We're Here to Help

Episode 257: Mouth Tape Nightmare & Montage It Up (with Shabana Azeez)
Release Date: February 4, 2026
Hosts: Jake Johnson & Gareth Reynolds
Guest: Shabana Azeez

Episode Overview

This episode of “We’re Here to Help” features Jake, Gareth, and guest Shabana Azeez (star of "The Pit") fielding wild listener dilemmas, riffing on viral umbrella grievances, and embarking on two headline calls: one about “mouth tape nightmares” in a relationship, and another about what to do with a mystical, unwanted wedding dress. Expect the gang’s signature mix of sincerely–dubious advice, infectious banter, and low-stakes investigatory “science.”

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Guest Introduction: Shabana Azeez and the Great Umbrella Conundrum (02:00 – 09:29)

• Shabana’s Opening Bit:
  Shabana launches with a “non-self-promotion,” focusing instead on her existential frustration with umbrellas—specifically, why closing them is so ungainly compared to the satisfying, “spy-like” snap of opening them.

• Key Bit:

  • Shabana: “I find the experience of opening an umbrella incredibly fun. I feel like a God. And then I put it back in … and it’s a big moment to get it back in there.” (02:21)
  • She wants an umbrella that closes as thrillingly as it opens—sparking a comedic Shark Tank–style search for innovative umbrella brands.

• Relatability of Umbrella Annoyance:
  Both Jake and Gareth admit to umbrella aversion, with Gareth declaring, “I don’t use umbrellas. And part of the reason I don’t use umbrellas is the close.” (05:11)

• Running Jokes:

  • Height fibbing (Shabana’s casting page claims she's 5’6”): “My lawyer will be present next time I answer questions about this.” (06:01)
  • Shabana is evasive about where she currently lives, embracing “anywhere between 4’10” and 6’ and open to work worldwide” (08:10).

2. Call #1: M’s “Mouth Tape Nightmare” Relationship Challenge (13:25 – 33:38)

Problem Presented:

• M (the caller, age ~21):
  Her boyfriend uses mouth tape for snoring/breathing, but when he does, M suffers recurring, nearly traumatic nightmares themed around being voiceless or in peril (e.g., “my mouth couldn’t open and no sound was being produced”). (19:12)

Discussion Highlights & Approaches:

• Therapeutic Comedy:

  • Gareth: “How is he getting water with mouth tape?” (21:40)
  • Shabana (as "the doctor," jokingly): “What if you went to bed with him and he didn’t wear mouth tape and you did? ... Maybe you’re becoming sort of codependent in some way and you’re like, he’s my mouthpiece. We are one.” (19:41)

• Pitches & Advice:

  • Role Reversal Exposure:
    • Shabana suggests M try wearing the mouth tape herself, or have friends/siblings do so, to experiment whether the nightmares persist independently of the boyfriend. (19:54 / 28:13)
  • Gradual Desensitization:
    • Gareth proposes boyfriend put on mouth tape after M’s asleep, avoiding visual triggers. (21:04)
    • Jake: “What if he spends a day with the tape on his mouth … trying to normalize it outside of sleepy time?” (27:33)
    • Eric Edelstein (guest): “Exposure therapy. Expose yourself more often.” (27:58)
  • Relaxation/Meditation:
    • M notes pre-bed meditation helped reduce nightmare intensity, suggesting it as a continued coping strategy. (25:10)

• Meta-Moment:

  • The hosts invent a “mouth tape” study with M’s sisters, and encourage a “sleep experiments journal.” (29:12)
  • “Let’s try a night of you maybe putting on the mouth tape. … Keep a little bit of a tracking journal for us.” (31:12)

• Deeper Insights:

  • Psychology Today is referenced: “Recurring dreams often resolve from underlying anxieties … reflecting subconscious fears.” (21:54)
  • Shabana: “But in all of this, know your worth is not tied to you using the dress [or, by extension, the mouth tape]. And your life doesn’t happen in your mum and God’s timelines and you’re doing great.” (53:31, later in context.)

• Memorable Quotes:

  • M: “I would have these like terrible nightmares that would kind of incorporate the mouth Tape. … I would try to get help from the dream version of my boyfriend, but it was as if the mouth tape was stitched into my face.” (19:12)
  • Jake: “None of these ideas work if you’re normal.” (48:11)

Action Plan:

• M will:
  • Run a “mouth tape sibling experiment” at slumber parties.
  • Try role reversal (wearing mouth tape herself).
  • Boyfriend puts on tape after she’s asleep.
  • Possibly try white noise/meditation before bed.
  • Report back to the show in approx. a quarter (5–12 weeks).

