Smosh Mouth - S2: #74 - Olivia & Noah Haven’t Left Smosh

Episode Date: August 5, 2020

Ian sits down with Olivia and Noah to talk about why they choose to not become full-time employees with Smosh, the pros and cons of being freelancers, and what they’ve been up to with their newfound free time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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to speak to an advisor free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. Ramble. If my relationship with Defy Media wasn't that great and i didn't feel passionate about going to my job i wasn't necessarily hurting defy media i was like hurting my friends we're aware like smosh is white as fuck this has been a conversation for years i don't know you take more ownership when it's like your channel and your name, you know what I mean? And like now that I see it, it was like it was yours and Anthony's and like you guys like had to kind of trust us with something that you guys have built. What's the creepiest thing you've had to do in an audition?

Take my shirt off. Like we just want to make sure you don't have weird nipples. Yeah, well that sucks because I do. Well, hello, everybody, and welcome to another Smosh cast. Today, I am joined by two very, very lovely humanoids, Noah Grossman and Olivia Sway. Ayo, ayo. Hi. Hello, guys. How are you? Noah, I swear every time I see you, your hair changes. And the next time you see it, it'll be different again.

I tried to bleach it so I could put color. I got to bleach it another time. It came out kind of ramen-y. Yeah. Dude, yeah. It's like a bowl of ramen. Yeah, you should get the old Justin Timin timberlake hair no how are you bleaching your hair like by yourself oh my girlfriend does it wow wow she colors it too

isn't that hard like to get it down to the the root yeah doesn't that burn i mean i've done it a few times a couple of times it's been uncomfortable but uh one or two times i would say like maybe a light chemical burn but but nothing to be worried about. I'm digging this room you're in. For the people that are just listening and aren't watching this video, Noah built a podcast room in his place. It looks like it reminds me of like a Nickelodeon set. Yeah, it does. Thank you. That is like, I've gotten that a couple of times and that is the biggest compliment you could give me because that's like all I watched when I was a kid. So it's like colorful Nickelodeon.

No, I don't know if I should bring this up right now, right here, but you needed me to do something for you and I totally forgot. Oh, you're fine. You're fine. Courtney stepped up and I got a couple of other friends. So it totally worked out. I hit you guys up if you were available, but it was also super short notice. Yeah, I'm so sorry.

No, no, really not a thing. I'm a terrible friend. Thank you. You're not. For all the listeners. Yeah, I am. You're not. Ugh. All right. This is when we reveal that Olivia is a terrible human being that just flakes on people's plans honestly i don't think you've ever

flaked have you ever flaked there's no flaking if you don't make plans you know ain't flaking if you ain't making is what i would say yeah um no i don't ever i don't ever flake on plans i don't know why i mean and i don't know I feel like once I commit to like something especially with a friend I it's hard for me to say I'm not gonna make it yeah you've never flaked on anything I've invited you to because you've always declined the things that I invite you to so so it's no but that's better that's so much better than, you know, because I'm like, hey, do you want to like, we're going out tonight to a restaurant. You're like, oh, I can't. Like, I already have like a thing with my friends.

But that's actually true. I usually have like plans already. I don't like, I'm not the type of person that's going to make an excuse for something. Although, let me think. It's been so long for me to even do that because we've been in a pandemic. So yeah, I don't remember the last time I've done that. Yeah, also, like, I see the people that I need to see that I have to see because I love them so much. And I miss them so much. But other people I just I don't know, just don't really see that. That was that was one of

my favorite episodes of Kirby enthusiasm. It's like his mom dies or something. And he realizes that he can get out of any sort of plan by just saying like, I can't. My mom died. So he just starts using it like a weapon. Whenever somebody asks him to do something, he's like, I wish I could. But like my mom just died. There's an Amy Schumer sketch where she finds out that her friend has cancer or a very debilitating sickness. And she uses that and is like, my friend has cancer. Oh, well, that's new.

Amy Schumer stealing jokes. That's never happened before. I don't know anything about that. I think it is like, yeah, that's a joke. But I think, what is it called? Like parallel. It is parallel thinking, but I don't know anything about that. I think it is like, yeah, that's a joke. But I think, what is it called? Like parallel? It is parallel thinking, but I don't know. Well, now that I have a dog.

It's like a writer's rooms, you know? Don't you feel like when you have a pet, you can do that too? Like, oh, my dog threw up again. I mean, you have a puppy. So you could use that as an excuse to get out of anything. But I can't. You just can't be left alone. But that's honestly true, though.

But honestly, I'm not getting invited anywhere because we're in a pandemic. Yeah, it's not safe. Yeah. The only things that I'm really going to are really nothing. Bed. Bed. I can't go to bed. I'm sorry, Sam.

I'm sorry. Grizzly's shitting everywhere again. I've got a better one than dog because with dog, you still, you know, it might grow up. You got to prove something. Just say you can't. You're being haunted. Oh. Look at that.

I can't do it. I'm being haunted. I can't prove it. I just, I know. I feel it. I can't. I'm so sorry. I can't be there.

I'm being haunted. I like that. That's so weird. Yeah, but you can't disprove it. I'm afraid to get in the car because every time I do, it acts really weird because I'm being haunted. I honestly feel like my friends would probably call like a doctor to come visit me. They'd be like, I'll bring the sage and the crystals. They'll be like, she's not okay.

