The Commercial Break - TCB Informercial: Charlie Berens

Episode Date: December 26, 2025

Merry Christmas and all the jazz! Charlie Berens joins Bryan and Krissy to discuss his midwest journalist start, his Brandy brand and his social media sensation as the Wisconsin kid. Charlie is touring and promoting his new special "Neighborly" on Youtube. Charlie's special Charlie's website with tour and social media info To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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It's the Barron's old-fashioned brandy. I love it. Brandy. How did you land on brandy? Oh, my gosh. Is it your favorite? Is it your favorite? Yeah.

You guys, Wisconsin drinks more brandy than Wisconsin drinks 85% of the United States brandy. No shit. Yeah. Yeah, because of our brandy old fashions. Ah. I had no idea. Okay. I need to try one of these.

Yeah, during Prohibition, all we had here was Brandy. And Wisconsin could not handle Prohibition. The next episode of the commercial break starts now. Good 30 and kids. Welcome back to the commercial break. I'm Brian Green here on a Friday infomercial with Charlie Burns. Charlie coming right up and Chrissy was in the studio with me. but I'm here on a very merry Christmas Eve recording this episode for your listening pleasure.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday and you're taking some much needed time off or away from the family or with the family. I choose away from the family, but the family chose me. So, you know, it is what it is, my friends. It is what it is. We are, of course, on our new schedule. And that is putting out episodes Wednesdays and Fridays. And then Tuesdays and Thursdays, we will be live on YouTube.com. slash the commercial break.

But we're not here today to talk about that. We're here to talk about Charlie Burns. He was a television journalist who then started his own social media kind of parody channel doing what's called the Manatawic Minute. And it's, I don't even know how to explain this. You've got to go check out Charlie's Instagram, which I will put a link in the show notes, as I always do. I found this guy like maybe right before the pandemic.

And because I was born in the Midwest near Chicago, and he is from Wisconsin, there is a certain flavor, a certain dryness, a certain affectation, if you will, to the voice, the comedy, and the mannerisms of someone from the Midwest that can only be recognized by someone else from the Midwest. Now, I think everybody will be familiar with kind of that, you know, Go Bears, Chicago accent, and that kind of affectation. but it's so much more nuanced than that, and Charlie gets it right every time. Why? Because he comes from a huge Catholic family that is from the Midwest, and that is as stereotypical as it comes.

But we found that Charlie was anything but stereotypical. He was nice, he was funny, and he was engaging. Charlie is one of my favorite interviews of 2025, and as we round the corner into 2026, and we do less in a lot of, interviews. I sure I'm glad we got this one in because he was on my list. He was on my list. Not that list, but, you know, the list of people I wanted to talk to. Not the other list. Get your out of the gutter. Told you it's Christmas. Okay, let's do this. Let us take a short break. Charlie's going to be with us here in a few minutes. After we take that back break, through the magic

of tele-podcasting, we are going to, actually we already recorded this episode. What am I doing? Chrisie was here with me. We recorded an episode right before the holiday. You're going to enjoy it. Take a break and we'll be back with Charlie. It's Rachel, your new voice of God here on TCB. And just like you, I'm wondering just how much longer this podcast can continue. Let's all rejoice that another episode has made it to your ears.

And I'll rejoice that my check is in the mail. Speaking of mail, get your free TCB sticker in the mail by going to TCB Podcast.com and visiting the contact us page. You can also find the entire commercial break library. Audio and video, just in case you want to look at Chrissy, at TCBpodcast.com. Want your voice to be on an episode of the show? Leave us a message at 212-4333-3-TCB. That's 212433-3822.

Tell us how much you love us, and we'll be sure to let the world know on a future episode. Or you could make fun of us. That'd be fine, too. We might not air that, but maybe. Oh, and if you're shy, that's okay. Just send a text. We'll respond. Now I'm going to go check the mailbox for payment while you check out our sponsors.

And then we'll return to this episode of the commercial break. Charlie's here with us now, Chrissy, one of the surprising things. You know, I've been following you for years on social media. And I am a Midwest boy born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago. A lot of your comedy is extraordinarily familiar to me. It feels like these are characters I know. These are accents that I know. These are things that I know.

It just feels warm in. fuzzy in that not warm and fuzzy way like the Midwest is. But one of the things I didn't know about you until very recently was that you, previous to being a comedian and content creator, you were an actual journalist, like a legit journalist? I mean, I wouldn't say legit. I did journalism. Yeah, I did journalism for a number of years. I started in college. I was actually working for MTV then with their like choose or lose. Back when MTV. did news and back when MTV did news videos and back when they were a station yeah yeah right and so there was a rep in each state I was the Wisconsin rep and that that kind of got me into this journalism world

but it was always like journalism with like a little bit of entertainment like I work for a YouTube news channel I worked for a local TV station which kind of the local TV news was the most traditional news I did. But even that started off as like, let's kind of do this new infotainment type news. They tried it for 1.2 months. And then they're like, well, they said, let's just go back to what we've all been doing. So that's when I was like probably the most traditional journalist was at that station. Yeah, that's an interesting place to star.

