Smosh Mouth - #50 - Our Dads' 1 Year Anniversary

Episode Date: June 17, 2024

Shayne and Amanda bring on Smosh dads Ian and Anthony to reminiscence on the last year since they bought Smosh! Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to RocketMoney.com/SMOSHMOUTH 0:00-2:37 Intro 2:38-14:26 It’s been a year! 14:27-23:57 Anthony’s return 23:58-45:58 Looking back at sketches 45:59-1:01:08 Ian and Anthony’s favorite Smosh series 1:01:09-1:11:28 Owning Smosh again SUBSCRIBE: https://smo.sh/Sub2SmoshCast WEAR OUR JOKES: https://smosh.com WHO YOU HEAR Ian Hecox // https://www.instagram.com/ianhecox/ Anthony Padilla // https://www.instagram.com/anthonypadilla/ Shayne Topp // https://www.instagram.com/shaynetopp/ Amanda Lehan-Canto // https://www.instagram.com/filmingamanda/ WHO YOU DON’T HEAR (usually) Director: Selina Garcia Editor: Luke Baker Producer: Amanda Lehan-Canto, Shayne Topp, Selina Garcia Production Designer: Cassie Vance Art Director: Erin Kuschner Art Coordinator: Alex Aguilar, Josie Bellerby, Natalie Lewis Prop Master: Luke Brau Audio Mixer: Scott Neff Director of Photography: Brennan Iketani Videographer: James Hull Assistant Director: Amanda Barnes Director of Production: Amanda Barnes Production Manager: Alexcina Figueroa Production Coordinator: Marcus Munguia Operations & Production Coordinator: Oliver Wehlander Production Assistant: Ovsana Tsaturian Post Production Manager: Luke Baker DIT/Lead AE: Matt Duran IT: Tim Baker Director of Design: Brittany Hobbs Senior Manager, Channel & Strategy: Lizzy Jones Channel Operations Coordinator: Audrey Carganilla Social Creative Producer: Peter Ditzler, Tommy Bowe Social Strategist: Erica Noboa, Mallory Myers Social Media Coordinator: Kim Wilborn Talent Coordinator: Selina Garcia Operations PA: Katie Fink CEO: Alessandra Catanese EVP of Programming: Kiana Parker Executive Coordinator: Rachel Collis OTHER SMOSHES: Smosh: https://smo.sh/Sub2Smosh Smosh Pit: https://smo.sh/Sub2SmoshPit Smosh Games: https://smo.sh/Sub2SmoshGames El Smosh (Spanish Dub): https://smo.sh/Sub2ElSmosh FOLLOW US: TikTok: https://smo.sh/TikTok Snapchat: http://smo.sh/OnSnapchat Instagram: https://instagram.com/smosh Facebook: https://facebook.com/smosh Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. My nails are so long right now I need to cut them It's so fucked up Oh my god Ew Holy shit Ian

Disgusting Damn Hi welcome to Smosh Mouth I'm Shane And I'm Amanda And we have two Very very special guests with us Anthony and Ian

Wow you introduced them The opposite way they usually are It's Ian and Anthony I know but I fucking Anthony and Ian I changed it up. She's reading left to right. That's right.

The new thing. Yeah. For the first time ever, both of you are here. Wait, first time ever? On the podcast, we haven't had both of you. Have we? No, we have. No.

Wait, wait. No, we haven't. Am I crazy? No. I don't remember that. We had Courtney and Anthony here to talk about funeral back then. And then you had Ian on, and then I came on like a week or two later. Yeah.

But never the same time. This is huge. Nice. Yeah. Interesting. So both of you. No one's ever seen us in the same room before. Yeah.

Yeah. True. Yeah, ever since the Panini, we've just been green screen. Yeah. Filming sketches are very strange because we have one of you one day. Yeah. We film all of your scenes. Then the next day, we have the other one.

I still haven't left my house. Yeah. Yeah. You're actually one of those, you're like the Tupac hologram right now. Yeah, me and Tupac. Should we try to interact? Wow.

Should we try to interact? Oh my God, this is insane. We were talking, we'll probably keep it in, but we were talking beforehand about how Ian needs to cut his nails. Anthony was just shaming me, but I will say,

well, I said it first. I said it first that I need to cut my nails. Anthony was just shaming me, but I will say I said it first. I said it first that I need to cut my nails. I did not shame you. I played into the joke and I said ew. Nobody else said ew. That's the thing. I didn't say ew. Because Shane was like, oh. And you were like, ew!

Dude, look. They are very long. They're long, but they're clean. What's wrong with them? There's nothing wrong with it. They're clean. Yeah, there's no gunk. There's nothing wrong with that. There's no gunk under my nails. I was thinking about the U. I think it's something that when my nails get long, I cannot handle it.

Oh, I don't like it. I have to cut. I only don't like it because I'm typing on my phone and it clicks and clacks. That's the only issue I have. I could never, when they're even, I never get to this point because I just need to cut them. I agree with that. I'm just never. It's always that thing where I don't see my nails and go,

ah, when I am back home and near a nail clippers, I will clip my nails. Are you a villain from the 50s? Ah, yes, Batman. I will get him. I'm going to get rid of my nails, she. But yeah, so whenever I am near nail clippers, it's not top of mind. So I just.

Well, that's all we have today, folks. Thanks so much for tuning in. It's been a great show. Guys, so it's been about a year since Anthony, since you came back. Yeah. I can't believe that. And we've started on this whole new journey. Yeah, that is crazy.

We learned a lot. We learned a lot. Yeah. I feel like a freaking lot happened. Yeah. How was this past year? It's been a whirlwind of a ride, I would say. It's been great.

I mean, I think it far exceeded our expectations, and that's obviously a testament to everyone at Smosh. We came back, and we did our thing, and we had certain expectations, but I think the audience showed up in a huge way. Yep. And it's really wild to see how much the Pit and Games channels, and Smosh Mouth, just exploded in this past year. It's really cool. I mean, I think it's been the most consistent year we've ever had.

We would have stretches. We'd kind of have this roller coaster ride over the past nine years I've been here where it's like, okay, we're, we're doing good. We feel secure. And then it's like, oh shit, things aren't working out. This past year has felt like nonstop success. Um, I mean, cause, cause I remember when we first did Smoshcast back in the day, like it started off and it was like, oh, this is going to be like a cool thing.

And then like, it took only a couple of months for the views Like it started off and it was like, oh, this is going to be like a cool thing. And then like it took only a couple months for the views to kind of drop and us be like, oh, like I don't know if the amount of work we're putting into this

is going to bring us back. Like if it's going to be worth it for the amount of work we're putting, as much as we enjoy it. Right. But Smosh Mouth as of now

is like really done well. Yeah. It's really interesting. And I think it's, I feel just as good about it as i felt about smosh cast back in the day i just think our audience has found us well i think i think smosh cast in the the the first iteration of smosh cast was kind of like i won't say like an afterthought but it wasn't anyone's priority like in terms of like a lot of a lot of days it was like well

we gotta shoot the smosh cast do you did you guys have anything prepared and like we had people that were like that were working on it but it wasn't like their main job and and i think and i think the work that that y'all have done on this podcast in front of and behind the camera, it's much more thoughtful and there's more time and thought put into this iteration with Smosh Mouth. I'm really grateful that we had Selena also help us. It would be like Shane and I texting like, hey, so I really want to talk about this.

Should we talk about this? Yeah. Why not? Let's do it. And then we would try to organize it together, but it was so nice to have Selena come on and help us produce and direct us so that we could have these actual thoughtful meetings that we carved out that weren't like, oh

shit, we have to find time. We needed someone who was capable of using the Google Suite. Yeah. Whereas we open up a computer and we go, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Don't, that's triggering. We turn into Harambe with a computer.

