Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum - FRANKIE MUNIZ: Honest Parental Reflections, Dangers of Racing & The Reality of Child Actors

Episode Date: November 26, 2024

Frankie Muniz (Malcolm in the Middle, Nascar) joins us this week for an open and honest conversation about everything from the realities of what’s asked of child actors to the reflections on family dynamics once he became a father himself. Frankie talks about the chip on his shoulder that he’s carried into his new racing career and the different misconceptions/ dangers that come with the sport. We also talk about the surprises during Malcolm in the Middle, how he’s masked the low points throughout his life, and glass half full perspective he has about upbringing in Hollywood. Thank you to our sponsors: 🦰 Nutrafol: https://nutrafol.com + "insidegift" 📕 MasterClass: https://masterclass.com/inside 🛍️ Shopify: https://shopify.com/inside 🌟 JCPenney: https://www.jcpenney.com __________________________________________________ 💖 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/insideofyou 👕 Inside Of You Merch: https://store.insideofyoupodcast.com/ __________________________________________________ Watch or listen to more episodes! 📺 https://www.insideofyoupodcast.com/show __________________________________________________ Follow us online! 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/insideofyoupodcast/ 🤣 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@insideofyou_podcast 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/insideofyoupodcast/ 🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/insideofyoupod 🌐 Website: https://www.insideofyoupodcast.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by Defender. With a towing capacity of 3,500 kilograms and a waiting depth of 900 millimeters, the Defender 110 pushes what's possible. Learn more at landrover.ca. There you are, pushing your newborn baby in a stroller through the park. The first time out of the house in weeks. You have your Starbucks, venty, because, you know, sleep deprivation. You meet your best friend, she asks you how it's going, you immediately begin to laugh,

then cry, then laugh cry, that's totally normal, right? She smiles, you hug, there's no one else you'd rather share this with. You know, three and a half hour sleep is more than enough. Starbucks, it's never just coffee. You're listening to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum. Thanks for joining me every week, those of you who do, I appreciate it if you're new when you're here for Frankie Munoz, I certainly appreciate you for coming here and listening.

And look, if you like the podcast and you don't know who the hell I am and you like it, maybe write a review and start listening and become a listener of Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum. I appreciate it. We try to give good interviews and make them real and not actory crap. So if you like it, hang around. We got a great one today. I'll say a few things beforehand. Well, I'll get into Frankie Munez in just a second.

But a few things. If you want to go to my Instagram at the Michael Rosenbaum and go to my link tree, there's cameos, there's Smallville cruise, get tickets for the Smallville cruise, do excursions with me or Tom or some of the cast members. Lots of stuff going on there. A lot of other cons, Smallville con, we're having next year again, plus a lot of other cons that are, I'm sure, listed on my link tree. Also, my Rosie's puppy fresh breath is out. So if your dog's breath smells like shit and you want something to have. help. I use this every day. It's Rosie's puppy fresh breath. I created this and it's got a picture of me and my dogs on there. And you just do a cap full in your dog's water, odorless,

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And lastly, stage it. stage-com, if you want to see the band or playing or getting geared up for Ryan for the for the album. for the album. We're trying to pay for the album. So December 14th, 5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. Go to stage.com or go to sunspin.com. Get tickets. They're practically free and you can support the band and we look at all your messages and read them and laugh and play music and all that stuff. So it's a lot of fun. And the inside of you online store for tons of scripts and holiday ideas, Lexmas scripts, ship keys autographed, tumblers, and much more. Frankie Munoz. Let's get into that. Yeah. He was awesome. Yeah. He was an awesome guest.

I really had fun with him and he was really open and sweet. But it's crazy because we talked about, you know, how he, you know, race his cars and how dangerous it is. And it wasn't, but a few days ago, he, there was an accident. Yep. On the track. And he was kind of limping off. And do you have some information on that? Oh, I mean, I was just Googling because you'd mentioned it before we got on.

Yeah. Mike, it says he's okay. Yeah, he's okay. he's okay um yeah he limped uh he get yeah limped off right but we're just talking about that so this interview was done a week before that happened so um he's okay he's okay thank god he's okay but we talked about you know the risk and all that stuff and then you know it happens and then this interview comes out but uh it was i was a little nervous when i saw the the headline i was like no please god no uh and he's fine so um anybody that says

does NASCAR racers aren't risking their lives or doing a job that's that's tough or athletic or they have no idea when he talks about having to be in that car for three hours going at speeds of 200 miles an hour and I'm like I it's exhausting your muscles your brain you have to be hyper focused it's it's a lot this interview is great let's get inside of frank amunas It's my point of you You're listening to Inside of You With Michael Rosenbaum Inside of You

Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum Was not recorded in front of a live studio audience Frankie, don't you lose that number Because I can anyway I'm sorry, it took like three years of us talking about this To finally make it happen I don't care. Dude, I know you're busy. Look, when anybody has a kid, then I just go, I get it. I don't even think about it. You know, it's when people don't have kids and they're like not even working. But you're constantly doing stuff. So I, I didn't think twice about it. The last two years for me, honestly, have been so insane in a good way. But just like, every time I'm like, oh, I'm going to have as soon as I get this done or I get back, I'm going to have time to be normal and plan things.

doesn't happen you look good i'm not i'm not saying that i swear to god i was just like i was taken aback here because like you look really touch my appearance touch up my appearance feature on zoom do you you work out a lot don't you i do i uh for the racing it's part of one of the things that like i have to do every day like in my mind like it's as my job i say i have to dedicate x amount of time to uh to training and you know the the sad part is like i feel like i feel like I'm in really good shape, but I still don't ever feel like I look like I'm in good shape. You know, I got like the kind of little bit of dad bod going on. No, I was like looking at you, your shoulders, you got some arms, your face is chiseled.

Look at you. You're all piggity pumped. Pump up the jams. You're trying to stay in shape for the racing, but it's hard. You know, I'm 38, 39. You know, I'm not old, but, you know, like, it definitely, I feel it. It's harder to have the motivation every day to want to do it. but I have to see this is what most of America thinks or most of the world thinks is like racing's got to be a mental sport like you don't have to work out to be a driver is that completely false completely false so I mean it's bull right it's definitely mental like you know you're making thousands of decisions in milliseconds you know what I mean and your life literally depends on those decisions at times so there's that but I'll put it this way I wear a hard

rate monitor in the race car. And my heart rate won't drop below 175 beats per minute. And the races are two to three hours long. And it's 160 degrees inside the car. Right. So physically, if you compare it to any other sport, there's really no timeouts. There's no break. Maybe you get 12 seconds in a pit stop. But even then, like, that's high pressure of trying to get into your pit stall, not run over your crew members, you know, get out, not hit cars coming out. So that, that even, elevates your heart rate even more. So I think a lot of people think, oh, you're just driving. Driving's not physical.

