Ear Biscuits with Rhett & Link - Ep. 57 Josh Sundquist - Ear Biscuits

Episode Date: February 20, 2015

Paralympian, Bestselling author, and YouTube personality, Josh Sundquist, joins Rhett & Link this week to discuss how his battle with cancer at age nine and subsequent loss of his leg has impacted the way he lives his life, the importance he places on traveling around the world as a motivational speaker, the deeper meaning behind his new book "We Should Hang Out Sometime," and why his unique halloween costumes have "won the Internet." Ear Biscuits Survey: www.podsurvey.com/biscuits To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Thanks. Welcome to Ear Biscuits. I'm Link. And I'm Rhett. joining us today at the round table of dim lighting is motivational speaker, best-selling author, and YouTuber, the very inspiring Josh Sundquist. Okay, Josh's journey began at age nine.

Well, I guess it began at age zero. But you know, the big story began at age nine when he was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer, Ewing's sarcoma, and he was given a 50% chance to live. He spent a year on chemotherapy treatments and his left leg was amputated. But he didn't let that slow him down. He went on to become a member of the US Paralympic ski team

as well as the US amputee soccer team. I mean, this guy's basically excelled at everything he's tried, including writing, speaking, and creating original Halloween costumes that take special advantage of having one leg. You better believe we talked to him about that. Josh also has a popular YouTube channel where he uploads vlogs and collaborations.

His first big video was a rap song called The Amputee Rap. Yo, let me tell you what it's like to walk a mile in my shoes. I got one leg, but a smile on my face. You'd be smiling too if you had my parking space. My leg is cut off way up at the hip, but using these crunches, I run pretty quick. He's also spoken in person. Believe it or not, in person. That still happens to thousands of people all over the nation using his engaging storytelling ability. How many of you that are like me, and in order to save money, when you go to the

movies, you like to smuggle food in your pockets? Anyone do this? So I'm with my friends out in front of this movie theater. We're sitting in the parking lot, right? We're putting small candy items in our pockets. My friend pulls out of the trunk of the car a two liter of Coca-Cola Classic. This two liter, right? And we're like, really? This is not going to fit in anyone's pockets. I do not understand what you're thinking. But then I think of this brilliant idea. You ready for this? Because my friend is wearing sweatpants, I am wearing shorts. So we switch.

I put on his sweatpants. I take the two-liter. I put it inside of the left pant leg. I tie a knot underneath so it hangs there and looks like my leg is cut off like down here. And then I look down and the two-liter is just swinging all around. And there's this security guard standing there looking at me right and i can tell that he wants to say something but let's be honest with ourselves like what is he going to say like um sir i noticed that there is a problem with your leg.

You are correct, I do not have one. We cover many topics with Josh, including the moving backstory of him losing his leg, the hilarious experiences from his new book, We Should Hang Out Sometime, that's the name of the book. Even though I would like to hang out with you, that's the name of the book. You talking to me? I'm talking with you, that's the name of the book. You're talking to me? I'm talking to them. We're hanging out right now.

I'm not looking at you. When I look into space, when I'm talking- You're looking at the people? That's when I'm talking to the- The biscuteers? Your biscuteers. Okay, gotcha. Because I think we should hang out less. We hang out too much.

Yeah, exactly. We should write a book called, We Should Hang Out Less. Less. Hey, that's a good idea. Okay, maybe we should talk to Josh about that. We should at least write a book. He can write the full word.

Josh has inspired us to write a book, especially when he talks, shares all the hilarious stories. Basically, he tracked down all of the girls that he dated and tried to find out what went wrong. So, yeah, that was pretty good. We also explore the crazy questions he's been asked over the years about having one leg.

Now, Josh, he's an amazing example of someone who has been making a living at something they're passionate about and also good at. But it's not an easy thing to do. It's not easy to figure out how to get started. That's why the guys at Road Trip Nation have put together a book called Roadmap. No, this is not the Atlas making a big comeback.

I can't say I wasn't a little disappointed that the Atlas is not making a comeback because very large roadmaps were a very important part of the trunk in my dad's car. Oh, I remember that. Or behind the seat. Or the top of the dashboard. Yeah. I remember all that.

No, the tagline of this book is the get it together guide for figuring out what to do with your life. Don't you wanna know what to do with your life? You can order it at theonlybookyouneed.com. Well, that's bold, theonlybookyouneed.com. Yep. The Road Trip Nation guys traveled the world talking to all kinds of amazing people

who have been a success in doing something they love. That includes Marvel's chief creative officer, professional chefs, sports journalists, entrepreneurs, and beyond. Roadmaps filled with self-discovery activities and the wisdom gleaned from all these people so you can figure out how to start following your passion and pay the bills, y'all.

I really think this is important. I mean, if I could go back and I had this URL, theonlybookyouneed.com available to me, I would have gone there. I'm not knocking our guidance counselor, but I'm kind of knocking our high school guidance counselor. I don't even remember who the guidance counselor was. We have engineering degrees, people.

I mean, who knew it was as simple as going to the- We followed no roadmap. Theonlybookyouneed.com. All right, now onto the biscuit. dot com. All right, now on to the biscuit. Tell us about your Halloween costumes. Like, we're nowhere near Halloween, but something tells me that you've been thinking about it constantly year round based on your track record. Yeah, it's become a big thing. I love it. Yeah, thank you. But yeah, it's a weird thing in weird thing in that in so many ways for one thing, like as a kid,

like I grew up in like a really conservative religious home. Okay. We didn't celebrate Halloween at all. I mean, celebrated harvest. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

We have, yeah. We'd have these, yeah. The pseudo like harvest festivals or whatever. Or we'd celebrate the reformation weirdly. It's reformation day. Yeah, exactly. It would festival. I've been to those. Or we'd celebrate the Reformation, weirdly. Yeah, it's Reformation Day. Yeah, exactly.

We'd be like, yay, Martin Luther. Would you do trunk or treat in the parking lot of the church? No, I don't. What is that? They do that now where they bring all the insulated families into, they'll allow them to leave the church and go into the parking lot on Halloween night. And then they go around to the trunks of cars that the church members have parked.

And then they give out candy out of the trunk of the car. Yeah, and then they go around the neighborhood and they nail the 95 theses on the doors of everyone. If we were at home, I mean, we literally like locked the doors, turned all the lights off so that like no one would come to our door because my parents like thought if we gave out candy,

we were like contributing to the devil or something. Yeah, you're a part of the problem. Yeah. So were you ever tricked because of that? What do you mean? Like, oh, oh, oh. Trick or treat. Right, yeah.

Like people were like, oh, you guys don't give out candy. Here's an egg on your door. I think people just, you know, we did get, actually that did happen once. I don't know if it was in relation to Halloween. Oh, it was. But now that you bring that up, it very well could have been retribution from the neighborhood. Yeah, that's what it was.

For us not contributing to the sugar. But yeah, so I never really even wore any Halloween costumes until college. yeah so i never really even wore any halloween costumes until uh college and perhaps appropriately given the religious background my first halloween costume i dressed as the holy ghost i just literally just wore a sheet over my i just put on a sheet like that was how it was like the worst costume ever it was like so little work what made your ghost holy though uh well it was holes in the sheets uh no it was you didn't even do that ioles in the sheets? No, it was... You didn't even do that. I guess I was just, yeah.

I'm not going to defend the costume here. I will say, though, that me and two of my friends were in on it, and so we were the Holy Trinity. I had a friend who at the time had really long hair and wore a robe, so obviously he was Jesus. And then my other friend had like a long white beard, or a fake beard, and so he was God the Father. You didn't send this picture to mom and dad, I assume.

