S1: #29 - So Random! Reunion Special w/ Matthew Scott Montgomery and Allisyn Ashley Arm - Smosh Mouth

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Smosh Mouth Podcast: So Random! Reunion Special

In Season 1, Episode 29 of the Smosh Mouth podcast, titled "#29 - So Random! Reunion Special," host Shane Topp reunites with former castmates Matthew Scott Montgomery and Allisyn Ashley Arm, alongside longtime friend Damien Haas. Released on September 4, 2019, this episode serves as a nostalgic and humorous deep dive into their shared experiences on Disney's beloved sketch comedy show, "So Random!". The conversation covers everything from memorable sketches and behind-the-scenes antics to personal growth and post-show endeavors.

1. Welcoming the Cast and Setting the Scene

Shane Topp kickstarts the reunion by introducing the special episode and his former castmates:

"Hey, Shane Topp here and I'm gonna be hosting this very special episode of the smoshcast. It is a Disney so random reunion with my former castmates Matthew Scott Montgomery, Alison Ashley Arm, and of course Damien Haas. It is pure chaos. Enjoy."
— Shane Topp [00:32]

The atmosphere is immediately set for a candid and chaotic conversation, reflecting their shared history and camaraderie.

2. Reflecting on "So Random!" and Its Evolution

The trio delves into the show's journey, especially the transition from "Sunny with a Chance" to "So Random!" after Demi Lovato's departure.

Shane explains:

"So Random was a Disney show. It was sunny with a chance. And then third season, the main actress, Demi Lovato, left. Then they did a fourth season, and they turned it into a sketch show."
— Shane Topp [02:45]

Matthew adds context about the uncertainties that followed Lovato's exit:

"We just did two seasons, and we were all locked down. We actually got picked up for season three, and then it got announced that she was leaving, and we were all like, do we have jobs?"
— Matthew Scott Montgomery [03:04]

3. Memorable Sketches and Creative Challenges

The conversation shifts to specific sketches that stood out during their tenure.

Damien reminisces about the elaborate costumes:

"Can we talk about the use of money on the show instead of just putting a pig nose on someone and letting them do sketch comedy? It was a $10,000 mascot costume, anthropomorphic pig that we..."
— Damien Haas [00:50]

Allisyn shares her struggles with makeup mishaps:

"Lorraine was doing my makeup, poking all up in my eye and my eyes started to get red. I show up to work the next day and they're like, uh, you have pink eye. And they sent me home from like the dance routine part and I was devastated."
— Allisyn Ashley Arm [01:11]

Matthew reflects on sketches that didn’t quite land:

"I think the only one that I was like, this is definitely offensive was the guacamole one. Like, when the mom complained about that one, I was like, okay, I understand guacamole."
— Matthew Scott Montgomery [04:56]

4. Behind-the-Scenes Antics and Set Dynamics

The cast discusses the often chaotic and unpredictable nature of producing a live sketch show.

Shane recalls uncomfortable microphone placements:

"Shane, is that a comfortable place for the mic for you or would you prefer it elsewhere? Maybe we'll turn it a little bit more so I'm great."
— Shane Topp [01:37]

Damien talks about constant script changes:

"All the writers were still from the sitcom days, and they did a marvelous job. I'm just saying, like, when you have that many writers, there were so many."
— Damien Haas [60:24]

Allisyn shares a particularly challenging moment:

"I pulled a stunt. I was like, I was such a diva that day because I was like, this is not acting. I' and I need a script and I do not wanna do this. And I like stormed off of set and Sterling came to get me."
— Allisyn Ashley Arm [09:02]

5. The Makeup Artist Fiasco

A significant portion of their discussion centers around their experiences with the makeup artist, Kevin Lorraine, who inadvertently caused physical discomfort.

Allisyn recounts her ordeal:

"Do you guys remember when Kevin Lorraine gave me pink eye and I had to leave the set? Oh. Oh, you guys. So it was the Halloween special, which is my favorite time of year."
— Allisyn Ashley Arm [18:51]

Matthew adds his perspective:

"I remember I would bring my own makeup, and I would go redo my makeup in the bathroom."
— Matthew Scott Montgomery [19:51]

6. The Cost of Creativity: Expensive Prosthetics and Sets

The cast critiques the show's budget allocations, highlighting how funds were sometimes mismanaged or overly spent on non-essential elements.

Matthew laments:

"The whole Strawberry Shortcake set that they built. For that expensive, like, 10 second gag where it was like, what if aliens attacked Strawberry Shortcake? And now here's the intro. Wait, why did this take up half of the soundstage?"
— Matthew Scott Montgomery [21:22]

Damien echoes similar frustrations:

"We all had our turn with, like, crazy prosthetics."
— Damien Haas [21:19]

7. Building Friendships and Team Dynamics

Despite the challenges, the cast emphasizes the strong friendships and supportive environment they fostered.

Matthew expresses gratitude:

"I felt like actually I was making friends and hanging out. Everybody had been nice to me season one and two. But then actually I felt like, oh, I have friends. We can hang out afterwards."
— Matthew Scott Montgomery [23:32]

Damien adds:

"The age difference didn't matter when it so normally would. You were very friendly and always invited us to stuff."
— Damien Haas [24:04]

8. Life After "So Random!"

The discussion transitions to their individual paths post-show, highlighting personal growth and new projects.

Allisyn talks about her passion for theater:

"I started writing these annual Halloween plays called Spook Night, which kind of turned into some other things."
— Allisyn Ashley Arm [54:15]

Matthew shares his journey into art:

"I did a lot of painting on the set, and I actually did that as wrap gifts. I would do these really crazy stick figures, and then I would splatter red paint all of them."
— Matthew Scott Montgomery [51:33]

Damien discusses his acting career:

"So room 566 is my most recent project, and it's a project that I wrote and my fiancé directed. And we are using that to pitch a feature."
— Matthew Scott Montgomery [56:13]

9. Financial Realities and Residuals

A candid conversation about the financial aspects of working on a Disney show unfolds, dispelling myths about instant wealth.

Matthew shares his frustrations:

"I've literally gotten one cent checked. I've gotten one extra check. I'm like, the postage costs more than this."
— Matthew Scott Montgomery [69:39]

Damien highlights the misconception:

"There are different pay grades. And for something like Disney and Nickelodeon, it can be a great opportunity for... but they're definitely like bottom of the barrel in terms of pay for the most part."
— Damien Haas [69:05]

10. Hilarious Anecdotes and Unforgettable Moments

The cast lightens the mood with funny stories and memorable mishaps from their time on set.

Shane recalls almost colliding with Selena Gomez:

"I nearly ran into her when she guest starred."
— Shane Topp [66:05]

Allisyn shares her humorous encounter:

"I saw her in a play a couple weeks ago, and she was great."
— Allisyn Ashley Arm [32:52]

Damien adds a laugh about residual checks:

"There is a bar in Los Angeles called Residuals. And I think if you bring in here, they've heard about residual checks, they'll give you a drink for free or something like that."
— Damien Haas [71:05]

11. Continuing Bonds and Future Projects

Despite the show's end, the cast emphasizes their enduring friendships and ongoing collaborations.

Matthew discusses future projects:

"Watch the Footage Productions... See what we're up to. You can see Matthew Scott as our lovely demon in our upcoming project."
— Matthew Scott Montgomery [76:10]

Allisyn highlights her active role in theater:

"I live on Instagram. Basically, my Instagram is matthewscottmontgomery. There's a really intensely stupid web series I'm doing called West Hollywood that really makes me laugh."
— Allisyn Ashley Arm [76:18]

Damien reflects on their bond:

"We all did. I am pretty shocked at how well we've all kept in touch for the most part."
— Damien Haas [72:08]

Conclusion

The "#29 - So Random! Reunion Special" episode of Smosh Mouth serves as a heartfelt and entertaining reunion, capturing the essence of camaraderie, creativity, and resilience among former cast members of "So Random!". Through laughter and candid reflections, Shane, Matthew, Allisyn, and Damien honor their shared past while celebrating their individual journeys beyond Disney Channel.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

Damien Haas [00:50]: "Can we talk about the use of money on the show instead of just putting a pig nose on someone and letting them do sketch comedy? It was a $10,000 mascot costume, anthropomorphic pig that we..."
Allisyn Ashley Arm [01:11]: "Lorraine was doing my makeup, poking all up in my eye and my eyes started to get red. I show up to work the next day and they're like, uh, you have pink eye. And they sent me home from like the dance routine part and I was devastated."
Matthew Scott Montgomery [04:56]: "I think the only one that I was like, this is definitely offensive was the guacamole one. Like, when the mom complained about that one, I was like, okay, I understand guacamole."
Allisyn Ashley Arm [19:03]: "I was doing a sketch, and Kevin Lorraine was doing my makeup. I show up to work the next day with pink eye, and they sent me home from the dance routine."
Shane Topp [21:19]: "We all had our turn with, like, crazy prosthetics."
Matthew Scott Montgomery [69:39]: "I've literally gotten one cent checked. I've gotten one extra check. I'm like, the postage costs more than this."
Shane Topp [66:05]: "I nearly ran into her when she guest starred."
Damien Haas [71:05]: "There is a bar in Los Angeles called Residuals. And I think if you bring in here, they've heard about residual checks, they'll give you a drink for free or something like that."

This detailed summary encapsulates the essence of the Smosh Mouth reunion episode, ensuring that both longtime fans and newcomers can appreciate the depth and humor of their shared experiences on "So Random!".

