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Ryan Reynolds
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Devin Walker
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Sam Taggart
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Voidware prohibited. 21 terms and conditions apply. Listen to your elders, honey. You might know them from their viral videos, but now the old gays pull back the curtain on their brand new podcast Silver Linings. With the Old Gays, brought to you in partnership with iHeart's Ruby Studio and Veeve Healthcare. Hosts Robert, Mick, Bill and Jesse serve four lifetimes of wisdom when it comes to sex, love, community and whatever else they've got on the gay agenda. So check out Silver Linings, available on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Sam Taggart
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Ryan Reynolds
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Devin Walker
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Bill
Speed slow after 35 gigabytes of networks.
Sam Taggart
Busy taxes and fees extra. See mintmobile.com.
Devin Walker
Podcast starts now. What's up everybody? You're listening to stratio Lab live 2 weeks ago from New York City.
Ryan Reynolds
I almost feel like we should talk about the fact that you are here for your wedding more because we didn't talk about it in the previous episode. Or am I being so literal and we need to like let go and let ideas come to us?
Devin Walker
No, we can talk about it more.
Ryan Reynolds
There's something about this moment being captured on tape where I'm like, you'll want to re. Listen to this one day.
Devin Walker
You know, this is how I felt after Trump was elected.
Sam Taggart
The second time.
Ryan Reynolds
You flew in yesterday. I flew in yesterday, and today's Tuesday and you're getting married on Saturday.
Devin Walker
Yeah.
Ryan Reynolds
How are you feeling, Queen?
Devin Walker
I feel normal. I'm feeling like. Like, I do feel a bit like. Like it's a solo show. And I'm like, oh, God. Oh, God. Like, there's just, like, logistics that are sort of unknown until the day of where you're like, oh, like, what if someone weird shows up and they like.
Ryan Reynolds
Well, well, we've had a couple of close calls, folks.
Sam Taggart
And.
Devin Walker
Yeah. Or like, what if it's really windy and. And like, the. Something blows away or I don't know what. I'm like, there's, like, all these little things, but I'm. And. But I'm mostly just excited. I think it'll be fun. Yeah, I feel. I think. Because I don't know if you felt this way because we've been together so long, it doesn't feel like, like, similarly to how we were talking about, like, how every gig on earth is open and so it's like, is this more important or less important? There's something about being together for so long where it doesn't feel like, fuck it, we're taking a leap. It just feels like, oh, we're sort of doing what was. We're just, like, labeling it properly.
Ryan Reynolds
So this is actually similar to my sort of theory about how there are two ways to come out. One is to come out when you're still figuring it out because you need support. And one is to first fully figure out who you are and be like, and now it's time for me to make my debut.
Devin Walker
Wow. What did you do?
Ryan Reynolds
I did the latter. Yeah. Yes, very. Yes, we've talked about this, but it's like, I remember when I came out to my parents, they were hurt that I hadn't done it earlier because they were like, did you think we wouldn't be supportive? Did you think. Did we create an environment that made you think you couldn't tell us? And I was like, no. I just didn't want it to be at all a conversation. I wanted to first fully have a boyfriend, know exactly who I was and what I wanted to tell you when you asked me what the deal was, and then do it. And I think for some people, especially some straight people, marriage is almost like them taking a leap and being like, let's Hope this works. And like, jumping off of the cliff. And I think especially for gay guys getting married in their 30s, it's sort of like, okay, what else? What else? Let's get married.
Devin Walker
I have a question. When it comes to vows, what level of humor are you working with? What level is appropriate? What level is inappropriate? I don't know.
Ryan Reynolds
Should we bring in our guest to join us in chatting about this?
Devin Walker
Yes, please. Welcome back to the podcast, Devin Walker.
Sam Taggart
Hey, what's up? I wasn't sure if I was allowed to talk.
Ryan Reynolds
You actually weren't. But I was. But you seemed so eager that I.
Sam Taggart
Said, well, I just couldn't. I was like, I'm sitting here. I was like, am I waiting for the. And also, Sam looked over here a couple of times.
Devin Walker
This is something we can't help, but we.
Ryan Reynolds
We want to be affirmed, but we don't want the guests to. It's like, we want you.
Sam Taggart
That's why Sam kept looking over, being like.
Devin Walker
I'm like, I gotta get him.
Ryan Reynolds
We want. We were just talking actually about the power of nodding and how it can actually be almost condescending. Like, if you're in a. Especially in a business context, let's say you're, like, pitching something and you're like, so it's about a gay guy. And then the exec is like, dramatically nodding, and you're like, okay, but that's ultimately what we want when we're doing our intro. We want someone to be so aggressively supportive but also silent. Yeah, exactly. Like holding a sign that's like, yay. Yeah.
Devin Walker
No, it's actually so pitiful when a guest is like, really? Like, I'm like. I'm like, we got this.
Ryan Reynolds
The worst, of course, is when we're on zoom and someone's fully just on their phone.
Devin Walker
Oh, yeah.
Ryan Reynolds
They're just like, have some respect.
Devin Walker
Please don't try clipping his nails.
Ryan Reynolds
Oh, my God. Did he clip his nails?
Sam Taggart
Yes, Famously say, I do do that every time I have therapy. That's my time.
Devin Walker
You clipping your nails?
Sam Taggart
I had therapy earlier today, and that's my clipping my nails time.
Devin Walker
Wow.
Sam Taggart
I do FaceTime therapy. And that's. I hope she's not disrespectful. I never even considered that she would be until right now.
Ryan Reynolds
Here's a question for you.
Sam Taggart
What?
Ryan Reynolds
Maybe she thinks you're stimming makes you do FaceTime therapy in a post Covid world.
Sam Taggart
Great question. My therapist lives in Texas.
Ryan Reynolds
Oh.
Sam Taggart
Yeah. She's grandfathered in from.
Ryan Reynolds
From literally, like, childhood.
Sam Taggart
Not from childhood. You think I had a childhood there?
Ryan Reynolds
Well, I'm just like, when was the last time you lived in Texas?
Sam Taggart
2018.
Ryan Reynolds
Oh, I didn't know that.
Devin Walker
That was so much more recent than I expected.
Sam Taggart
Oh, yeah. Do I just feel like I've been here for longer?
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah.
Sam Taggart
Oh, that's nice.
Ryan Reynolds
Did you move to New York in 2018?
Sam Taggart
Yeah.
Devin Walker
That's shocking to me.
Sam Taggart
Why?
Devin Walker
I was sure you were here at least 2016.
Sam Taggart
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I was in Austin, Texas. I only lived in central Texas for my whole life until 2018.
Ryan Reynolds
So you have had the same therapist since 20? Since before 2018.
Sam Taggart
She left for a little bit. You know when you realize you, like, really don't know anything about your therapist's life? Yeah, I had this moment because. So we. I had her in 2018, then I moved here. Then I was too broke to afford therapy. So then we stopped seeing each other. And then we started back, like, during the pandemic. Pandemic. I was like, I gotta go back to therapy. It's been like a year and a half. I was like, it's time. And I, like, had a better, like, job situ. I had my Comedy Central money shout out. So I was like, yo, your guys's.
Ryan Reynolds
Comedy Central era now that was iconic.
Devin Walker
That was awesome.
Ryan Reynolds
That was legendary. That was like.
Sam Taggart
It was so insane.
Ryan Reynolds
It was, I think of that era the way people talk about, like 90s 80s New York. Like, anything was possible.
Devin Walker
What a free for all.
Sam Taggart
Truly. Also, like, that was my first job in comedy. That was my first, like, full time.
Devin Walker
That was my first full time job for sure. That was when I was like, okay, I have income.
Sam Taggart
Yeah. Like, I have, like a salary. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Devin Walker
And that felt good.
Sam Taggart
It was incredible. That was an incredible time. It was the first time since I had moved to New York that I could, like, buy a plane ticket somewhere and it didn't ruin my life financially.
Devin Walker
Yeah.
Sam Taggart
And of course, there was nowhere to go, right?
Ryan Reynolds
Exactly. I was like, where are you flying.
Sam Taggart
To Texas to see your therapist? I did fly to Texas. But anyway, my therapist, I started back with her during 2020, and then I remember having a conversation with her where she was just like, hey, I actually need to go on maternity leave. She goes, I'm about to have my second child. And I said, I didn't know you were pregnant right now. 1. And I didn't know you had a first kid, much less the second. I mean, you don't know anything about it.
Ryan Reynolds
This is an under discussed element of remote work in general. That is actually shocking the way you don't know that people are pregnant.
Sam Taggart
Had no clue.
Devin Walker
Are you supposed to know about your therapist's life?
Sam Taggart
I don't know. I mean, I think different people have, like, different relationships with it. I've talked to people who, like, really seem to know, like, oh, yeah, my, like, therapist went on vacation here, and, like, you know, she recommended this hotel or whatever. But, like, my therapist is, like, kind of. Although I will say. And I can't, man. I don't want to. I'm not. I don't want to put too much of her business out here, but, like, one time, my therapist was just like. Yeah, Like, I was just. I was telling her about some feelings that I was having about, like, something, and she was like. She goes, yeah, you know, I understand the way that that kind of thing can look. I was basically talking about, like, being around, like, really rich people for the first time and, like, just not really knowing how to acclimate to that. And she was like, yeah, I know what you're talking about. She goes, my husband's family founded.
Ryan Reynolds
Wait, that's so funny.
Sam Taggart
Oh.
Devin Walker
That is really amazing.
Sam Taggart
It's 100%.
Devin Walker
My husband's family founded.
Sam Taggart
That's right.
Devin Walker
Damn.
Ryan Reynolds
But also, obviously, like, yes, she's relating to you.
Sam Taggart
Yes.
Ryan Reynolds
But it is different to marry into. Like, you're talking about feeling like an outsider in a situation where people have more money than you. That's different than marrying into that generational wealth. It's like, she actually now is a rich woman.
Sam Taggart
Yeah, yeah, it's.
Devin Walker
It is like. I'm sorry, but why work?
Sam Taggart
I. I mean, I think she just. I mean, because it's like, you don't want to just sit.
Ryan Reynolds
You don't want to just.
Sam Taggart
You don't want to. You don't want to be. You got to have your.
Ryan Reynolds
You would not stop working if you married the.
Devin Walker
No, that's tr. But my work would be so much more glamorous.
Sam Taggart
What do you think your work would look like in that?
Devin Walker
Well, it would literally be like, I would still do comedy, but it would be like, I wouldn't ever. I wouldn't ever need to be successful in this way. That would be like, I'm throwing the big event at the thing.
Ryan Reynolds
Oh, I would only be doing Joe's Pub. I would be like, I don't need to appeal to anyone outside of Manhattan.
Sam Taggart
Yeah. It would allow you to be your freest self creatively. Really? Like, it doesn't matter. Kind of. It's like. It's like being like, A rich woman who starts, like a lotion line.
Ryan Reynolds
Exactly. You would go boutique.
Sam Taggart
That was really beautiful the way that. The inflection of the annunciation.
Ryan Reynolds
You would embrace having a boutique rather than having a. What's it called when. Something. Franchise. Rather than having a franchise.
Devin Walker
I mean, the short films I'd put out.
Ryan Reynolds
Yes.
Sam Taggart
Short films truly would be like, baby, I need $25,000 because I got a story to tell.
Ryan Reynolds
Short films, an off Broadway run, you would fund yourself easily six weeks.
Sam Taggart
Yeah.
Ryan Reynolds
I would, quite frankly, fund the art. The Lincoln center would be renamed the George Center. Let's just say that.
Sam Taggart
Okay, so you're marrying like a Rockefeller.
Ryan Reynolds
I'm sorry.
Sam Taggart
No, you're right. It's the same. You're right. It's the same type of. Maybe I just. I think I can't even quantify what that means.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah, yeah.
Sam Taggart
Being in a family like that, I.
Devin Walker
Love that because it's like a joke that I feel like I used to make all the time be like. And, you know, my father, the, you know, CEO of bp, like, yeah.
Ryan Reynolds
And it's like, no, that is someone.
Devin Walker
It's someone real that exists for someone.
