Cause I find that a little scary. But it seemed like you were open to the ideas.
[28:42]
Bridger Weiniger
I'm open to the idea of flying through the air and possibly being thrown against the side of a wall.
[28:47]
Chris Grace
And also, this doesn't clutter up your home.
[28:50]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, absolutely not.
[28:52]
Chris Grace
Yeah.
[28:52]
Bridger Weiniger
I mean, it's a life experience. This is probably gonna immediately go into top 10 experiences.
[28:57]
Chris Grace
Oh, wonderful.
[28:58]
Bridger Weiniger
I don't know what that says about my life, that something at the CityWalk is in top 10. But is there anything that could get you to do this? Is it super scary or is it like. I just would rather not.
[29:10]
Chris Grace
It's more. I think now it's more just that I would rather not. Because, like, there's rides at Disneyland, in California Adventure now that I can go on. Like, I can go on Matterhorn and I can go on Space Mountain.
[29:21]
Bridger Weiniger
Yes.
[29:22]
Chris Grace
They're not overly scary to me.
[29:24]
Bridger Weiniger
Right.
[29:24]
Chris Grace
But the last time I went on Space Mountain, I was like, that might be the last time.
[29:27]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, interesting.
[29:27]
Chris Grace
Because it just threw me around in a way that I was like, eh, that wasn't so fun.
[29:32]
Bridger Weiniger
Right.
[29:33]
Chris Grace
It wasn't so much like some genuine roller coasters I am scared of. But Space Mountain is not one of them.
[29:39]
Bridger Weiniger
No, it's very. It's a very mild ride.
[29:42]
Chris Grace
Yeah. But I felt for my back. It was a little.
[29:44]
Bridger Weiniger
Well, do not get back on the Matterhorn.
[29:47]
Chris Grace
Matterhorn's horrible. I'd rather be murdered by the yeti. I will say, though, this is why I say I'm a good gift giver. Because often I'll give my husband things at Christmas or whatever that he mentioned, like in February, offhand. And I'll have a little note somewhere or an Amazon wish list or something.
[30:05]
Bridger Weiniger
That's so sweet. I wish I had the wherewithal, the memory or just the heart to do.
[30:11]
Chris Grace
Just to listen to people.
[30:12]
Bridger Weiniger
The interest in the people I love. Would you ever actually skydive?
[30:19]
Chris Grace
I'm so neutral about that. I don't feel particular. I mean, yeah, I think I would be very nervous and scared, but I'm not terrified of it. I'm also not super interested in it. I don't know why. I just feel very. Not anything about it. I don't know, maybe it's a form of dysthymia or something. Yeah.
[30:38]
Bridger Weiniger
It's an interesting thing to have no opinion on.
[30:41]
Chris Grace
I've never done it, but it's not a thing that I'm like, man, it's on my bucket list. One day I want to. How about you?
[30:47]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, I couldn't do it. I mean, I think you might catch.
[30:49]
Chris Grace
The bug after this, though.
[30:50]
Bridger Weiniger
I know. Maybe this is just.
[30:51]
Chris Grace
You're going to do this. You're going to be. It's too low to the ground, and.
[30:54]
Bridger Weiniger
This all leads to goodbye. No, I feel like I could probably get there. I could get up into the plane, but I think once we get to the. What do we call that, the door on the plane that you jump out of? That can't possibly call the door hatch.
[31:08]
Chris Grace
My friend skydived, and he said the weirdest thing for him was being in the plane on the ascent and realizing that he was not going back down in that plane, which is kind of weird. I never thought about it that way. But, yeah, it's like, oh, you're only taking half of this plane ride.
[31:26]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, God, that's terrifying. Yeah. I feel like the, you know, you're taped to the instructor or whatever, but I feel like animal instinct would take over for me, and I would injure them, like, trying to hold myself in the plane.
[31:37]
Chris Grace
Oh. I mean, there was someone in New York State that died because when he. You know, they did tandem. When he jumped out, his head whipped back and he knocked out the instructor. So the instructor just passed out and they both died.
[31:50]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh.
[31:52]
Chris Grace
And I think they. I think they died because the student. I think he could have pulled whatever, but he just didn't. Like, he didn't realize he had knocked the guy out. So you're just flying out. You've passed the lower altitude where you should have pulled the shoe, and you're.
[32:07]
Bridger Weiniger
Like, why isn't this guy doing anything? He's horrible at his job.
[32:11]
Chris Grace
Yeah. The Yelp review for that's gonna be awful. He's leaving. Last 100 meters. He was leaving a Yelp review.
[32:17]
Bridger Weiniger
This is the worst service I've ever.
[32:19]
Chris Grace
As soon as he got in soul range, he was like, you know, with skydiving, I think one is that. Yeah, I think your first whatever, like, 20 or maybe are like, tandem or whatever.
[32:30]
Bridger Weiniger
Right. You can't just do it on your own.
[32:32]
Chris Grace
And so I think part of my reluctance, too, is, like, I feel like if I actually think skydiving, there are a lot of things like that that I easily could fall into a rabbit hole of, like, oh, I'm really getting into skydiving now. And now, like, every weekend I'm going to sky do jumps or whatever, you know what I mean? Of course.
[32:50]
Bridger Weiniger
That's who you are. Now.
[32:51]
Chris Grace
I think I have to be more judicious as I get older about which of these things I allow myself to get into rabbit holes of.
[33:00]
Bridger Weiniger
What's the last thing you went into a real fixation with this year?
[33:03]
Chris Grace
The biggest fixation is this social deduction game called Blood on the Clock Tower.
[33:08]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, what's this?
[33:09]
Chris Grace
All of my friends are so sick of hearing me talk about. It's been just over a year that I've been extremely deep into this. That's why I will be in Vegas.
[33:19]
Bridger Weiniger
On October for that reason, for the.
[33:21]
Chris Grace
Vegas Clock Tower con. That's how deep.
[33:24]
Bridger Weiniger
So you are picking Con in Vegas over going to Berlin?
[33:28]
Chris Grace
Essentially, yeah. I mean, what I could have done was go to Berlin and just stay in Europe through that middle week and skip the convention completely. That is an option that I could have done.
[33:37]
Bridger Weiniger
Right. But basically what I'm saying is this game that you've become obsessed with is really starting to affect your life.
[33:45]
Chris Grace
No question at all. I mean, I am very dedicated to it. I am very chagrined to talk about it to my friends.
[33:52]
Bridger Weiniger
Well, I've got a podcast episode for them.
[33:55]
Chris Grace
Oh, what's that?
[33:56]
Bridger Weiniger
This one. I want to hear about that.
[33:57]
Chris Grace
Well, have you ever played Werewolf or Mafia?
[33:59]
Bridger Weiniger
I played Mafia.
[34:00]
Chris Grace
And what do you feel about it?
[34:01]
Bridger Weiniger
I enjoy it.
[34:02]
Chris Grace
Okay. It's essentially Mafia with some improved rules to it that make the game a lot more fun. Such as in Mafia, when you die, if you're killed by the Mafia or if you're voted to die by the town, by the villagers, you can't talk anymore.
[34:17]
Bridger Weiniger
Right.
[34:18]
Chris Grace
You can open your eyes at night so you can see who's evil and who's not. But you can't speak anymore for the rest of the game. So if you're the first one killed in Mafia, you go the rest of the. You're essentially not participating, very bored in Blood on the Clock Tower. When you die, you continue to speak through the rest of the game.
[34:32]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay.
[34:33]
Chris Grace
And you win or lose with your team, good or evil, but you still close your eyes at night, so you don't know everyone's identities.
[34:39]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay.
[34:40]
Chris Grace
And when you die, your role is not announced. The town doesn't know if you're were good or evil.
[34:45]
Bridger Weiniger
Wait, so what does dying do at all?
[34:49]
Chris Grace
You lose your ability, which everyone in the game has an ability.
[34:53]
Bridger Weiniger
Well, it's a different ability.
[34:54]
Chris Grace
Yes. Whereas opposed in Mafia, there are some villagers who don't really do anything. Everyone has one. And when you die, you lose it. And you only get to vote one more time for a town execution.
[35:05]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay.
[35:06]
Chris Grace
Those are the big changes. But they do a lot. But the fact that when you die, you get to keep playing. And also, specifically, if you are an evil player that gets killed and you were trying to bluff and convince people that you were good, you keep doing that the rest of the game. You keep up the ruse or you try to confuse information, deflect suspicion away from your other teammates and that kind of stuff. It's very fun.
[35:28]
Bridger Weiniger
This sounds like it was created by somebody who was constantly losing in Mafia.
[35:32]
Chris Grace
And it is specifically created by a guy named Steven Medway who was killed in Mafia and had to be silent for another two hours.
[35:40]
Bridger Weiniger
He's very unpopular in his friend. Wow. Yeah. I always wonder who the creators of these games are because they're almost like sleepover games that seem like they just appear out of nowhere.