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Transcript905 lines

[00:00]
Ryan Seacrest
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[00:26]
Shane Topp
No purchase necessary. VGW Group void where prohibited by law 21 + terms and conditions apply.
[00:31]
Alison Ashley Arm
Ramble.
[00:32]
Shane Topp
Hey, Shane Topp here and I'm gonna be hosting this very special episode of the smoshcast. It is a Disney so random reunion with my former castmates Matthew Scott Montgomery, Alison Ashley Arm, and of course Damien Haas. It is pure chaos. Enjoy.
[00:51]
Damien Haas
Can we talk about the use of money on the show instead of just putting a pig nose on someone and letting them do sketch comedy? It was a $10,000 mascot costume, anthropomorphic pig that we.
[01:03]
Shane Topp
I remember some kids once talking to me and they were like, they're like, oh, you're on that Disney show. I'm like, yeah. They're like, so are you like a millionaire? And I'm like, Kevin.
[01:11]
Alison Ashley Arm
Lorraine was doing my makeup, poking all up in my eye and my eyes started to get red. I show up to work the next day and they're like, uh, you have pink eye. And they sent me home from like the dance routine part and I was devastated.
[01:22]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
They were business advisors and I remember one time they asked me, they asked me like to lunch or some sort of meeting or something and they were telling me to Invest in gold.
[01:32]
Alison Ashley Arm
15 year old girl, you need to invest in gold.
[01:35]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
How can we put them in the blue suits again?
[01:38]
Shane Topp
How can we see their dick imprints again on Disney? Shane, is that a comfortable place for the mic for you or would you prefer it elsewhere? Maybe we'll turn it a little bit more so I'm great.
[01:51]
Alison Ashley Arm
It doesn't look comfortable. So that's why.
[01:53]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Shane, are you comfortably comfortable?
[01:55]
Shane Topp
Hello and welcome to a very special Smosh cast. It is the so random reunion cast.
[02:02]
Damien Haas
It's a party. Get down.
[02:03]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh my gosh.
[02:04]
Shane Topp
I've been thinking about all day.
[02:05]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Oh my God.
[02:05]
Shane Topp
And I'm joined by my former castmates Alice and Ashley Arm. Matthew Scott Montgomery. Woo. And of course, Damien Haas.
[02:12]
Damien Haas
That's me, guys.
[02:13]
Shane Topp
How are you doing?
[02:14]
Alison Ashley Arm
We're Just your former castmates. That's it.
[02:16]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
So good. Yeah, we're great. Incredible. Thank you. Family.
[02:21]
Damien Haas
Family. Well, we like to keep it at an arm's distance, so let's stick with former castmates. Okay.
[02:25]
Alison Ashley Arm
Former castmates.
[02:26]
Damien Haas
I know Shane W S H, N E. That's where Shanye came.
[02:32]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah, that's true.
[02:33]
Damien Haas
A script misspelling. And we were just like, let's run with this for eight years.
[02:37]
Alison Ashley Arm
Shanier.
[02:37]
Shane Topp
It was always Shanier.
[02:38]
Alison Ashley Arm
We were talking about it. It was only eight months that we were all together, but it literally seemed like two years.
[02:42]
Damien Haas
Yeah.
[02:43]
Shane Topp
Yeah.
[02:43]
Alison Ashley Arm
Not in a bad way. Just seemed like two years.
[02:45]
Shane Topp
It's. My life is kind of, like, measured by before. So random and after. So random. For those of you listening who don't know, so Random was a Disney show. It was sunny with a chance. And then third season, the main actress, Demi Lovato, left. Then they did a fourth season, and they turned it into a sketch show.
[03:03]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Third season.
[03:04]
Shane Topp
Third season.
[03:04]
Alison Ashley Arm
Third season. Yeah.
[03:05]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
We just did two seasons, and we were all locked down. We actually got picked up for season three, and then it got announced that she was leaving, and we were all like, do we have jobs?
[03:14]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yes.
[03:15]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
And then they were like, we're gonna go ahead and do. So random.
[03:17]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah. There was no season four. That was it.
[03:19]
Damien Haas
I'm sorry. It was done by the same people who produced all that, so it was definitely like the all that of our time. Just for context, if people have seen the show but aren't quite remembering, what were some characters that y'all were known for?
[03:32]
Alison Ashley Arm
Allison, you.
[03:34]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Well, I had Janice. It was like.
[03:37]
Damien Haas
Janice.
[03:39]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yes. Yeah, Janice. I mean, we all had a bunch of really weird characters. Janis was like, just a very nasally version of myself. That whole time was a blur and costume.
[03:49]
Alison Ashley Arm
Well, you were Zora.
[03:50]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah.
[03:51]
Alison Ashley Arm
So we were all, like, playing versions of our. Well, it was a show of two seasons.
[03:56]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
We were ourselves. But you guys all had your real names. I was still Sora.
[04:00]
Damien Haas
Partially. They made. It was Shane Zabo.
[04:02]
Shane Topp
I forgot about that.
[04:03]
Damien Haas
Damian Johansson.
[04:04]
Alison Ashley Arm
I was Matthew Bailey.
[04:06]
Damien Haas
Bailey. Yeah. I don't remember that.
[04:08]
Alison Ashley Arm
The reason how I describe it to people for at least season three or so random, is that it was like SNL for Disney Channel because we opened the episode kind of as ourselves. Slash. Well, the three of us were kind of like, heightened versions of ourselves. You were Zora. And then we had Tiffany and Brandon and Sterling and Doug. And then we'd have sketches throughout the episode, and then there'd be musical guests at the end.
[04:27]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah. And we Kept getting moved to later and later time slots because D.C. should not do sketch comedy because their whole thing is you can't make fun of anything. And it's like, that's all that sketch comedy is.
[04:36]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah, yeah, it was tough.
[04:38]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
The hook hands is.
[04:40]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh, the hook hands.
[04:41]
Damien Haas
Yes.
[04:41]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Cause the thing is that we had the skit where it was like a let's touch animals. And Tiffany had hook hands, and she was trying to get kids to touch the animals. And I was like, I don't want hook hands. And then a mom writes in and is like, my daughter has hook hands. And it was offended by.
[04:56]
Alison Ashley Arm
Is that what they said?
[04:57]
Damien Haas
Yes, yes, it was.
[04:58]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
My daughter has hook hands.
[04:59]
Alison Ashley Arm
Well, yeah. If one mom would complain about anything, they would cut it.
[05:02]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
They would take out the whole sketch.
[05:03]
Damien Haas
Brandon had a sketch that was like learning to speak Spanish. And so we had like a Spanish accent. And they were, you can't have an accent of any kind. And it was like, okay, like, how.
[05:12]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Do you get cast?
[05:12]
Alison Ashley Arm
He shot like three of those and cut them.
[05:14]
Shane Topp
But it was so weird. Cause I feel like one of my first sketches there, I was playing Billy Mays, or I was playing Willie Craze.
[05:21]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh, my gosh.
[05:22]
Shane Topp
But this was only like a few months after Billy Mays had passed away. And I'm like, this isn't offensive.
[05:28]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
I think the only one that I was like, this is definitely offensive was the guacamole one. Like, when the mom complained about that one, I was like, okay, I understand guacamole.
[05:35]
Alison Ashley Arm
Refresh my memory.
[05:36]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
That was the one where Mitchell Musso was there. And it was like, you put guacamole on your mole so that you can socialize at parties and hide your moles.
[05:45]
Damien Haas
No one wants to look at a gross old mole. And it's like, okay, got it.
[05:49]
Alison Ashley Arm
So many things are flooding back to me. Memory wise, flood is weird. Yeah. I think the ones that I get recognized the most for are Rufus, this kid who would be like, I haven't said this phrase in so long.
[06:00]
Damien Haas
Oh, my God, here it is.
[06:02]
Alison Ashley Arm
People ask me to say it all the time, but it's. Oh, it's.
[06:05]
Shane Topp
Oh, you're not gonna believe it.
[06:07]
Alison Ashley Arm
Which does not sound real. That's like something out of a movie of some. Like, that's a character in a mov. He's like, what's that thing you played as a kid on tv? Like, Rufus with a stupid cat, but that's actually so real. And then Angus, who's the Australian supermodel? And then like, Billy the cheerleader, and Angus and Billy. I, like, wrote myself and made up in the audition. And then word for word, what I came up with is what ended up on television.
[06:29]
Damien Haas
That's crazy.
[06:30]
Alison Ashley Arm
And all the time, people were like, do you get paid for writing that? I was like, no, because I didn't know any different at all.
[06:35]
Shane Topp
They used a lot of our characters we auditioned with, and some didn't make sense because I auditioned with a Jerry Seinfeld impression, and they threw me in as Jerry Seinfeld in one of the sketches.
[06:46]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh.
[06:46]
Shane Topp
And it didn't, like, even make sense. I think it was. It was something. Tiffany was, like, working with animals. And then I came in hookah. Was it hook hands? And I came in as Jerry Seinfeld and get eaten by a lion or something.
[06:59]
Damien Haas
Yeah. That's actually the same sketch. 100%. Yeah.
[07:02]
Alison Ashley Arm
Did you audition with the Tom Cruise?
[07:04]
Shane Topp
I did. I did. I did do that.
[07:06]
Alison Ashley Arm
That's my favorite of yours. That's your best, in my opinion.
[07:08]
Shane Topp
Oh, thank you.
[07:09]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Your Johnny Depp impression was so good, but unfortunately was covered up by a million prosthetics.
[07:15]
Damien Haas
That was your least favorite sketch, huh?
[07:16]
Shane Topp
That was definitely my least favorite sketch. It was very early on. I was playing Jack Sparrow, but he was an actual sparrow. And so they put me in a bird suit.
[07:26]
Alison Ashley Arm
Freakish terrifying.
[07:28]
Shane Topp
I looked awful. And they spent a solid four hours putting a prosthetic beak that moved with my mouth.
[07:35]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah.
[07:36]
Shane Topp
And I had to do the whole sketch with that. And so hot. So much lights.
[07:41]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
My favorite thing is that I was a minor, so I got mine on last, but Sterling went first, and he's a smoker, and they didn't want him smoking with the beak.
[07:49]
Damien Haas
Oh, my God.
[07:50]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
And I just remember walking out of the school room at one point, and he was just, like, sitting on the patio with, like, a cigarette hanging out of the beak.
[07:56]
Alison Ashley Arm
And we don't even blink at that stuff.
[07:58]
Shane Topp
We didn't speak about it.
[07:59]
Alison Ashley Arm
That was the unhappiest I've ever seen Sterling, and that's saying a lot. Sterling was unhappy, frequently sullen boy. More than anyone else in the cast, I think, too.
[08:07]
Shane Topp
Oh, my God.
[08:08]
Alison Ashley Arm
He was scared of clowns. Was he scared of birds, too, or just clowns?
[08:11]
Shane Topp
He was so terrified of clowns. That was dressed up as a clown and he had to leave.
[08:16]
Damien Haas
Was it a Halloween episode where somebody I know. It was a scarecrow.
[08:18]
Alison Ashley Arm
I just remember him crying and me comforting him about the clown.
[08:22]
Damien Haas
I love clowns, man.
[08:23]
Alison Ashley Arm
You do?
[08:24]
Damien Haas
I do.
[08:24]
Shane Topp
Actually, I was.
[08:25]
Alison Ashley Arm
You're the only one I've ever met in my life.
[08:26]
Damien Haas
I was having a conversation about this earlier and this is not so random based, so I'll keep it short. But I have an affinity for those that are misunderstood or are broken. And so imagine a creature like clowns. But think about a creature that's 100% of its goal is to be there to make you laugh. Creature, everyone.
[08:41]
Alison Ashley Arm
You just said creature.
[08:42]
Damien Haas
Terrified of it. It is a creature, it's not a person. What, like a clown can vote? No, no clown rights. They're there to make you laugh and then they make everybody scary. So I'm just like, yeah, it is adorable.
[08:55]
Alison Ashley Arm
I love that about you. Thank you.
[08:57]
Damien Haas
Just wanted to give him a hug.
[08:58]
Shane Topp
What were your guys least favorite sketches that you had to do?
[09:02]
Alison Ashley Arm
Least favorite?
[09:03]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
I think anytime a sketch would get rewritten so much to the point where it didn't make sense anymore. And then we were still trying jokes that just didn't work. Cause they were like, oop, that's offensive. Also, you can't do this accent. And like, yes, I remember the saggy pants one. They kept changing. It was for our sunglasses. And they kept changing all of our accents and our entire characters. And it was just like, I don't even know what this character is anymore or what we're doing.
[09:23]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah, there was one sketch where I was like a counselor in the woods or something and some boys were going camping. I missed the table read because I was taping an episode of Austin and Alley and Scott, one of the writers read for me in the table read and I got to work the next day. Everyone's like, oh my gosh, this sketch is so funn. You're gonna kill, you're gonna destroy, you're gonna slay. And I didn't get the gag of the scene. We did it in the network run through and it was dead silent. Everyone's staring at me like, well, don't worry, we'll fix it. And then we're taping in front of a live audience. I still don't get what the deal is. And the lines are just not landing. And I remember Michael Feldman coming over to me and goes, you know what? Just make up whatever you want. Like anything you come up with is gonna be better than what we can come up with. And I pulled a stunt. I was like, I was such a diva that day because I was like, this is not acting. I' and I need a script and I do not wanna do this. And I like stormed off of set and Sterling came to get me. And Sterling was like, hey man, we have like, minors. We're gonna lose the audience in, like, five minutes. And I'm like, I'm not going on until they write me something that makes sense. And there's some line about, like, me finding out my wife was leaving me on Facebook. I don't even know. And the episode didn't make it to air. And I remember going back to my dressing room, calling my manager, being like, this isn't art. I am an art. I was like, what was I thinking? Like, what was that whole thing?
[10:41]
Damien Haas
I don't know. You were young, and you had just won an award for, like, best actor. It was. I don't remember the name, but, like, we were all. We were always so impressed with you just as, like, an amazing actor in general. So we're just standing there like, yeah, this is our first project, too. Hook. I'm Doofy the Platypus.
[10:58]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yes. It's true. I just come from doing a show that ran for a year that was dead serious. It was, like, super. It was super dramatic. And so it was very different for me to come on doing, like, I remember for the audition, because the audition was come up as, like, three characters. What we had to do. Like, there was no script. It was just, you come up with three characters. I did an Australian accent. I did the Billy the cheerleader thing. And I forget I did something else. And I never thought in a million years I would book it. I'm like, this is ridiculous. I'm just gonna do whatever my brother thinks is funny. And then I kept getting called back. And, Damien, I remember you and I were always at the same callback court. I remember describing it as, like, going through, like, the rounds of American Idol, because, like, the first call, you were there, then the callback, and then, like, again. And then, I think, a test. And there was one day where it was you and me and Audrey, and we came to, like, have our final audition, and Cheryl, who's the cast director, gave us, like, a tour of the set.