Sam Taggart
And he's married to someone.
Devin Walker
Wow.
Ryan Reynolds
You know what? I remember I went to middle school with this girl. I guess I won't say what the company was. I'll say it and we'll bleep it. So.
Sam Taggart
But should we bleep mine, too? I'm like, oh, so.
Ryan Reynolds
But here's the thing. Saw that that was her last name. I was like, oh, this girl is probably so rich. And I was operating under that assumption the entire time. Later on, many years later, I did a Google. It turns out her side of the family somehow was, like, not the part that got the money. So this entire time, I was treating her like this spoiled rich girl. She was, like, fighting for her life and is now, like, a struggling writer. And the entire time, I was like, shut up, bitch. Why are you speaking up in class? You do not relate to that character in that.
Sam Taggart
No.
Ryan Reynolds
Like, no one cares what you have to say. And in fact, it's actually even worse, I think, to have had access to wealth and then lost it because you, like, know what you're missing.
Sam Taggart
You've seen that other side.
Devin Walker
Damn.
Sam Taggart
Jesus, that's brutal.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah. And that's actually the plot of Shit's Creek, my favorite television series.
Devin Walker
Okay, back to my original question. Yes. How much humor is allowed in vows?
Ryan Reynolds
I'm like, go. I think. I think it's not about how much you.
Devin Walker
Yours was like, you went Full, sincere.
Ryan Reynolds
I had some laugh. Wow.
Sam Taggart
I had some laughs. Sam was like, yo, the thing about you is that you didn't even feel the need to be funny, not even a little bit. I think it was not even a drop.
Ryan Reynolds
What Sam is referring to is that it ended on sincerity rather than ending on a punchline I tried to have. But I think my general answer to you would be, basically, there has to be at least a moment of genuine sincerity. And. And then around that, you can have as much humor as possible, but what you can't do is not have any sincerity.
Devin Walker
Of course I want some sincerity, but I am worried about it coming off as, like. And that's when I knew I was gay. Like, I'm worried about, like, landing in cliches, as you were talking about in a way that I'm scared of.
Sam Taggart
I feel like weddings are a really fine time to land in cliches.
Devin Walker
Okay.
Sam Taggart
I think that's. I think. Yeah. I think there's.
Devin Walker
I'm not gonna reinvent the wheel.
Sam Taggart
You know what I mean? I think there's only so many ways to tell someone that you love them.
Ryan Reynolds
I agree with you. But the thing is, like, there are some cliches that are so unforgivable. You know what I mean?
Devin Walker
Like, some. So I don't say them.
Ryan Reynolds
My person.
Sam Taggart
Oh.
Ryan Reynolds
Don't like anything about love at first sight. Like, anything about, like, I'm trying to think, like, oh, you know, you have taste.
Sam Taggart
You're not gonna. You're not gonna land.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah. You're not gonna. It's. Because it doesn't. Cliche doesn't come naturally to you.
Sam Taggart
Right.
Ryan Reynolds
Other people have to fight cliche. Like, you don't have to fight cliche.
Sam Taggart
Sure.
Ryan Reynolds
I think that's the. I think that for many people, that's the instinct just to go to cliche. So then you have to train yourself out of it. But I think that's not going to be an issue.
Devin Walker
Yeah. Yeah. Well, we're gonna find it. You know, tonight I'm really gonna hunker down and get to writing.
Sam Taggart
I'm excited.
Devin Walker
Yeah. It's gonna be something. It's gonna be something.
Ryan Reynolds
I. I think one way to maybe avoid cliche is. And I think I tried to do this when I did. Mine is like, there's an instinct to think about the past, because it's like, you have this instinct to be like, how did we meet? When did I know when? What were the best moments in our relationship? And there should obviously be some of that, but it actually is much more interesting to talk about how you envision the future.
Devin Walker
Interesting.
Ryan Reynolds
And I think that there are fewer cliches. I mean, unless you literally go like, till death do us part. I think there are fewer cliches when you're imagining the future than there are when you're like, on our first date, when you ordered the Bolognese, I knew you were the one for me.
Sam Taggart
Sure, sure, sure, sure, sure. Definitely don't say it like that.
Devin Walker
Well, that's definitely.
Sam Taggart
Don't.
Devin Walker
When I'm imagining speaking, all I can hear is like fake voice. It's being like, misha, you are random.
Ryan Reynolds
One of my favorite cliches is, remind me what your middle name. What's your middle name?
Devin Walker
Thompson.
Ryan Reynolds
One of my favorite cliches is, this is me doing my vows. Samuel Thompson Taggart, starting with the full name.
Sam Taggart
Yes.
Ryan Reynolds
Is so funny.
Devin Walker
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ryan Reynolds
Because it's one of those things that you're doing it almost to imply intimacy, and yet you are calling someone by their legal name. It is distancing.
Devin Walker
Yeah.
Ryan Reynolds
It's so crazy.
Devin Walker
You know what? I actually, the biggest cliche that I find is being like. And someone who will always split an omelette with me at three in the morning. Like that type of thing.
Ryan Reynolds
I promise to always water the plants, but not over water.
Sam Taggart
That's it.
Devin Walker
That's true. Well, that's not.
Ryan Reynolds
But the thing is, you will have to do one specific thing like that. That's like the entire joke is the specificity of it.
Sam Taggart
Like, I'll always eat the rice if you eat the beans.
Ryan Reynolds
Exactly, Exactly. Yes.
Devin Walker
Yeah, it is.
Sam Taggart
It's that in that neighborhood.
Devin Walker
Sure, sure, sure.
Ryan Reynolds
There's a way in which at some point everything starts feeling like a cliche. And then. And you will get to that point, I'm sorry to tell you, at some point you will pass it, but you will get to that point where like, oh no, everything I'm thinking sounds like it's from a rom com.
Devin Walker
How did you. How long did it take for you?
Ryan Reynolds
I think you have like initial writer's block and then it sort of will pour out of you.
Devin Walker
Okay.
Ryan Reynolds
Because. And I actually think you should do it. Or I did it like almost free writing style where I was like. It was almost like one run on sentence. Because it is like a spoken thing. Like I don't, you know, it doesn't have to be like a five paragraph essay.
Devin Walker
Right, right.
Ryan Reynolds
But I have faith.
Devin Walker
In conclusion.
Ryan Reynolds
In conclusion.
Sam Taggart
Wait, can I ask you who. Who is officiating? Is there a comedian officiating?
Ryan Reynolds
Oh, yes. Baby, the number one comedian.
Sam Taggart
Who is it?
Devin Walker
Julio.
Sam Taggart
Interesting.
Devin Walker
Interesting, because he was there the night we met. I was at Metropolitan Gay Bar with Julio.
Sam Taggart
When I met the Metropolitan Gay Bar.
Ryan Reynolds
I actually told my sister. She was like, where's Sam's wedding? I was like, metropolitan. And we had this entire conversation. Then I realized she thought it was at the Met Museum. She was like, that is so cool. How do you.
Devin Walker
I will say on the invites, Misha put, like, Metropolitan, Princely's Gay Bar. And I was like, why did you put it?
Sam Taggart
No, I had thought about this.
Ryan Reynolds
Someone coming from out of town.
Sam Taggart
I didn't even think about that. I just went to a comedian wedding that was also officiated by a comedian. I went to my buddy Andrew Dismukes, got married to his longtime girlfriend, Ally. Yeah, you guys know Ally. You guys know Andrew and Ally, who officiated? It was a guy. He's an Austin comedian. We all came up in Austin together years ago, and he is this guy named Mason. And he did. It was. I will say he was killing. But he did do longer than both of them. Mason did a smooth 15. No, he talked for a long, long time in a way that I was like, mason, maybe you'll hear this, but it's like, I'll say this if we talk in real life. He was referencing this sketch series that her and ali did in 2012 and was really going into. Like, I had this vision for sketches, and she thought about characters in this kind of way that's really funny and really was, like, diving it. But I will say getting laughs the entire time.
Devin Walker
That's good.
Sam Taggart
But I will say, I've never seen anyone do. Like, it felt like watching someone actually do stand up at a wedding in a way that I'm curious to see what Julio's gonna bring to it.
Devin Walker
I'm curious to see what he'll bring.
Ryan Reynolds
Well, I ran into Julio a couple days ago, and I was like, you know how sometimes you have a conversation with Julio and you leave with more questions than answers?
Sam Taggart
Of course. Of course.
Ryan Reynolds
I was like. I was like, so, like, are you excited to officiate? And Julio was like, oh, yeah, I guess I should do the online thing. I was like, yeah, definitely get. Definitely do that. But then also, like, are you excited for the actual officiation? And then he was like, yeah, blah, blah. And I was like. I was like, do you want. I mean, this is so stupid. But I was like, you know, I officiated a wedding once. If you want me to send my thing, like, if you just like, structure wise. And he was like, that's okay. And I was like, got it. And then I was like, you know, the hardest part is, you know, knowing that your audience is half like your friends and then half family. That maybe doesn't, you know, share your sense of humor, share your sensibility. And hula was just like, oh, I hadn't even thought about that. I was like, what are we talking about here?
Sam Taggart
Julio starts pulling a bunch of different locks out of his pocket.
Ryan Reynolds
You haven't thought about that? That's the number one thing. The number one thing with officiating, especially if you're like, in our community, is like, you have to appeal to both, like, Aunt Mary and, you know, Amy Zimmer.
Devin Walker
I thought it was so funny. We talked on the phone this weekend and he was like, first of all, I've written nothing. And I was like, no, that's okay. He's like, no, literally nothing. And I was like, that's okay.
Ryan Reynolds
Well, the other thing, you know, he is going to be really good.
Devin Walker
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ryan Reynolds
But you almost don't want to peek into his process because it's like, you don't want to know what method goes into the madness.
Devin Walker
Anyway, it's going to be interesting.
Ryan Reynolds
It's going to be great.
Sam Taggart
I'm excited. I'm excited. I forget who I was talking to. Somebody who lives in LA who's flying out here for it, and I forget who it was. That's not interesting. Anyway, go ahead.
Ryan Reynolds
Debra Messing.
Devin Walker
Yeah, Deborah.
Sam Taggart
Is she really coming?
Devin Walker
No.
Sam Taggart
I could see a world in which I'll cross paths in there.
Ryan Reynolds
I would love it if she showed up. She's like harried, like late at coming out of an Uber. She's like, sorry, guys. Jesus.
Devin Walker
Keep going, keep going.
Ryan Reynolds
Sorry. I just flew in from Tel Aviv.
Sam Taggart
Okay. Oh, she's doing that.
Devin Walker
Oh, big time.
Sam Taggart
Oh, I see.
Mick
I didn't realize.
Sam Taggart
I didn't know that.
Ryan Reynolds
Let's do our first segment.
Devin Walker
Let's do our first segment.
George Sever
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Sam Taggart
Hey, Meta.
George Sever
Play hip hop music and tune into the world around you. But listening is just the beginning because you can stay in the moment while your phone stays in your pocket as Meta AI provides answers to questions on the fly.
Sam Taggart
Hey, Meta, what's the weather tonight?
Ryan Reynolds
Tonight will be clear with temperatures ranging.
George Sever
From capture and share moments.
Ryan Reynolds
Hey, Meta.
Sam Taggart
Post this video and Instagram, you can.
George Sever
Even get Meta AI to make recommendations based on what you're looking at.
Sam Taggart
Hey Meta, what can I make for dinner? With what's in the fridge?
Ryan Reynolds
You can make a delicious spinach and chicken salad or add the baby spinach to pasta with some garlic shrimp.
George Sever
Cool Ray Ban Meta Glasses choose from a variety of classic Ray Ban frames, all with meta AI@meta.com AI classes and don't forget to say hey meta play iheartradio to enjoy your favorite radio stations, artists and podcasts on the iHeart app.
