The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 680 - Pole Sitting

Episode Date: April 22, 2025

Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine the exciting fad of pole sitting. SOURCES TOUR DATES  OFFICIAL MERCH Squarespace use code: Dollop Mint Mobile  Hydrow - use code: Dollop

The dollop is brought to you by Squarespace Dave our friends forever We've we've been using Squarespace forever. We love their websites. They're crisp. They're clean. They're easy to use You know well stuff look we've said this over and over again But if you want to know if we really do like Squarespace go look at any website We're affiliated with and it is Squarespace. Yeah.

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They do it all. You can sell content. You can sell your exclusive stuff right on their site by adding a paywall. You can sell memberships. You can sell courses, whatever. You can sell stuff. I'm doing a ropes course on my website. Is that what we're talking about? I feel like we shouldn't have you on this. Okay, keep going. And if you're a business, you can manage your clients and invoices, vetting and receiving payment.

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When you're ready to launch, go to squarespace.com slash dollop to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. You're listening to The Dollop on the All Things Comedy Network. This is an American History podcast where each week I, Dave Anthony, read a story from American history to my sworn enemy. Wrong, Gareth Reynolds. There was no idea what the topic is going to be about. Not your enemy, dude.

You are. After today, you are. Buddy, come on. After today, you are. Come on. We're not enemies. We're not enemies. We have a will they won't they?

It's different. You're playing games with my life, with my family's life. I have a family. We have things planned. It's called a will they won't they? And when somebody says we'll do something at this time I got my times mixed up an early morning text saying we'll do it this time and then that person read us all their plans and Then you come back and say no, let's do the original someone shot an arrow through my stomach. You're a virus. I

Had I'm a vaccine I had to save the president's life. Why would you do that? Because he's the greatest president of our life. I always think about the fact that I know a guy who has a father who's a Green Beret. He passed at this point, but the first time Trump was going to run for president, he and his other green beret guys, old dudes were like, we should take him out. That's just like, we talked about this. They were really considering it. It's just so crazy.

It is the best Tommy Lee Jones, Morgan Freeman. Isn't that just such a movie? Like these old guys. Yeah. It's such a movie. Yeah. Yeah. Well, for the, yeah, we got to do this, a movie. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we gotta do this. I guess yeah You're you're going to die Just leave one of them dies on the mission

Lewis I can't do it today They forget where they're going. What do you mean one of them has, I don't think we should do this. It was your idea. Gareth, we're going on tour. Did you know that? I did. Yeah, we're going, it starts in June.

This is 2025, June 3rd. Sacramento Punchline. Now what we've done on June 3rd and Sacramento Punchline is this show sold out. So we are now doing a second show that night. I think 9.45, is that what time it is? I think so, yeah. 9.45 and it's going to be a best of show. It's a classic.

I will pick the topic this week, so we'll be able to know. Oh, okay, you will, okay. Coming very soon, so we should just do like the rave or something, like we should just do a classic. Should I know what it is? No, probably not. I think you hide that from me too. I think that's good.

So we'll do an old episode, but we'll do all new commentary jokes, all that. We did it in Albuquerque and it was very, we did truck nuts and it would go to our Patreon if you want to listen to that, it's coming out soon. But it was very funny. So, you know, if you're a, I guess if you're a big fan, that's a great show to go to our Patreon if you want to listen to that, it's coming out soon. But it was very funny. So, you know, if you're a, I guess if you're a big fan, that's a great show to go to. And if you're not a big fan, what's your fucking problem? I mean, what are you

doing? What are you doing? Yelling us on Twitter? Yeah. Also, after Sacramento, then we'll be the next day, June 4th in Boise, then June 5th in Spokane, then June 6th in Seattle, then June 7th in Portland, then June 8th in Bend, and then June 10th in San Francisco, which is where Gareth originally asked me if we want to do a second show. Not second one. And look, there's upside and there's downside, buddy.

Jesus Christ, dude. There's upside and there's downside. It's just- Isn't it hard enough to live in this country, not get misinformation from your own fucking podcasting partner? Isn't it exciting to figure out stuff randomly that you thought was solidified? Two things.

One, when we go to Boise, can we call ourselves the bad Boisies? Okay. Two, we really have noticed a drop off on doll heads being tossed on stage when we walk out. No. And that's been affecting performance a little bit. So we noticed that a lot of people are holding onto their doll heads until after the show and gently... Guys, you are the doll heads.

We are encouraging you to lean into the movement and bring the head of a doll and toss it up there for us. And we're loving it. And this... media wise, this thing is taking on life of its own. So doll heads, if you're out there, toss a doll head on stage, we're living it, we're loving it.

You know, so, yeah, just, you know, I mean, again, if you can afford a doll head. If you can't, other people will provide. If you throw a doll head on stage, I will pick it up. We agree. And I will throw it back at you as hard as I possibly can. That's a promise.

So that's exciting. So toss a doll head up there, guys, and then Dave's going to pelt him back at you. But we love it. We always like to say it's our roses at our opera. So give it a toss. Thanks, guys. May 11, 1893,

here by Lord J-Town, who is just. Stop. You gotta get the bandanas, but he's talking about starting a band, and it's just something I think the kids are into. So if you're in a rock and roll band, it's okay to rock for Jesus.

If you're skateboarding, it's okay to skateboard for Jesus. Wind surfing, windsurf for Jesus. Jesus doesn't know he loves it all. 1893, Aluasis Anthony Kelly was born in Hell's Kitchen, New York. His mom died during childbirth, so he killed his mom. Yeah.

That's how. I mean, I don't know. That's the baggage you gotta carry. I killed his mom. Yeah. That's how. I mean, I don't know. That's the baggage you gotta carry. I killed my mom. It, well, it's only weird. I mean, I don't know. I kinda like it. I think anybody who's mom dies during childbirth,

you carry that with you, right? I actually. I wouldn't call it a power move. I actually don't think it's funny, and I don't think, I think joke-wise, you're- You't call it a power move. I actually don't think it's funny and I don't think I think joke wise. You just called it a power move. Yeah, but I'm I learned a lot since then. Now his father had died before he was born. So that's how he came out an orphan. Wow, that's nuts. That's horrible. So day one, he's on his own.

Well, what happens in that situation? Just orphan right away? Family, I think, or orphanage. Family or orphanage, yeah. His dad was a rigger and worked on constructing the Brooklyn Bridge. So Al was adopted and raised by a family friend. And when he was seven, he was said to be annoying

an old man one day on the street, and the old man went after him, so he climbed a pole to escape the old man's wrath. Now, this is, in my time on this show, this is important. This is in my time on this show. This is important. This is both facts I've said are important. So I think the climbing of the pole is pretty big. So is the Brooklyn Bridge. But you two years later, he, quote, did a human fly routine

up the side of a building. We're jumping. So this is going to this episode must be a little wild because this is starting big. Chopped off a building. OK. Yeah. Apparently, he did not enjoy his adopted family and he ran away at age 13 and changed his name to Alvin, which is what you do.

Alvin, if you're going to if you're going to Alvin, which is what you do. Alvin, what's his last name? If you're going to hit, his last name is Kelly, if you're going to hit the streets, pick the worst name possible. Pick the dorkiest name. Yeah, but you're a guy named Dave, you've always loved to shout Alvin.

Hardcore. There's no more hardcore name than Dave. Will you do me a favor? Hardest core. Will you say Simon Theodore and then yell Alvin? Simon Theodore Alvin. Yeah, that's awesome, dude. You know, in a real way, I am the Alvin of this show. You are very much so.

Yeah, I have fun. This is fun. Throw those heads on stage, guys. So Alvin got work as a merchant sailor, which now kicks off a string of risky jobs. Over the next 15 years, he took jobs that other people really avoided. Alvin was a steelworker, a steeplejack, a high diver, a boxer, and a stunt pilot doing aerial stunts. To be passing on, to be taking jobs that most people pass on in turn of the century at that time is really wild. It is really wild though.

Yeah, it's, you're out of your mind. Yeah. You're a toot tooter. Yeah. A what? Yep. A toot tooter. Yeah, a what? Yep, a toot tooter. I think that's the term. That's right.