[35:53]
Chris Grace
Yeah. This is a youngish company that's like five to ten years old now. And because of my falling into this rabbit hole, I'm now friends with everybody in the company.
[36:00]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, my God. You're an ambassador.
[36:03]
Chris Grace
I actually genuinely like this conversation I'm having with you. I have had with a lot of people and I have turned a lot of people onto the game. So you're welcome to come play.
[36:13]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, I would love to. I'll probably make everyone mad somehow.
[36:17]
Chris Grace
No, you'll be fine.
[36:19]
Bridger Weiniger
I don't know. Don't underestimate me.
[36:21]
Chris Grace
Yeah. I also want to say that my husband is a musical theater actor. He's going to really. I don't think he'll like that I said this, but I'm just going to say it anyway. A casting director once told him that he could be. I can't remember the exact phrasing. I think he was told that he could be the next Jimmy Smagula.
[36:39]
Bridger Weiniger
What I was about to be like. Oh, my boyfriend is also. What? We can't. This is gonna inflate Jim's ego so much. That's crazy.
[36:49]
Chris Grace
Well. Cause my husband is also often a person doing Sit down youn Rock in the Boat.
[36:54]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, my God. Of course.
[36:54]
Chris Grace
I'll just say that was his, you.
[36:57]
Bridger Weiniger
Know, track in the Jimmy Pardo episode. Did we talk about the first time I saw Jim sing? No, because it's such a bizarre story.
[37:08]
Chris Grace
Wait, wa. Was this at the.
[37:09]
Bridger Weiniger
At Jeff Franklin's house. The creator of Full Flowers.
[37:12]
Chris Grace
Oh, so. Cause I thought you were at that party because you knew Jim.
[37:17]
Bridger Weiniger
We had Been dating for two weeks.
[37:18]
Chris Grace
Okay, cool.
[37:19]
Bridger Weiniger
And he was like, I'm doing this weird thing you probably don't want to go on. I was like, of course I want.
[37:22]
Chris Grace
To go to that. Yes. So this whole story of the Shark Tank and the. Because I'm a dedicated Pardo listener, this is part of Jimmy Pardo lore, because it's come up a few times. And also other people tangential to it or people that know. Ileana Douglas. Yes. This story. And you were on the podcast as well, and you talked. So it's almost like bats doing echolocation. Like, each bat has cast a new part of this story. And then actually recently my husband and I looked at a. There's a recent, like, YouTube real estate video of that house.
[38:03]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, yeah. The new one. Or the Sharon's the Shark Tank one.
[38:07]
Chris Grace
Like the. It's like $60 million.
[38:09]
Bridger Weiniger
That's so much money.
[38:10]
Chris Grace
And it's a tour of, like, the house that I think you were in, because you can see the Shark tank on the YouTube.
[38:17]
Bridger Weiniger
I need to look at this.
[38:19]
Chris Grace
But weirdly, like, we were watching. I know this sounds ridiculous, but we were watching that, going, like, I don't think I'd want to live in this house.
[38:25]
Bridger Weiniger
No.
[38:26]
Chris Grace
It's kind of like the taste level is not there.
[38:30]
Bridger Weiniger
The taste level doesn't exist at all. It's so tacky.
[38:32]
Chris Grace
Yeah.
[38:33]
Bridger Weiniger
And for like, 60 million. Whenever a house has that much money, I'm like, if someone has that much money, aren't they just making the house they want?
[38:40]
Chris Grace
Yeah, but.
[38:41]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, yeah, I'm not gonna go buy Jeff Franklin's gross used house If I have $100 million.
[38:48]
Chris Grace
But maybe. I mean, it's weird to think that you would see that house and be like, yeah, that's.
[38:52]
Bridger Weiniger
This is for me.
[38:53]
Chris Grace
That's the decorations there, or the way it's laid out or whatever. The way it's, like, inside is like a Spanish villa, but, like, partially. Yeah, yeah. It was very confused in terms of its style. Also. I always think about the maintenance of those kinds of things.
[39:10]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, of course.
[39:11]
Chris Grace
I mean, if I could ever afford a. I think, what's a realistic house.
[39:17]
Bridger Weiniger
Price for us to hit in Los Angeles? Like, if we became moderately pretty successful.
[39:23]
Chris Grace
In Los Angeles makes it hard because everyone's like, what?
[39:26]
Bridger Weiniger
Well.
[39:26]
Chris Grace
Cause you legitimately need to save $1 million for, like, a normal home. Yes, exactly. Yeah. Like, I think if I could get, like, a Larchmont $2 million house that doesn't exist. Is it three?
[39:42]
Bridger Weiniger
I think in Larchmont, it's at least three at this point.
[39:44]
Chris Grace
Oh, I like Larchmont so much.
[39:46]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, you've got to keep working. Keep working.
[39:48]
Chris Grace
That's why I'm doing this podcast.
[39:49]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah, exactly. The check is huge.
[39:52]
Chris Grace
Where can I get that? Two million? Like, Atwater.
[39:55]
Bridger Weiniger
Atwater, yes. Absolutely.
[39:57]
Chris Grace
Okay.
[39:58]
Bridger Weiniger
The way the confidence that I'm bringing to real estate conversation is so crazy. I don't know.
[40:04]
Chris Grace
Don't you like Larchmont, though? It's so nice.
[40:05]
Bridger Weiniger
Larchmont's very nice, but you're not gonna get a $2 million house there.
[40:08]
Chris Grace
I'll show you. Bridger. I come back on this podcast.
[40:13]
Bridger Weiniger
Dangling the keys.
[40:14]
Chris Grace
Yes. So one, I have a lot of friends who post those things of, like, I forget what they do. And they're like, we closed on the Whatever. You know, they live in Indiana or something like that.
[40:28]
Bridger Weiniger
Sure, sure.
[40:29]
Chris Grace
And it's so slightly frustrating.
[40:32]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, yeah. They're like, oh, you've got a house. It was easy.
[40:35]
Chris Grace
But the thing that was, she'll never listen to this, so I don't think this will matter. My niece, who is much younger than me, bought a house, and I was like, oh.
[40:45]
Bridger Weiniger
What? This isn't how this is supposed to work.
[40:47]
Chris Grace
Wait a minute. You're supposed to, like, come to LA and sleep on my futon?
[40:54]
Bridger Weiniger
It's a hard city to explain to anyone who doesn't live here, where it just makes no sense. The cost of living makes no sense to anybody.
[41:02]
Chris Grace
Yeah. And the despair, also, I think it's hard here because you have friends that are not even, like, distant acquaintances, but you have some friends that just, like, have done very well. And I have friends where I go to their house. I'm like, oh, what? How did this happen?
[41:22]
Bridger Weiniger
No, I mean, I was just talking to somebody about this in la. Like, Like, I know legitimate, like, multi millionaires. Just, like, the nature of being here and working in the business. And then I have friends who are like, I don't know if I'm going to have health insurance this year. And we're all in the same business in the same city. It makes no sense whatsoever.
[41:39]
Chris Grace
Yeah. Like, I have a friend who was, like, season regular on a CBS show for, like, eight years. Oh, my God. My dad started investing in homes and so now owns, like, four homes in LA and, like, two apartments in New York. And it's just like, yeah, because, like, season three of whatever Medical Cops show or whatever, you're season regular, season three and four, you're just like, oh, I just have, like, $800,000 sitting around. What am I gonna do?
[42:05]
Bridger Weiniger
With it so crazy to me. The dream to become a. To play a nerd or a data scientist on a cop show.
[42:13]
Chris Grace
To be the hacker. Comic release. To be a hacker on the very serious murder show where on CBS shows they go to that character and that character just does like straight up bits.
[42:27]
Bridger Weiniger
Yes.
[42:28]
Chris Grace
It's so weird. Cause I watch them sometimes and it's just like. Or I've auditioned for like Scorpion or whatever and it's just like. It's so odd to me.
[42:37]
Bridger Weiniger
Just jarring. Tonal.
[42:38]
Chris Grace
Yeah, there was a. I don't know if it was Scorpion or a CSI Cyber.
[42:44]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, cybercy.
[42:47]
Chris Grace
Horatio Sands, like guess and just did a fully comic character in the middle of like. The room was covered in blood.
[42:58]
Bridger Weiniger
That's the dream.
[42:59]
Chris Grace
That's the dream.
[42:59]
Bridger Weiniger
That's the dream. Ten seasons of life.
[43:01]
Chris Grace
Better to be that than the medical examiner on a sitcom.
[43:06]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, yeah, that's a dull job. Yeah, that's a very dull job to give. Just going back a little bit to give some context about the Jeff Franklin house, because I don't think I've ever actually talked about it on this podcast. I'm curious to know, like, you piecing it together from Jimmy Pardo's. What you. What the situation was.