Oh my God. No, but Selena has been crucial to this. I mean, she really helped us organize it all. I feel like there's been a huge explosion in creativity and risk taking in a really positive way. Absolutely. Across all the channels. Yeah. And I think you all having this creative vision and having each episode feel like it brings something really unique is really strong. Totally. It's also been cool because when you showed up and with Ali in charge, what's been so cool is how many times since then it's been such a foreign thing for me where it's like, oh, we kind of want to do this thing. It's like, oh, yeah, go ahead.

I know. And then I'm kind of like, is that it? Is that it? So we can do whatever? And it's just like, yeah, just do whatever. And I'm like. Amanda, we can just kind of do whatever. I'm like, huh?

When we started Smosh Mouth and it was just like like i guess we can do whatever we want with this podcast and then you know it's like oh we want to rename it it's like oh great what do you want to name it and we're like i remember that meeting we're just kind of like and i think it was you or ally who threw out smosh mouth and then it was just kind of like do we want to call it that all right let's just call it that it's just like wow we are operating in such a different way than we used to. It was so cool. Where back in the day, it just felt like if you wanted to make any change, it was like, all right, we're going to have to go through 15 processes and people and get approval and all this stuff. And it just made you not want to take risks, made you not want to be creative.

Yeah, and I feel like so many people working here, but I'll just use you two as examples for this, but you know what's going to work. You're more invested in the show than anyone else can be. So it makes sense. It's like if you want to take this risk, try something new, rename it, go in whatever direction you want. Why not? Yeah. Why not just give it a shot? And if it doesn't work, it's not like it's ruined or something.

You know, you could consistently pivot. Yeah. In this past year, what has been your guys' favorite thing? Just in general. It doesn't have to be like a project, just some aspect, because, you know,

it's been a long time since you guys worked together in this capacity. Yeah. I feel like the most recent live show is my favorite thing that Smosh has done in a very long time. I feel like it showed off all the things that we've been talking about.

We've been talking about what Smosh is, what it represents, what our mission is to make people laugh. It's comedy rooted in friendship. Friendship always wins. It's kind of been our Ian and my tagline for a while. And I feel like

this live show did such a good job of showing what Smosh is capable of when everyone works together. There was also that teamwork element there. There were the duos.

It was almost like we were tag teaming. In the theme song it even mentions if you mess up we'll step in for you. It's cute. Yeah, it's really cute

because we take this really kind of cringy, just overly cute idea of friendship. But it's like we can make it a real thing. I think also like with YouTube, things might get a lot of views, but you're not really sure, like, is this, like, are these our viewers? Is this just the algorithm? And, like, it's hard to know, like, who out there is, like, actually supporting us and watching us. And so, like, when we see the live show, you know, get so many, like, people in, like, it far exceeded our expectations, both, both Anthony's funeral and, and this one. Um, and it's like, it's just a confirmation that like, you know, I,

I think we're, we're on the right path and that, and we have a great, uh, we have a great group of viewers that support what we do and, and that not everything is, uh, dependent on, you know, Google AdSense because it's, it's, it's nice. It allows us to take more risks, like without things like the live show, without memberships, like we can't take as many risks as we are doing now. Right. And that will only allow us to get better, grow larger, get out to more people, try new weird crazy things. So that we're not like having to just stick to what works. Yeah. works yeah because there's lots of other stuff out there that we could be doing that that can work

and and that people would would like potentially more than you know what we're doing right now i think it's very clear that the fans are like okay and especially when you guys came back together i felt like the fans were like oh it was like mom and dad back together, I felt like the fans were like, ooh, it was like mom and dad back together, very nostalgic. And I think this live show showed us that the fans really support us and they're kind of excited to see us take risks and grow and like even fuck up a little bit because like the show is a bit like you're tagged in because you broke or you fucked up a little bit. And it's like they're really excited to see us be vulnerable people. Like people want to see people be people.

And you guys coming back, I think let us do that. Do you know what I mean? Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, no, I think what an awesome situation we're in now because over the years we've had times where we're getting views, like the audience is watching or some audience is watching, right? But the content that we're making isn't like we're not having the most fun doing it.

You know, it's like, okay, it's not necessarily coming from our heart. It's just like this is working and we're doing it, right? And that was the case. At times, I felt that way on like Smosh Pit way back in the day. And then there were times where we're doing something we love, but it's not working, you know? And I felt,

I felt that way. We felt that way on, on the main channel for years, like before you came back, Anthony, where it's like we were doing stuff and we're having a blast doing it and we cared about it, but it was just maybe not working with the algorithm for whatever reason,

or people just weren't interested in it. So to be in a place now where we're making stuff that we love to make and people and people are watching it and the sitcom was so sick in the sense that i was like you know i pitched this show of like all right here's the show where the point of it is that we're gonna fuck up it's gonna be stupid and chaotic and all that matters is that we have fun. And then that's what people actually wanted to see. I was like, oh thank God. I think if we had a perfectly executed sitcom where we nailed everything,

I don't think they would have liked it as much. You know, you can go somewhere else to watch that, but at the end of the day, it wasn't, you weren't watching a sitcom, you were watching a bunch of friends fucking with each other. And that was the sell of it and that's what's what people loved so i was i was so extremely happy about it it was really cool yeah yeah um it was really cool also because like i felt like the four of us were

in our i felt like the cast was like in the sitcom it was like the friend group and then it was like us four we did have a lot of stuff a together. A little kind of on the outs. Even though, Kevin, it was for you, your surprise party, but we were kind of on the outs, which made it more fun. We could do weird shit. Yeah, that's true.

There's a lot of cutaways. We went through a whole journey together. Smoking weed. We died together. We died together. We nearly kissed. Literally. This is going to sound so random for anyone that didn't watch the show.

Oh, man. Oh, man. Yeah, and this is after the, there will hopefully eventually be an opportunity. I mean, the fan art of the Krungle and the Krungle, I'm sorry, spoiler alert, but when you're about to smoke weed, it's just so good. Some of the fan art is so good. We look like demons, you and I. Yeah, in person we looked like demons. In the theme song you literally had

a demonic moment. I know, I know, it's true. I remember, to be completely honest, leading up to that show, I was starting, I was really worried. I was worried how it was going to be pulled off. And then I was honestly like, I don't know if I ever want to do this format again. And then we did the show and that night I was like this was

really fun this was awesome and the fan reception has been so good that I you know not this year but eventually would be down to do another one and I pitched my Star Trek type one but there's a million versions of it I love that I love that

well we have the green light let's do it captain yeah Let's do it, Captain. Yeah, let's do it. What was, Anthony, coming back, what was a surprising thing for you here? What was something you didn't expect? I think the biggest thing is I wasn't taking into account how many individuals I would need to make a connection with

in order to fully understand the dynamics and the social environment and everything at Smosh. I feel like over the past year, it was really about me understanding how things were, what the dynamics were, what was expected, how to communicate with people. I think it was really a social aspect of it that I wasn't really accounting for. Oh, yeah. There's a lot of us and there's a lot of cast dynamics and there's a

lot of different like friendships and like duos and that that's kind of a lot. It takes time though. Yeah, it does. I was thinking the other day about how Spencer and I rarely talked until like 2020 and we'd worked together for

you know, four or five years before that, but we just hardly had conversations before that. And then in these past couple of years, we've become really good friends. But I think that's the case for everyone. Like I don't, it's hard for me to think back now because I'm such good friends with everyone, but I'm like, how long was like Angela and Chance

working here before I felt like, I was like, oh, we've really connected. We really understand each other. Yeah. Performers and friends. Yeah. You know, I think it takes time. I felt the same.

