121: Charlie Berens on Growing Up 1 of 12 & Shooting the Family Van | The Wayback with Ryan Sickler #121

Summary

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Podcast Summary

Podcast: The Wayback with Ryan Sickler
Episode: #121: Charlie Berens on Growing Up 1 of 12 & Shooting the Family Van
Date: April 23, 2026
Guest: Charlie Berens

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Episode Overview

This nostalgic and often hilarious episode features comedian Charlie Berens, known for his Midwestern charm and his experiences as one of 12 siblings in a large Wisconsin family. The conversation explores vivid childhood memories, family road trips in a crowded van, sibling dynamics, quirky family rules, and the legendary incident of accidentally shooting the family vehicle. The episode mixes lighthearted banter with genuine reflections on family, community, and the formative chaos of growing up in a big household.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Charlie’s Background & Midwestern Roots

• Charlie as "one of 12 kids": His large family is central to his stories (02:31).
• Classic Midwestern drinks:
  • Brandy Old Fashioned is "the most common drink in Wisconsin."
  • Charlie now makes his own Brandy, named after his Grandpa Bob (03:01).
  • “We drink more brandy than any other state in the nation.” (03:08 - Charlie)
• A culture of modest pride: "We like to be modest about what we brag about." (03:15 - Charlie)

The Legendary Family Van

• Multiple timeworn vans, including a Presbyterian “people mover” and a Chrysler minivan (04:44–05:11).
• Family Road Tripping:
  • “Do all 14 of you ever roll in that at once?” (05:36 - Ryan)
  • “We rolled down to Alabama in that for the first ever out-of-state vacation that we had.” (05:42 - Charlie)
• Van Anecdotes:
  • Reminiscing on the discomfort and chaos of squeezing 14 people into one vehicle.
  • The children’s backseat games (dragging a Polly Pocket on fishing line out the window) became core memories (03:58–04:26).
  • The challenges of moving the van’s seats and how improper installation turned every drive into an adventure (06:15).

Notable Exchange:

Ryan: “Do you ever think if we get hit and die, we’re all dead?” (05:48)
Charlie: “Oh, yeah.” (05:58)

Family Vacations & Up North Traditions

• No flying—only driving: “I didn’t fly till I was 18.” (06:03 – Charlie)
• Cabin trips in northern Wisconsin (Presque Isle, Land O’Lakes, Eagle River):
  • “Best childhood memories were up there.” (10:29 - Charlie)
  • Activities included fishing, skiing (with a ‘three tries’ rule per kid), and spending time in nature.
• Orange Beach/Gulf Shores, Alabama:
  • Family's only out-of-state vacation, and Charlie’s first view of the ocean (10:53–11:27).

Growing Up in a Full House

• Clothes & Sibling Dynamics:
  • “We were a hand-me-down family for sure.” (09:42 - Charlie)
• Room Assignments and House Memories:
  • Describes sharing cramped rooms, jumping into the mulch pile from trees, and the “man’s reach” quote his Nana loved (23:39–24:24).

Notable Quote:

“If a man’s reach never exceeds his grasp, then what’s a heaven for?” (24:20 - Charlie)

Quirky Education: Touch Math

• Elementary School (Orchard Lane) and "Touch Math":
  • A humorous dive into how Charlie learned a tactile math system, tapping number "dots" for calculations (14:14–16:03).
  • Confessions of still using touch math as an adult, to his father's horror (17:15–17:59).
• Skipping Math Grades:
  • Despite the unconventional method, Charlie excelled and “skipped two grades of math eventually.” (16:05 – Charlie)

Church & Community

• Holy Hill Church:
  • Annual autumn visits for Mass in a stunning, almost European-looking basilica atop Wisconsin’s highest point (18:34–21:28).
  • The challenges of arriving on time and occupying an entire pew with twelve kids:

    “We always would have to get there early because we take up a whole pew.” (20:40 - Charlie)

The Accidental Van Shooting

• Charlie’s first car:
  • “A 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT. Silver. Called it the Silver Bullet Van because I accidentally shot it with a shotgun.” (27:49)
• The Incident:
  • While pulling cases out for pheasant hunting, a loaded gun went off, damaging van seats and leaving pellets in the dashboard (28:01–30:05).
  • The resulting family rule: “Every time you unload a gun, you give it to someone else to double check. Except for Andy.” (28:22)
  • Charlie had to buy the van from his dad at "pre-shotgun" value (29:20–29:28).

Memorable Quote:

“He sold it to me a pre-shotgun.” (29:28 - Charlie)

• That van’s legacy:
  • Served as Charlie’s shelter in lean times and kickstarted his production career in LA because he could haul film equipment (31:42–32:14).

