Bittersweet Infamy - #141 - Fact or Fiction: Kidding Around

Episode Date: April 12, 2026

April Fool's Fact or Fiction special! Taylor tells Josie three stories about children's television gone awry: a brand-new Wiggle blows over the limit; a malfunctioning spaceship burns a Brazilian kids' show to the ground; and Bananas in Pyjamas get held hostage by the Russian mob. Two of these stories are true, and one is a lie. Guess along with Josie and see if you can separate fib from fact!

Welcome to Bittersweet Inpe. I'm Taylor Basso. And I'm Josie Mitchell. On this podcast, we share the stories that live on and in me. The strange and the familiar. The tragic and the comic. The bitter. And the sweet.

Taylor, welcome. Happy April Fool's. Hey, thank you. Usually the practices that you play a joke on somebody. And then you say April Fool's, as opposed to going up to them and greeting them with Happy April fools. But happy April fools to you too, Josie.

How are you doing? That's the joke. I am an utter fool. No, no, no. That's not even in the top three tarot cards I'd used to describe you. Yeah, I get baby in the sun a lot. That's my top. Right.

I forgot that that was your tarot card. Is a baby in the sun? Again, that's the fool, but April. No, we've talked about this. talked about this before. We've talked about you being baby in the sun before. Yeah. Wow. Well, welcome to our April Fool's fact or fiction episodes of bitter sweet infamy. We're making them full episodes now. These used to be minfamai. And they still are minfamai, but we're just expanding the order. Giving this little game that we play where we mix truths and lies. We're just

given it its own full episode, two of them, in fact. I know, we missed them infamous. It's been, it's been a long time. We yearned. It's been how many, a few episodes here. Like four? Like four. Rui's nodding.

Rui's in the background here saying, Ruii say hi. Hi. Hi, Rui. That's the first and last you'll hear Rui. Get back in your cupboard. You do have a small place, though. It's a little, little tiny place. Just me, Rui and all the ants, you know, sharing it together.

Cozy. Cozy rhymes with Josie, and I'll use that as my seg. Josie, what is your relationship? And I know, I think I kind of know what you're going to say. What is your relationship with the prank? Oh, with the prank. The concept of. I did some, like, what are the phone calls when you're a kid and you're like, prank phone calls?

Prank phone calls. I have bad, like, cringe factor. That's what the review say. Yeah. that's not even true. No one's ever said that. Oh, Taylor. No, but I know what you mean.

Like the secondhand embarrassment thing definitely comes into it. I can't, I'll have to like stand up in the movie and just be like, I'm just gonna, I'll be, I can hear it, don't pause it, don't pause it. I just like can't do it. I was gonna say what's a movie

that's made you done that, but Dancer in the Dark made you do that. Maybe for different reasons. Maybe for different reasons. That was my prank. My prank was that I paused it and I waited for Josie to come back and we continued the scene.

Yeah. Pranked. I do remember that. I can't keep up the long game with a prank. I'm not too good at that. Have you ever been on the receiving end of a prank? Yeah, you prank me all the time. The fucking game show, right?

I mean, I don't think of those as pranks when they're happening, but they are. They follow the structure of one. Well, and I think especially the first game show. I mean, the second one I was just like, I'm on vacation. I'm not reading plaques. I'm not picking up signs. I'm not reading plaques. I'm not all asleep on the front porch.

You know, I had a thought this weekend because Mitchell and I went camping and a hike that we went on had all these like little stanchions with little plaques. And I was just like, I'm not going to read all of these. One, this is like Texas State Park. All of this information. I shouldn't say all. Most likely all of this information is incorrect. I'm not going to read these plaques. This is poorly researched history.

I don't need to waste my time on this. History according to Greg Abbott. Yeah, yeah, exactly. The Cronquah people thought it would be a good idea to leave this area. And so they went somewhere else. They went on vacation. We're still waiting for them to come back. Yeah, we will welcome them with open arms when they do.

Yeah, exactly. But I'm trying to think of your prankster ways besides that. I don't, I'm not. I hate pranks. You're not. I actually hate pranks. I super hate pranks. I'm surprised that I've been committing so many. I didn't realize. Genuinely. I hate pranks. And pranks always boomerang on me. The accidental prankster. Ooh, that's a good rap name. When I'm tired of you boy clowny, then I'll go with that one. The rare time that I attempt a prank, it always boomerangs on me, e.g. One time I thought it would be funny to like take someone's phone at the bar and be like, oh, once you notice and it'll be a big, ha ha and I'll give it to you kind of thing.

But then she didn't notice. I forgot she had her phone. I took it back in the cab to my boyfriend's place who I was staying at. And then literally as we were pulling up, I was like, oh, fuck, I still have so-and-so's phone. And we had to, I had to pay for the cab to go to her place, drop off the phone. And then back to the place I just was. That prank ended up, like, putting me out like $30 of even more now.

Yeah. That's definitely a boomerang effect on that one. And no one to blame but myself. No one to blame but myself. Yeah. And that's the rare time because I don't like being on the. receiving end of a prank. So I shouldn't take it if I can't dish it or the other way around. I think you have to have a very particular personality to be a good prankster. And part of it is like

very charming and like you care but you don't care so much. The prank has to be amusing. And this, I think this is maybe what I was going for with the game show thing. The prank has to be amusing and unique enough that you like chucking a bucket of fish guts in someone's face. Well, now that person might just file charges, you know? If you do that with without a good personality. But how do you feel about the thing where it's supposed to be like, if you don't, did you ever hear this? Or maybe this is just something they said at our school to keep us from doing pranks all day. But if you don't do the prank before noon, it doesn't count. No.

It's if you share the bad dream before breakfast, then it won't come true. See, I've never heard this. I have a lot of bad dreams. That's going to be helpful. Thank you. It helps you get it off your chest. I think that's part of it. I see.

So I'm not going around worrying that the elevator I'm in is going to plummet to the ground all day because I said it over, you know, eggs and toast. Exactly. God, exactly. Or slightly before. The prank before noon, that is totally a school thing. Yeah. Because I heard that in elementary school and I wondered.

Even then. I was like, I don't know if that's true. Imagine your teachers too, like a 3 p.m. prank. It's like, I'm tired. Oh, yeah. I'm getting divorced right now. I don't want a prank. Fuck you.

