206: We're Here to Chat Vol 4: Light and Love (with Steve Berg and Eric Edelstein)

Summary

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We're Here to Help

Episode 206: We're Here to Chat Vol 4: Light and Love

Host: Jake Johnson & Gareth Reynolds
Guests: Steve Berg & Eric Edelstein
Release Date: September 10, 2025

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Episode Overview

This lively, freewheeling episode of We're Here to Help showcases hosts Jake Johnson and Gareth Reynolds in their element, joined by longtime friends Steve Berg and Eric Edelstein. The group leans into casual storytelling, inside jokes, and playful bickering, with discussions shifting from breakfast routines and baseball fandom to tales of entertainment industry misadventures. The overarching theme, as suggested by the title, surfaces in moments of “light and love”—a jokey reference to a saga involving a Dick Van Dyke show, ticket refunds, and a promoter who signs off all communications with those words. The group also welcomes hot takes, listener engagement, nostalgia, and minor league gripes about modern culture and show business.

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Key Discussion Points & Memorable Moments

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1. Opening Banter & Breakfast Rituals

Timestamps: 00:52–05:24

• Steve Berg counts down the episode start, prompting nostalgia for band and baseball team rituals.
• Breakfast Guessing Game: Everyone tries (and fails) to guess Steven's breakfast. This leads to a loving roast of Steve’s habits and his supposed Royals baseball fandom:
  • Jake: “Did you have overnight oats, fresh blueberries from a farmer's market...with a hard boiled egg and Himalayan sea salt?” (13:00)
  • Steve reveals he made egg salad with Vegenaise and mustard (14:10).
• Notable Quote:
  • Jake Johnson: “Together, it's the full picture. And I gotta tell you, the full picture is the best breakfast. I would love to eat.” (14:45)

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2. Baseball Then & Now – The Savannah Bananas

Timestamps: 05:01–10:56

• The hosts dissect the viral baseball act the Savannah Bananas—a Globetrotter-esque, entertainment-focused exhibition team.
  • Jake: “You can't love Pete Rose and the Savannah Bananas.” (09:11)
  • Eric applauds the Bananas for making baseball “fun” and selling out stadiums.
  • Gareth notes generational divides, likening the team’s viral approach to modern digital culture.
• Notable Exchange:
  • Jake: “Speak for yourselves. I'm still in my thirties.” (10:01)
  • Eric: “The truth is, even when you see video gamers sell out Madison Square Garden for seven shows...If people are going out and doing that, that's good for entertainment.” (10:14)

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3. The Dick Van Dyke Ticket Refund Saga (“Light and Love”)

Timestamps: 16:10–28:40

• Eric gives long-awaited updates on his quest to secure a refund for tickets to a Dick Van Dyke event that didn’t happen.
• Discusses eccentric ticket promoter “Chris,” who ends emails with “light and love.”
• Eric reads his polite but urgent email requesting a refund (21:09), then Gareth reads Chris’s conciliatory response:
  • Chris (via Gareth): “I just refunded your tickets, which will be posted to your next credit card statement. Thank you for supporting the shows...” (26:12)
• The group discusses inviting Chris onto the podcast for his side of the story, debating whether Eric’s boundless “energy” should be included.
• Running Joke: Who can broker the next show first—Eric with Chris or getting free comps for Sybil Shepherd’s upcoming one-woman show?
• Notable Quote:
  • Jake: “We're not doing this to humiliate you. We're doing this to humiliate each other.” (28:42)

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4. The Great Steve Berg High School Photo Reveal

Timestamps: 29:30–34:50

• Natalie (the producer) shares high school photos of Steve, sent in by a listener.
• Group lovingly roasts Steve's "bad boy" and “pompadour” look, referencing “The Outsiders” and Christian rock bands.
  • Gareth: “He looks like he’s part of the Outsiders, if they were Christian…” (31:20)
• Eric does an impression of “Alpha Steve in Omaha”:
  • Eric: “Look, you little bitches, just listen to here. We're totally skipping homeroom…” (31:42)

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5. Tales from the Early Career Trenches

Timestamps: 39:43–46:03

• Steve and Gareth reminisce about almost performing “True West” together; Jake recounts Hollywood hustles with Steve’s encouragement.
• Hilarious stories about “Black Ice” (Jake’s mysterious friend Nick Pool), and pranking people at Sundance by making him out to be an Eastern European star.
  • Jake: “We started calling him Nikki Excitement and putting him in Joe movies with me...” (45:20)

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6. “Kenny Rogers Story” & Live Show Mishaps

Timestamps: 46:41–49:58

• Eric and Steve recall attending a Kenny Rogers concert, where Kenny threw $10 bills at a reluctant husband in the crowd:
  • Eric: “Every single song Kenny played, he'd wad up a ten dollar bill and chuck it at this guy with venom…” (48:38)
• Steve recounts drunkenly tumbling down theater stairs and popping up unharmed, to Eric’s awe.
  • Eric: “That’s also the magic of Berg...this man is an oak tree.” (49:49)
• The group riffs on how comics and musicians fixate on the most negative audience member in the room.

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7. Parenting, B-Plot Sitcom Moments & Kids’ Fails

Timestamps: 50:22–56:42

• Jake shares his daughter’s “lizard” excuse after a fall (“I just saw a lizard!”), tying childhood mishaps to classic sitcom B-stories.
• Group howls over a story of a child getting a mesh cube stuck to his braces at SkyZone.
  • Jake: “This is what I loved about sitcoms growing up. This was a B story.” (56:13)

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8. Hot Takes & Steve’s Life Advice

Timestamps: 57:19–62:53

• Inspired by a listener's suggestion, the guys launch a “hot takes” segment, starring Steve:
  • Berg’s Hot Takes:
    • “Christmas should come every two years, like the Olympics.” (57:50)
    • “Every hotel should have a Ouija board instead of a Bible.” (58:52)
    • “More clear sauce in Chinese restaurants—too much brown gravy.” (60:14)
  • Jake and Gareth needle Steve about the wisdom (or insanity) of these stances.
    • “I will not go near a Ouija board. I think you invite that stuff in.” – Eric (59:21)
  • Steve’s Unorthodox Life Advice:
    • “There should be more gargoyles on buildings.”
    • “Never order a cheeseburger at a Mexican restaurant.”
    • “If you get drunk and get an IV bag the next day...take the pain.”
    • “Set up your tent before you take the mushrooms.” (62:18)

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9. Closing Reflections & Listener Favorites

Timestamps: 63:36–end

• Brief check-in to confirm Eric’s email to Chris, celebratory group vibes (“Love y’all!”).
• Listener voicemails highlight favorite episodes and relay thanks to the hosts.
• Jake and Gareth humorously plan to make Steve’s hot takes a recurring segment.

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Standout Quotes

• “Speak for yourselves. I'm in my thirties.”
  – Jake Johnson (10:01)
• “Light and love has become a big part of it.”
  – Jake Johnson (19:32)
• “I just refunded your tickets, which will be posted to your next credit card statement.”
  – (Gareth as Chris, 26:12)
• “If you get drunk and you go get an IV bag the next day because you can’t handle your hangover, you’re a douchebag. Take the pain.”
  – Steve Berg (61:17)
• “Set up your tent before you take the mushrooms.”
  – Steve Berg (62:18)
• “We’re not doing this to humiliate you. We’re doing this to humiliate each other.”
  – Jake Johnson (28:42)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Breakfast & Baseball Banter: 00:52–10:56
• Dick Van Dyke Refund / “Light and Love”: 16:10–28:40
• Steve's High School Photo Reveal: 29:30–34:50
• Hollywood & Hustle Stories: 39:43–46:03
• Kenny Rogers Story: 46:41–49:58
• Sitcom B-Stories & Parenting: 50:22–56:42
• Hot Takes & Steve’s Advice: 57:19–62:53
• Listener Favorites & Close: 63:36–end

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Tone & Language

The tone is casual, irreverent, and affectionate—friends riffing, needling, storytelling, and endlessly riffing on bits old and new. They mix playful self-deprecation (especially about aging and pop culture shifts) with genuine support and warmth. The language is comedic, rambling, and at times joyfully absurd, with inside jokes and breaking the fourth wall for the listeners.

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For New Listeners

This episode exemplifies the spirit of We're Here to Help: a blend of comedic advice, storytelling, gentle chaos, and the camaraderie of close friends catching up in public. The advice may not always be useful, but the entertainment value is always high—and you’ll leave knowing a little more about breakfast, bifurcated baseball fandoms, showbiz heartbreak, and the dark arts of ticket refunds.

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Next up: Expect more hot takes from Steve, a possible on-air interview with Chris the promoter, and a steady stream of mishaps, misadventures, and unsolicited advice—always delivered with as much “light and love” as the group can muster.

Transcript

[Jake Johnson]

This is a Headgum podcast.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Know that fizzy feeling you get when you read something really good? Watch the movie everyone's been talking about, or catch the show that the Internet can't get over? At the Pop Culture Happy Hour Podcast.

[Jake Johnson]

We chase that feeling four times a week. We'll serve you recommendations and commentary on.

[Gareth Reynolds]

The buzziest movies, tv, music and more.

[Jake Johnson]

From lowbrow to highbrow to the stuff in between. Catch the Pop Culture Happy hour podcast from NPR. We're here to help.

[Steven Berg]

5, 4, 3.

[Jake Johnson]

Let's get the countdown, Steven.

[Steven Berg]

So it gives me a countdown.

[Jake Johnson]

I thought you were psyching yourself up.

[Steven Berg]

I was. Busted.