We're going to fuck this ghost up. We're going to fuck this ghost. Yeah, with sage and crystal. Yeah. Wow, this place is so relaxing now. I got to go next door. Yeah, you can't tell somebody in LA that you're haunted because nine times out of 10,

they're going to be prepared with some sort of countermeasures for supernatural things. If I felt like I was being haunted, I would do like a precision strike on my poltergeist. You know, a lot of people just go to like one priest or, you know, bring, I would get every possible religion near me that believes in ghosts and it has any sort of method. And all at once I would be like strike and they would all pray at the same time in my house. That's the only way to guarantee that it's gone. So it's kind of like, it's kind of like you can make a reality TV show out of it.

Which religion is the best at expelling the supernatural? Yeah. Yeah. But every case we go and we interview a haunted house and then we have 14 experts all in the house as well to give differing opinions on what to do. One priest, one rabbi, one shaman,

one witch doctor, any priest, one rabbi, one shaman, one witch doctor. An imam, one Scientologist. One Aaron. One hipster chick with sage. One lady from Silver Lake. I like Aaron. What is Aaron gonna do about that? Exactly, what is Aaron gonna do about that?

And is it Aaron with two A's or one E. Oh, it's going to be two A's, an Aaron and a Karen. Oh, Karen might get that ghost out. The wombo combo, as they call it. So Noah, can you explain, can you explain why you've built a podcast studio in your house? Because it looks pretty rad. Thank you. This is, so it's half done. This is one of the walls. I have one to my right that I won't show until it's finished. Cause it looks half done. But, uh, but yeah, during quarantine, I decided to, uh, build a little podcast studio for myself so I could kind of shoot my own things, but also have a place to do self tapes, uh, that had my lights and things like that. You're going to do your self tape against that wall?

No, no, no, no. I do it against a different wall with a moving blanket. It's just a black background. Oh, okay, so I'm like, whoa. They'll definitely hire you. Yeah, at least they'd remember you. Yeah. Isn't that one of the rules of auditions is like, you want to wear something that they remember you by?

I don't know. I always wear the same gray shirt. I wear the same green, green t-shirt. Unfortunately. I remember somebody when we did auditions for, when we did auditions for Smosh, the same auditions that, that you guys got, got hired in.

Oh yes. This girl came in and I think we've already told this story before, but she came in like an R2D2 dress. And I was like, I was like, Oh, that's, that's rad.

That's awesome. And then we called her back to see her again and she was wearing it again. And I was like, all right, same dress. But yeah, apparently that's like one of the, and I don't know, I would have thought that you guys would- I have no idea. To no idea to wear this you guys have done a million more auditions than i have right i feel like yeah i guess i've worn the same but i also kind of wear

the same shirt i mean depends what world it is yeah i've never booked anything super important so like anytime i've gotten to like a test stage which is still far from booking it i've worn what i wore the time before so like a third round audition to like a test stage which is still far from booking it i've worn what i wore the time before so like a third round audition to like a test or something like that i'd wear the same thing but that's a few times and it wasn't successful so have you ever like auditioned for a role where you're like like a construction person and you wore like a hard hat in your audition like is that is that frowned is that like frowned upon like to like if you're going out for like a police a police person role you like wear like you carry

a nightstick in your audition no so yeah not at all i've seen in like called cattle call auditions where it's just a lot of people so exactly that if you're going for construction worker they might see you know 600 people in a day i don don't, that will never happen again, obviously because of the future, but yeah, you would see maybe three people out of all of it show up in a costume and you never do that unless it's stated specifically. And they will rarely state that at all. They might give you what you, they want you to look like. So you might end up with all, you know, they're looking for someone to be like a hot Carl's Jr. girl. So you'll end up with 400 you know they're looking for someone to be like a hot carl's junior girl so you'll end up with 400 people all looking similar but they're not you know wearing a carl's junior outfit or anything like they that's like that's a play like you're you're going to halloween

what's the most what's the most you guys have dressed up for an audition i've had to be in ballerina outfit oh that's cool yeah because had to, I think it stated that we had to be on be like on point and in ballerina clothes. Oh, that was back when you were doing ballet. Yeah. But I also think it's it's helpful. Like if your clothing helps enhances your character, it's a character choice. And I think I heard from someone an actor say that a lot of times they will change their shoes to match what character i don't know it's some famous actor i probably shyla buff or something i don't know but it's like it's like yeah they change like little minute like things to um help them enhance like what shoes this character would wear i guess well i've been doing self tapes and i just wear socks now

and my self-tapes just socks nothing else nothing else completely naked only socks um i feel like i've seen that picture but i also only angle the uh the camera down to my socks okay great do a lot of foot acting a lot of foot acting oh gross waking feet oh i didn't of foot acting. A lot of foot acting. Oh, gross. Waking feet. Oh. Ooh. I didn't like foot acting. That made me uncomfortable. Yeah. Because someone has that skill.

Like they've done a little puppet show or something where they've made their foot the character and they technically have worked on foot acting. That's unbelievable. Actually, that brings up another thing. Have you guys ever auditioned for something where they wanted to see my feet well where it seemed like they have you ever gone to like an audition that it was just like a guy wanted to like where it was like fake you thought maybe it was a fake audition no no but i've also never gone to auditions that aren't legitimately solicited so either

something that like an agency would find or like casting frontier yeah there is a lot of shady stuff out there but what's the creepiest thing you've had to do an audition that you can speak of did you have to show your shirt off that's about it how old were you water park or something maybe 12 maybe 14 like we just want to make sure you don't have weird nipples yeah well that sucks to make sure you don't have weird nipples. Yeah, well, that sucks because I do. You don't have weird nipples. You just have small nipples. There's a very big difference.