No, yeah, I don't, yeah. They are probably listening to this podcast and very upset right now at our sacrilege. But you didn't need just one leg for that. No, yeah, yeah. Because that came later. Like technically you needed no legs. Yeah, exactly.

Technically, yeah, it was a problem that I was walking. I should have just been floating around. Right. But I didn't have the technological know-how for that. So, yeah, it was only sort of later that I had any sort of amputee-related one. And it was the first time I did one, it was after college, and that was when I did a partially eaten gingerbread man. And it wasn't even – it was really kind of a lazy thing it wasn't like i was like man what would

be like a clever amputee costume i was it was like the last minute and i think it was from like shrek you know yeah like i was like my gumdrop buttons or whatever and uh and so i literally just bought a normal gingerbread man costume and just cut the leg off. And I was like, boom, done. This is my costume. But that drastically increased the quality of that costume. I mean, did you know? Did you have any indication that, okay, I'm sure I'm going to put this online?

And did you know? No, because this was in 2011. And so this was like pre kind of BuzzFeed. The concept of viral images was very new. In fact, the only place I posted it was the now defunct site Daily Booth. You guys remember Daily Booth? Yeah. So that's the only record I have of the picture is actually Daily Booth.

So it's like super grainy. It was on a webcam, of course. But yeah, so it didn't occur to me that it was going to be a popular thing online. But, but like I put it on Daily Booth and it was like, all of a sudden all these people were texting me, you know, like, I love your costume. It's amazing. And, but it still wasn't a, it wasn't a viral thing or anything, but yeah, I went to parties and most like the main reaction actually was not so much like, that's an amazing costume.

It was like, where did you hide your leg? This is an incredible illusion you've created right i'm like i have crutches like why do you think i own titanium one-piece crutches like that i bought for this costume right you're a high roller yeah that's this is yeah this is how i go with my halloween costumes so yeah and so and it wasn't you follow it up next year with no so it still didn't occur to me like because again it wasn't like a viral thing and it wasn't uh okay you know yeah it just never occurred to me like oh but it did eventually right so that yeah so the next year i just i was uh angry birds with my friend you know

it was fine and then the year after that um my girlfriend at the time now fiance uh suggested hey like you should be the leg lamp from a christmas story oh well yeah and i was and and i looked online and some amputees had like done that before okay but they hadn't done a like a real good job no offense if you're one of them listening right now uh but i saw them i was like i think i can do way better um and like really go all out so i got like shaved my leg got fishnet stockings got an actual lamp shade and like lit it up from the inside with a battery pack. So it was like a portable walking lampshade. And yeah.

And that one, when I made it, I was like, I bet people online will like this because this is then by then 2013. So like at that point, you know, images online were like a thing. Right. And so, yeah so basically um a friend of a friend posted it on reddit and then it just it like blew up from there and then people went back and like somehow found my daily booth and they're like oh there's this like look at this thing you did before like and then and that's when it became like a thing so then the then the bar started to raise what was after that that? Yeah. So then, exactly. So then it was like clearly, oh, this is a thing.

You've got to do this. Now people like think I do this every year and have expectations. And so, yeah. So then I felt pressure. And I thought, well, like the Halloween, the costume with the leg lamp was like so popular because it brought back childhood memories for people. You know, like Christmas story and all like fragile and all you know all those things and so i was like there's no way anything will ever be like that but uh you know i'll try uh you know see what i come up with and so the next year i this one just happened i just was at like a zoo once

and i saw a flamingo and i was like you know that looks kind of like me if i'm doing a crutch handstand and it was just a weird thing it was just like i don't know just because i give you know i do like funny speeches about having one leg a lot of my humor on youtube is about amputee stuff like i'm just always looking at that stuff and uh and i like i it was funny because i told a lot of people the costume I had on. I was like, I think I'm going to be a pink flamingo. And everyone assumes, of course, because flamingos stand on one leg. And I was like, oh, you have no idea.

Just wait. This is going to blow your mind. So, yeah, so I got like a pink spandex suit. Very flattering. Oh, yes. You mean you didn't already have one yeah i pulled out my peak spandex suit yes from the closet where i keep all of my onesie spandex uniforms and uh and yeah i should say that my assistant lisa who is a huge fan of you guys and your show

helps me with these she's very crafty and she like helps me build these things because it takes a lot of like conceptual thinking of like how are we going to actually make this. And then we got an elf shoe, which she painted a flamingo head on. And then, yeah, I just do. I mean, it's weird to describe in podcasts. You have to see it to get it. So I guess Google Josh Sundquist Halloween costumes. They'll all come up. You have to see it to get it. So I guess Google Josh Sundquist Halloween costumes. But you got the-

They'll all come up. The two trucks, crutches are the legs to the flamingo. And then you lean your head forward and go into a- It's like a half handstand, right? So it's like my head is the flamingo's butt. And then my leg becomes like the neck. And my foot is like the actual, the head. And it has like a beak

it's very convincing very convincing yeah it's pretty like and i can't really like i can balance in like a an actual handstand on my crutches but not in that specific position it's actually like off balance so it was like flamingo in motion yeah so it was like me and my girlfriend we just did like a bunch of shots you know with uh just just like in burst mode. And just like, and we had like one that was just like, this is uncanny. It looks so flamingo-like. You know, and we did it. We even went to the zoo too, because I just thought it would be amusing to like do it right beside the flamingos. It would be, yeah.

Yes. But that was weird walking around the zoo in a pink flamingo or like a pink leotard. As an upside down flamingo. Yeah. And walking on its head. Yeah. So then. But you've done one more since then. Yeah. So then the flamingo was just huge. Yeah. It was. Yeah. So it's just like every year it's like more and more pressure and like people like he wins Halloween again. And and so, yeah. So then this year I did a foosball player and it was like particularly sort of meaningful to me and the reason i thought it was cool is because this year i had the opportunity to uh make the u.s amputee soccer team right and which was cool because like uh before i lost my leg when i was a kid i i played soccer and i hadn't really like played it since i became an amputee and now there's this like amputee

soccer sport out there and like the and the US team is finally good enough that we went to the World Cup this year. So it was a cool, personally meaningful thing to me to be like, oh, I'm going to actually dress as a semi-soccer player in a foosball position. And so yeah, this one was actually really difficult to construct because we really wanted to have the illusion of me floating.

And so, and to look like, because it's easy to have the illusion of me floating uh and right so uh and to look like because it's easy to like do photoshop things but i wanted to be like what you see is the actual photo taken right so we like rented out an entire like indoor soccer arena because that has that look of a foosball you know thing it has the round corners and like the walls the walls that sort of dropped back and then we got like a ballet bar and uh and built around that like reflective material to look like a uh you know like the spinning bar or whatever right and then uh and and did me up all in like all this like paint to make me look shiny and plastic and just like oh it's great yeah great the bar keeps getting raised yeah exactly so now it's like you got the thing on your foot that looks like the big paddle.

Yeah, exactly, right, yeah. And then we had just like the big box and I just sort of like sat and balanced there on that bar. Well, it's funny, because when I saw that, I thought, oh, well, you know, this has been so popular now, there's some sponsor that's paying for Josh to do his Halloween photo. Or did you just say, I know, I'm,

because it was so like over the top. Produced. And produced. Or are you just say, I know I'm cause it was so like over the top and produce, or are you just like, no, I've taken it upon myself that I'm just going to make this happen every single year. Yeah, I did. Uh, well, so I, I, I sort of tried and failed, uh, semi failed at doing like a, uh, like a Indiegogo. Uh, okay. So i put it up and it was like uh as people do when you do uh indiegogos and such a lot of people were like what like why why would we give you money like people on the internet just want my money because it's awesome yeah yeah so uh so a lot of people did give money towards it but i but like i honestly put it up thinking like, people will think this is cool and fun. I'm happy to pay for it myself.

