E539 The Amazing Acro-Cats

Summary

Podcast Summary: "The Amazing Acro-Cats" (E539)

This Past Weekend with Theo Von features a captivating episode titled "The Amazing Acro-Cats," released on October 17, 2024. Host Theo Von engages in an in-depth conversation with Samantha Martin, a passionate cat advocate, performer, and trainer. Over nearly two hours of discussion, Samantha shares her inspiring journey from training rats to creating a unique all-cat performance troupe, the Acro Cats. This summary encapsulates the key points, insights, and memorable moments from their conversation.

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1. Samantha Martin’s Journey: From Rats to Cats

Samantha Martin begins by detailing her early passion for animals, which ignited at the age of seven. "I knew I wanted to be an animal trainer since I was seven" ([08:19]). Her career commenced with training rats for film and television, inspired by Modiceso, a renowned animal trainer whom she met serendipitously ([10:46]). Samantha recounts her first big break after quitting her job to work on a film that required trained rats, which led to widespread recognition and opportunities, including appearances on international television shows like Italy's "Mino D'Amato Show" ([23:56]).

2. The Transition: Embracing Feline Performers

Despite her success with rats, Samantha recognized the need to diversify to sustain her livelihood. She explains, "I realized I couldn't make a living on just rats, so I turned to cats" ([35:07]). Initially, working with cats proved challenging due to their independent nature. However, Samantha's dedication led her to develop the Acro Cats, a troupe of rescue and stray cats trained to perform impressive routines. "Cats are really kind of misunderstood... You have to make it fun for the cat" ([61:44]).

3. Building the Acro Cats Show: Training and Performance

Creating the Acro Cats show involved extensive training and improvisation. Samantha emphasizes the importance of creating a comfortable environment for the cats, using techniques like clicker training and positive reinforcement. "The applause actually starts to... they hear applause or laughter, that means they're doing good, they're gonna get that treat" ([60:16]). The performances are a blend of planned tricks and improvisational moments, reflecting the cats' unique personalities. "It's total improv" ([61:45]).

4. Overcoming Challenges: Touring and Setbacks

Touring with a troupe of cats presented numerous challenges. Samantha shares experiences such as dealing with a bus driver who attempted to scam her and the financial strains caused by the pandemic, which forced her to put tours on hold ([50:00]-[52:58]). Additionally, the physical demands of driving a 45-foot bus while managing the show and caring for the cats required immense resilience. "We've had to put more so much money into the bus to get it back to its original shape" ([52:25]).

5. Personal Sacrifices and Commitment

Samantha discusses the personal sacrifices made to pursue her passion, including forgoing traditional relationships and enduring health struggles. "I never wanted to be a housewife... I wanted my freedom to pursue my passion, my dream" ([38:49]). Her unwavering commitment is evident in anecdotes about balancing health issues with maintaining the show, demonstrating her dedication to both her art and the wellbeing of her feline performers.

6. The Acro Cats Show: Structure and Audience Engagement

The Acro Cats show is a meticulously structured performance lasting about 10-15 minutes, featuring a nine-piece band alongside the performing cats. Samantha describes how each cat has developed its own repertoire of tricks, from jumping through hoops to mimicking playing instruments. "They're my babies... They have great personalities" ([39:11]). Audience interaction is a crucial element, with meet-and-greets post-performance fostering a deeper connection between fans and the cats.

7. Impact on Education and Adoption

Beyond entertainment, Samantha's work with Acro Cats has a significant educational and humanitarian impact. She has facilitated the adoption of over 340 cats and kittens since 2009, ensuring that each cat finds a loving and trained home. "I've saved lives and fostered 340 cats and kittens since 2000" ([87:56]). The show also serves as a platform to inspire others to train their cats and improve their relationships with their pets, highlighting the intelligence and affectionate nature of cats.

8. Future Aspirations and Ongoing Efforts

Looking ahead, Samantha expresses aspirations to expand the Acro Cats' reach and continue her advocacy for rescue animals. Despite setbacks, she remains optimistic and committed to evolving the show to better suit the cats' personalities and the audience's expectations. "The show must go on... I'm constantly having to change and evolve" ([86:44]-[93:10]). Her goal is to maintain the balance between performance excellence and the humane treatment of her feline troupe.

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Notable Quotes

• Samantha Martin [08:19]: "I knew I wanted to be an animal trainer since I was seven."
• Samantha Martin [10:46]: "He could train any animal. He was just amazing."
• Theo Von [35:07]: "A lot of right now would be the acro cats."
• Samantha Martin [61:44]: "You have to make it fun for the cat."
• Samantha Martin [87:56]: "I've saved lives and fostered 340 cats and kittens since 2000."
• Samantha Martin [93:10]: "The show must go on."

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Conclusion

In "The Amazing Acro-Cats," Samantha Martin offers an inspiring glimpse into the world of animal training, showcasing the potential of cats beyond common perceptions. Her dedication not only entertains but also educates and saves countless lives, making a profound impact on both her audience and the broader community of animal advocates. Theo Von's engaging interview highlights the resilience and creativity required to sustain such a unique and compassionate endeavor.

Transcript

[Samantha Martin]

Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co founder of angie.

[Theo Von]

One thing I've learned is that you buy a house, but you make it a home. And for decades, Angie's helped millions of homeowners hire skilled pros for the projects that matter. Get all your jobs done [e-mail] we have some upcoming tour dates there in Colorado Springs in Colorado, Casper, Wyoming, Billings, Montana and Missoula, Montana Bloomington, Indiana, Columbus, Ohio, Champaign, Illinois. Over there in a Fighting Illini area, Grand Rapids, Michigan Lafayette, Louisiana and Beaumont, Texas. You can get all your [e-mail] TOR and thank you so much for the support. Today's guest is a cat advocate, a performer and a trainer. For almost 20 years she's been touring with her performance crew of cats called the Acro Cats where they perform routines, tricks and much more. She's also started the only all cat band in the world, Tuna and the Rock Cats. No one loves anything as much as Samantha loves cats. Today's guest is Samantha Martin and the Acro Cats.

[Samantha Martin]

I'll sit and tell you my stories Shine on me and I will find a song I will sing. EL.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. So I want to learn all about Acro cats and I want to learn all about the traveling cat universe and everything that there is to know about it because it really is just fascinating to think about them cats and in everything that they're doing and, and just how involved with it you are. You know, just to start, I guess, what are some like what is a cat? I guess basically how would you even. What is like a. Like. I mean, I know it's kind of an easy question, but what do you. Some people probably don't earn even that aren't big pets like connoisseurs or whatever. How do you put that in? Is there a certain size of it or like how tall is a cat?

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, yes, boy, that's. You open with a question I don't even know the answer to. They really vary in size. Some of the cats are more petite. We do a lot of bottle babies so they tend to be a little bit on the smaller side, females a little bit on the smaller side. But cats are really kind of misunderstood. Everybody thinks that cats are aloof and that they can't be trained, that they don't really need socialization or kind the same kind of things that dogs need. A lot of people get cats thinking that's not going to be any work at all. I just have to scoop a litter box or get an auto scooping litter box and throw out some food and be done with it, where a dog is so much more work, but in actuality, a cat is just as much work as a dog. And people should invest that time because cats are brilliant. People don't realize just how brilliant cats are.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. I've seen some cats. They have all types of cats. Yeah. They even had one cat went to space. I think even I know a cat.

[Samantha Martin]

Went down Niagara Falls.

[Theo Von]

Really? You know a cat that went to Niagara Falls.

[Samantha Martin]

It went down Niagara Falls.

[Theo Von]

It went down it.

[Samantha Martin]

The first person that survived a barrel trip down the falls, she took a cat with her.

[Theo Von]

No way. For good luck or just for just.

[Samantha Martin]

Who knows? I mean, I wasn't around during that time to ask her afterwards, what made you bring a cat down the falls with you? But she and the cat survived.

[Theo Von]

Wow.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah.

[Theo Von]

Okay, so a cat, like. And a cat can be. You said almost any size.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, yeah. I mean, there's huge cats. There's Maine coon cats that are giant. Our cats are a little bit on the. They're all. None of our cats are pure bred cats because they're all rescue cats. So they. But the Maine coon cats are giant. I mean, I've seen like they're almost dog sized.

[Theo Von]

Oh, wow.

[Samantha Martin]

So and then there's the real small ones, the munchkins and that have the short legs and that they. And you know, it's not really good to breed for certain things. You know, it just seems uncomfortable for some of the cats to have, like short legs and difficulty for them to get around. But yeah, they come in all different sizes and shapes and larger, smaller. Some cats are hairless. Some cats are completely, you know, furry.

[Theo Von]

Just so a cat can basically be almost any. Like, how tall are the cats you work with? Because the cats I've seen are probably a lot of them are about this tall, probably. Well, I guess that's if they're just sitting up. If they're walking.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, yeah, that's. I mean, it's kind of. There's a typical cat size, but the Maine coons are the ones that are the giant.

[Theo Von]

Oh, a Maine coon is a Maine coon.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, the Maine coons are the giant ones. You know, see people like with the record. Maine coon and they're holding it and it takes two arms and it's still hanging over their arms.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, it's like a play in the bass kind of. And do you. Do you employ any Maine coons?

[Samantha Martin]

No, because they really. We need small, agile cats to be acro cats.

[Theo Von]

Okay. So for acro cats, we're Talking a smaller cat. We're talking. What's the premier size? Kind of like a. For an acro cat.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, the runts, the orphans. The runts, the strays, the ones with the. With the. Especially the ones with the attitude, the troublemakers.

[Theo Von]

Oh, really?

[Samantha Martin]

Those make the best acro cats. They do those little, like. Cause they got, like, short cat syndrome, so they already have, like, a little chip on their shoulder. So they've got attitude and they're like, I'm, you know, don't mess with me.

[Theo Von]

I'll show them.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, I'm gonna show you. And so, yeah, those make. Those are the best acro cats. And they're a little bit on the smaller side, so they can do a lot more.

[Theo Von]

Okay.

[Samantha Martin]

They can climb higher, they can jump further. Yeah, they. It's just. They're more agile. So, yeah, we, you know, we tend to employ strictly rescue cats.

[Theo Von]

Okay.

[Samantha Martin]

No purebreds.

[Theo Von]

Oh, really? So you guys. So acro cats is a lot of rescues then?

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, yes, yes. They're all former orphans, rescues and strays, man.

[Theo Von]

It's almost like the Bad News Bears in a way. Huh? You know that movie?

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, I've seen it. It's been a long time. Yeah. So it kind of don't really remember the premise.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, I think it was just some of the. Some of them were kind of like. Yeah, some of the kids were kind of, like, having a tough time, you know, it was like those type of kids. So how did you get started with acro cats? And what is acro cats, first of all?

[Samantha Martin]

So the amazing acro cats. They're a troop of former orphan rescues and strays that have come into my life over the years, and I've trained them to do awesome things, to show people that not only can cats be trained, but they should be trained. So they travel around the country. We now tour in a large bus. We initially started out in a small little ambulance, and then slowly built up to this giant money pit of a bus.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, busing is expensive.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, so expensive.

[Theo Von]

So you guys were in an ambulance at one point?

[Samantha Martin]

I started things. I started my career with an ambulance back in the days when I was doing rats and wildlife education and all of that. So I've been working with animals since I was 10.

[Theo Von]

Okay, so you've been working with an animal since you was a child. Really? You was really just a child animal worker. And they. And so you get started. You said with rats first.

[Samantha Martin]

I knew I wanted to be an animal trainer since I was seven.

[Theo Von]

Okay, so you knew out of the Gate. You wanted to be out there with them animals?

[Samantha Martin]

Yes.

[Theo Von]

And how did you know you'd be at a zoo or something would flare up in you when you would see an animal? Or how did you know that you loved them?

[Samantha Martin]

Well, my parents did a letter every year. Like those annoying Christmas letters that people send out detailing their.

[Theo Von]

Oh, yeah, like Patty got her menstrual cycle or whatever, and Danny's playing volleyball or whatever.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, yeah. So my parents did one every year.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, we got those in our neighborhood. Some of them were too much, like. Oh, yeah, one year they sent. It was like, Ron left us. If anybody's seen or whatever, call us. And we're like, this is for Christmas. Like, it was just. But some of them got a little invasive, but. Okay. Sorry I interrupted you.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, no. Yeah. But so looking back through all those Christmas letters, it talked about how. I talked about wanting a cat. Wanting a cat. As soon as I was able to talk, I wanted a cat. And then I found a book that was like a book about me that I had filled out when I was 7. And it said, when I grow up, I wanna be. And I put on. I filled in animal trainer or Indian.

[Theo Von]

Oh, that's good.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, yeah.

[Theo Von]

And that's kind of the same thing almost. Cause the Indians were so close to nature, really, you know.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, yeah. It really is kind of similar path, I guess. Spiritual connection with animals.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Samantha Martin]

So.

[Theo Von]

So you wanted to be really dialed in out of the gate.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, yeah. I knew what I wanted to do right from the get go. My parents, they had a different plan for me.

[Theo Von]

What did they think they wanted?

[Samantha Martin]

I mean, they wanted the traditional. I mean, they sent me to college to get my Mrs. They didn't care what I majored in.

[Theo Von]

Wanted to be a wife as long.

[Samantha Martin]

As I came home with a husband that had a good degree and a future. That's what they wanted. They did not anticipate me being an entrepreneur. And I'm going to start a business with rats. And that's kind of how it got all started. Right after college, I moved to Chicago and I was like, I'm going to start a business with rats.

[Theo Von]

And what made you. Did you see something? Did you. Were you at a live event? Did you. Were you at a christening or a. Were you at, like, you know, a performance of Phantom of the Opera? Or, like, what set made you think, okay, I'm going to start doing a live performance at Animals. Because that's a real. The only people that's ever done that is Noah, probably Noah's Ark and God, probably.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, yeah. Did you see. Yeah.

[Theo Von]

Did you see a performance? Did you see something that was like.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, yes. Actually, I watched a documentary on Modiseso, who was the rat trainer for the original Ben and Willard movies.

[Theo Von]

Okay, bring him up. Modus Esso. How do you spell it?

[Samantha Martin]

Mod. Yeah. He was one of the original Hollywood animal trainers. He was my mentor. He was my. I mean, I saw this documentary that he did on the Discovery Channel back when they showed animal. You know, when they showed stuff, like real things on Discovery Channel. And he was like, behind the scenes training of the rats for this movie. And I was like, yes, this is what I want to do with my life. I want to train animals for film and television. And I ended up getting to meet him.

[Theo Von]

Animal trainer Mo Daceso, who trained such notable animal stars as Ben the Rat and Annie's dog Sandy, died July 2nd in Newhall, California. He was 83. He trained over 600 rats for the two rodent horror hits, winning a Patsy award for directing Ben the Rat in Willard and another sequel for Ben. Wow. So he could really conduct a rat?

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, he could train any animal. He was just amazing. I was so thrilled because I ended up getting stranded in California. I was working on a rat documentary, and part of it was filmed in Los Angeles in the summer, and I got stuck there because of a heat embargo, so I couldn't get my rats back to Chicago.

[Theo Von]

So you're there. You're working on a rat documentary.

[Samantha Martin]

Yes, Called. It was called Rat.

[Theo Von]

Okay. Rat.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. Mark Lewis. Mark Lewis kind of gave me my big break as far as working on documentaries and getting my first really big break as far as training rats. So it was so serendipitous how everything happened, really. My whole, you know, the whole life story, from, you know, the rats to the cats. But I was working on the documentary for the other part of the documentary. We'd filmed the first part in New York, and then we finished it in Los Angeles. There's a heat, you know, during the summer, you cannot fly animals and cargo. So my rats and I were stuck in California. So I looked up Modiceso when I drove out to his ranch.

[Theo Von]

No.

[Samantha Martin]

And I introduced myself, and they welcomed me into their home. I stayed with them for about three weeks or so. I cleaned every inch of his place. His training room. I organized his training room. I just worked every day. They'd have to drag me in for meals. And then he worked with me every day. With training, I learned so much from him. And when I left, he Cried when I left. I was like the daughter that he'd always wanted. And in a way, he was like the father that I wished I'd had. Because my parents, they liked animals, but they weren't true animal lovers.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, they didn't love them like you did.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, I mean, I loved them right from the beginning. I was drawn to them. It was my life calling.