Devin Walker
Listen to your elders, honey. You might know them from their viral videos, but now the old Gays pull back the curtain on their brand new podcast Silver Linings with the Old Gays, brought to you in partnership with iHeart's Ruby Studio and Veeve Healthcare. With over 300 years of experience between them, hosts Robert, Mick, Bill and Jesse serve four lifetimes of wisdom when it comes to love, sex, community and whatever else they've got on the gay agenda. Listen to these fabulous friends swap stories exploring how queer life has evolved over the decades and the silver linings they've collected along the way. Each episode dives into hot topics from safe sex and online dating to untangling Gen Z lingo, as well as insights on how music, art and fashion show up in queer culture. So check out Silver Linings, a show about how pride ages like fine wine. Available on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Bill
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Mick
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Devin Walker
Devin our first segment is called Straight Shooters and in this segment we're going to ask you a series of rapid fire questions to gauge your familiarity with and complicity in straight culture. Yep, it's basically this thing or this other thing. And the only rule is you can't ask any follow up questions or we'll scream at you.
Sam Taggart
Gotcha.
Devin Walker
Not that you need to be reminded, George.
Ryan Reynolds
Kick us off the big Bang or the one and only Bow and yang.
Sam Taggart
Bow and yang.
Devin Walker
Protecting your data or forgetting your truveda.
Sam Taggart
Forgetting your truveta.
Ryan Reynolds
Oh wow.
Sam Taggart
I don't know what that means.
Ryan Reynolds
You shouldn't have said you don't know what it means. Does the carpet match the drapes or going to the market to buy some grapes?
Sam Taggart
Going to the market to buy some grapes.
Devin Walker
Okay, this one's tough because it actually needs voice work that I don't think I'm qualified to to do.
Sam Taggart
You got this. I believe in you.
Devin Walker
It's just like my ear is still unpopped from the flight yesterday. So like I'm not working with like the full register. FKA Twigs or South park teacher voice, mkay. I can't do it. I want to kill myself.
Ryan Reynolds
I think you're doing a great job.
Devin Walker
I can't do it, George. I can't do it. I can't do it, George.
Sam Taggart
Do you want to give it one more?
Ryan Reynolds
Give it one more.
Devin Walker
Guys, I need to listen to it. Guys, I just have to listen to it. If anyone could. Okay, here's what's gonna happen. Here's what I'm gonna say.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah, we'll put it in FK Twigs or MK Kids.
Devin Walker
And then you put it in a post. Okay. Because this is.
Ryan Reynolds
But say what it is.
Devin Walker
MK Kids.
Ryan Reynolds
Okay.
Devin Walker
And I wrote this on the train.
Sam Taggart
Okay.
Devin Walker
Thinking, you know, when the cameras are on maybe something.
Sam Taggart
You'll find it. Yeah.
Devin Walker
And then I said, I've never found something when the cameras are on.
Sam Taggart
Fair enough.
Devin Walker
If I can't find it secretly in private, I can't find it when the cameras are on.
Sam Taggart
Fair enough.
Devin Walker
Okay, well, you do have to choose.
Sam Taggart
I'm gonna go FK Twigs.
Ryan Reynolds
Wow. The coward's choice. You didn't want to do the MK kids either.
Sam Taggart
No, I really didn't.
Ryan Reynolds
Okay.
Sam Taggart
Also, didn't really grow up watching South Park.
Devin Walker
This is the second time.
Ryan Reynolds
This is the second time we've talked. I also didn't grow up watching South Park. Okay. And I did denim on denim or bend it like Beckham.
Sam Taggart
Ooh, denim on denim.
Devin Walker
Okay, this one's really hard. J Street Metrotech or Old King Wenceslaus.
Ryan Reynolds
Oh, that's good.
Sam Taggart
I've gotta go J Street.
Ryan Reynolds
Realpolitik or Fake Plastic Trees?
Sam Taggart
Realpolitik.
Devin Walker
Okay. Ranked choice voting or Stank Face Emoting?
Sam Taggart
Stank Face Emoting.
Ryan Reynolds
Wow.
Devin Walker
Wow.
Ryan Reynolds
Is Fake Plastic Trees Radiohead?
Devin Walker
Honey, you're the one that wrote it.
Ryan Reynolds
It's one. Do you not. Is it not?
Sam Taggart
Oh, that was. Never mind. I guess I'm not supposed to say, but I was. Yeah, go ahead.
Ryan Reynolds
Is that not a recognizable. I think it's Radiohead, but I don't know. Okay, now you're.
Sam Taggart
It sounds like none of us know.
Devin Walker
Your straight shooter.
Ryan Reynolds
To me. You know when something is just like, you know, the. The. I've known that phrase since I was, like, 12. And it's because it's an album title.
Devin Walker
I mean, what, do you Google it, right? This?
Ryan Reynolds
No, no, no, no. Okay, we have to rank Devin's performance on a scale of 0 to 1000 doves.
Devin Walker
Here's what I will say.
Ryan Reynolds
Yes.
Devin Walker
Yeah, I think experimenting today.
Ryan Reynolds
Definitely. I mean, I don't even know what half the things they said made.
Sam Taggart
Okay, cool. I'm glad we're in the same boat.
Devin Walker
Because we felt so comfortable with you being here. Yes, that's right. And we just knew that you'd crush it. So I'm going to go ahead and say that you get 999 dubs. What? You were an amazing recipient of our.
Ryan Reynolds
Now that's interesting. I actually have to disagree. I actually think, you know, Devin, you're sitting there sort of like, cool guy. There's like a sort of cool guy energy. You're kind of like, looking at us like, what the hell are these guys talking about? Like, even when Sam did the south park thing, you're not, you know, you're not showing the Vulnerability of attempting to save MK kids. You're sort of just like you're being removed. Yeah. Being aloof and. And, and then it makes us feel exposed and naked.
Sam Taggart
I see.
Devin Walker
Wow.
Ryan Reynolds
And so I would say. But however, I think you did pretty good. So I think I'm gonna.
Devin Walker
He deserves to be rewarded for playing and winning a power game.
Ryan Reynolds
Did he? For huic. Okay, you're right. So you humiliate us on our own show.
Sam Taggart
And that is what I mean.
Ryan Reynolds
And that is winning. Okay. So I guess I would say. I would say It's a solid 870.
Devin Walker
Wow.
Ryan Reynolds
And that's my final answer. So the average of that is around is 9:30, something like that.
Devin Walker
Yeah, yeah, sure.
Sam Taggart
I'm happy with that.
Ryan Reynolds
So that's pretty good. That's an A minus. That's a high A minus.
Sam Taggart
Actually better than I did in school normally.
Ryan Reynolds
I don't believe that. Were you not a good student?
Sam Taggart
I was a decent. I just, I. I didn't care that much. I don't know if you guys related. I. Well, I take you for being a really good student. You do seem like you made really good grades.
Devin Walker
Sam. I was a good student.
Ryan Reynolds
Sam was a good student.
Sam Taggart
I see it for you guys.
Ryan Reynolds
Do you remember one time. We can take this out if it's easy to identify the person. One time Sam found out someone we know got C's in high school. And Sam was literally like. I mean, can you imagine getting C's in high school?
Devin Walker
It's like someone whose whole thing is super silly and goofy and so when I found out they got C's in high school, I was like, oh, you're not. Like, you're not coming with the form.
Ryan Reynolds
You're like, you're just dumb.
Sam Taggart
You're just kind of a dumb person.
Ryan Reynolds
No, this was. I remember that because. And it really like brought this person down in your estimation. It wrecked me because you were like. Because Sam thought this is like this person's like Andy Kaufman esque, like so smart that he's like kind of. His silliness and his whimsical humor is like making fun of the human condition. And then after Sam found out that this person got seasoned in high school, he was like, oh, wait, so you're just kind of like a doofus.
Sam Taggart
Well, but to be fair, I bet you Andy Kaufman got C's in high school as well.
Ryan Reynolds
So this is interesting. Right? So there's two ways you can get season high school. Either you're like, not made for the American educational system and you're like such a genius that you get Cs.
Sam Taggart
Happens all the time.
Ryan Reynolds
Or you're literally, like, smoking weed.
Sam Taggart
Yeah. Or you just like, I don't know that I got no. I think I probably got a C in calculus. I probably. That was. That was never the life for me. But I will say with me in high school, I was pretty much A. I was like a mid B to, like, a low A student. But it was genuinely like. I don't know if y' all. Well, y' all clearly didn't feel this way, but I genuinely was like, I think I'm gonna be okay one way or another. I always. I really just had a belief that I was like, I don't know that I'm like, I'm not made for academia. I can make it through school. I, like, got through grad school. Like, I was like, I can do all this stuff. But I was like, I just don't think that any of what I'm learning right now is, like, I don't think it's gonna, like, really influence where I. Where I go.
Devin Walker
I felt that way once I was in college.
Sam Taggart
Sure.
Devin Walker
In high school. I was like, the pressure's on. Like, you gotta get good grades to get into college. Whatever.
Sam Taggart
I wish I was like that.
Devin Walker
But once I was in college, I was like, this is all a victory lap.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah.
Sam Taggart
I was like, what are we doing? I would even say, I'll learn enough of it. Yeah.
Devin Walker
Check my grades.
Sam Taggart
Yeah. I was just like, I'm not gonna stress myself. I was like, I'll. I'll do fine in life somehow.
Devin Walker
Yeah.
Ryan Reynolds
I would even say I was at the best. I was at my best and most hardworking and probably like, legitimately sixth grade. And then after that, it's almost like you want to see how little you can do while maintaining the status of a good student. I was like, oh, okay. So if I study a half hour less, I'm basically still getting an A or A minus. And how. What is the equation where I can still basically have the reputation of being smart, the reputation of being a good student without going above and beyond. And I would say, I'm still doing that today.
Sam Taggart
God bless.
Devin Walker
Oh, you're good at it.
Ryan Reynolds
Thanks.
Devin Walker
We always know that's the difference, is that he can perform the intelligence spot on. If asked to give a presentation about a topic he doesn't know right now, he could do it. And I have to sit with it for a while.
Ryan Reynolds
I can.
Devin Walker
Yeah.
Ryan Reynolds
Here's what I can do. I can. Actually.
Sam Taggart
That's how we got into the Comedy central program. Literally, it's for people like us.
Ryan Reynolds
I would say I can successfully bullshit the personality of someone who doesn't bullshit.
Sam Taggart
I mean, that's.
Ryan Reynolds
You know what I mean?
Sam Taggart
I mean, that's maybe one of the greatest gifts anyone could be given.
Ryan Reynolds
Like, I can actually enter a room and my entire performance is that of someone who's like, let's cut the crap here. But I'm unprepared and don't know what I'm talking about.
Sam Taggart
That's incredible because. So I think I'm pretty good at bullshitting. But I do think that people.
Ryan Reynolds
But people see through people would be.
Sam Taggart
Like, oh, he's bullshitting. But I do think that I can, like, charm my way into them being like, oh, but it's kind of sweet that he's bullshitting his way through this. But you're actually like, you can act as if you really knew what you were talking about.
Ryan Reynolds
At my best, you know, not always. But I do think when I'm really focused, I can, right?
Devin Walker
Yeah, I think you can.
Ryan Reynolds
Thanks.
Sam Taggart
Whoa. That's like some like, catch me if you can shit.
Ryan Reynolds
Yes, well. But it's like never with things that matter. Like, sure. Cause I actually, when I'm in the presence of someone who leg has more power than me, I crack under the pressure. Yeah.
Devin Walker
It takes me, like a long time of being, like, above someone intellectually to be like, oh, I'm above you intellectually. Like, it takes me like six months because then I'm like. Because I'm like, what if. What if the last three months was a fluke? Like, and they're actually still better and.
Sam Taggart
They catch up to me.
Devin Walker
Yeah.
Ryan Reynolds
Should we get into our topic?
Devin Walker
I think we should. Devin, what topic have you brought for us today?
Sam Taggart
The topic that I brought today was fantasy sports. That's my straight topic.
Devin Walker
Fantasy sports.
Sam Taggart
Yes. One of the straightest things in the world to me.
Ryan Reynolds
It is, it is. It's like sometimes there are these topics that are so straight that I almost don't know what to say about them because it's so self evident that it's like the only people who would play fantasy sports are a very specific kind of, I would say, physically abusive.
Devin Walker
Well, I want you to fill us in on, like, your history with fantasy sports.
