Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - FULL SHOW: How Did Our Magic Trick Go?!

Episode Date: December 8, 2024

ON THE SHOW TODAY We rewrite "The Night Before Christmas" Megan has the ultimate Christmas FAIL! Can Jono and Ben win you some ASB tennis tickets? Paddy Gower is miserable over this! Dear Megan... We can't decide which family to spend Christmas with! Sassing Rhianna! We are introduced to Jono the Kiwi Facebook: The Hits Breakfast with Jono and Ben Instagram: THEHITSBREAKFASTSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This John O'Bien podcast brought to you by HelloFresh, the experts and tastes that Kiwis love. Welcome to the podcast on a Monday morning and this is it. This is the one that you'll hear our big magic trick reveal. We've been learning for a couple of weeks and it all plays out for your next. I thought this was like, this is it. This is what you've been waiting for. I'm like, well, were they? Well, you've just brought something to my attention because we do the magic trick. Spoiler alert. We actually,

we pull it off. Just, just, but how excited we were and how embarrassing that is to look back on. Now we had spoken about this too. We were like, play it cool. But in the moment, because we were so anxious about it,

when we did it, we were like jumping around. We, you and me high five. I hugged Cos, Cos and Dino and was like thank you so much I was like such a dip and then suddenly I was aware of the audience I was like oh did they enjoy it like are they amazed yeah my wife and kids were in the audience they were like oh you guys were so good you know but I'm maybe that's what they're they're pretty honest with

me most of the time but I was like yeah but they were maybe cheerleading more than the rest. But hey, you know. In the audio, I did hear what I think is your wife pulling the weight of the audience. And I think they had pretty low expectations because I tried to do the trick on them at home and it'd been very lackluster. That's great. We set the bar low so we always overachieve. But for the audience, as you'll hear, they saw some incredible things. And so we were kind of the low bar for them.

But anyway, you'll hear it all play out. A wonderful journey as we tried to learn a magic trick. We enjoyed ourselves. 16 sleeps till Christmas, Megan. Well, 16 days to go. Not long. Is it? It's sneaking up on us.

Almost two weeks. And it's the holiday season. We've been talking about it a lot. And we wanted to learn a party trick for the holiday season. You know, to wow people at parties. There's plenty of things going on socially at the moment. So, Cosentino, he's an Australian musician. I keep calling him a musician.

Magician. I'm sure he could be a musician. I also feel like magician's just not enough to describe him. No. Because what he does is just incredible. It's like defying gravity. It's quite wicked. feel like magician's just not enough to describe him because what he does is just incredible it's like yeah but defying gravity it's a quote wicked to take something out of the wicked musical um yeah so we got him he came to the studio a couple of weeks ago and we got him to teach us a trick

it was a card trick uh that involved someone selecting a card then the cards were shuffled and all laid out and then a knife was pierced through a card at the end, and he wowed us with the trick in studio. Waving the knife around. What's it drawn to? He's pushing cards away. No. Stop it. It is!

Oh my goodness! It is the card that Megan signed, the six of diamonds. We're going to learn that trick. Oh, there's so much this could go wrong. What do you think? I love the switchblade. I love the theatrics of the switchblade. Of course he does.

Yeah, he's a big fan of that one. So that was the trick. And then we added some extra elements to it to make it a three-person trick. Which he agreed made it more difficult. Yes, it made it way more complicated. We didn't need that. Now, we tried. We actually practiced.

We genuinely practiced. And people around the office, even the Prime Minister was here for something else and we like grabbed him and we were like, hey, let's perform it in front of the Prime Minister. Prepare to be wowed, Chris Luxon. Is this your card, Prime Minister?

No! No! No, it's not. Was this your card, Prime Minister? No. Okay, we've got more to do. What are these fates? Got it on the third go.

Yeah. So then after a couple of weeks of practicing this track, it was Saturday over the weekend, just gone, and we all had to go along. Bruce Mason's center. There was hundreds of people in attendance, and we had to perform. And nerve-wracking because we got there early

and we had to rehearse with this team. My mouth is dry just reliving it. I know. We rehearsed it. So weird but we said this afterwards that you know like for this job you end up going on stage quite a bit in front of people, Weet-Bix kids triathlon, things like this, introducing people but I was so nervous about this. It was the element that we had to do the trick and not mess it up and we

knew that cameras were gonna be so they have cameras that are on your hands because he's a professional and he's good at the sleight of hand but we are not so we were aware that the cameras were going to be on our hands projected to a big screen it was terrifying so this is us i think just after we'd rehearsed with him the first time, before about to go on stage, before the people are about to arrive, and we're very, very nervous. Okay, we're backstage at the Bruce Mason. We just had a rehearsal. Coz, how are you feeling?

I mean, I feel good. I feel good. You guys did a really good job. Yeah, we actually did. We nailed it. I'm still as nervous as I was beforehand, but we nailed it. Well, it went okay.

Yeah, well, you picked the right card. Yeah. Yeah, it was great. It was good. the right You picked the right card Yeah It was good I thought you did a great presentation It looks good But now we've got to worry about the nerves Yes When there's an audience

You feel You get too excited Hands tremble It's hard Do you get nervous before you do? Yes Every show So what do you do then?

I vomit every show No, I'm kidding On stage? That might be me Just before Just before No, you just I don't know You you just push through it.

Okay. You shouldn't be nervous. So you've put us third to last in the show, which is smart from you because it means if this goes pear-shaped, you've still got two tricks to pull and bear. Correct, correct. Yes, it is a little clever on our part. But it means the audience is warmed up, they're into it. I think it's in a good section.

Imagine if you had to start the show. Yes. What's the trick that you're most nervous about doing today or when you perform? The last piece. I have my head in a box with knives. Really? 18 kitchen knives.

