Ben Stiller on Lifelong Knicks Fandom and 'Severance'! | Real Ones

Summary

Podcast Summary: Ben Stiller on Lifelong Knicks Fandom and 'Severance'! | Real Ones

The Ringer NBA Show's "Real Ones" episode, released on March 11, 2025, features a captivating conversation with acclaimed actor and director Ben Stiller. Hosted by Logan Murdoch, Raja Bell, and Howard Beck, the episode delves deep into Stiller's passion for the New York Knicks, his experiences as a devoted fan, and his insights into his latest project, the critically acclaimed series "Severance."

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I. Welcome and Introduction

The episode kicks off with Logan Murdoch enthusiastically introducing Ben Stiller as a longtime listener and a fervent Knicks fan. Stiller expresses his admiration for the podcast, stating,

"You're what may be my favorite podcast of all the podcasts in the world. I really listen to you guys religiously" (01:14).

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II. Ben Stiller’s Knicks Fandom

Stiller shares his unwavering optimism as a Knicks fan despite the team's challenging performance against strong opponents. He reflects on his generational connection to the team, influenced by his father's fandom, and discusses the evolution of the Knicks' play style:

"I'm a little bit. Yes. You know, do I have blind confidence? No. But I also love our team. I love the will to win. I love the chemistry. And it's going to be a tough run." (05:05).

He highlights recent games, such as the exciting performance against Sacramento, and emphasizes the importance of key players stepping up, like OG Anunoby's role in fostering team chemistry.

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III. Current State of the Knicks: Analysis and Optimism

The conversation moves to the Knicks' prospects for the season. Stiller acknowledges the team's strengths and areas needing improvement, particularly offensively without relying solely on Jalen Brunson. He mentions:

"I think the depth in the bench is not what it was, but it's not as maybe consistent. But you know, like if Brunson comes out and he starts hitting his threes, you know, there's nothing like that boost when he's doing that." (10:52).

Raja Bell adds that injuries could be both a challenge and an opportunity for players like Mikhail Bridges and OG Anunoby to further develop and take on more significant roles.

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IV. Personal Experiences at Knicks Games

Ben recounts his experiences attending Knicks games, including interactions with passionate fans like the iconic Spike. He shares a memorable moment where his enthusiasm led to an amusing exchange with player Kelly Oubre:

"I started yelling at Kelly Oubre in the play... And then at the next game, he came up to me and said, like, 'I'm an average Joe's. No way am I Purple Cobras.'" (21:02 - 21:49).

These anecdotes illustrate Stiller's deep immersion in the game-day atmosphere and his genuine connection with the Knicks community.

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V. Ben Stiller’s Acting Career: Behind the Scenes

The discussion shifts to Stiller's illustrious acting career, touching upon iconic roles in movies like "Dodgeball" and "Zoolander." He provides behind-the-scenes insights, such as:

"The reason why it's so funny, I think, is because they wait so long to cut. Like, the scene goes on and on and then very late in the scene, they cut to that close-up." (44:00).

Stiller humorously reflects on the challenges of executing comedic scenes and his collaboration with directors and co-stars, including memorable moments with Robert De Niro.

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VI. Transition to Directing: Insights and Challenges

Ben delves into his transition from acting to directing, expressing his long-held passion for directing since childhood. He discusses the creative freedom and fulfillment he finds behind the camera:

"For me to be behind the camera, working with great actors, working with a great crew, and coming up with what this thing is going to be... that, to me, is the best experience." (70:20).

Stiller highlights the differences between acting and directing, emphasizing the comprehensive creative process involved in directing projects like "Severance."

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VII. Fandom and Interaction with Athletes and Celebrities

The hosts and Stiller explore the dynamics of being a fan, interacting with celebrities, and the balance between personal passion and professional responsibilities. Stiller shares his approach to meeting athletes, noting:

"I get starstruck by athletes for sure... I feel like I'm just fascinated with how you do it, how you're able to lock in and what it takes to be where you're at." (65:37).

Raja Bell adds perspective from his experience as an athlete, discussing the unique connection and respect between players and fans.

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VIII. Fan Theories and 'Severance'

Shifting focus to Stiller's latest project, "Severance," the conversation touches upon various fan theories surrounding the show's intricate plot. Stiller emphasizes the importance of character development and emotional storytelling over speculative theories:

"The characters and the relationships of the characters are the most important thing... there's like, what the numbers mean and what's looming up." (38:29).

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IX. Mailbag Questions: Advice for Aspiring Sports Writers

The episode features a segment where hosts ask Stiller and the team questions from listeners. One prominent question to Stiller revolves around advice for aspiring sports writers:

Howard Beck advises,

"Follow your passion... watch documentaries, read stories, read your favorite writers... learn as much as you can." (80:04).

Stiller echoes this sentiment, emphasizing self-belief and persistence:

"You got to believe in yourself and you got to be willing to just do it no matter what." (84:00).

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X. Final Interactions and Closing Remarks

As the episode wraps up, Ben shares heartfelt appreciation for the hosts and the opportunity to be part of the podcast. The camaraderie among the participants underscores the episode's warm and engaging atmosphere.

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Notable Quotes:

• Ben Stiller: "I have a back and forth in my son a lot, who's 19... I have to look at the positive side of it." (03:27)

• Raja Bell: "This is my guy, he should have been a Nick." (12:42)

• Ben Stiller: "There's no experience like sitting in a close NBA game... the Garden energy." (24:20)

• Howard Beck: "If I were to start this all over, I would take a bunch of stats classes." (30:01)

• Logan Murdoch: "You have to keep going because you love it." (84:52)

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This episode of The Ringer NBA Show offers an insightful blend of sports analysis, personal anecdotes, and behind-the-scenes glimpses into Ben Stiller's multifaceted career. Whether you're a die-hard Knicks fan or simply intrigued by Stiller's perspectives, this episode promises an engaging listen filled with passion and authenticity.

Transcript

[Ben Stiller]

Foreign.

[Logan Murdoch]

Real ones. Logan Murdoch here, Rogerville there. Howard Beck and the. Cut the ball. Cliff on the boards, Victoria on the video. Ben Cruz is here. So, you know, it's a big deal. We also got Keith, I think, is in here, the resident Knicks fan from the social media team. So, like, it's. We're locked in. And the reason why we're locked in is because, you know, we have a very special guest. So much so that Raja has been really very. He came on the call really excited. But before we get to Raja's excitement, let's, let's, you know, let's, let's, let's, let's drop the resume. You know, this guy from Empire of the sun, you know, from Happy Gilmore, the cable guy. There's something about Mary Meet the Parrots dodgeball night at the museum. I don't know if he's severed right now. You also know him as an occasional video vixen and SZA as a videos. Ben, Mother Stiller is in the building. Ben, how are you doing, buddy?

[Ben Stiller]

I was hoping I get the.

[Logan Murdoch]

Oh, you got it. You got.

[Ben Stiller]

You earned it, brother.

[Logan Murdoch]

You earned it.

[Howard Beck]

Welcome to the club.

[Logan Murdoch]

An alleged longtime listener of the podcast, Ben Stiller is in the building.

[Ben Stiller]

This is great. This is crazy. This is crazy because, you know, as you guys know, you're what may be my favorite podcast of all the podcasts in the world. I really. I listen to you guys religiously, and it's always weird when you are all of a sudden part of something that you're, you know, a fan of and you don't want to mess it up, because I really love listening to it. So this will be the one episode I'll have trouble listening to because I'm on it. But I'm such a fan of you guys and Raja, you know, it's great to meet you, Howard. We know each other. Logan. We've never actually met in person, but I feel like we kind of know each other because we've. Who talked a bit and we've had. Right. We've had some back and forth.

[Logan Murdoch]

It's, it's. Yeah, it's like, it's. Go ahead. Can I just forget.

[Raja Bell]

Ben, you can't mess. I mean, you can't mess anything up, right? Like, I mean, I can't speak for those two, but I just come on here and I'm shooting the shit. So, like, the level of fandom that I have is hard to explain over the, you know, over the pod. I would just say this. My wife, who rarely misses an opportunity to Go get her hair and stuff done. Was gonna miss that. And was like really fighting me to sit right off camera over here on the pod. I was like, that's a very rare thing. I was like, no, you know, we're not gonna do that.

[Ben Stiller]

But I'm so glad you didn't. That would have made me so nervous as, as if I'm not nervous enough. But. No, it's great. It's great to be with you guys.

[Logan Murdoch]

Oh, man, we're excited to have you, buddy. You know what? Let's, let's, let's get, let's get to the bat. This is a basketball pod, but we're gonna get to the shits at some point. Let's just talk basketball for like 20 minutes and then we'll get to like all the nerdy ass Ben Stiller questions that we all have that we all have written down. And Roger has gotten himself ready for. Let's just start off with the obvious, man. Like, you and Cliff had a little bit of a back and forth, Ben, before the pod about what the Knicks are going to be. How are you feeling about this team? Like, I see your blue skies and your, and your exes and all these things. There's always an internal optimism from you and your excitement level of this team. But we've seen what they have done with the record against good teams. How do you feel? Where are you at right now? Where's your optimism level? Are you scared to death or are you excited as hell?

[Ben Stiller]

Well, look, I'm always going to be the optimistic fan because I'm a true fan of the team. You know, I have this back and forth in my son a lot, who's, he's 19. And so like a lot of his formative years were like, with the really, really bad Knicks, you know, and so he just has this internal thing where he's always expecting it to go bad, you know, And I'm, I, you know, I've been a Knick fan for so long that to get to this point where there actually are possibilities, it's, I have to, I have to look at the positive side of it, you know, But I'm a realist, you know, I know our record against the, you know, the teams that we're going to be facing, but I love this team. And I think, look, last night, right, kick ass game against Sacramento. It was actually, I think, look, I think the Jalen Brunson thing has to, you know, work in some way, in a positive way for the Knicks to figure out how to, you know, figure out their offense in some other way than just through him all the time. And it was exciting to see OG step up and you know what I mean? See like a team game happening because they have to do that. So. Yeah, I'm a little bit. Yes. You know, do I have blind confidence? No. But I also love our team. I love the will to win. I love the chemistry. And it's going to be a tough. It's going to be a tough run. It always comes down to injuries. Right. And to being healthy. And, you know, we finally got Mitch back and who knows what's going to happen with the JB thing, but, you know, I'm realistically optimistic.

[Logan Murdoch]

You were at that Lakers game though, right? The Lakers, Knicks game. When it happened, did your heart. And then when that happened, how. What was your reaction when Jalen Brunson just went down and is that cool?

[Ben Stiller]

I just was watching Rick Brunson, who immediately looked to the crowd to find Jalen's mom, and I saw the look of concern on their face and then I saw him go off and, you know, I knew it was not good. It looks, you know, look, the fact that we're talking about like two to four weeks is much better than it could have been, but it was really. It was awful. It was awful. You know, as a Knick fan, because the game was so exciting and the Knicks were actually doing something. And then there was a point in the fourth quarter when I was. I knew they were like up by 5 or they were up by 10. And I was like, they're either going to. It's either. They're either going to. Lakers are either going to cut it to five or the Knicks are going to go up by another five and this is going to be the swing. And it was exactly the wrong way. And that's when it turned. Like I knew. And it was just. I never felt like they had the game fully. You know, it's just one of those games. But then when he went out, it was just sort of like, you know, it was the worst possible situation.

[Raja Bell]

That was that six minute mark, I think, right around there, where, yeah, it was because they were doing such a good job. They felt like they, while it wasn't put away, like they were kind of controlling it. The game was the way they wanted it. I have a question for you. As a, like, the heyday of the Knick fan of kind of our generation, ish would have been those, you know, Patrick Ewan type of teams were known for just physicality and being brutal and just, you Know everything that a blue collar team kind of represents. Does the Knick fan, does the Ben Stiller Nick fan? Would you appreciate a team more that's kind of cut from that cloth, like more of like last year's team that underachieved ultimately maybe, or a team that's kind of more exciting offensively that gets up and down and scores? I only asked because I was on those Suns teams and Mike D'Antoni was always about, if you're not going to win the chip, let's be really exciting. So, just curious, right?

