#677: Episode Zero

Summary

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Tell 'Em Steve-Dave! #677: Episode Zero

Released: May 25, 2026
Hosts: Brian Johnson, Walt Flanagan, Brian Quinn (Q), with guests Jonna and Matt

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Episode Theme:

A Welcoming Reset for New Listeners (and the Curious)

This highly self-aware installment, dubbed “Episode Zero,” serves as the launching pad for newcomers to the labyrinthine, inside-joke-laden, community-driven world of Tell ‘Em Steve-Dave! With guests Matt (a newcomer, curious about how to “get in”) and Jonna (a longtime Impractical Jokers collaborator), the crew takes a deep dive into show traditions, lore, personal dynamics, offbeat in-jokes, community structure, and listener culture, blending candid explanation with their usual irreverence.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Meet the Panel and Guests

• Hosts: Brian Johnson (the “show driver”), Walt Flanagan (creative force, optimist), Brian Quinn ("Q", Impractical Joker, the “people’s princess”).
• Regulars: Gideon (aka Get 'Em), a community mainstay.
• Guests: Jonna (Impractical Jokers team member) & Matt (potential new listener, representative of “fresh ants”).

"This is the episode zero we've been promising... let's bring [Matt and Jonna] in -- let's see if we can win him over as a listener, get him to ask questions that newbies would need to know."
— Brian Johnson [01:00]

2. Podcast DNA and Dynamic

• History: Spawned from Kevin Smith’s View Askewniverse, the name “Tell ‘Em Steve-Dave” originates as a recurring line/character.
• Role Assignment: Organically evolved; Walt introduced games and creative segments, Brian J. drives discussion, Q started as the "audio guy" before becoming a co-host. Walt was initially reluctant but became a driving creative force.
• Community Involvement: The show’s “ants” (fans) are not just listeners but lore-builders, event participants, and sometimes, surprise contributors and characters.
• Tone: Candid, improvisational, alternately tender and caustic, with recurring ribbing, in-jokes, and long-running bits.

“It’s a weird podcast because... there are no people involved who are comedians or, or, or have even interests in becoming comedians. It’s really like a blue-collar, normal people who just kind of got scooped up.”
— Walt Flanagan [115:52]

3. Ants, 13 Percenters, and Community Lore

• “Ants”: All listeners are ants, as an inside joke about being replaceable.
• “13 Percenters”: Women listeners—formerly 13% of audience, now closer to 18–19%, but legacy terminology stuck.
• Variants: Some fans have “ant” nicknames indicating contributions (eg. Tony Stark Ant, Ambassador Ant).
• Culture of Inclusion: Openly discussed, minor barriers for entry (“just listen”).

"No humans are special. We're all just ants crawling around an anthill... we kind of self-identified as non-important, replaceable creatures."
— Brian Johnson [07:58]

4. Expanding the TESD Universe: Key Supporting Cast

• Get ‘Em Steve-Dave (Gideon): From domain name squatter to community fixture, described as unique, handy, and perhaps a “chaos agent.” Alleged IQ: 148 (unverified).
• Jimmy the Hair Guy: Bought Q’s hair for $2,000 to help Gid 'Em get new teeth, became beloved for maternal energy and event regularity.
• Franks: Recurring bit of “Frank” community members, each with unique traits (e.g., Frank 2: holocaust survivor; Frank 5: professor and DeLorean owner).
• Sunday Jeff: Perpetually beloved, childlike wonder, inspiration for segments/characters.
• Others: A lawyer (“Johnny Law”), a doctor, a homicide detective, a priest-exorcist (Father Lance), and more, assembling a fictional “TESD Town.”

“It does seem like you're assembling a small town.”
— Matt [16:28]

5. Recurring Segments and Lore

• Making Hay Trilogy: Deep-dive documentary journey into New Jersey flea markets, reflecting the show's unique blend of anthropology and absurdity (see [75:13]).
• Four Color Demons: A tongue-in-cheek motorcycle “club” for comic nerds—entry rule: have seen a motorcycle. Members self-assign numbers and meet up globally.
• Baron von Flanagan, Dollar$have & Other Characters: Playful, sometimes problematic, alter-egos and skits lampooning horror hosts, ad reads, or 1970s exploitation.
• Overkill & Patreon Content: Supernatural/true crime mini-shows, Patreon-exclusive deep dives (hobbies, TV guides, and more).
• Prussian Kissing Devil Skull: A supposed haunted/cursed skull in the studio, central to an in-show folklore with wishes-come-true (or twisted) angle.

“We have a priest. We have an exorcist. We have the hair guy. We have a homicide detective. It does seem like you’re assembling a small town.”
— Jonna & Matt [16:20]

6. Listener Experience: The Barriers & Onboarding New Ants

• Back Catalog: Overwhelming—over 600+ episodes, inside jokes build up, but a proud refusal to over-explain.
• Tips for Starters:
  • Just jump in.
  • Listen to Making Hay trilogy for (literal and metaphorical) groundwork.
  • Overkill episodes for paranormal flavor.
  • Patreon is where the “TESD town residents get to shine.”
  • “All are welcome.” [121:15]
• Reddit & Community Platforms: The subreddit is lively but divisive; the Wikipedia/Wiki is patchy compared to other fandoms.

“We reference older episodes and older stuff a lot, and we don’t bother to stop and explain it. Cause you just assume everybody listening is... with the program... which is not a good assumption.”
— Brian Quinn [113:47]

7. Meta-Reflection: What Makes TESD Unique

• Not Comedy, Not Just Talk: Defies genre; hosts are not professional comedians (except Q), often blue-collar and proudly unconventional.
• No Masks: The hosts claim no personas are adopted for the show; “what you see is what you get”—sometimes a character mask, sometimes literal ones (Baron).
• Show Structure: Loosely structured, topics can range from flea market anthropology to personal heartbreak and supernatural oddities.

8. Memorable Moments & Quotes

• “Is he a taskmaster? Is he yelling at people?” — “No, he’s extremely chill. He’s more like a Princess Diana, more of the people’s princess.” — Q & Jonna [02:18–02:24]
• “You have enough to secede from the union and kind of create a sovereign state?” — “If Texas can’t do it, I’m not sure what our chances are.” — Jonna & Q, on "TESD Town" [25:18]
• “I don’t eat a lot of many foods… only have, like, maybe four things I eat.” — Walt [59:04]
• “We were the first podcast to ever do an episode on vinyl record. Other people are trying to make that claim now, but they can’t. We did it first.” — Brian Johnson [83:23]
• “No more does anyone have a charger? And Dad gets a gift he'll actually use every single day. Like everything Ridge makes, it’s built to last.” — Q, on pseudo-sincere ad reads [36:30]
• “All are welcome. Like Poltergeist. All are welcome.” — Q [121:15]

9. Critical Meta-Jokes & Lore Calls

• Foam Face: In-joke subbing for slurs; intentionally vacuous insult to lampoon “cancel culture” (see [85:07]).
• Cash Poor: Ribbing about Q’s wealth and complaints.
• Funerals: A Walt-invented “game show” segment, philosophical “gotcha” about how people react to fake celebrity deaths.
• Episode Zero Concept: Explicit self-critique—can a show this dense with self-references ever be accessible?

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Notable Timestamps

• 03:30 – Jonna describes Q’s work style (“people’s princess”)
• 07:51 – Explanation of "ants" as the fan moniker and its origin
• 16:10 – Roll call of “town” characters and how they join the show
• 26:00–27:00 – Four Color Demons motorcycle club/demonstration of club lore
• 47:07 – Jonna voices her genuine desire to become a listener
• 59:02 – Walt’s legendary picky eating habits revealed
• 75:13 – Making Hay trilogy and flea market anthropology; core community touchstone
• 83:23 – First podcast ever on vinyl–their pride in idiosyncratic milestones
• 87:04 – More in-jokes explained (Cash Poor, Funerals, etc.)
• 110:18 – Gid ‘Em’s inventions, including “French cleat” table mount
• 121:15 – “All are welcome” – summing up the ethos for new listeners

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Listener Advice & Calls to Action

• Don’t try to “catch up”; Start with what catches your interest—overkill, Making Hay, cornerstone episodes, or the latest releases.
• The podcast is about genuine friendship, oddballs drawn into a long-running, ever-amplifying in-joke, and unpredictable sincerity.
• Don't engage with Reddit or get caught in the negative crosswinds—most fun is in listening, not meta-discussion.
• If you want a cheat sheet for recurring characters, check the TESD fan Wiki.

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Final Thoughts, Tone, and Entry Point

• Tone: Self-deprecating, sincerely irreverent, often warm beneath the snark, peppered with sharp meta-jokes, and full of behind-the-scenes transparency.
• Number One Takeaway: The real “content” is the relationships, the community, and the ever-growing mythology; everything else is flavor.
• At the end of each episode:

  "Tell them, Steve-Dave."
  [130:12]

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Summary for New Listeners

Episode Zero achieves what it set out to do: demystify the maze of cryptic nicknames, occluded histories, and running bits for both new and returning listeners, all without diluting the quirky magic that defines T.E.S.D. If you crave podcasts that are unapologetically themselves, proudly welcoming, and sustained by an organic, evolving community, this is your new (if strange) home. Freshest ants encouraged to apply.

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End of Summary

Transcript

[Brian Quinn]

Go out to the garage, boy.

[Brian Johnson]

I mean, aren't we all looking for a James Gardner type?

[Matt]

It does seem like you're, like, assembling like, a small town. Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Well,

[Walt Flanagan]

Tell Them Steve, Dave.

[Brian Quinn]

Hello, and welcome to this week's edition of Tell Them Steve. Dave. I'm here with Gideum.

[Gideon]

How you stanking?

[Brian Johnson]

I'm here with Q. Hello.

[Brian Quinn]

I'm here with Walt.

[Walt Flanagan]

Hello.

[Brian Quinn]

And we're here with two special guests, Q that you brought in.

[Brian Johnson]

Very special guests. Yes. Yeah. This is Jonna. This is the episode zero we've been promising. This is John, who works with me on Impractical Jokers. I've spoken about her before in the show. If you're at Q West, she was there putting on the shows the last two years, and her husband Matt,

[Matt]

who

[Brian Johnson]

is a great dude, came down to Q West. We've hung out before on. On Halloween. I ruined his Halloween years ago by we. We got too drunk at a bar. We never got to the parade.

[Matt]

Ruined my morning.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, yeah, it was pretty bad. But Matt came to Q West and said, man, I'd love to listen to Tom, Steve, Dave, but I don't know where to start.

[Brian Quinn]

Oh, my God.

[Brian Johnson]

So we put him to work instantly. Right? Put the married couple to work instantly. We're like, let's bring him in. Let's see if we can win him over as a listener, get him to ask questions that newbies would need to know.

[Brian Quinn]

Right.

[Brian Johnson]

And anybody listening to tell him TV Dave, for the first time can jump on as well. So we got to make this as accessible as possible.

[Brian Quinn]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

I think we could do as friendly and as accessible as possible, boys.

[Brian Quinn]

Well, before we start, Walt, do you have any questions for these two? Because we see Q as a friend. We see Q as a fellow podcaster. We see Q at home, but we don't see really see Q on set that much. Is he a taskmaster?

[Walt Flanagan]

Is he laid back? Or is he a bit more of a, you know, high strung?

[Brian Quinn]

Right. Is he yelling at people?

[Jonna]

That's a great question. He is. He's extremely chill. Yeah, he's a great boss. I know. I've heard on the cast. You guys have kind of called him like Hollywood bq, right? I would say he's more of like a. He's more of a Princess Diana, more of the people's princess.

[Brian Quinn]

Oh, okay.

[Jonna]

He's a man of the people's princess.

[Brian Quinn]

He's not a Meghan Markle.

[Jonna]

He's not a Meghan Markle.

[Brian Johnson]

I'll take the people's princess. I'LL take it.

[Jonna]

Yeah, he's great. He's very fun in pre production. Comes in with big ideas and we get some crazy ideas. And he's always the one who's going, like, we'll see. Maybe we can make it work. All right, we got something there.

[Brian Quinn]

So, like, is it a difficult decision to be like, how do we dismiss his idea?

[Jonna]

Always. But we do it in the politest way possible. No, that's for the producers. They kill the ideas that we ascend. We ascend everything. We say everything's great. And then someone tells us, well, that'll cost $60,000.

[Brian Quinn]

And then you're like, we didn't have to say it.

[Jonna]

No robot dogs.

[Brian Quinn]

Oh, damn.

[Jonna]

No, we do have robots.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, we do have robots this season. We're trying to work this, Crack this robot thing for a while.

[Jonna]

Yeah, you're talking to the wrong people. We want to make all of Q's ideas work, to be honest.

[Matt]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jonna]

The weirder, the better. Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Matt, what do you do?

[Matt]

I work for a labor union.

[Brian Quinn]

Uh.

[Brian Johnson]

Oh, you guys are union.

[Matt]

That's not a good answer.

[Walt Flanagan]

Or union.

[Matt]

Somebody here being exploited.

[Brian Quinn]

Did you hear that?

[Walt Flanagan]

She asked if we're a union here.

[Gideon]

I tried to organize myself, but it doesn't work.

[Jonna]

All right, Matt may flip. Get him.

[Matt]

Yeah, get him.

[Brian Quinn]

We'll talk.

[Walt Flanagan]

Well, you know how, you know how hard it is to fire a union guy? Yeah, it's just as hard to fire this motherfucker. Cause he never leaves.

[Brian Johnson]

We can actually use it because, like, the union also lists out responsibilities that the union members have as well. Right.

[Matt]

I mean, and all unions are different, so. Yeah, yeah, like a of times that's the case.

[Brian Johnson]

So Gideon would have a checklist of things that he has to do every day.

[Matt]

That's true. Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

He doesn't want that.

[Walt Flanagan]

No, no.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Now, Walt, have you listed your grievances? Like, is it written down so that

[Brian Johnson]

when we ship can them?

[Walt Flanagan]

I have been compiling a list for many years.

[Brian Quinn]

When to tell? Just go back, listen to the episodes. You'll see. You'll see. Wow. All right, so you want to get right down to the questions, Q.

[Brian Johnson]

Sure, yeah. I mean, we can get into it. I, I, I'm excited to hear what they came up with.

[Jonna]

Yeah. Matt's the potential listener. I guess I'm ironically here as Matt's guest. You would think I would have been invited, but I'm really, I'm not. But I have some questions of my own.

[Brian Johnson]

You're Mets plus one.

[Jonna]

I'm men's plus one.

[Walt Flanagan]

Do you guys listen to podcasts?

[Jonna]

Yes.

[Walt Flanagan]

Okay. What do you guys listen to?

[Jonna]

I like to hear about women who have been murdered by husbands. So if this podcast has elements of that, that's for me.

[Brian Quinn]

I talk about it weekly.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Harry.

[Gideon]

Best plotting all the time.

[Walt Flanagan]

What do you like to listen to?

[Matt]

I've have a bunch that I've, like, dipped in and out. I've been a podcast person for a while, so, like, I noticed that you guys, like, keep the company. It seems of like. Like Dan Carlin's, like, hardcore history. I think he started in the same year. I saw. Listen. Like, I listened to. I listened to WTF for a stretch. The McElroy brother that.

[Brian Quinn]

Did he get to annoying, Mark Marin? I'm sorry, did he get too annoying for you, Mark?

[Matt]

I thank everybody. Like, I don't know anyone who, like, started episode one and listened to every week.

[Brian Quinn]

I used to listen to. And then I was like, all right, enough of this.

[Jonna]

Yeah.

[Matt]

You get to a point, it's like, all right. I definitely was like, fast forwarding through the preamble sometimes, you know, but you know, there's some good interviews in there. I got like, fantasy football podcasts. I listen to the Ringer. Yeah. You know, I. I dabble.

[Walt Flanagan]

What would you say your favorite genre is?

[Matt]

Favorite genre? It's always like, a lot of time it's comedy. Right. It's like, like a comic spin on like, something like the. The Ringers, the fantasy football podcast I listen to. And I like, appreciate it because they're

[Walt Flanagan]

just like, who's your team?

[Matt]

My team's the Steelers.

[Walt Flanagan]

Oh, okay.

[Matt]

Yeah, I noticed some Patriots stuff.

[Walt Flanagan]

No, I was a Tom Brady fan. I was not a Patriots.

[Matt]

Oh, Brady specifically. Yeah. Right.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Walt Flanagan]

You want Aaron Rodgers to come back?

[Matt]

It seems inevitable. I wouldn't mind it at this point, you know, like. Like two, like, guys off the bench. Like. Yeah, I'll do another time. Another time around the block with Rogers, for sure.

[Brian Johnson]

Good.

[Brian Quinn]

I should have just went to the girls bathroom with you.

[Matt]

Didn't want to talk about that for an hour.

[Brian Johnson]

What? I guess, man, what did you see in. In Key west that.

[Matt]

That.

[Brian Johnson]

That piqued your interest or raised questions?

[Matt]

It was like the whole vibe. It was. It's like. It seems like a rich lore. Right? Like, like, first of all, like, the. The community seems like a central part of the show or like, it seems to like, compound on the show itself in a way.

[Brian Johnson]

Like, everybody ants.

[Matt]

Ants. So that's like a question. Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

Right.

[Matt]

Of like, is that.

[Brian Johnson]

That's the official thing? Because Walt said. Walt said early, early on that no human.

[Brian Quinn]

He was trying to keep us in check.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, no humans are special. We're all just ants crawling around an anthill and stuck as a self. Before I became the people's princess. Yeah, we. We kind of self identified as non important replaceable creatures.

[Matt]

So like, is an ant like just any, any listener or does somebody have to be like steeped to.

[Brian Johnson]

No, there's any listener, but there are certain special ones that get. Like, like, like there's one called the Tony Stark Ant who repaired a robot robot for us or who was some of the other ant variants.

[Matt]

A robot repair man.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, he's just, he's working on that sketch.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, yeah, he fixed my, one of my robots for me.

[Gideon]

Ambassador Ant.

[Brian Quinn]

One of them.

[Brian Johnson]

The Ambassador Ant. Yeah.

[Jonna]

You keep robots.

[Brian Johnson]

I have the robot from the, from the 80s that. What's that? The Omnibot 2000.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

I found one in a yard sale and this gentleman Ukan, great guy repaired it for me.

[Jonna]

Okay. I see the Hollywood BQ nickname a

[Brian Quinn]

little bit more now.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, Keep that in mind.

[Brian Quinn]

How many robots I have.

[Brian Johnson]

There it is. There it is right there. You know, it's from the 80s. It's a child story from the 80s.

[Matt]

Did he have like specific know how on. On robot or is he just like a tinkerer?