Right. So, I got some money, but I paid for most of it myself. It was pretty expensive. I'm not going to lie. It was pretty expensive. But yeah, because I hired a real photographer. We had all the lights up and everything. Right. But to me, it's a great investment because people love it and it's like it honestly is a part of like the business of what I do you know like

I make my living mostly as a motivational speaker and a lot of people you know like when they contact me to speak they're like we love your Halloween costumes you know like the costumes sort of capture the message of what I'm going to share on stage and so it's like it's really kind of the best possible advertising I could do to share on stage. And so it's really kind of the best

possible advertising I could do is to invest in a really great costume. And we should say that those are at the top of your YouTube channel even now. So if you go there to enjoy your content, that's the easiest way just to see them all in collage form at once. Take us back. We'd love to get your story from the beginning, which I'm sure you've told many times, but I'd like to piece it all together. So, like as a child kind of overview. Yeah. So, yeah. So, like I said, when I had two legs as a kid, I was real into soccer. And when I was nine is when I started having a lot of pain and it was actually it was um i guess sort of poignant in a in that the like literally the same week that i was going to try

out for my first travel soccer team was the week that i had a biopsy where they found cancer because i'd been having a lot of pain and whatnot and so they were like had to open me up and and it was yeah it was a really aggressive form of cancer. I had a 50% chance to live. Yeah. So, it was very serious. I mean, a nine-year-old, I mean, you remember getting that news just, is the doctor talking to you? Is the doctor talking to your parent? Yeah. So, my parents told me, yeah, you know, there's an interesting thing in kids around that age. Parents sort of make the call as to how much information they want to share with a child. I was old enough that my parents chose to tell me everything and I'm glad they did.

But it's a kind of it's a weird thing because like, you know, they told me like my parents told me it was, it was almost like, um, like a Santa Claus thing, you know, like, oh, but like, don't tell the other kids because like, they were like, you know, not other kids at the hospital might not know how sick they are. So like, don't tell them, um, that they have cancer because they might not actually know. And then they told you like your chances of survival. They told, they went there too, huh? Yeah. And, and in that moment, that was like good news to me because like as a nine-year-old, the only thing I knew about cancer was my grandfather had died of it. And so to me, you know, I didn't, it wasn't even, I wasn't even cognizant that there could be ways to treat it or survival. So like I immediately thought I have cancer, I'm going to die.

So actually it was in retrospect and sort of ironically like good news that they were like, no, actually the doctors have told us your kind of cancer has a 50% chance of survival, which of course is still very low. So yeah, so I started chemotherapy treatments. I had a tumor in my leg, in my femur, which is like the bone from your knee to your hip. And after about three months, the tumor was still the same size size so something had to be sort of done surgically and there's like a lot of different operations besides amputation that are possible like you can take out the bone and put in a like a metal rod or a cadaver bone like all kinds of wild stuff but the amputation was is just like by far the best chance of survival and it's also

if you if you try to do what's called a limb salvage operation it's uh your leg is very fragile and so to me it was like i would you know as a as a athletically oriented child i was like well yeah okay so having one leg it's going to be harder to do stuff but i'm not going to be fragile per se you know i can do like whatever i'm able to do physically whatever i can figure out how to do with one leg like the doctors aren't going to be like no no you could break you know if you do that sport right so um so yeah and so you you helped make that yeah yeah yeah it was me and my parents we met with like a lot of doctors, got a lot of opinions, met with like amputees. Yeah. I mean, obviously that was a huge decision. Um, but yeah, I felt very much like it was a joint decision between my parents and I, and I'm, and I'm really grateful that, you know,

that they involved me with that. Right. Cause I could see a child who, who wasn't involved looking back later and being like, my parents chose this for me, you know, this life, whatever. Whereas I look back and say like, this is the life I chose. Yeah. So, um, yeah, so, so I lost my leg. I mean, obviously that's a pretty like traumatic thing. And so, yeah. What do you remember about that, about the, uh, the, you know, before the procedure? Yeah. I guess probably the most sort of notable memories about that were yeah right right before um you know i mean i was really sad like especially you know in the weeks leading up to it really sad like i cried myself to sleep a little sad i remember um you know sitting in the the operating or not the operating room sort of the waiting room you know where you you get prepped or wait or whatever

before you go back for the operation. And, uh, and, and yeah, I guess the best way I can describe it is, um, you guys are old enough and probably most of your listeners are old enough that,

you know, you've, you've, you've had someone that, you know, die suddenly at some point. And, and there's sort of this like almost eerie feeling of disbelief.

Like we were like, no, no. Like I just talked to him or her last week or whatever. And that's, that's how it felt. Like it was this idea, like I'm going to be put to sleep or her last week or whatever and that's that's how it felt like it was this idea like i'm gonna be put to sleep and then i'm gonna wake up and this leg is you know like it's not gonna be there and yeah it was just it was such a strange feeling and uh the

doctor nurse came in and um i hadn't walked for three months because, you know, my leg was very fragile. I had a brace on it. I wasn't supposed to put any weight on it. But the doctor and a nurse came in and they had a wheelchair like to bring me back to the operating room. And looking back, I'm not sure exactly why I made this decision. But I guess I realized, well, like, what's the worst thing that could happen? Like I could break my leg from walking. And so I was like, you know, actually like, I don't want to use a wheelchair. Like I'm going to walk because this is like,

this is my last chance to walk. Um, and so, yeah, so I walked back to the operating room and the next memory I had was, was waking up and just having horrible phantom limb pain. Oh really? Yeah. And, and in phantom limb pain. Oh, really? Yeah. And in phantom limb pain, it's just, you know, and of course they had told me about it ahead of time and warned me. But I mean, it's such a strange thing. Like you can't even imagine, like you can't be prepared for it. Like I woke up and at first I thought like,

oh, they didn't even amputate my leg because I could feel it. And it was just like throbbing in pain. And it was in this like really weird position. Like it was like sticking straight in the air. And then like i opened my eyes and it's like it's not there um oh man yeah it's it's so phantom limb pain is just it's so wild and i still think it's like it's really fascinating just like neurologically um but for a while it was like pretty debilitating pain wise um but i guess you know you sort of your your brain is hardwired to to have what's called proprioception which is like the sense of your body in space so you know you could lose any part of your body a

finger a nose an ear or whatever and you'll still feel it like in your brain and you can have pain in it and that's what what the phantom limb pain is yeah, so I went through that for a while, but, uh, you know, I, I felt like, uh, I went through a lot of the grieving beforehand and, and afterwards, um, I was, you know, I, I, and I don't want to like take credit for it myself. I think I had like tremendously supportive parents and friends and family, you know, who had, who had raised me well and had really like rallied behind me. But I, like really bounced back, I think, a lot quicker than people were expecting. And maybe that, you know, than some people perhaps ever do, you know, with an amputation. So yeah, I mean, after like two or three days after the amputation, I was like running on my crutches, like around the hospital, like literally like running. Was it an expression of your support structure alone?