Like, I feel like you and me really got super close doing this podcast. Like, we were always making each other laugh since day one. But I felt like, like, I didn't fully understand your mind and like our connection until we started texting all the time. And now it's like, I feel very close with you. And that, I think I was working two and a half years before that or three years.

Yeah. Three years before. So I think it takes time. You've been here for a year and that's, I would say for a lot of people after a year there, I think you've made more progress than a lot of people. Yeah. Well, I did get slapped by more progress than a lot of people. Yeah. Well, I did get slapped by like 30 people.

That really brings you closer. That was a huge moment. We can ask now, did the Arasha slap, did that hurt at all? It surprised the shit out of me. I don't remember the way it felt as much as I just remember being surprised. Was it the first or the second slap? It was the second. It was the second slap.

It was the second slap. I thought it would amp up. Yeah. I didn't know it would start. Yeah, we all thought that too. Honestly, I think you got lucky because when she slapped you so hard, I think the rest of us were like,

oh, we got to pull back. For sure. Everyone pulled back after that. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Did we? Well, I'd say for the most part we did half the people pulled back I was never gonna go my hardest like hitting you

you're in the rarity there but I wanted to go full palm that was always my plan and I knew I didn't want to hit your ear and I think I hit your ear but I will say after Arasha it did make a lot of people go oh but I was like yeah oh well I'm just gonna keep to the plan well also I think that says a lot about how some people also didn't know how I would react because I was still pretty fresh yeah I mean like six months in this was yeah five months in or whatever yeah like they

didn't quite know how I would react so I think that was an interesting point of it as well that makes sense like I could I could have like if I was a very different person, I would, like, rip off my microphone and storm out. I know. Yeah. I know. That is so true. Like, we would never know. Well, and I mean, like, because a lot of these people had never worked with you before.

Like, you know, I'd worked with you back in the day. So I was like, okay, I know you. You know how I'd react. But for Arasha, I was like, that's a bold move. I didn't know. That's a bold move. I didn't know. That's a bold move. Yeah. I saw your face because I was right very close when she did it.

And your face was like, ooh, I know that. It was like the fire went up in your face. And it was like, wow. It was mostly just a shock. Yeah. I wasn't angry. I was like, what the fuck was that like it felt

in my head it wasn't one individual doing this out of their own free will I thought that it was for some reason that moment I was like this was like a big planned moment where like someone did something I don't know it seems so calculated in the moment in blindfolds

I mean I didn't know how you were going to react because I didn't really know you that well. And I was just like, damn. That could be like the number one Anthony moment. Just that whole experience. And a Rasha moment. And a Rasha moment. Yeah. I thought it was really bold of you to come back and immediately be like, yeah, I'll have everyone slap me.

Yeah, it felt like it was necessary for some reason. That was your way to really get to know people. Yeah. And also get to know their strength. Yep. And also show them how I would react if I got brutalized. That's true. Yeah. You did ask Tommy to choke you.

Yeah. I think I just was trying to amp it up more. I was trying to find that limit. The limit was found. I respect it because I think you're one of those people that's good at when you're in a video, you know what's going to make the video more entertaining for a viewer. Yeah, I was trying to go with entertainment. Self-editing.

Yeah, for sure. It was about entertainment. I appreciate the commitment to that. And then, of course, I think all the girls were like, okay. And all girls who slapped me. And I think Kiana was like, no. We were like, why? Oh, like you wanted to get slapped?

Like an all girls who slapped me. No guys involved. I don't know. Putting it out there. She really wants to get... Added to the prediction. She really wants brain trauma. Well, I feel like it'll bring us a lot closer. It brought me closer.

It was a cool experience. The women on the cast are already very close, I feel like. I'm going to put a wig on. Sneak in there. Come in, you go, bam! I'll get those Dolly Parton fake titties that we have. Oh, yeah, perfect. I'll just sneak in.

We all know it's you. Hey, I'm Dorothy. I'm the new PA. I'm here to smack the shit out of amanda and we would know it was you i don't think so the hardest anyway yeah you still that's true um i don't know if we're gonna do any more slapping content i think we kind of were like after yours is that the finale i think after yours we were like maybe that's maybe that's the end of it well okay i. I think we've, I mean, it's really funny to see where, you know, for so many years, we had so much content that was about punishment. And it was like, you know, eating hot peppers and getting spanked.

I don't even remember. The slaps are like the only thing that we've done In recent years That equate Because I remember When I first joined In the first couple days That I was there I had to eat A habanero pepper

Yeah And it was agony And we were all dying Yeah Mari was like On the side of the house Like barfing Because she chugged milk Afterwards

There were like Six different times That I had to eat Habanero peppers And every single time It wasn't like Uncomfortable just in the moment. It was uncomfortable for maybe two, three,

four hours after that. So it just destroyed you. I also feel like the sketches back in the day, we used to put ourselves through a lot more. I just feel like we ended up in crazier situations. I know that I always wrote me getting thrown up on. Yeah. For some reason.

Why wasn't I in that sketch? You were covered in peanut butter at one point. You were peanut butter baby. I was peanut butter baby. Like, we just full on... We ended up naked for some reason. Oh, yeah.

We were all naked all the time back in the day. Yeah. Do you remember... When I first joined, I was just naked in every sketch. There was this old video. What?

There was a naked and afraid. This is... Oh, my God. This is the most disgusting... It's one of the funniest shots ever, though. It's one of the most disgusting ever though it's one of the most disgusting shots we've ever had

it involves Shane it involves Shane being naked so that's the most disgusting shot you've ever had it was naked and afraid

but it was like inside your house yes and then at a certain point it cuts out and all the crew is naked too and I'm like

this sound guy with like a mullet and I'm just standing right next to I think it was I forget which one of you it was me maybe but I'm standing right next to him Just naked and my crotch like near his face. Just kind of well. No the best part was the nipples Do you remember the nipples you remember the nipples was it was it my naked and afraid was that the naked and no doubt?

But that was you right that was naked and afraid right? Nipples that were like six inches long. It wasn't me. It was you, I thought, having prosthetic nipples. It was you. I have the prosthetic nipples. And you shushed me with your nipple. You don't remember that? I'm going to pull a scene right now and pull up the clip.

This is awesome. Guys, this is awesome. But this is how it used to be, and things are different now. Wow. I can't believe I'm about to pull a scene right now. It is Naked and Afraid. It's actually insane to me. awesome but this is how it used to be and things are different now Wow it's it's actually insane to me no cuz I was the sound guy and pull it up here oh it's right there yeah dude what was this that is you that's awful awful. And you slapped

the shit out of me with your nipples. It's so gross. God. It's insane that I don't remember this. Oh. My. God. What? I played multiple naked

people in Naked and Afraid. Why can't the women have a slapping contest? What are we talking about? That's what I'm saying. Well, that's... I played multiple naked people. 2016 was a different time. If Shane can smack the shit out of somebody with his nipples, then...

Then we can do whatever the fuck we want. What do you think is the craziest thing in your sketches in the past year that you guys did? In the past year? Because you did also make me fill my mouth with a weird fake tobacco. Oh yeah, there was a lot of weird chewing tobacco stuff. In the Mr. Beast sketch. You got water porn

That wasn't that bad. You got messed up in that sketch. Just in that one sketch. Everything else the water as Professor Oak was funny and fun. I was like, this will be refreshing. I enjoyed that. It was pretty cold that day.

Actually, just being in Blastoise all day was crazy. Yeah, yeah. You looked insane on set. It was because the shell that I was wearing, I couldn't sit. Him texting? So I had to just be hunched the whole time. And also, you were like, I don't think we anticipated your screaming as Blastoise. And he would just,

whenever he would come out, I'm sorry, audio listeners, he'd go, and so much so that the neighbor next door shouted over the fence, like, are you okay? No. And I was like, no.