But if you've ever even gone go-karting, if you've ever gone to like an indoor go-car place. Your body feels like you hit a train. And you are doing 10 laps in a little cart that weighs a few hundred pounds. Imagine having to hold a 3,000-pound race car at 200 miles an hour and, you know, you're competing at the highest level there is. So physically, it's extremely demanding. but you know nobody will believe you unless they actually try it wait wait wait you're going 200 miles an hour yeah it's not that fast i thought maybe you

average like 120 or something oh no 120 is like behind the pace car basically no you know like Daytona taladega michigan we just race this weekend at homestead miami there that's a little bit of a slower track i think we hit like 180 185 but the corners are a little bit slower because there's very low grit for how many hours yeah you're going fast two three it depends two three hours of just going straight full like 200 miles an hour intense watching make sure you don't hit another car staying on track trying to make moves trying to get up there to the top what do you call top of the leaker board yeah what does it call like the top of the heat or top of the heat what did they call what they call the we in NASCAR we have stages

So there's, you want to win the stage. There's stage one, stage two, and then the final stage. And there's points awarded for, like, people who are in the top 10 of the stages. So it matters, right? They make, they make where you are during the whole race matter as far as points. And as far as the championships concern, you know. All right. We're going to get in all this racing stuff because there's a lot of like announcements that you've done this year.

And I want to talk a lot about that. But obviously I want to talk about like, you know, on this podcast, we talk mental health. We talk, you know, facing adversity and all that stuff. And, you know, people think that everybody, you know, in Hollywood is, you know, everything's perfect and, you know, we're cry babies and, you know, we make a lot of money and we do all this. But like, we're human beings and we, we do face adversity and we, you know, there are tough times. And it's nice to hear from people about their troubling times and what they did to get out of it. Yeah.

I mean, if you take me back to like when you were a kid, where you were, you. Your parents, were they together? Yeah. My parents were together until I was about, I think, 11 or 12. They got divorced. I had started acting when I was 8 or so. But by time that 11 or 12 came along, my mom and I had, we were living in North Carolina at the time.

That's where I started acting. And we went up for like pilot season or maybe, actually, we went up for the summer before school was supposed to start just to try going to New York City. because we'd kind of maybe outgrown what we could do in North Carolina like as an actor and so that kind of separated my family for the first time.

My sister stayed with my dad in North Carolina. I went with my mom up to New York and we were going on, you know, at the time like, I had six auditions a day and kind of doing the whole the grind in a sense. And I started booking things and never went back to North Carolina.

And I remember, like we tried to get my sister to move up but she was going to school at the time didn't really want to come and i remember my mom and dad always fought like growing up like that's kind of my memories of it and i don't you know i don't mean it like we had a great childhood but that's like it's funny you say that because a lot of times kids will remember the traumatic things or the things that weren't perfect and i and i sometimes i do that too i sit back and go there had to be good times let's let's really think about this here yeah and no we had a lot of good times i just i remember i'd go to bed and i would hear them

yelling in the living room you know what i mean and so i remember when my mom told me that they were getting divorced that i actually i encouraged it i don't know like you know a lot of kids i think i hear stories where they're like oh that was really tough when my parents told me they were getting a divorce and i thought it was the best thing that could happen for her to be honest And I don't know. So the divorce didn't necessarily affect me. Like maybe it does a lot of people. But yeah.

So we were, I thought, a tight family until we weren't at all. And, you know, super separated. Like my sister was, like I said, in North Carolina with my mom. I mean, with my dad, I was with my mom. We finally convinced my sister to move to New York with us, to New Jersey. That's where I was from anyway. We're born, yeah. My grandparents and everybody were from.

and she finally moved up and it wasn't like a month later that I got Malcolm and we moved to L.A. And she's like, you're not moving. So she stayed with my grandparents in New Jersey. We moved to L.A. And so it's kind of this really weird dynamic to look at now. Like it actually makes me a little bit sad, you know, to realize that like us following my mom and I or me following my dream and the things that I got to do like affected every single member of my family. right and you don't think about that when you're younger no at all like did it cause a divorce potentially did like my sister like i think of the life that she had we've we've talked about

a lot now that we're older and you know i guess when it's happening you don't realize the sacrifice that every single person is making for you you know even my grandparents my grandparents you know 70 80 years old whatever were then raising my sister you know what i mean like that's crazy. And the fact that they were so willing to help out and do whatever they could do to kind of for us to be available to go where I needed to go to do what I needed to do. You know, it's a, it's a crazy thought. But it's a realization I actually had this year. It was the first time I thought about the past enough to think about the sacrifice that people made. And it made be really sad. Like, I mean, happy that I have people in my life like that. But like, it's just a

crazy thought that without that support, probably nothing, none of that happens. You know what I mean? And it's a wild, wild thought. Yeah, you know, you, you were talking about how when your parents were going to get divorced, you're like, yeah, I encourage this. It's so funny because when my parents finally got divorced, I remember going, good. It didn't affect me at all. It affected me when I realized my mom couldn't take care of herself. And then I had to support her for the rest of my, you know, still in a lot of ways. And so, you know, that was really tough mentally on me or she'd call up two in the morning and go, I can't do this. I'm going to end it. I'm like, all right, you're being dramatic. Stop it. I got to film in four hours. Can you please not

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Quince.com slash inside of you. Yeah, it's got to be tough. And it's cool that you eventually thought, hey, maybe, you know, and obviously it's not your fault. it's inadvertently done by you know you going after your dreams and your mom helping you succeed and all that but it affected everybody else behind you and it wasn't until one day you wake up and go wait a minute i left right when she got to you know and then she lived with the grandparents in jersey and then are you still close with both your parents are they still with us yeah my um i

actually just spent the whole last week with my mom um she came i was doing an uh an event for Ford in West Virginia. So I flew in with my son because we haven't seen her in about a year. And she came down to West Virginia and spent the week with us. And it was really nice. I would say my mom and I are really close. Like, we don't talk every day, but we talk enough to know what's going on in each other's lives, like completely.

