Right About Now with Ryan Alford - Casey Webb - Man vs.Food

Episode Date: July 5, 2022

Welcome back to another episode of The Radcast with Ryan Alford! We are so excited to have actor and host Casey Webb on the show this week! Be sure to catch Casey on Man vs. Food, and keep up with him on instagram @iamhusky4life and twitter @caseyscallIf you enjoyed this episode of The Radcast, let us know by visiting our website www.theradcast.com. Check out www.theradicalformula.com. Like, Share and Subscribe to our YouTube channel, or leave us a review on Apple Podcast. Be sure to keep up with all that’s radical from @ryanalford @radical_results @the.rad.cast. If you enjoyed this episode and want to learn more, join Ryan’s newsletter https://ryanalford.com/newsletter/ to get Ferrari level advice daily for FREE.  Learn how to build a 7 figure business from your personal brand by signing up for a FREE introduction to personal branding https://ryanalford.com/personalbranding.  Learn more by visiting our website at www.ryanisright.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel  www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford. 

I was in the offices, at the production offices, and it was a contract, and it said Big Eats. Second page said Big Eats. Third page said Man vs. Food. I was like, no! I was like, I gotta call somebody. Call my mom. Call, I didn't have a lawyer. Call a lawyer. Do you have a lawyer? The beauty about it is the fun folks in production and the producers that write copy, they've, as a result of doing the show for as long as we have these 90 episodes, they've started to write in how I speak. The fact that someone would take a moment out of their day and like say a nice thing, like there's not enough of that in the world, or maybe there is. And I just, I appreciate that so much. And I would never not want someone to come up, you know, because I'm a,

I could, I totally fan out too. You're listening to The Radcast. If it's radical, we cover it. Here's your host, Ryan Alford. Hey guys, welcome to the latest edition of The Radcast. We're talking food today, my friend. We're going battling with food. Man versus food. I've got actor, comedian,

host of Man Versus Food, Casey Webb. What's up, Casey? Woo! How we doing, brother? Great, man. You know, I'm trying to contain my excitement. I get depressed watching many things on TV, which is why I don't watch much TV, but I have like three go-tos and man versus food is like at the top of the list. So, uh, thank you for saying so. I, you know, I, I do appreciate hearing that. Cause like I, um, in the beginning I had no idea who was watching. I was, I just figured it was just dudes like me that ate food all the time, you know, but I couldn't have been more wrong because it's, you know, it's kids, it's parents, it's dudes like me.

It's, you know, it's a vast group of people that watch a show. And that was really humbling. And that's probably one of the reasons why I've continued to do so, because, you just uh it's not just dudes like me that like the show so no it's a lot of people especially kids yeah and i told you we you know we messaged on social media like everybody else does you know and uh yeah i told you and you know my kids and i was like our our saturday morning literally watching this past weekend we were on the boat and watching you know reruns of man versus food and i'm like he's gonna be on the show they're like if i can make a kid laugh i feel like i'm doing my job if i can make an adult

laugh that's just a bonus right because you know and what's fun about the show is like some the adults get the adult jokes and the kids get the kids jokes you know and it's like i i pride myself it's kind of like a warner brothers cartoon the you know, for my generation, just just and being silly like a kid. So, you know, it brings me a great deal of joy knowing that, you know, people can have a laugh or and, you know, the coolest thing, you know, is like a parent first reached out and like the first season of the show. And he's like, you know what? We really love the show because we could turn it on and it's safe yeah you know there's no there's no cussing there's no you know there's no foul language there's no it's food it's food and fun and um there's a bit of competition there too and like i don't always win which is great because you know if i won every one then what kind of show is that too you know and i'm trying don't it's not with the lack of trying it

just clearly reality is sometimes i just don't win you know i i'm trying don't it's not with the lack of trying it just clearly reality is sometimes i just don't win you know i i'd like to consider myself the underdog in that scenario like the husky i call myself um husky balboa like rocky balboa sometimes i win sometimes i lose i know but like i can't think um you know you're so endearing though on tv i will say that like there's like this you know you're rooting for you but like there's the comedy because you're obviously a comedian you're a funny guy and then but there's an endearing quality to you that i think makes it easy television for sure yeah it's funny how my career started because i you, I started doing voiceovers and commercial, I was doing theater and, and, and stand up and improv. But, uh, when I like got onto camera and to doing

voiceovers, I was either doing voiceovers or I was doing on camera commercials where I didn't say anything in the commercial, or it was my voice on the voiceover. It took a little while for me to bridge the gap and do both. So with the show, it really bridges the gap and I could, I could do both, you know, I can say silly things and I do, you know, I, I, I, I've been told I have a funny face. So in a good way, you do. I mean, you look, there's like a, I don't even know what I'd compare it. I don't know if it's like the John candy meets something else. I don't know what, I don't know.