[Jake Johnson]

Five, four, three, two, one. Rock.

[Steven Berg]

And we'll go rock and roll.

[Jake Johnson]

Rocket ship, take off. Hey, this is USS Bergmaster and we are back on a Wednesday for another chat. The whole four is coming, the big four. But as of now, it's just old. Yeah, look at that. Popped in the chat.

[Steven Berg]

Hey, Gareth.

[Gareth Reynolds]

No, I'm not doing visuals for the month of August. Oh, no.

[Jake Johnson]

Hi, are you recording, G man?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Of course not, bruh. Just got the text to jump on. It's all useless. Just a waste of thought and time. All right. And we are rolling.

[Steven Berg]

You know what I had for breakfast this morning?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Let's guess.

[Steven Berg]

It was interesting.

[Jake Johnson]

Wait, hold on, let's guess. Gareth, you're okay.

[Steven Berg]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I'm gonna think he had, like. I think quinoa was involved. Okay, I'm gonna say he had, like, quinoa, eggs, sourdough.

[Jake Johnson]

Okay, I gotta guess.

[Steven Berg]

Double carb quinoa. And I wish I lived in that world.

[Jake Johnson]

Name.

[Gareth Reynolds]

By the way, are you. Are you the shortstop for the Royals in 1974?

[Steven Berg]

Bobby Witt Jr. Yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Before you guess, just quickly. His baseball thing.

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah, I know. I just.

[Steven Berg]

I'm the biggest baseball guy you've ever met.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It feels like witness protection, where they're like. And you're moving to Nebraska and you're a huge Royals fan.

[Steven Berg]

I grew up a big Royals fan.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Here we go.

[Steven Berg]

Yeah, I got George Brent's autograph, and.

[Jake Johnson]

I'm not keeping up with it.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Hey, it's just like, I'm not even. And I love. I listen. I'm full bandwagoning the brewers, but it's like Berg has just been like, oh, I watched like three games yesterday. It was like 15 hours. And I'm like, what?

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah, he texted me the other day. Oh, looks like my Royals got the best of your Cubs.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You're like. They were playing.

[Jake Johnson]

I was like, stop, Steven, for years.

[Steven Berg]

You haven't cared We've always bullshitted about this. I mean out of nowhere it's our thing.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Hi, Eric. We're guessing Steve's breakfast.

[Jake Johnson]

Eric, you're up. Wait, Eric, are you recording?

[Eric]

Oh, yes, I am recording. I'm guessing Steven had a glorious few eggs. Oh, a little bit of cheese in that scramble. Don't mind if I do. Some artisanal toast, some sourdough with pre and probiotics and loving life in Omaha.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I think that's great.

[Steven Berg]

Eric got closer than Gareth but there's a lot of.

[Gareth Reynolds]

There's a lot of crossover.

[Steven Berg]

Your impression was the most Is so grand.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Absolutely.

[Eric]

Thank you, buddy. It's very.

[Steven Berg]

You're like the indie movie version of me where. Where it's believable.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Eric.

[Jake Johnson]

That's right.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Eric not. I think your guess is great and we have a lot of similarities but keep in mind Berg's playing left outfield today in the Royals game so he might be trying to get a little.

[Jake Johnson]

Bit more of Eric's response to that.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

Oh, man, I love it. I would love Eric. Steve, you could play outfield, man. You could do man.

[Eric]

You look great.

[Steven Berg]

I love it, brother.

[Eric]

God, you look.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You could. They'd be lucky to have you.

[Jake Johnson]

The Royal said bird. They would win the division with your passion.

[Steven Berg]

Look, no one's been more supportive of my baseball turn than Eric.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh yeah. I love it.

[Eric]

It's so cool. I always thought you were deep down a baseball guy. Yeah. Game moves at our pace, Stephen.

[Steven Berg]

Thank you. Thank you, God. I love you.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Two turtles at night.

[Jake Johnson]

Amen.

[Eric]

Who won that racing mythology there, buddy?

[Gareth Reynolds]

The title did. I don't know if that's myth.

[Jake Johnson]

What do you guys think about the new whatever they're called Banana Hammocks team?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, the.

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah, the guys who dance and sing and do fireworks and it's Harlem Globetrotter.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

They're selling out Fenway.

[Gareth Reynolds]

What the hell are they called?

[Jake Johnson]

You know these.

[Eric]

The Savannah Bananas.

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Why Wait. I love it.

[Jake Johnson]

You do?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, Way better. That's baseball. I'd go to that game halfway. Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

And what do you guys think?

[Steven Berg]

I. I want to have a strong opinion.

[Jake Johnson]

You don't care because.

[Steven Berg]

But I don't know about it.

[Jake Johnson]

Oh, you don't? So there's a whole that has formed where. I mean it's coming with strange coming from such a big baseball guy like you. Right.

[Eric]

Fired on a Monday.

[Steven Berg]

I just as shocked as you are.

[Jake Johnson]

This is insane. They have created a baseball league where it's competitive baseball with good players mixed with Harlem Globetrotters so they do things like they pitch in between their legs. They all stop and do dances. The entire crowd, like bigger than the wave. Everybody does something. So it's, it's, yeah, it's entertainment more than just circus baseball. Yes, it's circus baseball is exactly right. But the main guy takes it pretty seriously. Obviously. I hate it in terms of being right on the nose, you know, it's so, it's a very typical.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I'm like, here, I'm gonna play a little of it real quick if you want.

[Steven Berg]

I feel like I, I like.

[Jake Johnson]

Perfect. Perfect. I don't like it.

[Steven Berg]

Gareth, do I like it?

[Jake Johnson]

It's. You got three guys on a dancing mountain. Dancing. This is not a good dancing. Shaking his ass. Eric's dancing. Everybody's shaking now he pitches. Yeah, well, they get right into the game and then they play baseball.

[Gareth Reynolds]

But see, that's a good catch though.

[Steven Berg]

That was incredible. Just by. Here's my question. Is it like, is it nine innings of this craziness?

[Jake Johnson]

It's a game.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, it's game. I will say that's the worst clip I've seen. That is by far the worst clip of it that I've seen. I, I, I, I thought it was more Globetrottery. Like that's how I viewed it.

[Steven Berg]

It was a lot more trottery.

[Gareth Reynolds]

That it's like bang the Globetrotters.

[Jake Johnson]

It is.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah. Yes. Eric, what are your thoughts?

[Eric]

I think the magic of it is one, we're old men and this guy is bringing baseball to a younger speaker.

[Jake Johnson]

Speak for you?

[Gareth Reynolds]

No, I'll, I'll deal with that statement.

[Jake Johnson]

Speak for yourselves.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, okay. Yeah, you know you can't speak for me. Go ahead.

[Eric]

Are easily googleable. I apologize to you.

[Jake Johnson]

Speak for you 3.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Jake, a little more. Jake. Push harder.

[Eric]

I've seen this guy do. And yeah, I'm a so called baseball purist, but what I love is this guy.

[Jake Johnson]

You mean you call your stadium.

[Eric]

Who called you that?

[Gareth Reynolds]

The Eric. Eric.

[Steven Berg]

I'm the same way.

[Eric]

Thank you, Stephen. Thank. I'm glad I have one. Ally, what this guy's done is he sold out stadiums that we were told people didn't want to go watch baseball anymore. I watched this week south side of Chicago and that place. Now there's rumors that might move to Nashville and other stuff. Sold it out. Brought back Paul Canero, Mark Burley, A.J. pruszynski. Beautiful thing, Anaheim Stadium. I've gone down to so many Shohei Ohtani starts and it's a third full. And it's a sad baseball experience right now with their owner, they sold out Anaheim Stadium. And then the the owner now doesn't like anything connected to Disney. The whole stadium stood and did Angels in the outfield, Angel Wings.

[Jake Johnson]

But it's not baseball. Like it's a fun show.

[Eric]

It's like the Globetrotters like you know AJ Pruszynski hit a ground out to short and the guy flipped it behind his back, did a flip and then still h. You know, a 55 year old catch.

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah. Well hold the guy not running full speed.

[Eric]

He's running full speed. He's just in his 50s.

[Jake Johnson]

But here's my question.

[Steven Berg]

To me the use case for this thing would be like every once in a while before a game, it's like bat night or something like that. It's like you come and you have like a little show before the real game starts. But I could not watch nine innings of that. That would drive me insane.

[Jake Johnson]

You know what I feel? I feel this goes to the a thing that I live by and which makes me difficult and that is you got to pick a lane. You can't love Pete Rose and the Savannah Bananas.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Well, drop Pete Rose. That's your choice.

[Eric]

There's a guy who fought for Pete Rose.

[Jake Johnson]

But the not that the type of baseball.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

Plays when you're knocking into a catcher and hurting him at an all star game when it's all hustle, it's all in the game. The beauty of the game is you say you're going to love it. Steve, it's at our pace. Then the Savannah ban bananas is to what our business is. When we started coming up and watching movies from the 70s on film and we all wanted to be in those. Compare that to Tik Tok and we're going.

[Eric]

I like them both.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It really is like the old guard.

[Jake Johnson]

Minute one or you want a 70 a 7 second give me the long one or that boards the audience.

[Gareth Reynolds]

The old guard that we came up with so many like it is. It's like when YouTube like we were do we were like doing sketch shows and then like YouTube happened and we were like what the is? Yeah, like we're the old guard. But I the truth is like even when you see video like gamers sell out Madison Square Garden for seven shows. Like part of me is like what? But then the other part of me is like look, if people are going out and doing that is good for entertainment. That's good. Like you know, so. But I actually watching that, watching that, I'm like I don't think I could go to that I see.

