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Jake Johnson
This is a Headgum podcast. This is a Headgum podcast.
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Gareth Reynolds
When she said, I don't dance now, I make money moves, that was a mission statement for a whole new generation.
Natalie Hollis
Respect.
Jake Johnson
But that's not the Mount Rushmore.
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Listen.
Jake Johnson
Cash rules everything around me.
Bill / Billy
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Jake Johnson
Scan the QR code on a Sprite
Bill / Billy
or Sprite Zero Sugar to see the full breakdown.
Jake Johnson
Obey your thirst, Sprite. And we are live.
Gareth Reynolds
Not live, not live, but whatever. I mean, it doesn't matter.
Jake Johnson
You're looking sharp. You're looking sharp, gr.
Gareth Reynolds
No, you are.
Jake Johnson
You are. The tight black tea.
Gareth Reynolds
Looking good. You know, they're getting tighter. I don't know what's happening.
Jake Johnson
You're getting stronger, big daddy.
Gareth Reynolds
Better, my guy.
Jake Johnson
Either way, this sausage tastes delicious. If bigger the better.
Gareth Reynolds
Yeah, I'll tell you what, my casings are tight.
Jake Johnson
I'm getting stuffed, baby.
Bill / Billy
Fat.
Gareth Reynolds
Nice and fat. No, you know, it's like there are times where I will. I just get home and I'm like, n. It's time to get in shape and then I'll just get fatter and then I'll go. Be about to go on the road because I'm about to go on the road for the movie tour and I'll be like, I'm going to get. Now I'm going to rock it on the road.
Jake Johnson
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Gareth Reynolds
And sometimes I do it.
Jake Johnson
What is this movie tour? Tell me and this great audience about what's happening.
Gareth Reynolds
Jake, we are taking the movie. Give it up. Which. Which you are a part of, too. On a, you know, just a. A light little tour. We're going to cities. I'm going to open the show before the movie, talk about it a little. Then Kyle and I will do a Q and A after. By the time this comes out, you can see it in San Diego, Santa Fe, Denver, Chicago, New York, Philly, Raleigh, Atlanta and Nashville.
Jake Johnson
Fun way to do it. Just take it to the People directly.
Gareth Reynolds
Yeah. And hopefully they start buying tickets to it more and more.
Jake Johnson
Well, here's the reality, Gareth. They're getting a set up from you at the beginning.
Bill / Billy
Right.
Jake Johnson
A Q A at the end.
Gareth Reynolds
Yes.
Jake Johnson
And I know you that set up at the beginning is going to have some material in it.
Gareth Reynolds
You're damn right it will.
Jake Johnson
You're going to give them, what, 15 to 20 minutes at the top of the show.
Gareth Reynolds
Yep.
Jake Johnson
And then the Q and A, you're going to be on fire.
Bill / Billy
Then a movie.
Gareth Reynolds
Movie. A good movie.
Jake Johnson
And then realistically, during that Q and A, if I know you, you're going to use that as a chance to go back and forth with the audience a little bit.
Jesse Thurston
Absolutely.
Jake Johnson
And get a bunch of laughs. And Cal's going to be giggling and you're going to be running wild.
Gareth Reynolds
That sounds about right.
Jake Johnson
So they're not only seeing the movie, they're seeing a live show.
Gareth Reynolds
But I'm excited because I've. I've seen the movie on the big screen two times. And you know this. I mean, you watch something with an audience. Yeah. It's different.
Jake Johnson
It's different.
Bill / Billy
Yeah.
Gareth Reynolds
It's better than.
Jake Johnson
Yeah. I will say this in terms of that we did the premiere of Dink the other night, and I love the movie. I find it so fun, and I'm having a really new experience as it's coming out, you know, with anything you do that goes to the world. And we talk about it playfully with this podcast a lot. But there's responses both positive and negative.
Gareth Reynolds
Yes.
Jake Johnson
I'll tell you, man, because I just watched it with Josh and Sean, and my wife was there, and we were a bunch of friends, and we were all laughing and having fun, and I experienced it for what we wanted it to be. I couldn't care less about the negative comments. Well, review, like, right now we're, you know, 75. Yeah. So, like, it's all positive, but when somebody will have a take that's negative, not one part of me is getting mad. I'm going like, I don't care.
Gareth Reynolds
I. But I love you. This, the other night, what it is, is it. You made a great sports comedy that
Jake Johnson
felt like it was from a different era.
Gareth Reynolds
And it is.
Jake Johnson
We wanted a traditional 3x structure. It was like.
Gareth Reynolds
But I will say this.
Bill / Billy
Yeah.
Gareth Reynolds
Well, first of all, I mean, the scenes with Ben Stiller, I can't even imagine.
Jake Johnson
Oh, dude. I was.
Gareth Reynolds
That's crazy.
Jake Johnson
Dying. Laughing.
Gareth Reynolds
But he's not on camera that much anymore. You know, he obviously is doing so
Jake Johnson
it's like he's not doing bits like that very much.
Gareth Reynolds
And so to get to be able to do that, so cool. But I will. This is what I will say too. This, I mean I love the movie and there's some friends of show in the movie all that. You know, you're gonna see some familiar folks. But I really like the way it ended. I was like, I've really liked that culmination to where we know where we're going and when we get there and those last 20 minutes in a sports movie to still be a little unsure of what's gonna happen.
Jake Johnson
Yeah, yeah.
Gareth Reynolds
And find it. I thought it was really. I like the landing got stuck big time. But there are some phenomenal performances in it. It's great. It's great.
Jake Johnson
So speaking of landing the plane and. Or not landing the plane, the great Steve Berg cook off occurred.
Gareth Reynolds
Steve Berg starved ink.
Jake Johnson
Steve Berg lost. The more time that has passed, his chicken parm has gotten less delicious in memory. True or false? True. But we, me, you, him and Amy just had a breakthrough this morning and we are going to have him go through Rocky style training.
Gareth Reynolds
It feels like we opened the Strait of Hormuz together this morning. There was a tense negotiation, but holy did it come.
Jake Johnson
So Steve Berg is going to get coached and learn how to make a delicious meatloaf. And he's going to have to go against the cheapest microwavable meatloaf you can get from the frozen food section.
Gareth Reynolds
That's round one.
Jake Johnson
Then him, he's going to take his versus that microwave and prepare him blind taste test with people.
Gareth Reynolds
Yes, that's right.
Jake Johnson
Once he beats that level, then go to like a Vons. That's get the cooked meatloaf where you can buy it to go.
Gareth Reynolds
Yeah, yeah. Like, you know when you're like, I don't care what I put in my body, I get this. He's got to beat that.
Jake Johnson
You go like this. Do you want those like weird potato fries things? Those crisping. You're like the wedges.
Gareth Reynolds
Yeah, sure, I know they're husks.
Jake Johnson
And they go, how many? And you go, what is it coming? And they said pound half. And you go, Jesus Christ, give me a half a pound of potatoes pound. Do you do pound?
Gareth Reynolds
Look at the shirt,
Jake Johnson
Garrett. So do I.
Jesse Thurston
Of course.
Jake Johnson
Gareth. Look at me asking. Come on, big boy, half a pound. You're not fooling anybody.
Gareth Reynolds
Half a pound's for the car ride home. Then you get home, you finish the pound.
Jake Johnson
Burgertron's gotta beat that. Yeah, if he beats that, then he Goes to Whole Foods, then he beats
Gareth Reynolds
a Whole Foods meatloaf. And once he does that restaurant, he
Jake Johnson
can beat any old restaurant in Omaha. And look, if you're a restaurant owner in Omaha, you want to challenge him, maybe we'll pick you.
Gareth Reynolds
We want him to have the reps, but then, then he. But do you want to say where it's going or should we hold on to that? Yeah, there's a.
Jake Johnson
We don't know.
Gareth Reynolds
There's an endpoint here that's tastier than his chicken parm.
Jake Johnson
Yeah, anything.
Gareth Reynolds
You can't do this. By the way, our human ratings on Patreon, we heard today, people rating us as people. And it's not good.
Jake Johnson
Nobody likes Gareth and I anymore.
Gareth Reynolds
Now I'll tell you who does like us. The people that we're helping on this show across this country, in this world. So without further ado, enjoy some ads. And we are also brought to you by the great Function Health. Function Health. Okay, we're talking about health all the time. I mean, August, for God's sakes, it's National Wellness Month. Should be every month, but here we are. But you know, most health trends are going to throw some weird stuff at you. I mean, good lord, if you're scrolling social media, you kind of don't even know where to look. You're going, oh, I need to do that. I need to do this. What you really need to do is lift up the hood under the car that is you and find out what is going on.