No, I have a shell on my back. No, I'm dressed as Blastoise. No, I walk over there dressed like that. I'm not okay. I love the big fake booties that everyone was wearing. That was a good sketch. That was fun. It was a lot of weirdness.

Yeah, you had that weird hair prosthetic yeah with like chunks of hair growing like falling into your mouth yeah that was wild I mean I love doing the I love that we did the sequel of Stop Copying Me that was impressive as hell

that was like a really cool fun video to make that was very impressive and I'll say I think I think out of all the videos you guys made, I do think Food Battle was my favorite. It's so good. To be completely honest, I think it's my favorite of that series. Whoa.

I would say, look, I'm going to put out a hot take. I think out of all your sketches and series, Food Battle was one that I was always like, okay. Right. But that one I thought was top notch. Okay. I appreciate that. The gum on the side of the building, I was like,

that's the funniest shit ever. The stupid longest twist. No, I was like,-notch. Okay, I appreciate that. The gum on the side of the building, I was like, that's the funniest shit ever. The stupid longest twist. No, I was like, this is unbelievable. How long did that take for you guys to shoot that one? Was it a week? We shot it over three days, and we had one pickup day with the locker scene, right? Yeah, true, so four days, I guess.

But yeah, it was a lot. We flew up to Sacramento to shoot up there at the original kitchen table. It only felt right to pay homage to. Yeah. Absolutely. Anthony and I, we did, if you could call it, a writer's retreat at the Smosh house. At the house that we shoot the sketches at. We took a weekend where we just shut ourselves in that house and watched

all the food battles, talked about what made them so good and so weird. And then we wrote the initial draft on that weekend. That's really cool. That's really cute. It was fun. Yeah, it was the first time that we had a moment to write where we didn't have a ton of pressure because we had enough time. Yeah.

So it really felt like the old days where Ian and I would just sit down and write something without this pressure. That's really cool. That's so cool. Because it's longer than just when you left. Because when you came back, you talked about how you guys weren't having fun doing stuff in the years before you left. So it's so cool that you guys got back to that. Yeah, because the last food battle is... I mean, there's funny parts.

The previous food battle, the one from 2016. Was that the one where I'm Logan Paul? Yeah. No. No, that was the year before. I forget that I was in two of them back in the day. That was food battle X. Oh, you were meme police in 2016. No, that was a year before. I forget that I was in two of them back in the day. That was Food Battle X.

Oh, you were Meme Police in 2016. Oh, that's good. And you were Logan Paul again in a separate video. I've been Logan Paul a bunch of times

at this point. Okay. But, yeah, those last two food battles are, like, very hit or miss because it's, like,

there's some jokes where it's just, like, dude, we were so, like, just, we were just so. Well, as we were talking about earlier, when your heart's not in it. Were you burnt out or you were just like, uh. It was a combination of like, we were just stretched so thin on like, our hands were just in too many things. Yeah. And we, you know, we were just so busy with other stuff that it was like, it would just come down to the wire and be like, oh my God, it's October.

We need to do food battle right now. So there was a lot of times where we just didn't have the time to actually put to it to make it great. So there's like, there's definitely some jokes in, in those last few food battles. Uh, not, I'm not including the one we just did. Cause I think that one's great. But,

uh, but yeah, in the, in the, in the, in the last few food battles where it's just like, okay, that was a good joke.

Totally. And that's just crap. That's just like, okay, that was a good joke. Totally. And that's just crap. That's just like filler crap. Including the Logan Paul reference. Where I'm just on a hoverboard. Yeah, we were scraping the bottom of the barrel. That's okay. It's so funny how long he has been an element.

Yeah. It's also funny though when you look back on sketches because there's periods of time in certain sketches where I'm just like, oh, that sucked.

But then I rewatch it and I'm like, oh wait, it's way funnier than I remember. Yeah. That happens a lot and I think that's a lot

of every Blank Evers because just the nature of how we filmed it, we were filming so many of them all the time and you read the script a bunch and there's these short bits

that you kind of just stop caring about it and you don't, you don't laugh laugh at it but then you go back and watch some of them and i'm like oh my god that was so funny pretty fun they're really fun although there's a lot of them that are really great i mean like like the one of the biggest ones like every subway ever when i go back and see it i'm like oh this was really funny like it yeah we were like hitting we were making sure to put like a a brand name in the title and whatever because it was it was so algorithmic like how we were making every blank ever but then the writers rooms were just fucking around and having a good time and so were you guys writing

those ebes yeah we would write them it was kind of be a group effort yeah uh we would get pitches from everyone because it would be like okay subway what whatway, what elements of Subway does everyone think about? Right. And we would all pitch things like, I hate it when this happens. I hate it when this happens. And we'd create a bunch. We'd all kind of write out ideas for jokes. And then the actual writers, the writing team, would create it into a script.

Yeah. The EBEs were definitely my first introduction to Smosh. And we'd been doing them for so long. Yeah. I would just jump into all the EBEs. But it's tough when you do something for a long time, man. It's really tough. I always thought they were fun.

I always thought they were like fun little sketches. And I always played like the really crazy girl who's like nuts. Well, that was just every person. That's just you. I mean, like every person was crazy at every blank ever. I think that was one of the areas that we kind of identified with those sketches pre-Anthony coming back. We were really struggling to put what's known for people that are not in the comedy world as a straight person. Which is saying the person that's not like the crazy wild like character the person that's supposed to like

ground everything the voice of reason the voice of reason with every blank ever like i think i think part of the reason was because you only had so much time to tell the joke yeah so you could only put in the crazy characters but without the person that's like the ground, like everything is just kind of like, oh my God, this is just crazy town. It's too much. You need the straight person. The straight person actually is usually the funniest person in the scene.

They just don't get the laughs. Or they get the laughs because the crazy person said it and then it lands on them. And I definitely, I think I also played straight people always older women, always. But that was probably just my choice. And I definitely, I think I also played straight people always, older women, always. But that was probably just my choice. But I liked the EVs.

I thought they were really funny. There were, like, a bunch of sketches put into one. Like, a bunch of game bits, like, put into one thing. It honestly just hit a point where I think we just kind of covered everything. Like, we were reaching sometimes. The sad thing is, Every Bird Ever, we did that of covered everything. Like, we were reaching sometimes. The sad thing is, every bird ever, we did that way early on. That should have been one of the last ones. And the weird thing is, like,

the things where we were like, man, we're reaching, this is, ugh. Like, they would do really well. Stuff like every gas station ever, or every drive-thru ever. Well, it's relatable. People just love relatable stuff. But what was always weird is I never, ever saw our fans talking about Every Blank Ever,

and I never got recognized for it out in public. But they got the most views. VidCon. It got the most views, but I think it was not our audience. I think it just kind of got served to people, and it was just people who didn't give a shit. Right. So it's interesting, because once it went away,

it's not like people were like, where's every blank ever? Despite it getting tons of views. There are always going to be some, but yeah, for the amount of views it was getting, you would think that there would be a huge fan base. Yeah, but it's crazy. We started that when I joined,

and we ended it only a couple years ago. It lasted a long time. It was really trippy. Yeah, we're doing such different stuff now. It's very cool. So for the sketches that you guys wrote together this year, you guys were the writers on that, right? Correct. It's pretty impressive. How is that

process coming back, writing those sketches together? For the first time in so long? I mean, like, I think when we started the surprise i think i think we learned a lot about what made our dynamic work in terms of writing like and i don't think we had ever i don't think before we had ever like truly identified it but um but yeah we we kind of like realized like i'm more the person to like throw out like wild ideas and anthony is the one to kind of like focus it and put it into like a way that makes sense um and i don't think we had ever like really identified that before and I think that really helped us when we wrote these sketches yeah I feel like we both kind of tried to do everything

before but this time around we were like where do we excel let's both do what we excel at and focus there so that we could bring our powers together and have our energy not be wasted doing things that we're not as excited about doing. Yeah, interesting. And what was inspiring you guys for most of your sketches this year? Were you like, oh, I've always had this idea, or was it you guys brainstorming them together?