They're like little pennies. It's really cute. Yeah, smaller than pennies. And it's funny how we know this. Yeah. I feel like we figured it out pretty quickly. See, I think I have weird nipples. I don't know how yours looks like.

I don't think so. I know how Noah's and Keith's look like. Yeah, because you guys both have small nipples i don't know how yours looks like i know i don't think so i know how noah's and keith's look like yeah because you guys both have like small nipples that's like how you guys bonded first off yeah so nipple touched the first day no not at all no i don't think you have weird nipples i'm trying to think about your nipples now which is a good sentence to say and i don't think so i can't really think about them but no well that's because that's because I have a lot of, I let my chest hair grow out. So now my nipples don't stand out as much as they used to. I had no idea you had chest hair.

Yeah, man, I got it. Oh, this is so sad. This means that we haven't seen each other in so long. Yeah. I know that we see each other like not wearing clothes, but it's just like, I miss seeing your guys' bodies. Well, around this time it would have been Smosh Summer Games,

which would have had a belly flop competition. Yeah. Wow. Which I wouldn't participate in because I still don't know how to swim yet. Yeah. You tried once and then you were screamed at. Yeah. Yeah.

Whoa. That was so fun. You took like, you took lessons. How many lessons did you go to? One, because I was terrified to go back. Yeah, her instructor, your instructor was very mean to you. But I didn't, but you know, the thing is I didn't mind it.

I'm hardly ever like terrified of, like I'm not really like intimidated by people unless they're like really intimidating. And I realized that I think that was just her like tone. She was so direct. And like, I didn't care because, you know, growing up in an Asian family, like everyone's very like direct, you know. Also like ballet, I would assume that's also.

Yeah, like very direct. So it's not like she, no, she told me to get in the pool. She was like, get in the pool. I'm like, I can't. She was like, get in the pool. I'm like, I can't. Okay, fine. Did you manage to float a little bit?

Yes, I had to. Oh. Or I would have drowned. Well, congrats. You figured out half of the part of swimming. Yes. And you know what? That experience is great because you don't always have to get a good job.

You know, that's so overrated. It's a lot easier to swim in the ocean. No, not doing that. Was that a bit? I guess it's easier, but also harder because you could get dragged out. I have almost died so many times in the ocean. Yeah. What? So many times.

But you could float better. Because it's a little salty, I guess. Yeah. But there's like waves and like. Yeah, there's undercurrents. Yeah, you could definitely easily die in the ocean. Don't listen to my advice. Well, what about when you, Olivia,

like you guys took like a boat out. Italy, yeah. In the ocean in Italy. I always get a. A life vest? A life vest. Oh, that's smart. I mean, honestly, like, I mean, as as dorky as as they may seem, like, it's it's so important to wear those things. You know what

I realized that I was I had a life vest on and then my and then Sam and like our friends were like, wait, can I get a little bit of that? Like, they're like, can we hop on? Because like, I guess floating by without it is hard i don't know i'm not really sure but they really liked it they're like oh this is so much better having like a floaty thing i mean like after the the naya rivera thing like where i'm from sacramento there's like this big river yeah that goes through and it and it seems like relatively calm but all the water is like snow melt water. It's really cold.

People die in that thing every year. Wait, why? A bunch of people die in that river. Why do they die in that river? Well, because they underestimate the power of the river or they don't expect it to be so cold. So I was like looking it up and drownings are like the second leading cause of like deaths for like young people, second only to like car accidents. I was like, how did I not know like that this is like that dangerous? But it's like, I guess one of the things is like, you know, if you're jumping into cold

water, like really cold water water sometimes it could like give your body a shock and you can kind of like freeze up yeah and that's every time i'm in like really cold water i'm like like i'm like i can't breathe like my breathing gets really weird because my body is in shock so yeah i can't even imagine tons of people drown in lakes like it seems super calm and everything but if you're not an experienced swimmer, like you could tire out really quickly. Yeah. So you're saying if, if people wore a life vest that they won't drown. Well, yeah, not to speculate on, you know, her death specifically, but from my own experience, like life vests both saved my life and almost ended my life when I almost died banana

boating in Mexico a long, long time ago. Cause I flew off the boat and I hit my head on the connecting rod. I think I've told this story before, but I hit my head hard enough where I essentially like blacked out really quick, but I ended up underneath the banana boat stuck there and I couldn't move because my life preserver was holding me up against the bottom of the device itself so luckily they drove to try to find me and that like slid you out but I was even like still the friction was like dragging me with it a little bit so like in her situation for all we know like the life preserver could like she could have accidentally come up underneath the boat, not knowing it hit her head on the boat, something like that. And then now be stuck underneath because of the life preserver.

Damn it. Where in most case scenarios, like ninety nine more than that. Yeah. Nine hundred and ninety nine thousand out of a million. But you could also take it off. No. Yeah. Yeah.

Unless she were to have hit her head or something and then she would be stuck there. Sure. Which is like possible speculation. Yeah. yeah obviously it's just that speculation yeah i think you know life life vests like you know they are dorky as hell but i'd rather be alive than looking cool and hot and sexy trust me i, I had so much fun in the ocean wearing a life vest. It's fun. Cause you don't really have to work that hard. You just jump in. The only thing that sucks is like when you jump into the water and you're

wearing a life vest and you're like, cause like the vest doesn't want to sink. So you kind of like, it's like a kind of chokes you a little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it does.

But it's fun. You feel like a little kid, you know, with floaties. We should bring, we should, you know what we should do? We should, we should make floaties for adults. Like make them like cool. How are you going to make a floatie cool? I'm all down, all down with the idea. I don't understand.