[Jake Johnson]

I don't agree that I'm 30 is put an S to the end of it just to keep it believable.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I'm in my, I'm in my 30s.

[Jake Johnson]

We got some. A little bit. Wait. First of all because I got another surprise coming Berg's way and I, I.

[Steven Berg]

I do want to say before that surprise. Can you take a guess of what I have for breakfast?

[Gareth Reynolds]

So sweet.

[Jake Johnson]

Oh, thank you for including me, little Stevie.

[Steven Berg]

Yeah. I just wanted you to.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Well, that was in the cards but.

[Jake Johnson]

I didn't realize how beautiful. Eric's got little rainbows.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I know.

[Jake Johnson]

There's some reflection of a mirror. You're like an angel king.

[Steven Berg]

Yeah. There's like a disco ball.

[Gareth Reynolds]

There's an aura what it is, it's.

[Eric]

A disco ball that just has this, this rainbow maker. It's, it's incredible. Brings actual rainbows in. We're getting work done. So I'm not in my, my usual barn.

[Steven Berg]

Oh, it's whatever it is, Eric, it's working.

[Eric]

I feel it. We all need a little rainbow in our life.

[Jake Johnson]

You, you just talking with rainbows going across.

[Gareth Reynolds]

That is the, it's vastly different than it looks like. Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

Low down in a barn.

[Gareth Reynolds]

My usual barn.

[Jake Johnson]

You know, this is the difference between husband and wife. When you're in charge. You're in a barn with a chair breaking.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah. Where you could get like Tom Selleck's toothpicks.

[Steven Berg]

You look like you're.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Steven Berg]

Like he's taking refuge and he's on the run like somewhere.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah. Yeah. Like he's like. All right, ladies and gentlemen, here's the where the crops are today day.

[Eric]

Just FYI, next time you'll be seeing me back in that barn. Yeah. This is a very rare one time thing. I'm not allowed to do this. A couple little issues. I, I, I can't communicate with the queen right now because we're on air. But there'll be, there'll be a discussion after we're done.

[Jake Johnson]

Give us a taste King.

[Eric]

Jess, what is going on? No, no, you're not allowed at all. I, I could just tell you wanted something for me.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I'm just trying not to be loud.

[Eric]

Oh, you're a queen. We're all great. We're all great here. Everything's amazing, guys. Everything's fan. Everything is rainbows and glory today.

[Steven Berg]

I'm just gonna go ahead and blur it out because I really have a feeling that the listeners are gonna want to know what I have for breakfast.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Wait, Jake's gotta guess.

[Steven Berg]

Well, let's get to.

[Jake Johnson]

Let's get.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay.

[Jake Johnson]

Sorry.

[Gareth Reynolds]

She's a spurgeon.

[Jake Johnson]

So sorry.

[Steven Berg]

Everyone wants to know.

[Jake Johnson]

So I know when everybody. When everybody has mentioned eggs, you got excited.

[Gareth Reynolds]

So.

[Jake Johnson]

But I'll tell you what my real guess is. Overnight oats, fresh blueberries from a farmer's market that is just incredible. It's actually one of the greatest in the nation. There is something that's going on with the farmers market here in Omaha that is so splendid. I've got three vendors I go to right now. One for. Have you guys ever experienced. I know Eric has these two other rats have not maybe sunbutter. Jesus. I mean, first of all, it's low carb. It's delicious. It's better than almond butter. A little spoonful, maybe a teaspoon. Maybe a teaspoon and a half in that with some fresh blueberries. And then perhaps I'll have one hard boiled egg with a little Himalayan sea salt.

[Steven Berg]

No, but God, that sounds good. And I. That. That is very. No, that's a Sunday breakfast. I'll need the time.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I only do ghee on Sundays.

[Jake Johnson]

I.

[Steven Berg]

Yesterday I told. When we talked. I did do meal prepping yesterday for. For the week. But what I did after breakfast, guys, is I did have two soft, soft boiled eggs in the fridge. And I was like, what am I going to do with these two little rascals? And so I took a fork, a little bit of vegenaise and a squirt of mustard, and I made a egg.

[Jake Johnson]

Salad over sourdough bread.

[Eric]

Wow.

[Gareth Reynolds]

We all breakfast. We all got. We all sniffed around some of it. Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

We all know Steve. We all know him in slightly different ways.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

Together, it's the full picture. And I gotta tell you, the full picture is the best breakfast. I would love to eat.

[Gareth Reynolds]

That's great.

[Steven Berg]

Yeah. And I'll tell you what. Every single breakfast y' all mentioned are breakfast. I really.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Excuse me, y'. All, Sir.

[Steven Berg]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

Now, I'm not a big fan of the Royals, but do you realize how close Omaha is to Nashville?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, I'm sorry. I can't buy boots.

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah. I'm so crazy.

[Gareth Reynolds]

He's just a Canadian tuxedo. Every day he's just naked, stirring his hard boiled egg with boots on.

[Jake Johnson]

Oh, I so much. I just happen to be in a denim tuxedo.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, sorry.

[Jake Johnson]

Kentucky.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I released an album called Howling at the skies. Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

Oh, it's not. It's not music per se, but it is chance music is a guitar player and a drummer, and I'm only chanting A little. They call me the Yoko Ono of this band.

[Steven Berg]

Eric is. Eric is. I mean, he would love it.

[Eric]

Yeah, completely, brother.

[Jake Johnson]

I didn't even invite you, Jake. But you missed out.

[Eric]

That, that, that is the story of our friendship right there. And also trying to hide what I go to from you.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Well, not anymore, my man.

[Eric]

No, no, it's all gloriously out now.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Well, that might be a good segue into where? So you started texting us updates, Eric. And we had to tell you this is what the kids call content. That's what the Savannah bananas call content. And you got to save it for the air because when we left you, you were in the midst of the Dick Van Hurricane.

[Jake Johnson]

Yes.

[Gareth Reynolds]

And it sounds like there some stuff has happened.

[Eric]

There's some huge updates, boys. And I've not told you. I've not told you. And that's great. Just saving it.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Right. Good for you.

[Eric]

So basically I had not heard from our promoter for about, you know, two to three weeks since we last.

[Jake Johnson]

Just to remind everybody really quickly, it was. You wanted a refund. He said no. You said I didn't pay for some guy to walk around and do a Q A with the audience. He said there might be another show. You said thank you brother, or something like that. Is that correct?

[Gareth Reynolds]

And this is. And this is all for Dick. Yes, this is all for. This is all for Dick Van Dyke who is about a hundred years old.

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah. So if you have.

[Eric]

Well, he's about to in three months. And so they've been doing.

[Gareth Reynolds]

To know that is wild as well.

[Jake Johnson]

About to once he hit like 88.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Eric.

[Eric]

Yeah, you're not wrong. You're not wrong.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Imagine being a hundred and doing shows.

[Eric]

I hope I'm there, brother.

[Jake Johnson]

It's like.

[Gareth Reynolds]

No you don't. Yep. Oh, it's like a circus elephant.

[Eric]

Jake, tell him I'll work till the day I die. This whole operation is geared up to peak around 83, 84.

[Jake Johnson]

He's been.

[Eric]

I'm seeing Neil Young this week. He is peaking right now at 84. Yes, he is.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Not true.

[Eric]

He's an old blues man.

[Jake Johnson]

I always say, promise you and I don't agree.

[Eric]

Well, I'm fighting against a goddamn track record, boys.

[Steven Berg]

Okay?

[Eric]

I know it. Imagine being me. Imagine being mean. Like it would help me if I were a tiny bit more delusional because that's actually. And this is incredibly embarrassing how I finally got my ultimate resolution with Chris, the promoter of Vandy Camp. I didn't tell you this, but this was highly embarrassing. I got an email in my Account offering a very rare chance to see a Cybill shepherd one man show. One woman show.

[Jake Johnson]

Shepherd one man show was the weirdest thing I've ever heard.

[Steven Berg]

So we can get in her head.

[Eric]

Are you sure, Steve?

[Steven Berg]

How many years young is Sybil right now?

[Eric]

I mean, she's got to be late 70s, early 80s.

[Jake Johnson]

Who did you get this email from?

[Eric]

I got. Well, I got an email I didn't know from after I signed up for Chris. Our promoter's email list.

[Gareth Reynolds]

75.

[Eric]

I looked at it and I'm like, God, I'd. I'd kind of like to go to the Civil Shepherd Eric. Then I got down to the very bottom.

[Steven Berg]

I loved Moonlightning.

[Eric]

No, no, no. Sybil shepherd, okay? Sybil shepherd dated Elvis. And then most amazingly, her marriage was broken up when Orson Welles started couch surfing. Ended up on her couch for like a year and a half. And Peter Bogdanovich had to choose between Orson and Sybil, and he chose Orson, apparently. I want to see this one woman show. But then I got to the bottom. I was legit, thinking about who might want to go, what victim I could find. Then I saw it was our same promoter, and I'm like, oh, no, there's a potential. Maybe I could buy tickets for a civil shepherd one woman show. And Sybil might not show. And then I also saw that he signed off on his message at the end of the Civil shepherd advertisement with light and love.

[Jake Johnson]

Oh, that's why all the texts, everybody's.

[Steven Berg]

Saying light and love.

[Jake Johnson]

I missed that part of it. Okay, yes, Light and love has become a big part of it.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Eric]

Well, you team and all the good work we're doing right now, he reverse.

[Steven Berg]

It because usually it's love and light. Did he actually reverse it?

