Hollywood Handbook - Stavros Halkias, Our Movie Star Friend

Episode Date: September 8, 2026

The Boys talk to STAVROS HALKIAS about the podcaster-to-movie star pipeline. Check out Stavros in Tony, in theaters now, and his new special, Uncle Stav, on Netflix now! Get a Hat Pack Hat here! Check out Sean and Hayes’s bonus shows at Patreon.com/HollywoodHandbook Listen and watch on the iHeartRadio App!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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No cliches, no sugar-coding, just host analysts from someone who's actually been there. Coco looking real good. Her serve looks so much smoother than it has in the past. I was really happy to see Eager back to what she looked like a couple of years ago when she was winning dominantly. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome aboard season six of The Girlfriends, Flight or Fight, which takes place 30,000 feet in the sky. A beautiful woman smiles and hands you a scotch. But you have no idea just how messed up her job actually is.

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I don't have to do it today. Okay. I mean, stop. I'll bring you in on this. Sure. I'm thinking of I'm going to be the guy who is finally calling Matt Johnson out on his bullshit. Yes. It's about time.

Yeah. Well, the universal approval rating. thing has gotten a little old a little too much. The internet's darling. Right. Yeah. And really, let's be honest, what the fuck is he done? Because he's strong? It is weird. His arms fucking piss me off.

Big arms and then like he's always got like this good opinion. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. It's actually the thing about And he was a nightmare on set. I mean, that's the other thing. Of course he was. He's just doing

curls. And he gives you no direction. whatsoever. You kind of have to figure everything out on your own and and don't even get, listen, when we start rolling, we have to cut it out but do not talk to any of the girl PA's on that movie. I'm just going to say that. And so don't leave that in. Do not

leave that in. That we should cut because let's get started by the way. Who among us hasn't had issues with some of the girl PA? Right, right. That's not an area I want to explore with that like No, that's true. You know what? It starts with a PA, I give him a pass.

Right, a PASS. Yes, yes. A PASS on that specific issue. Yeah. But some of the other stuff. Yeah. I'm talking about let someone else talk of the interviews. Yeah, I mean, it was really like.

I know. I know. And I'm surprised you ended up in the movie because I could really feel that he's inching, trying to inch around there. Tell me rehearsal was it this. So stuff, you'll be here. Yeah. He'll be doing this. Maybe you say something like this.

And then he starts riffing and he's like, is the camera on? Are we rolling on that? So actually how I did all my lines was they shot every scene with Matt in place. Yes. And he wanted me to get it word. I'm not saying word perfect. We're talking syllable perfect. And if I fucked up even one thing, he tossed a lobster at my head.

And now I will say, look, personally, of course, abhorrent human being. Yeah. But, you know, you hear those Kubrick sets, you know. It's true. To get great art. Kubrick. Oh, right, right. It's fine.

It's fine. And we're all talking contemporaneously and we make mistakes. You know what I mean? Yeah. Kubrick. I'm so sorry. He has like an accent thing. He's not.

And he's not. That might be how they pronounce it and like it. It is true. It's a, it's that's in Greece. They do call him. He has like sort of a thing. Yeah. Yeah.

The whole Greek to me. I love that stuff. That kind of stuff. And he's and he's doing the special too. He directed the special. Of course. He had to get in on that. As well.

Okay. Made it feel a little less special, didn't it? I was... It was this kind of thing where he called me and he... It was pretty clear. If I didn't say yes, a lot of my stuff was going to get cut. He was... He did mention that he just got off the phone with Paul Walter Houser.

And he did let me know that 824... He was like, by the way, 824 really open to reshoots. By the way, who's directing your special? And I was like, well, I don't really... He's like, can I do it? I was like, yeah, I guess. And you're in production on this other movie. It's like if your Uber driver is like, we're just going to stop off at this other place.

I hate when they do that. On the way, it's like, what are you going to roll out of the car? That's dangerous. At that point, you don't have a choice. And it's, I credit where it's due, it's master chessmanship. It is really, it's masterful chessmanship at work. At the same time, that's not what artists they're supposed to do with each other. Right.

I know. It's supposed to be like this. Well, that's just open dialogue, community. Just, you know, everybody having a good time. But yeah, it was, I will say. You win, I win. And I love that. I love that about it.

I mean, when I saw the dink, I was thinking, I was like, is, did they think about calling this the dank? Because, I mean, these guys must have been smoking some of the good shit. And I bet in that writer's room, you guys were getting the kush going. And you were like, now this shit would be fucking funny as fuck. The gongia setivo was extremely sticky. green that day. Oh, I love that. They had it in bowls, like they would

come around like with the M&Ms. That with weed and ludes. Yes. Oh, you had the ludes. We had ludes. They're not the real ludes from the 70s, you know. They're the new ludes. Sure. They don't make you as horny.

They make you much more productive. Yes. Oh, that's interesting. Are you thinking of Adderall? No, these were these were the new ludes. And how do you feel on them? Focus. Yeah, like driven. Yeah, like your work is just like suddenly done.

Your jaws going a little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cigarettes taste a little better. It tastes a little better. I love that. And were, like, you guys were kind of drugging the old ladies on the movie to keep them alert with the new ludes. Yeah, well, they don't want to do the long set days that we need to do. And ultimately, um, and you were giving them an opportunity. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. You're giving them an opportunity and they kind of spit in your face and are saying shit, like, I don't want to do this, you know. My hip hurts. You discover someone like Mary Steenberg and you say like, here's actually a chance to, in Hollywood, be in a movie. And she's, as you said, falling asleep. Right, right, right. And I will say you're a really good guy for that casting. Because I...