Was it also the type of person that you were? Was it an active decision that you remember making that I'm going to run around on these crutches? You know, what were the components of recovery for you for it to be accelerated like that? Yeah, I think that's an insightful question. And, you know, I think it's a little bit of all of that, right? It's having parent, you know, like great support structure. It's having like taken gymnastics as a child. So I was like pretty agile and had really good balance really quickly. And I think there was a decision element too. I think, you know, at that point I still had another nine

months of chemotherapy in front of me, you know, my life was still on the line. So I think there was also an element of it to me thinking like, I don't know how much longer my life is going to be. So like, yes, I have one leg, but I'm going to try and make the best of it whatever that means so there was still cancer in your body at that time it just yeah i mean yeah the weird thing about you know having an amputation is you don't like yes that got rid of what's known to be the cancer but you know maybe there's like a really small amount of cancer like in your lungs or you know it's metastasized somewhere else so you still go through the whole like the original protocol of chemotherapy which which was a year so i was on it for for another nine months so like a year in total so yeah it was a lot of chemotherapy

about 100 nights i spent in the hospital oh wow yeah and it was three years before you were declared free and clear of cancer right that's That's right. Yeah. So three years, because most cancer, you are declared cured after five years, but it just depends on the type of cancer. Mine is very aggressive. And so if it hasn't come back in three years, that's when they say you're cured, which is like just the best feeling ever. That's something that I look back on and think of those times when you're in remission in that period in between and, you know, you go in for tests every three months or every six months and it's just like, has the cancer come back, you know? And because if the cancer comes back, it's, you know, your chances of survival are very low. So, you know, those were scary years. Was your sense of humor that we see now in all of your work, something that was present then,

even from that young of an age or something that developed later? Yeah, that's a great question. Some of both, you know, I don't, I, it wasn't, it took, it took many years, I think, to become as comfortable with being an amputee as I am now, you know, like I wore a prosthesis until halfway through college when I started high school. I was homeschooled until high school. And so when I started high school, I was very worried, you know, just if that people would even find out I was an amputee. So I think there was a much greater sense of self-consciousness there. But at the same time, there. But at the same time, really early on, I think humor was actually a way of sort of dealing with it. I mean, like, you know, yeah, right after I got fitted with a prosthesis, yeah,

this was kind of maybe the first window into like what humor could do and how it could help me cope i was uh in the hospital for chemotherapy treatment and there was uh i was treated at like a teaching hospital so a medical student was examining me and just doing like a physical and taking my vitals and such and he uh was like taking my pulse and uh and and finally my mom was like j Joshua, my parents called me Joshua, of course, my given name. But she's like, yeah, Joshua has a prosthesis now and you are trying to take a pulse from it. And you found this funny. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

And so it was like, yeah, which I thought was just hilarious. He's dead. Yeah. I mean, yes. I mean, that was probably, yeah, just a month or six weeks after my amputation. And I think that looking back, that was the first like really funny thing that happened. I was like, that's really funny. And I think after that, I started looking more and more for like, yeah, like, obviously, you know, I'm not like sometimes people will come up to me after a speech or write in the comments of a video.

They're like, man, like your jokes about being an amputee are so like so funny. Like it makes me kind of want to be an amputee. But they'll always preface it with something like, you know, like, don't take this the wrong way. Right. Where do you know? Like, OK. Or like, no offense. Yeah, right.

No offense here. But I'm like, OK, wow. Yeah, that is, you totally got the wrong message. Like, I do not like suggest being an amputee. Well, that's a good, that's your perspective is so compelling that that's the effect that it has on. Yeah, I've got a 10 year old son. So we've got kids in that age range. And I'm thinking about that happening and then making that adjustment. Just what about socially in those formative years

as you're becoming a teenager and moving into high school? How did the fact that you were an amputee at that point play into how you interacted with other kids? and moving into high school, like how did the fact that you were an amputee at that point play into how you interact with other kids? Yeah, no, it was really, really terrifying at first, you know, it's, it's, you know, it's weird now, like 20 years later, because it's like, obviously, it's, it's just a part of me. It's not a big deal anymore. But yeah, and, and in that sense, I think, you know, my parents played a really great role in, you know, a lot of times you hear people with disabilities, you know, who have psychologically adjusted well. We'll talk about how, like, you know, my parents never treated me any differently.

You know, like that's the key thing. you know, they, and you're like, that's the key thing. Uh, and I, and I don't think they, they quite mean that literally, because I think you do have to treat someone according to their, his or her own needs. Like, of course you treat each of your kids a little differently. Not that you're like showing favoritism to them, but like each of your kids, they're an individual. Yeah. They have their own personality, their own problems, their own hopes, et cetera. So, um, you know, I think that my parents, uh, you know, there were times, you know, really early on yet where I was, I was pretty nervous to like, uh, for example, like to go, to go to like the swimming pool, you know, and they found like a friend of ours who,

but I wanted to like swim. I wanted to try it, you know? And so they found like a friend of ours who like had a pool at their house. So I didn't have to go to like a public pool. And, you know, I had gone to like summer camp before I lost my life but i was really scared to go back and uh and so they like basically like bribed me and uh and i was uh in retrospect very easily bribed considering like how scared i was of summer camp but they were like if you go to summer camp we will give you 25 that you can spend at the snack shop at camp oh yeah and i was like 25 of ice cream that is amazing um and so it was like that was like so game-changing uh so you went yeah yeah yeah and uh did it work out yeah and it was awesome but it but you know it was like um it was like stuff like that.

Like otherwise, without that ice cream, like there was no – like it seems so silly. It wasn't worth it. It seems so silly, but like that really was like a deciding factor of me going. And I'm so glad I did, you know, because then it was like that was when I started to get exposure to other people. Because, of course, I was in a unique situation being homeschooled. Like I wasn't immediately thrust into an environment with like hundreds of kids at once. I had like a social network, but my social network was like my church and my homeschool group, which was like a pretty small group, and a very close knit group. And so in that sense, I was I

was lucky to have friends who were, I think, very mature and came from like homes where parents were like giving them like sort of like, you know, don't, you know, like Josh is still like a normal person, like treat him as such kind of thing. I'm sure there are many milestones, but how did you get to become a motivational speaker? Yeah. So I started giving, the first time I was like giving talks was right around that time when I was like nine, 10 years old. Really? Yeah. Doing at that time, not like what I do now, but they were like fundraising speeches for my hospital. So, you know, I was like sort of like the poster child to be like for the donors to be like, look, the hospital is helping me survive. You should give money.

look, the hospital is helping me survive. You should give money. Here's a funny story about a resident who tried to take a pulse from my leg, which in retrospect is like the worst possible story. Yes, your hospital is like a malpractice suit waiting to happen. Give it money. But yeah, so that was the first time

I was sort of in front of audiences and, you know, started to grow comfortable with that. And then when I was 15 years old, and by that time in a public school, a motivational speaker came to my high school. And I just like saw, you know, his speech and just thought like, this is the coolest thing ever. And ironically, you know, I was really interested in doing it, but I was really afraid because I was like, Oh, you know, I think to be a motivational speaker, you have to have like a really interesting life story. And I don't have one, which is, yeah, I know. It's like looking back, it's like, uh, what? But like at the time, it just like, it just didn't occur to me that, that my life was that interesting. And so my early speeches were

terrible, uh, because number one, they were like super like didactic and just it was like i listened to other motivational speakers and tried to be like tony robbins you know so i'd get up and be like you must have goals and like blah blah blah i'm so awesome and you should be like me and uh and they were they were just so bad and and nobody paid attention. And then gradually over time, I realized the times that people were paying attention was in the short moments when I might have an anecdote about myself or what had happened to my leg or to cancer or whatever. And then gradually then I realized, oh, wait, I actually do have a story. And it's a story that people are really interested in and that people naturally create a metaphor, right? Most audiences are not composed of amputees, but everybody has that thing for them, whether it's something physically obvious or something from their background or their emotional state or a developmental disability. Everybody has that thing that they're sort of insecure about

that they're dealing with. And so to hear a story, hopefully from someone who's been through something like that and has come out relatively well on the other side and is a story that seems to help people, and that's why I have the privilege of having that job. Right, and you've done quite a bit of it and I think my suspicion is that when you do

motivational speaking that you probably get called into lots of different environments where you find yourself I'm speaking to like this convention for whatever. Like, does it get weird? Yeah yes what are some of the weird places that you found yourself speaking yeah no yeah i would say uh maybe interesting it would be the positive spin i would put on it uh but yeah but you're right it's it's really interesting that just just because i uh you know some types of speakers might be an expert on something like leadership or teamwork or whatever. But because I'm just sort of like a life story speaker, you know, I talk about my life story and I apply sort of lessons about overcoming adversity and try to relate to that to what individuals in that particular audience might be going through.