Jake Johnson
I got my blood work at Function Health. It told me that my cholesterol was high. I have since been on a quest to lower my cholesterol. I got another round of it after listening to what it said and taking those recommendation, taking the vitamins, eating the thing. What it does at the end is it recommends, like, eating what you should do, exercise. And I'm doing it. And guess what? My cholesterol is getting better. Check your health the way I do. Function provides 160 plus lab tests for a dollar a day and member pricing on advanced imaging. Join@function health.com here to help and use gift code here to help. 25 for a $25 credit.
Gareth Reynolds
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Jake Johnson
Butcherbox is a sponsor of our show. In Butcherbox is something that I use. I get really delicious chicken from Butcherbox. I like that it's responsible. I like that it's sustainable. I like that it's healthy. I like that it's environmentally friendly. It checks a lot of boxes on the protein. For me, that makes me want to buy from them. ButcherBox delivers 100% grass fed beef, organic chicken, wild caught seafood and more. All source to standards they can actually tell you about. They've already done the research and made the tough sourcing decision. So all you have to decide is what is for dinner.
Gareth Reynolds
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Jake Johnson
I am legit watching this. This feels like something our podcast should have been producing. I would love to see the best dunkers dunk. We need to discuss the dunk contest and we might need to lower it into a six foot dunk contest presented by Shaquille o'.
Gareth Reynolds
Neal. Get involved with Dunk Man. Can we get your name please? We know you're a follow. Well, we don't know what the hell's going on.
Bill / Billy
Hey, how's it going? This is Bill calling from Alexandria.
Jake Johnson
What's up, big daddy?
Gareth Reynolds
Okay, Bill. Okay, Bill.
Jesse Thurston
Bill.
Gareth Reynolds
Keep going. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Okay. What did you say was happening? It's okay. Yeah, it is hot. Jake is high as a kite. Go ahead, Bill.
Bill / Billy
So I'm calling about my grandfather's large mounted sailfish that previously my brother's girlfriend had called in.
Gareth Reynolds
We made a nautical bathroom.
Bill / Billy
Yes. The medical bathroom that she didn't want. Now she doesn't want to get back to me.
Gareth Reynolds
Yeah.
Bill / Billy
And I would just like a chance to share my story.
Gareth Reynolds
Well, and then what happened was then they did that, and then they were like. You wanted the marlin back, Right? Is that what it was?
Bill / Billy
That is correct. Because me and my brother had an agreement that I would give him the fish because me and my wife moved into an apartment that we no longer had space for the fish.
Gareth Reynolds
Sure. We're looking at it right now.
Bill / Billy
Yeah. It's about like a little over six feet.
Gareth Reynolds
Yes. It's crazy.
Jake Johnson
Yeah, man, take over. Let's hear your whole story. And don't be afraid to start from the beginning.
Bill / Billy
Absolutely. Yeah. So when my grandmother was moving out of her house, my. She was giving away items in the house that were of sentimental value to the family.
Meredith
Sure.
Bill / Billy
And I asked for the large sailfish that my grandfather had caught that had been wall mounted because I wanted to put it on my own wall. And so I took it, drove it down from Massachusetts. My dad drove it down to. To bring to me down to D.C. and I mounted it in the. In on the main wall in my apartment where I was living with my then girlfriend, current wife. And we grew to love that fish. Current life, current wife. We grew to love that fish. We named it Beth. As your fish, brother. My brother's girlfriend. Yeah. It is my fish.
Gareth Reynolds
Okay, I'm glad.
Jake Johnson
I'm glad you say that right now. I have forgotten a lot of the backstory. Totally out of my mind on this fucking junk. But this fish is yours, brother.
Bill / Billy
I appreciate you saying that.
Gareth Reynolds
Well, Bill, you're not talking to Jake right now, but keep going. Jake left the building a little while ago, but keep going.
Bill / Billy
Yeah. So this was around 2019. Around 2022, me and my wife moved into a house, currently a historic row House in D.C. and we were. We didn't have the space and weren't allowed to mount the fish onto a wall in that house.
Gareth Reynolds
A rule at the apartment.
Bill / Billy
Yeah. We just. The wall wouldn't support it, and we didn't want to. We weren't allowed to drill into the brick wall.
Gareth Reynolds
Okay. And so your brother gets the mar.
Bill / Billy
Brother got the marlin. But we made the agreement that should me and my wife move into a new space that had enough room for the marlin on the wall, he would give it back to us.
Gareth Reynolds
Okay.
Jake Johnson
And this was 2019.
Gareth Reynolds
This was 2022.
Bill / Billy
This. This was 2022.
Jake Johnson
O.
Bill / Billy
Last summer. Me and my wife moved to a house that had enough space for the fish to be mounted in a very prominent space right at the entrance of the house. Yeah. Centerpiece of the home.
Jake Johnson
Okay, keep going.
Bill / Billy
We asked for the fish back, and my brother's girlfriend Meredith and my brother have kind of just been dodging us, I believe when she called in the in law. But.
Gareth Reynolds
But.
Jake Johnson
But not even blood.
Bill / Billy
Yeah.
Gareth Reynolds
Since. Well, blood and.
Jake Johnson
But what's your brother doing?
Natalie Hollis
He.
Jake Johnson
You're the guy you made the deal with, so.
Gareth Reynolds
But since then.
Bill / Billy
I know. Yeah.
Gareth Reynolds
He made a nautical bathroom based around our pitches. And that fish ain't their fish.
Jake Johnson
So what's your brother doing?
Bill / Billy
He's there just dodging my repeated requests for the fish back.
Gareth Reynolds
Do you live in the same place? The same city where. How far apart are you to.
Bill / Billy
I'm over in Alexandria, just across the river, and he's in D.C. okay.
Gareth Reynolds
So not too far.
Jake Johnson
How often do you guys see each other?
Bill / Billy
We see each other about once a month.
Jake Johnson
In terms of anger. I'm gonna ask you a question here. 10 is, this is gonna be a duel and it's gonna end in violence. Zero is who gives a shit? Where are you at?
Bill / Billy
For I'd put it. I'd put myself at a seven, and I'd put my wife at a nine. Oh, shit.
Jake Johnson
This is getting real. And where is the. Your brother and his girlfriend?
Bill / Billy
They are still in the apartment.
Jake Johnson
No, I mean zero to ten in your guts.
Bill / Billy
Oh, they probably. I don't know. They're four. They're pretty angry. I'd say they're like a six.
Jake Johnson
Okay.
Bill / Billy
They really. But they. They're dodging the question.
Jake Johnson
And so what have you up to this point. Done. By the way, Great job, Steve. Rolling. And let that be a lesson to everybody listening to this show. There are times where the junk gets on top of me.
Gareth Reynolds
Jake's gonna be going away for a couple months after this episode. Just so everyone knows. And so I don't even know what
Jake Johnson
I got in my mouth anymore.
Jesse Thurston
That's a.
Gareth Reynolds
That's a crazy man sentence.
Natalie Hollis
Wait, I don't think they actually made the bathroom. I'm looking at the old emails, and this picture that's on the wall is the compromise they made. So they don't even have.
Jake Johnson
They don't have a bathroom.
Natalie Hollis
They don't even have a bathroom.
Gareth Reynolds
They just don't have anything else on the walls. Yeah, they have one thing hung up, and it's a marlin.
Jake Johnson
And so what have you. What's the most direct approach? Where are we at. And I remember now hearing there's two people here.
Gareth Reynolds
Yeah, we have them in waiting to come in. Oh, we have the, the brother and the in law.
Jake Johnson
And you, you know that the sister in law is here too, correct? What, what's everything that you know? We have surprised people in the past. It's gone sideways. So tell me your name again.
Gareth Reynolds
Bill.
Bill / Billy
Bill.
Jake Johnson
Billy. What do you know? Do you know that the sister in law's here?
Bill / Billy
I do know. I assume she'd be here. You guys mentioned you may try to get her on.
Jake Johnson
Okay, and what have you guys discussed up to this point? What are we walking into here, Bill?
Bill / Billy
I mean, so the biggest thing is that she never talked to us about her desire to keep the fish. The only reason we found out about it is because my, my buddy flagged your podcast for me. Of which she called in saying she didn't want to get the fish back.
Jake Johnson
Oh, that's how you heard about this?
Gareth Reynolds
That's, that's, that is how I heard.
Jake Johnson
This is incredible. And then you and your, your wife listen together?