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Memorable Moments, Quotes & Timestamps

• On Family Size:
  • “These two men combined have shot some loads.” (09:51 - Ryan)
• On Touch Math:
  • “Stop bringing logic into this. Just listen to the lesson.” (14:39 - Charlie)
• On Sibling Rules:
  • “Three tries and out. Yeah. You do not have any more goes than that.” (08:23 - Charlie)
• On Wearing Hand-Me-Downs:
  • “Runs in the family. Look at that, bro. Those are definitely my dad’s socks.” (09:40 - Charlie)
• On the Van Shooting:
  • “So now we have the Andy rule, which is every time you unload a gun, you give it to someone else to double check. Except for Andy.” (28:22 - Charlie)
• On Church:
  • “Nothing says Midwest like that.” (21:20 - Charlie)
• On Making It in LA:
  • “That van started my career in a lot of ways.” (31:42 - Charlie)

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Important Segments & Timestamps

• The van and family road trip stories: 04:44–06:43
• Vacations up north and family traditions: 07:23–10:39
• The story of Touch Math: 13:48–17:59
• The church and pew-hogging with a big family: 18:34–21:28
• Recollections of childhood home and mulch pile: 21:32–24:35
• The legendary “Silver Bullet” van shooting incident: 27:49–30:05
• How the van helped launch Charlie’s production career: 31:42–32:14

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Closing Promotions

• Charlie Berens:
  • New special “Neighborly” on YouTube
  • Lost and Found Tour (charlieberens.com)
  • Bellied Up podcast
• Ryan Sickler:
  • "Thank you for your support. We'll talk to you all next week."

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Tone:
Warm, witty, and self-deprecating, with the upbeat camaraderie and layered storytelling that defines both Berens’ comedy and Sickler’s show.

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Transcript

[Ryan Sickler]

Buffalo, New York. I'm headed your way. I'll see you guys Friday, April 24 and Saturday, April 25. Hey guys. Exciting announcement. We are doing a live way back at the Netflix is a joke festival. It's Monday, May 5th at 7pm at the Hotel Cafe Main stage. It's our first live ever Way back. We're gonna have a special guest. We're gonna have prizes, gifts. We're gonna do some fun stuff with you guys as well. So get your tickets now for the Netflix is a joke fe. I weigh back Monday, May 5, 7pm at the hotel Cafe Boston. I'm fired up to head back your way. I'll be there Friday, May 15th and Saturday, May 16th. All tickets on my [e-mail] hey guys, we have a new segment on the way back called after the beep. We got a new landline and an old school answer machine and we want to hear from you. Call 323-452-3732 and leave a message. Hit us with things like craziest high school moment, worst job, dumbest injury, worst trouble. Maybe something you got away with or maybe you're looking for some old school advice on relationships, jobs even. Am I the asshole or keep it quick confessions, weird habits. The worst advice you ever got. We'll play him back and react. Keep it under 60 seconds. Anything longer than that, we ain't listening. All right, full segments are only available on Patreon, so give us a ring. 323-452-3732 and leave a message after the beat.

[Charlie Barron]

Hey, baby, we going to be here all day.

[Ryan Sickler]

We going to be here all day, baby. I like this kind of party. Welcome back to the Way Back, everybody. Ron, Ryan Sickler here. Ryan sickler dot com. Ryan Sickler on all your social media, starting them off like I start all these episodes off with gratitude. Thank you, guys. Thank you for supporting this show. Thank you supporting anything that I do. You're the best fans. I genuinely appreciate you guys. Very excited to have this guest back here with me today. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Charlie Barrons. Welcome to the Way Back, buddy.

[Charlie Barron]

Hello. Thank you for having me.

[Ryan Sickler]

Thank you for being here. Before we jump into some old stories. Right there. Plug it.

[Charlie Barron]

All right. Right there, right? YouTube. Charlie Baron's Neighborly. That's the new special Charlie Barons.com if you want to see me on tour and then the Bellied up podcast and if you like Brandy Baron's old fashioned Brandy.

[Ryan Sickler]

Is that really yours?

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

Is it?

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

You have a. You have a Brandy?

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah, it's family. Yeah, I named it after my grandpa Bob.

[Ryan Sickler]

But I mean, is it something that your family's done over the years or is that something you were like, they're brandy makers.

[Charlie Barron]

Well, no, I mean the Old Fashioned is the most common drink in Wisconsin.

[Ryan Sickler]

Is that right? That's the most popular drink.

[Charlie Barron]

We drink more brandy than any other state in the nation.

[Ryan Sickler]

Not only brandy. I've read you drink more alcohol than any other state.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah, but you know, we don't. We like to be modest in what we brag about. Yeah, do the, do all that.

[Ryan Sickler]

Okay.

[Charlie Barron]

So yeah, the Brandy Old Fashioned, Great, great drink.