[Ben Stiller]

I mean, I, I love those Knicks teams and the toughness. I think, you know, obviously our team is more. It feels like last year, yeah, we had more defensive. Right. Identity, I guess. And you know, when we lost Isaiah, when we lost even Dante, you know, just like his grit, it was like he was there for one year, but he was such a Nick, you know, he just made such an impression. And that, that, that playoff shot, you know, I was at the guard when he hit that shot against the Sixers and you know, there was a, there was a toughness there. I, look, I love watching Kat play because I feel like I didn't know what was going to happen when this guy came. I really didn't know what his personality was. And just from the get go, you know, he's like, this is Cap's team. We're in. We're all in. He was like such a team player. I see him giving his all out there. Yeah, he and JB are not the strongest defensively, but they're just incredible. You know, they have incredible grit and desire and I think he sometimes doesn't get enough credit for that cat. And I see him, I see him like giving his all every game. So. Yeah, you know, I love the identity of this team in terms of just. I feel like they really care. They're, they're also like accessible guys who, you know, like Josh Hart, like, you know, you know, he'll make a joke like that. Last night he said, you know, why was your defense better? You know, JB wasn't there. Like, they, they're able to joke with each other, you know.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, I love that. I love that. It just feels like they, they, they really like each other. But, you know, this is a different team. This is their own team and they are very offensively minded. But we did, you know, it was a tough. I think Hartenstein was a. Hardenstein was a tough loss last year, you know.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah.

[Howard Beck]

How has that been? Just in the sense of like, you guys went through, as you alluded to, there were some very lean years there for the Knicks and like, they're fun again, they're relevant again.

[Ben Stiller]

There's.

[Howard Beck]

You said it like there's so much to love about this team. And, and last year, like part of the fun of rooting for them, it seemed like, was like every time a guy goes down, doesn't matter, right. They just keep grinding on and like they just, finally just ran out of bodies and gas against the Pacers. Yeah, this team is similar, but different. They might end up, I hate to say it, but the postseason may go very similarly to last year. To get that high, high. And then the expectations of the franchise, of you guys and the fan base, the city is like, okay, now we got to take the next step. Now we're going to take down the Celtics. We're going to go get Mikhail Bridges to add OG and Anobi. We're going to have guys to answer Tatum and Brown, all this, but it's feeling like, you know, partially Brunson out, partially just the way the season's gone, the defense not being as good. How are you calibrating? I guess, knowing that like.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, how am I calibrating for like what, what the reality of this team is?

[Howard Beck]

I guess. Yes. Because as we know, reality bites sometimes really bad.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, well, I don't know if it's going to bite that bad. I feel like they, you know, you can't underestimate this team. I think you have to see where they're at when the playoffs start and you know, see how they are health wise and yeah, it's going to be an uphill battle for sure. But you know, I, I don't know, I just feel like they really, you know, they all really want it. I think the depth in the bench is not what it was, but it's not as maybe consistent. But you know, like if campaign comes out and he starts hitting his threes, you know, it's like there's nothing like that boost when he's doing that. It doesn't happen all the time. I think Mikhail, you know, this again, I think hopefully a blessing in disguise with JB being out because Mikhail is going to have to step up more and I think him being more aggressive in og, I love og. I think he's just such a special player. So, yeah, I mean, look, who knows what's going to happen is what I'm saying. But I think, you know, I give us a chance.

[Raja Bell]

You know, that's a really. It's a. It's an interesting point. Like, not being a Knick fan, I didn't really look at it through that lens, but, like, I make the case for a lot of teams, and the silver lining that could be that injury you're talking about, Ben. And if I'm being honest, like, watching. Watching them play that Laker game was. I thought it kind of summed up kind of perfectly what they could be. Even though Cat wasn't playing great, they were defending. You were getting your usual contribution from a lot of other places, and you were able to kind of keep the game in your wheelhouse. And that only gets you kind of to a certain level, you tap out at your ability to beat better teams. And what they're going to need is other players in playoff runs to be able to kind of take some of the load offensively. And that's easier said than done. When Jalen's there, like, you know, it's not a Jalen issue. He's just so good. And teams, you know, we're all human beings, so we look at our best player, our alpha, and we say, hey, man, we're going to play off of that. And minus that, sometimes it'll allow people to grow into spaces that could be really complimentary, you know, in playoff run. So that's. That's kind of interesting because Mikhail can do that. Like, you've seen him do that on other teams. You just got to find the platform and kind of the space for him to figure it out. With the Knicks, Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

I mean, with Cat and OG and Mikhail, those guys can all score, you know. Right. They're legitimate scorers. It just, you know, it just. It's interesting, like, when. When Kat first came to the Knicks, I don't know, maybe I'm making this up, but I remember there's, like, a couple games when, like when JB was out, I think, and Cat had a big game and, like, they had. They hadn't quite yet figured out, you know, how to play together, and they're still, I think, figuring that out, too. But, you know, he has the ability, you know, I mean, look, that run he was earlier, when he first came to the arc, he was, like, you know, scoring like, 40 points a game, and he was having huge games. So, like, it's not like we don't have that ability. It's just we have to figure it out.

[Logan Murdoch]

I think Ben, me and you have talked about this offline, but I want to bring this conversation onto the podcast and give flowers to Raja Bell, who I know is one of your favorite players. That you have watched. You have been waxing poetic on this. I believe your quote was, he should have been a Nick.

[Ben Stiller]

Right? Like, he was a perfect. Right.

[Howard Beck]

That is high praise.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, no doubt. Thank you.

[Logan Murdoch]

With Raja being number one on the list, obviously. Who are the guys that you're like, who's your all time. Damn. He should have been a Nick. Nick. What are the ones that. That should have been there? Right. And we could talk. I have a other question after this that we could do. So let's break it up and let's break it up into like star stars and then like, obviously Roger's number one on all of them, but let's break it up with the star stars and then the role guys that should have been like, he should have been a Nick. What the. Why didn't we get him?

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, I don't know. I mean, you know, I always. First of all, do you guys ever talk, just to talk about one of my favorite Knicks back in the day that nobody ever talks about? Mike Glenn. Do you remember Mike Glenn? The Stinger played on the Hawks?

[Logan Murdoch]

Sorry.

[Ben Stiller]

Oh my God.

[Logan Murdoch]

I'm only like 12.

[Ben Stiller]

I feel like Roger, you would have known. No, he was. Anyway, he played in the 80s. He was like an amazing. He's a guy who played on the Knicks for a while and then he played on the Hawks for a long time and he had an amazing three point shot. And I feel like he would have. He would have done well on this Knicks team anyway. But I mean, unlike someone like, like Charles Barkley, you know, I don't know. How did you, like, I mean, what did you. What was. What's your take on Barkley, Raja?

[Raja Bell]

Oh, no, Chuck was. Chuck. Chuck would have been phenomenal in the, in the Knicks. In the Knicks uniform. Style of play, like, ability to. To just, you know, captivate an audience. I just think for the, for the market in general and Madison Square, which is. I know we talk about it, you probably are a little bit immune to it because you're there all the time. But even NBA players that are playing on big stages all. There's nothing like Madison Square Garden. I mean, there's just like a primetime MSG game. There's no energy, like, I mean, Staples, wherever else, it doesn't matter. So, yeah, Chuck would be one of those dudes. I don't know. I don't want to hijack your segment. I'm going to think about mine because I. There's some names that would have been great in Nick uniforms. He's at the top of the list. See, like a guy. Yeah. Give me a second to think about it. But, yeah, I like Chuck there. I always wanted to play for the Knicks. I just. I kind of got to it a little late in my career when I worked out for them, and it just. It just didn't. It didn't materialize. But my. You know, my wife's from Long island, so. So I got familial, like, you know, they're all Knicks fans. Um, and then when you touch. Touch the. The.

[Logan Murdoch]

The.

[Raja Bell]

You touch that floor at msg, even for warmups, and the music's pumping and you get to see the people coursing through there. I mean, that's a. You're going down in the elevator and that rickety thing, you think you're getting stuck in it, and you might see a rat running through that bad boy. Like it's. There's nothing like it.

[Ben Stiller]

It's funny because I. Yeah. Most of the games I've ever seen in my life have been in Madison Square Garden, so it's, like, actually interesting and weird for me to go see a game, like, even, like, going to the. To the crypto or whatever is. That's what it's called now, the crypto. Right.

[Logan Murdoch]

I hear that. I refuse to call it. I hear the. I hear.

[Raja Bell]

What's cr. What's crypto now?

[Logan Murdoch]

It's.

[Howard Beck]

It's staples.

[Logan Murdoch]

What is it?

[Howard Beck]

Staples.

[Raja Bell]

Crypto.

[Ben Stiller]

I know it's so weird, but I thought there was actually a really great energy there, you know, that I. I didn't remember because I didn't go to a lot of Lakers games when I lived in. I lived in la for, like, 20 years, and so I was living in LA during that whole, like, late 90s Knicks run and all that. But I thought there was actually good energy there. But it's weird to. Yeah. To actually go to different places. I saw the game, saw them play at the Hawks in Atlanta, and there's nothing like that. That. That Garden energy, I think, when even, like a regular season game just, you know, if it's a good game, like, it just goes crazy. But, like, the playoffs, forget it.

[Logan Murdoch]

Yeah.

[Raja Bell]

You know who would have been a good nick? KG would have been a good Nick.

[Logan Murdoch]

Oh, yeah.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah.

[Howard Beck]

That's a good.

[Raja Bell]

I don't know. I'm just playing around.

[Logan Murdoch]

Did you remember, like, the rumors of, like, Michael Jordan becoming a Nick or, like, using dicks as leverage and being like, maybe. Did you ever. Who was a guy. Did you talk yourself into Mike? I don't remember the.

[Ben Stiller]

I don't.

[Logan Murdoch]

Two years Old when he did that. But, like, I don't remember that.

[Ben Stiller]

That. I wasn't. That. No, I wasn't that aware of it.

[Logan Murdoch]

Okay.

[Ben Stiller]

I remember seeing Michael Jordan play, though. I mean, I saw Jordan play a few times. I saw Kobe play a few times. And, you know, you and Kobe, I mean, famously.

[Raja Bell]

It's my guy.

[Howard Beck]

We only bring it up about once every three weeks.

[Raja Bell]

It's only to be. It was exciting to watch my mj.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah.

[Raja Bell]

No, he was crazy. He was crazy. Did I. I've told you guys, my mj, right?

[Logan Murdoch]

Like, we're the preseason story.

[Raja Bell]

Oh, God. Jesus. I had my grandma in the stands talking shit. Like, I was just out there cooking. I had, like, 21, and I. I don't know. I don't know. I just thought that that was life with the old mj. And we played him no more than two weeks later in Washington, and I. He had me on the bench by, like, two minutes into the first quarter.

[Logan Murdoch]

Let you know about it, too, with the fouls.

[Raja Bell]

No, no, no, no. He didn't say anything to me. He was just. It was just an introduction into, like, hey, man, this is what we do in the preseason. Don't make the mistake of thinking that that's exactly who I am. Right. He turned it up to another level that I just had no answer for. Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

What do you. What is it? Are you thinking that, though, as a player, when you're playing someone like that, are you thinking like, this is Michael Jordan, or are you thinking like, I don't give a shit? I'm like, you know, I'm Roger Bell.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, that's a good one. That's a good question. And I was. We had come off those finals, Ben, so, like, I was kind of feeling myself in a way that I hadn't been months prior, just coming out of the cba. But at the end of the day, like, MJ was on a different pedestal for me than just about everybody else, so there was a level of deference and just like, hey, man, this. This is going to be bananas. But it's crazy, because as soon as the ball goes in the air, that's all out the window. Like, it was kind of the same with Kobe. I was a huge fan of Kobe. Like, I'm. I mean, I'm a basketball fan first and foremost, but as soon as that thing goes in the air, you just kind of forget where you are and you just get into, like, survival mode.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. I was looking up your stats, Rod. You shot 46% from three in the playoffs. Career.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah. I, I was blessed to play with some really good players. Look, so this is a bigger conversation is like we're taking it back to the Knicks we were talking about.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah.

[Raja Bell]

In the, in the playoffs if you play with good players and you're blessed to play with the brunson and a cat, you get shots, good looks at the basket because the game plan is to stop them.

[Ben Stiller]

But you have to knock them down.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, you gotta knock them down. Knock em down. This episode is brought to you by patron. 100% additive free tequila. When it comes to ingredients, Patron doesn't need to play games. That's why their tequila is crafted with 100% Weber Blue Agave water and thyme. No sweeteners, no added extracts, no secrets, just 100% additive free tequila. Visit Bertrone tequila.com to learn more. The perfect way to enjoy Patron is responsibly Copyright 2025, imported by the Patron Spirits Company, Coral Gables, Florida. Tequila 40% alcohol by volume.