I would say up until maybe two or three years ago, I was really close with my dad. And if I'm 100% honest, I don't know. We've definitely lost touch. at this point. I remember when my grandpa, my dad's father passed away. And I remember my dad being really sad that he wasn't closer with his dad as he got older. And I didn't really fully understand that. If that makes sense, I didn't understand why they weren't close or, you know, how that separation happens. Because at that time, my dad and I were really close. And when my son was born March of of 2021, I realized that it shouldn't be an effort on my part to have my dad or family members

involved in my kid's life. Or your life in general. Yeah, or my life in general. So like, man, maybe I'm saying too much. My dad will get mad at me if I don't call my stepmom and say happy birthday, who I never live with. I, you know, like they got married when I was 23. you know what I mean like I lived in there's no relationship there I like her she's a

amazing woman super sweet but like I don't remember my wife's birthday sometimes you know I'm kidding I'm not that bad but like he'll get mad at me for for that but then my son's birthday his only grandson goes by and they're the only person we don't hear from you know what I mean and it just taught me that like I shouldn't have to work hard for like a relationship like that and um i don't know i just i don't know maybe i look i look i think a lot of people can relate to that it's a lot of work emotionally it's draining yeah when you're having to do you know it's it's it's just it feels i don't know how to explain it's it's it's tough it's just tough yeah 100% i mean i feel we're very different people as well like sometimes i go like how did i come

from you, like just our personalities. I feel the same way. Same way. You know, like everything. And, and, you know, it's a weird thought, I think being a father now, because I look at my son and he's my world, like my world. Yeah. And I can't imagine there being a few hours that go by, no matter how old he is, where I don't really know what he's doing. Like, we're going to be buddies. You know what I mean? So it's weird. You know, I started thinking of like, what was my relationship with my dad as I, when I was a kid? I know he worked a lot, you know, um, I know he was very involved with like my sports and all that kind of stuff, but I,

I, man, I don't want him to hate me for saying this, but like, I try to think of the way I am with my son, the way I hug him and kiss, you know, and snuggle with him and play with him and all that kind of stuff. I go, did my dad, I ask my mind, did my dad do that with me? I don't know. like I don't know if he did like I know when I talked to my grandpa who's 97 I just saw him last week too he's 97 years old right he's never changed a diaper right though in those days the men didn't have anything to do with the kids they worked right and that's how he was right and maybe it's just like generally generation generationally like we are more involved in our children's lives as now I don't know I you know but I think back and I go I remember having good times with him but I also remember remember like he was the person to discipline me. You know what I mean? Like I knew if dad was home and I did something bad like lost in trouble. I'm not kidding you. This is the first time I've interviewed in over 350 people I've interviewed that I'm looking at someone and it's like I'm talking to myself. It's unbelievable how everything you're saying resonates with me. And I do the

same thing where I look back and like you're saying like I don't want him to hate me when he watches this but I think like maybe if he does watch it which you probably won't even watch you won't even know where to go to see it or whatever but if he watches it maybe he'll go wow you know my son does love me and he wanted more of relationship and he wanted and maybe I haven't done enough and maybe I could who knows at least he'll know instead of like you know uh yeah because he could you tell that you you love your father you just like you're not close you're two different people and there has to be more of an effort for it to work yeah I mean I will I will I will say and admit that probably my biggest fault as a human is I'm really bad at

communication. I am. I mean, we've texted a bunch. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Well, no. Yeah. But I mean, like I, so not just with my dad, but I always go, oh, you know, I've got to do these things. This person texts me. I'm going to call them back or they called me or whatever. And then a day goes by a week goes by and I look back and I go dang I didn't I forgot you know what I mean and I want to be better at that so I do put a little pressure on myself at the same time I say that and I go they're not reaching out to me either right so like my I'm not missing calls for my dad and not calling back I just you know we just made this big the big announcement that I'm racing full time next year all that I heard from everybody I didn't hear from my dad you know what I mean

I don't even know if he knows. And you know what I, you know, in a, in a short way, the short, in short, I think it's that you just want some sort of acknowledgement, just some sort of like, you're hurt. Yeah. I think that's what happens. I'm a little hurt. I, I, I, there's a lot of things that I do in my life. And it's just like, you know, you want your dad to be like, I'm proud of you on this.

I just, you know, I didn't, I didn't hear those things as a kid. I didn't hear. You know, and again, it's like maybe generational. I always say to myself, like, am I, would I hang out with my parents if they were my age? And the answer's no. The answer is, fuck, no. I would never. You might say yes with your mother, but I just would not hang out with my parents.

I have nothing in common with them. I have, there's not, there's, I just wouldn't. It's a wild thought, like, is, you know, my son, he's three and a half. you're starting to see like personality traits that like resemble me resemble his mom you know all that kind of stuff like he's ours but you also realize he has his own personality he has his own things that he likes doesn't like things that i like to eat you know and it's a weird thought that like they really like we are all our own people right so it doesn't mean that you are going to be close with your family members you know no and i'm close it's weird like

even my sister my sister just came to my race this weekend i haven't seen her in a year as well we don't talk often on the phone but when we see each other as if we never were separated like we're close in that sense yeah we just you know we don't see each other that often she lives she just moved to west palm beach i live in arizona and it's like you just pick it up you pick up right where you left oh immediately it's not there's so cool it's as if we just saw each other every day for the last 20 years you know i do wish i was a little closer with her just you know she has now year old twin daughters to my nieces and i wish we lived closer because i think we would spend a lot of time together yeah you know but i basically since i was 16 years old i kind of lived on my own and i was the only

one out here essentially um yeah so i guess i'm just kind of used to doing my thing and and uh i don't maybe i need better be better at allotting more time for my family i just think that you know we're adults and i don't hold grudges i love my father i love my mother they did the best they could that's it um the relationship we have is i'm not going to force a relationship i'm not going to you know be the one that's always doing trying um you know my dad text me i text him back i text him he doesn't always text me back but you know i love him if something happened to him god forbid i'd be miserable yeah for you know and so it's just i think it's just like sometimes you have to just accept that hey i have my friends who are my i i couldn't live