When I'm heavier i get chris you know yeah um you look lighter now or something not as funny as farley and not as fat as uh no that way it was not as funny as farrell and not as fat as farley that's yeah yeah all right i don't know about that it's pretty damn fun i know i'm just kidding thanks man casey let's back up i i you know just like you and taking on the food challenges i want to like dive in like immediately but okay i do want because i think people are fascinated you know like you know to kind of hear your journey a bit um we all think uh mistakenly that oh it just all you know comes perfect like i'm sure it was just this easy path uh something

tells me and i don't even know your full story um it's never as easy as it seems to kind of get to you know where you are with a show like this but uh let's talk about a little bit of that journey i so with acting um i started late in life i i wound up playing football uh i was playing football in high school went off to college and um i decided to stop playing which was the hardest thing for me to do you know went away to this division three school i thought it was going to be like six six you know my brother's pretty tall and big i thought it was going to be at least his height but i wasn't but i was good i just you know i didn't i didn't make it i wasn't uh it wasn't what i thought it was going to be when i went i wanted to go to college it became work and then you know

i want to take this theater history class in the school and um which i later was abruptly asked to maybe i should i should probably move on from that school um as it happens uh but it was this theater history class and i was like just so kind of enamored with like, oh, this is something that I could possibly do. You know, and some of my heroes, acting heroes, guys were in the military or there were athletes first or, you know, I was like, oh, anything's really possible. Because especially in sports gave me that they gave me sports gave me everything, you know, the confidence, the the you know the mental aptitude um just the drive so i wound up doing theater like at 18 in a community college where i had friends going to and two really close buddies one was going to conservatory in new york city one was getting his undergrad at a school but he was minoring in theater and like my three closest friends somehow

wind up doing theater and acting right so i i wound up auditioning for this play uh cold read is basically you read off a piece of paper you don't know really what it says you don't have time to rehearse it in front of an audience of other actors and people and and i fail i i couldn't do it i just was so poor at it and um i that's now when i realized like this is what I want to do with the rest of my life. Like I, in that moment, I was like, this is so, this is such a challenge that I, I, I want to, I want to take this thing on. So I stopped playing sports. I stopped running into people with my helmet and I started doing theater and that was at 18. Um, and that's kind of where it all started. Right. So, you know, cut to, you you know i've spent a life pursuing it but i've left it a lot but what kept me busy in the pursuit of acting i um long before i was an actor or at least um pursuing it i i started working in the restaurant business so i think it was my father that first handed me the spatula at age 10 and taught me how to make eggs. And probably for two reasons, one, not to burn myself. And two, because he was tired of me asking him to make him eggs.

There we go. So, yeah. So that's kind of, you know, like, uh, being in the workforce at a young age gave me, um, uh, gave me the work ethic, you know, and, and that's kind of where that started. So quite literally the, the worlds collided when I got man versus food cut to many years later, 2017 I you know, I got the job of a lifetime and as you know, as, as someone who's, who, who pursues acting, you don't, you can't really say no to an audition at least not in my world.

Cause you, you might not get another one yeah um little did i know that this audition would lead to you know five years of work um and other opportunities just a ton of other opportunities i was very fortunate prior to doing the show to do some not hosting not reality lifestyle work like light commercials voiceover on camera some tv um and then when the show hit i was just kind of just my whole life was kind of thrown into the stratosphere and i started traveling the country i mean cut to five years later um you know we just wrapped on our 90th episode we've done six seasons of the new version of man versus food and um yeah and it's brought me to your door uh that's in a

nutshell but there's you know please feel free to dig into the stuff i brought up because there's other stuff in there but um you know it one job led one job led to five years of one job so i i wound up uh casting director new york city referred me to a casting director in L.A. And I wound up getting this job working on this YouTube show. And then that director introduced me to an agent in New York City. And then that led to the audition for Man Vs. Food, which they told me was not Man Vs. Food. They told me it was another show called Big Eats because I thought the show was still in the air. But in 2012, the show was out the year 2012. So this this is 2017 i'm auditioning for the new man versus food but they kept it under wraps and they were telling me that it was a show called big eats so um uh

it wasn't until i was signing the contract in the park pretty much you know like i guess it was such a popular show and they had a new um you know a new regime at at the network and they just they couldn't really tell anybody so um lucky me i guess yeah is uh i mean what did you do in the restaurants you say you know i always what were your were you in the kitchen a lot or were you bartending or like, what, what were your positions like? Well, the first kitchen was the home kitchen and that spatula that my dad handed me and the bacon fat in a Campbell's soup can. You know, that's what, that's what New Yorkers did. That's what my parents did.

I didn't know what that was for the longest time. I was like, this is gross. Why is there bacon fat in the freezer? And little did I know, it's like the greatest thing ever. If you don't keep bacon fat in your freezer in a soup can, then you're missing out. But I started washing dishes at 14 in a pizza place that was in my hometown. You know, my family knew their family. And, you know, 14 is a little young to be on the work in the workforce. Not in my opinion, you know legally but i

still got to wash dishes and you know i think of like uh a pizza place as almost like if you watch um orange is the new black or any sort of like institution show any show where they're in prison because there's a hierarchy of people that are working there and some of them are criminals you know like more or less um there's the guys driving you know the guys that drive the pizza there's the guys making the pizza these are magical human beings i only wanted to be the guy that made the pizza he was like just like a stunner he had a long he's a total wizard he had a long mustache long hair he wore all white and he was just slinging pizzas never talked to anybody smoked marble cigarettes and he's just a

fascinating human being and i was there washing the dishes like observing this guy you know and they basically pay in pizza um so it was washing dishes and then that led to you know um being a bus boy you know being then eventually a food runner and then eventually you know back to be a dishwasher because you get demoted pretty quickly. And then, you know, in the kitchen, like prepping, so cutting all the veggies, right. Prepping. And then that led to line cook. So I was able to learn along the way. And like, that's, you know, and a lot of businesses that's gone away. Like my father was able to do that in his business. He learned from starting from A and then he went up into management in his career. And so like the restaurant world, if you want it, it's there for you. You know, you got to deal with a lot of personalities and a lot of, you know, every weekend, every holiday.