So he signed up to serve in World War I and was in the Naval Auxiliary Reserve. So he's not, if this guy's not a coward, let's just put that out there. No, he's not a frady cat. After three years he's discharged. Somewhere along the journey, Alvin had picked up the name Shipwreck.

Now Alvin said it was because he had survived multiple shipwrecks, plane crashes, and accidents, car accidents. He also claimed to have survived the singing of the Titanic. What? Which is definitely not true because there are Kellys, but they're all women. There's no last name Kelly, bro.

Okay. And there's certainly no Alvin or Aloysius. So he pumps up his resume a little bit? Whatever, it works. You got a brand? Your name's Shipwreck. Sure, sure. I wanted to You got a you got a brand. You got a brand. Your name shipwreck. Sure. Sure. I wanted to just do a Trump impression. I want everyone to know that I sat on it because that one guy complained so much. Others say he was called shipwreck because as a boxer, he was knocked out multiple times

and he fought under the name sailor Kelly. Oh man. So they call him ship. That one makes sense. Why don't UFC fighters lean into character work a little bit more? That would be awesome. Yeah, I agree. Like as a sailor ones and just, you know, just give, give your, I mean, take a little bit of the wrestling theatrics and the UFC needs more pageantry when you're watching these guys get Alzheimer's on a mat.

It does indeed. It does indeed. So Alvin made his way to Hollywood and started working as a stuntman and a double in films. And now this is the time of fads. Popular fads, piting competitions, dance marathons, there were double stones like walking on planes, by planes, there's a lot of, I wish, I read through some of them and they're just,

you're just like how fasting was a fad, there were just all these, people would be like, I fasted 63 days, and it's like, no, you're alive. So that, you didn't do that. Oh. On January 1924, a local movie theater hired Alvin to climb up a tall pole and stay there

to get publicity for an upcoming movie. Crowds form. Very exciting. Skype a poll. Sure. People are amazed. Like they can't believe this guy exciting. Skype a poll. People are amazed. Like they can't believe this guy is sitting on a poll. He's just sitting on a poll again. For hours. He's just sitting on a poll.

He is up there for 13 hours and 13 minutes. I feel like I'm aware of this event. Is that possible? Maybe. You're aware of a version of it. this event. Is that possible? And maybe. Okay. You're aware of a version of it. So this is this is in the papers, right? It's a it's very exciting. That guy was up a pole. And Alvin's interviewed and he said he also climbed buildings quote, how did I come to be doing stunts? Well, I

just naturally like to climb around. That's how to get answer. Yeah, it's it's in his nature, that's what he's saying. Plus remember his dad worked on the Brooklyn Bridge, he's working some stuff out. Climb up the pole, his mom. Yeah. Okay. He's trying to get closer to his parents.

Yeah. Who live in heaven. The press led to Alvin getting a lot of other offers from businesses to sit on a pole in front of their business and he takes the offers. I like the idea that, I felt like they were gonna have a more creative spin on it but they're like, what about this?

Sit on a pole again. That's exactly it. But now we've got a great idea. We're a tobacco company. So we thought a perfect tie-in would be, what if you sat on a pole once more? It's working, by the way. A crowd forms around your business and then people go into your business. It works.

It's very successful. So it's mainly for foot traffic. Yes. Yeah. Okay. He's not like up there eating a hoagie for blimpy or something. Well that's a great idea. Thank you So he starts touring

He gets fans and there's people mimicking him and many people good Many people around the country start trying to break his 13-hour record There's a picture of a guy Called the human fly 13 hour record. There's a picture of a guy called the Human Fly who is up a flagpole in 1924, but he is just on his stomach with his arms outspread and he's just like on the pole like that. So there's a lot of crazy shit going on. Sure.

But Alvin is the OG and he quickly starts to make up to $100 an hour to flagpole sit at store openings. Now I read somewhere else it was $100 to $500. He's at Amusement Parks, he's at County Fairs. That's $1800 an hour in our money. Again, he's sitting on a pole. Did I mention that he's just sitting on a pole? Yeah.

Now, are you confounded because it's so death-defying or because kind of what I was rubbing up against just now was like, if you're at the fair and you're like, you'd literally just be like, wow. All right. Hey, guy of a pole. Yeah. Get out of here. I mean, that's it to me is that he's just sitting

on a pole. Now it is dangerous. He can also nothing else is going on as we've talked about nothing. It's like this or reading or yeah, or a guy walked backwards into town like that, by the way, for comfort and safety, he balanced on a small cushion seat, which was just 13 inches in diameter. So basically he has a bar stool that he puts up on top of the pole. Sure, okay. And he sits on it. Basically, so flag poles are being modified for this and he sometimes puts, he sometimes puts stirrups on it for his feet and that helps him keep his balance. That's a little cheap to me. That's not as good.

I like the traditional one where you know a guy's slowly bruising his anus. That's right. This went, it went in me, it went in me. Just imagine. Call the doctor. Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh uh. So he would sleep just a few minutes at a time

taking naps upright. Up there? Yeah, well now he's, because every time he goes up, he has to beat his record. He's napping up there? Yeah. Well, that's not okay. Okay, so he would hook thumbs into holes

that he made on the pole, right? They would modify the pole. So he'd hook his, put his thumbs into these holes, and when he starts to lean, his thumbs would hurt and wake him up. He is, he can't, he's so, he's so unaffected by what he's doing, this is the most jaded you could be with your work.

He's on a pole, falling, do you not think that's crazy to nod off up there? I do think it's crazy. That would be like us being like, well, during a show, we need to come up with a way where if we nod off, we can just wake up right away. I don't. Sorry. Honestly, if I fell asleep during a show, just let me sleep.

I did To Kill a Mockingbird in college, and I had the smallest part imaginable and I was in the jurors box sometimes we do two shows a day and I would literally just be sitting in the jurors box as like a human body to be in a jurors box and there were a couple times during the live show where I was like I am genuinely nodding off during this performance I was like on stage doing the like not off head thing where I was like buddy you got you gotta lock in. Wow, okay, so he's passing out a little. Okay, that seems strange. But waking up, he's figured out a way to do it, right?

Yeah, he's got thumb holes. So it keeps him in an upright position. He also used ropes as stirrups to keep his balance, prevent him from falling. A lot of extras. Now, it's going on for days, right? So now he's shaving on the pole. Sometimes he would get someone to come up and cut his hair.

Come on, stop. I'm not sure how that would go. The haircutter, I couldn't find out how that would work. I read several places that said he did get his haircut while at the pole. He got a haircut? So it's obviously very stunt based. People are like, whoa. Yeah, it's doing stuff that'll make people interested.

He's whacking off. Yeah, that's that got weird. Ah You made his pole on a pole we really had a Disney Sort of version going on and you took it straight to penthouse. Hold on. I'm getting a text from Disney. They're out I don't know what it is It's about the montage. I guess they've no it's not You made it you made our sweet little romantic pole thing. Wait a minute. These holes aren't just for thumbs anymore.

Actually, I did the whole pole gun up your butt, so what are we talking about? Look at him now. He's fitting right in that thumb hole with his Janssen. So Alvin is spending days, a week, up a pole. He refused to eat solid food while on the pole, which. He doesn't want to shit. He doesn't want to shit over the side, yeah. He doesn't want to take a deuce.

But I mean, by the way, if you're talking about stunts that would be great to watch on the pole, like watching someone kind of pulley a toilet up there for him to drop a deuce, that'd be awesome. Why does he have to pulley up a toilet? He could just drop one down. He is essentially easily in a squatting position, right? Hey, but I'm not married to any pitch here I love that just drop it over the side. I love that. I think that's great. I think people would cheer that that's awesome

Catch it in your hat win a pie so no solid foods he would he would drink broth and And water they would hoist it up in buckets to him. Sure, he's like a Wim Hof. Now to pee, he had a tube hidden. Sure, we all do, it's called the erythra. It would somehow, and he'd somehow hit it. I don't know how he hit it, but the tube would go all the way down to the ground on the flagpole,

and so I assume that he just went to the ground on there, and so yeah, he's peeing into a tube. Okay. That's what I'm saying. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Okay. Mm-hmm, that's what I'm saying. Yeah, I'm telling you, although paying over the side would be really... I completely agree with you that if, maybe we're just too early in his timeline,

because eventually I would be like, I'm over this and they'd be like, did you hear he's shitting and pissing? I don't know, I saw him shave up there. Oh, he's pooping off it now. Wait, what? Oh yeah. Ah, that's good stuff.