Sam Taggart
Yeah. So I grew up in Texas. I went to the high school where they shot Friday Night Lights. And so it's like the TV show, not the movie.
Ryan Reynolds
Okay, that's interesting.
Sam Taggart
Did you ever see the TV show?
Ryan Reynolds
You know, I didn't see it. I Didn't. But I know about Coach Taylor and I know Connie Britton. Right.
Sam Taggart
Masterful performance, Beautiful exhibit of love on television.
Ryan Reynolds
Yes.
Sam Taggart
It was really nice.
Ryan Reynolds
And I know that it means a lot to a lot of people.
Devin Walker
I tried to watch it once.
Sam Taggart
Yeah.
Devin Walker
It just didn't click.
Sam Taggart
Didn't resonate with you?
Devin Walker
No.
Ryan Reynolds
Here's what I'll say about Friday Night Lights. Something extremely foreign to me as someone who doesn't have American parents, is the idea that high school sports matter. Like, it is.
Sam Taggart
So.
Ryan Reynolds
And I'm not saying that in a I'm better than that way or anything. Like, legitimately. It's like a cultural thing. I don't get. Like, I cannot imagine my parents watching me play a sport in high school and being like this. He better do well here.
Sam Taggart
Whoa.
Ryan Reynolds
It just. Because it was so much about academic. Academics and everything else was a distraction. I don't even think they knew that the college system, for example, rewarded athletics. Like, I don't think they knew that I could have gotten a scholarship, let's say, if I was good at a sport. I just don't think that was, like, in their world. And so it just was something that was so foreign to me. Like, I remember when we lived in America, I was like, on the swim team, I was not very good. And they would like, come to the meets and other parents would be like, trembling, like, writing down their kids stats. And my parents would just be fully reading a magazine. Like, not.
Sam Taggart
This is just like some little stuff.
Ryan Reynolds
It's like a favor they're doing for me. So that's. So that is why I have never been able to, like, get on board with the college or high school sports movie. But you grew up in Texas. You went to the high school from Friday Night Lights.
Sam Taggart
I did. So all that to say, like, I really grew up, like, seeped in.
Devin Walker
Yeah.
Sam Taggart
Some of the straightest culture that's available to us. And I played high school football. And so, like, I think I just was setting myself on a path. I didn't know that I wanted to be an artist. I didn't know I wanted to be a creative. And not because, like, it was something that was told to me was, like, inaccessible. It genuinely just, like, didn't occur to me because no one that I was around did that at all. And so, like, I was kind of just on a. I was kind of just like, all right, I guess I'll, like, go to college and then just like, get a cubicle job. And like, that's what I did. I graduated from college I, like, got this, like, job in the sale, like, generating leads for a sales department. And that was my first experience, like, doing fantasy football. And somehow I ended up in, like, six different fantasy football leagues when I was, like, working at this sales office.
Ryan Reynolds
And so were they with your colleagues?
Sam Taggart
They were with, like, colleagues. And then by that point, I know I hadn't even started comedy yet. So. Yeah, I guess it just would have been, like, guys I went to high school and college with. And then, like, in Austin in. Or like, I went to college right outside Austin. Like, probably, like, 40 minutes outside of town. And, yeah, my first job was at the sales place, which was in Austin. And, yeah, I just was playing. I would be on, like, four different fantasy football teams, which is, like, genuinely something that you have to, like. It's a thing you have to adjust all the time because, like, guys are constantly, like, you have to account for injuries. And so, like, if a guy gets hurt playing football, which happens in the real world. In the real world. Do you guys. What is your familiarity with fantasy football?
Devin Walker
I relatively. I think I know how it works.
Sam Taggart
Okay.
Ryan Reynolds
I mean, it has been explained to me both by guests on this podcast and by people in my real life.
Sam Taggart
Because I'm kind of assuming that you're coming in with knowledge, but that might.
Devin Walker
Well, you pick players. You pick from any team.
Ryan Reynolds
So there are. But you are part of. When you're in a fantasy league.
Sam Taggart
Yes.
Ryan Reynolds
How many people are in the entire fantasy league?
Sam Taggart
Depends.
Ryan Reynolds
Okay.
Sam Taggart
That can vary.
Ryan Reynolds
And you're making your own team. You're not, like, in charge of the Cowboys.
Sam Taggart
You're not in charge of the Cowboys. You are just. You are drafting individual players.
Ryan Reynolds
Okay.
Devin Walker
You're in charge of the Georges. I see.
Ryan Reynolds
I see. I see.
Sam Taggart
Yes. Exactly where it could Literally. Yes. If they were doing comedians, they could be like. It could be every comedian in New York City. And it could be like, all right, there's literally, like, guys whose job it is to, like, do fantasy projections for, like, who's supposed to score the most points based on what they did last year. And the points are, like, you know, it could be, like, how many touchdowns they catch. Every touchdown's worth this many points every, like, time they, like, like, catch a pass that's worth a certain amount of points.
Ryan Reynolds
But then explain to me how the real world relates to the fantasy world.
Devin Walker
Because it's what happens in the game. It's what happens in your fantasy.
Sam Taggart
Yes.
Ryan Reynolds
Even though the. Even though the people playing are in a different team.
Sam Taggart
Well, but you can draft players from any team. Yes, in the entire. So it's like, yeah, you could get this guy from the Cowboys, this guy from the Giants, this guy from the jets, and that constitutes your team. And their performance adds up to points, which is how you.
Devin Walker
It's like if you die in the game, you die in real life.
Ryan Reynolds
No, no, totally. But I guess my question is more like, let's say one of your players in the real world wins against one of your other players.
Sam Taggart
It doesn't matter. Wins and losses don't really matter. It's only statistics.
Ryan Reynolds
Oh, okay.
Sam Taggart
It's only like rushing yards, passing yards, you know, for basketball. Three point shots made, like total points, rebounds, like, only counting statistics go towards. Yeah. The actual wins and losses don't matter at all.
Ryan Reynolds
So it's like fan fiction.
Sam Taggart
Yeah. Interesting.
Ryan Reynolds
Because it is. It's like Draco and Harry is the same. You're having the characters.
Sam Taggart
This is. This is way cooler. Well, no, because. Because it's. Because it is, like, based on. It's not fiction. Like, it is based on, like, the actual.
Ryan Reynolds
No, no, totally. But then. But then the teams are fiction. Yes, in the same.
Sam Taggart
The teams are all made up. The teams are all created. I hear what you're saying.
Ryan Reynolds
The characters are real in the same way that Harry Potter is real.
Devin Walker
But I think that's where.
Sam Taggart
Harry Potter's not real.
Ryan Reynolds
No, Devin, he's real.
Devin Walker
It's like, confusing because you're just picking people to monitor their stats.
Sam Taggart
Yes.
Devin Walker
And like, I don't see the joy.
Sam Taggart
And I would agree with you.
Ryan Reynolds
I would agree with you. This is my big question. I'm like, where does the creativity come in?
Devin Walker
Where does the narrative come in?
Ryan Reynolds
And where does the narrative come in?
Sam Taggart
I don't know that it exists because that's why it's such a straight activity.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah.
Sam Taggart
There's no story. There's no whimsy. It is all like. It's just numbers and like, facts. There is no. Right. The only. And it's also like. Yeah, you're. Yeah. It doesn't exist.
Ryan Reynolds
It's also gambling. Like, it is.
Sam Taggart
It is literally like this ties into gambling very, very closely.
Ryan Reynolds
It is tracking what has already happened and then guessing based on that what could happen.
Sam Taggart
Yes.
Devin Walker
I have something to ask.
Sam Taggart
Go ahead.
Devin Walker
Gambling related. Do you know any gay guys who are, like, addicted to gambling?
Ryan Reynolds
Okay, this is a really, really good.
Devin Walker
Question because I've never met a single gay guy who's like, I actually had a gambling addiction. Whereas, like, in the straight community, it's like, seems relatively normal.
Ryan Reynolds
Oh, it's very normal.
Sam Taggart
I've seen people, like, run into real issues.
Ryan Reynolds
Yes.
Sam Taggart
Where I like. Especially now that it's, like. Now that you can just do it on your phone and now that it's, like, gamified. I know several people who I've seen, like, kids get seriously addicted to gambling.
Devin Walker
That's wild.
Sam Taggart
Quite a few comedians, actually.
Devin Walker
Really?
Ryan Reynolds
Oh, yeah.
Sam Taggart
This is very common. I was. And I won't say his name, but I went to a World Series game with someone that I'm friends with, and he was betting on balls and strikes. He was literally betting, like, pitch by pitch. Like, I think this pitch will be a ball. This pitch will be, like, real, like, crackhead behavior. It's really concerning. I know a lot of guys who are addicted to gambling. That's big into straight, cold.
Mick
Damn.
Sam Taggart
That's something we could have talked about.
Ryan Reynolds
No, that's like, sports gambling is really, like. I'm trying to think, like, what? I'm trying to think. Just thinking. Just in broad stereotypes, what kind of gay guy would get into gambling?
Devin Walker
And I really, really. Because, like, I remember, like, going to a casino for the first time and being like, okay, like, maybe this will hit. Like, I remember when I had my first two beers. I was like, oh, this is clicking. I see why people lose their lives to this. Whoa. Like, I'm all in.
Ryan Reynolds
Okay, well, here's what I'm picturing.
Devin Walker
But then when I went camping, I was like. Like, I feel nothing. I'm so bored. I need to get out of here.
Ryan Reynolds
Here's what I'm picturing. Gay guy, really intense facelift. Really intense hairline, hair plugs. Kind of a leather blazer in a casino. He's doing just the slots. The slots, sure. And he's drinking a, you know, bourbon Manhattan.
Devin Walker
Oh, yeah, I see that.
Sam Taggart
You think this is. This is a Southern man.
Ryan Reynolds
I would say Southern, yes. I was about to say New Orleans, but that's not quite it. I could see him being Southern. I could also see it being more of a. What's the New Jersey? Oh, my God. What's New Jersey? Atlantic City. More of an Atlantic City type vibe. Someone from, like, a smaller town in New Jersey or Pennsylvania or something like that.
Devin Walker
That really changed me.
Ryan Reynolds
He's like the g. The one Gigi in the town. And then his.
Sam Taggart
But he's beloved in the town in the way that I'm imagining it.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah, he's beloved in the town. Exactly, exactly. And he's always wearing a fun shirt.
Sam Taggart
Yes.
Devin Walker
Yeah.
Ryan Reynolds
Fun floral shirt. But then his Terry solo weekend is, like, going to Atlantic City and hitting the slots.
Sam Taggart
Yeah, you've painted a picture. I can't paint a picture.
Devin Walker
I mean, you've definitely made a narrative, but I'm still unclear on whether he's real.
Sam Taggart
Like, we've. I've never known him like Harry Potter.
Ryan Reynolds
Suddenly on his side.
Devin Walker
Like, I'm just.
Sam Taggart
Like, I could. I could see this man existing, but, like, yeah, I've never come across him in my. I've never seen him in my world.
Devin Walker
I. I think, like, he needs his own a 24 movie. Like, I think this really could be very Sean Baker.
Ryan Reynolds
Hello, calling Sean Baker. A gay guy with a. With a leather. A burgundy leather blazer.
Devin Walker
Actually, not a 24. Neon.
Ryan Reynolds
Oh, it needs to be neon.
Devin Walker
This is going to go ahead and be a Neon film.
Sam Taggart
Let's go ahead and get it on Neon.
Ryan Reynolds
One of the running jokes in this pod that no one cares about is us being like, no, that's not a 24. That's neon.
Sam Taggart
That's very funny. Have you created a delineation as to what?
Ryan Reynolds
Well, I just think people use. First of all, I just want to say to all our friends at A24, we support you. We love your work, and we literally love your work, and we would love to be part of your work. But I think it started when our friend Theta's movie Stress Positions was neon. And Neon has also won the Palme d' or the last eight years. So it sort of is the Dark Horse.
Sam Taggart
Was that a Neon movie?
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah, Titan was a Titan movie.
Sam Taggart
Me and my girlfriend, that's one of our favorite things to do is go Titan.
