Story Pirates – "The Horrible Pizza / Demons"

Podcast: Story Pirates
Episode: The Horrible Pizza / Demons
Date: December 11, 2025
Host: Story Pirates Team
Featured Kid Authors: Hayley, Kian, Ira, Marina, Cedar

Episode Overview

This energetic and imaginative episode features the Story Pirates crew adapting and performing two delightfully inventive stories written by kids: "The Horrible Pizza" by Hayley and Kian (ages 7 and 9) and "Demons" by Ira (age 8). The show celebrates National Referee Day with referee Smitty overseeing friendly (and silly) competitions, comical penalty calling, and a spirit of creative camaraderie. As always, the team spotlights the authors’ storytelling techniques through interviews, and wraps up with the beloved "StoryLove" segment—reading and riffing on more kid-submitted works.

Key Segments, Discussions & Highlights

1. National Referee Day & Smitty’s Spotlight (02:29–05:40)

• Smitty’s Routine: Smitty begins his day with quirky rituals (ice water dunk, secret referee jersey) and assumes no one remembers the holiday just for him.
• The Crew’s Surprise: The Pirates surprise Smitty with a diamond whistle and a day full of refereeing their invented competitions.
• Lighthearted banter about penalties, referee authority, and Smitty’s particular brand of attention.
• Notable Quote:
  • Smitty (04:18): "This is the most thoughtful present I've ever received. Yeah, that's a two minute penalty for excess celebration."
  • Lee Overtree (05:34): "Wow, he is harsh but fair."

2. Sketch & Song: "The Horrible Pizza" (05:41–13:53)

The Story

• Premise: Two siblings recount a restaurant’s rise from serving "the horrible pizza" to culinary greatness.
• Comedic use of flashbacks, double flashbacks, montages, and flash forwards—gleefully breaking narrative conventions.
• Memorable Moments:
  • The manager’s confession to hiring two random, unqualified chefs.
  • Montage of new chef Bob making pizza to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus."
  • A far-future flash-forward: “long white beards” and a pizza ruined by an ancient beard hair.
  • "The End" after a restaurant closure due to unforeseen time-travel side effects.

Notable Quotes

• Rachel as Manager (07:00): "Pizza."
• Lee Overtree as Bob (10:01): "A good pizza, huh? Give me a 2 1/2 minute montage and I'll show you the perfect pizza. So perfect they'll talk about it in the future."
• Bob’s pizza song (10:58): "You put the dough on the baking sheet, baking sheet, baking sheet..."
• Smitty, closing (13:53): "And now Lee speaks with the author."

Interview with Hayley & Kian (14:00–18:09)

• Origin: Inspired by a 1am visit to “Little Italy Pizza” in NYC.
• Techniques: They discuss why they used narrative devices ("flashbacks, montage, flash forward")—to reveal more about characters and outcomes.
• Live Performance: The authors sing their "Wheels on the Bus"-style pizza song.
• Memorable Quote:
  • Hayley & Kian (16:33): "Oh, how about like, the Wheels on the Bus song, but like, a different way?"
  • Lee Overtree (17:44): "That was incredible."

3. Smitty’s Silly Competitions (18:11–23:25)

• Kefir Hold Up (18:28): Lee vs. Rachel compete to hold bottles of kefir while being distracted. Lee smashes his; Rachel wins by lifting the whole pallet.
  • Eric: "Did I not mention I competed for the US Olympic weightlifting team in 2001? No. Weren’t those Olympics in 2000? That was a major factor in why I didn't medal." (19:40)
• Food Math (19:56): Peter & Eric solve (or eat) a math problem. The answer? "Pi!"
  • Smitty (21:02): "That is correct. What circumference divided by diameter does equal the number pi?"

4. "Dramatic Reading" Showdown (23:32–27:00)

• Megan and Eric compete in over-the-top dramatic readings:
  • Megan dramatically recites Spice Girls lyrics as “Hamlet.”
  • Eric is given Megan’s personal diary entry as material.
• Argument over penalty calls escalates until everyone is ejected.
• Ending: Smitty finds a cake that says "Happy Referee Day—Enjoy your alone time," revealing the crew's understanding and appreciation.

5. Sketch & Song: "Demons" (27:48–35:48)

The Story

• Premise: A family road trip to the Grand Canyon devolves into comical chaos as family members (and others) “turn into demons” under travel stress. Amusingly mirrors real-life family vacation tension.
• Chemistry and Potions: Amy tries to reverse the “curse” via a science kit; partial success, but shenanigans continue.
• Relatable Humor: Sibling bickering, “Are we there yet?”, sunscreen drama, and parental demands for the “perfect holiday card photo.”
• Notable Quotes:
  • Rachel (32:02): "Now everybody look like you love each other and say cheese."
  • Lee Overtree (33:07): "Mom's a demon now too."
  • Amy (34:47): "Wow. I've never been more proud to be part of this family. Here goes nothing."
  • Classic punchline: "Beezy, you still have a tail." (34:50)

6. StoryLove Segment (36:08–46:44)

More Kid Stories & Analysis

• "I Want to Marry a Dog" (by Sophie, 10, MA): A heartfelt and humorous poem that escalates to high stakes when aliens attack.
  • Lee Overtree (38:04): "We talk about creating obstacles to your goal because you don't want to just be able to marry a dog right away...if there is a huge obstacle...then now we're talking a story."
• "The Blinker Butt Horse" (Cedar, 6, MN): A horse solves transit woes with butt blinkers, grappling with feelings of being different.
  • Peter McNerney (40:49): "And the man made it to work on time. From then on, the horse loved his left and his...blinker butt."
• "Ice Cream Gas" (Marina, 5, TX): A wild journey as kids' cars run on ice cream and hot dog gas—detours and airplane trips ensue.
  • Peter McNerney (43:36): "Can you travel with tubs of gasoline?"
  • Lee Overtree (44:49): "If the sun's on this side, I'm the one with the hot door all the time..."

Memorable Quotes & Timestamps

• Smitty: "This is the most thoughtful present I've ever received. Yeah, that's a two minute penalty for excess celebration." (04:18)
• Lee Overtree as Bob: "A good pizza, huh? Give me a 2 1/2 minute montage and I'll show you the perfect pizza." (10:01)
• Child Author: "Oh, how about like, the Wheels on the Bus song, but like, a different way?" (16:33)
• Smitty: "You're outta here. And you're outta here. And you, and you and you. You're all outta here." (26:33)
• Lee Overtree: "Now everybody look like you love each other and say cheese." (32:02)
• Peter McNerney: "And the man made it to work on time. From then on, the horse loved his left and his...blinker butt." (40:49)

Episode Takeaways

• The Story Pirates excel at transforming children's narratives into rich, absurdist comedy and music—honoring the kid-authors' ideas while amplifying them theatrically.
• This episode playfully tackles themes of individuality, creative problem-solving, family togetherness (and discord!), and the joys of imaginative storytelling.
• Through interviews and live readings, the show affirms—creativity grows when kids are encouraged to experiment with form and voice.
• Above all, Story Pirates radiates joy: in zany games, lyric parodies, improvisational storytelling, and unfiltered kid logic.

Listen If...

• You love absurd humor, musical sketches, and inventive stories far outside the adult imagination.
• You want to encourage children's creative writing or need inspiration for family storytelling time.
• You crave wholesome, laugh-out-loud content that appeals to all ages and spotlights the unlimited possibilities of kid imagination.

Find More

• Submit stories or learn about volunteer programs: storypirates.com
• Longer versions of StoryLove: YouTube Page details are in the show notes.

End of Summary