So he also did stunts for charity in April 1924, the Los Angeles Evening News reported, quote, people hurting to hurting. No, that's, that's a autocorrect. Hurling must be, okay. People going to and from lunch at 12.30 today who observe a small figure scaling the walls of the Lane Mortgage Building, 8th and Spring Streets, will know that Shipwreck Kelly is doing his stunt again for the benefit of disabled veterans.

Kelly, repeat the stunt at 7.30 tomorrow night at the Garland Building, 9th and Spring Streets. So he's doing it for charity. He's doing, because he was a vet, he's helping other vets out. While he was doing it, veterans would walk around with their hats for people to put money into. So that's how the...

Or to catch his crap. Or to catch his turds. And after that, Kelly told reporters he was more afraid of LA traffic than climbing buildings. Cause jokes. Brother. I hear ya. Boy, do I hear you.

Boy, that traffic, sometimes I just sit in that traffic, I go, what the hell is causing this? All right, the dollop's gonna be right back. We'll be right back. The dollop is brought to you by Hydro. Oh, Dave. Hydro, of course, is the sweetest full-body exercise machine.

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We didn't know that the ad was gonna actually go in there everybody, that was not, it's not gonna be a regular thing. So Kelly's studs were not just about the time he spent on the poll, he's orchestrating media events. He traveled across the country, he's doing stunts all over, major cities, Chicago, New York, Atlantic City, crowds gather, because everyone knows about this now.

They watch him eat and sleep and shave. He's just living up there, perched on a platform, just dozens of feet in the air. Other countries do not get in on it. This is very much an American thing. The paper- Other countries are so lame. Yeah. The paper, The Sport in Adelaide, quote, a new hobby has broken out in America,

the land of dollars and novelties, movies and prohibition. It is sitting on a pole, just that. Apparently Americans have tired of long distance dances and long distance swimming, and now they are creating world championships for sitting on flag poles. How dare you, Adelaide? How dare, Adelaide, of all the places. Of How dare you Adelaide? How dare Adelaide of all the places? Of all places.

We have been. Adelaide. Adelaide closes at 9 15 on a Friday. How dare I know for a fact that if there was someone sitting on a pole in Adelaide right now, it would be the biggest thing going on in that town. 100%. 100%. 100%. It's Adelaide.

Celebrate. He was always trying to one up himself. In September 1926, he stood on a flagpole affixed to the top of an airplane and flew over the central business district in New Orleans to advertise a festival at the fairgrounds. Hey Adelaide, any comments? He's now sitting on a plain pole.

Any thoughts on the boring Americans? You don't need alcohol when you have this going on. That's right. Dare you. The more Alvin News thing, the more news reports there were, and the more people wanted to imitate him or break his records. Because again, there's no skill involved.

I would contend that there is something involved like a skill like there's there's a lack of fear. Yes, it's a skill. There's no skill. That's not a skill. History is littered with idiots. Could you shave on a pole? Could you shave on a pole?

Yes. Well, buddy, I think we got a new Patreon tier. Yeah, so more people want to do it. People are now just sitting in chairs attached to a pole. On the reg? Yeah, people are doing it all over the place. And the press is eating it up. This is now, it becomes like the reality show of the 1920s.

Okay. Reporters are following the daily struggles of the sitters. You know, honestly, is there any story we've ever covered that the media doesn't quickly ruin and make shitty? No, no. Like it's like, I'm not trying to say poll sitting should remain grassroots, but it's like, I don't need to know the likes and times of these people. You do.

Why'd they call up the poll? What are they doing it for? Who are they? And what does your son think of this? He misses me so much. He said he doesn't care if daddy lives or dies and I'm showing him that he does. That's why I've got him up on the pole with me today. I'm sure somebody did that with their kid, but I didn't find that.

So it is, it's like a reality show. The reporters are just covering everything, and that's why people are so interested, but also, well, people, it makes people more interested in watching them do mundane shit, like shaving and getting a haircut and doing it, right? Then they're more interested, so. Like there are people, like these pictures of-

So potentially you're walking, potentially you're walking down the street and you're seeing, potentially you're walking down the street and you're seeing three to five different people on polls in an area? No, no, because it is, it is a one, like one person doing it. Later on there are contests where people do it. Okay, but, but there's, but you're still, pretty much every town has a poll guy? Kind of, yeah.

I mean, there's kind of poll guys everywhere. And it's exciting because that's your town poll guy. And there's pictures of Alvin just reading a paper up on the poll, brushing his teeth, et cetera. So in 1927 in Kansas City, Missouri, he spent 147 hours atop the West Gate Hotel, but then in the college short because it was February and just brutally cold. It dropped down to 17 degrees. But the final nail in the coffin was the wet part of the weather. He was getting quote, there was rain and snow and smoke from the railroads. That's one week I won't forget. I mean, 147 hours.

That's over two days. Gareth. No, it is. I need you to do more math. It's over three days. Gareth. It's over, it's definitely over three days. It's over three days, yes.

It's also over six days. It's over three days, yes. It's also over six days. It's over 20 days. No, it's like seven days I think. It's like 60 days. Can you divide it by 24? Yes. And? Three. Screw you Adelaide.

Why? Why? You were never a math guy. You were never a math guy. You were never a math guy. You were never a math guy. You were never a math guy. You were never a math guy. You were never a math guy. Three. Screw you, Adelaide. Why? Why? You were never a math guy.

I'm the human calculator. You were never a math guy. I'm the human calculator, baby. Give me a number. Oh, it's six point one. It's six point one to give me two numbers. I just gave you four and two, four and two. What do you want me to do with them? I don't know, put them together?

I don't have a license for that part. Can't just be doing that willy nilly. Are you crazy? I'll throw my back out. Yeah. So a month later he's in St. Louis, Missouri. And it seems to me like he's touring and taking offers.

So these are all offers. It's some business that offers them. That's why he's in Kansas City. And then so he's in Kansas City and then the next month he's in St. Louis because he's just taking the offers and traveling. Yeah, he's touring. Again, he had to cut it short.

This time he's atop the Maryland hotel roof, and he now has a manager who said they're charging admission to the roof to make money. He made about 2,000 from admission. He also made money from ads. He's putting ads out. And his fans are just like, the ads stop at 1041.

So now you have to put him in the middle because now he's got to put him in the middle. They're like, ah, this guy was like fucking for us. The St. Louis club Democrat reported Kelly's poll sitting brought in a hundred thousand down to a hundred thousand dollars to downtown businesses because of all the people coming in. That's a shitload. How many people are coming? Like that's crazy.

I'm really fighting the Trump impression wants right now. Um, I think his manager must've been, um, I mean, yeah, he brought in a guy who knows how to make money, right? Yeah. He brought in that's what the managing approach is after the first Alvin. How are you? My name is Gus Harard and I'm one of the I'm the main poll manager in town. Oh, big things for you. What do you mean? I just sit on polls, I don't need a manager. Exactly. With my help, you'll be sitting on polls

by the time I'm done. I am sitting on polls already. Yeah, but we're gonna go to roofs. I'm already on a poll, most of these are polls on a roof. It's a flagpole mostly on a roof. All right Thank you. Yeah, bye. Take care. What if you started shitting? Okay. Yeah what yeah, I don't know

So that time in st. Louis's cut short because of lightning. And wind so strong that his aides had to keep moving the wires around it. So some of these are, they keep the pole fastened by using wires and the wind is so bad they keep having to move the wires. He's like, I can't. Man, dying like that is unreal. To topple. Absolutely not, no.