Bill / Billy
Yes, we did.
Jake Johnson
How fucking your wife?
Bill / Billy
Dude, my wife was pissed.
Jake Johnson
Give me some direct lines.
Bill / Billy
Yeah, he said that fish is ours. I was the one that named Beth. I want that fish back on my wall now. Wow.
Jake Johnson
And you're dealing with now.
Gareth Reynolds
When was the last time you fished?
Jake Johnson
You're on the grill, brother.
Gareth Reynolds
When was the last time you talked to your sister in law?
Bill / Billy
So we, I used to see her around once a month every, you know, two months. And I. We bring up the fish every time.
Gareth Reynolds
Okay, but it's tense.
Bill / Billy
Yeah.
Gareth Reynolds
Okay.
Jake Johnson
Here's what I'm worried about, Gareth.
Gareth Reynolds
Yeah, I hear you.
Jake Johnson
This is going to be potentially explosive. Yeah, I'm gone mentally.
Gareth Reynolds
Yeah, yeah, you left. Have you been. When was the last time you were here, you think?
Jake Johnson
I don't remember any calls.
Gareth Reynolds
All right, so I'm gonna run point on this.
Jake Johnson
Is that good for us?
Gareth Reynolds
I. I think it's our only option.
Jake Johnson
Good luck, brother.
Gareth Reynolds
And I think that, I mean, you've become stone cold Steve Austin. Stop pointing to Jesse with your weird dislocated finger gun.
Jake Johnson
That's my guy.
Meredith
Stop.
Gareth Reynolds
So we're gonna bring in your sister in law. What's her name?
Bill / Billy
Meredith.
Gareth Reynolds
All right, we're gonna bring in Meredith. You guys are gonna talk. Let's. Let's hear from her and then we'll hear from you.
Natalie Hollis
Am I putting Bill in the waiting room? Do you want a moment with Meredith?
Jake Johnson
Yes.
Gareth Reynolds
Okay. Yeah.
Natalie Hollis
Okay. Bill, I'm gonna put you back in the Waiting room for a few minutes.
Gareth Reynolds
Great work though, Bill.
Bill / Billy
Okay.
Natalie Hollis
And then we'll bring you back in together. Meredith's recap.
Gareth Reynolds
Hey, Meredith.
Meredith
Hi.
Gareth Reynolds
Hey. How are you?
Meredith
I'm good. How are you guys?
Gareth Reynolds
Good. Listen, we've. We've been digging back into the marlin world a little bit and. And you still have the Marlon, from what we understand, right?
Meredith
We do. We still have Beth.
Gareth Reynolds
Where is this situation at right now?
Jake Johnson
But know that we've got Billy in the waiting room.
Meredith
He goes by Billy now.
Bill / Billy
You guys are friends with him.
Meredith
That. That frightens Meredith.
Gareth Reynolds
Don't do this. Don't you do this to us.
Jake Johnson
Yeah, we're friends with Billy.
Gareth Reynolds
Stop it. I gotta caveat this a little bit if Jake seems strange. He is. So, Meredith, where are we at right now? We know that you have the marlin. We know that Bill, Billy boy and his wife, they want the marlin. And you all are holding on to the marlin. Where are you In. In the midst of this plot right now?
Meredith
I see that differently. Also. You're on the phone with Caleb as well, my partner. So he's listening.
Gareth Reynolds
The guy, her husband, her boy.
Meredith
But. So, yes, he's still here. And I guess Bill then and was like, we want her back. But they have not said that to me, like, personally, you know, I haven't got any.
Jake Johnson
Can I jump? Can I jump in?
Bill / Billy
Yeah.
Jake Johnson
So here's what is going to be presented to you. And we're going to do it so that there's no conflict. This is not going to be an angry situation. His family says, fish, this is wonderful.
Gareth Reynolds
That is the greatest title or merch pitch I've ever heard on this show. This is
Jake Johnson
wonderful.
Gareth Reynolds
This is Fish.
Bill / Billy
This.
Meredith
Is.
Jake Johnson
How much do you know about the deal Bill made with Caleb? Caleb?
Gareth Reynolds
Oh, my God.
Meredith
I do not know. A ton. Only that it is verbal. I've tried getting more out of Caleb. He doesn't really remember a lot of it, but all I know is that it was verbal. Nothing was written down.
Jake Johnson
Okay, so who in your house is going to make the final say about the fish? And the reason I ask you this is, is this really between Bill and Caleb? Is it between you and Bill as the lawyer right now? And, you know, we just try to get contracts done. So who's the one who's going to have final say in terms of negotiation? Because I'll tell you what I think it's going to come down to is that agreement and that conversation between Caleb and Bill. But I would like your opinion.
Meredith
I mean, I kind of Think it's between all four of us. Bill, his wife, Katie, Caleb, myself. But I will say Caleb himself is a lawyer, so I'm kind of banking on him to, like, that's cool. Get in some window or something.
Jake Johnson
So he's. Is he. He's there, too?
Bill / Billy
Yeah, I am. Yeah.
Jake Johnson
What's up, brother? So, question for you. Before we bring Billy on, do you remember the conversation you and Billy had about his narrative about Beth? That he was going to pass it on to you, but if they ever moved, that he would want the fish back? Do you remember that?
Bill / Billy
Vaguely.
Jake Johnson
Vaguely. Let's bring Billy on.
Gareth Reynolds
Why didn't you guys turn the bathroom into a nautical theme? The fish wouldn't fit.
Meredith
Because this wouldn't fit on the wall.
Gareth Reynolds
Okay. Thank you.
Bill / Billy
I'm certainly appropriate to hang it from the ceiling.
Jake Johnson
Okay, here's. I got an idea to start this, if you're okay with it. Let's let them talk it out with no moderation for a little bit and see what happens.
Gareth Reynolds
Okay. You just want to throw them in a box and close the lid and see what comes out.
Jake Johnson
Family, this is fish. This is wonderful.
Gareth Reynolds
It sounds like an offshoot Olive Garden seafood restaurant slogan. This is family. This is fish. This is wonderful. Sea Garden.
Jake Johnson
This is family.
Gareth Reynolds
This is fish. This is wonderful. Like a Hallmark script that nobody ever gave notes on.
Jake Johnson
Billy, are you on?
Bill / Billy
Oh, I'm back.
Jake Johnson
Billy, you're on with your fam. Everybody say hello. We all know the situation about Beth. Bill, you want to start?
Bill / Billy
I do. Meredith, we've had the conversation since we moved back into the house. We all know Cal has been dodging me and just won't admit that he made an agreement with me to bring back the fish. We're willing to come to you, take that fish off the wall and bring it back to its rightful home. When can we get the fish back, Meredith?
Meredith
But in an old, dirty, dark shed, and you just forgot about her until. Until suddenly. Basement. And you're like, let's do it.
Bill / Billy
Nope. We did not forget about her. We were not allowed to hang her up in our house. Therefore, we had to put her back in storage with the understanding that once we got space, to bring her back out and get her on a wall. That would be the plan. I graciously agreed to let Cal take the fish until we had such space, and now we do. And so I think we should get the fish back.
Jake Johnson
Caleb, your thoughts, brother?
Bill / Billy
Oh, no. We have cared for it. I had to put major holes in my walls to fit her into a tiny apartment. And she is thriving in our humble abode. And we all.
Meredith
We.
Bill / Billy
And it was never written down either. I don't fully remember this full.
Jake Johnson
Where you go to law school.
Bill / Billy
I can't remember.
Gareth Reynolds
Caleb, Caleb, you can't be a lawyer. Like I didn't understand there was paperwork.
Jake Johnson
Caleb, your V before you took the stand was very.
Gareth Reynolds
This family, this fish, he wonderful.
Jake Johnson
Caleb, you became me.
Gareth Reynolds
Caleb, Caleb, Caleb. But in all honesty, Caleb said the
Jake Johnson
equivalent of, I mean, it is family. This is wonderful. This is wonderful. I can't remember what the fuck is he saying?
Gareth Reynolds
I heard someone say, this is wonderful. In earnest. You like this is wonderful? Yeah.
Jake Johnson
Caleb, I'm gonna give you a second chance at that. Go really close to the phone. Let's do that again. Billy said you guys had a verbal agreement for him. It seems very clean that he said, when we have space, we get it back. You said, agreed?
Gareth Reynolds
Yes.
Jake Johnson
In the meantime, you're like, but I'm going to hang it up. And he goes, great, now he's got space. And he's saying, hey, based on our handshake brother agreement, it's time for it to come back. Your thoughts?