[Theo Von]

So you leave out of there, the documentary gets finished and now you're a rat trainer.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, and I'm a rat trainer. And then I ended up being a chicken trainer after that because Mark Lewis did a film called the Natural History of Chickens. He hired me again for that to train the chickens. And I didn't know anything about chickens when I took that job.

[Theo Von]

Oh, yeah, you could.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, it was, I mean, back then, the Internet, there was just some Yahoo groups and so, I mean, and he was a tough guy to work for too. I mean, if you did, if things did not go right, I mean, he would just yell at you like 2 inches from your face. I mean, just.

[Theo Von]

He was intense.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, he was so intense. And I mean, I saw there were nights when I worked on the rat film that I cried every night. But it was, you know, he was so good. I mean, he really knew what he wanted.

[Theo Von]

What are you saying?

[Samantha Martin]

Like, damn it, get these rats to.

[Theo Von]

Do it or whatever.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, it was just, he was very hardcore just. And you know, very few people survived working for a Marc Lewis film, but his film was, you know, won awards. So when he asked me back to do the chicken, I didn't get yelled at the entire shoot. I mean, nobody could have a conversation with me during the chicken training portion because I was learning about chickens. There were so many things that could go wrong with this chicken training thing.

[Theo Von]

I'm sure it's even just the term chicken training sounds like it's not going to work out.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh yeah. I had to have a white silky hen go broody, which means they lay on eggs. Right. So. And then once the chicken. Once I found a chicken that actually laid eggs because this broodiness has been bred out of them over the years. Because most people want them for food or just eggs.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. Oh, they want em to lay them every day.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, they don't want them to lay on them. So I had all these white silky chickens, found one that laid eggs and sat on them. So then I had to take the eggs and replace them with golf balls, keep the eggs safe, then transport that chicken to somewhere in the south. I was somewhere out in the country with these chicks working on these chicken with these chickens. So I had to get them on the flight, get them to the location and then put the eggs in an incubator. And on the exact day that he needed to shoot these chickens hatching, they had to hatch. So there were so many things that could have gone wrong. So many things.

[Theo Von]

Well, you're playing God at that point in a way.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. It was so stressful. I had to train a rooster to crow on cue. So. And I had no idea. I mean, I was really, you know, I was self taught. This is pre Internet. This is. Before you could look up all the things and just find answers. I mean, I was.

[Theo Von]

And what do you do? You don't. Do you tickle them or whatever? What do you do to get a rooster to do it?

[Samantha Martin]

Well, you would find. You'd find out what would make them crow naturally. So they actually, they kind of trained me. So I'd have a rooster in the downstairs with a baby monitor. So I'd be upstairs and anytime I heard that rooster crow, I'd go running downstairs and then I'd wave an American flag and click and treat and give the. Because I knew about clicker training at that point. So I would click and treat and give the rooster a reward for crowing. But I also knew that I needed to put it on a queue so that it couldn't just. We couldn't be waiting around for it to crow. I needed to signal for it to crow.

[Theo Von]

So that's what the flag was for.

[Samantha Martin]

I'm waving the flag. It's still crowing. I'm waving the flag and clicking and treating and not really knowing what I'm doing. Just hoping it's gonna work.

[Theo Von]

Create a pattern.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. Yes. Yes. And you know, and people would be trying to talk to me and I'd be like, what if I taught the chicken to follow a ribbon? And we could put that ribbon on the camera and then the chicken would follow that camera everywhere because we need those camera like right now, right in the camera shots. I mean, nobody could talk to me about anything because I was so hyper focused on making these chickens perfect for this, for this film. Wow. And I mean, it turned out beautifully. I mean, I couldn't believe how all my hard work paid off.

[Theo Von]

Wow.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. So. But I.

[Theo Von]

It's pretty remarkable.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. I mean, it really. Considering I didn't really know anything about chickens when I took the job.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. Yeah. And it seems like an insane job to take and do.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, yeah. Yes.

[Theo Von]

And then to pull it off.

[Samantha Martin]

Yes. And to pull it off. And not get screamed at once for that entire shoot. Oh, yeah, that was. That was amazing. Wow.

[Theo Von]

So you got the rooster crowing. You got. You've. You're working with the chickens. So how do you then turn it over into acro rats? You started with.

[Samantha Martin]

Well, I started with the rats. Rats were first. So I had. After I met Modiceso, I had an idea that when I moved to Chicago, I had. At this point, I've had rats since I was 16, so.

[Theo Von]

Okay, so you've been a rat owner. You've been. You've had them.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. I knew how smart they were. I knew how Just. Just one of the most trainable, smart animals ever. And they're also misunderstood. So I've always been drawn to those kind of social rejects of the animal world. The rats, the underdogs. The underdogs. Exactly. The underdogs. So I started putting. I was like, I bet you I could put a little show together. I'm going to teach these rats to do tricks, and I'm going to put a little show together that'll get some attention to these rats, and then maybe I'll get that film that big, you know, break that I wanted. So I was working at a pet shop at the time, and where?

[Theo Von]

In Chicago?

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, in Chicago. I was at Newtown Aquarium. And the owner was a monster. Oh, really? Oh, yeah. He was just the worst human ever.

[Theo Von]

Why was he even in the game? Why was he even in the.

[Samantha Martin]

The money? The money and in the pet money? Well, there was other things he was doing. He was getting fish, you know, in from other countries. And there were more. There was more in with the fish.

[Theo Von]

Than, like, renaming them. Not selling a Pokemon?

[Samantha Martin]

No, no. They. There were, you know, the fish that he was getting shipped in, there's white Styrofoam on the bottom, right?

[Theo Von]

Oh, there was other things getting shipped in as well.

[Samantha Martin]

There were other things he was shipping in under the.

[Theo Von]

So it was probably a front.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, so it was a front. But he also was. His idea was like, if I get a hundred of these, I get a huge discount if I get 100 of. If I get 100 of these Burmese pythons. And if they all die and I sell just one, I'll still make a profit.

[Theo Von]

Wow.

[Samantha Martin]

And so he didn't care about the animals. So I came in and I, of course, cared about the animals. I'm working overtime. I'm taking the animals home and separating all the snakes and feeding them so they don't eat each other. And so I'm going to the library and researching on how to take care of these animals. So I was in charge of the rodents and the reptile section. And I was.

[Theo Von]

And they're arch nemesis, aren't they?

[Samantha Martin]

Well, yeah, yeah, there was. They are not friends. So the rodents were downstairs, and then the reptiles were upstairs. And I. So I'm learning about them, you know, having to go to the library, creating these cage cards so that when people came in, I could educate them on like, okay, you're interested in buying this particular lizard? Well, this is what you need to take care of it. And it's gonna need a heat, you know, heating light and a rock and all these various things. And so I did all my research and I was really. I mean, I did love the job, but he was just a monster.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Samantha Martin]

And at that point, I had my little rat show trained up.

[Theo Von]

Oh, perfect. So you got the rats. They performing now?

[Samantha Martin]

But yeah, they're performing in nightclubs and things like that.

[Theo Von]

Okay, now, so that sounds like. Yeah, I would love to see that. And it's something that's important. The rats are performing in nightclubs. With you as the trainer, they're not. Okay. Yeah. So with you as a trainer, the rats are performing in nightclubs, and you guys are. How many rats are in the show?

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, there's probably. Oh, maybe six. Six. Six or seven rats. And they climb up ladders, they jump through hoops. They'd even bull. And the best trick was they would run. They'd drive up into an ambulance, and then they would go up a fire truck into a burning little kid's house with fake flames, of course. And there'd be a doll in the house. So the rats would go up the ladder, rescue the doll, come back down and put it into the ambulance.

[Theo Von]

No way.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. So they were so much fun and work. Work with. And people were just amazed that these rats are doing these. These amazing tricks. These. So they're the amazing acro rats. And I had little business cards made up that said the rat company trained acro rats for all occasions. Film, television, live shows. And I told everybody at work that someday somebody's gonna walk in that door and they're gonna need a rat for a movie, and I'm gonna be ready for em. Right.

[Theo Von]

Wow.

[Samantha Martin]

Right. So it happened.

[Theo Von]

So that was a lot of your ambition. So you'd seen Mo d seso have this. You'd seen that documentary, and then it had an effect on you. And then next year you end up out there, you end up getting to work with him. So now you really feel like you're on the right path.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah.

[Theo Von]

Okay, so you have the, you have the rat show going in Chicago?

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. Yes.

[Theo Von]

And you're performing where you're performing after hours in the pet shop.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, no, I'm not in the pets. Pet store, but I'm working. I'm like after hours in nightclubs. I was taking the rats and, you know, they'd hire me to bring the rats in or actually, you know, I don't even know if I got really hired or so maybe it was just kind of a pass the hat kind of thing because, you know, any opportunity I had to train these rats.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, but how do you even approach that? Because in the beginning, if you say, hey, I'm going to come in later, I'm going to bring in a couple rats, I think people are going to be like, I don't know, you know, or people like. How do you have that initial conversation with some of the performance venues and stuff?

[Samantha Martin]

Well, it was Chicago. Chicago was very, you know, kind of open minded. They know they, they liked anything, you know, interesting and different.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Samantha Martin]

And I had. My roommate had connections with certain nightclubs at that point. So, you know, she hooked me up with some of the nightclub people. And then word spread that, you know, there's brat lady, but who comes to the show.

[Theo Von]

Is it just people that are at the nightclub that it's already staged performance at the nightclub and it's like, now we're going to have the acro rats.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, now the acrobats are going to perform. We're going to do a couple shows. And you know, it was just, it was just fun. It was basically, I'm just trying to get attention to these rats, hoping that I'm gonna get this break at some point so that I can get to the next level.

[Theo Von]

Okay. And so how does that start to happen? How does do you get a break?

[Samantha Martin]

That's. Well, the big break came in when I was in the pet. When I was working at the pet store.

[Theo Von]

Okay.

[Samantha Martin]

Waiting with my little business card, you know, the rat company. I named my company the rat company. Yeah, yeah. Trained rats for all occasions. Film, television, live shows. Waiting for that moment, that big break. And these two guys walk into the pet store and they're like, we need a rat. We need a couple rats for film. And I'm like, I got, I got your rats. I'll even answer a toy telephone. I'll do it for free, just for the movie credit. So I got the job because my price was great and I. And because my boss was kind of a Dream squasher. And with the movie industry, they don't give you a lot of notice. They call me on a Friday, they say, okay, your day's on Monday.

[Theo Von]

That's showbiz. Yeah.

[Samantha Martin]

Yep. So I asked for the day off and they said nope, sorry. And so then I quit my job, I quit my full time job for a one day non paying film shoot with rats. And it was my big break. It was, Yeah. I mean, everything happened after that. WGN showed up.

[Theo Von]

Okay, so hold on, so let's. So you get the break, you go to the set, you do the shoot with the rats. And how did they pull it off?

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, I mean, the rats did perfectly. I went out to the. Yeah, I mean I went out there the day, the day before practice with them and everything, rehearsed them. So I kind of knew what that, you know what.

[Theo Von]

So they talk them on the way in, like, look, guys, this is it. Like, do you feel like you have that, you know that you can create that ambiance with them that you guys are.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh yeah, yeah. We're just. I mean there's like, it's really hard.

[Theo Von]

To like Phil Jackson kind of with them.

[Samantha Martin]

You know, it's, there's this like, it's like a, almost like a, an electric field. So especially when you're working on a set with an animal and you can't be right next to them. So you've done your training, you've done your prep with the rat or any animal, right? And now you're off camera and you have to send in the rat or whatever animal it is to do what you've trained them to do and you can't be next to them. So there's this like electric field, like a communication going where.

[Theo Von]

God.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, just, you've got this, you've got this, you've got this, do this, do this. And when it comes together and it's such a magical moment and they just pull it off, I mean, the whole crew applauds. I mean, everybody was just amazed that this happened. And then a film crew showed up, news crew, because they heard that there was going to be a rat lady on, on the movie set. So they coined me the Rat lady of Chicago.

[Theo Von]

Oh, God. Beautiful.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. So then CNN picked it up and broadcast this all over the country. And next thing you know, I'm flying to Italy to be on this show with the Mino D'Amato show on Christmas Eve with my trained rats. And it just snowballed from there.

[Theo Von]

I mean, so you flew over there for Christmas Eve? To be on an Italian television show.

[Samantha Martin]

Yes.

[Theo Von]

And how many rats do you have with you?

[Samantha Martin]

I had about six rats with me. Oh, yeah. And then.

[Theo Von]

And do you remember any of the names you rem. Any of the.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, probably the Jasper and Ramsey and Cicero. And I named a lot of them. I named. Started name them after streets in Chicago. So I had to. Cicero and Harlem. And. Yeah, Jasper and Ramsey came later on, but yeah. So a lot of them were Chicago streets.

[Theo Von]

So gunshot would be one of them. Gunshot's a cute name, actually. Wow. So you have these rats and you guys are over there. Do you remember that? Was it Christmas Eve? What was it?

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, it was Christmas Eve and a show called the Minor to Motto show. And they didn't give me an earpiece for translation. So the guy is like. And I'm like, no way. You're just like. Don't know what you're saying.

[Theo Von]

You're just sitting there and the guy is speaking. What?

[Samantha Martin]

It's. You know, I'm in Italy, so he's speaking Italian. Yeah, I think in Italian. I don't know any Italian. I'm like, I don't know what you're saying. When he realized that I didn't know. I didn't know what he. I didn't have my earpiece. So then he translated. Luckily, he knew. He both knew. He knew Italian and English. So then he would repeat the question in English, and then I would answer and then he would translate it back. So it was saved. But there was a deer in the headlights moment of like, oh, no.

[Theo Von]

Because you're also a very attractive woman, and was there ever any of these guys trying to, like, hit on you? Was there, like, a lot of love interest going on?

[Samantha Martin]

Surprisingly, I did really well. And, you know, it is, in spite of being the rat lady and having rats crawling all over me, much better than the cat thing or. The cat thing was a real game killer. But as the rat lady, I mean, I did get. You know, I did have a lot. I mean, I had stalkers.

[Theo Von]

Oh, really?

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, it was crazy. I had a guy show up in a limo outside my house.

[Theo Von]

A rich stalker.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, yeah. He was very young, and, yeah, apparently he had money and he'd been, you know, like just kind of an adoring fan and wanted to take me for a limo ride. And I'm like, well, I don't really know you, but you gotta go. Huh? Well, I sat and had a drink with him in the limo. So I'm like, I gotta let you drive off with me in this limo. But I'll sit down here with you for a bit. Cause I mean, after the whole wgn, Chicago, very own rat lady, and then CNN and then the flying out to Italy, then things just snowballed. I was like on all the big talk shows and Geraldo and Paulie Shore, he had that series back then.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. Oh, Paulie's world was.

[Samantha Martin]

He has a two part episode where I trapped him, where I lock him in the room overnight with all the rats.

[Theo Von]

Really? Yeah. And was Paulie flirting with you? He likes the ladies.

[Samantha Martin]

If he was, I wasn't picking up on it because I really wasn't even familiar with him. I didn't even know who this guy was. I'm like, why is he, Was he. What's his weasel thing he keeps talking about?

[Theo Von]

Yeah. Cause the weasel and the rats, that's really.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, just, just.

[Theo Von]

That's the same marsupials.

[Samantha Martin]

I think they're weasels. Well, yeah.

[Theo Von]

Rodentia.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. I don't think weasels are rodents. Weasels are more like the ferret group and rats and are rodents. So. Yeah, I don't think the weasels and rats are really related, but they might be enemies per se.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, I can see that. So things really start going, the rat game is good. You're out there and you're. And like, what's the show? How long is the show with the rats?

[Samantha Martin]

The show's like maybe 10, 12, 15 minutes or so. Oh, God.

[Theo Von]

So you're crushing it. And are people paying you good money to come and perform?

[Samantha Martin]

No, not really. I mean, it was just, I mean, it was decent money then. I mean, it also was a nightclub. I got free drink. So. And then whatever tips I might get, they might pay me a nominal fee. Cause I also at that point I had other animals, I had snakes. So they would hire me sometimes to walk around with a snake at a club and such. So, you know, the kind of, you know, it was back in the 90s, so you got paid a nominal amount and then free drink. So it was like fun. And you're getting to, you know, meet all these interesting people and kind of get paid a little bit to do it and have fun and just kind of build a name and get known. I mean, I became, I was like the rat lady of Chicago. And it all stemmed from this whole idea that I had. And then the guys walking in that pet store. What are the chances of that happening? I'm there, I take, I get the movie job, I quit my job without hesitation and bam. It just snowballs into all of These things. Yeah.