Thank you. When I was watching that, I was like, this is a really good movie. There's clearly these guys were smoking, Ganges when they're writing this stuff. And I was... And I was thinking like, fuck, I wish I was... And not only were they smoking, I wish I was smoking what they're smoking. Right. I'd like some of that.

It's special. It's special. Because there's different kinds. Yeah, absolutely. If you smoke it, it actually is different. If you smoke it different kinds. There's different things of it. And I want that.

Yeah. I want that just by myself. It would have been awesome. Yeah. And so different. And all the different kinds, actually, I'm glad you brought this up. All the different kinds of different kinds of weeds. Yeah.

I want that. I want that. It's so different. I want what the dink is smoking. The one that we had. I don't even know if they make it anymore. Because it moves so fast now. Yeah.

And I can't keep track. Well, that's that OG Stiller kush, right? Tropic Thunder. It Ben's private stash. The Stiller collection. And were you kind of washing those down with Stiller sodas? Yeah, I was chug and popping some Shirley Temple. Some of the flavors that aren't even on the market yet.

Because they're in the labs. At Stiller Labs, they are going. absolutely insane and I want some of what they're smoking. Oh my and now you want to talk about what we're what they make what the dink was smoking look like dog piss. You know what I'm saying? Yeah and I want what they're smoking dog piss. I fucking hate smoking dog piss is one of the flavors that they have as well. So stillers yeah he's gonna be stillers dog piss cream sickle it's not just dog piss.

I like that cut the piss a little bit with cream and that's smart. And so and what I'm thinking is like, wow, Now, this is such a good set, you know, and it looks so fun and they're having a great time. But Mary Stingberg's character, I'm thinking, like, I really think this should be like maybe like a 25-year-old with like huge tits. Kind of like, that was a weird choice. And that's down that road. And so I'm saying is like, I see that. I'm like, this is weird.

Jacob Johnson's like in his 40s and like she's not at least a decade younger than him. He's in his 40s. Why is he not bagging some co-ed? Right. And that, if I have a note. Fresh off the Pepperdine campus. If I have a note, exactly. Why did it take, why wasn't he playing, why wasn't he playing pickleball at the Pepperdine

campus? And sort of. Overlooking the clubs. Oh my God. And so what I'm saying is you're a really good guy for putting, you know, I would say a not traditional. That was my one note. It's like, this isn't really believable to me.

It wasn't, it wasn't getting you all. It wasn't. Or at least not how you're used to. It was, I'll say, I did not. Of course. Yeah, I did. That's why we made it. I did.

And so that's important. It was a, it was an improvement from who they were looking at originally for the part. So it didn't get all the way to the 25-year-old co-ed. But it was, I mean, like. Oh, interesting. So you're saying this was who, you know, this was Ken Starr. And in-between compromise. Ken Starr.

Ken Starr was originally going to play the role of Candace. And then we lost Ken. What was he, what did you lose him to? The devil. Right. Satan, Satan claimed him. Well, the devil finally got both, both

paws clutched around. Right, right, right, right. Right, right. Brut his shoulders and was able to pull him down to Hades. He was, he was paddling down the river sticks while Steenbergins, you know, sucking face. Penny's for the eyes of the dead body, the corpse, and pay the. The Toll, the boat man.

The Tollman. Yes. And it does. Watch out for Xerxes. And I, yeah. It is so clear how much of your work is imbued with these old ancient stories. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

These are your friends. Yes. But do you know? These are your friends. You grew up with these characters. It's only one of Mickey Mouse. It is. Oh, my God.

It is. And now I say, it's all Greek to me. It's all Greek to me. You said that now. But now, but now he says it like that. Now he says it like that. It's different. Storytelling?

It's all Greek. It's like the gush. There's only one story. Yeah. And what's that story exactly? Would you say? It's bad. It's the process.

Summer making clams. It's the summer. It's the process of clam. It's the process of clams being cooked in the summer. Cooked in the summer. Cooked in the summer. On an open flame. And it starts and it's a closed clam, isn't it?

Oh my God. And it's cold and it's briny. Right. This is our hero. What would happen if you tried to put that in your mouth? You'd break your fucking teeth. But what happens over time? So we must go on a journey, shouldn't we?

A hero's journey. The hero's journey. To open and expose their vulnerable belly. Slurp it down. Slipp the belly down. Butter and lemon. And that's beautiful. Oh, my God.

Dominic, too. Yeah, yeah. Dominic. A good guy. Good guy. Yeah. Yeah. You know, good hit.

Yeah. He's good. Sucking really bad. He fucking sucks. I'm sorry And I understand why you're saying I have to be the one to actually say it Well somebody's got to call him out on his shit

Where it's like we all We all see the same thing right Sure well look sweetheart sweet guy You know here's the thing about Dominic Dominic's Dominic You know mean Dominic's gonna be I don't even agree with that necessarily Domit's doesn't agree with that

Dominic's going to be Dominic Except when he's not I don't even think he is I Dominic's don't look Dom's Dom you know and he's going to come in he's going to do his work what happens between you know when action listen they call action they call cut he's there he's a pro what happens in between those that's not of my business that's not a year frankly what happens in between cut and action what yes action and cut he's great you talk a lot of what they do between action and cut but between

cut and action we don't always discuss a lot of people don't talk about that yeah a lot of people will talk getting discovered at a new england private school yeah you know you know You go, he's in the independent school league. And he was discovered by Alex Payne. Yeah, that's tough. How about someone that graduated from one of these schools 18 years ago? Thank you. That was my fun.