[Brian Johnson]

Everything. He's a tinker in everything. It's what he does. That's.

[Matt]

And he was a long time listener of the show. He just piped up.

[Brian Johnson]

He was in. He was in. He was in Key West, I think, both times.

[Matt]

Oh man.

[Gideon]

It's from Turkey. Correct.

[Brian Johnson]

I forget now.

[Matt]

But yeah, so yeah, I got a few like in the weeds questions.

[Brian Johnson]

Sure.

[Matt]

On the Ant. So like.

[Brian Quinn]

Well, there's also. Before you, before you ask, within the answer, there's also a subset of the 13 percenters, which are the women.

[Matt]

I was wondering about that. Yeah, yeah. So 13 of the listeners of the. That's what that are women.

[Brian Quinn]

But it's, it's jumped since we did the poll. But they're still the 13%. Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

Kind of kept it.

[Matt]

Have you ever thought about getting those numbers up?

[Brian Quinn]

We have. What did they jump up to? Like there was something like 18%, 19%, something like that. Yeah.

[Matt]

Did that just happen or did you.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Introduce a segment.

[Brian Quinn]

We've yet to be able to do anything that draws people in. Many ideas that we have, like what can we do? You know, that would make more people listen.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

Okay. We don't roll that stone up the hill all that often.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah, it Was a good question. You say, have we ever thought about getting that number up? How would you even suggest doing such a thing?

[Matt]

Well, I guess there's like. Well, you can come at it from two directions, right? It's like, have conversations that appeal to more women or have conversations that drive men away.

[Brian Quinn]

Oh, no.

[Walt Flanagan]

Neither of which sound appealing.

[Brian Quinn]

Periods.

[Matt]

Yeah, that's probably what they like to discuss.

[Brian Quinn]

Real quickly. It comes up, notice that you're embracing yourself because you're probably cold.

[Jonna]

Yes. No, I'm good. I'm okay.

[Brian Quinn]

You don't need a sweat. If you need a sweatshirt, I got you.

[Jonna]

I did wear shorts and a T shirt. And on the way here, Matt said, why did you do that? It's going to be cold in there. And I said, it's a podcast studio. They're not going to have the AC running. And he said, I'm sure they have central air.

[Matt]

Central air, yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

Well, you have merch lying around if you want to throw something on.

[Matt]

Great.

[Jonna]

Okay. I'm. I'm good.

[Brian Quinn]

You're covered.

[Matt]

If you probably help drive up viewers, like, all the women listening would see how, like, gentlemanly everybody's been. They have jackets on available that could get you to 14 the word.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, I don't know if that can undo 12 years of misogyny.

[Jonna]

Remember, this is episode zero.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah. We could all start again. You hear that, Reddit? It's a new start. Now everybody likes me again.

[Brian Johnson]

I'm back to Teflon's back.

[Gideon]

50% less.

[Matt]

Q. Yeah.

[Jonna]

Is that what. Read it once. 50% less Q. one point, they did.

[Brian Johnson]

At one point, there was a. There was a. An overwhelming request for me to step back more.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Matt]

Did something.

[Brian Johnson]

Was there. One person made a comment and we blew it up in terror.

[Jonna]

Okay, so Reddit. Does Reddit call the shots on this show?

[Brian Quinn]

Absolutely not.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Quinn]

Nope.

[Jonna]

Let it be.

[Matt]

Terrific.

[Brian Quinn]

We let them call the shots. We wouldn't be recording anymore.

[Jonna]

Okay. Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

They think they have great ideas. They don't.

[Jonna]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Matt]

I definitely stopped into the Reddit to do, like, my. My homework. Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

All the love.

[Brian Johnson]

That was a mistake.

[Matt]

Yeah, Yeah. I mean, like, Reddit is like, you know, it's like, I don't know, usually with others, like, other anthropological exercises, Reddit can be useful.

[Gideon]

Yeah.

[Matt]

The one thing I noticed was that, like, your Wikipedia is, like, pretty thin compared to, like.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Matt]

And it's like, do the Redditors not know that they can chime in on Wikipedia as well?

[Brian Quinn]

Or, like, I'm sure now, have they

[Brian Johnson]

been stopped or like, okay, yeah, I'm sure they know.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, I think they keep their hateful comments to Reddit as opposed to, like, going to other avenues, you know, like.

[Brian Johnson]

Well, because when you go to Wikipedia, somebody else could take it down and change it. So.

[Brian Quinn]

Right.

[Brian Johnson]

Engage in this constant battle.

[Gideon]

The moderation on the Reddit and the subreddit is pretty. It's tight, but we let a lot of stuff go to, you know, not be censor.

[Brian Johnson]

That's by the way, Ginnam's decision. We told them to censor it.

[Gideon]

I'm a moderator. I am a moderator, not the moderator.

[Matt]

Okay, right on. All right, so you're like in the

[Brian Quinn]

weeds on it, but if somebody says something particularly nasty, you have the ability to take that comment down?

[Gideon]

Yes. Yeah, usually. Usually I floated to the other moderators and it's a consensus.

[Brian Quinn]

Okay.

[Gideon]

Yeah, I don't like striking the ban hammer down unless I really have to.

[Brian Quinn]

How do I get to be a moderator on there? The sole moderator.

[Gideon]

You have to be at the top one. Everyone above you has to leave.

[Brian Quinn]

Oh, okay.

[Gideon]

So I would have been the top moderator. One point and someone took me down and then dropped me down to the bottom of the moderator list. It's all about how many, how long you've been a moderator.

[Brian Quinn]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, so I haven't been on Reddit and coming up on three years, three and a half years. I just. Yeah, so I don't, I don't. I can't go there.

[Matt]

Gotcha. I imagine you have a different relationship

[Brian Johnson]

with it, and it's just some kooks on there that have been there for almost a decade that just do nothing.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, like the people, like the people that want to interact the most are the people that hate you the most, you know?

[Jonna]

Yeah, like restaurant reviews. You're only getting the, the zero stars mostly.

[Brian Quinn]

Yep.

[Jonna]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Is that just the natural turn of all Reddits or like, did you is like a certain sect of your listeners?

[Brian Quinn]

I don't know. Well, I heard now get them gleefully came back to me last week and was like, everybody on Reddit thinks you're bald. So people suggested that I shave my head like him so, you know, so I could appear to, you know.

[Matt]

Got it.

[Brian Quinn]

So I appear to be really bold. I embrace it, I guess.

[Gideon]

But we went to the, we went to the bold subreddit where I had posted because I shaved my head for a wedding or after a wedding. And the amount it is, like, everyone there is supportful, you know, very supportive of you shaving your head and like, you know, hey, you're looking great. You know, it's just. It's so much positivity.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah.

[Gideon]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

I'm going to start hanging out on our ball a lot more. Can't go to ours. Can't go to TSD Cares. But Gidem, I'm sure you've seen Curb youb Enthusiasm.

[Jonna]

Yes.

[Brian Quinn]

Do you remember the episode where the cop is talking to Larry about being bald? And Larry's like, in all fairness, he's like, you're not bald. That's a stylish choice that you've made where, like, Larry's really bald. And I think that applies to Gidem, too. People shouldn't be complimenting him. He shaved his head.

[Jonna]

Oh, it's so. It's a stolen valor.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah.

[Gideon]

I'm going bald. Like, there is a spot up here that has no hair whatsoever. So it's still smooth.

[Jonna]

Yeah. It looks like you got a lot of hair there.

[Gideon]

Yeah. Don't.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Matt]

Still got options.

[Jonna]

Yeah, you've got a lot of options.

[Gideon]

Yeah. But I had. I went for a tonsure cut for a wedding for somebody, so I look like. So I was a friar. Like Friar Tuck.

[Jonna]

I'm guessing that was Jimmy and Michelle's wedding.

[Gideon]

Yes.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Matt]

Yeah. Our roommates, Jimmy and Michelle were in the room next to us.

[Gideon]

Oh, okay.

[Matt]

Congratulations to them.

[Brian Johnson]

Sweet people.

[Jonna]

So actually, that brings up a good question. So it seems like you have this collection of people in your universe, Jimmy being one of them. You know, you have. What do we have? We have also a lawyer. A doctor. We met.

[Brian Quinn]

Sexy lawyer. Doctor.

[Jonna]

Sexy lawyer. A doctor.

[Walt Flanagan]

Homicide detective.

[Matt]

Detective.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Walt Flanagan]

A priest.

[Brian Johnson]

We have a priest. We have an exorcist.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Matt]

It does seem like you're, like, assembling, like, a small town.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, well, yeah, we. TSC town.

[Brian Quinn]

Yep. Disney Town.

[Brian Johnson]

There's a map somewhere. Okay.

[Matt]

How do these characters come in? Are they, like, very organically? Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Like, Jimmy came around because Q had cut his hair on the show.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

And Jimmy came in and. And bought it because the. The. The idea was that Jimmy Q would sell his hair for two grand. Whoever bought it, the money would go to get him so he could get his teeth fixed, you see?

[Brian Johnson]

Well, no, it wasn't. I was gonna sell my hair for two grand. We cut the hair, and Gideon was gonna sell it for whatever price.

[Brian Quinn]

Forever price you could get.

[Brian Johnson]

And then held on to it for two years, never sold it, and then got an offer for 2000 and sold a lock of my hair for 2000.

[Brian Quinn]

Right.

[Brian Johnson]

Now, I thought that was insane. So I give him A Lego thing that I built as well to try and take the sting out. The $300 set, I was like, maybe this will help. But that's how Jimmy got in. That's why he's called Jimmy the hair guy. Yeah, yeah, because he bought the hair.

[Brian Quinn]

Well, that's initially how we met him, but the way we got him was at Walt, I think, was like, you have to really pursue a maniac who will spend $2,000 on air. We got to see what else this guy's about. So he was about a lot, it turned out.

[Matt]

How much did you think it would go for?

[Brian Johnson]

I mean, a hundred bucks, you know, something like that. So 2000 free was. I wouldn't have sold it for 2000. I would have been like, I wasn't involved in this transaction. I would have been like, you can't spend $2,000 on that. But I wasn't around to stop it. So, by the way, get him. Has not gotten his teeth fixed or moved into an apartment, which are the two things that we're raising money for.

[Matt]

So, okay, you still hold. Is it collecting interest or did you spend on something else?

[Gideon]

I had it in PayPal for a while, but now I have it in a high interest savings account.

[Matt]

Oh, okay. So you put it to work for you? Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

It's only using 3. It's only losing 3% to inflation.

[Gideon]

Currently, I'm at 4%.

[Brian Quinn]

Oh, yeah? Yeah. All right.

[Matt]

And how'd you. Did you put it on ebay? Is that how Jimmy came across it or.

[Gideon]

No, I was going to put it on. What happened was I was going to put it. The Impractical Jokers movie was starting to take off, and I was weak. Well, then Covid happened, so that kind of killed it. I was going to, like, I, you know, I was getting ready for it to go, like, you know, a little more nationwide. And then I was going to list it so that it had, like, nationwide appeal. And then Covid happened and, you know, just everything went to everything. And so then I just had it in the case in a case in the studio or in our display case

[Matt]

with, you know, 2,000 plans for.

[Gideon]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Were you surprised it went for $2,000?

[Gideon]

I knew it would eventually go for that amount.

[Matt]

You knew what you had?

[Gideon]

I know what I got.

[Brian Johnson]

So this is a sort of whip crack conversation that we're going to get from. Get him on every episode going forward for new listeners.

[Brian Quinn]

Yep.

[Matt]

Okay. Yeah. But I guess, like, my question is, like, how did get him get involved? Like, because us people were like, well, cheering Whenever you walked into rooms and

[Brian Johnson]

stuff like, you want my side? You want. Get him signed.

[Brian Quinn]

In all fairness, they also cheered for Walt's dog.

[Brian Johnson]

So, yeah, when we first started the podcast, we were trying to get tell them stevedave.com and we mentioned it on the air, and Gideon was listening, so he. He bought it. Squaddle. It squatted on it.

[Gideon]

No, no, no.

[Matt]

And then I had it before.

[Gideon]

Then

[Walt Flanagan]

he had it years before the podcast even started.

[Brian Johnson]

I just had my side and his son. Okay.

[Walt Flanagan]

All right.

[Brian Johnson]

And then, you know, he claimed to. He was in the comic book store at the time. We were recording the. The episodes in the secret stash in Red bank. And Gideon would come in and he would claimed to like the show and claimed to, you know, be a good person. And then he wanted to charge us. He wanted to make money off us, and we came to an agreement on the price, and then he reneged and raised the price. So I hated his guts. And for that purpose alone, I think Walt brought him around more and more.

[Walt Flanagan]

That's not true. That's not true. If. If I. If I really felt you hated him, I wouldn't. I wouldn't bring him back around. I just.

[Brian Johnson]

I certainly didn't like him.

[Walt Flanagan]

No, you didn't like him, But I felt that there was so much to scratch beneath the surface.

[Brian Quinn]

You had no idea what you were doing to yourself.

[Walt Flanagan]

I know. Yeah, but I felt he was too interesting of a human being to just let wander away because he was a listener. And it was just by happenstance that he lived in the same state we did, only about an hour away from us. And it was just a coincidence that he owned tellemsteivedave.com because it was a line from a Kevin Smith movie.

[Brian Johnson]

That's.

[Matt]

That's why you purchased it. You, like, heard you knew the line had weight to it.

[Gideon]

No, I was. Well, by that point in time, I was going by get him, Steve Dave. So I had an original screen name, and I had a psycho ex girlfriend, and I had to switch names on AOL Instant Messenger. So I came. I misremembered the line of telling Steve, dad says, get him, Steve Dave. And so I had that as my username. And then I just started, like, godaddy was doing those 99 cent domain deals, and I was just buying up domain names for no good reason whatsoever, because I had a webcam site. I had webcam set up in my house, and I would have all those domains lead to my webcam site, so I would just drop them anywhere I could. So I bought get them Steve Dave, both spellings, and then also Tell them Steve Dave.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Walt Flanagan]

Years before a podcast even existed.

[Gideon]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was. I was. I was listening to. I was the Smodcast fan at that time. But you guys hadn't started Tom Steve Dave yet.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Jonna]

Okay. And. And so with this podcast, from what I understand, you two, Walt and Brian had a TV show and wanted to do a podcast together. And Q, you were their audio engineer.

[Brian Johnson]

No TV show came later.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

The TV show, I think, came out, what, 2012. And we started 2010 almost because of the podcast.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Jonna]

Okay, got it.

[Brian Johnson]

So. So Brian and Walt appeared in several of Kevin's early movies as the same characters. And Walt's line in the movies was, tell him, Steve Dave.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

And so when Kevin Smith started his network up, he asked these guys to do it, to do a podcast. And I think Kevin forced the name on you. Right? He was like, call Tom Steve Dave.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, I wanted to call it something different. I want to ride on his coattails. And we, like. Walt was initially. You were for it. You were for Telemstead. You were like, it's instant recognition. I remember. Whereas I was like, let's do our own thing. Let's have anything to do with Kevin.

[Walt Flanagan]

I wasn't that against it.

[Gideon]

Wasn't it joint, counter joint?

[Brian Quinn]

I wanted to do a joint counter joint where I would smoke and I would debate Walt on different topics. I don't know how long that would have lasted.

[Jonna]

Okay. And you were their sound engineer at first?

[Brian Johnson]

Well, not really. I mean, I was just Brian's friend and Walt's friend, so they needed help. So I was like, I'll come down and work the soundboard. But I didn't know anything about doing the soundboard.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

I literally was just. Just hooking up mics and just recording it for them to help out.

[Jonna]

Okay, and then you got a TV show then?

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, Then.

[Brian Quinn]

Then he started giving us the hi hat.

[Brian Johnson]

Well, then. Then Comic Book Man. Their show was based on Tele Steve Dave. I was supposed to be on Comic Book Men.

[Jonna]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

And true TV tried to legally block me from being on it, and then they realized they couldn't because I'd carved out in the contract any projects I'd have to do with. Tell them Steve Dave. And they called me up and basically they, like, begged me to not do it. They're like, please just do that. And the schedule was getting so bad that there was no way I could have been on both TV shows anyway.

[Walt Flanagan]

Wow.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

What a Decision.

[Jonna]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Comic Book Man.

[Brian Johnson]

So I stepped down from, I stepped down from Comic Book Man. Mike Zapsick steps up, steps up and takes the role. And the rest is. Oh, sorry. The rest is.

[Brian Quinn]

Oh my God. You believe this fucking guy with the phone?

[Matt]

Princess Diana would never pick up the phone during a podcast.

[Brian Quinn]

Okay. There's telling. There's Tesla town.

[Matt]

Oh, you do have a town.

[Brian Johnson]

Oh, yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

The early dream was to have a compound so we could all live on it.

[Matt]

You, you already have many aspects of society covered. Yeah, we talked to Troy and. Is it Johnny Law? The, the lawyer?

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, yeah, we have a lawyer.

[Brian Quinn]

It's like that. Did you see that documentary Wild Wild country where the, all the Indians came in and they like built that they built a town and they brought in people that. It's like these were serious engineers that knew how to build roads and bridges and all this other stuff. I don't know if we have any engineers.

[Matt]

Okay, you gotta get some civic engineers.

[Walt Flanagan]

I guarantee you I'll have two, at least two contact me after him saying

[Brian Quinn]

that you need a bridge built.

[Jonna]

Do you feel like you have enough to secede from the union and kind of create a sovereign state?

[Brian Quinn]

If Texas can't do it, I'm not sure what our chances are.

[Brian Johnson]

We're more just waiting for society to break down as soon as it crumbles.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah. Yeah. And then we got our people.

[Brian Johnson]

Right? We got it.

[Jonna]

And you have your secret police.

[Brian Quinn]

Sure.

[Matt]

Yeah. Okay, so I see the, the four colored demons there. Now I like, I understand this is a motorcycle club and there's one rule for, for entry, which is that you've seen a motorcycle.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, I, I, I forget like, I was, I forgot what episode we first mentioned. I was driving either home or, or to tell them Steve, Dave and I had. And it just popped in my head. I forget why. Like we're, we must have been watching that fucking TV show.

[Brian Quinn]

I remember you coming in. I want a comic themed motorcycle.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. And it was, that was it. I was like, I want a comic themed motorcycle club. And, and the name came pretty quick. And then. Yeah, it came together pretty quick. So it is, it's four color demons. It's the world's only motorcycle comic book theme motorcycle club. We're pretty loose. It's a free entry. There's a whole website for. You can go on and sign up and you get your membership card.

