250: #250 School featuring Derrick Stroup

Summary

The Nateland Podcast - Episode #250: "School" Featuring Derrick Stroop

Release Date: April 30, 2025

Hosted by Nate Bargatze, Brian Bates, Dusty Slay, and Derek Stroop, Episode #250 of The Nateland Podcast delves into a nostalgic exploration of school experiences, the evolution of comedy, and personal anecdotes from the hosts' careers. This comprehensive summary captures the essence of their conversations, highlighting key discussions, insightful moments, and humorous exchanges.

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1. Social Media Strategies and Engagement Farming

The episode opens with the hosts discussing the shifting landscape of social media, particularly focusing on the concept of "engagement farming." Nate Bargatze introduces the term, explaining how content creators post provocative or humorous snippets to elicit reactions and increase engagement.

Notable Quote:

• "It's where you post something that you know is just going to fire people up just so they comment a lot." – Nate Bargatze [04:00]

Derek Stroop elaborates on the fine line between trolling and genuine attempts to engage the audience, emphasizing the importance of authenticity in content creation.

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2. Stand-Up Comedy: Jokes and Performances

The conversation shifts to the craft of stand-up comedy, with the hosts reflecting on the longevity and evolution of their jokes. Brian Bates muses about the challenges of reusing old material, questioning whether aging jokes still resonate with modern audiences.

Notable Quote:

• "This joke's 14 years old. But it's requested a lot." – Dusty Slay [05:10]

Nate Bargatze shares his experience of performing longstanding jokes that have developed "attitude" over time, indicating their enduring popularity and adaptability.

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3. Touring and International Performances

Derek Stroop recounts his recent tours, including performances in Europe, specifically mentioning shows in Paris, London, Manchester, and Oslo. The hosts express amazement at the international support, noting the sold-out shows and enthusiastic audiences.

Notable Quote:

• "Manchester was awesome. They were just fired up. I mean, they all were, but it was like, they were, you know." – Brian Bates [26:00]

Nate discusses the cultural contrasts experienced while touring, humorously touching upon local customs and cuisines, such as the challenges of finding good sandwiches in Toledo and the peculiarities of dining in Paris.

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4. Comedy Specials: Length and Format

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to discussing the optimal length for comedy specials. The hosts debate whether a half-hour, hour-long, or even longer format best serves both the comedian and the audience.

Notable Quote:

• "Ideally, we're not going to go over there. The Nateland family stays over here." – Brian Bates [52:22]

Derek Stroop shares his preference for a slightly extended format, jokingly advocating for a "59-minute" special to maximize content without overstaying.

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5. School Memories and Discipline

The hosts take a trip down memory lane, sharing personal stories from their school days. Discussions revolve around the use of corporal punishment, memorable school games like tug-of-war and jackpot, and humorous anecdotes about interactions with teachers and peers.

Notable Quotes:

• "One time I was late for class, I had on wind pants, and he was like, 'Stroop, you know what wind pants are.' And he gave me three." – Nate Bargatze [86:19]
• "I stood up and she stabbed me three times with a pencil." – Derek Stroop [89:00]

The conversation highlights the diverse experiences with school discipline, reflecting on how these formative years shaped their personalities and comedic styles.

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6. Personal Updates and Upcoming Events

Towards the episode's conclusion, the hosts share significant personal milestones and upcoming projects. Brian Bates announces the release of his new book on May 6th, alongside new merchandise for Nateland fans. Nate Bargatze reveals his upcoming marriage on May 10th, sharing light-hearted plans for his reception and honeymoon.

Notable Quote:

• "May 10th I get married and so excited. We're getting married down at the beach." – Nate Bargatze [108:25]

Derek Stroop discusses his upcoming performances in Madisonville, Kentucky, and Salt Lake City, promoting his appearances and encouraging listeners to attend.

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7. Wrap-Up and Community Interactions

The episode concludes with the hosts addressing listener comments and questions, fostering a sense of community among Nateland's audience. They respond to heartfelt messages, share laughs over mispronunciations, and express appreciation for the support they've received over the years.

Notable Quote:

• "My mom texted us tonight to tell us that she had to take my dad to the hospital in Dublin for some health concerns. A doctor came in and after examining dad said he was interested to hear we are from Tennessee and asked if we had heard of Nate Bargatze." – Brian Bates [31:41]

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Conclusion

Episode #250 of The Nateland Podcast seamlessly blends humor, nostalgia, and personal storytelling, offering listeners an intimate glimpse into the lives of their favorite comedians. From dissecting the nuances of social media engagement to reminiscing about schoolyard antics, the hosts deliver a rich and engaging narrative that resonates with both long-time fans and newcomers alike.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• "This joke's 14 years old. But it's requested a lot." – Dusty Slay [05:10]
• "Manchester was awesome. They were just fired up." – Brian Bates [26:00]
• "Ideally, we're not going to go over there." – Brian Bates [52:22]
• "I stood up and she stabbed me three times with a pencil." – Derek Stroop [89:00]
• "May 10th I get married and so excited." – Nate Bargatze [108:25]

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For those who haven't listened to Episode #250, this summary encapsulates the hosts' lively discussions and memorable moments, making it a valuable resource for catching up on Nateland's latest milestone.

Transcript

[Nate Bargatze]

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[Brian Bates]

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[Nate Bargatze]

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[Brian Bates]

Hello, folks, and hey, bear. Welcome to the Natland podcast. I am back. Nate Bargetzi. Just reintroduced myself, Brian Bates. Okay, Slay.

[Derek Stroop]

All right.

[Brian Bates]

Filling in for Aaron Weber. The other Aaron Weber.

[Dusty Slay]

I didn't even realize until right now.

[Brian Bates]

So you didn't know it.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Derek Stroop.

[Nate Bargatze]

Hello. Hello. Thank you all for having me.

[Brian Bates]

Hello. We're back. Show you some Nateland stuff. Stephen Rogers, our special half of we is on the YouTube channel. Nateland YouTube channel. Go check it out. Don't sleep on Aaron Wearables special. Signature dish. Signature dis and Nick Thunes. They're all on there. My book's coming out May 6th. New Nateland merch. If you had then we got the other podcast and I'm bringing back season three of Nateland Presents. Pretty fun. The showcase tickets are on sale if you want to be a part of that. June 22nd, 23rd and 24th at the lab. You know, that thing did better than like, it's fun. Yeah. Because it was at first. When the first season I was like, ah. I was like, you know. Yeah, it's like I want it to be a value for the comedians that we use and. But a lot of people. Yeah, a lot of people. I've watched it and a lot of comics and it's like, you know, it's a place for, you know, like we had live at Gotham. Did you have any. Were you doing any. Did you have anything?

[Derek Stroop]

No.

[Dusty Slay]

Alabama.

[Brian Bates]

Is it already done? Comedy Central, was it.

[Derek Stroop]

I think basically was done by the time I got. I mean, I did, you know, the Netflix half hour, the standups.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Access TV had that show.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Goth.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah. Gotham City Live or.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, I came in at a time where all that was done, but there was also not dry bar and don't tell yet.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah, don't tells around. So that's a good. Yeah, don't tell. Comedy's one that's out there. That's good that a lot of you did don't tell.

[Nate Bargatze]

I did for sure.

[Derek Stroop]

And weird time in social media when we were just posting pictures of ourselves doing stand up with a small joke written on it that was our reels back. Yeah, I remember stand up shots.

[Brian Bates]

Like Vecchion would type in jokes on Twitter to like, see how they do. And then that's almost like. It'd be like where you try.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

But now it's just put crowd workout. Yeah. You try to do that on Twitter, you go, hey, what's up? Where are you from?

[Derek Stroop]

Yes, people do do that. I think they call it engagement farming. You know, they find some way to get people to some rage bait.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Engagement farming. Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

That's where you post something that you know is just going to get your girl does.

[Brian Bates]

Is that where you're going with yet?

[Nate Bargatze]

No, I wasn't.

[Derek Stroop]

That's where you just, you. You post something that you know is going to fire people up just so they comment a lot.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, no, that makes sense. I thought. Yeah. Trolling. Yeah, yeah, I see that. I've done that.

[Brian Bates]

You've trolled.

[Nate Bargatze]

No, no, I've done some engagement farming, I'm sure. Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Where should I go? Kansas City, where should I eat?

[Nate Bargatze]

Exactly. Yeah. Y'all point me the right direction. Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Hello, Daytona, your boys in town. Where should I get some good spaghetti? And then it's just nobody.

[Nate Bargatze]

Nobody.

[Brian Bates]

That's the funnest part, is to go see when someone does that and nobody responds to it.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, but nobody knows that. Like, I was in Toledo. I said, y'all send me to your best sandwich spot. I can't wait to check it out. Nobody sent me to their best set. I found my own spot because there.

[Brian Bates]

Is no sandwich spot.

[Derek Stroop]

Then you go, thanks for the DMs.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah, exactly, you guys. I think you guys want to hear about how my sandwich stuff went. A lot of messages. I. My God, no messages. No one's asking. That's easy. See someone post that. I've been getting a lot of questions about, you know, what I do, my routine. No one's asked.

[Nate Bargatze]

Nobody has ever. Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Somebody requested this joke tonight.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. Toledo. Yeah, I don't.

[Derek Stroop]

People used to do that at open mics.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Like, nobody.

[Brian Bates]

No one.

[Derek Stroop]

You're just doing an old joke at the open mic.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

You're like going like, you thought somebody.

[Derek Stroop]

Asked me to do this.

[Dusty Slay]

I mean, I still work with comics. That'll clothes on it. They'll say, people always ask me to do this if I don't do it. So here we go.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, I know.

[Nate Bargatze]

This joke's 14 years old. But it's requested a lot.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

David tell. He says this joke so old it can vote. Yeah. Which is funny to have jokes that, you know, you can have jokes that are 18 years. I've. I'm 21. Right. 22 years in. Geez.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. So I've just got jokes that are talking back at this point. We're not quite voting yet, but they're getting an attitude.

[Brian Bates]

They're getting attitude.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

They don't like where they're at.

[Derek Stroop]

22 years in. Imagine, you're still doing a joke from that original set.

[Brian Bates]

Well, it would have to be old enough to vote, so I don't know if I. I don't think I have one that I use. I don't have one. I don't even have one that I would remember. But I mean, I have one from. Huh.

[Dusty Slay]

I can remember yours.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. But that I still use. Like, it would be the.

[Dusty Slay]

Sorry, I didn't bring my compass.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry to bring my compass today. North east directions. But I mean, those jokes, that's older. Yeah, It's a joke.

[Derek Stroop]

And now, like, you are bringing your compost. You have a phone.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. So now it's stupid. Yeah, now it's stupid. That's the point.

[Dusty Slay]

Stupid. Yep.

[Brian Bates]

That's what you are when you're 18. You vote. You're stupid. That's the message. Dusty. Cindy.

[Derek Stroop]

That's not the message I'm sending.

[Brian Bates]

Dusty. I think everybody heard it.

[Derek Stroop]

I think. Yeah. I mean, you know, maybe that I thought of a very funny.

[Brian Bates]

You know what I thought of at a very funny thing last night. Or was it. Listen, what you're talking about, but like a conspir. Oh, Eric was talking to Eric Barber. Trainer.

[Dusty Slay]

Let's just say barber.

[Brian Bates]

Now we're back to training. We're lifting weights.

[Dusty Slay]

All right.

[Brian Bates]

Boom. How.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's what he said. He told me that.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, yeah. The donut challenge is I, you know, let's see what happens.

[Derek Stroop]

Okay.

[Brian Bates]

But we're headed a direction now.

[Derek Stroop]

Okay.

[Brian Bates]

About to be. You got to do movie. You got to look. I got to look something.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

I don't want to be embarrassed. And I wouldn't be. It would be. Or myself be embarrassed of myself.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, but you got to create some new before pictures at some point.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Yeah. I have 20 years of 30 years.

[Derek Stroop]

You got pictures that people will share. They'll go, oh, look at old Nate and now new Nate. So you need new befores.

[Brian Bates]

I have all of them.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

I have every in between, every whatever. But somebody. He was saying a Point. He was saying. I forget what we were talking about. You're saying something. He's like, you know, that, oh, there's. There's molecules. If so many molecules in. In the world, there's more than planets in the space. He's like, you know, I mean, he's like, if there's planets in this. If you believe that. And it was just very funny to think, like, I know, but it's. It's funny to think you have to go be politically correct to conspiracy theorists now. Like, if you say you're like, I could see forever if the Earth was flat. I mean, if you. If you think they're flat, then I'm not stepping on your toes. It was just like the very funny. That's a pretty funny sketch idea to do a sketch where you have to apologize, like you have to, for the most political correctness. It's not the most. It's just the idea that political credit has gone so far.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

That you're now like, you know, I think JFK was not the best. If you believe this, you know, who killed them killed him. But, you know, does that make sense?

[Derek Stroop]

I feel like that.

[Brian Bates]

That.

[Derek Stroop]

That's the conspiracy theorist way of putting out some feelers, letting you know, are you going this way? Because if you're going this way.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

This can be a different conversation.

[Brian Bates]

Yes.

[Derek Stroop]

If you're a normie. If you're just a normie out here, then let's stop it now.

[Brian Bates]

Look, I'm not trying to start a thing. I just thought it was a very funny idea.

[Nate Bargatze]

No, no, you're. You're getting into.

[Brian Bates]

I know, but it's just a very funny idea that, like. Yeah. Like, political grace could go so far.

[Dusty Slay]

Bestie doesn't believe in molecules, so.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, well, it's like. But the thing. I know, but it's like. Yeah, but it's. Yeah. Don't. Don't start. We're not. I don't want to make everybody. I. I shouldn't have even. You know.

[Derek Stroop]

But I do think that's how people put feelers out there.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

There's a lot of planets out there. If you, you know.

[Brian Bates]

Well, Colin Quinn. I think Colin Quinn used to have a joke about it. Like, in a car, like, you just. Are You. You. I. People start talking about the person that just got out of the car.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yes.

[Brian Bates]

Like me. Drop someone off. And then you're like, what about that guy? Then all three of you bash that guy. Then the next person gets out. Then you bash it. And then at the end, you're like, well, I don't want to get out of this car. But it's like, you can do that. Where you. I used to say when you go on the road with a comic, at the beginning, you'd be driving together, you'd start mentioning names like, who are we comfortable trashing?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Very much a gossipy rumor. Y. We start making fun of someone and so you kind of go like, what about this guy? And you're like, I'm pretty good friends with that guy. You're like, okay, okay, not that guy. What about this guy? And you're like, that guy's been good to me about this guy. You're like, I don't, you know, I don't know if I like that guy. All right. And then we just jump on board. Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

I feel like you got to accept. I feel like I've accepted this, that I have friends that I trash talk a lot of people with, and I have accepted that when I'm not around that friends probably trash talking me, and I'm okay with, yeah, well, I want to trash talking friends.

[Nate Bargatze]

Well, like four years ago, I woke up and realized that I was in no group chats. And it gave me cold sweats. Because if you're not in group chats, you're in group chats.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

I go, I gotta get in some group chats.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Because I'm out here floating around by myself. And you gotta find some groups to get in or you'll be part of the conversation.