Because that's a pretty universal message, I have the privilege of speaking to a really wide range of groups. So yeah, I mean like I spoke to a group of Cowboys, uh, like two months ago, like literally Cowboys, like they are literally Cowboys. Like in Wyoming or something? Uh, North Dakota. Yeah. I mean, I, I was the, like the only person I felt uncomfortable because I wasn't wearing a Cowboy hat and did not have Cowboy boots. Like that was the first time in my life when I've been like, wow, I'm, I feel weird because I'm the only one without the cowboy hat. Did you address that?

Um, yeah. Uh, yeah, yeah. I like to acknowledge like those sorts of things. Um, yeah. And they were, they were good. They had a good sense of humor about it, but you know, like one of the weirdest ones and I didn't actually end up speaking to them, um, but I was really hoping I would because I thought this would be just hilarious it was like a convention of the uh what would you

call it like the tanning booth industry association and i was just like okay like i'm i'll definitely speak to you guys and like that's cool but like i mean you guys kind of have a thing that causes the disease that I had. Like, it just doesn't seem like. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It just seems like. Kind of. Yeah. Like, I mean, like, you know, within moderation, I'm not judging people who go to tanning beds.

That's fine. I just like if I was playing that convention, I wouldn't be like, let's get that. Like, if, you know, if I was like. Right. If we were like a smoking convention or whatever or like you know we sold we're philip morris like we wouldn't be like let's find a guy who's overcome lung cancer yeah right you know it's like it just seems like i'm not the person that you want um so yeah but it's uh it's yeah it's really interesting just sort of like the

wide variety of groups i get to speak to. At what point did YouTube start to enter equation? And I'm curious, how does that fit into the puzzle of what you're doing? How do you view your YouTube presence? My first real YouTube video was when I was actually here in LA at USC. I was in grad school. And yeah, I had no idea what a vlog was. And I just, I really didn't have, I was in grad school and, you know, it's very different being in grad school. You don't necessarily, like, make friends or have a social experience. Or maybe,

actually, that's probably just me. Grad school for what? For communications. Okay, makes sense. Yeah, I guess. I don't know. Nobody has ever, like, for a speech, ever been like, but do you have a degree in communications like pretty sure that was a waste of money but whatever it was

fine so yeah I was I just had like this I had had this like really wild experience which is actually it's in this is not a plug but I'm gonna go ahead and make it a plug it's in my new book we should hang out sometime

give it to us so yeah well I the book is about I had never had a girlfriend when I was like 25 years old and I tried to date girls a lot and I had these sort of like one or two

date relationships and people were always like josh i mean you seem you're not like too creepy and we assume you're not like a serial killer or anything like why have you never had a girlfriend and i was like i really don't know um i have theories but i don't know so i so i went back and like investigated by which i mean i found like all the girls going like starting in middle school, that I had tried to date, and I would have coffee with them or email them. You physically found them and had a physical, face-to-face conversation with them. Well, I mean, face-to-face.

You had an auditory conversation, not a physical conversation. Yeah, it was mostly a conversation of words. Yeah, mostly. Maybe a hug or something involved. A polite handshake too physical yeah what this is quite a quest yeah it was a great idea for a book yeah and and i will i i'm proud to say that i didn't do it like for a book okay yeah um it was it wasn't like uh it was and maybe that's even more weird that i was just like here's here's a personal development project i'd like to do um it was only like later that i was i was kind of like yeah you know this this is this

could be a book this is kind of funny now uh now actually now that i have a girlfriend and there's a happy ending as okay once i've determined that um so uh yeah so i i had this experience where there was this girl that i was trying to date, and she was actually a contestant in Miss America. You're on the right track so far. Yeah, so I want to be clear. She was Miss North Dakota, right? Yeah. How did you know that?

Well, why did we do research for this? Yeah, that's impressive. Yeah, that's the one. Well, and you just spoke to some cowboys in North Dakota. You make it in North Dakota quite a bit. I do. And I didn't think there were any humans there. Yeah.

You've been there at least twice. No, I've spoken in North Dakota a weirdly large amount. I actually like calculated it once. Like North Dakota's population is shockingly small, 600,000 people in the whole state. And there was a time when I had spoken there so often that I had spoken to like a multiple percentage points of the entire state. It was like three to 4% of the state population I had spoken to. So that's how I met Miss North Dakota. And so, yeah, we were sort of talking and this is what a while I was at USC. And so she was going to be at Miss America, which was in Vegas. And so I got a ticket through some finagling

to this black tie gala where I knew she was going to be and I was going to surprise her and stuff. And you had not dated at this point or had you? She and I. What was your status? I would say we were talking. We would talk on the phone. But yeah, there had been no like physical conversations to use your term.

I'll put it that way. Yeah. So. But you're going to surprise her. Yeah. I was just going to. Yeah. I was going to surprise her.

And, you know, I'd seen so many like rom-coms or I'd seen, I will say, enough rom-coms to know that a grand romantic gesture like this is, you know, always is going to go well. Yeah. This couldn't fail. Like there's no way it could fail. And of course it failed horribly.

Like, I mean, like it failed like so horribly. It was just like anticlimactically weird. I, like, I was like, you know,

she was like kind of like walking by me and I was like, like, I guess I, and I didn't really have anything in your mouth yeah your eyes got big yeah i just shook yeah really yeah that's pretty much what happened i guess i just imagined she was gonna be like oh like you're here we're in love let's date like i'm your girlfriend now i don't really know what i thought um that didn't happen what really happened was she was like,

you didn't tell me you were going to be here. And I was like, it's a surprise. Yeah. Yeah. That was, yeah, it's a surprise. Yeah.

That's exactly what it sounds like. That's kind of, that was like sort of the point. And, and then she was like, Oh, like I have to go. Like,

cause she, she did have to like go walk in this procession or something. And that was the whole conversation. And we didn't talk was this before the the ceremony the pageant or yeah this was the night before night before yeah uh and so there was no follow-up conversation nothing no nothing not like for months uh yeah that was just the end because i was and i was like well maybe she'll text maybe she'll call nope nothing uh so yeah so that was one of the ones for the book when years later i wanted to be like so like remember that time when i showed up to your pageant um so that was really interesting but this is we're on like so many levels of stories here

let's finish that one though so yeah on your quest in the book walk us through going seeking her out yeah because you you met up with her again yeah and and we actually yeah had like a face-to-face conversation how did you when i was giving a speech in north dakota obviously when you were passing through of course my my stomping grounds where i where i often show up to give speeches and you put the tux back on yeah yeah no i was speaking at a bank um you know like to some employees at a bank and it was like the town she was in like in the vault like i immediately pictured you standing in the boat the other round employees i'm picturing behind the teller window yeah to be clear what i say yeah to a bank i mean it was like a gathering of employees of the bank. It wasn't like attention bank customers. I have given some weird speeches like that.