Christy and I actually met working in radio. We did. And we know how did. Yeah, the emerging technology. emerging new media technology of radio. Right, ads, lots, kicks and breaths, Chrissy, when I were a part of that. But it is hard to get the old guard to change their ways.

Part of the reason why the medium is dying, I think, is because it's hard to get people to change their ways. And I would say that you made the right move doing your own thing. I have a question that interests me about you. Are you kind of like, can you go out in the Midwest anywhere to a bar or something? like that without being noted. Like, you must get noticed a lot of places up there. Yeah, I get noticed. Uh, it kind of like the epicenter sort of Green Bay and then it sort of expands. I get less

popular the farther you go from Green Bay, you know? Um, but it's, uh, yeah, I'll get, I'll get noticed every now and again, but I still, um, I still go out and do things and, uh, all of that because everyone most people are pretty nice about it um and they'll just like uh say hi di or whatever maybe get a picture or something and then um and then kind of move on and um i think that's important it's it's you know when you get like and you guys probably experience this too when you get like a little hit of something that goes off online people may recognize you and then you get that but what you really don't want is to like put yourself in a sort of a bit of a prison, you know, where like I got some friends that really can't go out and it's, that's a problem,

you know, or if they do go out, they need security. And these aren't good friends, but my friends aren't. This is more like a friend of a friend. I don't want to like casually name drop. I got a friend with security. I really don't. People you've heard about through the great fun. people's whose podcasts I've listened to.

Yeah, got you. But yeah, I mean, so anyway, but I almost feel like the more like I do go out or go to just like the bar or the gym or whatever, the more people would be used to see me and really the less they care, you know? Yeah. And that's kind of the big goal there. Yeah, I hear you. You don't want to create your own prison. We don't necessarily have that kind of taste.

I think we've been lucky in that sense. We get recognized a couple of places throughout the years. But you have this kind of identity brand that is, it's really spot on. Did you, you grew up in Green Bay, right, in that area? No, no, I grew up in, I grew up just north of you in the suburbs of Milwaukee. Oh, no shit. I didn't know that. Yeah, my grandparents are from Fondelac, so like a lot of stuff.

And my grandma's still up there. So, you know, I shoot a lot of stuff up in Fondelac and people recognize that. so yeah but um but uh yeah and then sort of we we would go up north every year um you know to like uh eagle river or randall lakes or whatever did you ever go up north i did yeah we went up north we would go to the dunes of wisconsin you know we did all of that stuff my dad liked to be on the lake so he not and not lake michigan so you know we would go up north and and visit all of those little places the indian place we go buy fireworks from the indians I mean, there was like, you know, like on the reservations, you could buy fire.

My dad would buy fireworks from some of those guys. And so we had that kind of traditional Midwest upbringing. I mean, we're from Chicago, right? If you ask, I'll say Chicago, but not the city proper. We're like 40 miles outside of the city in this place called Oak Forest. So to me, it felt more Midwestern and homie than it did city. But your content, the way you just have this way of nailing it, like this way of nailing that flavor of human being that is up there wandering the wild Midwest. And I think that that's,

it's comforting in a way, actually. And that feels to me like identity content, right? Like, oh, I recognize that. I understand that. That feels, that feels good to me. What, what, at what point did you hit on this? Like, did you just start making these reals about things that were familiar to you, or videos about things that were familiar to you? And people started connecting going, oh, yeah, that's, that's me. Yeah, you know, it all started doing stand up, um, Because I was trying to figure out, like, I did not, like, I was doing red carpet reporting at this time, which, yeah. Wow, red carpet reporting. Yeah.

And I don't know if you guys know this about me, but I do not have any, I was a terrible red carpet reporter. I did because I got. I didn't know that about you. Yeah, I have bad facial recognition mostly because I did absolutely no research before. any red carpet because I just I couldn't get uh I just felt like it was waste of time I was I was bad at I didn't have a passion for it so I started doing stand-up at night and when you start doing stand-up you're looking for material about yourself like what are facts about me so I was writing these news facts and one thing was at a few places I worked my accent became an issue um like I

I was told I couldn't do voiceovers at this place because of my accent I had I had to get a coach it was a whole thing so I just yeah so I just decided to do this stand-up character who like instead of taking everything people say did wrong and fixing it like I tried doing in the news and still failed I just doubled down on it yeah leaned into it and that was the basis for the stand-up character and that character I could tell did better when I was on stage than anything else yeah just because I think it was relatable people who either were from the Midwest or knew someone from the Midwest Yeah. And so that was the first thing to take off.