Fuck you and your salt in my coffee cup. This is the last thing I have left. Yeah. But if you get me with the salt in the coffee cup at 1030 a.m., Oh, that's a more fool me. I'm fresh. That's just funny. That's just good comedy.

I've got a good kind of prank story that I've told you before, Josie. I probably told it on the main podcast before, but I'm not sure that I have. And it kind of segs us into our little film club advertisement that I'm about to do here. Are we making a transition? Let me put some lipstick on. No, go, go for it. Go for it. Is that lipstick or is it it itching powder, April Fool?

We're taping March 31st kind of getting into it. April 1st. It's not implausible. April Fool's pranks are starting in like Burma, you know? Yeah, it's true. Big April Fool's country. A country of pranksters. A country of pranksters. One of the worst pranks I've

ever come up with, I didn't end up doing it because I think it's also potentially the worst creative idea I've ever had. Ever. And so I thank this podcast for introducing me to that side of myself. Because sort of in a fun, facty kind of way,

The original April Fool's episode also fell when we were doing love episodes because Mitchell was going to be on it. And it also fell when we were in person in Vancouver. And it also fell when I was obliterated drunk. That's not so much a theme thing. That's a way I chose to behave. Oh, yeah. Those were some drunky episodes.

Drunky episodes. I have not listened back to those. I couldn't and we don't recommend that you do. But sadly, they're historically relevant because it's the first time we ever taped in person. Hence why we were fucking meat. It was booze and weed drinks. because it's terrible. And also, it's the debut of this April Fool's Factor Fiction Mimphemous format because they were April episodes. Back then, we were all about stacking our themes and we were trying

to find themes and some of the, some of the gimmicks that we tried didn't work as well as other gimmicks. They didn't all have the staying power of the April Fool's Fiction Mimphemous. And to that point, when I was originally coming up with a concept for an April Fool's concept episode, my first idea was this. I was going to describe the plot. of the 1970s sci-fi thrill not sci-fi, like a thriller, medical thriller, coma. And I was going to describe the events of this film

as though they had actually happened as my story for an episode. And then at the end, I was going to reveal to Josie and potentially also the listeners that this is just the movie coma. Oh. Now there's a few, yeah. So first of all, no one has seen this movie.

movie or knows what it is. It's true. Couldn't even tell me an, like, I think like maybe Burt Reynolds or Tom Selleck, a mustache in a minor role. Yeah, okay. A French actress as the lead. It's a story about like a hospital where they're deliberately putting patients into comas to harvest their organs.

It's from like 1970. I think I watched on Criterion Collection. Not a movie I'd heard of and have never heard anyone discuss before or since. Immediately when I came up with this idea, I was like, wow, what a colossal waste of Josie's time of the listeners time, frankly, of your own time, this would be. And for what? A confused, aha, ha, ha, ha. Happy April Fool's, I would say at the end. Which you really should just say at the beginning. Hello, happy April Fool. You said it at the beginning and it got a better

pop slash reaction than the entire coma thing. So we're fine. So instead we do the April Fool's Factor Fiction of Infamous and we keep our filmic recaps reserved for the Bitter Sweet Film Club. Josey, I forgot we got that new theme song. Wow. Yeah. Josie, what can you tell the folks about the Bitter Sweet Film Club? Well, the Bitter Sweet Film Club is when our beloved, adored, cherished monthly subscribers select a film for us to watch. We watch it and then myself, Taylor Basso and perpetual special guest Mitchell Collins. We gather and we discuss the film, the ends, the outs. We determine if it is sweet, bittersweet, or just bitter.

We've seen a couple of... We've seen a few of those, yeah. But we're always enlightened by the discussion, and sometimes it can be very amusing, endearing a good time for all to discuss why a movie is ugh. And did we enjoy that it was kind of, uh, frankly? Yeah. What did we watch most recently on the Bittersweet Film Club? We just watched and spoke about Bonnie and Clyde, 1967.

Just recorded it. Starring Faye, Donaway, and Warren Beatty. Would you like to do your Warren Bainey impersonation? I think it loses a little bit because we must say that the Bittersweet film club is a video podcast. You can see us on it. And half the Warren Bady impression in Bonnie and Clyde is no top lip and crazy eyes and kind of like frantic bodice. It's just like, what's going on, guys? Just hold up.

And you have to do some finger guns with it. You really are going to want to join us as a subscriber over at K.O. and FI.com slash bittersweet infamy and become a monthly subscriber. Like three bucks a month. And you get access to our episode on Bonnie and Clyde and about 20 other film episodes and even more kind of exclusives and things like this. And the last few, as Taylor mentioned, our video podcast. You can see inside our homes.

Sick fuck. What are you looking at? I love that shit. Stay out of my house. Or don't over at K-O-hyfi.com slash bittersweet infamy. I have to say the Warren Beatty impersonation, it has stuck with me. It's worth the price of admission. I think I have lived too long in the South, and it just like, it hits a nerve.

It rings too true to too many people you've met. I don't feel safe. I don't feel safe. That's because this is a holdup. Now stick them up. Not you, good lady. Your baby's real cute, ma'am. Here's a dollar for your baby.

Lots of fun, lots of fun. And coming up at the suggestion of our beloved subscriber, and one-time film club guests were very open to having guests on the show, folks. Dylan and Satchel of Cat. It was perhaps Satchel of the Cat's animal influence that pushed us toward the 1981 film Roar. I know this is a movie that I've watched a little bit of it

and I've done a little bit of it. To be Hedron, your girl. Yes, my girl, Tippy Hedron. I've watched a little bit of it. I've done a little bit of reading on it. And it's kind of a crazy, like this could maybe have it so an episode of the main show, the story of this movie. It's really weird.

Ooh. It's a film about a, I guess, like a big game preservationist who is in Africa, I think Tanzania may be interacting with a bunch of large cats and tigers and lions and all of it. But these are untrained animals and these interactions are unsimulated. 72 people were injured over the course of this movie. It took 11 years in production, apparently. My God. There's like a real life.

It's got mother and daughter. Melanie Griffith and Tippy Hedron. I think it's produced by the husband at the time who's not the husband by the time that it comes out. It's a disaster movie, this thing. And we look forward to watching it. We look forward to watching it over at the film club on coffee.com. I wonder if I'll have to pause it and, like, walk out of the room.