How is it not cool to have a floatie? I think, I think it's great. I mean, it's necessary for me. Maybe get like a straw with like a margarita that's like built into the floatie. Some flames on it. Maybe, I could see that. Yeah. For me, I feel like the issue with floaties

is definitely getting them on your arms. I don't know if this matters or not, but when they're wet, I wore floaties for so long as a little kid. Like I remember distinctly how they feel coming on and off. I hated that. I love it. It's the only thing I know.

It's the only life I live. Well, guys, how has life been this past year? Because obviously, obviously a lot has happened. As I'm sure many people listening already know, you guys are more of like freelancers with Smosh, where you have more time for your own projects so how do you guys like that and how has that changed since the pandemic are you scared you're gonna cause a third wave if you do that yeah i'm it's like it's kind of like uh who's the thing where you say the name three times candy man too beetle juice okay beetle juice yeah so yeah red rum i want to go home i think you also Candyman too. Beetlejuice. Okay. Beetlejuice. Yeah. So yeah. Red rum. I want to go home. I think you also got to click those heels.

When we came back with, with mythical, we kind of, we kind of spoke with, you know, all of you guys and kind of got the idea of like what, what you wanted to do, like how much time you,

you wanted, like what, what do you see as like the, the benefits and the, the cons to taking on more of like a, like a freelance sort of position? You want to go first, Olivia? I'm thinking about my answer. I wanted to be the president of Smosh

and that didn't happen. So, you know. I know you even, you had this whole entire succession plan and it even involved hiring an assassin. Yeah, you were Logan Roy and I was Kendall and didn't happen, dude. I guess on the shorthand, the the quickest way to describe it would be like less money, more time, which both have positives and negatives to it. That's I think the quickest way to summarize it with the extra time. As an entertainer, if you take a full-time position or a freelance position,

you're sort of weighing two different types of opportunities, right? When you're taking on something full-time, you're dedicated to just that sort of like one thing for the most part. So there's still obviously opportunities there, being more dedicated to just that sort of like one thing for the most part. So there's still, there's still obviously opportunities there being more dedicated to that one thing. But when you're working freelance, then you, then you have other, other opportunities, right? Yeah. 100%. Yeah. For myself, just in the grand scheme of things, like having the opportunity to both go on full-time, but also have the opportunity to do freelance. I think in both situations,

I think obviously when I first hopped into the job in signing like a large contract with Defy Media and kind of the issues with that relationship that bleed into other relationships. But I think it led me to both that it was a first experience for me, first time working in the real world, first time also getting like a true education

in what I want my job to be. And also just the requirements of the job itself. I think it led me to obviously like not be the best employee that I could be. I think I still completed my job and was able to help. Obviously, I don't think that I was the best I could have been. Yeah, not that I wanted to hurt Defy Media or anything like that. Just that if my relationship with Defy Media wasn't that great and I didn't feel passionate about going to my job, I wasn't necessarily hurting Defy Media.

I was like hurting my friends. So in that way, I was a little immature and a little not as productive as I could have been full-time. So freelance, I think, leads me to be able to hop in and give my 100% in these areas where I know that I can give my 100%. I do miss the full-time element, not just like obviously seeing my friends, but writer's rooms are probably one of the best things that I had the opportunity to do at Smosh. And like the head writer and all of our writers there are literally unbelievable people. And I just really appreciate the opportunity to just like soak in what they were doing. Not that like I was ever handed anything huge and like a huge responsibility,

but I was given enough to kind of start to cut my teeth. But also it was a small team. We were working so hard and under such specific conditions, you know, internet production type stuff where you end up being able to just see people under stress when they're happy, when they're not, when they're working hard. Like you get to soak in so much about what someone else's job is

and what they're going through that I really felt or feel like I learned so much from Smosh just through osmosis, which is amazing. I don't know if that answered the question, but that's how I feel. I mean, it's all a personal experience. It it's how you took, you know, what was given. Something like this has never been done on digital. Like bringing in a bunch of people as, you know, turning a group of people into YouTube creators on an already established channel. You ask somebody like, you know, seven years ago,

what is Smosh? They're like, well, it's Ian and Anthony. And I mean, you still get the confusion from people to this day being like, wait, what? And it's, and yeah, cause nobody, that's not like an established thing of like having other people come onto the channel. So our initial plan was, you know,

bring in five people and teach them how to be creators, and then they'll be creators like us. We were definitely, I guess, foolhardy, would that be the right word? Where I think we didn't understand everyone's individual drives. Because Anthony and I knew what drove us to be creators. We sort of shaped Smosh into what it was just because that's what drove us. We just kind of assumed that that could apply to everybody, but that's just not the case. And I think that's something that we've gotten better at where we now can kind of see everyone's strengths and try to apply it in that way. And obviously try to make everyone look

good in the process. I think, and I think that's, I think that's one thing that, that I think we have done well is just making sure that nobody, nobody like under Smosh fails. Like, like it's our, it's our job to like make you guys look good and that's number one thank you i've always felt that support you know um i don't think i was seen that like well when i first started smosh because the comments were like well olivie seems disconnected and stuff like that and um it's because i never knew that this job was like me being myself because i don't think myself is and i've said this many times that i didn't grow up with like watching vlogs or youtubers you know i i joined this because i thought i was gonna be acting a lot and then it became more like, oh, and you got to