But it was just something that I fell in love with. And then, you know, I was in the kitchen line cook. And then I realized I didn't go to culinary school. I was just taught, you know, by people that were really good. And that made me good. And then I realized that all the money's in the front of the house. So I started busting tables again, and then I started waiting tables, and then I was bartending and management, you know, then I went to wine and liquor sales. And

so, you know, I pretty much run the gamut in all areas except for ownership. I never owned. Maybe someday. I've been a little busy. Yeah. And that takes a lot of on-the-ground time. You need to be inside that brick and mortar if you're going to run your place, in my opinion. But, yeah, that's where it's, yeah, I started washing dishes. That's really kind of, and it just kept me going. Yeah, that's where it's, yeah, I started washing dishes.

That's really kind of, and it just kept me going. And then I was doing that all throughout my career, pursuing acting in New York City, you know, which led to, yeah, which led to Man Vs. Food. Yeah. I think everyone, my first job at 14 was washing dishes at a meat and three restaurant. And let me tell you you it's a wonderful place to eat it's the worst place on it's hell on earth for washing dishes because you know why

macaroni dishes that that bake to the sides it's basically concrete it's concrete oh it's concrete your hands get raw everyone that wants to have true like grit needs to wash dishes one time in their life at a restaurant i i so i think the restaurant business any in general because it's really you it's a hustle and there's a great deal of humility and but you learn so much there's so much to be learned there i love how you're meeting three great place to eat but you wouldn't want to wash there yeah no yeah I was like why did they they're willing to give me a job is it still legal my dad's like I don't know but they were they were friends with them they went to my my family's church we went to church with this family um I'm not going to name them in case they could

you know there's like a by now it's usually it's worn out the uh the law or whatever there's a statute of limitations on yeah I will not name names either um i do have a good buddy in in nashville who has uh arnold's which is meat and three which is really quite good and he uh he's elevated to meat and three because i've had all kinds of meat and three and they're amazing right um salt is the first ingredient and everything yes and then fat and then, and then sweet, and then, yeah. Yeah, lard. Love it. Love it, though.

I mean, you know, you need a meal, go get a meat and turkey, you know? So you tried out. How many people tried out for man versus do you even know? Like how many people you were up against in the? I was up against food. I know that much. In landing the gig? you know the what's interesting i guess they you know coast to coast they had auditions and i think it started with

well the first audition and i know you'll appreciate this was um there was a point i was i was i was airbnb my apartment that i rented um in new York City. And that enabled me to travel to pick up shifts and then from other bartender buddies and then crash at their place. And so long of the short, I had this my first interview for Man Vs. Food, which I thought then was Big Eats in my apartment. The apartment was immaculate. I had this Italian couple that was showing up in an hour. And for the segment of that interview she was like oh at the very end she's like oh do you have the are you prepared with the food portion of of the uh of the audition or the interview i was like i don't remember reading that

i there's nothing in my apartment you know it's it's clean right so i was like just give me a second and like i i happen to have a jar of apple pie moonshine in my refrigerator that I got from the Carolinas. And I will not name names. It wasn't it. It was more than one jar in the. But there was a jar. And I basically I picked that jar out of the fridge and I sat down as I'm talking to you the same way I spoke about Moonshine for 20 minutes. And then that gave me the second audition when I later on an executive from the network had set that, you know, we just we were in Minnesota during the Super Bowl several years ago when we were doing two episodes. And we were just talking. He's like someone had asked the question, how'd you get the job? And then he answered for me. He's like, well, it was really when casey sat down and talked about moonshine for 20 minutes we all knew that he was the guy so i was like i love that story i was like i never heard that from him i was like he's my he's

the executive you know he's the guy in charge you know and he's like the fact that you could just pontificate talk about moonshine i mean they're saying i'm a bartender and i'm an actor and it's like all i would want to do is talk you know it's like all the all the all the hours in detention as a kid have totally paid off and um i wish my parents knew that when i was a kid but um yeah it was it started at that bottle moonshine that's what led to the second audition and i they wouldn't they were overlapping because the second audition was literally was physically in a restaurant. And so we did a mini version of the show. So we did like a kitchen beat where I'm cooking the thing with the chef.

And then I do I talk I'm talking to guests about the food. And then it's me trying to crush some big cheeseburger. Right. And but in the in the course of like 30 minutes, you know, the show is 22 22 minutes long but it takes three days to film it right so it's a 22 minute show it takes three days but they were overlapping us so i don't have any idea i never asked how many people are up for it um but i guess they whittled it down you know they had to yeah i mean and you were the winner i was the winner but not big eats i'm not big eats i was i was right i was in the offices at the production studio at the production offices and i had you know it was a contract and it said big eats second page said big eats third page said man versus food i was like no

i was like i gotta call somebody call my mom call I didn't have a lawyer, call a lawyer. Do you have a lawyer? It was just like, Oh my God. Like, and little did I know, you know, that, that, you know, the rest of my life would be just completely changed as a result of getting one job, two auditions, one job. I tell you this, this is a funny story. I was so right before I booked that, I booked a commercial in it was filmed in Panama, the country. And it was essentially a spinoff. It was a German real estate company. It was a spinoff of Wolf of Wall Street. So instead of spending triple the amount of money in Miami, they did in Panama because they they have high rises they have uh lamborghinis it's a beautiful country and so they took three american actors and we went and like destroyed office buildings where they had like this mock strip club it was like it was basically wolf of