18 kitchen knives? 18, 18. Oh, 18? Yeah, they dangle above my head. Do your family come to your shows either? They do, but yeah, that's real knives. Oh, my God. We can do that trick. If it all goes well, we real knives oh my god so they do that trick

if it all goes we can wheel that out we can do that at the very end and we only do that at the end in case it goes wrong and then there's

you know we've still done a whole show no one can ask for their money back no look I think you're going

to do really well listen magic is difficult it's difficult to perform it it's difficult to do it in front of audience

and always get it right things go wrong but you know what? We've got contingencies. So I think, I think. The hits. The Jono and Ben podcast. Over the weekend, we got to perform our party trick.

We learnt a card trick that involved piercing a knife through the card. We learnt that from magician Cosentino, and we had to perform it on the weekend, Megan, in front of hundreds of people. It was terrifying. It was. Plus, we'd broken it down. So when Megan, in front of hundreds of people. It was terrifying. It was. Plus, we'd broken it down. So when Cosi showed us that trick, he did it all himself. But we broke it down into three parts so that we could each do a part, which he agreed made

it more difficult. And the other thing was, I don't know why, but I wasn't expecting to have a camera on my hands. Yeah. So it made it hard to do things that we needed to do. So to talk- There's no hiding. We're obviously not going to give away,

because now we're magicians, we don't give away the tricks. But I'm involved in getting someone that we'd never met. I love how everyone's, have we met this person before? You're not set up, we've never met. So we never met the person, we grabbed them from the audience and then you were going to get them to select a card. They signed it, they wrote something on the card, it was a pack of cards that they could see,

it had all the different suits, all the different numbers. Showed the audience, we hadn't seen it. They wrote something on the card. It was a pack of cards that they could see. It had all the different suits, all the different numbers. Showed the audience. We hadn't seen it. Then you shuffled away. Then you handed it over to Jono. The whole time, I was blindfolded. We added this element in for showbiz. Stupid.

Stupid. Because I, yeah, that really spoiled a contingency plan that we could have had. But anyway. And then Jono then laid out all the cards with the help of the person, mind you. Spread all the cards out on the table. Pulled a knife from his pants and then gave it to me. And then I had to pierce the knife through the card. You had to stab the right card that she'd signed.

Very, very nerve wracking. Obviously, there's some tricks involved because Cosentino taught us the tricks. But he was incredible. We got to perform. We were quite late in his show too, you know, towards the end. And he did some amazing, amazing things, levitating people. We'd said the whole time we were the warm-up act. But we weren't.

We were towards the end. He sawed someone in half, like all the stuff. In a Perspex box. Some amazing sleight of hand magic tricks and stuff. It was just incredible. Then we came on stage and we got to perform our trick. You'll see the video on the hits breakfast later on today. But here was the end of it where I got to pierce the knife through the card.

And even I, as I did it, I was like, oh, please be the card. You didn't know if it was the card either, right? I had no idea. I was completely lost in the moment. I was like, please be the card. You didn't really have any idea either. I was pretty sure. I came down to like sort of 50-50, and I was like, no, I think this is it.

I did it, and I hoped it was, and here's the moment. I feel like, I think this is it. I did it and I hoped it was. And here's the moment. I feel like, I don't know. I'm really hoping I've seen the floor. It's Mr. Cowell. Please be a cow. It's Mr. Cowell. The crowd goes wild, except I think I'm pretty sure I can hear your wife.

She was doing the heavy lifting for the crowd. Oh, yeah. So it was amazing. We went back off stage and we were, like, literally we were buzzing. And our eyes were really bloodshot. I don't know why. I don't know why. Yeah.

Yeah. But of all the things we've done on stage, we all agreed, like, this was probably the most nerve-wracking. Because you didn't want to screw it up. And so exciting. So here it was as we went off to the dressing room afterwards after performing our trick to hundreds of people. Okay, guys. We're fresh off. the dressing room afterwards after performing our trick to hundreds of people. Okay, guys, we're fresh off. Fresh off.

Oh, my God. Exhilarating. Oh, we did it. But I was so nervous, even because I have to put the knife through the card. I was like, this is 50-50. This could go either way. You're supposed to know it. I know, but I didn't.

I think I almost messed myself up. I also almost dropped the whole pack when I was shuffling right at the start. It was terrifying. Hey, we did it though. We did it. We pulled it together. And Michelle, our target. We've never done it before. Never.

Thrilling. Oh, wow. What a rush. Jeez, that was really nerve-wracking. Yeah, it was. There's a lot of people. And we came after, he, what, sawed someone in half. There was levitating. There was everything going on. And then he brought us on. Even a card trick that was like there's things in a box. My daughter was like, good luck going after that.

I was sitting next to Sienna, and after every trick she was like, good luck going after that. Good luck going after that. I'm not going to lie, I think we were more excited than the crowd when we got on the ride. Yes, I think so. They were like, well, these are pretty impressive stuff. We were like, wait, don't go! Hey, well done. Magic. I think so. They were like, well, these are pretty impressive stuff. We were like, wait, don't go.

Well done, magic. I'm so excited. It was such an amazing journey. Thank you so much to Constantino and his team. They were incredible to allow us to do that. Yeah. We took up a lot of his time before the show, and I'm sure he had better things to be doing.

Yeah. He had kitchen knives going through his head about to happen at one stage. The Hits, the Jono and Ben podcast. Ten days to Christmas. A lot of Christmas things going on around the country. We had a friendmas over the weekend, which was lovely. You've done your friendmas. Yeah, with a whole bunch of, obviously, friends.

It's all in the name. I don't need to mansplain that. You are, though. What I thought was quite funny, though, because they've got two dogs, the friends, and dogs get very excited, as does my dog. So they had the dogs at the neighbor's house. It was quite close. All the dogs were hanging out together.