Bill / Billy
I think that because he left Beth for dead in our garage and waited for the perfect house, I think his time has passed. Three years is a long time to wait to reclaim Beth. And I think we have a great claim that she is happy and should stay on our lawn.
Jake Johnson
Okay, so you.
Bill / Billy
I didn't realize there was a statute of limitations on fish. Well, you probably should have read the official all about it.
Gareth Reynolds
Now, Caleb, Caleb, you're being a catty
Jake Johnson
little lawyer, but I do think Caleb brought up an interesting point, which is, yes, that was true. But at a certain point, if I've been raising this thing for 10 years, it's my kid had at any point
Gareth Reynolds
in that time where the fish was on Caleb and Meredith's wall bill, did you mention how you were excited to get the fish back once it was time?
Bill / Billy
Absolutely. And I'm pretty sure anytime my wife was ever at their apartment, she said, I can't wait to get that fish back.
Gareth Reynolds
Do you. Caleb and Meredith, do you remember that?
Meredith
I think you guys have only been over here one time to see Beth in her glory. And whenever she's brought up, it's always just in passing of like, oh, we missed Beth. Oh, we'll try to get her. If there was never, you know, a text of, hey, when can we come up? This is the first time I think will have said, when can we come
Bill / Billy
over to get her interested?
Gareth Reynolds
I I've.
Meredith
I've reached.
Bill / Billy
I've reached Categorically false.
Gareth Reynolds
Okay.
Jake Johnson
But I think one thing I want to say, and I could be wrong on this.
Gareth Reynolds
Cut the fish in half.
Jake Johnson
No. Is it sounds like the new owners feel a very personal connection to Beth.
Gareth Reynolds
Yes.
Jake Johnson
And they fear that Billy just sees Beth as wall decoration.
Gareth Reynolds
Yes.
Jake Johnson
That he believes is rightfully his.
Gareth Reynolds
Well, and also I think there's something to the idea that now that Billy
Jake Johnson
knows he can't have it, he wants it more. But he really does. So am I. Is that. Am I hearing that correctly from our current owners that you don't believe Billy actually cares about Beth and he just wants it because it's quote unquote his? And let's be honest, it was featured on a podcast. Your thoughts?
Bill / Billy
He wants it for the fame.
Jake Johnson
He wants it for the fame. Isn't that a disgusting thing to hear? Billy, your thoughts on your behavior?
Gareth Reynolds
Billy, be honest. Is that part of it?
Bill / Billy
No. I can't remember when in the last time Meredith called in, she claimed that she was so attached to it, she was decorating it. I have photographic evidence from when we first got Beth of me and my wife decorating that fish for all the holidays. We love that fish and we want it back so we can continue to decorate it in our home. It is a member of our family.
Jake Johnson
So now, Meredith, go ahead, you go. No, you go, please.
Meredith
I give Katie 100% credit for the vision. She was the founding mother of Beth's wardrobe, dressing her up for holidays. However, he and Bill again put Beth in a dark garage where she was just left. She was not left with a Santa hat.
Bill / Billy
There are only a limited amount of spaces you can store a six foot sail.
Gareth Reynolds
That's a storage room.
Jake Johnson
Here's my only fear, Em, is it sounds like the original mother was the one who started direct the putting clothes on it, caring for it. Billy was the original. We need to show this thing off. Then they were in a situation where it was not legally allowed. So they, from their point of view, they lent it to you until they moved into a bigger spot than you guys adopted all of the stuff that they did to Beth originally. And it sounds like your guys's argument is, yeah, but you left Beth in storage.
Gareth Reynolds
Yeah.
Jake Johnson
Therefore you didn't value Beth. Now that Beth is a podcast celebrity now you want that back. But it's. It's. You don't actually care. And we're not playing this game with you. The fish stays with us.
Gareth Reynolds
You're a starfish fucker.
Jesse Thurston
That's what Jake's saying is that where
Jake Johnson
you guys are fundamentally coming from?
Bill / Billy
Yeah, that sounds about right. And who knows if it's really legal to have it in our place as well.
Jake Johnson
But you. And they didn't take the risk. They could have thrown it on a brick wall, but they said we don't care enough. So now that you have it, your vibe is kind of, you know, my dead body, you're attached.
Bill / Billy
Exactly.
Jake Johnson
Okay, Billy, when you hear that with this, we're not in the emotional state of this. We will pitch. Sol, when you hear that argument, what does that make you think? Because, you know, I'm a flip flopper. That's what I do on this show. I don't know where I stand. So, Billy, where do you stand?
Bill / Billy
I'm just disappointed that we're not getting our fish.
Jake Johnson
Well, it's not we've asked for, not yet. We might end up doing so. We're taking away hurt feelings and pissed. We have to. This is family. This is fish. This is wonderful. But we will get to a solution. It's most likely going to be a little bit absurd, a little bit ridiculous, but we will get there. There's going to be a winner, there's going to be a loser. But in terms of just the logic of this discussion, because you knew, Billy, this can never end with them saying, take it back. They also love Beth. And what I think we've seen in the audience has seen is there's a lot of gray area to this, isn't it, Billy?
Bill / Billy
Yeah.
Jake Johnson
So when you hear their argument, what is your argument? That it belongs to you. Is there anything new? And then everybody start thinking about where you're at, because each person is going to get 60 seconds.
Bill / Billy
I mean, we had a verbal agreement. We couldn't put the fish in a historic D.C. row house. And our agreement was we would get the fish back. We've been waiting for that fish. The first thing we did when we ident when we moved into this house, we identified the spot for Beth.
Jake Johnson
Interesting. And you were just assuming you were going to get it.
Bill / Billy
Absolutely. Why would I not? We had a verbal agreement.
Jake Johnson
Caleb, when you keep hearing this verbal agreement, what is the code of brothers? Because I'll tell you as well as
Gareth Reynolds
the you're a lawyer. What do you think of that?
Jake Johnson
What do you. But I will tell you in terms of Dan and I, we do have a code. We used to call it our little secret as little boys. We were babysitting a kid and she pissed on the floor. Neither of us wanted to clean it. We Moved a little rug over it. And he went. I go, should we tell the people? And he goes, our little secret.
Gareth Reynolds
Can I tell you something? Last night, my mother and I were channel surfing after the game shows and Diff'rent Strokes was on. And I put it on and I told her about how when you were a kid, you wanted to be called Arnold and you had a birthday party where you wanted everyone to call you Arnold. She could not get over it.
Jake Johnson
So going to hearing all of that. Caleb, terms of your brother's code, in terms of everything turns up being a lawyer, how do those pants fit?
Bill / Billy
Well, brother's code. I sympathize. Like, we both said some things, but legally, this is worth a lot. I'm just saying. This is probably worth $4,500.
Jake Johnson
You said 4, 500 things went down.
Bill / Billy
I'm just saying.
Jake Johnson
But I don't like that either. You're not going to get money out of this. Caleb.
Gareth Reynolds
Caleb.
Bill / Billy
I don't care about the cash value.
Gareth Reynolds
Caleb, listen, I'm not. I'm not trying to tear you down while you're on the stand here, my guy, but the dollar value on the fish, that's not heart, my man. That's wallet. Feels like maybe Beth. I know you're just saying, but it feels like maybe Beth is a little more of a value prize to you. Whereas I feel like Bill and his wife are talking about they got a place on the wall. You know what I mean? They could have sold it before they put it in the storage.
Jake Johnson
Meredith, jump in.
Meredith
I think what we were trying to say is that anything of like that monetary value should be written down.
Jake Johnson
Oh, okay. I got you.
Gareth Reynolds
Can I ask you to a favor? Meredith and Caleb, can one of you take a picture of the marlin right now so we can see what you're kind of doing with it right now? Like a picture right now. Because in the picture we have up on the screen. You know what I mean? Just kind of a fish on a wall in a hallway.
Jake Johnson
I do have a pitch.
Gareth Reynolds
I do, too.
Jake Johnson
You do?
Gareth Reynolds
Yeah.
Jake Johnson
You want to go first?
Gareth Reynolds
No, go ahead.
Jake Johnson
I would like to hear yours, if you don't mind.
Gareth Reynolds
My pitch is that. Unfortunately, I'm not gonna. My pitch is we don't solve this right now. My pitch is we can reconvene. They each shark tank us marlin tank. They come in with an upgrade. As far as what Beth's life is gonna be, what the wall art is gonna be, what the situation is going to be, and we're gonna. At the end of that. Pick one of them. So it's really gonna be a. What are you gonna turn this into so that Beth has the best existence? Because I think that's getting lost in a lot of this.