Okay, or even. 22 years ago. Right? Or how about somebody who took a long, hard look at those schools and said, maybe if I get my grades up. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I'm 30-so years ago. Of course.

Yeah, yeah. Drove by the highway exit to those schools. Totally. A couple times. Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I do, I will say my problem with the holdovers, he seemed a little unseasoned, a little young. And why was it, why was it a student?

Why wasn't it like the janitor? Like, who stuck there with Paul Giumadio. With Paul Giumati. And you know what fixed that eye real quick. She shows him her tits. Uh-huh. And his eyes fair. It snaps into focus.

Yeah. It makes it. Yeah. That was the problem. That was the problem. There was nothing worth looking at. There was nothing worth looking at. And yeah.

I'd hold those over? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Why are you holding over this? And he's gesturing someone. Sure. We don't have to get into it right now. No, because it's honestly, it's a family show.

Absolutely. It's more about the industry and the insider stuff. Thank you for knowing the show so well. It's a teacher. It's about the business. Yes. And I love that about this show. It's more educational than anything.

Have you been on Bellany yet? I have not been on Bellany. I'm hoping if I do good enough here, Bellany might, you know, ask me about it. He listens. He listens. If he ever wants to cover podcast clips, how much those are affecting the industry,

I think I could be a pretty valuable resource there. Whether you have to bleep come for YouTube to let you do it, whether you don't. There's a lot of philosophical back and forth. Should you censor the word if you're going to say jizz? People don't understand like. Or Spooge or Spunk. Spoonch Spunk is usually fine.

Talks about spending $250,000 a year on his like lipping operation. Right. I wish. I remember the days where we were only spending 250 Gs a year. I look back at that with with tears in my eyes. The good old days. It was such a beautiful time where it was like, oh, it's just a quarter. to make these clips for the podcast.

Absolutely. Drop in the bucket because the reward that you're getting is, in our case, sometimes 20, 30,000 listeners a week. Wow. And those people are all, but here's what you guys do right. That's the top 0.01%. Oh, my God. And so most of your ads are like, made back.

Our list is crazy. Our direct mail list is unbelievable for the podcast now. And that's like, what podcasts need, the future of podcasting is a direct email list. Glossy. Oh, I'm talking mail. Oh, you're talking real mail. with actual and with nail mail. Snail mail, I like that.

That's a little retro. And maybe we put in a cassette of each podcast. And that's the only way you can. It comes with a Sony Walkman. I love that. And you get your own wired headphones. And the cassette has an audio version of a QR coat on it. So if you hold it,

you have a special audio QR reader for your phone. If you hold up to the, it'll play it on your phone. And it's like the tone is like a fax machine or the internet. like, yeah, right? It's like really ear splitting. It's Richie. Yeah.

Richie makes the, he makes that sound. And I love that. And that's, like you said. This is Richie over here. Hey, Richie, we were talking earlier. Richie Sanbuka. Oh, hell yeah. Richie Bukes.

Richie Bukes. He loves that licorish flavored lique. Oh, my God. He cannot get enough of it, man. I mean, you must have got a whiff of it when you want it. I did. Yeah, he greeted me and I was like, is this a vagrant? Yeah.

Who let this fucking guy in? But then he opened up, you know, he adjusted a mic. I was like, oh. Oh, they can't, look, how much are they spent it on clipping? They got to, they got to cut some corners. Oh, you got to find places to say. If you're doing half a mill on clips, you got Richie Bookes plugging in the fucking XLRs. You got somebody who's willing to be paid in a single bottle of San Bucca every day.

The schnop, the schnop has an upswing. Yes, yes, yes. And he says, he doesn't drink schnops. He just says one schna. One schnapp. Let me get a schnapp. Mm-hmm. And then, you know, you get, you catch him on the way up.

I love that. I really fucking love that. You just have to, you got a time of. And that's something, can I say something? That's something Bellany should cover is sort of the auxiliary figures in podcasting. Everybody knows the host. Everybody knows the guest. What about the guy who's drunk and he's plugging in the mics? What about the producers, these guys who somehow became very important to entertainment

and none of them have any training whatsoever? Yeah. It wasn't a job a few years ago. Yes. And they were trying to do anything else. Anything else? And now they could kill me. They make more than a WMBA Max in some cases to just push a button.

And now they record millions of dollars worth of blackmail every hour. And we just trust them. Once again, their jobs didn't exist. They were unpaid interns at a media company who now have become the actual heart of the snake. Yeah. That's a big fucking problem, I would say. And that's something us as the actual. Actual creators as the real kind of, you know.

The talent. The talent. We can say it. We can say it. I guess that's true. I'm trying to be modest. There's different kinds of talents. And I'm not saying this one you could actually see.

Right. This one is sort of God-given. There's no amount of YouTube tutorials that can tell you how to be a captivating presence when talking about industry insider gossip. We are going to make one. Oh, interesting. Hayes and I are going to make one. I like this.

