Zac Amico's Morning Zoo Episode 84 – Che Durena & Sidney Gantt

Podcast: Zac Amico's Morning Zoo
Host: Zac Amico (GaS Digital Network)
Guests: Che Durena, Sidney Gantt
Date: February 1, 2026

Overview

This episode of Zac Amico’s Morning Zoo is a wild and freewheeling hangout with comedians Che Durena and Sidney Gantt. The crew dives into everything from Canadian snacks and gas station culture to outlandish stories about drugs, wild family experiences, stereotypes, and an extended riff on street fights, both real and hypothetical. The conversation, true to the show’s chaotic morning radio parody format, is irreverent, personal, and full of hilarious left turns. They also break down viral fight videos, swap disgusting road trip tales, and even kick up controversy around Food Network competition shows, resulting in a star-studded online backlash against Zac.

Key Discussion Points and Highlights

1. Winter Woes and Getting the Show Together

• Zac explains this is a make-up episode because it was too cold to do the show on Monday. Shout-outs to Shannon and Jorge for making it happen on a Friday.
  "Luckily, Shannon and Jorge are troopers, so they came in on a Friday so that we could do another episode." [00:49]

2. Canadian Snacks, Gas Station Culture, and Road Trips

• Toronto Observations: Zac just performed in Toronto and notes the city's unexpected Asian population and thriving food scene.
  • "Toronto, way more Asians than I thought." – Zac [01:55]
• Canadian Snacks:
  • Che and Zac compare Canadian and American chips— all-dressed, ketchup-flavored; describe all-dressed chips for the uninitiated.
    "All dressed chips are the fucking..." – Che [05:02]
  • Flavor Profile Debate:
    • "It's like barbecue, salt and vinegar, and then maybe there's some sour cream and onion in there too." – Che [06:24]
• Road Food Mayhem:
  • Zac describes a gluttonous binge on poutine and pulled pork, then a hellish, fume-filled 10-hour car ride.
    "The interior of that car was melted." – Sydney [02:48]
• Gas Station Culture:
  • Comparison of U.S. and Canadian gas stations—Americans' love of chains like Wawa and Buc-ee's contrasted with Canada’s lackluster stops.
    "You guys have, like, this hardcore passion for gas stations." – Che [08:25]
  • Favorite gas station snacks: Wawa hot pretzel, TastyKake, iced tea, horseradish chips [07:44–08:23].

3. Wrestling, Protein Farts, and Van Etiquette

• Zac shares grim tales from pro wrestling road trips: plenty of protein-fueled flatulence and the importance of picking the “right” van.
  • "One smells like protein farts and one smells like weed. And I just go in the weed one." – Zac [03:42]
  • Che notes steroids and protein shake diets make wrestlers’ bodily excretions “exceptional and disgusting.”
• Inventions for Commuter Comfort:
  • The group brainstorms the need for back-facing car horns and vented fart-defrost buttons.
    "You need something like a button you can press that's similar to the defrost that just vents out farts." – Sydney [03:14]

4. Alcohol and Drug Stories

• Drinking in Canada:
  • Zac is frustrated by Canadian tariffs inflating liquor prices—couldn’t find Jack Daniels in Toronto, leading to an impromptu rant. [09:06–09:46]
• Nostalgia for Bad Booze:
  • Bacardi 151, Everclear, Jaeger bombs, and OG Four Loko: tales of questionable college drinking.
    "Everclear when we were kids... you could fuel an SUV." – Sydney [10:39]
    "The Jaeger bomb... that changed the game for us." – Che [10:54]
  • Discussion of risks: “It was preparing you for a life of booze and coke.” – Zac on Four Loko [12:07]
• Drug Preferences and Experiences:
  • Sydney sticks to marijuana—dislikes caffeine and harder stimulants. Che used to enjoy MDMA, now just nicotine pouches; explains the “nootropic” effects of nicotine and shares smart drug alternatives.
    "Nicotine, I didn't get into until like three years ago." – Che [13:12]
    "I like to get dumb every now and again. I just need a break." – Sydney [15:03]