And then I was like, okay, that worked for 50 people. But it would be great if I could do this, you know, so more than 50 people saw it. So that's when I put out the first video. That took off when a bunch of other videos I put out didn't. So then I knew I was on to something, you know? Yeah. That's how it works as a digital creator, too, as a content creator in general. just a digital creator, but as a content creator, someone who's creating art or whatever is,

my opinion, you run through a bunch of ideas before you settle into what is yours, what is uniquely yours and starts the people that the intended audience starts identifying themselves as your people. Like, oh, I get that. I understand that. And you're right about something is that, you know, yeah, a lot of the content that you create or that I've seen is focused around kind of this Midwest accent, this Midwest character, this Midwest mannerisms, but everybody knows what that is. If you live in the United States, you know somebody from Chicago, from Green Bay, from, you know, these people, you've seen them in movies or you're familiar with them yourselves. So when was the first video that you, when did you put out that first video? What was that year?

It was, so I think actually, even before the first man, Twagman, that was 2017 and 2017. I put out this video if Jack Dawson was really from Wisconsin, where I just changed, I just changed the voiceover. So everything Jack Dawson said was with the Wisconsin accent. Right. You know, and that was, that took off. But then like six months later in 2017, I put out the first Manitwuk minute. So, yeah, which is fucking hilarious.

Oh, thank you. You're too kind. I'm kind. I'm kind, but not too kind. You got to be kind. Well, you are from Chicago. I am from Chicago. And that's the thing I think about Midwestern that I also think you nail is that, you know,

down here in the South is all warm and fuzzy. It's yes, ma'am, no, ma'am, bless your heart. But we'll talk about you behind your back. We'll talk about you behind your back, right? That the drama happens away from you. But in the Midwest, there is this kind of in-your-face honesty that doesn't allow it to be too over the top. It never feels so warm and fuzzy that it seems insincere. but Midwestern people generally are nice.

Like if you ask somebody for help, I think they would, most people would, except for Charlie, would allow, would do it. Charlie's got security. No, I don't have security. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Don't throw that on me right now. Well, you've got a security team

when it comes to you're one of 12 kids, right? Holy shit, yeah. We read that about you. I did not know that. I was like 12. That's insane. You are from the Midwest. Yeah, my parents.

And Catholic. Yep, yeah, my parents. they really loved each other. And yeah, so it's fun growing up in a big family. Though, like, I really enjoyed that big Midwest family thing. You know, holidays are fun. Yeah. You are not a fight, you know, you are not a steal.

You are not to take food before someone else does. I'm still a very fast eater to this day because of that. Oh, yeah. Me too. One of four. My mom's one of six. I have 29 cousins on one side of the family. And we're Catholic too, so I get that big family field.

You guys still get together a lot? Yeah. My mom likes to have everyone over who's in town, which is a lot of my family who still live in the Milwaukee area, every Sunday. Oh, wow. Sunday dinners. That's cool. It's really nice.

Yeah, that is nice. To get, and people actually make it for the most part if they're, in town. So it's, it's, yeah, that stuff's fun, you know, and, and that's something that you kind take for granted. But yeah, not every family can do that. I mean, a lot of families can't stand each other, you know. Right, that's true. Is there a special dish? Like, I know I'm Italian and so it's, you know, a big Sunday dinner with, you know, the marinera and the meat sauce and the meatballs and all of that. What do you guys, do you guys have any kind of special dishes? I want to come to your house. Yeah, seriously. So much better than anything we're serving. I know. Dry ham.

and dry ham and shitty potatoes. My mom is a fantastic cook. Let me say that. So she's, she'll do kind of a little bit of everything. But I mean, we don't have, I'm Irish and German. And like, we don't really take pride in our food. Right, right. I got you.

Like, we know where the beverages are, but it's sort of the food supports the drinking in his due culture. Well, now you've got your own beverages, too. right? Oh, yeah. A beer and now recently a brandy? Yeah, sure did. It's the Barron's old-fashioned brandy.

I love it. Brandy. How did you land on brandy? How did you land on brandy? Oh my gosh. Is it your favorite? Yeah. You guys, Wisconsin drinks more brandy than Wisconsin drinks 85% of the United States brandy.

No shit. Yeah. Yeah, because of our brandy old fashions. Ah. Oh, I had no idea. Okay. Yeah. I need to try one of these.