[Eric]

I think it was light from him.

[Steven Berg]

That's. That's a new spin. It's a new take on it.

[Eric]

And then when I saw the light and love from him, immediately I went from. Well, I'm not. I'm obviously, I'm not going to this Civil shepherd show until this is resolved.

[Jake Johnson]

Not true. This Eric, this Webb, tell this story. Not true in real life.

[Gareth Reynolds]

This only makes sense if you've been in the weeds with this as much as we have. Because what Eric's saying right now is so wild that he's like, I'm not gonna trust the Sybil shepherd show until I go to Vandy Camp. And Dick Van Dyke's obviously only because.

[Jake Johnson]

Of Chris the promoter. He's a hustler because he says light in love, but he doesn't Mean it. He is about money.

[Steven Berg]

Eric's got Chris means tires on the Vandy camp before he seals the deal on civil.

[Eric]

Yeah. So I sent an immediate email to Chris, seeing that I started to have just tiny bits of anger as I thought about the drive.

[Jake Johnson]

It. Send us the email.

[Eric]

The email from. So all I said to him was.

[Jake Johnson]

I don't want you to spin it. You're gonna leave out sentences. Okay, well, I know you, Eric.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Forward it to me.

[Jake Johnson]

Eric, I said to Chris, I'll read.

[Eric]

It to you verbatim.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay.

[Eric]

Do you want me to send you a text?

[Steven Berg]

No, no, read it.

[Eric]

Read it.

[Jake Johnson]

Read it verbatim. Okay.

[Eric]

This is Wednesday.

[Steven Berg]

Read it. How you think Chris would talk, by the way?

[Eric]

No. Well, this is mine to him first. Okay, very reasonable, Eric.

[Jake Johnson]

For real. Read it how you intended it.

[Eric]

Chris, I waited as long as possible to. I feel like I'm kind of being delayed here. I know this isn't your fault Dick didn't show up. But as a promoter, you got to do the right thing and refund me. You sold tickets to a Dick Van Dyke show, and there was no Dick Van Dyke. I shouldn't be having to ask you this many times, and I hope you can make it right today. And if Dick does another show, I will buy tickets knowing the risk. But they told us on the day we would be refunded. I'd love to be done with this. The show already cost me a lot more than the ticket price. Let me know if you need money.

[Steven Berg]

Pause.

[Jake Johnson]

Pause. What almost cost you. Are you emotional damages?

[Eric]

Well, I think it's now on this podcast. I'm. I'm acutely aware, anyone listening to this podcast, you have a very different opinion to me than they did before.

[Jake Johnson]

But no. What do you think people think of you, Aaron?

[Eric]

I think I make my money playing killers, and the next time I show up as a killer, someone's like, that's not a killer. That idiot was a big man died.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You're so good. It's okay.

[Eric]

The only thing I. I gainfully do and point out.

[Jake Johnson]

Don't you realize that makes the killer even scarier?

[Eric]

Okay.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Eric]

I love you. Yes, Jake, Yes.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Your rate's going up.

[Jake Johnson]

All right, keep going.

[Eric]

So I'd love to be done with this. The shorty cost me all over, then the ticket price. Let me know if you need my Venmo or Zell original credit card. Thanks, Eric.

[Jake Johnson]

Okay.

[Gareth Reynolds]

By the way, he also invented a flight. He flew people in for the show. Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

So, Eric, he's dropped that at this point.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I know, but Eric's put that out there. All that's when he's talking about the cumulative cost. It's because he also flew in some Japanese business associates to go to Vandy camp with him.

[Jake Johnson]

This episode of We're Here to Help is brought to you by Dell.

[Gareth Reynolds]

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[Jake Johnson]

AI PCs like the Dell 16 plus starting at 749.99, it's the perfect time to refresh your tech and take back your time. Upgrade your AI PC today by visiting Dell.com deals that's Dell.com deals. This episode is sponsored by Kachava.

[Gareth Reynolds]

There are many times where I will be out on the road and I'll think, oh, I'm going to have time to do all the things I want. I'm going to be able to pay attention to what I want to eat, what I want to put in my body. And then the next thing you know, I'm in an airport, waiting all day, calling an airline, specifically one airline mainly, and saying, hey, what did you do? You've ruined my day. And I'm thinking, I'm not going to be able to do anything. But guess what? Then after all that, I will get to the hotel and I will be able to have cachava, which I am such a huge fan of. They have tons of flavors. But now there is a strawberry flavor, which is my new addiction.

[Jake Johnson]

It's got 85 superfoods, it's got nutrients and it's plant based protein. There's no artificial flavors, colors or sweeteners. No gmo, no soy, no animal products, no gluten, no preservatives.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You've never tasted strawberry like this. Go to cachava.com and use code here to help for 15% off your next order. That's Kachava K A C-H-A-V-A.com code here to help for 15 off.

[Jake Johnson]

Could you really quickly send Chris's response to Gareth. And can he read?

[Eric]

Absolutely. Absolutely.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It'd be an honor.

[Steven Berg]

I feel like I'm better cast for Chris, but.

[Jake Johnson]

I know. But Gareth kind of gets left out in the volume four, and I feel bad.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I wish I didn't hear this part.

[Jake Johnson]

I feel bad for my guy.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I wish I didn't hear this part. Was that cloud was on a lot.

[Jake Johnson]

Gareth, we do. Was I Cloud nine, but I know you. We got to give you a little shy.

[Gareth Reynolds]

All right, Natalie will cut out all of that. And three, two, one.

[Jake Johnson]

Natalie doesn't listen to you.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Three, two, one. Hi, Eric.

[Jake Johnson]

Actually got your message doing this. Dude, it's not about you.

[Eric]

We just had to go another way. We just wanted that voice.

[Jake Johnson]

Really.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Can I. I can't even get through the sides. I can't even get through the sides. Okay.

[Eric]

No, we heard after that first voice.

[Jake Johnson]

Me.

[Steven Berg]

He does a good me. Very good me.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Hi, Eric. Got your message. I just refunded your tickets, which will be posted to your next credit card statement. Thank you for supporting the shows, and I hope to see you again soon. Best Christopher. Whoa.

[Jake Johnson]

So you got refunded?

[Steven Berg]

Oh, you got.

[Eric]

I got refunded. Boys, you have confirmation.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Wow.

[Eric]

Right?

[Steven Berg]

I can't. The guy, he. He made you whole.

[Jake Johnson]

Oh, my God.

[Eric]

At the end of the day, I'm just really another weird. We're here to help client. You guys help me get my refund.

[Gareth Reynolds]

We don't want to be. We don't.

[Jake Johnson]

Ring the bell, Gareth.

[Eric]

Yeah, ring it. I'm. Yeah, I'm a client.

[Jake Johnson]

Eric, can you do something for the show?

[Eric]

Always.

[Jake Johnson]

I know. I love you. Can you email Chris and ask him if he wants to be on and tell his side.

[Gareth Reynolds]

See, this is boys.

[Jake Johnson]

And we won't have you on. It'll be.

[Eric]

No, this is.

[Jake Johnson]

You'll steamroll with light and love, and.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You'Ll be like, brother, apologize. You'll compliment him every. You'll take him to lunch. You'll go to lunch with him.

[Jake Johnson]

First of all, wow, man. You have an energy through a zoom, brother. I love you. Second of all, what a promoter, guys. Okay. And then I'll go. Hold on. Can I ask him a question?

[Eric]

He'll go, he's the man who's promoting Neil Diamond Spectacular.

[Steven Berg]

Chris has hit a rough patch. He's on my couch. Couch right now.

[Jake Johnson]

Can you email him and say, I've discussed the saga on the podcast? We're here to help. It ends with a very happy ending. And my friends would like to know if you would like to come on give your side of it and then promote any shows you have coming up.

[Eric]

I. I think I'm not allowed to speak. I'm not even allowed in the room.

[Jake Johnson]

I don't want you.

[Gareth Reynolds]

We can bring in towards the end.

[Jake Johnson]

No, because I think then, then they're both. He's the guy's terrified of Eric and then Eric is gonna shower him with compliments and love. So we are just gonna have 15 minutes of nothingness.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It's now funny though, now that you've called it out, it does become funny to see that happen.

[Steven Berg]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

So maybe we bring him on at the end.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, I think you're right. I would say like, you know, I would be like, hey, man, you're a stand up guy. Really appreciate it. This all major Dick Van Dyke fandom. I actually do a podcast with some friends who got very invested in all of this and we would love to have you on promote the next Vandy camp. Really do right by or whatever you're working on.

[Jake Johnson]

And then we. You could also say the guys are dear friends. And if there's anything you don't like, we'll send you the audio before we'll cut it up. We're not doing this to. We're not doing this to humiliate you. We're doing this to humiliate each other.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Steven Berg]

Give that all of.

[Eric]

I mean, maybe we get comps as civil shepherd.

[Jake Johnson]

Steve.

[Eric]

Steve.

[Steven Berg]

Oh.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You know.

[Jake Johnson]

Okay. So Eric, will you send that, Will you send that email right now?

[Eric]

Yeah, I will.

[Jake Johnson]

Okay.

[Gareth Reynolds]

And to bring Steven. To bring Steven there at the end is amazing.

[Jake Johnson]

Will you start doing that email? And then I'm gonna transition us into something else as you're doing that. But let us know because we're gonna love you to read the email out.

[Eric]

Loud that I send.

[Jake Johnson]

Yes.

[Eric]

Okay. And we're here to help style. You're gonna prove it before I send it. We're gonna.

[Jake Johnson]

You're gonna read it.