How you spell and pause there, Josie? Ugh. That was cat pause. Thanks, Dylan. Thank you so much to everybody who donates to us. It actually makes such a help to us. It helps us put on this great podcast. It's really kind, really generous,

and we're really deeply appreciative. It also just like is very heartwarming. It feels good. Yeah, thank you. April Fool is just kidding. Bitch, we hate you. You suck. Josie.

Taylor. When you were a young lass back in your elementary school days, back when you could only do April Fool's jokes before 12 p.m. In some parts of the world. Those were the days. Those are the salad days. What sorts of TV? shows did you like to watch? And I want you to think like five or six, like real, real young Josie.

That scorts barely fitting on. It drops right off. That was not the case. I was a bit of a festively plump. You were filling out that score, huh? Good for you. I found a way. Okay, so, first show that comes to mind is The Simpsons. Yes, even at that young age. And I remember watching it because none of my friends were allowed to watch it. Yeah, your mom was letting you watch shows with yellow people on it, very progressive. Exactly, exactly. I think I've mentioned this before. This is how I understood the time change.

What do you mean? Daylight savings. Oh, you mean Simpsons will come on at dark now? Okay, I understand. That I can wrap my head around. Simpsons o'clock has been slightly deferred. Yes, yes. We watched, maybe not by choice, but just like, oh, that's on.

That doesn't happen anymore. But dinosaurs, do you ever watch that? Not the mama, not the mama. Yes, and dinosaurs is one of those shows. It's tonally not, Josie's loves Not the Mama, dude. She was beaming doing Not the Mama there. She's like, I haven't gotten to do baby dinosaur in years. Let me off the bench coach.

Totally not a dissimilar show from The Simpsons, kind of a little bit more adult than the packaging would indicate to the passerby. And, you know, these sorts of things. Had some pretty mature storylines. Yeah, the typical American family, but their dinosaurs. Exactly. You're listing a lot of shows for adults that a kid might enjoy. Did you ever watch anything that was closer to the cocoa melon side of things, let's say, where it's like, or a Miss Rachel type, where it's deliberately entertainment for children? So I think when I was pretty young, pre-kindergarten, we had some Sesame Street going on. We had some, like, well-worn VHS tapes. One that was particularly fond for little Josie, little cozy, Josie was a pippy longstocking, a live action Pippi Longstocking.

Freckles on her nose, diddle dittle Dishy came riding into town one day, diddle dittle she was quite a sight. Here's Pippy Longstocking. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ho. Get that face off your face. Bitch. I'm entertaining people on my podcast. That was not Josie's face on her face.

Josie was all about it. I saluted. Josie, not the mama Mitchell, would never harsh my buzz like that. As yes, as I remain a childless woman in my 30s, I am Josie, not the mama Mitchell. Thank you. That's not quite what I meant. To bring it back around, I've got some stories here for you today that are kind of more of the Barney, the dinosaur variety of this. These stories that I'm going to present to you today hit upon, I guess like a dichotomy that I think is somewhat popular in the public of magic. Even if it's not something we talk about all that much.

It basically is like the entire use case of the movie, Death to Smoochie is this. Ah, okay, okay. If you've never seen Death to Smoochie, it's sort of this like very weird, dark comedy from like, I want to say the late 90s about early 2000s, maybe. Maybe, yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's about a children's show entertainer who like gets a hit put out on him, basically. I think this movie's underrated. It's a movie that got panned to shit at the time. but it really makes me laugh.

I think one of the things that I like most about it is I think it really captures this late 90s cultural angst directed at Barney the Dinosaur. People hated that fucker. They really did. They hated his per blast. Even kids, they'd be like, oh, you're Barney. You're like Barney.

Yeah, it was not cool to be a... And now, mind you, have I watched an episode of Barney or three in my time just between you and me? you know, you're home sick. It's 9.30 a.m. comes on the TV. I'm not going to turn it off. I'm too sick. But not the most beloved of the children's programs of the time.

And in fact, I would say there was sort of like a, like, in a very like I hate Brenda newsletter kind of way, there was sort of an I hate Barney thought to it. Yeah, yeah. And I think that one of the things that Death to Smoochie does with that, that I kind of really dig, that is so super obvious is like a sacred in the profanour. thing where we have the children's show entertainment thing on the one hand, which, you know,

children's entertainment, pure, clean, not swearing, not boobs, not, you know, these sorts of things. And then something quite dark, you know, an attempted murder, an assassination plot. I think they try to frame Smoochie for being a Nazi maybe. I need to rewatch. Just fucked up shit, right? Yeah. So the three stories that I have brought for this April Fool's fact or fiction of infamous, and I should say, I've brought three.

This year it's two truths in a lie, but I'll get to the rule shortly. I've brought three stories that are about a juxtaposition between the squeaky clean nature of the children program. They're all about children's TV shows with something amiss, something askew, something dark infusing. Could it be true? Could it be fiction? Well, let's talk about it. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of the bittersweet infamy April Fool's fact or fiction minfamous, They are in the back catalog. They're in the back catalog.

They're click away. Some of them very memorable. Some of them very fun. Some of them flopped. Josie's very good at it. Just so far, Josie has been, I would argue, the leader in it among me, among the guests. But there's still time. There's still time for me to make it up.

And so I thought that since Josie is so very good at it, what I might do is I might change the stakes a little bit. The way this usually works is I bring two stories. They're both minfamie, minfamuses, little shorter stories. And one of them is true, and one of them I've just made up. I've just written it. And there are many ways to go about a lie. It can be partially true. It can be mostly true.

It can be not true at all. Josie has to guess. And pretty regularly, Josie does guess correctly, which is fact, which is fiction. And you can play along from home, although I would warn you that Googling any of it really puts a stop to the game. So try to do it without Googling. A hands-free listening experience, please. Yes. And there are many ways that this happens.

Perhaps Josie has discerned the true story. Perhaps she's heard it before. And so she knows it to be true. Either way, Josie has got a very good record in this. Mine's, you know, so-so. You're putting the pressure on. I'm getting sweaty over here. This year, I've raised the stakes.

I've brought two truths and a lie. And the style of the party game, I'm sure that we've all heard about. I've got three stories, two of them are true. and one of them is a lie. One is a lie. One is a lie. One of these is not true. So bear that in mind as you're listening. There's a big asterisk on one of these stories. It didn't actually happen. Please don't sue me for slander. But two of them actually did happen exactly as I've described them. Two truths and a lie.