And I've learned to be like, I ask a lot of questions now before I agree to show up to make sure I'm not going to be in that. Like one time I spoke to what I thought was going to be a group of army vets who had lost legs or arms. And I was like, this is great. Like, I'd love to like support these guys and it turns out i was actually just speaking at a cafeteria in a hotel near an army hospital to who to anyone who happened to be in the cafeteria i kid you not no advertising it was just people who were just happened to be getting their food and i was just they were just yeah just go just like stand in the middle of the room and start talking now i was i was like are you

serious that's a whole nother story um well what happened there it was just it was horrible like it was so bad did you get paid no i was i was volunteering like i thought i was helping army vets was this in north dakota no this is. So you didn't have to travel too far. Oh, yeah. That speech was so bad. It was, yeah. They had like, there was a TV on.

They wouldn't turn the TV off. Oh. It was like, oh my gosh. I mean, that was probably the worst speech ever. Fortunately, it's never gotten worse than that. So now I'm very careful

to ask questions. I'm like, so this is an event that people are going to on purpose, right? This is not a cafeteria. Yeah. They know I gonna be there okay so miss north dakota you you triangulated where she was gonna be and it intersected with you giving a a talk yeah i'd like to like make it sound less creepy than that like i wasn't like triangulating her cell phone like okay i see her coordinates i this is where she is. I will show up there. I contacted her and invited her to come to my speech.

Okay. And we're like, yeah, let's like, you know, get food afterwards. And yeah, so I, and by this time, yeah, I was sort of more, yeah, well, it was an interesting conversation because we talked and she was kind of like – I'm loving this, by the way.

Because she was – yeah, she obviously remembered the situation, me showing up, and was really impressed that I was there because the gala that I was attending was supposed to be $2,000 a plate. I had gotten a ticket because I gave a free speech at a cafeteria somewhere. Yeah, at a cafeteria. It was weird, but totally worth it. And so, she was just, so she was like,

which to me made it even crazier. She was like, she thought I had spent $2,000 to see her. I was like, you thought I had spent $2,000 to see her. And I was like, so why you didn't text me? Like what happened, right? And so, cause at the time I thought, well, maybe she has a boyfriend that just entered the picture or something like that.

But yeah, so it was basically like a really interesting lesson for me in sort of empathy and like looking at something from another person's perspective. Cause for her, it's like the biggest moment of her life right you know she's been preparing this literally for this moment for years and she's very focused on the competition and this guy like just shows up and she's very like befuddled and confused and just like literally doesn't know what to say and then the competition happens and she didn't like do as well as she wanted. And then so she was like a little like embarrassed, you know, like maybe felt like she kind of like let – because, you know, she had other friends and family there.

And she felt like she kind of like let everyone down a little bit. And so it was – you know, that's where she was coming from and I was coming from just sort of a place of insecurity where I was like, oh, if she didn't like text me immediately afterwards, she must not like me. I'm never going to talk to her again. Yeah. You know, and she was like, yeah, but I was like really disappointed, you know, you didn't contact me afterwards because like I was so into you. And I'm just like, what? Like, wait, hold on. Like, you really liked, you know, so then I was like, well. So it becomes crystal clear that you really did blow it. Yeah, it was crystal clear. Speaking of crystal, it was soon,

I was beginning to get thoughts in this conversation like, well, maybe now that we've figured this out. Better late than never. Yeah. But it just so happens that approximately six weeks before this particular dinner, she got engaged and had a diamond ring so that's what's what the book is about uh but yeah so each so each chapter is a different girl a different girl yeah so it's a there's like uh six i actually tracked down uh 12 girls and six of them are in the book some of them were like just not

interesting enough for the book or there wasn't like a – it wasn't – I don't know. Just not – you can't fit everything. There was like more stories and your editor always wants to cut stuff out. So there's about – Yeah. You got a sequel. The B-side girls is what you should call that one.

So just to go back for a second, we took the detour from you getting into YouTube from – so you were at USC yes so yeah so I so I had this experience I'll give you sort of the abbreviated version of the story while I was in I was getting ready or you know I was at the at the black tie gala and I don't like you guys have probably have you ever worn a bow like a real bow tie before not a real bow tie I'm afraid of that you know I have one that ties around yeah yeah like you have to tie it i didn't tie it okay yeah so this i feel like that would be a good that's him what do you mean a good gmo

episode of like just trying to do this like as a challenge because it's freaking impossible okay they're always crooked and like uneven and lopsided so i was in the men's room you know trying to like get all spiffy before my like big grand gesture when she saw me and uh and i was you know i'm just like worried about my bow tie but it's like it's so hard to tie right i'm just like oh like i can't get it i was really frustrated yeah and i was like man you know the next time i wear a real or the next time i wear a bow tie i'm gonna do like a like a clip-on you know like what you wore to prom where it's like pre-tied because i was like a real or the next time i wear a bow tie i'm gonna do like a like a clip-on you know like what you wear to prom where it's like pre-tied because i was like a real bow tie is just not worth it like that was the phrase in my mind i was like this is not worth it and um and this this guy walked in

and just part of like having one leg is that people strangers for some reason feel a certain subset of the population feels just a um uh just like they have the right to like say anything they want you to inquire about your medical history or or they feel even just a need to say something about how you have a disability okay so this guy walks in and he's like because i was like kind of balancing at the mirror, like working my bow tie. He's like, oh, it looks like you do pretty well with that. But I was so focused on my bow tie. With those two hands you have. Yeah. But I was like, I was so focused on my bow tie and like, I don't, you know, I talk a lot about having one leg in my speeches and videos and stuff, but I don't like necessarily actively think all the time, like I'm an amputee, this is my perspective. So like, I wasn't really thinking,

like I thought he meant my bow tie. So I was like, oh, thank you. Like, you know, I'm an amputee. This is my perspective. So, like, I wasn't really thinking, like, I thought he meant my bow tie. So, I was like, oh, thank you. Like, you know, I appreciate that. And this is, like, the totally true story. So, then we go over, like, to the urinals. Like, I guess I gave up sort of or came to a satisfactory point in my bow tying. And so, we're both standing at the urinals kind of nearby each other and i was like i you know i'm still thinking about my bow tie and he's like still thinking

presumably about my life situation and i was like i'll tell you though it's actually pretty difficult like it's pretty difficult you start opening up to the guy about the bow tie while we are peeing. And the dude is like, yeah, like it looks like it would be pretty difficult. And then I said, I kid you not. I was like,

in fact, tonight I've been feeling like it's just not even worth it. His pee stream stopped. Yeah, exactly. exactly yeah he's like you know making icon like number one rule of social interaction in urinals yeah yeah he's looking at me he's like he's like son it's always worth it and i was and i was still thinking about my bow tie this guy's really into bow ties yeah i was like i don't i don't i didn't think i was that good at tying it but maybe i'm better than i thought like and so it literally didn't hit me till like weeks later i'm sitting in my dorm room at usc and i was like oh like that's why he was so like dramatic and like worried for me he thought like i was talking about my life not being worth it and and so i'm sitting in my like one room uh you know my single at usc and i was thought like i was talking about my life not being worth it and and so i'm sitting

in my like one room uh you know my single at usc and i was just like i have to tell someone about this story and i had a webcam and i was like maybe i could just like record this into the webcam and put it on the internet and i did and that was my first vlog and were you hoping that that guy would see it and be at ease? Yeah, I mean, I did. The vlog shot off dude at the urinal. This is for you. I did assume that, yeah, he's like probably out there like, you know, having prayer vigils. You know, like I met this depressed one-legged man.