Fuck that, oh my God. That feeling as you're trying to climb it down to beat it. Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha. Oh! Oh no. But they had to come up with another way to generate funds and after he came down from the pole,

he went straight to a furniture store where he was now to sleep in. I'll sit on a couch. He's sleeping in the show window. He's just slept in the window. Yeah. That's a weak pivot. Quote, in which he was visible from all directions and entered a daybed, which had been prepared for him so straight.

So he knew he was going to come down the pole early. He's going to he's going to. So he's not going to make as much money. So he comes down and goes straight into a furniture store. They make a deal. His manager makes a deal. And then he's just going to, he's going to, so he's not going to make as much money. So he comes down and goes straight into a furniture store and they make a deal. His manager makes a deal and then he's just going to sleep. What if that one just sleeps in your window? That is a crazy, my guess is people like, I mean, people could not have been that, no, stop.

They loved it. What the fuck? Are we about to enter a new zone? People including kids are pressing their face against the glass to get a look at this man sleeping. Outside on the street, vendors announce you can buy a postcard sketch of Kelly's life for 15 cents. Crowds are forming. People are very excited. And he goes to sleep around midnight. He's tired, because he's been up on the pole. I understand, you don't, what do you think?

I forgot the beginning? I get the beginning, but are people enamored because they're watching a human in a window or because it's him specifically in a bed? It's him. So he's got that sort of draw where? What if you could go watch Walton Goggins sleep in the Macy's window?

Yeah, well look, all right, well done, I get it. Well done. You picked a perfect person. That's perfect. By the way, I would like to report Walton is a super nice guy. I know there are a lot of bad ones out there. I've had conversations with Walton.

He is a super nice guy. Can we call him friend of show? Yeah, I think so. So friend of show. Yeah, we love the guy. How do you know him? How did you meet him? Name drop, let's get into it.

What happened? Josh is really good friends with him. So I've been to parties and little gatherings where he's at. I'm going to try, I'm going to talk to Josh because I think I need to get over there and get a piece. I don't think so. It's not for you. My that my sort of circle of friends are not your circular friends You know, I mean you know

Lower look you're a Luke level guy. What if we gave them? What if we gave my hand full of soup as a thank you? Like I let you meet David Cross and I'm regretting that. Come on, David loves me. We're close. By the way, what's his number? Yeah, so that's when 20 year old Bobby Mack did it in Los Angeles September 1927. There's a photo of her a few feet up a pole.

Really not a lot. Again, it's on the top of a building, so it's a small pole on the top of the building. And she's, quote, hoisted in a well-padded chair. She wore blue silk pajamas. Sex it up a little bit. I'm not really pajamas. No.

They can be pajamas can be hot if worn correctly. Somebody a little veal fabric boy. That's what you like. A little hot silk like a little silky rub. Little weirdo. Bobby set up the poll for 21 days setting a new holy shit for breaking the record. She was paid 2500 which Gareth is $46,000 today. 21 days.

Yeah, that's a lot of days. So you have to poop in that time. You have to poop. So what's the poop plan? I don't know. I mean, no one covers that, and it is very much just from a human perspective. She had to poop. It is, I think one of

the first things people think of is what did they do with the poop? Dave, most questions, most of the first questions I have were the poop. In any circumstance. Yeah. You say that almost every dollop. What happened with the poop? Well, where did it go? Where did he go?

What was he doing? Did he like the poop? I got to assume a bucket and you let it down. I gotta assume you're just doing it all in a bucket. Well you said they were like raising soups up there in a bucket so you drink the bucket of soup. I hope it's a different bucket. No, no, not for me. See you're one of these hoity-toity Hollywood types who names drops walled goggins and stuff. I'm a regular guy. I'm pooping in my soup bucket. Hey, boys. You might want to hose out my soup bucket. Jesus Christ. So she's doing it for a dance hall that's singing PR and the pole is up on top of the

roof of the dance hall and her fiance also breaks a record for being at the bottom of the pole for 21 straight days. I've often found that people who are in the pole sitting world shouldn't date because it's just like you're kind of competing with the same sort of stuff. I don't know. I just like that he had to get in on it. Yeah, he was a man. A man. Are you kidding? I also could do it. Woman. I'll do it 22 days. After she broke the record and came down, they immediately got married that night at 10 p.m.

Papers reported, quote, "'It is rumored, however, that the happy pair "'intend to signal several practice flagpoles "'all around their future home.'" Wow. I mean, well. They're gonna build, what else would they do, Gareth? I don't know.

They're gonna build flagpoles around the house. That's who they are. I don't know, we're on. It's in their. Live a they are. It's in their- Live a regular life. It's in their blood. They're poll people. They're pollers.

Sure. They're poll men, poll ladies. Sure, I don't know. Poll-vays. Move on. Like the poll-themed house where you'd be like, Jesus Christ, you too. Shipwreck then sat for 12 days up a pole in Newark.

A month later, Joe Holden Powers sat on a pole atop- Holden Powers? Very good name. Yes. Sat atop the Morrison Hotel for 16 days in Chicago. When he came down, he had six fewer teeth because a storm slammed him into the pole faced first. What the fuck?

What the fuck? What are we doing people? What are we doing? Go down. Get down. When did the storm happen in the timeline of this pulse it? I don't know. He sat up there a little long like he sat up there days with no teeth.

I couldn't figure it out. Like some of these are just very like that. He didn't come down because he lost teeth No, I don't think he did. I think he came down because the 21 days were up. He didn't do 21 days though He did 16, right? Oh wait, I was reading the wrong one. Oh, yes 16 days. Sorry. He came down the other day He comes down but it end of 16. Still, he comes down. But it's pretty hard to end there. Well he gets down, and this is what he says, Gareth. Ow!

There's just one thing that really concerns me, and that is that some people have the idea that this is just a stunt. It isn't. No it isn't. It's an art. It's a serious effort to gather scientific data for the advancement of America's place in the field of flag pole sitting.

I'm not doing it with any idea of personal advancement. I'm doing it for flag and country, God and Yale. I can't believe there's a Toby Keith of pole sitters. Oh my God. A guy turning it into patriotism. And again, no one else in the world is doing this. I know. And that's the it's like he's making it sound like space travel.

You also missed the part where the last thing he said was he was doing it for Yale also. Well, I don't understand that part. They don't either. He must have gone to Yale. He must have gone to Yale. These are for the Yaleites. Hey, keep us out of there, huh? This is for the Yale folk.

You're embarrassing us. Take that, Harvard. Joe said he thought a new crop of fiscally fit young pole sitter was due to prohibition and that they would break records no one would get dreamed of. I mean, I don't. OK. Quote, such tremendous advances have been made in this field in recent years, but to

attain such great- This is the same guy? Yes. Does this guy know what he's actually doing? He's been up a poll for 16 days thinking about his speech. He just sat up on a poll. I mean, he honestly does sound like the Blue Orbit lady crews. It's like, well, we finally, we came down and we figured

out how to solve earth. So that's helpful. But to attain such great things, we must spend money. We must establish training schools and carry on research. What is he talking about? I went mad up the pole. What is he talking about? What is he talking about? We are a flag pole sitting nation. The future of flag pole sitting is before us. We need to put every single dollar into this cause. Do you want the Russkies to climb flagpoles and beat us? Look, look, we need

to put a man on pole. And the people just start chanting USA, USA. Obviously. Because we chant USA in anything. We're invading Poland. Gareth. We'll figure out why later. Days later, VH Crouch of New Bedford, Massachusetts, broke the record by sitting 17 days and two hours. Now, what is the record? Didn't that woman sit 21 days? I'm very confused by. It doesn't count. She's not a man. I think she broke the lady record. I think that's what this is. I'm very confused by this because this is what was in the papers and they were literally acting like she didn't do it, but maybe that's just how we treat women. I know. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

She did that. This man did seven days as a man. Hey ladies, sit on polls lots. Not a big deal. That's right. That's how babies are made. So 17 days and two hours, but the LA Times reported another man was already up a pole atop the Rose Room ballroom and he was being called the Phantom of the Flagpole.