And it's up to you, Josie, and it's up to you at home to figure out which is the lie and which are the truths. But I can think of no better way to start than to just dive right in and tell you a story about. Bota Kids TV show. Let's go. As we know, I didn't really watch a whole lot of them as a kid, but I'm here. I'm here. I think of all of these, only one of these coincides with your era of watching Kids TV. Okay. And I would, they're characters that I would imagine you might have heard of, but I'm not entirely sure. That's story number three. You're on the lookout for story number three with that one. Okay. But our first story today, I would imagine, is actually populated by characters that you might have heard of or seen or noticed. Today's first story is driven, pun, very much intended,

by The Wiggles. Australia's most successful performers of children's entertainment. You make a little noise of recognition there, Josie. What context do you have around The Wiggles? It was a TV show that I didn't watch. But I do know that they had a TV show, white guys and colorful mock turtornel necks, very expressive. And then they did a lot of like touring like concerts and stuff. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Go see the vehicles live. Exactly. Exactly. You got it. You got it. Many TV shows, many touring performances. The, the group of like kind of dorky, earnest seeming white guys that you imagine from our era has since like spread out to be like sort of a more multi-ethnic ensemble cast situation that encompasses a broader spectrum of performers. There's women now. There's black performers

now, etc. Women wiggles? Women wiggling on television. Can you imagine? Started in 1991 by a group of musicians including students of early child development. So this was sort of like a university students slash musicians idea that sort of started to get populated by other similar types. A class project. Yes. And boy did it ever. I don't go into it, but like platinum records, gold records, like serious, serious longevity and accolades for the wiggles. Oh yeah. Originally composed of five members dressed in their signature, brightly colored shirts, a yellow wiggle, a purple wiggle or red wiggle as Josie sort of these colorful little little, ensembles. But always black pants.

Black pants. It's an iconic, look, it's smart. Look, here we are talking about it. Branding, right? Flamen Hot Cheers. Very like Reader's theater vibe to me. Yes. The group has expanded and contracted over the years as members have joined and departed. In 2026, the Wiggles are less a band and more a multimedia enterprise, incorporating records,

multiple TV shows, live performances, theme park attractions, and more. Their songs include hits like Hot Potato, Fruit Salad, Yummy, Yummy, and their collaboration with the Harlem Globetrotters, the questionably titled Bouncing Balls, which the lyrics of it are like, bounce your balls, bounce your balls, bounce your balls.

I was like, they knew what they were doing with this one. This is the lie. No, no, no. Because if I were a fucking parent, I'd be like, put on the ball song again. Put it on. Perhaps their best known hit is the most relevant to today's tale. The beloved,

driving anthem, Big Red Car. Toot, to chug-a-chug-a, big red car. So as I mentioned, Wiggles come and Wiggles Go. And only one of the OGs is still in the show, Blue Wiggle, Anthony Field. The rest of the colors have scattered to the visible light spectrum and been recast

over the past three and a half decades. And the Wiggles has become less a group of specific people and more a sort of Saturday Night Live rotating cast situation. Okay, okay. In 2014, a 24-year-old musical theater major named Darren Coe was tapped as the latest performer to don the grape juice-colored shroud of the purple wiggle. Wow. He didn't know it, but he would be the shortest tenured of the wiggles, and in fact, the only wiggle to never actually complete a single stage performance. This distinction perhaps not entirely fair to Coe, who had appeared on many episodes of the TV show and several live theater touring type performances,

in supporting roles as non-wiggles characters. You know, you need a friendly baker or something. You need a course, yeah. Yeah. Someone's got to be the mechanic that helps you seg into big red car, you know? Yeah. But the sad factor means that Coe was never able to debut as the Purple Wiggle for reasons that were ultimately self-inflicted.

Brisbane, Australia, October 19th, 2014. 9.30 a.m. Constable Marco Felino observes a white Ford Falcon driving slow. Very slow. Perplexingly slow. Okay. So Falino did what any good cop would do, turned on his sirens, and gestured for the driver to pull over. When the window was rolled down, Felino, a father of two, was shocked to see a familiar sight, the iconic purple Wiggles sweatshirt,

adorning a young man who seemed a little worse for wear. Now, I don't want to out anybody for driving blackout drunk at 9.30 in the morning. So I'll just say that our boy Darren, well, maybe he celebrated a little too hard the night before, had a couple too many wiggle colladas, happens to the best of us. Not if you don't drive. That's a great way to not get a DUI. To not drunk drive. Absolutely right. And if you're going to do that, which you shouldn't and you don't and you won't, you shouldn't do it to your first day at your new job, clad in an outfit recognizable to millions of children and adults alike.

I'm sure you're thinking this couldn't get worse. Well, it did. You need to hit re-pause on this one and walk out of the room. No, no, I got it. I can focus in. A passer-by seemingly recognizing that tabloid gold was unfolding, snapped a pick on their phone of Coe in the distinctive Wiggles uniform, just sort of like barely visit. It's sort of like the top half of a Star Trek uniform.

You could recognize it by the top half, you know? Yeah, yeah. Leaning out of his window, while Constable Felino administered a breath test, which one imagines Coe did not pass with flying colors, parentheses purple. Before Coe was even out of detention, the photo had hit social media and then the wider internet with cruel captions like glug glug, vroom, vroom, big white car. And he won't wiggle out of this one. Oh, yeah. And it goes without saying that whoever runs Wiggles Inc. LLC or whatever the Wiggle Corp is called was not best pleased with this public combination of many fuck-ups, driving drunk on your way to your job,

where you interact with children on your first day while wearing the Wiggles outfit, getting caught by cops, missing the event, and getting photographed. Yeah. Darren Coe was fired from his role as the Purple Wiggle. With the Wiggles releasing a brief statement, we were not aware of Mr. Coe's actions and he is no longer a member of the Wiggles. we take the safety of all of our audience members seriously. Coe was fined $7,500 and his license was suspended for eight months. He was replaced in the Wiggles by his understudy,

who thankfully would have no problem driving the big red car during the Wiggle stage show. Remember listeners, friends don't let friends drive drunk. Poor Co. Or is he? Oh. Or is he? I mean, he's also maybe just an idiot. It's like, don't do that.