[Brian Quinn]

We're over 10,000 strong.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. There's no really dues or anything. And it's all over and like people in Ireland will have meetups like they. Ants 4. Call it demon members will have. Will organize meetups. That's so, like, if they're independent of us. Independent of us. Like, they'll be in, like, London this weekend. We're having a. Tell them four colored demons meet up or.

[Matt]

Oh, man.

[Brian Quinn]

When you do something like Qs, you realize that, like, these people are like. Like, we're incidental at this point.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

They have their community, they have their friends. They have, like, the people they want to see when they go to these meetups, you know, so it's like they're all like, we're kind of outsiders a little bit.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. We're not cool enough to be on the inside. Yeah, yeah. So, you know, we got the. We got the. The logo. The Kucharik brothers did that awesome logo for us. And, you know, we got. We. You get yourself a leather vest, bud. Get yourself a patch on the back and get yourself. People, like, get their numbers online and they just put the number on their vest. It's like as like a rank.

[Matt]

Oh, right on.

[Brian Johnson]

Even though all numbers are kind of equal, there's no. Yeah, yeah. It just is what it is. I think I'm one. Brian's two.

[Brian Quinn]

Three.

[Brian Johnson]

Three is Walt.

[Jonna]

Yeah. All the numbers are kind of equal, but, like, I'm one, you're these two.

[Brian Quinn]

The lower numbers are definitely coveted. Sure.

[Brian Johnson]

Some numbers are more equal than others.

[Brian Quinn]

You know what I mean?

[Brian Johnson]

But.

[Matt]

Get him. Do you have a number?

[Gideon]

Yeah, I'm number five.

[Matt]

Number five.

[Jonna]

Pretty big number.

[Walt Flanagan]

Frank should have been number five. We have a. We have a professor, too. Frank Five.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Matt]

So you have a college educational.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, he was. He was a Q West.

[Matt]

Oh, right on.

[Brian Quinn]

He was up on stage. He was the guy who drank half a bottle of vodka before coming on. Because he was like. You didn't tell him? He was like, I didn't know that I was going to have to be up there on stage. So, you know, like. So right before he, like, he drank some vodka and I went back to my text and I was like, I'm gonna call you up tonight on stage. Just so you know. So he definitely was aware. You know, I think he just used that as an excuse to. To down some juicy Tits.

[Gideon]

Vodka straight.

[Brian Johnson]

So if you look around the studio, you'll see, like, a lot of the shows that are on Patreon because we have, like a whole. We basically have a whole network at this point that's really accessible through Patreon. It's like, they'll do. The guys will do like a KISS podcast or any Sorts of what I got. We have a comic book, one called I Buy Comics, where we sit there and talk about comics that we.

[Brian Quinn]

I sell comics.

[Brian Johnson]

I sell comics. Bride tries. Where bride tries New hobbies and stuff like that.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Baron Von Flanagan. You're Baron Von. Yes, correct.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yes.

[Matt]

So the Barons are, like. They, like, dressed up and stuff. There's like a cosmic.

[Brian Quinn]

Oh, the wannabes dressed up as. Yeah, they cosplayed as Barons. Yeah.

[Matt]

So what's the. The premise of the. The Barons, or.

[Walt Flanagan]

I was Origin. I was into the whole shtick. Or. Of horror hosts that host horror movies. You know, like Svengoolie.

[Matt]

Sure.

[Walt Flanagan]

And the guys who preceded him. Zacherly and I've always been into that, and I wanted to create my own version of that and do it on the podcast.

[Matt]

Is that a Patreon thing as well?

[Walt Flanagan]

Once in a while, like, he pops up here now and then. For a long time, I think I overused him. So he's kind of been retired for a while, so. He hasn't been. He was at Jimmy's wedding, though, ironically.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, he was.

[Walt Flanagan]

He asked me to come to. Yes, he came. Well, yeah. It's a lot easier to wear a mask to go out in public, I find for myself. So when he asked me to go to the wedding dressed as Baron Von Flanagan, I wholeheartedly agreed because. Yeah, that, to me, is more comfortable.

[Jonna]

Yeah, that sounds incredible. I would love to have a character that just goes to work for me.

[Brian Quinn]

Speaking of characters, it is really interesting to watch you slip in and out of characters. Like, I went to your. Your improv show, and then, like, with Sherman the scumbag, it's really, like, how much improv experience do you have? I know you're supposed to be asking us stuff, but. A lot.

[Jonna]

Oh, yeah, a lot. I. I started in college, and then that became sort of my major unofficially, you know? And then I moved to New York just simply to pursue improv comedy and see where that led and see what happened.

[Brian Quinn]

Now look at you.

[Gideon]

Yeah.

[Jonna]

Well, I found the one improv comedy job in the entire world working on Impractical Jokers. I think it's the only one that is that exact job, but it's really cool.

[Brian Quinn]

I really. When we did the Sherman the scumbag thing, I really appreciated Q sandwiching me between you and Ambergio. Two fucking accomplished. Oh, did I knock my thing down? Okay. That's just for us, though.

[Brian Johnson]

All right.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah. Two accomplished improvs, and I'm like, ARR. Hey, everybody. ARR.

[Jonna]

Well, I'll take credit for Joe as well. He was actually my student years ago.

[Brian Quinn]

Was he?

[Jonna]

Before we were co workers on the show.

[Brian Quinn]

Really?

[Brian Johnson]

How was he as a student?

[Jonna]

He was great. Joe Ambergio's like the most lovely man on earth, so. He was.

[Brian Quinn]

He's a really nice guy.

[Jonna]

Yeah, he's just. Yeah, he's. He's. He's someone that makes you very comfortable to, like, be in a room with. I know you guys have had him on the show.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah.

[Jonna]

But, yeah, he was. He was. He was good. You know, I had notes for him. I helped him a lot.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, I figured I could tell when I was watching the improv show.

[Jonna]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

No, John is a killer. Like, we will get. We get ideas. You know, we're writing the season and stuff like that. Everybody will submit these packets of jokes and like, John is like always, always killer. Always, always killer. Yeah, I use a lot of her stuff and claim it as my own.

[Brian Quinn]

That's great. You're the genius.

[Jonna]

And I'll be honest, every so often, an idea of Matt's comes into one of those packages.

[Brian Johnson]

Oh, excellent. Yeah. Oh, that's great.

[Jonna]

So sometimes it's a twice stolen joke.

[Brian Johnson]

And do you remember Nick Giovanni? So Brian worked with Nick years ago at the View Askew office, and Nick is now a writer on the show. And Nick and Jonna have a fun relationship. They seem to get along.

[Brian Quinn]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Jonna]

We're both very dark people.

[Brian Quinn]

Okay.

[Jonna]

Yeah, yeah. Nick's into conspiracy theories and I love to listen.

[Brian Johnson]

All right, so what do we got? So let's. Let's. Yeah, let's.

[Brian Quinn]

Well, I figured I could see Matt's notebook from here, and he was about to ask, like, your sponsors.

[Brian Johnson]

What sponsors do you gu. Like? Who we got?

[Brian Quinn]

And I was about to tell you. Yeah. Are you familiar with Raycon? No. Well, I'm about to tell you. Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

Yes, Tell me more.

[Brian Quinn]

Okay. This message is sponsored by Raycon. If you're someone who likes getting outside, whether that's going for walks, running errands, or just getting some fresh air, it's nice to have something that will fit effortlessly into your day. Raycon's essential open earbuds have become my go to when I'm out and about. Since they're open ear, you can listen to music or podcasts while still hearing what's going on around you. Just makes being outside feel easier and more comfortable. The sound is super clear and balanced, so it feels like the best of both worlds. And if that sounds like something your routine is missing, now is a great time to try them. Because they're 15% off. I got some talking points here. You guys want to weigh in? It's totally fine.

[Brian Johnson]

Not sold yet, Matt.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, I see Matt's looking a little doubtful. Shouldn't be these earbuds. These earbuds sit just outside your ear canal. So you get a really clear sound, but you can actually hear what's going on around you. The awareness is perfect for tackling your fitness goals safely. Gianna. I mean, John, I see that you're in a running outfit.

[Jonna]

Yes.

[Brian Quinn]

So you run a lot?

[Jonna]

I guess I wear a lot of the clothes that runners would wear.

[Brian Quinn]

Okay. You can also get the headphones so people think that you're listening to headphones while you're running. Okay.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Gideon]

I wear mine when I'm working out at the buffet.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah. You know, has a dedicated pair for the. For the buffet, if you can believe it. I'm not kidding around.

[Brian Johnson]

There is eating Raycons.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah.

[Walt Flanagan]

Designed for like, for powerful chewing, not to be pop out

[Gideon]

for loud yelling that other. There's other customers here.

[Brian Johnson]

You could eat two fried shrimp. You could eat 100 fried shrimp. He's done it both. And the Raycons have stayed in.

[Brian Quinn]

Doesn't matter. They're really light in the ear part. The ear hook part rotates so they actually stay in. You can wear them at the gym, on walks, doing stuff around the house, at buffets. They don't fall out, they don't get uncomfortable. The essential open earbuds are the perfect addition to your everyday routine. Go by raycon.com te-open to get 15% off. And thank you, Raycon, for sponsoring. And I know if Matt, you're thinking, oh my God, Raycon. That's it. No, of course not. We got two more. Hold on. Ridge. It's very annoying that all your devices have different changing charging cords. Are your phone, your headphone. I just got bifocal. So I'm trying to like. They call them progressive so you don't feel as old.

[Jonna]

That's a fun word.

[Brian Johnson]

Ben Franklin. More bifocals, right?

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

You're progressive.

[Brian Quinn]

I gotta have at the end of my nose a little like rectangle.

[Brian Johnson]

You're the most progressive guy I know politically.

[Brian Quinn]

Thank you.

[Brian Johnson]

So it would make sense that you would hear. You hear that

[Brian Quinn]

it's annoying that all your devices have different charging cords. Your phone, your headphones, your watch, your Kindle, all different. Honestly, it should be illegal like it is in the uk, right, Gidem?

[Gideon]

Yes.

[Brian Quinn]

How is it they have AI robots but we still have to travel with five cords tangled up in our bag just to keep our devices alive. Well, those days are over thanks to Ridge. Just like Ridge revolutionized the wallet, Ridge has now changed the game for portable charging. Ridge's 5 in 1 travel power bank has built in cables that let you charge all your devices at the same time with just one power bank. With Father's Day coming up, if you're trying to think of a gift he'll actually use, this is it. Now, Walt's kids are not going to get him this because he bought one with his own money.

[Jonna]

The worst thing a father can do.

[Brian Quinn]

Buy something for themselves. Something. No. Father's Day is coming up. Let's see. Magsafe Wireless charging, Apple Watch Charger, Lightning, usb, C, every way you need to charge, all in one premium device. 20 watts of power, 10,000mAh capacity. Get him. What's that again?

[Gideon]

Milliamp hours.

[Brian Quinn]

Of course. That's good. You've got three full phone chargers in your pocket. Ridge was actually built by father and son, designed to meet the same standards dad set every single day. Who's dad? I don't think that's universal that dads are setting these high standards for their kids. I mean, I can tell you from personal experience that's not the case.

[Brian Johnson]

There was no Ridge wallet building in your garage?

[Brian Quinn]

No, no, no. There was like beatings and yellings. Go out to the gar. It's win, win. No one does more. No more does anyone have a charger? And dad gets a gift he'll actually use every single day. Like everything Ridge makes, it's built to last. With free shipping, 99 day risk, free trial, and a lifetime warranty, this is the last power bank you'll ever need.

[Brian Johnson]

I have a question between these two. Matt. What do you think of a guy that gives one price for something and then turns around and tries to rip you off for a higher price? What are they?

[Matt]

I would make him a regular part of my life.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, right. You carry for the rest of your life.

[Gideon]

They felt they were under pressure and made a decision under duress.

[Brian Johnson]

Grown man made an agreement. Anybody can come up with any excuses to negate it. Who?

[Matt]

I'm gonna have to think about.

[Brian Johnson]

It takes a temple special type man to, like, honor the agreement anybody can come up with.

[Gideon]

Weren't you.

[Walt Flanagan]

Weren't you given guidance by another podcast?

[Gideon]

Yeah, people had reached out to me and said that, you know, I was being lowballed. So.

[Walt Flanagan]

Is that podcast still around?

[Gideon]

No, the one person died. So.

[Walt Flanagan]

So what?

[Brian Johnson]

Making great decisions?

[Gideon]

It was a couple do you think

[Walt Flanagan]

that they would have hired your ass if you lost your job or do you think that they would have taken you in like a lost puppy?

[Gideon]

They took me in a couple times.

[Walt Flanagan]

How so?

[Brian Quinn]

What do you mean how so?

[Gideon]

Well, I used to go down to there for a mummer's parade. To their place for mummer's parade.

[Jonna]

I don't think that's taking you in. I think they let you spend all night at your house.

[Walt Flanagan]

They would have let you squat basically. And the way you squatted in this office.

[Gideon]

I don't know.

[Walt Flanagan]

I don't think so.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Jonna]

What's behind the gray curtain? I'm curious. Is that.

[Gideon]

Don't look behind the gray curtain.

[Walt Flanagan]

Okay.

[Gideon]

Yes.

[Brian Johnson]

It's a green screen. The office is normally disgusting.

[Jonna]

It's beautiful in here.

[Brian Johnson]

I know. It really is.

[Jonna]

It's beautiful. This is like the most basement ever.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. Normally it doesn't look like this. Normally there's piles of garbage everywhere. And by the way, when I mean garbage, I mean whatever your definition of garbage is, that's what was lying all around. Pizza boxes, wrappers.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Quinn]

And then get him said John is coming and he cleaned the place up.

[Jonna]

He knows how I like it, you

[Brian Johnson]

know, and it was. It became. It was starting to get unbearable.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

So something had to be done. I suspect what was done was that curtain was put up and everything was pushed behind it.

[Walt Flanagan]

I would like you to go look behind that curtain and be wrong. Yeah, it's just. It's just foldable chairs, a podium and some boxes of. Of merchandise that we have to pack and send out in June.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. You know what? Yeah, it's not bad.

[Brian Quinn]

In your face.

[Brian Johnson]

Everything is in a place that it's supposed to be.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yes.

[Brian Johnson]

Not just. We don't.

[Walt Flanagan]

We don't do half assed around here.

[Gideon]

Right. Or nothing. Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

So where were we?

[Brian Quinn]

We were at the. We were talking about the travel bank.

[Gideon]

Ridge.

[Brian Quinn]

Ridge.

[Brian Johnson]

Oh, we weren't done with that yet.

[Brian Quinn]

No, we weren't done with that. No, no. Q halfway through is like, let me look behind that.

[Walt Flanagan]

How much more is there to talk about?

[Brian Quinn]

I still got to give the the code and everything.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

One thing to pack five ways to power for a limited time, get up to 40% off during Ridge's huge Father's Day [e-mail] Tesd don't miss one of the biggest discounts all year. Just head to ridge.com tesd and you're all set. After your purchase they'll ask you where you heard about them. Please support the show and Tell them, Tell them.

[Brian Johnson]

Steve.

[Brian Quinn]

Dave.

[Brian Johnson]

Nice.

[Brian Quinn]

All right, now, before the mics went hot, Q, Matt came up to me and he's like, jonah says, I'm in the bedroom.

[Brian Johnson]

Oh, really?

[Brian Quinn]

I need your help. I mean, he did tell me this confidentially, Right?

[Brian Johnson]

Okay.

[Brian Quinn]

I need your help. What can you do? And I said, you know what, Just hang out for the sponsors and I'm going to talk to you about bluechew.

[Brian Johnson]

All right?

[Brian Quinn]

The future of erectile.

[Brian Johnson]

I mean, they have a. I know, I know. Okay, all right, all right.

[Brian Quinn]

Sorry. I just need a patsy.

[Matt]

I communicated it with my eyes.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, I can tell. I can tell. Tell me about that Blue Chew Gold. He was saying, Blue Chew Gold is changing the way millions of men are having sex in 20, 26. 20 sex, I should say.

[Brian Johnson]

Oh, yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

What's up? What's up? The new arousal boosting formula combines passion and performance into one tablet that dissolves under your tongue for super fast onset. No more waiting for a pill to kick in. No more moments ruined by performance anxiety. Just the results you want want when you want them. Most ED meds only focus on blood flow, but Bluechew Gold goes further by combining two ingrains for blood flow with two for mental arousal and connection. Yeah, not just physically ready, you're actually in the mood.

[Gideon]

Oh, yeah.

[Walt Flanagan]

It's a mood altering drug as well.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, that's why I like it, man. I'm still popping it. I haven't had a mood altering drug in some time. This type of innovation is why Blue Chew Gold is the number one. What's that?

[Brian Johnson]

You're proud of yourself, not an unsuspecting woman.

[Gideon]

This is not sold in a bathroom in a vending machine.

[Jonna]

But I could grind it up and like put it in somebody's coffee.

[Brian Quinn]

You sure did tell somebody that's what you felt like.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. For the mood altering aspect of it,

[Matt]

gotta make sure you're the first person they see after that. That's how it works.

[Brian Quinn]

The process is simple and all online. So get started [e-mail] and go for the goal. Discover your options at BlueChew. And here's the special deal for listeners right now. When you buy two months of BlueChew Gold, you get the third for free with promo code TESD. That's promo code TESD. Visit BlueChew.com for more details and important safety information. And we thank Bluechew for sponsoring the podcast.

[Jonna]

And I thank you, Brian. Thank you.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, no problem. I wouldn't have done it like you approached me earlier and was like, can you bring this up to Matt? Yeah, yeah.

[Matt]

No, don't worry. Like, I recently turned 40, and it seems like every algorithm on the face of the Earth is, like, you should really know about bluechew.

[Jonna]

And now we do.

[Brian Johnson]

We came to the right place. We've been doing this show 16 years. 16 years we've been flogging boner pills the entire time. The entire time. We've never been above it. Not even for an episode have we been above it.

[Gideon]

Boner pills and underwear.

[Jonna]

You'll know when you've made it with the ladies, when you're, you know, hawking the women's libido. I think that's. That's out there, you know?

[Walt Flanagan]

Does that exist, too?

[Jonna]

I believe it does.

[Walt Flanagan]

There's a Blue Chew for gals.

[Jonna]

I believe so.

[Gideon]

I was gonna say women have a libido.

[Brian Johnson]

The number set?

[Gideon]

13%.

[Brian Johnson]

Let's stick it up right now.

[Matt]

Here we go. We get to 14. And that sponsor's coming. Yeah, for sure.

[Walt Flanagan]

I didn't. I wasn't aware of this. What does that do? I mean, that. I thought that was all about, like, candles in a bath and some bath bombs. Yeah.