And we're really excited to launch. I think it's gonna be coming out the next week it's next week it's a week from tomorrow okay and it is a YouTube series that teaches you how to be a captivating figure just like you said wow and what are the odds and and by the way it's just we were sick of the sort of gatekeeping that happens is this industry right where it's like only for me right or more more more right right And it's taking some of the lessons from some other courses we have taught. Oh, yes.

That establish, you know. Kino, right, safe touch. NLP. But in ways it's like, oh, I'm not trying to fuck at the end of this. You know what I mean? It's about connection. It's about energetic transfer. That's right.

But it's a lot of the same stuff. It's a lot of money. Right. So that people will want to fuck. Yes. Right. And so it's a totally different route. It kind of flips the whole thing on its head.

And I think it could be really beautiful. And the nice thing about the course, it's not that expensive. Right. How much are we talking? It definitely will work. So any price would be fair. I agree with that. Yeah.

Yeah, but what would it be, though? Just numbers wise? Just numbers wise. You think any price would be fair. I mean, it's like what do you get for it? Is it like how much is the actual course? Right. Like, how much is that?

Honestly, that's actually what I'm asking. We're paying you. But like, how much is it like, does it cost to like take the course? Yeah, exactly. Like, what are you actually putting into it? I see. So the more you put in, the more they pay you, the more they'll make. Well, that's an interesting way to look at it.

That is something we do say on the email. So is it sort of like a radiohead pay-what-you-want model? It's like a piece rate where it's like it's $3 a full course. Interesting. So for like a full course, it's $3.00. Easy. Easy. You're in.

Yeah. And that's every time you watch it. Is that how you trick them? like full course, but if you pause, that's every time you watch it, you paid $3 for it? Mm-hmm. The one time.

The one time. Okay, every time you watch it, you did pay that. So the answer to the question I asked was $3. But it would be worth twice that. Six bucks, eight bucks. Yeah. I'm over here saying, yeah, I would say pay-per-view. You should do it like a big pay-per-view thing

where everybody, every time they want to- So it costs like a couple of pennies. those two pennies that we got from the river sticks Yeah That's interesting Well and honestly Teaching these people to become famous

Like we are sort of paying a toll to enter hell Aren't they? Oh that's such a fascinating way Isn't that powerful Isn't that sort of like discreet? Well because everybody thinks they want They want this They don't know

They don't understand like the toll it takes Wouldn't wish it's my worst enemy Oh my God Sticks season Absolutely Stick season It's taken a toll It's certainly taking a toll

On my soul to be a creator And you know Sometimes corporations stop you from really Speaking this is what we I mean you like we talk about this in the course You are proof of something that we have always known Which is that podcasting translates directly To feature film

I would say What I am is an absolute proof of that being true And not one of the most insane exceptions that no one including me fully understands. It's exactly what the industry needed right now. Movies were getting too immersive. People were too good at acting in movies. You needed someone who you immediately thought to yourself, I'm watching a movie.

Right, right. You're like, wait, what the fuck? I know that guy. I know that guy. From the something else. Right. This is a movie. Oh, right.

I was in it for a second. You know, I was, yeah, can somebody take me out of it? Can somebody take me out? Because I want to be able to find my car out. Right, right, right. You know what I mean? I don't want to be all the way. I don't want to be in the world the whole night.

It's like you're watching the movie and now your brother is there. Right, right. Because it's really, it's like, wait, is that, is that, did I go to kindergarten with that kid? You know, it's kind of that. It's like, how the fuck do I know that guy? Yeah. You want people doing that in the middle of like a really important scene. You almost say hi to the screen.

Right, right, right. And it's hard because like here's the other, what's the difference, like, if, if, let's say I'm not there in that movie, people walk out and they're disoriented. They're like, is it fucking 176? I'm fucking scared. What is it? Ah, they see their phone. They're like taking the old ludes? They're taking the old ludes, not the productivity ludes.

And so that's why I'm there. You're like, wait a second, I remember a clip went viral about that guy nutting too fast. That's not a chef from the 70s. Wait, that guy used to ask people, that guy made a sizable fortune asking people if they squirt or not

for about three months of his life. Why is he in her kitchen with Antonio Banderas? You want people asking those questions. You don't want them getting too scared of... Because that's the thing. The art is so powerful. Tony was so powerful. It's so powerful.

And it's an ejector seat. And to go back, when Matt called me, he was like, I've made the best movie of all time. People are going to go insane. They're going to think that they're in Cape Cod. I'm doing a fucking bad Barack Obama impression but that's what he's doing so obvious and he's doing Barack

can I say something him and Buttigieg are the number one guys that are clearly aping Obama they're just completely stealing his whole thing and he called me he's like I am too good at making movies I'm too powerful of a storyteller

as you know there's one story and what we want to do we want to inject something new though we want people to pretend forget it's a story, or remember it's a story, actually, because it's too powerful. And so... And he misspoke, too. And he did.

Dude, I'm so used to, like, saying exactly what he said. It's word perfect. It's syllable perfect. This is kind of, you're basically listening to an audio recording of what Matt said to me. You're traumatized. I am. This is what I'm seeing is I'm seeing trauma. Every time I see, like a... You talk a lot about that in the special.