Jake Johnson
So I've got a question for. I'm gonna call him og and I'm gonna call him New Parents. So, Billy, you and your wife are going to be OGs.
Bill / Billy
Understood?
Jake Johnson
What do you guys think of the OG idea of coming back and what are we calling it? Marlin tank. Fish.
Gareth Reynolds
Marlin tank.
Jake Johnson
Marlin tank. And you guys, everybody's gonna have a fair chance as a couple to present their argument. And then we have the audience vote.
Gareth Reynolds
Yeah, that's great.
Bill / Billy
You know, I don't, I don't hate that idea.
Jake Johnson
Okay. Would you, if it goes sideways, would you be able to accept it, squash the bad feelings and go back to good feelings with family and accept the loss if the audience says it's a loss for you?
Bill / Billy
You know, I'm very pro democracy, so I can accept the vote.
Jake Johnson
I love that answer.
Gareth Reynolds
I like that too. And I will say that we, we are now getting an updated picture. And the Marlin does look like it's being utilized in a better way. What are we seeing for the people we're seeing? The Marlin now has some sunglasses on the, on the nose, the sword nose. It's got some beads around where I guess the neck would be, and it is celebrating Pride Month with a pride flag.
Meredith
So, yes, we were on like at the beginning, at the beginning of July, so I didn't change her yet. But for the month of June, yes, she was celebrating Pride Month.
Jake Johnson
Okay, so then new parents, if we were to do a marlin take and then we were to tally all the votes, YouTube emails, Patreon, Spotify, literally just take a day. We'll just go and look. It's not going to be precise. It's not going to be perfect. But we will see. We'll get a gauge and we will determine the winner. And we will be open with our books. We'll show you everything we got.
Bill / Billy
Yep.
Jake Johnson
If you guys lost that, would you accept that loss, fade all the bad feelings and happily give Beth to the OG parents and move on from this?
Meredith
Yeah.
Bill / Billy
Yeah. I do have a quick follow up question, though.
Jake Johnson
Okay.
Bill / Billy
Won't. Won't Meredith and Cal have an unfair advantage in this as they already have Beth on their wall? Why? To decorate.
Gareth Reynolds
Why? We're talking about, we're talking, we're talking about. What is this going to be? I mean, honestly, I would say you maybe Have a slight advantage. You have a blue sky pitch. You've got a whole new space. You can. You know what I mean? This is. We're not talking about how it looks right now. We're talking about where can you take it? What's the future for Beth? That's what the pitch is. That's what Marlin Tank is.
Bill / Billy
That's fair.
Jake Johnson
Would everybody feel positive about this in the end? Even those who lose?
Bill / Billy
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jake Johnson
Let me ask really quickly the room right now, Gareth, where would you lead? Now, mind you, you guys are going to have time. We are going to do a follow up where you're going to be able to prepare. How much time really quickly would you guys want for your Marlin pitch? Pre Marlin take presentation? Two minutes?
Gareth Reynolds
Yeah, two minutes each.
Jake Johnson
You guys good with two minutes each?
Gareth Reynolds
There can be a visual if they want. Doesn't have to be, but
Jake Johnson
og, everyone's good with two minutes.
Bill / Billy
Two minutes.
Jake Johnson
Okay.
Bill / Billy
Okay.
Jake Johnson
As of right now, Gareth, with what we know now, this is giving them a chance to make an adjustment. If you have to vote brother, OG or new. Where does Beth live?
Gareth Reynolds
Let me say this.
Jake Johnson
We have a little bit of music for this one.
Gareth Reynolds
Let me say this. Great music, by the way, that really added a lot. Let me say this. I'm playing the game. The music's here right now.
Jake Johnson
No, I mean for the next call.
Gareth Reynolds
I know. Okay, well, maybe I didn't, but I'm pretending. Okay, so Jesse, put a little music under this so what I said makes sense. And Jake looks foolish. Thank you. Here's where I'm at. I'm very open to it going either place. I just want the best life.
Jake Johnson
That wasn't the question. Biblical.
Gareth Reynolds
I think there's something to the original owner who saved it from grandma.
Jake Johnson
So you go og. I mean, make a call. Yes, Jesse.
Gareth Reynolds
Honestly, my heart's with OG too.
Jake Johnson
Totally.
Natalie Hollis
I think Marlon Tank is stupid and they should have to do a competition that's more stupid and athletic and.
Jake Johnson
What do you mean athletic?
Natalie Hollis
Like we should have like either Marlin games. Yeah, that's a great idea.
Meredith
The Marlin games.
Jake Johnson
Would you guys rather do the Marlin games or Marlin tank?
Gareth Reynolds
See there.
Bill / Billy
I need a lot more details on the Marlin games.
Jake Johnson
Marlin games could be three legged races run up and down with an egg on a spoon. We create like nine different games. You guys compete, film it, and whatever couple wins, the majority of them get. So would you guys rather a plea?
Gareth Reynolds
Well, you could. What you could do is. You could do. You could do it. Like the Marlin Games. So it's kind of all aquatic competition. It's a swim race, it's a chum eating competition. You know, it should just be a bowl of pokey or something like that.
Jake Johnson
That's fun.
Gareth Reynolds
It would be a holding your breath competition.
Jake Johnson
How much the thing weighs you guys?
Gareth Reynolds
Yeah. Yep.
Jake Johnson
How much pounds you could gain in 24 hours? Weight counts.
Gareth Reynolds
Yes.
Jake Johnson
You weigh yourself at 6A like 7am the next day at 7am you guys weigh yourselves. You do not have to tell us what you weigh, but you do have to tell us how much as a couple you gained in 24 hours.
Gareth Reynolds
That's a great. I mean that's an insane.
Jake Johnson
That's what you do with a marlin. You weigh it.
Gareth Reynolds
Yes, I mean that. So there you go. That's the first blush Marlin Games pitch. So you've got Marlin tank or you've got the Marlin Games. And I think it. You want them to decide?
Jake Johnson
Yeah. Which one? Which one do you guys. Now you three take away your squabble for a second and work together as a family and figure out what you guys want. The floor is yours.
Bill / Billy
Oh no. Will or Bill, what are you thinking? I prefer the Marlin Games. I think we can find a middle ground to win at the Marlin game. So we can do that.
Jake Johnson
Okay.
Bill / Billy
We can find someone to film for us.
Jake Johnson
Okay, so you guys want to do the Marlin games. Okay.
Bill / Billy
So now the Marlin games.
Jake Johnson
Really quickly we need you guys to pick. Is it couples or is it brothers versus each other? Billy, is your wife in?
Bill / Billy
Oh yeah, it's couples.
Jake Johnson
Okay, so couples. So Billy, throw out a challenge of a game that you could do for Marlin Games. Meredith and Caleb, you are allowed to say no. Billy, what's a game you guys can do?
Bill / Billy
I like the three legged race.
Jake Johnson
A three legged race. I want it to be incredibly long.
Bill / Billy
Incredibly long. Yeah. We can make that happen.
Jake Johnson
I'm talking maybe three miles.
Gareth Reynolds
That is the funniest. That is the funniest, man. It's a four day race.
Jake Johnson
I'm not talking about. I'm not talking about.
Gareth Reynolds
We are setting a Guinness book record for the longest three legged race.
Jake Johnson
Go in your backyard and run 40 steps.
Gareth Reynolds
I'm talking that tree to that tree. No, Jake's talking about a 10.
Jake Johnson
I'm talking midway through. You're saying to your partner, I need more from you right now. And the other one goes, my ankle hurts. Caleb and I want to go. Lift your fucking foot up. That is catching up to us that.
Gareth Reynolds
Okay, listen, We've gone all over the map. The idea of one competition and it's a 10k three legged race. 6am, we start dusk. We're wrapping it up and you guys
Jake Johnson
film it on GoPro Wear.
Bill / Billy
GoPros.
Gareth Reynolds
And we have someone trail you too.
Jake Johnson
And we have a follow. We have an editor.
Gareth Reynolds
This is Tour de France. Yes, we have an edit. I mean, we need raw footage is fine.
Jake Johnson
What do you guys think of that?
Bill / Billy
I love it.
Gareth Reynolds
I love it.
Bill / Billy
I like him. I'm trying to think, though.
Meredith
You're the two, three miles, one legged race. I'm not gonna do that.
Gareth Reynolds
How bad do you want Beth?
Jake Johnson
You're not gonna do that for Beth. You're out. Take the fish from your fucking wall.