5. How Upbringing Shapes Anxiety (and Paranoia on Weed)

• Sydney says he doesn’t get paranoid from weed because he was raised “with no shame or accountability”—classic single mom survival.
  • "I've never seen consequences for her actions. So I grew up saying, 'oh, you can just do whatever you want, and they have to take you.' The world needs people." – Sydney [15:52]
• Zac and Che share anxieties about lateness and disappointing people—contrasted with Sydney’s laissez-faire confidence.
  • "I can't be late to anything, I feel like I am letting everyone down, and everyone's mad at me all the time." – Zac [16:09]

6. Relationship Stereotypes & Advice

• Freak-outs, Apologies & Gender Dynamics:
  • Riff on how men and women process and broadcast emotions, with running jokes about “freakouts” and being “hangry.”
    • "Nothing will make a girl go worse than if you say you're being irrational." – Zac [19:40]
    • "Women treat life like a fudgeing Snickers commercial." – Zac [20:23]
  • Shannon jumps in, indignantly refutes men don’t get “hangry.”
    • "Men get hangry. This is insane. I'm so sad we're not streaming live so I could see what the chat is saying right now." – Shannon [21:36]

7. Privilege, Airport Etiquette, and “Chick Stuff” Among Gay Men

• Che vents about gay men “taking chick privilege” (i.e., behaving rudely to other men as only women or drag queens might safely do)—incident at CLEAR airport line.
  • "A man doesn't talk to another man like that because then there's physical violence that happens. Only chicks get to talk like that." – Che [23:51]
• Zac’s “buddy road trip” rule: real men don’t need a bite of your bacon, egg, and cheese.
  • "Nobody needs a bite of a bacon, egg and cheese." – Zac [25:32]

8. Fighting: Rules, Cultures, and Viral Clips

• Why Fighting Matters:
  • Che advocates for the social/emotional benefits of occasionally being punched in the face—mutual combat laws, lessons in humility, real-world consequences.
    "We need to reintroduce [street fighting] to society." – Che [33:32]
• Street Fighting Norms by Demographic:
  • Racial/cultural differences in “the rules” of fighting; “no ground game” preferred in the hood, “first clean punch” ends the fight, no jumping in, no stomping.
    "Black guys fight in packs ... but when the race is the same ... first clean punch wins." – Sydney [37:18]
• Viral Fight Video Play-by-Play:
  • They break to watch and react to viral street fights, including a three-on-one MMA-trained woman versus “jumpers” and a “falcon punch” overhand from a viral “fat girl” fight.
    "Did you see that chick fight from like three weeks ago... it's almost like a cartoonish Popeye style, like, overhand right and punches this girl once and lays this fat [girl] out." – Che [31:10-31:38]
• Fight Tactics:
  • Zac: "Black hood guys hate body slams ... they go, 'no slams, man.'"
  • Che: "You don't see body shots, leg kicks in chick fights. That's a thing only dudes think about." [29:04]

9. Internet Facts and Food Network Controversy

• Zac admits to erroneously claiming TV chefs use “sous chefs” to recreate their dishes for camera, which triggered a massive backlash from real chefs—including scathing Instagram replies from Andrew Zimmern, Rocco DiSpirito, and Chef Antonia.
  • "I said on an episode kind of recently that on cooking competitions, they have sous chefs that recreate the food ... The Food Network stars came out of the woodwork to call your boy an idiot." – Zac [53:00-53:53]
  • Shannon reveals the hate, "Every day I get notifications of another chef being pissed off and commenting on it." [56:13]
  • Zac’s humility: "On behalf of my guests that day, I will say I was wrong." [54:55]