[Ryan Sickler]

So if you haven't watched Charlie's episode of the Honeydew, go watch that. Because you talk about being one of 12 kids.

[Charlie Barron]

One of 12 kids.

[Ryan Sickler]

So let's get into it. Dude, have you ever, first of all, have you ever ridden in this way? Back seat.

[Charlie Barron]

Yes.

[Ryan Sickler]

Your time of childhood. And who had that car? Who, where was it?

[Charlie Barron]

My Aunt Debbie and Uncle Tom had it. It was a station wagon. And this is even a more comfortable seat than what they had. They had. It was a little bit more of a flap down seats.

[Ryan Sickler]

That's all they are.

[Charlie Barron]

And we love that. We love sitting back there.

[Ryan Sickler]

It's the best.

[Charlie Barron]

It is the best. You know you could. We also would. Would a little Polly pocket back there. I think one of my cousin soy's in some fishing line. So we tied a little string around Polly Pocket and dragged her three car lengths behind the car.

[Ryan Sickler]

Man.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah. Isn't that cool out there? That's a core memory right there.

[Ryan Sickler]

You're reeling it up and.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

Or do you just cut it?

[Charlie Barron]

No, we. We reeled her back in. She didn an arm when she came back.

[Ryan Sickler]

That's what I'm talking about. Getting all burnt up. Road racks all over.

[Charlie Barron]

And I think that was through the slot window, you know, that just could pop open just a little bit.

[Ryan Sickler]

So wait, there's 12 of you, plus parents, Obviously we're talking about a family of 14.

[Charlie Barron]

14 total.

[Ryan Sickler]

What is your family day to day vehicle?

[Charlie Barron]

Well, several iterations. We at one point had that Chrysler little minivan with the rolling doors. But really when, when the family got him full force, it was a. We had a Dodge, I think 375 something. But what? The Dodge with the big ass? Basically a secondhand Presbyterian people mover.

[Ryan Sickler]

Is it talking about a van Van? Yeah, with the extended back?

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah, with the extended back. 99. This one was green. My dad also had a Monte Carlo with a trailer hitch which Was what

[Ryan Sickler]

the he throwing on his mon.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah, there we go. That's it. That's it.

[Ryan Sickler]

But this is the family vehicle, right?

[Charlie Barron]

That's it. Man. Look at that. It's beautiful. It's more beautiful than I remember. You know how many friends of mine I could fit into that thing?

[Ryan Sickler]

The family first, man. There's 14. Do all 14 of you ever roll in that at once?

[Charlie Barron]

We rolled down to Alabama in that for the first ever out of the state vacation that we had.

[Ryan Sickler]

Do you ever think this. I know this is a sexy. Is what that fun podcast. Do you ever think, like, if we get hit and die, we're all dead?

[Charlie Barron]

Oh, yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

You do?

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

You ever fly all together?

[Charlie Barron]

No, I didn't fly till I was 18.

[Ryan Sickler]

Is that right?

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah, not. Not with that many. That might be our van. Put a bit on that. You put a bit on there.

[Ryan Sickler]

Good. Dude, that thing's well kept, bro. Yeah, it's clean, man.

[Charlie Barron]

It's clean. Moving those seats out of the car was always such a pain in the ass. You got to push them forward and then back and up and then angle them out. Now, sometimes when we would put the seats back in because we moved the seats out to, like, move things or whatever, take mulch, that kind of deal. But on occasion, we didn't fully get the seat down. So people are running where it's, like, kind of rocking a little, you know, and. Yeah, that's. That's amazing.

[Ryan Sickler]

Whoever took pictures of this, solid.

[Charlie Barron]

Dude, this is in good shape.

[Ryan Sickler]

Damn good shape right there. 99. I mean, think about that. That's 26 years old. That car looks great.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

Wait, go back up. What's the mileage on it?

[Charlie Barron]

Only 70.

[Ryan Sickler]

That's roll back. Yeah, me so got a hold of that one. That's roll back. Ain't no way. 70,000. 25 years out. It's not. It's like, barely. It's like three a year. Yeah, that's 3,000 miles a year, my ass. In a van. They're meant to be driven.

[Charlie Barron]

They are.

[Ryan Sickler]

Okay, so the family's rolling around in that. And you said you went to Mobile, Alabama, so I like to ask people like, vacations, if you were a vacation family, you fly and you're driving, I'm assuming with that many people, you.

[Charlie Barron]

You are only driving Every year we go up north, northern Wisconsin to, like, Pres Isle or Lando Lakes or Eagle river somewhere up there.

[Ryan Sickler]

And what are you doing camping there or what's happening?