I do. The last 15 minutes is about every time I see a guy with a fat face but jacked arms. in gray sweatpants, I start to cry. When I see a guy who's inexplicably in champion sweatpants from Walmart giving interviews to some of the biggest news outlets in the world in a shitty little white t-shirt, I get scared every time now. So that's a, and I'll have to live with that, but that's the price of art, right? Can I ask a question about this special?

Yeah, please. Because you got this great special and it's going to come out. Everybody's going to laugh their ass off. I really hope so. Did you do? I hope, you know what I hope they did? They say, what the hell were they smoking with me? I got to be like I'll have that question, but I have a different question right now.

Yeah. Just one mic? Great question. Great question. So many specials are doing two or even three. Three mics. Oh, right. Yeah.

I know, well, for me, it was really, I tried two mics. Yeah. And the sheer, like, like the, just like brain power would have taken to switch from one type of mic to. to a completely different mic. I tried it and I started crying. I tried to go from narrative, not for everybody. Storytelling to one-liners.

And I honestly, it was, we had to, we had to actually stop. I lied and said I broke my arm. I actually had a psychotic break because I tried to do three. I tried four mics. More mics. I tried four mics and I don't,

I was hubris. It was pure, and that's the thing. That is the dark side. Like we said, people aren't ready for this. Because they put you in movies almost, maybe it's a cosmic joke to real actors. Maybe what probably happened is some really talented fat actor sinned really bad and his punishment is I get all his roles. He is a classically trained actor and he has to see me pop up

and Tony. So that's probably what happened. And when that happens to you, you get this hubris and you think, I'm a real actor. I can do anything. I'm going to try four mics. And since then it's actually been a really big problem. I was institutionalized for. And that's why we postponed the special two months. I didn't actually break my arm falling off a scooter because I needed to get home to get low calorie ice cream that was melting. I actually had a psychotic break because I thought I could handle four mics. So yeah, ultimately we ended up with one mic and I am, you're so good because you zeroing on people's insecure. That's what you're kind of like Howard Stern. And I'm not trying to make you feel about. I wanted it to be four mics and you could, yeah.

It's good for when you're watching this. See this, I hope you could tell because you're such a pro, I really hope it's not obvious I was desperately wanting to do four mics on that special. You know what? Could you tell? Be honest with me, be honest. I don't think most people would be able to tell. But you fucking guys could. I'm a student of this stuff. You're the student of the game. I know that about you.

We can see you scooching and thinking like almost like you had it there in the wings. Right, right, right. In case like you're telling the crew like... It's micro expressions. It's a minuscule glance. It's an infinitismally small way. You see my eyes. Just dark. I just dart over.

And it's like, oh, he was just going to switch for this sweet one line. God, fucking, damn it. I can't believe that's fucking obvious. Fuck. I can't believe people can tell that. I don't think most people will tell. Honestly, most of the people that are going to be watching this thing. I probably want someone with their smoking as well.

All right. They'll be actually enjoying it in a bit of an altered states. And I think it's almost come back around. We're doing one now is so. That's subversive. Like, yes, exactly. It's so nothing. It's such a nothing choice that it actually is a huge choice.

Anybody can do that shit. Did you do any clowning? I'm trying to get into clowning. It's just the joke writing is too hard for me. The barrier for entry is too intense I find with clowning. And so they will certainly not let just a girl that's a graphic designer in with no talent whatsoever. definitely not they won't just let a clearly divorced man

trying to fuck those girls in that's for sure wouldn't be allowed to be in class wouldn't be allowed to teach the class wouldn't not be allowed to teach the class to tell you how much wouldn't be allowed to open his old school just in his apartment right you don't let them do that you would not be able to do any of that stuff

and so I tried and I was just like yeah it was just a little too tough I'm hoping if the special goes well enough and it charts on that Netflix, you know, maybe I'll get into a little clowning a little bit of like, you know, making my, you know, not saying anything, but kind of falling down. I mean, look, classic stuff, right? Falling down. Hitting someone in the nuts.

Big mallet. Showing, you know, showing your, your cock, but it's a joke. And it's not a joke, but it's like, we're joking around. It's just like, it's a commentary on it. It's a commentary. It's a commentary. It's like, what if improv was even shittier? You know what I mean?

What if there was, you know what the problem with improv is? Too much structure, you know? And so like that's... Too many clear ideas. Too many clear ideas and too many people that are good at comedy. And so what if we just kind of out did that? And so I am, fingers crossed, this goes well. I'm going to get into clown.

I hope that happens for you. I've got a feeling it will. Thank you. Because I want to read an article about you. Right. You know what I mean? Like you're doing all this stuff. You're doing movies.

You have all that. the podcast you're doing this special. When are you going to have someone write an article? When's the article coming? Yeah. Yeah. Well, that is. It is coming because part of this, and I will say, I think a really, if I have an advice

to, if I have advice to young, people trying to get into this business. Right now, I would say sell out to the woke mob. Because once I did that, everything was just like easy. And people are asking me, you know, now people for some reason, again, they're writing articles and they're asking me about politics. You don't have to do it all the time. I just want to point out, you can 90% of the time say stuff that's like not like that at all. But then the rest of the time be like, but actually this.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now you're one of those guys. I am one of those. And it literally is just, it can be all squirting and come. Yes. And then you just go like, universal health care women. Yes, yes. And people go like, holy fucking shit.

Yes. And it's kind of a perfect blanket for, you know, all the horrific skeletons. Oh, yes. That's right. That's what the clipping is for, taking out the stuff before and after that. You want people to interact with your art completely out of context because they can't see the horrifically racist thing you said. Or alluded to at least. Alluded to.