[Eric]

Okay.

[Steven Berg]

I love it.

[Eric]

I'll start composing right now. Bless you.

[Jake Johnson]

So we got another little surprise here. So obviously everybody loves Stevie Berg. We all know that. And somebody emailed into the email and Gareth, I don't think I've even texted you about this yet.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I'm curious.

[Jake Johnson]

Similar, similar, but maybe even better than you were being catfished on Tinder or whatever it was. Grindr, Bumble bumble. Somebody wrote in and said, these are photos of Steven Bergen High School. I don't know if you want them, but here they are. Natalie, can we.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, you did tell me this. Yes.

[Jake Johnson]

Can we see the pigs.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Wait, wait, wait, wait. Explain.

[Jake Johnson]

Explain.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Explain to people. The first one you.

[Jake Johnson]

Wait, Natalie, can you change the angle of these so they're all face up?

[Gareth Reynolds]

First one.

[Steven Berg]

Hell did this.

[Gareth Reynolds]

First of all, Steve's wearing a wedding ring and he's in high school, so that's interesting right off the bat.

[Steven Berg]

I'm not, am I?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yes, you are. Second of all, he's in a forest next to a vacant patch eating panini potential sandwich.

[Jake Johnson]

And then will you go to the next one? Because that's a good one. The next one's spectacular.

[Steven Berg]

What the hell?

[Gareth Reynolds]

This next one is a group of.

[Eric]

Wow.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I mean, but the.

[Jake Johnson]

It's the hair, Gareth. I. I did not.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Steven. It's also.

[Jake Johnson]

The hair comes down in front. It looks like a full wave of an ocean.

[Steven Berg]

It's called a pompadour, bro.

[Jake Johnson]

But I didn't know. I thought this stuff. We have always called you having Bieber hair. I didn't know your fucking badass dude was rocking.

[Gareth Reynolds]

He looks. Steve.

[Steven Berg]

It's where my hair falls, babe.

[Jake Johnson]

It's an incredible look.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Steve looks very handsome in this picture. It. He's. He looks like he's part of the Outsiders. If they were Christian and. And. And one of his friends.

[Steven Berg]

I'm the bad boy of that group.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Stop it.

[Jake Johnson]

By the way, everybody go on Instagram and look at this photo. Eric, do an impression of Alpha Steve in Omaha.

[Eric]

Look, you little bitches, just listen to here. We're totally fucking skipping homeroom. And anybody that doesn't skip homeroom needs a ass beat by me, okay?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Capiche? I'm just not dealing with.

[Eric]

Hi, Ms. Lawson.

[Gareth Reynolds]

What are we doing?

[Eric]

Just having a nice little time. Cancel Christmas. Here I had a delicious breakfast. Overnight oats and two medium style eg.

[Jake Johnson]

Okay, See that?

[Eric]

I just put out that fucking fire.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Because you little bitches could never even.

[Eric]

Think to do that.

[Jake Johnson]

Can we see the next photo?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, wow. Wow. Eric, Eric, how do you describe this?

[Steven Berg]

Oh, my gosh.

[Eric]

Listen, boys. There is my life before Morrissey and after. Deeply troubled by the problematic things he says.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Now.

[Jake Johnson]

Wait.

[Gareth Reynolds]

The smile on that one is so happy. Half committed. It's a very.

[Jake Johnson]

I know it.

[Eric]

But.

[Jake Johnson]

But the. The. I gotta say, I'm hell. So for everybody. Gareth, will you describe what we're looking at for our wonderful.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Well, it's a classic yearbook. You know, kind of slide pick. He's amongst a photo. It's black and white. He's amongst a bunch of other photos. We have the classic Steve Berg melon. It's a. You know He's. He's got a larger melon and the hair is. I'm just explaining. And the. And full clean shave. So he looks like a little. It looks like if baby became 20 and. And his hair is down and kind of half committed to a side swipe. But also is this 50s. It definitely looks. Yes. Like. It's like he went on a hay ride that night. Yeah.

[Steven Berg]

No, I look like a Joe Cool. A real James.

[Jake Johnson]

You look like a Joe Cool. You look like the middle.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You're going to let him say James.

[Jake Johnson]

From a 50s movie? Yeah.

[Eric]

Thank you, Jake.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You're just gonna sit there while he said James Dean type and move on? Okay, sure.

[Steven Berg]

Moving on. Jake agreed. Jake agreed to it.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, sweet bastard.

[Jake Johnson]

Look at this king, by the way. That's when the Grateful Dead were. The Grateful Dead the dude. Next year in the 90s.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Steven Berg]

That's when we start being able to get good weed in high school.

[Jake Johnson]

You're wearing a necklace. This was the beginning Ralph Lauren.

[Gareth Reynolds]

End Ralph Lauren. The message on the side says, steve, best wishes for the future. Congratulations to you and the rest of the gang. The class of 1995.

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah. So just want to say thank you, Nat. We could be done with these to the person who emailed into our show. And I also want to say to the woman Natalie, who emailed in Gareth. We posted this yesterday, but a woman emailed into our show named Natalie. I guess she's huge on TikTok. I did not know that that was not part of the strategy, but she wrote to me, she wrote to the show saying, hey, you know what you guys should do on Wednesdays? You should end episodes and have the audience give hot takes. And I went like, what a great idea just to have the audience part of it. So I said to her, great idea. You want to just make a video and you just do it and then we'll post it.

[Gareth Reynolds]

And she did.

[Jake Johnson]

She made a really funny, fun video. So to the audience member who decided to email these pics of Steve to Natalie who are doing it. The world building right now is on another level to people sending Stevie Symbiotic.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

Stuff on you and Morgan on Patreon are doing in the field. What's it called again?

[Steven Berg]

Stephen in the field.

[Jake Johnson]

In the field with Steve where there are people are sitting. You're just reviewing it.

[Steven Berg]

Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

This is great stuff.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Well, it's also in the field was where Steve was eating a sandwich in that first pitch. Pick what?

[Steven Berg]

Hold on. Am I not allowed to know who sent this? Like, did they.

[Jake Johnson]

Did they do you want me to tell you?

[Steven Berg]

I would love to know who Hollywood.

[Jake Johnson]

Reporter you are.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Eric.

[Jake Johnson]

In the meantime, can you read the email as I look for this?

[Eric]

I sure can emails and I waited to respond to him to get help from here to help.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Sure.

[Eric]

So here it is. Chris, you are awesome and thank you very much. I will see you at the next Vanity Camp. And also that Civil shepherd show looks amazing. I appreciate you handling this in such a stand up way. Now in funny related news, I do a regular guest slot on the hit podcast here to help Jake Johnson called.

[Jake Johnson]

A guest spot host.

[Eric]

Well what am I? Am I recurring babe.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Trailer.

[Eric]

I appreciate that as a perennial guest.

[Jake Johnson]

Star for 20 years, I really change your language. Babe. You're serious?

[Eric]

Oh no bit I. Yeah. Okay, now we're doing something here. Okay, regular, regular slot I'm host.

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah.

[Eric]

Just to be a regular. I just want community serious. Now in funny related news, I do a regular slot on the hit podcast here to help with Jake Johnson and Gareth Reynolds and we have been talking.

[Steven Berg]

What you say you got sliced?

[Jake Johnson]

He didn't mention.

[Steven Berg]

Yeah, I, I, I up at the.

[Eric]

Time I wrote that I still thought we were Gasburg.

[Steven Berg]

Now, now I know that's back.

[Eric]

Basically us and Jake and Gareth are grabbing onto our cape as we fly.

[Jake Johnson]

That is Eric in a nutshell, man. Thank you God. That's all I want is community the second you give him power. Okay, so it's basically Eric's here to chat, drag you.

[Steven Berg]

There's a few others in like 1.3 seconds.

[Eric]

God, Napoleon with height. It's just unfair to the rest of the world.

[Jake Johnson]

Keep going.

[Eric]

I have a superiority complex. Okay, they would like to invite you on the show to. Oh, sorry. A regular slot and hit podcast here to help with Jake Johnson and Gareth Reynolds. And we have been talking about Vandy Camp and the whole saga and Jake wants to join me for the next Vanity Camp. They would like to invite you on the show to talk about Vandy Camp Civil shepherd and to hear your end of me asking for a refund because they found my request funny and surprising and gave me a healthy amount of money. Grief.

[Jake Johnson]

Great.

[Eric]

Who knows, maybe you can represent Jake for shows when he's in his 70s. LOL.

[Jake Johnson]

Really? Right.

[Eric]

No worries if this all sounds too crazy, but they would love to have you and also hear about the shows you were doing.

[Jake Johnson]

That's perfect. It's very good.

[Steven Berg]

Eric as Jake's like senior citizen agent is I now I, I have more motivation to stay alive longer than anything.

[Eric]

Because you're in Are you kidding?

[Steven Berg]

Somehow Jake will be like, okay, I'll let you rep me. Little while.

[Jake Johnson]

At a certain point I always defer to Eric and he beats me down. I, I, I am the little chihuahua that barks, but he's the pitbull. At a certain point I go like, I, of course I'm bringing cheese to a restaurant. I got issues with dairy and it's not that weird. And then I go cold does this, he does this. And then I go to him alone. Dude, I'm bringing jalapenos in my socks.

[Eric]

This is all building to Jake and I doing Mice and men in our 70s across. I already have a whole plan. Jake, you're going have to shoot me every goddamn night.

[Jake Johnson]

The most embarrassing part of you will be like somewhat improvised.

[Steven Berg]

Do you get.