[Gideon]

Like, are we talking about Frank 5 now?

[Walt Flanagan]

Is that coming to pill for him?

[Brian Johnson]

Because I didn't trick their eyes into thinking that you look like Brad P. Whoever the hell is out there now.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah. Who is out there? Brad Pitt, I think. Could still be the gold standard. I saw him recently. I'm like, jesus Christ.

[Walt Flanagan]

This guy.

[Gideon]

Oh, the guy from Maverick?

[Brian Johnson]

Well, why don't we ask Shauna? She's here.

[Walt Flanagan]

Cruz?

[Gideon]

No, the other James Garner.

[Walt Flanagan]

Cruz look like it stuck his head

[Brian Johnson]

in the beehive lately. James Garner is the new, hottest thing.

[Matt]

Gen Z. Women are just looking for a James Garner type.

[Brian Johnson]

I mean, aren't we all looking for a James Garner type?

[Gideon]

I was thinking Glen Powell.

[Walt Flanagan]

Is that from the Rock profile?

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, but he was in the movie version of Maverick.

[Walt Flanagan]

Oh, as the older man.

[Brian Johnson]

He was Mel Gibson's dad. Oh, yeah. What? Wasn't he the original Maverick?

[Matt]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, he was.

[Brian Johnson]

So. So he connected him to Mel Gibson,

[Gideon]

who's in Project Hail Mary.

[Brian Johnson]

Gosling.

[Gideon]

Yeah.

[Jonna]

Gosling. Yeah. Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

That's a dream boat. And that movie I finally saw is.

[Gideon]

Oh, you did.

[Brian Johnson]

It was so good.

[Matt]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

Project Hatmere was awesome.

[Matt]

Oh, man.

[Brian Johnson]

It was really a little different than

[Gideon]

the book, but it was a little different way. Acceptable.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Speaking of which, real quickly, 100 pages

[Brian Johnson]

into DCC Dungeon called Carl.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

What are you thinking?

[Brian Quinn]

I like it. And I see why you love it.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

It has a lot to do with Dungeons and Dragons and video games.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, I can tell the influence is there.

[Brian Johnson]

That stuff evens out, like.

[Brian Quinn]

Does it?

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, it's. They give it to you heavy early on, so, you know, so, you know. And then later on, all you gotta know is like, oh, they went up. They stop even discussing levels and. Okay.

[Brian Quinn]

Very enjoyable so far.

[Brian Johnson]

That's great. Yeah. Did you get the mongo yet?

[Brian Quinn]

No, no Mango.

[Brian Johnson]

Okay. Okay, great.

[Gideon]

How far are you into. How far are you into book 8?

[Brian Johnson]

A little more than halfway.

[Gideon]

Okay. Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Walt Flanagan]

I think Planet.

[Brian Johnson]

I don't want to ruin it for. No. You. I'm not that cool.

[Brian Quinn]

But it's not a special needs person, is it?

[Brian Johnson]

In a way.

[Brian Quinn]

All right.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. But not really. I think I'm on the fifth race.

[Gideon]

Yeah. I'm like 40% in. Yes. They're just doing the third. Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

All right. This is what we do, though. We go to do zero episodes and

[Brian Quinn]

we don't start talking about.

[Matt]

I'm curious, is this a single book or is this a series?

[Brian Johnson]

Dungeon Crawler Carl is a series of books about a guy who. Earth gets taken over by aliens that turns Earth basically into a dungeon. Dungeon and Dragons Maze is the loose way to describe it. And you. You have to. And they broadcast it like a TV show, so it's like a Hellish Truman show type thing. And they have to survive their fight. And this guy Carl has his girlfriend's cat with her, and she gets super intelligent because of something the aliens do, and it's him and this cat fighting their way through a dungeon. But it's seven books. Eight books now.

[Gideon]

Eight books now.

[Brian Johnson]

Each book is, like, better than the one. Yeah. It changes as it goes. Like, it's. It's kind of a different story now.

[Matt]

Does it really reward a reader that knows Dungeons and Dragons?

[Brian Johnson]

Really? No. It's definitely an easier in, but no, there's. It really doesn't.

[Brian Quinn]

I'm not a bit, like. I don't know a lot about Dungeons and Dragons. I still can. Like.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. They just gamify the rules.

[Brian Quinn]

As long as you know the basics.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Gideon]

It's like, there's like no rolling or anything, but, like, there is the levels. So you have to learn about levels a little.

[Matt]

Like leveling up.

[Gideon]

Yeah. And quests and.

[Matt]

Got it.

[Brian Johnson]

But all of that and camp falls away fairly quickly. Okay. It's just. You're into it and then it starts getting into the political of why the aliens are doing it, and it becomes this whole other. Other Thing. Yeah, yeah, it's awesome. Anyway, the eighth book came out last week, so me and Kiddim are. Yeah, hot and heavy.

[Brian Quinn]

All excited.

[Brian Johnson]

And if you're an audiobook guy, the audiobooks are fucking awesome.

[Matt]

Yeah, yeah.

[Gideon]

I'm a reader, so I just read it on my phone. Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

So. All right, so let's get into this. We do. We get distracted. Do you guys feel so far that we've created anything that's welcoming to new listeners as of yet?

[Jonna]

Yes, yes. I have to tell you, it happened during the commercial break, but I think I want to listen. I'm drawn in. It was when Gidham recommended the special headphones just for eating honestly. And it was right on the heels of talking about the Baron and Em. Like, I think I would come for the comedy and I would say, stay for the life advice. Like, I. I feel like I've learned a lot just in the few minutes that we've been together. And you're all just so likable. I. I want to listen. I mean, can I listen?

[Brian Johnson]

Yes.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

Yes. And I think after this episode, you'll be even more prepared to listen.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

Those are the Barons by you. There's multiple colored Barons. Just to go on what we are before.

[Jonna]

Oh, cool.

[Brian Johnson]

I'm the White Baron in the middle there.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

Who's a bit of a doof, apparently. And Brian's the Gold Baron. Where's the Gold Baron? Over there. Over there on the right up there above. Get him.

[Brian Quinn]

I'm the gay baron.

[Brian Johnson]

He's. He's the gay Baron. Just puts us in positions.

[Gideon]

There's lots of facts about Paul Lynn.

[Brian Quinn]

I had no choice in the matter. Judy Garland put this outfit on.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. We have a Claymation movie which. Matt, you worked in. In stop motion for a while, right? As I recall.

[Matt]

I still do. It's kind of like a side hustle. My friend's the actual animator.

[Brian Johnson]

Okay.

[Matt]

We do. You guys would remember.

[Gideon]

What's his name?

[Matt]

Alex Kropen.

[Gideon]

Okay, sure.

[Matt]

That would have been crazy. Yeah, same guy.

[Walt Flanagan]

Do you know Mr. Oz? Ever heard of that animator, Mr. Oz. Mr. Oz.

[Matt]

No, I mean, not Frank Oz.

[Walt Flanagan]

No connection to Frank Oz. He's his own Oz.

[Matt]

Yeah, for sure.

[Brian Quinn]

Oz unto himself.

[Brian Johnson]

We like him now.

[Walt Flanagan]

We kind of reconnected. I did, me and him, and we had an email back and forth. Tried to, like, build bridges after a burnt, destroyed bridge, but I wasn't able to convince him to come back into TST town. He was polite, though, and said he wished us well, but he didn't feel like he could Ever work with us ever again.

[Brian Johnson]

I don't blame him. Hard to blame the guy.

[Matt]

So you're looking to add an animator to your 50s?

[Walt Flanagan]

Claymation only.

[Matt]

Claymation only.

[Walt Flanagan]

But they're harder to find. They're more maniacs than I found. When you work in Claymation, you've got to be a bit special.

[Brian Johnson]

But we have a line in here to a non claymation anime.

[Matt]

Could definitely do Claymation. Yeah, he's. He. So we have a contract with Marvel. We do the. What the videos for YouTube, which is, like, you probably remember, like, the panels in the middle of the comics where they have the action figures. Do, like a little sketch. Oh, yeah. It was usually to, like, advertise the actual Hasbro toys.

[Walt Flanagan]

Okay.

[Matt]

But yeah, he's made, like, hundreds of these things since, like.

[Brian Johnson]

And you write them with him.

[Matt]

Yeah, so I'll write them and do voices. John is like. John has done. John is the voice of Captain Marvel.

[Brian Johnson]

Nice. And that's on an official Marvel product.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Gideon]

Whoa.

[Brian Johnson]

So you are Captain Marvel.

[Jonna]

I guess. I didn't remember.

[Walt Flanagan]

Wow.

[Brian Johnson]

I didn't even know that.

[Jonna]

Awesome.

[Matt]

And canon. You are. Yeah, she's the, like, stop motion. Carol Danvers.

[Brian Johnson]

Wow, that's cool.

[Matt]

Yeah. You and Brie Larson.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

I think. I think we're going to get you guys some low numbers on those four color demons. Captain Marvel here. Yeah.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

How much to sell your number?

[Walt Flanagan]

Well, I'll sell mine.

[Brian Quinn]

I don't do anything with it. Make me an offer.

[Walt Flanagan]

I've never used it once.

[Brian Quinn]

Does it get you discounts anywhere?

[Matt]

Well, yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah.

[Matt]

We'll have to talk or I'll like, Alex could definitely Claymate if you're. If you need Claymation. But yeah, he's. He's stopped motion. All things stop motion. But he is also, like. Yeah, your brain needs to be wired a certain way. Yeah, he, like, does all of his. He'll, like, not sleep for, like, 48 hours.

[Walt Flanagan]

Disappear from the real world for months on end.

[Matt]

It's wild. His office looks like this, too.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Just, like, surrounded by toys.

[Jonna]

Yeah. Maybe that's why I like this office. It looks like your office.

[Matt]

That's in Pittsburgh. I never get to be there.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, guys.

[Matt]

Those guys hold it down.

[Brian Quinn]

What other questions got Matt.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Matt]

So I feel like we covered, like, the community. Like, is awesome and sincere and inviting and, like, that's the first thing I learned to Q West. And then you got, like, the crew and we talked about get him and Jimmy. But, like, how do you, like. I understand you have a number of franks.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, some of them have died since the whole Frank thing started.

[Brian Johnson]

We went on a run where we were meeting interesting people who were named Frank. Like Frank one was just a cranky old dickhead, right? Or something like that.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, he was like the racist guy. Yeah, yeah, he was like. He was pretty bad.

[Brian Johnson]

But then Frank number two was a Auschwit survivor, Auschwitz survivor. He was this old and he survived Dachau and oh my God. We had to separate him from the first Frank. So we called him Frank 2. He was obviously the more interesting one. Which is. Which led to a great tell him Steve Dave moment early on where Brian Johnson was complaining about how hard his life was to a dock house survivor. It was phenomenal.

[Brian Quinn]

And then I took his survivor, took his seat.

[Matt]

Did you hear him out?

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, it was interesting. So the Frank. So that put the Franks on the map. And then we just kept meeting these different Franks who were assigned the number of Frank three. The most relevant, I would say to this day is Frank 5, who is just a regular on the show and one of. Has become one of Walt's best friends. He was also at us.

[Matt]

He's at QS. I remember meeting him, Frank.

[Brian Johnson]

He owns a DeLorean. He's a back to Future fan. So he bought a DeLorean.

[Gideon]

He skipped Thanksgiving dinner spending with his family to drive down and visit the studio.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Matt]

At 35.

[Walt Flanagan]

That's how we met him. Yeah, he showed up one day, the day before Thanksgiving and the rest is history.

[Matt]

Yeah, there's Frank 4 up there.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, Frank 3 was. We don't hear from him much anymore, but Frank 4, I don't even remember.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, he was the guy. He came in very, very briefly. He came into the. The store one day and he was. He was from Staten island and we were talking to him for a bit and then he. It sort. Sort of. I can't remember how it came out, but that he had married his cousin.

[Brian Johnson]

Oh, we were like, what?

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, and that's why we started talking to him. But he wasn't like. He's not a. Like Frank 3 for a long time. He was a regular part of the show. Frank five for even longer. Probably is now as we're part of the show.

[Brian Johnson]

Frank 1 and 2 were assuming dead at this point.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, I would have to imagine.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

Brian. Frank too, a notable character. He was a World War II duck out concentration camp survivor and in parentheses, though Brian later contested his veteran status. So. Yeah, so yeah, we collect and usually like. Like the. Like Father Lance.

[Jonna]

Oh, you have a priest as well.

[Brian Johnson]

He's an exorcist. He's on the. He's on the Pittsburgh.

[Brian Quinn]

He's from the Pittsburgh Steelers fan.

[Matt]

You got a Yinzer exorcist on the show.

[Brian Johnson]

And he works with the church. He's an actual. On the church's exorcist squad. And when. When it. So Walt collects these guys and brings them in and finds these interesting people, and then they tend to stick around once they've been in.

[Matt]

So you're the purveyor of the.

[Brian Johnson]

Well, he answers emails,

[Jonna]

you bring them in, and then you guys deal with them, basically. Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah.

[Matt]

We do have. We have some sources. Like, two of my, like, longtime friends are listeners of the show. One of them claims to have emailed with you. I like.

[Gideon]

Okay.

[Matt]

I don't know. He didn't even tell me about what. He was actually pretty unhelpful.

[Brian Johnson]

This is.

[Matt]

I guess I'll call out Jesse.

[Walt Flanagan]

Okay.

[Matt]

He was. He was like.

[Walt Flanagan]

I remember Jesse.

[Jonna]

Listener Jesse.

[Gideon]

That was the.

[Matt]

That was striking. Like, so, like, how many emails do you get?

[Walt Flanagan]

Like, it depends, you know, I found. And I understand it. I get it. Like, there's a kind of vibe that. With the show, I think anybody listens to podcast probably kind of gets that vibe. Like, you know, the people that are on the mic. So when you see guys like a Jimmy or Frank who are listeners and then they come in and then they kind of get. Get roles, regular roles, reoccurring that keep coming on, coming back, become part of the family, you'll find then you'll have a lot more emails of being like, well, here's what I can do. Here's what I am. And, like, they want to join the colony in a more important way than just listening sometimes. So I get a lot of emails like that.

[Jonna]

Like, I buy hair also.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yes.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

It never. It's just people have, like, People just have to break through.

[Walt Flanagan]

Through chemistry there, though, too, though, you know, Like Eli.

[Brian Johnson]

My boy Eli.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

Who doesn't have an official ant title. But he. I. I went to. I gave him an extra ticket. He sat with me at Derosa show with the Netflix special. He hung out with me afterwards. Like, some of them just get their way into. You know, they prove to be.

[Brian Quinn]

Because they're cool and they're laid back.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. Like, I gave you, like, my number at this time. So that's. I don't think I've ever given. I think Ginham only got my number two years ago.

[Brian Quinn]

Jimmy was asking me for your number.

[Brian Johnson]

I'm like, well, Jimmy I gave my number.

[Brian Quinn]

Oh, did you give it to me? Eventually.

[Brian Johnson]

So far, so good. There are some random thoughts coming in at, like, 1am that I wonder why I love. He's always lovely, right?

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah.

[Gideon]

Sometimes he's at work at that time.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. And then the text will come in and I'll be like, I don't know why he's telling me this. I just don't answer those.

[Gideon]

I love you.

[Jonna]

Jesus.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah.

[Jonna]

Jimmy is the best. I want to say, like, he was so wonderful at Key West. He gave me, like, the support that I wish I got from my mom before I do comedy and after. I see why you have him around. He's just a wonderful maternal energy.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah. Ray of sunshine.

[Brian Johnson]

He was on the cruise. He was on the last cruise we did.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

He was on that. That's where I learned to like him. I actually didn't like Jimmy that much up until that point.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

He freaked me out a little bit. I didn't believe a person could be that nice.

[Jonna]

Okay. So it wasn't about the hair. It was just. He was too.

[Brian Johnson]

No, it was just that I, I. I kept trying to find out what his angle was.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

And he doesn't have an angle.

[Jonna]

He's.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, he doesn't. Yeah. But I had to get. I had to figure that out first.

[Jonna]

That's wild that it wasn't about the hair. Someone was too nice to you, and you couldn't figure it out.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Jonna]

Says everything about you I'm not sure about.

[Matt]

He just happened to pay two things. Thousand dollars for my hair.

[Brian Johnson]

And that's. Yeah, it was. It was a. It was a crazy start, but, yeah. Great guy. Yeah.

[Matt]

Someone who's, like, been to Jonna's comedy shows, like, with both her mom and Jimmy, and it's like, I can. I can confirm, like, Jimmy was, like, after the show, he, like, looked at me. He's like, how does she do it? Her mom is, like, very generous, but she's definitely like, all right, is it time to go home now? You know?

[Jonna]

But speaking of Key west, though, so, you know, we couldn't help but notice that Frank was there, Johnny Law was there. No. Walt. And I understand. It's because Walt don't fly.

[Walt Flanagan]

I do not fly.

[Jonna]

Okay. And we were wondering what else Don't Walt do drugs? Okay.

[Brian Quinn]

The list goes on.

[Brian Johnson]

Alcohol, seasoning, on food.

[Brian Quinn]

Okay.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah.

[Gideon]

I don't eat a lot of many foods.

[Walt Flanagan]

Many. I only have, like, maybe four things. I eat.

[Matt]

Eat.

[Jonna]

Wow.

[Matt]

What are they?

[Gideon]

Plain hamburger, no bun. Chicken.

[Walt Flanagan]

I'll let my Son.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, go ahead.

[Matt]

Tell them what?

[Walt Flanagan]

I don't.

[Gideon]

But I eat plain fries, no salt. Yeah, pizza. Plain pizza, chicken fingers.

[Walt Flanagan]

That's about it.

[Brian Quinn]

That's about it.

[Gideon]

So you can soda only from a fountain machine.

[Jonna]

I get that.

[Matt]

This is all, like, bowling alley food. Yeah, like bowling alley. Like drive in theater. Like,

[Walt Flanagan]

I like foods in a basket.

[Brian Johnson]

Years and years ago, what was the year we drove cross country for Comic Con, the three of us.

[Brian Quinn]

Oh, that would have been 2002, I think.

[Brian Johnson]

2002, we drove. Three of us drove across country.

[Brian Quinn]

2003 at the latest.

[Brian Johnson]

And Walt told me at the time that if he could, he would cast a magic spell, that the only way you could get drunk was to eat powdered human feces. He was like, then let's see the drunks Dr. Drink.

[Jonna]

I think we would all still do that.

[Brian Johnson]

That was my point. I'd throw it in the water and drink it back.