Because at least, you know, I know not to say this. I used to think. I don't think it anymore. It was implanted. It was implanted, right? And that was not my fault. And now ever since kind of... And it's giving an outlet for young men to be racist in a different way.

different way in an slightly different way. In a way where they're like kind of knowing it's racist. And that makes it just go away. You know what I mean? You have just cram it down. Well, let me ask you this.

Do you want that type of racist or do you want the old-fashioned type? That guy's probably worse. That guy's worse. We've got a bunch of steam in a pipe. That's right. We got to let it out. Accents.

Accents among friends. Yes. But anyway, that's no more of that anymore. No. Or that. Just to ask and not even this about you. Yeah. Were you actually kidding?

Right. Well, that's the nice thing. I'm always, whenever I get in trouble for something, I'm just like, I was actually kidding. Like, one thing that's been so great about doing this show is a lot of the time we're kidding. Yeah. Whenever anybody gets mad, I'm actually kidding. And we're playing characters. I'm doing it.

I'm a character. And so like, when I gave my Matt Johns in a pass for, you know, hitting on a piece. I'm kidding. I didn't say hitting. I actually think that's bad. And when it does come out, we all knew. Right. When it came out, when it came out, I always had a bad feeling.

We tried to tell him. We tried to tell you. Well, I always had a bad feeling is when he comes out. Well, I never thought he was funny. I mean, I just didn't. Yeah, absolutely not. It's neither here nor there. It didn't make me laugh.

Right. That doesn't even matter right now. Other people will be laughing. And sometimes I would like laugh along to fit in. Right. But it was like, I actually didn't think it was funny. Even at the time. I thought it wasn't funny. Am I missing something?

No, everyone else was. Everybody else was missing something. I was the only one who could see it. And I didn't specifically see it. Right. But something was off. Something was off. And then when kind of culture swings back and nobody's even mad at it, I mean,

actually like, I thought it was funny the whole time. I thought he was talented. And he was talented, but it's about personally. He had a personality problem. You do not build a fan base like that, of which I count myself as a member. Of course. Now, right. Right, right.

No. And that's the deline. look at dance and that's what I'm it's a really nice tight rope you have to walk on and you know at the end of the day as long as you just do like somebody tell basically what happens is I wake up now I get an email and they're like here are your talking points for the day yeah and so that's kind of what we're at right now I'm excited to see what happens next but right now yeah just kind of it's bad that kind of stuff is what are what are we uh top of the list well today hold on you got a look Um, oh, it says the sandwich arrives at 245.

245. Okay. And what are we looking at here? Kind of nice timing there. Yeah, they're, they're saying like, oh, oh, hold on, hold on, hold on. Talking points do not under any circumstances mention Matt Johnson. Don't mention him at all, huh? Not at all.

It must be okay. Can we bleep it out? Can we bleep it out? Fuck, is the article coming out? They must have asked for comment. Oh, okay. So they know that it's coming out. And this is fucked up because the plan was it comes, the special,

comes out, we get a week of, oh, this is good. That Johnson's a good. Whoa, look at this. And then it's that visionary attention. And then a week later brings a story to light. People start telling. And so now I'm kind of panicking because the special is bad. We were really just working on.

We were just trying to use, you know, public opinion and play with it to mask how shitty my joke writing was. And in what ways did he bring too much of his sensibility to it? Well, again, he really wanted me to wear gray sweatpants while I was doing. Wow. And he wanted me to just like use just a word with four syllables for no real reason. Yeah. He really wanted me to kind of shoehorn that into.

Like he wanted longer setups is what he wanted. And he wanted to like quote Gilgamesh. I'm actually like a cool dude to hang out with. Oh, and then I'm accidentally smart. But I know stuff. Oh, I'm actually smart. Ah, shit. It leaked out again.

I put that back in. I'm goofing. I'm stupid. No, yeah. No, I'm actually smart. I'm actually smart. Sucks. Behind every night spent making the kids' lunches,

there's a lot of suspense. Will they finally eat the veggies? Will the pastos survive the first bite? Will the lunchbox come home empty, half full, or come home at all? And will you finish episode 8 before you're done slicing the cucumbers? Get Bell Pure Fiber Internet with Craved Netflix and Disney Plus from $94 a month.

Price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.com for details. and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. On the new podcast Solita, we share the messy reality of traveling alone as a woman. I can wait four hours for the next bus or this random dude is offering me a ride on his motorcycle. I chose option B. I'm Julie Pinero, and I travel by myself because it's a rare space where I can say yes without asking anyone else first. I'm on a mission to reclaim the word Solita, trading the pity for podcast.

Every time I tried to be alone, I kept meeting people and they were like, you smiled at us. Not a lot of people smile around here. It's when you're alone that you're most receptive to the world as it is and not the lies you're sold about it. It can be a time where you push your limits, change your mind, or wake up to a new version of yourself. So whether you're a solo travel veteran or you're too nervous to book your first trip, I hope you listen to Solita on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts.

or wherever you get your podcasts. That call was really pivotal for me. Hey, it's Emily Tish Sussman, and this season on She Pivots, the podcast where women share bold career moves and personal turning points that changed everything. I sit down with culture-shifting women who share their pivots like Paraly-Truitt.