[Eric]

Rabbits are jumping off point.

[Jake Johnson]

The first show will be 85% unscript and pretty good. The third one will be. And it'll just be you and me on a. We'll be like, it's kind of like Waiting for Godot Meats of mice and Ben.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It's basically just what we did today.

[Eric]

Yeah. We're gonna talk about meals.

[Jake Johnson]

Jake, meals. But Jake calls me Lenny and I.

[Eric]

Call him every night. He shoots me. We're not gon cheat. We're not gonna cheat you out of that.

[Jake Johnson]

He touches a rabbit and I shoot him. And then the truth is Jake got lazy so we stopped doing on stages and we just do it from our closets on Zoom.

[Eric]

Ladies and gentlemen.

[Gareth Reynolds]

The shooting moves up 10 minutes every night.

[Steven Berg]

Speaking of two handers, about 15 years ago, Gareth and I did about four to five rehearsals at my apartment in Los Feliz.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Get ready for this.

[Steven Berg]

Boys of true West. I'm not even joking. We were seriously going to like go rent a theater down at the complex for you guys.

[Gareth Reynolds]

We really. She did it.

[Steven Berg]

We gotta get back that back on our feet.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I feel like that ends with that sentence.

[Jake Johnson]

I would love to, but I, I don't see comedy in that. I would have loved to see you guys in it out.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Well, here's where the comedy is.

[Jake Johnson]

Okay.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Berg and I probably smoking a bong, sitting on his couch reading the script together. Being like, this is going to work.

[Steven Berg]

We went to Samuel French together and.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Got, and got Samuel French.

[Jake Johnson]

This is, this is. And Eric. I'll talk about it sometimes about Grindr. Grinderberg was the guy who would. I did all my head shots. We went to. I had a similar thing where he goes, we got to get cooking Johnson. So we went to his little apartment in Little Armenia, with our head shots and vanilla writing, cover letters to agents being like, we. We just sent them off blunt. We just smoked a little bit of weed and sent everybody in town a photo. If you need to see us come to the Improv Olympics, we will be there two nights a week. And we write like, if it doesn't work, Steve's like, who gives a? We go again tomorrow. I was like, this guy's an animal. This guy's an animal.

[Eric]

I love.

[Jake Johnson]

But guess what, man? You never know.

[Steven Berg]

Yeah, well, we.

[Jake Johnson]

We didn't have any believer in it.

[Steven Berg]

We were outsiders coming in, so he didn't know.

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah, we still are king.

[Steven Berg]

Yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It is amazing that you still have that mentality. I will say I hung out with Sebastian Maniscalco two times, and he told this story once about how before he moved out to la, he sent postcards to every agency of a projection screen. And it just said, sebastian is coming. And it cost him lots of money.

[Steven Berg]

Incredible.

[Gareth Reynolds]

And he sent them all. And then when he moved to la, and he. In his head, he was like, people are going to be like, who's this guy? Sebastian?

[Jake Johnson]

Guy Sebastian.

[Gareth Reynolds]

So he's coming to town. He's coming. What is he, a movie star? Who is this guy?

[Steven Berg]

I got to know.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Then he moves to la. He sends out another round, same image, and it just says, sebastian is here with a contact email. And he was like. And I was waiting, like, here we go. Nobody wrote a thing.

[Jake Johnson]

So the opposite story of that was, I went to Sundance for a movie with Joe Swanberg. I can't remember the movie. I think it was Digging for Fire maybe. But I was there with my friend Nick Poole, who I grew up with.

[Steven Berg]

I was there.

[Jake Johnson]

You were there. And Nick Poole had just always had the most interesting look of anybody I knew.

[Steven Berg]

God.

[Jake Johnson]

And he just crated it out of nowhere. He was really skinny in high school. He's a little skater. And then he claims it was natural, but it wasn't. He took steroids and all of a sudden got massive. And I say that because there was, like, always weird powders. And he's not a coke guy. Where I'm like, what, are you cutting it and sniffing it? And he's like, I just got a lot stronger. But all of a sudden, he had long black hair, fully black outfit, and huge muscles. And we did. Remember when we went to that UFC event, guys, Steve, I think you were there.

[Steven Berg]

Where?

[Jake Johnson]

Who? Who was there? Was it you?

[Steven Berg]

I don't. I wasn't there. I wasn't there.

[Eric]

I think Clay was There. Yeah, we went to live ufc.

[Jake Johnson]

But there was something. We went to Vegas and did something.

[Eric]

Oh, that was for let's Be Cops.

[Jake Johnson]

That was for let's.

[Eric]

That was a fascinating trip.

[Jake Johnson]

They. They gave us an opportun meet with you. We did a. A screening of let's Be Cops. And so they flew a bunch of us out there, and I got them to pay Nick Pool as if he was my security guard.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, you're so good at this.

[Jake Johnson]

But he met UFC fighters and they showed him respect.

[Gareth Reynolds]

He was that big.

[Jake Johnson]

No, he's little. He's.

[Steven Berg]

He's intimidating looking.

[Jake Johnson]

He's that mysterious. He walks around at about 59. But all of a sudden, there would be guys. I think it was Forest Griffin. And we were all talking to him, and Forest Griffin was like. He was making fun of all of us, calling us a bunch of accountants. Didn't live. Didn't love our vibe, that's for sure. And then he said, except for him. And he was like, I could beat you guys all up in a second. Something like that. Then he pointed to Nick and he goes, but I don't know about you, but. So Nick and I then were like, oh, this is really fun, people. And Nick used to always visit. Anytime I'd be on location, he would come hang out. And so we were at Sundance dance, and he was wearing his all black, doing his stuff, and he was just there for the fun of it. And my agent, after, like a dinner, Jay Gasner, goes, hey, man, I know I'm a idiot, but. And we. Oh, we called him Black Ice because there was Black Ice all around Sundance. So we were all afraid of slipping on it. So we would just introduce him to people as Black Ice. And so it'd be like, you guys know Black Ice, right? And he'd be like, hey. And they would be like, no, nice to meet you, Black Ice. And Gazner goes, look, I know I'm an idiot, but. But how do I know Black Ice again? And I go, what do you mean? And he goes, is he like a huge star from Eastern Europe or Canada? Who the is Black Ice again? And I go, a huge star in terms of what? He's like, what movie is he in? And I'm like, he not. He's a goofball I grew up with. So we then created this idea. We called him. We started calling him Nikki Excitement and putting him in Joe movies with me. But we would do and featuring Nikki Excitement.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh.

[Jake Johnson]

And it was working. People just started believing that Nikki Excitement, AKA Black Ice, was a Big.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Is he. Is he in the Swanberg movies? Yes.

[Steven Berg]

Yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Who. Does he have any big role?

[Jake Johnson]

Yes. He ended up being in win it all. He was my character's best friend.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Dude. That's exactly who I was thinking of.

[Jake Johnson]

Well, I needed him because in that scene my character gets carried out of a casino.

[Steven Berg]

It's my favorite person.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, right.

[Jake Johnson]

I just needed somebody. I was like. I called him up one day because we had the idea for the bit and I went like, like, hey, Nick, how strong are you these days? And he's like, how strong? And I go, worst comes to worst comes worse. Could you lift my. My body up and run for like a block and a half on camera? If Joe wants it as a oner. And he goes, I'd never stop running.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Wow.

[Jake Johnson]

And so we put him in that movie. He crushed it. And then Joe put him as like the lead in an episode of Easy.

[Gareth Reynolds]

He. I remember opportunities. I. I remember that I. That's exactly who I was thinking of. I was like, there's no way he's that guy. That's incredible. That's so.

[Steven Berg]

Aw, he's amazing.

[Gareth Reynolds]

For the record, Jake, I can definitely pick you up. Run.

[Jake Johnson]

You would stare at the camera and change everything about your appearance and do accents.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Hold on a second, boys. Let me just talk to Jake real quick. Yeah, let me know. Okay, that's crazy.

[Jake Johnson]

Crazy.

[Gareth Reynolds]

That's fucking awesome.

[Jake Johnson]

Eric, we were going to bring this up before, but what's the Kenny Rogers story? Oh, Kenny texted me about this.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Well, didn't you. Didn't you both go to Kenny Rogers together?

[Jake Johnson]

I didn't go to Kenny Rogers.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, no, Berg.

[Eric]

Yeah, we did.

[Steven Berg]

We did.

[Gareth Reynolds]

What year is this?

[Steven Berg]

Well, I mean, Eric, why don't you start? I mean, I know how it ended.

[Eric]

Berg got me into Kenny. Kenny is another one of those I didn't get. It wasn't on my radar. And this is why I do try to see everybody once because Berg was big on Kenny. The song love will turn you around, it's my. One of my songs. Oh, it's phenomenal.

[Steven Berg]

Yeah.

[Eric]

So I'm like, let's go see Kenny. So we went to see Kenny at the Saban Theater where you say Kenny.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I know, it's like, Stevie, there's Kenny right there, guys. Wow.

[Jake Johnson]

There's a photo on Eric oil painting.

[Eric]

It's on velvet.

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah, please, please.

[Eric]

That's. That's how important that Kenny night was.

[Steven Berg]

Respect the art.

[Eric]

So my lasting memory of Kenny was he came out. There's this whole thing. You wouldn't know There's. He's like, all right, what you husbands got dragged here that don't want to be here today? And I'm like, what is this? And then hands went up, including hands, clothes close. And he's like, you don't want to be here, huh? You got dragged here, huh? Well, I'll tell you what. You're gonna get $10 for every hit you here. And every single song Kenny played, he'd wad up a ten dollar bill and chuck it at this guy with venom. With venom. And he kept chucking $10 bills at this guy. Then at the very end before the encore, he brings out a T shirt. He's like, well, I'm gonna give you a T shirt now. And he's like, and I want to ask you, how does it feel to have $230 because you just heard 23 hits.