[Cliff]

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[Howard Beck]

Ben, we're used to seeing. We're so used to seeing Spike get into it with opponents, with everybody. Have you had any of those kind of back and forths or are you just kind of like, who?

[Ben Stiller]

All right, I'm saying this already because I'm like so embarrassed. Like I lose myself sometimes at these games. And Spike is obviously Spike. So Spike is the, you know, Michael Jordan of fans, right? He's like, I mean, I love like going to games and getting, you know, getting a high five from Spike, like it's an exciting moment, you know, that's like, it's so much fun. And the way he is with the players, the way he is with the refs, you know, he has the license to do that. I sometimes just lose myself in the, you know, in the. Like, I just get too caught up. It's really like crazy. Like, I get so caught up in it at a game. It's one thing at home when you're like yelling at the TV or whatever, but when you're in a game, and it is the garden energy too. But sometimes I'll like, yeah, I'll go like a Little too far for sure.

[Logan Murdoch]

What was the most out of body experience you had in that one? Yeah, like, what was the one where you were like, what the fuck did I just do?

[Ben Stiller]

Oh, I don't know. I mean, I did. I had a, like a thing. I started yelling at Kelly Oubre in the play.

[Raja Bell]

Oh, yes, yes.

[Ben Stiller]

And like, I'm saying stuff that I Like, why am I saying? Like, I shouldn't be saying this? Like, you know, like, I'm dissing these guys who are like, you know, these guys I'm fans of, they're amazing, you know, professional basketball players. But I'm so frustrated. And then, yeah, I did like do a tweet where I said, kelly who Bray? But it was like in character. It was like a dodgeball or something like that. And then. And then at the next game, he came up to me and like before the ball was inbound and he said, like, I'm an average Joe's. No way am I Purple Cobras. So that's great. He had a really good sense of humor about it. But like, yeah, I mean, definitely. Or sometimes, like, I'll. I will like yell at the refs and then I'll see, you know, I'll see like on TV or something, like. Or I'll see like a replay or something. Or I see myself and I go, like, you. You can't do that. Like, you really have to. You really have to hold it back because, you know, it's ridiculous. But it's so. You get so into it. I'm trying to think of other. I mean, no, I mean, it's. It's amazing to me how sometimes players during the games, though, when you're sitting courtside, can be so. Can joke around and can be so relaxed within the game. You know, I was. I mean, I remember that also last season, like, Nick Batum at one point was there like, it was like 15 seconds left in the game. It's like a crazy physical game. And he like turned to me and he says, like, this is crazy, man. It's like a 90s 90s game or something here. And I was like, like, you're in the game, you're talking. I guess that's just like a way of dealing with, you know, right. Just sort of like you're in your zone and it's part of the whole experience.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, that becomes like. I was gonna say when you were telling your stories, which are fantastic. Like, I. I think most of us kind of enjoy that. Like, we, you know, like a little back and forth. You know, we we, we play basketball from the time you're whatever age and like part of what makes the NBA special, along with the financials and the TV and it is the fan, it's the environment. So as long as it's not like crossing the line, which some, you know, some people will do inevitably. But the passionate fan, that's going to give you a little back and forth, especially, you know, if you guys can get to the point where you know it's just going to stay there within the arena. Like, I always enjoyed it. I love getting back and forth with fans.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, well, it definitely is. Like there's no experience like sitting, I think in a close in an NBA game. Like there's no other sports experience like that, right, where you can be that, that close to the action. I think it's like for me, like the most enjoyable thing, like the thing that I love more than anything is going to go to a Knicks game.

[Logan Murdoch]

How serious though are you about doing that? Right? Like, because obviously you clearly have hella projects, but I see you at Knicks games considering you have like seven projects that you're working on and in your court side, like, are you like Jack Nicholson with the shit where it's in your contract that like, I need to, I need to make this game. Like even during the Oscars, you over here tweeting about it, like, what is, what is the obsession, the meaning, like, I have to be there. What do you do? What, What.

[Ben Stiller]

It's just a natural thing of like, you know, as the last few years, like five years ago, six, seven years ago, it probably wouldn't have been as much of a thing because you knew what the games were going to be. But now that there's every game is. It means something. I. I just started to make it part of my schedule, you know, I just started to like, literally, like I put it in my calendar, like there's a Knicks game on this night and then if there. Because if not that I'm going to go to all the games, but I do watch every game and I don't like, if I schedule a dinner or something like that during a Knicks game and I'll get mad because then I'll. Then I'll start to not enjoy the dinner because I feel like I should be watching the game, you know, but then, yeah, going to the games whenever I have a chance to go to a game, I don't. But I don't. Like, I can't. If you're shooting something, you can't stop shooting, you know, because you have like 200 people there that you can't just say, like, oh. I mean, I think back in the day, Woody Allen used to do that. Whatever. Stop shooting at like 5:00. Or I think Spike, though. Even when Spike's working, he's not there at the games. But if there's any way that you can work something around that, then, you know, I definitely will do it.

[Logan Murdoch]

Are you watching it while you're shooting, though? Like, are you watching, like, if you're doing severance in a season, right, and there's a Knicks game going on, is. Are you like, do you got like one eye on, you know, the severeds? And then you're like, you got the phone like, yo, what's, what's up there there in Portland tonight, I gotta see what the score is.

[Ben Stiller]

Quietly. Yes, that is happening. There is an iPad on set for sure. And it's known, it's known amongst the crew, whatever people know. And it's. It's. Everybody's okay with it.

[Howard Beck]

How'd your Knicks fandom start? Like, was this. Were your, your. Anybody else in the family, like, into the NBA or basketball, or was it just you on your own? Like, where, like, what's, where's the. Where's the origin point? Like, specific players, specific team, specific season?

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, I mean, it goes way back. It goes back to the 70s. Goes back to my dad who didn't have season tickets, but had friends who had season tickets. There were these two guys, this guy named Freddie Klein and a guy named Stanislavski who, like, owned the Carnegie deli. And we're sort of like classic New York, you know, New York Jewish, Knick fan guys, you know what I mean? Like, deli, go to the games, knew. Knew all the refs. They had eighth row behind the Knicks basket. And so sometimes we would go and sit there with them and they would like, yell at the refs. They knew all the refs by name and they knew the players. They took me down to courtside. This was like. Like, maybe like when I was 8 years old in 1973. So, you know, I remember being introduced to Phil Jackson and people like that. And. And then since then I just started going as a teenager, I'd go with my dad sometimes or with my friends and. And it just was part of, you know, became a big Bernard King fan in that era. And then it just always was a part of my life. So, you know, and then. And then I. Then I definitely disconnected for a while. When I lived in L. A actually in that time, those late 90s times, I was not as into it on a regular basis. And then when I moved back to New York in 2010, it was like, one of the best things about moving back here was like, I get to go to Nick games and. And started taking my son, who was little at the time. And obviously the 2010 till, like, whatever, 2021 wasn't a great time.

[Raja Bell]

Who, who, who would. I mean, we know the. The faces that are at a lot of the games and stuff, but is there anybody in your industry that, like, really knows hoop? Like, you sit and have a conversation, you're like, yeah, this guy, he's a hoop head. He really gets it.

[Ben Stiller]

Well, I mean, the guys who go to the games, you know, the Knick games, like, Chris Rock, you know, Chris is really into it. You know, all those, like, sort of like. And I guess the guys you see, like, Tracy Morgan's hilarious. I know. You guys ever cross paths?

[Logan Murdoch]

I mean, what the fuck is he doing?

[Ben Stiller]

Eddie Murphy's impression of him on the SNL was, like, amazing.

[Raja Bell]

Phenomenal.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. I mean, there's guys who, like, have been, like, longtime Nick fans who've been there forever, who know, like, Matthew Modine, people like that, who are, like, serious, you know, just years and years. John Turturro, who's on severance, has a season ticket, has two season tickets to the Knicks. He's been going forever. And. Yeah, I mean, I'm trying to think of other, like, you know, like, celeb people, but it's. I mean, people in New York who are fans, like, are really, you know, they're really into it, and, you know, they take it very seriously. I mean, I think I've gotten more into it in the last, like, five years. Like, start. I never used to listen to podcasts about and stuff, and then I started listening to you guys and, you know, some of the other ones, but some. Sometimes the other one, like, it's. It's frustrating because, like, when you hear podcasts talk about the Knicks and they're not. They don't, you know, they're not Knicks fans, I take it so personally, you know.

[Logan Murdoch]

Oh, my God.

[Howard Beck]

I can't imagine Knicks fans taking it personally when people in my industry say something critical about them. That's never happened to me in my 20s in New York.

[Logan Murdoch]

Ben, wait, man. On that subject of fandoms, though, do you guys look at New Yorkers? Look at, like, Denzel Washington, and it's like, yo, man, you one of us. How the hell are you a Lakers fan? What the hell is going on? You're supposed to be from money earning Mount Vernon. And you over here on at Staples talk about go Lakers. Like, do you guys look at him like, what the hell?

[Ben Stiller]

No.

[Logan Murdoch]

I thought we were in family.

[Ben Stiller]

He's allowed to do whatever he wants. He came to a Nick fan. Nick game recently. He came with Spike to a Nick game.

[Logan Murdoch]

Okay.

[Ben Stiller]

Like a few weeks ago. Yeah, I mean, no, like, I don't hold it like everybody has their, you know, look like Jalen Brunson's an Eagles fan. Right. Or whatever. So, you know, it's like you have your, your teams.

[Logan Murdoch]

Okay.

[Ben Stiller]

I'm not gonna hold against them.

[Logan Murdoch]

Okay.

[Ben Stiller]

Okay.

[Howard Beck]

Ben, what's your own basketball resume? Aside from the scene in Along Came.

[Raja Bell]

Polly, but I have that written down. Howard. Like, that was. I have that written down. I love that basketball scenes ever still, by the way.

[Howard Beck]

Still gross. As I, I replayed it and I was like, oh, my God. Like the, the. The slow mo. The sound effects, the just the.

[Logan Murdoch]

It just.

[Howard Beck]

It still hits. It's. I, it still hits.

[Ben Stiller]

I still. I, I still remember it. I remember it.

[Howard Beck]

That. That wasn't like that, that wasn't like a, like a, A stunt special effects thing. That was his actual chest right after.

[Ben Stiller]

That actor was cast purely for his hairy. And Phil Hoffman was so, I mean, he was so funny in that scene. Incredible. He was just amazing. Yeah, my basketball resume is short. I like me. I. It was basically, yeah, I, you know, try. I went to a small private school on the Upper west side called Calhoun. And there were maybe like 60 kids in our whole, like, I don't know, senior class maybe or something like that. But I tried out for the basketball team and there were like maybe 16 kids who tried out for the basketball team. And like 12 got on and I was one of the four that didn't make it of the 16 kids. But I would go, like, play. I love to play, though. And I play pickup games and, you know, I go play at the Y on Sundays. My dad would take me and so, like, I always love playing. But then my kids, it's. My kids ended up going to the same high school I went to and my son played on the seventh and eighth grade or the seventh grade team. It was seventh, eighth grade basketball team with Carmela's son, Kyan.

[Logan Murdoch]

Oh, wow. Wow.

[Ben Stiller]

So they played. Yeah, so they played on the same team together because he went there and then. That was before Kaya. Now I saw him at a game a few weeks ago. He's like, he's like six. What? Like six, seven or so.

[Logan Murdoch]

I Don't know.

[Raja Bell]

He's a big kid.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, but he was like, four years ago or five. He was. You know, he was not. And he was great. But anyway. And there was. My son was. Didn't keep playing basketball, but he did. And he had one game where he hit four three pointers, and so that was his. And then he retired.

[Raja Bell]

Okay. I shut it down.

[Logan Murdoch]

You said, take that, dad.

[Ben Stiller]

He left while he was on top.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah. Kyan's a bad boy. Like, he. We played against him a lot when our kids were young, like in the travel scene. And he was. I mean, to your point, you wouldn't have thought. I mean, you knew Carmelo was his dad, so he was going to grow at some point, but at the time, you were like, oh, whatever.

[Ben Stiller]

Right.

[Raja Bell]

And then he had a pretty. Pretty big glow up over the last four or five years. Man, he's tough.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. Which is great. It was fun because Mello would come to all the games and, you know, just as a dad and, you know, there's nothing like that. I mean, I know, Roger, because you. Your kids, like, you know, there's nothing like watching your kid play. Right. Because you just. You just want it to go well. You just want it to go well so badly it's almost hard to watch. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Right?