like showcase this fun personality of yours. And I was like, and then I didn't understand that at all. And nor was I really even given the, like the information about that. So I felt like maybe my first few months at Smosh or on screen was like, I didn't realize that I seemed disconnected when I thought this is how normal people behave in a room. Like if we're playing games, like, okay, like I'm not trying to make jokes with my friends every second because I didn't get it. You know, now I do. And it's really annoying people now. Just kidding. Like, stop it. But, but yeah, I didn't feel like I was showcasing, like a person that people wanted to see, you know? Yeah. So but then I also think this job has been the best thing

ever. Because now I know, like, I thought I knew that I wanted to be an I want to be an actor and blah, blah, blah. But this job has realized that I want to be a creator, I want to be a writer, I want to be a producer, because essentially, that's, those were the tasks we were given. And I fell in love with that aspect, like creating an idea, creating a show, like the collaborative efforts and making something awesome more than just being talent, you know, being behind the scenes, working really hard towards that. Like now I see it in a completely different light. Do you think you realize that more

during the downtime between Defy and coming back with Mythical, you started uploading more to your channel? Yes, but in a way like working at defy working in our bubble we got to pitch jokes we got to write jokes like i just felt i loved it i loved writing something and then see it come to life and seeing my co-workers laugh yeah i i love that i don't know. And then maybe that's Yeah, maybe that's just something that I never that I never picked up that you that you like the sort of 360 of it all.

I do. And like, that was because of working at Smosh. I was like, Oh my god, I love doing this. I love you know, how would it be like if I directed this, you know, in my brain, all these gears are turning like, oh, like, this is how our directors directing this. How would I in my brain envision how the scene looks? You know what I mean? So I started thinking about all those different things. And yeah, and it became like, I love acting.

I love performing. But there's so much other so many other elements that I'm also really passionate about. In the downtime, I was sort of busy too. I think I was auditioning a lot. You took on some legit acting roles too, right? Yeah, yeah. I was doing indie films. And it's really funny because this morning, I turned down this indie film. They needed me for two weeks. Wow. this indie film they needed me for two weeks wow yeah and and one big reason it's funny enough is because i know that for those two weeks you guys would need me at smosh and i kind of thought about

it and i was like well i'm going to be now introduced to a whole new crew and cast but i should also i also hold the responsibility of i'm also at Smosh and I rather put my efforts in and quarantining myself for this company rather than something that I'm not really like passionate about. Do you know what I mean? Right. Yeah. I weighed my options and I was like, well, this right now is like really important to me. And like, I know that, you know, right now, how we're filming, there's not a lot of this is like a weird time we're in a pandemic so it's like i'm so i need to be there for my like i don't know for my people that i like really care about yeah and my job that i really care about

rather than introducing myself to a new set and noah you've i mean you also you made a couple really funny videos during, during the downtime. Oh, thank you. God. What was the one with that kid from like America's Got Talent? Oh my God. Oh yeah. Yeah.

Uh, uh, Marik Hanna. That was, that was fun. That was my first attempt at like writing something, I guess, for someone else. Cause his dad randomly messaged me and I was just like, yeah, I'll make anything with anyone. Let's like, try to do it. I would give it like a six out of ten but in the way that i wholeheartedly think the jokes are super funny and it's just like what it is which is like a youtube sketch and i got more to learn but i think it's still fun thank you like because both of you guys i feel like you when defy shut down

and things got kind of jumbled up like both both you guys did something similar, but not like you guys both went off to kind of like, you know, try your hand at like solo creator type things. I mean, for me, I think that's so important because it gives you an appreciation for all the aspects of, you know, video making because it's tough. It's really tough. If I could turn back time and do all the aspects of making YouTube videos again, I would not. But I certainly respect the people that do. It's just so much work. How did you guys feel being in complete control of your of your content?

Are you still doing that? Are you still going towards that? Do you enjoy it? I'll pass that to you, Olivia, you want to go first? Yeah, I enjoy making I love watching like, like the first cut of a video that I've made. I don't know. I love it. I love making my own thing. It's so much fun. But I also like collaborating. One of the things that I miss the most is seeing, you know, you guys every single day. Like there's nothing like it. And I just miss that so much because working by myself, I'm eating lunch by myself. But yeah, I just I truly miss being with you guys. And it's made my time with you guys so much more valuable

because I don't have that all the time now. What about you? I would say doing it on my own and I'm not fully doing it on my own, but as far as when everything shut down, just like shout out to Olivia because she really kind of helped pull me off the floor on the level of like inviting me to do videos

for her channel or just like talking about ideas of like next steps um and really just like sharing your hustler mentality which is like an awesome level of self-discipline that you have that that obviously I could work on myself but it was good to take a piece of that because it helped me kind of push forward in my own life because I now I make a lot of stuff with my cousin through marriage, my friend Devin, and a lot of the stuff that we do, because he really, really loves like social media content. And I don't mean that as like a knock to anyone at all, but like, he really loves like a TikTok format or like, you know, like a Casey Neistat vlog, which is like, I get those levels, but

that's just like, not for me. That's not what I am drawn to. So kind of taking what we do at Smosh and trying to step it into that realm on the level of like the writer's room things. Like we really try to write out jokes, like with each of these, even if they're so stupid, 60 second things, like I'm still attempting to put that same process that I learned behind them. And that's what I find so, so rewarding is like the, the bending of the idea and like shaping it into the final sculpture. That's giving it too much credit to call it a sculpture, but, but like a final version that I can wholeheartedly say, like, these are jokes. Here's the beats. Here's why we're doing it. Whether or not you find it funny, like technically on paper, this is comedy. So I'm