I feel like we kind of went through an evolution where it was really about the story of Ian and Anthony characters, then it's kind of slowly evolved to be more ensemble, more bits, more broadly appealing stuff, so it's kind of slowly evolved to be more ensemble, more bits, more broadly appealing stuff. So it's kind of evolved. But initially it started off as just like,

what is this crazy situation that we could find ourselves in? Like how would our dynamic of you being a little bit more silly, me being a little bit more downplayed, like usually that's the dynamic. Like what is the most ridiculous situation that we could have as roommates? so there's some stuff that was like

based on some reality there like i'm sleepwalking and you know there were like some strange metaphors that i don't know if we intentionally wrote but it was like my character was feeling bad about the way i had treated Ian. I didn't tell him. So then I was sleepwalking and doing nice things for him. And then at the end, I realized, it was weird because there were things that I feel like just came to the surface that were kind of metaphorical

for the ways that we were actually feeling behind the scenes. Interesting, a bunch of hidden symbolism. Yeah. And I think, I mean, there were just some videos where we're like, this is so so stupid we have to do it like when we came up with the idea to have uh the um the meditation app and you play it and then it's just an entire scene that plays out like through like audio yeah um because we just thought it would be funny as like, not like a prank,

but like for people to be like, wait, this whole thing is just an audio book. Pretty solid. Yeah. So just like silly, silly little things like that. Do you have a sketch from this past year that you are most proud of,

or you had the most fun doing? I mean, cause you have some that, that you have a bunch that were big, a big deal, but I will say, like, Submissive and Breedable was really cool. And it was cool for you guys to do a music video for the first time in so long. Yeah, I think the ones that stand out to me are

the Food Battle, Pokemon Real Life, and Submissive and Breedable episodes. How did that idea come about? Yeah, so that initially came about in a members exclusive video behind the scenes video where ian for some reason said something and then he arched his back and then i said you look very submissive and breathable right now okay what this uh members content

gets pretty wild guys get on it we. And then members really latched onto it and were commenting that. Yeah. I didn't know that. And then I saw Baby No Money and Young Gravy talking about Smosh on Hasan's stream. And I was like, they know Smosh? And it was the day that Ian and I had put aside

to write and ideate the next music video. Yeah. So it was just like the perfect timing. had put aside to write and ideate the next music video. Yeah. So it was just like the perfect timing. And then we both followed Baby No Money and he hit us up immediately afterwards. Wow. That's so insane. What are you doing? I'm in.

What? Cut to me with a giant ass. Yep. Doing a scene with Baby No Money with a giant ass. Cut to me being a dom. Yeah. Cut to me being in like, I don't even know if it's leather. Yeah.

Leather spandex. I remember. Did that unlock something in you? Oh, yeah. I mean, it was already unlocked. Aaron was like, we need a six foot tall dom. I was like, hello. Yeah.

Yeah. It was so fun. I felt great the whole time. Like Josie was amazing. She was like, I'm going to make you look so good. That's our wardrobe person. So good. That's the person.

And she killed it. And I felt so good. And most of my scenes were, actually, all my scenes were with Anthony. Yeah. Yeah. And. You walked me like a wine mariner. Yeah.

I walked you like a wine mariner. And I remember looking at anthony with my whip and i was like hey are we cool and he was like yep and i was like great get on the fucking ground you know what's you know what's wild is is um uh the the directors of that they're known as the reggies uh they had written in a scene because we we wrote we wrote like a majority of the stuff that happens in the in the music video initial treatment yeah the initial treatment and then the reggies kind of put it into like this like storyboard animatic and they added um my dom dripping candle wax on me. And I was just like,

okay. All right. And so, yeah. So then when it became Courtney, then Courtney had to drip candle wax on my bare back. Is this awkward for you, Shane? Is it awkward for you?

Yes, it is awkward. you, Shane? Is it awkward for you, Ian? Yes, it is awkward. When we announced and people went back, I looked, because I was just looking at comments all over the place, and I went back to Submissive and Breedable, and people were commenting being like, uh... This is Shane's wife. This is Shane's wife.

He's like, oh, I wonder if this is awkward for Ian. And Amanda's married, but it's fine. Who gives a shit about that? Literal fuck. Yeah, and I was like, this is just, I didn't think, I was like, I don't even think we're going to use this in the video. And we didn't. It actually didn't wind up fitting into the music video.

So there's just a behind the scene clip of Courtney dripping wax on your back for no reason. Yeah. And it actually ruined my shirt. It got on my shirt and it won't come out. Ruined your shirt and your sense of self. Oh, yeah. No, I still know who I am.

I'm a guy that doesn't like candle wax getting dripped on his back, apparently. The music video is incredible. Didn't do anything for me. But also one of the best things to ever come out of that is there's a photo. Spencer was here, and you were in your whole outfit. Yeah. And Spencer walked by, and he got a photo with you. Yeah.

And it was the funniest photo I've ever seen. He looks literally half your height. I think he's quite literally half your height. But it just looks so funny. He's just like. He asked me like a fan. He's like, hey, Amanda, can I get a photo with you? And Sid and Olivia were and olivia were in office he's like hey sid can you take a photo of me with manda and i was like come here little boy he literally is half my height though

six inch platform i had yes we're literally michael jordan yeah you were six six you were six foot six oh my. You could dunk. Yeah, I had six-inch platforms that were actually really comfortable. But that last scene where we were supposed to run, I said to the Reggie's, I was like, I can't run. Yeah. Like, also because my dress was so tight that, like, I could only do it. He's like, just power walk. Power walk is so funny.

It's one of my favorite shots. You were going to catch them. I was going to catch them. It might take time, but You were going to catch them. I was going to catch them. It might take time, but you were going to catch up to them. That was one of my favorite shots from the music video because you just get this,

you get like, I don't know, maybe like a half second shot of you going. Yep. All because of the heels. But I love that picture of Spencer. It's so, so cute.

It's heartwarming. He looks like the happiest little boy. He's so happy. So happy. I'm glad i could do that for him because i look like he went to a con and you were just there yeah he was like can i take a photo of you i was like yes come here my voice so good it was some wild shit man yeah it was really fun it was an art crushed it yeah like all the props yeah the lighting was incredible too. Yeah. Yeah.

We're not making our money back on that music video. But I mean, like that's, that's what I mean. Like, you know, this, the other stuff we do here allows us to take risks like that.

Otherwise, you know, then we're just making the same thing over and over and over again. So it's, it's cool to be able to, to take those risks. And like, you know, not just for the main channel, but also Pit and Games and Smosh Mouth.

I don't know. And Livestream. I don't know how you guys can take risks on this. Like do it at Niagara Falls or something. I've been pitching us being on a roller coaster. Quite literally. For many months. I think that should happen.

We're going to record it on a roller coaster. We're going to have to ride the roller coaster many times. You get motion sickness. No, I love roller coasters. Okay. I don't like 3D glasses.

Oh. And for anything like VR, I have to take a Dremamine, but I don't get seasick and I'm obsessed with roller coasters. Okay. So I don't know

what that means. Are you obsessed with riding a roller coaster for an hour? Yeah. Oh, yeah. I would love to.'t know what that means. Are you obsessed with riding a roller coaster for an hour? Yeah. Oh yeah. I would love to. What about you Shay?

