The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds

Episode 162: The Past Times with Nato Green
Release Date: February 20, 2026
Guest: Nato Green
Main Theme: Hilarious commentary on strange newspaper stories from March 29, 1893, with digressions into comedy touring, drugs, advertising, historic oddities, and the cultural place of eggs.

Episode Overview

In this wild and digression-filled episode of The Dollop's Past Times, Dave and Gareth are joined by comic and "returning champion" Nato Green. The trio riff on a vintage 1893 Louisiana Review newspaper—mining its short, curious, and sometimes absurd stories for laughs and social commentary.

They cover topics from peculiar drug warnings, old-timey egg disputes, and snowball-induced child combustion to bizarre funeral arrangements, eating rituals, and the weirdness of targeted drug ads. Along the way, they bounce into workplace strikes, bad British cocaine, and the long-running comedy premise of how to be disposed of after death.

Their gleeful, irreverent banter mixes clever historical roasting, cultural critique, and comedic absurdity—with eggs, drugs, and burial customs emerging as weird running themes.

Key Topics, Insights & Memorable Moments

1. Banter on Comedy Shows, Touring, and the Value of Early Show Times

• [00:43–03:27]
  • Dave and Gareth open by plugging upcoming Dollop and Nato Green tour dates.
  • They joke about the joys of early show times, audience demographics, and why comedians might prefer 4 PM over 10:30 PM gigs. "You get out at a regular time—walking out at 6:30 and being like, that's it. Oh, heaven." (Gareth, 03:16)
  • Recurring thread: stealing managers at Sacramento Punchline in the 1990s.

2. Guessing the Newspaper Date and Historical Strikes

• [04:09–05:52]
  • Humorous guessing game to identify the old paper’s year; casual tie-ins to current and historical labor strikes and economic collapses.
  • "I was thinking about the strikes in Russia in 1905... in 1893, there was also a strike wave in the United States." (Nato, 05:26)

3. The Bizarre Gossip Item: Mrs. Astor's Photo Collection

• [08:18–08:52]
  • They read a gossip blurb: "Ms. William W. Astor has a unique collection of photographs of beautiful women."
  • “It’s like the Epstein files.” (Gareth, 08:29)
  • Launches their first tangent about today's scandals vs. old-time privacy.

4. Wild "Medical" Warnings About Cocaine (and Recreational Drug Comedy)

• [09:24–16:35]
  • Discussion of an article detailing the “great danger of cocaine”—which apparently causes “only a little more talkativeness than usual” before it ruins your life.
  • “If cocaine wasn’t good, would God have made it?” (Dave, 09:45)
  • “A guided cocaine tour would really be the worst thing ever.” (Dave, 10:35)
  • Extended, rapid-fire parody of pharmaceutical ads for cocaine. “Ask your doctor if cocaine is right for you!” (Gareth, 14:43)
  • Side effects included: metallurgy, paranoia, apologizing at 5:30 AM, texting your dealer.
  • "I watched a five-hour commercial for cocaine." (Nato, 15:45)

5. The Era of Targeted Drug Ads

• [17:01–19:23]
  • Comic breakdown of the insanity of US pharmaceutical ads—“English relatives can’t believe it”—and the weird, sometimes racially mismatched, algorithmic targeting on TV and streaming services.
  • “The algorithm seems to think that I am an HIV-positive Black man.” (Nato, 17:37)

6. Historical Divorce Gossip, Anti-British Sentiment & Wilde Family Drama

• [20:16–21:25]
  • Article: Ms. Frank Leslie divorcing her English husband.
  • “Wild that a level-headed businesswoman...should have committed the indiscretion of matrimony with a worthless foreigner is a puzzle. Holy Christ.” (Dave, 21:08)
  • They riff on anti-British American attitudes, British cocaine, and Oscar Wilde’s relatives.

7. "A Snowball Starts a Fire": Journalism at its Most Ridiculous

• [24:26–26:56]
  • News brief: boy hit by snowball, his matches ignite, he bursts into flames.
  • “Back then...boys were especially flammable. They were mostly just clothed in...compressed oil.” (Nato, 26:37)
  • Dark, slapstick banter about Louisiana’s child safety standards.

8. The Great Egg Debate of 1893 & Modern Comedic Obsession

• [27:28–34:09]
  • Article covers a massive argument over the real price of eggs, fresh vs. limed eggs, and how many eggs is too many.
  • Hilarious spiral into “egg crowd work,” egg-lime-pickling, and Gareth’s love for all egg forms: “Do you have a favorite part of the egg? The yolk or the white?” (Dave, 52:29)
  • “I do a BM in the pm.” (Gareth, 28:55)

9. Hum Attack: Theater Etiquette and Diagnosing Dementia

• [34:17–37:42]
  • “When a man at the theater hums...and marks the time by tapping with his foot, it is a sign that he is in the last stages of mental debility.” (Dave, 34:20)
  • "Experiencing pleasure is a sign of mental disability." (Nato, 34:49)
  • Riff on how old society policed fun, with historical and personal anecdotes.