without them i they're my family and yeah in many many ways they're they're uh they're there for me more than my family actually is and so that's just the way it's been and i've been since i was since i left college you know i've been on my own and and and doing my thing and nobody's helped me and nobody's like taught me off a ledge and no one's asked me how I'm doing and I've gone through depression and I've gone through a lot of surgeries and things like that. And so, and I, you know, I was going to ask you that. Have you gone through stages of anxiety or depression where you're just like, I don't know what I'm doing? I have to talk to someone. I just, my mind's not right. Yeah. I mean, I, I, I, I, I, how do I put this? I've definitely gone through a lot of times,

obviously since the show ended. Uh, I've tried a lot of things. I was, I race cars from 2004 to 2009 stopped for a long time. I joined a band toured all over. Drummer. Businesses. Yeah, drummer. Yep. I've done a lot of things, but I always questioned if I was making the right choice and it made me super anxious or like, I've always been in businesses where you really don't, you don't really have control of what's going to happen next. You know what I mean? It's not my choice to get put on a TV show again or to do a movie or to even with a band or any of the things I've done, it's always kind of been like these not 100% secure careers, you know,

like, um, yeah, but I've definitely gone through very, very low points. Um, I don't usually talk about it. Like I don't, I've never really let,

like that side out. Um, I've gotten, I think pretty good at, I can always make everything seem great. Me too. Everything's just great. It's like,

the cloud at a party. You're like, hey, everybody. And you go home, you're like, oh, look. Yeah, it's easy to, you know, maybe I'm saying, I don't know why I always do this. Maybe I'm saying too much. My wife always tells me, she's like, nobody knows the real you. And I don't know how, sometimes I don't know how to take that because I'm like, she's like, I see how you are in front of everybody else.

And it's a good, it's, she goes to the best version of you. But she's like, but you don't let people aim to when you all. are down when you are angry when you are upset and and uh she's like so like everyone thinks that i'm like the happiest person in the life in the world and i've got this incredible life and i do i haven't i'm very very lucky and fortunate but man i have gone through my struggle is 100% um i definitely had even recently or not recently i've accomplished a lot in my life because on paper like i can see you can physically see that i've done a lot of lot of things and I'm proud of it but I also have this weird feeling that I've done nothing me too

like that I've almost been a failure in everything I've done this is crazy I'm talking to this is crazy it's the drive that's what the drive is I think to keep me fighting motivated and going and because realistically I'm in a great position to where I don't really have to do anything yeah you know what I mean but I cannot sit still like I have who are you who are you trying to prove something to is it is it is it is it like for me for a while i wanted to prove to the world that i was worthy and then i got on a really successful show and you know i was like okay i made it i people think i'm decent and this is good but then it wasn't enough and it was like finally i was like what what am i doing all of this for and i think that you are when you do your racing it's like

Just that alone is something that's a passion that you love, that you said, you know, that that's amazing that you were able to do that you. And that shows that you are proving to yourself that you can do something, but also do something for you. And now that I'm older, I just want to do things for me, things that make me happy, things that I'm excited about. And like that takes a long time. So, you know, it's not like you get it when you're after the show. You're like, oh, I did this.

And this is my decision. I feel everybody goes through this. And I think that's, it's cool that you're saying it because it makes sense to me, especially in a lot of people, but you, you know, you, at some point you have to go, I'm done proving myself to anybody. I'm just going to be me. And if it's miserable sometimes, and if it's happy sometimes, and if it's a pain in the ass sometimes, is whatever, I'll try to be better.

But like, this is, you got to accept me for me. Yeah. My wife also says that too. she asked me and she's like what where does the drive and the desire come from or what is it and i don't 100% know i know the racing it's almost more of a challenge for my for me than for anybody right yeah i i feel like when you're a child actor and you have success early people want or they only accept that you can be good at one thing or they only accept you in that show when you were little or whatever and that's that I was trying to prove it to them

but like there is a little motivation there to go look I just started NASCAR last year at 38 years old 37 years old right I'm the oldest rookie in the history of NASCAR and wow I've made it you know I'm climbing the ladder I'm doing it but it feels good to like jump into something where people almost expect you to fail and prove them wrong. It does. It does. And the cool thing about being a race car driver, unlike being an actor, is it's not subjective, right? You can put in the best performance of your whole life that you think, like deep down that you killed it. People see, they're like, yeah, it was okay. And as a race car driver, you know, people can say you don't belong or whatever, but then when you start beating

everybody. There's only, you know, so there's that motivation of like, I wanted to do it for myself. And I want to be able to look back at my life and A, feel like I accomplished everything I ever imagined. But B, like, I want to feel like I tried my best in it. I don't want to look back and go, man, I could have put in more effort. I could have tried harder. I could have spent more time preparing, you know, or whatever. And I don't know, but it is definitely hard. I mean, even this racing thing, this is exactly where I want to be. It's exactly what I want my life but it is so hard on me personally on my wife my family um it's it's hard and but at the same time like i know what i know in the end it's going to be worth the

the fight that it that it is how many races have you raced oh this weekend was my 25th oval race which to put that in perspective probably my the The least amount of races, a competitor I raced with might be on 1,000. You know what I mean? So, like, I'm very behind as far as experience goes. But I use that as a motivator, you know, to work harder to play catch up. Right. But I'm talking races, like, totally in your life, just races.

Okay, races total in my life, maybe close to 100, 100, which is still a very low number. but um but yeah no yeah about a hundred but how do you get in like how do you get to like you have to compete in a certain amount of races and and and and in being first second third something like place right for them to consider you you can't just oh you're Frankie munez you're going you're getting in yeah so you did so you did this there's lots of forms of racing that anybody can get in and do you know like club racing or you know you go to your local track but not a NASCAR no not NASCAR but so i did the pro celebrity race in long beach i don't know if you remember that they used to do at the long beach grand prix i did that in 2004 and they train you our willows

springs like driver instructors the whole nine you spend you know a few weekends out there and they do a really good job of getting people who have never driven a race car ready to at least put on an entertaining show. Didn't you get like, didn't you win that? I won that. So like winning that, I cannot explain to you the emotion that I felt crossing the finish line first, right? Because, you cried.

I literally, like, I'm about to tear up now thinking about that moment. You know what I mean? And but even at that point, like, it still didn't even register in my mind that like I could potentially be a race car driver. I was a celebrity who got to do this, the pro celebrity race. and I won that, you know what I mean? And, you know, I knew that I loved it, but how do you become a pro race car driver? That's like saying, like, how do you become an astronaut or something?