Yeah, during prohibition, all we had here was brandy. And Wisconsin could not handle prohibition. Like, you know, like when they said there's prohibition, Wisconsin was like, wait, wait, wait, wait, so we can drink. We didn't vote on this? Yeah. Yeah. And it's too cold not to drink. Yeah.

Right. So people, someone found a stash of brandy and then people start making it in the back. bathtub and... Bathtub Brandi, yeah. Yep, yep. And so that was our thing. And maybe I got that wrong. Maybe it was during the war

because they were rationing. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Either way, Brandy got... Brandy was a hit. My grandfather had a bar in his basement. We're talking like a cheers bar in his basement. Like a legit bar and they would throw parties down there.

And I think this, and I've seen this in a lot of different older houses in Chicago, right? There's an actual bar downstairs where people would throw parties. And that survives from the era of prohibition when you would, I don't know, I guess get by liquor from run over the border from Canada or Wisconsin. Brandi. But I do remember my grandfather in this full bar, so many bottles of liquor and all this other stuff, he had quite a few bottles of brandy. That was how I even knew that it was a thing when I was a kid. But I never started drinking it in particular. but how is, I love the idea that you can go to a beer manufacturer or a liquor manufacturer

and team up with them and say, I want my own booze or I want my own beer. What is that process like? Did you come up with the idea? Does someone approach you and say, hey, you could be a good ambassador for a brand. Let's do this together. Well, no, in both cases, I was like, oh, this would be kind of cool. Especially, you know, on the beer, honestly, I can't remember. I can't remember if I was talking to.

No, someone came to a show, came backstage, gave me a beer, said, do you like that beer? I said, yeah, you said, well, do you want your own beer? And I was like, oh, yeah. Yes, of course. But with the brandy, because I had then done the beer and then the beer kind of crashed and burned, it's tough to sell, like alcohol and or beers. Of course it's very competitive. Yeah, it's very competitive. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. And this was kind of just as the weed seltzers were coming into play. Yeah. You know? So people were like, I'm going to get stoned instead of drunk. And then the actual seltzers were there. So it was tough time to sell beer. Chose the wrong time.

I was like buying a really big house in 2007. Yeah. Not a good idea. But with the brandy, I was like, I did a video how to make an old-fashioned during COVID. and, you know, people, people really, it got like an insane amount of views because people were just stuck inside with their alcohol. Well, right. Drinking. That's what we were doing.

Drinking. Exactly. And nothing to do with the quality of the video. But I then saw, like, how much people love the old fashions. And I was thinking, like, oh, this is just something kind of like my family does here. And so, but then I was like, we're all drinking. Corbell. Like, that's what my grand parents had. And, and, but, but it's, it's a California thing. So, I just wanted to have one that was from Wisconsin, you know. Nice. And, yeah, so that was kind of a

passion project of it all. Okay. It's, it's a fun thing. So brandy is doing better than the beer. Like, we, the, the beer, not so much, but the brandy doing better than the beer. Well, the brandy's still around. Yeah. Yeah. It's still in circulation. Sorry, didn't bring to bring up a Is it available everywhere? I really, I want to try some now. Yeah. I want to buy your brandy. Oh, that's really nice.

It's only available in Wisconsin, so I'll have to send you a bottle. Ah, I love that. A little exclusive kind of thing. Also, it's a, liquor laws are pain in the ass. Yes, they're different in every state and counties. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

And so we just kind of are sticking with Wisconsin because if you want to talk about lax liquor laws, Wisconsin. Yeah. Pretty easy. 85% of the brandy is consumed or purchased inside of Wisconsin. Go where the market is. The market is not in Atlanta, Georgia, for brandy. It's in Wisconsin, except for Chrissy. Now she's the market.

I'll be the second big purchaser. Yeah. Yeah, well, we'll expand out eventually, but I know where to start. You can be my first brand ambassador down there. I would love that. She's good at that. She was a brand ambassador or? Yeah, at the radio station.

radio station for when they rolled out Yingling down here in Atlanta. Right. That's right. No kidding. Yeah, Yingling knows how to throw a party. Let's just put it in. Yeah. Women's got arrested and ended up naked in a hotel room. It was a whole thing. Really? I was with her. Yeah. What happened there? It was St. Patrick's Day party. St. Patrick's Day. They rolled out the beer and they rented and they sponsored a party at a big bar just north of Atlanta, put up a couple tents, freezing cold. They got heaters. they had multiple bands. They went all out. And there was a hotel in the parking lot, you know, like,

next to it. Next to it. And so we rented some rooms. The radio station did. We were being safe and smart, but I think that made us go even wild. I think we were lucky we even made it to the hotel on our own feet. I think we decided not to drive,

but I'm not sure walking was a better idea either. That's hilarious. It's really a dangerous thing. Yeah, when you got unlimited supply and also you're supposed to be the life of the party years. Right. Yeah. Exactly. That's like a job that's like it's good to have for like the distributors and like the salespeople for alcohol. I know a bunch of those guys and some are either like totally burnt out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or they're the guys who like never actually drink. They'll have six and they'll be pouring drinks in the bushes all night. Yeah, they'll keep the beer in hand just for show.