I was like, I'm a month out from a shark attack. There's no way in 11 months I'm making the Paralympics. Advocate Elizabeth Smart. I still feel that drive that I can still make a difference, so I'm going to keep going. Celebrity chef, Carla Hall. Was that scary to walk away from such a stable career

after just two years? No, I was more afraid of being unhappy than I was broke and in a dead end job that I didn't enjoy. And feminist legend, Gloria Steinem. All of us were trying

to express women's real lives. We need a meeting place of our own. And if I can contribute to that, I'd like to maintain that and leave this house for that purpose. Listen to She's, Pivotts on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to Decoding Women's Health. I'm Dr. Elizabeth Pointer, chair of Women's Health and Gynecology at the Adria Health Institute in New York City. On this show, I'll be talking to top researchers and top clinicians, asking them your burning questions and bringing that information about women's health and midlife directly to you. A hundred percent of women go through menopause. It can be such a struggle for our quality. of life, but even if it's natural, why should we suffer through it? The types of symptoms that people talk about is forgetting everything. I never used to forget things.

They're concerned that, one, they have dementia, and the other one is, do I have ADHD? There is unprecedented promise with regard to cannabis and cannabinoids, to sleep better, to have less pain, to have better mood, and also to have better day-to-day life. Listen to Decoding Women's Health with Dr. Elizabeth Pointer on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're listening now. Yeah, so if we could go back and cut all that stuff, that'd be awesome. Can we just cut just that? And actually they said don't talk about Tony the movie at all.

Don't talk about Tony the movie. What? Fuck, dude. Can we cut that stuff? We still have plenty, right? I guess. We didn't do tires. Do you want to do some tire stuff?

Yeah, actually, that's back. That's actually back. That's back. They were like none of the art stuff now actually, yeah, it's fine now. Tires is fine. Yeah, apparently, like, yeah, people can admit Shane's funny now. Enough time has passed, they said. I think they have to.

You have to, even if you don't like it. Yeah, I think you actually have to. Yeah, he was always funny to me. Yeah, he was always funny to me as well. Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. So that's the secret that, like, to do one of each at any given time. You gotta do one.

Right? Yeah. You got to do it. So when they're switching on and off, Then you got, you know, you got the other one. Absolutely. That's a big thing. You have to code switch to different types of white people.

It used to be just be white. You're fine. Yes. Now there's two flavors in the media. Oh, yeah. And so, and kind of Greek is kind of perfect. Yes. You could go either way.

Totally. And that's the Gorgos. Like, I mean, we got no idea what's going on there. Perfect. He could be up to all kinds of crazy crap. Who knows. We have no idea. Good or bad.

Yeah. And you want to, I mean, you want to talk about, and look, We've said it a couple times, but I really do want what that guy is smoking. Yeah. But in a different way, but not too much. But not enough, but not in like a, yeah, not in like a fun, the dink type of way. Like, you know, whoa, what the fuck type way. You know that.

It would make me interesting, I think. Yeah. It would make me say things if I were able to smoke some of that stuff. Yeah. I think it would make me very interesting to talk to. I think so. You know, I've never heard him. speak before necessarily.

But I'll bet it's so good. I bet it would be very engaging and have me going, huh. Like, huh, not even like, huh, like I never saw it that way, like, huh. I don't think I can see it that way. People would want to work with me. Yes, absolutely. I agree with that.

And I need to smoke some of that. You do need a little bit of that. You need to smoke some of that. That has been sort of the holy grail for me in my career. Right, right. People really knocking down your door, wanting to work with me. Not yet, not then again, and then after that. Round two would be.

Round two, yeah, yeah. I haven't really been even able to ask for Route two. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Not it being a kind of thing where it's like, fuck, I mean, he is good, but do we want him in the room? You know what I mean? Like, you know, not that not being what's going on. Yes.

You know what I mean? That would be nice if you smoked some of that. Yes. I would need a little of that. Quite a bit of that. That's interesting. Yeah. I love that.

Take the extra large. Oh, the big spliff. With the spliff of that. The big spliff. With the big fat cone. Oh, yeah. See, my strategy has always been sort of like actually the opposite, which is kind of don't really bring much to the table, but be kind of fun. Buy Nintendo Switch and bring it to set.

Yeah. And you know what I mean? Just kind of hang out. And it's like, let be fun enough on set that they kind of let you gloss over the fact that you don't really know your lines. When you were talking about code switching earlier, you were really talking about Nintendo Switch. I was talking about the Nintendo Code. Was Jesse to get? Was Jesse interested in the Switch?

He loved the Switch. Really? He was intrigued by it. He was intrigued. It was kind of like, I did bring a switch to Bagonia. Yeah. I was setting up shop in that basement where they were... Is that a toy?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He kind of looked over. Kind of like a cat. He would circle around. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, that looks cool. You play with the toy or? Okay.

And yeah, in that basement. I feel like I'd be able to introduce so much stuff to him. You know what I mean? Sure. Like, you covered video games. I don't think he'd ever really known about video games before somehow. So now it's that. Yeah.

I feel like what, yeah. I don't, yeah. Yeah. Maybe, like, not football because he like. Friday Night Lights. Yeah, he has to see it there. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

But I think there's some other games that would be new. I think I could probably bring in some pretty standard foods that he'd be surprised. Yes, that's right. Yes. Yeah. That's right. Food from different places. Right, right, right, right.