[11:48]
Damien Haas
Ye.
[11:48]
Alison Ashley Arm
And I think they remember that.
[11:49]
Damien Haas
And then it went to a table read.
[11:50]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yes. And we didn't know we were cast already.
[11:52]
Damien Haas
Yeah.
[11:53]
Alison Ashley Arm
So I was like, this is all great. Why are you showing us the set? Because we didn't know if we booked it or not. So, like, me and Audrey and Damian are, like, holding each other's hands, like, are we cast? Like, I don't understand.
[12:03]
Damien Haas
Whoa.
[12:03]
Alison Ashley Arm
And then we just.
[12:04]
Damien Haas
That was that for 28 episodes. They were like, we're bringing it back for one more week.
[12:09]
Shane Topp
I remember that. Yeah. We were technically Guest stars for the whole season. And there was finally. It was like episode seven or something where my manager was like, I'm gonna ask them about you becoming a regular.
[12:21]
Alison Ashley Arm
I think you were the first new guest star. Correct.
[12:23]
Shane Topp
I came on on the first episode, but we all had the same amount of episodes at the end.
[12:27]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah.
[12:28]
Shane Topp
Because my manager reached out to them and was like, hey, can he become a regular? And they're like, no. And also, we don't need him next week. Oh. And I was like, oh.
[12:38]
Alison Ashley Arm
Audrey and I, we did our first episodes together, and they put us in a. They didn't have dressing rooms for us. We were in an office building with no electricity on. So what we did was we had a system of doors that were open to get sunlight in there as the sun was going down. Wow. Yeah. And Audrey and I are like, I'll.
[12:55]
Shane Topp
Give you a cell.
[12:55]
Alison Ashley Arm
Audrey and I were getting ready in this public restroom before we taped in front of a live audience. And that's when I did Rufus for the first time. And then I went back in the darkness, trying to go through this office building to find my clothes so I could change back to go home. Oh, my God. Yeah. That's insane.
[13:11]
Shane Topp
I remember when the first table read where you came in and you did Rufus. It was insane.
[13:16]
Damien Haas
So funny.
[13:16]
Shane Topp
Like, everyone was laughing.
[13:17]
Alison Ashley Arm
I'm cold. Red, though. Hard on the spot.
[13:19]
Damien Haas
Which is unbelievable, because looking at the script, that sketch should not have worked. Just the main joke being the catchphrase. You're not gonna believe this. Like you said, it's not a believable thing.
[13:28]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Kid making up Rufus.
[13:29]
Alison Ashley Arm
I think he's just a kooky guy.
[13:30]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah.
[13:31]
Alison Ashley Arm
I guess I should explain. Maybe for people who don't know, but Rufus was this kid who's more or less dressed like I dressed to my final audition, I think. But it was a kid who would have excuses for everything, where he'd be like, rufus, where's your homework? He's like, you're not gonna believe this, but 17 monkeys ate it or whatever.
[13:46]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
And then at the end, it would reveal that it was real.
[13:48]
Alison Ashley Arm
Everything that I said was true. Always.
[13:50]
Damien Haas
I think they made you more and more of like. Like an ancient, forgotten God as time went on. Because it would be the kind of thing where, like, all of a sudden you're behind someone and then, like, you have a job at a place now, but then you're also the manager.
[14:03]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yes.
[14:03]
Damien Haas
The movie rules went out the window.
[14:05]
Shane Topp
You also severely hurt yourself in one of them. Right.
[14:08]
Damien Haas
Smashing the glass.
[14:09]
Shane Topp
Or was that Rufus or Was that.
[14:10]
Alison Ashley Arm
That was Rufus.
[14:11]
Shane Topp
That was Rufus.
[14:11]
Alison Ashley Arm
So Rufus was. There was an episode that Leigh Allen Baker was guest starring on. You played her daughter. God, the makeup was so funny. Do you remember.
[14:21]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah. The prom one.
[14:22]
Alison Ashley Arm
No, this is.
[14:22]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Cause I remember this.
[14:24]
Alison Ashley Arm
At the Hibachi Grill place. Do you remember this? You were sitting there.
[14:27]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Oh.
[14:27]
Alison Ashley Arm
And I was like the chef that was gonna come up and like, they literally just gave me props. They're like just like flip around knives and glass and like. Cause I was like pretending to make rice and like. You like rice and was like, flip it around.
[14:38]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
I was playing that same character in the fat suit that I played in the Big Hands sketch. Right. Because then she. Yeah. Cause I had the unibrow and like the pimples and everything.
[14:47]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh my God, you're so funny.
[14:49]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah. The weird thing about all of my characters, I felt like they didn't really have names or at least iconic names. They were just kind of like the really freaking weird.
[14:56]
Alison Ashley Arm
You're that weird.
[14:58]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
No, seriously. Yeah. No, you just kind of like. Yeah, I mean, that's what Janice was. It was like, ah, she's got like really frizzy hair and high pants and like.
[15:06]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh my God.
[15:06]
Shane Topp
Janice, you're Teeth person.
[15:08]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah.
[15:09]
Shane Topp
This is your new character, Teeth person.
[15:10]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah.
[15:11]
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[15:35]
Shane Topp
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[15:42]
Damien Haas
Speaking of big hands, it was the one time I ever. Brandon Michael Smith was like the most friendly, like, hey, what's up, man? Kind of, you know, always high fiving, like, good to see. So I got him really bad one time. Big Hands was the sketch where they had these like massive, very realistic hand prophets.
[15:56]
Alison Ashley Arm
I can't believe all this is real.
[15:57]
Shane Topp
Everything we're saying, every story is so insane.
[16:00]
Alison Ashley Arm
Remember Big Hands? Yeah, Big hands.
[16:02]
Damien Haas
But I think they had just.
[16:03]
Alison Ashley Arm
No, that was Unibrow Day.
[16:06]
Shane Topp
No, that was Demon Bird.
[16:07]
Damien Haas
Demon Bird.
[16:08]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh, God.
[16:09]
Damien Haas
I think they had just used it on like a Star Trek Shoot. Or something like that. So they were very realistic. Giant hands that looked like mine. So the whole thing was like, hey, it's just me and my big hands. And so Brandon came up, got a body shape. That was a lot of the jokes.
[16:24]
Alison Ashley Arm
2011, it was a different title.
[16:25]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Why didn't he come back for another season?
[16:28]
Shane Topp
Well, you made fun of everyone.
[16:30]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah, yeah.
[16:31]
Damien Haas
So Brandon comes up to me to give me a high five. He's like, hey, what's up, man? I'm like, hey, dude, what's good? And, like, just let him see it. And he literally went. It was very satisfying.
[16:42]
Alison Ashley Arm
Wow, that must have been so frustrating. Cause you couldn't, like, touch your face or anything.
[16:45]
Shane Topp
Yep, that's funny.
[16:46]
Damien Haas
Thank God I wasn't a smoker.
[16:47]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yes. We were all in miserable.
[16:49]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Were we? Sterling with the bacon.
[16:51]
Alison Ashley Arm
I'm sorry, Damien. Do you remember the episode where we were, like, late. Lady Gaga's backup dancers in Skin Tight.
[16:55]
Damien Haas
I've tried so hard to block that out, dude.
[16:57]
Alison Ashley Arm
Like, our costumes were so tight, you could see what our religion was. You know what I'm saying? And we're like, this is our wardrobe. Great. So Jamie and I walk out. We're like, here's what it looks like. They're like, we can't use that. Let's put shorts over.
[17:08]
Damien Haas
They're like, let's find some blue shorts. I'm like, really? Should we find some? Maybe it was the only time I've ever been like, here's my penis. My jaded nature was more than how much I didn't want to show my wean. So, yeah, I also remember.
[17:23]
Alison Ashley Arm
I don't think I ever told you this, Damien, but, like, my dressing room was next to wardrobe, and I would leave my door open sometimes so I could hear them talking shit. Not a whole lot, but they were. They were like, ugh, I don't know what we're gonna do about this blue bodysuit thing. They think they can't wear them. Like, it's too revealing. And I was like, it is. They came in and apologized.
[17:41]
Damien Haas
Speaking of, you know, a wardrobe and makeup and stuff, I remember having. We maybe shouldn't say this.
[17:47]
Shane Topp
Dark.
[17:47]
Alison Ashley Arm
Dark.
[17:48]
Damien Haas
So we might cut it out. But there was. You know, they were all different makeup artists. There was one that was.
[17:53]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh, no.
[17:53]
Shane Topp
Oh, God. This is the only time in my life where I've been flat out betrayed by Damien. So we. Yeah.
[18:00]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh, my gosh. We have to tell this story.
[18:02]
Shane Topp
Maybe we have to.
[18:02]
Alison Ashley Arm
We won't say her name.
[18:03]
Damien Haas
There was one that was at the time not our favorite. Cause she sort of overdid the caked on. Like, there shouldn't be.
[18:08]
Shane Topp
She'd make you look like a dead clown.
[18:11]
Alison Ashley Arm
Here's the thing. So there were so many cast members, right. And, like, we'd be hurried to get into makeup really quick, so we would just be randomly assigned whoever had a chair that was open. But, like, sometimes we would systematically plan, take a little bit longer with things so we wouldn't end up in this certain makeup artist's chair. Because she made you look all green and dead, like a zombie.
[18:29]
Shane Topp
Let's call her Lorraine.
[18:30]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah, Lorraine.
[18:33]
Damien Haas
Let's call her Kevin. That's different. Her name is Kevin.
[18:36]
Alison Ashley Arm
Her name is Kevin. Kevin Lorraine.
[18:38]
Shane Topp
Kevin Lorraine.
[18:39]
Damien Haas
Shane and I are, like, walking into the room at the same time, and I see that that's the open chair, and I'm directly in front of him, and I go like, oh, my room. You didn't even say an excuse.
[18:48]
Shane Topp
You were like, oh, my room. And you walked away. And then she was.
[18:51]
Damien Haas
Sit down.
[18:52]
Shane Topp
Shit.
[18:53]
Alison Ashley Arm
Wait, do you guys remember when Kevin Lorraine gave me pink eye and I had to leave the set? Do you guys remember that? Oh. Oh, you guys. So it was the Halloween special, which is my favorite time of year.
[19:04]
Damien Haas
Yes.
[19:04]
Alison Ashley Arm
And I was doing a sketch, and Kevin Lorraine was doing my makeup, and I remember poking all up in my eye, and my eyes started to get red. I show up to work the next day, and they're like, uh, you have pink eye. And I'm like, um, it's because Kevin Lorraine was using her dirty sponges poking in my eye. And they sent me home from, like, the dance routine part of the music video for the Halloween special. And I. I was devastated. I remember one of the other makeup artists coming into my dressing room and, like, holding me because I was crying because I was like, this is my dream to do a Halloween special. And I was like, it's Kevin Lorraine's fault. Kevin Lorraine did this, and I had to go home. Oh, my God.
[19:37]
Shane Topp
I can rewatch episodes, and I can tell when she did my makeup.
[19:41]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yes, 100%.
[19:41]
Shane Topp
Because you look visibly so different than everyone else on camera.
[19:47]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
I remember I would bring my own makeup, and I would go redo my makeup in the bathroom.
[19:51]
Shane Topp
Yeah, she was the sweet.
[19:53]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
My. Well, that's the problem is that my set teacher, Marcia, one time, she was, like, asking why I was taking a long time in my dressing room. I was like, I'm redoing my makeup. She's like, wait, you do this all the time. So then she talked to the Head makeup artist and got me, like, switched so that Kevin would no longer do my makeup. But it was on the day that, like, Kevin had got me, like, a birthday present. So I was just, like, so utterly awkward. Cause I was, like, going to somebody else for my makeup and it was.
[20:19]
Alison Ashley Arm
Like, oh, my God. I shove this deep down in my midline.
[20:22]
Shane Topp
Oh, my God.
[20:22]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah.
[20:23]
Shane Topp
She was so nice is the problem. She wasn't, like, a mean person, so you couldn't have an excuse to be like, I don't wanna sit here.
[20:30]
Alison Ashley Arm
Like, you don't want.
[20:31]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Thank God.
[20:32]
Shane Topp
So sweet. She'd be like, hi, how are you doing? And just paint your face.
[20:35]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah. I remember they. I was in a zombie costume, and they took me straight to the doctor in my zombie costume with the wig on. And. Yes. And then they sent me straight home from there. And then I had to pay for the Doctorsville. What? Yes.
[20:50]
Damien Haas
As they wouldn't pay you series regular money. Yeah.
[20:53]
Alison Ashley Arm
Can you believe that?
[20:53]
Damien Haas
Also, can we talk about the use of money on the show? Cause I feel like that was one of the major reasons we didn't come back. We had a sketch called the pig speech where, like, it's supposed to be Porky pig mimicking the king's speech, and it's his stutter and all that. And so instead of just putting a pig nose on someone and letting them do sketch comedy, it was a $10,000 mascot costume, anthropomorphic pig that we bought. We didn't rent it.
[21:16]
Shane Topp
We all had our turn with, like, crazy prosthetics.
[21:19]
Alison Ashley Arm
Y.
[21:20]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
The whole Strawberry Shortcake set that they built.
[21:22]
Damien Haas
Incredible.
[21:23]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
For that expensive, like, 10 second gag where it was like, what if aliens attacked Strawberry Shortcake? And now here's the intro. Wait, why did this take up half of the soundstage?
[21:34]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yes.
[21:35]
Shane Topp
We would have completely new sets every week. We'd have the main stage where we came out and we danced.
[21:40]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah.
[21:40]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
I was like, put us in front of a curtain with little alien antennas. That's all.
[21:45]
Alison Ashley Arm
Do you remember Dark Damien?
[21:46]
Damien Haas
Oh, he's still here.
[21:47]
Shane Topp
Oh, so dark. Damian recently made a very popular appearance on Smosh. Damian is literally known as the most polite. Like, obviously, as you know. And he's also known for apologizing a lot, which you guys also know. I've mentioned that my first interaction with. One of my first interactions with Damian is we got. We all had lunch outside of our dressing rooms. And the next day, I was walking to my dressing room and Damian was there, and he was like. He's like, hey, hey, man. Just wanted to Say I interrupted you at one point during lunch yesterday.
[22:17]
Alison Ashley Arm
Seven months ago.
[22:19]
Shane Topp
Seven months ago. I'm really sorry about that.
[22:21]
Alison Ashley Arm
And I was like, it was 2:38pm and he was eating a turkey sandwich. I looked at you funny and aw, I haven't slept in seven weeks.
[22:27]
Damien Haas
That's me.
[22:29]
Shane Topp
Literally the most polite guy. But whenever he got a mustache, I.
[22:33]
Damien Haas
Don'T like stuff on my face. All emotion shuts down. It's like a bunch of little needles pricking you on your lip constantly. So, like my face just goes down and I'm just like.