[Derek Stroop]

I'm not in a lot of group chat.

[Brian Bates]

Me.

[Nate Bargatze]

I'm not in a lot now I'm in a few more. But you don't want to not be in any. Yeah, that's dangerous.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

We have a group chat and I got some where I'm like, somebody else will get added in or whatever. And I go, well, this is not going to be the same.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Change the.

[Brian Bates]

It's tough. It's tough when someone gets added in a group chat where you're like, what are you doing? You're like, even though we haven't mentioned that person by name, their essence is what we're talking about.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

And you're like. And you just made it too personal. Yeah. And now it's like, not fun. Yeah. People. It's, I imagine, like group. That's with the work settings. I imagine they. Everybody does it.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, yeah. And you have group. Now that I'm in the group chat world, which I love, you have different group chats for different things. Like just what you want to talk. You Have a golf group chat. You got some family group chats. You got some other. You got the comedy talking trash group chat.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

And so you get to bounce, you know, you get to bounce around a little bit, you know, and that's fun.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

I like Instagram, where you find. You hit share and then people just pop up. And then I go, this person, this person, this person doesn't need to see this one.

[Nate Bargatze]

That is so real. That is so real. That's so funny, man. My Hispanic friends, if I get anything about Mexican food, I go, they'll love it. I'll send it to them.

[Brian Bates]

No one believes you have Hispanic friends. Just said that for no reason.

[Nate Bargatze]

They're getting less and less by every day.

[Brian Bates]

No reason. All the people of color in my life, you're like, derek, get out of here. That dumb accent. We. We. I have color in my life, you know? Yeah, it's by Gregory. Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

I said, greg, today's his last day.

[Brian Bates]

So there you go. Tomorrow will be a different the next. That's why I'm not going to be on the podcast next week, because I refuse.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

That's why Aaron's not here today.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. Because Greg's here. You go. I go.

[Nate Bargatze]

Look, it's a lot of stuff.

[Brian Bates]

We gotta balance. We gotta balance a lot of things.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Dusty, when it comes to spending something, it's out of sight, out of mind, right?

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Dusty Slay]

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[Derek Stroop]

Wow.

[Dusty Slay]

Saving members up to $740 a year when using all of the app's premium features. So cancel your unwanted subscriptions.

[Derek Stroop]

All of them?

[Dusty Slay]

Every one of them. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go to Rocket Money.com Nate today. That's Rocket Money.com Nate Rocket Money.com Nate.

[Derek Stroop]

Not any specific ones. All of them.

[Dusty Slay]

Well, the ones that are unwanted.

[Derek Stroop]

They're all unwanted.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. Yeah. So I guess we say where we're at. Haven't been here, so it's been A minute. Happy to be back. Sorry I haven't been here. It's been crazy. I know. I'm gonna be gone a lot too. Yeah. I don't know. I've been doing. You know, I've been out there, man. Went to Europe. Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

There's some comments.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, yeah?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Perfect. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I'll be. So I can talk about where I've been.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

They ban knives in the uk, Is that right? Was it hard to find knives when you're there?

[Brian Bates]

You're looking for new knives. Looking for any knives. I got given a knife today, told me to keep it, keep it under my seat, don't let anybody find it.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Is that cool?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. I mean, that's a good old fashioned Southern gift to me. I collect knives.

[Derek Stroop]

I got some under the seat.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, under that seat.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. I have some knives, but I don't ever carry them, but I got given one today and then, you know. Yeah, we were joking. We had. Do we talk about knives? Travis, buddy. Travis on the road, we went to the spy museum. He had to hide his knife and did I talk about that.

[Derek Stroop]

Maybe they didn't ban.

[Brian Bates]

He did it at a band at the Laker game too, once. Holy smokes. He had his. He had his knife with him. And so he goes and dicks it in the dirt. And then he looks up and there's just free lockers for people's knives.

[Nate Bargatze]

He's got dirt all over his.

[Brian Bates]

Dirt all over his hands. He's got to remember where it's at. He's got to now go out there afterwards, look like the other people, just digging in dirt, you know, because in la, outside the Lakers, there's probably a lot of people digging in the dirt.

[Derek Stroop]

Oh, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

So you got to be like, do you mind if I jump in here and get this. Get my knife out of here.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's outside of a Lakers game. Yeah, people. People are walking. He's digging into the ground. People are walking past him. It's hilarious.

[Derek Stroop]

He gets a knee.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

He's like, stab with a needle.

[Brian Bates]

It's not like you go, he went off to the side. No, he's like, there are people as close as me and Bates are just. And they're just like going, that guy's putting that knife in that dirt. Everybody just sees it. Not to blow up a spot, you know, to see Travis out, you're gonna know. But there's a knife in the dirt around this building. Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

You go. Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

If you go search around the building.

[Nate Bargatze]

It'S not A tough read.

[Dusty Slay]

This weekend I was in west Bend, Wisconsin, at the bend theater just outside Milwaukee. Fan brought me this brewer's hat. Thank you very much.

[Derek Stroop]

All right.

[Dusty Slay]

Great crowd. A lot of folks came out. Look at this.

[Derek Stroop]

What's a brewer? Like, somebody brews beer.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yep.

[Brian Bates]

That makes sense. I never thought about till right this second. Look at that. How awesome is that?

[Dusty Slay]

That's from Jasmine Lozano.

[Brian Bates]

That really looks, like real, like the faces and stuff.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Can you design the faces?

[Dusty Slay]

I don't know how they do that.

[Brian Bates]

Am I the gray hair?

[Dusty Slay]

That's you?

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. Oh, that silver they got full on gray. Got me full on gray. Yep, yep. Very cool.

[Nate Bargatze]

That is cool.

[Dusty Slay]

And haul that thing back on a plane.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. Easy, easy. Yeah. How you did? What'd you do? Keep it?

[Dusty Slay]

She. Well, Aaron kept tipping over, but I just put it in the middle seat.

[Nate Bargatze]

They've seen a lot of guys like Brian trying to protect legos on flights. I promise you. They go, come back here, man. They go, peanut allergy, aisle three.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. You're right here.

[Dusty Slay]

Before I even brought it out. They're like, lego guy, lego guy.

[Brian Bates]

Let me guess. Fragile. Come on back. And that means it's him. And that everything's fragile. I'm fragile. That's fragile. He doesn't need to be bumped into.

[Dusty Slay]

Correct.

[Nate Bargatze]

Everybody else got water. They gave him apple juice. No, you're gonna be fine.

[Brian Bates]

All right.

[Dusty Slay]

That's too far.

[Nate Bargatze]

All right.

[Brian Bates]

What boarding group were you?

[Dusty Slay]

B. I'm always a B. Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

You haven't made it to the. I guess you're driving everywhere.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

B is not bad. I don't think.

[Dusty Slay]

I know I get the seat I.

[Derek Stroop]

Want, but C, as they say. C stands for center aisle.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, that's funny.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, that's pretty much true.

[Derek Stroop]

Center seat. Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

If you're used to be able to get c and you could get lucky in the back and finding a window or not you. I feel like you used to be. I think it's out of control now. Like where it's like once they started pre boarding and all this, it's just. It's on. And then, you know when they have them on from another flight again. Nothing more frustrating that you get on. Who are these people? They're already in the seats that you want.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

And they're like, well, they came from. They're staying with us.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Well, nobody pre. Pre boards more than southwest. I mean, they get. They go through everybody and then they start going. Anybody else that's not on this flight that would like to join.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Before the. A group, would you like to come up?

[Derek Stroop]

They're begging for.

[Nate Bargatze]

I mean, they want more and more. And then when you get on the plane, they go, please fan out and move to the back of the plane. I want to go. No, the thing that attracted. I can sit wherever I want. Have y'all ever had them do that? You try to sit in the first or second and they go, please spread out. And I got. I'm. I'm going sit wherever I want.

[Brian Bates]

That's the point.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

You got paid for that, right?

[Nate Bargatze]

That's right.

[Brian Bates]

That's my right. You can't tell me what to.

[Derek Stroop]

And when handicapped people that are in the wheelchair to get on the plane then sat at the aisle seat, and I'm like, I got to get in there. Can you get up?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

I mean, are you going to be.

[Derek Stroop]

Able to get up for me?

[Brian Bates]

So they can't walk. They should be forced to sit in the window.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

That's what you crammed.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

That's a dusty airline.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

If they have to use the bathroom, they got to really think about it.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

You know what I mean?

[Dusty Slay]

Or in the cargo hold.

[Brian Bates]

Did you go to the back? You would make sure you would ask them before they sit down.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Did you go?

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, yeah, go before you board? Yeah, yeah, go before you board.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

But anyway, it was a great show. Thanks for everybody who came.

[Nate Bargatze]

This past weekend. I was out with Mr. John Crist. We were in Fort Myers, Tampa, Florida, and then Pensacola. So, yeah, hot shows. Love doing comedy in Florida. So we had. You know, the weather's always the best. Yeah, the. The weather's always good.

[Brian Bates]

You know, is it nice for him to perform where the crowd has the same jeans that he has on? I. It's pretty good. I don't even know really what that mean by that, but. But I kind of.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah. No, he wasn't the only one with paint splatter on the panel. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Like, the pockets got a big design on it.

[Derek Stroop]

Oh, like. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Like. Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Tom Hardy's.

[Brian Bates]

No. Yeah, I used to wear those. Yeah, Yeah, I had some. What is this something.

[Nate Bargatze]

No, we all used to wear those jeans, but we're. We're older now. Yeah, yeah, we changed, but, yeah, Great weekend. It was hot shows. He sold them all out. It was a lot of fun.

[Brian Bates]

That's awesome.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Okay. Well, I was off, too. I. I say two.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

No one else was.

[Brian Bates]

I was off.

[Derek Stroop]

Aaron was off, and I was off. But I did a couple Shows at Zany's. Did a couple things at the lab. I did the All Zany's Comedy All Stars. And then I did the Dark and Dirty show.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, come on.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, I just got on it and I did some old jokes that I used to do. I didn't really get dark with it.

[Brian Bates]

You got dirty.

[Derek Stroop]

Vaguely dirty. Just for fun, you know.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

You gotta let loose sometimes. Let it out.

[Brian Bates]

Out of all the stuff you stand for.

[Derek Stroop]

Well, you know what, though?

[Brian Bates]

You get. You get. You don't. You get sucked into peer pressure.

[Derek Stroop]

Well, mainly I talked. Well, I wanted to just get out there. And mainly I talked about children's books, like the old school children's books and some of the words that they use that we don't really use anymore.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's a fun premise.

[Brian Bates]

That's an old joke.

[Derek Stroop]

No, no, that was my new one.

[Brian Bates]

Wow.

[Derek Stroop]

But then I did some old ones.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

That are vaguely dirty. But, you know, I mean. Yeah, I've lived a wild life.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. I mean, children's books, wild life. You're growing up in trailer park. Like you're not. Yeah. You're gonna be both.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Yeah. You're gonna.

[Derek Stroop]

That turned out the way I did. It's amazing. It could have gone so many directions.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

So many.

[Brian Bates]

It's wild. It did go a lot of directions.

[Derek Stroop]

It did.

[Brian Bates]

Look at your picture.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah. Well, that guy's okay. He got worse.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. But I mean, look how he looks. That's a different direction.

[Derek Stroop]

Yes, that is true.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

That was a hot look, though. I'm gonna be honest with the. Eminem was popular.

[Nate Bargatze]

He was.

[Derek Stroop]

I'll be honest with you. I did this before I even knew who Eminem was at, though.

[Brian Bates]

Wow.

[Derek Stroop]

I was ahead of.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's the most Dusty thing I've ever heard. Yeah, he. Most people would have been like, eminem had bleached hair. That's when Dusty goes. I had no idea about Eminem. I just did it on my own.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, that.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's impressive.

[Brian Bates]

How quick did Eminem come?

[Derek Stroop]

Well, I was working at Western Sizzling, you know, and somebody said. Told me about Eminem. I had no idea. So I, you know, his first song had just come. That was probably, I don't know, 2000 or something. Yeah. 99, 98. 99.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, Eminem just felt it.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

All right, we start. Do you guys. Comments? Hank Hooper. Brian seems to look down on Dusty and doubt everything he says.

[Dusty Slay]

Correct.

[Brian Bates]

Lame. Dusty holds two. Dusty holds to some far out stuff. But his gardening opinions seem pretty reasonable. Brian sounds like he believes everything in the reports.

[Dusty Slay]

That was npr.

[Brian Bates]

Npr. What did I say? NP NPR Reports.

[Dusty Slay]

Well, I'm not sure what he's referring to here.

[Derek Stroop]

I get a lot of this, though, where they go. He's got a lot of crazy stuff, but on this subject, he's right.

[Dusty Slay]

We talked about gardening.

[Derek Stroop]

Really? I'm right on all of them.

[Nate Bargatze]

I don't know about the moon, but his composting tips are really good.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

That's basically what he's saying.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

And nobody knows about the moon. I mean, that's the thing.

[Dusty Slay]

Are you into gardening?

[Nate Bargatze]

Me, I went out. Me not living in New York City, but I love the garden. I grew up with a huge garden. When I first moved to Colorado, I had a raised bed garden. I had a couple of them. So, yeah, I. I can't wait to have a garden again.

[Derek Stroop]

What'd you grow?

[Nate Bargatze]

I had tomatoes, peppers, onions. I had some, like, hanging cucumbers cake. I grew up in a pickling family. I want to pickle stuff.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

You know what I mean?

[Derek Stroop]

I love that. Yeah. Yeah, I'm into it.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. You pick. You grew pickles?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, eventually.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, eventually. Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Did you grow your own dill?

[Nate Bargatze]

No, we didn't grow our own deal. No, we had that. You remember those old. They used to come in, like a packet and you just rip it open like the bread and butter, and then you'd, like, drop it in the packet and then you can it. But, yeah, I mean, we had canned. I mean, can everything that I could. Canned tomatoes, canned anything you can. We had peach trees, pears, plums, cherry tree. We had seven apple trees. A little bit of everything grew up, like, on a gentleman's farm, essentially. Just grew it for ourselves, never sold it.

[Derek Stroop]

Wow.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

That's what that's called.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. It's essentially Gentleman's Farm is going to be somebody that's going to grow stuff that's going to have all kinds of different produce but isn't doing it to make a profit. They're just, you know, eating what they grow and kind of living off the land a little bit. Yeah, we. We bought the home like that. When we showed up, all this stuff was planted already. So, yeah, it was fun.

[Brian Bates]

Okay. Beth Vetter, thank you for a great show in Paris. Nate. I've been listening to the podcast for four years and was thrilled to have you finally come to Paris. It was great to see Nateland well represented by your openers, but was sad that the whole band wasn't there. Any chance we can get a live Taping of the podcast in Europe sometimes. I would also love to hear what Nate thought about Paris and if he ate any snail snails while he was there. We could. Yeah, we could do a lot. Live podcast, tape and just. All right, I'll just come out of pocket for that.

[Dusty Slay]

Good for Beth.

[Brian Bates]

I barely sold tickets. We had 300 people.

[Derek Stroop]

All right.