They were like, keep it down, keep it down. We don't want the dogs to know that we're having a party. It was such a weird thing to go. We're going to be quiet because we don't want the dogs to know there's a social gathering. They're like, shh. The dogs are going to know there's a party going on. But there is Christmas just around the corner. And we were talking about the book, the iconic book, The Night Before Christmas.

Really is a great book. But it's very old and they're talking about stuff that doesn't quite relate to New Zealand. And it's cold, right? A lot of Christmas stuff, even when you want to wear matching pyjamas, a lot of them are like longs. Yeah. You're like, well, we're in summer here.'ve got christmas jerseys that oh yeah i bought them in before they're very scratchy very hot aren't they they're like lines they're very warm christmas jerseys and not the

conditions for it here in new zealand so we wanted to we thought throughout this week and this is very high concept stuff but hopefully you guys will get into it because we want to create a new story a new night before christmas that each day we'll add another line and then at the end of the week we can read back the new version of the book it's the story that we're all going to create together yeah so we thought we could start with the first two lines it was the night it was the night before christmas and all through the land and then we'll just stop there we basically changed it to land because house pretty much only rhymed with mouse. Yeah.

We were like, no, we'll change it to make it easier for us to get the second sentence. And then we want someone to complete the next line. Yeah. 4, 4, 8, 7. We'll go line by line each day. We'll set it up and then you can complete it. And we'll make it a bit more New Zealand orientated if we can.

Yeah. So it was the night before Christmas and all through the land, you've got. I've got one. And nothing was going quite as we had planned. Oh, that's good. So that sets it up nicely. It's like setting up for chaos.

Yeah. It was the night before Christmas and all through the land. I've got not a creature was stirring. No ram raid was rammed. Oh, yeah. You know, everyone was peaceful. It's very topical. Or my sunburn was peeling because I tried to get tanned. Or Briscoe's was having a sale 100% planned. You know, everyone was peaceful. It's very topical. Or my sunburn was peeling because I tried to get tanned.

Or Briscoe's was having a sale 100% planned. You know? Okay. Those are some options. It's topical. It's Kiwi. But I think we can do better. I think we can do better.

So it was the night before Christmas and all through the land. You complete at 4487 on the text. And it is the season of Christmas deals at the warehouse right now. And we've got your chance to win. So we've got a $50 voucher each day to give away for our favorite line. Nice. Because the warehouse is unboxing a deal every day until December the 20th with big savings for the big day.

The dazzling deal today is wooden outdoor furniture, which is pretty awesome, and every deal is on for one day only, so make sure you race into shop at the warehouse this festive season. So the first line is, "'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the land," and the only thing we ask is that the last word rhymes with land. Okay, 4487 on the text, our favourite text. To complete our line, we'll not only get the honour of creating the...

The second sentence? But also that warehouse voucher. The hits, the Jono and Ben podcast. Just 16 days to Christmas and we thought we'd, you know, we'd do something this morning. And to be honest, we weren't thinking it was going to work as well as it has, Megan, right? We didn't expect you all to be poets, but like there are some great options for this. So we wanted to remake Twas the Night Before Christmas to make it more Kiwi. That talks about it being cold and everything.

So we wanted it to be the story that we all created together. So we have the first line, which is, it was the night before Christmas and all through the land. Now someone's text through saying, why shouldn't it be night before Christmas and all through New Zealand? So I'm a stickler for the syllables. You are. Every time I suggest something, you're like, no, it doesn't scan, doesn't fit.

I mean, yeah, we could do that. But I was trying to fit the syllables in. Okay. So all through the land. Okay. Is that okay? So all around New Zealand. It'll get Kiwi.

It'll get Kiwi. Okay. And then we wanted you guys to complete the next line. Now, we've got, thanks to the warehouse, a $50 voucher. They've got their daily deals on. Wooden outdoor furniture today, which is great. And it's kind of so hard to choose the winning one today. There's so many texts.

So towards the night before Christmas and all through the land, a whole bunch of Kiwis were playing in the sand. Sand's a popular one. That's a good one. Sand's a great rhyming one. A tuatara was quarrelling across the black sand. Good. Crickets were chirping like in a rock band.

Summer. Good. The barbies were fired. Sizzlers in hand. Oh, I like in a rock band. Summer. Good. The Barbies were fired. Sizzlers in hand. Oh, I like that one. Yeah. We were, I'm struggling to keep up. The sun's finally out.

The beaches are manned. Oh, I like that. How's this one? That's a great one. 4487. Mullets were groomed and burnouts were planned. That's pretty good. That's pretty good.

That's pretty good as well. It's really, really hard to pick. There are so many great ones here on 4487, and they're still coming through. And each day, we'll set it up again tomorrow, and then we'll conclude the next line. Yeah. So we'll keep going with this.

There's plenty more chances to win. Have we settled on our next line? Well, we've just thrown it over to our producers because it's too hard. It's like, get us someone because there's too many. There's too many texts. It's close to 100 texts. Yeah.

So I believe we've got Wendy. Good morning, Wendy. Sorry, Craig. Good morning. Before we get to that, Craig's just said, I really hate Christmas. I wish it was canned. That's his suggestion.

It's good rhyming. The syllables are there. Someone's saying, you know, Bublé was playing because Mariah was banned. Oh, I like that. Another great one. But what is your one, Wendy? Hey, I've got Dave Dobbin was starting to warm up the band.

Dave Dobbin was starting to warm up the band. That's good. Music, Summer Festies, Dobbo. Kiwi, Iconic. Exactly. All right. That is our line. We're going to lock it in.