Like, you know, it's like, sure, people do it, but how? I don't know. Where'd even start? Yeah. You know what I mean? You know, keep in mind that most race car drivers start when they're five or six years old. Yeah, of course. And their dad was a race car driver or something, their grandpa.

Yeah, someone got them involved in it and they worked their way up. Nobody in your family raced. nobody nobody even watched it except for like i would wake up i remember sunday morning i've always woken up at like five a m no matter what like it doesn't matter what time i go to bed still to this day like i'm up at five a m and i remember i would turn on the tv and i would ask my mom i would wake my mom up or i'd try to be like he can make me food just like out and i'd watch the formula one races i'd watch the indycar i'd watch nascar i just loved cars and racing but as a fan not thinking that i'd have a future in it but i did that pro celebrity race but i did that pro celebrity race

won that. And there was a team that just approached me. And they're like, hey, come to Houston. We're going to be testing next week. We'll put you in the race car for fun. Like, you could just have a good time driving this. You know, it was a former BMW car. I was like, okay, sure. I remember getting to the track and I'm sitting in the car and they're molding my seat. And I was trembling, petrified to drive this call. Because I was like, how do I get myself into this. I have no idea what I'm doing. And by the end of the day, I was faster than their signed driver. And they're like, we actually think that you could be pretty good at this. Like, do you ever think about it? I'm like, well, I'd love to, but I just didn't know how you do it.

So they signed me that day to a two-year development deal. And I raced in Formula of BMW that year, 2006, and then moved up to the Champ Car Atlanta Championship, which is, that's a huge step. They pay for this? Did they pay it for a development deal? Do they pay you? So how racing works these days, I mean, it's different for everybody. But for the most part, well, I'll back up a little bit. In the 80s, 90s, even the early 2000s, the sponsors, the teams found the sponsors and found the money or they were rich team owners and they hired a driver to drive their race car.

Then starting in the 2000s, you had a lot of kids who had really rich parents. who started racing young and were really good. And they were like, hey, whatever team, I'll give you $20 million to sponsor your race car, but my son has to drive. My son gets to drive. And the team was like, okay. So it switched completely to where now,

I would say 95% of the deals are, the driver has to find the sponsorship, and they bring that money to the team to run to run the call. So back then, they're like, look, we have some team sponsors for former BMW, let's call it. It was $750,000 for the year. We have $500,000 worth of sponsorship. You need to find $250 to finish the season. So then I go and we shop it. We find partners and all that kind of stuff. And so that's how I make money as a race car driver these days. Like sure, there's like little prize money bonuses and start money. But for the most part, you go, I sign.

a X dollar deal, the team gets half of it, and I keep the other half, right? And that's how you make money as a driver. It's very, very different than how it used to be. Right. Like, obviously, you still have to, you know, there's 36 spots in the truck series, right? There's probably 200 drivers who have the funding and who are good enough to win in that series that don't get a ride, right? So the teams are getting approached by all these drivers saying, let me drive your car, let me drive your car. they look they want to obviously the team wants to perform well because then that helps them continue to grow as a you know what I mean so they're picking the best driver that you know has this is an education funding this is and so a few days ago was announced that in 2025 you'd

begin racing full time for reume brothers racing is that right reum raeum in the number 33 truck for nascar craftsman truck series now I mean that's a huge thing isn't it It is. I mean, I, you know, I raced full time last year, but I raced in the ARCA championship, the ARCA Menard series, which, to give a little background. So NASCAR owns four series, basically. ARCA, the truck series, Xfinity and Cup. The three big NASCAR series, trucks, Xfinity and Cup are like,

that is the pinnacle of stock car racing on the planet. It doesn't get higher, you know. Wow. And so although this year I was part-time, I did a few truck races, I did a few Xfinity races. I did some ARCA races. To be full-time in the truck, to be actually competing for the championship,

to be there every week, it's a big deal, you know, to have that opportunity. And I'm going to go with it and fully commit, right? I want to, it is. I mean, we do 25 races next year just in the truck. That's a lot. You're on the road.

You're on the road a lot. I got to come see you. I got to come see you. Inside of you is Broughty, Rocket Money. If you want to save money, then listen to me because I use this. Ryan uses so many people use Rocket Money. It's a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions. Crazy, right? How cool is that? Monitorers your spending and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings. And you know what's great? It works. It really

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With deep research, dark storytelling, and the occasional drink to take the edge off. We're here to explore the Wicked and Reveal the Grim. We are Wicked and Grim. Follow and listen on your favorite podcast platform. Jimmy Johnson, I worked with him, and he got me into the pit twice, and I watched him race, and he actually won one of them. and it was just it's bonkers it's like the energy at those places is unlike anything you've ever ever been to it's just yeah and people are screaming and like it's just like go go go change and they're just oh the crew and it's it's insane um i love i love bringing people for the first time to a racetrack because even if they're not a race fan when you are there and you hear it and

you smell it and you're in that environment it makes you become a fan, I think, immediately, especially when you have someone to root for, right? If you just, even me as a huge race fan, if I just watch racing on TV and I don't know any of the drivers, not that it's boring, but it's hard to, when you don't have a horse in the race, you know, you're kind of like, who cares? Yep. But so when you know someone, you can see and if you're on the radio listening in and

the ups and the downs and the struggles and the high points and the low points of racing, it's almost like a soap opera, you know what I mean? It really is like a drama. you know what i mean and uh i think people people like that you know um not on a down point you drove the pace car at daytona when you met dale earnhard and you were there and saw the uh the crash right i mean that was devastating um did that affect you or is that something you see a lot or you think about or you know when you drive or you kind of don't you got to block that shit out you know at that point in 2001 i wasn't

racing yet right i was 16 years old malcolm had premiered the the year prior 15 years old and i you know i was just so thrilled to be at the race and dale earnhardt came up to me i was in the driver's meeting and he goes i just got to say thank you so much your show has brought me and my daughter so much closer together oh man and you know enjoy it you know you never know when it's going to end like he said that literally said that to me and so i was i saw him there he signed my jacket that i was wearing and as i was going to the pace car you know he was on the grid about to get in his race car and he said hey again and you know like once again like love your shell so essentially minus his crew chief i was essentially the last person to talk to dale her heart the day he

died um absolutely devastating when i found it what happened you know when the news came out and it broke like I just couldn't imagine that I just talked to I was just with him you know and now being a race car driver I know what it's like before race I know what goes on in a driver's mind I know you know not that you feel invincible because you know there's a danger aspect but like when you get in your car to go to the grocery store you get in your car and you drive to the grocery you don't think about it that's how I feel when I get that's how I feel when I get in the race car you know what I mean like I I feel like I'll see my wife in a minute and I'll see my wife in a I'm going to go win.