[Raja Bell]

No doubt. Like, that's the one. The most anxiety I've ever had is sitting in the stands to watching one of my children play.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. It's just a thing with kids, you know, you just want your kids to do well, and you can't. You know, you have to let them go through their process.

[Raja Bell]

No doubt.

[Logan Murdoch]

All right. Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

One grows.

[Logan Murdoch]

I know, I know. It's been a blast to just see that I'm really living here. I'm getting pointers from Raja. I've been getting. He doesn't know this, but, like, I'm like, how Steve Kerr was with, like, Brad Stevens and, like, secretly taking notes and, like, side out of bounds plays from Raj's philosophies on being a dad and stuff, you know, just like. Just like, oh, he did that. Okay. I'm gonna figure that out. Yeah, it's. I. I can't wait. He's so young now, so I'm just. There's. He's just. Does. He just barely. Just doesn't even crawl yet. So, like, I'm just loving him right now. He's big as hell, but, you know, that's all I can do.

[Ben Stiller]

It's such a cliche, but, like, that period of time goes by so quickly. Right.

[Logan Murdoch]

I know. Even so fast right now. Like, it's like. It's crazy. We're just taking them to the hospital. I didn't know what the hell I was doing. Still don't. But, like, you know, it's. It's crazy to even get to this point to where, you know, you're so delusional. Out of the hospital, and now you're just like, okay, we have a bit of a routine now, and you're sleeping.

[Ben Stiller]

It's pretty cool. No, it is crazy. I think that thing of, like, when you leave the hospital with your kids, like, all of a sudden you're on your own. You're just like, okay.

[Logan Murdoch]

They don't give you. No, they're just like, yo, bye. Yeah, see you.

[Howard Beck]

Like, where's. Where's the user manual? Like, where's the. Like, there's instructions.

[Ben Stiller]

Because in the hospital, everything is so controlled, and they're feeding, they're doing this, and then all of a sudden it's like, all right, just go.

[Logan Murdoch]

It's crazy. It's so jarring.

[Raja Bell]

For me, honest to God, for me, I think that was the moment in my life. I've been with my wife for a long time, but that was when I realized she was in charge because I wasn't going to be leaving there. I didn't know what the fuck to do. The whole ride home, we were, like, hyperventilating.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah.

[Raja Bell]

Really?

[Logan Murdoch]

So calm.

[Raja Bell]

But when we got home, she was like. She went right into like, all right, I need you to do this. I did you do that? And we're gonna do that. And I was like, we're like, yeah.

[Logan Murdoch]

Okay, Sounds like a plan.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, you got it.

[Logan Murdoch]

Only. Only decision that I had was that I played too short on the way home. Just, you know, get them right, you know, get them some isms. You know what I'm saying? Just, like, get them some. Like, some little ism on the way home. That's. That was my contribution to the cause. All right, let's get to the shits, man. Enough. Nick's talk. Let's. Let's. Let's just, like. Let's get a little loopy here. I'm. Let's talk. Let's talk about Ben's career. But first off, I want to ask severance, which we all watch. And the question that I have for you is, obviously, you guys are awash with fan theories. I know, because I am on Reddit, and I subscribe to those conspiracy theories, and I see them and I. And I go up and what is the. The Best and worst fan theory that you love and what is. And how much of them, which one has a symbol of truth to it that you're like, oh, this is actually true. They're on to something.

[Ben Stiller]

Well, it's hard because there's so many different ideas that people have, and obviously I don't want to tell people what. What's right or wrong. You know what I mean? Because then it'll take the fun out of watching it, right?

[Logan Murdoch]

No. No, it won't. No. We still love those. Those, Those. Those. Those video. Those camera scenes of just water for 30 seconds, you know, It'll be fine. You could give it up a little bit.

[Howard Beck]

Logan. Suddenly a cinematography critic here.

[Logan Murdoch]

I'm locked in. I'm locked in, Ben.

[Ben Stiller]

No, you know, I have to say that for me, is a little bit. And I'm, like, guilty of this. But, like, for so many years, making comedies as a director, you know, you have to, like, put in from an audience and they have to, you know, you test it, right, to see where they're laughing, where they're not laughing. You know, back in the day, like, they still do it, but like scorecards, you know, like, what would you rate the movie? Good, excellent, whatever. And studio movies go through that whole thing. And then when I started working, not in comedy as much, it was really freeing to not have to do that, to not have to, you know, make sure something paced up and was like, you know, a laugh every 30 seconds or whatever. And you could just do shots of water and things like that. So it's kind of like me rebelling.

[Logan Murdoch]

Shots of mountain ranges.

[Ben Stiller]

It's one episode. One episode. But, you know, I mean, I think some people have gotten close. It's. It's for us. Yeah. For us to ultimately, like, you know, I want the show to work, and I know Dan Erickson, who created it, and everybody who works on it wants to work on an emotional level, you know, like, the characters and, like, the relationships of the characters, I feel like, are the most important thing. And then all the questions about, like, what the numbers mean and what's looming up to and is there. You know, there's like. I know that I've seen some, like, AI theories and things like that, you know, which I don't want to. I don't want to say they're not right, but they're not. You know, it's not.

[Howard Beck]

AI okay on the official.

[Ben Stiller]

They're not dead. They're not dead.

[Raja Bell]

It's like.

[Howard Beck]

Like with Lot like with Lost, which you haven't seen incredibly I can't believe you said this on your podcast with Adam Scott the other day. You've never seen Lost. One of my favorite shows.

[Ben Stiller]

I know I've. I'm not. Like, I haven't watched, like, a lot of television over the years. I mean, I've watched some things and I've loved. But, like, I never watched Lost, and I know it was great. It's just like, there's a lot of. A lot of episodes and a lot of seasons, but. And we do get compared to it a lot, so it's kind of. I feel good that I haven't watched it really well.

[Howard Beck]

And Dan, who you mentioned, the writer. Sorry, Erickson.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, Dan Erickson. Yeah.

[Howard Beck]

He's. I think he's noted. Right. Like, he was a huge Lost fan and has actually, like, there are some illusions in severance to loss. Like, he slipped in a few things, which I think our. Our friends on the Prestige TV pod have. Have picked up on.

[Ben Stiller]

Oh, really? Yeah. I don't. I don't know. I mean, it's just like, the amount of, you know, of analysis and in that way, like, I feel like we all bring what we bring to it, and sometimes we talk about this stuff and sometimes we don't. But that's what's been fun about working on the show with Dan is like, he comes from, you know, he's younger than I am. He has a different generation. He comes from a different place. He has watched different stuff. I have my sort of, you know, library of things that are in my head. And it's been fun to just come together with him and just sort of like, what. What we've made together, I think is something that we wouldn't have done if we, you know, weren't working. Working with each other. So that's been fun, you know?

[Logan Murdoch]

Yeah.

[Raja Bell]

That's interesting. I'm always. I'm always fascinated. I hear. I might listen to a couple pods, and I hear a lot of people talk about that comedy versus more like. Like, drama genre, especially coming from a comedic background, probably. And that always fascinates me. Right. Because I didn't realize how demanding it is trying to get the laugh, if you will. Like, do you know what I mean? Like, I never really kind of put that. I didn't put two and two together with that, but I would. I mean, I don't have.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, I would say it's like, literally, it's such a simple thing. It's like somebody comes to a basketball game, they want the player to put the ball in the basket. It's like, you go to a comedy, you want to laugh, and it's like a very binary thing. And that's what. That's the tough thing is, like, if you're not performing, if you're not getting right, if you're not making people laugh, then. Then, you know, then they're not, you know, happy. So when you say something's a comedy, that's what's. To me, by the way, that's great because I love comedies and you got to deliver, and I. That's why I think it's a higher bar in a way, to do comedy, because drama, you can, you know, do shots of mountains or whatever things. And I'm going to, you know, creatively express myself. No, but. Which is, you know, subjective. But laughing is kind of like, either you're laughing or you're not laughing, but then. Right. And then. But people. Different people laugh at different things, so figuring out what's going to make people laugh can be challenging.

[Logan Murdoch]

Yeah.

[Raja Bell]

No, that's. I just find that so fascinating. It's absolutely right. I just find. It just blew me away. I have. I mean, I don't really have a question because I'm just such a fan, but, like, I mean, along came Polly. I don't know, Logan, you were too. You were too young for, like, when that came out in the movie theaters. I swear to. I swear to God on everything I love, I've never laughed as hard in a movie theater again in my life. Like, it was. It was the wildest thing. And the cool part that. Do you guys film that in Miami, right, Polly? We. No, no, I'm sorry. Something about Mary.

[Ben Stiller]

Something about Mary was all. Yeah, Was. Was South Beach, Miami. Yeah, it was great.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah. You guys used. You guys used weird little things. You guys, the. The driving range that you guys were using in that movie was. I. Correct me if I'm wrong, you might not remember, but it looked like the one in Hollywood, Florida. It's one that my dad and I used to go to. You were hitting out into, like, a little lake out there. It was the craziest. The craziest thing. Sure.

[Ben Stiller]

I. Maybe, yeah. I'd never. I mean, I'd never really worked there before. I had. We had the best time. And also because the Farrelly brothers, who directed that movie just, you know, were like. They had no rules about how they did anything, so they just would do stuff to make. Make people laugh, and they were doing practical jokes on the set that now you would get thrown in jail for.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

Wait, Ben.

[Logan Murdoch]

Ben, I just Want to say, first of all, fuck you, Raja. Because. Because Something About Mary was the first Ben Stiller movie that I actually watched, like, ever.

[Raja Bell]

Oh, I just thought you were. I just thought you were, too.

[Logan Murdoch]

I mean, I was probably. I was, but I was still watching that, so I got you.

[Raja Bell]

I got you.

[Logan Murdoch]

That leads to my question, which I had on this on. On my. On my doc. What was it like filming the scene where your character zips up as you film me in the bathroom and, like, tell me about that beans. Tell me about that day. What was that day like? Please tell me about the day when.

[Howard Beck]

I cannot believe you asked.

[Logan Murdoch]

Yes, well, that was.

[Ben Stiller]

That day was okay. I mean, it was like. I felt like we were doing like a Marx Brothers movie or something. It was just so over the top. There's, like, this set.

[Raja Bell]

We got a bleeder.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. And it was just like a guy walks by the window. It was like a. Like a vaudeville routine or something. And I thought, okay, this is just like, so over the top. And then we kept on. They had this giant, like, prop of the. Of my pants with the zipper. With the franks and the beans and the zipper, you know, like this, like. Like this big, like, oversized prop. Because sometimes they make them oversized so they get the camera. And I was looking, and I said to the director, like, there's no way. You're never going to shoot that thing. That's, like, disgusting. That's ridiculous. There's no way. He's like, yeah, yeah, we probably won't use it. We're not going to use it. I don't think we use it. And then, of course, see the movie and the thing. The reason why it's so funny, I think, is because they wait so long to cut. Like, the scene goes on and. And on. And then very late in the scene, they cut to that close up. So it was. Yeah. The more lonely day of shooting was the. The scene where, you know, I have to go in the bathroom and, you know, the date with Mary and, you know, try to, you know. You know. You know I'm talking about.

[Raja Bell]

That was that. I mean, that might have been the single. That shot is the laugh I'm talking about.

[Logan Murdoch]

That's what I'm talking about.

[Raja Bell]

That's the shot. Right. Like, what I was like, I think I jumped over a railing or something.

[Logan Murdoch]

It was the Wild, bro. I laughed so hard and I knew.

[Ben Stiller]

I obsessed with you talking about this stuff on my ear, right?

[Logan Murdoch]

No, yeah, no, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the zipper scene where you are. And it. Every man related to it instantly, no matter how. How that. I'm talking about that scene.

[Ben Stiller]

Well, the ear scene where she, you know, she comes over for the date.

[Raja Bell]

That one I'm talking.

[Logan Murdoch]

Yeah, okay.

[Ben Stiller]

That one I was obsessed with, like, why I wouldn't be able to feel it on my ear. That was my. I had long discussions with the director. Like, did, like, did my character have an accident when I was young and like, I lost all sensitivity on my earlobes? Like, do we need to set up the fact that like some. At some point I lost like, I injured my ear so that I feel stuff because I couldn't understand. He was like, it doesn't matter. It just doesn't.

[Howard Beck]

Even though like the physics of how did it get there? But like, I don't. You don't want to think about it at certain points, you just don't even want to think about it. So I'm sorry Raja even brought this up.