Like, at least, like, don't show up on your first day drunk. But, like, if you had too many dreams, drinks to drink, then... Too many wiggle colladas. Oh, taxi. Pass me another one of them wiggle colladas, gang. Yeah. So, Josie, what's your initial instinct on that one?

Fact fiction, some combination of the two. It's always hard when you haven't heard the other ones. I know this. I know this. Yeah, but you had me thinking, like, what if the first one is a lie? Because I have nothing to, like, base it off of. So maybe that is the lie. Could be. But I also feel like with so many wiggles,

being recruited. I do believe that is true. There's some wiggle room there, you might say. There's some wiggle room. Exactly. Wiggling room for a lie to wiggle on in. So I don't know. I'm holding off judgment.

But I'm also kind of like maybe the truth would be even more outlandish. Like he would have like run into a candy store and then all of these kids would have seen him and it would be even worse. Then his pants rip and he shits himself. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, for sure. For sure. Could happen. Yeah. So I'm like, huh, I don't know. I don't know. Maybe it's like not outlandish enough. Therefore, tis a lie. Could be. Could be. And how about you, listener at home? Did that have the ring of truth to it? Or did it sound like a porky pie?

Story two. Have you ever heard of a woman from Brazil named Shusha? No. Okay. So she is huge, legitimately huge. She is one of the pre-year. She is one of the pre-year. eminent children's show hosts in Brazil and built like an empire, like in the way that the Wiggles built an empire off this. Shusha has built an empire off this and like a billionaire. Good for her. Congratulations, Shusha. Her name is Shusha Menegel, but she's known monomously as Shusha X-U-X-A.

X-U-X-A. Great name, great Scrabble name, you know? Well, you can't use proper noun, so. And I think there's only one X in the packet, but the thought was there. There's potential. We can build on this. She is known mononymously and beloved as the Raina dos by Shinjos, which means, translated to English, the only slightly creepy queen of the little ones. In the present day, Shusha is a billionaire with a deep portfolio of children's entertainment projects.

She's been romantically linked to everyone from famed footballer Pele to Formula One superstar Ert and Senna to American King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Oh. Yeah, oh yeah. So she says. She said Michael Jackson asked me to carry his baby. I mean. Who among us? Yeah.

But on the day of our story, January 11th, 2001, Shusha is performing for 200 by Shinos and their guardians on her show, Shusha Park. Shusha Park airs on the Globo TV network. And in keeping with the show's name, the set is done up to look like an amusement park. With a ferris wheel, inflatable car dealership tube men waving their arms. Oh, yeah, baby. And the centerpiece, a spaceship, which rose from the stage to introduce Shusha to the program and is otherwise concealed by a large, colorful, Epcot-esque globe with a functioning door. This is my kind of show. Alice, we're flipping away from ER. I'm done. I want Shusha Park.

Shusha Park had like really good production values. This set is very, I gather that they had built this particular set for like a week, some like circus themed pre-tapes or something. So they had this like giant. Again, only slightly creepy clown piouso guy kind of hovering overboard, right? Yeah, yeah. So I want you to imagine that in front of this set that I've just described, and again, I really want to centerpiece this big Epcot dome in the background that covers up the entrance where this spaceship comes out of the floor, I think. I'm unclear about, I've never actually seen the mechanism of the spaceship, but my understanding is that it kind of comes up through the stage.

And it's got this kind of big dome over which it's covered with like what looks to be some sort of text style, but I'm not sure it might be like a paper or it might be, I don't know what it is. Okay. And that's where the acts are kind of appearing in and out of. And sort of as our kind of scene that we're imagining Shusha in begins, she's in like a little, a cute little outfit actually, kind of, kind of skanky for a children's show. But like, I feel like that's like the carnival ethos. You know what I mean? Get them out.

Yeah. It's like a little sequin Bustier, these like ripped up jeans. And she's got behind her, what I would describe is it's apparently like a dance troupe that she uses. I think they're called like Bapakitas or something like this, but they're sort of dressed like majorettes or like toy nutcrackers or something and they're just kind of dancing behind her. And they're doing some sort of musical number to the delight of all present, I'm sure. Right. And this is again, this is a series of pre-tapes that they've been doing all day, probably with the same audience. And this is the last of them. So after this, it's kind of,

that's a wrap, everyone. You can kind of go home and Shusha can go back and like count her money like she does and fall asleep happily. Right. So she's, Shusha is mid-performance, dancing, dancing, dancing, when suddenly from the back, we start to see a cloud of black smoke. The cameras keep rolling, and it's not until Shusha turns around and looks over her shoulder,

and she sees that there is a, what must be like a production aid there with a fire extinguisher. People are screaming, it's a fire. It's a fire. It's get out, get out, move, move. That fabric, that paper-covered rocket is going to go up, like,

fucking firework. The cameras continue to roll as the Epcot-esque dome catches fire, which spreads quickly and then eventually explodes into a ball of flames. The cameras keep rolling. The fire gets the sound. Sound is gone, but the cameras keep rolling. And we see the fire gets a deeper and deeper orange. It spreads all over the set. You see people running in and out because like this is a set that had a Ferris wheel. That Ferris wheel had kids on it right next to where this thing just exploded into a ball of flames. Oh, no. So you see these silhouettes running and running and the black smoke at the top slowly overtakes the field of view. Yeah. Then over, done. Oh my God. So apparently prior to this, there are machinations too complicated to explain, but long story short, they had to like downsize

their studio, downside this globe. It was a slightly newer setup than we were used to. And they had put this globe over the UFO thing because we were doing, you know, this particular circus thing, which is why we had this globe. Okay. Shusha apparently had been noticing the whole week. She'd been like, what's that weird smell? The glue is melting there. Can we do something about this? And like the expert said, no, no, it's fine. It's fine. It's not fine. We've got firefighters nearby, et cetera. And so what had happened was that some sort of short circuit made it so that within this globe, it just raised to an extremely high temperature. And that's what kind of creates our original spark of crackle.