wall street and um it was amazing right it was like one of the greatest experiences i've ever had in with my job you know um i've had many as a result of doing that. But I I the day we were leaving, I couldn't find my passport. My passport went missing. So that's a Wednesday. So Thursday, I have Thursday. And then that Friday was Good Friday. The whole country shuts down on Good Friday. Even, you the um the the u.s uh embassy offices so i was like uh-oh so if and then monday i was flying off to do the first episode of man versus food so i didn't get home i long long and short i wound up meeting a really great police officer who like

helped me through the entire process i got a passport and i was able to fly out um on my dime you know uh i was, I don't care. I flew first class home and I ate ice cream the whole way home. I was like, so thankful that I got out of town. Um, but yeah, if it wasn't for that, that, that, that police officer in Panama, I probably, I would have missed the first episode of Man for Spoon and maybe even fired, you know, so nobody really knows that story. That's, uh, I keep that one tight, but it's, it's such a fascinating thing. Um, you know, to, uh, you never know, you know, it's like the, the, the, we, the help from others is, um, I, I don't take that lightly, you know, it's like,

so like with my job, I feel like, you know, um, uh, there's a great deal of gratification that I get from potentially helping a restaurant. And I didn't know this about restaurants, like what the show, the impact of the show would have. Yeah. Do you like my segue there? I love it. Yeah, it's perfect. And like, I didn't know until the show started airing that any restaurant or I'm sorry, any show that goes to any restaurant across the country, whether it be members, there's a huge bump in business. I mean, potentially 40%. And I'm like, any show that goes to any restaurant across the country, whether it be man or suit, there's a huge bump in business. I mean, potentially 40%.

And I'm like, 40%? I've worked for mom and pops, a lot of them. And I work corporate. I get it. 40% is everything. I mean, that could keep the lights on and fix a hole in the roof. And I was like, wow, this really, really, really matters. And I didn't really think what I was doing mattered

because I was crushing cheeseburgers or eating, you know, it's either huge or hot. And I was like, I don't know if I could do this anymore. It is kind of painful, you know, but there was so many pluses, you know, and like, I'll eat crow, I'll eat the silly sandwiches and the hot stuff. If it's making people laugh and smile and then potentially increasing someone's business. I, you know, it's within my power to do so. And that's quite honestly, it's, it, that's kind of what's kept me in it. You know, it's like, you know, it's, it's not the it's, it'll probably be what I'm most known for,

but it's not going to be my legacy. I'd tell you that much, you know? So helping is like, is what is kind of kept me in, in, in it, you know, it's in like, and, and, and it, and it? And it actually makes an impact, you know? And I never thought some silly show as Man Vs. Food, not to call it silly, but would have such an impact. And people plan their whole vacations on shows that, you know, restaurants that we've been to

on Man Vs. Food and other shows. Like, yeah, we went on vacation. We went to every place he went to. It was awesome. I was like, that's so great. I love that. You know, it's like we actually, they have repeat business, you know?

So that's what I'm, I think, most proud of with the show is that, you know, it's really, it's quite honestly helping people, you know, inadvertently, and I had no clue, you know? One thing I really appreciate about the show being, you know, in the marketing, advertising, and appreciating the dialogue. I don't know how much it's written for you, how much you write, but the writing and the... It's not lost on me, like the intros to the segment, the collection of words, the things that you say.

to the segment, the collection of words, the things that you say, and, you know, whether sometimes it's a rhyme, sometimes it's a riddle, sometimes it's whatever, that's not lost on me. You know, and I don't know that it's lost on the crowd either, but I think I appreciate it maybe from a different position being in the career that I'm in, but it's just, it's really clever and really smart. I think from the beginning, you know, there's so part of it's scripted. All the facts and the things that we highlight are that's scripted. And the beauty about it is the fun folks in production and the producers that write copy. They're they've as a result of doing the show for as long as we have these 90 episodes, they've started to write in how I speak. So it started off one way and i speak you know so it like it started off one way and it's like oh now it sounds more like how casey talks then yeah so that was

really i was like whoa this is like i would say that you know or like i i would point out like i wouldn't really say that you know like that's not something that would come out of my mouth you know yeah um and so that that was super that was just like really flattering was like oh they're writing for my voice and that and it's just a thing. It's usually like with characters or with like acting, it's like you find the voice within the character, but they were writing for my voice. So it was just kinda, it was like, Oh, this is really great. And then, and then the rest of it is improvised. So a lot of that stuff in the kitchen and me talking to folks, it's like,

you know, whether it be, you know, whether it be someone in the chef in the kitchen or a little kid, you know, it's like, it's all loosely improvised. We're talking about the food that's in front of us. And I, you know, I have to, we're look, we're mining for sound bites. Ideally we want, you know, I'm saying a bunch of stuff.

So they say it back to me. So they, we have a, you know, a blurb for that 22 minute episode from that one restaurant you know yeah so it's fun how do they choose the restaurants like how does that have what's that process so the biggest thing uh it's like where are we going like what what states have we not gone to what cities have we not gone to and there's a lot of folks you know with the you know with with the advent of social media people and people send in you know like i get tons of of dms on social like come to the restaurant we have a challenge um so it's really a location and and and working with um the tourism you know

associations of that state like we did a ton of episodes we did a bunch in california we've done you know several in in minnesota and florida and uh few jersey and new york city and so you know working with the tourism bureaus and then um what haven't we done where wherever we've been what's unique you know where hasn't the show gone in the past in the previous show and um so it's a it's it's a lot of mining from the production office it's a lot of mining from the production office it's a lot of them doing the research and vetting those restaurants um and just you know uh and maybe they've been on other shows you know because like there's other like we've gone to places that were featured on other shows that happens a lot too which is kind of fun

it's like oh they were here great you know like um and so it's, it's, it's a lot of hard work from the folks in the office. And then they were like, Casey, where do you want to go? I'm like, I want to go to Hawaii, Italy. And then, and then we went to Hawaii. I was like, amazing. I was like, I want to go to Alaska. Then we went to Alaska. I was like, amazing. Let's go to Vegas. Then we went to Vegas. So, I mean, sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't. Um, uh, so yeah, I definitely throw some names in the hat, but a lot of that is from the production standpoint. You know, in the beginning, I was just holding on for dear life.