Gareth Reynolds
All right? Ultra.
Jake Johnson
You nuts? I don't want it. I just want to put sunglasses on a marlin. Then tie your fucking leg to Caleb and run, run, run for Beth.
Gareth Reynolds
Oh, my God.
Jake Johnson
So you. You are passing on it?
Meredith
That's it on the myelins. So what?
Bill / Billy
We're in.
Jake Johnson
Okay. No, but hold on.
Bill / Billy
What?
Jake Johnson
We negotiated now because I know what you guys. You guys don't hold on to your deals unless it's written down. So we're going to write this down. How long do you want this race to be? I want 10k. What do you want?
Bill / Billy
10k.
Jake Johnson
People start speaking up or we're take. You said one mile
Bill / Billy
a long three leg race. That was that.
Jake Johnson
Billy, what do you think about a mile?
Gareth Reynolds
Mile? Psychotic.
Jake Johnson
Billy, are you good with a mile?
Bill / Billy
Yeah, we can do a mile.
Jake Johnson
Meredith, you good with a mile? Wait, put your. Wait, your phone. Hold on, your phone's breaking up. Say that again.
Meredith
Yes, I'm fine with that.
Jake Johnson
Everybody, Caleb, Meredith, Billy's. Everybody happy with a winner take all. Three legged race a mile long.
Gareth Reynolds
If you guys do it in under five minutes, you can break the Guinness.
Jake Johnson
They won't be able to. Okay, what do you guys. What do you. Are you guys all happy with that agreement?
Bill / Billy
Yes.
Jake Johnson
When is it going to take place? I want you guys to make shirts.
Gareth Reynolds
I know exactly what the shirts should say.
Jake Johnson
What?
Gareth Reynolds
This is fish. This is family. This is wonderful.
Jake Johnson
But I also want winner takes it all. So, guys, if you lose, the losing team has to say to the winning team, this is Beth. She belongs to you. No hard feelings. Then you all make direct eye contact and you say, this is fish. This is family. This is wonderful. And you hug each other.
Jesse Thurston
Yes.
Jake Johnson
And you mean it. And Billy, if your wife is halfway in and out, it's your job to get her into that hug.
Gareth Reynolds
Yep.
Jake Johnson
Meredith.
Bill / Billy
That's her.
Jake Johnson
If Caleb's feeling like I don't like how that went, it's your job to get him into that hug. You four hug as family. This is fish. This is family.
Gareth Reynolds
Well, by the way, your legs are going to be tied together. So if someone doesn't want the hug, it's going to be really weird.
Jake Johnson
Is that a deal?
Bill / Billy
That's fair.
Gareth Reynolds
Yes. Meredith, Caleb. Yeah.
Jake Johnson
Good luck.
Gareth Reynolds
I mean, I got to say, we're in the midst of the greatest follow up.
Jake Johnson
This is an epic.
Gareth Reynolds
This is our best.
Natalie Hollis
I wrote down everything and I'm going to email it to you guys. And you guys need to email back both of you and say yes. Agreed. Because there's no verbal agreements on this. Okay.
Gareth Reynolds
It's nice for some audience to feel the.
Jake Johnson
But Nat, you know how. What is something I get mad at you about?
Natalie Hollis
Nothing.
Jake Johnson
Not true.
Natalie Hollis
What you tell me you get.
Jake Johnson
I get mad at you because after calls you have ideas. This is what I've always wanted.
Natalie Hollis
I don't like to step on toes,
Jake Johnson
but this was great.
Natalie Hollis
Yeah, I know. Because, you know, Shark Tank, Marlin Tank was boring. And this is better.
Jake Johnson
Well, that was Gara's pitch. Your thoughts stop. How's that make you feel?
Gareth Reynolds
I then I embraced the challenge and we got to a better place.
Jake Johnson
Switch seats.
Gareth Reynolds
No.
Jake Johnson
Thank you for the call, guys.
Gareth Reynolds
We're very excited.
Jake Johnson
This is going to be great for this one.
Gareth Reynolds
This is great.
Meredith
Thank you so much.
Gareth Reynolds
Thank you.
Bill / Billy
Thanks so much.
Gareth Reynolds
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Bill / Billy
Hello.
Jake Johnson
How are you?
Bill / Billy
Oh, I'm doing great. How are you guys?
Jake Johnson
We're doing great. We're excited you're with us.
Bill / Billy
Oh, I'm excited. This is awesome.
Jake Johnson
It's awesome for us too. Can we get your name, please?
Bill / Billy
My name is Keith.
Jake Johnson
Keith. Where you calling from, Keith?
Bill / Billy
Rockford, Illinois.
Jake Johnson
Oh, of course. Keith. How old are you, bud?
Bill / Billy
I'm 34.
Jake Johnson
34. And Keith, if you had a creative note to give the show to make it better, it's okay if it's a little nasty. You're just what's not working with the show these days, Keith.
Bill / Billy
Oh, I don't know. I've been loving it. But I did just listen to the one where you bully the girl and just stop smoking. So
Jake Johnson
you a smoker, Keith?
Bill / Billy
Yeah, I'm a former, you know, socially, every once in a while you get a few in me. I'll have one.
Gareth Reynolds
But it is.
Jake Johnson
So you thought leave her alone, let her smoke.
Bill / Billy
Yeah. It was pretty funny though.
Jake Johnson
On the other end of that song Cancer and Die.
Gareth Reynolds
Keith, your, your aggressive note on the creative of the show is let that woman smoke.
Bill / Billy
That's right. Okay. Respect.
Jake Johnson
Keith, what can we do for you today, bud?
Bill / Billy
All right, so in a few months ago in the summer, I proposed to my live in girlfriend. At the time I got a nine year old son. He helped me, we set up the house, decorated everything. Luckily she said yes and so then went around and thank you, picked the wedding party and you know, I'm pretty close with my son so I asked him to be my best man. It was very cute. Everybody thought it was awesome. But logistically that caused us some problems because I can't throw any bachelor party which I've reassigned to some other people. But what I need help with is the speech because I can't have a 9 year old up there giving a speech. And so we were wondering what creative solutions we could have to have him
Jake Johnson
do for us on our wedding day.
Gareth Reynolds
That is a very.
Jake Johnson
That's very interesting.
Gareth Reynolds
I never would have thought of that. That's a very, very interesting predicament is what should we call the nine year old?
Bill / Billy
We just call him X. X.
Jesse Thurston
Okay.
Gareth Reynolds
Is he inclined to like, is he an outgoing individual?
Bill / Billy
Is not. And his idea was to do a card trick and I'm like, I don't know how a card trick can see 200 people. How many? How they can see a card trick up at the front of the.
Jake Johnson
I got a question for you, Keith. He's the best man, and I think that's awesome. Could you have a second best man?
Bill / Billy
So I do, but he's also my minister, so he's going to be giving the. The ceremony. And so I'm like, well, you just spent 45 minutes talking. What else are you gonna have to say?
Jake Johnson
Let me ask you a question. Walk us through who your wedding party is. Who are the guys who's standing up there with you? Minister?
Bill / Billy
Yeah, son, the minister. My son, my brother, my old college roommate. And then four. Just four buddies.
Jake Johnson
Okay. What's up with the bro?
Bill / Billy
So here's where you run into second wedding problems. Because he gave a speech at the first wedding, so I could. I could do that. But I think at the end of the day, my son really wants to do something too. To tell him, like, hey, you're not doing it. I don't think he'd like that.
Jake Johnson
Let me get a pitch. Go ahead.
Gareth Reynolds
This is my pitch. And you're gonna say I'm making it about me, but I'm not. I'll work with the kid off show writing a speech, and we'll present it to you, Jake, and see what you think of it. And we'll prep him as best we can. I've given a number of speeches. I feel like I'm good at it. But we can write.
Jake Johnson
And can you and him do it over zoom on Patreon?
Gareth Reynolds
Yes, and maybe it goes main show if it's good, but yes, of course it goes. Well.
Jake Johnson
No, the. You coming back and then doing it is main show. Yes, yes, but you working with him and prepping it.
Gareth Reynolds
I can prep. I. What if I. Then you guys come back on his Karate Kid.
Jake Johnson
I love this. That is not making it about you. That's the show. Making it about you is stone.
Gareth Reynolds
We don't need an example.
Jake Johnson
It's crazy that you think is making it about you, though.
Bill / Billy
Hey, hey.
Jake Johnson
It shows me you don't understand what we discuss.