[Jonna]

Koolaid hides a lot of flavors.

[Brian Johnson]

So Walt has always had an aversion to, you know, drugs or outside influences. Yeah.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

He's probably steered me straight a lot of ways.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

He's been a good influence on my life.

[Gideon]

Oh, really?

[Walt Flanagan]

How so?

[Brian Johnson]

Well, some. You know, sometimes. I promise you that I would.

[Walt Flanagan]

The amount of times you come in here and you're like, I. Guys, I'm really hungover. I got a bad headache. It doesn't seem like I'm staring you, right?

[Gideon]

Two months ago. Like, two months ago.

[Brian Johnson]

And when was the last time for that?

[Walt Flanagan]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

Can't even name it.

[Gideon]

I suspect many times you zoom in. That might be the reason sometimes.

[Brian Johnson]

Sometimes I have Walt on my shoulder. Yeah. Or you're telling me not to do things.

[Jonna]

Who's on the other shoulder?

[Brian Johnson]

Brian Johnson. You're looking at him. You're looking at both of them. You're looking at both of them.

[Jonna]

So that's interesting. So are the three of you really different people? And what is it? I guess. What about you guys is different? What draws you together as friends and co hosts?

[Brian Quinn]

I love painkillers.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Quinn]

Walt doesn't.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Quinn]

And I'm not talking about the baby shit either. I'm talking about Bay.

[Brian Johnson]

The. You got to go to rehab, like, two, three times to shake, and then

[Brian Quinn]

once you get rid of it.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Then it's okay. Then you're good. Then you're. Then you're like Walt Flanagan almost.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Quinn]

Except for the weed and the occasional booze.

[Matt]

Yeah, I guess. Like, with. In the show, like, whenever you started out, did you have, like, specific responsibilities to the show? Like I. I heard, Walt, that you put together games.

[Brian Johnson]

Right.

[Matt]

And, like, I noticed at qs, like, you seem to introduce the topics.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, pretty much that.

[Matt]

So, like, was. Was that, like, intentional? Do you have, like, jobs?

[Walt Flanagan]

That was probably organic.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Walt Flanagan]

It just kind of fell into roles.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Walt Flanagan]

Early on.

[Brian Johnson]

Well, there was a thing with Walt specifically where. When. When we started it, Walt didn't want to do it, didn't want to do the podcast and didn't think it would last. So looking back over the long years has been something to see Walt become, like, this creative force. He's thrown himself into it in a way that I don't think any of us would have called. Like, a lot of the creativity you see around them came from Walt being like, I have this. The Barons this. That, like, came from Walt. From a guy who was largely uninterested in doing a podcast whatsoever. So it has been. It's been great to see my friend bloom into that sort of role as, like, a producer, main producer, almost, in a way. Brian, you know, always wanted. Wanted to do the podcast, did the podcast, but then stopped taking it seriously for a while because of a horrendous drug addiction. But comes in and drives the show. He steers the ship. He's out here. I come in. I don't prepare any. Walt says, I sleepwalk through the show. You know, Brian comes in, he sees. He becomes with topics every week. Like, that's why when you saw her on.

[Gideon]

On.

[Brian Johnson]

On stage on. Space Monkeys is a show that Brian and I do that Walt's not a part of telling Steve. Dave without Walt becomes Space monkeys, and Brian is the guy that drives captain steering the ship type stuff. When I came onto the show, my job was, like you said, to be the audio guy. Purposely didn't talk much early on. And I think all these years later, like, I still kind of see myself as, like, my job is to pivot between the two of them and to knock them into some thing. Like, I've never been, like, a main engine driver on the show type thing.

[Matt]

Gotcha.

[Brian Johnson]

Like, you get to kind of watch these two go back and forth, which is great.

[Brian Quinn]

And decide who you want to jump in with.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, decide I want to jump in with. You know, that sort of tiebreaker. Yeah, yeah. And, you know, get him is just get him. He's a singular entity.

[Jonna]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Chaos agent.

[Brian Quinn]

Yes.

[Brian Johnson]

Is any of this helping? Is any of this.

[Matt]

Yeah, it is working. So, like, Space Monkeys, that's the show where, like, if Walt's not there and

[Brian Johnson]

it's me and Brian at Space Monkeys.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah. Originally it started as like topics that Walt wanted to steer clear of. Hot button topics. Okay. You and I would bring to our Space Monkeys podcast and talk about. Until Q got pussified and won't talk about Hot Topics anymore because he's too famous.

[Jonna]

When did you get pussified, Q?

[Brian Johnson]

It's about the time that the crew started relying on us for their jobs. And I was like, ah, I got a lot more responsibility than just I want to say on the show. So, yeah, I have to. I catch a lot of from for that.

[Brian Quinn]

I expect the next time you guys shoot, I want to see like an 8 by 10 of Q up. Right. Pussified on. Just tack it up somewhere. What's this?

[Brian Johnson]

That improv job that she's. That she loves is one of the jobs I'm protecting by.

[Jonna]

Not as soon as you said that, I was like, I do love my job.

[Matt]

Bad advice.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Walt Flanagan]

So.

[Brian Quinn]

So, yeah, I mean, even. Even I don't wade into those waters anymore. People are just too willing to fucking try to put bring you down for any means necessary.

[Matt]

That's interesting. So one of. One of my friends did say space monkeys is when Brian and Q get sexy.

[Brian Johnson]

We have gotten sexy on it.

[Matt]

It's definitely like there was something to. Was a fair.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, it's. It's. It's not what it was like. Originally we were going to interview like drug addicts and prostitutes and stuff like that.

[Brian Quinn]

But yeah, it was going to be a travel. We were going to travel all over the place and have sponsors pay for it. We had big ideas.

[Matt]

Wow.

[Brian Johnson]

Big ideas. Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Materialized.

[Matt]

So is it scheduled or is it just like. If you're just like busy that day and they record, then.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Matt]

Do you have a show you do by yourself when?

[Brian Quinn]

No, on Patreon. Patreon.

[Walt Flanagan]

Patreon. A couple years.

[Brian Quinn]

Like the driving show. Like you steer that.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Not. No pun intended.

[Gideon]

Old timey radio album.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Is that generally the deal with Patreon? It's like you got like, tell them Steve Dave is what's in front of the paywall and then behind the paywall. Yeah, all of the other stuff.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah. With some other people in the universe, you know, other. I don't call them characters, but other people who make up our family. You know, since Q is so busy, we rope in any number of different guests who. Who have appeared on this on the regular show and give them more opportunity to shine.

[Jonna]

Okay. The stuff you don't want John Q. Public to see.

[Walt Flanagan]

No, no.

[Brian Quinn]

I think he's even More definitely cleaner

[Brian Johnson]

than, like, they'll review, like, shows from the 60s. Yeah. It's all. It's like. It is just that place where it's. That's where, like, the. Tell the. The. The TSD town residents get to shine a little bit more.

[Gideon]

So you take an old. An old issue of TV Guide, just go through it.

[Brian Quinn]

On the surface, it doesn't sound good.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Gideon]

A JCPenney catalog from 1962.

[Brian Johnson]

They'll just go through and discuss it. It's awesome.

[Jonna]

I'm unbelievably turned off for becoming a Patreon member.

[Brian Johnson]

You see that T right there, blocking T S, D and D? That's like, we'll play. Tell him we'll play. We'll play Dungeons and Dragons. We'll come up with a character.

[Walt Flanagan]

That show got canceled. Q.

[Brian Johnson]

Did it really?

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

What happened?

[Brian Johnson]

I killed it.

[Walt Flanagan]

Well, we couldn't live up to your absence once you appeared on it. Everybody was like, well, now it sucks with that Q on it.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah. Because he was so psyched. You want to do it every time. Complain about.

[Matt]

So they wanted you off the main show, but they couldn't have that show without you.

[Brian Johnson]

You. Yeah, I really had fun on that one. Like, I came alive. I was. I was. I had a. An elf that I made when I played with my cousins in junior high school, and, you know, when I was really young, and I had an elf named Fister Mesh. That was my character back then when I was pre. Teen. Teen.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. I'm your boy. And I brought Fister Mesh back for. To play that. And I was so excited to take my friend out of the. Out of the case after decades and decades that it really shown. Shone through, and I took it seriously, and people liked it, but I just found out it was canceled. I was

[Brian Quinn]

maybe. A very special episode.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yes. The return of Fister Mesh.

[Brian Johnson]

Fister Mesh, Yes. I don't know where that came from. So, yeah, Patreon is where you get a lot of the. Like, Bride Tries is an awesome one where it's like, Bright Tries. Different hobbies. Stamp collecting.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah. Stamp collector. Last week, we did balloon animals.

[Jonna]

Okay. Has anything taken permanently? You know, you've tried a bunch of hobbies. Has one?

[Brian Quinn]

Not yet, no. Okay. I'm very hard to. To capture my interest.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Quinn]

You know, so with any. One thing for any amount of time, Walt has likened me to a frog hopping around on lily pads. You know, but in fact, there was one where we were gonna check out serial killer stuff, and Walt's like, no, because then you'll have a hobby. The show will end. So we didn't do that.

[Jonna]

Good. Okay.

[Brian Quinn]

I'm about to do beekeeping.

[Matt]

Is that Overkill? Oh, sorry, no.

[Brian Quinn]

Overkill is. Is the supernatural paranormal show that we do once in a while. Every once in a while. There was a. There was a time when we did. I think it was 16 episodes. We did 16 episodes with Microsoft because Microsoft was paying people to do podcasts.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

So they gave us a bunch of money and they're like, just come up with a podcast for 16 episodes. And I think it was. I think it was you, Walt, that wanted to do the supernatural thing.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

So we did. Yeah. Overkill for 16 episodes. And then from there on, we do it every once in a while. Every once in a great while, I should say.

[Gideon]

That was where my first episode was, Wasn't it overkill, like, 09 or something?

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

And that was funny because that was early into the podcast, and we were like, what do we call this new show? And we're like, I forget who said it was like, well, people are going to get sick of us. It's going to be overkill.

[Brian Quinn]

I know who said it.

[Brian Johnson]

And it stuck. And that was probably 14 years ago that you said that. And we're still overkilling it. Yeah. So when an overkill comes, we're supposed to come in with, like, a supernatural topic and discuss.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

That's where we found. Father Lance was on an overkill. Right. We were talking about exorcism and stuff like that.

[Walt Flanagan]

I can't recall if he. He definitely emailed in regarding something supernatural.

[Brian Johnson]

Right.

[Walt Flanagan]

And when I. When I. Of course, my. My Joe hit the floor when he said that. He was a, you know, a real hard carrying exercise. Yeah. That's very rare, you know, that you can pull in a man of the cloth and talk about.

[Brian Quinn]

And he's not all stodgy and shit. He's a cool guy.

[Brian Johnson]

No, he's a great guy.

[Gideon]

So Father Lance came in about the Prussian kissing devil skull.

[Walt Flanagan]

That's right. Yes.

[Gideon]

Episode 325.

[Brian Johnson]

Okay.

[Matt]

Our friend Josh said specifically, who is much more helpful in prepping for this, and honestly, much better salesman of the show. But he said, ask about the kissing skull.

[Brian Quinn]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

So that. It's actually here.

[Brian Quinn]

It's.

[Brian Johnson]

It's in the lobby out there, but that's it up there. So that was found. I found that in a market. It's a real human skull. And I brought it in. It's got, like, this copper face bottom, and it's this real carved human skull. And when we got it, we got a. We got a letter. An anonymous letter. We never know anonymous, who detailed the history of the skull. And it was this. It was like this skull has been missing for a long time. This was the Prussian kissing devil skull. And it was this cursed skull that we have. So the idea was to profit off of it. Yeah. So the idea is if you give the skull $5. What is it? $5? I think it's $5 if you don't. What was it? Get him. What was it?

[Gideon]

Well, you got to give it $5 and it will grant a wish.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, it'll grant a wish, but there's a way it could backfire on you somehow. I don't remember.

[Jonna]

Is that how you got the TV show?

[Brian Johnson]

That's how we got the TV show, yeah. Thinking of taking that $5 out now. It's never gonna end. The. Yeah, so that's it. He's out there. He's in a fish tank out there with five. And ants will come in and put five dollars.

[Gideon]

Grumpy's in the fish tank.

[Brian Johnson]

What's up?

[Gideon]

Crumpy's in the fish tank.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. Yeah, we'll get to Crumpy. Let's not confuse.

[Matt]

Let's get several entities in it.

[Brian Johnson]

Then I discovered this. This night fair where they sell all these cursed and haunted objects, and occasionally I'll buy something and bring it in. But the real one was. Was. Was a Prussian kissing devil skull. So that's out there. And people. Oh, that was it. People were accusing of us trying to make money off it. And we said we would donate the money, which we've yet to do, but we also haven't ever filled the tank, so we haven't had to. The money's just sitting there, but. Yeah, that's out there. That's a big part of the.

[Matt]

That's crazy. So somebody sent you an anonymous letter. You still don't. Just confirming that that was for real thing. That's like straight up, like Cthulhu stuff.

[Brian Johnson]

Yes. Yeah. And it had, like, dates, and it has the name of the guy who. Skull it is and stuff like that. It was like a pretty intense lore.

[Jonna]

That's. You're okay with this, Walt, just having this around?

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

There's five bucks in the. The.

[Matt]

Is it Father Lance or. What was the priest's name?

[Walt Flanagan]

Father Lance.

[Matt]

Father Lance. Has he weighed in on the.

[Walt Flanagan]

He's called into question a lot of the authenticity of. Of the letter and the skull.

[Matt]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

It's a real. It's a real skull.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah, but yeah. Father Lance is not ready to deem it a true supernatural artifact.

[Gideon]

He says he believed it was a Tibetan Kapala skull.

[Matt]

What? Yeah.

[Jonna]

Have you all put in $5 and put a wish in? Yeah. Yeah. And have the wishes come true?

[Gideon]

I'm still here.

[Matt]

Yeah. You wished a cigarette.

[Brian Johnson]

Around that time Brian met Mary Beth. He wished for love. He got it.

[Jonna]

And the monkey's paw twist was that you became part of Q's life. I guess.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, that was. That was the curse. But, you know, wow. Walt. You know, Walt never had a son and he put $5 in and get him. Is now basically his son. So in a way, this. The kissing skull. Oh, man.

[Jonna]

I'm putting money in.

[Matt]

I was, but now I don't know if I'm going.

[Jonna]

No, I'm gonna put in for both of us. I'll take yours as well.

[Matt]

God.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, it's pretty cool. The Prussian kissing devil skull.

[Matt]

That's so cool.

[Brian Johnson]

It's a great story too. Like, it's a cool. It's a cool legend.

[Matt]

I like. I'm not religious, but I. I went to CCD enough to be, like, freaked out about that.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, but it's not.

[Gideon]

Crumpy's evil.

[Brian Johnson]

Crumpy's evil. But again, okay, but there's.

[Jonna]

So there is an evil thing here.

[Gideon]

Yeah, it's not evil.

[Brian Quinn]

You felt it when you walked in, right?

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. So cold.

[Jonna]

Felt a blast of cold air.

[Gideon]

That's what it was.

[Jonna]

Yeah.

[Matt]

I'm definitely. I'm definitely starting with your overkill episodes. This is definitely like, my shit. Although both my friends and like, like everything we saw, it was. The episode was Hay day.

[Jonna]

Making Hay.

[Matt]

Making hay. Making hay.

[Brian Quinn]

Told to ask about the first one. There's three of them.

[Brian Johnson]

It's a Making Hay trilogy.

[Matt]

They said, just ask about Making Hay. Which I know takes places at a flea market, which I also have a soft spot for. Flea market.

[Brian Quinn]

That was. That was our first outing, right?

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, that was our first.

[Brian Johnson]

Isn't that where we met G for the first time?

[Walt Flanagan]

So the first time. That's where he met Ginham. Ginham used to be a frequent.

[Brian Quinn]

You could just stop it. Freak.

[Walt Flanagan]

He would get up before sun up and make his way.

[Gideon]

Sometimes I wouldn't even go to sleep.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yes, he would stay awake so he could get to the Collingwood flea market early. And I've always been fascinated by flea markets. It's one of those things that I just don't know. I just marvel at the commitment and the optimism of people selling some of the things that you see on that

[Brian Quinn]

table versus the return.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah, it's really like, it can just make you go, why? How can they do this at weekend after weekend selling faded out Matchbox cars?

[Brian Quinn]

Some people like one table, you're like, this is some awesome shit. Like, I would buy this. And then the next table is like, where the fuck did you get this from? And why did you bring it here?

[Gideon]

And some of them people, they go to Collingwood on Friday and they bought it at Columbus flea market on Thursday. And then from there they'll go to Englishtown market on Saturday. Wow.

[Jonna]

Just for the love of the flip,

[Gideon]

putting it on the table, some of them will. They'll sell up until the sun comes up and then disappear. Because when the sun comes up, when the guy comes out and starts collecting money, and so they'll just sell stuff and then just disappear before they have to pay for the table.

[Matt]

What were you waking up early to? Were you hunting for something?

[Gideon]

Oh, yeah, Zippo lighters, old razors.

[Matt]

Oh, really?

[Walt Flanagan]

Razors?

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, old razors.

[Gideon]

Yeah, like double edge razors. Massive collection I found.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah. I marvel at those people. And inspired by those people, though, because it's like they just do it and they keep coming weekend after weekend, putting out stuff that there's little hope of selling, packing it all up, going home and then coming back and doing it again. To me, that's.

[Brian Quinn]

I would say, I also marvel at them. I'm not inspired by them.

[Brian Johnson]

Inspired him not to be there.

[Brian Quinn]

Oh, my God.

[Walt Flanagan]

There's a certain level of discipline. And there it is.

[Brian Quinn]

There's his collection.

[Walt Flanagan]

Determination and just not willing to accept that, like, this might be garbage and it might be better to throw it away, but they just won't do it.

[Gideon]

I met a guy there once, he had a Zippo lighter. I wanted to it he. I wanted to pay 8 for it. He said, no, 10. And for five years, I saw that same lighter in the same display case at two different flea markets. And this guy was driving around and he would not go below $10.

[Matt]

Did you ever buy it?

[Gideon]

No, because he wouldn't go below $10.

[Matt]

And I understand you came into $2,000 at one point.

[Gideon]

Yeah, but I had a certain. There was a certain limit I would pay for individual.

[Matt]

It was. Yeah, pride. Yeah, I got you. Yeah.