[43:24]
Chris Grace
Oh, I'll give you a quick summary of what I know. Ileana Douglas was tasked with sort of organizing these home concerts or variety shows.
[43:32]
Bridger Weiniger
They're called living room shows. Yes.
[43:33]
Chris Grace
In Jeff Franklin's or maybe other people's. Rich homes.
[43:36]
Bridger Weiniger
Rich people's houses.
[43:37]
Chris Grace
And I've done some home concert shows as well. And you invite some other friends. I believe Tom Jones was in the audience. Cause Jimmy's obsessed with Tom Jones. And Jimmy Smegula. Did he sing Sit down youn Rockin the Boat? This one, which I think was on YouTube at one point.
[43:53]
Bridger Weiniger
It was.
[43:54]
Chris Grace
Yeah, they're all a bunch of clips from these. Ileana Douglas Living room shows were on YouTube at one point and they're not anymore.
[43:59]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, no, they've been scrubbed.
[44:00]
Chris Grace
They've been scrubbed. And maybe by Ileana. What I remember. Cause I remember seeing the Sit down youn Rock in the Boat on YouTube at one point. And then Jimmy did not want to go on and explicitly asked to not perform. And then Pardo. Jimmy Pardo. And then Ileana put him on anyway and it went poorly. I think that's the summary of what I know from the Pardo verse.
[44:26]
Bridger Weiniger
He kind of directly addressed Tom Jones.
[44:29]
Chris Grace
Yes. Because he does a. Like Tom Jones. He knows the Tom Jones rap or whatever.
[44:33]
Bridger Weiniger
What's the Tom Jones rap.
[44:34]
Chris Grace
The same song where Tom Jones rapped.
[44:36]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, I gotta hear this. Yeah, yeah, Tom Jones. I'm always shocked that he's Welsh.
[44:41]
Chris Grace
Oh, yes, yes, yes.
[44:42]
Bridger Weiniger
Makes no sense to me.
[44:43]
Chris Grace
Right.
[44:43]
Bridger Weiniger
He seems very Florida.
[44:45]
Chris Grace
That's right. Have you seen Jimmy Smagula on Broadway?
[44:50]
Bridger Weiniger
Yes, Last year they did Spamalot.
[44:52]
Chris Grace
Oh, cool.
[44:53]
Bridger Weiniger
And they're in rehearsal right now for a new thing about Louis Armstrong called Wonderful World.
[44:59]
Chris Grace
And he's playing Louis Armstrong.
[45:01]
Bridger Weiniger
He's planning to end his career.
[45:04]
Chris Grace
He's puffing his cheeks out.
[45:07]
Bridger Weiniger
No, he's playing Louis Armstrong's manager.
[45:09]
Chris Grace
I want to say, of course, all these bio musicals. I don't know if it's Bayern musical.
[45:13]
Bridger Weiniger
Yes.
[45:14]
Chris Grace
They always have a white manager or record executive that comes in and is like, you know, gives them some advice or whatever and then ends up sort of like screwing them over on a contract or something like that. And like they. I think the Gloria Estefan one had one. I think the Donna Summer musical had one. Oh, my God, like the Temptations one has one or whatever. Like there's always just like a guy in like a leisure suit, of course, behind a desk.
[45:41]
Bridger Weiniger
Slime ball. Yeah, I think he is. He probably. I don't know that much about the character, but I have to assume it's kind of a slimy guy.
[45:49]
Chris Grace
I just. I can't wait to see him in the middle of show singing what a Wonderful World as this character.
[45:56]
Bridger Weiniger
But yeah, it was at Jeff Franklin's house, which was built on the former grounds of the Sharon Tate home.
[46:03]
Chris Grace
So not the same house. Like, they tore it down.
[46:05]
Bridger Weiniger
They tore down a very. I mean, there are limited photos of that one because I think most of them are from the crime scene, the Manson thing. But that looked like a nice, charming home.
[46:14]
Chris Grace
Right.
[46:15]
Bridger Weiniger
He ripped it down and made something way more accursed.
[46:17]
Chris Grace
I mean, every time you see a photo of like some old Hollywood legend's home, they always seem nice and kind of, by modern standards, modest.
[46:25]
Bridger Weiniger
Yes, yes.
[46:26]
Chris Grace
And they seem like that would be a cool house to live in. Like it'd be cool to live in Fred Astaire's house or whatever. Of course. And then they often are replaced by.
[46:33]
Bridger Weiniger
These sort of like Vegas style trash bins. Yeah, this place sucked.
[46:39]
Chris Grace
Also, I bet Sharon Tate's version had a lot more yard to it.
[46:43]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, I'm sure this had very little yard.
[46:45]
Chris Grace
They always push out to the edges.
[46:47]
Bridger Weiniger
Yes, of course.
[46:48]
Chris Grace
You know, maybe having that much yard allowed people to sneak onto the property.
[46:53]
Bridger Weiniger
And Jeff Franklin is, you know, his fans are just Trying to get over that fence all the time.
[46:57]
Chris Grace
Yes. And who is Jeff? Wait, you said Full House.
[47:00]
Bridger Weiniger
Jeff Franklin. Yeah, Full House. And then I believe we might have to cut this, but I think there were a lot of allegations. I think that the Franklin Trail allegations.
[47:08]
Chris Grace
That Full House sucked.
[47:09]
Bridger Weiniger
None of them were true. It's an excellent program.
[47:13]
Chris Grace
Never watched an episode in my whole life.
[47:15]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, I loved it as a kid, but this is for children.
[47:18]
Chris Grace
What's full about the house?
[47:20]
Bridger Weiniger
I mean, the whole family's there. You've got the father. Everybody except for the mom who died, and that starts the show.
[47:26]
Chris Grace
How many fathers are there?
[47:28]
Bridger Weiniger
There's one father, two uncles, three daughters.
[47:31]
Chris Grace
That's Dave Coulier.
[47:32]
Bridger Weiniger
Dave Coulier is one of the uncles.
[47:34]
Chris Grace
Okay.
[47:34]
Bridger Weiniger
John Stamos is an uncle.
[47:36]
Chris Grace
Oh, who's oh? Bob Saget is the dad.
[47:37]
Bridger Weiniger
Bob Saget's the dad. Lori Loughlin is.
[47:41]
Chris Grace
Oh, college lady.
[47:42]
Bridger Weiniger
Yes.
[47:43]
Chris Grace
Okay. These are my connections to the show. Oh, wait. Are the uncles his brothers, or are they the dead mother's brothers?
[47:50]
Bridger Weiniger
That is such a good question.
[47:52]
Chris Grace
I wonder if Stamos is his brother.
[47:53]
Bridger Weiniger
And Coulye is the Right. The ghost's brother.
[47:59]
Chris Grace
Yeah.
[48:00]
Bridger Weiniger
I don't remember, but Stamos character is very Greek, and no one else in the show is Greek, so I don't know how that plays into. Maybe he's just a friend who calls himself Greek.
[48:13]
Chris Grace
Maybe the dead mother is like the goddess Athena.
[48:16]
Bridger Weiniger
She's been pulled into the underworld, and Danny Tanner has to confront Hades.
[48:22]
Chris Grace
Right. And then John Stamos was walking out of hell and turned back, and she turned into. She went back to hell, and then they brought them back as Fuller House.
[48:33]
Bridger Weiniger
As Fuller House.
[48:34]
Chris Grace
So is Jeff Franklin still around?
[48:36]
Bridger Weiniger
I don't know.
[48:36]
Chris Grace
He's not living in that house anymore. It's for sale. I don't know what you make from this podcast, but we could get you into that.
[48:42]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah, I'm looking. Look, I'm circling the property. I'm constantly on the phone with my realtor.
[48:47]
Chris Grace
Bookmarked on Zillow.
[48:50]
Bridger Weiniger
Jeff Franklin. He may have been run out of town.
[48:53]
Chris Grace
You know, I think. I know this is often said. I don't think people really get run out of town.
[48:58]
Bridger Weiniger
They certainly don't.
[48:59]
Chris Grace
I told you before we recorded that I was in Burbank all day, and I did literally have six hours to kill in Burbank. And I just. I have my car. Like, I could have driven home, but, you know, I don't know. I just didn't feel like it. Like, I was. Like, sometimes when If I go to Santa Monica.
[49:17]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, you're not coming back.
[49:18]
Chris Grace
Right. And I don't know. I mean, Burbank is really not the same, but I just stayed out here in Burbank, and so I went to see Megalopolis.
[49:25]
Bridger Weiniger
Yes.
[49:26]
Chris Grace
And that has a lot of, I would think, were canceled people in it.
[49:30]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, certainly. I mean, what's his name?
[49:33]
Chris Grace
Jon Voight.
[49:33]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah, jon Voight.