I want to win. You're just so focused on the task at hand that you don't think about the danger aspect. But I do remember last year I was racing, basically my debut in ARCA was at Daytona. So my first big race is at Daytona. And I'm going around the track. And every time I go into turn four, which is where the crash happened, I would look at the wall. and it's a weird thought of thinking like what I'm seeing literally out of my view right now is the last thing he saw and like that was oh Jesus you know and so that did affect me

but you can't let it scare you or intimidate you if that makes any sense but there there is a huge you know a huge part of me like I said I understand that it's a very very dangerous sport um i would hate for something to happen for my family but that's in that same sense like i love it more than anything i've ever done are you pretty fearless and in life or in race in the race car both in racing i i feel like i'm pretty fearless right i don't want to get hurt nobody wants to get hurt but i don't let it slow me down right i got it you got to make the move when you got to make the move you got to you got to take the risk you otherwise you're just getting past you're You're just slow. So you've got to be a little bit fearless to do it. The funny thing is, like, outside of a race car, I'm not adrenaline junkie at all. I used to drive motorcycles. I sold them. I had no desire anymore. It wasn't fun for me. I've never been skydiving. I've never been bungee jumping. I don't like rock climbing. I don't do any of the things that people are like, oh, you must do all this crazy stuff. I'm like, nod. I don't even like to run anymore because I'm going to pull a muscle. You know what I mean? You're like me.

that's amazing i love it um you know we'll talk about malcolm for a minute but like do you were you shocked when did you know that this was a huge show what what moment do you remember going oh shit to be honest i would say before the show premiered i was we were still living in new york city at the time because we had only gone to la to film basically the pilot or we then did 13 episodes before the show actually premiered so my mom and i went back to new york new Jersey and we're going into the city still doing auditions still doing stuff and there were billboards everywhere for it and I remember being on the subway and everyone was staring at me and I remember going to my mom like mom why is what like what's why is everyone staring at me

and finally someone came up and they go you're going to be on that show I saw the advertiser I saw the thing I was like oh that's that's interesting people know before it's even come out that's awesome I remember the show premiered and 21 million million people tuned in to the first episode. And then, yeah, and then 26 million in the next week. Yeah, or like they re-aired it on a Wednesday, like on a whim. Like, whoa, we didn't know it was going to be so big. They re-aired it on a Wednesday.

And yeah, like 26 million people tuned in. And at that moment, you go, oh, my God, people loved it. But then, you know, obviously still don't know what's going to happen, right? Are people going to continue to watch or whatever? And it's just a pretty wild thing. I mean, you know the process, right, of auditioning, maybe getting a pilot, being so thrilled to get the pilot, right? And you're going to go in and you do a good job.

And you know that back in the day of the 200 pilots made seven or 10 get picked up. And of that, maybe to make it as a show. So when you get the call that the show got picked up, you're literally doing somersaults, so excited. But even at that point, you have no idea if anyone's even going to see it. You film with some episodes and you pray and you hope that people are going to watch it and like it. And when that happens, like, it's like every step of the way is like this huge win or for other people, it's the opposite, right? It could be you think everyone's going to love it and it no one watches it and it's a huge upset.

Yeah. As an actor, you know. No, absolutely. You know, yeah, that's crazy. It's just got to be in your kid. It's like, you know, in a lot of ways, do you feel like in a lot of ways that you really didn't have a chance to grow up to have a normal childhood? Do you feel or do you feel like, no, I had a pretty good childhood? and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

I only know what it's like to be me, right? I don't know what my life would have been if I wasn't an actor. Like, I sometimes think of that. Like, where would I be? What, like, literally what would I have done as a career? You know, I remember being a kid and people always being like, oh, but aren't you sad that, like, you didn't get to go to prom? And I'm like, I didn't go to prom.

I didn't go to the prom, but I didn't go to prom, but I've been hanging out at the Playboy mansion. I didn't go wrong, but I was at the Academy Awards, you know. That was nominated for a Golden Globe, man. What up? So, I mean, I always consider myself pretty lucky things I got to do. I never looked at it like as a negative. But I do know that a lot of child actors don't have the same kind of outcome or feelings.

What's the word? You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. You know, I know that it's a pretty ugly business for a lot of people, you know. Yeah. I can honestly say, and it's something that I was even just talking to my mom about this last week when I was with her, you know, obviously you hear a lot of the stories of, of the

negative things happened in Hollywood. And there was even the documentary about the Nickelodeon kids, uh, with the pedophilia thing. I'm literally in that documentary like six times, like, because I was working on those shows as like a guest host or whatever and all this kind of stuff. and like i never saw it i never saw and because you were a guest star you probably just came on for right right yeah but you know what i mean like but i was in that world you were in that world and you're like thank god you didn't you weren't you didn't see yeah but i also think

about it and i go why didn't how did it not happen or you know what i mean like because i worked to you from when i was eight until 21 and on tons of different products with tons of different people And, you know, I'm not, I'm not quite sure. You know, I was always very strong-willed in the sense that I was never afraid to speak up if something was wrong or bad or weird or I feel like when a lot of child actors get in, the parents are so eager for them to find success and do whatever you're told. Don't don't, don't ruffle any feathers, just, you know, be good on set and do this. And because they think that or they're told, I mean, I was literally told you're replaceable. You know what I mean? Like we were told we'll find someone else.

But my response was do it. You know what I mean? Like go ahead. You know, you can't make an uncomfortable situation better by saying you're going to get rid of me. Like, fine, do it. That's okay. I don't know. Maybe I'm going in a weird circle here.

You're just saying that you weren't privy to it. you just with all that craziness that happens to a lot of children actor you know child actors that it for some reason it just it didn't happen to you and you are very fortunate and so many so many of the actors that I worked with like have had you know difficult that transitions from child actor to adult or whatever's going on in their lives and and uh you know I don't I don't know what it is about the business one thing that I've thought of um I'm 39 years old. I'm about to turn 39 years old.