Do you think that they could shut down the roller coaster? Do you think we'd just get bored of being on that roller coaster? No, no, no. Which roller coaster

are you thinking? Ooh. X2. X2 is so, okay, on my fridge there's a picture of me and my husband

on X2. I'm not gonna make this up. And he's like this, me and my husband on X2. I'm not going to make this up. And he's like this, yay. And I'm like this. I'm literally bracing for fucking impact. Can you imagine if you did the podcast on the ride that just takes you up and drops you? No, I hate that ride. That would probably be the better one to do, though.

What? Shane wants that one. Because you can continue to talk throughout all that, whereas X2, there's parts. I love roller coasters. There's parts where I'm like, I don't know if you can actually talk. No. With the amount of force being put on your sheet. I don't think you can talk with that drop, though.

Because, like, it's spinning and going. No, this one, they, like, hold you up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm saying that might be better. I'm saying X2 would be really hard or, like. I can't talk during the drop. Anything with flips. Yeah. Anything, yeah. I'm saying that might be better. I'm saying X2 would be really hard. I can't talk during the drop. Anything with flips? Yeah.

Anything with loops? How about the end segment is X2? Okay. We should just, okay, we'll record one. We'll do one go around of a roller coaster, and we pick a topic, and we have to talk about it. We weren't going to green light this, but you guys are here. So we'll have to record it on iPhone, and we'll just have law. Oh, it's going to sound fun.

You just won't understand anything. For audio listeners, it's going to be like, all right, and here's us on the roller coaster. You guys could just ride that shitty Harry Potter roller coaster. Oh, that's fun. That one's horrible. And 3D glasses. Oh, yeah. No, no, no, no.

The shitty ride. They have a shitty little roller coaster. It's so shitty that Ian said it's shitty. No, no, no. The shitty ride. They have a shitty little roller coaster. It's so shitty that Ian said it's shitty. No, no, no. The shitty ride. The shitty one. Not the 3D one. That one's kind of fun.

No, we'll get on Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland. Ooh, yeah. I don't know if I've been on that one. Walking around. It's really cool. That's like we're in the Millennium Falcon or whatever? No, that's a different. That's Smuggler's Run, which is kind of shitty.

Oh, is it? Let's just go on the's Run, which is kind of shitty. Oh. Let's just go on the shitty ones. It's just all shitty. Okay. And then we end with X2. Okay. Okay. Is Knott's Berry Farm shitty?

You know what? I haven't been. I've only gone one. Knott's Scary Farms? Forever ago. Where is that even? That was awful. In the middle of fuck all. In the berry farms.

Oh, in the berries. Where all the berries are. All the berry farms. Oh, in the berries. Where all the berries are. All the berry farms. All the berries and cream. I can't believe they were making fruit, and then they were just like, what if we made a roller coaster? Brilliant.

Brilliant. We're done with jam. Yeah. It's time to jam. Wow. Okay. We brought up Pit and Games. In this past year, Anthony,

do you have a favorite series or type of video on Pit and on games? For both of them. Good question. What's your favorites on both? I think it's really cool how Pit doesn't necessarily just have a recurring roster of three types of videos. It just loops.

There's a lot of side things where it's like it'll come back once every six months or something. So, I mean, I love the hide and seeks. I love the special like slap type video. I've grown to love Reddit stories more and more as a really interesting passive experience. I feel like Reddit stories is such a different tone than everything else on the channel and maybe kind of everything else Smosh in general,

except maybe this is like the closest to the tone. It's very podcast-like. Yeah. What I love about Reddit Stories is how it came about, how it was an idea that we were all kind of uncertain about. It had been kind of floated for a long time and Kiana was like, I really want to do this. So we did it on thanksgiving for the first one because we're like this is throwaway content that's probably not going to do well that's the funniest aspect of it is it then became

like our biggest show yeah but it started weekly show truly started in just a way of like yeah we're just going to do this so that we can because the week of thanksgiving we never get views so we're just going to put this there so it's, because the week of Thanksgiving we never get views, so we're just going to put this there, so it's like whatever. And it'll be easy and we just won't worry about it. Did it initially start with some episodes being live streams

or something like that? Yes. Someone mentioned that. So we actually started forever ago doing it on Twitch where I would read it with other people and that would just be through live

and we're getting the live reaction from chat. But once we stopped doing twitch we stopped doing it but considering twitch like i mean that was i don't know i'm sure other people were reading reddit stories online before that but you know we see a lot of it nowadays and i think that was around the time you know that was around the time when we started doing it i think that's when like two hot takes around that time started. So it was kind of this new thing. And so we were kind of like luckily caught a wave of this new type of content.

And it was really fun. I mean, I do miss it being live because you get the live reaction from your audience. And you get to kind of talk about it with your audience. It's a frustrating thing where we will talk about these stories and then we get our audience response and i'm like oh man i wish i could have had this combo with you yeah and so they're like oh i disagree with shane on this i'm like oh man if we were talking about it together and i hear talk about more opinions i that changes my view on things but you know it's been such a fun experience i as the host it's been so great because i've learned so much from it you know i'm

reading so many stories of things that i would have never heard about before. And then on top of that, I get the perspectives of people on the couch that are enlightening me on different views of it. And then I get to look back on it and see the comments and be like, I'm getting comments from people all over around the world with different experiences, different backgrounds, different family dynamics, talking about their stories in relation to these stories. And every single episode, I learn a ton. It's so cool.

And the updates are the best. Oh, yeah. The updates are so much worse. Yeah, man. Yeah. I mean, the most fun is when there's just someone who's just a straight-up villain. Yeah.

That's always the most fun. When it's clear-cut and I'm like, this person sucks, and we get to talk about why they suck. It's always the best part of that show. One of the most fun when it's clear-cut i'm like this person sucks and we get to talk about why they suck it's always the best part of that show one of the most interesting things about it i think is that it has drawn such a unique audience that maybe isn't interested in much other content yeah yeah so like even so we went out to a restaurant that was like up on the sixth floor of this place and we had to go in this elevator and I was with you and there were these women there in the elevator that recognize you as the

reddit stories guy yeah and only you out of everyone that that was there in the in the elevator too so it was so cool like were you in any way like expecting there to be this unique audience uh no I mean it's I I guess not I guess it didn't occur to me of like, how it's so possible that this is an audience that isn't watching the rest of our content. Yeah. But I have, It's supposed to be on Facebook too. That's true too.

Yeah, it is certainly. Um, but, uh, but I, I have gotten recognized specifically for Reddit stories a couple times and it's always been funny. That one was really funny.

The funniest one was I was, I was in, Courtney and I were in the UK and we were waiting we're at this pub and it was super busy we're in line we're trying to get up to the to the bartender finally we get up there it's this lady she's kind of working really quick whatever and then she looks at me and she's just like are you the one who reads those reddit stories oh cool like and you know the the sentiment is always the same like oh i i watch them as i go to bed or i'm watching them as i'm getting ready in the morning and i'm like that's so cool i love that day um it's really really cool it's it's fun in that way um it's a different type of satisfaction i get from that show yeah because i'm like i'm not making people laugh

like and it's it is a scary show for me because I'm very comfortable where it's just fully a joke and we're just laughing and whatever. I'm like, oh, we're having real conversations here. That is a little scary. Yeah, you've got to be vulnerable. You might say something that someone doesn't agree with. Exactly. And it sucks every time. But, well, what really sucks is I'm very careful of what I say because what I'm most afraid of is being misunderstood.

Or just the fact that it's my initial reaction to stories. And I'm like, oh, I'm reading a story about a raccoon going to a wedding. And I'm like, well, I've never pondered on this moral dilemma before. So my initial reaction. And we don't have a raccoon expert here. Yeah, exactly. But I've also come to accept that and be like, oh, it's okay if people are like, oh, I don't like what Shane said there. I'm like, oh, well, I'm learning now.