[Charlie Barron]

No, we would get a cabin, and we would usually. My uncles Were there as well. My mom's family would go up too, so we had, you know, we go fishing mostly and then occasionally some skiing because my uncles would rent like a. A ski boat. And so I did some. Yeah, there it is. That's my grandpa TG right there. That's my dad. And this is. See us? We're ready to fish, baby. Look at those socks.

[Ryan Sickler]

Pocket on the end of that rod.

[Charlie Barron]

Yep. Oh, yeah, there it is. Skiing. Ready to go.

[Ryan Sickler]

Who's that? Is that you?

[Charlie Barron]

That's me.

[Ryan Sickler]

That is you.

[Charlie Barron]

Yep. And that's. This is one of three tries I got to get up on skis. Three tries.

[Ryan Sickler]

Oh, is that how it works in a family like that? So you got three tries and you're done.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah, 100%.

[Ryan Sickler]

Dude.

[Charlie Barron]

You better get you and it. Yeah. You do not have any more goes than that.

[Ryan Sickler]

I like that rule. I like it. I do. You gotta. I mean, I guess there's so many of you.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah. Three shots and out. Yeah. And. And that's. That's my mom's dad right there. And he's stylish, dude.

[Ryan Sickler]

So these two men right here combined for how many kids? 30? 23.

[Charlie Barron]

My dad would be 12 and your

[Ryan Sickler]

mom's one of what, 11? Yeah.

[Charlie Barron]

23. Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

These two men combined have shot some. Some loads.

[Charlie Barron]

They've done.

[Ryan Sickler]

They.

[Charlie Barron]

They have done their.

[Ryan Sickler]

And they. A lot of them are productive.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

You know what I'm saying?

[Charlie Barron]

Like. Yeah. Productive.

[Ryan Sickler]

When you want to have a kid, it's not the easiest thing. I know it sounds stupid because there's a gazillion humans over time, but when you really. I'm sure if you're 19, you don't want it. You're getting pregnant. You know what I mean?

[Charlie Barron]

Right.

[Ryan Sickler]

When you really want it, it's not the easiest thing to do.

[Charlie Barron]

No.

[Ryan Sickler]

23 humans out of these two men. Right.

[Charlie Barron]

I've never thought about it like that. And look, look at my dad. Is that on? Is that a Michael Jo shirt that he's wearing?

[Ryan Sickler]

Flight. Yeah, flight 23.

[Charlie Barron]

Flight 23. Yeah. How about that? I didn't know. He probably got.

[Ryan Sickler]

Who's this right down in the front?

[Charlie Barron]

That's Billy.

[Ryan Sickler]

No, next. Yeah, that person.

[Charlie Barron]

That's me. That's.

[Ryan Sickler]

You got your grandpa's socks. Go back.

[Charlie Barron]

Runs in the f. Look at that, bro. Look at that, dude. Those are definitely. Those are definitely my dad's socks. I think that I. I mean, they are big. We were. We were a hand me down family. For sure, dude.

[Ryan Sickler]

You had to be.

[Charlie Barron]

How many boys and Girls, by the way, eight sisters. Oh, yeah, that's. There's one other boy. He's just smile on my father's face right there. But yeah, that's. That's it. But yeah, all that stuff. We would always wear secondhand stuff.

[Ryan Sickler]

And who's up here? Is this just a place? Someone own a place there? You just. That's the family tradition there.

[Charlie Barron]

We would just rent whatever place would house us and. And you know, just. You get like a cabin and. And then you get it for like a week or something. So you go up there and it's really nice. It's great up there, man. Best childhood memories were up there. Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

You mentioned going to Mobile, Alabama in that van. Why are we going there?

[Charlie Barron]

Okay, so I just said Mobile, Alabama because that stuck out. We, we. We stopped there I think to use a bathroom. But no, we went farther south to Orange beach for vacation for. This was. This was the one out of state vacation we did.

[Ryan Sickler]

Kirsten, will you look up Orange Beach? I've never heard of.

[Charlie Barron]

It's. It's basically Florida, right? It's right on that. Yeah, it's right on the tip of Florida.

[Ryan Sickler]

Oh, there's Mobile, Alabama there. So I see sending your boom here. You're coming across the 10 and you shoot straight south.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah. Gulf Shores. That's what it's called, Gulf Shores. And yeah, it's just real nice beaches there.

[Ryan Sickler]

This is still Alabama here. Yep. Okay.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah. So right on that border. And it's. I think you just get a little better of a price break on the Alabama side. Just a scotch.

[Ryan Sickler]

Do you remember it? Is it nice?