3. Call #2: Honora’s Unworn $3,000 Wedding Dress (43:12 – 55:57)

Problem Presented:

• Honora:
  Five years ago, Honora’s mother (after a “message from God”) bought her a wedding dress, promising she’d meet “the love of her life and get married within three months.” Neither occurred. Now Honora feels the dress is a source of family/godly disappointment and is stumped what to do with it. (43:17)

Discussion Highlights & Pitches:

• Key Quotes:

  • Honora: “Now it’s been five years and I just have a wedding dress sitting in my closet.” (43:57)
  • “I want to change my point of view on it. I want it to be something that, you know, brings me joy every time I see it instead of daunts me.” (49:51)

• Pitches:

  • Jake:
    • Organize a Denver “wedding photo shoot” with local bachelors in tuxes, vote on best faux-couple (46:23).
  • Gareth:
    • Leverage the dress for free/discounted experiences by pretending to be newlyweds or tragically abandoned (“raccoon eyes with mascara … like you just got stood up”). (48:04)
  • Shabana:
    • Have a “fancy dress” party where everyone wears an item they never get to use, or host a “Denver area women of divorce wedding gown party night.” (51:01/50:26)

• Themes & Tone:

  • No suggestion is off the table, so long as Honora’s into it. Everyone agrees the dress’s power is symbolic, not destiny-defining.
  • Shabana: “If anybody tries to hook up with you while you’re wearing a wedding dress, that person is not a life partner.” (49:07)

• Resolution:

  • Honora decides she wants to have a fake wedding—a montage day out in the dress, hopefully with a show-arranged “low-rent groom.”
    • The show “puts the bat signal out” for Denver men in tuxedos with no shame to contact helpfulpod@gmail.com to be part of the adventure. (55:55)
  • Further suggestions: join a “wedding dress bar crawl,” or, after the day of fun, sell or donate the dress for closure.
  • Shabana clincher: “Your life doesn’t happen in your mom and God’s timelines and you’re doing great.” (53:31)

Notable Quotes & Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote/Context | |-----------|-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:21 | Shabana | “I find the experience of opening an umbrella incredibly fun. I feel like a God.” | | 06:01 | Shabana | “My lawyer will be present next time I answer questions about this [her true height].” | | 14:58 | M | “He finally got vulnerable enough to start sleeping with mouth tape. … I would have … nightmares where I’d wake up sobbing.” | | 19:12 | M | “It was as if the mouth tape was stitched into my face. … Every time I tried to scream … no sound was being produced.” | | 19:54 | Shabana | “What if you went to bed with him and he didn’t wear mouth tape and you did? … Maybe you’re becoming sort of codependent in some way and you’re like, he’s my mouthpiece. We are one.” | | 27:33 | Gareth | “What if he spends a day with the tape on his mouth … trying to normalize it outside of sleepy time?” | | 28:13 | M | “Should I ask [my sisters] to sleep with mouth tape and see what happens?” | | 31:12 | Gareth | “Keep a little bit of a tracking journal for us. … When you come back for a follow up, we know what’s the leader.” | | 48:11 | Jake | “None of these options work if you’re normal.” | | 49:07 | Shabana | “If anybody tries to hook up with you while you’re wearing a wedding dress, that person is not a life partner.” | | 53:31 | Shabana | “Know that your worth is not tied to you using the dress … your life doesn’t happen in your mom and God’s timelines and you’re doing great.” |

Call Timelines

• Umbrella bit / Shabana intro: 02:00–09:29
• Call #1 “Mouth Tape Nightmare”: 13:25–33:38
• Call #2 “Wedding Dress Dilemma”: 43:12–55:57

Tone and Banter

• Frequently self-deprecating (“None of these ideas work if you’re normal.”)
• Emphasizes playful groupthink (“We’re all sharks now” in the umbrella scene)
• “Doctor” jokes referring to Shabana’s character on “The Pit” (“Put on her cape!”)
• Careful to balance comic mayhem with genuine care for the callers.

Conclusion & Follow-Ups

• M will run experiments with mouth tape (her, boyfriend, siblings), noting effects, and check back in with results after a “season.”
• Honora will have a montage day in her wedding dress—possibly including a staged wedding photoshoot—and the team is soliciting Denver volunteers to help.
• Shabana Azeez’s umbrella quest and career shenanigans are woven throughout, amplifying the show’s fun, irreverent energy.

Final Notes:
This episode exemplifies the series’ blend of humor, empathy, and outlandish but heartfelt problem-solving. Both key calls are left open for follow-up, inviting listeners and community participation—whether it’s in the search for tuxedo’d “grooms” or the perfect, dramatic umbrella.