[22:41]
Alison Ashley Arm
They would give them to you non stop. You constantly had my face.
[22:45]
Damien Haas
You're the dad in a scene who's also a coach.
[22:47]
Alison Ashley Arm
I would read the script and I would have to bite the inside of my cheeks to keep from laughing. I'm sorry. But I was like, oh, no, it's going to be dark. Damien's back for this episode. Oh, no, he's addicted to dad who's a coach again.
[22:57]
Shane Topp
You would walk past his dressing room and he would just be sitting there like he's in confession.
[23:01]
Alison Ashley Arm
There was a cartoon cloud above him with rain, literally. And the rain would disappear before it hit the ground. But it was there.
[23:06]
Shane Topp
He would be looking at his coffee table. There's nothing on the table. He's just looking at it.
[23:10]
Alison Ashley Arm
Dressed as a cop.
[23:11]
Shane Topp
Just dressed as a cop with mustache. Bummed. So sad. You'd be like, how you doing, man? I'm good.
[23:17]
Alison Ashley Arm
I've had better days. I don't know.
[23:19]
Damien Haas
You know, each day we die a little more.
[23:23]
Alison Ashley Arm
It's just needles poking into my.
[23:24]
Damien Haas
When will death come and release me from this bullshit?
[23:29]
Shane Topp
Wait, what were your guys first impressions of us? I'm curious.
[23:32]
Damien Haas
Yeah.
[23:32]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Oh, I mean, I loved you guys coming in because going through season one and two of Sunny with a Chance, I was very much the younger sibling of everything. Like, they would all go get cast dinners afterward, and it was very much like I was in the schoolroom and it was just like them and me. And then you guys all came on board and I was. I was like, hey, how's it going? And I felt like actually I was making friends and hanging out. Everybody had been nice to me season one and two. But then actually I felt like, oh, I have friends. We can hang out afterwards. You were very welcoming.
[24:04]
Damien Haas
The age difference didn't matter when it so normally would. You were very friendly and always invited us to stuff. You were like, come to my birthday party. I'm like, all right, Allison.
[24:13]
Alison Ashley Arm
You were my first date on a red carpet. Ever.
[24:15]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
That was so fun. Yeah, we went to prom. Yeah. Yeah.
[24:18]
Alison Ashley Arm
And I think you were. Were you 14 at the time? And I identify as a 14 year old girl on the inside, so I think that's why we got along so well.
[24:27]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
But immediately you were like, were you 14? And I'm trying to think of what my hair was like and that's how I like mark all of my teenage years. It was pink.
[24:34]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah, pink, that's right.
[24:35]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah.
[24:35]
Alison Ashley Arm
You've been through it all hair wise, haven't you? Oh, wow. Yeah. So I immediately identified with Allison because she looked like a 14, 15 year old girl who celebrated Halloween. And that's who I truly am underneath this drag that I'm in right now. Shane. My impression of Shane was that. So Damian and Audrey and I got the tour of the set and treated like we were cast, but we hadn't heard anything yet. And I remember feverishly checking social media because I knew filming was about to start or started already. And I think maybe Alison, you or Tiffany or something had posted something and you were tagged in it, Shane. And I remember thinking like, oh, that's the guy that got it, or whatever. I wasn't thinking like. And it was Bridget. Remember Bridget? So it was Bridget. Bridget and Shane were cast. So I was like, oh, I guess me and Damian and Audrey didn't get it. And so I was like, oh, okay. And then we got the call that we were gonna be on it, and then you weren't there. When I filmed my first episode, it was the regulars and then it was. I don't think you were there either. I think it was just me and Audrey. Maybe they tried us like two at a time or something.
[25:34]
Damien Haas
I think I came on either the second or the third week.
[25:36]
Alison Ashley Arm
Right.
[25:37]
Damien Haas
So I think I was the last newbie.
[25:39]
Alison Ashley Arm
So I knew Damian already from like the audition process, but it was delayed. You and I, Shane, getting to know each other. And I remember being intimidated by you because I'm like, oh, my God, this guy's amazing. Everyone's talking about how funny he is. And I still didn't feel completely comfortable being like a sketch comedian or whatever it was. And you were just such like a legend at it already. Cause people had talked about how funny you were. Cause the episode, they're like, oh, Shane was on last week. I remember Tiffany talking about it. And Tiffany and I got pretty close pretty fast. And I remember like just thinking you were like God's gift. And I knew, I already knew Damian was a really, really nice guy because we'd spent Some time together, and I felt like we were in the trenches together, and we were holding on to each other through this, like, tornado experience. But to me, you were this guy who, like, already booked it. He's already a regular. Everyone already really loves him. And I was like, oh, gosh. I have to make a good impression.
[26:25]
Shane Topp
I'm freaking out.
[26:26]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh, really?
[26:27]
Shane Topp
They're gonna fire me next week.
[26:28]
Damien Haas
Yeah.
[26:29]
Shane Topp
Cause, yeah. Cause, like, I did the first episode, and I was like, oh, this is great. I got this job. The next week, Damian comes in, and I'm thinking, I suck. And then the next week, you came in and just killed with Rufus. And I was like, oh, we're both out now.
[26:43]
Damien Haas
What? Mental warfare that was to never have us. Just let us know that we booked the job. And, like, we're creating all these imaginary fights between ourselves. That's B.S.
[26:52]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yes. Yeah. We all got along really well.
[26:54]
Shane Topp
Oh, absolutely.
[26:55]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Damien taught me math.
[26:56]
Damien Haas
I did. I tutored you every once in a while. That was nice.
[27:00]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yes.
[27:01]
Damien Haas
You guys were always, like, relegated to the schoolroom because you were under 18. So every once in a while, there'd just be a little knock and be like, can you help us with the problem? And I'm like, yeah, I need it.
[27:11]
Alison Ashley Arm
Cause your dressing room was right near the art room.
[27:13]
Damien Haas
It was right near the art room.
[27:14]
Alison Ashley Arm
Or the school room?
[27:15]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
It was the art room.
[27:16]
Alison Ashley Arm
It was the art room. Yeah.
[27:18]
Damien Haas
Also my dressing room. Like, I don't know what happened, but I think I'm the polar opposite person than I am now, because I, you know, I really like being to myself, and I like cold rooms. I'm always, like, easily overheated. That room. I would constantly want people in there, like, playing video games. I set up my Wii and my Cuban thing. It was the hangout spot. And I kept it really hot. I was like, how hot?
[27:37]
Alison Ashley Arm
I don't remember the heat thing. I don't remember.
[27:39]
Shane Topp
I don't remember the heat thing either.
[27:40]
Damien Haas
I think it was when people weren't in there. If it was just me, I'd be like, crank it to 90. Take a nap.
[27:44]
Alison Ashley Arm
Maybe it's because you're just as closest to the door when you entered, and it was just, like, immediately easy to hang out.
[27:49]
Damien Haas
Maybe. Yeah. Yeah.
[27:49]
Alison Ashley Arm
You know, or you just.
[27:50]
Damien Haas
You. You know, guys liked me and whatever.
[27:52]
Shane Topp
And you were still.
[27:53]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh, yeah.
[27:53]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
That you were closest to the door.
[27:56]
Alison Ashley Arm
No. Oh, my God. Wow. We did it just because this closest to the front door. We didn't really like you.
[28:02]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
I tried bringing game consoles to set, and I brought my Xbox for like one week. And then Brandon asked to borrow it. And then I brought his posse to his dressing room. As we talked about Brandon's Kinect was gone. And I was like, cool.
[28:15]
Shane Topp
I remember him playing. What was the dead space? Dead space. I remember him playing. And he's on the complete other end of the hallway of the dressing rooms from mine. But I just would hear him just be like.
[28:29]
Alison Ashley Arm
Wow, that really sounds like him.
[28:30]
Shane Topp
Actually, dude, that's the loudest human. Damian, I think, has referred to him as an interdimensional being.
[28:37]
Alison Ashley Arm
Wait, can we just talk about Brandon for a second? There's a couple things I want to say about Brandon.
[28:41]
Shane Topp
Brandon Michael Smith.
[28:41]
Alison Ashley Arm
Brandon Michael Smith. Constantly, especially on taping nights, he would have white men in business suits and suitcases who would go into his dressing room. Don't know what would happen in like, honestly, like maybe five or six. In like full suits and like silver suitcases. Yeah.
[28:56]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Like they were business advisors. And I remember one time they asked me, they asked me like to lunch or some sort of meeting or something. And they were telling me to invest in gold.
[29:06]
Shane Topp
Those are my gold people.
[29:08]
Alison Ashley Arm
Excuse me, 15 year old girl. You need to invest in gold.
[29:11]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
I was like, cool, thanks. Wait, I'm gonna go buy Invisalign with my chicks.
[29:14]
Damien Haas
I mean, a doll.
[29:15]
Shane Topp
Brandon. Brandon could talk. Talk. Like, yo.
[29:18]
Alison Ashley Arm
Here's the thing about Brandon though. When we did press one time, I sat with him and he described so random, like the Wire. He goes, no. I remember thinking he's the master of bullshit. Like an art.
[29:29]
Shane Topp
He really is.
[29:29]
Alison Ashley Arm
And I respect it so much. It's a quality I wish I had. But he was like, he's like, you know, like every. Every great television show, the third season, they change. They change it up. So we're changing up for the third season. Cause now it's so random, not saying we had the chance. Just like how the Wire did it for their third season. I was like, bitch. Like, this is not fire. Do you know what I'm saying? Like, this is. This is not. Like, God bless you for saying that.
[29:46]
Damien Haas
But I also remember him saying at one point, like, you guys should do stand up. You know, you're really funny. Which is very nice. It was always like rooted in a supportive nature. He's like, you're really nice. You know, walk into anywhere and just like, just, you know, let them know you're on the Disney Channel. They'll put you up there. You can walk out with 20k in your pocket. And I was like, maybe you can.
[30:02]
Shane Topp
What in the world that's how standup works.
[30:04]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
What?
[30:04]
Damien Haas
Open mic?
[30:05]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
You can't even walk into set with 20K.
[30:08]
Shane Topp
Does he really think you go to an open mic and just get $20,000?
[30:11]
Damien Haas
He might have said 12,000, probably. But either way, too much.
[30:14]
Shane Topp
12,000. That's better.
[30:15]
Alison Ashley Arm
Too much. The thing is, I could see Brand doing that.
[30:17]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
He probably.
[30:18]
Shane Topp
He's really successful. He's on a show now.
[30:21]
Damien Haas
He voices Michelangelo in the New Ninja Turtles.
[30:23]
Alison Ashley Arm
Does he really? That's so dope.
[30:25]
Shane Topp
I remember him talking, though. He had this one speech where he just was like, talking about how so random was gonna go for like eight seasons.
[30:33]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh, no, girl.
[30:33]
Shane Topp
And how we were gonna, like, we were all gonna do our characters on snl like it was gonna become the biggest thing.
[30:40]
Damien Haas
Yeah, see, it's rooted in a supportive nature. That's what I'm saying. He cares about us. He could see us going far. Like, even if he beats like, he sees good things for everybody within there.
[30:50]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah. He has a way of talking people into things that's really respectable.
[30:53]
Shane Topp
It's just. Oh, my God. I remember I brought my brother and sister in law to visit set and they're in my dressing room and he just walks into my dressing room in just like skin colored, like tight underwear.
[31:06]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yes, that sounds right.
[31:07]
Shane Topp
And he was just like. He's like, hey, have you seen this thing? Or whatever. And I'm like, brandon, what were you doing? He's like, oh, sorry. And he's like picking a wedgie too. I'm like, what are you doing?
[31:18]
Damien Haas
Yeah, that sounds right.
[31:19]
Shane Topp
Oh, he was nuts, but such a great guy. He's a great guy, but nuts. Oh, I remember once also, I was like, yeah, I need to stretch more. He's like, yeah. I had a friend, five, seven, started doing yoga. Six, two. And like, dead serious.
[31:33]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yes, dead serious.
[31:35]
Shane Topp
You just would have to be like, yeah, man. All right.
[31:39]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh, my gosh. Did he mention his friend was eight years old when he met him and then he was 14 later?
[31:44]
Shane Topp
Yeah. So many different personalities. Cause you have Brandon Michael Smith, who is just the most insane person. Sterling Knight, who was just bummed.
[31:50]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh, my gosh.
[31:51]
Shane Topp
Always bummed. Whatever sketch we were doing, he was like, I can't believe he's like doing smoking in this.
[31:57]
Damien Haas
He's like, if Eeyore was the heartthrob in a CW drama.
[32:00]
Shane Topp
Really?
[32:00]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yes. But I mean, like, Sterling's harmless. Like his bike.
[32:04]
Damien Haas
I love him to death.
[32:05]
Alison Ashley Arm
His bike is worse than his bike. Cause he would remember he slept through work one time. And like a PA had to go and get him. And then he rolls up on set in his, like, Batmobile or whatever and, like, comes on set, like, smoking, and then, like, yells at everyone, then goes back to his dressing room, and then he's like, I'm sorry. And then we'd like.
[32:19]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
I remember they chewed him out one week, and then they gave him only, like, the opening line. And then he, like, had to apologize to all the executives. And then he brought the air mattress and he was just sleeping in his dressing room. Cause he was like, I don't want to be late. So it was like a dick move. And also be like.
[32:34]
Alison Ashley Arm
He was.
[32:35]
Shane Topp
But he was really, like, the sweetest guy.
[32:37]
Damien Haas
He is.
[32:37]
Shane Topp
Yeah, he was so sweet.
[32:39]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah. After the show got canceled, I would go over to his house and he would, like, make me dinner. He would like. He's like, we're cooking chicken this week. I'm like, okay. And I was just saying to you guys, I saw him in a play a couple weeks ago, and he was great.
[32:49]
Shane Topp
Awesome.
[32:50]
Alison Ashley Arm
He was really cool.
[32:50]
Shane Topp
I believe he was awesome.
[32:51]
Damien Haas
Incredibly talented.
[32:52]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah, he was great.
[32:52]
Shane Topp
And then we had Tiffany Thornton, who was awesome. Doug Brochu, who is, to this day.
[32:58]
Damien Haas
One of my best friends. Love Doug.
[33:00]
Alison Ashley Arm
Wait, should we talk about blue boys and yeti?
[33:01]
Shane Topp
Yes, we should absolutely talk about blue boys and yeti.
[33:04]
Damien Haas
So there was. We always had musical guests. This week it was the new boys. And so the.
[33:08]
Alison Ashley Arm
Are we doing this? Is this happening now?
[33:11]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Sure.
[33:12]
Alison Ashley Arm
There's so much to talk about.
[33:14]
Damien Haas
It's gonna combine the two stories.
[33:15]
Alison Ashley Arm
Okay.
[33:16]
Damien Haas
So the opening joke was that they were like, hey, guys, you know, don't go. Don't go anywhere. The blue boys are here. And then the new boys walk out, sort of. We'll get to that. And they say, don't you mean us? And then we open the door in these giant blue skin tight jumpsuits.