Wendy, you've done it. You've done it. Wendy, you've got yourself a $50 voucher to spend at the warehouse. Their daily deals are on now. Okay, so finish it for me. Oh, that's amazing. Twas the night before Christmas and all through the land, Wendy. Daydive and we're starting to warm up the band.

All right, we'll get to the next line tomorrow and then we'll build the story throughout the week. The Hits, the Jono and Ben podcast. So heading into Christmas and something over the weekend, a busy weekend you had, Megan, didn't you? I did. I had two birthday parties. I feel sorry for December babies.

Two birthday parties, a magic show with Cosentino, and my husband had his Christmas party, which he ended up dipping out on. So there was a lot happening in our household. Very busy at the moment, eh? Plus, I decided to start my Christmas wrapping. Now, Christmas wrapping for me is a big deal. I make it all match, and I have a different theme each year.

So it ends up taking me ages to wrap a Christmas present. It looks really impressive. Self-inflicted, I know. But it looks like a lot of effort. It is, but I like it. If it's your thing and you like it, then it's great. The reason I do it is because my mum used to Do terrible Love you mum

But did terrible Christmas wrapping She'd bunch it up And just tape it around And sometimes you could see What was in there And so that scarred me And I've gone completely The other way

It's like a work of art You always post it every year And it is like a work of art Do you save the paper My mum Jenny She loves saving the paper I save the ribbon I don't save the paper

We could save this paper And use it again I'm like You oh, okay. You can if you want. But I showed you a picture of my wrapping this year. It looks good. Yeah. It took me about, I'm going to say, two hours to wrap a few presents.

And then they were under the tree. And I didn't think about it, but I have a three-year-old and a two-year-old. And they went quiet, which is never a good sign on a Sunday. And then I hear my son yelling out, Mommy, look. Look at what I got. year old and a two year old and they went quiet which is never a good sign on a sunday and then i hear my son yelling out mommy look look at what i got and they had destroyed the presents under the tree absolute like they were stoked with the presents were they for them as well too yeah oh so they were stoked i was like wow cool you like the presents but um they're not for you right now try and get them to understand that they're for them, but not right now.

And you've just destroyed all my hard work. I only know what you're getting for Christmas. So angry. So I had to remove myself and sit down and be like, they're just Christmas presents. They are for them. You're going to be okay. All the work I put in, the wrapping.

Two hours of my life I'll never get back. But again, all self-inflicted. Probably shouldn't have left them under the tree. Did they appreciate the wrapping paper? Not at all. Not at all. They were like, wow, I love the presents, but these are so well wrapped. I loved it.

It was, yeah, it was a moment. So what's happening now? It's like you're going to have to re-wrap them? They're all going to have to be re-wrapped. I have to put them all away. I'm going to have to redo it all, but I'm not going to put them under the tree. It was my mistake. The Hits, the Jono and Ben podcast. I'm going to have to redo it all, but I'm not going to put them under the tree. It was my mistake. The hits.

The Jono and Ben podcast. The ASB Classic is coming back next year, and I do have a little surprise, a little task for you guys, but all will be revealed. Right now joining us is the tournament director of the ASB Classic. Nico, good morning. Hi, good morning, guys. The ASB Classic coming back. It's such a wonderful event.

It starts on December the 30th. And your job, people don't know, you basically need to put together the field, the players each year, which I imagine is a very tricky job, particularly when you have amazing players like the year before and you need to kind of match that again.

Yeah, that's the challenge that we set for HopSales every year. We just always try to do better and bring some new and exciting names. So Naomi Osaka, Kiwi Lulu-san, Emma Raducano as well, all applying, huge names as well. Without prying into too much personal details of the business,

so would you say to, let's take, one of the Williams sisters, okay? You're talking with their camp, you're trying to negotiate them into a tournament. Do they get paid an appearance fee to turn up to the tournament? And then they can also win the tournament cash? Is that how it works? Yeah, it's two systems.

First of all, there's an appearance fee. And the reason why we pay appearance fees is because we can secure their participation well ahead of the entry deadline. The entry deadline is four weeks before the event. So when we do get an appearance fee, we know like four to six months in advance that they're coming. So it's really helpful in terms of promotion. And then on top of the appearance fee, they do get prize money depending on how far they go into the tournament.

So do they have to pay their own way around the world, essentially, and their coaching staff? Yeah, they need to pay for everything. Basically, the CEO of a small SMB, they've got to pay for their coach, for their trainer, for their physio. They've got to pay for accommodation, airfares. So there's a lot of expenses that are linked to the life of a tennis player.

I imagine if you're in the top 10 or top 20, that's fine. But even if you're in the top 200, you're still a magnificent player, but probably struggling. Yeah, you need to be in the top 100 to make a living. If not, you're really struggling. Yeah, geez. It's a tough game.

Yeah, a tough game on the court. Now, we want to, well, Megan's been saying that we may have some tickets to give away to listeners of the hits to the ASB Classic, but Megan, you wanted to reveal some sort of twist? Well, we thought it would be quite fun for the both of you to challenge Nico and another player, David, to a doubles match.

Okay, okay. Now, if you do well... We're not going to a doubles match. Okay. Now, if you do well... We're not going to win, though. You know that, eh? Well, there's an incentive for you. You don't have to win, but every point you get, you will get a double pass for the ASB Classic to give away. So, a point? Okay. So, not even games,

just a point. That's all you have to do. Just get over there and they mess it up and we get a point. We get a double to give away. Sound like a good deal? Well, I feel like we should say no. I'll say no, you say no first, Jono, and then we'll see if we can negotiate. Just make sure you bring decent rackets on the day.

Decent rackets. Decent rackets. They're going to need more than that, Nico. But that's sweet. Imagine you're quite good on the court there. No, not really anymore. He's being modest. He's being modest. He's being modest, yeah.