Gareth Reynolds
No, it would disgust. I don't act like we had an intervention. I'm you on the back with judo or whatever you little. Whatever you did in your little shed. Keith, what do you think of that? I can get some details from you. Maybe you could talk.
Jake Johnson
The three of you could talk.
Gareth Reynolds
Yeah, the three of us could talk. And then me and the kid can go off and we can. We can write it. Yeah, no, because he doesn't. I don't want him to know this.
Jake Johnson
Oh, interesting. What if the dad didn't trust you?
Gareth Reynolds
I think we can make it short too. We don't need to put too much of a burden on him. He can have it written down. Gary can reverse it.
Jake Johnson
A couple. Gareth is a professional comedy writer.
Gareth Reynolds
Yeah, I like that. Don't feel pressure to take it. It's just a pitch.
Jake Johnson
It's a great pitch.
Bill / Billy
If I were to give one pushback, it would be, have you ever tried to sit with a 9 year old on Zoom for more than 5 ever
Jake Johnson
tried to sit with Gareth on a Zoom for more than five minutes?
Gareth Reynolds
I'm saying we're going to link up. I'm going to be. He's going to be like, gareth, focus. He's gonna be like, quit putting your name in the speech. And I'll go, it's not making it about me.
Jake Johnson
Then he's gonna go, why does your
Bill / Billy
hair look like that?
Gareth Reynolds
I'll go, hey. And then. And then all of a sudden, leave meeting pops up on his screen. He's like, what?
Jake Johnson
But what do you think about trying? And if it doesn't work, then we come back and we do more pitches. But I think that could really. Because I think the end solution is this. Keith. I think he's got to get up there and I think he's got to do something.
Gareth Reynolds
Keith, when is the wedding?
Bill / Billy
It's in June.
Gareth Reynolds
It's in June. So we got some time. You. You kind of said it seems like he wants to give this speech.
Bill / Billy
I don't know if he wants to give a speech. He wants, but he wants to do something.
Gareth Reynolds
Well, what if we said he could do a card trick, but he just doesn't.
Jake Johnson
But hold on, Gareth, you've already hit a home run here. Keith, let's have Gareth meet with you and X and start creating a 10 minute routine.
Gareth Reynolds
5.
Jake Johnson
5.
Gareth Reynolds
What do you mean?
Bill / Billy
So here's a comedy routine.
Jake Johnson
No, listen, listen, listen. Here's what you're at. You called us and said, my son's my best man, he wants to do something. When we went to my bro and others, you're like, nobody wants to do something. But would a card truck work? Then we've got a guy who professionally travels the country and stands in front of different people and does something in front of them. He also writes for. For TV shows and does comedy that way. So what he's offering is let's me and him get together over a Zoom and start talking about this thing and then re present it to me. So then I'll pitch on it too. Then we lock in with X, what the speech thing will be, where he goes, I feel very comfortable doing that. I really like it. Then that's what he does at your wedding.
Bill / Billy
Okay.
Jake Johnson
Like, this is absolutely perfect. And then if it's not working and Gareth and X get together and he goes like, he's a little bit too young. I couldn't really get through to him. Then we call you back, we say, x, you did so great. Then off the record, we go, let's come up with some new pitches.
Gareth Reynolds
Yep. Okay, so why don't we do that? Why don't. I'll, I'll have Jesse put you and I on an email. We'll get the ball rolling and then maybe like in the next week or so, you X and I can get on a zoom. And then once we kind of lay the foundation, maybe you bounce and X and I just spend a half hour. I'll write something up real easy, I'll type it up, we'll come up with it, I'll send it to him and then, you know, soon enough we'll hop on and. And he can read it to Jake
Jake Johnson
and we'll do a little practice.
Gareth Reynolds
Does that sound okay?
Bill / Billy
No, that sounds great.
Jake Johnson
Okay.
Bill / Billy
Yeah, absolutely.
Jake Johnson
All right, let's. I think this could really win and then turn into a great speech for this guy. A great moment for you guys.
Gareth Reynolds
I mean, honestly, he has so much time. So we can just get this locked in right now and then he has this thing, you know, he can be as ready as he can be for that moment. He can have it in his hands. And again, nine year old, low bar.
Jake Johnson
Agreed. So easy to win.
Gareth Reynolds
Yes.
Bill / Billy
Yeah.
Jake Johnson
Especially if he's got all the time. I'm sure if he's got two or three jokes in there too.
Gareth Reynolds
Yeah.
Jake Johnson
If he starts with a. Oh yeah, a sweet moment, a joke, and then everybody laughs, he's going to feel a ton of confidence.
Gareth Reynolds
Yep. And I can give him advice on, you know, I mean, there's good advice to be. I've. I've helped people with, honestly, wedding speeches before. Like there are certain. There's just. I think we could get him to a pretty good spot even if he's nine.
Bill / Billy
Okay. I do. I have one rule I'm going to have to state here because the wedding is in Wisconsin and he's a Packers fan, but I'm not, so we got to keep the packers out of the speech. You know what I mean?
Gareth Reynolds
How about this? I don't like rules.
Bill / Billy
Fair enough.
Jake Johnson
You're talking about to the bad boy of speech wedding.
Gareth Reynolds
Yeah.
Meredith
Excuse me.
Gareth Reynolds
Yeah, you take your shoes off in the dojo, Keith. All right, all right, well, we'll do that. Okay, so we'll just do that off. Off show for a minute. We'll do something. We'll. Me and the kid can work on Patreon. Even if we don't have his video up, we can figure it out and we'll.
Meredith
We'll.
Gareth Reynolds
We'll get something going.
Bill / Billy
Okay, great.
Gareth Reynolds
We'll start there. Okay. All right, buddy.
Jake Johnson
Hello.
Bill / Billy
Hello.
Jake Johnson
How are you?
Bill / Billy
I'm doing great. How about you guys?
Jake Johnson
We know this is a follow up. That's all we know. The floor is yours. Take over. Tell us everything.
Bill / Billy
All right. I'm Keith. I'm. I called in about help with my best man giving a speech at my wedding, which was last weekend.
Jake Johnson
Keith, Gareth, take over, brother.
Gareth Reynolds
Well, Keith, I've been excited for this one. Why don't you. Why don't you tell us what we started with and what you called in with? But this has been the longest rehearsal for a pitch ever, but go ahead. Keith, first of all, congratulations, because you just tied the knot about a week ago. Right?
Bill / Billy
Yes. We could go tomorrow, so thank you. You're welcome. So originally I called in, kind of hoping not to have him do a speech. I wasn't sure as a, you know, 9, 10 year old he'd be able to do that. And you guys convinced me. Have Gareth help him write the speech, and then over the next, gosh, I don't know, six months, you must have met with him. It feels like a dozen times. It. It felt like a lot of times.
Jake Johnson
Really quickly. All of that is on Patreon, I think. Gareth, you recorded all of them, right?
Gareth Reynolds
Yep. Every. So I worked with your son. Are we saying your son's name? Are we giving him a fake name? What do you want to do? Keith?
Bill / Billy
Keith. The real name's. Okay. Yeah. Xander.
Gareth Reynolds
So we worked. Yeah, we worked with Xander, and then I worked with your friend Matt because we didn't want you to hear the speech.
Jake Johnson
Incredible.
Gareth Reynolds
So. So I worked with Matt and your son on the speech. We tried to make it a good best man speech.
Meredith
We.
Gareth Reynolds
Every time we were rehearsing it. I will say I was extremely impressed with your son's ability to not only memorize the speech, but every time, like, he was in it to win it, and he. Every time we wrote, like. I kind of just wrote like a. You know, the first two times we met, we just kind of wrote it together. Some stuff that he did. I would try to implement, but he was always there. It always got better. And I mean, I don't know, we just kept at it, and it really was a very enjoyable process. And when I knew your wedding was coming up, I think we did one the like a week before, and I kind of kept emailing Matt, being like, how did it go? And he'd be like, the wedding's like, in four days. So I was very invested. So. But yeah, that's all on Patreon, if you want to see the rehearsals up to the event. But. But how did it go?
Bill / Billy
It went great. He did awesome. He really smooth the timing. Honestly, I was so impressed with his timing on some of the jokes and how they landed. And he's been getting compliments for the last week from just about everybody that was at the wedding.
Gareth Reynolds
So that's awesome.
Jake Johnson
What do you think the growth was? What do you think? Where are we at? You know, where. Where did we start all this stuff?
Gareth Reynolds
I mean, he. He started, you know, I mean, he was definitely nervous. And then he just got better and better and literally, it. What was very crazy and what I did not expect is that he always took the notes. He would come back with pitches, though. He would go, oh, I was thinking of this. And I'd say, well, maybe that you do that. And he'd go, oh, I like that.