[Brian Bates]

Sold out in Paris. Unbelievable. It's crazy. Paris was awesome. Yeah, I. Paris was. I was really excited about Paris. Like, I always wanted to go, and I just thought it was, like, an awesome town. You're in. That middle just feels so old and like it's. Because it is old. And like every. Everything there is like, you know the joke. I have everything sold, but everything's like a thousand years old. And we went to the. Lou Saw the Mona Lisa, you know, and everybody.

[Derek Stroop]

I had no idea that picture was so small.

[Brian Bates]

It's not as small as. I don't.

[Derek Stroop]

Everybody says that it looked like it in your picture.

[Brian Bates]

I know, but he was far back. No, it's. It's. But it's a good sized picture. It's as. It's as big as this George Washington thing behind me.

[Derek Stroop]

So it doesn't look that big in the picture. It looks more like one of those little ones.

[Brian Bates]

You would think. That's what I thought. I thought it was going to be that small of a thing, but I think it was like, that size. It's not. Everybody just says it looks small, and everybody says it's small. I don't know what everybody thinks it's going to be, but.

[Derek Stroop]

Well, that's what I would think.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think that's what I. Yeah, that's what I thought. I thought.

[Derek Stroop]

I thought maybe it's like, framed, but it's like in a.

[Brian Bates]

What's on a giant wall.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah. That's huge.

[Brian Bates]

And nothing's. There's no context to any of it. You're not allowed up near it. You stand pretty far back. So when you take pictures and everything. But everybody does. Everybody just says it's small. That's like one of those things that you're like. Everybody just says that and you're like. I think we're all just saying it because that's what everybody says. And almost that's become more popular than. That's like, when you go there, someone's like. If you. When you say you want to go see Mona Lisa, I feel like they're like, it's smaller than you think. Like, you know, it's almost like it's not worth It. You're like, no, I want to know that. Like, let me go decide if it's not worth it. I still. It's still Mona Lisa.

[Derek Stroop]

You think that's a real one or that's a replica and they have the real one back in the back somewhere?

[Brian Bates]

Now, I bet the best place to put the real one would be in front of everybody.

[Derek Stroop]

Is this in a glass. Is it in a glass case?

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah. There's guards, but, I mean, I would think the best place to put the real one is that obvious of a place. The back would. I'd be more worried about because you're like, that's where people can get into it.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

If you wrote a movie, though, I'd have it in the back.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

And go, it's not the real one. How do you know how to go to work?

[Derek Stroop]

How do you know? Yeah, like, you ever see the Mr. Bean movie? I think they messed up the Mona Lisa and he tried to repaint it.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Good movie, Bean.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, I remember those movies.

[Brian Bates]

Thanks for jumping in, Derek.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's about all I had to say about Mr. Bean. I hate to break it to you.

[Brian Bates]

Mr. Dane's gray, Andrew Copsey. My wife and I went to see Nate in London in 2023, and we're at the Manchester show this year. I think Nate's new hour is the funniest hour of stand up I've ever heard. And what a surprise to have Greg and Mike on the show, too. Thank you so much for coming back to England and bringing some top Naatland comics with you. Thank you very much. Very, very nice of you. Manchester was a awesome show. They were fired up.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

How many people were that?

[Nate Bargatze]

One.

[Brian Bates]

Eight hundred, A thousand? Something like that.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, wow.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, it was good. London. London was like two shows. 4,000, probably. And then Paris was the smallest of 302 and Dublin. All the rest were probably about 2,000, 2,000. And Oslo. Yeah, it's crazy. Yeah, it's. It's insane that people are there. You don't get used to it. You don't just walk out and go. You're just like, I can't believe anybody's even remotely here. Yeah. But that Manchester show was awesome. They were, like, on fire. Yeah, they were. Yeah. He was like, that was a crowd. There's like, you could tape a special with. With that crowd. They were just fired up. I mean, they all were, but it was like, they were, you know. I don't know how many people go out to Manchester. Maybe not. It's not. It's Not London or. It's not like, whatever, but. But, yeah, show's great, man. Sure, it's a cool town. It's the least amount we got to spend in. Because we were not there long, but we walked around and stuff a little bit downtown, like, fun.

[Nate Bargatze]

How was the food?

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, food was all great.

[Nate Bargatze]

They get a tough. They get a tough review.

[Brian Bates]

We had fish and chips, and they were good, but we ate some good places and nice. Yeah. I did not eat a snail at. In Paris.

[Nate Bargatze]

Okay.

[Brian Bates]

I tried to think they have.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's cargo. The.

[Brian Bates]

A big one. They had. They have fried pig's blood and they call it. It's black. They call it something.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, that's definitely. You definitely shouldn't be eating that.

[Brian Bates]

I had a. I had a bite of it.

[Nate Bargatze]

Pig.

[Brian Bates]

It's called something else. And then Mike Vachyon ate it. Every. Every morning.

[Derek Stroop]

That's disgusting.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. Yeah. Every morning.

[Dusty Slay]

He's a health nut.

[Derek Stroop]

He should get. He should see an exorcist.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. He's been different since pig's blood every day. He's always slept upside down, but now.

[Dusty Slay]

Takes hot showers now.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. Yeah. He's the opposite. Yeah. He doesn't even feel. It all feels hot to him now. He goes, you're like, nah, it's cold water, Mike. And he goes, nah, it's burning me. You're like, well, I think that's. That pigs.

[Derek Stroop]

Fried pig's blood.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. But it's like. It looks like a hockey puck. So I'm sure there's some other stuff.

[Derek Stroop]

Worse as it goes along, I think.

[Brian Bates]

Laura Bean Allen, Mr. Mrs. Bean's wife.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Or this was his sister, Laura Bain.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, we all know Laura.

[Brian Bates]

My parents are on a trip to Ireland, and my mom texted us tonight to tell us that she had to take my dad to the hospital in Dublin for some health concerns. A doctor came in and after examining dad said he was interested to hear we are from Tennessee and asked if we had heard of Nate Bargetzi. Nate did a concert in Dublin, and the doctor was there. I know that connection cheered my mom up. Very, very nice.

[Derek Stroop]

All right.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. Yeah, that's, you know, bringing. Look at that. I'm glad they. Yeah. And the doctor came to show. What's his black pudding? That's it. Yeah, that's what they called it.

[Derek Stroop]

Gross.

[Brian Bates]

Yep. Yep.

[Derek Stroop]

Where was this? France.

[Brian Bates]

Like. No, I think they did it. Where did they eat it the most? London. We were in London. They did it. But I think it's. I think it's. All Europeans eat blood sausages. I don't know if they all. Yeah, I like saying that every European that's ever lived, this would be every morning. This is the only thing they is pigs blood.

[Derek Stroop]

Wow. I had no idea.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

I never heard anything like that.

[Brian Bates]

I have not either, and. But I have now. Black or Blake, Brian Blackwell, as we're talking about black pudding.

[Derek Stroop]

This guy's got a lot going on.

[Brian Bates]

So there's a lot happening right there. I started 75 hard with Nate on February 3rd. Yesterday was day 75, and I finished. Thanks, Nate, for your inspiration. Your three days of commitment to the program inspired me to go the distance. He lost over 15 pounds and did not have a single sour pitch cat. The Sour Patch Kid. The whole time, my body fat percentage dropped from 36 to 28%. This is basically my body. Wow. I could have had that body.

[Dusty Slay]

Yep.

[Derek Stroop]

And no happiness.

[Brian Bates]

No, He's. He's extreme. He's got the explanation points.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

He's very happy.

[Derek Stroop]

You think so? You think he's happy?

[Brian Bates]

Great. Look at that.

[Dusty Slay]

He's happy now because he's done and he can eat those Sour Patch Kids.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. Let's get that body fabric back up to 36.

[Derek Stroop]

This next guy's eating this.

[Nate Bargatze]

I was about to say this next guy.

[Brian Bates]

This is what I would have been at. Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

What a. Maybe I have Blake stand in for me. Yeah, for my.

[Dusty Slay]

For your movie?

[Brian Bates]

No, for my donut challenge. Oh, he's closer.

[Dusty Slay]

A fit figure for your stand in.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, they. Well, they do need one. What are they at? They. There was an ad in.

[Dusty Slay]

I assume in Atlanta.

[Brian Bates]

In Atlanta?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

They said they need to. I needed a stand. They put, like, an ad saying, neighbor, I got you shooting a movie in Atlanta. So if you like, you know, if you want to be a stand in or something. Looking for. It said fit. A fit figure with silver hair. They did go pretty hard on my hair, but it. Yeah, yeah, it was in.

[Dusty Slay]

Everyone just says, you're quitting. Stand up.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Okay.

[Brian Bates]

All right. Mike Permanent. No.

[Dusty Slay]

Brett Bacon. Right.

[Brian Bates]

Brett Bacon. Wow, look at that. What a name. Yeah, that's a good name.

[Nate Bargatze]

That is a good name.

[Brian Bates]

You know, and everybody's like, are you related to Kevin Bacon? And then he's got to be like, ah, it's a pretty common name. You go, is it Bacon? I'm curious on what y'all think of how they are now. Three dire wolf pups that have been born from old genetic material. SL DNA. The company claims this will help keep endangered animals from going extinct. But also, they plan to Bring back other species like the woolly mammoth and Tasmanian tiger. Where does the line between scientific advancement and playing with God's creation need to be drawn? This is the podcast for that answer.

[Derek Stroop]

They're probably not doing it. They just told us that they did.

[Dusty Slay]

Well, that's them now.

[Derek Stroop]

It's little dogs.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

It was last 13,000 years ago. This was never Rome. The Earth.

[Derek Stroop]

I mean, but they just. Do.

[Brian Bates]

They have the DNA.

[Derek Stroop]

They just throw out a lot of numbers and.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, but where, where, where are we the ones to draw the line here? Where does the line between scientific. Scientific advancement and playing with God's creation need to be drawn? I'm just saying. I mean, what aren't they talking about? Yeah, the woolly mammoth, Tasmanian tiger. I don't think there's anything if they have the things to bring back these animals. Yeah, I don't think that, you know, I mean, the woolly mammoth, that's kind of wild.

[Derek Stroop]

There was no reason they went extinct. Right. Let's get a bunch of woolly mammoths up in here. Yeah, I. I'm excited for it. I want them to bring back the Tyrannosaurus rex. That's what I want them to do. And just to see if it was ever real, let's bring it back.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Says the three dire wolves are actually gray wolves.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, see, that's what I'm saying. They're not even.

[Brian Bates]

They're not.

[Nate Bargatze]

Okay, but where's the line drawn? We have. We have machines that if you're dying and your heart is stopped, we will electrocute your heart and start it again. So how is that any different than creating another heart and creating. You're dead, you're gone. You're back.

[Derek Stroop]

Get rid of the machines. I support.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, I think I got a point. That's tough to argue.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

I say get rid of the machines. I'm with it.

[Brian Bates]

Your voice, I mean, you sound like Alabama sports.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Radio guy. You actually got. All right, we'll be back with the.

[Nate Bargatze]

Auburn Rob on the phone.

[Brian Bates]

I've always said you, him and Alabama Bill are going to go out at about the matchup this weekend in the SEC Baseball.

[Nate Bargatze]

Derek Bay. We got War Eagle Eddie on the line. What's going on? War Eagle ready?

[Derek Stroop]

This is your true.

[Brian Bates]

You think they should bring back the dire wolves and it's because you're this slow. Because it's baseball. It's SEC baseball season. So you're like, you know, we're waiting till signing day before we can really get into things.

[Derek Stroop]

What isn't dire mean? Something like it's an urgency.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dire Straits. But you.

[Derek Stroop]

I always said Derek is a definitely a football coach. I mean.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

The way he moves.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

You could just Photoshop his body onto the side of a football field and you would be like, that. That fits.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

We like talking about sports radio. Me and Bates always talk about sports radio and. But we. I told him one. I just remembered the. I was listening the other day. There's. Did we tell the Keith. Did I tell the Keith one with. Me and Keith Alberstadt were on the radio, morning radio, a long time ago, maybe. Me and Keith Aristotle were on doing morning radio at a restaurant promoting, I think, our show at Zany's when we used to do a show together.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

And then. So we're on the radio, and then I remember we're just talking like this. And then Keith goes, are we on the radio? Are we on the air? Are we on the air? And the guy goes, I don't know. I have a real moment of like. I mean, we were just all talking, and then Keith's like, hey, are we on the air? He goes, I don't know. And then he just looks at it. And then there is another one. I heard this guy's just talking and they, you know, you just. You do an ad. So they go to put an ad in and, you know, so they, like, Bates would do it. You just sneak it. Used to do it. They sneak it in, whatever. So they're just going on and on. They're talking about whatever. Then the guy goes, out of nowhere, they're talking about football.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

And out of nowhere he goes, you like Long John Silver's. He goes. He goes, not really. He goes, well, they got a pretty good deal. Long John Silver, like, so it's an ad. And then he goes, well, that sounds pretty good. He had to change it. But he was so, like, on another. Like, he wasn't thinking about, like it was in the moment. It was just so funny. He goes, yeah, you like Long John Silver's. He goes, not really. Well, they have a pretty good thing going right now. Three for one. And he goes, well, that sounds like a good. He has to get back into it now.

[Dusty Slay]

It's live radio, so there's nothing you can do.

[Brian Bates]

Live radio. Don't just out of nowhere ask. I mean, I think I told it. I remember lady once on a. I did a morning TV show and a. And the guy. The. It was a guy and a woman, and they were the two anchors, and the woman was gone. So the guy had her. His wife come, and so she just set in and filled in, and she just wasn't good. And this woman's on there trying to sell jewelry. You know, like on morning radio shows, they bring something in, and this woman's like, oh, here's jewelry I got. And then she goes. And then the husband's like, oh, would you. You know, you'd buy something like this? And she goes, no, I wouldn't. And you. And that was. And you're like. You go, just say, you going to buy it?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

She goes, I wouldn't. They go, well, you would buy this. She's like, I'm not gonna. I wouldn't buy this. We. We have this at home. You're like. Like this woman. You're like, no one's gonna make you do the transaction on a. Right.

[Nate Bargatze]

Just say yes.

[Brian Bates]

Say yes. Just say, I'm gonna buy this woman's stuff. And she was like, I'm not. And then she kept going. She kept saying, I'm not. And I remember watching it. I was watching it live, just sitting there, and you could see the husband's like, all right.

[Nate Bargatze]

Just yelling at the teeth. Say it.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

All right, let's do Brett Bacon's question one more time. Brett Bacon, Dr. Katie Dieter. Dieter. Dieter. Dieter. My mother passed away, and I felt so much comfort when listening to N Land tonight. I was listening to episode 109 time, and Dusty says that he loved the movie Interstellar even though he doesn't believe it. And Nate says I don't believe in Jurassic Park. I laughed so hard and felt so happy. Nate's comment, coupled with Dusty cracking up, laughing, and eventually agreeing with Nate really made my whole week. Well, that's. Thanks for sharing that.

[Dusty Slay]

Okay.

[Derek Stroop]

So sorry about your say eventually. I don't know. I didn't listen to the episode, but I. I feel like I would agree with you right away.

[Brian Bates]

Her mom passed away, so maybe just let her have it. Okay. Good night.