Right. Yeah, I mean, I couldn't, you know, like I said, I didn't, he was intrigued by it, but he never picked up the controller. Is that like a small piece of corn? Yeah, yeah. This is a potato, but it's like a stick. Oh, there's a French fry. Yeah.

Mine was baby corn. So I agree. He's seen like the basic version of a lot of different foods. So this is the kind of thing where he knows the big version. He knows the big version. It's really shrinking down foods that throws him for a loop. He's had whole fruit and vegetables. A full potato and a full corn?

No problem. No problem. That's at the center of like a Thanksgiving setter beans. A cornucopia. He does really bad with cornucopia. Clafamously, center of cornucopia of potatoes and corn. That's kind of all that's in there. And that's why he's so good.

He has no distraction. Well, the thing is the part of his brain that we all use for miniature food identification, he has for method acting. Uh-huh. And it was one of those things. And yeah, the whole time he was scared of me on set. Because you had bittled him. He treated me like I diddle them. And I kind of got into character and I was like, you know, kind of tracing him around.

No one's going to believe you. That kind of stuff. I'm going to kill your family if you say anything, you know, that kind of thing. And he, you know, and I respected that because he stayed in character. He was scared of me. And I'm sure it was because of the character thing. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Oh, he hated it. Yeah. And the weird thing was he did stop, he started, like halfway through he was calling me Stavros instead of Casey. And he was kind of also like talking to everybody. He was kind of like making it known how he felt to sort of the producers and like the... I bet this character who was sort of radicalized by online information had seen some clips. Oh. Oh, that's so...

So actually what happened is it was levels to it where the character remembered he was in a movie. Yeah. Because the kid... Not Jesse. Jesse's not familiar with my work. No. The character he played, huge calm down guy. Oh, God.

Yeah. movie because that's the stover. Yeah, yeah. I was like, wait a second. That's Nick Mullins' laugh track is what he would have said, that character. And that took him out of the, and that, but that's how you get so much nuance and depth and performance. Because then Jesse has to come back and pilot the ship.

He's like, whoa, that's how good Jesse is. He loses himself so much in the character that the character can become sentient and realize he's in a movie. And do you want to take a second to Shadow Adam as well? I don't want a situation where you're only talking about what, you know. So Jesse's character would have said, oh, that's, that's, uh, Mick Mul's laugh track. Where's the bug that eats dust? Yes, that's right.

That kind of, a guy who got molested and thinks aliens are real, definitely hates both me and Adam. And wants Nick to be, like, his best friend and dad at the same time. Yeah. I do, there is a begonia sequel where Jesse wakes up and it's like, because his AirPods died in the episode of Comptown he was listening. to about aliens ended. And this whole thing was a dream he was having. And then he has to go just to work at the Amazon factory. And then get on Reddit and be like,

he's a fat fucking piece of shit. And that's why they actually cast me is that he saw that in a vision. Yorgos is actually really plugged in. So it actually is you in. It's me as a character. But in a dream state where it's like a you but not you.

Yes. Yes. Yes. The whole movie is a, a count audience numbers. That tracks so well. Everything falls in the place.

The casting itself. The casting really does. That's actually a little on the nose. The rest of it works anyway. Right. You don't actually need me at all. You can argue the character is kind of weird and superfluous.

But because Yorgos loved, he loved just 2016 podcast. It wasn't just Compton. Big doughboys guy. Big, pardon my take, you wouldn't think so. Wow. Interesting.

Your ghost list is to anything that started in 2016, weirdly, he's like, he just gets, you know, obsessed with that kind of stuff. You just, you were just five years ahead of it. You guys could have been, one of you could have been the cop that molested Jesse

if you were just a little later on it. What other podcast, 2016? Blank check. I don't think people would believe that. Blank check, sure. I don't think they'd buy it. Because you don't have that energy. Well, they just know.

I never pay for it. Bye. It's the U.S. Open, which means the tennis world is about to lose its mind, and I'm here for every second of it. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs' tennis podcast

as I break it all down. The matches that matter, the drama that doesn't, and the stories everyone's talking about. No cliches, no sugar-coding, just host analysts from someone who's actually been there. Coco looking real good.

Her serve looks so much smoother than it has in the past. I was really happy to see Eager back to what she looked like a couple of years ago when she was winning dominantly. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome aboard Season 6 of The Girlfriends, Flight or Fight, which takes place 30,000 feet in the sky. A beautiful woman smiles and hands you a scotch.

But you have no idea just how messed up her job actually is. It was the most sexist job I think you could have. Until one day, a group of stewardesses spark a revolution that reshapes America. Listen to The Girlfriends, Flight or Fight, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In February of 2024, celebrated illustrator and children's book author, Tramathers and her husband Michael mailed letters to dozens of friends and family members to let them know they had died by suicide. Dear honies, this is goodbye. By the time you get this letter, both Petra and I will be dead.

Next stop, Wonderland. Why did they do it? And what did it do to the people they left behind? Listen to Death of an Artist on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On Big Lives, we take a single cultural icon. Like Jane Fonda, George Michael, little Richard. And we pull apart the story behind the image. Discovering forgotten interviews that change exactly how we see these giants of our culture.

We're here for the messy, the brilliant, the human version of our heroes. I'm Emmanuel Jochi. I'm Kai Wright. And this is Big Lives. Listen to Big Lives on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Thank you.