I can hit a few balls. He can hit. I bet he can. Okay, well, listen, this sounds fun. This sounds fun. Let's do it. Let's do it. It sounds like it's going to be a fun watch for me.

Yeah, I'm not, no, not, okay. Do I get prize money as well? I'll book Santa Claus for you guys. Oh, Santa Claus. Wow. Do we get prize money as well? I'll book Centacool for you guys. Oh, Centacool. Wow. Do we get an appearance fee? You're going to need it because you're not going to win. We'll get our agent to talk to you.

That's how it works, right? All right, Nico. Looking forward to it. We'll take you on for tickets and we'll see you shortly. Thanks very much. See you guys. And moments away, it's the final week to get to win the trip to the Gold Coast. We could be putting you in the draw next on The Hits.

The Hits, the Jono and Ben podcast. The weekend was a big one, particularly sports-wise. A big football game between the Auckland FC and the Wellington Phoenix. Producer Grace, now I love that you're really invested in the football. I am all about the Auckland FC. I love it. Have you been a big football fan prior to this? No, but my boyfriend is, but he had his team, his English team or whatever,

and I never had my own team. But now I actually have a team, and I'm so happy. What I love, because you went across, you've been to many games, and it's been awesome, and you've been loving it. But Paddy Gower, a journalist we've had on the show before, we had him on because he loves the Wellington Phoenix, and he made a bet because we had the Auckland FC CEO, Nick Becker, on. And they basically had a bet before the first game,

before those teams played. And Paddy lost the bet. And he had to wear an Auckland FC top to this game over the weekend. So many people were going up and taking photos of him and laughing at him. Oh, which he would have hated. And you saw him there. And you went up and recorded him. I don't know if you'd had a drink or two.

Come on, you girlfriend. I'm in radio. So good. And you went up and talked to Paddy about it while he was wearing his top. Have a listen. Well, I'm feeling okay about the game, but I'm not feeling that okay about this bet that Jono and Ben put me up to. You know, I feel awful in this shirt. I mean, look at it.

It's appalling. I think the blue looks nice, Paddy. Come on, better than yellow. Yeah, no, I would much prefer to be in yellow, but a bet's a bet. I've got the Auckland FC top on. I've been getting a lot of grief from the supporters here. A chant that I can't repeat on the hits, but it starts with W, ends with R,

and it says, Paddy, is a W, you know what, R. Yeah, so, a lot of fun. All fun and games. But how are you thinking Wellington's going to go this game? I think they're going to win. Speaking of Ws, we're going to put the W back in Wellington. Yeah, it will be a W for us today.

But I'm not going to make any bets again because look at what's happened to me this time. So good. Spoiler, they didn't win. They lost. 2-1, 2-1. The first goal against the Auckland FC. But six wins from Auckland. It's insane. 2-1. 2-1. The first goal against the Auckland FC. But six wins from Auckland. It's insane.

It's incredible. Six for six. We're top of the league right now. Look at me. You're so invested. I love it. Do you know, my mum's friend, she travelled down to the game. And she's at the age, you know, mum's age.

And I'm going to say the boomer age, which is important for the story. Mum's friend came with a partner. She gets a bit nervous about being in the big city, Auckland. And always worry that people are going to rip them off. And they took a taxi because it's one of those things when you get a taxi and you try and go out of Go Media Stadium, it's quite hard to

get out of, in and out of the thing. And they took a taxi and they were like, how much is the taxi going to be? And they told the price and they're good. They got in the taxi and then they got there and she was like, $88.80! I'm not paying 80 she got quite angry with the he was the taxi driver was like what so 88 says they're 88.80 and they're like what what's going on he goes like no that's my radio that's the frequency of 88.8 that was the frequency he was listening to on the radio excuse me that wasn't the Rude. Well, he was a taxi driver.

He should be listening. He probably got one of those cars that can't get to the hits. She should have been like, my son's on this station. Can you please change? Yeah, she should have been brought over that one.

The Hits, the Jono and Ben podcast. The Swift, she had a huge year, amazing year. She just released a book over Thanksgiving weekend in America

and it's already, in two weeks, become the fastest selling new book of the year. She's released it just in time for Christmas too, right? Amazing. Maybe in a little bit of a hurry as well. People are saying because it's obviously a reflection

on the Error's Tour, E-R-A, but everyone's saying it should be the E-R-R-O-R. Oh, no. The Error's Tour because there's a couple of typos. There's a few blurry images in some of the books. Some of the text is slightly misaligned, according to some people. Upside down pages in one copy that someone was selling online. But anyway, it's the fastest selling book and fans don't care anyway.

So she's sold pretty much close to a million copies over two weeks. It's pretty incredible. Wow. She knows what she's doing. She does. She does. You're right. DM Megan.

Someone has slid into your DMs, Megan. We like to do this every week. If someone has, of course, come to you with a bit of a dilemma that we throw out to the hits audience, very helpful audience, and that's why we do put it to you, and it's really helpful. We can hopefully help out this person. So I think this is one situation that people,

a lot of people would have been in, myself included. I don't know how to navigate it, though. So the message reads, Hey guys, I've got a dear Megan for you. This Christmas, my partner and I are arguing over where to spend Christmas. My family always does a big lunch with all the traditions, but my partner's family does a beach barbecue and it's way more casual. And they're pushing hard for us to join them this year.

Trouble is, neither of us want to compromise and it's way more casual and they're pushing hard for us to join them this year. Trouble is neither of us want to compromise and it's getting tense. How does everyone else deal with this? It is really, really hard because, you know, like often when you're in a relationship, you know, you have their family, your family. Then, of course, my parents are separated. So then between my family, I've got the two separates. As a kid, you're like, oh, it's all right. You get two Christmases.