[Dusty Slay]

Come on, Katie. What's your problem? Listen closer.

[Derek Stroop]

Okay. I'm sorry, Katie. I'm sorry, Doctor.

[Brian Bates]

The fact that a doctor even let listen to something you're on is impressive.

[Derek Stroop]

Dr. Dieter.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. Sounds like you're kind of doctor. Yeah, maybe doctor. Could be. You go, I got a doctor.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Sounds like Brett Bacon would be your patient.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Dr. Tireder.

[Brian Bates]

Who you working on today? Brett Bacon. We're trying to get into some Brett Tofu, if you know what I mean.

[Nate Bargatze]

His wrestling name.

[Derek Stroop]

Are you ready to win Mother's Day and cement your reputation as the best Gift giver in the family.

[Dusty Slay]

Absolutely.

[Derek Stroop]

Give the moms in your life an Aura digital picture frame preloaded with decades of family photos. You know what? I like to read these sarcastically, but I do like aura frames. It is really good. I gave one. I'm not saying, but I like. It's fun to read it sarcastically.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

But I do like them. I gave one to mom, one to my dad.

[Dusty Slay]

Yep.

[Derek Stroop]

And. And I just put pictures on there, and it's really, you know, the only way they see their grandkids, and it keeps them up to date on what's going on.

[Dusty Slay]

You should put pictures of your moms on your dads and picture your dads on your moms.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, I should.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah. Just to remind.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, Just mix it up a little bit. Yeah, I should do that. And I. Well, that's. I like to think I'm a good gift giver, but honestly, it's easy to be a good gift giver with aura frames. Aura frames was named the best digital photo frame by wire cutter, and it's easy to see why. It's not just pictures. You can upload videos up to 30 seconds long, and your favorite live iPhone photos will play right on the frame. The embedded speaker can play audio on demand.

[Dusty Slay]

Wow.

[Derek Stroop]

So you can, you know, if you want your parents to hear something, you could put your, you know, say some stuff. Yeah, you know, it's a good way.

[Dusty Slay]

To break some news to them.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah. I think they're just watching, enjoying the. The photos, and then, boom, I dropped out of college.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

You know, something like that. Aura has a great deal for Mother's Day. For a limited time, listeners can save on their perfect gift by visiting auraframes.com to get 35 off, plus free shipping on their best selling carver mat frame. That's a UFRA promo code. Nate, support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply.

[Brian Bates]

Malia Tate. Malia Tate.

[Dusty Slay]

I'd say Malia.

[Brian Bates]

Malia Tate. Derek Stroop and I are living the same life. My birthday is the 24th of December. In the last two years, we've gone to Texas Roadhouse for my birthday.

[Nate Bargatze]

You were saying, what a life to share.

[Dusty Slay]

Was it the Christmas episode? You were saying you go to Waffle House.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, Waffle House and Texas Roadhouse. I'm a huge fan of Texas Roadhouse. I can't remember which one I I mentioned, but both of them are near and dear to my heart. Texas Roadhouse I talked about is like, white people go to Mexican restaurants for their birthday, and Hispanic people Go to Texas Roadhouse. And we both do it for cultural reasons. We go to a Mexican restaurant because we want them to dance around us, throw a sombrero on our head.

[Derek Stroop]

That's not why.

[Nate Bargatze]

Okay, all right, I'll turn this. Okay. And then Texas Roadhouse, they go. So some woman named Tammy says, yee haul. And throws peanuts at it. We're both doing it for, you know, the cultural reason. So anyways, I thought that was a sharp observation. Fell flat. But, yeah, Texas.

[Brian Bates]

I feel like you just go because you. That's. That food. I don't know. Like, you go to, like, Mexico for culture reasons. I don't go to the.

[Nate Bargatze]

Well, I'm saying. Okay, okay. Not just culture, but for birthdays. When I go to Texas Roadhouse, it's seems like Hispanic families are celebrating birthdays. When I go to Mexican restaurants, I don't see Hispanic families, you know, clapping around cheese dip.

[Derek Stroop]

I will say, my dad goes to a Mexican restaurant near his house on his birthday. They put the.

[Dusty Slay]

So you left him out?

[Derek Stroop]

I said, that's not why I go. But my dad does it. And then they put cake on your face.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. And they put it on your nose.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

And then you wipe it and you get kind of. And then they'll do it again, and.

[Derek Stroop]

They take a picture, and everybody's like.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, look at him.

[Nate Bargatze]

You know, it's a good time. It is a good time. They bring out fajitas. You know, I forgot about that.

[Derek Stroop]

You're right. My dad does do that.

[Brian Bates]

I don't know if I know. Turn that around. Yeah, I did.

[Nate Bargatze]

I did. But that's a. I mean, that shows.

[Brian Bates]

You kids if you work hard.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Some stuff can still work out. Like that joke.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's right.

[Dusty Slay]

Is your birthday Christmas Eve?

[Nate Bargatze]

It is not. December 10th is my birthday, but we're both. We're both December babies there.

[Brian Bates]

All right.

[Nate Bargatze]

But, yeah, me.

[Derek Stroop]

And not necessarily the same life, though.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Not the same. Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Come on.

[Nate Bargatze]

I don't think everybody that goes to Texas Roadhouse is living the exact same life. Maybe.

[Derek Stroop]

Maybe Texas Roadhouse, where you throw the peanuts on the floor. Is that Logan's?

[Nate Bargatze]

No, no, Texas.

[Brian Bates]

Both.

[Nate Bargatze]

Both of them. Yeah. Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

What's the difference in Texas and Logan's?

[Nate Bargatze]

You know, I don't go to Logan's. I only go to Texas. What if I knew the exact difference? That'd be. So I go, one of them has a brown butter and the other one's a plain butter with the roll.

[Brian Bates]

Get one that has cinnamon butter something right there. That's crazy.

[Derek Stroop]

It is weird. You go to a restaurant, they both got good rolls.

[Brian Bates]

I think Texas Road might have better.

[Nate Bargatze]

They remind me of O Charlies back in the day. You remember the O. Charlies ones? I used to press them together.

[Brian Bates]

Did y'all ever do that with.

[Nate Bargatze]

He said it's crazy.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, Charlies is. It's unbelievable what they did to their roles.

[Dusty Slay]

Oh, they're the best.

[Brian Bates]

They were. It's.

[Derek Stroop]

What did they do to them, Old Charlies?

[Brian Bates]

And not every has old Charlies, but old Charlies had roles. And growing up, they. It was unreal. Dude. They were the best rolls I've ever had in my life. People would go, you're going there for the rolls. They'd bring you one basket. You'd be like, that's not enough. You go, just bring. I might eat five.

[Derek Stroop]

That's why they changed them.

[Brian Bates]

And then they changed them, I think, to cut cost. And. And they just are not good.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

And so now it's like. I mean, I'll even go and still get them. They have, like, the same. They look and feel like they're going to be the old one.

[Dusty Slay]

I wouldn't say they're bad.

[Brian Bates]

They just I' bad. And I imagine once the me's of the world move. Move on. We don't. They. They're going to be like, it's a long game.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

And. But the younger generation that's going now doesn't even know.

[Derek Stroop]

Oh, Charlie's just hanging on. Ruby Tuesdays, Applebee's, they took a dip. Charlie's just hanging on.

[Dusty Slay]

I don't know.

[Nate Bargatze]

Why did Ruby Tuesday. Why did nobody. The. The salad bar at Ruby Tuesday should have never dropped off.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, it.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. I thought Ruby Tuesdays felt fancy to me. So I think that's why. I think we feel like we might have talked about this too, before.

[Dusty Slay]

250Th episode. We've talked about it.

[Brian Bates]

We talked about it. Yeah. 250 episodes. But, yeah, Ruby Tuesdays felt like. I don't think we went to that growing up. Like, it was. That was a.

[Derek Stroop]

No.

[Brian Bates]

No, I didn't. I did until later. Yeah. I was older and then I found out about Ruby Tuesdays and I was like, oh, I wish I would have known. But Shoney's is where the salad bar was.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah. Shoney's was a hot spot.

[Nate Bargatze]

Hot. Yeah, it was.

[Derek Stroop]

I went to a Shoney's in middle of West Virginia not long ago, and.

[Nate Bargatze]

It was still West Virginia, I gotta say. Charleston, West Virginia. Home. Birthplace of Shoney's.

[Derek Stroop]

Oh, I did not know.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, I used to. Born in Charleston. A lot of my family lives in West Virginia. There's a Shoney's that was like the original downtown by the river, the Canal River. We used to go to it growing up. Love Shoney's. A lot of core memories at a Shoney's.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, I was at that Shoney's, and there was a guy that worked there. He was picking the lockdown on one of the game machines because they lost the key. And I made a joke to him, and he goes, yeah, they lost the key. And now some of my lesser good qualities are coming out to help.

[Brian Bates]

Shoney's headquartered here, Nashville, Tennessee.

[Nate Bargatze]

Wow, that's awesome. Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Never been in West Virginia.

[Nate Bargatze]

He's the first one ever not in West Virginia. Okay.

[Dusty Slay]

Charleston.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

I've been allowed to be Big Boy. Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, yeah. Yeah. And I've seen the big boys. I have to such a good name. Shoney's.

[Dusty Slay]

Their burger maybe still is called the Big Boy.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They're still good. They're still going. Yeah, Shoney's doing.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, they're hanging in.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. They're fighting. Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

That's a good way to put that one on, Dallas. A bike. It's fighting.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Trying to hang in there.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. Yeah. Bonnie, Paraguay. Has anyone noticed that Dusty says bar Gazi, and yet Nate pronounces his own name as Barget? But in fairness, it probably should be Bargazi.

[Derek Stroop]

I feel like everyone said Bargazi. Nate Bragatzi. I feel like that's what everyone says.

[Nate Bargatze]

I said that until I heard Nate pronounce his own last name. And so when he said Bargetsi, I go, well, that's how I'm saying it, but I agree.

[Derek Stroop]

Not so confident.

[Brian Bates]

No, you go the other way.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, Whatever Nate says, do the opposite.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, Bargazi is probably how it should be. And then our Southern accent has turned it into Bargetzi. And so now I say it, like.

[Dusty Slay]

With an A. Bargetzi Bergetsey.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

It's not even how she.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

So Bargetzi.

[Brian Bates]

That would be what I should be saying. Yeah, yeah. Bargetsi. Yeah. Someone gave me a way to say it, and I was like, oh, yeah, that's good. And I forgot, like, to tell someone.

[Derek Stroop]

So it seems we're all a little confused.

[Dusty Slay]

Go to a bar to get a Z. Yeah. Kind of Peter out there at the end. I should have thought that through.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Mike Gatsima, Mike Herman. Throughout the years of the podcast, I've heard you guys talk about your various comedy specials, which usually includes discussing the length of the special. I was wondering if there is a target length you feel is ideal for a special and why. You know what? I've been saying the word ideal more.

[Derek Stroop]

Have you?

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

And what reason?

[Brian Bates]

I don't know. I just. I've been. I don't know. I started saying it, never said it ever. And I've. I've been saying it a little bit more and ideals maybe. Like, that feels good. It's like a taste of, you know.

[Dusty Slay]

Could you use it?

[Brian Bates]

Not right now. Yeah, but I. I don't really know I'm going to use it till I'm there.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

And then I'm there and I'm like. And then I use it.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. And you can go ideally.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, you know, that's. That's fine. I don't know. Yeah, I don't go that. I've not done that yet.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, Ideally, I'd like to.

[Brian Bates]

Ideally, yeah. Yeah. That could be the next step, I think. I would say ideally. And so then it's like, ideally, ideally, we're not going to go over there. The Bargetsi family stays over here. Yeah. I don't know the length is. It should be an hour. And it could all vary. Depends on when you're doing. We do half hours. Half hours are great. 45, 50 is probably a good amount, too.

[Derek Stroop]

It's like an hour nine. That's where.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, that's like 20. Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Dry bar.

[Brian Bates]

I think it's. Yeah, 20. I mean, they can. It all just varies. Again, this is the thing we talked about early. It really depends if you're. I think if you're putting a special out, you're trying to grab the audience and they don't know you. It's like. I don't know if you necessarily need to put out an hour, but that's what we had. We have the showcase. You see comics that are doing eight minutes and then you. Some hopefully go to half hours, then hours, and you go until you want to start seeing more from that comedian. But so, yeah, so it can. It can all. You know, it all just depends. Yeah, but you're. Where you should do it. I think an hour is good rough somewhere in that world. Yeah, I think so.

[Derek Stroop]

I actually like, like 59, because it's an hour, but when you see the time, it looks less than an hour.

[Brian Bates]

I agree that I think it should be, but I did.

[Derek Stroop]

Mine's my thing. My new one's like an hour nine. Because I don't know what to cut I like all the jokes. Yeah, I like all the jokes.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

No, hour nine is. Is flex because you could stop at an hour and you've really fulfilled it, but another nine minutes of joke, joke, joke, joke, joke, joke. You're like, I had an overflow and I didn't dislike any of them. Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

That's nowhere to put it.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. And when they're all funny, they're. It works perfect. So. But that doesn't work for everybody. So it like, I. I agree with Nate since I know y'all get a lot of questions about what I this so. But I agree with Nate on it does depend on the comic too.

[Brian Bates]

You know, if they're seeing you. I mean, some comics would benefit from just doing a 30 minute special or 45 minute special. Whatever. I. I think if you, if someone's telling you to do an hour, I think I. Ideally, man, that's good. That's where you would come on. Ideally you would do as 52 sounds good.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

I was like, some of our specials that we're making, you know, it's like, you like that 48 I can be talked into 52 feels like doable. If someone that can do an hour, you're like, let's just make it a nice tight. Yeah, you know, that's a good point. And then the half hour, it's like, yeah, you'd be under. Under a little bit.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

27 is nice. Nice. 27 minute special feels like again. Yeah. I think people want to watch that. And when. Yeah. If something's over an hour, sometimes in your head, mentally you go like, yeah, like you think, I don't know if I want to invest in that much.

[Derek Stroop]

This is like a whole movie now.

[Brian Bates]

Even weirdly enough. Even though if some says, yeah, it's 52 minutes, you're like, I was just looking at listening to some podcasters the other day and it was like, it's 44 minutes. And I was like, oh, yeah. I was like, you. You want to listen to that? We've had that with this podcast. We thought people want to go like, oh, I'll do that. And there's another one I saw four hours. You're like, like, well, I'm not gonna like. It feels like it never ends. And ours is too. We tried to go down. I don't think I've come back up.

[Derek Stroop]

Ever listen to a full Joe Rogan podcast because it's like three hours. I'm like, I never.

[Brian Bates]

At least. No, you would. I think people listen. It's either. Yeah, people are Seeing clips. Or there's. Or they listen to it over a week.

[Derek Stroop]

Or if you're like, yeah, yeah, I think that's what it is. Or if you're working and you don't have to. You know, you can listen to whatever you want. Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

And if you listen to Joe's whole podcast, you wouldn't have time for an ice bath. You know what I mean? Yeah, that's true.

[Brian Bates]

That's what it's about.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Maybe I'll get into that. Ice bat.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

You think?