Yeah, exactly. You have to be a pro to be in that job. That's a very interesting observation because I worked in the restaurant business for a long time and I did notice that the wine reps, the liquor reps that would come in. There were two types. There were the party hounds, right? The people who were drunk, like, eternally drunk, just all the time, you know, drinking and drunk. And then there were people who just would, you know, not even sip the wine that we were tasting. They'd open it for you, but they wouldn't sip it. And they're actually the responsible. Yeah, exactly. They probably still have your jobs. They have their jobs. That's right. That's an art form. It is, though, because it's so easy in that business. Even in my, doing the thing, like, people want to do shots a bunch. And I just got to be like, no, you see, you see me do shots.

I'm going to have a PR nightmare on my hand. I just, you know, tell people the, because otherwise you're just drinking all the time. Sure. Yeah, you become a brick trisher. Yeah. You know, it's interesting because when you get to a certain level of notoriety, then you do have to be careful because, yeah, sure, you can go out and drink shots all night long, but everyone acts like an idiot sometimes when they're drunk. And the people are looking to post, they're looking to catch those moments so that they can have some notoriety themselves. Or maybe just unintentionally post stuff that obviously is not flattering.

So I can see why you guard against a little bit, like, you know, taking all the shots or doing all the. things that someone brings with you. You know, it's like a fine line. You want to party all night long, but you got to be careful that you don't put yourself in a compromising position. But I think that it's just like good advice for any human. It is. Now that it's 2025 and we all have cameras everywhere. Right. Yeah. I got it lucky though, because I got like, I get, um, I get like sick if I drink too much. Like I am, I am not. Like throw up sick? Yeah, or just like spinning, you know. Okay.

And I've done that enough in my life to know like that there is nothing for like that's not the way I want to end the night. So like I think that's been a blessing. That is. I don't know what happens. But I pass a certain threshold and it's like I got a, I'm just not going to do it. You know, I'm not a great Wisconsin night in that regard. But I can only do so much. I really can.

Do you know that line? Like, now do you understand where that line is? You're like, okay, two drinks, you know, over a course of a couple hours, I'm good. Five drinks over the night, and I know I'm going spinning. And I don't like that. Yeah, it depends how long the night is. Usually after a hour or after a certain time, I'm just like, I'm just not doing it. I'm on the decline.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You've got to sober yourself back up so you don't lay in bed spinning all night long. Yeah. I have an interesting question. And do you do, when you go out on the road, do audiences, like, are the audiences more favorable to your material, I guess, in the places that you're identifying with, like in the Midwest? Or do you come down to Atlanta and places like Florida and you find that the audiences are just as welcoming, just as understanding, you know, they, they're, they're vibing with the, what you're throwing out there?

Yeah. So the, that's, that's, it's. I found it to be really interesting because I never really thought I would tour outside of like Wisconsin initially. Yeah. But then I was Googling my name because I'm definitely not a narcissist. We've all done it. We've all done it. And the first thing that came up after Charlie Barron's was Nashville.

I was like, what the hell? I didn't. So then that, I did my first, like, out of the Midwest kind of show in Nashville and it did well. And I think I learned then that Midwest people, um, they, move out of the Midwest, you know, but they still want to be reminded of home. And so, so they use these shows almost as like meetups or something. And so there's like a lot of Midwest people that come no matter where I am. And then they drag along their local people who really have no

interest in any of this. But I'll change like maybe a setup. I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll do local jokes, no matter where I am. And, you know, we've done it in London. We've done it in Hawaii, and it's been good. So so far it's been fine. And most of the comedy now, it's like just about the world from a Midwest guy's perspective. So early on it was about the Midwest, and now it's a little bit more broad. Now it's perspective-based and less, like, you know, actually.

Yeah, I get it. And I also agree with you that people from there's a line from the show, the West Wing, that I love about Chicago. And the guy's talking to the fake president on the fake show about presidents. And he says, you know, it's a funny thing. I keep on hearing about how great Chicago is. But none of the people I hear it from seem to live there. And it's so true.