But then you add in the whole other Amanda's side and then my side. And I've got the two sides. And then you've got your own thing. You've got your own kids. You've got kids and stuff as well. And then my wife. I don't know. Some families, they do it really well.

And they have like a year here and a year back and forward. And others can be growing up we have it all together yeah but that doesn't always work out right so andrew's family live here with us and my family live in nelson yeah so we've always just not with us but in the same city right yeah in the same city sorry yeah with us oh i didn't know about that same city and so we usually just completely alternate to one one year in Nelson and one year here. That's always worked fine. But now we've got kids, so we don't end up going to Nelson very much.

So there's always like, yeah. And Andrew's family do Christmas up large, which I love. And my family's really casual and super chill. And I'm like always trying to up the ante, but it never works out. But it's just such a juggle. And I guess you can. You could go see your parents and he could stay with her. That could happen.

And be separated. But it doesn't generally happen. I was just thinking for this person right now, I guess you could. Well, yeah, it does say neither of them want to compromise. So what are you going to do? You could do that. But that is a bit weird not spending Christmas with your partner. Yeah.

So. I don't know what the answer is. Because neither of them wants to give up their Christmas traditions. They want to do it with their family and do it their way. Do we know the locations? We don't know if they can actually get to both within the same day. Actually, it doesn't say whether they're in the same. You imagine in the same city.

It seems like it's. Because if you can do that before, maybe that's an option. Split the day. Split the day. But then at the same time, you know, you can't relax as well because you've always got to, you know. You can't have too many bevies, which is my favorite thing to do on Christmas Day. Coming hot the second half.

You're like, whoa, okay. Who's been drinking up large? Okay. So what's the dilemma we want to put on our 100 of the Hits? So there's two families. They spend Christmas completely differently, the husband and wife.

One family does it traditional. One family does a casual barbecue and neither of them want to compromise. What are they going to do between the day? The Hits, the Jono and Ben podcast.

I don't want a lot for Christmas. I will get it recorded. That is my version. That was the only version we could play on the hits for a while there because, of course, we were playing our Mariah Carey game where we tried to avoid it. And some people were still in the game probably until we played that song. There upon me.

Oh, jeez. It's so good. Should we go back to Dear Megan and not play any more of me, Megan? Dear Megan. Interesting dilemma this morning and one I'm sure a lot of families around the country face from time to time. This is the message we got. If you can help this person out, that'd be great.

This Christmas, my partner and I are arguing over where to spend Christmas. My family always does the big lunch in Traditions, but my partner's family does a beach barbecue. It is way more casual. They're pushing hard for us to join them this year, but neither of us want to compromise. It's getting tense. How do you deal with it?

We, in my family, we alternate generally. We just literally do one Christmas with one family one year and then the next. And then everyone knows whose year it is. Everyone knows where everyone stands. Which, yeah, I guess it's doable, but it seems like in this case, no one wants to compromise

as they say, right? Yeah. So what are they going to do? Do they do their own thing? It's been suggested. Let's go to the phones and calls. All right. Olivia, what do you think? What should they do?

Morning. I think, honestly, if it was me, I think it would be causing a lot of stress on the relationship itself. So I probably just wouldn't do anything with it. I'd probably just spend it with my partner, if that makes sense, and maybe FaceTime each of the families just to, you know, show face. At the end of the day, you've kind of got to remember it shouldn't be stressful. For some reason, we place all these expectations on Christmas.

Because you need to be with everyone who's important in your life on the day. And everything needs to be perfect. Sometimes you burn the potatoes and I forget about them. I'm sorry. I forgot the potatoes were in the oven. How dare you? Yeah. Yeah.

Good luck with that, though, eh? Yeah, you're right. That's a good suggestion. In theory, it's great, but someone's going to get upset, I feel. But thanks for your call, Olivia. You're welcome. Natasha, what do you think they should do? Well, personally, I think they should both spend Christmas with their families

and come back and be together at the end of it. Because at the end of the day, you guys are in a relationship. That love doesn't change no matter where you are or who you spend it with. So why can't each individual spend their time with their family? My hubby and I, last year I left him and our children, three children, home for Christmas alone. You know, I bought all the presents and the food. Then I went home and I spent my Christmas with my mum and my brothers. You know, come back, everything as it was when I left. Everybody's happy, you know.

No hurt feelings over it. You even spent the day away from your kids. Yeah, yeah. And I have two in primary school and one in high school. And this was last Christmas. I did that and yeah, no, everyone was fine. I can't decide whether that sounds like a dream or I would miss them.

I still had to do the Christmas cooking when I was away so it was no different. I was just around, you know, humans that I love. If it works for you, that's awesome. Someone's suggesting here on 44871 at the host Christmas, invite both families.

Start a new tradition. Oh, okay. Sounds like a lot of work. Sounds like a lot of work. You're like, no, I don't. But that is a good compromise. Yeah. No, we've got Melanie.

Good morning, Melanie. What do you think they should do? Spend one day with one family and one day with the next. That's what we do with our family. When our children were little, it was too much to spend lunch with and one day with the next. That's what we do with our family. When our children were little, it was too much to spend lunch with one and dinner with the other and all the travelling in between. So we made the decision and we spend one Christmas day with one family and then Boxing Day with the other family.

Gotcha. So you kind of pretend it's Christmas on Boxing Day for the other family, by the way. I think that's ideal. Yeah, it's worked really well for 30-odd years, and we all know that Christmas Day is with our partners' families and then Boxing Day is with our family. So yeah, that's what we do.