[33:33]
Alison Ashley Arm
Once again, like Teletubbers.
[33:34]
Shane Topp
Teletubby style.
[33:36]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
How can we put them in the blue suits again?
[33:38]
Shane Topp
How can we see their dick imprints?
[33:40]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah, we can see which side they choose.
[33:44]
Damien Haas
Left. So left, of course.
[33:47]
Alison Ashley Arm
And you were right. I think.
[33:51]
Damien Haas
So we walk out and we're like, no. They mean it's been eight years.
[33:54]
Shane Topp
But I remember.
[33:58]
Damien Haas
The shadow of his dick has never left my mind.
[34:00]
Alison Ashley Arm
I could draw it right now.
[34:03]
Damien Haas
It's like a lobster tail without the shell. Dang it.
[34:06]
Alison Ashley Arm
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[34:14]
Damien Haas
Come to Papawelcom.
[34:16]
Alison Ashley Arm
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[34:33]
Shane Topp
Void we're prohibited by law 21 + terms and conditions apply.
[34:37]
Damien Haas
So yeah, so that was the joke there. And then Doug was also in this massive like woolly mammoth costume. So we made our club the Blue Boys and the Yeti. So we're just hey, Blue Boys and Yeti, the new people on the show.
[34:46]
Shane Topp
Yeah, because we turn to each other and we're like Blue Boys. And we all like put out our fists and then Doug walks up and just goes and yeti. And then that was. We've referred to ourselves as that.
[34:56]
Alison Ashley Arm
The only set piece that we had that stayed every week was like a rotating two story stage where we'd like.
[35:02]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Pop out of our doors.
[35:04]
Alison Ashley Arm
There was nothing really behind the doors, but we'd pop out of them. And then I think all you guys, all the regs were down below and then the Blue Boys were upstairs. We had like different doors that we'd pop out of.
[35:15]
Damien Haas
No, you stay up there.
[35:16]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah, I know.
[35:17]
Shane Topp
We'd come out and dance. Yeah, we would dance and we would dance. Oh my God, so much dancing and I.
[35:22]
Alison Ashley Arm
Tons of dancing.
[35:23]
Shane Topp
I'm still uncomfortable dancing, but back then I was really uncomfortable. And we had to end every episode by dancing for like a solid three minutes. Yes, with like Justin Bieber. It was like Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez. And I'm there like kind of trying to not like bump in into them but still dance and still look happy. And we have to like have these bright smiles on our faces.
[35:45]
Alison Ashley Arm
They would also, when the musical guests were there, would put us in the audience with the children to like watch the musical performers. And they would like cut to us like screaming along with ballet or whatever it was. And a lot of times they would rush to put us in like street clothes. But I remember sometimes I was still in like some costume pieces from other stuff and like they would like separate us too where it'd be like, okay, like Damian and Matthew Scott, like you go over here and like Shane and Tiff, you go over here. And I always was relieved when I was partnered up with one of you guys. Cause like I don't like children. There I said it. Like that was one of.
[36:15]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
I remember Tiffany being like, why do all children smell like Mac? And cheese and bo.
[36:20]
Damien Haas
That's the tea.
[36:22]
Alison Ashley Arm
Wow. So I was like, I don't wanna be alone with this crowd of children. I know I'm on a kids TV show.
[36:27]
Damien Haas
But I was like, we're also grown ass adults by that point.
[36:29]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah, yeah, we were.
[36:30]
Shane Topp
Yeah, you're also working. This is after a whole day and then we get thrown in front of a live audience and have to entertain.
[36:37]
Alison Ashley Arm
And we have to dance to things like the New Boys.
[36:39]
Damien Haas
Real quick, before we go into that. The other awkward thing about it is it was so long before the show premiered into our actual filming process that, like, they would have all these moments where they're like, we're the New people. No one has seen us on TV yet. So they'd be like, hey, guys, who's here to say hello to the cat? The audience right now, Shane Top. And you just hear, who?
[36:57]
Alison Ashley Arm
Like, where's Chad Dylan Cooper? That's what he paid for.
[37:01]
Damien Haas
So we're in the audience, like taking the spot of two other children that they've just sort of shoved us into. And we're like dancing and they're keenly aware that we're adults. We're keenly aware. Their children were all just like, let's just have fun and smile.
[37:13]
Alison Ashley Arm
They don't give two shits who we are. They're supposed to see Tiffany.
[37:16]
Damien Haas
Yeah. Oh, God. So New Boys.
[37:20]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh, God. So we would have a musical guest every week. We had the New Boys scheduled one week and did they just not show up the first time?
[37:28]
Damien Haas
One of them.
[37:29]
Alison Ashley Arm
No, no, no. It was twice.
[37:31]
Shane Topp
Oh, really?
[37:31]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah, we're supposed to be there.
[37:32]
Alison Ashley Arm
I think we had the table read. We're like, oh, work of the New Boys. And I think maybe later they had a replacement musical guest at the last minute. So we were supposed to have the New Boys for. Who are a rap duo, a hip hop duo. I don't know.
[37:43]
Damien Haas
They had one popular song and I can't remember.
[37:45]
Alison Ashley Arm
Is that the Meet yout Mom song?
[37:47]
Damien Haas
No, that's the one they sang, though.
[37:49]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Okay, so you're a jerk. Yeah.
[37:52]
Damien Haas
Okay.
[37:52]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh, was that them?
[37:54]
Shane Topp
Wow. Courtney knew I listened to the New Boys.
[37:56]
Alison Ashley Arm
I like that song.
[37:57]
Shane Topp
Courtney was a New Boys fan.
[37:59]
Alison Ashley Arm
That was the New Boys.
[38:00]
Damien Haas
Well, we met half of them anyway.
[38:02]
Alison Ashley Arm
So like, they were scheduled for one episode and then they just got scrapped for some reason. And. And then like a few weeks later we get our scripts and we're like, this week's episode, the New Boys. And we're like, oh, I guess that they're back. But then like, on the live taping night, they don't show up. Or one of them didn't show up.
[38:17]
Damien Haas
One of them, I think, got stage fright and didn't want to perform. So they got one of their friends.
[38:23]
Shane Topp
He really hates children.
[38:25]
Damien Haas
One of them. That's what I hear. But it could be something like, he's drunk and can't go. Like, it could be anything. Yeah, it could be something like that. So they gave sunglasses to one of their friends, and we're like, nobody knows what we look like. So you just go out and dance and mouth along to the words.
[38:40]
Alison Ashley Arm
So I remember watching them from our trailer with dressing rooms, and they were in the parking lot, and the one guy was teaching the new guy the words to the song and how to perform on stage. This was like 20 minutes before they're about to be on television to be performing their song Join our band.
[38:57]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
I like how you're like, oh, nobody knew what they look like. But I had gone to Hot Topic and bought a T shirt because I would try to get the musical guests to sign T shirts.
[39:06]
Damien Haas
Oh, my God.
[39:06]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
And their faces were on the T shirts. And I remember just looking at the T shirt and looking at them all. Do I still get the picture?
[39:13]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh, you have a different face now. And body.
[39:16]
Damien Haas
Fame will do that too.
[39:18]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
This isn't you. Do you want to sign this picture.
[39:21]
Alison Ashley Arm
Of this other guy?
[39:21]
Shane Topp
That performance was trash, too.
[39:24]
Alison Ashley Arm
They were so bad.
[39:24]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
They just felt from behind them because the guy didn't know the lyrics.
[39:27]
Alison Ashley Arm
Pretty much all the artists lip sync on the show, I think maybe just because it's easier or whatever, but not all of them did. But some of them did. I mean, they were definitely lip syncing. But the guy, the new, new boy.
[39:37]
Damien Haas
The newest boy.
[39:38]
Alison Ashley Arm
The newest boy, he didn't try to lip sync. He just went in the audience and high five people for three full minutes with his sunglasses on.
[39:44]
Damien Haas
Yep. I also remember, like, the song was like, hip hop had a baby with a terrible, spooky carnival.
[39:51]
Alison Ashley Arm
And they would catch us in the audience cheering and smiling like it was normal. Like normal things were happening.
[39:56]
Shane Topp
We were laughing.
[39:57]
Damien Haas
I think we were.
[39:58]
Shane Topp
We were literally laughing at them. If they looked at us, we would.
[40:01]
Damien Haas
Have just been like, what are you doing?
[40:04]
Shane Topp
This is awesome.
[40:04]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah. They just had the cameras behind them and, like, really high overhead.
[40:08]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh, my God. Slacky couldn't believe that happened. They're legends. It's legendary now, though.
[40:15]
Shane Topp
There were so many moments like that of us just being like, I can't believe this is happening.
[40:18]
Alison Ashley Arm
The hardest I've Ever laughed in my life was on set for so random.
[40:21]
Shane Topp
So my favorite story, one of my top five favorite stories of all time is we did a sketch that never made it to air, thank God, called Teeny in a Bottle. And I know it was Matthew Scott and myself.
[40:37]
Alison Ashley Arm
Were we the.
[40:39]
Shane Topp
You were the dad.
[40:40]
Alison Ashley Arm
I was the dad.
[40:41]
Shane Topp
I was the son.
[40:42]
Alison Ashley Arm
Tiffany was my wife or baby mama. Audrey was your.
[40:45]
Shane Topp
Audrey was my sister. So we were the children. So the sketch was like a 60s sitcom. Like a 60s sitcom family.
[40:53]
Alison Ashley Arm
Cleaning out the basement.
[40:54]
Shane Topp
I was like, hey, kids, I found.
[40:56]
Alison Ashley Arm
This lamp in the basement.
[40:58]
Shane Topp
Wanna rub it? And then out of it, out of this genie lamp that we find, comes a teenager, Jeannie, who doesn't grant any wishes. Cause she's sassy and doesn't want to.
[41:09]
Alison Ashley Arm
Like, it can't be.
[41:10]
Damien Haas
She's a teenager.
[41:11]
Alison Ashley Arm
She's like an angry, sassy teen.
[41:13]
Shane Topp
There was a lot of issues with the girl who played the. She played Teeny, who played Teeny. She had to be painted, and they painted her green. But that wasn't working. So the producers were so focused on her and how she was doing the character that Matthew Scott and I were just like, let's give the worst performances of our lives.
[41:32]
Alison Ashley Arm
We were running behind on time. The actress name was Coco Jones. She was having a really hard time with the material. She was also, like a toddler.
[41:38]
Damien Haas
She looked like an adult, but she was like, 11, 12.
[41:41]
Alison Ashley Arm
You know, the notes they're getting from the network or whatever, that was like, everything she was doing was, like, too negative or, like, would be a bad influence on kids. But that was kind of how it was written. So on the fly, they're trying to rewrite it to make it more positive, but it's not working. She's half in green makeup. What was the line about being adopted?
[41:55]
Shane Topp
I don't even know.
[41:56]
Alison Ashley Arm
Like, there was some line where it's like, what do you want to wish for? And, like, you or Audrey's like, I wish I weren't adopted. And, like, do you remember that? And we, like, were improving, and they're like, okay, am moving on. We're like, what, dude?
[42:08]
Shane Topp
No, I. So we start this. And Matthew Scott and I had talked, but we're like, let's go insane with this.
[42:13]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yes.
[42:14]
Shane Topp
So I'm gonna see and I'm thinking, I'm gonna go nuts. And all of a sudden, Matthew Scott just goes, uh, genie.
[42:22]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yes, literally.
[42:24]
Damien Haas
Do you remember the face, though? Cause I was genie. I was watching this on the, like, closed circuit TV in the dressing room. And I You. I think you said you turned to Matthew Scott at one point. He just went like there.
[42:33]
Shane Topp
Just gritted teeth, eyes looking like they're gonna pop out of his face. You looked both angry and happy at the same time.
[42:43]
Alison Ashley Arm
We were running way behind, and the last shot we had to get was like the opening credit shot where it's like, and that's Teeny, or whatever it was. And it was a shot of me and my family shoved around each other and cocoa popping up between us. And we only had time for one take. And so instead of me saying the line, that's teeny, I literally would go, like. Literally, like, that made the most.
[43:04]
Shane Topp
There was moments where you just were.
[43:05]
Damien Haas
Screaming in it where it was just.
[43:07]
Shane Topp
Like, she, like, react. She's like. She's like, I'm not gonna grant that wish, Danny.
[43:13]
Alison Ashley Arm
And no one corrected me. No one corrected me. And then they were like, okay, checking the gate. Time to go to lunch. And I was like, that's gonna be dumb.
[43:19]
Shane Topp
I was laughing through.
[43:20]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
No, it's not.
[43:21]
Shane Topp
I was laughing through most of the takes. I didn't have a line delivered where I wasn't like, what a genie?
[43:28]
Alison Ashley Arm
And we only shot our stuff once because they didn't have time, so we knew they were going to have to use those.
[43:34]
Shane Topp
You had a part where you folded your arms, but you didn't touch your arms. Did not touch. You just, like, weirdly folded them. Oh, my God. It was absolutely insane. And they said nothing. We're like. They never even looked at me. Damian was watching it on the monitor, and I come back up like, did you watch it?
[43:52]
Alison Ashley Arm
He's like, no, everyone's watching on the monitors in the dressing room. And they were so disturbed by what we were doing that they came out to set, like, is everything okay? Like, what's happening? But they were so concerned with Coco that they never looked.
[44:05]
Damien Haas
It was the most.
[44:07]
Shane Topp
It is the hardest I've ever laughed.
[44:09]
Alison Ashley Arm
I went, there's this guy Skip who was editing, and I went to him in the editor's bay a couple weeks later. I was like, can I please watch Teeny in a bottle? He's like, oh, no. We scrapped all of that. He was like, we couldn't use any of that. I was like, oh, my God.
[44:19]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Is it just deleted? It's not even.
[44:21]
Alison Ashley Arm
I mean, I would give anything to watch all that stuff now.
[44:24]
Shane Topp
Oh, man. There was so many funny moments.
[44:27]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh, man.
[44:27]
Shane Topp
Oh, my God. This is a perfect. This is a perfect moment, though, to bring up that I'm well known on Smosh for my Screaming. But I actually learned it from Matthew Scott.
[44:39]
Damien Haas
We all did.
[44:40]
Shane Topp
There's the famous oo. Ooh. Look, I think you should do it.
[44:44]
Alison Ashley Arm
I don't remember where did it. I don't remember how it started.
[44:46]
Shane Topp
I don't know.
[44:47]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
It started out as more of like a oo.
[44:48]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oo. Yes.
[44:49]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
And then it just grew.
[44:51]
Damien Haas
It was celebratory. And then it got like that.
[44:52]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah, it started off like an oo.
[44:53]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Oo.
[44:54]
Alison Ashley Arm
Like, it started off like that, but it turned into a O. And we would try to sneak it in as many episodes as possible, especially in the audience when, like, Colby Kalle's like. And summertime, we're like, oh.
[45:08]
Shane Topp
Oh, my God. There was some. There was one where you had a pause. Like, you went, ooh. And your face didn't move, but this just scream came out of your face. Oh, my God.
[45:22]
Alison Ashley Arm
Ooh, you do have a great scream. I taught you.