You know, we've done. down here to Atlanta. And I meet so many people that are from Chicago, live in Chicago, you know, but it's, you know, they're transient places. I guess all big cities are transient at this point. But all those people have now fled all around the country and fled the cold weather. And, you know, that's why the populations are growing down here is because people like warm weather. Do you, how do you survive those fucking winters, man? That's the only thing I, I wouldn't be jealous of anymore. Like, I wouldn't, I would love to go live in Chicago, but I wouldn't want to do winters there.

You know, winter's actually one of my favorite seasons because my favorite ducks come back on the river. And red breast and Morganzers, great duck, great duck to look at. Beautiful duck. Yeah, it really is. Ganser. Yeah. Red breast and Morgansers, baby.

But I honestly, the best time, I'm a big outdoors guy. And for me, like, the best time to go walk in through the woods is in the winter, Everything's so quiet because the snow is like a big sound blanket. Yeah. And no one's around, you know. Like you, that, like, it's kind of creepy, but also kind of fun. I realized talking like this, I'm sounding like a serial killer. I was just going to say to you, I think I saw a scene similar in the Ed Gein story that I watched recently.

Thank you. I get that comparison a lot. Ed Dean, Jeffrey Dahmer. John Wayne, Gasey. Do you guys do the ice fishing? I've heard about that. Oh, do we do the, oh, yeah. I mean, it's a whole thing, right?

Well, I've heard enough about it. I used to work for a company, and they were based out of Minneapolis. And so all of that, all those guys up there would, you know, talk about during the winter would be them going out on the ice. And you have like a whole little cabin type thing, right? Yeah, Shanee. You set up shop out there for days. Yeah. Yeah, you can have it out there up until, uh, um, until, uh,

mid-March, but I mean, really, depending where you are, you should have it off end of February because the ice, you can't trust it much after that. We're definitely getting warmer winters, that's for sure. Like, significantly warmer. I'm sure you can really tell being up there when seeing the ice and how long it stays around. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I got buddies at ice fishing guides that, you know, they'll tell you the ones you've been

doing it for 50 years or so that this is, it's gone downhill pretty, pretty, quick. But regardless of that, yeah, you bring out your ice shanty and you go out there, you have some beers and you just sit there with your tip up and lock and load, baby. Right. So interesting. I love this tradition. Yeah. I had a friend that did it once and he went to a shanty right out, out on the ice. And he said it was like really nice. They had like a pot to cooking. Yeah. They were doing a, they were doing the whole thing. And I said, isn't it freezing cold? He goes, yeah, it's not like, it's not warm. He goes, but it's once you put the roof over it and you stay in there for an hour or two. It gets warmer. Like, it's not the worst thing in the world.

And I was like, catch any fish? And he said, nope, didn't catch a fucking thing. It's more about the act of it. Yeah, he said, it was more about just sitting around, you know, having a day they brought some guitars and they were playing. I said, probably scared the fish away because you're a terrible guitar player. You're an awful musician. Yeah, but that's the nice thing. I mean, you put a space heater in there and it can get pretty warm, in fact. Like, you'll be taking layers off, you know. So you can get those as warm as you want them, really. Yeah. But it's a dumb question, because I've never been ice fishing. Does the space heater melt the ice? Yeah. I mean, the thing about hot air is it rises, so you can have a bonfire on the ice if you want. And you will melt the ice a little bit,

but that's not enough. The question of how much ice are we talking? And if it's a foot, yeah. Yeah, if it's a foot, you're fine, you know, depending on what the weather's been like. If it's snowed after the first ice, that's not good because it now insulates a little bit and it makes it soft and it's easier to fall through. So, you know, these are all the things that go through your mind before you decide whether or not to drive your truck a mile and a half out on the island. Exactly. It's like we live in two different worlds. Do you know what I'm saying? Like we worry about pollen and tornadoes and they're worrying about driving their truck.

on the ice. And these, like, even when I grew up in Chicago, we did not go ice fishing. I, of course, have walked over frozen water before. I've seen lots of snow. One of my friends who lives in Chicago currently told me, it's the snowiest December and like 80 years or something up in Chicago. He's like, we've had 18 inches of snow already.

But he also says that it doesn't snow as much. I remember it snowed all the time when I was a kid. It felt like snow was just a part of the winter. But he was sharing with me that over the last couple of years, it really is not a part of the winter. It might snow here or there. Now I'm sure up where you're at, it snows more often, I would imagine.