10. Weird News & Disturbing Animal Tales

• America’s Most Inbred Family (the Whitakers):
  • The group watches videos documenting the infamous West Virginia Whitakers, speculating on the horrors of inbreeding with both dread and gallows humor.
    "One of them's trying to say, like, 'this is where my family's buried.'" – Zac [48:25]
• Mixed-Up Family Memories:
  • Sydney confesses to accidentally kissing cousins as a kid:
    "Two times in my scholastic life, I kissed cousins that I didn't know were cousins until I found out later." – Sydney [49:54]
• Duck Murder and Animal Mayhem:
  • Gruesome viral news about a child caught on camera stomping a duck to death. Creators spiral into animal attack stories—goose battles at family picnics, animal cracker pranks, and feeding seagulls dog excrement for fun.
    "That kid looked feral. The way he's moving, the way he cornered that thing, that was like, I run on all fours." – Che [64:07]
    "My uncle Angelo fought a goose one time, and the goose f***ed him up." – Zac [64:27]
• Heroic Turkey Rescue:
  • Shannon shares her experience saving turkey chicks from abusive kids in Staten Island. [63:05]

11. Cultural Stereotypes, Social Commentary, and Riff Sessions

• “Jessica” Replaces “Karen”?
  • The new “entitled white woman” label is Jessica, according to a viral trend.
    "The younger version of Karen is the Jessica." – Zac [67:54]
    "I feel like this is someone trying to push something that's not gonna stick." – Che [68:25]
• Race, Representation & Skateboarding:
  • Skater culture riff: “The blacks have figured out skateboarding.” – Sydney [43:19]
  • Extended, mocking proposal for a "trans" sport league: dudes as Madea vs. dudes as Mrs. Doubtfire.
• Gunfight Over Exotic Puppies:
  • Outrageous news clip—teens steal pricey micro-bully dogs, gunfight ensues, group comments on the signs ("rob me" car, breeder-type houses).
    "That car. That is a Rob Me car." – Zac [71:53]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (W/ Timestamps)

• Zac on being late:
  "I can't be late to anything, I feel like I am letting everyone down." [16:09]

• Che on fighting etiquette:
  "You don't get to just fucking do chick stuff as a dude." [24:13]

• Sydney’s cousin mishap:
  "Two times in my scholastic life I kissed cousins that I didn't know were cousins until I found out later." [49:54]

• Zac goes viral for Food Network gaffe:
  "I got my ass eaten alive in these comments, dude." [54:30] "On behalf of my guests that day, I will say I was wrong." [54:55]

• On women and hangriness:
  "Women treat life like a fudgeing Snickers commercial." – Zac [20:23]

Important Timestamps by Topic

• [01:55]–[06:39] — Toronto, Canadian snacks & gas station culture
• [07:44]–[08:23] — Wawa, hot pretzel, horseradish chips, food pairings
• [09:06]–[09:46] — Canadian tariffs and bourbon woes
• [10:54]–[12:58] — Jaeger bombs, Four Loko nostalgia, drug preferences
• [16:09]–[16:27] — Childhood anxiety about lateness & family differences
• [19:40]–[20:23] — Gender dynamic: “No dude ever gets to apologize for hangriness”
• [23:51]–[24:13] — “Chick privilege” vs. “man rules” for confrontation
• [29:04]–[33:38] — Philosophy and rules of fighting, fighting culture by community
• [53:00]–[54:55] — The Food Network controversy and star chef outrage
• [64:27]–[66:13] — Personal stories: Family vs. animal battles (geese and more)
• [67:32]–[67:54] — The “Jessica” as new “Karen” label

Episode Tone and Style

• Classic GaS Digital irreverence—raucous, rapid-fire, no subject too taboo
• Blunt, confessional, and teasing; the hosts and guests challenge each other constantly with personal anecdotes and playful stereotyping
• Frequent pivots from news stories to personal tangents, viral video breakdowns, and riff-heavy imaginings

Closing

The episode concludes with quick guest plugs for their respective podcasts—World War Fun (Sydney), Two Goons (Che)—and Zac’s upcoming tour info, encouraging fans to subscribe to GaS Digital for bonus content and to catch live recordings in the future.

For listeners who missed it:
This episode is peak Morning Zoo—gross, honest, wildly funny, and off-the-rails. While the banter runs wild, there’s genuine camaraderie and bizarre wisdom in the chaos, perfect for fans of raucous, boundary-pushing comedy podcasts.