Ryan Reynolds
Oh, my God.
Devin Walker
You do that.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah.
Sam Taggart
See? And this is the Comedy Central Creators.
Devin Walker
Class of class of 2020.
Ryan Reynolds
That was art School for Comedy, Comedy Central Creators Program.
Devin Walker
Oh, God.
Ryan Reynolds
So you said something very interesting when we were off mic, which is at some point, you had the realization that you don't have to participate in fantasy sports.
Sam Taggart
It was really like. It was like God spoke to me. It was truly. I was.
Devin Walker
Cause I.
Sam Taggart
At this point, I had moved on. I was at a different job. I was truly in maybe three different fantasy football leagues. And I was like. It was taking up so much of my time where it's like, again, these guys are getting injured all the time. If a guy gets injured and you don't replace him on your team, then that's just zero points. Once his team plays, if you've missed inserting him or removing him from your lineup, that's all you're losing all those points. So I was. Stuff like that was Happening to me. I was having to keep up with, like, different blogs and be like, oh, this guy's injured. Oh, I need to pick up this other wide receiver from this team. Oh, I gotta try to orchestrate a trade. There's so many different levers that I was pulling that, like, genuinely. I was like, in the bathroom, like, pissed off about the fact that I was. I was also losing. I was losing all the time. And I was thinking about it constantly. And one day I was like, oh, what if I just, just didn't do this? And I really can't stress enough how straight of a culture that I, like, grew up with that, like, it seemed really novel to me that I, like, didn't have to participate. And ever since then, that was probably 2016 or something like that.
Ryan Reynolds
When Trump was Elected.
Sam Taggart
Yeah, when Trump was elected, a lot of things changed. That was a turning point. I watched an episode of Chef's Table. I watched an episode of Chef's Table about Kwame, the Tatiana guy and who, like, I know, shout out to Kwame if you're okay, brag, whatever. But like, it was basically he was talking about, like, he was selling drugs and he basically saw Barack. The way that the story is told is he was selling drugs and he saw Barack Obama get elected. And he was like, I'm putting this shit behind me. It's time to go buy some cilantro.
Ryan Reynolds
That is so funny. And that was you with Trump, and.
Sam Taggart
That was me with Trump and fantasy. I saw him get elected and I said, I need to distance myself from this type of culture.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah.
Devin Walker
I mean, do you feel sort of an ostracization after being.
Sam Taggart
Not at all. Especially not since moving to New York City. All my, like, New York City, even my, like, New York City straight friends are always like, watching like, art house, Japanese films. You know what I'm saying? So it's like, I don't.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah, they should do letterbox fantasy football where you're like collecting directors and, you know, little known character actors from the 80s.
Sam Taggart
Unfortunately, that's probably coming. You know what? It was like, someone's probably trying to configure something like that right now.
Devin Walker
But Anna De Armas just got injured.
Sam Taggart
If she gets hurt, if she gets hurt in the movie, then she gets.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah, honestly, it might be something even darker, which is like sort of like straight guys that like, listen to the town podcast and read Hollywood Reporter and like, read Variety doing fantasy football, but for studios and they're like, not to be.
Devin Walker
This is literally what, like agents and managers do for their that's true. Clients genuinely.
Ryan Reynolds
Damn.
Devin Walker
They just get, like, real money when.
Sam Taggart
It works out, when it hits.
Ryan Reynolds
I do think what you're saying about, like, compulsory participation is a big part of straight culture. And I actually think that's something that is very alienating. If you are, like, growing up and you feel different. It's like, the idea that I could leave the soccer team is so. It's like, such a statement. It's basically like saying, I am gay. And it's like, I guess what it is, is not doing something feels like more of a statement than doing it, when in fact, it should be the other way around. Everything should be opt in.
Devin Walker
I'm trying to think on, like, sometimes it's easier to just be gay because you're like, I'm not doing that because I'm gay.
Ryan Reynolds
100%. Where you're like, 100% agree.
Devin Walker
Oh, God. I. When I was a mover, the guys I would work with would get so, like, there was one guy in particular who was like, I watched this mood go from, like, cheery.
Ryan Reynolds
100% disagree. Sorry, I'm holding. For anyone watching. I'm holding a card.
Devin Walker
I watched this. I watched this man's mood change, like, from happy to sad, based on fantasy football alone.
Sam Taggart
That's what this is what I'm talking about.
Devin Walker
And he was like. And not like, oh, I'm sad. Like, don't. But don't worry about me. Like, Like, I'm gonna jump in front of a car. Like, he was like, snap. He was, like, snipping at us. He was.
Ryan Reynolds
That's the gambling of it all. Like that. Because that is gambler behavior.
Sam Taggart
Yeah. And there is money. There's usually. There's a pot at the end. Like, everybody, like, collects on whatever. Usually it's like, I don't know, a thousand bucks or something like that that you can. It's not nothing. It's not nothing. But, like, yeah, There really was such a culture of, like, this is just what every single man around you is doing that, like, once. I've never felt more free than when I decided to stop doing it. And still to this day, every year, people still, they're like, hey, man, we got an extra spot in the league. Would you like. No.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah.
Sam Taggart
No, I wouldn't. Keep that away from me.
Devin Walker
Not while Angelica is open.
Sam Taggart
I gotta go watch Titan. I gotta go watch an afternoon showing of Titan.
Devin Walker
Yeah, yeah.
Sam Taggart
It's in 35 millimeter.
Ryan Reynolds
It's in 35 millimeter. It's just you and, like, reach out.
Devin Walker
If you ever Hear of Metrograph closing?
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah. Have you ever quit something way after you wanted to? Like, have you ever quit something and have such. And had such a sense of relief?
Devin Walker
I'm trying to think.
Ryan Reynolds
I have one.
Devin Walker
You have one. Go ahead.
Ryan Reynolds
This is when I was, like, a kid, it was just, like, compulsory that you had to play an instrument. And of course, if I had had it my way, I would have played a cool instrument, like guitar. But that was just, like, not part of the narrative that I was part of.
Devin Walker
So what did you play?
Ryan Reynolds
And so I had to play, like, piano, but I didn't practice, literally, at all. And so I would have to just once a week, go into this room at this, like, dingy music school and be berated by this guy with a mustache that was like, so, once again, you're not practicing. And I just did that for literally, like, five years. Some point. I was like, I don't want to do this anymore. My parents were like, oh, great. Like, we don't want to pay for it.
Devin Walker
I had almost the opposite, where, like. Like, I was on swim team since, like, five years old.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah.
Devin Walker
And I hated it. I was bad at it. I, like, like, just hated getting in the water.
Sam Taggart
Like, it's one of the big parts of it.
Devin Walker
Yeah. The water's always cold. I'm not.
Ryan Reynolds
The water's always cold.
Devin Walker
Like, your hair is fried. Your skin is dry. Like, I was like, this fucking sucks. And then when I was, like, 15, one day, I was like, wait, I'm really good at swimming. Like, now I like it, but it took 10 years.
Sam Taggart
Oh.
Devin Walker
And so I almost learned the opposite lesson of, like, just don't stick it out.
Sam Taggart
Stick through it. Do things, and then you'll like it. Yeah.
Devin Walker
Yeah. And now I'm like, God, those are my fondest memories.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah.
Sam Taggart
Fascinating. Yeah.
Devin Walker
It's weird.
Sam Taggart
Hey, so if you don't like something right now and you're listening to this podcast, do it for a long time. Continue on that path for quite some time, and you'll find it.
Ryan Reynolds
It's like us with podcasting. Okay. Do you feel like, for me, the most compelling part about sports is, like, the personal stories of the athletes? Like, I. You know, one of the reasons I like tennis is because it's individual athletes. And it's like, I'm crying if Coco Gauff is winning. Like, that is different than feeling like an allegiance to the Yankees or something. But I feel like what's sort of joyless about fantasy football is just, like, everyone is just a collection of stats. Like, would you Ever. When you're in a league. I guess my question is, like, would you ever choose someone for non numbers reasons? Like, because you really, like, you think they have like an inspirational story even if they're not doing well?
Sam Taggart
No, no. Not an inspirational story alone. I feel like people. People do sometimes make decisions over there, like, because of their allegiances like that. Like, you know what? I'm. If, like I am a Yankees fan, I'm gonna take this one guy, even if he's not the best guy, just because I want a guy from the Yankees to be. I think that happens. But it's not like, oh, this. This man's doing really impressive work in the community. Or like, Like, I don't know, he's.
Ryan Reynolds
Really good on TikTok.
Sam Taggart
Yeah, exactly. I like the songs that he makes.
Ryan Reynolds
Fashion sense.
Devin Walker
Yeah.
Sam Taggart
It's not. It's not that I wish it could be, but that's.
Ryan Reynolds
I think that's where the gay and straight.
Devin Walker
Okay, I have a theory based on this. Yeah. Tennis, gay.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah.
Devin Walker
Football, straight.
Sam Taggart
Incredibly.
Devin Walker
Basketball, bisexual. There's a lot of numbers and stats, but there's also a lot of personalities and narratives.
Ryan Reynolds
Oh, yes, yes. Agree.
Sam Taggart
Yes. I also think that, like, I also think that football genuine, legitimately, because of the helmets, becomes so much more impersonal.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah.
Devin Walker
It's every other sport. It's like.
Sam Taggart
Yeah, you're just. You see.
Ryan Reynolds
Wow, that is such a good point.
Sam Taggart
Yeah. Like so. And I think. I think the NFL just got it. Wow, man. You know, I think that I moved to New York City and I think that I'm removed from this version of myself. And then I get on mic and I start talking. I'm like, still really in there. I guess I still do think about this stuff, but I feel like the NFL as a organization is also trying to promote their league, whereas, like, the NBA is trying to promote, like, look at these guys that we have. Oh, sure. The NFL's trying to be like, we just want you watching the games and we want you caring about the teams. The NBA and. And certainly tennis is being like, look at our personalities.
Ryan Reynolds
Yes.
Sam Taggart
Look at these, like, cool. Look at this guy. He's got all these cool pants that he wears. Look at it. Watch him walk down the Runway. Not the Runway, the tunnel.
Ryan Reynolds
They've got like. I mean, the tunnel of it all.
Sam Taggart
Fashion is crazy.
Ryan Reynolds
And with the WNBA too, now the. Now the girls are getting in on the action.
Sam Taggart
Girls are getting fits off.
Ryan Reynolds
So here's a question. Where does baseball fit in? Because I also do feel like baseball is personality Driven, but also.
Sam Taggart
So baseball, football and similar buckets.
Ryan Reynolds
Similar.
Sam Taggart
Both, I would say, incredibly straight sports. It's also like, there's like a. There's a flamboyance in basketball. There's like a. Like, you know what I'm saying? There's a style, there's like a flair that I don't think. That I think is certainly not embraced in basketball or. I'm sorry, in baseball or football. I think any guys that, like, have flair, they're trying to like, turn that flare down. They're trying to like, move away. Especially in baseball. Baseball's maybe the straightest sport of them all.
Devin Walker
Baseball's a weird one. And partially it is because of their thick, juicy asses.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah.
Devin Walker
Where it's like, what is going on here?
Ryan Reynolds
Well, there's. It's not just that.
Devin Walker
It's also.
Sam Taggart
We've also never had a baseball player come out.
Devin Walker
Not one.
Sam Taggart
Not that.
Devin Walker
I mean, I believe you.
Sam Taggart
Not that I know of. There's been a good handful of football players that have come out. There's been a couple basketball players, a lot, although I don't these guys, I'm like, some of these guys come. Just be. Be yourself. Was that play My Brother in Christ. Be yourself.
Ryan Reynolds
Do you see that play about the gay baseball player?
Sam Taggart
I did not see it, but Jesse Williams in it.
Ryan Reynolds
So I saw it with my mom.
Sam Taggart
And full nudity, right?
Ryan Reynolds
Not only full nudity, but someone told me that they like. They all take Viagra, you know, Like.
Devin Walker
I've seen the pics, the Pixar.
Ryan Reynolds
That just is not what a soft dick looks like.
Sam Taggart
Interesting.