[45:25]
Shane Topp
Wow. Thank you. Yeah. No, you had some that.
[45:28]
Alison Ashley Arm
You can say it hurts so good.
[45:30]
Damien Haas
Hurts everything.
[45:31]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Watch the veins pop.
[45:32]
Shane Topp
Oh, my God.
[45:33]
Damien Haas
Alison, I was just reminded of something. This is a total tangent, so tell me to shut the hell up.
[45:36]
Shane Topp
No, no, please shut the hell up.
[45:38]
Damien Haas
Okay.
[45:39]
Alison Ashley Arm
Okay.
[45:40]
Damien Haas
So I remember you used to sneak off on set quite a bit.
[45:44]
Alison Ashley Arm
I didn't know this.
[45:45]
Damien Haas
To go hang out with one particular friend.
[45:47]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yes. Yeah. So the kickin it cast was across the lot on Hollywood Center Studios, and I became friends with their cast, particularly Dylan Snyder on the cast. And so I would go hang out with them, especially during lunches. Yeah, I would be a little bit late coming back to set sometimes. And Eric Dean Seon, one of our directors, our frequent directors, he would be like, hey, where were you? Were you over there hanging out on the kicking set? I was like, shut up. And he's like, you hanging out with. Hanging out with a special. Special somebody. Special Dylan.
[46:14]
Alison Ashley Arm
And who is that special somebody now? Yeah, they're engaged.
[46:19]
Damien Haas
Oh, man.
[46:20]
Alison Ashley Arm
Less than a month. Wow.
[46:23]
Shane Topp
Yeah, man.
[46:24]
Alison Ashley Arm
That's really exciting. Wow.
[46:25]
Shane Topp
I'm looking forward. Forward to it.
[46:26]
Damien Haas
Me too. Originally, when you sent out an invitation for that, it was said like, hey, you know, we're just gonna have a little party to celebrate the fact that we got engaged, saved the date, and I ended up having a business conflict. And I was just like, oh, thank goodness. Just the party. Yes, I can do the business thing. I'll come to the actual wedding. And then a second invitation got sent out where it's like, psych. It's our wedding. And I was like, so what? I'm gonna be Doing now is taking a train down to TwitchCon, being there for a day, taking a train back up that night to go to the wedding, then a train back down for the second day to which, oh, I'm sure as hell not gonna miss it.
[46:59]
Shane Topp
Why would you do that, Alison? Why would you do that?
[47:02]
Damien Haas
Why'd you do that to me specifically? Your wedding is about me.
[47:05]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Well, the funny thing is that both of us are really casual about the whole thing. We're like, hey, it's a tax contract. And our families are like, well, that's romantic. We're like, well, it's not. It's a tax contract. We're like, mainly, we just wanna get everybody together and celebrate.
[47:17]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah.
[47:18]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
And so we sent out our save the dates, which were up to us. And so we were like. We put a picture of beer pong.
[47:23]
Damien Haas
And we're like, yeah, come hang out.
[47:24]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
With us and celebrate. We're getting marri.
[47:26]
Damien Haas
Play pool in a ball.
[47:27]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
And all of our families were, like, really confused. They're like, is this a wedding or not? So we were like, okay, we'll make the invitations a little more formal.
[47:35]
Damien Haas
Like, okay, but come to our wedding kickback.
[47:38]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
I literally. Yeah. So I found a warehouse space where we're gonna be hosting it, and it's literally two rooms, and I'm dividing them as, like, this is the party room and this is the old people room.
[47:49]
Damien Haas
Oh, my God. Amazing. I know my side.
[47:52]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yes.
[47:52]
Shane Topp
Old people room.
[47:54]
Damien Haas
Hope you got old people places to nap, because that's what I'm gonn. I don't know what's happening. I will be there.
[48:01]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah.
[48:01]
Damien Haas
Be there. I'm excited.
[48:02]
Shane Topp
Very excited.
[48:03]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Thank you. It's basically going to be alcohol and cake. So even if you couldn't make it, we could still have alcohol and cake on another night.
[48:11]
Damien Haas
Just mail me some alcohol and cake.
[48:13]
Shane Topp
Yeah, in one bag, in an envelope.
[48:16]
Damien Haas
In a loose Ziploc. Just cake with a big old blue moon beer poured in it.
[48:21]
Alison Ashley Arm
Some crumbs. Then pour some beer in a Ziploc bag.
[48:24]
Damien Haas
This is just. Thanks for coming to my wedding, asshole.
[48:27]
Alison Ashley Arm
On the trip.
[48:28]
Damien Haas
I guess I missed it.
[48:29]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
That should be the party favors.
[48:31]
Shane Topp
Yes.
[48:31]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
I don't have party favors yet. There it is. Bagged cake.
[48:34]
Shane Topp
Bags of crumbs and beer do.
[48:36]
Damien Haas
I'm like, I don't know. You like dark art stuff, like owl pellets so everybody can find, like, mouse bones in an owl pellet. I could see that.
[48:44]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
I feel like that would be way too expensive, honestly.
[48:46]
Damien Haas
Ah, they're cheap. I got a guy.
[48:47]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
What?
[48:47]
Damien Haas
Yeah.
[48:48]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
You got an owl pellet guy?
[48:48]
Damien Haas
I can get you some owl pellets.
[48:49]
Alison Ashley Arm
You got an owl pellet guy?
[48:50]
Damien Haas
It's just an owl. That's what I found. It's like, there's another. All right, 50 more. We're good.
[48:57]
Alison Ashley Arm
Sounds good also.
[49:01]
Damien Haas
Anyways, also, you're an artist, though. I was always, like, impressed with your art skills while on set. Like we said, the schoolroom became the art room, but now you're doing it much more.
[49:09]
Shane Topp
You're just doing it.
[49:10]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah, very much. My love for art was mainly from working on Sunny with a Chance. And so random because it was really long days and especially with all the script changes and in and out of hair and makeup and everything. My set teacher was incredible, and she very much understood, this is my downtime, these are my breaks, this is my chill period. And especially with, like, the hecticness of set, she was like, hey, on film days, just like, let's paint and stuff. So it's like we would come in on the hiatus weeks, so whenever you guys were on break, I would come in. I would actually do all my schoolwork then. That way whenever we were filming and rehearsing, we could be more like reading and painting and drawing.
[49:47]
Alison Ashley Arm
I brought in this pair of jeans once. Do you remember the jeans that I brought in? Yes. And I was like, when I found out what a cool artist you were. And, like, I literally have a painting of yours up in my apartment right now. That's the orange alien that you gave me. Literally, like eight years ago, I brought in this pair of jeans, and I was like, I'm gonna do one leg of the jeans, and then you can do whatever you want with the other leg. And on my leg of the jeans, I wrote every Goosebumps title in order down the leg, and then on Alison's side it says love is dead. And there's all these aliens and robots and broken hearts, and it's like my favorite pair of clothing, thing of clothing I have. It was awesome.
[50:19]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah. I remember I would draw these really crazy with Sharpie, these stick figures, and then I would splatter red paint all of them. And it was all these really morbid, dark things. And I would hang them up on the walls. And one day mar this, that teacher was like, hey. So, like, somebody walked by and got very disturbed. Like, we may want to take those down. I was like, oops.
[50:40]
Damien Haas
Yeah, he painted me a one legged junkyard dog and a squid. Which I think is just a weird inside joke for us, but I love it.
[50:48]
Shane Topp
Thuggles.
[50:49]
Damien Haas
Oh, my God.
[50:51]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
I definitely did a lot of painting on the set, and I actually did that as wrap gifts. I would. I would do, like, for all the cast members. For Sunny With a Chance, I did, like, these portraits of them, these three dimensional portraits made out of actual objects. So something like, if they were into skateboarding, then I might use one of those little tech decks and do that as a mouth or something. And the state that they were from, I would use that coin as an eye or something like that.
[51:17]
Alison Ashley Arm
So cool.
[51:17]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
One of the showrunners, Michael Feldman, he loved that, and he asked me to do one for his family, and so I did. The frame ended up breaking at one point, and he took it into a shop, and she was like, who did this? What is this? And so he put me in touch with her, and that was why I had my first art show.
[51:33]
Damien Haas
That's so cool.
[51:35]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah. So it was the gallery owner.
[51:36]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah.
[51:36]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
That was helping him frame it.
[51:38]
Damien Haas
I wore a black turtle next to that because I was like, I gotta be artsy.
[51:41]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So my first art show that you guys all came to was at the decor art galleries.
[51:47]
Alison Ashley Arm
So cool.
[51:47]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah, I remember that was the first time that I was actually, like, taking it seriously. And I remember it was to raise money for a family friend who had just lost their dad to cancer. We had, like, prices on the pieces and everything. And I very much at that point was very like, oh, I want to just give all my art away. And, like, birthday presents and anniversaries and everything. And then I was actually selling things. I was like, oh, people like this and people will buy it. And it just. Yeah, no, it was nice. It was kind of like, oh, this is something that I've always done as a hobby. But I actually started taking this a little bit more seriously.
[52:18]
Alison Ashley Arm
It's fantastic.
[52:19]
Shane Topp
It's really cool.
[52:19]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah. You're so talented.
[52:20]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Thank you. Thank you. I still give it away, though. I'm so bad at trying to price my stuff at what artists are supposed to price their work at. I think my favorite time was at this art fair. I had the. This booth, and I sell my stuff for really cheap. And even some of the other people from the other booths would come over and be like, you're selling this for $35? Like, what? Even this guy came up and he fell in love with this piece, and he pulled out like 20, $25 from his wallet, and he's like, hold on. He's like, don't sell this. And he ran to his car and he gathered up, like, all the quarters and the change. And he came back and paid for it with share chains. I was like, you can have it. I was like, this is amazing. How much he wanted the piece. I was like, I want my art in college dorms and like are eating ramen because they couldn't afford groceries because they bought my painting. I don't want to. That's sad.
[53:13]
Shane Topp
I feel like out of the whole cast, you two, Allison, Matthew, Scott, you two are the most artistic and create the most. Because since so Random, I feel like you guys are constantly making stuff, whether it's a web series or a show or a play. I mean, how many plays have you.
[53:29]
Damien Haas
Written in Spook Night? Dead of summer.
[53:32]
Shane Topp
Spook Night is one of my favorite things.
[53:33]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
I've been to all of them.
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[54:00]
Shane Topp
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[54:05]
Alison Ashley Arm
So Random was an interesting time because I don't know if you guys know this or how much this, but like, you know Gersh, the agency Gersh? They would like come to set and like, try to like woo me over there.
[54:14]
Damien Haas
Oh, interesting.
[54:15]
Alison Ashley Arm
So finally, and then I signed with them and also this huge agency and I was like, oh my God, this is amazing. And then our show got canceled. We didn't get picked up, which I found out on Twitter. I don't know how you guys found out. But then Gersh dropped me after that almost immediately. And then my manager. So like, I was all of a sudden, like I had literally nothing. And so what I had done before was theater out here. And so I was, I want to do more plays. I remember talking to you about it. And Debby Ryan as well, because Debbie is a close friend of all of ours and she, Jesse was on our lot as well. And she was talking about. She's like, I want to see more plays. And I was like, I'll write like a silly Halloween one that you can come see. I started diving back into theater after so Random was canceled because working on television is A total blast. And really, really great. Something about Disney Channel that they do is Disney's really good at making stars. I'm very interested in, like, being an actor. And, like, I'm always talking about, like, that stuff, and so I don't know if I identified with it completely. And I felt like some of my artist battery had been drained. And I feel like a good way to recharge, that is live performance. And I kind of was tired of waiting for opportunities from other people. And so I was like, I'm just gonna write the kind of thing that I would wanna do. So I started writing these annual Halloween plays called Spook Night, which kind of turned into some other things. And I just get. As you guys know, we've all worked together on stuff that I've written that's ridiculous and silly. I get bored very, very easily. And I, like. I wanna perform right now. And so for me, a lot of the immediacy of that comes from theater because I have more control over either what I can put up my. You can kind of get auditions yourself in that. And the theater world is very small in Los Angeles, so if someone knows you there, there's, like, more opportunities there. It's a little harder to get into an audition room for film and tv. So that's where, like, a lot of the necessity from writing comes from. And Allison and I recently worked on something.
[55:55]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
My brain's going, which one? Which thing?
[55:57]
Alison Ashley Arm
Ah, that's room 566.
[55:59]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yes.
[55:59]
Alison Ashley Arm
Can you talk about that?
[56:00]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yes, I can. Yeah. So you played a demon? I did, yeah. I texted you and I was like, hey, it's gonna be a lot of prosthetics, and it's gonna be crazy. Are you cool with wearing full black blackout contacts? I was like, yeah, I want you to play demon in a nightmare sequence.
[56:13]
Alison Ashley Arm
I would do anything that you guys asked me to do. Any three of you, I would do anything.
[56:17]
Shane Topp
Let's kill a man.
[56:18]
Damien Haas
We're recreating.
[56:20]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah. Let's choke or smother.
[56:24]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
But yeah. So room 566 is my most recent project, and it's a project that I wrote and my fiance directed. And we are using that to pitch a feature. And so the style and tone of that project is what we aspire to do.
[56:39]
Alison Ashley Arm
Watching Allison on set and Dylan as well, is really, really incredible. And, like, you guys all inspire me so much. And Alison, like, the filmmaking that she does and the awards that you've won from short films and other films you're doing is really, really incredible. And to, like, show up on set and to have like, Josie sign me like Allison's sister. Just like sign me in to like. And then you go through hair, makeup, and wardrobe and then you're on an actual set. We were shooting on like this hospital set.
[57:03]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah. Silver Dream Factory.
[57:05]
Alison Ashley Arm
It was, it was real. And like the, the effects and what I have this long gray blonde wig and these horns. Black.
[57:13]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
They were cast from actual goat horns.
[57:15]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah. And I got fingers molded to my hands. I was so impressed with the whole. I can't wait for people to see it and see everything that you're going to continue to do.