I got off the flight from Panama, and then two days, I had dinner with my girlfriend at the time, and it was like a first date. It was just amazing. And then I was off on a plane like two days later, and then we were in Milwaukee. So, yeah, in the very beginning i was just holding on for dear life like i don't know what's happening you know it's like how big's the crew that travels like um so we do hire locally okay but typically it's it's our it's our dp dan akiba who's been with us for he's been with us since the

the first show the original show and so he's he's us for he's been with us since the the first show the original show and so he's he's you know he's the guy that makes the food look really sexy he does all that stuff yeah um and then it's our you know production manager who basically organizes everything our field producer which is basically the director and then our sound person then we hire local another camera and then local pa production production assistant. So it's small, small little crew, small but mighty. We fly in, shoot three days, fly out. So in the beginning, we were doing three and two episodes. We do three in a row, and then we have a break, and then we go out and do two.

And then we have a break, and then we go to three. Three was insane. Three was a lot. And then we stopped doing that. So now it's two in a row so we'll fly out shoot three days have a day off and then shoot another three days and then go home yeah so it's it's packed with uh with food and um and yeah it's it the cool thing is it's like i get to see these places in a flash you know i get to see them um and put it yeah, pretty much. I can put a pin in it. Like, I want to come back here, you know?

And like, I honestly always, cause I, I do enough work where I know well enough where we're going, but I like to be surprised, you know, like I want to be, I want to be in awe. I want to be by, you know, by the, where we're going, what we're maybe, what we're specifically eating or, you know, the town or the history. Like I want to learn from the person that's talking to me, you know, I want to discover that stuff like a kid, you know, so I keep it, you know, I keep with fresh eyes. I really,

you know, I know just enough to be able to get through this segment of the show and also improvise and work because I think that, you know, there's a lot of that fun that happens in the chaos of, of, of learning, you know, of discovering. Yeah. And it's kind of a, it's kind of a game that I play with myself. It's like, ah, you know, Well, you look, but are you, but whether it's your acting or not, you know, cause you're clearly a great actor, but like there's, there's a level of surprise that comes across that feels authentic. Like, you know, I don't know if it's in your eyes or your expressions. Like it's like,

I mean, I tried it that that's as real as humanly possible. You know, it's like, yeah, that's, that's, I guess that's kind of what I'm getting to. I just, I, I want to be present, you know, I want to be, I want, I'm, you know, you know, I'm on all, I'm firing on all cylinders. And I'm using every bit of, you know, every sense. You know, I'm listening. I mean, with the food stuff, it's like, by the time we get to the challenge, like, it's the third day. It's the last hour of the third day of filming. I'm, you know, I'm like sort of fasting, drinking a lot of water.

Or like I've already dosed myself with hot food that whole week. And I'm just like ready to go you know like it's it is a it's quite it's like almost like it's a battle it's a it's warfare you know i gotta go somewhere else you know to really take on that because i'm not i don't consider myself a pro i'm just a guy who got the job you know and um and i but i try my hardest you know there's there's nothing more real than that last hour because I have to try to eat it you know like you know I just you know I loosen up you know and then it's like you hear the bell and that's it and then we film straight through like if it's if it's a if it's a half an hour like in the beginning there were like some hour challenges I was like like nothing happens if I'm not done in 30 minutes we were we were in Billings Montana and it was

like a steak it was like potatoes it was like salad it was like 300 pounds of food i don't know how big it was and like after 30 minutes i was like i'm not finishing this you know and like people are cheering still and the lights are on me you know there's like three cameras there's lights people are yelling it's like i just want i really i was like i was like hallucinating a little bit because it was like salty and crazy and i was I was like, I just want a sniper rifle to take me. I just want an arrow to come in. And it's like, just shoot me. Get you out of your misery.

All right, get out of here. Just put me out of my misery. There's no way I'm finishing this. But so then we cut it off. It's like 30 minutes. Because your body stops. I don't care who you are. Eventually, with at least this this body your mind catches up with

your body it's like you're done you're done you know i did wonder like how many you're into if like three minutes in like you know there's no way like is it or do you do you know what's very surprising like because like i'll look at something and like i know over the years years it's true it's been years um that like carbs i'm done like if it's like nine pancakes it's not gonna happen i just like i my torso is only so big the people that really there there's a few people that always win it's typically a lot of times it's these tall leaner dudes um and there's a lot of women that win too and they're smaller i don't get that i don't understand how it works but uh but the tall leaner dudes in my case as far as

guys are concerned they just can put it down like my brother can eat for days he's like six two he's just eat i'm like where does it go you know i only have so much room and and even if i trained you know and i'm prepared you know there's been a handful of times let's say half a dozen times if not more where i um i wasn't going gonna finish it and then the crowd steps in and they start and i'm getting chills because it's a real thing the crowd gets so into it and they somehow it just like i mean i turned into somebody else and then i finished the thing you know whether it be hot or huge and that's what it is and and that surprised me like i'm like oh my how did this even happen like i there's? I was not finishing it.