It was destiny. He was open right up to me. At the end of his ropes, yeah. Pouring his heart out as he peed. Yeah. So that was how I started on YouTube. And I didn't... That was early on.

It was like 06, right? Yeah. That was a long time ago. So that was 08. And I had a couple videos on my channel that were just like demos of me speaking. Oh, okay. And I didn't really make any videos. It didn't...

You know, like I really didn't even know what a vlog was. I didn't know that I had made a vlog. you know, like, like I really didn't even know what a vlog was. I didn't know that I had made a vlog and it wasn't until 2010 when my first book came out, just don't fall that to promote that I made a video called the amputee rap. And, and then that video did really, really well. And that's, and, and, you know, and people were like, it was, it was, it was kind of like, people were like way more excited about that than the book. And, uh, uh and i was like i worked for years on this book and two weeks on the video um you should read the book uh but uh but i i saw then just like then then i i started like looking at youtubers and like seeing guys like you guys and like finding out like oh there's this whole world out there of youtube and like what would and i and i

look like scrolled back and was like oh my, this like urinal story I told years ago has thousands of views now. Like I could keep doing that. And so, yeah, that's like I just kept making vlogs after that. So how does your YouTube channel fit into your puzzle at this point? Yeah, that's a really good question and one that I spend a lot of time thinking about. that I spend a lot of time thinking about. It is, yeah. Is it just to drive business to speaking or does it have a life in a business of its own?

You're trying to, there's a tension there, I guess. Yeah, I think of YouTube mostly as a really intense hobby. Like I don't have enough subscribers that I could make a living off of it or anything like that. So mostly for me, it's just I really like making videos and telling stories into a camera. And it's really fun. That said, it is a component. If I were to explain my career to people, I would say I give motivational speeches, I write books, and I make YouTube videos.

And I think there is a really nice symbiosis to all of those. Sure. Uh, most of my income comes from speaking, but a lot of the speaking requests come because people saw a YouTube video or because they read a book and a lot of the book sales come because people saw me speak or they saw a YouTube video. And, uh, and, and so, you know, it all works, you know, and it's like it all kind of works together, I guess, in that sense. Well, would it be a spoiler alert to ask, you know, what's the ultimate takeaway from the book?

No. Yes, it would. Oh, well, I mean. Read the book for the takeaway. No, I mean, I think, I i mean obviously i'm engaged so that the big spoiler of course is like well actually in the end of the book i was just dating my girlfriend so you wouldn't know that from reading that we are engaged now um but yeah no i think you know with each girl i learned a little bit something different so you know there was there was sort

of like one you know one lesson was about maybe like about like sort of empathy like what we talked about with the miss america contestant or one lesson might be about um you know not always like assuming sort of like the worst you know not assuming like because she said this oh she must hate me like maybe there's another reasonable explanation but the overall thing that i think i took away was this, that I went into it, the investigation, assuming that I had never had a girlfriend because there was something wrong with me. And what I realized was actually there had just been a lot of just kind of unlucky situations. And if there was anything wrong with me, it was that assumption. it was thinking that there was something wrong with me in other words it was like having that insecurity that doubt that like thinking oh

there's there's something like inadequate about me right because um you know like that's like that's like the the least attractive thing in a person right but the most attractive person by contrast is someone who's like who is confident in who they are like flaws and all they're like this is who i am i i accept myself as who i am and i think like that's what makes you a tremendously attractive person uh to someone that you might be interested in dating right and how did your fiancee feel about all the stories about all the ladies yeah she i definitely like talked to her a lot about it you know before before it became a book, just to make sure she was going to be cool with it.

And I think she was really pleased to be the happy ending of the book. And really pleased that you were such an idiot all along the way. Yeah, I think she's kind enough to think that she's very lucky that the other girls didn't discover me or something. But yeah, I think she loves, and rightly so, and I'm glad that she does, being that she's the person at the end who is like, I finally found someone and it's her.

What stands out as one of the best responses you've gotten? I'm sure there's a lot of people who come up and want to talk to you whenever you speak. And what stands out as one of the stupidest things? You talk about the people who just have to say something, and then I'll see if I can top both. Okay. So as far as after giving a speech? Yeah. I mean, there's got to be, I imagine. Or just anything you've done in public. I imagine the rewarding moment of someone wanting to, you've opened up and inspired.

Yeah. And someone's, they want to give back. Someone said, I imagine there's been a lot of people saying great things to you. Oh, yeah. So, I mean, yeah, you know, so many amazing things. And that's certainly like one of the coolest and most rewarding parts of the job, you know, is being able to do something that I really enjoy, like performing and sharing my story. And then I get to do it professionally. And that's something that helps people. Yeah. So, I mean, so many things.

You know, I think, I guess probably the most poignant example would be a girl came up to me. And one of my early speeches that was when I was not really even a good speaker came up to me and, like, gave me, like, a suicide prevention hotline card and was like, you know, like, thanks to you, like, I feel like I don't need this anymore. And that meant a lot to me. like i don't need this anymore um and that that meant a lot to me um and so as far as sort of the flip side uh man yeah i've really heard it all i like you know it's like people people after you give a speech because they've just heard you and and you guys probably relate to this as youtubers like you know when you meet someone and they're kind of like wait what why aren't you doing a youtube video for me right now like if you ask them a question or if there's like a pause they're like hold up why why are you not why are you not what are the jump cuts like you know

yeah and so you know people kind of come to you after a speech and they're just kind of like where's where's my motivational speech like why why are you not speaking why are you not like why are you not telling long stories with jokes right now um yeah and that so that's weird uh but yeah people will will relate um yeah it's like i don't i hate to like belittle people's problems you know but they'll be like i understand what it's like to have one leg because and then and then just say you know like oh where are they gonna go with this but but you know and sometimes people you know have like a really serious problem but but you know like it'll be like a again like i hate to be like trivial but it'll be like something you know just something

really like you know because yeah oftentimes people are like because um like i i i sprained my ankle last year and i was on crutches for two weeks. So I totally get what you've gone through. I'm like, cool. I'm sure you're always gracious. Yeah, I try to be nice. I'm like, cool. I'm not trying.

Yeah, it's a little different, but I'm glad that it spoke to you. I don't know if I want to try to top that. Well, I mean, you don't have to top it, but share what are some meaningful and really strange things people have said to you. Oh, no. I was going to try to be one of those people and ask you something.

Oh, you were going to try to. I thought there was going to be like story time with Blake. I didn't know where you were going with that either. See if I could ask something even stupider than what people have asked you. Oh man. Oh, if you want to talk about stupid questions, wow. Like, I mean, just in terms of-

That's what I mean, stupid questions. In terms of just pure questions, yes. How about this one? What do they do with the leg after they get rid of it? Yeah, I don't think that's a stupid question. And that's something that I would be curious about. I mean, I kind of know. They like study it to like,

because, you know, just for like sort of case history information to know, oh, like how did, because it's a rare form of cancer, right? So it's like they want to know like how much did it spread into the muscle? And they learned like it spread a lot into the muscle. Do they say, hey, do you want one last look? Or is that usually when it's on you, that's the last look for you personally? Yeah, no, I didn't have anything like that.