going to give myself a little bit of a pat on the back and move on to the next thing yeah so i've learned so much yeah take like just like the foundations that we've laid you know at our time at smosh like it translates into normal like life now like freelance creator life is like writing jokes down, creating a beat sheet, like not just being the actor on set, but maybe the actor that also contributes in like various ways from, you know, I don't know, I just think that it was so collaborative where we were and like taking that type of mentality into what I create for myself and with my friends and all of that. It's, it's really, it's really great. Such an important tool that I have. One big difference would be, I think like you see when we were producing stuff at Smosh, like versus on my own, you see how big the

production is. You understand how big the production is and what pieces are required in order to make it, but you don't actually experience the hard work that each step has. And each step has like a full plate, even if it's just setting up the lights, even if it's just this, like in order to make the quality product that we do at the quality that we do, which is very, very high quality. Obviously it's not a movie, which is even more intense, but it takes, it takes a village. And then for us to take a job for a village and condense it down into a smaller crew done cheaper and more often is really something to be so proud of. And it's cool to have been a part of that team and still am, but obviously in a different capacity. Yeah, I mean, I don't think there's any way that I could that I could really slice it where it would be perfect because, you know, we want to respect you guys as creators and as friends, but then also business.

You just have to find this weird medium. Because I feel like we didn't have it right when we were at Defy. I felt there was a lot of complacency when we were there. While there was still collaboration, I think that there were certain things that just weren't really at stake. I don't know, you take more ownership

when it's like your channel and your name, you know what I mean? And like now that I see it, it was like it was yours and Anthony's and like you guys like had to, you know, kind of trust us with something that you guys have built. And now like freelance life, you're like, oh, we see that.

Like, you know, there was no driving force because it was kind of like we were employees, but not. But at the same time, it was like it was so weird, you know, but like now it's just like now we're in this like new world with mythical. And like, it's just it feels more um free and like you feel seen and you feel heard and especially right now is i just feel like there's this new fresh air at mythical especially right now during this time this really important time where there is a lot of racial injustice and there has been but i feel like at this new space we're able to talk about it and people don't get combative they're willing to listen and i feel like that was never there at defy and i always felt so like i didn't really care for it that much because i felt like i wasn't seen and really heard. And I was kind of

like a little bit misunderstood, but now I feel like we're at a place where I feel really safe and that like I can say things and like voice my concerns and people would respect it. Yeah. Well, I'm glad you feel that way. Yeah. Because I think that's important. Yeah. I mean's that's kind of the thing you know there there was some people at defy that just weren't great people and that's not something that i wanted to bring in like when we had the chance to do it all over again like why why create an environment that's going to make other people uncomfortable and bring in some old Hollywood sentiments that we just don't need. I mean, I think that's incredibly important.

And I'm a middle class white suburban boy. My life experience is a very narrow one. And I want to have a company that has people from from all different backgrounds. Yeah. And I'm just even thinking back about some of the things because it's interesting that we're having this conversation now because I had the same conversation with Sam and a lot of my friends saying I was saying that, you know, right now there are a lot of people that I'm noticing that, you know, we're not really, we don't really have common ground on our views on racial injustice and all that stuff. And I was telling Sam, I was like, you know, I have a lot of new great friends now that I can talk openly about these things.

And even at work now at Smosh, I feel like everyone is doing so much work. And everyone's trying to understand and listen. And me and Courtney have great conversations and me and Shane and, you know, it's really beautiful. And I was I was saying that so many people that I've direct, you know, my work relationship, I, I feel like you guys, everyone is, you know, listening and like caring now. And that's something that not I didn't feel that way at all. There were so many instances, not so many, but I would say there was a few instances at Defy that really, I would never let that shit happen ever again. Because now I feel empowered and I know how to stand up for myself. And I know how you guys Courtney and Shane like really told me to stand my ground and not be fearful of what I had to like what I was feeling.

And I remember that was like even less than two years ago. And I felt so like guilty and bad for making someone else feel bad. But you guys were encouraging me and saying like, dude, we got your back. But even though you guys had no idea what I was feeling inside, just having that like, oh, no, we got you like, felt really good. And I feel like that would never happen at mythical again. You know, I certainly hope not. Yeah. And even if it did, I would be so honest with you guys and like, say like, hey, this up. But that's because everyone has created this really safe open space. and that was just something that was lacking over there but also i feel more empowered these days and i feel more like also i think it's like it's

i mean the the most important thing is just being completely honest to each other and having those and having those conversations like i know that you know several months ago uh you came in you were in the office and and i mean i think you had probably like you you had like a hour long conversation with with uh finnerty he was our head writer but now he's one of our vps but well you've had like several long conversations right i love talking to him yeah but it's like you know because he's he's a great person to talk to he's very open very honest and i think that think that that's so important, like just to get on the same page about everything.

Yeah. And like forming allies is so important with minorities, you know? Well, because obviously like we're going to have blind spots. Fidderty is from the same place I'm from. Like similar upbringing. Like, you know, we have blind spots and we can't correct those blind spots without having allies yeah and i think we are so open like everyone is so like

willing to learn and understand each other in this new environment it's really beautiful like everyone is so kind like every person is like truly behind the camera because, you know, in front of the camera, y'all are freaks. But I don't know. I feel like everyone behind the camera, just everyone's so nice and sweet and kind and like everyone's so grateful for each other, too. I just really feel that. It's funny. I went to a protest weeks ago and then I saw Nancy handing out waters by herself in the corner nancy would that's unbelievable and i'm like dude that's like we all try our best like at work and outside of work and that's so so great to see that and we fully support that too obviously we have to we