And then maybe I burp, and then it's like, oh, okay. Finish the thing. I don't know, you know. It's such, because I really have to go somewhere else to do it, because it is like a gladiator sport, you know. You're like LeBron James, I mean, of foodie. I mean, these guys are mega athletes like i'm just you know a silly looking guy that eats crazy food yeah not to take away from my profession but uh

no yeah it's it's yeah no it's uh it's yeah the crowd i i honestly man it was such a powerful moment when you like it's like it's it's such a powerful moment. It's like Rudy. It's like, yeah, you can do it. And he did it. Very surprising how that happened. And that's the energy in the room because it's a real thing. They're really cheering. And that's gotten me over more than I would ever imagine it would have.

What was the hardest food challenge? I know you've had some that you've won and lost. You've lost more than you've than i would ever imagine it would what was the hardest what's the hardest food challenge i know i know you've you've had some that you've won lost you've lost more than you've won a bunch you've lost a few like but yeah what what was the truly the hardest do you have a hardest moment is it one of the hot ones i mean the hot stuff you know i don't even know how you get it i mean you must have dollars for that like i have magical powers yes the so they're all hard every single one of them is difficult some of them have been maybe easier than other depending on their weight or how hot they are because like as a result of eating hot food i now eat more hot food than i ever would have yeah and i respect it though you have to really respect it i mean i grow hot peppers on my balcony i have like 14 different kinds of hot peppers these tiny brazilians that's what i'm saying you're like

lebron james you're prepping at all times you've got hot peppers you're eating them while you're you're ready i'm ready but you know it was it's the hardest in the beginning it was really hard because i didn't know what i was capable of and i didn't i didn't really train right so in the very beginning the hardest ones were the first season. That was the hardest because I didn't know what I was getting into. I was wavering whether I'm going to do this or not. I'm on the phone with my friends or my girlfriend. I'm like, I don't know if I could do this.

And later it would be the hot stuff because we weren't really regulating it. And chefs are putting in tincture like pure capsaicin which is just basically poison it's just fire you know like there's no taste to it and i'm like guys and like and it happened a few times where i got scorched or like where it was just like it wasn't it wasn't pleasant you know just the as a result right um eating is fine and then it's like all of a sudden um there's literal poison going through my veins yeah and um so we had to regulate that no pure capsaicin let's like what's i want to i need to know what's in it you know if you guys want me to continue to do the show like

i might die like i don't want to die like i would love to do this and like you know um but like we need to regulate a little bit more. So then we dialed it back and we, you know, like I know what's in it. I know what's not in it, you know, and like the capsaicin, the pure capsaicin is off the shelf as a result because it's there's nothing good about that. Like if you threw that in someone's face, it would burn their skin. You know what I mean? So why would I be eating that stuff? The hot stuff, the hot stuff. And then the super loaded carb stuff is

like it's near impossible yeah what about favorite like what's the is there any maybe maybe a combination of maybe the the before the challenge and the challenge like favorite city favorite all in one is i know they're all your babies and you don't you know that's what i say about my podcast guests like i never name a favorite uh yeah i would never be able to name a favorite but you know i i think uh as far as a food city and and um you know being in the restaurant business for my whole life and and and and had never you know like i had never traveled there prior to oh and that's not true i was there before but um new orleans is such a special place. It's just a special food place. Like, uh, because not only there's a lot of history there and there's a lot of food that

comes together culturally and then there's music and then the bar scene and then just the good times. And, uh, you know, there's a, there's a lot there than just food. Um, and I just love that city so much. i always joke that like i want to go into mardi gras and jazz fest this year in in new orleans post we wrapped in florida i went right to mardi gras which i probably should have gave myself a couple days off uh and then months later i went to jazz fest but i you know new orleans is one of those places where i always joke that you know i'm in love with um new york city has my heart but i'm in love with uh new orleans is one of those places where i always joke that you know i'm in love with um new york city has my heart but i'm in love with uh new orleans uh but you know i think we were

talking off camera before like what was surprised me most and what i love about all the places that we traveled is that even in the smaller markets the smaller cities are like you know where the camera guy's like oh i've been here before you know it's like all right like i haven't you know let me explore this place um not just a camera guy but that like a lot of folks that are from let's say a small town say it's like where you're at you're in greenville right so a lot of a lot of folks left and went and became a chef or they learned how to distill spirits or became a brewer. And then they come back and then they open up their own place. And there was a lot of that around the country.

I was like, whoa, this place is amazing. It's a smaller city, but like they have everything that I love. You know, they have the music scene, they have the beer scene, they have the distillery, they have the restaurants. And like, you know, it's like, wow, I could live here, you know? And I quite honestly, I've been it's like, I mean, New Jersey has everything, right? I mean, I'm on the coast, I have New York city very close, but like I've fallen in love over and over and over again, you know, like a child with all these places that I've been to. And it's, it's, it's it's really hard to choose.

That's why I'm, I'm thankful that my job doesn't make me choose. You know, I'm able to explore and then share that with everybody else. And I hope it, you know, whatever's reflecting off of me is being soaked in, you know, because it's true. I really, you know, my reaction to things is genuine, you know. And that's what, you know. But, yeah, I would say if I had to choose one, New Orleans is one of my favorite places on the planet because I just fell in love with people there. I know I've met a lot of people there. I've been back a bunch and, um, it's, uh, it's quick flight.