[49:34]
Chris Grace
Shia LaBeouf.
[49:35]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, my God. And so annoying.
[49:36]
Chris Grace
Dustin Hoffman.
[49:37]
Bridger Weiniger
Dustin Hoffman. You saw this movie? I saw the first hour and I knew it was gonna be horrible and I wanted to keep watching, but I got a little sleepy.
[49:45]
Chris Grace
Oh, I just go to sleep. You left. Cause you were getting sleepy.
[49:48]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah.
[49:48]
Chris Grace
Oh, just sleep in it. Oh, Actually, during the movie today, I was thinking, one day I'll write a memoir. It's gonna be called Sleeping at the Movies.
[49:55]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, it feels good.
[49:56]
Chris Grace
It's so. I would encourage everybody.
[49:59]
Bridger Weiniger
What is it?
[50:00]
Chris Grace
Get your AMC a list where you don't pay for each movie. Go in the middle of the day to see a film. It's so nicely air conditioned. You do need, I think you have to bring like a hoodie or an extra layer.
[50:10]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, right, yeah.
[50:11]
Chris Grace
And then just let yourself sleep through the fucking marvels or whatever.
[50:16]
Bridger Weiniger
That feeling when your eyes start to get heavy and you can't fight it. I mean, there's nothing like that in the world.
[50:21]
Chris Grace
I think what it is is like through all your school years, you had to fight that.
[50:25]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, interesting.
[50:26]
Chris Grace
And like, I was just at Edinburgh Fringe and I watched a bunch of plays. When you're watching a play, especially if your friend is in the play and the venue only seats 20 people and they can see you, you gotta stay awake. But in a movie, you get that and you're like, no, I can. I can just let it go.
[50:43]
Bridger Weiniger
I'm free. I can just sleep through this. Yeah, that feeling. And recently I've been really treating myself to a little nap very late at night in front of the tv.
[50:52]
Chris Grace
Oh, what time?
[50:54]
Bridger Weiniger
You know, like, we'll get around. Well, it'll be 11:30, midnight. And I'll be like, I don't want to.
[50:58]
Chris Grace
So he's finishing his vocal cooldowns for the day.
[51:00]
Bridger Weiniger
Screaming. And I'll be sitting there, and I know it's time to go to bed, but I think, well, maybe it feels so good to fall asleep here. So I'll sleep for about 20 minutes.
[51:10]
Chris Grace
Okay, I'll tell you. You're gonna hear a lot of my secrets. I can't have my husband listen to this. He knows this. But he'll be embarrassed. I say this out in public, which is that this is my. If I ever get to buy that $60 million house, you think about what you would do. What would be the weird rich guy thing you do? So mine would. I'm genuine about this. This will happen. I'm telling people now so that, like, if there's a Rolling Stone profile of me in 20 years and they say, like, this is what happens in the house, they'd be like, yeah, I said that 20 years ago on several podcasts. I want to be able to fall asleep on the couch watching television. And I have a live in assistant that is the build of the mountain from Game of Thrones.
[51:59]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay, fantastic.
[52:01]
Chris Grace
He will come pick me up and bring me to bed. I think in the grand scheme of things, it's not that scandalous a thing, but people do think it's weird. But you know how when you were a kid, you would fall asleep in the car ride home?
[52:17]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, the best. I teach this to Uber. I think that that should be an option on Uber. Carry me asleep over your shoulder to the front door or to a.
[52:27]
Chris Grace
All the way in. All the way in. You give them a key code for your august luck or whatever. The. The feeling of like, I see now when I see kids like at the mall or something and they're sleeping on their parents shoulder. I'm so envious of that child. Oh, I'm not envious of the world they've been born into.
[52:45]
Bridger Weiniger
The future. That. That will be it.
[52:46]
Chris Grace
Yeah. Yeah. The climate they have to breathe.
[52:47]
Bridger Weiniger
They're gonna have to take a lot of naps.
[52:49]
Chris Grace
But so, yeah, that is. I'm. I'm being dead serious about it. I will definitely hire someone to do that. It will not be sexual in any way unless they want. You know what I mean? Like, it's not a. It's just. It will be someone that needs to have the physical strength to do that.
[53:04]
Bridger Weiniger
Right, Right. And if they're incredibly good looking, that's just another, you know, that's their problem, isn't it?
[53:11]
Chris Grace
Everyone's problem, their own problem.
[53:12]
Bridger Weiniger
The entire house's problem. Yeah, No, I support that. I think that that feeling of being asleep in the wrong place and then being carried. Ooh.
[53:20]
Chris Grace
I don't have any other, like, weird celebrity show business y things that I'm gonna want to do. Like, I'm not gonna have like an Epstein island or a.
[53:30]
Bridger Weiniger
You know what I mean?
[53:31]
Chris Grace
Yeah.
[53:32]
Bridger Weiniger
I mean, you get that money and you're gonna freak out.
[53:34]
Chris Grace
Right. I also say I'm never gonna have a shark tank with a Spanish villa half interior decorating style.
[53:39]
Bridger Weiniger
And then with Jimmy Pardo confronting Tom Jones in front.
[53:42]
Chris Grace
Yes, I did do. I did do a home concert. I will brag, intentionally brag about this. I did a home show this year at Manny Patinkin's house.
[53:51]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, that's amazing.
[53:52]
Chris Grace
Which was very fun.
[53:53]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, that's great.
[53:53]
Chris Grace
And it was very cool to do a show for him.
[53:55]
Bridger Weiniger
And I bet he has a.
[53:56]
Chris Grace
He does. I mean, he has a great house in upstate New York, and it was really lovely.
[54:01]
Bridger Weiniger
And were there other performers on the show?
[54:03]
Chris Grace
No, it was just me doing my show from Edinburgh French last year.
[54:07]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, amazing.
[54:08]
Chris Grace
Which was filmed as a special this year. That'll drop out now. But, like, I was doing the live version of that for him and people from around the neighborhood in upstate New York where he lives.
[54:18]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, that's really delightful.
[54:19]
Chris Grace
Where my impression was like, oh, it's kind of out there a little bit. So maybe y'all don't have too much, you know, like, this is their way to see theater and stuff like that. And I said that to one of them after. I was like, no, we got a lot of stuff to do. I was like, okay. I thought I was special out here, but, yeah, it was like, in a little farmhouse that he has. I mean, it was obviously, it had to be very low tech. Like, there was no lights. Like, there was just, like, a light.
[54:41]
Bridger Weiniger
Switch on Mandy and a flashlight.
[54:44]
Chris Grace
But, yeah, it was wild. I mean, it was very weird doing it.
[54:48]
Bridger Weiniger
Did you stay at Mandy's house overnight?
[54:50]
Chris Grace
I did.
[54:50]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, my God, what a dream.
[54:52]
Chris Grace
That was really cool. And also, it was funny because my husband is in musical. I'm in a musical theater. My husband's really into musical theater. I don't know how much trivia that Jimmy could answer, but.
[55:04]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, he could answer a lot, and I could answer almost none.
[55:07]
Chris Grace
So I have not met anyone who knows more about it than my husband. And so obviously, this was mind blowing that we were staying at.
[55:16]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, yeah, of course.
[55:17]
Chris Grace
And then the first moment that we met him, he came in to fix, like, a screen door, you know, and he was just, like, complaining about the. God damn, you know, come help me with this thing. Like, you know what I mean? It wasn't like a. There was no ceremony to it whatsoever. It was just like, he needed to fix this door, and he was just, like, talking. And so that was.
[55:37]
Bridger Weiniger
That's amazing to see that.
[55:38]
Chris Grace
Nice to not be like, oh, Mr. Patinkin. Like, you know.
[55:42]
Bridger Weiniger
Right. That Whole dance. Wow. I'm so jealous.
[55:46]
Chris Grace
That was exciting.
[55:47]
Bridger Weiniger
Well, is there anything before we play the game, anything else we should say about Ifly? What is the scariest thing physically you've done?
[55:55]
Chris Grace
The scariest thing physically I've done. Ooh. I mean, I think a lot of people would be scared by playing rugby, which I've played for many years.
[56:04]
Bridger Weiniger
Ooh, that terrifies me.
[56:05]
Chris Grace
And it is scary. You do have to get over it. And I have stopped playing because that's.
[56:10]
Bridger Weiniger
That's a rugby scar.
[56:11]
Chris Grace
Yeah, this is. I broke my arm playing rugby.
[56:13]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh.
[56:14]
Chris Grace
So that doesn't make it less scary to other people.
[56:19]
Bridger Weiniger
Did the bone come out of your arm?
[56:20]
Chris Grace
It did not. But this is an interesting fact. I was holding the ball like this with my elbow bent in front of me. And there's two bones in your forearm here. And the other player, his skull hit the outer bone, but the outer bone didn't break. So much force was transferred to my arm that the inner bone broke.