Jesus Christ. Because Gareth. Dave, Dave, Dave, hold on. Let me jump in, Dave. The amount of times in this country where the dumbest fucking thing that could be thought of happens and then it becomes the most popular thing that is happening and then it becomes saturated in the most dumb idiotic possible fashion. It just happens a lot. We're almost 700% in and this is not slowing down. He was wearing a mask and the paper reported, no one knew why he was wearing a mask, though some had guesses. Dave. Quote.

Some had guesses. One faction declared that the phantom put on a mask in hopes that one might wonder who he is. I think, okay, there we go. They're right. Wow, what a guess. There we go. They're right.

That's it. Got it. Oh my God. But people are too busy wondering why he is sitting to wonder any further. The Times also said the phantom was shaving and eating three meals a day, also smoking 100 cigarettes

and drinking coffee throughout the night. Jesus Christ. So he's like a guy on a deadline. He's like a reporter trying to bang out the story. The diet. You're going to need to send a cardiologist up the pole. Why? But OK, he's taking the mask up to shave.

This man makes very little sense. I mean, yeah. Maybe it was just the top of it. It was probably kind of just one of mask. It's one of these masks. Yeah, yeah, it's a bandit mask. Right. Yeah, because I've seen, I've obviously seen the pictures.

Obviously. So, 100 Seconds and Drinking Coffee is amazing. He also tied himself to the pole at night for safety and the Phantom was said to be reading fiction magazines and requested someone send him up an adventure novel. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.

Oh my God. On July 26th, he requested a cork helmet to protect him from the sun. After breaking. Can we talk about his packing? This guy packed horribly. You gotta bring a hat. He didn't bring anything to cover his face and he has nothing to read.

It's LA. You gotta bring a hat. He just brought a suitcase up there full of cigarettes and coffee grounds. It's like how a kid packs a suitcase. So he, after breaking the record, he came down on August 5th, and his identity was revealed that night at the Rose Room during a bathing suit contest. So they- There's a lot going on, a lot is happening.

Thank you. They, and there's all these celebrities there for the bathing suit contest, because you can't have a bathing suit contest without all the celebrities. Yep. And so they planned this. They planned, it was like an evolution in poll sitting

because now you have the masked poll sitters. So they've got from reality show to a mystery show, right? Masked poll sitters is now a trend? Well who, yes, who, I think, because there's other pictures of people in masks, so who is this person? What is this mystery? So it's the masked singer sort of version of pole sitting.

Yes. And then he just comes down to a bathing suit contest. And there on stage, that night he was revealed as Captain Robert Hull, a 45-year-old vet who had fought in the Spanish-American War and World War two and the Boxer Rebellion and he was given 2,500 by the Rose Ballroom a set he had set a new record for pole-sitting 18 days I mean besides the moment besides asterix a woman broke this earlier

Clifford Stevenson however had already begun his quest to set a record three days before and was now sitting atop the flagpole over Hoyt's theater. So before guys are finishing. Yeah, the other guy's already starting to break the record. The other guy's already up. Yeah, give him a minute. He on the 22nd, he was on the verge of the record. The Long Beach Press Telegram reported he was doing radio broadcasts from his chair on the flagpole. What is he just doing? Like a top 20 show or it's about the poll?

He's answering thousands of letters that are coming in. Okay. I mean, the questions had to just be so limited. Is it scary? Does your butt hurt? Where's the crap go? You're in Iowa and you're like, I'm going to write that fellow on the flagpole a letter. Yeah. Where do you address it?

Yeah. It's just going to say the mail carriers like a pole. It's working. It is estimated that a thousand letters a day are coming in. Quote in several Eastern cities. I don't know what's crazier the person doing it or the fans. The fans. It is the fans. The fans. The fans isn't saying because the person doing it is trying to get money. Yes. Yes. This is a lot of money. Yes. Yes. This is the content. It's just have better taste. Yes. Yes. This is the content. It's just have better taste. Yeah. Quote, in several eastern cities, large crowds gathered in front of radio loudspeakers each night to follow the lads attempt to set a world record.

All right. And here's another letter. This question is, is it scary? Well, I just kind of answered that one. It is scary, but you get pretty used to it. You know, we're like, there's not enough news for 24 hour news? Yes. And it's just people sitting around

listening to people, it's literally what this is. Yes, yes, without question. There's nothing there, there's nothing happening. Again, there's no alcohol. There's no alcohol, you're just sitting around, you're at a loudspeaker at a radio store, sitting around listening to a bunch of other people.

There's nothing happening. Just, just, just thinking about ale. Just sitting there just like booze was so good. Quiet, he's about to answer if it's scary. He just answered that one. Well, he's gonna do it again. He was said to have spent most of his time trying to answer correspondence

during the final two days Clifford was offered a weak contract for stage performances at Hoyt's so the theater is on top of so again This was all built in before officer and then he was also offered a vaudeville tour So they wanted to see how popular would be it was very popular, so now they're like, we can get you on the circuit. When Clifford came down, he went straight to a barber, then a Turkish bath, then did a show at Hoyt's, and then went back to a Turkish bath where he got massages to get the kinks out of his back and legs. Oh, I can only imagine the atrophy.

Garrett, that is the life of a world athlete though, isn't it? I guess. I don't know. I mean, world athlete though, isn't it? I guess. I don't know. I mean, the Turk. I don't think so, no. It's like. I think we're talking about a world class athlete breaking a record.

It's like when Holden poker players got big. Yes. You're just like, what's going on? Everyone's like, now I'm a poker genius. Here's how to be good at poker. But it's just polls. And you were just like, look at this guy. This guy, you were just all of a sudden just like,

these guys are some of the best athletes ever. And you'd be like, he's getting cheeseburger on the cards. So this is how it went. Poll after poll sitter, one upping the other, week after week, it's just a constant, week after week, it's just a constant, month after month, it's just a constant breaking the records. People would bet on how long they would last,

venues set up bleachers for people to watch, vendors sold snacks and souvenirs, Alvin remains the big name, and kept having to break records to stay on top. You can see how problematic this is going to get, right? Yeah, it's not great. It's setting up for some sort of failure, disaster, death. He's the ambassador of the sport.

Sure. And then in 1929, kids start getting in on the action. Nice. Yeah, that's good. That's good. Definitely good. That's good, definitely good. So they're gonna put the little jackass warning up before anyone does a poll?

In Baltimore, 15-year-old Avon Azeez, Azeez is his nickname, Foreman, climbed up and stayed atop a pole for 10 days, 10 hours, 10 minutes, and 10 seconds at the end of August. He put an ironing board on top and then just plunkered down. And as he slid down the pole on August 31, a crowd of 4,000 people applauded. Well, they're enabling him.

Yes. His girlfriend Lena exclaimed, quote, oh, ain't he grand? Well, this can only set off a terrible trend His prizes from different businesses were a set of golf clubs a lucky stone What that guy was like someone hands up golf clubs that cuz like maybe I shouldn't give him mine. What do you got there mister? What is this? That's a lucky rock.

Oh, okay, great. It looks like a regular rock. What makes it lucky, mister? It's been in the magical forest, but also near Poles. What forest? The Emerald. Ah, right.

That's where the little goblins and such forth do their things. Okay. All right, cool. Well, they're... It's a lucky rock! Yeah, I heard you. A wreath! That's awesome.

By the way, I have a lucky rock store. I have a lucky rock store. Please, please, please, please, sir, please. By the way, you can get more look at this yeah on 4th Street oh a trophy look the size of this actual truck huh there's a lot of lucky rocks for sale yeah yeah yeah no it means a lot to me thanks can you kind of move out of the way a little bit some of these people are trying to heal your horse oh my god all right well look I don't even want to get into it I don't have a horse it'll heal yourself I don't thank you very much for it thank you my

girlfriend and I are gonna try to go oh look at that look at all those oysters thank you sir you could win the lottery with my right. I just look it's a regular rock It is not sir. You've told me nothing very special about it It's from the Emerald Forest and came from a bed. You have a lot of corn in your teeth You're mid chew or you haven't brushed them less than one elves What what? teeth. You're mid chew or you haven't brushed them. Bless my elves. What? What? Blessed by the forest elves.