[Raja Bell]

Oh, my God. That's great.

[Cliff]

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[Raja Bell]

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[Ben Stiller]

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[Raja Bell]

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[Ben Stiller]

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[Raja Bell]

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[Howard Beck]

All right, your. Your kids are now, I think, both in their 20s, right? They're slightly older than mine, right? We established.

[Ben Stiller]

My son's almost 20. Yeah. My daughter is going to be 23.

[Howard Beck]

At what point, at what point did they see some of these scenes or some of your movies or the ones where you cringed as they're like, as they're growing up? There's, like, you know, not at the museum what are fine, but, like, there's certain stuff where you probably had to. To wait. And I'm curious how much they were interested in all this in the first place, but also, like, when did they finally see scenes that Raja has described?

[Ben Stiller]

That one. That one. I don't think they. I still don't think my kids have seen that one or something about Mary. At least they haven't told me about it. And I'm not like, running to, like, hey, let's screen this thing together. You know what I mean? I went to the. I had. I went to the premiere with my parents. I remember my parents were at the premiere premiere, and I remember sitting at the premiere with my parents thinking, oh, my God, like, this is. I didn't think about this. And they were, like, behind me, and I was like. And I remember just watching it, like, not wanting to turn around. Yeah. My kids, it's weird, like, they're so aware of all this stuff, you know, obviously, but it's kind of like there's certain movies that we have, you know, watched together. I think my daughter saw Tropic Thunder for the first time like a couple years ago, you know, and that was, you know, it was fun. It's fun for like, you know, they. They come to something, they want to see it. But you don't want to like, be trying to like, say, hey, check out this or check that out and like the song about Mary. I'm just like, at some point they'll experience it maybe, or maybe they won't, which would be okay too.

[Raja Bell]

You talked, you talked about your parents just a little bit there. I'm sorry. How cool was it? I mean, how often did you work with your dad? I remember one specifically, Zoolander. Like, how cool is that?

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, I mean, I grew up. My parents were actors. You know, I grew up around. They were a comedy team. I actually just been working on this documentary about them that's about to come out. And so, like, my whole life was just being around their world in New York, show business and that period of time. And they, you know, it was fun to work with them. When I started to do movies, I'm glad I was able to do it. Sometimes it's complicated when you have, you know, relationships with parents who, like, you know, we're both in the same business. And my dad was doing Seinfeld and kind of had this sort of like, new chapter of his career when I was doing movies. So that was really great because, you know, I. I think he was just a really. He was a really funny guy. My mom was really funny, but also like, very sort of interested, I think, in more kind of like, more like, like where I go, like more serious stuff also. And wrote and read a lot and, you know, anytime I could work with them, it was really fun. But it was also, they were helping me a lot when I was growing up. I mean, you talk about like, Nepo babies and all that. Like, I can imagine a world where, like, not being like, I wouldn't probably have gone into what I do if I wasn't around it all the time and saw it and wanted to be a part of it. I did love movies as a kid. My parents were doing the nightclub stand up comedy and I thought, okay, I want to be in movies. But then when I started to try to do my own stuff, I would, you know, say, hey, dad, could you be in this you know, this tape I'm doing, or my mom. Like, we. We would. They would. They were really supportive, and it was just part of. It was just part of our lives. And that's kind of part of what the movie's about that I've been working on is that just sort of like. It wasn't like, sort of like, hey, I'm gonna help you out. It was just sort of like, this is the world that we live in. And I imagine it like, if, you know, like, with your kids, if, you know, in sports, like, you're gonna try to, like, impart what you know to them and help them. Right. In whatever way, but. And they have to figure it out themselves. And, like, obviously, it's a greater question you could, you know, talk about. But for me, working with my parents or them being a part of what I did was. It was like, a really natural thing, and I was really grateful that we had that, you know, that experience, those experiences together.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah. That's very cool. My dad. Not that anyone asked, but I'll just share it. Like, my dad was a. My dad was a college wide receiver. He didn't get to play in the pros, and so he became a PE coach, and then he was an assistant athletic director at Miami. But his world was sports. He played every sport. I went to every field. And although it wasn't on the professional level, you just described it, right? Like, I was there. I was loving what he was loving. I was watching his love for it and loving it and developing my own love. Right? And that's just. That's our family business to some degree. So, like, our kids, even though you don't push them there, like, they just see what you love, right? And they're like, well, that's pretty cool. And they could love it if they want.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. They make that choice for themselves that they want to do it. I know. I made that choice for myself. I saw. And my kids. My. My daughter is out there, you know, starting work as an actor and went to drama school and. But she just, like, made a choice at a certain point that she wants to do that. And same thing with my son. And you guys, you know, I want to be supportive of that, but I think it's also, like. Yeah. Growing up around it, if you see something that you're drawn to, I think that's a good thing sometimes. The flip side is, like, you're not around as much, you know, when you're working and you're so focused on that. But also, I think your kids experience that Because I saw that with my parents, that they were so focused on their work, but they also, you know, they loved us and everything. But that was sort of like what they were modeling was that commitment to the work, too.

[Logan Murdoch]

I'm looking right now, like, speaking of. I guess I wouldn't say father figures, but someone that played your father in a movie. I'm thinking about Robert De Niro and how much of a method actor he can be. And I'm wondering, like, what was it like to be alongside that? And what is your best story from him just working alongside.

[Ben Stiller]

I mean, you know, I was lucky in that in Meet the Parents because De Niro, you know, was so intimidating as a presence. And my character had to be intimidated by him. So it wasn't really like I had to do that much. And he was really nice, but I think he also understood that that dynamic was there. So he was always sort of, I think, like, kind of like whenever he could, like, lean into, like, sort of allowing me to be intimidated, he would.

[Logan Murdoch]

We. We.

[Ben Stiller]

He's the sweet. We've become friends over the years, you know, which is just surreal to me because he's one of my favorite actors. But he, you know, he has an intensity about him. I mean, even, you know, like, even now. I saw him recently at the SNL 50th thing, and, you know, he gets really. You know, he's really upset by what's going on with Trump and the country and everything. Like, when he gets intense and, like, it's like you're like, literally in a scene from Goodfellas. You know what I mean? Like, you, like, it's real. It's very real. And that's what I think is so fascinating about him as a. As an actor, is that he has both that. That super scary intensity, and he's also incredibly sweet and kind, too. And so, you know, that flip side. But I do remember once we were in the car doing a scene like we're driving together, and then he got. He was like, we. They'd stop, we shoot the scene, and then they cut the camera. And then we had to drive the camera back around the car, back around to where we started the scene. So we'd just be sitting in the car together, and it was like. And it was supposed to be, you know, awkward and uncomfortable in the scene. And then it was like, probably more awkward and uncomfortable on the drive back to the beginning of the scene. And then he started telling me about, like, a real estate person that he felt had. That, I guess something had happened. And he got started getting upset with this person who had, like, done something wrong. And I heard him, like, go. And I was like, oh, my God, this is like the intense De Niro right Thing. And it was just like, wow, that's like. And then he was like, yeah, but, you know, whatever. And so, I don't know, there's nothing like, when you're in the. With somebody who's like, one of your acting idols, and they're just sort of like, you know, being who they are. And for me, it was very. It was kind of cool because I felt like he. I felt like he was kind of, like, opening up to me a little bit. And, like, we were actually, like, talking like two people. I don't know.

[Logan Murdoch]

It's pretty cool. Were you like, oh, shit, that's Robert De Niro being Robert De Niro as.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, exactly. It's like, that's where it comes, like.

[Logan Murdoch]

This is my life.

[Ben Stiller]

Yes, exactly. And he. But, like, it was just sort of like. But in, like, a real way where it's like, oh, this is how he channels this into being those characters on screen, you know, can you still get.

[Howard Beck]

Starstruck at this stage? Like, is there anybody who you still. You walk in a room with and go, like, holy, I'm in a room with. Fill in the blank.

[Ben Stiller]

I mean, I get starstruck by athletes for sure, right? I mean, there's something about, you know, the athletes who you look up to. I don't know how you guys feel about it, because you, you know, you are an athlete graduate, but you, Howard, you write about. I don't know, like, what. You know, Logan, what do you, like? How do you guys look at? I'm curious, because for me, that's musicians and athletes, right? People who create music that, like, affects you on this deep emotional level, like someone like Elton John or something like that for me, or, you know, like. Like, I haven't met Kendrick Lamar. I'm huge. We were talking about Kendrick Lamar. Like, I'm huge fan of his. I would be starstruck meeting him, you.

[Logan Murdoch]

Know, I think it's. Honestly, man. At least for me, I can speak for. I don't want to speak for Howard, but I think it's just more of a suppression than anything, right? Like, we just. We. Because we're. We see these people in a place where we have to do a job. You know what I mean? So, like, we have to focus on a job in a certain thing. So, like, for me, at least, when I see someone that I've always admired or. And I've seen a lot of people. You usually don't like notice it till you get home. And you're like, what the was tonight? That was crazy, right? But in the moment you're like, like, oh, that's such and such for show, right? But like I have to get something done, you know what I mean? And I think it's more suppression than anything, right? Like, I've had the opportunity to like cover Steph on a regular basis for the last like seven years, right? And he's like this, he's like this global star. I remember there was this one time where I was, I think I was walking out with either Steph or kd, like walking out into to the court and I. There was this jarring reminder that. Of who these people actually are, right? Because you're on a. You're with them on a day to day. I'm sure Raj and Howard have dealt with this where you're walking with a person and then you hear. Start hearing like loud like screams and stuff. And you're like, what the hell is that? Because like your human instinct is something going wrong. And then you're like, oh, no, I'm just with like Michael Jackson right now. Like, I'm just standing next to that type of figure. Figure, right. And you don't. It's. That's. That part is jarring. But for the most part, when you're around these people, at least I'm suppressing it because you have a job to do. And then you look back and you're like, damn, I was in this place at this time, during this moment. So it's a bit. It's a little different. As someone that covers a league, what do you think, Howard?

[Howard Beck]

I've gotten kind of numb to it, to be honest. It's not even suppressing it anymore. Like I. There. There's very few athletes who could walk.

[Logan Murdoch]

He's also Howard. So like, it's. There's that.

[Ben Stiller]

You know what I mean?

[Howard Beck]

No, I'm just like, dude, like when you start your career covering the NBA, covering Shaq and Kobe, like everything after that feels like, honestly, it kind of just numbs you out to everything else. And so whether it's LeBron or Steph or whoever else, it's not that I'm not impressed with like how incredible they are. It's just the celebrity factor does not, does not come into play for me anymore. There are some exceptions. I never did get to meet, and I wish I had. I never got to meet the great Bill Russell, and I was in A room with him a few times. I get the NBA finals and other events. But like he's such a presence that there was a. It's not even like intimidating. It's more just like, like this is. This, this is royalty, man. Like this is. And so I did not want to impose on him in any way by walking up to say, hi, Mr. Russell. Howard Beck from wherever I was working at the time, I just never did it. And I wish I had, but he's one of those ones. He just has this presence, this aura about him. But aside from him, like, listen, man, you guys know like I grew up on, on the the 80s niners. If I walk into a room and Joe Montana's in there, I will probably turn back into a 15 year old and be like all weird and like goofy.

[Logan Murdoch]

I really want to see that because Howard be over here. Like, I don't care. I'm not all these athletes, I ain't tripping off of them. I really want to see him kind of like rise. Don't you kind of want to see a fanboy out just a, A little bit, bro? Just. Oh yeah.

[Raja Bell]

I'd like to see it power get uncomfortable.

[Howard Beck]

But I have the inverse of what Ben just described, which is. Ben, like you're saying like it's the athletes you still kind of have on that pedestal. I. It's not athletes for me. It is actors, musicians, other people whose work. Like again, I'm wearing my REM shirt today, but if I walk in a room and Michael Stipe is, is. Is there, I am not going to be able to even function or speak coherently. I would love to meet Stipe, but like, I don't. I did embarrass myself. So that's where it still hits for me. And with athletes it's just like eh, whatever. I've seen these guys before.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, I'm kind of like that with, I mean with basketball, with male athletes, I'm fine. I would be a fan. Like, like female athletes. Megan Rapinoe. I've like friend of the show. Yeah, no doubt. But. But you joke with me all the time. Like I would fan out. Like obviously Ben and actors and actresses. Like not even, not even a question. But you know, football players, basketball players. I guess it's. I guess it is what you have access to, right? Because I've had a lot of access to football and basketball. Like I'd fan out over like, you know, I got a chance with Steve Nash to meet a lot of world class soccer players. You know, just kind of tagging along, being his friend at different stuff. And those dudes get me freaked out a little bit. But, yeah, basketball, football and stuff like that, I'm good. But this would be. Ben, I'm sorry. Like, I don't know. This was a. This was a big one for me, man. Like, this was.