And then the kids don't get so tired either. Two Christmases. Question. This is so ideal. I love it. Perfect. But what about the Boxing Day sales? Are you just going to be on your phone the whole time being like,

yeah, I'm with you. Yeah, I'll have some hair. We'll bounce around the corner for a bit I've now started vaping I'm getting in the car driving to the sale No I do love that Thank you Melanie Oh they're really good I think that's a great idea If you can make that work with the families

And then you alternate it So someone gets a boxing day someone gets a Christmas day every year Getting into the Christmas spirit You can make that work with the families and then you alternate it. So someone gets a Boxing Day, someone gets a Christmas Day every year. Thanks. The Hits, the Jono and Ben podcast. Getting into the Christmas spirit, although not when it comes to Rihanna. We were just talking about Rihanna, how you've got some beef with her, Megan. I don't know that she knows about the beef, but I've got longstanding beef with Rihanna. Okay.

When her album Unapologetic came out, I think this was in 2012, I actually ended up on a private jet. It was a big one, a 777 with Rihanna and a whole bunch of people. This was her on the intercom. I feel bougie. I feel real official on the jet.

This is Rihanna. What? Remember that flight I did? It was in 2012. Yeah, well, I remember. Yeah was in 2012. Well, yeah, amazing trip. Seven countries, seven days, seven concerts on a 777 so I was on a plane with Rihanna. What did the number seven have to do with anything? Is it her lucky number?

Feels like they really committed to seven. It wasn't even her seventh album because aren't we waiting for her? Right. Great gimmick. It's a great gimmick. A great talkability thing. So she did seven concerts over seven days. Great gimmick. It's a great gimmick. A great talkability thing. So she did seven concerts over seven days. In seven countries. And a 777.

Sounds like a radio story. I love it. I love everything about it. So this is her on the plane intercom, obviously. Yeah. I want everybody getting a ride

to a off the plane and we're going to this show in New York, girl. What? Fuck, fuck, fuck. I can still understand more of what she's saying than the pilot when the pilot talks on there. You guys are not playing the game with her. She's like trying to get a chant going. You're giving her nothing.

We can hear you, but we can't see you. Oh, okay. So this might have been at the point You're giving her nothing We can hear you but we can't see you Oh okay So this might have been at the point This might have been at the point of the ride When she'd kind of ditched us Alright we can hear you but we can't see you Salty I'm sorry for flying you around the world

To seven countries in seven nights To go to seven concerts I made international news because I started a chant, where have you been all this flight? Did you start a chant? You're salty though, buddy. No, everyone was very salty. We were very ungrateful.

You look at it though with hindsight. Okay, you're frustrating at the time, but you look at what position you were in. Yeah. And you're like, oh, I haven't seen Rihanna in my life. Like one of the greatest experiences of my life. Sorry for not, look, I'm Rihanna. I've been doing concerts and all sorts of other stuff.

Oh, she left us on the tarmac in the plane for six hours. That little comment there, who are you talking to? I had, like, a winner with me, Stacey. Oh, all right. She did come around at the start with a bottle of champagne, so she poured us all a glass of champagne. We can't see you, but we can't see you. Show us your face.

She finished in New York, right? I think that's where we were headed there. She finished in New York and we were at this club and I remember it was two levels and on the mezzanine, I could see Jay-Z. Wow. So like I've been in the same room as Jay-Z. Everyone was just like excited to see him watching her. Could you hear him but not see him? I can see you but I can't hear you, Jay-Z. Wow. So like I've been in the same room as Jay-Z. Everyone was just like excited to see him watching her.

Could you hear him but not see him? I can see you but I can't hear you, Jay-Z. I sound so ungrateful. Oh my God. The funniest line. Rihanna, come back here to economy. Can't hear you but I can't see you. Come back here.

Bring your ass down here. It's like, I imagine it's the RSA situation where someone's talking in the mic and it's not working. People are like, speak up, speak up. You're one of those that have over. I love how she's going, brr, brr, and everyone's like. Just giving her crickets. You guys really were tired by that point in the show. The Hits, the Jono and Ben podcast.

Helen joins us right now. How are you, Helen? I'm awesome, thank you. Now, you got in touch with us. You're from Save the Kiwi, right? That's correct, yeah. So tell us about that. Save the Kiwi, we're an organisation that works across the North Island and South Island

and does a lot of work supporting projects that improve the outcome for Kiwi around the country. We actually raise chicks here at the Kiwi Borough in Taupo, projects that improve the outcome for kiwi around the country. We actually raise chicks here at the Kiwi Borough in Taupo, and then they get released back out into the wild. That's a very cool thing. Now, you got in touch with us because you've named a new kiwi bird after Jono. Jono. Yes, we have.

Megan's screwing her face up right now. Of all the names. Is it bald and just a little bit sort of weird? Slow. Yeah. No, actually, it's got quite a good head of hair, actually. So it's ironic. It starts with a good head of hair, believe you me.

You know, there might have been more similarity between Jono and the egg than the chick. Maybe that's why you got a leg, looks like Jono and the egg than the chick. Maybe that's why you called her. That egg looks like Jono. What is this, the roast of me? What are we doing here? Jono's got a connection to Ben, I understand.

Yeah, so this little chick, his dad's name is Ben. He's out in the wild down in Taranaki. And so we thought with a name like Ben it should be paired with Jono so that's why the chick got the name Jono and did Ben mate with Megan

to make this scenario even stranger I'm not your real dad you can't borrow any money from me no Ben actually partners with Andrea does that ring any bells? No, we don't have an Andrea on staff. I'm talking about Andrea on air, right?

I don't want to talk about what goes on in my private life. Now, how many Kiwi have we actually got in the country? Have you got a take on the numbers? So for the North Island Brown, about 25,000, but the population is declining by 2% every year. So in areas that there's no work being done, unfortunately we're seeing the numbers drop. I actually saw them at the Auckland Zoo recently.