[56:40]
Bridger Weiniger
Whoa.
[56:41]
Chris Grace
I thought that was interesting.
[56:42]
Bridger Weiniger
Wow, that's fascinating. Yeah.
[56:43]
Chris Grace
And also I broke it in Temecula, California.
[56:45]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay.
[56:46]
Chris Grace
And I don't know why, but I drove home by myself.
[56:50]
Bridger Weiniger
With a broken arm.
[56:51]
Chris Grace
With a broken arm. And then checked into, like, Huntington Hospital in Pasadena to have it.
[56:56]
Bridger Weiniger
Like, that's like a two hour drive.
[56:58]
Chris Grace
It was like 90 minutes. I think I was in shock.
[57:01]
Bridger Weiniger
Whoa. And did it. Were you in pain?
[57:04]
Chris Grace
I was in some. It was like in pain if I moved it, but I was able to drive. I mean, that must have been being in shock. But the thing is, the game was still going like, you know, they were kind of like, oh, well, we gotta.
[57:14]
Bridger Weiniger
Take care of yourselves.
[57:15]
Chris Grace
Yeah. I mean, there was another element of that. I don't know what other scary things I've done. What other things do we categorize as scary physical?
[57:23]
Bridger Weiniger
What is scary? I'm trying to think, like, cliff diving. Cliff diving, rock climbing. Things where a lot of heights or where you're moving quickly.
[57:35]
Chris Grace
I haven't done a lot of climbing things because I don't feel my wrists and arms are strong enough to like. I did a bungee, not a zipline at a water park once.
[57:49]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay, sure.
[57:50]
Chris Grace
But this was one where you hold on with your hands.
[57:52]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh. And you can just let go.
[57:55]
Chris Grace
Yeah, Well, I lost my grip immediately. Like, I went out and like 1 meter away from where you step out, I just dropped straight down. Cause I couldn't hold, like, for like, Presidential Fitness. I could never do a pull up.
[58:12]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, sure, sure. Presidential Fitness.
[58:14]
Chris Grace
Yeah.
[58:15]
Bridger Weiniger
What a bizarre Thing the president really cared about. He wanted elementary schoolers to be ripped.
[58:22]
Chris Grace
I don't even know if they do that anymore.
[58:24]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah. I wonder.
[58:25]
Chris Grace
I think it does date you. If you're like. Cause it was like a mile and a half run, how many sit ups could you do and how many pull ups could you do?
[58:33]
Bridger Weiniger
Right. We were doing only a mile. I guess they didn't care about us as much.
[58:38]
Chris Grace
He was like, I'm more into the sprinter type this year.
[58:42]
Bridger Weiniger
This isn't a marathon anymore.
[58:44]
Chris Grace
I wonder which president stopped caring about that.
[58:47]
Bridger Weiniger
I mean, if I had to guess, Clinton, maybe. Yeah. No, Clinton was my era. And he was still doing it. He was going for it. Oh, so I must.
[58:58]
Chris Grace
I don't know.
[58:58]
Bridger Weiniger
You feel like maybe just petered out.
[59:00]
Chris Grace
Yeah. Because I feel like the Bushes would care.
[59:02]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah. I feel like they've got the baseball bullshit going on or whatever. Yeah. So maybe it's still going. Let's just hope.
[59:10]
Chris Grace
A yearly source of anxiety for children, I think.
[59:12]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, my God.
[59:13]
Chris Grace
Presidential Fitness Test.
[59:14]
Bridger Weiniger
That miles seemed like a million miles. It seemed truly undoable physically.
[59:22]
Chris Grace
Yeah.
[59:22]
Bridger Weiniger
And now I'm like, sure. I mean, it would be annoying. I don't like running.
[59:27]
Chris Grace
We could have, I think, I don't know if we thought back then that like, oh, I could just kind of.
[59:31]
Bridger Weiniger
Walk it, like in jeans.
[59:33]
Chris Grace
I think now as adults, you'd be like, oh, that'd be annoying. But like, I could walk slash jog a mile of fun very slowly.
[59:42]
Bridger Weiniger
Right.
[59:42]
Chris Grace
You know, But I think. But also, there was some kind of time pressure back then. It was like to pass the test.
[59:47]
Bridger Weiniger
You had to do under two hours.
[59:50]
Chris Grace
Yeah. And I think it would have been like under seven minutes or something like that.
[59:54]
Bridger Weiniger
No, under seven can't possibly be true. Under probably ten. Seven's a good mile. No, I mean, it's like, it's a decent mile.
[60:01]
Chris Grace
But the thing is, you always had some kid in your class that ran the mile in like five minutes.
[60:06]
Bridger Weiniger
Well, that person's a psychopath.
[60:09]
Chris Grace
When we break, I'm going to look up what the historical mile standard for the Presidential Fitness test was, because I don't think it's 10.
[60:16]
Bridger Weiniger
No, I feel like it was under 10. Was like, you want to shoot for under that. But five, of course. You're an incredible runner.
[60:21]
Chris Grace
Yeah.
[60:23]
Bridger Weiniger
This is what's going to break us up.
[60:25]
Chris Grace
I just feel like 10. A child should have more stamina than that.
[60:31]
Bridger Weiniger
But my legs were probably each three inches long.
[60:34]
Chris Grace
Yes.
[60:35]
Bridger Weiniger
It was very difficult. Okay, well, I think it's time. I cannot wait to do this? Yes.
[60:40]
Chris Grace
Please let me know how it goes.
[60:41]
Bridger Weiniger
I really can't express to you how excited I am about this.
[60:43]
Chris Grace
That's exciting. I think it's for two jumps or whatever.
[60:47]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay.
[60:47]
Chris Grace
So I think unless you have some charm you can put on, I think you have to do both of them. I don't think you can do both.
[60:54]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay. You're like another person or show up another time.
[60:57]
Chris Grace
Who knows? It's probably some minimum wage kid.
[61:00]
Bridger Weiniger
I remind myself of that every time I'm anywhere. Like this person hates. They don't like the job, they don't like the company.
[61:06]
Chris Grace
I mean, also, do they care enough to make sure all the safety measures are in place? Probably not.
[61:11]
Bridger Weiniger
Goodbye.
[61:14]
Chris Grace
I mean, do you think Jimmy would do that?
[61:15]
Bridger Weiniger
No way. He won't ride Space Mountain.
[61:18]
Chris Grace
Really?
[61:19]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh. Going to Disneyland with him.
[61:20]
Chris Grace
Are you a big Disney person?
[61:22]
Bridger Weiniger
Not huge, but I enjoy roller coasters and stuff. And so if. If it were just us at Disneyland, it would be a nightmare. So we always have to bring other people who.
[61:30]
Chris Grace
So that someone goes on them with you and someone else talks with him.
[61:34]
Bridger Weiniger
Right. I think the most scary, he'll go on Indiana Jones, which is very jerky. And scary enough.
[61:41]
Chris Grace
You mean jerky to steal all those antiques?
[61:43]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah, it's very rude of him.
[61:44]
Chris Grace
Leave them in their countries.
[61:46]
Bridger Weiniger
Yes, exactly.
[61:47]
Chris Grace
No, that is actually. It has a back and forth fourth nature that's tough on the back, I think.
[61:54]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah. It feels unhealthy. But I love any roller coaster. Mostly.
[61:59]
Chris Grace
Oh, I don't like them.
[62:00]
Bridger Weiniger
As long as they don't like. I get dizzy.
[62:02]
Chris Grace
Like, I don't. I will. I don't think I'll ever go on that. Guardians of the Galaxy. Oh, Twilight or whatever. The.
[62:09]
Bridger Weiniger
I will say they ruined. They ruined the vibe with the Guardians. Yes, it was the. A perfect ride. Yeah, it was actually spooked. And now it's like this weird thing where you listen to Van Halen. I mean, it's still a fun sensation. But before it felt like you were among ghosts. It was very fun. Marvel Universe has ruined it my entire life. What am I talking about? Let's play a game. I need a number between 1 and 10 from you.
[62:38]
Chris Grace
8.
[62:39]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay. I have to do some light calculating. So right now you can promote, you can recommend. Do whatever you want.
[62:46]
Chris Grace
Well, my special Chris Grace Ask Scarlett Johansson is now available on Dropout tv that is its own streaming service. You can sign up for the three day free trial and watch the special. But I think you'll actually find a lot of fun stuff on Dropout to watch. And then my new show, it's called Sardines. I think I'm doing it at the Elysian here in Los Angeles. Have not settled the dates yet, but it will be in November, I believe. And then next year, I'll be in Wisconsin in January, Portland Center Stage in May and June. And this is all doing Scarlett Johansson. And then In July of 2025, I'll be at the Kennedy center doing Chris Grace and Scarlett Johansson.
[63:25]
Bridger Weiniger
That's amazing.