I've never drank in my life. Wow. I've had a sip of alcohol. I've never touched a drug. I've never done anything. Like literally nothing. And I was around it all the time as a kid. I just,

I didn't do it. I just didn't want to. I just, I stuck it in my head and it just kind of stuck forever. But I, uh, I don't know. I think when you have success as a young person, right?

All of a sudden, your life changes to where ever, one is always telling you how amazing you are, they're telling you how much they love you or you have all that success, eventually it goes away. It doesn't matter who you are. Eventually, it slows down. Eventually, it stops. And if some people don't want to accept that, right?

They don't want to accept the fact like they're not here anymore, right? They don't, nobody can't, nobody's, the phone's not calling ringing anymore. The people aren't coming up to them as much anymore. and it affects them. And I feel like it could lead to a downward spiral because you're looking for something to fill that void of having. And you don't have the love, the real substance. You didn't have it as a child or you didn't have it.

If you don't have those things, I always say it in your developmental stages and you don't have a lot of support and all these things, that stuff can just crush you because that's all you know as that validation is everything. And then it goes away and you have nothing. yeah and it's got to i mean i it's got to be so hard if you if you do think about from that perspective right like i've known a lot of actors that were on big shows and not success as kids and then like i saw them you know and there's nothing against it but like they were working in the mall at a at a clothing store you know what i mean and and it it would be hard if people

then do recognize you and they expect something different than they're seeing or whatever and i get it even now i get it now I, you know, was very fortunate. I had lots of success as an actor. I did other things. I did the racing. And I see people write like, oh, he failed as an actor. So now he's trying racing or whatever.

How did you fail as an actor? You're on the most successful show. Okay. Like, sure, but I don't know, I did pretty good. You know? Yeah, that's why I never. Like, when is it good enough? Like, it's like, I always say that.

It's like, I did, I worked a lot. And. Yeah. People say, what does he do now? It's always what are you? you doing now? What is he doing next? Oh, he's done. He's a, he failed. It's like, are you fucking crazy? I know. I had more success than a lot of people. I'm very, uh, grateful and proud. I'm like, I'm to say that I haven't done anything or I'm like, it's just like, are you, did you,

did you watch TV for seven years? Did you turn on the tube? Let me ask you this. I know you probably get always asked this. But honestly, gun to your head. When you're working with Brian Cranston, did you think this guy's going to be a big star? I mean, he's already in his 40s or whatever. Did you think there's something he's going to, he's so talented that Breaking Bad is going to happen. And were you shocked when you saw it? Two things I'll say. When anyone ever asked what it was like to work with him, I always say he was the most incredible person. Because he showed up every day to set and gave it 150%. He was so nice to everybody. And you never, ever, ever saw him wanting to leave or not wanting to, you know, like, tired or like he took advantage of that opportunity and he did his best work. So I've always used that as an inspiration. Like I want what I say about Brian of how he was to work with. I won't be able to say that about me.

You know what I mean? So when I have an opportunity, I, commit myself to it fully and I try to make everyone around me have a great time and, you know, be a great experience for everybody. That said, I watched Malcolm in the middle for the first time, basically 10 years after it ended, maybe 2016, 2017. My wife had never seen it. And I hadn't really seen the episodes either, right? Because I didn't turn it on when it was on, you know, like you film it and maybe I'd seen a few of it, but we watched all 151 episodes. and my perspective of what the show was completely changed.

Like what the show that I thought we made compared to what actually was made, it was wild to me. Even characters that I didn't necessarily like when we were filming were my favorite. A, Hal, Brian was the show to me. Like he made the show so good because he was just hilarious. And, you know, this is an amazing character. the character of Reese. When we film the show, I hated Reese.

Maybe because Malcolm had to hate Reese, but I hated him. But I watch the show, I go, the funniest parts of that whole show are Reese. You know what I mean? So, like, it's a weird thought to step back and watch as a viewer. Because, you know, I was so far removed from it that I don't remember what was going to happen. I did the same thing. We have a Smallville Relwatch podcast. I never watched the episodes.

And now I'm watching going, God, they're great. That's great. Oh, you know. Yeah. It's great, you know. So I don't know. I think that it was, it's pretty cool to have to look back now. And I know there's, there's been a lot of talks.

And there's been a lot of shows that have been remade. There's a lot of talks about, you know, potentially doing something. What'd you do? With Malcolm. And I would love it just because I would love to work with everybody again with my newfound passion and, you know, everything that I feel now as a grown up that I could bring to a project. I would love to work with everybody again. in a new in a new light all right this is rapid fire you answer these questions really fast and

we're done i'm so bad this because i talk too much it's all right no you can talk as much as you want uh this is called uh shit talking with frankie munis and uh you can join patron patron patreon dot com slash inside of you and support the show we need you and uh you get to ask questions uh don g would there be any rule that you would be willing to come back to act for welcome just kind of brought it up i would i would love to a i want to see where malcolm and his family are I just think it would be so fun, you know, 20 years later to see where everybody is. But that's what I would love to do again. Who are Mattie S?

Who are your role models growing up in the entertainment industry and who are they now? I hate to say the same after I just said, but Brian Cranston. You know, I started working with him when I was 11, 12 years old. He really became like a father figure to me. And then even still to this day, you know, he's essentially like a Hollywood god at this point. You know what I mean? Like he's done incredible film, incredible shows, won tons of awards. Like he's literally it.

and he still reaches out to me every couple weeks, check in on me, he really cares about what I'm doing. Oh, yeah, like comes to the races. When my band was playing, came to shows. I mean, he's literally such an inspiration. And like I said, that's what I strive to be that for someone else in the future.

I met him at his charity event. And I just said, hey, you know, you know, because I was like, Suther, I said, you know, they were considering you for like the next Lex. And I was like, God, that would be awesome. I hope they do that. And he laughed and he said, yeah, I don't know.

That was like, you know, it was funny to see them going online and talking about it. But like, he was such a sweetheart, man. I was like, you know what it was? I was immediately comfortable with him. And that could tell you a lot about a person where you're like, he, everything was just sort of like, hey, how are you doing? It was cool. Nico Key, since you're an avid Arizona Cardinals fan, he gets to ask this. Kyler Murray or Russell Wilson in his prime, who is a better QB?

I mean, I can't not say Kyle, Tyler Murray, because he is our quarterback right now, and I want him to be successful. And he's been playing pretty good lately. But obviously, you know, Russell Wilson had insane amount of success when he was with the Seahawks. And I don't know, I'd probably have to go with Russell Wilson back in his heyday as a better QB. Jeremy C, what's your favorite track to race?