[Theo Von]

I mean, yeah. Look, if anybody knows the rat world, I know it and love it. You know, I know it and love it. I'm a rat. And I'm a rat at heart. I got the heart of a large rat, probably. And that's normal. I think. So if you're selling something online, it's. Well, it can be hectic. I remember when we first started our online store, it was. It was. We were piecemealing it. We were trying to figure it out all ourselves. And, ah, it was. It was a nightmare. But things changed with Shopify. That's right. A lot of times success with selling online comes by having a successful sales platform helping you. That's where Shopify comes in. Nobody does selling better than Shopify. Home of the number one checkout on the planet. And the not so secret secret with shop pay that boosts conversions up to 50%, meaning way less carts going abandoned and way more sales going. Upgrade your business and get the same checkout that Allbirds Alo and Skims uses. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com theo t h e o all lowercase. Just go to shopify.com t h e o to upgrade your selling today. Shopify.com theo and how do you get into. Because now, I mean, what you've been most known for now would be the acrocats.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, now. And yeah, known for the. With the acro cat. So.

[Theo Von]

But how did you get to that? How did you get from. I mean, from rats to cats? I mean, one could say it'd be easy to see how you would get there.

[Samantha Martin]

Well, cats are notoriously difficult to work with. I had experimented putting a cat in one of my shows early on.

[Theo Von]

Oh, with the rats?

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, with the rats. I had it like it was supposed to pull a sled and the rats had little Santa hats on it. And the cat was you know, gonna, you know, wear like antlers and pulled the sled. It worked in the. And it worked perfectly in rehearsal at home. Everything was great. And then I tried it, you know, in a live atmosphere. And the cat was like, forget this. Just zips across the stage and the rats are like popping out of the sleigh. You know, they're all falling.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, they're lost. Yeah, they're doing.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, they're just like, what's going on? You know? Yeah, things have changed.

[Theo Von]

Somebody called an audible. They're doing lines from Macbeth up there and shit.

[Samantha Martin]

The cat abandons the sled. The rats crawl back in the sled and just Sit there waiting for the, you know, what's next. That cat was crazy. So I was like, ah. So I didn't work with cats for a long time, but years later, I had been working as a wildlife educator because at one point I discovered I couldn't make a living on just rats. So I kind of expanded, and I was working pretty steadily, teaching kids schools and libraries all about wildlife.

[Theo Von]

So at that point, you kind of given up on the rat?

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, no, still the rats. Still doing the rats. I'm still numb. Still getting all the rat work. I'm. I got, you know, I was getting any, like, music videos, any horror movies, anything that came into town that needed a trained rat.

[Theo Von]

Any rat work?

[Samantha Martin]

Any rat work? I'm getting the rat work.

[Theo Von]

You're the bait.

[Samantha Martin]

I am the one to come to for the rats.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. God, that's so good. And then what about. So you're getting the rat work. You're also realizing the. But this. But you also. But you start to realize that it's not enough income.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. Yes.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. And where are the rats living? Do the rats living with you?

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, always. All the animals always live with me all the time. Like, it's never been a separation of me and the animals.

[Theo Von]

And would y'all sleep in separate rooms or what's that like?

[Samantha Martin]

I had a rat room at one point. I was a landlord's worst nightmare, really. I mean, I just. Those rats were. I mean, I had a whole room full of them just dedicated to the rats. And.

[Theo Von]

And would they get out sometimes?

[Samantha Martin]

I mean, they chewed. They chewed a hole in the screen of the apartment I was in. Like, I said, here move every, like, three Shawshank Redemption.

[Theo Von]

That's a.

[Samantha Martin]

And I'm on the sidewalk, and I'm looking up, you know, at my second floor apartment, and I see rats on the ledge. And I was like, what's going. Why are the rats out on the ledge? And I go upstairs and I'm like, oh, they chewed a hole through the screen. And they were climbing across the ledge and then hopping in the window to the rest of my house. So I'm like, oh, well, so, you know, I had to do some patchwork and such, but yeah.

[Theo Von]

Now, do you think that they didn't want to be a part of the show anymore or they like.

[Samantha Martin]

No, they were just being rats. I mean, they had a whole room. I wanted them to have freedom.

[Theo Von]

Oh, yeah, baby.

[Samantha Martin]

And have, you know, because there were ropes and ladders and all sorts of toys in there for them, so. But they're also Rats are going to do what rats do. They're rodents. They're going to chew.

[Theo Von]

Oh, yeah, Rats want to do rats.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, yeah. And yeah, so there. And there was a lot of them because, you know, also, especially for Halloween, you know, that was a big hiring time for me with the rats and to be the, you know, the. I don't have the rat lady of you in a haunted house and such. So. But yeah, the rats and all the animals. I raised all my animals from babies and they were part of my daily life. I took them everywhere with me, and I'm their mom. You have to. Especially if you're working with any animal in any kind of public setting, you need to acclimate them to that early on. And it's a lot of work and dedication to be carting around. I'd be walking down the street, I'd be pushing a stroller or carrying a carry on full of rats. People would be like. They'd have this look on their face like, oh, I can't wait to see what's in the carrier. And then I'd just see their face drop. When they'd see that it was rats, they were like, the color drains out of their face and they can't handle it. Yeah, yeah. They're like, oh, but. Cause rats are just misunderstood. But they're such wonderful pets and I turned so many people into rat lovers. I'd convince parents to get your child a rat, not a hamster. They're just misunderstood. It's just the name, but they're the best. They won't ever bite your child. You can teach them names, you can teach them tricks. They are affectionate. They're the best pet that you can buy for a child. But, you know, it was. It was. So I turned a lot of people into rap lovers.

[Theo Von]

Well, we said one of my first jobs was selling hamsters. When I was growing up, we used to sell them outside of raves and concerts. And I grew up in a hamster breeding area. And so you'd see a lot of rodentia, small rodentia, small ground game. The Roborovskis were the ones that were sold then. I don't know if you're familiar with that strand of them, but that was the like kind of the popular strand of that was going on in our area. Bring it up. The Roborovsky's, if you can there, Ben, if you don't mind. Yeah, this is the dwarf hamsters. These are a lot of what we were peddling back in the day.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, yeah, No, I had I had hamsters growing up too beautiful.

[Theo Von]

And a lot of that market went to Russia eventually or they started getting these Russian imported hamsters and that for a while. That killed a lot of the, like, they started getting more like the red eye, the small white, red eyed hamsters. Still cute, but not what a lot of kids were looking for, really. And that really, I think a lot had to do with like a lot of that Stephen King kind of when he, you know, when that kind of stuff took off. But. So you really were like a mother to a lot of these rats?

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, yeah. I mean, I, you know, hand raised them all.

[Theo Von]

And do you ever get any issues with the actual mother of the rats? Was there ever any moments where you had to be like, let them know that they, it was a shared territory or that you were just there to help?

[Samantha Martin]

I mean, it's, it's, it just. I didn't like, take the rats away from their mother prematurely, but as soon as they were weaned, I mean, the mom rat isn't really like, these are my children, I want to take care of them.

[Theo Von]

Oh, she's not.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, no, they're like, go, I'm tired. Tired of you all. So, you know, once, once they're weaned, you know, then I would start to, you know, I'd carry them around in my pocket or, or, you know, you know, on my shoulder, maybe in my hair. You know, just. I carry them around everywhere.

[Theo Von]

That's beautiful.

[Samantha Martin]

So that they were, you know, they were like, you know, part, you know, part of me and they, they were very comfortable, you know, to be held and to be on me. They'd be on, you know, my shoulder. They'd go to someone else's shoulder, back to my shoulder. You're very personable. They've got such great personalities. They're just misunderstood. So you say.

[Theo Von]

I've heard you say that. Misunderstood. Yeah. And look, baby girl, I think it's beautiful that you love these animals so much. I think it's just important to find something to love, you know, and. Yeah. What's so misunderstood about them? Do you feel like, well, they just.

[Samantha Martin]

Have a bad reputation.

[Theo Von]

How did they get it, though?

[Samantha Martin]

Well, I mean, they started it. Yeah, they did. But I mean, well, the whole. I love it, right?

[Theo Von]

The plague didn't help.

[Samantha Martin]

The plague, yeah. That didn't help. And then, of course, they always play villains in the movies. So the Willard, the Ben and the Willard movie, Chuck E. Cheese.

[Theo Von]

They tried to bring them back and give them a little bit of. That was kind of some Good pr, I feel like.

[Samantha Martin]

Well, yeah, but it's still like, you know, just that we're rat. You know, ratatouille helped some. Yeah, that did definitely did help help some. And people have. Are definitely. I mean, there's. Now there's rat fanciers. There's a lot of people. There's a lot of rat ladies out there now.

[Theo Von]

Oh, I'm a damn rat king. I mean, our. Our tour is Return of the Rat Tour. Yeah, that's our standup comedy tour is the Return of the Rat Tour. And so I certainly get that some people don't understand the value of a rat.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, yeah. It's just, you know, the name rat. So sometimes I tell people it was African gerbil or a Honduran hamster. Honduran long tailed hamster.

[Theo Von]

And that changes their attitude.

[Samantha Martin]

And then they're like, oh, okay, it's kind of cute. And then like two months later, I'd be like, it's actually a wrap. Then they're in love.

[Theo Von]

They're already in love.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah.

[Theo Von]

Or one of these Jamaican branch kittens or whatever, and you trick them or whatever.

[Samantha Martin]

And it's just.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, it's just. I'm like, yeah, it's just your buddy. It's your buddy Marvin or whatever. Or whatever.

[Samantha Martin]

Shaylen. And I had to ship them if I had to transport them because I was flying out, you know, being flown to places, you know, Los Angeles to do things. And so I'd have to bring, you know, get the rat, take the rats on the flight. And I'd have the health certificate say, you know, Honduran long tailed hamster. Because if you got the wrong person and they saw rats, they don't want rats on their plane. So I just put it on the, you know, they don't want us anymore. And they'd be like, they look a lot like rats. And I'm like, yeah, don't they? Yeah, they. A little bit, yeah. Yeah, it's very. It's a very exotic hamster. That does look a bit like rats. Yeah.

[Theo Von]

And what was your life like personally, at the time? Like, what was your. Were you married? Were you single?

[Samantha Martin]

Never married.

[Theo Von]

Never married.

[Samantha Martin]

No. No. When you know what you want to do when you're seven years old and it was. It was my life dream. You can't, like, I mean, marriage is a job. I mean, it' I mean, it's all fun and romance in the beginning, but if you actually sign the paper and you have a partnership with somebody now, your actions affect them. And I wanted to Be able to hop on a flight and take a job anywhere. Because I knew what I wanted to do at such a young age. And then my life decisions would be affecting another person if I got married.

[Theo Von]

And that's too much.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. And I wanted my freedom. I wanted freedom to pursue my passion, my dream. What I wanted to do since I was seven is to. So it was just not my parents. They were married for 54 years. Wonderful marriage. Like, literally, like, honey, I'm home. There was no arguing in the house. It was just like out of a movie. It was like Pleasantville. I always tell people I came from Pleasantville, but it seemed a little boring and stifling. And I wanted to adventure and excitement and go places and do things and train animals for film and television and. And, you know, I loved horror movies. So obviously rats were the way to go. And. Yeah. Just. So I never. Yeah. I did not go take the marriage route. Yeah.

[Theo Von]

Was there love at some point? And it was just. Did you ever date a man and they just couldn't accept the animalia that was in your life?

[Samantha Martin]

I mean, I've had great romances. I mean, I've had boyfriends throughout the years and, you know, wonderful love affairs and relationships that a lot of times I'd kind of have to break up with him in the spring because it was baby season. So when baby season came around and I'm bottle feeding animals, it's really hard to maintain the romantic relationship.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. It's hard to breastfeed a man if you're bottle feeding a man.

[Samantha Martin]

Just like, I'm bottle feeding. And I'm like, it's all right. I gotta bottle feed these animals. Like it like round the clock.

[Theo Von]

But that's an excuse. I think you hear a lot from women. They're like, oh, I have to wash my hair. I have to bottle feed these animals.

[Samantha Martin]

I have to bottle feed these animals.

[Theo Von]

I think that's something that sometimes you would hear a lot. Like, I've definitely heard that from girls before. I have to bottle feed these animals. We have to redo the stairs at my dad's house. Whatever.

[Samantha Martin]

I'm like, it's another excuse. Yeah. Just.

[Theo Von]

Oh, yeah, definitely. I'm getting my teeth remodeled or whatever. I'm like, you're lying to me.

[Samantha Martin]

I think I can show you the baby animals I'm bottle feeding. And there was some that actually wanted to participate. And so, I mean, I've had boyfriends and relationships throughout the years, but I just never wanted to. I've even had the marriage proposals. Really? Yeah. They wanted to marry me because I'm actually a really great girlfriend. I bet you are. I'm loyal and driven and creative and. But I still have a fun side and I'm smart. I'm just like. There's a lot of things. But I don't wanna do dishes and I don't wanna do that whole housewife stuff.

[Theo Von]

Right. You don't wanna be a housewife?

[Samantha Martin]

I don't wanna be a housewife. And so many.

[Theo Von]

You wanna be Tarzan's wife?

[Samantha Martin]

Kind of, yeah. I just want to have. Yeah, I don't wanna. But so many. That's the end game. It's just like, it's gotta lead somewhere. So it's not gonna lead to marriage and you doing my laundry.

[Theo Von]

Right. I want to be able to have my own freedom. I want to do. I want to live my life the way I want to live it. No, I certainly understand that. I mean, I understand that 100%. I didn't. For years, I didn't. When people were married, I was like, what do you even mean you're married? That seems crazy to me. But, like, it took me a long time to even consider being married one day. For so long, I was just so against. Not against it, but I just wanted to live. I wanted to be free and see who I was or who I was without also affecting somebody else, you know, too heavily. Yeah. But then even in relationships, I haven't done a. The best job of being a relationship man. I want to get into the cats, you know, I'm glad that you talked about the rats because, you know, rats are near and dear to my heart in the sense of being that underdog, being that animal that doesn't get looked at twice sometimes, you know, or people would rather look at it almost disapprovingly before they even give it a chance to look at it. Even just with a look of possibility. Right. Rats don't really get that very much. Now. How do you get to the cats? How do you start catting around? And just so we know. So we're talking a regular sized cat. How tall is it again?

[Samantha Martin]

If we had one of them in here, you'd be able to see.

[Theo Von]

How tall is a cat? Can you look that up?

[Samantha Martin]

Up? It's.

[Theo Von]

How tall is a regular cat?

[Samantha Martin]

It's a. I mean, it would be about. Yeah, yeah. The.

[Theo Von]

Oh, 9.1 to 9.8 inches. Wow. Okay. So, yeah, about 10 inch cat.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, yeah.

[Theo Von]

So a 10 inches in height. Okay. How do you get into cats? How do we get to acro cats? How do we get to. Because I'll tell you what happened for me was, was my ex girlfriend loved cats and she had two cats. And. And I didn't. I was always. I've always been skeptical of cats, to be honest with you. I've been skeptical of a lot of stuff. And cats was one of those things. And yeah, my stepdad would always even say stuff like he would call the cat's name sometimes, like even in the neighborhood. Or he'd call them like homosexuals or whatever. Just say, you know, just stuff you say to cats or whatever. And so I was always like, oh man, I don't know if cats are okay or not. And. And then my ex girlfriend had two cats. She loved them. And she has been to your show before. Oh, and she loved it. And so she was telling me about it one time and it just blew my mind. I was like, there's somebody just carton cats around and just, just do. And the cats are doing shows and performing and putting on shows. And it just. I mean, it just shook me to the core of my curiosity, you know.

[Samantha Martin]

Where'd she see the show?

[Theo Von]

I want to say she saw it in Portland, Oregon.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We've not been able to make it back out.

[Theo Von]

This was years ago.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, we've post Covid. It's. You know, we've had been a lot of struggles getting things back, but we have not been able to get all the way back out to Oregon yet. But we always did love going to the west coast.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Samantha Martin]

Before everything fell apart.

[Theo Von]

What fell apart?

[Samantha Martin]

There was a series of things. Well, I got diagnosed with cancer.

[Theo Von]

Oh, you did?

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah.

[Theo Von]

Very sorry to hear that.

[Samantha Martin]

And then. But I was cured. I went through treatment, was cured.

[Theo Von]

Oh, I'm happy to hear that.