[Charlie Barron]

It was fun. Super nice, man. I was. First time I had seen the ocean and it was. Did some fishing and we got. We got a bunch of mullet there with. We put shrimp on the pole and. Yeah, you just send it out there and you just bring them in. Cleaned a bunch of mullet. Yeah, we had a. And I. I think that's what they were. It was some kind of white fish. Yeah. Isn't this nice? Look at that. That five guys. Oh, that's a Walgreens cvs. Yeah. So they got cbs, is there?

[Ryan Sickler]

Yes. Nice.

[Charlie Barron]

That's a good area, man.

[Ryan Sickler]

What's. I asked you before obviously interview before we do this. So you said you also would go to camp. Is that up north as well? This Ben's camp?

[Charlie Barron]

Oh, Ben's camp. That's not really a camp.

[Ryan Sickler]

Oh, what is that?

[Charlie Barron]

It's a restaurant on a. I didn't. I misunderstood the questions.

[Ryan Sickler]

Well, I don't Know if you did camps in the goddamn.

[Charlie Barron]

See, look at that. This is a nice spot, man.

[Ryan Sickler]

What the is this? This is the place.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah, that's it. They serve.

[Ryan Sickler]

They have cabin rentals and boat rentals, it says up there.

[Charlie Barron]

Yep, they do. They do have that. But we didn't. We. We've. Since later in life we'd rented from there, like as adults.

[Ryan Sickler]

So their main thing is this restaurant stuff. And then when you go there, they have these other things.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah, you can rent a boat from there or you can rent, I don't know, a cabin or something. But we would go there as kids

[Ryan Sickler]

as a vacation also.

[Charlie Barron]

Well, no, this was just. We had a cabin on a lake around that area. But since we had so many people, we didn't. Didn't go out. So if we were going to go out, this was the one place we went to go out to eat because it was big enough to fit us all. And because they got that outdoor seating, as you can see there. And so, you know, there's plenty of space to spread around for some kids to, you know, go get missing for a little bit. They had an arcade still do. I think she could play some big Buck Hunter. All that. Yeah, they little claw toy there.

[Ryan Sickler]

The whole deal looks so pretty.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah. Nice pizzas. That was a good spot. Good spot, man.

[Ryan Sickler]

Let's talk about what's Orchard Lane. What's that?

[Charlie Barron]

Orchard Lane is a grade school that I went to.

[Ryan Sickler]

Let's go check out your elementary school.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah, we were. We were. The reason we brought this one up was in the last podcast we were talking about touch math.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yes. Thank you. I wanted to bring this up.

[Charlie Barron]

This is where I learned it.

[Ryan Sickler]

And so I had never heard of touch math. Kirsten has said she has. I thought you were literally going, 1, 2, 3, 4. And you're like, no. So this is the school.

[Charlie Barron]

This is the school here. And it's touch methods, where you touch parts of the number.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah, I don't even understand. Kirsten, bring it up for us here.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah, yeah. So there. We got it. Yep. I remember. It's the most. See? Yeah. One.

[Ryan Sickler]

Let's see. Four to me, should be five.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah, Don't.

[Ryan Sickler]

You're counting down here.

[Charlie Barron]

Stop bringing logic into this. Just listen to the lesson.

[Ryan Sickler]

You start repeating. You go, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Oh, it's the repeat. So how do we do seven?

[Charlie Barron]

You go one and then you repeat

[Ryan Sickler]

two, three, four, five, six. And eight's just doubling him up. And nine is rolling.

[Charlie Barron]

Reason. Dude, there's no rhyme. Zero, zero, zero, yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

So, okay, wait, though. Let me ask you this math problem right now. Obviously, you're going to know the answer. Tell me how I do 8 plus 7 and I get 15. How I do that math?

[Charlie Barron]

You go 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. Obviously. Dude, what a stupid question that was. It's right there for you.

[Ryan Sickler]

You just touch it like that. What do you do when you're getting like 3,245 plus 7,860?

[Charlie Barron]

You know, it's like when you're skiing on a really big hill. You can make any hill big. If you say it takes you that long to do those, well, you use it for like. Because 3405, 18 plus whatever. You just do it with the 5 and the 9. The whatever's at the end.

[Ryan Sickler]

You know, you carry your. You still carry your ones and all that.

[Charlie Barron]

Carry your ones.

[Ryan Sickler]

The whole person was saying she figured it out and she was cheating doing it. And the lady said, you're too smart to do that. Why? Why? How's this. I'm confused. How is this a dumb.

[Charlie Barron]

This is. They got mad at me for it,

[Ryan Sickler]

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[Charlie Barron]

I do. I was telling my parents about my dad. I was doing math at. I was paying for something. How old were you?

[Ryan Sickler]

When they're telling the store what you're about to.

[Charlie Barron]

There's 20. This was this. No, this was recently. This was recently.

[Ryan Sickler]

Okay.