[Derek Stroop]

I don't.

[Nate Bargatze]

No, I was.

[Brian Bates]

I bet he does.

[Derek Stroop]

I can't handle.

[Brian Bates]

You have to.

[Nate Bargatze]

I couldn't have put the sarcasm on any thicker.

[Brian Bates]

No, I was just. Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, then I missed yours. Sorry.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. Did you.

[Derek Stroop]

I can't do it.

[Brian Bates]

I said Derek does it because he has to, because he's. To cool himself down. No, he has been doing it for a few years. No, before, it. Was he just. Because now he runs hot.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

You get it?

[Derek Stroop]

No, I get it.

[Brian Bates]

Okay.

[Nate Bargatze]

All right.

[Brian Bates]

Okay. So that's a pretty solid fun. Yeah, that's fun. No. Yeah. The ice passer. I. I've done it, but it does. I'll tell you what you get out of it. You feel terrific. Well, it's. It's. You really do feel. You have the most energy. You're very. I. I get the idea of it, but it's. It's hard to get in it.

[Derek Stroop]

They say your body feels like it's gonna die when it's in an ice bath. So when you get out, do you get this endorphin rush because you lived, And I don't know if that's good for you.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, Well, I think you decide for you, and other people decide for other people.

[Derek Stroop]

But, you know, I. You know, I'll share an opinion, though.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

I just. Because I think it's not. Can't be good for your body to think it's gonna die all the time. Time.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, I. I agree with that. That's not why I do it. I don't. I'm not gonna do.

[Derek Stroop]

Do it.

[Nate Bargatze]

No, I don't. I would never take an ice bath because I hate cold water. And I've hated cold water, like, everybody my entire life. We have. We have charities where people jump in the water to raise money for fundraisers because cold water is so terrible.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

So if I can find other options, you'll catch me walking, drinking smoothies or trying salads before I jump into an ice bath. Yeah, that'd be last resort. If I Go, I can't get fired up. And they go, well, this is the only option. But I.

[Brian Bates]

What if they told you ice bath worked like Ozempic? You don't think you would jump in? They go, the longer you're in there.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

It's like you just start toning up.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, I. I tried. I tried Ozempic for like three months and did. Lost nine pounds. And that was it. My doctor was like, you're the only person that's ever like, beat Ozempic. He's like, we're not really. I'm not joking. He's like, we're not getting anywhere. And he's like, you don't really. You. We're not seeing the results that you're.

[Brian Bates]

Gaining weight on it.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah. He was like, you know, and I was lying to him. He's like, is your eating habits change? Because I wouldn't eat all day, then at night I would catch up with everything.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

But anyways.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, you lost nine pounds.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Three a month.

[Dusty Slay]

That's not.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, I mean, I guess. I mean, I could have done that probably.

[Brian Bates]

I think it's supposed to be more than three a month.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Everybody else seems extreme, like, gosh, what happened? Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

I mean, look at Billy Gardelle. I mean. Yeah. I mean, everybody that has had those impacts. Pick. Look. I mean, it looks like, you know, I mean, they have lost a lot. I mean, nine pounds in three months. He gave up on me. He was like, you can keep.

[Derek Stroop]

Billy Gardell looks like an oil baron or whatever. Now I feel like he has a mustache and he's real thin.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, he does. I mean, good for him. I'm sure he feels great, but.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, I. Yeah. I mean, but he does. He looks like a oil tycoon or something.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Well, to take it and not it. Not work is pretty good.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Talk about it at all.

[Nate Bargatze]

Not. Not on stage yet. Yeah, yeah, I'm definitely.

[Derek Stroop]

You should start talking about it. Maybe OIC will send you some money to kind of shut you up. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

No, they got. They go, we got a dose of work, bubba.

[Derek Stroop]

You're going to hear from a. I like that.

[Dusty Slay]

Give us a shot.

[Derek Stroop]

People are donate. People donate to charity. If you jump in the cold water, I like to think that there are people with so much money, they're like, yeah, I could just give it on my own. Yeah, but I want to see the poor people jump in the cold water.

[Nate Bargatze]

And we'll call it a polar plunge.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, yeah, go jump in the cold water. And then I'll donate some money.

[Brian Bates]

Go run our. I've done a polar plunge. Yeah, yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

But the money could be donated without you having to jump in the water.

[Nate Bargatze]

Does make it more fun.

[Brian Bates]

Everything but I think it's like, yeah, it's a weird kind of thing. Charities. That's why it's kind of. Charities are tough because it's like, yeah, you're doing a bunch of stuff that could be. Yeah, you're like, just give the money. Like, I don't know, you know the challenges where you're doing all the like, I think a challenge is probably going around again, right?

[Dusty Slay]

Spocket Challenge.

[Brian Bates]

I think it's like, you know, you, I mean it's like the young people could do that. You're like, but the ones that we did it the first time, you're like. And yeah, I'm not doing, you know. Yeah, you're not challenging ice bucket again.

[Derek Stroop]

Nah.

[Brian Bates]

You're like, there's a new.

[Derek Stroop]

Get a new thing. It's got to be more extreme.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Boiling water challenge.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. McDonald's hot coffee challenge.

[Derek Stroop]

Yes.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, that'll be yes.

[Brian Bates]

Alex Tucker. My wife and I were at the early show taping for Tennessee Kid. We got there just as the opening comedian told his last joke and exited the stage only to come back out and be cut off by a production team member mid joke. I now know that the opener was none other than Breakfast Bates himself. Are there any other production related issues or problems with worth noting that you guys had to navigate doing stand up?

[Dusty Slay]

You had helicopters.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah. The helicopter thing on my other special, that was for real. The helicopters came. I don't know, you know, it's like, yeah, yeah, you just have like, yeah, you could have, you know, some, some is like, I mean you do get called off stage like that or you know, you might have to. I think I've only done it like once or twice where I've repeated a joke maybe in a taping where I didn't set it up right then I kind of set it again. But I only did that maybe once. Might have been very early too, like, like my Live at Gotham or something.

[Dusty Slay]

That one, it was very. It was something like a fan was blowing something in the background. You were about to walk out.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

And they sent me back out there.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

It was something very simple.

[Nate Bargatze]

I, I one time on stage was telling a joke and nobody was going with me and I could tell that there was like some talking that kind of started in the crowd and I got upset and I started to kind of not like really turn against the crowd, but note that they were not liking the joke and how they were in the wrong. And then I kept rambling and eventually somebody in the front row went, there is somebody having a seizure in the audience. And I was up there going. And that's why I'm trying to tell her, how do I got. And they are just emergency crews. And I mean, I had missed completely what was. That's one that I always remember. And I was opening for Bert Kreischer in arena and my mic went out and I just tossed the mic down and had to yell the rest.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, well, it's.

[Nate Bargatze]

Those are two that come out of the.

[Brian Bates]

Cut his mic. Yeah, yeah. I just showed a bowling alley. I might have told it on here, but with opening and we're performing in front of the bowling lanes. I was opening for Big J years ago and right out in. Right outside Detroit or something. And so you perform. They had bowling going on at the other end and comedy going on this far other than we were at. So you just hear bowling.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

And then so the stage is up, I'm on stage, light goes out. So now I'm in the dark. So the guy's got to go get a ladder to climb up to hook the light back up. Well, the ladder couldn't be farther. This is a big bowl now. Ladder's so far away. So he goes and gets the ladder. So I'm doing. I'm doing 25, 30 minutes. 20 minutes. I'm just in the dark. So you just have to figure that out. He puts the ladder up there, gets it, turns light on, comes back on, takes the ladder back to where it belonged, comes back, light goes out again. I mean, last probably. I do probably five more minutes. Light goes back out and he's. See him go. He's got to go get that ladder. And I remember just thinking like, just leave the. Let's maybe just leave it over here.

[Derek Stroop]

Leave it set up.

[Brian Bates]

Leave it set up. If. And then I had to sit and so my set, my 30 minute set, three minutes of it was in light.

[Nate Bargatze]

Holy.

[Brian Bates]

And the rest of it was non light. So yeah, you deal with that stuff and you just gotta. That's stuff to figure out.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

That is back to back. Weekends in Huntsville where lights went out. At the club, lights went out. I did my last 30 minutes in the dark. And following week I was with you and you in Huntsville.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, that's right.

[Dusty Slay]

And the lights. Then the fire alarm went off and the lights came on.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

While Julian was on stage. Yeah, Just kept going.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

He handled that great.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

I was in Detroit a couple weeks ago and doing a show, may not been going great. And the guy sitting right down front pulls a book out, and then I see him open it, and I said, are you reading?

[Nate Bargatze]

Even heard of that? He pulled a book out?

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, he pulled a book out and he opened it.

[Brian Bates]

That's the only way Brian's audience, the. The age they're at, they know how to. They tell them to get off phones the old way. They'll do.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

So you can't read because they're old school.

[Dusty Slay]

It's all older people get off your book.

[Brian Bates]

They go, don't you. You better not pull that newspaper out. Oh, you better not pull that newspaper out. A book. Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

So you said, are you reading?

[Dusty Slay]

I said, are you reading? And people did laugh at that. And he flipped it over, and it was your book. Big dumb eyes. And then I said, he get that? Oh, I don't know.

[Brian Bates]

Tell me. I think I might know.

[Dusty Slay]

And then I said, well, why would you? Because he was writing something. He said, you're mentioned in the book. And I was like, oh, really? What did it say? It was just. Nothing. Like, we do a podcast together or whatever, but it was Daniel Rucker.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think childhood friend. Yeah. Who's in the book. I talk about Daniel in the book.

[Dusty Slay]

Smartest friend of yours.

[Brian Bates]

Friend.

[Nate Bargatze]

So did he pull out the book to get your attention?

[Brian Bates]

He.

[Dusty Slay]

He was making a note while he was thinking about it. He wanted me to sign it there.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, you gotcha.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah. Very smart guy. I think, just yet not intentionally, but, like. Yeah. Doing it to honestly. Probably. Honestly make a note.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah. That made perfect sense.

[Brian Bates]

But he could tell Brian needed something to go on.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah, he helped me. I'll say that.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah. He goes. But yeah, So I know. I said, not great.

[Nate Bargatze]

At Segways.

[Brian Bates]

Daniel read it before it. Yeah, yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

He's taking notes. Yeah, yeah. Dusty. Yes, Brian, what if I told you the most important part of your spring cleaning routine is your sock drawer? You got a good sock collection going.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, I'm into socks.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah. Well, it's time to ditch any mismatched tired pair and refresh your collection with some fresh Bombas. And for all your other spring cleaning chores, Bombas has the cushion arch hugging pairs that'll keep you comfy while you spruce up the house.

[Derek Stroop]

I always think I'm gonna find that extra one.

[Nate Bargatze]

One.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

I hang on to the lost one because I go, one day, that extra Will, what happens?

[Dusty Slay]

Where does it go?

[Derek Stroop]

Where does it go?

[Dusty Slay]

No one knows. No one knows. But BOMBAS is going international now. Enjoy worldwide shipping to over 200 countries. Head over to bombas.com nate and use code nate for 20% off your first purchase.

[Derek Stroop]

Oh, perfect.

[Dusty Slay]

That's B O m b a s.com Nate Code Nate for 20% off your first purchase. Bombas.com Nate and use code Nate.

[Brian Bates]

All right, this week, speaking of school, Daniel Rucker.

[Dusty Slay]

That's a pretty good segue.

[Derek Stroop]

I don't get it.

[Brian Bates]

We're talking about school.

[Nate Bargatze]

We're about to talk about school.

[Dusty Slay]

And he went to school with this guy.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

All right. I just, you all, you all seem to go. Yeah, of course.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah. We were just talking about Daniel Rucker in the book and that he went to school with him, I think. I don't doubt.

[Derek Stroop]

I didn't know that you mentioned that you went to school with him.

[Brian Bates]

Maybe I did.

[Derek Stroop]

Lost.

[Nate Bargatze]

No, you did.

[Brian Bates]

Okay. We're taking over from here. Dusty.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, well, pretty welcome, Dusty Slay.

[Brian Bates]

Well, does he say he's watching it like y'all guys are watching it?

[Dusty Slay]

A few weeks ago while you're out, Dusty mentioned that in school he played Foursquare. And Aaron ridiculed him, saying, what, are you, from the 1920s?

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

But people came to Dusty's defense saying, no, kids still play.

[Derek Stroop]

Aaron didn't go to the same kind of school I went to.

[Brian Bates]

No, he went to. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pretty high level.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

School.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Where they probably didn't do four square. But he watched. He would watch the help do four square.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

So exactly. It's we do. We do. I did four square. My daughter still does four.

[Dusty Slay]

I said, I learned it from Harper.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

I didn't know I was about. I have played with you and Harper. Four square. Yeah, that's, that's great.

[Dusty Slay]

I think it was that same weekend.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, it was. Huntsville. Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

You know who loves four square? Nick Novik.

[Nate Bargatze]

Wow.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah. Loves.

[Dusty Slay]

Were you a big game player growing up, Derek?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, of course. All the, all the, you know, the classics. I mean, I feel like you're a.

[Dusty Slay]

Reason most of them are banned in school these days.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

I mean, all the classics Sounds like.

[Derek Stroop]

A response from a guy that didn't play it again.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

All the, you know, the classic.

[Nate Bargatze]

I mean, I talked about part, I talk about this on stage, so I'm trying not to. I mean, dodgeball, all those.

[Brian Bates]

It'd be nice if you add something.

[Nate Bargatze]

I, I, I loved it. I Mean especially, you know, back then we didn't need much to entertain ourselves and there and our like friends weren't broke up into social classes. Like you didn't have to have a certain electronic to hang out with somebody. We just. If you were all in the cul de Sac at 6pm you could play the game. So there was like, you know, I mean there's so many games. Freeze tag, dodgeball, kickball.

[Brian Bates]

Were you the. How were you the roller in kickball? Yeah, I would be sometimes like, I like, like you. I feel like you would be like a power roller. Yeah. Like it was obvious. Derek's team all time quarterback. I think you would be the one organizing a lot of the games.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh absolutely. And also, I mean I played a lot of these fun. But I loved like the core game. Like I loved basketball and football and baseball and so some of these other games, I mean I might have. I mean tug of war. Y'all remember tug of war? I mean at my school tug of war was huge.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, that's from like the Romans did. Tug of war. Say it and I'll bet, I'll bet, I'll come to me. Describe it. Yeah, yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Well, you had like at the end at our school you have like the big loop. Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Everybody.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Not at your. This isn't like at yours. Harvest, Alabama. Everybody, everybody knows tug of war at.

[Nate Bargatze]

Everybody'S school had that loop at the end. And I was the anchor when I got into the loop. We'd like at the whole school, like in the gym you go. And they go, they go, Ms. Thomas's class, Ms. Johnson's class. There we go. And then you go out there and I would step into the. When I got into the loop because I was a big kid, I don't have to sell y'all on that. And I would pull the loop up. The gym would go nuts. Yeah, because I, I mean I'd get settled into it and I was fixing to drag Ms. Johnson's class.

[Dusty Slay]

By yourself?