[57:24]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Thank you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The project, it all takes place in a hospital. And it's about this guy who's waiting in the emergency room, waiting room for his sister. And he doesn't know why she's there. And so it's all about his anxieties and he keeps falling asleep. So it kind of goes back and forth between these nightmare sequences, what's actually happening and how his anxieties are sort of manifesting into this creature that's like hunting his sister down in the hospital so he has to like, try to get her out.
[57:47]
Alison Ashley Arm
And that is me.
[57:47]
Shane Topp
Yeah.
[57:48]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yes, you are anxiety.
[57:51]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yes. Yes.
[57:52]
Damien Haas
So cool. Yeah, it's awesome to see, like, how far we've all come in these different directions. And like, you specifically, like, you know, I never thought of you as anything other than a friend, but you were like my little sister in a way.
[58:04]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yes.
[58:05]
Shane Topp
So.
[58:05]
Damien Haas
So it was just like, you know, like I said, didn't treat you any differently because of that. You were just one of us. But at the same time, it is kind of weird looking at you now being like, okay, you're making your own movies, you have your own condo, you are engaged. Much older than you. And I'm still very. It's like, I don't know.
[58:24]
Alison Ashley Arm
I wrote a play I'm putting up next weekend. It's a hole in the north of Hollywood, which is amazing.
[58:29]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Well, the funny thing is you saying that, like, you get bored easily. Yeah. My mom, when I was really little, told me only boring people get bored. And I was like, oh, okay. Need to do things all of the time. She doesn't remember that. And I'm like, you shaped my entire personality with that one.
[58:45]
Damien Haas
Yep.
[58:47]
Shane Topp
Yeah, I remember. Just like after so random got not renewed. I remember I didn't do that.
[58:53]
Alison Ashley Arm
That's a nice way to put it. Yeah.
[58:54]
Shane Topp
Not renewed.
[58:55]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Cause we were extended. It was like a. Like it wasn't just a 13 episode season, it was extended Several times it.
[59:02]
Alison Ashley Arm
Would be like, okay, six more, and then.
[59:03]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
And then eight more. So we did a lot of episodes. It was just not financially feasible. Especially because that would have been season four for the regulars. And so contrasting.
[59:15]
Alison Ashley Arm
That's long for Disney Channel as well.
[59:16]
Shane Topp
It is really long.
[59:17]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah. I feel like three to four is pretty standard, especially. Cause they kept having to move our time slots later and they kept having to pull sketches and then entire episodes from the air anyway.
[59:27]
Alison Ashley Arm
But also, we were all kind of making it up as we go along. I mean, I found out. Do you guys remember that one time we, as a cast and the writers went to go see the last Harry Potter movie, I think. And then when we walked out of the movie, the writers were like, that was the first Harry Potter movie any of us have seen. We're like, oh, cool. We've been doing Harry Potter sketches for the last 24 episodes, and they had never seen anything from Harry Potter. So it's like we were all just making stuff up as we went along.
[59:52]
Damien Haas
I liked all the writers, but I think that is part of the issue with the show is, like, they had a team of like, 10 writers, and they were all sort of like the same type of person. Like, there was no, like, all right, I'm the new young kid writer that knows about Harry Potter and all that. They were all just like adults.
[60:09]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Kids love silly bands.
[60:10]
Damien Haas
Right.
[60:11]
Alison Ashley Arm
All of a sudden, they were writing basically a sketch show, which isn't necessarily something that they signed.
[60:15]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah. All the writers were still from the.
[60:17]
Damien Haas
Sitcom days, and they did a marvelous job. I'm just saying, like, when you have that many writers, there were so many.
[60:24]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Same thing with set design and costumes as well. Moving from sitcom where it's like everything had to look really grand and wonderful. And they were able to put budget into things like that. And then like you were saying, we're.
[60:35]
Alison Ashley Arm
Having a prom at the North Pole and we're all vultures.
[60:37]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Ye. It should have just been like a nose on a string.
[60:40]
Shane Topp
The show was so nuts. I can't remember if that was real or not.
[60:43]
Damien Haas
I'm actually also trying to do the mental gymnastics to figure that out.
[60:47]
Alison Ashley Arm
The stuff that we did, covered in ketchup, robots, dancing, giant Jamtron.
[60:52]
Shane Topp
Jamtron.
[60:52]
Damien Haas
Jamtron.
[60:53]
Shane Topp
That nearly broke Daniel.
[60:54]
Damien Haas
That nearly. The costume was way too small. It was made for someone else on a different show. I think it was some Wizards of Waverly Place thing. So they were trying to get one of the pieces over my forearm and it just wouldn't go. And eventually they got it on they're like, oh, it fits. I'm like, I will lose my.
[61:07]
Alison Ashley Arm
Okay.
[61:07]
Damien Haas
So it's.
[61:08]
Alison Ashley Arm
It was like a skit. It was like. Was there was that music video? Yes, you guys. And I don't think. I think I was just background in that one or something like that because I watched it from afar. All of it happened. And I watched poor, poor, sweet Damian go through all of that stuff. Namely, the part that sticks out the most to me is filming this hellish sketch for hours and hours and hours. And then like in the la, like the midnight hour, someone coming up be like, what does this button do? And then he presses part of the robot thing and the whole thing lights up. And they had shot everything without the lights on. And that was the whole reason it was designed and so heavy and uncomfortable is because there was like a light grid inside that they forgot to press the button.
[61:43]
Damien Haas
I also remember the issue with, like, learning the song was like, it is Jamtron. So it's a play on Scantron, right? So it's like, I'm a living Scantron machine. So the chorus was like listing A through D. Be like A B, C, D, A, B, C, B, C, D, AC and it changed every single time. There was no pattern, no rhyme or reason. So I remember saying like, hey, this is pre recorded. Can I just like move my mouth like a robot? They're like, no, say like. Like ABC and all that stuff. And I'm like, does it have to be one to one with what the script is? And they're like, yeah. And I'm like, lines are one thing.
[62:14]
Shane Topp
Sued if you do it wrong.
[62:16]
Damien Haas
It. It was insane. It's literally like B, C, D, B, A B, B, B, C, D, B, A, E, C, B, D, E, B, C, B, C B, D. Like, it was like A.
[62:25]
Alison Ashley Arm
That was a real crash course. All the stuff that we had to do. Like, do you remember there was a Rufus music video where we had like a. It was like, I'm sorry, An Angus music video. So Angus was the Australian supermodel that I played. And it was the whole thing. It's like, do the Angus. I go into recording studio. I like the backup dancers. I dated one of my backup dancers. And then we got to set and we're like, okay, okay, time to film. Do the Angus. What's the Angus? And I'm like, it's a dance move that we described while I was singing. But none of us had done the move before. And everyone was expecting me to come up with this dance move to do. Which if you guys Remember? And it's on YouTube. Kill myself. Why did I say that? It is the most complicated dance move that children cannot do. I can be like. It's like, do the Angus. And it's like the spin move. And you flip your leg over the other leg and, like, do a backflip. And then you stand, like, in, like, two beats. So incredible. Like, the stuff they had us do or made us do.
[63:14]
Shane Topp
Oh, my God. I love. Throughout the course of the whole show, all our characters just devolved. Cause you started off and you were like. You're like, you're not gonna believe this. But by the end, you were literally like, you're not gonna believe.
[63:27]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Well, you guys all at least got catchphrases. You all got characters with catchphrases. With me, I remember, like, Audrey and I would go to, like, the roller rink, and they'd be like, oh, do the I'm gonna marry Zach Feldman show. And she'd be like, I'm gonna marry Zach Feldman show. And they'd be like, now you sing the ketchup song. And. Oh, yeah, I would do, like, the first version. I'd be like, thank you so much. And they're like, that's not all of it.
[63:47]
Alison Ashley Arm
I don't do it right. She's not doing it right. Do the thing.
[63:51]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah, it's not clear. Like, ketchup.
[63:53]
Alison Ashley Arm
Do you remember it? How does it go? I don't remember it.
[63:56]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
It was. Because it was. I whipped my hand.
[64:00]
Shane Topp
That was a crazy shoot. Just covered.
[64:03]
Alison Ashley Arm
We were in all white. But then you had red braids.
[64:05]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
I had the red, long braids. Yeah. And like, spray painted and getting on.
[64:09]
Alison Ashley Arm
On your costume.
[64:10]
Shane Topp
I think that was insane.
[64:12]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah.
[64:12]
Shane Topp
And every week was like that. Yeah, every week was nuts.
[64:15]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah.
[64:16]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
I remember that was probably the longest day that I had had up until that point because they had me go record the song after we finished. So we, like, got there early for dance rehearsals to learn it. And so we were like, technically. I don't think we were, like, on the clock or it was something weird to where I remember doing the math later and being like, that was a 16 hour day.
[64:34]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah.
[64:34]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yikes. Yeah.
[64:35]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah. For someone who's under 18 to do all that.
[64:39]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah. Because I was supposed to be like, nine, nine and a half hours or something.
[64:41]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah.
[64:42]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
No, but it was, like, technically two different contracts than people. Because it was like the studio time wasn't on the, like, hey, can you.
[64:49]
Damien Haas
Throw us a freebie? And work, work. A 16 hour day.
[64:52]
Alison Ashley Arm
Do you mind? It's just seven more hours. Okay.
[64:55]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
I know. That was why I felt so bad for Demi seasons one and two. It was very much like, hey, can you do this interview? Or like, even during a hiatus. It was like, now you're flying to Germany.
[65:04]
Alison Ashley Arm
Well, we were doing, like, Lion King 3D stuff on our day off. Do you remember that?
[65:09]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Is that when we were laying in the grass and the camera was spinning overhead and you were like, what is even happening?
[65:16]
Shane Topp
I don't remember this at all.
[65:18]
Alison Ashley Arm
And Alison and I did, like, cooking challenges with coach Michael Simon.
[65:21]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
That's right. He just kept making fun of how I was a vegetarian. And I was like, that bit's dead now. I was like, that doesn't need to be the whole episode.
[65:28]
Alison Ashley Arm
I think I got paid $50 for that day. And what I remember them saying Disney saying was my manager's like, we should take it, even though it's only 50 bucks. And they're like, even. The thing they say is like, even Selena does it for that. And I'm like, what? And they're like, even Selena gets paid the same amount. I was like, what? And it was an eight hour day on a Saturday that I got paid 50 bucks to, like, make granola for a while.
[65:48]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah, it was like a yogurt thing.
[65:49]
Alison Ashley Arm
And talk about nutrition for kids on Disney Channel. Yeah. But that's what Selena got paid. So.
[65:58]
Shane Topp
I nearly ran into her when she guest starred.
[66:01]
Alison Ashley Arm
I remember that.
[66:02]
Shane Topp
I, like, turned around a corner and she, like, we nearly headbutted each other.
[66:06]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yes.
[66:06]
Shane Topp
And we were just standing there like.
[66:08]
Alison Ashley Arm
She was on her laptop walking down the hallway.
[66:09]
Shane Topp
I think, yeah. And, like, we stop and she's just like, huh? And I was just, like, looking at her, I'm like, that's Selena Gomez. I nearly ran into her. And then she just, like, walks away.
[66:16]
Alison Ashley Arm
Doesn't say, weren't you, like, nice to meet you?
[66:17]
Shane Topp
And she was like, wait, what?
[66:20]
Alison Ashley Arm
You said hi? And then she, like, didn't say hi back or something.
[66:23]
Shane Topp
I never talked to her.
[66:24]
Damien Haas
I never talked to her.
[66:25]
Shane Topp
But, like, I nearly bumped into her. She walks to her dressing room with her mom. She's like, I nearly dropped my laptop. And I was just like, oh, okay.
[66:32]
Damien Haas
I think I almost ran into a pole or something.
[66:35]
Shane Topp
Was that a human?
[66:36]
Alison Ashley Arm
Can't even see.
[66:37]
Damien Haas
She was the only guest I never, like, spoke to. Even Justin Bieber?
[66:40]
Shane Topp
Even Justin Bieber.
[66:41]
Damien Haas
Like, he. I was just, like, standing on stage, being respectful. And he turns to me, he's just like, hey, man, I'm Justin. And I'm like, in my mind, I'm like, yeah, And I'm freaking.
[66:49]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
No, I'm.
[66:51]
Shane Topp
No one landed on his shoulders. Some, like, sparkles came out when you shook his hand.
[66:56]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
My favorite is that I believe it was season one of Sonny the Chance. On the same lot. There was, like, a day where the president, like, was guest starring or, like, appearing on something that was shooting on that lot. And, I mean, obviously there's, like, full on, like, you know, swat, whatever. But then Justin Bieber had, like, double the security. There was, like, snipers on the street.
[67:15]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah, that day was crazy.
[67:16]
Shane Topp
There literally were people on the roofs when. When Justin Bieber was there. There were people with, like, walkie talking all over the place, but they weren't even that thorough because there was a guard in front of the studio, like, standing there checking everyone. I walk up to the door, and he goes, are you on the show? And I go, yeah. And he's like, all right. And I'm like, that's it.
[67:33]
Alison Ashley Arm
Wait, that reminds me. The three of us did not. We couldn't park on the lot. Do you remember that?
[67:37]
Damien Haas
Oh, yeah.
[67:38]
Alison Ashley Arm
So we had, like, it was very humbling to. Had to convince security to let us on to shoot our television show. And then after the show was over, after live tapings, we would have to walk through crowds of fans on the way out. Once the show started, we didn't know who.
[67:51]
Damien Haas
We were thankful.
[67:52]
Alison Ashley Arm
But once the show started airing, they did. And I remember feeling very uncomfortable because I was like, I have to walk through that crowd of fans. Like, hi, excuse me. I need to get to my car. It's the one with no hubcaps. And that lot across the street. Do you know what I mean? And they're like, would you sign this? I'm like, great. And then my car's falling apart, and I have to walk a mile to get to where I park.
[68:12]
Shane Topp
It definitely removes the facade of, like, our lives are this fun Disney show. And it's just like, all right, I'm gonna go to my dead car.
[68:22]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
I remember one time at an autograph signing, a kid was like, can you buy me an iPhone? I was like, can you buy me an iPhone?
[68:28]
Shane Topp