[Charlie Barron]

And I was paying for dinner for my dad and my brother being a nice guy. And I'm doing the bill and I'm doing the touch math on the thing.

[Ryan Sickler]

And what are you touching the numbers on?

[Charlie Barron]

I'm out of habit, you know, like that. Seven. That's seven right there. I'm like, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12. Seven, eight, nine, 10,11, 12. See that? So I put the two right there. Carry the one. And my dad was like, tell me you're not doing that touch mash. And then I was moved.

[Ryan Sickler]

You out of that goddamn school district.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah. And. And I was. And then they were roasting me. And then my brother, he was. Asked my brother why he didn't do it. And my brother said, they never taught me that. And I think he said something similar like, that he was too smart. So maybe I was in the special section of the school, which is. I didn't know. Maybe I was. But I know how to. I know how to add. I got a good tip on to get 20 extra dollars.

[Ryan Sickler]

There you go. Yeah. Let's go look at Holy Hill Church. Your church. Let's see your church.

[Charlie Barron]

So Holy Hill Church is. This is one that we would go to every once a year in the fall, because this place is beautiful.

[Ryan Sickler]

What do you mean once a year? You're not going for weekends, Sunday church?

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah, no, we. We went to. To this place called St. Mary's like, every. Every week but once a fall, you go this place called Holy Hill. I just thought this would be more. A more fun. Look. Look at that. Isn't that cool?

[Ryan Sickler]

I mean, this looks like something that's not even in the States. This looks like out of Europe, right?

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah. Isn't it cool? So it's at, like, the tallest peak. You can see downtown Milwaukee from that.

[Ryan Sickler]

It's about 45 minutes in the state of Wisconsin.

[Charlie Barron]

Yep, It's. It's about 45 minutes outside Milwaukee. But it's a beautiful, beautiful church. And yeah, we would go once, once a year to see the. The colors. And I actually walked all the way up to the. The lookout thing, and you can walk all the way up to that. That deal up there. But this is

[Ryan Sickler]

all the way up here, this window in the steeple. You can.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah, you can walk all the way

[Ryan Sickler]

up there or that little tiny one up there. That above the circle?

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah, above the circle.

[Ryan Sickler]

Somebody right there, right? That might be you, bro.

[Charlie Barron]

And that. Cool. Oh, is there someone in there when they took it?

[Ryan Sickler]

And you can. Oh, look, at that view. Yeah, it is pretty. The changing of the trees and everything.

[Charlie Barron]

And it's sweet.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah, it is.

[Charlie Barron]

So, yeah, we.

[Ryan Sickler]

It's massive to. The building itself is massive. And do you do a mass in there?

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah, they do mass.

[Ryan Sickler]

I mean, are you going to it or is it something you're just.

[Charlie Barron]

We're going to the mass. But this. This actually part of why I brought up, because going to church with a big family, that big. This is kind of like a church that there's locals that go here. Yes. But largely it's a lot of tourists, especially in the fall, so we always would have to get there early because we take up a whole pew.

[Ryan Sickler]

Good point.

[Charlie Barron]

You know, and so, yeah, you look at those pews.

[Ryan Sickler]

Those are gorgeous.

[Charlie Barron]

That's just gonna fit 12 total. So there's a few lap sitters there. Because of course, we always would get there late and in tears. You know, someone was slap sitters. Yeah. Double buckling in the back there. But, you know, that's just kind of a thing where it's 45 minutes away from where we were. And then, you know, we're always late. So it's just like the memory of church of just like, you know, Midwest dad screaming at you, we gotta go, we gotta go. And then someone who was the latest was getting, you know, reamed out a little bit. And then you get a few tears on the way to church. There's just nothing with the crisp fall air. Nothing says Midwest like that.

[Ryan Sickler]

Tell me, let's go see one of your old homes here.

[Charlie Barron]

That's it right there. That one.

[Ryan Sickler]

This one with the garage open?

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah, that one with the garage open.

[Ryan Sickler]

How many people are in this house before you move for a bigger place? What's the most in here? Eight.

[Charlie Barron]

Okay, eight kids. Two. Two parents.

[Ryan Sickler]

Is that you guys still? We go Back to what, 2007?

[Charlie Barron]

Oh, no, no, no. We were long gone.

[Ryan Sickler]

Give me the windows. Top left window. Who's that?