[Nate Bargatze]

No, these kids, I mean, I mean backing them down. Tug of war was like, that's a core memory for sure.

[Derek Stroop]

Did you all watch? So you won a lot?

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, I won. There was one other guy, David Brown. And when me and David Brown, when Ms. Cantrell's class, Ms. Thomas class, he was twice my size, but I would get lower and use my leverage. He was just a lot bigger than me and he would just kind of let, let the weight kind of hold on and I'll try to, I'd try to fight again. I'D try to use my leverage to kind of pull. But when you would watch the kids all collapse on each other.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

And I would look at all the. I mean I felt like a Roman glad I go. And I mean they'd all look back at me. I mean it was the. It was the best.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

I want imagine Brown to come.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

He's huge. He won he for the Alabama Crimson Tide. He won a rib eating contest at the Music City bowl in Nashville in 2005. Okay. That's a credit.

[Brian Bates]

Did he play for them?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, he's a walk on at Alabama's an offensive lineman. All the brown kid. There was four of them and that's.

[Brian Bates]

The thing he's known for.

[Nate Bargatze]

That might be his biggest credit still. Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

No, but he. That we were playing. They're playing Minnesota and yeah, he won the rib eating contest. But anyways.

[Brian Bates]

Did you go down there and see him?

[Nate Bargatze]

I think I might have.

[Brian Bates]

I like to picture you were the. You were the size you were. I'd picture just your whole life.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Pretty. Pretty close.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

The height has. I've been built like that. I mean I was. I was always the biggest kid.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

For. For a long time. But yeah. Tug of war. That brought. Sorry. I got fired up.

[Derek Stroop]

I love that the audience would cheer for you when you put the loop.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, man. I mean I would pull it up around my waist and I mean the kids. I mean, I can remember the pandemonium.

[Brian Bates]

What grade is this?

[Nate Bargatze]

This is like second, fifth grade.

[Brian Bates]

Third, third, fourth, fifth.

[Nate Bargatze]

Like right in there. Yeah, yeah, for sure.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, man, they loved it.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, man, it was. It was the best.

[Dusty Slay]

David Brown ate 16 ribs in three minutes.

[Brian Bates]

Wow.

[Nate Bargatze]

You know what's so great is that you fact check this immediately and you know, and. And that is. Isn't that impressive.

[Dusty Slay]

Yes. The world we live in that we have a Google.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

So David Brown.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. Because he had. He had to slow down.

[Derek Stroop]

So David Brown would beat you at tug of war now?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, he would. I mean his brother Dawson Brown also played for Alabama. The Browns were all just giant kids. Their dad was a big dude and then their mother, Beth Brown was a tiny, tiny woman. But they were all. Since we were little kids, you go over to their house. Growing up, their pantry had snacks. I mean, it looked like a Costco in there. Just huge kids. Huge humans. Still.

[Dusty Slay]

What was the one game? Jack top. What'd you say?

[Nate Bargatze]

Jack top? No, Jackpot Jack.

[Dusty Slay]

What's that?

[Nate Bargatze]

Take the ball and you throw it into a group, you know, and you go 500. And then, you know, whoever catches it got 500 points. And then you throw it and you go, jackpot. And whoever catches the jackpot gets to be the thrower. Now, y'all never played jackpot, and then.

[Brian Bates]

Why would you want to be the thrower?

[Nate Bargatze]

I think that just means you went.

[Brian Bates]

You.

[Nate Bargatze]

You're. You've won. You're the king of the castle.

[Derek Stroop]

What if you never say jackpot? Do you just get to throw the rest of the time?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah. And I'm probably missing some of the details.

[Brian Bates]

And would you just make up the points?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Is there any system?

[Nate Bargatze]

No, there's really not a system. Yeah, you go 1 million. But then when you say jackpot, I mean, the ball could be in the air. I could shove Brian to the ground.

[Brian Bates]

Yes, you could.

[Nate Bargatze]

And. And grab the ball.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah. You're just waiting on that jackpot.

[Nate Bargatze]

I'm waiting. I'm waiting on that.

[Brian Bates]

You wouldn't even bother to catch it for the points.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, I mean, I guess you would just kind of, like, you don't remember.

[Derek Stroop]

Warm up, because who's keeping track? Only you're keeping track of yourself's point.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, but I'm just competitive to the point to where I would just want to catch every one of them.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

You know, might as well.

[Dusty Slay]

Did you separate anyone's shoulder in red rover?

[Nate Bargatze]

No, I didn't separate anybody's shoulder and red rover, but, I mean, I was a physical.

[Derek Stroop]

When you were running, though, at somebody's hands, they let loose a little bit.

[Nate Bargatze]

You know, they did. You know they did.

[Brian Bates]

It never mattered where you ran. No, you just ran straight.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. And, I mean, this is where I accelerate. Y'all remember the. The. The fitness test we used to have to take? That's what really exposed me. I was an athletic kid.

[Derek Stroop]

Presidential.

[Nate Bargatze]

Pull up, sit up. I mean, there's nothing more embarrassing than being stuck. I mean. Yeah, you know, where you shake and you stuck. You know what I mean? But, no, I was an athletic kid. I was running around out there tackling kids, you know, having a good time. Yeah, I was. I bullied the bullies back in the day, you know, that's how I was. Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Did y'all like school? You went to school in Alabama, right? Well, you move there.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Yeah. I went from West Virginia, second grade, and then I moved to Alabama in the third grade. And it was quite the difference from the first day I came home, my mom said I was crying, and I told her that they wanted me to bring my lunch in a sack, and I Thought a sack was a pillowcase. And I didn't understand what they were asking. Just learning the Southern language a little bit, you know? But, yeah, I didn't like. I love the social part of school. It's very relatable to Nate and how I struggled. I went to summer school every summer of high school.

[Dusty Slay]

Really?

[Nate Bargatze]

Every one of them kids. Yeah. And see, I. I would imagine.

[Brian Bates]

I'm just picturing you walking in with a pillowcase full of food. And it looks full. It's not some little. It's not like.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh.

[Brian Bates]

It's not like what you think it would.

[Dusty Slay]

They said bring it because you get like.

[Brian Bates]

It's like Santa Claus. Yeah. And you go, all right. I mean, I'll bring my food in.

[Derek Stroop]

I love that the guy went in tug of war. Is in Somerset High School every year. I mean, I love that. Yeah, you're like, in tug of war. That's your time.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Not in the classroom, but in tug of war.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, King.

[Brian Bates]

It's a price you gotta pay to be good at tug of war.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

The Eagle be doing school all year round. You know what I mean?

[Nate Bargatze]

I needed an extra month every summer to learn math. Yeah. Everybody got it during the school year. They needed to. Yeah, I needed to hang out a little longer.

[Dusty Slay]

What was your clothes Gang Carhartt?

[Nate Bargatze]

You know, I was a little preppy back in the day. Like country preppy, but, like, tucked in.

[Derek Stroop]

But he looks Tommy Hilton.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

I had some Tommy. I was definitely wearing Nautica. Some. Yeah. I wore boots, jeans, polos. Kind of the preppy country.

[Brian Bates]

The belt. The. With the loop. Braided belt that hangs down.

[Nate Bargatze]

I would never in a million years have a braided belt. Hangs down.

[Derek Stroop]

I had a braided belt for a time, but never hanging down. Never hanging.

[Nate Bargatze]

I had a braided belt, but never hanging down.

[Brian Bates]

Mine hung down. Down.

[Nate Bargatze]

No, not at.

[Brian Bates]

I'm older.

[Nate Bargatze]

I mean, true.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. But mine.

[Dusty Slay]

Mine really hung, huh?

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. They didn't have braided belts when he was. When he went to school.

[Dusty Slay]

We braided them.

[Brian Bates]

They ain't got that far. Yeah, but it's the. Yeah, we would. Yeah, mine would. You. You would put a loop through it and let it hang down for a little bit.

[Dusty Slay]

We had one clothing store in Lebanon, Goodies. And you go there, and there's a good chance you show up.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

There's gonna be every bunch of people wearing the same thing.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Did you go to a shoe carnival?

[Derek Stroop]

I don't know.

[Nate Bargatze]

Okay.

[Derek Stroop]

I went. I know that. I went to Bugle Boy Outlet when that came around, and we had a Duckhead outlet. That was when I felt Ducks Unlimited.

[Brian Bates]

Duckhead. But I just talked about them. That's a good little store.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

There was, like, a fancy.

[Derek Stroop]

Probably went to Shoe Carnival, but I don't. I mean, wherever. You know, I would get, like, one pair of shoes.

[Brian Bates]

Do the wheel where you could win. Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

You could go in and be like, this. Money blowing in the.

[Derek Stroop]

Never went there.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. It was like a car. It's exactly what it says it is.

[Nate Bargatze]

I wore a lot of American Eagle.

[Derek Stroop]

American Eagle, Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

That's money.

[Derek Stroop]

When I got to high school, that's a little. I got a job. I had some American.

[Brian Bates]

American Eagles. That's. It's not Abercrombie. Yeah. If you had Abercrombie, it was like.

[Nate Bargatze]

They didn't make Abercrombie for people built like me.

[Brian Bates]

No, no, no.

[Nate Bargatze]

They really didn't like the jeans, the thighs.

[Brian Bates]

They had a certain size.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Abercrombie was like, I feel like the. The kids that have some money. American Eagle was like, you're in between where you're. You know, you had.

[Derek Stroop]

Still getting it at the mall.

[Brian Bates]

You still get them all. This is at the mall.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

So no one's doing great.

[Derek Stroop]

Bugle Boy is not at the mall. No, no, I'm saying that's strip mall.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Regular mall is where you're getting some good stuff.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Strip mall is where it's like, sure. Mall is different now, but back then, it was.

[Brian Bates]

I feel like I wore American Eagle to some TV tapings.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Like, even, like, that's what I thought when I would do TVs. Like, well, I need to go buy something from American Eagle because it. So it looks nice. And then I think I do remember going to Abercrombie much later in life, because I was like, you know, wanted to go because I never could.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Go. And then that came out, and then I found out they don't have. Then they. I'm like, Y'all got 32s? And they're like, Nah. Yeah, 34s or whatever. They're like, beat it. You remember this guy?

[Derek Stroop]

Like, girls that wear Abercrombie.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

And they'd come play a tuba as you walked out.

[Derek Stroop]

Wow.

[Brian Bates]

Ain't that crazy?

[Nate Bargatze]

That is crazy.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, but you grew up in. In Nashville. A little fancier here than.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, I grew up outside of Huntsville.

[Derek Stroop]

Okay.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Outside of Huntsville is still pretty country.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, harvest is for sure. 20 years ago. For sure.

[Derek Stroop]

What year did you graduate?

[Nate Bargatze]

0.

[Brian Bates]

4.

[Derek Stroop]

Okay.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Let me tell you about our next sponsor. V or.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

I love the Ori. I've been wearing my. I got, you know, springs here.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

It's like 90 degrees today. At least my truck said that. I don't know how hot it is, but I've been wearing the Vori shorts around and it's great. I wear them in the yard. I go to the. I go to Lowe's with them on. I feel good.

[Brian Bates]

Really?

[Derek Stroop]

Don't feel sloppy. Gym shorts used to feel sloppy to me. But not Viori. No, I've been saying that. I was even saying that. I don't. I've never been a fan of sweatpants, but right now I'm into the Sunday performance jogger. They look better than regular sweatpants. I've said all. Like, I feel like if I'm wearing sweatpants that I'm sick, you know, because it feels like I'm at home for the day.

[Dusty Slay]

Right.

[Derek Stroop]

But not with the Sunday performance jogger.

[Dusty Slay]

Nope.

[Derek Stroop]

It's great. All the Vuori stuff, all the. All the pants, especially that I've worn, I love. I'm a big, big fan of them. You like Fiori?

[Dusty Slay]

I love the Ori.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, I'm a big fan. It's everyone's favorite jogger, The Sunday performance jogger from Viori. On top of that, finding what you need on the website takes no time. Easy to navigate is what they're saying. But I recommend Viori. I've never been. I've never been a training short kind.

[Dusty Slay]

Of guy, but they're so comfortable, it doesn't matter.

[Derek Stroop]

Exactly.

[Dusty Slay]

It's not about training. It's just feeling good.

[Derek Stroop]

And I feel athletic in them.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

And you look athletic.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

That's how good they are.

[Derek Stroop]

That. That is how good. That's. It's pretty amazing. Viori is an investment in your happiness for our listeners. They are offering 20 off your first purchase. Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the [e-mail] Nate that's V-U-O-R-I.com Nate. Not only will you receive 20 off your first purchase, but enjoy free shipping on any US orders over $75 and free returns. Go to viori.comnate and discover the versatility of Viori clothing exclusion supply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions.

[Dusty Slay]

Did Joe like we still had chalkboards transitioned to whiteboards.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

For the 04. Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

I mean, I'm a 2000 graduate and we didn't have any.

[Brian Bates]

Really.

[Derek Stroop]

Chalkboards.

[Nate Bargatze]

I think there Was one. I think the science teacher had a whiteboard and a chalkboard, but that was it. Everybody else had. Had the whiteboards. I went to. I grew up in a school that had corporal punishment. So we got paddled, and we would get paddled. Even in the hallways, we got paddled all the time. You get paddled for your shirt being untucked, for having. For chewing gum, for running in the hallway. If you were an athlete that was late to class, you would get paddled. Paddle happy. I mean, a very strict school. I mean, our administrators did not play games.

[Derek Stroop]

I don't mind a little paddle, but that seems too much.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. I mean, one time. One time I was late for class, I had on wind pants, and he was like, stroop, you know. You know, that's three licks. He's like, we can do it right here in the hallway. And I go, coach, I got on wind pants. And he goes, I know what wind pants are. And he gave me three. I mean. And. I mean, I was bruised all the way down my.

[Brian Bates]

I think the idea was just that it's always around. I think that it wasn't a matter of what you can spank for. It's the threat of it always around.

[Derek Stroop]

I just feel like that's too much.

[Brian Bates]

I know, but you're. But you're just like. Like it's just always around you. Just like it's the order in the school that, like, we're gonna. You just. You never know. You're like. It's like in a speeding ticket, like all the cops. You're like, yeah, you can speed, you can run this light, but you might be getting a ticket here and there. So you just.

[Derek Stroop]

What if the. They were like, ticket or paddling? See, I think if you were fighting in school, a paddling would be good as opposed to being suspended.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Because all suspended does is send you home and you make. Get zeros on your stuff. I'd be into that. When I got suspended a couple of times, I would have. Take paddlings. Yeah, but late to class. Let's take it easy.

[Nate Bargatze]

No, Very, very strict high school and.

[Brian Bates]

Just show up on time.

[Nate Bargatze]

And so I was gonna say.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, but there's other. I mean, I don't know.

[Brian Bates]

I don't. I know, but you're a guy that's been suspended twice, so you're. We're just. This is. You're already gone.

[Dusty Slay]

Stay out of this one.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, you're already.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

To you. You, like, showing up on time was not even. You don't even consider that nice to do. You're like, that's not even in our. We're in a trailer park. Your bus is probably late anyway. Yeah. Because y'all, we're probably late to pick you guys up, right? How many. Late were the best. Trailer park.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Was it always late?