I think it's okay. I think that's what Reddit Stories is. And also, I love how visual it is because then you get to have the two people on the couch who have very similar reactions to you, like, while you're reading the whole story. And I do think that people are like, ooh, I don't agree with that take. But we've been very good about being like, this is my opinion. Right, we're not experts.

Specifically, no, no. And I think people like the banter, the debate of it all. Absolutely, absolutely. I certainly enjoy it. But it's a really satisfying show. I really love it. But it's also been cool.

In this past year, I feel like Try Not to Laugh has had a resurgence. Yeah? It was getting to a point where it was kind of like, I don't know if it's going to stick around. And then I don't know what it is. I love it. But I think we started having more fun on it again. And that, in turn, has made the audience interested.

There's a lot of variations that are being thrown in there, too. So, of course, there's the birthday episodes. Then there's the blind pairs episodes. So of course there's the birthday episodes, then there's the blind pairs episodes. So I think it's throwing in variation. Also shout out to art department for consistently changing up the props.

Art department does a lot of work at Smosh. It is a demanding job. Keep them busy. And then for Smosh Games, I've really enjoyed seeing the group dynamic where people are playing themselves. They're just playing a game. And I think that's a lot of fun to watch, like Werewolf and those types of groups. But then also, I mean, of course, the Don't Win Mario party stuff is so good.

I love how you guys have been throwing in themes there, like the gentleman version and the cone for the cone of shame for we getting the first place yeah and then uh an interesting curveball recently is the darts video like was that was that something that you were suggesting for more characters to get in so we had done darts forever ago um and it was one of the like first chosen videos like we we did we used to do like poker or we did like blackjack and darts forever ago um and it was one of the like first chosen videos like we we did we used to do like poker or we did like blackjack and darts and like just playing random kind of like bar games uh but as ridiculous characters the chosen kind of was birthed from that but the last time we did darts um it was the chosen uh spencer played bullseye from the Ben Affleck Daredevil movie. And it was incredible. And we just had a bunch of weird characters,

and it was a blast. And in that era, from this is like 2020 to 2021, we were kind of doing some of it, a lot of characters came about from it. And I was like, oh, I want to do that again, because we really were relying on characters a lot this past year, but we weren't, it's hard to come up with new characters. And it's hard to just kind of ask people to was like, oh, I want to do that again because we really were relying on characters a lot this past year. But we weren't.

It's hard to come up with new characters. And it's hard to just kind of ask people to be like, come up with a character. You kind of need to make the conditions for it to happen just naturally and spur of the moment. And the best characters are usually the ones that are kind of just like scrambled together or just come up with on the spot. Like they really are great. So I was pitching to them. I was like, we should bring back darts we should bring back like playing like poker and things like that and have people play characters

because in that setting where you're just hanging out for an hour playing a casual game it allows for some sort of backstory yeah lore or forces you to kind of organically come up with or a point of view of the character you know that, that's what happened with The Chosen was I was sitting there playing Blackjack, and in the middle of playing it, I just, in playing it, decided to make him a member of NoFap. Like, that was not a plan. Was that the first video he was in? The Blackjack video? Yeah, it was Blackjack forever ago.

So, he was Brianna Boho, and then I was like, and so I was supposed to be a different character. I was supposed to be my Aunt Carolyn character, very much like Krungle, this older woman. And we didn't have the outfit. I show up to work and it's like, oh, we don't actually have the outfit. And then I kind of literally, it was almost like a cartoon where you're looking around the room and there's perfectly a shirt, a necklace,

a pair of sunglasses, and shorts. Didn't you base it off of Spencer? So, sort of. The Chosen is really based on a lot of guys I've known over the years, and it's also very much a pop culture thing. The Mall Ninja is very much a real...

People reference Napoleon Dynamite a lot, and it's like, yeah, absolutely. But I think the reason there's Napoleon Dynamite connections, too, is because it's also largely based on me in middle school, which is from that era. And also just every dude in Arizona in middle school was like the chosen. They all thought that they knew karate really well, even though they never took classes. They all thought they understood the CIA and special ops.

And they were super playing video games all the time. Also could never get a date. Girls were not interested in them. So it was a lot of that. And so when it was eventually like, what's your name? I think I said Spencer Agnew. Partially

just to be funny. But it ended up being true because when Spencer plays the chosen... Oh my god, he's the only person out of everyone who, when he plays the chosen, he is actually just himself. And it works. It's true. Yeah, because on the live show, all of his references, when he was talking about all this stuff, I'm like, that's just Spencer knowledge. That's not the chosen. That's just Spencer. He's just like, that's just Spencer knowledge. That's not The Chosen. That's just Spencer.

He's just talking. He's just hanging out. It's really funny. So I wasn't called The Chosen at first. It was a choice I had to make because I was like, I can't have a character called Spencer Agnew. And then we also have Spencer Agnew here. That's very confusing.

So I changed it to The Chosen. And then it eventually came to this point where I was like, oh, we should do so I changed it to The Chosen um and then it eventually came to this point where I was like oh we should do a video where everyone plays The Chosen and now it's kind of become this character that everyone has their version of it and it's very yeah I feel like it's interesting that I mean a that it was come up with on the spot because of something that someone might have been like oh this ruined the whole shoot this is all messed up but then you took you made the best of it and it turned out that this character is kind of like one of the biggest Smosh characters to have ever been created.

And I think that it also helped that you were like, how about everyone plays this character? Oh, yeah. I don't think that Smosh had ever really done everyone plays the same character before. It's always funny to me when- We did that with, was the first one Owen Wilson? Yeah.

Too many Owen Wilson. It was a video we shot forever ago we literally walked to a cafe it got like no views but it was fun to film yeah

Keanu Reeves too yeah well too many Owen Wilsons was a video we did back in like 2016 that was Defy Era oh really this was way ahead

of its time and unfortunately didn't do well but a great time to do but yeah I'm glad we're doing darts again we had our poker video which I think is I'm glad we're doing darts again.

We had our poker video, which I think is out by now. I love to do darts. I felt like also the cast has just always, because I felt like the newer cast came in here and we had a bunch of structures to put in characters, like reunion and couples therapy. And since we don't do that anymore, there wasn't a lot of space to create characters. And especially if we created them in TNTL,

they kind of lived and died there sometimes. So now we have this fun opening. And when you guys came up with darts, it was like, oh, what? We're just going to play darts with new characters? I want to do it a bunch. I do too. I want to eventually, I mean, my pitch,

I would love to eventually have a month where it's like a darts like league competition where you're like bracket style and you're like which character's gonna make it to the finals

and face off and I think new I think like literally new people coming in oh new people new characters so fun cause I was the chosen

I lost I won if I come back if I come back I want to come back as a brand new character or a character I just haven't done in a long time. Like that's what's so fun. And like our audience is so forgiving that if a character flops or it's

like, you don't know what you're doing, they're not going to care. Courtney was Gerald cakes. I'm on my way. Gerald cakes. Spencer was Fred darts. Fred darts is good.

Fred darts is insane. That's one of the best characters to come out of this year. I feel like we need a fem cell. Like the antithesis to The Chosen. To The Chosen? Yeah. I feel like Brianna Boho is the antithesis to The Chosen. But you're saying the woman version of The Chosen.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I don't know much about fem cells, so. It's a dark road to go down, let me tell you. Yeah. Okay.