Ooh, I'm going to say Kansas Speedway. I don't know if anyone would agree with me, but it's super high speed, ultra smooth. you can run anywhere on the track so you have cars four wide you know at 200 miles an hour hitting wheels it is the most incredible place in the world taylor r favorite memory during malcolm in the middle favorite memory honestly was the last shot that we filmed and only because i remember being sad that the show was ending right but also excited because i was ready for whatever the future was going to have to hold.

And at that point, I knew I was going to go racing and all that. And it didn't really hit me during the last episode until the last shot they saved for me. There was a close-up of me for this crazy scene where we're all covered in this shit. I don't know how to explain it. And I'm mad at my parents because they maybe turned down this million-dollar job because they're like, no, no, you're going to go to college and you're going to struggle. You're going to struggle to pay the bills. You have to work three jobs and you're going to do this and you're going to learn what

it's like to be a true middle class person. And you're going to be the president of the United States. And it's a super emotional scene. We've been filming it all day. And you know if you've ever been covered in like fake blood or gunk. It's just, you're just ready to get out of it. You know what I mean? And we're on the set.

Sorry, this is a long story. We're on the set. And I look around and it's about to be my close up. And there's 500 people there. It's all cast and crew who worked on the show over the seven years. And they said, action and it like I could barely even speak and I did one take and we never did one take we always we did a lot of takes we did a lot of stuff I did one take and the emotion was so intense

they're like print it check the gate that's a wrap and it was like the most emotional moment of my life because like that was my family for seven years like I was with them way more than I was with my family and all of a sudden in an instant it's over you know it's a so it's a good memory but also like a sad memory but definitely the craziest memory that's crazy man uh when you and your wife were watching all 100 and whatever episodes on the last episode when you watched it did you remember that and remember did you get a little emotional thinking back at all of it i did you know i i i actually i cried during the last episode like i was sad that it was done like this is 10 11 years after the show ending you know what i mean um because like i said i got to watch it as a viewer and like remove my

self from it. And I love, I just, I really loved it. So I'm grateful to have been a part of something that did have an impact on people's lives. You know what I mean? And people still to this day love and, and yeah, it is a, it's a wild thought, you know. And it also comes with like getting older. If you're, when you're younger and you're doing something like a show or you do whatever, it just becomes part of your life. It becomes normal, right? To where you, when I look back now and I go like that's insane that I was a part of something like that you know so successful like watching small bill for the first time like I have such an appreciation now and I'm so much more grateful and fans laugh because sometimes I shit on the show and go oh that was crap or

that was it but like I'm very honest but like overall I'm like hey man you did something really cool and if that's it that was it then wow that's enough yeah and so that's what i've always said too yeah could people always go like are you afraid that like less now because i obviously do other things and i you know i'm a race car driving all that but you're afraid that you're going to get you know typecast as like malcolm or and i was like look if i'm remembered as any character that's a tremendous compliment you know what i mean like sure i want to do other things too but if i only for the rest of my life did that's all i got was Malcolm, and I never did anything else.

That's still pretty cool that I travel all over the world and people love Malcolm. Well, you know, it's also you think what's the converse? What's like, it's like, you know, you're either remembered as this, which people loved, or you're not remembered at all. I'll take that memory. Yeah. You know what I mean? So it's like, I think it's just, this is an awesome conversation.

I just like, I'm so shocked that like we have so many. parallels and like yeah you know just with a lot of things like you didn't watch the show till later 11 years after it's over same sort of thing with me your emotions the you know when you look back you know doing new things trying to uh you know do what you love and what interests you and not what people think you should do or push you in the do because it will make them a lot of money And, you know, the parents, I think that, you know, it's obvious you have a lot of love for your family and, you know, nothing's perfect and that's life. And so you do the best you can and you navigate the best you can. And I think you're doing a pretty damn.

You're driving, you know, eye on the prize. You know, you're doing, you're doing well, my friend. You're doing very well. I'm trying. I appreciate that. But, yeah, I'm definitely keeping my eye on the prize. but you know it's uh it's not without its ups and downs for sure that's life but yeah it is it for you know everyone's going through their own struggles you know they have

their own success their own ups and downs so you know i uh i like that you know it's something that you talk about a lot on the podcast you know you kind of get to know the not the negative side but like the true authentic things that people are going through right the celebrities that people watch all the time and you know from the outside people's lives do look you know what I mean and it's not always the case never but it's easy to be an outsider and say how how could you be mad you've got this you got that you did this you know uh but you know everyone's got their own own uh struggles everyone's got their own shit do you have nicknames for each other your team not yet where i'm still new on the team you know what i mean um

the team manager ameer he's he's awesome and uh the other day he said something he his age came up and he i think he's 24 i'm like i could be your father so i call him son and he calls me dad thanks dad this has been awesome dude i i really appreciate you and i'll let you know when it airs and i'm telling you this this went above and beyond like it was holy you just open up and like that's what people gravitate towards it you know it's it's hearing about your racing is cool in your life and your success but also hearing about like like it isn't perfect and i just appreciate you for opening up and being awesome and thank you dude and we'll be in touch and i'm Oh, thanks for having me.

I'm coming to see your race. I'm glad we got to do it, finally. Yeah. Take care of it. With Amex Platinum, access to exclusive Amex pre-sale tickets can score you a spot trackside. So being a fan for life turns into the trip of a lifetime. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Pre-sale tickets for future events subject to availability and varied by race.

Turns and conditions apply. Learn more at amex.com.com. Frankie, you're awesome. That was awesome. I loved it. In fact, I was like, I don't know how this. is going to go i don't know you know we talk about car racing and but like it just it all it all translates into for me that you have to go with your gut on things that are your passions if you

love something do it and he does it and he the odds of him succeeding at this were minimal and he's had a lot of success and i just kudos to you brother uh i think it's really amazing. Thanks for listening today. We love you. We, of course, have to give our shoutouts to our top tier. And if you didn't listen to the intro, listen to the intro, it's important. There's a lot of important information and things and blah, blah, blah. So rewind and listen to that. About the stage it, we're playing December 14th and the Smallville Cruise and, of course, the fart book and all that stuff. But right now, the top tier patrons, let's shout them out. Why don't you start, Ryan? You can go to patreon.com slash

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