[Derek Stroop]

I don't know. I don't even know. I don't even know if we had time, you know what I mean? Like, or even. Do we even have watches? I don't know.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

This sounds like someone that. Yeah, you were probably a pretty big problem in the school.

[Nate Bargatze]

Paddling's never sent anybody the other direction, though. It never. Now, I've never heard anybody be like, well, Tim was a pretty good kid, but, you know, they paddled him a bunch in high school and he got into drugs. You know, I, it, it helped the people that it should help, but they figured me out. They. They, they had to smoke me out. So I would. I would come in there and ask for a paddling. Every time I go, just give me a paddling. And eventually they real. They go, no, you're going to write this report and you're going to go to detention, and we're not giving you an option for paddling because it didn't hurt, it doesn't work, and that's what you want. So they learned that isolating me and making me do these things drove me crazy because I wanted to get back to the show. There's third period. Amanda's in there, and I got some more zingers to send. And so if you could just paddle me and we can get this over with, I can get out of here.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

And they put an end to that. And we're like, no, no, we're gonna. And once they started sending me to. Once they started to isolate me, I was. They had. They had me in a headlock. I could not handle that because I wasn't a bad kid. I just was not going to miss the. I was going to do what was funny regardless of how they.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, I would agree with these. Paddling doesn't. It doesn't make you do drugs, but it does show you which kids do do drugs there. It's a way to know that's who's getting paddled.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Is that, Is that. I mean, like. But do you think it helped people? Like, you think there were people that would have done drugs had they not gotten the paddlings?

[Brian Bates]

No, I think they just got in trouble.

[Nate Bargatze]

I don't think that the drugs had anything to do with it. I think that it taught us, like, respect and accountability and consequences. Like, for me, it taught me that if I. If I didn't follow the rules, then there was. There was consequences. And so for me, I think it was great. But I handled it, you know, I think having that the type of administrators we had worked out for me, they made me walk a tighter line than I ever would have. Would have walked. So I. I do like it. I wish, you know, my kids one day I would not be against. They used to call my mom. It'd be the quickest phone call you'd ever seen in your life. They go, hey, Stacy, thank you. They wouldn't even have to ask her. She'd go wear him out, you know.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, well, that's. Yeah. Back. Everybody would. Yeah, everybody could paddle everybody back in the day.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

But this is not even that far back. They weren't doing high school.

[Nate Bargatze]

Same state. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But.

[Brian Bates]

Well, was it. Was yours a private school?

[Nate Bargatze]

No. Public? No.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, no. What was yours public? Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah. They probably would have paddled me for that haircut.

[Nate Bargatze]

I was gonna say. I'd like to think the paddling made some difference. Yeah. You know what I mean?

[Dusty Slay]

What'd you get suspended for this?

[Derek Stroop]

Fighting one time. And. Well, I got, you know, a girl stabbed me with a pencil. And I had pushed her head before. Before that. So in school, I don't know if.

[Brian Bates]

You know how to tell story, but to start with you pushing her head, and then she said, well, you know.

[Derek Stroop]

Well, it even. She stole something from me. And then.

[Brian Bates]

See, again, I don't think you know how to tell the story.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Because now we're getting too.

[Derek Stroop]

Well, I. All right, so that's it. She stole something from me. I went to get it back. She. I try to get my hand in her desk. She pinched me. So I pushed her head. And then I went and sat down. I never got the thing. And then she came back there and I stood up and she stabbed me three times with a pencil.

[Brian Bates]

Where.

[Derek Stroop]

And once in the arm and twice.

[Brian Bates]

And this is where lead poisoning is. Number one. This is your.

[Dusty Slay]

It's a number two pencil.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, yeah. This is back then.

[Brian Bates]

You think about lead poisoning like you think about cancer. You're like, this is how you gonna die is leadpoint. Like, the last thing you want is to ever get lead poisoning.

[Derek Stroop]

And then when the teacher came back, I said. I stood up and I said, she just stabbed me. And I went to. In school suspension for a day, and then I never saw her again.

[Nate Bargatze]

Wow.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. Wow.

[Dusty Slay]

That ended dark.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Ended great for me.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

You made some calls and got rid of her.

[Derek Stroop]

No, I didn't do. I didn't do anything. But I think, you know, there's a threshold. And, you know, there were a couple other guys in my class that were like, yeah, she stabbed us today, too. But they didn't say anything. See, I'm like, oh, no, you're not going to be stabbing me in here.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

And not saying.

[Derek Stroop]

There's a lot I'll put up with, but not stabbing.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

And so, yeah, I think enough people were like, yeah, she stabbed us today, too. They were like, we got to send her to a different school.

[Brian Bates]

One where they allow stabbing. Yeah, yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

One where so much stabbing's going on. That's not even an issue, really.

[Brian Bates]

Where they go, how is she? They go, she's good. They go, she doesn't stab anybody. No, no, no. That's what the old. The school they're sending, they have to say, she's not stabbing people. No, no, no. Why would you think that? I don't even think anybody's ever done that.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Crazy. She's a great girl, and I'm glad you guys have her. I imagine they have to call and trick them into taking them.

[Dusty Slay]

Would y'all get excited about back to school supplies?

[Brian Bates]

Loved it. Stuff like, like Trapper Keeper. All of it. Loved it.

[Dusty Slay]

Do you have a Trapper Keeper?

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, for sure. Ones with, like, cool. Like a. Like a baseball. Like, that was, like, on fire.

[Derek Stroop]

Oh, yeah, like. Like this kind of thing. Look at that.

[Nate Bargatze]

My goodness.

[Dusty Slay]

Classic.

[Derek Stroop]

Okay.

[Nate Bargatze]

I can smell the cigarette smoke on that thing.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, it's still in good shape.

[Brian Bates]

This has got.

[Derek Stroop]

Look at this.

[Dusty Slay]

If you're listening, Dusty brought his Trapper Keeper.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, look at that.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Still in good shape. The ring.

[Brian Bates]

Still in good shape.

[Nate Bargatze]

Trapper Keepers really helped. I mean, organization wise, it's. It's tough to beat. You can just stuff everything in it.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Close the. Close it. And we're gone.

[Derek Stroop]

And you're cool.

[Nate Bargatze]

School shopping for clothes was, like, the most exciting thing ever.

[Derek Stroop]

I had some stickers on it.

[Dusty Slay]

What do you keep in there now, Dustin?

[Derek Stroop]

This is a letter from the mayor of Chattanooga.

[Nate Bargatze]

I saw that. I was wondering, is that the only.

[Brian Bates]

Thing you got in there?

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Okay.

[Derek Stroop]

And some other stuff.

[Dusty Slay]

Crackers.

[Derek Stroop]

Well, I meant to bring this one time, and then I never did because the mayor of Chattanooga wrote me a letter and it was very funny.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

And we talked about it, but then I never brought it.

[Dusty Slay]

Would you say you got excited about shopping for.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, yeah, yeah. It Was the best. You'd have your outfit laid out the night before just so fired up. I mean, I cared a lot about what I looked like in. In school, Even if I was, you know, even if it was like a flannel jeans and boots. I didn't like wrinkled clothes or anything like that.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, I didn't like that either.

[Nate Bargatze]

This is exciting.

[Dusty Slay]

Did you ever have one of these triangular rubber.

[Derek Stroop]

Oh, of course, man.

[Nate Bargatze]

There's a lot cooler options than that.

[Derek Stroop]

That was. Those are cool, though. By 2004, you probably had more other options. But I was. I was all in the 90s. That was about that.

[Nate Bargatze]

What year did you graduate?

[Derek Stroop]

2000.

[Nate Bargatze]

Gotcha.

[Dusty Slay]

Did you do class of the new play pencil Break?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Oh, I'm sorry. That's a dumb question.

[Nate Bargatze]

Did you?

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

You're probably better at it. When I was.

[Nate Bargatze]

No, I bet yalls pencils back when you were in school were tough. That's real oak. That's real. Oh. By the time mine got. Mine was probably, you know, a bunch of particles, but yours, you could have built a boat out of.

[Dusty Slay]

Y'all real deal.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Gopher wood.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, Gopher wood.

[Brian Bates]

They'd watch a tree disappear through the old pencil fight.

[Derek Stroop]

Oh, yeah. I got kicked off the bus for throwing.

[Nate Bargatze]

I was about to say the bus was a good pencil fighting, but.

[Brian Bates]

So you're fine with throwing them? But. Yeah, I mean, someone's eye out.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah. Well, I think that's why they kicked me off the bus. I mean, I got to come back back, but had to be a week off the bus, which was really just a punishment for your mom. Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

100.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah. Yeah, that's a.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's so true.

[Brian Bates]

So you're still blaming the school somehow, though.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Well, everybody threw pencils, you know, it's like I just got caught.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

We like to sit. I like to. When I was a younger kid, like, real young, we would sit in the back of the bus, and I remember one day we would sit back there, and we were flipping people off in the cars behind us. Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

That was really fun.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

There was some older girls, like, in a car one time.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

And I remember they started laughing, and they flipped us off back, and it was, like, really fun. We had a great time with it.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

That's like getting the trucker to blow the horn.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

The back of the bus is. Was a whole different. A whole different game.

[Brian Bates]

Your kids go out to walk a fine line with, I feel like, because they're. You grew up pretty wild.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

But Then they're going to be raised to be. Don't be doing that stuff or. You think you would let your kids do this?

[Derek Stroop]

I like to let them get a little.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah. But they.

[Brian Bates]

I feel like you're my. My parents or I would be raised by you.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

It would have been like my parents grow up. Yeah. They go from being probably a little wild to the most Christian.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

And I feel like that's how you. Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

I mean, well, you know, I want to keep them, you know, within, you know, I want them to be respectful, you know. Yeah. But I. Yeah, I like to let them a little wild for sure. You know, like to let them run around, jump on stuff.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Get into it. Dig in the dirt.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. You ride the bus, flick off.

[Derek Stroop]

Well, I hope they're not like that.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

I don't know where I learned that from, but I hope they are not. Not like that.

[Dusty Slay]

Well, to Dusty's credit now, he did the Kid Rock Show a few years ago and they did a group photo at the end where everyone flipped the camera except Dusty.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

There like 12 people.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

People tell you do that all the time. And you're like, no.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

I used to always. And it was. I was like. I, like, was annoyed that I had to say no. You're like, why? You make me feel better.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

School bus.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah, Yeah. I rode this school bus.

[Dusty Slay]

I thought it might have been because your dad was the teacher there. Some.

[Brian Bates]

Right for. Yeah. So when I went to Dupont elementary, trying to think if we rode the school bus, I rode my bike to school in junior high. That's not a ton of school bus. But I. I wrote it some. Really. But I ride. Yeah. We're an Old Hickory. So I went to Dupont. I mean, when I went to Coopertown, which a girl came to my show and I don't remember. I think maybe Dublin or London. I don't remember exactly, but somewhere in Europe. And she went to my Coopertown in Springfield.

[Dusty Slay]

Wow.

[Brian Bates]

I was there from second to fourth grade. She had my dad as a teacher. That's where my dad was a teacher. My dad was the path paddler. So he was the one. So the kids, he had them all signed the paddle. He was the punisher. Because I used to always think, like, you know, kids would be like, you know, no one wanted to get paddled by my dad. You're like, well, I'm, you know, I'm in it. I'm in it with him.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

But he had a big wooden paddle in Robinson county and he could Paddle. And you could paddle then. And he did it. But girl went to the school. But yeah, we took. I would ride with him because we were not. We didn't. We lived in Old Hickory, and the school was in Robinson County. That's where he taught. So we went to school out there. And then I went to Dupont Elementary. Dupont Hadley Middle School, public whatever. And then we went to. Then I went to DCA for high school.

[Dusty Slay]

You ride your bike to school. How long did that take?

[Brian Bates]

Not too long. I mean, Old Hickory, like you'd go to.

[Dusty Slay]

Were you on main roads?

[Brian Bates]

Well, you could just ride it straight down. We. I rollerbladed to school.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Once.

[Brian Bates]

Or. No, no. Danny Ruckwood Rollerblade.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Daniel Rucker. Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Never again.

[Brian Bates]

I didn't, you know, because we didn't had Daniel Rucker rollerbladed. And I would ride the bike, but then I got rollerblades, and they weren't ones that would go up above your ankle. And they're brutal, dude. Yeah. I mean, you need ankle support with rollerblades. Oh, yeah. And they would. They. They would just be at the level. They would cut into your ankles.

[Nate Bargatze]

I thought they just looked worse that it's just about your ankles.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, it was.

[Dusty Slay]

It's all of it.

[Nate Bargatze]

I thought.

[Derek Stroop]

Just seems like you would just twist your ankles.

[Brian Bates]

It would. Well, you would lean. You would use your ankles a lot to lean. Here comes Nate.

[Nate Bargatze]

Here's Nate. Nathaniel.

[Brian Bates]

I remember once riding them. We got them for Christmas, and they bought. My parents bought the one. Rollerblades that are just the worst. Like, as you would see, you're like. Well, the other kids, theirs goes up around their calf. You're the goes. Ours is like a regular shoe.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

And so you would. And I remember at one time we go. We went. We got them for Christmas, and so I was going to ride them pretty far from if anybody's in Old Hickory, but Old Hickory Village to across the railroad tracks to my buddy Ryan's house and by Old Hickory Country Club, which, for the people that are from Old Hickory, they can reference it. So we would ride it pretty far. And I remember riding it, and I remember just like, you know, really getting them out on some distance, because if you did them a little bit around the house for a little bit, you wouldn't really notice it around the. You know. But then for. If you had to go some long one, it was like, I. I mean, I barely made it across the railroad tracks. Then I remember just taking them off and walking the rest of the way because, I mean, they hurt so bad because that, that plastic would just, they were plastic too, so just the top of the plastic would just cut into.

[Nate Bargatze]

Goodness.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah, it was tough.

[Derek Stroop]

These real Tums, by the way, can I have something?

[Nate Bargatze]

I was still shocked that your, your dad was the, the Punisher, you know? Did I mention the last time I was on here, I have a paddling story where I went into the office and I kept telling my principal, I go, I don't have my 500 word report. I, I didn't write it. I didn't write it. I go, it's at the house, you know, and I forgot to bring it. And he drove me to my house and to go get my. Yeah, yeah, true story.

[Brian Bates]

That's great.