In Milwaukee, no, not as much. It does more often than Chicago. But, you know, and we did get a, we do have like a very snowy winter this year because of the polar vortex. But, you know, we'll see. We'll see. But yeah, historically it has gone down a little bit, you know,

so quite a bit, I guess. But, yeah, I mean, even in my lifetime, when I was growing up, it was snowing all the time. And now, yeah, you get a few days in southeastern Wisconsin or a couple, a few weeks of snow just depending on the year. But, you know, that's how it goes. I feel like I'm talking to my, my uncle or my cousin. Like, it's just, your voice is so familiar. Your mannerism is so familiar. No, it really is.

It's kind of a, there's a little homey feel going on here. We're talking about the weather for 10 minutes on this. We're talking about the weather. We're ice fishing. You know, it's all... Liquor. Liquor. Checks it all off the list here.

Tell us about the special, which is why you're here. You're not here to talk about ice fishing. You're here to promote your new special, which I understand is going very well. It's on YouTube, link in the show notes for all the listeners. Where'd you film it? How are you feeling about it? Thank you. I'm feeling great about it.

You know, we put it up on YouTube. That's sort of where I started doing all the things. and the last one we put up there and did really well. So, you know, and I got like that, just a lot of, you know, you build like a community. And, um,

you really just want to, uh, like embrace that. And, uh, I'm glad I did because, you know, people have been really nice.

You know, you put it on Netflix and they write all these bad reviews about you. You put it on YouTube and I can just delete your comment. No, I actually haven't deleted any comments yet. I haven't deleted any comments. Not yet. There are a couple mean ones, but that's fine.

Most of them are positive. But no, it's called Neighborly. Had a lot of fun with it. We shot it in Appleton, Wisconsin, which is the first stand-up special ever shot in Appleton, Wisconsin. Yeah, also the last stand-up special ever shot in the hotel-tons.

Don't have the infrastructure for it, do they? No, honestly, they did such a phenomenal job. The P.A. up there. It's a beautiful theater that the Fox Valley and that area of the state that's over by Green Bay. I mean, that's such a great audience is over there. A lot of Packers fans. Yeah. So anyway, we had a lot of fun doing it. Such a blast. Great crew. All that sort of stuff. And yeah, it's up on YouTube for anyone to, you can do it for free. So that's for all my Midwest cheap people. I really have a very money conscious fan base, let's say.

I think everybody's money conscious except for the, you know, the billionaires running the country. I think all of everybody is paying attention. I've got a lot of content creative friends who have subscription-based stuff and people are leaving and they're saying they're sorry. And it's just the way that it is. You know, the economy is cyclical. And so, you know, I'm hoping the depression doesn't come soon. But you can check it out for free on YouTube right now. And make sure you follow him on the social media because he, you're good.

for a laugh all the time. Anytime I see one of your videos come up, I'm like, oh, good, another. You honestly, you make me laugh and you have for a while. Oh, thank you. I appreciate that. You're welcome. You were starting to sound like my dad there. You're good for a laugh. You're good for a laugh. Some of the time. Some of the time. Yeah. I don't want to fluff you up too much. If you're going to come back, then we'll go full cuck if you come back. But right now we're just, and tell your dad, I said, you, you, you, What number are you in the 12?

Oh, I'm second oldest. Your second oldest. Okay. So in 12, that's like being first. You know, there's so many below you that what are the age discrepancies? Like how many years between you and the last one and the youngest one? There's 17 years between the oldest and the youngest. I can't do.

I can't do the further math on that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, no, it's fine. I'm not asking you to. But I just was wondering if you connect with the youngest ones, like when you get that many children in a room, do you connect with the youngest ones as closely as you might connect with the ones

that are closer to you in the age? Well, I mean, the older ones, man, you know, we were diving into mulch piles together. Yeah, trendsetters. Uh-huh. And, you know, we kind of lived through a lot of... We lived through more life together. So there's obviously a connection there with the older ones.

Right. You just, you can't. It's impossible to replicate. You know, we saw each other get in deep trouble and all that, you know. And so you have a bond there of like any similar. But now with the younger ones, they're also, they're a different generation. There's two generations in a family of 12. And the older ones are better raised, you know, so it's tough to.

Yeah, I agree. I agree. More was paid attention. Yeah, I have 12 to 13 children and I'm wondering which ones I can throw out. is why I'm asking. Are the young ones? No, I don't. No, I'm kidding.

It's a joke. Oh, okay. I have three. Yeah. It seems like 12. It seems like 12. After two, it's just, it's all chaos. You know what I'm saying?

Right. Yeah, that's probably what my parents were thinking too. Yeah, but by the time the youngest one came along, the oldest one was out the door or on the way out the door, right? Yes. It was a rotation going on at least, at the very least. But I can't even imagine your mom must have gone fucking crazy. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, she, she handled it so well, but I mean, there's only so well you can handle what they did, you know? And, but she, she's, she's a saint.