What's the, uh, I mean, how, how recognized are you now? Like, I mean, your face is very recognizable you've got the expressions and everything else the show's pretty i mean it's your seven seasons in coming into seven seasons or you know like how uh is that good bad you know like you enjoy it i uh so i was in a parking lot of a convenience store with a buddy of mine and across the street in another parking lot. Some dude yelled out, kitty litter. Yeah, I love that commercial. I was in an Arm & Hammer kitty litter commercial.

That was like four seasons since the Man vs. Food. And I had a hat on. Some guys were like, how did this dude even see me? On earth did he even see me in this you know and he like he loved the kitty litter commercial so uh for me i i think it's the greatest part of my gig and like truthfully like i the fact that someone wants to come up and spend time and talk and ask about the show like you know it's part of the gig a and like i'm usually the one they're the ones that usually walk away first like yeah we gotta go and like i'm still talking like i'm

excited to talk to them you know they're like all right like you're nice enough but you gotta catch a flight or um yeah you know man like like i said the fact that someone would take a moment out of their day and like say a nice thing like there's not enough of that in the world, or maybe there is. And I just, I, you know, I,

I appreciate that so much and I would never not want someone to come up, you know, cause I'm a, I could, I totally fan out too, you know, like I remember I was in a restaurant in LA and Bill Murray is like two tables next to us.

And my buddy and I were just talking louder so he could hear us, you know, he's just eating his food. He could care less, but you know, like I, I I appreciate it and I think honestly like I I got the show later in life and I was working as a production assistant I was acting I was bartending working restaurants and I had to choose acting or working production I chose acting and and um it just I had I just learned by doing you know and it gave me the wherewithal, at least the knowledge to know it's like, this is very fleeting, you know, like take it for what it is. Enjoy every moment, you know? And, and it's really as simple as that.

And I do, I do my best. And like, sometimes you're, I'm walking through, I'm like, you know, I just shot two episodes. I'm on my way home. And I'm like, just rugged. And somebody comes up to you and wants to talk. And like, you know, in that moment they get me out of my head they're like hey i'm like hey and it's a lot of times it's tsa tsa folks are like they love to chat i'm like i'm there you know put my shoes back on bs with them and um i love it man you know like i i i encourage people you know um don't go stalking anybody but but say hi at least say hi you know what um how does it make you feel about like you know we talked about a little pre-episode but like

the casey web personal brand like the shows put you on the map it's opened up opportunities you admitted it you know everything's fleeting in life but yeah you know like i don't know it's done a lot for your personal brand i imagine you know yeah i you know and that kind of leans into um you know being recognized because i haven't like the brand itself man versus food is it is is just i just happen to host a show so there's no ownership over that sure and i'm totally okay with that i mean i think what i've been doing just naturally and organically is just kind of letting the dust settle a little bit and figuring out what that is, you know, what KC Webb's brand is. And, you know, I was lucky enough to have some endorsement stuff right out of the gate. You know, I spent two years with Twisted Tea traveling around to NASCAR races as their, you know, their grilling pro. And that was unbelievable. Right. And then then prior to that i had my first national commercial which was a mobile one commercial which like we had a nascar driver kevin harvick was in

the commercial with me and so like i became the nascar guy like and like you know a lot of people watch the food show and like man versus so it was like i was kind of thrown into this universe and was like wow this is so incredible and i think now you know letting the dust settle a year or so has passed by and it's like where do i want to be with casey webb and that brand and you know i'm humbled by the whole thing so i haven't rushed it at all yeah uh so i'm really at the you would think that i would be way ahead of it but i'm not it's really at the kind of the beginning of developing what that is because now i've had some time off you know like we all had some time off and i'm thinking a lot more clear and like you know the show could it's as a shelf life you know it's only going to go so far um for myself personally too that one

day i'm going to decide whether i can do it or not anymore or if i want to and um i don't want to disappoint anybody but like the reality is and like like, what's the next thing? And so, I mean, as long as like, I'm helping people keep people's lights on and bringing smile to people's faces, I'll do forever, you know? But as far as my personal brand, yeah, I think there's, that's TBD because we're working on some stuff, which is really exciting. And I mean, I'd love to come back and talk to you about it later on when that stuff has come to fruition. But and, you know, I know I mentioned talking to you offline about that stuff because you're the man or I guess I am. I'll make you more the man. But I'm excited about the future of things because, yeah, you know, i don't like sitting still and i like working so um

you hear that everybody i got i got a i got a request i'm gonna totally i'm totally putting you on this no not a song please do if you were doing a a you know like one of your and if you you can totally bow out of this uh i don't like to put my guests on the spot but but you are but i am but i am we'll edit it out if we hate it but uh if uh what would be the promo for the rat you know like one of your promos like going off or onto the air like coming up whatever what would be your promo for like the rad cast like if you know like i need like a man versus food type promo for the rad cast what's like what are your catchphrases like what you know it's like you've got catchphrases on the show right do i yeah come on that's phrases you know

like what's the woo you know like the like that stuff like i i i throw kicks a lot yeah i throw kicks in the air i love doing doing that. Yes. I mean, definitely scream. I definitely scream. Um, yeah. Woo. Yeah.

I do a lot of woohooing. Um, I know. We can develop this. I think we got to develop it. I think we're going to develop it. That's what would be our, that's going to be our homework assignment.