And then when we open the door of the globe to put out the fire, it feeds it all this oxygen and it explodes into all of flames. 26 people is the most common number I could see for the amount that get injured. Mainly smoke inhalation, but multiple people, including children, suffered second and third degree burns. Oh, God. This includes the clown, Topatau. who attempted to save audience members from disaster, like the show clown, he got burned. Oh, no. One little girl got trapped on that working Ferris wheel, but she got saved by a security guard

named Leonell Sinda Olivera, and he got like the hero treatment in the media. But unfortunately, his like airways were super burned. He had to go to intensive care, all of it. Oh, my God. It is said that Shusha, who was suffering from wicked PTSD over the whole thing, as one fucking would, was very attentive to the recovering victims and visited them in hospital and so on. She apparently even considered leaving children's entertainment forever because she felt responsible for the incident. The network paid for the medical procedures for the necessary medical procedures for the affected.

Oh my goodness. Yeah. Oh. Thankfully everyone involved ended up recovering with no fatalities. Okay, good. Except for the show itself, Shusha Park, which was quietly canceled. Those pre-tapes never got released. Come on. As if. Yeah.

Especially when one of the pre-tapes is of the entire set burning, children screaming. Yeah, no, no, no, we're not. The airtime was filled by a cartoon festival and later episodes of the American Teen Soap, Dawson's Creek. Oh, okay, yeah. I didn't watch that one. You didn't watch much, it seems like, other than Simpsons. No, I watched a lot, but I think I just watched a lot of Simpsons. Shusha eventually returned to television and children's entertainment, changed but a survivor.

Among her many enterprises as a businesswoman, she later opened up a real-life Shusha theme park, Mundo da Shusha in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The attraction has since permanently closed, but the reviews, I imagine, were something like, watch out for the Ferris wheel and don't go into their version of Epcot. They keep it a little warm in there. Yeah, bring a fire extinguisher, if you missed. Story two.

That's surprising that she would create an amusement park after the fictional one that appeared in her show so tragically burned. The wheels of capitalism don't stop for anybody. It's true. What do you make of that one, Josie? It's sort of a serious one. A searing story. So what do you think?

Is it real? Is it a mix of truth and lie? Which technically pushes it over to lie. Is it an outright, fib? I wouldn't lie about something like that. Yeah, you would. No. You're sick mind.

You're a sick fuck, Taylor. April fools. Happy April Fool's Day. I don't know. This one has a feeling of a sprangle of truth to it to me. Crankle a truth. Just a sprinkle. Just a sprinkle. All right, Josie. Story number three. The lie may already be out of the bag, listener at home. Maybe it was story number two. Maybe it's about to be story number three. Maybe it was story one. Maybe it's story four. No. No, not that one. All right. I like boundaries. Now I know. Now I know. Yeah.

Josie, did you guys get? This is again, story number three. So this is when I thought, Maybe Josie will have heard of the, at least the characters involved. Maybe not. I don't know. Oh, right. Yeah. Because I really don't know what goes on below Parallel 49. You know what I mean? I don't. You guys, you guys have fucking Sonic down there. It's crazy. We're doing wild too. You order something animal style and they do it and it means something, you know. You ever heard of or watch bananas and pajamas? Bananas and pajamas are riding down the stairs. Yeah, you got it. Yeah, yeah. So if you had to describe bananas and pajamas, the form, the format, the characters, take it away.

Well, I remember the pajamas were striped pajamas. Yeah, you're right. Can you get, what colors? Well, white and blue. Yep, textbook. And it was animated? I think there has probably been some animated version, but we're talking... Live action?

We're talking live action with suits. Bananas. In pajamas. Yes, and I see your bananas and I raise you pajamas. Based on a 1969 children's song composed by Carrie Blighton and, you know, just reenacted so memorably there by Josie. The Australian children's TV series Bananas and Pajamas debuted in 1991 between this and the Wiggles. Very auspicious year in Aussie Children's Entertainment. Yeah, yeah.

Auspicious. It's awesome. I hear it. So we've got a pair as our concept, a pair of anthropomorphic bananas. You know, are they siblings? Are they gay lovers? Sort of like a Burton or any, we don't know, but they don't wear anything but pajamas. They don't wear going outside clothes.

Yes, these phallic-shaped figures only wear pajamas. They're sort of a costumed character in the style of Barney or Smoochie or a Disneyland mascot. And they are B1 and B2 and without even checking the Wikipedia. I can tell you that that stands for Banana One and Banana Two. You know, it's not bald. You were even going to fast check that one. Okay.

I'm going to take that one on faith, okay? Bananas and pajamas are sort of like a big, you know, big name in Children's Center to big Aussie export. Appeared at the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympics on their whole own big banana mobile. Yeah, dancing with Kylie Minogue. Great time. Good stuff. Just good, clean fun for the whole family. Was she also wearing pajamas?

Was she a celebrity in pajamas? I don't, I haven't, I don't recall. I gotta look that up. This one better fucking be true, Taylor, because I really want to see Kylie Minogue her form at the 2012 in the Olympics. Yes.

A moment in her heritage. Yeah. Sometime in the 90s, in order to promote the show, head of marketing and franchising, Graham Grasby, decided he wanted to go around the world, suits in tow, get some cool snaps of the bananas at recognizable world landmarks,

like the London Tower or the White House. Sounds to me like he just wanted to get some traveling in on the company dime. Either way, his pursuit brought him to Moscow, Russia, where presumably he wanted to get some picks of B1 and B2 next to the corpse of Lennon lying in state. That's all I can think of. I'm sorry. Why would you, Josie, you're bad for laughing at that.

You're a bad person. The man died. Show some respect. Christ. Get a hold of yourself. I'm just so acting like two little bananas. Yeah, happy bananas. In their pajamas.

Didn't even dress up. Or maybe they're wearing like black funeral suits in these ones to show respect. Solem. Yeah. Really like engaged posture. Calm right down. Calm right down. Their huge phallic head slightly tilted forward in reverence.

Note that I say that he wanted to get those pictures. because surprise, surprise, the suits went missing. So you can imagine Graspi's state of panic and bafflement, you know, how does one misplace two large phallic banana suits that are kind of unmistakably what they are, right? Like, you ain't mistaken B1. As much as we call them phallic, you ain't mistaken B1 for anyone but B2 and vice versa. They're very conspicuous. It's kind of like that that's the schick.

That's what you're there for. That's what you're doing is you're traveling with bananas and pajamas. so you don't leave the banana suits lying around. You keep a very close eye on them. Yes, he's not bringing the actors in mind. It's just him traveling with the suits. And when he lands, he'll hire someone who's roughly the same shape or size to inhabit the suit for this photo op.