[Gideon]

But this. But this guy's driving this thing around for. For hundreds, if not thousands of miles, this lighter, and he won't come down from $10. And he's probably spent that in gas driving it around.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. So these are the sort of conversations that you've been missing all these years, buddy. Yeah. So we went there and we interviewed some of the people that worked there. That's where we discovered Frank 2, the Dachau survivor. He was selling it.

[Matt]

And what was he selling?

[Brian Johnson]

Frank 1.

[Brian Quinn]

Frank. I can't remember. What was Frank 2 selling?

[Walt Flanagan]

He was selling like. Like when you. When a house. When someone dies in a house.

[Matt]

Like estate sale.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Walt Flanagan]

He would buy like boxes of stuff like that. Like you know, a box full of aspirin. But the aspirins are open and maybe there's gauzes in there. But the box may be sealed, it may not be sealed. It's just stuff that was ever in someone's bathroom. They pull it into a tote and they bring it to the English town or Collingswood flea market and try to sell it for two or dollars or a dollar or whatever.

[Brian Quinn]

Non sterile gauze here.

[Brian Johnson]

So that was Megan.

[Gideon]

Hey.

[Brian Johnson]

And it was a. It was a huge. I mean it was like a five hour episode, right?

[Gideon]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

It was long.

[Brian Johnson]

We did video, we shot pictures. And then years later we did make it in. Hey 2 where we went back to the flea market kind of after the rise. Like the.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah. The attitudes were a lot different.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Walt Flanagan]

From us and from the vendor. Like the first time we went there, we were bushy tailed and bright eyed. And then we went back and I guess some of the vendors had listened to the episode and weren't that happy

[Brian Johnson]

with the way that they were depicted. They were depicted.

[Walt Flanagan]

And plus not all of them. Not all of them. And you know, that, you know, Q was a lot busier. So if. And Bride was on drugs, so he didn't want to be there. So it was like kind of an. It was like an ugly episode. Like it was like the opposite of what the first one was. But then we brought it all back together. Making Hay three, we went back years later and it was like a triumphant return. Different vendors who are long gone or dead.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Walt Flanagan]

And so it was a different vibe. And you know, we were happy to be there at that point and it was. Yeah. So we were determined not to sully it.

[Brian Johnson]

Right.

[Walt Flanagan]

But only three. Three part trilogy.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

Squeeze all we can from the Making Hay trilogy.

[Walt Flanagan]

But it's interesting that like if you listen to 1 and then 2 and then 3, because it is a totally different vibe. It's much darker and like we're just.

[Brian Quinn]

I'm really nasty to Tina.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah. Really nasty to somebody.

[Brian Johnson]

Tina X was a woman that was in all of. All of them. She was there over the 10 years that we made this trilogy. And she was, she was good, she was sweet. The last time we saw her she was half time.

[Brian Quinn]

The second time she didn't give me the same. She give us the same reception. So I was really nasty to her. But then we won her back.

[Brian Johnson]

Oh we. That sounds on three. She was right in there.

[Brian Quinn]

She was right in there.

[Brian Johnson]

It was nice to get an update on her life and her mom and stuff like that. So those were kind of early cornerstone episodes that, that kind of, you know, because when we started podcasting, like nobody knew what a podcast was. I would, I remember telling Sal being. I'd be like, it's. He'd be like, but who's listening? And I'd be like, sal, it's a radio show on the Internet. And that was the best way I could put it because nobody. And they'd be like, what is the pod part coming? Like that's how on. So it was like, it was a. It was an early. Now I wager that people do making hey esque things all the, all the time now. But back when we first started doing this, it really was a unique thing that differentiated Tell them Steve Dave from other podcasts and like in that we just did stupid like that, you know. And even now like, you know, reading a TV guide from the 70s, you know, it's something too.

[Brian Quinn]

It.

[Jonna]

I. Oh, that's a real thing you do. Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

That's not a joke.

[Matt]

I thought how many years in are we.

[Walt Flanagan]

I mean like there's like the life stories are gone. So you look around, you're like, you know what, let's talk about 1970s television.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, like you'll find this out eventually, but your average 58 year old man doesn't do that much during the week. There's nothing to talk about.

[Walt Flanagan]

But we could talk about. Welcome back, Conor.

[Brian Quinn]

Oh yeah. Every episode.

[Brian Johnson]

Like it's Shakespeare.

[Jonna]

No, you guys are really. Honestly, you're very interesting. I'm like trying to figure out of the four of you who is the weirdest person at this table. You all keep one up.

[Brian Quinn]

I don't know.

[Jonna]

I don't know.

[Brian Johnson]

Between me and G. Yeah, I think, yeah, maybe.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, you have a lot of quirks, bro.

[Jonna]

I mean, but then you're fighting.

[Walt Flanagan]

What are my quirks though?

[Brian Quinn]

Super smeller.

[Walt Flanagan]

I don't know if that's just.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, that's just the way you treat.

[Brian Johnson]

He claims he has a super smeller nose and then he can smell anything because Brian brought a sandwich into the car once and it almost derailed. Their friendship.

[Gideon]

I brought pulled pork in, but I

[Walt Flanagan]

don't know if that's a personality trait, though, like being. My senses are just more enhanced than yours are. It's not my fault that it might. I have a superior sense of smell.

[Brian Quinn]

It isn't your fault. You're right. So I'll remove that one.

[Matt]

It's not that you have a superpower, it's what you do with it.

[Brian Johnson]

We were the first podcast to ever do an episode on vinyl record.

[Matt]

Oh, really?

[Brian Johnson]

Other people are trying to make that claim now, but they can't. We did it first.

[Matt]

What'd you put on vinyl? Or did you know you were doing the vinyl?

[Brian Johnson]

We did. We did a vinyl cast episode. We did one and two. We have a plan for three. But most things that sit in my corner to get things done. Yeah, there's a long time. I cook for a long time. So that's. That's the vinyl first. Vinyl cast. Walt did this amazing image of it that was like all these inside jokes from. Tell him, Steve Dave. And it's just. It's just gorgeous. And Giddum's on the COVID And you won't recognize him because this was. Get him when we first met him, when he was about half the size of the gidem we have now.

[Walt Flanagan]

And no beard.

[Brian Johnson]

And no beard. Yeah.

[Jonna]

But luckily you kept your teeth the same, so. So, yeah, I can tell that it's you.

[Brian Quinn]

And the shooting up is more something I would do than he would do.

[Brian Johnson]

He's injecting the podcast. Into his veins.

[Brian Quinn]

Flutter. Flutter is a guy. Sunday Jeff. Are you aware of Sunday?

[Matt]

I've heard of Sunday, yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Sunday Jeff is a guy who used to go to the. Well, still. I mean, he used to go to the comic book store when it originally opened, and that's where we first met him. And then he started working at the store, and then, you know, he became a regular part of the show. And he's like the most straight. If you think Walt straight laced. Holy.

[Matt]

He eats two things only.

[Brian Quinn]

He might only eat two things.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, but that's all, like, inside jokes and like, kind of like. That's Ming Chen getting crucified. I forgot about that.

[Gideon]

With high heels.

[Brian Johnson]

With high heels on.

[Brian Quinn]

Foam face is something that we. That was created. So I. Q. Created it because we couldn't say retard anymore. So he brought. He said, we're going to call people foam faces.

[Brian Johnson]

No, that's. That's not correct. My point was that anything could be. Anything could be offensive if you're. If you're a bitch. I said. And I made up. I said I could call someone a foam face.

[Jonna]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

I was like, it means nothing.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

And then everybody just took it to mean that it meant retarded. It just meant, like, anything. So we were like, look at this foam face over there. And eventually someone got offended by it. The truth came around. And then we did vinyl cast two years later. That was my 40th birthday, which is 10 years ago now. That was a roast that was way better than the first final cast. It's like. It's like it has a bunch of ants on it. And tell him to see downtown regulars on. And we just ripped into each other. It was. It was great.

[Brian Quinn]

It was fun.

[Brian Johnson]

That was really cool. That was a really good one.

[Jonna]

So that'd be one to check out if we want to.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, that's a good one. That's a good one. And we have an idea for three, which is final history is just funerals or wakes.

[Brian Quinn]

Funerals.

[Brian Johnson]

Eulogies, where we read eulogies for each other as if we had died. It's just another way to do a roast.

[Matt]

But.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, but we're.

[Walt Flanagan]

I think it's a horrible idea.

[Brian Johnson]

Why?

[Brian Quinn]

You don't like it now?

[Gideon]

You sound like Simi.

[Brian Quinn]

We're too close.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah. Because people are actually leaving our town now. You know, we've lost some members, so I feel like this is so, so dicey to start.

[Brian Quinn]

Who's next?

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah, it's just. It's just not a good idea. It's just like poking a tiger.

[Matt]

Definitely don't give the skull$5 and ask for the eulogy episode to go well.

[Walt Flanagan]

No.

[Jonna]

Really?

[Gideon]

Well.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. Okay. What else we got? What. What other car?

[Brian Quinn]

Well, I mean, even something like. Like on that vest, if you look. Can you go back?

[Matt]

Those cuts were cool. Which, like, I honestly like showing up completely. I. I thought, like, oh, there's, like, some overlap. These guys are in, like, an actual motorcycle.

[Brian Quinn]

No, but, like, if you look at, like, the overkill sign beneath it is cash poor. That's something that Q used to complain about when he was still rich.

[Brian Johnson]

Rich.

[Brian Quinn]

But he was like, I'm rich in a house, but I'm cash poor. Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

I don't have a ton of money.

[Brian Quinn]

You complain about it. Yeah. And so that's where that came from.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Cash poor. It's all invested in robots.

[Brian Quinn]

The rocker on the far hand right side says funerals. That was a game show that what Billy Eichner stole from us. Right. Where you pretend people were dead and then reveal them.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. We tell People. It was Walt's idea. Right. Like funerals, where it's like, you go up to people and, like, let's say you're a fan of. Of whatever. Who you're a fan of.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

That's still alive.

[Walt Flanagan]

I'd be like, you know, Brian Johnson, recon man, just passed away. You hear the news? Yeah, I'm doing a news coverage here. What's your thoughts on, you know, what you remember about Brian? And if he does. If he says, I don't remember, says something nasty, then he would pop around the corner.

[Brian Quinn]

Totally. Yeah. Siby was there when you were pitching it. Right. And then it was.

[Brian Johnson]

Pitch it the same.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah. You know, Simi. Right. I'm sure. I'm sure.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

He. He came into the show one time.

[Brian Johnson]

He was on the show a few times, and.

[Brian Quinn]

And what? We were talking about it, and then suddenly, Billy Eichner has a show where he's revealing people like Seth Rogan.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Q has to remain.

[Brian Johnson]

I don't have to remain neutral at all. That company doesn't even exist anymore.

[Brian Quinn]

Q's bruise was a.

[Brian Johnson]

Was beer company.

[Brian Quinn]

The rest called the beer company company.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

We talked about it on the air before I actually opened and then closed the company. And these guys proposed logos for the company, like, Hugh Spruce for whites only. Like, stuff like that, you know? And I was like, no, not gonna work.

[Matt]

Foam heads only.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, yeah. Stuff like that. Yeah.

[Matt]

Is there, like a. There's not a boy Scout aspect to these vests, is it? Just whatever patches people pick up or they have to have.

[Brian Johnson]

Those are all. Those are all references to the show in some way.

[Brian Quinn]

Not a bad idea, though. Like a merit badge. You have to earn it.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

You have to go do something special, and then we send you the patch.

[Matt]

There wasn't a queue.

[Gideon]

Write that down for Patreon.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah. Like going on a cruise. Mary Beth has made patches for the cruise every year.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Oh, yeah.

[Jonna]

I did notice that at Q West, a lot of the attendees were giving away stickers and magnets and bracelets. Like, it feels like that's a big part of the culture.

[Matt]

We have Darren Patch of. Or, like. Yeah. They just, like, handed me, like. It was like Mardi Gras, I guess.

[Brian Johnson]

Like a patch

[Jonna]

started.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah.

[Matt]

That's why I, like, texted my friends. It was like, what am I looking at here? They were just jealous. They didn't give me any information.

[Jonna]

Speaking of cash poor, my friend Jesse, who's a listener, said that Q likes to talk about his taxes. So I wanted to give you an opportunity today.

[Brian Johnson]

I used to. I stopped because I caught so much shit. This is pre pandemic, the tax. That's how long ago. Okay. But you know, it's just talking about how high taxes are in New York.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

And. Oh, it's a bit now. It's. Now you can win the fucking being a mayor with it. But when I did was a problem where I was. Like I said the thing that pissed people off when I said, like, the government takes half of what I make. Full half of what I make. I said, if we lived in a zombie apocalypse and there was a warlord on Staten island and. And he came and said, half the crops you. You grow belong to me or I'll. Or I'll kill you. He would be the bad guy. He would be the bad guy. That's a bad guy. And like, for the government to come and say like, half of what you make comes to me or I'm putting you in jail. And then I just got such blow up in my face about it.

[Brian Quinn]

You're not wrong.

[Brian Johnson]

I'm not wrong. But like many things on this show, you can only say, say certain things before you get to what you. So I stopped complaining about taxes.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Quinn]

Started complaining about the weather.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, a lot about the weather. But.

[Matt]

They come after you about that yet?

[Brian Johnson]

No, not yet. It was weird because it just seemed like people enjoyed paying taxes. Like suddenly, suddenly people are like calling me greedy for wanting to keep more of the money that I earned. Like the money that I made through my blood, sweat and tears. I was greedy for wanting to hold on to Matt.

[Jonna]

Think about the interstates, Q. Think about paving the.

[Brian Johnson]

I know there's all sorts of people that need to get free.

[Matt]

Is it just a coincidence Space monkey's time?

[Walt Flanagan]

I got an old TV guy I can break out right now, Wednesday night in 1977.

[Brian Johnson]

So I stopped talking about taxes quite a while ago because apparently people like paying taxes. They got no problem.

[Jonna]

Okay, hot button issue. I understand.

[Brian Johnson]

What about the fire department that was faithful to my taxes. That was, that was a big one. People would say to me and I'd be like, yeah. And I. So your house doesn't burn down? Well, you got a paycheck for taxes. Yeah, and I had to run into burning buildings to get it. Like, it was like, I know where

[Brian Quinn]

the clips for this week are coming.

[Brian Johnson]

I. This is a subset of people that listen to the show that are just unbearable. Not fun, bearable.

[Brian Quinn]

No.

[Brian Johnson]

Anyway, go ahead. Next question before I get myself in further.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, and you got a heart out in 12 minutes. Okay.

[Jonna]

I did notice. I really, I loved your little. Not little comment, but the comment about the optimism of flea markets. I actually, I've been thinking about. That's kind of a beautiful thing to say. Do we, do we expect more of that from you if we listen to the show? Do you have nuggets of wisdom to share generally every week?

[Walt Flanagan]

I would think so. I would think. I think those two are the. Are easily the more cynical and dour and are prone to go towards, I would say the,

[Brian Johnson]

I don't want to

[Walt Flanagan]

say negative side, but they're a bit more prone to complain about this, about things. And I feel like I'm. I could complain too, but I don't think that I do it as much as they kind of like feed off that kind of negative energy and that fuels each other and that they're kind of like a parasitic kind of relationship.

[Brian Quinn]

As recently as a couple weeks ago, we had a friend pass away that was a part of the show.

[Jonna]

I'm sorry.

[Brian Quinn]

And yeah, he was a great guy.

[Brian Johnson]

Great, great guy.

[Brian Quinn]

And one of the other guys got a tatt and memoriam and.

[Walt Flanagan]

Exactly it.

[Brian Johnson]

That.

[Walt Flanagan]

That's it. Yes. That is a perfect example of, of how bizarre and negative reaction could be to this.

[Brian Quinn]

So this guy that got the tattoo said the reason that he got it was because he didn't take time to get to know this dude. And it was sort of a reminder, like take time to get to know people because you know you might end up liking them. And me and Q were like, why the would you want to get to know most people? Most people are.

[Brian Johnson]

You don't have to say gay because

[Brian Quinn]

most people are idiots and assholes.

[Brian Johnson]

Phone faces.

[Brian Quinn]

And Walt immediately was like, you see, here's what I'm talking about.

[Jonna]

Okay,

[Brian Quinn]

what else you got, Matt, what

[Matt]

else do we have you mentioned, Sunday Jeff? I understand Dallas. Shave is.

[Brian Johnson]

I just told the guy who's coming to my house, the electrician, I'll be like, I probably won't be there till around six. I was like, we're rolling.

[Matt]

Had a guy at the question about dollar Shave. Yes, it's gonna take some.

[Brian Johnson]

Get a pull up picture of dollar Shave. Walt briefly became kind of obsessed isn't the right word, but let's just use it. Obsessed with 70s exploitation.

[Brian Quinn]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Walt Flanagan]

Well, Dollar Shave is a company that did ads for us.

[Gideon]

We go.

[Walt Flanagan]

They were called dollar Shave. And to me that sounded like a blaxploitation character. Dollar Shave. So I took the guy. My friend of mine called Jeff. Sunday Jeff. And I turned him into a honky version of a blaxploitation character called dollar

[Brian Quinn]

Shave, the palest funky brother you ever met.

[Walt Flanagan]

And this is before the world changed, though.

[Gideon]

Okay.

[Jonna]

Before the P. The great P. The

[Walt Flanagan]

great p of year 2019, I think.

[Matt]

Vaccinated. And now you can't say these trop.

[Walt Flanagan]

And so he hasn't really shown his face quite often, like, a lot since then here or there. But for the most part, he deals

[Brian Johnson]

in tropes a little bit. A little bit.

[Matt]

The magic. The gathering card.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah. But that was just to create a fun commercial that the company all didn't really appreciate all that much as, like, he would wear Hawkins razors with a white blaxploitation character. They didn't appreciate that.

[Brian Johnson]

Just read that. They were like, just. You could just read what we tell you.

[Walt Flanagan]

I had to change the name so that, like, to keep the characters from dollar to dollar with a H. All right.

[Brian Quinn]

We don't like it.

[Brian Johnson]

Which made it seem worse. But we didn't have a choice.

[Jonna]

So they fixed it so I could

[Walt Flanagan]

keep the character, use it. So the dollar Shave Razor company couldn't say they owned him. I changed the name.

[Jonna]

That's like when my high school, we were the North Hills Indians with an Indian mascot. And to fix it, because that wasn't okay. They kept the mascot logo, but they became North Hills Big Red. So that fixed it. Everything's good now.

[Matt]

That guy's name is Big Red.

[Brian Quinn]

You're that young that. That was coming out when you were in school.

[Jonna]

It happened after I was in school.

[Brian Quinn]

Oh, after.

[Jonna]

Yeah, it happened years after.