[Samantha Martin]

So I had. So I took one year off to get my health back and then the next year I was immediately back out on tour. Did a nine month tour with the Acro Cats. With the Cats. And Right. You know, at the end of that tour, a driver that we had had for four or five years scammed me and tried to basically steal the bus. So it just wiped us out financially. And just as we were trying to explore the options of trying to bring justice to what has happened, Covid hits. So, you know, it was just bam, bam, bam, man. Yeah. So. And then because the bus sat for two years without being able to tour, when we finally got it back, and then we had to undo all the damage that this guy had done because he was. He was supposed to be converting another Bus first. Because he said, this bus is no good. It's dangerous to drive. We'll get. We'll get. Find a shell of a bus and then I'll transfer everything over to the, you know, that's usable.

[Theo Von]

And he lives.

[Samantha Martin]

He was all. It was all alive. All alive. In the meantime, he was just retrofitting my bus. That was actually perfectly fine. There's issues with it, but it was not a death trap like he said it was. And he stripped the wrap off of it. Cause it was covered with cats. It was gorgeous. Wrap, stripped the wrap off of it. He tore out the interior, took out all the cat, you know, catification. The kitten city area he just demolished. And he was putting a bedroom in the back. I mean, he just. I guess he was gonna flip it. And I don't know how his endgame was gonna work. Cause I still had the title. I mean, I just paid the thing off and we'd raised it. It's not like I bought. We got it through a Kickstarter. So the fans donated money to get this bus. It's not like you can go out and buy another bus.

[Theo Von]

And why did he do this so much? Was he just a driver?

[Samantha Martin]

He was kind of a pathological liar. And he was young, which made prosecution really difficult because small town, the sheriff family has the sheriff in the pocket.

[Theo Von]

What do you mean? Ricky did?

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, it seems like he said, she said kind of thing. And I mean, that sheriff just questioned me like I was the bad one. And pretty much because he doesn't have assets. No lawyer is going to change. Yeah, the lawyer. It's like. I mean, it's not about the money. It's about justice. He committed a felony, you know, he.

[Theo Von]

What a piece of shit.

[Samantha Martin]

I mean, he just decimated me to my core. I mean, I'll never. I mean, I had dreams of doing so much more as far as, like, good work. I mean, I could be one of. I could have been one of those people out in crisis situations like Katrina rescuing animals. Because we were in a really good place at that point before the scam happened and you know, and that setback. And then we've just had to put more so much money into the bus to get it back to its original shape. And then everything's dry rot. Having to sit for so long while Covid was going on because we couldn't travel. Nightmare. And we're still sinking right now. It's sitting in a shop in Iowa. And they were supposed to be fixing this light up. And they're like, they Decided, well, we're not going to be able to get to it. We thought it was going to be that this would fix it, but it didn't. And now we have other jobs that are more important than you. So we basically get the bus back and it's not fixed. And Iowa is the only place that can fix this issue. So once again, it just hit again, hit hard with nothing. With it not being repaired and having to spend, you know, this money.

[Theo Von]

Bad luck. And bad actors.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, yeah. Bad actors that aren't helpful, that just are not being helpful. And it's especially, you know, as a female, too. It's a struggle to get, you know, respect as a woman, to get things done as a woman. I resort to having a guy make that call because I can't get anything done.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Samantha Martin]

So that's unfortunate.

[Theo Von]

I'm sorry that that happens.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. Was definitely rough times, and we're just finally getting things rolling again. And it's just hard to find help post Covid. Nobody wants to work, nobody wants to travel. It's hard to find girls whose boyfriends will let them go on the road.

[Theo Von]

It's bizarre.

[Samantha Martin]

There's that double standard. Guys can tour, girls can't.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. And we need more women out there entertaining everybody. It's important. So how do we get from rats to cats? Take me on some of that journey.

[Samantha Martin]

So I was, you know, the rats. I had to. I do. I realized I couldn't make a living on just rats, so I became the rat company and friends. And then I ended up changing the name to amazing animals. And I was doing the wildlife show, so I was doing those.

[Theo Von]

And was that a traveling show as well?

[Samantha Martin]

No, no, it was. Well, it was kind of traveling. Like we were going to school, schools.

[Theo Von]

And stuff like that. But it wasn't like, the tour wasn't.

[Samantha Martin]

Touring yet, so I. I fell in love with touring, like, way. Like way later on. And that's kind of when the cats came into play. So I was doing the wildlife shows and libraries and schools, educating kids. But my really, you know, my heart and soul was I wanted. Still wanted to train animals for film and television. So I realized.

[Theo Von]

You wanted the show animals you wanted.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just was like, always what I wanted to do is see my, you know, and see my cats in a commercial or see my animals in a commercial. So there's, you know, there's not so much. Much rat work out there. There's not a whole lot. So I thought, well, maybe I should. You know, there's a lot of dog Trainers out there, the rats, you know, have kind of met their limit. You know, let's revisit the cat. I know we had that one experience where there was. I was like, there's got to be a way to work these cats.

[Theo Von]

So you still want to do animals for film and television and you decide you're going to give cats another shot?

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, let's give cats another shot. Because I always love, always love cats, but I know that they are difficult to work with. They're small, so there's a lot of predators out there. So they're a little bit like, what could get me? What could get me? So I had no idea. I had no idea. I needed to figure out how to make this work. And so I thought, what if I did what I did all those years ago with the rats and try that with the cats? Put a little show together and start taking it around to, like, low key, no pressure, not charging money, just passing the hat. I started in art galleries, so I basically, like, I'm gonna let the cats teach me how to teach them. So.

[Theo Von]

Okay. And so do you set up something kind of at home? Do you audition some cats? Like, how do you.

[Samantha Martin]

So I had this cat, Tuna, that had come into my life that was brilliant. I mean, she was very focused, wanted to learn. I had learned clicker training a lot more about clicker training at this point. So I was actually started with tuna. Tuna was the inspiration behind the whole thing. I was taking her to pet expos, just kind of showing off what she could do, you know, and I'd have her ring a bell and tap a tip jar at a rescue table. And then I donate, you know, donate whatever. She got into the rescue, and so I was just taking her everywhere. I was taking her to the film festivals and having her play a guitar, ring a bell and do some things, trying to get her some work there. And I thought, well, let's, you know, try by putting a show together. And so I found an art gallery that was looking for some kind of entertainment. And the band I had put together already at that point, and that was pretty solid.

[Theo Von]

The band. What do you mean?

[Samantha Martin]

The rock cats. So we had guitar, drums and piano.

[Theo Von]

And these are cats performing.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. So the band actually came first.

[Theo Von]

And what cats were in a Tuna's in it.

[Samantha Martin]

Tuna played the cowbell. But that came later. So she was a donation collector for the band.

[Theo Von]

Okay. So she's really. Yeah, she's out there earning the bucks.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, she's the one, you know, like, hey, better put some money in this tip jar kind of thing.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you gotta have that.

[Samantha Martin]

And the band had a curtain. So the rock cats, they had their own table. They had their instruments, had their scent on it. So the cat band seemed to work. Now, the rest of the act. I mean, I went to Home Depot. I got a couple ladders and big rope, and then, you know, some. I tied weights to the ladders to keep them from folding in. And I found some stools at ikea. My initial set, it was very crude, just whatever could, you know, a lot of, like, dog agility props, small dog agility props. So. So then I find an art gallery. I'd set everything up. And the cats. I mean, it was just. The cats would come out, they. They'd like, look around and stretch, groom a little bit. And, you know, it was kind of just an utter fail. I mean, there's a lot of. Lot of fails. Right.

[Theo Von]

They wouldn't. They wouldn't perform. Was it stage frightened? Was it anger? Do they hate?

[Samantha Martin]

They didn't. This is all. This is new to them. This is new to me.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. They don't even know that they're a show cat yet.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. So I'm like, trying to figure out, okay, what do you need to make you comfortable? So I started bringing my own floor, like a rollout floor. So they brought a floor that had their scent on it. And I realized that they're always doing this like, okay. I go, okay. They don't like knowing what's not what is behind them. They need to know what's behind them. So then I put up a backdrop behind them. So now they have a side. They have a floor that they're familiar with the scent. And I've been working them at home, and now I'm bringing them into this new environment. Tuna's pretty solid. She'll do her trick, she'll ring her bell, she'll do the various things. The other cats.

[Theo Von]

She's your go to.

[Samantha Martin]

She's the go to. Now the other cats are a little bit hesitant. They're a little slow, but they're doing it. They're doing it, but they're doing it at their own pace. So then I would just have to come up with funny things to say while we're waiting for the cats to maybe do something or maybe not do something.

[Theo Von]

So you had to be the performer at that point?

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, yeah. I mean, I've consistently had to be the performer because those cats are mixing it up every show. I never know what's going to happen or not happen because I have a.

[Theo Von]

Well, because they're damn cats.

[Samantha Martin]

Well, also because I have a personal relationship with the cats. They're not just kenneled, where they just come out during training and then they're back to the kennels. I mean, I watch television with these cats. I sleep with these cats. You know, like, I spend. I take them on road trips.

[Theo Von]

So cats would sometimes sleep in your bed?

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, yeah, yeah, of course. I mean, especially if it's a little cold, you know, Pile on more cats. Yeah.

[Theo Von]

Oh, unlimited cats.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, exactly. They purr. They're so comforting. I mean, just. I love them. So they're my babies. I've raised some of them from two days old. Bottle feed. I've saved hundreds of kittens with bottle feeding. Cause that's like one of my. Turned out to be one of my superpowers is to be able to save little babies. And so, like, little by little, the cats taught me what they needed to feel comfortable, you know, on stage. And they started to, like, you know, the applause. There's something called, like a secondary reinforcer. So there's a primary reinforcer, which is the food click equals treat. They hear the click, they get a treat.

[Theo Von]

Right.

[Samantha Martin]

So then the applause actually starts to. And laughter also becomes a secondary reinforcer. So they're like, oh, if we hear applause or laughter, that means we're doing good, we're gonna get a treat. And so of course they'll take advantage of and do things just to get that laughter, which really. Which ends up kind of paying off in the show because people just find it hysterical. This cat comes out. Doesn't. Sometimes they just leave the stage and sit out in the crowd the whole time, come back, sit on a scale.

[Theo Von]

It's like Kodak Black or something.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. They decide what they wanna do, when they wanna do it, if they wanna do. And I just kind of follow helplessly along and come up with some witty banner to cover their slowness and their fail moments. And, you know, it's kind of like my story as well, and how each of these cats came into my life. Their story, how they came in, you know, how they came to be, what their special skills are, what just, you know.

[Theo Von]

I see. So a lot of it is not as much. There's certainly some training of the actual cats.

[Samantha Martin]

Yes.

[Theo Von]

But there's also you training yourself just to understand that these are cats. And I need to try and just make it as comfortable environment for them to be here. And then I need to train myself how to react if they don't react.

[Samantha Martin]

Yes, yes.

[Theo Von]

Or how to react to whatever they're doing.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. And they're all interesting. So they.

[Theo Von]

It's almost like improv.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, it is improv. It's total improv. Yes. And they come out. We have carriers that they're in, and when they come out of their carrier, the doors of their carriers are open. The carriers are a safe place for them. It's like a portable.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, it's like a green room.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, yeah. So, you know, like, they know that that's a safe place. All of my cats are whistle trained to go to a carrier, which is great for emergency situations if you need to call your cats quickly and get them out of the house. Because if there's a fire or some disaster.

[Theo Von]

Oh, yeah.

[Samantha Martin]

The fact that you can blow a whistle and the cats come running. They go in the carrier. They're used to traveling. So if they're not feeling it or they're having an uncomfortable moment and they're not liking the person in the front row that has big hair, which I'm always picking up on. I'm always watching the cats. I'm watching the audience. I'm watching, like, just constantly reading and communicating with these cats while doing the show and making mental notes about. Okay. You know, wiki does not like people with big hair. And front row. They do not like wheels rolling by. That's you babies crying. Everything stops when the babies cry. So, yeah, there's a lot of challenges, but if they don't feel like coming or if they have a moment, they're like, I need to. I'm going to go back to the carrier. They can do that. So that is their safety, that's their safe. It's like a portable base camp for them. So when I take them out for, like, outings or camping, I have a harness on them and then I also have a backpack.

[Theo Von]

So wait, camping? Is that part of the show? Is that.

[Samantha Martin]

No, that's just for fun.

[Theo Von]

Okay, you guys will go camping, you and the cats.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, yeah. Because when I'm raising new kittens and to, you know, either field trip or something. Yeah. To adopt out or to be in the show. You know, I want to bomb proof them so that they're comfortable in any atmosphere because, you know, the way the world is today, disaster could be around any corner. And these cats need to be able to be comfortable being transferred to other areas and, you know, loud noises. So I always, you know, I have clicker and so clicker. Anytime they're freaked out by something, especially there's a window of time with Kittens where they adapt really quickly. Like, they may hear thunder and be like, right. And then I click and treat during that moment and I turn that bad experience into a good experience. Now next time it thunders, they're like, oh, well, that's nothing's.

[Theo Von]

Okay.

[Samantha Martin]

Where's my treat? Yeah. So even fireworks and such, I mean, I click and treat there. My cats are not bothered by fireworks because they've all been. Whenever fireworks have been around, I had the clicker and the treats out and click and treat, and click and treat. So anything that they found distressing. And I've learned more and more over the years since I've been doing this because I put it together in 2005. And over the years, I've gotten better at reading the cats, knowing what they need. I don't need the floor anymore for them. We still have the back. We still have a solid back wall, but they're just, you know, they've just gotten better.

[Theo Von]

I mean, are cats trustworthy? That's what I worry. I mean, are cats trustworthy?

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, no. My goodness. I mean, we have the treats and I knew it. I knew it. We have cups of treats and various cats have their favorite treats. Some cats have allergies, so we have to have turkey for the cats that have allergies. We have to have the primo treats for cats like Austi, who's the season seasoned pro and is, you know, is literally, we negotiate when it comes to her pole climb and jump to my back trick. Like, there's a negotiation that happens every time. She's like, what do you got?

[Theo Von]

Oh, she's like the obj of cats, kind of. There are some things in life that are okay to be a total crapshoot, you know, like trying a new milk in your coffee or hugging a stranger at a mall or in a parking lot. But finding the right doctor shouldn't be a total crapshoot. And with ZocDoc, it's not. Because you've got more options than you know. ZocDoc is a free app and website where you can search and compare high quality in network doctors. Choose the right one for your needs and click to instantly book an appointment. Appointment we're talking about in network appointments. With more than 100,000 health care providers across every specialty from mental health to dental health, eye care to skin care, and much more. Plus, Zocdoc appointments happen fast, typically within just 24 to 72 hours of booking. You can even score same day appointments. When I need a doctor, I'm gonna have to Give this a try. It sounds way easier and you should too. So stop putting off those doctor's appointments and go to zocdoc.comtheo to find and instantly book a top rated doctor today. That's Zocdoc.com Theo Zocdoc.com the yeah. Who's in the show? What are some of the big, like, tuna was obviously. Is Tuna still on the show?

[Samantha Martin]

Well, the original tuna passed away to cancer.

[Theo Von]

Oh.

[Samantha Martin]

So I.

[Theo Von]

And how did you guys do that? Did you guys. Did you guys have a ceremony or anything like that?

[Samantha Martin]

Well, I mean, by then. Because I've, I've, you know, I've been tribed and traveling.

[Theo Von]

Were y'all on the road when it happened?

[Samantha Martin]

It happened during, you know, like right after. Right, Right after tour. So I had like one last round of shows with her and then I knew that it was going to be time. So it was after our show. Every year we go to New Orleans for Christmas. So that was kind of her last time. And so I got to, you know, so we had January and February off. So I got to spend time with her. And you know, and the fan, you know, I had to let the fans know that this was going on. And because these people have supported us through the years, through all the disasters, all the crises, you know, the fans have been helping us through. And so they know the cats. It's not like the days of Lassie were bringing in another Lassie. I couldn't just be like, bring in another tuna. But I did. I, you know, I brought the. I let the fans know that tuna's passing. And we. I had five white cats that came in to audition to take her place. And Tuna helped train, you know, the training process kind of helped, you know, pick the proteges. And of course, nobody could top Tuna was just brilliant. There's. So now we have two tunas that took the place of the original tuna. And one of them's ahi tuna and one's albacore tuna.

[Theo Von]

Oh, okay. So you still have some tunas, but it's different now.

[Samantha Martin]

Yes.