[Jake Johnson]

Oh my God.

[Eric]

Glorious madness. And then during the encore, he chucked like four more tens of this guy. So this guy walked out of there with like 280 bucks in a T shirt. And Kenny's sick of it. Kenny knows that there's certain husbands. And I would say, why go like, Jess never needs to see Neil Young again, again, any of this. That poor woman. But for some reason, these husbands get dragged.

[Steven Berg]

My. My experience of the the.

[Gareth Reynolds]

That's shocking.

[Steven Berg]

Eric and I did go. It was amazing. And it was in our probably peak of our like, party years. Yeah, I would say. And boy, did we drink a ton of bourbon. I got so. I mean, I'm blackout drunk. I was so drunk at the concert and we were like way up in the nosebleeds and they had these big long carpeted stairs as you go go down. I trip on the first air going down and did like a movie tumble like you look like a stuntman would do. I was so loose and hammered that I popped up. Not. Not even a scratch.

[Eric]

That's also the magic of Berg because he went down hard and it wasn't a bid, he wasn't covering. He got up and I'm like, at the end of the day, this man is an oak tree. If I did that, like, I'm good, bro. No problem at all. And then I'd be at a chiropractor and acupuncture for the next three weeks.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Weeks.

[Eric]

Steve popped up like nothing. And that's right. This man is an elite physical specimen.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Shut up.

[Eric]

We were also the youngest people there by years.

[Gareth Reynolds]

That's an advantage. But what you said before. Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

Could have been in the NBA.

[Steven Berg]

I think we Decided on double a baseball.

[Jake Johnson]

We did not. Eric. With a different set of parrots and hard work.

[Eric]

You had Randy Dickow if you got held back in the eighth grade. Yep. You too, Jake Johnson. You too.

[Jake Johnson]

In terms of that fall, my daughter Elizabeth did something that was so classic that I, I can't stop thinking about. But the in laws were over the other day and she was goofing around on crutches, kind of showing off and she fell. And so everybody just heard the fall and she was outside. And rather than just say like, I fell but I'm fine, she popped up and went, ah, I just saw a lizard.

[Gareth Reynolds]

That's your daughter. Playoff. Oh my God.

[Steven Berg]

Don't look over here, look over here. Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

And the reason it's like, why did you do that hard fall?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Like that was a lizard.

[Jake Johnson]

I guess I'm a lizard hunter. When you see a lizard, you gotta jump off crutches at a weird angle, make a sound.

[Gareth Reynolds]

But I saw a lizard.

[Jake Johnson]

So. So when I fell down those stairs, I imagined you doing a tumble and stand it up and going like, just saw a lizard.

[Gareth Reynolds]

How good was that show? You know, I just googled around for a minute and I don't see anything of him throw. Like he had to have money preset to do so. He was probably doing that at every show, I would imagine. But I can't see any other examples of it. And also making it a ten dollar bill is hysterical.

[Eric]

Not twenty.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Not twenty.

[Eric]

Wasn't doing that.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Kenny's doing well T shirt.

[Eric]

The guy shook hands afterward too. It was the one with the funniest things I've ever seen in my life. Tens, but not 20. 10 out of there with like 290.

[Jake Johnson]

Bucks that you have so much anger towards that one guy.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

Everybody else is there because they're excited to see you.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I get it. I really do. I'll do shows sometimes and you can be murdering. And there'll be one guy.

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Not having a good time. And even after the show he might be like, those was great. But you look at him and I will. I have, I have to ignore the instinct to be like, sir, what's going on? What's your problem? Like, why go to the most negative source of energy in the room? Everyone else into it. And yet you're like, why? Why don't you love me? And that's Kenny's probably just by the way, I should start carrying tens and throw them at that guy and be like, Gary's gonna give you a 10 for every punchline he hits tonight.

[Jake Johnson]

Do it with though.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Or two dollar bills. There's something.

[Steven Berg]

There's something. There's something funny about throwing a coin at somebody.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

But also so you don't hurt somebody. Get in trouble. Gareth. You should just carry a hundred dollars worth of two dollar bills. And if somebody has a bad attitude, be like this, hey, take your money back. And they'll go like, those six bucks.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I'm like, stop it. Yeah, well, you know, it's even worse for my show. Sometimes people like, yeah, they just offered me a free ticket. I'm like, all right, we're good. We're good here.

[Jake Johnson]

Money back.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You where good.

[Eric]

We're all that way. We're all wired.

[Steven Berg]

Like.

[Eric]

I did a show this weekend at Dynasty. This Star wars read. The glorious Patrick Cotner had me do it with this cast. And I played Chewbacca. And it was rolling at one point. There's this huge laugh.

[Jake Johnson]

Give me a taste of your Chewbacca.

[Steven Berg]

Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

Excellent.

[Eric]

But I'm actually fi. Playing Chewbacca, so I improvise a lot too. I. I re. I rehearsed it.

[Steven Berg]

It's very good.

[Jake Johnson]

Your fuzzy. What is it?

[Eric]

Like this. It's like this because Chewbacca is not talking, but Fozzie playing Fozzie, not Method Fozzie. Take Meisner Intensive. So I got off some line and it. And it hit. And I'm thrilled. And then all I can look at is a girl, a woman in the front row with her arms crossed. And I wanted to, in character, do the Brody Stevens arm cross. Negative.

[Gareth Reynolds]

That's exactly what I said.

[Eric]

Negative. Every single time I see someone with their arms crossed, I think of Brody. Yeah. And I'm like, this whole place is yucking it up at the big man's improv. And why are you focusing on the one person their arms crossed?

[Jake Johnson]

So they were just.

[Eric]

I think we all have that crazy thing that I can't enjoy the people laughing. I'm like, what she does. I'm Fozzie Bears Chewbacca.

[Jake Johnson]

This is good.

[Eric]

As I can do.

[Jake Johnson]

They were just loving what you were doing. Huh?

[Eric]

We'd like to think that he's crushing. Bring in your friend Jessica Williams. Because it's great because Jake reached out to her beforehand.

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah.

[Eric]

And so we have, like, we are talking to each other and becoming friends solely because of Jake Johnson. It's a very sweet.

[Jake Johnson]

She's a killer.

[Eric]

Oh, my Princess Leia. And incredible.

[Gareth Reynolds]

She's awesome.

[Jake Johnson]

The one person who has a bad time and a thing. But it is funny. I took my kids to Sky Zone sky.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, yeah, right.

[Jake Johnson]

A place where you could just like jump around on trampolines and jump a little mesh things or whatever. And my kids are now at an age where I just sit at a table like a weirdo and they go play. But the highlight of it that I didn't tell you guys at the highlight, it's a sad highlight because we're talking about a child. But at the end of the day, right before we left, some 11 year old kid with braces jumped into a mesh thing and his braces got connected to a zipper.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, no.

[Jake Johnson]

Like it was probably like a, you know, a little cube the size of his head. The kids walking around. Orange cube connected to his.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh my.

[Jake Johnson]

Luckily the guy had a great friend because the friends stuck with him. But the dude's walking around and the staff of those things are just like 19 year old kids. So he'd be like, excuse me, this.

[Steven Berg]

Will you suck up a face?

[Jake Johnson]

I gotta get this thing out. And these staff member. And I wanted to go see if I could help, but I'm like, as a creepy guy, I don't want to make more attention for this kid. So these people would go to this little boy who had a full cube and then they ended up just cutting it off. So there's a big piece of.

[Gareth Reynolds]

So he still got.

[Jake Johnson]

And the kid had to go to an orthodontist.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, my God. God.

[Steven Berg]

Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

But I was just watching and just thought like, this is what I loved about sitcoms when I was growing up. This was. This was a B story.

[Gareth Reynolds]

That is a great set. I was just. That's a great set piece.

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah, I was like. It was a. I was like, this.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Is a living your life with orange mesh on your mouth for three days over the weekend.

[Jake Johnson]

And then as he talked, it was like big enough out. So like the lady cut it, she's like, you okay? And you'd hear this kid like, yeah, yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

And he's running for student council, so he's got the debate on Monday. Can't get to the orthodontist till Wednesday.

[Steven Berg]

Well, that's actually how I got my lisp.

[Jake Johnson]

Go ahead.

[Steven Berg]

But that didn't fall. Boy, would that. Wow.

[Gareth Reynolds]

No, that didn't fall.

[Eric]

Wow.

[Steven Berg]

You guys are all crossing your arms at that show where you're looking at.

[Jake Johnson]

The one audience member who likes it. Let me do an impression of. I laughed on the inside.

[Gareth Reynolds]

He's laughing off my towel, texting me right now.

[Steven Berg]

Burned out.

[Eric]

It's actually really funny, man.

[Jake Johnson]

Well, it's the joke of the show.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It's funny because I was thinking out of all of us, who would that happen to most? But. But Berg. Berg answered that question with that joke that hit. Well, we gotta wrap up in a minute but to your hot takes point, Jake, which I think is a great. That is a great way to end the show. We can just listen to some hot takes which are awesome.

[Jake Johnson]

Or also it might not even be for us. The way I was thinking about it was just play them at the end of an episode.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It. It might be nice to do one every now and then and just kind of weigh in. Yeah, we can debate it, but we thought we could also do a round of hot. Our own hot takes and then so we all have a hot take to just close out the show. Why don't we go. Berg, you want to start?