I've heard of amputees like keeping their like fingernails or toenails. I didn't like ask for that. Kind of macabre. Yeah, it seemed a little weird to me. And I feel like eventually you would inevitably come to some ceremony where you're like, I'm going to like throw these into the ocean

because I've moved on, you know, so. Yeah, if you wanted to take the leg, they wouldn't have let you do it probably. I should hope not. Dennis won't let you take a tooth. Yeah, you should hope that they would not allow you to walk out with an actual limb. But yeah, I'll give you some stupid questions

that people have asked me. And these are, the really stupid questions are typically not after a speech. And I think the reason is because I make fun of in my speeches. A lot of times I talk about stupid questions that people ask. I think people are a little like, I don't want to be in the next speech. So the stupid questions are inevitably just people who walk up to me on the sidewalk. Questions are inevitably just people who walk up to me on the sidewalk or just casual conversations. So my all-time list would be I was talking to this girl about my artificial leg, which I was wearing. I still wore a leg. This was in high school. We're talking about how it worked and everybody has questions about artificial legs.

And she was like, oh oh so is the foot fake too really yeah really like totally serious and like i don't know like i just don't even know like what the like and i and i was like oh you know it's funny you ask like the doctors actually took my real foot and attached it on the end of my artificial leg foot fake too yeah oh my yeah i like i don't even know like how could she imagine that that was yeah we there's like a frankenstein system she doesn't understand blood supply yeah i was like yeah there's blood running through the fake leg to nourish the like yeah i mean oh wow yeah um so that happened um he uh that was amazing i had a guy pretty recently maybe a year ago now i live just outside washington dc and he was um in my

neighborhood i was walking on the sidewalk and i you know i was on my crutches no no prosthesis and uh he like taps me on the shoulder, of course, because I have one leg, so he needs to talk to me about it. And just this opening line, he's like, so how come you don't have a prostate? How could you tell? Yeah, exactly. I was like, whoa, where's the other hand?

Do you have x-ray vision? How do you know this information? And then I figured out like what he meant. But I was like, that is not the kind of cancer that I had, actually. It was bone cancer. Oh, man. Yeah, and just in terms of sheer stupidity, on my third date with Ashley. So this was like a pretty new relationship.

And we're at- Hold on. Don't throw your fiance under the bus. Oh, no, no. This is not a question she asked. Okay, good. Although she has asked- I was going to save you from that one.

Oh, no, yeah. No, she's asked some pretty good questions. Pretty good questions. Pretty good. Yeah, we'll put it that way. She's a great person. Yeah. No, she's asked some pretty good questions. Pretty good questions. Pretty good. Yeah, we'll put it that way. She's a great person. Yeah. No, no.

She was there to witness it. I'm trying to raise the stakes of the story. I got you. Because it's like we're nervous, we want an initial date. I got you. And so we were eating dessert. It was sort of like a dessert bar, you know? And so she was sitting beside me on one side and there was this guy sitting beside me on the other side.

Like, you know, inevitably wants to talk about how I have one leg and all this situation. Like, this is like a grown man. I just want to be very clear. I don't think he was like intoxicated or anything. And he was like, uh, you know, he was like, so, um, like, how long is it going to take for, you know? how long is it going to take for, you know? And I was like, no, no, I don't know, actually. Like, no, what are you asking? He thinks you're a starfish. Yes. And he was like, I kid you not, he's like, how long is it going to take for your leg to grow back? And I was like, are you serious right now?

Are you like, yeah, exactly. Like, do you think, do I look like a starfish or do I look like a lizard? Like I can just spontaneously regrow appendages. I like, I, it was just. How, how does someone get to adulthood? Right. Like, yeah, I just want to know what, what in his life experience had like indicated to him maybe he had he maybe he had one grow back that that was like yeah that was how long did it take

you how long did it take you i don't know it took five years yeah right uh but yeah but no the hilarious thing was i mean because i think he would genuinely was sincere and this is this is why i believe that because after that he got a lot more serious and he was like oh man and he's like can i buy you a drink after you told him yeah now that we know that it's not coming back because i was like yes thank you this is a great solution i can turn to alcohol yep to like help me feel better about how my leg is not going to grow back let me buy you a drink son yeah i'll buy you a drink because that leg ain't coming back. You should have just said, well, just grab and pull right here

and it'll probably only take about a second. Well, I know we didn't even get into it, but people can read your first book, Just Don't Fall, when you were a skier too. That's right, yeah. For a long time. There's quite a lot, we could talk to you forever. Yeah, a lot of life stories.

We can throw people to your books, more stories about the encounters with the ladies and we should hang out sometime and more stories about your life and your background and just don't fall. And you tell a lot of stories on your YouTube channel, which people can check out too. Yeah, we truly appreciate being able to hang out

and get to know you. And thanks for allowing us to ask all the questions that we ask. Some of those may rank up there. No, those are awesome questions. And no, it's an honor to be here. It's so fun hanging out with you guys. And there you have it.

Our Ear Biscuit with Josh Sundquist. Let him know what you think by tweeting at him. His Twitter handle is Josh Sundquist. There's a D in there. Yeah, I always make sure to say the D. Q-U-I-S-T, Sundquist. It's not Sundquist like Sunkist, it's Sundquist. Hashtag Ear Biscuits.

And also make sure that you watch our song biscuit with Josh. And check out his book, weshouldhangoutsometime.com. That's the way it's done these days. You write a book and then you name a website that's the same thing as the book. Yeah, where you can get it,

weshouldhangoutsometime.com. Maybe we should write a book. Maybe we should do the same thing. It's such a good idea. We could get his permission first. We go track down our ex-girlfriends. Well, the interesting thing is a few of them are the same girl.

Yeah, I know. So a couple of chapters, there would be the crossover chapters is what we would call those, Leslie and Amber. But the thing is, I think we know what went wrong with Leslie that led to each of our breakups. Yeah, we didn't talk to her. You know, I don't need to write a book about that.

Yeah, I just didn't know how to speak to a girl. Yeah, right, yeah. I was afraid of her. With Amber, I don't remember. I think with about that. Yeah, I just didn't know how to speak to a girl. Yeah, right, yeah. I was afraid of her. With Amber, I don't remember. I think with you, it probably ended the same way. You didn't know how to manage a relationship. I think I had a real relationship. There could be a chapter there.

With Amber? Yeah, I'll write the Amber chapter. You can offer commentary and like this. We'll do a thing where when one guy's writing, the other guy writes in the margins, but it's part of the book. Who are we kidding? We've talked about our ex-girlfriends so much

that we can't write a book. I mean, you've heard it all, people. I mean, so instead of you buying a book from us about our ex-girlfriends, we're just gonna remind you to take the podsurvey.com slash biscuits survey. Again, that takes five minutes. Thanks for listening this long.

You're a true listener. You're still listening to us. And like we said, it will really help us out to find out what you're truly interested in. Let's line up some advertisers that make sense for both of us so that you don't have to pay for this podcast. Yeah, because if it doesn't work,

we're gonna start charging. What are we thinking about charging? $1,000 per download, is that what it is? Yeah, that's the price point we set. So per person. Either that or go to PodCertaining. That's very expensive. I know you like this, but that what it is? Yeah, that's the price point we set. So per person. Either that or go to pod- That's very expensive. I know you like this, but that would be very expensive.

Slash business. That would be like a salary a year per person just to listen to this podcast and you don't want that to happen. All right, so the Ear Biscuits is winding down. You can hear the music back there. So just go ahead and pull up that Apple T browser window. Oh, what if they're on a Windows machine?

Whatever that is. Apple W. I think there's an actual window. Instead of an Apple, it's like a window that's flying through the air. Podsurvey.com slash biscuits. Podsurvey.com slash biscuits. More than one biscuit. With an S.

Podsurvey.com slash biscuits.