[Theo Von]

And the original tuna helped choose these ones.

[Samantha Martin]

Yes. So there's pictures of, you know, the original tuna next to Ahi tuna and Alba. You know, they're both ringing bells. And so it kind of, you know, made everybody part of the process and everyone, you know, everyone grieved together for the. And embrace the new tunas. So, you know, I keep people, you know. Yeah.

[Theo Von]

Because it's a family.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah.

[Theo Von]

People love. I mean, my ex girlfriend is a cat lover. She loved her Cats, you know, she loved them. She was a good cat mom and she loved them and she, I was amazed. It was one thing that even just showed me how good she was at loving people, was just, you know, how much she could love a cat and really, you know, think about a cat. Did you guys. Barry, tune in anywhere special or how did that go down?

[Samantha Martin]

We cremated her. So I have like a whole little glass area with the various. You know, Pinky was the first to go. She was my guitar.

[Theo Von]

Pinky was on this. She was a guitar player.

[Samantha Martin]

She was my best guitar player ever. And then tuna. Then, you know, when we lost, you know, the pandemic was really tough on the cats because they're used to. That's so much stimulus. They, they, they love working. I mean if the cats aren't working, their, their health, you just like with people, if you, if a person quits, no purpose, you know, no purpose. If they lose their purpose in life, then they kind of, their health and mental health is affected. So, you know, we lost a couple cats during that Covid time and I just lost two 17 year old cats that had been from the beginning. They were my. From the very beginning when I first started training cats, they were there with me and then to lose them within four months of each other.

[Theo Von]

And who were their names?

[Samantha Martin]

That was Oz and Newey and Oz.

[Theo Von]

Is that Middle Eastern?

[Samantha Martin]

Well, I was watching Oz, that series Oz with the Oswald State Penitentiary.

[Theo Von]

Oh, okay.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, I was bottle feeding Iddy and Oz and it would take one episode per kitten per feeding. So I chewed through that entire series and so that's how Oz got his name. From you? From Oz. And he had a little bit of a. Every once in a while he would just go get crazy and beat up an orange cat for, you know, just out of nowhere. And I.

[Theo Von]

Very prison like behavior almost.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. I think it's because he was listening to all that violence in the background. I should have chosen some more friendly programming for him to listen to because he definitely had a temper. Right. I was just like, oh, you're the sweetest cat we have. What's going on? Why are you acting out like this?

[Theo Von]

He's got a dark side.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, he had a very dark side, but everybody loved. I mean he was, I mean he didn't do much. He was not the brightest one. But everybody loved him so much. We came up with tricks that he could do that were kind of fake tricks in the show and you know, like he jumped through a tissue paper hoop. But, you know, it was only this far and he'd basically tear open the tissue paper and walk through to the other side. And it was just so endearing. People loved that.

[Theo Von]

So. How magical.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah.

[Theo Von]

God dang. I love seeing cats do something if it's good.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, yeah. I mean, Newey was number one in the end. Towards the end, she. She was brilliant. She could do a lot. She was one of my best film cats, too. But she would. At the end, she was like, I'm going to raise my. I'm going to do the one thing who's number one, Raise my paw, and then I'm going to play the piano, and that's it. That's all I'm going to do. And I was like, all right.

[Theo Von]

A lot of seniors get like that. They got one, you know, they do their last trick or they'll, you know.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah.

[Theo Von]

You know, and then they'll just want to have a little bit of dessert and go to bed early or whatever.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, yeah. She was such a cranky cat. She used ladies on my chest and growl and purr at the same time. I mean, just. That was so tough losing her because she was my baby. And, like, Oz loved everybody, but knew he loved me. And so it was really rough to, you know, when you have to make that decision to let him go. And so now I have, you know, the youngest cat right now is two years. But we're auditioning because we just had to retire two of our other seniors.

[Theo Von]

Oh, wow.

[Samantha Martin]

So we're auditioning new cats for the show.

[Theo Von]

Okay.

[Samantha Martin]

So we have two potentials. We actually brought two of them. Two that were. That we think are our good acro cat potential. One's named Crush because she was the only survivor in a salvage lot in a car that was about to be crushed.

[Theo Von]

Oh.

[Samantha Martin]

So we got to her in the pretty cool name. Yeah, it really is a, you know, great name. And she's. She is just so. I mean, one training session, she's already hopping on the skateboard. Like, I'm ready to.

[Theo Von]

She's ready to rock.

[Samantha Martin]

Ready to. Ready to do this.

[Theo Von]

And can you tell cats that want to be in the show and cats that don't. Is that something?

[Samantha Martin]

Well, it's hard to know. Females generally work better. Like, all the females have had a better work ethic than the males. The males are a little bit more like, why don't we just, you know, hang out and watch TV and. Yeah. Like, you know, do I really like Alba Cortuna is, you know, he's like. He plays the cowbell and he'll, like, hit it once. And I'm like, come on, how about three? And he's like, one, two, three. So, I mean, they do understand.

[Theo Von]

A lot of people don't want to work anymore. I think it's a problem that we've had across the animal kingdom and the human kingdom.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, yeah.

[Theo Von]

That a lot of the work ethic is disappearing. How did the touring start?

[Samantha Martin]

So I had just come back from. From a thing called a festival of cultures where I was doing a wildlife program, but it was touring. So we were touring with five other groups. There's Polynesian Paradise, Africa, the European, where they did sword fighting.

[Theo Von]

Are these all animal shows or just variety shows?

[Samantha Martin]

So it was an educational tour. So they basically were educating people about the. This culture.

[Theo Von]

Got it.

[Samantha Martin]

So the. And some of it was more fun, you know, like Europe, they did sword fighting and native America was. That was a little bit more educational. And then I represented wildlife of the world. So my little segment would be bringing out various animals and doing my little wildlife presentation to, you know, teach people like, you know, these various animals from these parts of the world. And that's when I fell in love with touring. I mean, that's when I was traveling in an ambulance at that, you know, initially.

[Theo Von]

And you guys got an old ambulance ambulance and turned it into the acrocats.

[Samantha Martin]

Well, I turned. That was for the wildlife of the world. And then I got a small RV after that. So that last year I had the band together and I set it up on the kitchen table in this RV that we had. And so people would be walking by the RV and I'd be like, hey, you want to see something cool? You know, I open up the RV doors, the band would play, you know, the cat band would play. And they're like, what?

[Theo Von]

Because usually.

[Samantha Martin]

I don't know, I'm not sure. That's when I knew that maybe I could do something with these cats. And when I got back and I knew that wildlife, they weren't going to be including us in the next round of tours. And at this point, I would fallen in love with touring and traveling.

[Theo Von]

What did you like about it? Oh, just seeing things get to see.

[Samantha Martin]

Because we try to stay places for, you know, we don't tour like a band does, where you're one off, one off, one off. That's how. What fun is that? So. But if we stay in a place for like three weeks, you get to know people. I mean, I have, I. We go to New Orleans for like almost a month every December. So I have friends there. I mean, I get to enjoy. I get to enjoy that city. You know, I get San Diego. Beautiful weather right by the oceans, the sea lions, all the things that you can see in these other cities that are awesome. Awesome. We're going to the east coast this year. So, you know, Portland, Maine, Absolutely love it right there. But we're performing so close to the ocean and you get to meet, you know, you get to meet people and get to know people and you just see, you know, I love roadside attractions. I mean, I'm a sucker for, like, biggest ball of twine. Next exit. Pull off now. Yes, I'm totally seeing that.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, we had a carnival worker in. And he. His great grandfather had three legs and he was in one of the original, like, dime show, like one of the side shows, like back in, like, vaudeville days. Almost right there. Franklin Teeny, that's him. And he had three legs. And we had his great grandson in it. He's a. Yeah.

[Samantha Martin]

And I saw his segment. I watched because I was like, pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah. He seemed interesting because I've always. I always loved. I always loved carnivals when I was that whole lifestyle. Since I was young, when I read the book the Boxcar Children and I'd stare at those freight trains and I just wanted so badly to hop on one and just go. Because, I mean, my parents, I was their girl, I was their daughter. They kept me on a pretty short leash. So I was not allowed to roam the country or in the neighborhood.

[Theo Von]

You wanted to get off leash fully.

[Samantha Martin]

I wanted to get off leash fully, exactly. And just see things and experience life and all the oh nos and all the oh yeas. So because it's. There's been a lot of. I mean, I've learned so much on the road. Like, they gave me no instructions. When I bought my first rv, they just handed me the keys, drove off the lot, and I popped all the tires within the first six months because it was. It was stored outside and the tires were raw tires. Yeah, they had no instructions at all. So then Good Sam dumped me. So I didn't have that kind of, you know, roadside assistance anymore.

[Theo Von]

And so this is when you're on the. So you start the tour.

[Samantha Martin]

Yes, you start the touring.

[Theo Von]

You started in an artist.

[Samantha Martin]

So. Yeah, we started. We got. We had an rv. And.

[Theo Von]

And is it Acro Cats? That's the name of the time.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, yeah, there was amazing Acro Cats. And we did our first, you know, we did our first, like, real show was like in 2006 at A. @ a little place called the Reversible. Eye. And that was actually one of the more successful shows at that point. I was like, okay, I'm finally doing. I've got enough put together that I can pull off a show.

[Theo Von]

Where was this?

[Samantha Martin]

It was in Chicago.

[Theo Von]

Okay. And do you have all the cats you want? How many cats are the show at this point?

[Samantha Martin]

I think there was like, maybe six, six, seven cats in the show.

[Theo Von]

Okay. Was there ever a cat you wanted to get? You just couldn't get the contractor writer or the deal right with him or whatever. Like, it.

[Samantha Martin]

It's. Well, there's two. 2009 is kind of when things really shifted. Shifted from, you know, because my initial goal was to get the cat's attention for film and television work.

[Theo Von]

Right. You still just try? Yeah. You still like.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, I'm still trying to get them film and television work.

[Theo Von]

Right.

[Samantha Martin]

But it's crazy. Jesus. And it was working. I started, you know. I mean, my cat Bowie is on a Blue Buffalo Tastefuls commercial. He rocks it. Oh, really? Oh, yeah. He nails every shot.

[Theo Von]

He's perfect.

[Samantha Martin]

Looks in the camera. He's fantastic. I mean, he's a poster child. He's on the stores of. You know, when I go down the pets in the pet store, I'm like, there he is on all the food packages and, you know, crushed it up. That's my boy. You know, he's like, yeah, he's killing. He's so great. And he swaggers. He's got such a swagger. So. But initially, that's, you know, I started it to do that, but then 2009 is when things shifted because I wanted to add another cat to the show.

[Theo Von]

Okay. And at this point, why. Why is the show faltering or are you just not.

[Samantha Martin]

Well, a lot of the cats, like, you know, they start out strong. They're doing eight tricks. And the second, you know, they're going, you know, middle of the first year, you know, between the year one and two, they're like, yeah, so we're only gonna do these tricks. These two tricks. I'm just gonna. I just wanna do these two tricks.

[Theo Von]

Oh, they get an ego.

[Samantha Martin]

So, yeah. So they're. So they renegotiate their contract. And I'm like, I'm only gonna do these two tricks. I'm like, well, who's gonna do these tricks? That's not my problem.

[Theo Von]

They don't care.

[Samantha Martin]

They don't care. Not my problem. So then I'm like, well, I need to add another cat to the show. We need someone, you know, and I'm like, well, I really want it to be a rescue cat, but I don't want to just pick one and be, what if it's not, like, the right one? And I can't just return it because, well, this one's dumb. I can't do that. So I thought, well, why don't I foster a litter and then I'll train them all, pick the best one and then find the rest of them home. So that was my plan. And then I found a rescue that we're desperate for foster. So they snatched me up immediately because there was a. A dire need for fosters, and they sent me into the trenches. I mean, I had no knowledge. I had no idea what I was getting into. So they send me to a shelter that's basically an intake facility not open to the public. People dump off animals there. They send me the kitten room and they say, so whoever you don't pick from this room today is going to be euthanized. Twelve kittens in that room.

[Theo Von]

And this is a Japanese game show.

[Samantha Martin]

No, no, it's. It. It's a.

[Theo Von]

It was a. Yeah, I was just joking.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. I don't know.

[Theo Von]

But no, that's.

[Samantha Martin]

It could be a Japanese game show, probably. It probably is a Japanese game show, actually was. With squid game out there and whatnot. I could see that.

[Theo Von]

You walk into a room, I walk.

[Samantha Martin]

Into a room, like, whoever you don't pick, we're going to euthanize. I'm like, what? You know, So I was like, I'll take them all, give them all. So, like.

[Theo Von]

So you left out of there that day with how many cats?

[Samantha Martin]

12 kittens. I take them home, they have respiratory issues.

[Theo Von]

Sorry, I didn't mean to make that sound.

[Samantha Martin]

They all have respiratory issues. I didn't know. All my cats get sick and I'm medicating like, you know, 20 some cats, right? I get everybody healthy, I train everybody up. And that was a really, like, you know that there's a pet overpopulation problem. You know that there's a problem. But until you're thrown into a situation like that where you're actually told these kittens are going to die today because, no, there's no home for them. You see people dumping off their cats on a regular basis, just leaving them behind, you know, they're not part of the family, they're just left behind like garbage.

[Theo Von]

Well, cats act like they want to leave all the time, too. Some of it is their fault. I'm not going to say that it should happen, but some of the cats.

[Samantha Martin]

Are like, well, that's because the person has not invested the time in the cat.

[Theo Von]

And that could very well be true.

[Samantha Martin]

And that is part of what. That's where the change happened. So I got these 12 kittens. I've ended up finding homes for all of them. And when I realized that and I went in and I got more.

[Theo Von]

I bet nobody wanted to talk to you because if you even talk to somebody, they're going like, this lady's going to try to give me a cat.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, no. We're very picky about where we put. Yeah.

[Theo Von]

Oh, wow.

[Samantha Martin]

I mean, they have to fill out an application, all the things. So I mean, this was just really eye opening for me. And I also realized that part of the. Not only were just kittens being dumped off, but people were leaving their adult cats behind. And that's because they felt like their cat didn't care. They didn't have a relationship with their. And that's where I thought, well, I can make a difference here. I. So part of, you know, my part of my show is like an educational to inspire people to, you know, like, hey, not only can cats do tricks, you can teach your cat. Look at the relationship. My cats act like dogs. They follow me around the house. I mean, the little kittens that I just started training, they follow me around like puppies. They're like, when are we gonna work? When are we gonna work? Let's do something. Let's do something. And I realized that I can make a difference here. I can help save lives. So not only have I saved actual lives, but I've fostered and found homes for 340 cats and kittens since 2000. Since that 2009.

[Theo Von]

Wow.

[Samantha Martin]

And through my show, I foster a bunch, take them on the road with me, teach them tricks, put them in the show, and then find homes for.

[Theo Von]

Them right after the show. People can't even adopt them.

[Samantha Martin]

Well, because we stay in a place for a while. They have to fill out. They fill out the application, we check the references, and if they get approved, they get the training kit. All the kittens are trained to go to a carrier, the sound of a whistle. They're all comfortable traveling in a car, which is a big thing. And they're all trained to do a parlor trick. So like a high five, a sit pretty, a spin, maybe even playing the piano. And who's going to leave a cat behind that high fives you when you come in from work that day and they give you a high five after your bad day. You're not going to leave that cat behind. So my admission is like, no cat gets left behind when disaster strikes or you move. That cat's part of your family. And because I've given the cat a good start by training them to do the basics. And they're all clicker trained.

[Theo Von]

No cat click. The Marines, almost.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. No cat leftovers.

[Theo Von]

Except for feline. Yes.

[Samantha Martin]

You know, this cat is going to be a permanent part of your life. I've already pre trained it. Okay. Yeah. It already knows that. You know, all you have to do is give him the cue and he's going to sit pretty for you. And here's the whistle to call him for mealtime.

[Theo Von]

So that's part of the. So part of the show also is that not only are the cats performing, but there's this under belt, there's this positive underbelly of you shelling out cats to people and getting cats into homes.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. Okay, well, good homes.

[Theo Von]

Good homes.

[Samantha Martin]

We don't just, like, hand them out on the corner.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. Because I mean. Yeah. I mean. Yeah. That's the thing about a cat. People are always like, dude, you want a cat? And he'd be like, just. Oh, just if you leave your door open, like, a cat will come in. That's. That was always the thing about cats. Like, you don't. Like. One of my friends was like, dude, I think I'm gonna buy this cat. I'm like, dude, you don't buy a cat. You. You just. Just be somewhere and just get a cat.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. They choose you. They'll appear in your life. Like, they will, like, just, you know.