I saw two of them and they were running. So they don't fly, obviously, but they're so fast. Yeah, yeah, they do. They do run. People often think they sort of plod along. But they can get up and move when they need to. How fast are they running, do you reckon? Do you know?

Well, faster than me. Not faster than a stoat, though. It's the problem, isn't it? What's the one thing that you've been surprised to learn, apart from the fact that they run quite fast working there? Oh, they're quite feisty. They do get up and kick, and they try and protect themselves. Unfortunately, it's when the chicks are little,

and they can't protect themselves against stoats. So we actually take the eggs out of the wild, hatch the chicks a little and they can't protect themselves against stoats. So we actually take the eggs out of the wild, hatch the chicks out and we put them back into the wild when they're big, so over a kilo and that's when they can defend themselves. So yeah, they might look sort of placid, but no, they've got a bit of kick behind them

as well. Well, they probably look at the other birds and they're like, how come they're doing that up there in the sky? Why am I stuck down here? Can people help out? Because I'm sure that you guys would're doing that up there in the sky? Why am I stuck down here? Can people help out? Because I'm sure that you guys would always appreciate more funding. Yeah, we're always looking for funding, of course. We're a non-profit organisation. So, yeah, any donations help.

But also people taking care of their dogs and making sure that they don't meet up with Kiwi. That's one of the big things. Like up in Northland, Kiwis will come into people's properties and having your dog secured so that they can't damage the Kiwi is one of the real important things. Okay, that's good to know. And is there anything else everyday New Zealanders can be doing?

Definitely donate. Spread the word about Kiwi and how endangered they are and the help that they need. And predator control, of course. Getting rid of those predators around is a really good way to help. There's lots of local organisations

around people that will be doing predator control in their local environment. So, yeah, that's a good thing to do. Oh, I'd love to talk to you from Save the Kiwi and keep us updated with how Jono's hair goes, young Kiwi chick Jono. The Hits, the Jono and Ben podcast. Sit here and try and get 10 out of 10 comfy cheers

for the New Zealand Herald Daily Quiz. Riveting work, guys. Yeah, you're saving lives. Not really. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's when you come to realise what we do for work Riveting work guys Yeah you're saving lives Not really Yeah Yeah That's when you come to realise What we do for work

It's really trivial Why don't I talk about the heroes Before doing this segment Thanks for that No you bring the vibes up though That's a hard job Gotta bring the vibes up So producer Ellie

You've got the New Zealand Herald Daily Quiz You can get it online We don't look at it And we like to do it Until we get one wrong If we get one wrong We're out Alright Question number one Where did Prince Harry serve We don't look at it and we like to do it until we get one wrong. If we get one wrong, we're out.

All right. Question number one. Where did Prince Harry serve during his time in the British Army? Was it Syria, Afghanistan or Pakistan? Was it Afghanistan? I don't know. I thought it was. No, I don't know.

Because doesn't he have like, he loves Africa. And I was like, is it somewhere there? But no. Afghanistan? I feel like, he loves Africa. And I was like, is it somewhere there? But no. Afghanistan? I feel like it might be Afghanistan. Are you going to do a Jono and come in hard and be like, Afghanistan? Yeah, I feel like, because Jono made me read his book. Well, actually I took.

You read Prince Harry's book and you don't know where he served. Surely that said it in there. Because I bought the book, tell you what, basically for an Instagram gag where it was like, I had a flat tire. And I was like, oh, do you need a spare? Because it was called spare. And then I took it back. I got my daughters to take it back to Swopper.

And then everyone said that was, you didn't even read it. And then I swapped it at Whitcoul. So they had to go buy it again to read it. So I'm going to go Afghanistan. Okay, that is correct. Well done. Thank God. Okay, we made it to question two.

At least. Saving lives. Which New Zealand bowler achieved a hat trick in the 2019 Cricket World Cup? Trent Bolt, Tim Salvey or Lockie Ferguson? Ben, this is... Oh, this should be me. In the Watch World Cup? 2019.

Yeah. Wasn't everyone going on about Trent Bolt? Yeah, but then Lockie Ferguson, I felt... Oh, yo, yo. I should know. There's cricket. This is a sweet man. I love cricket.

It's your wheelhouse, mate. Okay, sure. Trent Bolt. You going to go for it? You going to do a Jono and just yell it. It's your wheelhouse, mate. Okay. Trent Bolt. You going to go for it? You going to do a Jono and just yell it out? Yeah, Jono do it. Am I going to answer

the cricket question? I feel like it's Bolt or Ferguson, but yeah. Go, go, go. Okay. It could be Bolt. You might be right. I reckon it's Trent Bolt.

That is correct. Yay! Megan. What a cricket question. Megan does sport. Well done. Okay, that's good. I'm stoked with that. Yeah, yeah. Okay, that's good. I'm stoked with that.

Yeah, yeah. Okay, question number three. Which famous beach in Thailand was featured in the movie The Beach starring Leonardo DiCaprio? I've been there. Oh, you have? Okay. I've been there. Is it Patong Bay, Kata Bay or Mayo Bay?

Do you want to read them? Is it easier? Are you more visual? I'm more of a visual. Patong. That's the first one. Yeah, with Patong. Number one.

Is that incorrect? What? It was Maya. Maya? Are you sure? I mean, the Herald says so. Oh. I'm pretty sure.

Controversy. Right. Okay, wait. Fine. Fine. I'll Google it. Okay, we'll Google that. We'll get our scrutineers to look at that. I'm like, I've been there. You did so well with the cricket question, too. Fine. Fine. I'll Google it. Okay, we'll Google that. We'll get our scrutineers to look at that.

I'm like, I've been there. You did so well with the cricket question too, Trent Bolt. And there it is, tipping out potentially in controversial circumstances from the New Zealand Herald Daily Quiz.