Ryan Reynolds
I mean, it is.
Sam Taggart
I'm like, you don't want to be hard on stage.
Ryan Reynolds
I'm telling you, it is crazy interesting. My mom literally, like when he. When he whips it out, my mom, like turned to me, I was like. I was like, please look ahead. Please look ahead. Anyway, I bring it up just because I was trying to remember if that's based on a true story.
Sam Taggart
Is it about a coming out story in baseball?
Ryan Reynolds
Yes. Yeah, that's what it is. And it's like he, in fact, not a. I think what happens is either he's outed or he comes in and then it's about like the fallout from that. And the reason the nudity is like, quote unquote necessary is because it's like, okay, what's it like now in the locker rooms? And all these guys know he sees their dick. It's how he sees it. Of course, I will say interesting. Like metatextually. It's Interesting because the gay character has the biggest dick. Like, you are seeing all of them and he has the biggest dick. But it's unclear if that's something you should be, like, noticing or not.
Sam Taggart
Also, do you think that was part of the casting decision?
Ryan Reynolds
Well, that's what I'm saying. I don't know.
Sam Taggart
You think he was like, no, but.
Ryan Reynolds
He'S also the biggest star. Like, he's a TV star, whereas the other ones are actually. Anyway, whatever.
Sam Taggart
Let's get into the. Let's talk about who's the most famous.
Ryan Reynolds
Anyway, my point, I. But yes, I agree that baseball. Baseball is very straight and to your point, it has all these gay elements, but they almost. A, juicy asses.
Sam Taggart
B.
Ryan Reynolds
The costuming is so, like, circusy.
Devin Walker
Well, and they're all just like, chill guys.
Ryan Reynolds
And they're all chill guys. They're mostly, like, sitting around.
Devin Walker
Yeah.
Ryan Reynolds
There's something very kind of swinging is very.
Devin Walker
It's much gayer than the mustache culture.
Sam Taggart
Yeah, a lot of mustaches happening.
Devin Walker
George off. Mike, you mentioned that sometimes you wish you could opt out of the obligatory drag race.
Ryan Reynolds
Yes, and I actually. Well, I was just trying to relate to, you know, obviously Devon's so different from us.
Devin Walker
Now the mics are on. You don't believe this.
Ryan Reynolds
Devin was saying, you know, he felt so liberated when he opted out of fantasy sports. I was like, what are gay equivalents? Like, I think for many people, not for me, but let's say I was like a super roided out Jim gay. I think for that person, maybe the equivalent would be like, oh, my God, I could just not do this to my body. Like, I could just wake up one day and like, not be counting macros. Tracking macros. What it's called, like, counting. Tracking my macros all day long.
Sam Taggart
None of us are doing.
Ryan Reynolds
I don't. I don't need to, like, be, you know, intermittent fasting. I could just literally, like, go with my body.
Devin Walker
Yeah.
Ryan Reynolds
And I think for me, I was saying the equivalent of that when Drag Race is bad, which currently I'm actually in an okay place with it, I'm like, damn, I wish I could stop watching this.
Devin Walker
Yeah. Yeah, I. I do sometimes feel it with Drag Race until I like. Do you ever feel like when you meet a new straight guy, you are like, oh, I can't talk to you in the same way. Because when I'm. When I meet, like a gay guy, like, just at random, I'm sort of like, well, at least I can talk to you about Drag Race.
Sam Taggart
Well, here's what I'LL say to that is like, I think I still do follow sports. I am just not participating in the fantasy element of. And so, like, that is a shorthand. That is, like, that is a thing that I'm always really. You could meet. You can meet a man that you have nothing else in common with and that you don't even like, but you can at least be like. So the Knicks, right?
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah. And you could talk to them about Addison Rae.
Devin Walker
That's true. That's true.
Sam Taggart
Wait, okay. And I'm sorry for how this is Addison Rae. Is she, like. Is she brand new? Is she one of those girls from. I. Cause she really feels like she came from absolute nowhere. And I'm realizing now that I thought she was one of the d' Amelio sisters.
Devin Walker
She's close.
Ryan Reynolds
She was TikTok.
Sam Taggart
She was one of those TikTok dance girls.
Ryan Reynolds
She was a TikTok dance girl.
Sam Taggart
Cool. Okay, so then I think I am in the right track with the way that I'm thinking about her.
Ryan Reynolds
What happened is she was a TikTok dance girl. Meanwhile, keep in mind, she was like, 16 at the time.
Sam Taggart
Right, right, right.
Ryan Reynolds
She was TikTok dance girl got way, way big, super fast during the pandemic.
Sam Taggart
Doing those. Doing dances no one's ever seen before. Doing dances that are all just.
Ryan Reynolds
Yes, exactly. Like Jimmy Fallon had her on. And she was like, okay. And this one is.
Sam Taggart
It's. It's. It is crazy because there are literal. There's so many on the Internet, you.
Ryan Reynolds
You.
Sam Taggart
You find so many, like, uber talented dancers who are doing all this insane. And the fact that it's just these, like, white girls going.
Ryan Reynolds
Like that. Shit's.
Sam Taggart
I just. If I was a real dancer, I can only imagine how bad. And then it's like these. And now they. They're becoming our, like, next biggest pop star stars.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah.
Sam Taggart
God bless. I haven't listened to the music. Maybe the music.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah. Well, first of all, she has a fourth Mexican, so maybe check yourself before you wreck yourself.
Sam Taggart
Oh, my God. I didn't realize that I was tearing down a fellow person of color.
Ryan Reynolds
She is a fourth Mexican.
Sam Taggart
Oh, my God. I'd like to take that back. Where's my camera? Hey, I'm so sorry. To my Latina queen. I would like to apologize for shaming you. I didn't realize that you were with the community.
Devin Walker
No, she's been on a journey because she's a TikTok dance girl. Then she put out this EP that was, like, had, like, one to two songs that you were like, wait a minute.
Ryan Reynolds
One of them was produced by Charli xcx. Like, it was that.
Devin Walker
And so it's like, wait, is there taste? What's going on? And it became like sort of an ironic. Gay guys would put it on and then the new songs, people were like, hold on.
Sam Taggart
Yeah. Now it feels like it's transforming into people being like, she's legitimately good.
Ryan Reynolds
She's also working with. It seems like she has good taste because she's choosing the right people to work with. Musically, she's going in a sort of like 90s Madonna, Janet, Sade direction.
Devin Walker
Everyone's doing rad and she's doing Listen.
Ryan Reynolds
Am I. I'm being pretty generous, but.
Devin Walker
But I would have never said that that's.
Sam Taggart
I mean, if she's got a little of that in there, I'll check out a track or two. It sounds like it's not really. Sounds like that's not really. She is.
Ryan Reynolds
Like I said, she's as talented as Sade.
Sam Taggart
That's such a specific one because it's like, I've definitely seen girls in pop music who are doing Janet Jackson stuff.
Ryan Reynolds
Obviously.
Sam Taggart
There's so many people who are doing Madonna stuff. I cannot. Sade's doing such a specific. I've never heard anyone who. I'm like, they're doing Madonna.
Ryan Reynolds
I agree. And in my defense, because people are gonna really come for me.
Devin Walker
Yeah. You are setting yourself up.
Ryan Reynolds
So Sade had this sort of more electronic, like, if you listen to Love Deluxe, it's more like electronic, almost like Madonna, ray of light type sound. That's more what I was referencing. She's not doing, like, smooth operating. Yeah. Anyway, so. And then she's also visually working with a lot of, like, the very cool, fashiony Interview magazine people. And so suddenly she goes from TikTok teen to, you know. No. Britney.
Devin Walker
Britney.
Ryan Reynolds
Does that answer your question?
Sam Taggart
Yeah, I think so. I did learn something because I do think. I think the version of her that I was thinking about is not that far off from who she actually is. But it sounds like she's just got a little more taste than the rest of the TikTok dance girls.
Ryan Reynolds
I really think it's a similar narrative to Britney. I think she's both girl next door, but also has taste and works with the right people.
Devin Walker
Yeah, she definitely knows who to work. And that's the best thing you can have these days.
Ryan Reynolds
Damn, you really brought fantasy football in as your topic. And we made you talk about Addison Rae.
Devin Walker
No, that was awesome.
Sam Taggart
Comes full circle.
Devin Walker
We kind of needed that we, like, talked about sports for so long. We really needed it.
Sam Taggart
It was too much. And honestly, I had more fun talking about the pop girl than I did about. Cause again, it's like, it is. I am straight, and that is part of our culture, but it is an element that I hate. I really. Get that away from me. If you're a straight man, please don't talk to me about that. Don't talk about fantasy football teams. It's. Is it like that for you guys in Drag Race?
Ryan Reynolds
Not.
Sam Taggart
Does it occupy that same space where.
Ryan Reynolds
You'Re like, I have something that annoys me.
Sam Taggart
Enough of this.
Devin Walker
Okay?
Ryan Reynolds
Something that annoys me is when people get overly into Oscars stuff, and I'm guilty of it. I'm not saying I'm not. But, like, when people.
Devin Walker
When it's a great point.
Ryan Reynolds
When it's literally like, we're currently, what, June? When it's June and someone is talking to you about who they think is going to be nominated for Best Actress based on, like, the blogs they're reading about what's coming out of Cannes and.
Sam Taggart
About a movie that's not going to be available to the public.
Ryan Reynolds
Exactly.
Sam Taggart
For four months.
Ryan Reynolds
Because, honestly, actually, there's a pretty big similarity. Because they're talking about movies they literally haven't seen stats yet. And it's just stats. And it's. You're talking. You're saying, like, oh, this is gonna be Amy Adams's year. This is gonna be Glenn Close's year, if only.
Sam Taggart
For her performance.
Ryan Reynolds
For her performance.
Sam Taggart
Deliverance.
Ryan Reynolds
Deliverance, yes.
Sam Taggart
Was that. Is that what that movie was called?
Ryan Reynolds
The horror movie where she, like, says the N word?
Sam Taggart
She doesn't, but she might as well.
Ryan Reynolds
Okay. I thought that was the controversy. Does she. I think she might.
Sam Taggart
She might. She might. I did. I did watch the film. I'm like, did she say it? She certainly. Her essence feels like she. It feels like she would.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah.
Devin Walker
I didn't watch it, but the little clips I saw online were pretty fun.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah. But I do think that's my version of. Of that.
Sam Taggart
I totally get that. And that is. I feel like I'm in that world as well. I don't want to talk about what came out of the fucking film festival circuit.
Devin Walker
I'm sick of film festival circuit.
Sam Taggart
Yeah.
Devin Walker
Like, it's like, just wake me up when I can see the movie. Yeah.
Sam Taggart
Also, that's.
Ryan Reynolds
Guess what? Like, I'm not part of that. I'm not at Cannes. I think everyone there should have a great time, and they should. At the after parties. They should be talking about what an amazing performance Julie Delpi gave. But I'm actually in Brooklyn doing freelance work.
Devin Walker
I've also been burned so many times. Times where people were like, this is the greatest film I've ever seen. Eight months later I'm allowed to see it. And I'm like, flop.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah.
Sam Taggart
Conversation.
Ryan Reynolds
Oh, my God.
Sam Taggart
Oh, we got a 30 minute standing over that Stats. It's like, it's also like. No, it didn't.
Devin Walker
No, it's like nothing.
Sam Taggart
I've never. Have you ever wanted to stand up and clap after? I mean, maybe a handful of films have made you and. But then even when you feel like it, I. I sure.
Ryan Reynolds
This now happens in New York theater. Now everything is getting a standing ovation. So you just know the part of the play being over is that you have to stand up even if you hated it.
Sam Taggart
Right.
Devin Walker
Well, it's like encores.
Ryan Reynolds
It's like encores. Oh, you know what else?
Sam Taggart
I don't care for that either.
Devin Walker
I don't care for it.
Sam Taggart
I don't care for the encore. I'm like it. Because there's no true encores. You know, if it's like, if you.
Devin Walker
Want just part of the set list.
Sam Taggart
Just do your whole fucking. Just do the set. Just do the set and then leave. I don't like this fake. And then we all got to be like. And then I come back.