[Logan Murdoch]

We're not done yet, Raja. We're not done yet.

[Raja Bell]

No, I know. I'm just reiterating this.

[Logan Murdoch]

This was a big deal. That is an interesting, funny part, though, real quick.

[Ben Stiller]

But it's an interesting thing, though, to me, because I guess what's interesting to me when I meet an athlete that I'm a fan of is just. Or, you know, it's like, the insight to how you do what you do. Because I guess I. As journalists, you guys, you know, you have to come at it from a certain place. I always come at as a fan from. And maybe this is also my dad, because my dad was, like, a super generous, sweet, loving, funny guy. And he would. He never. He grew up super poor during the Depression, and I don't think he ever got over the fact that, like, he, like, was able to, like, you know, just live in a nice place and never worry about having food. And, you know, he really had that deep in him. And he loved going to basket. We go to. Go to the Knicks games. He loved going to games, but he was never a guy that was going to get. Get down on players, you know, or, like, yell things at players or. And I think I kind of. I kind of come from the same place as him, which is, like. Because it's not my job to talk about them or to analyze them. Like, just the fact that these guys are here at this level, like, we take it for granted. Anytime you see one of those celebrity games on the All Star Game, whatever, like, you are, like, so quickly reminded of how, like, what normal people look like playing basketball. Right? You know what I mean? Like, what people who are even. Or, like, even guys at, like, a pickup game in a gym. That's why I think Jokic is so fascinating, because he doesn't look like this guy who's, like, the best, right? One of the best ever. He just looks like a guy at the Y who, like, would be annoying at the Y. And. But, like, he's doing it with the best in the world. And when you see normal people play method, you go, oh, yeah, this is like. It's so, like, we get so used to that. I appreciate that so much, you know, I guess I just appreciate at that level that it's hard for me to, like, go after guys, like, personally, I can get frustrated, but I also feel like I'm just fascinated with how you do it, how you're able to lock in and, like, what it takes to be where you're at. And I guess that's more just like my sort of, like, as a fan of other people, musicians or athletes, it's like I'm. I'm just. It's not what I do. So I'm really curious about how they're able to do it. And when it comes down to it, a lot of it is just like, just natural ability and then it's mindset. And it seems to me that to be able to be a clutch player, to be able to shoot a free throw in front of 10,000 people, you know, that's like a. Yes. It comes from repetition. And, you know, everybody I've ever talked to is like, you. We've been doing this since we were little, but not everybody can still do it at that level.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, no, you. You know what's interesting? It's about that. I mean, it's just the. I mean, I'm the absolute opposite of that, right? Like, in terms of viewing what. What you guys do. Like, I, you know, took a drama class. My drama was, like, in college was like, hey, you're pretty good at that. Like, you know, like, I never thought I was going to be an actor, but there was one moment, like, out of the Suns where, you know, I had an agent and they brought me a script and they were like, hey, do you want to try to do this? And I'm like, yeah, man, what the fuck? Like, let's do it. And as soon as I had to read in front of, like, a camera, like, oh, I can't do this. There's not even a chance. Like, not even a chance. Like, there's nothing in me that could pull this off. And so, like, it's, it's. It's just the reverse of that. Right? Just fascinated by, you know, this is. This is what I do. It's natural. Like, we train to do it. Like, there is an element of, like, you could train as much as you want and you still might not be able to do it, but for the most part, you've got this natural ability, and then you've sharpened your tools to a point where you could pull some of this off. But, I mean, it's the same thing for you guys, right? Like, it's the same exact thing. Like, not everyone can turn on a camera and talk into it and look, look, Natural doing that. Whether you sharpened your tools or not, there's just no natural to it.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, it takes. It takes, you know, time and of, like, getting used to it. I definitely wasn't great when I started and I would get nervous and auditioning. I was not really good at auditioning and. And even, like when I think over the years I felt more and more comfortable in front of the camera. But even still, it's like hard when you jump in on something, you know, like, for, like if you're doing a part where it's just like one thing and you're just coming in for a day, it's much harder than if you're starring in a movie and you're. And you've had the lead up and you had rehearsal and you then kind of start working and you have the first day or two where you're kind of getting the kinks out and then it just becomes. Becomes sort of like, you know, just run of the mill because you're used to it.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, that's. Dude, I'm sorry you guys cut me off if you want. But that's so fascinating because, like, with an NBA player, right, like, let's say a really. A good one that is drafted into an organization, there's a level of stability, there's a level of opportunity that you're going to get to make the mistakes to. To kind of work your way through it. There's investment from the club, and so there's this safe space where you can kind of develop and. And weirdly, like, I. We have. We had auditions. Like, I had to audition to get in the NBA. So, like, you'd go somewhere for a day and you'd go there with 30 other dudes and they'd throw a ball out and they. You knew you were only getting one person out of that, getting called back, right? And so, like, those were terrifying. Like, the first couple of times you do that, like, you just have to go to a place where you're. I mean, you just got to find this little crevice of your brain where you're like, yo, I cannot think about what's at stake here because if I do, I won't make a shot all day, right? So you just get in fight or flight mode as quick as you can, and you just. You just try to take it back to Basic Instinct. But it's this. It's very similar to the audition process. I have to imagine where you're like, hey, man, good luck with this. You got about 30 minutes to show us you're good enough.

[Ben Stiller]

I mean. Yeah. And you weren't drafted, right?

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, I wasn't drafted. No. This was like, free, sexy stuff.

[Ben Stiller]

That's like a whole other thing, too. Yeah. I mean, that's where you're. Yeah, it is your instinct. You're young. I mean, I also think it's when you're young and you don't know any better and you're just thinking, this is what I want to do. That's what I was going off of. Right. I just. I wasn't even thinking about it. I was just like, well, I wasn't even thinking that it's not going to work out or what's my plan B? I was just like, no, I just want to try to do this, and I'm just going to go forward.

[Howard Beck]

Ben, I'm curious about. Actually, this. This brings up something I've been. Been wondering about. Just in shifting to directing, like, acting just looks like. And I know from the outside everything looks very different. Our jobs. My job always seems glamorous to people in ways that I try to explain is not. And then I've given up trying to explain why it's actually very.

[Logan Murdoch]

A lot of lonely nights by yourself with the computer talking to you that you can't do something that's basically.

[Howard Beck]

But acting just looks like so much fun. And especially the kinds of movies that you've done in your career, like all these comedies and just. Just like. Everything's just like. Just joyous and directing. I don't. This is where I'm, like, talking out of my ass, because I don't know shit about how this all works, but it just. That seems like the work part of it, and the acting seems like the fun part. And I know I'm ridiculously oversimplifying, but what do you find fulfilling or enjoyable in a different way about directing versus acting? Like, I know you're still. That you're not done with that, but this is, you know, Escape, Dannemora and severance. And like, this is. This period of your career is really defined by the directing, it seems like. So is it a different level of enjoyment and satisfaction than being an actor and comedian all those years?

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, for me, Since I was 10 years old, I wanted to be a director. Since I was, like, had a Super 8 camera and went to see Poseidon Adventure or Planet of the Apes or whatever it was, these were the movies. I was like, I want to do that. I want to make movies. And then it sort of morphed into acting and directing. And when I was A teenager. And anyway, I've always loved, loved directing. I always read articles about directors and the book of the making of Jaws. When it came out, I was just fascinated with behind the scenes. I had a subscription to American Cinematographer as a kid, and I was just fascinated with the technical aspect of it all. And it's a full experience when you're directing something because, you know, you're taking it from the beginning all the way through to the end, and when. And through editing, music, all of it. And when you're acting, you just go in there and you do have. If it's a comedy, yeah, you want to have fun. You want to try to find the life in it, and, you know, whatever the situation, all of that is great. And working with great directors is really exciting as an actor, too. But for me to be behind the camera, working with great actors, working with a great crew, and coming up with what this thing is going to be and then putting it together sort of brick by brick, which, you know, it takes a long time and figuring that out and kind of trying to figure out how to make something that you really feel connected to and feels like an expression of something you want to see. That, to me, is, like the best experience. And I love going to work every day when I'm doing that because I'm grateful I'm not an actor those days, usually because the actors have to. You know, all of a sudden the camera's right in front of your face, and, you know, you got to do an emotional scene or you have to be scared or you have to, whatever it is. And that's so hard to do. And I have so much more of an appreciation for actors now that I've been spending more time directing and not acting, and. But I think it's, like, one of the best things you can do creatively. And I feel really lucky that I get to do it, honestly.

[Logan Murdoch]

Cliff, our guy, Cliff, resident Sixers fan, told me he has a question for you, and then we might do a couple mailbag questions for you and get you out of here.

[Ben Stiller]

Cliff, six years, I feel. You know, come on.

[Raja Bell]

And thank you.

[Logan Murdoch]

Cliff is still. Cliff is still mad that you guys keep infiltrating Wells Fargo Center. What the. Yeah, like, first of all, Philly problem than anything, but.

[Victoria]

Yeah, exactly. And, Ben, I'm sorry to let you know, but the Pistons will probably knock y'all out in the first round. Cade Jalen Durant, Isaiah Stewart. They coming. They coming.

[Ben Stiller]

Definitely. They definitely have some momentum, for sure.

[Victoria]

But question here. Dodgeball came out over 20 years ago. Right. And it's such, like, a cultural phenomenon.

[Logan Murdoch]

You're fucking up Roger's hell. Batting it as. Go ahead.

[Victoria]

Yeah, yeah. It's such a cultural phenomenon, and you can recite a million lines from the movie. And I wanted to know, like, after you guys were done, you know, shooting every scene, recording whatever, editing all that, the whole process, right. Did you know that that was going to be that? Like, do actors know that? All right, we got one. Like, this is. This is definitely going to be, like, the film that, you know, takes us for a while.

[Ben Stiller]

No, I mean, it was a movie about dodgeball. Nobody thought we. This is it. You know, I guarantee you nobody was thinking of mentioning it 20 years later. No, it was. We thought it was funny. I mean, you know, you make something you put in front of an audience. Like I was saying, you do the test screening, right? So you hear the laughs. So we knew that, like, oh, there were laughs here. And it seemed fun. And then it came out, and when it came out, people went to see it, and it was such a silly idea. I remember just thinking, like, oh, this is like. I don't know. I think we all did it because we knew it was. It's kind of ridiculous, but it just seemed like it'd be really fun and funny. The original title of the movie was Underdogs, because it was really, like, the underdog story. And. And then it ended up being called Dodgeball. But, no, I don't think we had any idea. It would, you know, be something that I. I mean, it's so. It's so crazy that people still, you know, talk about it, and I feel like it's great, you know? I mean, I'm so. I feel so lucky that there's, like, something there that we did that people still resonate with, you know?

[Logan Murdoch]

Bro, what did you do to get into that character?

[Raja Bell]

Like, you were Goodman. That was white Goodman, right?

[Logan Murdoch]

How did you get into White Goodman? Like, what did you do? What did you watch?

[Ben Stiller]

I hit the spray tan. You know, I mean, you know, I watched. I think I watched, like, there were some, like, you know, tennis. I don't know. It was like Jimmy Khan, like, celebration. Like, you know, point victory celebrations that White Goodman would have. Sometimes I got deep into and then. And, you know, tried to go lift a couple weights for little. Little white Goodman and his little singlet.

[Logan Murdoch]

Wait, how did you. Before we get to questions, how did you prepare for Zoolander, which is my favorite movie ever of yours?

[Ben Stiller]

How did you. Thanks, man.

[Logan Murdoch]

What was the. What was the. Did you how did you practice Blue Steel?

[Ben Stiller]

Well, Zoolander was, like, a long process because we did it as. We did it as a short at the VH1. Back in the day, they had the VH1 Fashion Awards, and so we did it as, like, a short, like, behind the scenes. Like, there was, like, a little short about a male model, a short about a photographer, actually. Joe Rogan was the photographer. Andy Dick was like, a publicist. It was, like these little shorts. And then the. The Zoolander one was. This was the male model. And so that. That was something we did again, we did it a second year, and then it took, like, two or three years to get the script developed. It was actually, like, a really long road to getting that thing made. But the actual character just came from Drake. Sather, my friend, wrote the sketch, the original sketch, and I said, what should I do? And he said, well, maybe just do. You're like Marilyn Monroe or something. And so it was just like, it was just coming up with something, and the look was sort of like the look that I would do in the mirror when, you know, I was trying to make my hair look good.