[Theo Von]

They'Re like little whispers from God or whatever.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, just. I mean, we've had so many instances of, you know, on Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago, one day a bus pulls up, door opens, a cat comes out. A little kitten comes out, steps out of the bus. Bus and walks up to our front door. It just like, hey, I heard this is a place to go.

[Theo Von]

I hate this guy.

[Samantha Martin]

I need to be. I need to be here. So. And I'm like, what just happened here? This bus door just opened. This kitten came out, and they're sitting at my front door. I mean, I witnessed it happen. You know, it's just a lot of.

[Theo Von]

Cats have that fast pass or whatever. I know with the tour, what was one of the tougher times that you had? You ever have a time where just the show barely got off the ground or it just didn't. Something just happened?

[Samantha Martin]

Well, I mean, there's been so many, especially with the bus. We had this Texas fiasco where we finally got back on the road, and we had a fan clutch issue. The bus broke down. A couple guys tried to fix it. They made it worse. We were stuck in a bar in the middle of nowhere for, like, three days. We had to cancel our show in Dallas. And I probably can't maybe a half dozen shows in my lifetime. Mike. I am one of those. The show must go on. If there's a way to get there, I will get there and do the show. I mean, even when I was going through cancer treatment and had a broken foot at the same time, I was still doing the show. You know, the show must go on. People are excited about these cats. You know, they're like, can't wait to see the cats again. Like, we have repeat people, people that see the show every time we come to town.

[Theo Von]

Oh, cat people are absolutely insane.

[Samantha Martin]

They have their favorite cats. They have. All my cats have their own merch. And so, you know, people. I don't want to let down the people that are so excited about the cats. And, you know, but we were. We were grounded. We were not able to get, you know, to that destination. So we finally, you know, we end up getting towed to a proper repair place, and it doesn't get fixed in time. So we're having to rent U Hauls and live in the theater during the show, during the show run. So then we get to. And this was like March a couple years ago in Texas, and when they had that freak snowstorm in Texas. So we. The show was canceled. Then it wasn't. Then it was canceled. Then it wasn't because of the snowstorm. So we're living in the venue, you know, with everything set up ready to go in case we can do the show. And then the bus that was supposed to be ready for Houston broke down 20 minutes out of the shop. So we did not, you know, we didn't have the bus yet again. So we had to get another U Haul, transfer all the cats and get a rental car, get all the cats to the next venue. And luckily, the venues were amazing, so they let us move in and sleep in the venue. We were sleeping on couches. We got some air mattresses.

[Theo Von]

When you go on tour, how many people are on the tour bus with you or in the rv?

[Samantha Martin]

Well, there's myself, and then I usually have at least two assistants. At one point, we had a driver that traveled with us. But post. Post Covid drivers are really hard to come by. You just, you know, there's a shortage of drivers, and they. They generally want an obscene amount of money. And they want a hotel room that's crazy expensive. Like we can't afford that. I want to keep the ticket prices somewhat reasonable. I mean, we've had to raise the prices pretty, you know, intensely as it is. But we always try to keep a level of seats that are affordable. Affordable because, you know, between the fuel and oh, it's just so expensive. And I've learned how to drive the bus since because I'm like, I cannot be at the mercy of drivers anymore.

[Theo Von]

Like, did you have to get a commercial driver's license or no?

[Samantha Martin]

Well, it's because it's a private owned code, so I own it. And I've just. Because I've been driving big vehicles. I started out with the ambulance and then it was a 23 foot RV, then a 27 foot RV, then it was a 35 foot bus and now it's a 45 foot bus. So I've just.

[Theo Von]

So you're driving an actual tour bus?

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, I'm driving an actual tour bus.

[Theo Von]

Wow. Full of cats. Full of cats and assistants.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. So. And then we hire someone to drive the longer, like if it's a long drive because it's. It's just tough on me to do. Yeah, it's a long drive. So we'll hire someone to do the long drive and then I'll drive like the short drives. Like when we go to the east coast, I'll drive from Boston to Portland and then we're going to stay in Portland for almost a month.

[Theo Von]

Oh, good.

[Samantha Martin]

So we get to, you know, settle in a campground and go back and forth to the venue. You and be fun and. Yeah. So I mean, I just, I love that part of it where you get to see, you know. You know, I get to see people I haven't seen in a couple years. Yeah. Or we go like some places we go every year. We go to Texas every year, New Orleans every year.

[Theo Von]

Have you ever had issues with performers? Like you. Have you ever had an issue like a performer didn't make it to the show or like, what's that kind of like.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, I had last. The last time we were in Portland, my assistant that was supposed to fly in, her daughter got Covid, so she got Covid. And then the assistant that was with me, she got Covid. So I had to do the entire show myself. And even our merch person who usually ran the merch also got Covid. So luckily I had a mega fan. And the sound guy who had been helping us with the show forever, he, you know, they Chipped in and you know, they helped me. You know, I'd box the cats, they'd help, you know, reset the stage, take the cats in. I would run in, I would like have like kind of half makeup on. I set the merch thing up and I'd, you know, would start the selling of the merch and I'd instruct whoever volunteer was there, okay, this is what you need to do. And then I would go back out and get dressed for the show and then I'd run back out on stage and I do the opening announcements. Right. And then I'd sell the cat ears because we walk around with a tray. Cat ears. Get your cat ears. Cat ears. Get your cat ears. So then I'd sell the cat ears, do the opening announcement and then, you know, take the cat ears back. And then I had a friend that was kind of with me who, she was just there as like more of a friend. She didn't really know how the show went. She hadn't done any rehearsals. So basically she was kind of at least another body on stage.

[Theo Von]

Oh yeah. How about.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, it was just pretty much me up there, you know, like, okay, let this cat out now. Let this cat out now. And grabbing the props when I need and explaining to the audience like, it's just me up here and I've never done this part before. So I'm like, I'm looking at this long script, I'm going, I'm not going to say all that. I'm just going to wing it. So this is a situation. So I don't know what's going to happen, but we're just going to enjoy the cats. And I learned, I mean I learned a lot after that experience. I changed a lot of our. The way we sell merch. I was like, this isn't insane. I. So it's like we're going to make part of this self serve and, and you know, just only the, you know, important things do people have to, you know, dig for. To give to the. So, you know, I just, I learned how. Learned where some of the, where improvements needed to be made.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. Sometimes certain things force you in a certain moment and then that's where you learn the most. Which is kind of wild. Yeah, yeah.

[Samantha Martin]

And the show. But the show must, the show must go on. I am one of those, like literally the show must go on. You don't just decide, oh, you know, I'm not feeling it today or I mean I've done like, I've had full on sick where I could have to Talk in a whisper, you know, like I'm doing. I've got tea on stage, whispering into the microphone because I can barely. Because I barely have a voice, but I'm still doing the best I can. And then immediately going and sleeping and resting.

[Theo Von]

It's a lot.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah.

[Theo Von]

Oh, yeah. Managing yourself and getting all that kind of stuff done is a lot.

[Samantha Martin]

Then having to drive the bus, too, you know, I can't even imagine. And still train the cats and raise the babies, the kittens, you know, that we have portable incubators. So, you know, there's bottle. A lot of times we have bottle babies.

[Theo Von]

And have you ever gotten stopped by the police and they're like, what's going on here?

[Samantha Martin]

Very, very rarely. It's, you know, I think that it, like, animals bring out the best in people for the most part. So we've run into so many great people out on the road that have been so helpful and have come to our rescue.

[Theo Von]

Well, like, is there ever been a. Perform, like a cat that had it all? Like a cat that kind of had it all, and then just for some reason, things just kind of fell apart. Like the kind of like the Chris Brown of, like, cats kind of.

[Samantha Martin]

Well, they. I think we've only had one cat that we were. After, like a year of trying. I was like, this cat is just not. Is not going to be acrocat material. So we. We were tied, you know, we. We moved him to another. Because I also. You still train, you know, cats and other animals for film and television. So I'm like, well, this guy, he's got. He's got model qualities. He's a Siamese. He's. He's got the Siamese coloring, so he could get. He could get, you know, commercial work. And so he. He was transferred to another department.

[Theo Von]

That's fair then.

[Samantha Martin]

But a lot of the cats, if. When they get to that, you know, they decide like, okay, am I. I'm not going to do this. I'm not going to do that. Or when they get older and if they get joint pain.

[Theo Von]

Oh, yeah.

[Samantha Martin]

And so then I scale back on the tricks that I have them do because I certainly don't want them to experience pain.

[Theo Von]

Of course not. Was there ever a trick that you tried to get cats to do and finally you decided to be like, we can't make this trick work.

[Samantha Martin]

There's been some that I've tried because there's. Yeah, there's some Russian cat circuses out there that they're different kind of. I mean, they're sharp, like I mean, my cats come out and stretch and groove and just start. It's like hiring family. They're not professional. But, you know, I've seen some pretty impressive things with these rushing cat circuses where they really high up in the air, they do this army crawl. And at one point I was like, I really want to teach this army crawl. But then I looked at and I was like, how can that possibly be comfortable for the cat? It just doesn't seem like it's. You know, I ended up abandoning attempting that trick because I looked at it and I thought, it doesn't seem right. It doesn't. How can that. It's not natural. It's not a natural skill at all. Like balancing on a ball, on a barrel, climbing a rope, jumping down to my back. I mean, those are all cat agility type things and they've got great balance. You know, none of the props are super high up with, you know, Asti, the one that jumps to my back. I mean, that's an eight foot high pole.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Samantha Martin]

I mean, and she cheats. She crawls down 2, 3ft and then jumps to my back. I didn't even know until I saw a video clip that she's been cheating the whole time. She's not even doing the true jump.

[Theo Von]

Like Leah Thomas or whatever.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. I'm like, have you seen these Russian cats jumping 20ft up in the air down to a pillow?

[Theo Von]

Well, Russian, yeah, it's. Look, it's the same as, like when those Russian hamsters came in. It kind of changed the game of hamster sales in our area. I remember that the Russians are very severe about the dictatorship over animals.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, yeah. It's a different energy.

[Theo Von]

Has there ever been a time where like, like you come back at halftime and the cats are all like, just bummed out or they're smoking or whatever.

[Samantha Martin]

They're just like catnip. They get into the catnip. They get. They get over to that merch table and roll around the catnip. I'm just like, oh, no. Will they, like, oh. And they'll go into the audience and if somebody's bought a catnip toy, they'll dig it right out of the purse. They'll just take it. Just take it.

[Theo Von]

Oh, yeah.

[Samantha Martin]

I mean, and they'll drink their beer. I mean, like, Jax loves beer. So, I mean, everybody, like, hold on to your drinks. Do not give this cat beer. She loves beer. Don't let her drink the beer.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. She might be a single mother, too.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. Just because the cats are always their Opportunists, you know, they're, they're going to do, you know, they're going to be like, I'm just going to go the catnip out there, see ya. You know, And I'm left like, what am I supposed to do here? Like, with. Because Albacore just like, he's supposed to be the star. He's supposed to have this moment where we do a solo in the middle of the show, of course, and it's his highlight and he's just, he's like, they got popcorn out there and pbr. I'm just going to go. And I'm like, what do you mean you're going? And he's like, yeah, I'm just going to go. And I'm like, yeah, but this is your moment. He's like, yeah, I'm just going to go. And I'm standing there, the music is starting. I don't have my solo cat. He's just gone to the bar to get a PBR and some popcorn. And I'm like, send out Dixie. So Dixie comes out and does all the tricks because she had been doing them. She was just, bam, bam, bam. Did the tricks better than he did, honestly.

[Theo Von]

So she saved the day.

[Samantha Martin]

So she saved the day. And he comes racing up on stage to try to take over because, hey, I don't want this other cat doing my job, you know, and he's just failing because Dixie's just leaping higher and faster and long, doing like, he's like three beats behind everything. So at that point, that's when that portion of the show turned into a competition. So I had to change that portion. And because of that incident, so I'm constantly having to change and evolve based, based on like we had a cat that got sick, you know, and then something was off. Like the first show we did, I was like, something's wrong with Bowie. So I, you know, I whispered to my, you know, like, skip, skip this, skip this trick, skip that trick. So then Bowie went to the vet and I had to like rearrange the show and bring out, you know, this cat to cover for this trick for Bowie. And you know, Austi are going to be drawn, you know, for both shows. And you know, Aussie's the one that's like the what the, you know. Oh yeah, the one that's always like, what do you. She's like, always. What do you got? When I get, you know, she has to climb up the pole.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, let me see what you got here.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, the eight foot pole and leap to my Shoulder where she walks three feet down and then leaps to it. She's like. She literally is like, what do you got? If I don't have tuna or salmon and a good piece, like, she'll be, like, not doing it. So then I have to go back and get something better and go, how about now? And then she'll do it.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. Did you ever have, like, any issues where the show couldn't go on or, like, just issues with some of your performers that made it tough? Like, what has been some of that.

[Samantha Martin]

Well, we. We had an incident where the star, the original Tuna, disappeared to, like, three hours before the show. The driver had left a little window open, and Tuna was nowhere to be found. I mean, I had posters up in 10 minutes. I mean, I'm walking up and down the street calling, you know, whistling all the things, you know. And, you know, Tuna's, like, nowhere to be found. Now it's two hours before showtime. Now it's an hour before showtime. You know, I'm like, what am I gonna do? She's the star of my show. Like, she is like, this is like, Tuna. You can't. I mean, she. Like. Any of the other cats I can cover for, but, I mean, I have to have Tuna. And then I noticed that there's this white cat right next door to the venue we're performing at. And he's behind this wrought iron fence. And I was like, tuna. And the cat just looks at me like, I don't know who you talk. I don't know any Tuna. And I was like. And then I asked the guy, I go, is this your cat? He goes, no. And I'm like, tuna. And still like, nothing, right? So then I went. And I got the. And I put the bell right inside the fence and rang it, which, of course, Tuna couldn't resist. That was like, oh, that's my trick. It just, you know, can't help it. Like, there's one cat that if I hit a piano note, she comes running. So I hit that bell. And the cat that kept saying, no, I'm not Tuna. I came right over and rang the bell. And I was like, you've been here this whole time. You've seen me running up and down the street, panicking, and you're just sitting here acting like you're this guy's pet when we have a show in, like, an hour now, and you've just been watching me panic, and you've been here this whole time? And she's like, yeah, didn't care. Didn't care. Like, yeah, Whatever I'll do.

[Theo Von]

You know, actors are so hard to deal with.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, yeah, the cat. I mean, it's.

[Theo Von]

That's most of what I've heard, you know. Yeah, I mean, that's a lot of what I heard. Do the. Do the cats do like a halftime.

[Samantha Martin]

At the show or anything?

[Theo Von]

Or is there like a little break? You guys all go back in the locker room or anything like that? Or. It's just one full. The show is.

[Samantha Martin]

Well, it's like. It's like an hour and a half show.

[Theo Von]

Okay.

[Samantha Martin]

And then we do a meet and greet. So.

[Theo Von]

Okay.

[Samantha Martin]

So it's expanded over the years. Now it's a nine. We now have a nine piece band. It started out as a three piece band and then we added cowbell and then we added chimes and we added a chicken on cymbal and tambourine. And then we added a horn section. So now we have trumpet, saxophone and clarinet.

[Theo Von]

Oh, it's beautiful.

[Samantha Martin]

So we have this nine piece band.

[Theo Von]

Of course, you gotta have. Yeah, well, people are more demanding now too. People wanna see it all.

[Samantha Martin]

So much fun. I mean, I just love the whole band playing together.

[Theo Von]

Oh, it's beautiful.

[Samantha Martin]

And then we do the meet and greet, so people get to come up and depending on the size of the venue, if it's up to 150, people can come up and get it. Do the meet and greet where they see the cats up close, they can take photos with the band. And also that way they can see that because the cats could leave, literally, if they're not comfortable or they're freaked out, they could just go. I mean, it's a big theater. There's a curtain, dude. Yeah. They could go in their carrier. They could hide. They could go.

[Theo Von]

Go back to outer space.

[Samantha Martin]

Also the fact that they're sitting there posing for a picture and just comfortable with the stampede of people coming up to get photos with them, that's a lot. Shows people also that like that this is a whole new level of cat. And if she can do it. And because my cats do fail, I mean, they come out and they groom and this is.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. Have you ever had a cats fight on stage?