Whoa. Yeah. And sorry, he works for the company? He works for the... He works for the network. The network. He works for the network. He's marketing and franchising, I think.

Okay. So he's like, he's like selling stuff. Bananas, you know? Yeah. The stakes raise when Graspie receives a note. Ransom note. Oh, my God. Yeah.

The Russian mob? Yeah. Maybe this is true, and I'm remembering it. Could be. I forget things a lot. Could be. Well, have you heard this one before? Because it said, like, that's, yeah, it was the Russian mob.

Wait, is this the plot to death? to smoochy. Maybe. Maybe it's that. Demanding 100,000 Australian dollars, which is 65,000 US dollars for the safe return of B1 and B2. This is repeated back by B1, the actor who played B1, who kind of heard it from the guy involved. So if he's lie, and then it's all a lie, but maybe it's not. Graspi called up ABC, the network that aired BIP, to seek clarity on how to proceed. It took me well for BIP. I'm so sorry. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're Welcome. A little gift for later. The network was like, yeah, we're not doing that.

These suits only cost 20 grand to make. I know. Like, what's the insurance on these suits? But since these suits cost $20,000 to make, we're going to be out the 20 grand either way. So like, you know, offer the Russian mob $20,000, but not a penny more. Okay, no more rubles than that, Vladimir, all right? Yeah. So ABC naturally wires the money to Grassley. to complete this ransom payment.

Story goes, Graspi had the money converted to cash and packed it into a suitcase. Gets on the road with the briefcase full of cash on his way to the drop-off point.

Is he wearing pictures of us? He probably put on a coat for this when Rush is cold. And he realizes, what the fuck am I doing? He turns around, goes to the airport. Is it worth this?

Turns around, goes to the airport, returns home with the 20 grand. Like pocketing the 20 grand? or like, I'm just going to take it. You probably gave it back to the network. If I were them, I'd be like, my fucking Christmas bonus better be 20 fucking Bob heavier this year.

The banana outfits were sadly never recovered. Lost to time. Lost to time. Lost to the snow and the wind. As far as we know, they are still in Russia. Popular speculation loves to imagine them in a gulag in Siberia. But I like to imagine that B1 and B2 embrace their new culture became naturalized Russian citizens and changed their names to Cyrill it.

That may be for the best, according to Kenneth Radley, who played B1, again, this is sort of all secondhand. The suits were, quote, impossibly hot, and the temperature on set had to be turned down to tanger levels in order to keep the actors from expiring while filming. With that in mind, perhaps the costumes are simply keeping a nice old babushka lady and her husband warm during those infamously brutal Russian winters. Thank God. I heard. I heard. those blizzards can be bananas. Thank you. Thank you. Story three.

Story three. Story three. Two truths and a lie, Josie. Two truths in lies. What are you thinking about story three here? Story three feels more outlandish. And because it seems more outlandish. It feels more true. It feels more true.

Because you can't make that shit up. You know, like why would you take a picture of bananas and picture of us in a picture with Lenin's body lying in state? To be clear, the Lenin's body, thing was meant as a joke. Okay. That was me hypothesizing. Okay. So he did, supposedly, he brought this to- Red Square. Red Square or something. Yeah, yeah. No, this one feels like just passed around enough and just outlandish enough and it's like, well, maybe it's true. Could be, what do you think, listener at home? Let's take a moment here because we got, let's recap our stories.

Let's go down memory lane. Because I've already forgotten. As I said, I have a hard time remembering. No worries. I'm here to recap it for you and everyone at home. We've got story number one. The brand new purple wiggle gets a DUI on his way to his first. And I don't know if DUI is the Australian term, but DUI equivalent. Yes, yes. He's blowing the breathaly. Yeah.

On the side of that roll. Number two. The fire at Shusha Park. We were all singing and dancing until the set exploded in flames. Remember when we were singing and dancing. and now we're running away. Oh, God. Number three, bananas and pajamas

ransomed by the KGB. Allegedly, perhaps. Could be others. We don't know. We're still looking around for suspects. That's always. I love that. Thank you.

They're so good. Their suits aren't. They're huge. They're so cartoony and huge. Like, I remember the show as being animated. That's how like intensely designed they are. I think the intro of it was animated.

And when we mentioned that it was animated, Ruey did nod, which proves to me that. that they can hear me through the earplugs. Just nodded. Okay. I scream. I'm not subtle. I do scream. So examining all the evidence in front of me.

Let's go through them bit by bit. Yeah. Let's talk to the jury. Let's talk to the jury. Closing statement. Let's start with what's the one that most strikes you as true? And why? Dear listeners, the one that strikes me most as true is Susha's park. Let me explain a little bit. I think it is the most of the truthfulness ones. Because there are so many dark details, I don't think that's really a space that a creative mind like Taylor's wants to go to in terms of like kids burnt lungs on the Ferris wheel. You don't know what I want.

I don't. I don't. I don't want kids to burn. It's true. She's right. I don't. Okay. And my other little like sprinkling here is.

is that you didn't have it fully written out like the other ones. You were like going off the cuff a little bit. And to me, that's like you were reading about the story. You knew about the story. You were like pulling details, pulling ideas. And being like, this is what I saw in the image. And let me just one. No, no.

I noticed that as I was doing. I was like, fuck. I'll tell you that you're right. That's the truth. Susha's parked those poor kids. Yeah. I was, you're absolutely right. as I was describing some of those camera shots, I was like, fuck, I'm too convincingly describing

this video. Yeah, unfortunately, that is the truth. No one, no fatalities. Hey, hi, hello. Yeah. We love that. But yeah, you can see this footage and it is really jarring to kind of watch the set of a children's show just explode until flames like that.

Yeah, that is rough. So that leaves you with your, uh, your bananas and pajamas and your, uh, drunken wiggles. Where are you got? My drunken wiggle. Okay, I'm going to talk about stories. number three, bananas and pajamas in Russia. Mm-hmm. It was like a little Russian nesting doll, that one.

The bananas are in pajamas in Russia. I think there's something about that one that I just like, so I wanted to be true. I'm just, it's so ridiculous and why any of it, you know? But like, why anything in general? Why anything? Yeah, why anything in this world, in 2026, and the history of mankind, why anything? And that could point it towards the line. I'm seeing now how the human brain is fascinating.