The Rock. Hence son. Sir. I won. I gotta go. Sir, I gotta go. There's four thousand people here trying to celebrate me right now. I want a yacht. OK, well, if you came over here with a yacht to give me, that would be great.

Instead, you just gave me a rock. And the reason why is because I had seven lucky rocks in me pockets. Because it doesn't look like you're chewing. So you just have a mouthful of half-chewed corn. So let me get some of these other gifts, please. All right, we're going to get out of these other gifts please. All right. Look, we're going to get out of here, sir.

Take care, sir. Why are you smelling your fingers? Why are you smelling your fingers, sir? You smell like lucky rock. All right. Goodbye. Baby's still behind us. I'm not going anywhere, son.

Baby's following us. I'm with you. No, you're not. I'm not going anywhere, son. B.B.'s following us. I'm with you. No, you're not. I'm your dad. Take your rock back. He also got neckties, a book, free dance lessons, a pair of shoes, a dental exam, asserted ice cream, cakes, candy and $60 in cash. They cite this list with the guy who gave him the rock.

Here's ice cream. Did you keep an eye on the rock? Hold on tight. Azean originally got up after a local baker offered him $1 a day, and he said he didn't need the dance lessons as he could already do a clog in the Charleston. Wow, what a prick. He also said the first three days were the hardest and that that night there was a large community celebration in his honor.

Japanese lanterns were hung on the street, which was roped off for dancing. The mayor gave a speech. A band played Hail the Conquering Hero. Quote, another prominent guest for tonight's function will be Al Turner, to whom the hero last night graciously presented the cap he wore during his great sit. Mr. Turner is considered presenting the cap to a museum. We've just always been the dumbest country. We just keep tweaking the details. We are so dumb. It is incalculable.

There's just never been dumber. It's just shocking. This is in Baltimore. So now Jimmy Jones 12 announces he's going up on a pole in the backyard of his home and that he would break Avon's record. This is, this trend is getting bad. He did not have an ironing board but would strap himself in at night.

His mother said, his mother was said to be acting as his manager and handling all PR. Avon's success led to what one newspaper called an orgy of sitting. All by kids. Language needs to be very delicate for a moment. Not great. Maybe, and this is just me as a journalist observer,

maybe we shouldn't use the word orgy Super when kids are doing something super into this call Quote all over Baltimore boys and girls took the to the tops of trees and poles So kids are just climbing trees, which is okay considering the poll option, but they also probably just don't have polls. People are putting up polls in their backyard for their kids to climb. Oh God, I'm sure they're just barely putting them under too. Yeah. It can't be great. If you're quickly putting up a poll, it's not good.

Death numbers have to be going up. I would love to see some of the polling. The Baltimore Sun reported 25 girls and boys from 10 to 15 years old were battling it out. The mayor was congratulating and encouraging the mayor. The mayor, the mayor, the fucking mayor is encouraging them. It shows no how in the American spirit. The mayor should be going, look, 18 is the legal age. Oh, so now you probably want to shut down

all of our American poll training centers. Yes, very much so. Jesus Christ, you want the Russians to win this? Sure. The mayor said the kids had grit and stamina and that was essential in the great struggle of life. We're saying great Americans be great Americans today. And that they had the old pioneer spirit of America.

This is what America was founded on. This is much like the pioneers. Yeah, this is exactly what our founding fathers did. Genocide and walking. This is what they're doing up there. That's basically what American pioneers used to do. Son, can you kill a Native American while you're up there? I could sure try.

Boy, oh boy, that would be awesome. City inspectors were sent to test the safety of polls all around the city in case kids climbed them. People wrote in to express their opinions in papers. Oh, I can only imagine. Oliver Lewis and Johnny Sudhop were on the same poll, but then Oliver's mother decided to go to Cambridge and said he had to come down. They were on the same pole, but then Oliver's mother decided to go to Cambridge and said he had to come down. They were on the same pole? Yeah.

Well, they probably had some sort of little. Bored? Bored, yeah. So Oliver's done it, and that just meant that Johnny was up there alone. He's eight. Oh my God. Oh my God.

Jesus Christ. Well, Gareth, after a couple days, his mom started to worry and said, quote, he was getting on her nerves up there. So she ordered him down. Oh my God. She's angry. He's eight.

He's eight. 14 year old Charles Wilson was up a pole at 1717 West North Avenue. He had also placed an ironing board on top, but he was uncomfortable sleeping on it. And after one sleepless night, his mom ordered him to come down. That's I mean, look, it's glad I'm glad they're stepping in. But the idea that they're worried about the sleep schedule seems like a low tiered issue. Ten year old Ruth McCrudden went up a 25 year old pole in her backyard, quote, every preparation

was made for her to do her sitting. No, I'm sorry. The tent house, her boyfriends. No, wait, what? At the base of the pole at night so they could keep her company. Who was at the base of the pole at night, so they could keep her company. Who was at the base of the pole? Her boyfriend's, the neighbor's boyfriend's. She's 10?

She's 10, but they're not like boyfriend, boyfriend, like just friends that are boys. That, well, I don't agree with that either. Ah! Her perch. At every monitor appliance, there was a reclining board and electric light, and Ruth frequently dined on ice cream

and combed her hair in spare moments. What the fuck is happening? Another girl, 13-year-old Dorothy Taylor, was also up a 17-foot pole. She'd added even more stuff, quote, two pillows and a blanket, a tent and a light, a sweater, a cap, a silk scarf, raincoat, umbrella, belt to keep her from falling, magazines, a library

book and a radio. What? Dave, Dave, Dave, David. What? What? She got her bedroom up there. Dave. Exactly.

She's pole sitting. Yes, but she's pole sitting. How is she? You need more stuff. How is she doing that? What do you mean? She's got a big board up there. She has a board that can hold all that stuff?

Yeah. I have to look at a picture. I have to see something. She's gonna stay for 15 days. That's her plan. Look, it's... Now, Gareth, as with you, a question of ethics began. Yeah.

People are asking when is a flagpole sitter not on a flagpole? Yeah. But some said it doesn't matter as long as they're sitting up high. That's kind of not my ethical issue. No. They're up't matter as long as they're sitting up high. No. They're up high and that's where they're sitting.

So that's what really matters. My ethical issue is different. Ruth's mother was upset to learn Dorothy had cushions and a backrest and a radio and other comforts. And Ruth had none of that, Gareth. She had a house. She wasn't looking to be pampered and make it easy. So Ruth's mom went to look at Dorothy's perch

and announced quote, Ruth is sitting on a regular pole and not on a divin' 15 feet high in the air. Oh my God. My daughter's doing this the real way. There's a lot happening. What you're saying is overwhelming and the real way. There's a lot happening. What you're saying is overwhelming and the images are. Did you find images?

I don't know what to think. I recommend everyone just Google pulsating and you can put kids in there and what not because the images are insane. It's a madhouse. I don't... Okay. Well describe what you're seeing. Well, one guy looks like he's in a torture chair

and he has, it's a lot, he has a lot of stuff atop the pole. We'll get to that guy. And it actually, huh? We'll get to that guy. It actually actually... Huh? We'll get to that guy. It actually does... I can't believe I'm actually weighing in on the ethical framing of this. It seems very easy when you have chairs and boards and stuff.

Here we go. Part of Alvin's... Oh, okay. I'm a purist. So you're like this old... Yeah, you're an old man purist. I'm a purist. Yeah, you're an old man purist. I like what pole-sitting was, just a big bit of steel versus an asshole. Pole-sitting advanced, old man, and now we're doing different things with it.

Well, now it's easy. Anyone can do it. Oh, I don't want it to be fun, old man purist. It should be a test of your fear of heights and the steel of your bum. But it is, it's also just shocking that now everyone's doing, you know what it is? It's podcasting. Yeah, you're right.

It's podcasting. Yeah, now we have the Rogans. The mayor came to visit Ruth and told her to have some of her boyfriends come up and keep her company. And then, and then he signed her autograph album and he The mayor came to visit Ruth and told her to have some of her boyfriends come up and keep her company. And then he signed her autograph album and he checked the support wires to make sure they were safe.