[Charlie Barron]

Top left window. That's my parents room. And then to the right. That's not a room. That's just kind of like. That's like where the stairs would come up. And they just had a window there and. Oh, no, there was this. There was a room there. That's where. That's where three of the girls were. This is fun. Actually, I kept trying to remember. I think Maggie, Betsy, Maggie, Addie were in that room. Yeah. Oh, maybe. Yeah, I think Betsy, Maggie, Eddie in that room. And then across were Andy, Charlie, Billy, Andy, Charlie, Billy, Betsy, Maggie, Eddie, and then the other two Must have been in the. The room across the deal. Oh, they had a mini there now in the back. See those, those trees up there? They had a. Oh, there was a white pie, a white pine which might have been cut down at that point. I remember it being white pine. Anyways, we had a mulch pile back there and the mulch pile was really. We would jump from the tree into

[Ryan Sickler]

the mulch pile, out of the tree, down into it.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah. And we always had the best. The best jumps were after the house to the left there. That was the Zilucky's house. And Steve, he would cut the grass and he would see how nice that grass is. And he would keep the grass clippings and he would go put them in the mulch pile.

[Ryan Sickler]

That's cool.

[Charlie Barron]

And once the. Once the. On grass cutting days, that was the soft landing because there was this gun that was dangling like a toy gun that was dangling at this one branch. And we were trying to get the gun down. And that was kind of the game to see if you could get the gun down from the dangling branch. It was difficult to do. It was left there by the people that were there before us. And it stayed up there. None of us ever reached a gun, you know. If a man's reach never exceeds his grasp, then what's a heaven for? And we never got. Yeah, I stole it from someone. My nana used to say that, but she got it from someone. If a man's reach never exceeds his grasp, then what's a heaven for?

[Ryan Sickler]

Amen.

[Charlie Barron]

Amen. There you go. So, yeah, that was. That was the house. I've got some scars I recall from going down one of those hills.

[Ryan Sickler]

Sneak out.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

Because that looks like a good window. If that's a stair window, that looks like a good window to hop out onto the roof.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah, I actually screwed that up. It's not a stair window, I don't think. I think there was a. A wall up before that. That was the girls room right there. But it's crazy that I don't even remember that.

[Ryan Sickler]

No. Funny. You have a basement in that house.

[Charlie Barron]

Oh yeah, that's finished basement. No, no, that's. That's where I used to play hockey by myself with a tennis ball. Yeah, My dad. Yeah. Oh, you got it. Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

Well done.

[Charlie Barron]

Look at that. Well, I had that. Damn. Look at that carpeting. Man.

[Ryan Sickler]

I was about to say, look at that car. Look at the little. And look at the little sweeper too.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah, that's classic. Now see, I. That's the half right there. That we had that. Those wooden walls and then. So I guess half that room was somewhat finished, but the other half was open. But the ceilings were exposed. I remember that because that you could hide stuff there. Oh, yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

What's going on here? Where are you? Here?

[Charlie Barron]

I was stylish, man.

[Ryan Sickler]

Donald Duck.

[Charlie Barron]

My mom made me those shorts. She sewed them. Should we get some fabric from Joanne Fabrics?

[Ryan Sickler]

This is giving me flashbacks, bro. Give me nightmare same.

[Charlie Barron]

Well, why. Why? She got the pink with the fishes. And those were my roller skates right there. Those were, man. Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

You would put those out, those adjustable ones. I remember those now.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah. Now this. This looks like it might have been my birthday. That might be the first time I was rocking those skates because they look pretty fresh. No helmet yet, so I haven't learned too many lessons.

[Ryan Sickler]

Oh, yeah, There they are.

[Charlie Barron]

Those are so awesome. Those are Fisher Price ones. Is that right? Yeah. Dang. I wonder if you can get those. Yeah. I was a roller skating guy. Yep. This is. This is me shortly after, I believe, we lost to the Dallas Cowboys. And I painted my. How my face like that for the game. And that's a disappointment after the game.

[Ryan Sickler]

It is a let down to look like that if you lose.

[Charlie Barron]

It's a huge letdown. Yeah. So. But I got the cheese head on, as you can see. I did it myself because I got some fingerprints on the shirt there. See that?

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Charlie Barron]

So. And I didn't fully commit. Thanks, dude. Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

What do you got to do to fully commit? Your neck or something?

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah, I gotta get the neck going, you know.

[Ryan Sickler]

Wear a turtleneck next time.

[Charlie Barron]

I should. Yeah, maybe I had one on, but I wore a white one and it got all smudged.

[Ryan Sickler]

Did you ever get to go to a Packers game?

[Charlie Barron]

A home game I went to, they played at County Stadium. So we went to a game at County Stadium. Like an exhibition game, a preseason game. And then. And then we went to a preseason game at Lambeau. So that was preseason's the way to do it for kids, you know.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah. Stadium experience and all that.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

Tell me, your first car, what was your first car?

[Charlie Barron]

First car was a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT. Yep. Silver. Called it the Silver Bullet Van because I accidentally shot it with a shotgun.

[Ryan Sickler]

What do you mean accidentally?

[Charlie Barron]

Well, we were going pheasant hunting. We went pheasant hunting and I pulled Princess.