But I guess I still think that is true because it does have those outlandish qualities that only the truth can have sometimes, right? Truth is stranger than fiction. As they say. As they say. I'm just so I'm just imagining the B1 and B2, excuse me. I'll refer to them by there. They're Christian names, yes.

Christian names. Yes. I just like at Linens like to I'm happy I'm happy you enjoyed that that really gets me that's really nice you can have that one for free yeah I haven't seen

Lenin's body in state but I have seen Mao Zedong Oh wow Body in state because you can see it in Beijing Really? Like waiting a long line and like put carnations How's he doing? Very orange Very orange Yeah, yeah. And it's a very solemn and intense experience. And like, there are guards, like,

moving you along. Yeah, I'm sure. God. No, you don't get to, like, take selfies. You don't get, there ain't in and out, in and out, for sure. Yeah, in and out. And then through the gift shop, totally. Yeah, yeah. You can buy a little stuff now on your way out, but get the fuck out. Exactly. And then what about story one? Story one, you've, uh, did you process of elimination it, or does story one just strike you as untrue? It might have been more process of elimination, but I do think, like, oh, what a smooth move on your part, Taylor Mitchell Bassett. What, smooth move? If the lie is first, I don't know.

As opposed to second or third? Yeah, because then I'm like already comparing it, but the first one is like, well, this is the first. Virgin snow. Like, virgin snow. Yes, yes. And I'm fascinated by that beautiful mind you have, Taylor. Oh, thank you. April fools.

No. So I have a little bit of that going with that one. Also, I think I said this about it in my initial analysis that I felt like it could go even bigger and stranger. You know, like he got pulled over. Pants, split and shit himself. Yeah. Or like pulled over for speeding in a school zone. You know what I mean?

Like where it's just like, whoa, you're really crossing all the wires. my dear wiggle, man. So to recap, your strategy, I guess without naming it as such, or maybe even noticing it as such, your strategy was not the one that has the most ring of truth, which is the Shusha Park, or not the one that's the most absurd and outlandish, which is the bananas pajamas, you went for the root of medium infamy. You said, Taylor's going to play this down the middle rather than on one of the sides. It's sort of the thinking, to a degree. Yes, yes. My heart is being so fathast right now.

I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you, baby. The lie. Nancy Grace. The lie is the wiggle on the side of the road, the purple wiggle on the side of the road, blowing the breathy. That's the lie, I believe. You've done it again. Congratulations. Another factor fiction, infamous April cleared by Josie Mitchell.

I wasn't consciously doing medium infamy, but I should have noticed it. I should have noticed it. Yeah. No, because what you just did there is sort of the thing that I like about. You have a beautiful mind. Oh, thank you. You know how like the traitors is just sort of these abstract psychological things like that where you're like, well, what would so and so say? What would this person?

You know what I mean? Yeah. Or like this story feels too true or not true enough to sort of these like kind of, um, unconstructural. unconscious calculations we make and you did a good job, you're right. The purple wiggle, all of that pretty much other than the kind of the information that I gave you about the wiggles. Bouncing balls is real. I encourage you to go and listen.

But the rest of it was all a big fib. And then the other two were true. The bananas and pajamas were ransomed by what seemingly the Russian mob, at least according to this guy, Graham, Grasby. You're the best part of this is that I get to go watch Kali Madogh. Performance with the bananas and pajamas. Yeah, that happened. At Sydney, 2011.

Summer, nonetheless. Think how hot they were performing in those scenes. Deadly. Deadly. Those Sydney heats. Man, that's rough. That's it. Another April Fool will stay down the shitter. Well, not yet, because Josie has to put one by me. Yeah.

I have to bring two truths and a lie. You don't have to bring two. You can change up the format in whatever way. Just make me guess some. Is true or not? I'm down. Don't go too crazy with the format. You're just okay.

You're like just, you know, flies up by me. Let me know. Let me reprove that. No, I'm kidding. Okay. Okay. I mean, I got my, my tickers talking. I'm on it.

Do you? I can't wait. I can't wait to see that. She don't protest too much. I can't wait to see those ticks talk. okay. Sorry. And we hope that you join us all to see those tics talk next episode 142.

It's going to be a lot of fun. Thank you for listening. Happy April fools. Happy April fools! It'll be like April 12th by the time of you is probably. That's the April fools of it, though. Thanks for listening. If you want more infamy, we've got plenty more episodes at bittersweet infamy.com

or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you want to support the podcast, Shoot us a few bucks via our coffee account. At K-O-5Fi.com forward slash bittersweet infamy. But no pressure. Bittersweet infamy is free, baby. You can always support us by liking, rating, subscribing. Leaving a review, following us on Instagram at Bittersweet Infamy.

Or just pass the podcast along to a friend who you think would dig it. Stay sweet. My sources for the Shusha Park Fire Story, or Fire Injur's 20, on Brazilian TV show, published by the Associated Press, January 12, 2001. I also watched a documentary from January of this year, 2026, by Anos Increis, called Incendio No Shusha Park. 25 Anos. I watched video of the Shusha Park Fire, which you can see all over YouTube. The version that I saw on YouTube is Incendio Shusia Park Mellior Qualidade by Shusha and Pakitas 2000.

Lastly, I read the Wikipedia article for Shusha. For the bananas and pajamas story, I read the article. The Russian mafia kidnapped the bananas and pajamas and held them for $100,000 ransom. Polish on crack.com, December 2nd, 2024, written by Keegan Kelly. I watched the news.com.aU. video from 2025 inside wild bananas and pajamas Russian kidnap plot. Lastly, we used a clip from the Wiggles song, Bouncing Balls. We're extremely grateful, as we've been stating over and over, but now more than ever, to our coffee subscribers. If you become a subscriber, you can join us as a member of the Bitter Sweet Film Club.

Suggest movies for us to watch. Like Terry McCann, Jonathan, Lizzie D, Erica, Joe, Sof, Dylan, and Satchel. If you want to hear your name in the end credits, you want to hear me say your name, you should join as a member, and you can suggest a movie for us, too. That's over at k-o-hyphen-fi.com slash bitter-sweet infamy. Bitter-sweet infamy is a proud member of the 604 podcast network. This episode was edited by Josie Mitchell and me, Taylor Basso. Our interstitial music is by Mitchell Collins, and the song you are currently listening to

is T Street by Brian Steele.