[Logan Murdoch]

Can you. Can you say, why do you still do that still right now? Can you do it? If you can. Hell yeah. All right. All right, let's go. Before we get out of here, that was. That made the podcast.

[Ben Stiller]

Wait a minute. Can I say something. Can I say something before this is over?

[Logan Murdoch]

No, no. We have. We have mailbag questions for you. Okay.

[Ben Stiller]

Okay. But I'd like to say one thing for the mailbag. Is that. All right, Raja, I, I sincerely feel this. And you guys, Howard, Logan, you guys are awesome. But, Raj, I do feel like you have a potential career doing color commentary on NBA games, and I really think you have, like, such a specific style and, you know, way with words and voice and everything. Like, I feel like you should be doing that.

[Raja Bell]

I, I, that's very high praise, sir. I, I appreciate that. I, I've never really. I've tried it one time, Ben, like, and I, I got a chance to do it when I was with the Bobcats and I wasn't playing, and I actually kind of enjoyed it. Like, there's a little bit of a cadence to, like, hopping in and hopping out and, you know, making sure that the broadcast runs smoothly. The. You know, what's. Honestly, if I'm, If I'm being. Before I ever did the pod and stuff like that, and I was blessed to meet Logan and Howard. I, I had done a little work with tnt, going up to, like, NBA tv. It just. The schedule of it with my kids being as young as they were was really difficult for me. So, like, I had always said as much as I could be at home and present, and I get to coach them, and just those years that I wasn't ever going to get back, I wanted to be around as much as possible. So I had to let some of that stuff kind of had to let some of it go because I just wasn't really gonna commit to it the way I needed to. So who knows? But thank you, dude. That's real. I mean, that's really cool.

[Ben Stiller]

Well, I think you don't know how cold you are. Screwed up, all right?

[Logan Murdoch]

You don't realize how cold he is, bro. You know, speaking of NBA tv, you know who I'd be seeing occasionally? And it'd be always asking about you? The God, Tara August always is like, what is Roger doing now?

[Ben Stiller]

Like, is he gonna.

[Logan Murdoch]

Is he gonna.

[Raja Bell]

No. I love those folks, man. They were really good to me, bro. Those were. And not for nothing, like, when you see those guys up there, you take for granted, like, actually how much goes into that and like, you know, at least I did when you get there and how much of a day, how much of a night that is, because they're usually shooting like, once the. Once the NBA night is over and into the wee hours of the morning. So it's a. It's a. It's a. It's a. It's a pretty big deal. I had a blast. They were super cool to me, but I, you know.

[Ben Stiller]

Well, there's this new NBC deal, right? Howard, Is there like a big deal?

[Howard Beck]

NBC and Amazon both are staffing up. So Raja, you know, saying there's.

[Raja Bell]

I like my dogs, though, man. Can I. You could do both though, right? You could do both.

[Logan Murdoch]

But don't leave us.

[Ben Stiller]

Don't you appreciate it?

[Raja Bell]

No doubt.

[Logan Murdoch]

Cliff, what's happening? What's going on with the question?

[Victoria]

What's good? Let's get to this first mailbag question. Hi, my name is Anna Bennett and I'm a junior in high school from Minnesota. I'm a huge fan of the real ones and I listen to every podcast episode and I'm also a huge Wolves fan. How did you guys get into writing and into the NBA world? My dream is to work in basketball, either in media or in a more front office position, and I take any tips. Also, do the Wolves have any real shot this year?

[Raja Bell]

Oh, that's dope. Anna, thanks for the question.

[Howard Beck]

I guess on the Timberwolves part of it no, sorry, I don't think so.

[Logan Murdoch]

All right, buddy.

[Howard Beck]

Gotta be honest. It's called the real ones on the, you know, the career side of it could be. It could be a three hour presentation. I won't do that. But like, you know, you like with anything, like, you follow your passion, right? So I was a fan first. I became a journalist along the way, but it was my fandom that got me into it, that got me interested. So, like, ride that passion. Like the, the more passionate you are about whether you want to cover the NBA or whatever it may be, like, dig in, dig all the way in. Watch documentaries, read stories, read your favorite writers. Especially if you want to be a writer, you gotta, you gotta read the people whose work speaks to you the most because you're going to, you're going to try to not copy, but emulate, you know, different styles, different voices, different approaches to storytelling. But just learn as much as you can. And actually, one thing I wish I had known back at the start of my career is the last piece I'll throw out to anybody listening, like advanced stats and breaking down. The basketball aspect of has become so much more important than it was when I first started that if I were to start this all over, the two things I would absolutely do, I would take a bunch of stats classes. Because it's actually really important to understand that stuff. Not because it's the be all, end all, but because understanding it at the level that people talk about it and the teams talk about it now is important. And the second part is I came into this as kind of the, the generalist, right? Like, I wanted to cover the NFL. I was a huge Niners fan, right? The NBA, it just kind of. That's where my career led me. And I would have taken time along the way in college definitely to like, you know, there's science through like the, the athletics department or PE departments, whatever you can take, like, here's the fundamentals of whatever, like even if you've played the game, you can go educate yourself on. On it on a different level. I think I would have done a lot more just in terms of like the, the educational part of it, just to prepare myself. The writing came just with reps and reading a lot, writing a lot. The reporting, interviewing techniques, all that stuff you just kind of learn by doing. But yeah, I would have, I would have, I think, dived deeper into just some of the preparation along the way. Hope that helps.

[Logan Murdoch]

I would say, like, to add on to Howard's point about keeping the passion. That's the only thing that's going to get you through. I mean, if you don't have the passion for this, like, you're not going to get to the point that you want to get to because there's going to be a lot of really hard nights writing. You might not get paid early on in the way that you feel like you should. And that's just the reality of the situation, of the economics. You gotta really love it. Like, I started in locker rooms when I was 18 and I didn't get paid at all until for like five years into it. And that was like freelance stuff, right? And so that's just the reality of the situation. And you have to have that passion for it. And also I think one of the things that I think I would have told myself more to do is kind of embrace what made me different in the space. Because you're. When you first get into writing and reporting and stuff, you kind of look at everybody around you and basically become a mock up of like a few different people that you admire. And I think, I think Ben could speak to this, right? Like, you every. That's how you start off when you're creative. It's like you, you, you, you are just an amalgam of the things that you have seen. But then you kind of find yourself, right? And you find yourself and you find out who you are. If I could have done it again, I would have tapped into what made me different even more so, because I think that would have helped out my writing and my creative part. So I think that that's my advice to Anna. Anna?

[Victoria]

Yes, Anna from Minnesota.

[Logan Murdoch]

You have any advice for Anna, Ben? Like, just as a creative in general?

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, I think it comes down to that one thing. You got to believe in yourself and you got to be willing to just do it no matter what. Everybody has their own sets of challenges. When you decide to go for something like that, and you know, you're right, it's like just getting even, just getting hired is so tough. But then you have to also, you know, you have to have a voice and you have to figure out, you have to develop your voice. And like Howard was saying, you just have to keep on doing it. You have to keep on developing who you are and allowing, you know, it's. It's sort of like, it just, it's something that takes time. And if you're lucky enough to get an opportunity to do it in any way, I think you just like take whatever opportunity you have and then just keep, keep going. But you gotta do it because you Love it. It's a tough time. I imagine it's a tough time to be a sports writer right now.

[Logan Murdoch]

Absolutely. It's a tough time to be in the newspaper journalism business in general, let alone sports.

[Raja Bell]

Well, well, allow me then, because she, I think she said something about like, maybe like front office or something like that. Did she say something like that, too?

[Victoria]

Yeah, she did, yeah. Yeah.

[Raja Bell]

A lot of avenues to being like, a lot of avenues that are open now. Howard touched on a big one in terms of stats. Like, people are making their way to front offices in that way now. That wasn't available 20 years ago. Like, you had to be a basketball background person. I've met people in front offices that are purely statisticians, capologists, people that are great with numbers in math and they can. There are so many different avenues that are, that are not necessarily truly basketball ops, that if, that if you meet, connect, intern and just take those opportunities, still have to be passionate like these guys said. But there are a lot of avenues that if you're not a true basketball, getting on the court, working with guys, player development type of person, or even a film room person, you could still find your way to a position in a franchise.

[Victoria]

Let's get to the next one. This is from Dennis Stack. Next scapegoat coach firing. What up, Logan, Roger, Howard and Cliff. First off, thanks for the wonderful, informative and entertaining content each week. Y'all are my favorite basketball pod and I appreciate your work. I was curious as to which or as to who each of you think is the top candidate to be scapegoat firing among NBA coaches this summer. AKA who's the Frank Vogel of 2025? And follow up question, do you see any of these potentially fire coaches or already fired in the case of Mike Brown having an immediate y'all fucked up successful season with another team a la J.B. bickerstaff with the Pistons. Thanks for your time. Keep up the great work. Peace. Dennis, that was a great question.

[Ben Stiller]

Don't hold back, guys.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, I mean, it might, it might be Vogel's replacement. I mean, I don't know that he's going to. But like that he, he's a candidate for it, right? Like, he. That's. I think it's bigger than, I mean, obviously now we've got enough sample size that's bigger than a coach issue, right?

[Logan Murdoch]

So, yeah, Budden Holzer.

[Raja Bell]

Yes, yes.

[Logan Murdoch]

I, I would, I, I would definitely, I could definitely see that happening with Boot and Holzer because he's a great coach and like, what's the point. Like, I thought the suns were going to be better. They came through the bay, like, a couple of weeks ago. A few weeks ago. And it was just. It just. The energy just sucked, man. It was. It was. It was gross. I.

[Ben Stiller]

Who.

[Logan Murdoch]

I don't. Let me look. I'm looking at the. You know who else I think could be 1A. You? One. Nick Nurse. Like, if this all goes bad. Sorry, Cliff. I mean, if this all goes bad.

[Victoria]

You know, y'all say, if this all goes bad. It already went bad.

[Logan Murdoch]

Yeah, I can see.

[Raja Bell]

No, he's better than that. You're right.

[Logan Murdoch]

He's way better than that. What's going on right now? He could definitely find his way to a new team and say, you.

[Howard Beck]

So.

[Logan Murdoch]

Yeah, those are. That's. Nick Nurse is my candidate. Who's your candidate? Howard. And then Big.

[Howard Beck]

No, Nurse was the obvious one. I hate speculating on coaches getting fired, anybody getting fired, but, like, that's the obvious one where if you just need to hit the reset and you're trying to, like, just do something to placate ownership, placate the fans, placate somebody. You throw over the. Throw the coach overboard because you can't do anything about the roster and the idea of Nurse, then.

[Logan Murdoch]

Yeah.

[Howard Beck]

Landing somewhere else and immediately turning that team around. Like, not far fetched at all. We've seen Nick Nurse succeed, so, yeah, he's. He's the most obvious.

[Logan Murdoch]

Obvious.

[Ben Stiller]

I mean. Yeah, but that. The Sixers. I mean, that's. There's so many other factors, don't you think? Yes.

[Howard Beck]

Yeah, but that's the scapegoat part of it. In the question was like, they're like, like, Vogel got scapegoated in Phoenix. Got scapegoated in la. Vogel. Vogel. They should just name the scapegoat award.

[Raja Bell]

If there were one after Frank Vogel.

[Logan Murdoch]

Manuel Vogel got vogled. Okay, let's do. Let's do one more, Cliff.

[Victoria]

All right, let's do one more. SGA's whistle. This is from Matthew Brusaw. Does SGA get the friendliest whistle of any player this decade? It seems like he continues to draw files while jumping sideways into players and going into unnatural shooting motions, even though, according to the recently modified rules, these actions should no longer draw a foul. If he doesn't have the friendliest whistle this decade, who does? Thanks, Matt B. I could think of.

[Logan Murdoch]

James Harden a decade ago.

[Victoria]

Oh, I can think of one guy in New York.

[Logan Murdoch]

Wow. Okay. All right, here we go. All right, all right, all right, all right.

[Ben Stiller]

Cliff, don't Let your bitterness seep through.

[Raja Bell]

Wow.

[Logan Murdoch]

What bitterness? He's a Philly fan. All they have is bitterness. That's all they have is literally just to be bitter.