have to give people precautions because if they're going to be at a large protest, like we want them to be safe. And, you know, if they're going to potentially expose themselves to a virus, we want to make sure they don't expose our coworkers. But we still encourage the people that work with us to go out and protest if they feel like doing that. Ian, I think you've done a really great job of being like... You don't need to say that. I think there's still a lot more work to be done uh yeah but you've definitely stepped up like yeah i think yeah has really always like kind of committed to to being better every day

after but definitely the the switch from defy to mythical is like not just on a personal level now is everyone still trying like you said we have a work and a personal relationship yeah i was trying to make best the both even if they're not yeah now it feels like the company itself also wants a good relationship with the employees when before they could not have given two shits about who worked for them once you signed the contract that was that was it yeah yeah and it wasn't you obviously it's the parent company but i think people don't know this about ian but he has like a very natural way of like you're very good listener you're like really good at listening to people and like talking to you is very easy therefore being your friend is also very easy because you're always there to listen and like i don't know you're you're a very

good listener and you and you have i don't know i don't know i You're, you're a very good listener and you, and you have, I don't know. I don't know. I just think, I think you're a good convert. Well, thank you. Thank you. Yeah. If I can throw in a compliment, it's, it's acting on information. So like for me, obviously coming in young and not knowing everyone's roles and where they were, like, I really didn't realize until like the company was down under that, like, like you weren't in those meetings about like what we were going to do next. Like, that's not, that wasn't your place. You found out the information and then you told me, you know what I mean? So like, yeah. To step into this new role, like, I don't know. I just very much appreciate that. That yeah. Once told something like you, you just like Olivia seemed to listen. If you weren't aware before you were made aware and now you're doing something about it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, look, we, we still have a lot more work to do. I think it's easy for some people to be looking from the outside and have, you know, certain issues with what they see and what they think is going on.

There is a lot of work that we've been doing for the past year to try to make changes to Smosh, especially like in regards to who appears on camera. Like we're aware like Smosh is white as fuck. Like this has been a conversation for years and we've sunk thousands upon thousands upon thousands of dollars into trying to not make Smosh so white. And it's not about like, we need, we need a black guy and we need an Asian guy and we need this and this and that.

It's not filling out a quota. It's like literally like, we just want to, we want our comedy to, to better represent the people that are, that are watching. And, and that's, and for me, like, that's, that's been like objective number one since coming back is, is trying to find a way to, to change that. I don't think the work will ever be done, but we just, we can't stop and we can't get lazy. So yeah, still working on that. I think that's our biggest hurdle.

And I mean, and now it's all starting to come out with UCB and everything. Like sketch comedy is just a historically white world. Male, white male world. Yeah, white male world. It's just incredibly so. Would this sketch comedy world be different if

Saturday Night Live would have hired some different cast 30 years ago and inspired more people to be sketch comedians? I don't know. But it's really weird because it is like predominantly

like age 20 to 35 white male. You go to any improv. I think like 30 years ago, there also wasn't momentum for diversity. People making those decisions, making those casting calls and what they were looking for, what they were seeing were not people of color or, you know, minority groups. I think it was a very white seeming.

I just, I don't think, and I think maybe that has also kind of made people, my minorities kind of like look at it like, oh, we'll never get a chance. You know, what are the chances of us being on SNL? Like 30 years ago, my mom wouldn't have even known about SNL because she was too busy trying to assimilate in America. Right. So there's also that aspect and then trying to make her kids understand America and making them fit in and working really hard. So, you know, my peers maybe didn't have the aspirations I think also what I was gonna say is that I remember going to China. And there were the first comedies I watched in China were staged sketch comedies in Mandarin. And that was very, very cool to me. There's this annual big show that happens around New Year's. And it's a bunch of different people like they have sets on stage, everything is live. and it's all comedy. And it's like watching a sketch being played out. Yeah. So,

and it's part of Chinese culture. It does. It does feel like things are changing. Like, and, and it feels like now, now like everybody kind of has the power to put the pressure on entertainment on, you know,

like if if people don't think one show is is doing something right they let them know like it does feel like it's getting better obviously some people will will see it as cancel culture but you know i think i think it's culture man i i sorry i just i'm so against that term in my brain because there's two things happening. One, you're dealing with consequences. You're not being canceled for anything. You're being dealt the consequence. Whether or not you think it's fit, you're not being canceled.

You're getting a punishment. And two, cancer culture didn't start anytime soon. It's been going on for decades and it's been going on for decades. Specifically how it started was targeting professors on college campuses. Basically, if a professor was too liberal or was too this or was too that, really it started as small extremist groups and their beliefs, usually very, very religious, very, very this, very, very that. They would basically get students around the country to make hit lists to a degree of where they would then go and protest or write many letters and try to essentially censor someone. Obviously, cancel culture applies to a very large thing because people wanting to

cancel a celebrity for sexual assault, that goes beyond cancel, canceling somebody. That's not really cancel culture that's holding somebody accountable for something very heinous it's called i just learned something about someone and it made me throw up a little in my mouth yeah they're the worst i'm gonna tell them publicly because i can it's a new it's an it's a new version like this this kind of cancel culture is new in the way that everybody has the power to, to get involved. So it seems, it seems like it's the end of the world. It's, it's very easy to feel helpless. It's very easy to feel like you aren't in control. And I think it's, I think it's so important to find a couple

of things that you can control, like whether that's, um, you know, you donate to a cause you feel strongly about, or you donate your time, pick up trash around your neighborhood. Like it's something that you can physically take action on and feel like you do have a little control in making some of the unjust things just, I guess. So that's all I'll say about that, but we're coming up on our time y'all. So I'm going to read off. I'm going to, I'm going to go, I'm going to do a shoot dude. And then we're going to finish off, uh, this podcast where I'm going to allow Noah one moment to rant and he's going to get 60 seconds. Like I haven't already used my moment. All right. I'll say, well, no, 60 seconds. Yeah. yeah think about whatever think about what you want to rant about for 60 seconds okay thank you but now i'm gonna do the shoot dude

shoot dude shoot dude shoot dude shoot dude shoot dude shoot dude shoot dude shoot dude i should put on my shoot dude hat hold on on. Oh, you got a shoot dude hat. Oh wow. The haircut revealed the haircut. Oh yeah. There we go. Shoot dude. This one comes from Ciara.