[Samantha Martin]

After the show? We've had. There's been some issues where we. There's some animosity that I have to keep certain cats separate. For sure.

[Theo Von]

It's like strippers.

[Samantha Martin]

But yeah, it's been. There's been some moments where I have to keep certain ones away.

[Theo Von]

And do you ever have cat jump into the crowd and go after somebody or anything?

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, after it Was. Luckily it was after the show, so there was a little incident afterwards and we got them separated. But, you know, it's, you know, like, if we see like the one cat, like everybody knows who doesn't get along with somebody. So now we have spotters in the audience that it's like, you know, most of the cats are allowed to go out and wander and do their thing. But if this cat leaves, it's because he's, you know, he's starting something. Yeah, he wants to start something. So bring, you know, make sure this cat comes back. But the others, they're free to wander. And, you know, like I said, it kind of keeps it fun because I never know what they're gonna do. I'm constantly having to shift things around, around when, you know, and just make it work.

[Theo Von]

Work on the fly.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah.

[Theo Von]

Are people allowed to bring cats to the show?

[Samantha Martin]

We prefer that they don't. I mean, we've had somebody occasionally sneak one in, but they, you know, and sometimes the service dogs that have to be admitted, we, you know, they. They have to be at least four rows back so that they don't upset the show.

[Theo Von]

Right? Upset the show. Yeah.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah.

[Theo Von]

But.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, that's fair. Yeah.

[Theo Von]

Is there after the show you ever celebrate everything? Give the cats a little bit of champagne or anything to kind of enjoy the evening?

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, I mean, well, you know, the catnip parties, for sure. They get their catnip parties and they get the leftover snacks. I mean, we cook fresh chicken, salmon, tuna, turkey, chicken liver. Like they eat better than we do. Like, I'm eating Pringles out of a can.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, that's like a name. McCormick and Schmick's they're at or whatever.

[Samantha Martin]

And they're dining on fresh sushi, like sushi grade tuna that's lightly seared on both sides, rare in the middle. That's how they like it. Right. And I'm like eating Pringles. I'm like, oh, man, this smells so good.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, it's baffling to me. Is there a lot of competition in the market? I've seen like, there's like Meow Good Death. I'm trying to think of some of the. Or like scratch box 20. I've seen. There's like some different band, like cat bands that I've seen online. But is there a lot of competition in the market? I mean, you mentioned there's some Russian shows.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, I'm really like the touring act of this nature. That's this and you know, full on. I mean, there's Gregory Popovich, who's based out of Vegas, and he does tour around like, I think once a year or so. He hits in various places. So he's kind of the only cat, like, regularly touring show. And then there is some other.

[Theo Von]

And that's a cat show also.

[Samantha Martin]

It's cats, dogs, birds, and some other things.

[Theo Von]

Okay, so it's multi animal.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, multi animals. And so he's pretty well known for his cats. And he started it in Branson, then got that Vegas job. So, you know, he's. He's definitely well known for the. For the cats. And then there's the. I think there's some Russian to two women that do that. Do like a cat act. You know, I think maybe they have like five cats or such. And they do a lot of the. They do some of the venues that I can't because my cats are. They're gonna want, you know, if I'm in a hall where there's other things like booths and people always want me to come to these expos and whatnot. I'm like, you guys have like booths and serving food and. My cats. Yeah, my cats are like, gonna be like, I'm just gonna. There's hot dogs over there. I'm just gonna go get a hot dog. And why would I see you? So, you know, but there's. Yeah, but there's definitely a couple. Their cats are a lot more like, precise because the relationship. They have more of a professional relationship.

[Theo Von]

Bella Corolla type of energy.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, it's just, you know, they. They go. They're carry. They go to their carrier, they come out, they work, they go to their carrier. They're not hanging out and watching television at night with it, with. With the animals.

[Theo Von]

Right. It's a very. It's almost like being like Russian almost.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, very Russian people.

[Theo Von]

You know, in Russia, some of the children even have dolls that are made out of stone. And you would see kids with like a three or four pound doll. Like, that's crazy. But it also, at the sim, it's like, it teaches you that there's a weight of taking care of someone.

[Samantha Martin]

So it's. It's just. I mean, I had to make a choice at one point. Either I can have a slick show or I can enjoy the. Enjoy being with the animals.

[Theo Von]

Right.

[Samantha Martin]

And I. And I'm happy with the choice that I made because people seem to really love the fact that those cats sometimes do it and sometimes don't. And it actually is more encouraging because we sell training kits after. After the show. So people can train their cats.

[Theo Von]

Oh, people can do it at home.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. So they're inspired to go home and train their own cats. I love that. And it has made it such a difference.

[Theo Von]

God, that's so important, honey.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. That people. I'll get letters from people and videos. Look what I trained my cat to do. And seeing your show changed my life. And this relationship that I have with this cat has completely changed. And the behavioral problems have stopped because I started paying attention and training my cat. So there's so many benefits. There's health benefits.

[Theo Von]

Because a lot of people just think cats are fucking crazy.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. No, they're just. They have all this energy. And if you're keeping them inside because you need to, because it's dangerous out there, that you need to give them something to do with their brain and their problem.

[Theo Von]

Because some people say they're even from outer space. Do you ever feel anything like that?

[Samantha Martin]

No. I mean, I mean, I think that they're just very independent, intelligent. I mean, smarter than dogs in a way. Because dogs are just like, I'll do whatever. We're. Cats are grudge holders and very, like, not, you know, stubborn. And, you know, you really have to work within, you know, within the cats. You have to make it fun for the cat, for sure. You have to find out what the cat likes to do. I mean, I spend a lot of time just hanging out with the cats, watching them. Especially, like the group of kittens we have, you know, they're all running around. I'm seeing who's climbing, you know, who's perching, who's using their paw. Like, what is this cat? What can this cat do? What should I focus on? So I, you know. But just by hanging out with the cats and watching what they do, that's how I'm inspired by. To come up with a trick to coordinate what they can do.

[Theo Von]

Wow. If you had to pick a Mount Rushmore of your best performing cats and you had to put four of them on it, obviously Tuna, the original Tuna's on there. Who else is on there?

[Samantha Martin]

Boy? I mean, Austin is very solid, but slow. Slowly. I mean, just hysterically solid. Slow. Bowie is. Is pretty. Is pretty good. Albacore Tuna is solid, but it was kind of riding the coattails of, you know, like the original Tuna. Like, he doesn't really feel like he has to prove himself. You know, he's like, I'll do the minimum. And where Tuna had a really original. Tuna had a really great work ethic.

[Theo Von]

That's what's nice.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah.

[Theo Von]

Having that is very Nice.

[Samantha Martin]

And. And then I have. Newt is my youngest, and she is amazing. Just crazy. I mean, I was quarantined with. I had Covid for the first time ever. I was in New Orleans, so it was just her and I. And I had all I had this time. So I actually was able to do shaping. So a lot of times, what. Because I'm training fast and shaping is what? Shaping is when you just sit with clicker and treats and you wait for the cat to do something, and then the cat has to figure out what it is you want to do without any clue from.

[Theo Von]

I see. So you let them learn it.

[Samantha Martin]

I let them learn it.

[Theo Von]

Teach themselves.

[Samantha Martin]

That's really the best.

[Theo Von]

Best way.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. So then they're like, oh, I heard their click. So, okay, what? You know, like, you just see the light come on in their eyes. Once they, you know that light bulb moment where they get it, they're like, oh, I think I get it. I thought, you know, because at first they're just like, what is it that you want? You know, like, I just don't get it. And then they hear the click and they're like, okay, something to do with the paw. Something to do with this paw. Something to do with this keyboard. Oh, I think it's the keyboard. Like, oh, okay. And, you know, you just sit and you just wait.

[Theo Von]

Then they're playing Damn Stairway to Heaven, and then.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, you're eating lamb. Yeah. And then when you see that light come on and they're just. They get it. I mean, so they basically, they learn to learn, and then they get creative, too, and they'll. They'll come up with their own tricks or, you know, you'll start training them to do one thing, and they'll be like, no, I want to do this instead. And I love that about them that creates that cats have, and the fact that they're negotiators, too, because, I mean, once I'm on stage, I'm like, in front of an audience. I can't, like, reset and be like, okay, we're going to redo this here, and I'm not going to move on with the show until we get this right. I have to just go with the flow. And they know that I'm a little stuck. So they'll be like, I'm not going to do this, but I'll do this instead. And I'm like, okay, that's only the.

[Theo Von]

Most cat thing I've heard all day.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, I'll do this.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, I'll do this instead.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, but I Do this instead.

[Theo Von]

We had a guy we had a corner on, he said that cats would eat people if they passed away. Have you ever heard that?

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, I totally believe it.

[Theo Von]

I mean, they said, yeah, this guy said a cat could even eat your face within like 30 something hours or something if they wanted to.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, yeah. I mean, I respect that about cats. A dog will die right along beside you. A cat's going to be like, is she taking her life last breath? Maybe I'll start early. But I respect that. I respect that cats are grudge holders too. You do something that they don't like, they write it in their little book. And like, I'm going to remember this, that you just did this. So. Yeah. And I really do respect that about cats because they are not as forgiving, which is why you have to really make. It can never be forced. It's got to be fun for the cat. And if the cat.

[Theo Von]

Right.

[Samantha Martin]

If they're going to perform.

[Theo Von]

They really are. They mean it.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah.

[Theo Von]

Because you're not going to get anything for free out of a cat.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, exactly. And you know, but if it's a high, you know, reward, like if it's a salmon, I mean, it's like, okay, I'm going to drum a little bit more for the salmon than I will for the chicken. You know, with the youngsters, the kittens are like, chicken, that's great. We'll do everything.

[Theo Von]

They don't know.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, they don't know. But the seasoned ones, they're like, yeah, let's see what got here. That chicken, that salmon looks a little dry. You got anything better? Wow. Just. Yeah, so. And I've had the cats, that same cat go up that pole four times in a show and just wait up there. And I have to stop the show of, you know, because I'm at this part of the show. And then offsty's back up on that pole because she left instead of going back to her carrier, went back up the pole because she liked the particular cooking that day. The cooking was good that day. So she's like, I want more.

[Theo Von]

So now the show's changed a little. We're going to keep. We're going to do maybe some different things that we might not have done.

[Samantha Martin]

Yes. And I gotta back. Go back over there, get. Assumed the position where I'm like leaning over. She does the jump to my back and then sometimes leaves again and then ends up back on that pole and people are like pointing and I'm like, oh. Again.

[Theo Von]

So a lot of just watching you work with Cats. It's like just the reality is that it's almost impossible. What. We're gonna do our best.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, yeah. I'm just standing there like my arm flung out at this cat grooming. Because. Especially because, I mean, I had probably one of the worst experiences I ever did early on in my career. I got a week long gig in Branson because Popovich abandoned Branson for the gig in Vegas. So they had no cat acting, they had billboards. People were traveling miles to see his cats. And so they hired this guy to put together another act to take the place of this. So he hired a dog act, a bird act and then a cat act. And it was. He had a couple Russian people coming in with cats. But he had one week where he didn't. They weren't available. So he brought me in on the advice of somebody who had never seen my show. And you know, people are expecting this, you know, these.

[Theo Von]

And this is a big opportunity because you're coming into Branson.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. Full theater. I mean, Tuna ran off stage the very first rehearsal.

[Theo Von]

No.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh. It was just. I mean, the guy, he was like, listen, you know, act as just. I'm not. You're supposed to be the headliner, but you can't be. So I'm gonna have to bury you in the middle. And then in the meantime, you know, the dog people hated us because we weren't organized. The bird people hated us. Cause the cats wanted to eat the birds.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Samantha Martin]

So. And I'm just mortified. Cause the cats aren't doing anything. And the cats are super sensitive, so they're feeling the hate from the audience. Right. Because people are expecting awesome cats and they're getting Samantha's not so amazing agro cats. And I mean, I just wanted to slither out of town in the middle of the night, not even collect my fee and go back home.

[Theo Von]

You have to end the show early.

[Samantha Martin]

Well, no, I fulfilled my week. And during that time period, the guy that hired me, he gave me all sorts of tips and God help. Got me organized and showed me how to play off. Like when a cat did something, you just commit to it. Like, look at that. The cat's doing nothing. But isn't that great? You know, and just really exaggerate the moves, you know, you know, not do no teapot arms. You had to just, you know, bring that excitement. Even though the cat isn't doing anything, you just play it off as that's what it's supposed to do. Look at this amazing cat. Look at that. Yeah, go. You know, so we just did the best we could. And then, you know, it was a very long, quiet drive home of like, do I. Should I even continue this hot mess? Because it was an epic fail. Epic fail. Until, you know, I thought that was the worst until I bombed on Colbert.

[Theo Von]

Oh, yeah, I saw that.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, that was the worst. Oh, and as soon as. And Newey, as soon as they opened up the carrier and Newey was like, didn't come out to skateboard. And I was like, oh. And she's like, what'd you think was gonna happen? And I was like, you jerks. You know, this is our big opportunity for us. We're starting our Kickstarter campaign and you guys are gonna do this now. Really? And they're like, oh, yeah, they, they, they got me good on that. I was just like. But luckily he was a good sport about it.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, I saw he came out and kind of walked on the ball like that.

[Samantha Martin]

He had cat ears on. He kept those cat ears. He put them on occasionally.

[Theo Von]

Oh, that's cool. He was a really great. That was awesome.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, I mean, but I only, like four tricks out of ten happened.

[Theo Von]

Do you think you really have any control over the cats?

[Samantha Martin]

Do you think it's. I mean, a little bit, but it's really. And I think what went wrong there is that there were two. It's because they pick up on nervous energy. So if I'm nervous, they're nervous. And then I had all these extra assistants that were like, we want to be on the show. So we had too many people involved, too much energy, and they felt it, and they felt all that nervous energy. So they were like, oh, we can't. We're not going to do. We just can't do this. So just like, we really can't do when people want to hire us for an event. And it's a mixed bag of people. Like, some are cat lovers, some aren't. Like, my cats feel that energy. They're like, we don't feel the love. So that's why we rent out a theater. We're not really for hire.

[Theo Von]

Right. It's more. We want cat lovers to come.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. So it's a self produced show. So I rent out the theater. We do the advertising, we do marketing, we do, you know, do everything from the beginning to end. And, you know, and it's hard to find venues that'll even let you know, that'll let us.

[Theo Von]

Oh, for sure. I mean, well, it's hard to find humans that will believe in what you're doing. I mean, I Think it's. A lot of people think it's absolutely insane to drive around in a van with 11 cats or something. They think it's insane. Yeah, it's something that you see of like a hoarder or somebody that's a. Some freelance Noah's Archie and type of human, you know. But I think when you see that you love it so much and that your goal or a lot of your goal has been to get these cats into like big time programming and get them fun opportunities if they want. If they want it. And also to kind of meet the cats where they are. It's like if they're not. If some of them don't have it, they don't have it. You don't have to tell them that, really. You just work with what they are willing to work with.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, exactly. Work within their parameters and then. And you know, inspiring people to train their own cats. And I know I've had. I've saved like, I've saved some of my own cats lives just because of the training routine. Like, you know, like I would have band practice every time, anytime I cooked. Cause the band is set up in the kitchen. Anybody, you know, the band comes running and they take their place on their instruments and they start playing because they want treats. You know, they know what song will they play. It's all free form jazz. It's like their own music. So it's, it's, you know, not all of it. Not, not a lot of them are big hits, I would say, but it's our own.

[Theo Von]

I used to live in Alphabet City in New York for a little bit and you would hear a lot of some of that at certain nights or whatever.

[Samantha Martin]

But yeah, with the one cat, like my guitar player, she was solid. My best guitar player ever. She didn't show up for band practice. Like she always showed up for band practice. And I found. I went looking for her and she was like sitting in front of the fireplace and. And I even offered her a free freebie. Like, here, how about take this? And she was like, not interested. And I was like, something's wrong with Pinky. So I took her to the vet. And she had a. And I might not have noticed anything was wrong for several days to the point of where it was too late. But because I had a routine established and because I have a routine established with these cats. Even blowing the whistle for feeding time, you can tell within five minutes if something's wrong with somebody. They might have a limp, they might be favoring one side of their mouth when they chew like something's wrong. I can tell just because I've established a routine and you don't have to put together a huge act like I. I have. You can just one simple trick, you know, even just the whistle to the carrier will give you all the information you need to know whether or not your cat needs to go to the vet. And now you can take your cat to the vet because it's already oriented to a carrier. Because when we do fostering and we adopt them out, they're already all used to traveling.