10. Eating Like Animals: Sicilian Workers, Pasta Troughs, and Stereotypes

• [38:19–43:17]
  • Contrived article claims Sicilian laborers refused to eat from plates and spoons, preferring to shovel pasta from troughs with their hands.
  • “They just dig in with their...pulling spaghetti out of their piggy troughs.” (Dave, 41:17)
  • Riff on the American tradition of othering immigrant diets.

11. Preposterous Funeral Ideas: Selling Your Corpse and The Egg/Cocaine Casket

• [43:35–47:17]
  • Story about a man who sold his body for $10, then made a fortune and wanted it back—doctor refused.
  • Comic brainstorm on funeral alternatives — stuffing Gareth’s corpse with eggs, egg salad, or cocaine, and auctioning off who pays for the funeral based on which egg pops out first.
  • “Open casket. We scoop out the inside of G’s body cavity...fill it with cocaine. The guests all do the blow.” (Nato, 44:58)

12. Digression: Human 69/Bizarre Burial Subscriptions

• [47:13–50:55]
  • Comedic pitch for saving money at funerals by stacking corpses in "69" position or “human centipede” style. Laugh-out-loud irreverence about future archaeologists discovering weird burial rites.

13. Odd Mass Transit and the Proto-Hyperloop

• [51:03–57:18]
  • “In Mexico, you can hire a streetcar and ride all over town for $3.50...” (Dave, 51:04)
  • “It’s just a ski lift. That is all it is. A ski lift for your car.” (Nato, 57:35)
  • Sharp satire of overhyped modern tech—“This is absolutely not a car...this is an Elon Musk thing.” (Gareth, 57:18)

14. Witch Prophecies and Trump's Inevitable Passing

• [53:35–55:14]
  • Discuss viral online rumors: “Witches think that Trump is going to die on Tuesday, on February 17, Lunar New Year.” (Nato, 53:44)
  • Jokes on post-Trump celebrations, what his funeral could or should be like, and how witches would be unbearable if proven right.

15. Deaf Persons and the Telephone

• [55:34–56:45]
  • Bizarrely ableist 1893 warning that people hard of hearing should “avoid the telephone.”
  • “Of course they should avoid the telephone. They can’t use it.” (Dave, 55:53)

Notable Quotes

• “If cocaine wasn’t good, would God have made it?” (Dave Anthony, 09:45)
• “A guided cocaine tour would really be the worst thing ever.” (Dave Anthony, 10:35)
• "The algorithm seems to think I'm an HIV-positive Black man." (Nato Green, 17:37)
• "Back then, boys were especially flammable. They were clothed in compressed oil." (Nato Green, 26:37)
• “Experiencing pleasure is a sign of mental disability.” (Nato Green, 34:49)
• "We're a truffle-based animal." (Gareth Reynolds, 42:26)
• “Open casket. We scoop out the inside of G’s body cavity...fill it with cocaine. The guests all do the blow." (Nato Green, 44:58)
• "It’s just a ski lift for your car." (Nato Green, 57:35)
• “Witches think that Trump is going to die on Tuesday, on February 17, Lunar New Year.” (Nato Green, 53:44)
• "Everyone in America is going to be going down on each other in the streets." (Nato Green, 55:10)

Highlighted Segments with Timestamps

Tour Announcements/Early Shows: [00:43–03:27]
Cocaine Medical Ad Parody: [09:29–16:35]
Historic Egg Argument: [27:28–34:09]
Eggs, Bodies, and Funerals: [43:35–47:17]
Trough Eating Italian Laborers: [38:19–43:17]
Death Ritual Subscription Gags: [47:13–50:55]
Witches Predict Trump's Death: [53:35–55:14]

Tone and Style

• Fast-paced, irreverent, absurd, packed with comic exaggeration.
• Socio-political asides blend seamlessly with historical banter.
• Running bits: egg obsession, cocaine ad parodies, and wild proposals for deaths and funerals.
• Loose, improvisational vibe; lots of inside references, quick pivots, and character work.
• Satirical lens on both history and the present.

For those who missed the episode:
The trio deliver a riotous run through the day’s oddest headlines, all while veering—egged on by each other—into philosophizing about drugs, dietary eccentricities, historic biases, targeted advertising, and the comic limits of burial customs. Their sharp, silly, and subversive riffing makes this a quintessential Past Times installment.