I guess maybe when we read more Reddit stories, or not Reddit stories, but more subreddits on this show, I can find some fem cell subreddits. I'll stick with my weird guys and old women. You don't want to play a fem cell? I'll stick with my dove guy who throws doves at women. What was his name again? His name was... Literally came up with it

in TNTL and I was like, hey Art, can I be the dove guy? And they were like, yeah, we got you a lot of doves that you're gonna throw in the air. I was like, okay. What's his fucking name? Tyler Henry? No, that's a real guy that's that's a psychic literally said a guy i can't remember his name who's his name tyler durden chat i came up with it while we were filming but it was such a fun he's just like a

happy-go-lucky guy who still lives with his mom and she has a lot of doves and he goes to weddings and throws doves. He's got a brother that he loves? He has a brother that he loves. A question I have for you guys is how has it been feeling

to be like to own Smosh but is it is there a lot of pressure that comes from that? Is it crazy to be back because it has to be kind of interesting

to have started this whole thing but for so long you're like you don't own it so it's like whatever happens it's like well it's i don't own it but it is really scary and i felt this was sitcom when i pitched that show and it was like all right this is my pitch i really care about this but you own smosh again is there a lot of pressure that comes with that has how's the feeling been i think? I think there'd be a lot more pressure if it was a failure. I think things are going really well right now.

I think we made some decisions that I think were the right decisions. And I think we invested into the team and to the cast and uh yeah I I don't really I I mean I felt a lot more pressure before Anthony came in just because like because things are were some things were like um and you know I was just trying to like keep everything together um but like i think we have such like a strong team and such a momentum going that like no like every i i just i just like believe in everyone and i know we're just gonna continue

making great shit. Yeah. Yeah. I felt a lot of pressure for like the first six to eight months that I was back. Cause I, I feel like I had to prove that my coming back was a positive contribution. Uh, I wanted to make a good impression with everyone that I worked with, uh,

that works here and everyone who was watching. Like I didn't want to let them down as well. I wanted to prove that I was just a positive force coming in here and everyone who was watching. Like I didn't want to let them down as well. I wanted to prove that I was just a positive force coming in here and not like, you know, something that would mess up what had been established. But I feel like in the past four or five months now, I've really started to see like the more that I just ease up and allow it to flow and give you all ownership to do what you do best and be creative in the ways that you are best at. I can actually alleviate a lot of that pressure and just observe and then use that to then lead in other ways that I feel like I thrive most in myself. So it's been a whole transitional period period but i feel like i'm in a

really good place now with it yeah i felt that i felt really a great welcoming when you came back and like keep doing your thing i'm here to like see what i can do and connect and it was really really cool good yeah yeah i love i love um connecting with each person here and figuring out like what it is that they like doing what it is that they don't like doing well how can we get them to do more of the things that they like doing because that's not just good for someone's personal mental health but it's also good for the the product that they deliver and what people on the other end uh see as well yeah so it's just overall beneficial yeah and like we didn't want to like it was it was like never our plan for like anthony

to come back and me and him be like we're back now we're running the show and we're in everything and like we're it's we're calling all the shots um no it's just like we had like a great foundation and we were already making good content we could only but we could only go up from like there yeah like it was yeah no I think you guys put a lot of trust in the team and you like let you

there was more freedom when you guys came back it felt like you truly let people do what they do best and to let them take risks. I mean, I think we see that with Smosh games, like what we're talking about. Like, it really is like we see how from the twisted mind of Spencer, like, truly. It's been a blast.

It's been really cool. And I think, I don't know what you guys were expecting by this point, but I think it's, for me, it's like i think we're in a better place than i expected truly because i just oftentimes with the nature of youtube you're just like you expect it to just be like it's it might decline it may not be doing well who knows but it's really this is probably the most secure and and most fun that i've been having at this job in a long time i think i think that's like a huge thing and you had mentioned it earlier where it's like we were always doing things that were like okay we're going to you had mentioned it earlier where it's like, we were always doing things that were like, okay, we're going to do something good for the algorithm.

And then we're going to do something for us. Yeah. And this is the first time where it's like, oh, like we're making content that we're having fun with and it's doing well. Like, you know, like it's, I feel, I feel like we're hitting that stride a lot, a lot more than we, than we used to where like every every video i'm showing up to like on pet and games i'm like i just know that i'm going to

have a good time yeah and i think and i think that that shows in the content like the audience sees that right and yeah like a lot of a lot of comments and i think i think some of some of the viewers may have like overstated the difference, but people being like, Ian looks so depressed before Anthony came on. Now I can, now I can like really see that he's like happier. And like,

and like, I think it's, I think it's, you know, maybe to a degree overstating the facts, but I, I think, yes,

generally, uh, I enjoy i enjoy my my work on camera more since since this new like version of of smosh began and since you know spencer's has taken the helm at smosh games and and emily has taken the helm of pit and kiana has taken the helm at Smosh Games, and Emily has taken the helm of Pit, and Kiana has taken the helm of all the programming. Like, I think we're just, like, we're just firing on all cylinders if I'm to throw a car metaphor. Nice.

Yeah, I feel like, you know, we made some big switches to the main channel coming in there, and I know that some people were like, oh, no, all the cast that we've grown to love on here is no longer here. And of course, that was kind of like a transitional period in and of itself. But I feel like what it also did was it allowed all the cast to really focus in on pit and games. And I feel like we've seen what the result of that is. And that's that pit and games, I feel feel like are thriving more than they ever have. And that's just the results of giving people freedom to take risks,

but also allowing them to focus on something that they do really well. Totally. Agreed. It's been a blast. It'll continue to be a blast. Yeah. Congratulations on one year. Oh, thank you.

Your one year anniversary, shall I say? Yeah. I don't know. Where's our fucking cake? Oh, it's right outside in the fridge. Right, Selena? Right, Selena? Yeah.

Yeah. It feels like it's been a long time, but also a very short time. It feels. Same time. Yeah. It's frigging weird, man. I get so much. I think everyone needs a nice long nap.

Yeah. Yeah. We accomplished a lot this year. We really did. And it's cool that for right now we don't have any sort of big crazy thing we're announcing or whatever. I mean, our content we're so focused on right now and we're making great stuff, but well, people never know.

But I will just say like, it's for these months that are, that are occurring right now after the live show. It's been nice to focus on our stuff, but yeah. But unless you guys, I was going to ask, like for the next 10 years, like is there any sort of big dream you have for Smosh?

Like is there, it could be a small thing or a big thing. Is there something that you would love to do in a dream world where you could do anything? Yeah, Smosh is going to buy the Miss America pageant. Oh, Jesus. You had the choice of anything. Anything. And you chose that?

Anything. Yeah. Well, I'm starting small. We're going to eventually get to Miss Universe. I want to let people know, listening, that there is a whole team of people who can veto what Smosh pitches. So don't worry. Anthony, what about you?

You don't think it's a good idea? Yeah, yeah. I don't have anything specific in terms of events. to be this place where we can show what fun friendship group dynamics are like and give an opportunity for more and more people to work here that get to live that as well, but also for people watching to feel a sense of home and community and watching the dynamics on screen

and maybe even bring that over into their own friendships. That's great. Kind of like bring in the feeling that Ian and I had when we first started of capturing this moment of friendship on camera. And I want to see that continue to be what Smosh thrives in. Absolutely.

Hell yeah. I'm down. I'm down. I mean, for the pageant part, I will have to think about it. Yeah, yeah. Think about it. Okay, I'll think about it.

There's a lot of opportunity there. Ian's given you 10 years to think about it. Okay, great. I mean, it's on the roadmap. It's on the roadmap. Okay. It's on the roadmap. You guys just don't see the potential.

I do. Okay. Let me do the big thinking. Let me do the big business brain. All right. That's all the time we have. Thank you both for being here. Thank you. All right. That's all the time we have. Thank you both for being here. And thank you both.

Thank you. Anthony, once again, thanks for coming back to Smosh. Yeah, thanks so much. You're welcome. Thank you all for watching. We'll see you next time. Goodbye. Bye.

Goodbye. Goodbye. Miss America.