[Nate Bargatze]

And he calls my mother, he calls Stacy and he's like, hey, your son's here. He doesn't have his, his report, but he said that he left it at the house and he promises me he's telling the truth.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

He goes, do you mind if we swing by the house? We get in Mr. Brown's truck. I'll never forget. We drive down. I lived about a mile and a half, and I've never prayed for an accident so much in my life. We get to the, our house. I, I walk in. He parks in the driveway. I walk into my bedroom. I'll never forget. I sit down at my art table and I start writing. And I'm sitting there and I'm writing for about a minute and a half and I go, I'm. I'm never going to be able to do this. So I go over to my underwear drawer and I start off with, with the, the smaller underwear to the boxers. And I put on every pair that I have, probably 10 pairs. And then I put my jeans back on and I walk back out. I walk back out to the truck and I go, I can't, I can't find my, my report. And so we go back and he takes me into the, into the principal's office. He goes, man, I had a feeling you didn't have your, your report. And he goes, I'm gonna have to give you three licks. And I bend over and he gives me three licks. I'll never forget. I walk out and the secretary, Ms. Rita, she goes, that didn't sound like any paddling that I've ever heard before. You know, 10 years later, I run into Mr. Brown at the driving range in Madison, Alabama. And he comes up and he goes, man, I, I'll never forget, Derek, that time I drove you to your house and paddled you for not having your report. He goes, I do a conference in Mobile where I speak. And he goes, I tell that story because he goes, I brought you to your house and when you. And when we got back to the school, you bent over and it looked like an ever stopping gobstop because there was 11 different colors going up your backside because I saw every bit of your underwear.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

And he said, I just disrespected what you did so much that I just went ahead and gave you the licks anyways. But it was so fun to run into him again. Full circle moment.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

I thought I got away with it, but he knew exactly what I had done. And yeah, I was fighting for my life, being a little rascal back in the day.

[Derek Stroop]

I just don't understand though, knowing that you're going to get this. These seem to got. You seem like you got a lot of paddlings.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

You not just do the report.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. I absolutely hated to do anything until this day that I did not want to do do. And so I would just. I, I just. Homework, anything like that. It wasn't. You know, I look back and, you know, and I'm sure I've heard Nate talk about this, but I beat myself up about being dumb in school and all this. It just. The format and how they presented was not built for me and how to learn and how to go about things. It was too tedious for what I wanted. So anyways, I don't feel like a.

[Brian Bates]

Lot was built for you. I feel like you said that a lot here.

[Nate Bargatze]

Recliners were.

[Brian Bates]

This shirt wasn't built for me.

[Derek Stroop]

I like too though, that you also were like, going to do the report in the house and then you go, no, I'm never going to get this done. Like. But you knew if you just do it, you wouldn't get the paddling.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, but the.

[Brian Bates]

Do you know how not to get caught?

[Dusty Slay]

Br.

[Derek Stroop]

But how you not going to get caught. You have to turn in the.

[Brian Bates]

Well, you hope that he goes like, all right, we'll turn it in.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Monday. And you go over the weekend. It's fake or you write it, but.

[Derek Stroop]

It'S like you just. You got to write it anyway.

[Nate Bargatze]

I once heard an administrator and we're flicking people off.

[Derek Stroop]

But I would write the report.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Who are you?

[Derek Stroop]

I would do the.

[Nate Bargatze]

I once heard a vice principal in a break room as I was walking by. What terrible fate. I heard him go, derek Stroop doesn't see tomorrow coming. And so I'll. And. And as I've gotten older, now I've gotten away. They're so right. So what, what they were saying is like, I didn't think about tomorrow. I didn't think about if I wrote this, I would get out. I go, I don't want to do this. And then you're really on, you're really on your heels when your principal drives you to your home. Yeah, I couldn't believe, I mean, I remember walking in there, I was like 12, thinking, Can I call the cops? Like, what is happening right now? But that back in the day, that's.

[Derek Stroop]

It just shows the 12 year old mind because the principal is calling your mom and your mom's like, yeah, paddle him. You gotta know they're gonna drive you to the house, they're gonna get you.

[Dusty Slay]

How long of a drive was that?

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, just ten minutes.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, but that's almost a perfect saying. He doesn't think about tomorrow. So it's like, you just think, I'll get through. All I'm doing is get through today.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's right.

[Brian Bates]

So you're going to take some paddles. Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Which a lot of 12 year olds.

[Brian Bates]

Like, that's the price. That's the price you pay. Yeah. If you're living in the moment.

[Derek Stroop]

I'm the kind of guy, like, my parents didn't spank me very much, but you know, I learned when they did, I was like, all right, I'm not doing that again. Whatever it was. I'm like, all right, I'm not doing that again. I'm not pushing them that far because I don't like that.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I, I don't feel like I was really pushing, you know, I was kind of living in this Dennis the Menace world.

[Brian Bates]

I don't think you're wrong. He's making you feel bad. Yeah, well, I feel this is coming from some hobo over there that was throwing pencils on buses, but for some reason he's slapping girls heads.

[Nate Bargatze]

I should have said what I was thinking when Dustin was talking and going. I would have never flipped off a stranger as a kid. No, I would have never done that, ever.

[Derek Stroop]

You got to learn how to navigate it.

[Brian Bates]

Losers. Dusty would call us losers. Why don't you write your paper? Yeah, we're on your side. Derek and Dusty lived a life we don't know.

[Derek Stroop]

I just, I'm so shocked that both of you went to school with paddling. Did you go to school with paddling? I'm so shocked.

[Brian Bates]

Why would you think. No, they. The first run of stopping, it was.

[Derek Stroop]

With Brian, I wanted him to be included.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, I appreciate that. Paddling. It wasn't even being talked about. Should it be out of the schools when he was just.

[Dusty Slay]

It was a new idea, actually. What if we heard him?

[Derek Stroop]

I would take it in lieu of suspension, you know, but because fights are sporadic. He didn't know that was going to come.

[Brian Bates]

But I don't think you'd be paddling a ton in high school. It was more like elementary.

[Nate Bargatze]

Middle school was.

[Brian Bates]

My high school was like, that's kind of where your paddling is, where you're like, yeah, you just gotta. That's the only chance. High school, you're getting into suspensions, you're getting into that kind of stuff. And because you can't hurt the kids then, because the kids are big. So I remember my mom paddling me, and the one day it didn't hurt, and then it's like, well, wait till your dad gets home.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Yeah, that's it.

[Brian Bates]

But it's like that. I remember laughing. Fake it, like. Like. Because you're like, your mom just can't hear that hard. And then. But yeah, then you're like, well, yeah, no, he's.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, Stephen, can you ever do the knuckle thump? Knuckle thump?

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

I didn't like the. The pain, you know, like quarters and stuff. I mean, I saw the lunch tables that did that, but that wasn't my crew. I didn't play those type of games.

[Brian Bates]

Like, they would say they shoot. They do BB fights. Yeah, BB guns. And I was like, I know.

[Derek Stroop]

I did that a little bit.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Probably have some in you, right?

[Derek Stroop]

I do. I did get shot in the chest.

[Nate Bargatze]

We'd put on. You remember those old leather jackets that had the map inside of them?

[Derek Stroop]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

We'd put those big heavy ones, zip them up, and we'd. We'd shoot at each other.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

I went first through eighth grade, same school, smallest school in Wilson County. About 150 students total. And then I went to the biggest school in Wilson county for high school. And I did a show in Lebanon with Derek. You remember that?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Upstairs in the Round. We were prepared for it because we do arenas. There's 50 people there, and I.

[Brian Bates]

Did you ask them to all come on one side in the round?

[Derek Stroop]

There's like a row of one person.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

No, it was a packed room and I had a hot show, man.

[Brian Bates]

You did?

[Dusty Slay]

I. And I walked off thinking, follow that loud boy. And he. After two minutes on stage, they couldn't even remember my name. Derek just blew the roof off.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's very nice of you, Brian.

[Dusty Slay]

So he. He's a killer.

[Nate Bargatze]

Thank you. That's very kind of you.

[Brian Bates]

What does that have to do with what we're talking about?

[Dusty Slay]

About? Well, we're about to wrap up, and I wanted to compliment Derek because I feel like I've been picking on him.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. You're so nice, bro. Thank you, buddy.

[Brian Bates]

That was.

[Derek Stroop]

I've not been picking on you.

[Brian Bates]

Dusty's been picking.

[Derek Stroop]

I've been confused about some of your decisions when you were younger.

[Nate Bargatze]

Shooting birds off the back. And then he goes, I would have broke the report. Now, where he really got wild is when he was like, I just wouldn't have done this to my parents.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

I cared enough.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All the stuff he said, I think he deserved to be stabbed.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah. Probably.

[Brian Bates]

I'm on the girls side. Who was probably spanked at her new school.

[Dusty Slay]

I think we have to wrap it up, right?

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

All right.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, I think we wrap it up once we ask. Do we got to wrap it up? I think that's a good time.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's a good.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Indicator.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah. All right.

[Dusty Slay]

Was that school?

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Thank you all so much for having me.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Always fun coming to join.

[Brian Bates]

Glad to have you.

[Derek Stroop]

Thank you especially, you know, I. Well, I guess we're about to do where we're going because this is a good episode for me for this.

[Brian Bates]

All right. Oh, yeah. Okay.

[Nate Bargatze]

All right. Nice.

[Dusty Slay]

Well, I can't wait.

[Derek Stroop]

Well, because I'm going to Denver, so I feel like this might be an episode. We get some people from Denver, Colorado Springs to watch this episode.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

I'm going to Denver on Friday, Colorado Springs on Saturday.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

So this will be good, great time.

[Nate Bargatze]

Of year to go to Colorado. Really?

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's a perfect time of year.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah. I'm excited.

[Dusty Slay]

Last week, lead up the NFL draft, I said if you got drafted into comedy and you had no, just like these players, you don't have a choice. Just who. What city would you go to? And we all had Denver pretty high on the list.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Great.

[Nate Bargatze]

Great comedy city.

[Brian Bates]

By the way. Love the Cam Ward pick.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, good. That's a. That's a pump. He looks like a class act kid. He's got zero star.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. Zero star. The number one pick. They should have talked about it more, but it's. It. Love it, love it, love it, love it.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's awesome. Yeah. I got nothing coming. I get married in two weeks.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

So May 10th I get married and so Excited. We're getting married down at the beach. So I. Yeah. So for the next two weeks, I'm. I'm off and hanging out.

[Dusty Slay]

Part of my city.

[Nate Bargatze]

No, no, not a lot of beads at the wedding. Our honeymoon. We're going to leave with two spray painted T shirts on a frontier flight.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. The invitation, I guess, is just going to come pretty close.

[Derek Stroop]

I've not got mine.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, yeah, no, no, this is the. Pretty small. Pretty small.

[Brian Bates]

I'm in it.

[Derek Stroop]

We'll see the pictures.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, there's 350.

[Brian Bates]

Pretty small. Yeah, I guess. Can we just show up?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Oh, yeah, absolutely. I would love that. Yeah. Yeah. Y'all just stop. Well, you should know that the reception, there's gonna be some good food. I mean, I've got. I've got quite.

[Derek Stroop]

Pimento cheese sandwiches.

[Nate Bargatze]

No, but I do love pimento cheese, but not. I don't. Pimento cheese sandwiches. I wish had some more texture. But the cracker with pimento. Anyway, I'll shoot you an email, but yeah, y'all show up. I'd love to, love to see y'all.

[Brian Bates]

I never heard someone say the bread is what ruins the pimento cheese sandwich.

[Nate Bargatze]

It's too mushy. The. A club cracker gives it some crunch much.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

So I like. If I'm gonna eat pimento cheese, I want, you know, I want some texture.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

So.

[Derek Stroop]

Okay.

[Nate Bargatze]

Anyways.

[Brian Bates]

All right.

[Derek Stroop]

My daughter's birthday's parties on May 10th. We've invited Brian, so. Oh, you may be invited too. My wife's not invited, but I. So we want to come.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, that's tough.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

I think we just sent out yours, so that's weird. But yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah, that's okay.

[Dusty Slay]

This gives me. This gives me a reason to miss this birthday party. So thank you.

[Derek Stroop]

For sure. Thank you.

[Brian Bates]

Down there working. Anyway, where's it at? Where? Beach.

[Nate Bargatze]

You know what's so funny? You know what the joke is, ladies and gentlemen, People hate wedding invites. So if I really would have invited everybody, everybody would be like, ah, oh my goodness, save the day. But it's so fun to not be invited and go, what, is there no space for me? Can I not get in? No, no.

[Brian Bates]

I wanted to come.

[Derek Stroop]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

I have that day off. I asked for that day off on hopes that I thought one of my friends would be getting married that day. I did not know which friend, but.

[Dusty Slay]

I knew he canceled a show.

[Brian Bates]

I canceled the show. I had a big time show for charity.

[Nate Bargatze]

Big time.

[Brian Bates]

During a col. They go, what about polar plunge? I go, what if I just Come to a show and now they. They go, well, I guess we're have to do a polar plunge. So now they're back to the polar.

[Nate Bargatze]

Plunge and this is all over me getting married.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. Yeah. Ice bucket challenge.

[Dusty Slay]

May 9th. I'll be in Madisonville, Kentucky at the Ballard Convention Center. But I can still drive straight there.

[Brian Bates]

Oh, yeah, he'll make it. It.

[Dusty Slay]

I'll make it.

[Nate Bargatze]

Madisonville, Kentucky.

[Dusty Slay]

Yep. May 16th, 17th. Wise Guys Comedy club in Salt Lake City.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Dusty Slay]

Come see me there club.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah. My tour is starting up, so we're about to be hitting the road. Yep, yep. So come out.

[Nate Bargatze]

Dropping in.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. I'm sorry again, I apologize not being here, but we're gonna start shooting the movie. It's gonna be very fun. Got the book coming out, movie, whole whole thing. So everything Nate land, we're gonna. We're getting it moving.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's exciting.

[Brian Bates]

Just, you know, I'm enjoy. Yeah. When I'm not here. This is what the podcast would be just for you guys for a fun Nayland podcast. It's beyond me.

[Derek Stroop]

We're all professional comedians here.

[Dusty Slay]

Most people like it better.

[Brian Bates]

Nateland's the idea. Ideal.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

Nateland's the ideal of what it is. It's just, just. We're all from Nate.

[Derek Stroop]

We're all just a bunch of idealistic people here.

[Brian Bates]

Ideally. Yeah, yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

It's a great. Yeah, it's. We're all professional comedians.

[Brian Bates]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Derek Stroop]

We're all having a good time.

[Dusty Slay]

Yeah.

[Brian Bates]

All right. Perfect. So, yeah, that's it. All right. We love you. Hope you have a great week and. Yeah. See you next week.

[Nate Bargatze]

See y'all.

[Brian Bates]

Captain Morgan's sweet chili lime is so delicious. So unbelievable.

[Nate Bargatze]

No word exists to describe it.

[Brian Bates]

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[Nate Bargatze]

Captain Morgan's Sweet Chili Lime.

[Brian Bates]

A touch of sweet, a kick of heat. Please drink responsibly.

[Nate Bargatze]

Captain Morgan's Sweet Chili Lime Premium Caribbean rum with natural flavors.

[Brian Bates]

35% alcohol by volume. Captain Morgan Rumco, New York, New York.

[Derek Stroop]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway this spring. Refresh your spring personal care items and.

[Brian Bates]

Earn four times points on all your favorites when you shop in store or online. Earn 4 times points when you shop.

[Derek Stroop]

For items like Pantene Shampoo, Gillette Fusion.

[Brian Bates]

Five Razors, Secret Body Spray, Always Pads.

[Derek Stroop]

Loves Diapers, Pepto Bismol and Nervive Nerve Relief Cream. Then use your rewards for discounts on groceries or gas.

[Brian Bates]

Offer ends May 20th.

[Derek Stroop]

Restrictions apply. Promotions may vary.

[Brian Bates]

Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.