Meanwhile. The mayor did? That's good. Meanwhile, Dorothy is up there blasting her radio and said she doesn't care about pole-sitting ethics. Quote, I'm sitting anyway. Some people said Dorothy couldn't fall off if she tried. Oh yeah?

I love that they're talking about it's not fair because a kid could fall down, like other kids could fall down and she can't. Yeah. No. No kid should be falling down. She's not gonna die. And that's an issue. That's exactly what they're saying. She's not gonna die. And that's an issue. That's exactly what they're saying.

She's not gonna die and I don't like that. And then people start asking why the mayor isn't visiting the kids in South Baltimore. Quote, he's spending too much time out on Palmall Road. He doesn't seem to know that South Baltimore's on the map. Jesus Christ, what have I done? I didn't realize, I honestly didn't realize how stupid this could get.

I really made a mistake. Now I gotta go see every kid. How's my polling on handling polls? Dorothy has now gotten so much shit that she ditched her cushions and was now lying on the hardwood. Jesus Christ. Well, we showed that 10 year old girl, didn't we? so much shit that she ditched her cushions and was now lying on the hardwood. She's right. Well, we showed that 10 year old girl, didn't we?

And I'll teach this kid to do something. Thank God we stepped in. Jimmy Jones, mother didn't give a shit quote. She had entirely too easy most of the time. It's impossible for her to fall out. Oh my God, just go kill her. Why don't we just throw her in fire? But then she then did say that she hoped

Jimmy would come down soon, quote. I've been up her eight nights now. I just can't go to bed and leave him up there out alone. He's only a child, and I just have to stay up. What are you talking? There's another option. He's your child. He's a child.

I haven't been able to sleep since my child went missing up that pole I can see. Oh fuck. Young Melvin Floyd wrote the Sun to say he had started his sit on August 6th at 9 a.m. and he wanted the paper to send him what the rules were. The Pikesville police were upset by how young Ralph Knott had been treated by the press and said he deserved better write-ups. Others said the same about Harry Jeffrey who was on a 30-foot pole quote, He's sitting on the highest pole in town and he's really sitting too. Were the cops saying that? Yeah.

They just start shooting people on lesser poles. Yeah. They just start shooting people on lesser polls. Someone held a poll party. My God. And Ava, that was called an orgy. Ava came as the guest of honor. The son chastised the criminal who stole the mayor's

signature out of Ruth's autograph book while she was sitting on her pole. Oh, my God. We did, Dave. who stole the mayor's signature out of Ruth's autograph book while she was sitting on her pole. Oh my God. We were did Dave it go ahead. I'm not. When Avon heard that someone had stole the mayor's signature, he went to see Ruth and told her to have courage.

New kids were climbing poles daily. One climbed a tree but fell after an hour and broke his arm. He was 10. I'm shocked. That's the worst thing we've heard so far. All the kids put donation boxes at the base of the pole. Ruth. Now we gotta pay for it. Ruth collected $22 in nine days. Jamie Stanton took on $40 in nine days, William Vettel had $20. Then everyone just kind of got tired of it,

probably because so many kids were doing it. So saturated, yeah, you were probably like, I don't see kids on the ground anymore. Then it was like, this kid stayed on the ground for nine days. By September, the whole thing just kind of faded away. Everyone just stopped paying attention. That was it.

That's classic us too, the burnout. Yeah. We just can't do it in moderation. You can't have that many kids climbing poles and everyone's like, all right, another kid's up in polio. I know, now it's an epidemic. It's only interesting if it's- Is this how polio started?

Yes. Whoa. But it's only interesting if it's a couple people. Once it's 20, 30, all over the place, it just doesn't mean anything. Yeah. Podcast. In July 1930, Alvin's current record was 23 days.

And that's when William Penfield, a professional steeplejack, decided to break it. What is a steeplejack? I don't even want to know what a steeplejack is. No, I don't even care. They go up on the churches to repair steeples. Okay. I thought it was a little more graphic or build them or install

them. Whatever. Sure. He lived in Strawberry Point, Iowa and decided to be called steeple people. Go ahead. I'm done. Go just talk and decided to pulse it atop the town's 100-foot

flagpole which he himself had installed five years before. So that's high. That's very high. But at the same time, at this exact moment, Alvin is pole sitting in Atlantic City trying to break his record. Businessmen in Strawberry Point love the idea

that Bill is gonna go up and they back him. Now Bill made a special chair, which I think is the one you probably saw. The chair basically looked like a barber's chair with all the fixings. He could sit, lie down, and stand up in the chair. He had a heavy rubber blanket for raining cold and a quilt. He's camping. A phone, yes, he is camping now.

A phone was put on top of the pole so he could communicate with the ground. Now, I haven't been a purist up until this moment. Well, well, well, well, well, well, the problem with your late purity in the game is that some of us have been saying this is what's gonna start to happen, and you let the line get pushed, the line get pushed,

and now the fact that some guy's up there in a lazy boy, you actually have an issue. Well, tough shit, Jack. If you jumped on board what we were going for a little bit earlier, maybe you'd have a pole to stand on. But you no longer do. Because now there's some guy up there who's basically got a studio apartment, and you're just sitting down there going,

I have an issue with this. Well, yeah, some of us had issues with people were sitting on boards some of us said real polling was when it was a man yes a man a poll and an anus and that was it you let him push it look I made. I think we all did. We were caught up in the fever. Not all of us. Not all of us. I'm not impressed by some guy who can go bring a couch on a pole. I apologize, but let's just fix it.

It's time for regulations. What do you want to do now? Well, what's the line? We need to regulate it. What are you going to regulate? What is the rule you're going to make? Bar stools only. That's a pretty good pitch.

And we'll call it Barstool Sports. That's... I can't see it getting weird. And I'm going to run it. I'm going to be a fucking dick. Nah, I don't like it. I'm a real piece of shit, Dave. I'm... I'm Dave. I'm, I'm out. I'll see you later. I'm out.

I'm out. I'm out. I'm out. I'm out. I'm out. I'm out. I'm out. I'm out.

I'm out. I'm out. I'm out. I'm out. I'm out. I'm out. I'm out. I'm out.

I'm out. I'm out. I'm out. I'm out. I'm out. I'm out. I'm out. I'm out. I'm out. You guys can look it up. It's William Penfield and he's up on this chair. It's like, you can't like, it's just like, what are you like, it's really like, what are you doing now? Now it's absolute. Now it's just like, I'm well, just go sit out on the fucking levy or something like that.

Yeah, go on a balcony. He also has a phone up there. So he communicate with the ground. Crazy. The city council is worried about liability and they tried to get an injunction to stop him before he goes up. So he so they got it, but he climbed up at 3 a.m. before it could be served to him. Oh, that I respect.

Yeah, it's just the race. That's American. But what are they trying to get? Why? They're trying to get him to not do it. Why? Because it's stupid. Because it's so stupid? And it's dangerous. He could fall and then sue them. Like it's the whole thing is just

a bad. It's a bad idea. It's a bad idea. Right. Okay. Okay. From just a from just a city government. It's a lot more than could fall. Yeah. The business guys love it because it could bring a business, but the government's like, what the fuck are we doing? Yeah, right. So once he's up there though, there's no way to get him down,

except by maybe shooting him. Not above it. Within two days, 600 people have gathered. Of course. And they're watching him shave. Five days later, it's 6,000. Oh my God. People from coming from other states.

A week later, the temperature is 108, but he remains. Oh, my God. He's at the top of thermometer. Oh, I'm out for sure. I'm so out. I don't want to be anywhere when it's on her date. No, I'll wear my rubber blanket. He's just cooking.

Bands come and play. No one. It's a small town. No one. It's a town of a thousand. No one, it's a small town. No, it's a town of a thousand. No one can find a place to park a traffic jam into town goes on forever. After 46 days, holy fuck. He says he has no plans to stop. Oh my god. He said he had put on weight for eating milk, milk, toast, chicken, fish, cantaloupes, and fruit,

and then just sitting there. It's not like he can exercise. I guess he could exercise. You could find a way to exercise up there. I really think it's very limited. You made the core. It's very hard. A lot of bends.