Ryan Reynolds
No, the way you can literally look up the set list, you know what's coming.
Sam Taggart
And then the encore is.
Ryan Reynolds
And then the encore is.
Sam Taggart
Same shit with the. See, it's all coming together. Because that's the straight culture version of that is like post credit scenes.
Devin Walker
Yeah.
Ryan Reynolds
Yes.
Sam Taggart
That's the exact.
Ryan Reynolds
And then people know to wait for them.
Sam Taggart
Yeah. And you're just like, okay, so this, it's not like a special treat. It's just like. Well, this is just what you drew into the playbook.
Devin Walker
There used to be magic.
George Sever
Yeah.
Sam Taggart
Literally you can still find the magic at the AMC theaters. That's what I've heard.
Ryan Reynolds
That's right. By Academy Award winner Nicole.
Devin Walker
Kidding.
Ryan Reynolds
Who went for the hours. So if you. The flip side of. Of standing ovations is when you hear how many people walked out of something at a music as at a film festival.
Sam Taggart
Yeah.
Ryan Reynolds
It like To Town is a great example. Like I'm. There were articles that were like the most walkouts of any film since 2001, which even.
Sam Taggart
I bet you the direct. I don't know the director of Titan was. But I guarantee you that director would be like, fair.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah.
Sam Taggart
Totally fair.
Devin Walker
The.
Sam Taggart
The lady's the car.
Ryan Reynolds
I struggled with Titan.
Sam Taggart
Of course.
Devin Walker
Of course.
Ryan Reynolds
I'll be the first to say it.
Sam Taggart
Even as the director was making it, they had to have been like, well, this. This can't be. This is for some people.
Devin Walker
This is literally one of those movies where everyone was like, this movie will change the way you think about cinema.
Sam Taggart
Yeah. And people. People you respect. Yes. You know what I'm saying? People who.
Ryan Reynolds
I was like, we saw it together with Max.
Devin Walker
Because I was like, everyone was screaming at me about it and I went. And I was like, all right.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah.
Devin Walker
Like, yeah, I guess keep French people weird. Like.
Sam Taggart
What Call is also a. There's a French director too, right? The Margaret Qualley and Demi Moore substance. That's a French lady as well, right?
Ryan Reynolds
Yes, it is.
Sam Taggart
Yes. Corly Farja.
Devin Walker
I'm not even going to try. Try it. That's sort of an NK situation. Should we do our final say?
Ryan Reynolds
Wait, I do want you to promote.
Sam Taggart
Yes.
Ryan Reynolds
Your podcast.
Devin Walker
Oh, yes.
Sam Taggart
Yeah, of course. Yes. I'm. I've got a podcast. It's called My Favorite Lyrics. We come on and we genuinely just. Every guest brings a song and then we kind of do like a lyrical analysis of the song.
Ryan Reynolds
That is such a good idea.
Sam Taggart
Make fun little jokes about it.
Ryan Reynolds
What if you were to be a guest on your own podcast today? What song would you bring?
Sam Taggart
That's a great question. I know what artist I'd probably want to talk about, and that's Big Sean.
Ryan Reynolds
Okay.
Sam Taggart
Big Sean of ass fame.
Ryan Reynolds
We're familiar.
Sam Taggart
Yeah, of course. I just think he. I don't know how familiar you guys are with his discography.
Devin Walker
I only know the hits.
Ryan Reynolds
I know the hits. Yeah. Because they're like, we're the exact right age for the hits to have been.
Sam Taggart
Yes, I think he was. His, like, early part of his career was all built off like doing like straight. Straight up, like set up punchline jokes or like set up punchline raps. So, man, I wish I could, like, I wish I was. I had more like at hand to like bring. But like an example would be like, I don't like the way that you sound headphones. He was doing. Which Nicki Minaj was doing a lot of this as well. They were very much peers. They were doing that kind of thing at the exact same time. And Nicki Minaj would also be. I'd love to do a Nicki episode. She's got. I mean, she's got some absolute classic.
Ryan Reynolds
You'd be here now. You're not Nair There it is.
Sam Taggart
And that, yes, Big Sean was doing that exact same rap style, so I'd love to get into him.
Devin Walker
And Nikki Ludacris started doing that for a second, and he had that one song where he's, like, blowing up balloon.
Sam Taggart
Oh, what song was that?
Devin Walker
Is that the Austin Powers one? Or, like, they were, like, a few songs that were, like, really flop right in a row.
Sam Taggart
This was a style that Big Sean claims to have started.
Devin Walker
Really?
Sam Taggart
This is something that he claims to have popularized. Yeah. Nicki Minaj.
Ryan Reynolds
I really associate it with Nicki Minaj. I love Nicki Minaj. You know what? My. Speaking of Ludacris, my first ever song on my ipod was what's yous Fantasy?
Devin Walker
Wow.
Ryan Reynolds
Oh, there was just freaky little guy.
Devin Walker
And I was like, Well, I had 10.
Sam Taggart
Yeah.
Ryan Reynolds
Probably a little older, but I was like, someone on my school bus was singing it. I was like, that is so funny. Like, Georgia Dome. Like, that is so.
Devin Walker
You're.
Ryan Reynolds
That is so funny. And then I had to have it on my ipod. And then I think I was buying legally at the time, so I was like, okay, I have $1. I'm buying that. And then there was, like, a full week where I just had that. So I had my ipod with me, and I was only listening to what yout Fantasy, that song, like, as a child.
Devin Walker
I was like, no, no, this is not to be.
Ryan Reynolds
Oh, my God, I have such a mem.
Sam Taggart
Like, you thought it was, too.
Ryan Reynolds
You're such a goody two shoes.
Devin Walker
Yeah, I was a good boy.
Sam Taggart
Whoa. Was your family really Christian?
Devin Walker
No, they were just like. They were, like, very.
Sam Taggart
Not.
Devin Walker
Not classically WASPy. Not like Connecticut WASPy, but they were, like, Midwestern WASPy.
Sam Taggart
Okay.
Devin Walker
Like, it was so chill.
Ryan Reynolds
Like, your mom is so, like, such a good.
Devin Walker
Comes, like, sex.
Ryan Reynolds
Oh, sure.
Devin Walker
It's really, like. Like, we don't like, like that.
Ryan Reynolds
I have a memory of buying the ludicrous album Chicken and Beer at Sam Goody or whatever. And because it had a parental advisory thing, they had to call my mom in, and she was like, I. I don't know who this artist is. Like, what's the deal? Like, why am I. Why do you need my permission? And the guy at the counter was like, I mean, I don't know. It's can't be that bad. It's about chicken and beer. And she was like, all right. She like, let me buy it.
Sam Taggart
Nasty lyrics on there.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah, they really were.
Sam Taggart
Did your parents care about that kind of thing? Did they care about what you were.
Ryan Reynolds
No, I mean, certainly with music they did not care at all. I would say with film they did. Like, if something was rated R and I was like nine, I don't think.
Devin Walker
They would let me cared about movies.
Sam Taggart
Okay. Mine were, mine was. Both my parents really cared about music. Again, Texas, very Christian. Very Christian. So like I couldn't have any. They wouldn't buy many albums with the parental advisory sticker, which is why the first album that I actually, the first album that I wanted, I want to say was. I want to say it was College Dropout. Kanye west definitely had the sticker on there. So the first album that I actually received was Nick Cannon's self titled LP oh no. Featuring the hit single Gigolo by, you guessed. Featuring, you guessed it, R. Kelly. Oh no.
Ryan Reynolds
That was tough.
Sam Taggart
That was the first and I did really like that song. And that was the. That was the reason that I bought the album back when you had to do that.
Devin Walker
Yeah.
Sam Taggart
You're like, I just, I want to listen to this one song. So like, I guess I got to pay $15.99. That's the first album I ever own. Nick Cannon's album.
Devin Walker
That is wild.
Sam Taggart
He was rapping.
Devin Walker
Never forget.
Sam Taggart
He was rapping.
Devin Walker
Sheesh. Okay, now I feel that we should do our final seg.
George Sever
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Sam Taggart
Hey Meta.
George Sever
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Sam Taggart
Hey Meta, what's the weather tonight?
Ryan Reynolds
Tonight will be clear with temperatures ranging.
George Sever
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Ryan Reynolds
Hey Meta.
Sam Taggart
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George Sever
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Sam Taggart
Hey Meta, what can I make for.
Ryan Reynolds
Dinner with what's in the fridge? You can make a delicious spinach and chicken salad or add the baby spinach to pasta with some garlic shrimp.
George Sever
Cool Ray Band Metaglasses choose from a variety of classic Ray Ban frames all with Meta AI@meta.com AI glasses and don't forget to say hey Meta. Play iHeartRadio to enjoy your favorite radio stations, artists and podcasts on the iHeart app.
Devin Walker
Listen to your elders, honey. You might know them from their viral videos, but now the old gays pull back the curtain on their brand new podcast Silver Linings with the old gays brought to you in partnership with iHeart's Ruby Studio and Veeve Healthcare, with over 300 years of experience between them, hosts Robert, Mick, Bill and Jesse serve four lifetimes of wisdom when it comes to love, Sex, community and whatever else they've got on the gay Agenda. Listen to these fabulous friends swap stories exploring how queer life has evolved over the decades and the silver linings they've collected along the way. Each episode dives into hot topics, from safe sex and online dating to untangling Gen Z lingo, as well as insights on how music, art and fashion show up in queer culture. So check out Silver Linings, a show about how pride ages like fine wine. Available on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Bill
Saks off 5th up to 70% off every day Summer is officially here year, and saks off 5th is your destination for deals on all of this season's designer must haves. From breezy linen and floral dresses to chic sandals and beach ready swim, you'll find everything you need to refresh your summer wardrobe. Discover the latest men's essentials too. Think lightweight camp shirts, cool summer suiting and trending loafers. Plus, shop new designer arrivals every week. We're talking Valentino, Garavani, Balenciaga, Stuart Weitzman, Hugo Boss and more at prices you won't believe. Whether you're packing for a summer getaway, getting ready for upcoming special occasions or updating your work wardrobe, Saks Off 5th has all the fashion you need. Head to Saks Off 5th.com or a Saks Off 5th store near you for up to 70% off every day.
Mick
People choose Morton Buildings to build a variety of buildings for their property any time of year because they know Morton Buildings are built stronger, last longer and look better. If you need a garage, a stall barn or a storage building for an rv, boat or other vehicles, a shop for your farm hobbies or car restoration projects or anything in between, Morton can create a building for you that's attractive, easy to maintain and dependable enough to stand the test of time. Just visit MortonBuildings.com today to find out more. They use quality materials and expert craftsmen with an industry leading warranty to ensure your structure is enjoyed by generations to come. Morton buildings is 100% employee owned with thousands of satisfied customers. That means they're the industry leader you can trust to get started on your next building project. Visit morton mortonbuildings.com don't delay. Construction schedules are filling up fast, so now's the time to start planning your building project with Morton. That's MortonBuildings.com.
Devin Walker
Okay, Devin. Our final segment is called Shout Outs. And in this segment we pay homage to the grand straight tradition of the radio. Shout out. Shouting out anything that we enjoy. People, places, things, ideas.
Ryan Reynolds
And we think of them on the spot.
Devin Walker
We think of them on the spot. Which is part of the struggle.
Ryan Reynolds
Yes, the struggle. Struggle is real, as I always say.
Devin Walker
Oh.
Ryan Reynolds
Sorry we're being so unprofessional today. It's because Sam's getting married.
Devin Walker
Yeah, that's why.
Ryan Reynolds
Okay. No, it's gonna come to me. It's gonna come to me.
Devin Walker
Okay, I have one.
Ryan Reynolds
Okay, go, go, go.