I think it's a great idea. I mean, I'd love to have like, cause this, we're going to, this is obviously not live, right? So no, we'll button this up yeah put a button on it put a button on it yeah i can see that being the intro outro like uh casey did you know in a little bit of the coming up you know whatever it is but i don't know yeah yeah no i think i think there's

yes there's plenty of room for um and and i'd be more than happy to to do this offline yeah and where i could actually think about it i practice to rehearse it i know i i uh you know what i mean that one came to me in the last in uh hearing you talk but uh because then it's gonna be corny it's gonna be like getting rad with ryan on the radcast you know like a radio voice guy you know it, it's like, it sounds. We can think through it. You think through it. We'll banter around on it.

I'll put it down. Yeah. Yeah. You want an opener for the show or a closer? I don't know. I'm open to either one, whichever one feels more natural. Opener and closer.

You know, I don't know. We do a little segment called Rad or Fad. I'm going to give you some, some keyword topics and in casey's world and his i don't know future crystal ball yeah so we i just say you can add you know you know i appreciate you asking casey because most people don't ask but then it's all and there's no wrong way and even when i say you know you can add if i say you can add some stuff it becomes one word and then four paragraphs that's what i have to add

they need to have a disclaimer like yes you're allowed to you know disclaimers are allowed because everyone else has one so right yeah it's not as black and white sometimes it's not it's not you know all right bad or fad the metaverse uh as long as it's not used to weaponize humans i think it's uh i think it's can be pretty rad could we see a man versus food in the metaverse man versus metaverse probably that might be our that might be our thing i think it's a fun place to play in but it just needs to be regulated controlled especially for for the for kids i can see a big a big role because i was a kid who spent time outside so a lot of time outside as a kid i still do as an adult i think there's only so much time you should be on the metaverse you should be out in reality reality is key reality is key ding ding ding my friend there's a father of four boys could agree more play sports or whatever tick tock

rad or fad i love the fact that like a kid and it goes back to kids or anyone for that matter has the opportunity to like to to shine you know it's like if there's a lot of sing-song dancing going on and good for you like go have fun and enjoy that i think it's like if there's a lot of sing-song dancing going on and good for you like go have fun and enjoy that i think it's i think it's pretty rad because as a kid we didn't have that opportunity and so you know little stars are popping up everywhere and you know i think it's a great avenue to for performers or for people that want to share maybe too much sometimes but um i think it's i think it's when it's used for the powers of good i think it's rad i see us taking casey webb to the tiktok is what i see it's not just

teenagers and dances anymore it's everybody oh totally it's everybody yes that's gonna be i'm gonna be your tiktok agent um top gun maverick rad or? What I've seen, I think it could be the greatest sequel of all time. The music, I mean, Tom Cruise, come on. And Jennifer Connelly, America's Sweetheart. Just saying. Just saying. Rad. Rad.

Maverick is rad. Yes. Hey, man. Where can everybody keep up with everything casey webb so how do you keep up with everything casey webb um casey webb is on instagram as i am husky for life because that's what i am always will be no matter how much much, how trim I get, I will always be Husky for life. Casey's call on Twitter, Facebook, the same thing, Casey Webb. But yeah, TBD, there is a podcast on its way called Husky for Life.

So that's coming to life as we speak. So look for that on your favorite podcast platform. Or if you come to New Jersey, this is where I live. So you can find me roaming around the state of New Jersey, eating and having a good time. What's the schedule for the episodes and everything for coming out? You've got stuff recorded that hasn't aired yet, correct so we filmed two episodes two seasons in a row we did our fifth and sixth season the fifth season aired which was great and then the sixth season is on hold just

because they didn't want to release them back to back so it's probably going to be late summer and then as far as the seventh season we don't know. That's going to be determined. A big merger happened between, if you follow that stuff, between Discovery Network and Warner. This is for the adults in the room, I guess, that care about this stuff. So things might be a little delayed with new programming, but we're pretty confident we're going to get a seventh season. So look for that in probably the late fall.

Great. And I love it, man. Hey, we got to keep it going. I got to have something to watch, you know, I'm running out of shows. I agree. Right. Cause if you only have so many shows you watch, I, and I'm one of them, we have to keep it going. We'll have to figure out how to keep it going. And if it doesn't keep going, you know, like. I agree. I agree. Cause there's a if it doesn't keep going, you know, like. I agree. I agree.

Because there's a lot more Casey to go around, you know, especially after filming 90 episodes. Maybe where you don't have to challenge every food. That's what we're looking at. We're looking at the, what is the, what's in addition to, you know, eating copious amounts of huge and hot food you know yep casey man it's been great getting to know you better i want to stay connected um i think you're a great guy and i think you know my kids love you and we love the show and you know i

couldn't be happier to have had you on the show i I really appreciate you coming on. Thank you so much for reaching out. And, um, uh, I look forward to, uh, to grow in this relationship, man. I, you know, it means a lot cause, um, you know, it's not very often I get to talk about the things that I do outside of the show. So it's, uh, with just the show, you know? Um, so yeah, it's good. I think it's healthy. I think it's good to talk it out. Yeah, brother. Hey guys. Yeah, man. We. I think it's healthy. I think it's good to talk it out. Yeah, brother. Hey, guys. Appreciate you. Yeah, man.

We really appreciate Casey Webb coming on. You know where to find him, Man Vs. Food. I'm Husky for Life. Go follow him. We're at theradcast.com. Search for Man Vs. Food. You'll find all the highlight clips from today. You know where to find me.

I'm verified and blowing up on TikTok. Ryan.Alford. We'll see you next time on the Radcast.