She really is. She did an amazing job. And my dad, too, you know, but, but yeah, we did a lot of stupid things and put them through a lot. And, but the younger ones, it's a different existence because, you know, you don't, like, wake up, come down in the morning at, like, seven of them. and all the lucky charms are gone. You know, these kids had

lucky charms. And yes. You know, my brother was one of those psychos that would get down there at 645 just so he could start doing spoonful shots of the marshmallows. That's our best part. Yeah. But then I just got a bowl of like the unlucky charms

and it sucked. But, yeah, the younger ones, they never had to deal with that sort of stuff. But that's okay. Yeah, listen. You know, everyone has their cross to bear, as the Catholics would say. Catholic boy by that. Wow. What's that? I said, you're a Catholic. I can tell by that.

I'm definitely a Catholic. Well, Reformed Catholic. But I grew up Catholic. I grew up Catholic. I went to Catholic school. You know, I did the whole routine. So I've lived enough Catholic lives for all of us together. Charlie's new special is available. Like I said, links are in the show notes. Charlie, a real pleasure. I really appreciate you coming on. You're welcome back anytime. Are you? coming to Atlanta is the question we always ask. I'll be out there. I'll be out there at some point. Nothing on the books yet, but we got some stuff close.

If you go, my website is Charlie Barrens.com slash tour. My memory is garbage. So you might have to go there to look and see if I'm around you. But I hope to come to Atlanta. And if so, I'll bring that bottle of brandy. And you guys should come to a shell if you want to. We would not miss it. So let us know.

Thank you very much, Charlie. We really appreciate your time. Yeah, thanks for being here. Thanks, guys. Watch for deer now, all right? Bye-bye. Thanks, Charlie. Appreciate it.

We'll see you soon. Okay. Thank you. Rachel here. Well, Brian takes his old man bladder to the little boys' room. Let's Talk Turkey. TCB needs your help. If you love the show, do us all a favor and share.

Sharing is caring. And we know you care. Don't you? Well, don't you? Ooh, that was some childhood trauma. Rearing its ugly head. Do you want to be on the show? leave us a voicemail at 212-433-3822,

and you could be the next TCB disembodied voice. Ooh, what'd you do today? I was a disembodied voice. You know, that sounds more dangerous than it actually is. Find us on Insta at the commercial break. On the web at TCB Podcast.com, and all the episodes on video are available the same day at YouTube.com slash the commercial break.

I'm going to go help Brian get back up the stairs while you listen to the sponsors. And then we'll all meet back here and get it. Get back to this episode of the commercial break. I'll take a raise now. Biches. Bye. Okay, three things that I learned about Charlie during and post the interview.

2.7 billion views on his collective social media. 2.7 billion with a bee. That is monstrous. By comparison, on our commercial break Instagram, we have 2.7 views. So follow us there at the commercial break. We'll tell you when we're going live, Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can jump in, get involved in the fun.

That's going to be going on after the first of the year, that first week in January. We're really excited to get back to it. Live here from the studio with you as a part of the show. 1 o'clock, Tuesdays and Thursdays. You never know what you're going to get. We might do two episodes a day. We don't know. We don't know.

We're going to play it all by here. We're going to see how we're feeling. We're going to hope my old man. doesn't fall asleep halfway through the first show, and if that works, then we'll go to the second one. Okay, other thing. The only YouTube special ever recorded in Appleton, Wisconsin, is Charlie's special, and it's available now on aforementioned YouTube.

Neighborly. It's out now. One hour, three minutes worth your time. I know you've got some time off. Go watch it. And even if you're not from the Midwest, you're going to get it, because he's really fucking funny. Okay, and then a number three thing that I learned, that I'm glad I didn't ask.

But if you know who Laura Cleary is, another very popular social media and YouTube creator, there was a little hubble-up about the two of them dating there for a while, I almost asked them if it was true, but then Google told me it wasn't. So to dispel any rumors, they're just friends. No, Laura, no Charlie, not together. and you'd have to really be down a big rabbit hole to even understand what I'm talking about. I spend too much fucking time on social media. All right, YouTube.com slash the commercial break Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Catch us live. Then you'll be able to hear those recordings here Wednesdays and Fridays starting the first week in January. All of Charlie's information is in the show notes down below. Follow us at the commercial break on Instagram, DM us, We'll get right back to you. I promise. And yeah. So you're going to get an episode New Year's Eve.

You're going to get an episode on the second. That's all I can do for you. Until next time, I will tell you that I love you. I will say best to you. We must say, we will say, and we do say. Bye! On game day, pain can hit hard and fast. Like the headache you get when your favorite team and your fantasy team both lose.

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