[Theo Von]

Do you feel like they are the performers or that you are the performer?

[Samantha Martin]

I think that I'm. It's a combination. We're both. We're.

[Theo Von]

We're.

[Samantha Martin]

If we play off each other, like so. So whatever, you know, whatever is happening with them and, you know, will. Will, you know, causes my. You know, so it's. It's. It's both. So we're both performers by. Definitely the improv thing. It's. I mean, I have to be like, just be on. And also. But not nervous either. So I have to be like, okay, it's gonna be fine. I always tell people, especially new people that are, you know, get a little stage fright that. And I also suffer from stage fright, which really sucks to suffer from stage fright. It's normal. Yeah. So I'm like, oh, it's very normal. You know, I gotta shove myself out there because there's the part of me that. There's the nurture of the bottle raise, you know, the shy girl. Because, I mean, I was the shy outcast growing up, so there's still that shy little outcast in me that' That's a nurturer. But then there's, you know, Samantha, the show person. Right. And I don't even know where she is. She's probably drinking at the bar. I don't know. But I'm like, where is she? She going to show up? I have to go out there. I don't even know if she's going to show up, you know, and then I get out there and then, bam, the cats start and. And. And then there's that part of my personality that can. They can pull it off. And I'm like, oh, thank God you showed up. And. No, you were. She's like, I was at the bar, you know, I. You know, I'd show up.

[Theo Von]

Will you have a cocktail before you go on stage?

[Samantha Martin]

Usually I. Yeah. Oh, I'll have a little bit of. I'll have a glass of wine.

[Theo Von]

You got to have fun.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, yeah. Well, it's just mainly to just, you know, so I'm relaxed and. And then the cat, you know, so the cats are relaxed.

[Theo Von]

Oh, yeah. There's videos of cats even drinking wine. But do cats care if you use profanity or drink around them?

[Samantha Martin]

No, I mean, they use profanity and, you know, in their own little world, they drink and smoke and do all the things. I mean, Asti's always seems as high as a kite on weed. You know, like a puff of smoke comes out of her carrier. You know, we all kind of see it because just like albacore with the popcorn and the pbr. Of course, he was not really holding a PBR and chugging it and popcorn in his other. I mean, they don't have opposable thumbs. They can't really do that. But, you know, I painted a picture and we all saw that. Like, we all saw him walking down the aisle with popcorn and a PBR because he's got terrible taste in beer. You know, we all knew that he would chug that pbr, you know, before coming up on stage to try to take back what Dixie stole. And, you know, and on everybody that's on the road, because we're in this 45 foot by 8 by 5 foot space with these cats, and we're days on end, you know, just us. It's kind of like Tom Hanks and Castaway with Wilt Wilson. You know, we have whole backstories and, you know, where the cats. We know what, you know, what school they went to, what they majored in, what their job was. You know, they all worked at the mall at one point.

[Theo Von]

No, I think it's fascinating. It's important. And it's important to build a world of. For whatever your world is that you live in. You know, it's important to add characteristics to things and make them bring them more alive. You know, I think that's really interesting.

[Samantha Martin]

And personalize them because we do a calendar every year with their luck and dislikes. They're fun facts and.

[Theo Von]

And is there ever any sex between the animals or do you ever engage? You ever see any stuff like that?

[Samantha Martin]

I mean, the. All of our. All of our cats are spayed and neutered because it would be really irresponsible, especially once I got involved in. In rescue. To spay.

[Theo Von]

Did they decapitate the wean or, like, do they.

[Samantha Martin]

No, it's the testicles, so.

[Theo Von]

Oh, they take the testicles?

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, the testicles. It's a less invasive surgery than the spay. The spay. They actually have to cut, you know, like, open and. Yeah, but it's so important. There's so many, you know, and we lost so much ground with COVID you know, as far as the TNR programs. Because I work, I have a lot of friends that are involved with tnr, which is really TNR trap, new to return. So, you know, if you want to have an interesting guest on this guy, Sterling, the trap king, he does tnr. And I mean, they go out there, they set these traps because there's cats that are not going to be indoor cats. They've been living outside. They're street cats, but they're also reproducing. And then now you're going to have hundreds of cats.

[Theo Von]

If you leave the windows open, you can hear it.

[Samantha Martin]

It's just on and on. And so something has to be done. So guys like Sterling come in with traps. They get permission from the complex or the owner, and they come in, they set the traps up and they can't just leave. They can't just set the trap and leave. They have to, because otherwise when the. When the cat gets trapped, you know, if the sun, you know, inclement weather.

[Theo Von]

Right. So they got to mill around.

[Samantha Martin]

They got to mill around and wait to see. To catch this cat. And then they have to get it over to the place that's going to do the surgery at 6 in the morning. I mean, it's a huge dedication.

[Theo Von]

Trap, neuter, return. I got to look into that.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, yeah.

[Theo Von]

Have you ever had PETA come out and say anything about your show? Have you ever had anything issues like that or. No.

[Samantha Martin]

Any. We had one person come in Cal, California, one picketer that. And then they. They left two hours before the show even started. And anytime somebody has attacked me on social media, we. I have like a thousand people that come back with, have you ever seen her show? If you saw her show, you would see that these cats are her family. They're her. That they're loved, that they are not abused, they're not being forced, that they literally are doing what they want to, what they want to do. They're free to leave. I mean, they are. Their carriers are open. There's a whole theater for them to explore. Some of them do. Sometimes people will start laughing. I'm like, what's going on? They've gone up to the second level and they're doing stuff off with the props up there. Just exploring being cats. Yeah, there's a show going on, guys. There's a show going on. They said, yeah, but there's a Piano up here. There's a piano up here. And I'm like, yeah, I saw the piano earlier, but we're doing a show right now. And I mean, so I'll have these conversations with the cats, and most of the time, they don't. The audience doesn't hear. But every once in a while, they'll hear my part of it where I'll just have just. I'll just be like. I'm just, you know, like, I am. This stops now because it was like albacore. We had been practicing his opening thing. He comes out, he turns on a light that starts the show. We rehearsed it. We did it every day for weeks. He knows what to do. Showtime comes along, and he's like, I just. And I. And so I'd have to turn it on for him. And then the day came. He comes out, and he's just like. And I'm like, oh, no, you don't. Enough. You know how to do this. You have been doing this trick for weeks on end. You know what to do. And he's like, what are you doing? You know, of course they don't hear that part. He's like, what are you doing? I go, he's like, you're embarrassing me. Oh, I'm embarrassing you? You're the one embarrassing me. I'm the one looking like a crazy person, talking to her up here when you know very well how to turn on this light. And he's like, okay, all right, fine. Just stop. I'll do it. So he went. And he turned on the light. And after that, we never. We didn't have a problem. He consistently, you know, we had that little moment of like, okay, we're going to talk about this right now. You're going to. You know how to do this. You're going to do it. I'm not going to keep doing it for you. And every once in a while, he goes back into. He. Now he has this whole weird little R. Where he comes out. He does a little dolphin thing. Because when he comes up, you'll see he likes the dolphin. So he's like, oh, I need a little extra. You know, let me just dolphin a couple times. And he goes out and he almost hits it, and he thinks he's gotten it. And I'm like, you didn't get it? And he's like, oh, I totally did. I go, no, he didn't. It's like, still, it's not on. And he's like, are you sure? I'm like, yeah, I'm really sure. And he'll go back out there and, you know, and he'll finally, you know, he'll get it. But it has to be just right. If it's too hard to turn on, he won't do right. And if it's too easy, he'll just breathe on it or he'll use his chin. And I'm like, cheater. You cheater. You just, you know. But people still love it. Like I said it. Yeah, yeah.

[Theo Von]

It's somebody being. It's just seeing somebody being around cats is ins, you know, because there's a level of insanity to it for some people because they can't imagine it. But the fact that you love it, I think is what makes it so important. And the fact also that you guys are helping getting cats in homes. You know, I didn't even believe in cats. I remember at first somebody told me about a cat or something. I was like, what the fuck are you talking about? When I was a kid, you know, I was like, yeah, what are you even talking about?

[Samantha Martin]

The cats are so amazing. I just. I mean, I love them so much. And it's so to. I mean, I mean, because I'll have the worst show. I'll feel like I just had the worst show ever. And people come up and like, this is the best show I've ever seen. And the joy that people have, you know, they're like, I haven't smiled. I've had, you know, I was going through cancer and I haven't smiled in three years. And this is the first time I've smiled. And I get letters from, you know, like, my, you know, divorced couples. It's like, I brought my daughter to see your show. And the very week we got your training kit, the next week I went over to the house and I paid my admission price, and my daughter had set up a whole little cat circus in the basement.

[Theo Von]

It's like, I still hate Stanley, but I love those cats.

[Samantha Martin]

Cats. Yeah. Just so. Yeah, yeah.

[Theo Von]

It's a joy.

[Samantha Martin]

It's.

[Theo Von]

Look, I. It's fascinating. I think it's fascinating. I think it's fascinating to get to sit here with you, Samantha Martin, and to learn about acro cats. You guys are going on tour, right? We'll put the links to where they can find you guys. Tour. Where is it?

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, website. Oh, rockets. Rescue.org.

[Theo Von]

Rockettes. Rescue.org. you can find the tour for Samantha and the amazing acrocat. And we're gonna get a couple cats up here.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, yeah, we've got some cats and some kittens, some Foster kittens too. The ones that two that are possible possibly gonna be joining the team. And right now we have 10 foster kittens, which is a lot. Yes.

[Theo Von]

The portal is open.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. So I mean, I have them all stationing. I have all these little like stools and things. So they're all trained to go and you know, it's called. I call it the lion pyramid of kittens. And so, you know, I have. They'll all just come racing in and then assemble, you know, on their various platform. And then we'll have a sign that says adopt us that, you know, we put behind them. And it's just chaos initially. And then eventually they all find their place and they sit and they sit pretty and they do their thing. So it is, you know, like I said, and it's just. I love training and watching them learn on and just. It's such a. It's a completely different cat than the cat that's never paid attention to or just, you know, bowl of food is left out 24, 7. And when cats are capable so much more, I just, you know, just spend 10 minutes a day with your cat. All it takes, you know, this is your family member and 10 minutes a day isn't too much to ask just to, you know. And it really enriches.

[Theo Von]

It's definitely fair. Some people think cats are. They don't know. They don't know what they are even if they have them. But you're saying that there's a lot more to cats that people aren't seeing and investigating and that they could spend a little bit more time and do that.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, exactly. And then less of them be left behind when, you know, well, I gotta move and places and all that. Well, you find a place.

[Theo Von]

Well, sometimes cats will stay though too. Cats will. I'm not moving and they'll stay. So sometimes people do leave their cats. Sometimes cats leave the people too.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, well, that is, you know, but if a person developed that relationship. Relationship, then that cat is going to want to go wherever, wherever you go like that. Like my.

[Theo Von]

Is that true?

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah. Oh, absolutely. If you. And if you just invest a little bit of time in your cat, then they're definitely going to want to stay with you. I mean, they, you know, when tour time comes around and I mean, they definitely. I don't want to be left behind. I want to be left behind. Something's happening. Something's happening. They really. I mean, they want to go. Yeah, they want to go. They'll love the attention. They love, you know, they, I mean, they have the back third of the bus is all decked out for the cats. So they have the.

[Theo Von]

Add in some pictures. Yeah. I mean, some cats are performers, some cats are. Who knows? You know, I think there's a lot to know about cats, and I don't know a lot of it, but grateful to just sit here and. And hear about it today and to know what's going on, that there's cats out there. There's something about knowing there's cats out there traveling the globe, performing at night, that kind of keeps me going. Let's get a couple cats up here and see. Let's see what we can see.

[Samantha Martin]

So there's a lot of. There's a lot of work that take. That goes into, you know, training. Training an animal.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. That's fascinating.

[Samantha Martin]

Especially cats, because you have to acclimate them to so many different things.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. Most people think a cat is just crazy, but it's. It can be more than that. Whoa. What? Wow, dude, that's great.

[Samantha Martin]

Tuna. He.

[Theo Von]

Oh, my God.

[Samantha Martin]

Get the foul. How about the foul? Hoops. Old, tight.

[Theo Von]

You could do it.

[Samantha Martin]

Tuna. Tuna.

[Theo Von]

Oh, wow, that's sexy.

[Samantha Martin]

All right. All right. Try the small one. It's really. Tuna. Tuna.

[Theo Von]

Whoa. Gosh, she's bad.

[Samantha Martin]

And then he barely gets some good hype on this one. All right, Tuna. There we go.

[Theo Von]

Oh, that's a party cat. Wow. Wow. It's clean. That cat's clean, huh? And what do y'all clean it with?

[Samantha Martin]

Oh.

[Theo Von]

Oh, wow. Oh, that one. Oh, it could work at autozone. Dude, that's unbelievable.

[Samantha Martin]

Oh, yeah, we did. We did a car commercial really early on. It was hysterical with the cats. Tuna. Tuna. Tuna. He's like, you were late on that tree. I'm out of here. We can bring out the kittens. Where's the chicken? Yeah, the chicken's here.

[Theo Von]

Wow, this is neat. I didn't know that. That an animal could do something like that. Oh, she could be a night manager at a motel.

[Samantha Martin]

Twigs. Possible future acro cat ready to end. Well, you cheated. You got to clear it. You got to clear it. It was nice for you not to beat up a kitten. Let's try it again. Get a running start. Get a running start. Get a running start. Get a running start. You're kind of cheating there. So the goal is for. We would click once he clears it without stepping on it.

[Theo Von]

Oh, I see. So he wants to click.

[Samantha Martin]

Reinforces the exact movement that you want.

[Theo Von]

So he's cheating, or he's just taking it easy?

[Samantha Martin]

Well, he doesn't. He hasn't quite gotten it yet. He's still in the training. Like, I just started working on this two days ago. Yeah, crush it. I'll have to send the clip of the skateboarding that we've been working on because it was one day of training with the skateboard.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. These cats are really chilling out here. It now.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah.

[Theo Von]

Damn. It's like a dang strip club in here. Wow. This the most cats we've ever had at once time anywhere. That's the best down here.

[Samantha Martin]

Send that.

[Theo Von]

Samantha, he's trying to take a selfie. That's good. Wow, they're beautiful.

[Samantha Martin]

They're all available for adoption. Well, except we are kind of on the. They may be.

[Theo Von]

They may be hired if they don't go on tour. They're available for ad option.

[Samantha Martin]

Well, they'll go be on tour regardless. So when we go out on tour, they. We bring them all out. Out. Oh, you know, we'll kind of. It'll be kind of like a. Like a test time to see who's who loves it. Like, some. Some cats are just born to be on stage.

[Theo Von]

Like, yeah, this is.

[Samantha Martin]

We want. I want this job. I want to do this. Other cats are like, I don't want this job. So they. I want to be a house pet, but I'll still do some tricks. So those are the ones that we. We adopt out. And just because we had retired two of our cats recently is why we're, you know, hiring.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, the stage isn't for everybody.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, it's. Yeah, it's definitely not for. For everyone, but.

[Theo Von]

But it's for the acro cats, though.

[Samantha Martin]

It is for the acro cats.

[Theo Von]

I think they start out with, like.

[Samantha Martin]

Some, you know, simple. This is like, oh, this is easy. We hear the click. We get this treat, and they're letting you sit pretty. So.

[Theo Von]

Oh, I'm just glad you're not giving them opioids or anything like. Like that.

[Samantha Martin]

I know people ask, do you drug your cats or you defy your cats? I'm like, they're agricult. They need to be able to climb.

[Theo Von]

Well, the Japanese are drugging those dogs that are on Instagram, but that's a different conversation. The acro cat, Samantha Martin, thank you so much for spending time with me and just for letting me learn about these cats. And yeah, they really are beautiful today and I look forward to seeing a show sometime.

[Samantha Martin]

Yeah, yeah, we're trying to book in Nashville if we can get the theater to call us back.

[Theo Von]

Well, yeah, we'll see. We can help. But this is really awesome. And I appreciate you guys coming to spending time with us today.

[Samantha Martin]

Thanks for having us. Now I'm just floating on the breeze and I feel I'm falling like these leaves I must be cornerstone oh but.

[Theo Von]

When I reach that ground I'll share.

[Samantha Martin]

This piece of mind I found I can feel it in my fall but it's gonna take a little.