Bill / Billy
You know, I was very impressed with how many times you. You met with Sander, because it was. It was quite a few.
Gareth Reynolds
It was a number.
Jake Johnson
Can I explain why, Keith?
Bill / Billy
Sure.
Jake Johnson
Gareth is a smart man and he understands content. This man will snip his testicles, wax his butthole, wax his pubes. If he understands that, there's a nice payoff working with a kid for a wedding speech. This man is a producer. He's no fool. And he goes, win, lose or draw, this shit's worth it. And this is a man who loves our show and he's willing to do the grind for it. So a round of applause from this audience for Gareth Reynolds, because we love you, brother.
Gareth Reynolds
No comment. There's some heart in there somewhere, but Jake's most.
Jesse Thurston
A lot of heart.
Gareth Reynolds
How does he feel? Is he happy? Does he feel like. It's always nice when you get compliments as a kid in that way.
Bill / Billy
Yeah. He said he was happy with it. He thought he did a good job. So.
Gareth Reynolds
Yeah. But this is a bell ring for us, right, Keith?
Jake Johnson
Excellent.
Bill / Billy
Oh, absolutely.
Gareth Reynolds
Wedding bell ring. Really?
Bill / Billy
Yeah, that's right.
Jake Johnson
It's great.
Gareth Reynolds
Well, great. Very happy. Way to go. Tell Xander. I said what's up? And very happy. And tell Matt thank you too. He was so helpful.
Bill / Billy
Yeah, absolutely. All right. Thank you guys.
Gareth Reynolds
Thank you.
Natalie Hollis
Hi, my name is Emily. I'm the one who signed up for the Corn on the Cob Eating contest. Official update I have signed up for the contest. It is July 30th at 7:38pm Eastern Standard Time, and I am officially signed up for the contest on August 29th. I have not been practicing as much as Jake and Gareth probably would have liked me to be, but I'm hoping now that I'm signed up, this will kick my ass into gear and hopefully I can at least do moderately. Okay. But even if I don't do that, good. I'm committed to eating corn on the 29th, so we'll see how that goes, I guess.
Jesse Thurston
Hey folks, this is William from Lancaster. This is a follow up from episode 244 titled Ear to Help and the Master appears with Eric Edelstein. Unfortunately, this is not a ring the bell update. Sorry guys, sorry Gareth. But I did want to share a few notes because it's been an impactful part of my life to have participated in the podcast and have a little bit of follow up. So I had asked the guys if I should retire from the martial arts. I started when I was 7 years old. I'll be 34 this year, so it's been a good run, but I've been in and out a lot and I was really considering just stopping altogether. The guys ultimately encouraged me to keep at it. Eric even said it's worth trying it out, right? In the sense to find out if I should open a school or something and really go for it on my own. But the big problem happened where I took a new job and this new job has had a significant change in my life where I just haven't had the time or energy outside of it to really, to really put the time and effort into the martial arts stuff. I unfortunately haven't put my uniform on in months, but I still love it in my heart. It's just not sure if and when it's going to be the time to retire or commit again. I will say there were a few folks who replied to the show and I really appreciate that the show forwarded those on to me and I got an encouragement from someone in a similar space, but also a few folks who said they were from my area and they would be interested in learning. And so. So we are still connected and I have those emails if something ever materializes. Alas, for now I couldn't get a location and all of my time dried up and there went the initiative. It was really a big bummer. Here's the laugh, though. I did enjoy a pretty hilarious small world moment when I was going out with some friends. One evening, my wife and I went out with another couple friend and we just got talking about stuff. We're newer friends, we only met recently. And so my martial arts art's background came up and I started telling them a bit of my story. Shout out, Trav. And as I went down the line with it, I just referenced how this is a slow season for me. I might be retiring as giving some of those little bits details. And Travis goes, oh, my gosh, this sounds just like this guy from an episode of my favorite podcast. Have you ever heard of we're here to Help? He's been doing karate forever, his master lives far away, and he's struggling with retirement. It sounds just like you. I looked at him in complete disbelief, and I was waiting for him to just laugh or reveal that it was a joke when I realized he didn't put two and two together. And he's kind of looking at me as I'm a little in. In disbelief. He's like, what's the matter? I was like, dude, that's me. And, and lots of laughs were had. It was really cool to just be found in the wild episode. I've had a couple family members listen to it and enjoy it, but just to have a random friend bring it up and, and have that laugh over dinner. So they loved the story. They were so excited to hear that. I got to chat with you guys and, and it was really such a pleasure. But if anything changes whether or not I open a school or just really, really kick off the dust, I'll let you all know. But for now, I. I kind of. I feel like I'm. I'm taking on Eric's advice. Like, I. I'll. I'll give it a shot and, and see it through if that. That opportunity comes. But it seems like I'm not going to be an English teacher in Japan. Like, like Eric, you know, he decided not to do it, and I think that's maybe where it is for me for now. So I appreciate you following up, and I hope to follow up with you someday in the future with a really positive ring the bell moment. But thanks for the laughs.
Gareth Reynolds
Hey, everybody, we just want to remind you, if you want to watch new episodes of We're Here to Help, it drops a day early on Hulu, so you can watch the new episode a day early. And we're also dropping a bunch of older episodes from season one and season two, so get involved.
Jake Johnson
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@ HelpfulPodmail.com and if you want to watch video episodes of We're Here to Help, you can go to our patreon@patreon.com heretohelpod to see our entire catalog.
Gareth Reynolds
We're Here to Help is produced by 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 Strecki and if you'd like to see Gareth do 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
That was a Headgum Podcast
Gareth Reynolds
what's up everybody?
Jake Johnson
I'm Kyle Mooney and what's up everybody? I'm back behind and man, ooh, we got something to tell you. Oh yeah, we definitely do.
Gareth Reynolds
Yes.
Jake Johnson
It's a brand new podcast on Headgum.
Meredith
That's right.
Jake Johnson
And it's called what's Our Podcast?
Gareth Reynolds
Yep.
Jake Johnson
And that's because we don't have a single idea what our podcast should be about.
Bill / Billy
Yeah, we don't.
Jake Johnson
So we actually have guests come on and they tell us what they think our podcast should be about.
Bill / Billy
And then we try it.
Jake Johnson
Yep, guests like Marc Maron, Jack Black, Brittany Broski, Kate Berlant, Bobby Moynihan, Meg Stalter and Tim Balls, landon Axler, Joni McGreeves, and Dender and Dender. New episodes release every Wednesday, so subscribe to what's Our Podcast? On YouTube or any of your favorite podcast platforms.
Gareth Reynolds
Yeah, I'm gonna go do it right now.
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Episode 313 of “We’re Here to Help” centers on two classic pillars of the show's charm: chaotic family dynamics and the art of making things up as you go. This week, Jake and Gareth tackle two main listener conundrums—an escalating turf war over a grandpa’s mounted sailfish, and a dad hoping to help his 9-year-old son pull off being "best man" at his upcoming wedding. True to form, the hosts riff, empathize, squabble, and finally shepherd their callers into delightfully weird, heartfelt resolutions.
[01:45–09:08]
[13:02–50:22]
[55:32–64:45]
[66:05–71:00+]
| Time | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|-------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:55 | Jake | “You’re getting stronger, big daddy.” | | 06:34 | Jake | “The more time that has passed, his chicken parm has gotten less delicious in memory.” | | 22:50 | Jake | “This is family, this is fish, this is wonderful.” | | 28:59 | Billy | “I didn’t realize there was a statute of limitations on fish.” | | 31:06 | Jake | “He wants it for the fame. Isn’t that a disgusting thing to hear? Billy, your thoughts on your behavior?” | | 39:38 | Meredith | “The Marlin now has some sunglasses on the sword nose...and it is celebrating Pride Month with a pride flag.”| | 49:12 | Gareth | “This is fish. This is family. This is wonderful.” (Proposed t-shirt for the race) | | 70:44 | Gareth | “This is a bell ring for us, right, Keith?” |
Episode 313 is a standout mix of chaos and care—from competitive meatloaf cookoffs to sibling showdowns over a taxidermy fish, to recording a kid’s journey toward giving a killer wedding speech. It’s a meta encapsulation of what “We’re Here to Help” does best: taking real (and ridiculous) problems, marinating them in empathy and comedy, and inviting the audience in to help shape the ending.
Listen if you like:
Signature Quote:
“This is fish, this is family, this is wonderful.”