[Matt]

My high school is also the Indians and went through that. There's like, a thing, I think, because, like, the Redskins were getting some crap.

[Jonna]

Yeah. I think it was around that time. They're like, we're going to fix it countrywide.

[Brian Quinn]

Meanwhile, every Indian in the country is like, we like it. What are you gonna do?

[Brian Johnson]

So this is a dollar Shave anime. We have cartoons. Like, we have listeners who make, like, cartoons and just send them in and stuff like that.

[Brian Quinn]

Not this one, though.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Jonna]

And it's a cartoon porno is what I'm watching.

[Brian Quinn]

You would think so.

[Brian Johnson]

Okay, that's Ming Chen. There's Dollar Shave.

[Matt]

Right on.

[Brian Johnson]

So he's probably. He falls under the Sunday Jeff.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah. But he's kind of like Pepe Le Pew has kind of been walked back a little. Yeah. You don't see him a lot in the Warner Brothers.

[Jonna]

Has he been walked back? Really?

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah, he was. He took advantage. Was always about trying to kiss that

[Jonna]

cat girl felines, I guess, under false pretenses. Right.

[Walt Flanagan]

Always running up to them and kissing their arm against. Against their wishes. And Speedy Gonzalez is back, though.

[Brian Johnson]

Warner Brothers is making a Speedy Gonzalez movie.

[Walt Flanagan]

Okay, that means there's hope for Dollar Shave.

[Jonna]

Then there is even more hope for Pepe.

[Gideon]

I mean, what about Slowpoke Rodriguez?

[Brian Johnson]

I hope he's in it.

[Gideon]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, I would hope he's in it, but it's a. Fluffy is doing the voice of him.

[Gideon]

Oh, okay, Tommy. Okay.

[Brian Quinn]

Who the hell is Fluffy? I never heard of this person.

[Gideon]

Domino Domi. Damian Glacier. What's his name?

[Brian Quinn]

Julio Iglesias's son.

[Brian Johnson]

No, Gabriel.

[Brian Quinn]

Gabriel Iglesias. Oh, this guy.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Oh, okay.

[Brian Johnson]

He's doing the voice for Speedy Gonzalez also. One of the nicest guys in the industry.

[Matt]

Oh, right on.

[Brian Johnson]

Just a total sweetheart.

[Jonna]

I watched him on Last Comic Standing. I think he was.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, yeah. Any. Yeah, so. So that's. So Sunday Jeff is his own sub. Everything Sunday Jeff does is magic.

[Matt]

And.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah. I can't help it.

[Brian Johnson]

You can't have it. People love him. Everything he says.

[Gideon]

He. He lives in a state of childlike wonder.

[Brian Quinn]

Well, he kind of was voted, like, the most loved personality in TESD town.

[Brian Johnson]

Right.

[Brian Quinn]

He's the most beloved out of anybody.

[Walt Flanagan]

More so than any of the major hosts.

[Brian Quinn]

Oh, definitely.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

Oh, yeah.

[Matt]

The fans have made rankings.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. But it doesn't hurt our feelings because it's hard to disagree. Everything he does is kind of magic. That's him dressed on the top of the rock and roll. Right. That's Sunday Jeff.

[Matt]

Oh, right on.

[Brian Johnson]

And then here's him dressing the TESD adventures as, like, a peacock. I don't know if you can see.

[Gideon]

Riddled with syphilis.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Gideon]

He was his character.

[Brian Quinn]

His character.

[Gideon]

Sunday Silver Tongue.

[Matt]

Are we missing any other, like, characters in the stable that haven't come up yet? Like. Like, we've met Ming Chen.

[Brian Johnson]

Like, we know Ming Chen.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

I'm trying to think who else. I'm trying to think who we would have.

[Walt Flanagan]

Brian Michelle.

[Brian Quinn]

Oh, Nichelle. That's right.

[Gideon]

They do a show called Tales from Behind the Fake Counter where they rewatch comic book movies.

[Brian Johnson]

Men.

[Gideon]

And talk about the.

[Brian Johnson]

He was a producer of showrunner on Comic Book Man.

[Matt]

Right on.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Great guy.

[Brian Johnson]

Great guy. He shows up all the time. And Patreon, you see him fairly often.

[Brian Quinn]

And then we have guys like. We have a guy like Tom Milachowski. We're not really sure what his last name is, but he's like, he's. He's on screen but he's also. He does game shows and he writes stuff for the Sunday Jeff show and all new Sunday Jeff Show.

[Brian Johnson]

We do a Christmas episode every year. That's usually a charity thing. That's a big. That's a big deal. Yeah, Walt starts panicking about that right around now. Right around now is when he starts worrying about the Christmas episode.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Oh, wow. Okay.

[Jonna]

What, do you have a specific charity you go to?

[Brian Johnson]

No, it's usually the listeners.

[Walt Flanagan]

We usually do it for a family, not like, not a big organ. I don't want to say not to poo poo on a big organization, you know, but this way it feels like we're really impacting somebody, you know who. You could see it.

[Jonna]

Yeah.

[Walt Flanagan]

You know, and that's what we usually do every year.

[Gideon]

Well, we once raised $5,000 for orphans and they accepted the check and then nothing.

[Brian Quinn]

Most unappreciative orphans.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah, we actually went up to the letters.

[Jonna]

You went to the orphanage?

[Walt Flanagan]

We went to the orphanage, gave them a church at Santa Claus, and we never heard from them ever again. But they cashed a check though.

[Brian Quinn]

No, I read Oliver Twist. I thought all orphans were like. Yeah, super appreciative. Like even they take a beating. Thank you, sir. May I have another? Like that kind of thing.

[Brian Johnson]

Okay.

[Jonna]

Did you bring up Oliver Twist to the orphans? That might be a source up there?

[Gideon]

We weren't allowed to meet them.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Gideon]

So we were. We toured an empty facility and we were told the orphans were someplace else.

[Jonna]

Okay. So something off putting happened here.

[Walt Flanagan]

Orphanages in New Jersey too, in 2016. Whenever we did it, it was hard to find an orphanage still running. And then when we got up there, we could only meet 18 year old orphans.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Quinn]

We got beaten up.

[Jonna]

I think there's more to the story.

[Walt Flanagan]

Right. We can only meet the ones who are like right on the cusp of turning 18.

[Brian Quinn]

It seems like maybe out of the

[Matt]

orphanage, maybe you wanted. When you contacted them, the first thing they did was check the Reddit.

[Brian Quinn]

Don't ever go.

[Brian Johnson]

Don't go. I would not go on the Reddit if I were you. It only takes away from the show.

[Jonna]

I have a question. In most workplaces, when there are two Brian's, one person is like Brian J and the other person is Brian Q. But I see that you just got to be Brian and you had to take a different name.

[Brian Johnson]

Most people call me Q.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

All right. Yeah.

[Jonna]

Okay, so it wasn't a power play.

[Brian Johnson]

No.

[Brian Quinn]

Because like Q sounds better than BJ, right?

[Jonna]

Oh, yeah, yeah. And BJ's pretty fun, though. You could run with that.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah. As a child, it was great. I loved it.

[Walt Flanagan]

Sure. Well, what do you call Q on set?

[Jonna]

Q? Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

That's pretty universal. That started in the firehouse. Nobody really called me Q before that. Yeah.

[Walt Flanagan]

I thought we started from day one of tsd.

[Brian Johnson]

I was in the firehouse. I was in the fire department.

[Walt Flanagan]

I don't think I've ever called.

[Brian Quinn]

We used to call you bq. Like, when we worked at the office, it was bq.

[Brian Johnson]

BQ is a lot, right?

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah.

[Jonna]

He's BQ in our notes.

[Walt Flanagan]

I don't think I've ever. I don't think I've ever addressed you as Brian.

[Brian Johnson]

Nobody does ever. My mom doesn't even call me Brian. Nobody calls me Brian. I like it. I wish more people would. But why'd you get legally changed?

[Gideon]

The Q? Q?

[Brian Johnson]

What's. What would be the point?

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah. Like Madonna, Roseanne. Just like. Just go by Q. It's like that's on your license.

[Walt Flanagan]

And you don't think they get picked up by the. By the.

[Brian Johnson]

No, the news. No, I don't. I wouldn't want. I wouldn't want it anyway. Yeah.

[Jonna]

It feels like a midlife crisis thing if it gets picked up by the news. Changed his name. Just. He's just Q now.

[Walt Flanagan]

Prince did it. It was a big deal.

[Brian Quinn]

Go buy a symbol.

[Brian Johnson]

Sure. Yeah. I'm all right. It sounds like.

[Gideon]

Oh, yeah.

[Walt Flanagan]

If you say you're changing it to

[Brian Johnson]

a symbol and it's just a Q. Yeah. Right. I'll get Helen on it.

[Walt Flanagan]

You're going to have to. At the interview, asking. So what would you like to be called based upon this symbol?

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. Q. Yes.

[Brian Quinn]

What do you think?

[Brian Johnson]

What's matter with you? What are your phone face.

[Walt Flanagan]

Cnn.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Walt Flanagan]

Fox, tmz.

[Brian Johnson]

They'd all pick it up. None of them care.

[Walt Flanagan]

They wouldn't care. Okay.

[Brian Quinn]

Toasty Twitter, maybe pick it up.

[Brian Johnson]

I'll try it.

[Jonna]

Another question. If you ever have any celebrity guests, who's the biggest one you've ever had? And do you think you could get a beetle? Do you think you could get a living beetle on the show?

[Brian Quinn]

No, I don't think we could get. What's that? Fake Beetle. Beetle Mania. I don't think we could get one of them.

[Jonna]

Okay. Okay.

[Gideon]

Beatles fan.

[Jonna]

No, it's just the biggest name I could think of. Like the Beatles.

[Walt Flanagan]

You know, we have found, or I have found, that our listener base vehemently is opposed to us bringing on guests. Celebrities.

[Brian Quinn]

Good luck.

[Gideon]

I find they want guests, but then they're not happy with the guests.

[Brian Quinn]

Okay.

[Jonna]

I will not look at the Reddit.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. Stay away.

[Brian Quinn]

Are you familiar with Little House on the Prairie?

[Jonna]

Yeah. Huh.

[Brian Quinn]

So we had Nellie come on.

[Jonna]

Yeah. Which I thought Nelly.

[Brian Quinn]

Great. I thought she was awesome.

[Brian Johnson]

I read the Bitch of the Planes.

[Brian Quinn]

Yes, exactly. I read her book. I did all kinds of research. We had her on panned. Universally, people did not like. I loved it.

[Jonna]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

I thought it was great. People universally, like, disliked it.

[Gideon]

That Svengoolie.

[Walt Flanagan]

We landed the biggest name in. In Halloween that you can get for, like, to do a special Halloween podcast fangirl. Landed him twice.

[Jonna]

Wow.

[Walt Flanagan]

And the response was just, you know, they. They don't want guests.

[Gideon]

I don't know why.

[Jonna]

Tough to hear at the end of the year.

[Walt Flanagan]

Like, we have never tried. I would be interested in doing that, but it seems like the. The listener base is against it. They just want.

[Gideon]

Well, currently, they want either Brooke Shields or Danhausen right now.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah, they do.

[Brian Johnson]

Danhausen.

[Matt]

And this is adding up. Our friend Jesse was definitely like, if it. If it's clean there, it's not for you. It's for Brooke Shields.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. Because I was saying, like, I can't bring guests in here. Like, I can't bring Brooke Shields in here.

[Matt]

You gotta tidy up.

[Brian Johnson]

You gotta tidy up. Get him. Did not want to tidy up. He's got hoarding issues. His brain doesn't work like it should.

[Walt Flanagan]

He's actually a certifiable genius, though.

[Brian Quinn]

Wow.

[Walt Flanagan]

You didn't tell.

[Jonna]

You didn't tell me that.

[Matt]

And when we were a member of Mensa, you.

[Brian Johnson]

No, he could be, though.

[Walt Flanagan]

He could run the place.

[Jonna]

So do you assess people when you see them? Just instantly are you like. You're kind of like, did you read my iq? Like, people can read auras?

[Gideon]

No, no, no, no, no, no. I'd like to give everybody a chance.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Gideon]

Let them stick your foot in their mouth.

[Brian Quinn]

Stephen Hawking over.

[Brian Johnson]

Well. Well, you.

[Walt Flanagan]

You didn't tell them your IQ number.

[Gideon]

It's. It's 148.

[Jonna]

Okay. I don't know. What if that's big?

[Walt Flanagan]

That's. That's like Einstein.

[Matt]

Whoa.

[Gideon]

Not verified.

[Walt Flanagan]

Einstein looks down on him, but not many others. Look, you know, everybody else is looking up. I get him, though.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Gideon]

Wow.

[Brian Johnson]

He's an unverified number. But we did go look at his files from when he was a child.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

And some teen psychiatrist or whatever wrote that he had a very high iq.

[Jonna]

So is that what you're basing this on? On it?

[Brian Quinn]

Actually, no. It was measured on those papers at 144.

[Gideon]

Yeah, 140.

[Brian Quinn]

144. And then you did it again. You said.

[Gideon]

Yeah.

[Jonna]

Is it hard to just walk amongst,

[Matt]

you know, the plebs?

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah.

[Jonna]

Mortals like us.

[Gideon]

No.

[Jonna]

No. Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

I mean, it's hard for them.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

It's easy.

[Gideon]

Forget them stuff to explain yourself, you know, it's. It's like, you know, explaining something to a bird. It's.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah.

[Gideon]

You have to be understanding.

[Walt Flanagan]

We're all parakeets.

[Brian Quinn]

I admire your plumage.

[Matt]

Have the three of you, like, noticed, like, the. Like. Does he do anything where you're like, oh, that's the IQ revealing itself?

[Brian Johnson]

No, not in my estimation.

[Brian Quinn]

He's handy. He's really handy. He can figure out how to do stuff.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

We did a $6 million man. We did an episode where we recreated the Bigfoot episode. And in the episode, his arm gets torn off and all these sparks come in.

[Jonna]

Out.

[Brian Quinn]

So I played Bigfoot and G somehow rigged it up. I'm not sure exactly how, but it looked great.

[Gideon]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, it looked amazing.

[Matt]

Just like a catch all kind of. If a problem comes up, go, go to get him. You gotta. Right on.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Walt Flanagan]

I mean, it's not penicillin. It was. But it was a Roman candle.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Matt]

He stuck a Roman candle in a hoodie and like.

[Gideon]

No, it was a. I developed a plate with a sparking device in it,

[Brian Quinn]

so I didn't catch on fire.

[Brian Johnson]

Okay.

[Jonna]

Not every invention can be penicillin. We need bread, too. That was a great one.

[Brian Johnson]

It wasn't bread either.

[Gideon]

Some Velcro strips so that the arm could be ripped off, like. Yes.

[Matt]

Right on.

[Brian Quinn]

Wow.

[Walt Flanagan]

And tell them about the. The rubber band on the. On the hangers at the Stash.

[Gideon]

So we have. Well, when I worked at the Stash, we had these displays that, like the. They're a bar with, like, little balls on it. And you hang hangers and shirts on them Off.

[Matt]

Yeah, yeah.

[Gideon]

And the problem is, is that when you go for a back one and pull it forward, it knocks the other ones off. So I just took a rubber band, strung it between the balls, and now you could pull a shirt off and not knock the other shirts off.

[Brian Johnson]

So they get love shields.

[Brian Quinn]

Wow.

[Jonna]

Okay. That's what it looks like.

[Brian Quinn]

That's what it reveals.

[Gideon]

The French cleat that holds the poker table up on the wall.

[Brian Johnson]

Yep. That's our original recording table from the. From the secret stash he came up with the cleaton.

[Walt Flanagan]

He called it a French cleat.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Jonna]

Okay. But you came up with A hook. Basically, you invented a kind of hook.

[Gideon]

It's. I took a French cleat, which is what it's called, and.

[Walt Flanagan]

Oh, okay. I thought that was your invention. No, no, no cleat that you invented.

[Gideon]

No, I figured. I figured out the. The way to mount it was a French cleat. There was a bunch of other ways

[Brian Johnson]

museums use it, so it's a high. It's a high quality.

[Gideon]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

Hanging.

[Gideon]

It only gets stronger the more weights on it.

[Brian Johnson]

Oh, science. Yeah.

[Jonna]

That's a fancy cleat.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Protesters have come in and tried to throw red paint on that.

[Walt Flanagan]

You can hang off that. No way.

[Jonna]

It could support 99 pounds.

[Gideon]

Yeah. It's into five different studs, so two times.

[Brian Johnson]

So there you go.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

You want to know more?

[Brian Johnson]

Damn.

[Walt Flanagan]

No,

[Matt]

I got one more random lore question. So Declan is a sound guy of yours, and I guess he. He's noisy.

[Brian Quinn]

He's Irish. Well. Cuz he's got bad knees.

[Matt]

That comes from his knees.

[Brian Quinn]

That's where like.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, you hear comes from.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah. That's him trying to walk from one side of the room to the other.

[Matt]

Yeah. It's like audible to other people.

[Brian Johnson]

Oh, Migos.

[Brian Quinn]

It hurts. Gosh.

[Walt Flanagan]

And me

[Gideon]

trying to get to the computer.

[Brian Johnson]

He does the mastering for the episodes.

[Brian Quinn]

He masters everything. He mixes everything and masters. And then he sends the. I edit it and then send it back onto him.

[Jonna]

2 Iron Ireland. Where he.

[Brian Quinn]

To Ireland. Yeah. He's so happy because he just got civilized Internet. So he's like. It took me three seconds to upload it, two seconds to download it. Yep.

[Jonna]

Okay. So the clicking doesn't make it on the show as much anymore, I assume, coming from Ireland.

[Brian Quinn]

We haven't brought up Declan in some

[Brian Johnson]

time, I don't think.

[Jonna]

Yeah, well, we went. We were. We were talking to a fan who was a Day one listener.

[Brian Johnson]

Yes.

[Brian Quinn]

Okay.

[Jonna]

You know, we went.

[Brian Quinn]

And I think Declan was too. I think Declan was a Day one listener.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Walt Flanagan]

Wow.

[Brian Quinn]

Because he jumped in, like, around episode 10, I think, somewhere in there, very early.

[Matt]

Early what brought people in originally? Was it like the. The Tell Them Steve day? Like, they came from, like, mall Rats and the Kevin Smith stuff.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, I think. Yeah. The original audience. The. The first listeners came from Kevin's audience.

[Gideon]

Yeah. That's what brought me there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But then Smodcast kind of became the same thing over and over again, and that's it.

[Brian Quinn]

Talk some shit.