[Ryan Sickler]

Be great for pheasant hunting.

[Charlie Barron]

Oh, she would. Oh, yeah, she'd be awesome. She'd find them there. I. I was pulling the guns out of the car and one of Them went off. It was my brothers. He forgot to fully unload it, sliding

[Ryan Sickler]

it out, and it went off.

[Charlie Barron]

I was. They were all in their cases. I was pulling them out. But, yeah, he put a loaded gun into the case. And now we have the Andy rule, which is every time you unload a gun, you give it to someone else to double check. Except for Andy.

[Ryan Sickler]

Except for Andy.

[Charlie Barron]

He's not checking. So.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Charlie Barron]

So, yeah. And then I.

[Ryan Sickler]

So what happened when it blew through the case and hit the. The side of the car?

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah, dude, I know.

[Ryan Sickler]

No one's around.

[Charlie Barron]

I know. I was pulling him out of the back. So it just blew the bucket seat off. And then.

[Ryan Sickler]

Damn.

[Charlie Barron]

Huh?

[Ryan Sickler]

And then everyone was out of the car already.

[Charlie Barron]

Thank God, dude. Thank God. And the dog's just like, ready to go.

[Ryan Sickler]

Like, where's the bird?

[Charlie Barron]

You know, he thought we were still hunting, so he was getting all excited and. And yeah, so my dad was pissed. He was furious. So he made me buy it from him at the Kelly blue book level marked.

[Ryan Sickler]

This wasn't someone else's car you bought. Do you bought this because it was your dad, your family car, and you it up. And they're like, now you're buying it.

[Charlie Barron]

Oh, yeah. And that. I got off. Easy, dude. Easy. And he sold it to me. A pre shotgun. Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

On the side of this van here. Tell me. I don't know if we can get a back view in. Where is it? Where's the damage? Blew the seat off. What else? Like, did it break the windshield?

[Charlie Barron]

Shadow.

[Ryan Sickler]

What about the spray? Didn't hit any other windows.

[Charlie Barron]

Spray guys. Spray guy. There's two pellet holes in the front console, you know, but no glass blew out. Well, the glass cracks. So Now I've got two BBs. I can tell my alignments off because the BBs are down on one side or the other. And there's a few.

[Ryan Sickler]

Oh, you can hear them rolling around.

[Charlie Barron]

You can see them rolling around when you're driving. And then there's my alignment salt. There's. There's like the little heater AC thing. It's got a bunch of cracks in it. There were a few that were broken, but nothing of damage, really. What got the brunt of it was the back right seat that got the. Because that was up. Luckily we had the stow and go. So, you know, there it is. Yeah. And I. I slept in that van. Well, I moved out here. There was more G. And that tanked in my bank account by a good amount. And so I slept in there, like, because I was Trying to, you know, I stayed with my buddy, but if my buddy wasn't there, you know, then I would just sleep in the van, and I slept in my buddy's closet. And that was for a little bit before I got. Got some money going. But, yeah, that's a great car, man. I got three people in the back of that car. Sleep in the back of that car in San Francisco one time, because my buddies came out and I said, oh, we'll go to San Francisco. I'll get the hotel. And I did. I had a little money. I was going to get a hotel. I was. But then I was San Francisco marathon, and there were no hotels, so we just all slept in the back of that van. Nuts to butts. And. Yeah, that was. That was. That was rough. Gets cold in San Francisco at night.

[Ryan Sickler]

Let me tell you something, man. People think California, it gets cold as up there.

[Charlie Barron]

Mm. But, yeah, it's a great van. That's actually the. That. That van started my career in a lot of ways, so. Because I was working for a production company out here, Herzogen Company. And my boss, Matt, he. He let me be a set PA because I had a van that could take stuff. He didn't have to do a truck rental all the time. And so then I would set up the lights, take them down, and that's what got me. That's. Then I. That's how I shot my first reel.

[Ryan Sickler]

Okay.

[Charlie Barron]

You know, shooting it after I brought all the stuff back. And they were cool about that there. They were like, yeah, you can use the equipment. Just don't break it. And I like places like that, you know?

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah. Be responsible.

[Charlie Barron]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

This was fun. Thank you.

[Charlie Barron]

This was super fun, man.

[Ryan Sickler]

Little trip down memory lane one more time right there. Promote whatever you'd like, please.

[Charlie Barron]

Oh, thank you. Charlie Barron's YouTube Neighborly is the name of my new special. I'm on tour. Lost and Found tour. Go to charliebarrence.com and bellied up podcast. That's awesome, man. Thank you.

[Ryan Sickler]

You got it, brother. Go watch a special. And as always, man, thank you guys for your support. We'll talk to you all next week. Ram.