[Howard Beck]

I'm not sure an MB fan should be right. Well, wait.

[Victoria]

He was actually getting fouled though. And B was out of here, man.

[Logan Murdoch]

He does a little swing through, jumps into players. Stop, stop.

[Victoria]

When it's up and unders getting pushed around. And B was getting fouled.

[Ben Stiller]

James Harden and fouling.

[Logan Murdoch]

Let's.

[Ben Stiller]

Let's not forget that.

[Victoria]

He's a hack for sure. I think.

[Ben Stiller]

Mitchell Robinson.

[Victoria]

Yes.

[Logan Murdoch]

Let's go. James Harden, obviously he played it in the last decade. He. They still drawing fouls. Yeah. I would say him as a prime candidate. I was gonna say Dwyane Wade, but Dwayne Wade has played like, like he hasn't played effectively in the last decade or so. Like his prime. He was like that. The 606 finals definitely come to mind with that. But I would say James Harden, Joellen beat and Jalen Brunson.

[Victoria]

Wait, what about Trey Young though? Trey Young was getting that bad.

[Logan Murdoch]

Trey Young, yeah. Trey Young too. Trey Young too.

[Ben Stiller]

But, but you know, for, for Jalen Brunson though. Wouldn't you say that if that is a thing, it's only really in the last year or so. Right. Because I feel like for so long he wasn't getting calls.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, I think you earn. Look, the reality is you earn your way to that. Right? Like there's a level that you get to as a scorer, as a number one like threat, as a team carrying option, that there's a level you get to where you, you know, just for better or for worse, you're going to get the benefit of the doubt with these officials. They're human at the end of the day. Right. And so yeah, I think, I think Jalen Erna, he certainly wasn't getting that in Dallas or his first year in New York. Like that wasn't. That wasn't the case. And SGA does, SGA does get that. But like, and everyone's. I've seen it on socials. They're irate over it. It's the, it's like the hot topic right now. But like that's been. That happens, dude. Like we can, we can point to that in every generation where a handful of dudes are going to get a bunch of calls and they, they don't make their living score. You don't score 30 some points a game in the NBA without a baked in amount of free throws. Like I'm not going to go down that rabbit hole with people again. But, like, you just don't.

[Logan Murdoch]

Not this episode, at least.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, you just can't sustain the level of shooting that is required to average 30 a game. Unless you. Unless you're a master at getting to the free throw line for whatever. Whatever that means to you.

[Logan Murdoch]

Yeah, I think I see. One more question for Ben from Murdoch. Logan510. He's somehow. I'm not sure of the, The. Of the. The. The tough free age, the. The superstar free agents that the Knicks have. Like, I noticed I grew up a Lakers fan. I know, like, you know that they have the memes where, like, this person's coming to free agency, this person's on the way. The. The Katie Kyrie's, the LeBrons, the. Every summer. Which of those guys that didn't come to New York broke your heart the most that you talked yourself into? This was gonna happen.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. I don't think I ever was expecting, you know, when. When they were talking about like, KD and. And LeBron, I could think LeBron was the one, you know, that was like, that would be incredible.

[Logan Murdoch]

You went on the recruiting at all. Did you, like, did you say.

[Howard Beck]

Were you in that. Were you in that pitch video, that awful pitch video that Bloomberg was in?

[Ben Stiller]

I don't think so. I did, like, when he played it, I was. Did one recruiting video. I honestly, I don't remember who it was for. I'm being totally serious. That, like. Like seven or eight years ago they asked me to do a thing. But it was. I think it might have been. Maybe it was LeBron. I don't know. Anyway, I mean, I don't think Knicks fans mentality was always like, it's never really gonna happen. And. But I. For a second it was like, oh, if LeBron came to New York, that would be insane. I don't think that was ever very real, though, was it?

[Howard Beck]

He dropped some hints during that season, that 09.10 season.

[Logan Murdoch]

He was definitely flirting. He was overtly flirting. It was a toxic thing going.

[Howard Beck]

He was like wearing a Yankees hat at a. Like a baseball game in Cleveland. I think. Like, he was. He was doing some stuff that certainly, I think led Knicks fans on. So.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, I mean, that whole Boston, I mean, Sir Brooklyn, you know, KD era was just like, what a. What a frustrating thing for first. For Nets fans, I mean. Yeah, right. That was just one of them.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, that was tough.

[Logan Murdoch]

That was those.

[Raja Bell]

I would have maybe like, Steve, I hope you're not listening, because I would have really enjoyed kicking it with you for three years, but maybe one of the best professional calls I ever made.

[Logan Murdoch]

Good job, buddy. Good job, buddy. He was supposed to be on the staff for the Nets and picked real ones instead. It was great. It was great.

[Ben Stiller]

By the way, Steve, Steve Nash is a great tennis player. Did you know that, too? Like, I played in a Dirk Nowitzki tennis tournament and he was, he won it. He was like. And he just took, took up tennis like three years before or something like that.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, he's Ben, he's like. Well, he comes down here. When he's down here, like, I'll be like, yo, man, were we, are we going to like get a drink or something? He's like, I just got done, you know, hitting with Coco. So like, he, he hits with like, Coco golf, like, competitively.

[Ben Stiller]

Serious. Yeah, we're weird.

[Raja Bell]

Not weird, but just like blessed. What? You take him to play golf and you're like, yo, you hadn't played golf in four years and he might shoot like a 92 or like an 88.

[Ben Stiller]

He's just right. Natural.

[Raja Bell]

Good. Good.

[Logan Murdoch]

Yeah.

[Raja Bell]

Good at stuff like that. Yeah.

[Logan Murdoch]

Isn't he one of the most underrated athletes in NBA history? Because like, he's like a great athlete, like multi sports. But I don't think, like, he gets the credit of being like the athlete athlete that he is.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah.

[Raja Bell]

Because he's not like. Well, I mean, watch him play soccer and I don't mean this to be like a geek out on it, but watch him play soccer. He plays with world class soccer players and he looks like he's, he's fine. Like, it doesn't look crazy for him to be out there, I think, because he's not, he's not like above the rim type of dude that people kind of get. You know, they're different kinds of athletes. You don't have to be like the most powerful, high jumping, fastest running person to be the most athletic person. Right. Like is. There's hand, eye, there's timing. There's all kind of stuff that goes into being a great athlete. And he fits. He checks a lot of the boxes. He's a lot bigger and, and stronger than you generally think too.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah.

[Logan Murdoch]

Yeah. Oh, man. Another guy. That could have been a great Nick. Sorry, Ben. All right, man. This has been, this has been a treat, obviously, and I'm dead serious when I say this. If you, you need, if you have a part in anything that you got going on for, you know, three schmucks that do a podcast. I know three smokes to do a Podcast, you know, that you can write in.

[Raja Bell]

I'm just saying, three schmucks in a podcast. Let's get it cracking.

[Logan Murdoch]

If you have like a severance opening, one of them weird ass goat scenes and you need a podcasters to like announce it, I don't know. I'm spitballing here. Who knows? We're right here, you know, I love it.

[Ben Stiller]

And Cliff, you're included too. Okay, let's go, let's go.

[Victoria]

I need my first big role, man. I need my first big role.

[Raja Bell]

I just hear, hey, this would be my dream job, right? And Howard, this is going to tie. I mean, Ben, this is going to tie into what you were saying. If, if there's ever a dodgeball remake, I would gladly do play by play with Jason Bateman. I'm just letting you know because he's like one of my other favorites. So, like, that would be. If I did that. I not even question.

[Ben Stiller]

You're definitely on for that.

[Raja Bell]

All right, all right.

[Ben Stiller]

But I want to. I want to hear you in the real NBA game. So. So that's still my. Yeah, that's my focus.

[Logan Murdoch]

Hey, Ben. No, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead.

[Ben Stiller]

No, no, I was just gonna say also I would. This is my last time. I mean, hope maybe someday again I'll come on. But, like, this is my only chance. Logan, I'm. The other thing about you is how do you have this crazy encyclopedic knowledge of like, NBA, like games and history? Because you really do, like, you go, yeah, well, like 1986, that, that in the third, you know, round and whatever, you know, everything first. Do you study it?

[Logan Murdoch]

Well, I think I get it from my mom. And she was one of the people that, like, when I was at it, I mean, Rogers met my mom. Howard's my mom. She's literally the same, like, literally one.

[Raja Bell]

Of the coolest people.

[Logan Murdoch]

Yeah, but like, she, when I was growing up would just be like, oh, yeah, like, like I've been a Lakers fan since Kareem was got traded in 1975. Right? Like we'll say stuff like that. So it's kind of ingrained in me to have these things. And also, like, like, I'm a basketball geek. I love this stuff, man. I used to watch like all the documentaries. Every single thing. Like, the. The reason why I became a Laker fan and the reason I told Howard this, the reason why I became a Howard Beck fan is because I got a VHS at 6 years old for the 2000 title run. And I just got obsessed with everything Lakers and then I saw Howard with the Nirvana haircut and the grunge outfits and all the documentaries, and I would just watch them, but, like, I literally. It was.

[Ben Stiller]

I gotta see those. I haven't seen that.

[Logan Murdoch]

But, like, I would just. I would just be immersed in it. And honestly, like, it just, you know, it kind of just saved my life, man. Like, I just. I. I just love this thing. And, like, I could. I get recalls through basketball dates in general for everything. Right. And so, yeah, it's like, it's just something that I'm just, like, really obsessed with.

[Ben Stiller]

Well, that kind of goes back to that question, that other earlier question about just, like, you have this love of it. It just so ingrained in you. But then you, you know, but then you also have. Makes you put in the work of, like, learning all this stuff and knowing all this stuff, which is so important to what you do, what you write about.

[Logan Murdoch]

Yeah, I appreciate you. I appreciate that, man.

[Ben Stiller]

Thank you.

[Logan Murdoch]

Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

Just wanted to say it anyway. And Howard, you know, I feel like. I feel like we've known each other now for a while, kind of. Yeah.

[Howard Beck]

A furious dming relationship for. For a long time there before we.

[Logan Murdoch]

Finally going on with my Knicks. Howard, what the.

[Ben Stiller]

I always want you to like the Knicks more. Howard, I can't get you to like the Knicks.

[Howard Beck]

Knicks fans are tough audience, man. It's, you know, the nine years I covered them. I mean, listen, in my defense, I covered them during, like, the most dysfunctional period of, like, their existence, so.

[Logan Murdoch]

And I wrote some nice stories with Ben. Not even, like, being a Knicks fan at that time. He was not even there. He didn't come back till the dysfunction. A little bit. A little bit.

[Howard Beck]

Took.

[Ben Stiller]

Took.

[Howard Beck]

Took a while. Took a while, but. But no. Ben, this is awesome, man. I'm so glad you were able to spend some time with us.

[Logan Murdoch]

Don't be a stranger, bro. Don't be a stranger.

[Ben Stiller]

You guys. Thanks, man. I'm enjoying being in this moment right now, just being here, part of the podcast. That's why I appreciate it.

[Logan Murdoch]

Also, real quick, and I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna put me, Raja and Howard. All three. All four of us, or all three of four of us, four of us on a group chat. And because Raja doesn't believe. He didn't believe that you were a fan of this pod. I don't even think he believes right now, because he literally would be like, shut the up. He's not coming on the pot. Shut the up. He's not coming on the pot. And I'D be like, roger, he's coming on, bro. We got to figure out a date. He's a. A list star, but, like, he's. We're coming on the pot.

[Raja Bell]

No, dude, Ben, this guy was. I was. He's absolutely right. And I'm not so sure that I'm not dreaming right now, but like, something happened on the. On the old X where, like, I had something and I was. It was like, I don't know if you liked it or if you. Or something. And I was like, no way. Not even.

[Ben Stiller]

No, that was me.

[Raja Bell]

That was Jesus, man. Yeah, this was. This was so super cool, man. Like, I just. Huge fan, obviously, and.

[Ben Stiller]

Oh, same.

[Raja Bell]

So kind to do it, man.

[Ben Stiller]

Thank you. You guys are awesome. Keep doing your thing.

[Logan Murdoch]

You definitely earned friend of the show, family of the show. And you're Ben Stiller, so we can't wait to see you next time when you're on the pod. We will be the group chat about to be popping. Talk to you guys soon. We'll see you guys Friday. Thank you to Cliff. Thank you to Ben. Thank you to Victoria. Thank you to Keith. Thanks to all the homies, man, all the affiliates. We will see you guys soon. Ah, all this shits. Bye.