I remember some kids once talking to me, and they were like, they're like, oh, you're on that Disney show. I'm like, yeah. They're like, sir, are you, like, a millionaire?
[68:33]
Damien Haas
And I'm like, oh, well, let's talk about that specifically. So I think a lot of people think that the second you get on TV in any possible capacity, you're rich. They give you a limo. They give you Everything There are different pay grades. And for something like Disney and Nickelodeon, it can be a great opportunity for. But they're definitely like, bottom of the barrel in terms of pay for the most part. So there are also tiers to that. Maybe if you're a series regular, you're gonna make some okay money. Co star, a little less, guest star, not much. Or did I switch those?
[69:06]
Shane Topp
And you make a lot of money off residuals. Right. But not with Disney. And what really sucked is, I wanna say it was around summer of 2012 that we found out it wasn't getting renewed, right?
[69:17]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yes.
[69:18]
Shane Topp
And that's around the same time that residual checks just stopped.
[69:21]
Damien Haas
Those also not in the checks you get for the show airing. They pay you for every air of the show. And it might be a few cents, but it all builds up.
[69:28]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
But they do the bullshit where it's like, oh, we have to pay you X amount of dollars if it airs 10 times. So we'll air it nine times.
[69:33]
Shane Topp
Yeah, it was brutal.
[69:36]
Alison Ashley Arm
I'm sure we've all gotten those residuals where it's like 13 cents.
[69:39]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah, I've literally gotten one cent checked. I've gotten one extra check. I'm like, the postage cost more than this. Why don't you send this.
[69:45]
Damien Haas
Cut down a tree to print this.
[69:46]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah.
[69:47]
Damien Haas
There is a bar in Los Angeles called Residuals. And I think if you bring in here, I've heard about residual check, they'll give you a drink for free or something like that.
[69:53]
Alison Ashley Arm
We should go later. What do you guys do?
[69:56]
Shane Topp
Let's go. Right now?
[69:57]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah. Do you promise?
[69:59]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah. I love having people over to the condo. They look at the condo and they're like, oh, like, Disney money. I'm like, no commercial since I was 4 years old. Disney paid for my Invisalign.
[70:10]
Damien Haas
Yes.
[70:12]
Shane Topp
Yeah, we were really just like, once it stopped, it was just, like, done. Like, I didn't work for a while.
[70:17]
Damien Haas
You got that subway commercial, though, pretty good.
[70:19]
Shane Topp
I did get a Subway commercial that did literally pay my rent.
[70:21]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh, I did.
[70:22]
Damien Haas
Oh, good.
[70:22]
Shane Topp
That was it. That was all. And that's. I was about to quit acting.
[70:26]
Alison Ashley Arm
It is humbling, too, when it's like when you're on Disney Channel, it's like you get a free guide to go to Disneyland. Like, you don't have to, like, wait in lines. You, like, can go whenever you want. You have a guide. But then when the show's canceled, it's like, nope, you're paying like everybody else. Sorry.
[70:40]
Damien Haas
The mouse thanks you.
[70:41]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yes. Bye.
[70:42]
Damien Haas
Bye.
[70:42]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah, we don't remember you at all. Who are you again?
[70:45]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah, I remember Dylan and I tried to reach out to Disney. We were like, hey, can we, like, maybe?
[70:51]
Alison Ashley Arm
And they're like, what shows are you on?
[70:53]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah. We were like, okay, nevermind.
[70:54]
Alison Ashley Arm
Fine.
[70:55]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah. Cause we were like, even. Just, like, tickets. We weren't even asking for a guide. We were just like, hey, can we get a hookup with some sort of tickets or even, like an employee discount kind of thing? They're like, Sorry, employee.
[71:06]
Damien Haas
Where 10% off code, please.
[71:08]
Alison Ashley Arm
No, no, no.
[71:11]
Damien Haas
You got your residual checks. Use those. Fill them up. Spend 20 minutes trying to scan in a $0.01 check on your bank of America app on your phone.
[71:21]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Get closer.
[71:22]
Alison Ashley Arm
I did that this morning. It was $2.38. And my phone would not take the picture of the back of the check for the bank of America app.
[71:29]
Damien Haas
They're like, it's too thin of a check.
[71:31]
Alison Ashley Arm
I was like, it's September 1st next week. I need that $2.38 from that Jane the Virgin episode.
[71:38]
Damien Haas
Jane the Virgin.
[71:38]
Shane Topp
Oh, my God.
[71:39]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh, thanks.
[71:40]
Damien Haas
He's Jane.
[71:42]
Alison Ashley Arm
I play Jane.
[71:45]
Shane Topp
I'm the Burgess.
[71:49]
Damien Haas
Oh, my God.
[71:51]
Shane Topp
Oh, my God. Dude, this has been great.
[71:55]
Damien Haas
I miss you guys.
[71:56]
Alison Ashley Arm
I know.
[71:56]
Shane Topp
I really miss you guys.
[71:57]
Damien Haas
We have done. I am pretty shocked at, like, how well we've all kept in touch for the most part. Like, I know we don't see each other as much as, like, maybe we did back in the day. And like, you and I get, like, a couple times a year, maybe that Damien and I will, like, send each.
[72:09]
Alison Ashley Arm
Other these texts, like, a couple times a year. It's like, I don't see you a lot, but you know I love you. We literally do. Yeah.
[72:14]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah.
[72:15]
Shane Topp
I mean, you literally texted us the other week just being like, do you guys remember? So random.
[72:19]
Damien Haas
That was crazy.
[72:22]
Alison Ashley Arm
Before you asked to do this podcast, I literally had texted you just random.
[72:25]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Like, photos and behind the scenes videos.
[72:27]
Alison Ashley Arm
I was just thinking about it. Was that all a dream? Oh, I remember because someone. I was working on a show where someone brought up Edward Cullen somehow or Twilight. And I was like, oh, I played Edward Cullen on tv. And they're like, you did? So I pulled up pictures of me all glittery from that one sketch that we did. The I was Gollum.
[72:41]
Shane Topp
Was that celebrity.
[72:42]
Alison Ashley Arm
Roll.
[72:43]
Damien Haas
Celebrity. Wheel of Fortune.
[72:44]
Alison Ashley Arm
Wheel of Fortune, Magical Creatures and Harry Potter. And then like, looking at that picture of me covered in glitter, I was like, the simulation's glitching. I was like, did this really happen?
[72:53]
Shane Topp
I don't believe it happened.
[72:54]
Alison Ashley Arm
Did that Happen.
[72:55]
Shane Topp
I did. I think it was not real and I didn't get recognized for it for a long time.
[72:59]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Cause you were always dressed as somebody else.
[73:02]
Shane Topp
Yeah. So part of me was kind of like, did anyone watch it?
[73:04]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah.
[73:05]
Shane Topp
And then once I started here at Smosh, then everyone was like, you are from so random. I've been a fan since. So random.
[73:12]
Damien Haas
It's crazy.
[73:13]
Shane Topp
That's so random. My favorite show. That's so random.
[73:16]
Alison Ashley Arm
What's that show you played on?
[73:17]
Damien Haas
It's the future she can See. It's just so random. Oh, God. I also thought nobody had ever watched anything, but it wasn't until I got on Smosh and started reading the comments that they're like, oh, that's where I know Damien and Shane, the anime brothers. And I was just like, where were you? You should have been really mad that we got canceled and did a Twitter campaign. You had Twitter.
[73:35]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
They were also 10.
[73:37]
Damien Haas
Your voice is just as loud on the Internet. You type, you hit send. It's.
[73:41]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
I remember. I like didn't. I don't think I had an Instagram. I didn't have.
[73:46]
Damien Haas
You got me started on Twitter.
[73:47]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
I just barely got a Twitter.
[73:48]
Shane Topp
I made a Twitter because of Disney.
[73:50]
Damien Haas
I did too. And you were the first one that actually shouted out, like, hanging out with my new cast member, Damien Hawes. And I remember having notifications on and waking up the next morning and be like, I got 300 followers in one night.
[74:02]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh, yeah. That was the beginning of all of that crazy.
[74:04]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
I remember, like, my parents would like pre approve my tweets before I would post them out.
[74:09]
Shane Topp
Smart.
[74:09]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
It was very like, yeah, your parents.
[74:11]
Damien Haas
Are awesome, by the way. They're definitely life, marriage goals. Like eloping on a motorcycle.
[74:19]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Oh, hell yeah. I know. They sound like something that should have crashed and burned. That should not have been.
[74:24]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh, they're everything.
[74:25]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah, they literally. My mom was 17. She was driving down the street with her best friend and they saw these rocker dudes with these long 80s hair and leather jackets walking down the street. And my mom's best friend was like, oh, those guys are cute. You should ask them for a ride. So my mom, this little 17 year old blonde's like, you guys want a ride? My dad was like, I mean, it's right around the corner. And the other guys were like, bruh girls. And so they like got in the car. My mom introduced herself as kid Kat.
[74:50]
Alison Ashley Arm
And like, I didn't know that part of it.
[74:53]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah. She turned 18 and they eloped to Vegas on a motorcycle. They didn't have enough money for the marriage license. So my dad stopped off at his work and took money out of the cash register, putting an IOU in it. And my mom thought he robbed the place and still married him.
[75:10]
Alison Ashley Arm
That's amazing.
[75:11]
Damien Haas
That's dope. I mean, he also did robbed. It's not like there's a comedy policy. Like, you can do whatever you want if you bring it back. He took money out of a cash.
[75:21]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
It was a pretty relaxed.
[75:23]
Shane Topp
Pretty relaxed. Oh, my God.
[75:24]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
No. But yeah, they met on Sunset in LeBron.
[75:27]
Alison Ashley Arm
You're so cool.
[75:28]
Shane Topp
That's the coolest tattoo I've ever seen. For those listening, you can't see.
[75:33]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
It's the coolest tattoo.
[75:35]
Shane Topp
Guys, I think we're out of time. We could talk. We didn't cover so many things. Like, I'm just thinking in my head, like, we didn't cover Miss Diane and going to Disneyland. We didn't cover so many things.
[75:45]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh, yeah.
[75:46]
Shane Topp
God.
[75:47]
Damien Haas
D23 Anime Bros. D23.
[75:49]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh, yeah.
[75:50]
Damien Haas
Miss Piggy the Muppet.
[75:51]
Shane Topp
Kermit's nuts.
[75:53]
Damien Haas
Kermit, the Muppets. There we go.
[75:54]
Alison Ashley Arm
We worked with Miss Piggy.
[75:55]
Shane Topp
That's right.
[75:55]
Alison Ashley Arm
I forgot.
[75:56]
Shane Topp
Well, can't.
[75:58]
Alison Ashley Arm
Okay.
[75:58]
Shane Topp
Can't talk about it. I want to get you guys on. Try not to laugh at some point.
[76:03]
Damien Haas
That'd be so fun.
[76:03]
Shane Topp
I would love a. So random. Try not to laugh. I feel like I could do pretty well and then. And like, what things do you guys want to shout out? What are you guys working on right now?
[76:09]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
A little bit of everything.
[76:10]
Shane Topp
Yeah.
[76:11]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Only boring people get bored.
[76:12]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yeah, that's right.
[76:14]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
No, but yeah, I have Watch the Footage productions and so you can find us. Watch the footage on all social media platforms. See what we're up to. You can see Matthew Scott as our lovely demon in our upcoming project. My name is spelled weird. It's a L, L, I, S, Y, N. So if you try to look me up on social media, you won't find me off the grid. Yes. But, yeah, thank you.
[76:36]
Damien Haas
Yeah, of course.
[76:37]
Alison Ashley Arm
What about you? Yeah, I'm huge on Instagram. I live on there. Basically, my Instagram is matthewscottmontgomery. Right now. There's a really intensely stupid web series I'm doing called West Hollywood that really makes me laugh. If you watch it, hopefully it will for you too. It's getting this weird kind of cult following.
[76:55]
Shane Topp
Oh, that's awesome.
[76:56]
Alison Ashley Arm
Surely. I'm always doing performing live in la. If you're ever in Los Angeles, I do a monthly comedy monologue show called Guess whom. That's like this group of students from University of Michigan that saw me in a play and like, do you want to be part of us? I was like, okay, so I'm like, the only one that didn't go to school with them. But that's at Barlow, bitch. In the last Tuesday of every month in West Hollywood. And then I'm in a. I just got cast in a play festival called Short and Sweet that I'll be on for three weekends in the month of October that I'll post around my Instagram. But that's like a Spanish speaking LGBT play festival.
[77:24]
Shane Topp
Great.
[77:25]
Alison Ashley Arm
So I'll be doing some really fun LGBT stuff. Great.
[77:29]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
I totally. I always forget to mention Astrid Clover, the web show that I've been doing for five years.
[77:35]
Alison Ashley Arm
Yes.
[77:35]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
But you guys have all been. And I remember the episode that you were on playing a cup.
[77:40]
Shane Topp
That's right.
[77:40]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
You. You got smosh that week. Because I remember you telling me that it was perfect timing. You were like, literally, I'm like, on my way to go sign a contract saying that I can't do other web contact.
[77:50]
Shane Topp
Oh, my God.
[77:52]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Wow.
[77:52]
Alison Ashley Arm
That's crazy.
[77:54]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Yeah, it was like when, like, all the planking was popular, and so we were.
[77:58]
Alison Ashley Arm
Oh, my God. Planking.
[77:59]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
We were like, we're coning, and we would, like, stand in the middle of the road, and it was like, get out of the road. Like cars. And it was like gargoyling, so we were, like, up on a roof. And he played like a cop that came over.
[78:08]
Damien Haas
I was the traffic guard in that. Because you were like, we're traffic guarding or something like that. And you guys were, like, mimicking my traffic guard dance.
[78:14]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
That was another episode. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You were the traffic guard. Do you want to be road waffles? It was like, we're keeping it.
[78:21]
Damien Haas
Sounds like something I'd say, but I have no memory of it, so.
[78:24]
Shane Topp
Well, guys, this has been lovely. My favorite people in the whole world. Don't tell anybody it's smosh. But they are. And, guys, make sure to check out our merch. We got some good stuff. We got some water bottles. We got all the shirts. It's.
[78:36]
Damien Haas
The girls are gross. Tea is a limited run, so if you want it, you better jump right on that. I don't even know if it'll be available by the time this is.
[78:43]
Shane Topp
You gonna get it. You gotta get it. And then make sure to subscribe. Do all the things.
[78:47]
Damien Haas
Punch that notification bell.
[78:48]
Shane Topp
That's right.
[78:49]
Damien Haas
Mean it.
[78:50]
Shane Topp
That's right.
[78:50]
Alison Ashley Arm
You promise?
[78:51]
Shane Topp
All right, Bye, guys.
[78:53]
Matthew Scott Montgomery
Thank you.
[79:13]
Ryan Seacrest
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[79:39]
Shane Topp
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