Hold on. I got a burp. Why do I always have to burp when I'm about to shoot dude? It's like it never fails. It's I'm, I'm straight up that John Mulaney bit about how when you hit 30, you just like, you can't stop like holding back a burp while you're talking. All right. Don't look forward to that. Uh, this one's from Sierra. My shoot dude is the time I gave myself a concussion. Oh, that's something you could

relate to Olivia. Sorry. All right. To set the scene, I have my bed pushed up against the wall and on that wall is a window. I was laying on my bed trying to take a nap and I was facing away from the wall. To try to get more comfortable, I quickly flipped over onto the other side. I didn't realize how close I was to the wall and slammed my head into the window frame, which is made of wood. I knocked myself out but didn't realize it as when I woke up, I just thought I had fallen asleep. Days went by and I had weird headaches,

felt nauseated, and my eyesight was off. I went to the doctor and was told I had a concussion. When trying to think of what caused it, the memory of me hitting my head came back. So I literally napped so hard I got a concussion. I later on gave myself one when taking a shower. my head came back. So I literally napped so hard, I got a concussion. Later on, I later on gave myself one when taking a shower. I dropped my razor while shaving,

bent down to pick it up. When I stood back up, I hit the back of my head on the shower head. I hit it so hard, I blacked out for a moment and woke up in the bathtub. Ended up at the doctor again when i was noticing the same symptoms again and yep it was a concussion so yeah i've given myself two concussions oh shoot dude shoot dude i was late on that but yeah shoot dude

you were late hard to that olivia poor thing thing. That sucks, man. Fuck. I'm just imagining the wood on the windowsill. That scares me. Because my biggest fear is that I hit my head and I touch it and then there's blood. Ah! You know what I mean? That's what that feels like to me. Yeah.

Shoot, dude. Well, Ciara, I hope you're better. Wear a helmet wherever you go. And please watch out for showerheads. All the damage was in her house. She needs to baby proof it. Turn everything to foam. All right, Noah.

Hold on. I got to get 60 seconds on the clock. I'll get a timer. Yeah, you're getting a timer because I'm not letting you go a second over. All right, all right. I'm so excited. Three, two, one, go.

I'd like to quickly rant about how the United States of America is and has always been built on racist laws. And this is from the founding of our constitution and the founding fathers themselves way back in the United States. The 1680s is the first time in any law, specifically in the Americas as well, the term white is used. The term white is used in order to define who white women are allowed to marry, i.e.

not black people, not Africans. At the time in the 1680s and before, there were free Africans going around. Some were slaves, some weren't. Some bought themselves out of slavery. Doesn't matter their circumstances, but everyone was able to live free because it was the poor classes

living under the large classes. In the 1680s, the term white was invented in order to separate the poor classes so that they could be divided and conquered specifically in order to control what white women would make love to, i.e. not immigrants, not black people, not poor people. Make it in time. Google it. You got 10 seconds.

Look this up. I got 10 seconds. Yeah. 1680s, the beginning of racist laws and the term white. You're not white. You're wherever you're from, wherever you're born, and you're genetics. Don't call me a color. Boom.

Interesting. That is very interesting. Very interesting. I made it. I'll have to ruminate i'll have to ruminate on that one yeah look it up i can't remember but you're but i think but yeah you're you're right a rebellion occurred essentially um in the 1680s um yeah a lot laws were made in order to squash that oh interesting a rebellion between the quote-unquote white people and the quote-un unquote non-white people.

Yeah, it was rich versus poor. That's really what it was. Because even non-whites were in servitude. Italians weren't considered white people. Really? Yeah. It's all a mess. Because they were once a discriminated group in the US.

You ever seen Gangs of New York? Oh, yeah. That's some real u.s you ever seen gangs in new york oh yeah that's some real shit there you have it folks uh that does it for the smosh cast if you want to send your shoot dude you could send it to shoot dude at at a perfect smosh.com that's s-h-o-o-t-d-o-o-d at smosh.com um thank you noah grossman and Olivia Sway for coming on here and talking to me. This is a really, this is a really good conversation. I love you guys. I miss you guys.

I can't wait to see you guys soon. Please rate podcast five stars. Tell Noah's Gardener to please be quiet. Oh, that's Olivia's. Oh, tell Olivia's Gardener to please be quiet. Our video comes out on Wednesdays on the pod form and Fridays on video.

So you can see our pretty faces. Can I throw in a shameless plug? Oh yeah. Check out my brand new app introverts and extroverts now available on Google play in the app store. What's that? That's my brand new app. It comes out.

It's out right now. We could all play it, but it's called introverts and extroverts. Oh shoot. Yeah. Check that out. Check it out. Let me plug that. Check it but it's called Introverts and Extroverts oh shoot yeah check that out check it out thank you for letting me plug that

check it out give that app five stars alright bye guys bye bye y'all