[63:26]
Chris Grace
Yeah, it'll be really fun.
[63:27]
Bridger Weiniger
That's so exciting.
[63:28]
Chris Grace
I'm very excited. It feels very. That's the one. When I tell people in my family, I'm like, well, I'm doing the Kennedy Center. And they're like, oh, you must actually be good at this.
[63:35]
Bridger Weiniger
Right? Finally, proof.
[63:37]
Chris Grace
Well, like, I. I just shot over the. In the spring, I was in a Shonda Rhimes Netflix show.
[63:42]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh.
[63:43]
Chris Grace
And the fact that now if I say Shonda Rhimes, you're like, ooh.
[63:46]
Bridger Weiniger
I mean, it's getting harder and harder in the television business to be impressive to anyone because no one's heard of any show. So these few remaining things that everyone's heard of, that's the goal.
[63:57]
Chris Grace
My family isn't like, oh, Duplass Brothers. Yeah, exactly. I am. I love them. But.
[64:04]
Bridger Weiniger
Right, right. My parents, I mean, they're bored before plos.
[64:10]
Chris Grace
They're non plus.
[64:12]
Bridger Weiniger
We're going to play a game called Gift or a Curse. Okay. I'm going to name three things. You're going to tell me if they're a gift or a curse, and why, and then I'll tell you if you're right or wrong because there are correct answers and you can lose the game.
[64:24]
Chris Grace
Okay. And each individually is a gift or a curse.
[64:26]
Bridger Weiniger
Yes, exactly. Okay. Number one, this is from a listener named Andrew. Andrew suggested gift or a curse. Pre installed tombstones that have your birth year but an empty death year.
[64:39]
Chris Grace
I mean, I think this is like literally a curse. Like, this is literally asking for it, you know, I mean, this is. I don't think there could be a stronger invitation to death than establishing your tombstone. And so I think it's actually like genuinely a curse and also presumptuous of you to decide the design of your tombstone. That is clearly something left to others.
[65:07]
Bridger Weiniger
Controlling behavior.
[65:08]
Chris Grace
Yeah, very controlling.
[65:10]
Bridger Weiniger
Well, you're wrong. This is a gift in every possible way. I love these things. First of all, I'm trying to get into the mind of the person that's doing it. They're saying to their family, you don't get to be involved with this. I get to choose the tombstone. And it's probably a little spooky experience where you're like, I'm looking at this thing that's gonna be above my body.
[65:29]
Chris Grace
It's a memento mori.
[65:30]
Bridger Weiniger
Yes. Then they install it in the graveyard, or. I think we should only call cemeteries graveyards. Let's get rid of the word cemetery. Graveyards are more fun.
[65:38]
Chris Grace
There's not a distinction.
[65:40]
Bridger Weiniger
No, I think it's. Oh, I wonder. Is. I wonder if there's, like, a fine line between the two. Cemetery does.
[65:45]
Chris Grace
What if there's, like, a feud between the American Graveyard association and the national cemetery.
[65:49]
Bridger Weiniger
Two families. Mr. Cemetery and Mr. Graveyard.
[65:52]
Chris Grace
It's like Adidas and Puma.
[65:55]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah, yeah, exactly. No, they're installing it in the graveyard. And now anyone that passes by is getting this weird feeling of like, oh, what does the future hold for me? A nice reminder of mortality and the mystery of mortality.
[66:10]
Chris Grace
Don't they get that from the other two?
[66:12]
Bridger Weiniger
No. Cause everybody else are like, well, those are just skeletons. But this thing. There's the fog of the future in this person's life.
[66:18]
Chris Grace
Okay?
[66:18]
Bridger Weiniger
And I love that feeling.
[66:19]
Chris Grace
I love that. That is the one that tips them over into thinking about mortality as they walk through a graveyard. I think I would only be on board with doing this if you get the ones that have video clips installed.
[66:32]
Bridger Weiniger
It's the tackiest thing.
[66:34]
Chris Grace
It has to be your. Whatever IMDb thinks you're real is. Oh, my God. That's what has to be on there. Cause then you can still book.
[66:45]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, you can absolutely book.
[66:46]
Chris Grace
Before the last. You know, think of it this way. Bridger and I made this up. I came up with this. You're living in the dash. You can still book when you're in the dash.
[66:56]
Bridger Weiniger
That's what casting directors say. He's still in the dash, Right?
[66:59]
Chris Grace
That song is about. You can still get cast.
[67:03]
Bridger Weiniger
And casting directors are constantly pouring over graveyards to make sure who's alive and who's dead.
[67:08]
Chris Grace
Also, casting directors are constantly thinking about how actors can get more cast. Of course, we are the first people on their minds.
[67:18]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay, well, you got one wrong. That's got a sting, but we'll move on here. Number two. This is from someone named Brendan. Gift or a curse? Sleeping with socks on.
[67:29]
Chris Grace
Oh, I mean, this is not for me. I don't like it. So I think I'll have. I don't like. I almost want to say that the option is potentially a gift, but I would never do it. So I guess I'm pro choice. This is the only thing I'm pro choice about.
[67:47]
Bridger Weiniger
You've been very clear about.
[67:50]
Chris Grace
Plus, that's my special is like a total, like a pro life special. I'm gonna say that I. Oh God, I don't know. I just. I'm gonna say it's a curse because I don't like it. Like, I actually don't like it annoys me. So the only time it's a gift is if like you, your heat broke and then you are living old style with like a. A nightgown and like one of those long sleeping caps. Then you gotta have the socks. For me personally, this is a curse.
[68:23]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, another one wrong. This is horrifying. And you really were getting close to saying it was a gift. And then you described this beautiful sleeping outfit that should have really sent you in the right direction. The cap, the nightgown, that's how you sleep. Stockings. Yeah, that's my nightly uniform.
[68:40]
Chris Grace
And when you sleep, you have a little feather that goes up in the air.
[68:47]
Bridger Weiniger
No, I love look, it depends on the time of the year, but during the winter even I've got the heat on. I want the socks on my feet. So cozy.
[68:57]
Chris Grace
We're a thinner lad than I am.
[68:58]
Bridger Weiniger
I bet we have the same shape feet.
[69:03]
Chris Grace
I'm going to bet that in Vegas when I'm there, odds are I do love not to be too LA centric, but I love in LA when it starts getting cold at night and you get to put on your little sweater.
[69:18]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, incredible feeling.
[69:19]
Chris Grace
That is so nice. So I guess socks are like sweaters.
[69:22]
Bridger Weiniger
For your feet in that sense. Of course.
[69:25]
Chris Grace
I did like two days ago. This podcast just gonna reveal that I have a shopping problem, which I do. I bought a. Not a Snuggie, but like a oversized Whataburger branded.
[69:40]
Bridger Weiniger
What? I've never heard of this.
[69:42]
Chris Grace
What?
[69:42]
Bridger Weiniger
No.
[69:43]
Chris Grace
Have you ever been to Texas?
[69:45]
Bridger Weiniger
No or no, I've been to Austin.
[69:47]
Chris Grace
They haven't there Whataburger. I grew up in Houston, so Whataburger is like a famous burger chain there that has a lot of fun merch. Gotta say, beloved burger chain, you know, similar feelings to the way that we feel about In N out.
[70:00]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay, okay. How have I never heard of this? I eat a lot of hamburger. I'm in the scene.
[70:07]
Chris Grace
You haven't been clued in yet. Anyway, I bought a Snuggie type thing that is extremely warm and it's the only size it comes in is 5x so it's meant for the oversized Thing you get in on the couch and you watch It's a Wonderful Life or whatever.
[70:27]
Bridger Weiniger
I mean, this is right up my alley.
[70:28]
Chris Grace
Yeah. Yeah. So it's so. I understand why the socks is a gift.
[70:32]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay. Yeah. Okay. So you've gotten zero points so far, and that sucks for everybody. This is your final chance. This is from a listener named Beth. And Beth suggested gift or a curse? Peeling a potato with a knife instead of a peeler.
[70:47]
Chris Grace
I'm sorry, but this is absolutely. A curse. That is insane. What are you on PK duty in the army? Like, what are you. Like, you're in the corner over a tin bucket? Cause you pissed off the sergeant somehow, and you're in a Beetle Bailey cartoon. No, potato peeler. For sure. Because first of all, you're always taught as a kid to cut away from you, right?
[71:14]
Bridger Weiniger
Yes.
[71:14]
Chris Grace
Every time on tv, when people peel things with a knife, like an apple or potato, they're always cutting it towards themselves. They're always doing this rotate.
[71:22]
Bridger Weiniger
Sounds satisfying.
[71:23]
Chris Grace
It does sound satisfying.
[71:24]
Bridger Weiniger
I mean, when you watch it, it's like, that looks satisf.