[Gideon]

Just telling you, I'm not. Not putting anybody down. Not violating an nd.

[Matt]

But this genius's opinion, it was This.

[Gideon]

I found this to be more enjoyable. And then there was the giant hiatus after Zach and Miri.

[Brian Quinn]

All right.

[Gideon]

Yeah. So it's like, I need podcasts, and these guys are putting out podcasts. So it. I swerved over to their side and. And it just became more enjoyable to listen to.

[Matt]

Is there. Are there any other avenues that, you know, people come in from? Like, are there jokers? People that.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, there's. There's a bunch, because I would wear. I still wear it to this day. Like, tell them Steve Jobs, Dave Gear on the show constantly. Yeah. And that. That leads people to.

[Matt]

They check it out.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. Curious.

[Walt Flanagan]

I do think, though, you know, like you said, though, it is daunting to gain a new listener because of the thousands and thousands of hours of audio that people feel they need to listen to to understand what's going on, though. So we're kind of that catch 2020.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah, we make a. We make a lot of. We reference older episodes and older stuff a lot, and we don't bother to stop and explain it. Cause you just assume everybody listening is on. You know, they're with the program and they know, which is not a good assumption.

[Jonna]

But I mean, that. That all changes today.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Right.

[Jonna]

This is episode zero.

[Brian Quinn]

We're starting fresh.

[Matt]

My advice to potential listeners is, like, get invited on the show. I've not personally explain it to you.

[Brian Johnson]

There are, like, back in the comic book store day, like. Like, ants would get on because they would just come into the store to shop and. What are you doing?

[Brian Quinn]

Come here, Russ.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, we'd be like, get over here. Like, sit down. And we. We'd throw people on the mic all the time, but it doesn't really happen anymore. We don't really get that sort of foot drive.

[Matt]

No.

[Brian Quinn]

People don't walk in here.

[Jonna]

Yeah. Hard to find little.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Jonna]

You know, up. You have to go up some stairs.

[Matt]

Did they talk about comic book. Were they there to, like, was that an obvious.

[Brian Quinn]

Well, we would just be, like, if we would see somebody that would catch our interest, like, hey, sit down for a second. Like, this guy. English Russell Us. We talked to him for a while, and it turned out he was getting married. And then we followed the whole marriage, you know, like, you know, so.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, I missed that stream of people. Yeah, like, one there.

[Brian Quinn]

Just the randos, like, would come in and talk.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, it was fun. But maybe we could set up a

[Gideon]

table out on the walkway by the dmv.

[Jonna]

Already having a great day. We'll make it better.

[Matt]

Yeah. I think most of my questions have Been answered. I had, like, one like, is more like, gotcha. If you pretend. Yeah, gotcha. I really want to know.

[Brian Johnson]

Here's some quotes that you've said over the years. If I get an answer for them,

[Matt]

I know precisely why. It's only 13% play back. This audio is like. So if, like, Tom, Steve, Dave is like a book on a shelf, like, what other books are around it? Like, and I guess maybe I answered this question myself. Like, there's some smog cast stuff, but like, you know what, what genre would you put yourselves in?

[Brian Johnson]

Or like, I don't know.

[Walt Flanagan]

I don't know. I think it's. It's a weird podcast because I think other than Q, there are no people involved who are comedians or, or, or, or have even interests in becoming comedians. It's really like a blue collar, normal people who just kind of got scooped up and have been around now for over a decade. I don't know. Yeah. I don't know how else to describe it.

[Brian Quinn]

It's odd when people are like, what's it about? I never know

[Walt Flanagan]

a. Yeah, like a professional comedian. Like, Like a lot of podcasts today are. And all the big ones are by professional comedians.

[Brian Johnson]

Well, podcasts seem to have become things that are mainly about promoting and, and getting a name out. Self promotion. That's why so many comedians do it. They don't want to do podcasts. They just want to sell tickets. Like, we, since we started so early and kind of like, we were free to just do whatever the fuck we wanted without any concerns about what a podcast should be or. Or there was no right way to do it. There was no wrong way to do it because nobody was doing it.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah. Like, your only real context was Kevin.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, Kevin, Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Like, you watch him be like, okay, I guess this is how you do. Because in the first couple episodes, maybe the first, like seven or eight episodes, like, Kevin always used to put this music bed underneath his podcast. So I was like, well, I guess that's how you do it. So that's what I did. And it took fucking forever to get like. To get like, we're talking about a topic. I'm like, okay, what song would resonate with this topic? So I would. To like, like, have to find it and put it underneath. Then eventually people are like, we don't like the music. So I was like, good.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah. I was happy. They didn't like the music no more. Sitting there putting it in.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Gideon]

There's not a lot of structure to the show, really.

[Brian Quinn]

No.

[Gideon]

And like, the topics can Be so varying from week to week. Like, you know, one week. It's that time your daughter went missing.

[Walt Flanagan]

Thank you.

[Brian Quinn]

But like, thanks for bringing that up.

[Gideon]

Well, I'm just saying is that's like a whole new entire episode. Could be.

[Brian Johnson]

We found her.

[Gideon]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

She's been found. Yeah.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah.

[Gideon]

But like it's like a deep emotional.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Gideon]

Like you're very involved. And then the next week's celebrity. But like.

[Jonna]

But bluechew is always involved.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Jonna]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

We've done episodes where we started them and we were just so depressed that like 10 minutes into it, it was like it it. And we've just put out a 10 minute episode.

[Walt Flanagan]

Wow.

[Brian Johnson]

Because we just like this fucking. Anybody want to do this today?

[Brian Quinn]

Energy wasn't right. Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

And we just released it as an episode, so. And I don't know that anybody would do that today. People were annoyed at that one. They were like, what the fuck is this? Yeah, we. We were lucky in that we got to cut it. Kind of created on our own terms without a real goal in mind or. Or blueprint in mind. So it's this kind of real hodgepodge weird thing. But I don't know that it's would be that inaccessible because once you meet Sunday Jeff once and fall in love with him, then it's not intimidating. Dollar shave Then it's not intimidating. Like whatever the fucking nonsense he's doing in the peacock outfit. You were like, I can't wait. It's like, well, there's a whole treasure trove of Sunday Jeff acting. Yeah, like Sunday Jeff. You know what I mean? Like, it's not that deep. One time Sunday Jeff and I went to a Kiss concert. We had the best time. And these guys were so jealous.

[Brian Quinn]

They were so mar a mention of it to us.

[Brian Johnson]

Oh, we were.

[Jonna]

We had that time was offered. Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

No, it's just me and Sunday Jeff enjoying Kiss and rocking out. It was the best. It was the best. He gets it. So it's like there's all sorts of like little things here and there, but I wouldn't say the show is really inaccessible. There he is this Sunday Jeff. Oh, is that at the kids concert? Yes, yes. Chris was the.

[Jonna]

But then you brought it up on the podcast after to.

[Brian Johnson]

Oh, I couldn't wait to wait.

[Walt Flanagan]

Rub it in our faces.

[Matt]

That's kind of beautiful.

[Brian Quinn]

I'm out here selling drugs. Oh, Cue is just before the gate

[Brian Johnson]

started moving in and fixing the place up. Who does this?

[Gideon]

This is the Wikipedia who run.

[Brian Johnson]

Who does this one that I'm not.

[Gideon]

I think it's gets contributed by a bunch of people.

[Matt]

So this is a different Wikipedia. Oh, this is the tele. Steve Dave Wiki.

[Gideon]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Which is why the wiki wiki is.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, they're.

[Matt]

They're putting all this stuff here.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. So there's all. Yeah, that's pretty cool that people do that.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah. I love.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

I love that somebody likes it enough that they take the time to go and do stuff like that.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. But yeah, so I mean, that's. That's kind of. Do you think you'll. Do you think you'll be. You have enough to start listening now? How do you feel?

[Matt]

I think I do. Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

I mean, you have a direct line. It's a little unfair because you can just ask question anytime, anytime you want.

[Jonna]

Have we pleased you, Matt?

[Matt]

Yeah. My way in is definitely like, oh, I went to this like, festival with what, only 200 tickets? Yeah, you know, like, so, you know, that was a good leg up for sure. But yeah, no, like, the body of work is like extensive. At any time you see something you're interested, like, imagine somebody who's just like, I think I might like Dungeons and Dragons. And then they see the bookshelf with all the.

[Brian Quinn]

Right.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Manuals and everything. And it's just like, just like that. Those punches to just like, just jump in. Like, that's what I'm. That's definitely what I'm picking up from this conversation. What I hope other people might.

[Brian Quinn]

All are welcome. Like Poltergeist. All are welcome.

[Jonna]

Yeah. A little off putting to whisper. All are welcome into the mic and

[Gideon]

the feed is separated. So like the first 300 episodes are on their own feed, then in subsequent episodes. So, like, you can just start there.

[Matt]

Right on. Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Matt]

I love what you guys just said to like. It sounds like nobody puts on a mask whenever they record. It's like whatever.

[Brian Johnson]

You're finding a mask funny sometimes.

[Gideon]

Well, these are the little Master Rock Night podcast every day.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Matt]

But there's no like clock you're punching in and then you behave a certain way whenever you hit record.

[Brian Johnson]

No, not really. I think so.

[Matt]

Got to be the drawing in of itself.

[Brian Johnson]

Look at that line. Sunday Jeff rocks out doing air guitar and high fiving Q whenever a new song starts. This is the Kiss concert. Walt keeps trying to raid on Quinn's parade by telling him the band is actually lip synchronized. I remember that. You really were like, you didn't see Kiss before you saw them lip sync.

[Jonna]

I like how earlier this episode Walt was like, so I'm sort of the optimist of the group. So there isn't one is what I'm hearing.

[Brian Quinn]

So here's Walt emasculates Brian when he hears. Overhears him asking Mary Beth to go get him.

[Brian Johnson]

Ominous.

[Brian Quinn]

We still talk about that. She brings it up every once in a while.

[Matt]

So I was like, I was a little paranoid, right? Because like these two friends of mine, like one of them I've known literally since he was born so like 38 years. The other since high school, they've never mentioned this show once. So like the fact that like I know them both so well and then I went to this festival and J has this connection and then they just like revealed they were fans. I was like, am I surrounded by fans? Could like anyone. So I started wearing like the Q West hat hat just to see if somebody be like would reveal themselves as a listener work. Not yet.

[Brian Johnson]

Smart looking hat though.

[Matt]

I was curious though. Is there like, is there like a, like a code word or. Yeah. For a square deal, if. Oh, really?

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. See Ant thing. I'd be on stage like when back in the touring they say there's me doing it on stage. Ants would do it to me from the audience and I do it back to them.

[Matt]

This doesn't seem like a discreet thing in a grocery store.

[Brian Johnson]

No,

[Brian Quinn]

it came from Q and I were doing. Q was doing shows and I was doing cons and we both got sick from just like shaking hands. Like really sick. Yeah, we're like, how do we like. I don't want to shake people's hands anymore, man. So we started doing the fist bump, but then we came up with that. The. The antennas. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Say hi to people.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

And if people aren't in Ant, they don't know what the you're doing.

[Matt]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jonna]

Not subtle.

[Brian Johnson]

No.

[Jonna]

This is not a secret society.

[Matt]

This is playing into my desire to be in a secret society.

[Brian Johnson]

Well, it's definitely a low key society almost.

[Gideon]

In a secret society, you got asked to join the Illuminati.

[Jonna]

You turned them down.

[Walt Flanagan]

I turned them down. I was going to join. What was the one that.

[Gideon]

Masons.

[Walt Flanagan]

The Masons. And. But I, I was told by Father Lance actually steered me not to join the Masons. The Freemasons.

[Brian Quinn]

Satanic. What was that?

[Walt Flanagan]

Well, he just said that it's, you know, it's. It's not good. It's not for a good Catholic boy.

[Brian Quinn]

Okay. And that's what you are.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Jonna]

What are they doing in there?

[Brian Quinn]

I don't know. Makes me want to join them.

[Matt]

Yeah. See I think you're the one person

[Jonna]

in the world that's like, oh, not for a good Catholic boy.

[Brian Johnson]

Well, I think like what, you know, what I would like from you guys is if you did start listening a little bit. Like, we gave it like six months. Okay, Johnny, you get enough of me. You don't, you don't have to.

[Jonna]

I do have a new two hour commute, right?

[Brian Johnson]

That's true. Yeah.

[Jonna]

To my workplace.

[Brian Johnson]

You know, we didn't know if we were coming back for another season, so Johnna went ahead and moved down to Philly.

[Jonna]

Moved away.

[Brian Quinn]

I mean, look, I don't know if

[Matt]

you know about these taxes in New York City.

[Brian Johnson]

Oh, I know. I love paying. I think it's great.

[Jonna]

So anyway, I have the time, but. But it sounds like you send more in, don't you?

[Walt Flanagan]

Q?

[Brian Johnson]

No.

[Walt Flanagan]

Than you have to.

[Brian Johnson]

What's up?

[Walt Flanagan]

Don't you send more in than you have to?

[Brian Johnson]

I do. Yeah, of course. By the way, that's what everybody should do. Because if you love fucking paying taxes so much and I'm a fucking asshole for not wanting to pay them, I remind you that all these billionaires and all these celebrities can volunteer anything they want to the government because the government

[Gideon]

only has our best interests in mind.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, they could pay as any tax rate they want. So go ahead and pay any tax rate you want. See what happens. I get excited. So like if you guys want to give it like a preset of time and then come back with a review and maybe further questions, like 0.0 would be the episode

[Gideon]

first 2025.

[Brian Johnson]

No, I mean I don't want to. I don't want to. I don't want to guide their journey, take it however they want.

[Gideon]

But I think. What do you mean? What do you think would be more manageable for. Well, okay, yeah, let them decide.

[Brian Johnson]

I'm always like, just jump in and then just, just go from there and.

[Gideon]

No, I'm saying like when, when do you think that they should come back?

[Brian Johnson]

Oh, I see what you're saying.

[Gideon]

Like the first 25. The first.

[Brian Johnson]

No, no, no. That's what I'm saying. I don't think he should go in order. I think. I don't want to. I don't want to say he has to do it a certain way.

[Gideon]

Gotcha, gotcha.

[Brian Johnson]

However you do it in like in like around, maybe around the Chris before the Christmas episode, come back and give a review and then follow up questions.

[Matt]

Yeah, we'd love.

[Gideon]

And if you have any ideas for a good Christmas episode. Yeah, multly glad to hear that.

[Walt Flanagan]

In need. Sure.

[Jonna]

Well, bigger is always better.

[Walt Flanagan]

Walt for.

[Matt]

We found some orphans Philly that'll actually be grateful.

[Brian Quinn]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

There you go.

[Gideon]

Fifteen people in last year.

[Walt Flanagan]

Yeah.

[Jonna]

Wow.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Walt Flanagan]

It was a massive.

[Gideon]

Yeah.

[Walt Flanagan]

Christmas episode.

[Matt]

Hit the whole family and probably going

[Walt Flanagan]

to go the opposite direction.

[Brian Johnson]

You know, strip it down.

[Walt Flanagan]

Strip it down. Only like four people, right?

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, us. And Sunday Jeff.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah. The Jewish guy.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah. And John. No, I. I would love. You know, I don't want to give you any homework that involves spending more time with me.

[Jonna]

Yeah. Is this an official work assignment?

[Brian Johnson]

No, that's. That's what I was trying to make clear.

[Brian Quinn]

Okay.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

If you listen, it won't hurt.

[Brian Johnson]

I will say that it won't hurt,

[Brian Quinn]

but can you listen to it on the clock?

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Brian Quinn]

There you go.

[Jonna]

We could pretty much do whatever we

[Brian Quinn]

want on the clock. That's some set, huh?

[Jonna]

It's some set. I. I'll tell you.

[Brian Quinn]

Sounds like it.

[Jonna]

Pretty loose in conversation.

[Brian Quinn]

Lay back and chill.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Let's just say this has worked. So we can write off our Spotify subscription.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Matt]

There you go.

[Brian Johnson]

And is there an ant title we can give? Is there an ant that we can give to Matt? Yeah. New ant. Fresh ant.

[Jonna]

Really gonna piss Jesse off.

[Matt]

Josh will be happy for me. Jesse will be upset. Aunt Maddie. Huh?

[Brian Quinn]

Aunt Maddie.

[Brian Johnson]

Well, we gotta get in the time. Like, if his job is to get his job to is Mant. Mant.

[Brian Quinn]

That's not bad.

[Brian Johnson]

It has nothing to do with the title, though, of like, what he's doing us.

[Brian Quinn]

Oh, like the Ambassador ant.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

That's what I mean. That's.

[Brian Quinn]

You want to strip Justin Kyle of his title. No, don't hang yourself, Justin.

[Brian Johnson]

No, don't do that to.

[Matt]

Justin's really hard.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah,

[Jonna]

he's sort of like.

[Walt Flanagan]

I like.

[Brian Johnson]

I think fresh ant's fine. Like, because it's like we're trying to get fresh ants in. He could take in that direction of.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah. You could be hip hop if you want to.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Give off a little 80s hip hop about.

[Brian Johnson]

How about the freshest ant?

[Brian Quinn]

That's not bad.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Brian Johnson]

Because it'll straddle both of them. It shows that he's new from what I understand. And also he's fresh in the old school hip hop sort of way.

[Brian Quinn]

He's probably the newest ant minted as of this moment. Yeah. One. There's not. One. There's not a new ant being minted as we speak. Aside from Matt.

[Brian Johnson]

Right. So the freshest thing. The fresh or the freshest? What do you like, man.

[Matt]

I mean, it sounds like Sunday Jeff ran into some trouble with Dollar Shave.

[Brian Johnson]

No, no, no.

[Brian Quinn]

Yeah. Okay.

[Matt]

I. What do you think?

[Jonna]

I think the Freshest Ant is the craziest title. So obviously I want you to have

[Brian Johnson]

that Freshest Ant newly minted.

[Matt]

Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I'm gonna. Yeah. I'll get a vest with the patch and then. And then I'll wear it in front of Jesse and Josh. Not mention to them I won't answer any of their questions. Questions about.

[Brian Quinn]

I was talking to the guys.

[Walt Flanagan]

Don't even answer them at all unless they address you as Duff Fresh as a.

[Matt]

It's true.

[Brian Johnson]

Yeah, John, you probably get stuck with something like Mrs. Fresh,

[Matt]

Misses Duff, Mrs.

[Gideon]

DeFresh, Mrs. Five Baby Law.

[Brian Johnson]

And then finally and crucially, every episode ends like this.

[Walt Flanagan]

Tell them, Steve.

[Matt]

Dave.