[Steven Berg]

Yeah, I got.

[Gareth Reynolds]

All right. Yeah, give us a hot take.

[Steven Berg]

Okay. I would say one I've been on a long time. Is that the winter holidays, Christmas, Hanukkah and all these things. They should come. Come every other year like the Olympics to make it special, huh? Yeah, we don't need them every year.

[Jake Johnson]

The holidays for a year.

[Steven Berg]

Yeah, I don't think we need the Christmas every year. I think every other year would be just fine.

[Jake Johnson]

What about for kids?

[Steven Berg]

I mean, like. I mean like get used to it. I mean like, you know, it's not all gumdrops and rainbows. I. I just think it's too much. Six months out of the year they're advertising for Christmas. It's like the most.

[Jake Johnson]

You can't be positive to Berg's hot take here.

[Eric]

No, I love Christmas too much, Berg. This is the rare time I love it.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It's a vacation. People get time off.

[Jake Johnson]

It's also just a fun time to be with people and what do you.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Propose happens over that time period? Nothing.

[Steven Berg]

Time off. It's called the winter break.

[Gareth Reynolds]

So I texted Berg last night to come up with some hot takes and said we were all going to do them but I really just wanted to hear one from him. So none of it. None of us have. Let's go.

[Steven Berg]

Yeah, another one. I got. Look, I got grapes. Every hotel, instead of a Bible should have a Ouija board in the night stand.

[Gareth Reynolds]

What? That is wildly.

[Steven Berg]

You can contact the dead like, like, oh, anyone die in this room?

[Eric]

Communicate.

[Steven Berg]

No, no, please.

[Eric]

I will not go near Ouija board. If there's a We're here to help with the Ouija board. I send light and love. I will not be there. I never touched one. I won't ever touch One by Mattel.

[Steven Berg]

It's made by Mattel.

[Eric]

Doesn't matter. It's the intention behind it. I've heard too many horror stories. Berg, I understand your opinion. We can agree to disagree with so much light and love I will not go near Ouija board. I think you invite that stuff in.

[Jake Johnson]

And I follow you around $7.99 on one in 1985 and I deserve my money back.

[Gareth Reynolds]

With light and love I contacted Debbie Reynolds and it was a nightmare.

[Steven Berg]

Dude, I spend my life going to.

[Eric]

Shows of the near dead. I wouldn't need to see the dead by the way. We are hanging on by a brink hoping we get to see Dick Van Dyke and Civil shepherd. Okay, this is my goddamn brand.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Boy. What's that pound Translated but these are not takes which is great too.

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah, but go ahead Steven, Great idea. These are fun.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Well, I wish I would love to hear as many of these as Berg has those.

[Steven Berg]

I came up with the idea of one that's going to come to the top of my head.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay.

[Steven Berg]

You go to Chinese restaurants, right? We all love them.

[Gareth Reynolds]

No, this is pandering to Eric. Pandering to Eric.

[Steven Berg]

90% of the sauces are all brown gravy sauces and I like the clear sauce more. Wish there was more dishes. Look at Eric that had the clear sauce. So I feel like I would say the clear sauce is better at Chinese restaurants than the brown gravy.

[Jake Johnson]

You know what I just thought Stephen that you could do as a part of your. Because Stephen's getting into stand up. He's doing a lot of live shows in the doing great area. Everybody if you got a chance.

[Steven Berg]

Thank you guys.

[Jake Johnson]

Find him on high strangeness. He also advertises for it here.

[Gareth Reynolds]

But where can people. Where do you do your show in Omaha, Burke? So people around the area the the.

[Steven Berg]

Of rest Red Lion.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay.

[Steven Berg]

Every month, every third Thursday, usually every.

[Jake Johnson]

Thursday, Thursday at the Red Lion. If you're at Omaha or near it, it's worth the drive. But Stephen, something that you could do is a section where you just like Larry King did with Twitter, bring out a book and just read your hot takes. Oh yeah, because if you just had a section where when Gareth texted me he's like I I want to text everybody. Let's have hot takes and then not have not have anyone but Steve do it. I said just text Steve. And I was like, you could just have like a Steve's corner of hot takes.

[Steven Berg]

Well I do do life advice in my, in my standup.

[Jake Johnson]

What it just like you do call and advice. Are you just.

[Steven Berg]

No, I just give, like, the things that I've learned, like the five things that I've. I've learned that are important.

[Jake Johnson]

That's here. We got three minutes.

[Steven Berg]

There should be more gargoyles on buildings.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Wow, that's a wild first one, Eric. Interesting. Go ahead, Steve, keep cracking.

[Jake Johnson]

Never call for spirits, but call for gargoyles.

[Steven Berg]

Never order a cheeseburger a. At a Mexican restaurant. So I think that's lame. If you get. If you get drunk and you go get an IV bag the next day because you can't handle your hangover, you're a douchebag. Take the pain. And then the last one I usually close with, which people love, I always say. And this is a great advice, set up your tent before you take the mushrooms.

[Gareth Reynolds]

These are. These are great, by the way. First one. No. Every other one. Yes.

[Jake Johnson]

Everyone.

[Steven Berg]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

I kind of all of them. Yes. For me. I like a gargoyle.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, of course you do. Yeah. Jake's like, can we build some in my yard? It could be a whole thing.

[Jake Johnson]

Honestly, I would love that old concrete look with a bunch of gorillas hanging off the side of the building.

[Gareth Reynolds]

All right, we're wrapping out. All right, Jakey, please stop. All right, well, Berg. Berg, is it okay if maybe every week we convene? You could maybe have a couple hot takes and we might incorporate them a little. Little bit?

[Steven Berg]

I can manage that. Yes.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay. I have lots of thoughts. Eric, you're getting closer to booking our big get, which is Chris.

[Eric]

Yeah, we're excited.

[Gareth Reynolds]

That email has been sent. We've confirmed that that email has been sent. Or are we still in draft mode?

[Eric]

You want me to send it right now? Yes, I sure can.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Can you? Oh, I'd love a bcc.

[Jake Johnson]

I'd love a. No, no, no, no, no. I don't want a BCC because I don't want.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Truth. Truth. Right.

[Steven Berg]

You're right.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You're right. All right, well, anything. Anything else? Otherwise, it feels like we came here to do some good work. And once again, we. We've somehow managed against all odds.

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah. Gentlemen. Love y'.

[Gareth Reynolds]

All. Love you.

[Jake Johnson]

Love.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Pleasure.

[Jake Johnson]

So fun.

[Steven Berg]

All right, bye, buddies.

[Jake Johnson]

Bye.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Bye, guys.

[Jake Johnson]

Bye, y'.

[Gareth Reynolds]

All. Hey, guys, this is Laura. I've been listening since day one and I have to say, best call of the year. Where is Pff. I mean, when have we ever been more invested in something? And the follow up, it was great. Deserves a win. Thanks, guys.

[Eric]

Hey, guys, this is Steve from South Africa.

[Jake Johnson]

Massive fan of the show. I would like to nominate.

[Eric]

I can't remember his name now for.

[Jake Johnson]

The life of me, but the model.

[Eric]

For the sip and paint, that dude.

[Jake Johnson]

Was one of the funniest guys I've.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Ever heard on this show.

[Jake Johnson]

That intro to that episode, I was driving and I almost had to pull over because I was literally in tears. Thank you so much for the show and everything you guys do.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You bring a lot of joy to.

[Jake Johnson]

A lot of people's lives. So keep up the good work and yeah, love from South Africa. We're Here to Help is hosted by Jake Johnson and Gareth Reynolds. If you'd like to be on the show, please email us your question@ Helpful Pod Gmail.com and if you want to watch video episodes of We're Here to Help, you can go to our our [e-mail] heretohelpod to see our entire catalog.

[Steven Berg]

We're Here to Help is produced by.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Rabbit Grimm Productions executive producers Rob Hollis, Jeff Porter and Natalie Hollis associate producer Jesse Thurston Editing, mix and master by Chris Faller theme song by Oliver Raleigh. The COVID artwork is by James Fosdike, animations by Andrew Strelecki. And if you'd like to see Gareth du stand up on the road, go to garethreynolds.com Remember, all the advice given on We're Here to Help is for entertainment purposes only, and all listeners should be adults and make their own decisions.

[Jake Johnson]

All video episodes of season one are available now on Patreon, and season two video episodes will be available every Monday starting January 20th. Go to patreon.com heretohelpod I'm Tig Notaro.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I'm Mae Martin. And I'm Fortune Feemster. And together we're here, Handsome. What is Handsome? Well, it's a state of mind. It's how you feel. It's whatever you want it to be. Handsome is also a podcast hosted by us three standup comedians you may have.

[Jake Johnson]

Seen on your tv.

[Gareth Reynolds]

We swap stories, share life updates, and occasionally laugh until we cry.

[Jake Johnson]

Every episode, we answer a question from a celebrity friend.

[Gareth Reynolds]

People like Sarah Silverman.

[Jake Johnson]

It's Stephen Colbert.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It's Reese Witherspoon.

[Jake Johnson]

My name is Mindy K. Kaling.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Hello, Handsome Podcast. It's Jen Aniston here, you gorgeous w. So if you're looking for a positive, joyful show guaranteed to make you giggle, check out Handsome. Jump right in with whatever episode tickles your fancy. Or start from the very first episode. Listen to Handsome on your favorite podcast app or watch full video episodes on YouTube. New episodes every Tuesday and Friday. And don't forget, keep it handsome.