[71:26]
Chris Grace
Yeah. No way. I mean, first of all, eat the skin. It's got lots of vitamins.
[71:31]
Bridger Weiniger
Sure.
[71:32]
Chris Grace
Also, we invented vegetable potato peelers for a reason. Don't deny the validity of that person's contribution to the world. I can argue against it. From the Alton Brown school of you should never have devices that only do one thing in your kitchen. But whatever. Alton Brown's time is over.
[71:53]
Bridger Weiniger
Did he get canceled?
[71:54]
Chris Grace
No, I just haven't heard from Alton Brown in, what, five years? So, like.
[71:58]
Bridger Weiniger
Right. Yeah, I haven't either. Alton, reach out.
[72:01]
Chris Grace
Yeah. Come on, Alton.
[72:02]
Bridger Weiniger
Ah, well, I mean, what. I mean, what is there to say at this point, Chris? You've lost the game completely. It's a gift.
[72:09]
Chris Grace
Oh, my God.
[72:10]
Bridger Weiniger
Because it's cool as hell. What could possibly be cooler than peeling a potato with a knife? You do that off the back of a motorcycle. You've got a cigarette in your mouth. There's. There's nothing cooler.
[72:23]
Chris Grace
I don't buy this answer coming from Bridger Weiniger.
[72:27]
Bridger Weiniger
What are you talking about?
[72:29]
Chris Grace
Sultan of Cool, the movie Easy Rider was based on Bridger Weidiger's young life, just riding two motorcycles across the American heartland.
[72:38]
Bridger Weiniger
I'm in a leather vest right now.
[72:40]
Chris Grace
Peeling potatoes, throwing them into a pot for a midnight campfire stew.
[72:46]
Bridger Weiniger
I don't know what your problem is with cowboys, bikers, and badasses.
[72:51]
Chris Grace
That's your lifestyle. Well.
[72:54]
Bridger Weiniger
But you lost the game in the most horrifying way.
[72:56]
Chris Grace
Oh, wow. How many people have gone 0 for 3?
[72:58]
Bridger Weiniger
It's very. A very small group. I mean, I think smaller than even. I think there are more winners of all three.
[73:05]
Chris Grace
There's more three for threes?
[73:06]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah.
[73:07]
Chris Grace
Oh, well.
[73:07]
Bridger Weiniger
So you're in a very elite group.
[73:09]
Chris Grace
Well, there you go.
[73:10]
Bridger Weiniger
Although you're making it less elite by joining it.
[73:12]
Chris Grace
Yes, slightly less.
[73:13]
Bridger Weiniger
It's like getting bigger. And that's a shame.
[73:16]
Chris Grace
That's what my mom said. My weight going up.
[73:19]
Bridger Weiniger
Your mother? I hope she's listening from the grave. Oh, boy, that's a problem.
[73:26]
Chris Grace
I mean, she's got both dates on her gravestone, let's put it that way.
[73:30]
Bridger Weiniger
I'm so sorry.
[73:31]
Chris Grace
That's fine.
[73:33]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay, moving on. This is the final segment of the podcast. It's called I said no emails. People were writing into isaidnowgiftsmail.com to beg for answers to all sorts of life problems.
[73:44]
Chris Grace
I see. Advice.
[73:45]
Bridger Weiniger
Advice. Yeah, all sorts of advice. Sometimes it's about gifts, but I encourage them to just bring their problems to me.
[73:51]
Chris Grace
Wow.
[73:52]
Bridger Weiniger
Because I know what's best.
[73:54]
Chris Grace
Okay.
[73:54]
Bridger Weiniger
And my guest always knows what's best.
[73:55]
Chris Grace
Wow.
[73:56]
Bridger Weiniger
So will you help me answer a question?
[73:57]
Chris Grace
Sure.
[73:57]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay. This is. Dear Bridger and presumably delightful guest presumed correctly. My cousin is getting married soon and she's being very traditional about the whole thing. People are always writing in and just immediately throwing family members under the bus. On this podcast, I rsvp. Yeah.
[74:13]
Chris Grace
Cause there's a little shade in there, right?
[74:14]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah. Oh, my God, there's a lot.
[74:15]
Chris Grace
She's being very traditional.
[74:19]
Bridger Weiniger
When I RSVP to her wedding for my fiance and I, I bought a set of bowls from. From her quickly selling out gift registry, as someone does. Okay. Taylor Swift concert. She invited me to her bridal shower. An event I have never known anyone else my age to actually have. Oh, my God. She's really going after this person. And I, of course, didn't go because I'm not going to travel three hours to New Jersey for that. My mother, however, did attend the bridal shower.
[74:44]
Chris Grace
Wait, wait, wait. Is this. This is sister.
[74:46]
Bridger Weiniger
This is her cousin.
[74:48]
Chris Grace
Cousin. Okay. Still, three hours is not that long a drive.
[74:52]
Bridger Weiniger
You drove two with a broken arm.
[74:54]
Chris Grace
That's right.
[74:56]
Bridger Weiniger
My mother, however, did attend the bridal shower.
[74:58]
Chris Grace
Okay.
[74:59]
Bridger Weiniger
She brought a shower gift silverware on behalf of the whole immediate family.
[75:04]
Chris Grace
Okay.
[75:04]
Bridger Weiniger
Seems like a small thing for the whole immediate family, but that's another story.
[75:08]
Chris Grace
If it's a full set. Yeah.
[75:09]
Bridger Weiniger
Where'd we buy it from?
[75:10]
Chris Grace
I recently was researching genuine sterling silver for the Home.
[75:15]
Bridger Weiniger
You do have a major shock. I'm concerned.
[75:19]
Chris Grace
I didn't buy anything. It's so expensive.
[75:21]
Bridger Weiniger
How much is it?
[75:22]
Chris Grace
I mean, I forget his name. He's an Indian actor that was in Mean Girls, the movie. He has a YouTube channel about living well. And he suggests buying a single piece at a time.
[75:34]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh.
[75:34]
Chris Grace
And having just kind of a mismatch to set it, I find it charming. And that's probably the only way I could get into this hobby.
[75:40]
Bridger Weiniger
That would drive me crazy.
[75:41]
Chris Grace
It's like one fork is, like, $75.
[75:44]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. That would. I'd lose my mind.
[75:46]
Chris Grace
Anyway, if the mother brought a whole set of silver, I mean, that is.
[75:49]
Bridger Weiniger
Could be thousands of dollars.
[75:51]
Chris Grace
So that was on behalf of the entire mother and her whole unit.
[75:54]
Bridger Weiniger
Yes.
[75:55]
Chris Grace
Okay. Got it.
[75:56]
Bridger Weiniger
At the bridal shower, there was an enormous pile of gifts that my aunt, the bride's mother, had wrapped herself on behalf of other people. Excuse me. Included in this pile were the bowls I had purchased for her as a wedding gift with absolutely no indic. There were also several other gifts from the registry from other family members of mine who were not in attendance. Clearly, my aunt brought any gift sent from the registry by people who were invited to the shower. You should know that my aunt is a very volatile person with anger problems. What does that have to do with any of this? Am I correct that this is completely insane? Do I need to buy another wedding gift? Do I need to write that I hope she likes her wedding gift of bowls in a card? Do I run away forever and never speak to these people again? What do I say to them? Please help. And they didn't even sign their name as an anonymous person because they're just attacking the entire family here.
[76:50]
Chris Grace
And I'm so curious why the aunt got the presence to begin with. Maybe they live near the. Or live with the engaged people.
[76:59]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, interesting.
[77:00]
Chris Grace
So, because let's say they're on Amazon doing a registry, and you're just saying, like, give me these bowls, ship them off to the couple.
[77:06]
Bridger Weiniger
Right, right.
[77:09]
Chris Grace
Also, do you. When you. I mean, we registered on Amazon. I can't remember. Were we getting the. Are you married?
[77:16]
Bridger Weiniger
No.
[77:17]
Chris Grace
When is it going to happen?
[77:18]
Bridger Weiniger
I mean, if I can get some silverware out of it.
[77:21]
Chris Grace
I can't remember if you start getting the gifts as soon as people buy them or if they're sort of held to a certain. I think you get them as they.
[77:28]
Bridger Weiniger
Purchase as they're purchased. Okay.
[77:30]
Chris Grace
So I think in the. This is my guess. I could be. I think in the weeks and months leading up you start. I mean, obviously you do, because this aunt had it before the wedding.
[77:36]
Bridger Weiniger
Right, right, right.
[77:37]
Chris Grace
So how did the aunt get hold of all these gifts?
[77:39]
Bridger Weiniger
You know, maybe she has a really big porch. Yeah, she's a porch pirate.
[77:45]
Chris Grace
She said the aunt was volatile. Pirates are volatile. Well, I think you would be okay not getting another gift.
[77:54]
Bridger Weiniger
She clearly doesn't have a very good relationship with this person. She's writing emails about her to podcasts. She doesn't care.