Devin Walker
What's up, freaks, losers, and especially perverts. This is for you. I'm gonna give a huge shout out to office parties. I have just been working me a job for like a year and a half, and we never had one party the whole time. So I only knew these people in the context of work. And I said, okay, I guess we're all like this. This is what we are. One party. I'm saying, everybody's so fun. I'm saying people get a little inappropriate. I say, thank God. This whole time I was like, enough with hr. And then this party people are getting a little bit weird. And I say, thank God this job is over because. Because some of these things would lead to some issues. But through that, I felt very comfortable. And I said, you know, this is. Finally I see the full humanity of these people, and I feel that I was almost robbed of seeing them as people and not as little data sets until this moment. So shout out to office parties. Yes, you're gonna make some mistakes, but that's part of it. It's to understand each other on a human level. Enjoy it. Xoxo. So, Sam.
Ryan Reynolds
Um, what's up, freaks and losers? I want to give a shout out to the feeling of being invited to something, saying no, seeing that people do that something, and being offended you're not there. Despite the fact that you yourself said no to the invite. I actually think this is one of those so deeply human feelings that is invigorating because it reminds you of your own. Shmiel. It's like, you know, we're talking about AI, folks. AI cannot feel that feeling. The feeling of literally saying no to something and still being like, why did they do it without me? That is actually the core of human nature. And we have to really lean into those especially human feelings when we create art in the future. Otherwise the machines are going to win.
Devin Walker
Wow. Humanity was running through both of our shout out In a deep way.
Sam Taggart
Wow. That was really. You got. And that was just off. Just off the dome.
Ryan Reynolds
Well, this just happened to me, actually. That feeling.
Sam Taggart
Oh, I see.
Ryan Reynolds
Last night, I was. People I knew were hanging out. They're like, can you come? I said no, because I had work to do. Saw them posting about it. Saying what? Why the hell are you there without me?
Sam Taggart
Yeah, why are you guys. Why is it fun? If I wasn't going to be there, you guys should just be sitting there kind of solemnly.
Devin Walker
You should be in mourning.
Sam Taggart
Yes. Just kind of being like, well, maybe. Man, this sure could be better.
Devin Walker
Okay, Devin, whenever you're ready.
Sam Taggart
Fuck. You know, I spent my whole time trying to think about what I was going to talk about, but then I kind of got enraptured by what y' all were talking about. I was kind of just. I was really engrossed in.
Ryan Reynolds
No, we have had so many. Especially me. Sometimes it will just not come to me. And then everyone's sitting there awkwardly.
Devin Walker
That's not true. I've had just as many flops.
Ryan Reynolds
Thank you, Sam. But you are pushing it.
Sam Taggart
No, no, no. No, you're right. No, you're right. No, you're right. What's up, freaks and losers? I'd like to say hey. Shout out to every single Uber driver who carries on a conversation the entire time that we are in the vehicle. I'd like to know what it is, but, you know, oftentimes we don't speak the same language, so I've just got to pick up on the cues that you're sending out verbally. And sometimes times you seem like you're in a fight with your wife, and I like to know about that. You know, I like to know about what's going on with you. Weigh me in. You know, let me know a little bit about what you got going on. Let's talk about it together if. Hey, whatever Uber driver takes me home after this. Let's talk, let's talk. Let's get together. Thanks. That's all I have to say today. My name's Devin. Thanks.
Ryan Reynolds
Wow.
Devin Walker
Wow. Well, Devin, it's been a pleasure to have you on.
Sam Taggart
Thanks for. Yeah, it's been nice.
Ryan Reynolds
And once again, please tell our listeners where they can find us.
Sam Taggart
You. You can find me at Internet, Devin, on whatever platform you. You find people on. And then also, my favorite lyrics pod. Go listen. Go listen. We started it all indie. We didn't do it with a network or anything. So we're, like, building it from the ground up. So go check it out. We've got a lot of very fun episodes and you guys are welcome to come.
Devin Walker
Would love to anytime. And networks are good too, just FYI.
Sam Taggart
And shout out to the good people at Big Money Players.
Ryan Reynolds
I don't want anyone to think we're pro indie. Yeah, in any way. Pro network. Pro network. The bigger the better conglomerates. Love them, love them, love them.
Devin Walker
Okay, bye. Podcast ends now.
Ryan Reynolds
Want more? Subscribe to our Patreon for two extra episodes a month. Discord Access and more by heading to patreon.com Stradiolab and for all our visual learners.
Devin Walker
Free full length video episodes are available on our YouTube.
Ryan Reynolds
Now get back to work.
Devin Walker
Stradiolab is a Production by Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network and iHeart Podcasts.
Ryan Reynolds
Created and hosted by George Sever and.
Devin Walker
Sam Taggart, executive produced by Will Ferrell, Hans Soni and Olivia Aguilar co produced by Bay Wang Edited and engineered by.
Ryan Reynolds
Adam Avalos Artwork by Michael Fales and.
Devin Walker
Matt Grubb Theme music by Ben Kling.
George Sever
Who needs headphones when you have glasses? Ray Ben Meta Glasses with discreet open ear speakers and built in microphones, you can play your favorite tunes. Hey Meta Play hip while staying in tune with the world around you. Ray Ban Meta Glasses choose from a variety of classic Ray Ban frames all with Meta AI@meta.com AI glasses and don't forget to say hey meta play iheartradio to enjoy your favorite radio stations, artists and podcasts on the iHeart app.
Sam Taggart
This Prime Day, July 8th through the 11th, you can get a great deal on a new foot spa transforming you into the queen of Kickin it. Wait, this has bobble jets?
Ryan Reynolds
Hmm.
Sam Taggart
Okay. Shop great deals. This prime day July 8th through the.
Mick
11Th, people choose Morton Buildings to build a variety of buildings for their property any time of year because they know Morton Buildings are built stronger, last longer and look better. If you need a garage, a stall barn or a storage building for an rv, boat or other vehicles, a shop for your farm hobbies or car restoration projects or anything in between, Morton can create a building for you that's attractive, easy to maintain and dependable enough to stand the test of time. Just visit MortonBuildings.com today to find out more. They use quality materials and expert craftsmen with an industry leading warranty to ensure your structure is enjoyed by generations to come. Morton buildings is 100% employee owned with thousands of satisfied customers. That means they're the industry leader you can trust. To get started on your next building project, visit MortonBuildings.com don't delay construction schedules are filling up fast, so now's the time to start planning your building project with Morton. That's MortonBuildings.com I'm Rodney Williams.
Sam Taggart
And I'm Travis Holloway. Welcome to the wealthbreak podcast, a real conversation about finance.
Ryan Reynolds
Let's be honest, building wealth doesn't look.
Devin Walker
The same for everyone.
Ryan Reynolds
Except feel like sometimes being broke is.
Sam Taggart
A cycle and that we might have.
Ryan Reynolds
To revisit that and we're not stopping at success stories.
Bill
What happens when it doesn't go right? How do you cope with it?
Ryan Reynolds
Because wealth isn't just about money. It's about creating a life where you thrive and help others do the same.
Sam Taggart
Listen to the Wealth Break podcast on the iHeartradio app.
Devin Walker
This is an iHeart podcast.
Podcast Summary: StraightioLab - "Fantasy Sports" with Devon Walker
Released on July 1, 2025 | Hosts: George Civeris and Sam Taggart | Guest: Devon Walker
The episode kicks off with hosts George Civeris and Sam Taggart welcoming their guest, Devon Walker, who shares his excitement and apprehensions about his upcoming wedding. Devon discusses the logistics and pressures of planning a wedding, highlighting the fear of unforeseen circumstances like uninvited guests or unfavorable weather.
Devon Walker [02:59]:
"I feel normal. I'm feeling like... there's just logistics that are sort of unknown until the day of."
(Timestamp: 02:59)
George adds a personal touch by relating the conversation to his own experiences, emphasizing the importance of authenticity in life decisions.
The conversation transitions into a discussion about crafting wedding vows, focusing on the delicate balance between humor and genuine emotion. Devon expresses his concern about avoiding clichés while incorporating personal anecdotes that reflect his relationship.
Ryan Reynolds [14:00]:
"There has to be at least a moment of genuine sincerity... but around that, you can have as much humor as possible."
(Timestamp: 14:00)
Devon worries about vows coming off as insincere or overly clichéd, prompting a deeper dive into how to make vows meaningful without falling into predictable patterns.
In their signature segment, "Straight Shooters," the hosts engage in a rapid-fire round of either/or questions aimed at gauging familiarity with and complicity in straight culture. The segment is filled with humor and playful banter, showcasing the hosts' chemistry.
Devon Walker [26:54]:
"Stank Face Emoting."
(Timestamp: 28:43)
Despite initial struggles, Devon participates enthusiastically, earning high marks from his co-hosts for his performance.
The core of the episode delves into the world of fantasy sports, exploring its roots in straight culture and Devon's personal journey with it. Devon recounts his early involvement in multiple fantasy football leagues during his sales job, highlighting the time-consuming nature and addictive aspects of the activity.
Devon Walker [39:10]:
"I ended up in six different fantasy football leagues when I was... working at this sales office."
(Timestamp: 39:10)
He discusses the pressures of maintaining teams, dealing with player injuries, and the constant need to stay updated with sports news. Devon shares the turning point in 2016, coinciding with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, which led him to distance himself from fantasy sports as a statement against prevailing cultural norms.
Sam Taggart [48:42]:
"At this point, I had moved on. I was at a different job. I was truly in maybe three different fantasy football leagues... I was pissed off about the fact that I was losing all the time."
(Timestamp: 48:42)
The hosts discuss the intersection of fantasy sports with gambling, emphasizing how it reinforces certain masculine and straight cultural norms. They explore the lack of personal narratives in fantasy sports compared to other sports like tennis or basketball, which are more personality-driven.
Ryan Reynolds [43:06]:
"It's also gambling. It is tracking what has already happened and then guessing based on that what could happen."
(Timestamp: 43:06)
The conversation broadens to examine how fantasy sports reflect broader societal expectations and the pressure to conform to straight cultural activities. Devon shares anecdotes about colleagues struggling with gambling addictions tied to fantasy sports, highlighting the detrimental effects it can have on mental health.
Sam Taggart [43:39]:
"I've seen a lot of guys who are addicted to gambling. That's big in straight culture."
(Timestamp: 43:39)
The hosts debate the creativity and personal investment involved in fantasy sports, contrasting it with more expressive and narrative-rich activities within the LGBTQ+ community. They argue that the impersonal nature of fantasy sports makes it a predominantly straight-oriented pastime.
In the closing segments, the hosts engage in light-hearted "Shout Outs," acknowledging various aspects of straight culture and their personal experiences. They reflect on the episode's discussions, reinforcing the themes of cultural conformity and personal autonomy.
Devin Walker [80:02]:
"Shout out to office parties. ... Finally, I see the full humanity of these people."
(Timestamp: 80:02)
Sam Taggart [83:44]:
"Shout out to every single Uber driver who carries on a conversation the entire time that we are in the vehicle."
(Timestamp: 83:44)
The episode concludes with endorsements for related podcasts and a reminder of the heartfelt yet humorous nature of the discussions.
Devon Walker [02:59]:
"There’s just logistics that are sort of unknown until the day of."
(Timestamp: 02:59)
Ryan Reynolds [14:00]:
"There has to be at least a moment of genuine sincerity... but around that, you can have as much humor as possible."
(Timestamp: 14:00)
Devon Walker [39:10]:
"I ended up in six different fantasy football leagues when I was... working at this sales office."
(Timestamp: 39:10)
Sam Taggart [43:39]:
"I've seen a lot of guys who are addicted to gambling. That's big in straight culture."
(Timestamp: 43:39)
Ryan Reynolds [43:06]:
"It's also gambling. It is tracking what has already happened and then guessing based on that what could happen."
(Timestamp: 43:06)
Devon Walker [48:42]:
"I was pissed off about the fact that I was losing all the time."
(Timestamp: 48:42)
The episode "Fantasy Sports" provides a critical examination of fantasy sports as a facet of straight culture, intertwining personal narratives with broader societal observations. Devon Walker's journey from active participation to opting out serves as a commentary on the pressures to conform and the personal cost of engaging in culturally mandated activities. The hosts effectively use humor and personal anecdotes to explore themes of autonomy, addiction, and the intersection of sports with cultural identity.
Listeners are encouraged to reflect on how societal expectations shape their hobbies and the importance of making choices that align with their authentic selves, free from cultural compulsion.