[78:02]
Chris Grace
You also. Have you heard the thing that you have a year to give someone a present after the wedding?
[78:06]
Bridger Weiniger
No, I shouldn't have heard that, because now that's gonna ruin my life.
[78:09]
Chris Grace
That is the thing that gets said is that you actually don't have to get your present in by the wedding date.
[78:14]
Bridger Weiniger
You can just let it haunt you for a year.
[78:15]
Chris Grace
Yeah, for a year. You could. Like, the registry will still be open.
[78:18]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, interesting.
[78:19]
Chris Grace
You can get in late on it. So she could kind of write it out and see if there's any reaction and then maybe throw in another little cuss, you know, because every registry has got some real cheap items to hop in on.
[78:32]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, look, I'm doing sort lowest to highest. I don't care who you are.
[78:38]
Chris Grace
Right. I always think that's funny when the thing that you bought was, like, one of eight steak knives, and then now they just have one of eight trapped.
[78:49]
Bridger Weiniger
To peel a potato.
[78:50]
Chris Grace
That's right. It looks so cool.
[78:52]
Bridger Weiniger
It looks as cool as possible.
[78:54]
Chris Grace
If you're listening only on audio, I can't describe how cool, breezy looks.
[78:58]
Bridger Weiniger
I have four cigarettes in my mouth right now.
[79:00]
Chris Grace
It's so intimidating.
[79:03]
Bridger Weiniger
I'm kind of the original cool guy. No, yeah, I think I agree. And I almost think, why bother with this cousin? Get rid of him.
[79:12]
Chris Grace
That's such an escalation.
[79:14]
Bridger Weiniger
Well, this person asked for it. The aunt would do the same.
[79:17]
Chris Grace
They're still going to the. Oh, no. They're a little trepidatious about going to the wedding.
[79:20]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah. Do I need to?
[79:22]
Chris Grace
No, that's fine. You know why? Because there's even people that come to the wedding and bring. They still physically bring the gift that day. There'll be a table, and so the bride will have no idea that you will have no way to even think that you've shirked your responsibility until 366 days later.
[79:42]
Bridger Weiniger
Right.
[79:43]
Chris Grace
So at that point, you're probably not even talking to this cousin anymore.
[79:46]
Bridger Weiniger
No, it's over.
[79:47]
Chris Grace
I would worry about it. Just go and enjoy the.
[79:49]
Bridger Weiniger
And also, you're setting yourself up to be. To have the real high ground when the cousin confronts you and you say, actually, I did send you a wedding gift. This is your angry mom's fault.
[79:59]
Chris Grace
Yeah, I mean, that's. I think you want to avoid that completely, especially since they said that she was volatile.
[80:06]
Bridger Weiniger
Well, I mean, it depends on the day you want to be dealing with a screaming aunt.
[80:10]
Chris Grace
Man, if you and Jimmy ever get married, the podcast audience is gonna hop on that registry because it's so on brand for the podcast.
[80:20]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, that's true. Oh, now you're really selling me on the idea of marriage.
[80:23]
Chris Grace
Yeah. I mean, this is the reason, right? There's two reasons why. Well, one is now it just fits the theme so perfectly. Cause you'll say, I said there'll be a special sub series called I said there's no Registry. And then you'll surreptitiously say the Amazon link at the end of every episode. And your fans, I think, will instantly go and buy all those.
[80:46]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay, I'm considering marriage.
[80:48]
Chris Grace
These are the two big reasons. That's one. And the other one. This is genuine. The other reason to get married is it's so weird. I'm sure people tell you this all the time, but it is very weird that you make this public declaration of the relationship, and then the next time you have a big fight, you'll be like, oh, we just went through that whole thing, and there is social pressure to be like, we made a commitment now. We just. We made a commitment to those hundred people, too.
[81:16]
Bridger Weiniger
Right. They're counting on us to be their favorite characters.
[81:19]
Chris Grace
Yeah. And it's interesting, like, village peer pressure. That does appeal to you.
[81:26]
Bridger Weiniger
No, the smallest fight. I say I'll leave, I'll walk out the door. This thing means nothing to me.
[81:33]
Chris Grace
I'm sure you don't have dramatic fights at all.
[81:35]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, we have dramatic fights.
[81:37]
Chris Grace
I think. Anybody. Eric and I are both have a background coming from the theater. So our fights are. Are theatrical.
[81:47]
Bridger Weiniger
Ours are theatrical because Jim is a theatrical person, and I'm someone who buries their feelings until the absolute worst moment, and then they all come out. So it's a combination.
[81:57]
Chris Grace
Yes.
[81:58]
Bridger Weiniger
But we're all safe.
[82:00]
Chris Grace
That's right.
[82:00]
Bridger Weiniger
And, you know, we're doing fine. But did we answer the question?
[82:06]
Chris Grace
I think lay low.
[82:08]
Bridger Weiniger
Okay.
[82:09]
Chris Grace
Let it ride and just go and have a good time at the wedding. And I think you'll be fine. That's my guess. I think maybe look into your unresolved issues where you judge everyone in your family. I know some very Strong opinions about people in your family.
[82:25]
Bridger Weiniger
Well, take a ride to New Jersey.
[82:28]
Chris Grace
Well, I actually do think if you're. I don't think bridal shower is like mid tier obligation. But three hours is also not that long.
[82:40]
Bridger Weiniger
No, it's a little trip.
[82:41]
Chris Grace
Like three hour. If she's in New Jersey. Three hours from, like three hours from where they are in New Jersey could also still be New Jersey.
[82:47]
Bridger Weiniger
That's true.
[82:47]
Chris Grace
You know. Yeah.
[82:48]
Bridger Weiniger
Where's this person coming from that it's three hours to New Jersey?
[82:51]
Chris Grace
I mean, they could be coming from the. From Greenwich Village, and it's taking two hours to get to the Holland Trail. So, I mean, you know what I think get some clarity for yourself on how you really feel about these people. Because if you don't want to drive 3 hours to go to the bridal shower or like maybe this whole. Maybe just go to this wedding and then just cut them off.
[83:13]
Bridger Weiniger
Cut them off for good. I support that. I mean, this podcast is about. Cut off for good.
[83:19]
Chris Grace
Yes.
[83:19]
Bridger Weiniger
Zero contact. Change your number. Change your name. Wow. We answered it perfectly. Perfect, Chris. I mean, you've given me such a thoughtful, beautiful gift. I'm thrilled. I mean, this is such a rare moment on this podcast.
[83:33]
Chris Grace
I'm so excited to hear how this goes.
[83:35]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, my God.
[83:35]
Chris Grace
Maybe they have a thing where they, like shoot a video of it. Oh, and that could be some bonus content.
[83:39]
Bridger Weiniger
I can at least drag someone there to film me. Yeah, some bored friend.
[83:44]
Chris Grace
Because you said Jim wouldn't do it.
[83:45]
Bridger Weiniger
Well, he's in New York.
[83:46]
Chris Grace
Oh, yes, yes. Oh, you mean you're doing this, like, soon?
[83:49]
Bridger Weiniger
Yeah, of course. Are you kidding me? This is going to happen the next year.
[83:52]
Chris Grace
Actually, they're open till 9 tonight. Just head over there. That's admirable because a lot of times I get a gift voucher like this and it just sits.
[84:01]
Bridger Weiniger
Oh, yeah, of course.
[84:02]
Chris Grace
Yeah.
[84:02]
Bridger Weiniger
Not the. This is the thrill of a lifetime.
[84:04]
Chris Grace
Excellent.
[84:05]
Bridger Weiniger
Well, thank you for being here. I've had such a great time.
[84:07]
Chris Grace
Thanks for having me.
[84:07]
Bridger Weiniger
It's been such a blast listener. The podcast is over. Hopefully you've learned something or taken something away to make your life more meaningful. The show is over. Get going. I love you. Goodbye. I said no Gifts is an exact right production. It's produced by our dear friend Anneliese Nelson, and it's beautifully mixed by Ben Tolliday. And we couldn't do it without our guest booker, Patrick Cotner. The theme song, of course, could only come from miracle worker Amy Mann. You must follow the show on Instagram at Isaidnogifts. I don't want to hear any excuses. That's where you get to see pictures of all these gorgeous gifts I'm getting. And don't you want to see pictures of the gift?
[84:54]
Chris Grace
Gifts?
[84:56]
Bridger Weiniger
When I invited you here.
[85:00]
Chris Grace
Thought I made myself perfectly clear.
[85:04]
Bridger Weiniger
When you're a guest in my home, you got to come to me empty handed.
[85:12]
Chris Grace
I said no gifts.
[85:15]
Bridger Weiniger
Your presence is presents enough. And I always already had too much stuff.
[85:22]
Chris Grace
So how do you dare disobey me?