Yeah. Up and, sit ups. I would focus on diet. Yeah, I would focus on diet, but my core would be fucking rocking. Okay. I'd have abs. I'd come down from that thing and people would be like, six.

Shredded. Jacked. Steady coming down 40 pounds heavier. No, my arms and my legs are really small and weak, but my abs are just like bang. Like Stallone abs. It's crazy. I look like the weirdest man alive. Jesus, what happened?

All abs. All abs. Everything else is just atrocious. I didn't court for 60 days in a chair. But I can barely lift my arms. Like it's crazy. My arms don't work. Only one visitor went up and he was a fellow steeplejack just to say hi.

He listened to the radio. He and his wife celebrated their 23rd anniversary at the poll. At the same time, Alvin is in Atlantic City up his poll and he sets a new record. 20,000 people gathered to watch. Jesus. You can't get close to see it.

Now you're not watching anything. No. It's like going to see comedy at the Madison Square Garden. It's not, it doesn't work. Well, unless it's Dane, but go ahead. Unless it's Dane Cook, yeah. 20,000 fucking people. Crazy.

49 days, that's how long he was up there. On September 10th. Alvin. Yeah, no, Alvin, yeah. But then on September 10th, just a few days later, Bill passes Alvin's record. So it's September 10th, just a few days later, Bill passes Alvin's record. So it's the same thing. You set a record, but there's a guy waiting for you

to get down so that he can set the record. Yep. Two days later, a lightning storm drove Bill to the ground, 51 days. Wow. But there's a problem. The town had planned a celebration for the 19th. They had a stage, they had speakers coming in, bands.

So Bill goes back up on the 14th. Can't take a break. And then he comes back down on the 19th for the celebration. Well, you can't clock in. It's not a job. You don't get to go have land breaks. He went back. I'm going back. He's down. He's down for two days and he's like, all right,

I'll go back up. How's it look? We got a whole thing planned. What are you doing? It's consecutive, though. That's what we're going for, not cumulative. Look, you can go back up. No one will know the difference.

People are just excited to see you come back. Send a double. He had hoped this stunt would make him rich, but after expenses, he made $1. He needed a manager. What's that in today's money? It's like $500. It's not much. He really needed a manager. He went into a grind. He was an amateur. He didn't he really needed a manager. Yeah.

He went, he went into a brain. He was an amateur. He didn't know what he was doing. Wow. He, but here's the thing offers role in then in 1831 he was paid 3000 to stay up on a radio tower for 79 days. Holy shit. A few days later, someone broke that record, but he had enough money. It'd be good for you to stay on a radio tower.

It's great. He bought an 80 acre farm though, so he won. He won. Sure, sure. In 1930, a mass pole sitting contest was held in Baltimore with over 20 competitors simultaneously turning the city into a carnival. But the luster is coming off.

There's accidents. I mean, you could just go in and if you go into like a newspaper site and you could just poll sitter fall, poll sitter accident and they just come up like crazy. Like a poll sitter was electrocuted to death in Chicago when he touched the wires on top of the pole. Well, don't touch the wires on the pole. Well, you picked the wrong pole. Yeah. Look, you're either going to die or become the Hulk.

In Buffalo, the health inspector forced a man down calling him crazy and a moron. So tide is turning. Yeah, right. And Kentucky, a 16 year old fell and broke his neck. Oh, local governments became worried about the safety issues. Some began requiring permits. Permits? A fishing license? For Paul's? That's so American. It's so dumb. Wow. Look, people are dying up there. So what do we do? What do we do? Well, the stupidest thing we could possibly do is what we'll do.

People get licensed to sit on top of one and they'll pay a small fee and that'll go to the city. Yeah. There you go. And we make sure they've been to like one of the training camps. Yep. Yep. For sure. Yep. Yep. For sure. Yep.

Yep. Ah, man. Ah, good job. We'll show Adelaide who's boss. That's right. Good job of governing here today, boys. Yeah, real good. I think in the future, we'll be good to go.

Others just banned. Poll sitting. New York City did. Religious leaders were calling it frivolous. By the late 1930s, public interest had wane. Radio and movies were the dominant entertainment. People were no longer. So many times in this show, it's just like,

and then there was TV. So that was the end of that. Then there were movies. So people were like, Hey, what the fuck have we been doing? We could go watch something that's actually entertaining. It also didn't seem exciting anymore because of the depression, because people were literally suffering everywhere. And then watching a guy go up on a pole to suffer is not as exciting. I'll tell you, if that blue orbit space mission had just gone a little

more south that would have been a nice release for society man they are they have no idea like if that had crashed they would be absolutely shocked shocked at the celebration it would have been space Luigi so you right so people don't want to spend money to watch people sit on poles because the depression And kelly starts to be seen as a nuisance Okay in 1935. He tried to break his flagpole sitting record in bronx, but cops stopped him after a day freeze So he took work as a gigolo in a broadway dance hall So he took work as a gigolo in a Broadway dance hall. Of course. This is why you need a manager.

I mean ladies probably want to dance with him, right? Sure, I know I would. See what he's got down there. And he did do some pole sitting on the side. Oh, that must have hurt his stomach. In 1939, don't ever say nothing like that again. Why? And just don't. It's an interesting take, and it's fun.

It's not what we're here for. It's fun. We're not those kind of people. I've enjoyed making a little bit of fun out of your words, and I'll do it again. The eye rolls across America. Those are drum rolls. In 1939, Duggan Donuts sponsored Alvin to perform a stunt

for National Donut Week. Once again, America is rare. He was photographed selling donuts while doing headstands on a wooden plank sticking out of the 54th floor of the Shannon Building. This probably is the end. When World War II came, Alvin joined up. His last pole sit was in October 1952 in Orange, Texas, while sitting on a 65-foot pole,

he had multiple heart attacks and then announced his retirement. Oh my God! Wow! Because you're not supposed to do it as an old guy. It's not an old guy thing, and announced his retirement. Oh my God. Wow. Because you're not supposed to do it as an old guy. It's not an old guy thing, because it's hard on your body. Multiple heart attacks on the pole?

That's how I do it. Oh my God. I would have a heart attack. Oh Jesus. You get it. A few days later, he was back in New York and he was walking in Hell's Kitchen on the street and he collapsed and died. He was holding a book full of clippings of his pole sitting career. Wow, that's fucking weird.

That's like when you die and someone looks at your Google and you just Googled yourself. His wife had died. his son was serving overseas, and his body went unclaimed. Alvin Kelly was eventually buried at Long Island National Cemetery. People tried to revive pole-sitting in the 60s and 70s. Did people sit at half masts that day? People tried to revive pole-sitting in the 60s and 70s.

There was a bunch in the Netherlands, a bunch of like people, you can see online people sitting in poles in the water. Well, well, look at this. But it never came back. It never came back to the way it was. And that's the history of pole-sitting in America. Well, David's completely ridiculous, totally stupid, and the most believable story of America I've ever heard.

That's right. Sources, Los Angeles Evening Express, The Sport, and Adelaide, The Reading Times, The Long Beach Press Telegram, St. Louis Globe Dispatch, Baltimore Evening Sun. The book, the American popular culture through history by Kathleen Down and Patrick Huber. Blurred by lines.com. The 1920s flagpole sitting the legacy of Alvin Shipwreck on medium.com. Of course all these are through newspapers.com. Thegrunge.com, mentalfloss.com, sevendayadventure.com, 1947project.com, thegazette.com, oldmagazines.com. I never liked doing mental floss

because they just never put up their sources. They don't list their sources, but whatever. Yeah, so that's all the sources. So that was fucking weird, right? Yep, super weird. I mean, dude. Don't feel good. I mean, I'm not kidding. I could have done several episodes.

There are so many people. You said the research for this was tedious. I thought it was going to be super easy, and then I was just to be super easy. And then I was just going through newspaper story. In the 20s, it's just guy competing after guy competing. And it's just insane. It's fucking insane.

There was even one young woman who was black. And so that became a civil rights thing. Or this is an achievement. And black newspapers are coming like it's just, it's just, it's just, it's just, it's just, it's just, it's just, it's just the most pointless. Yeah. It's the, yeah, it's the most, it was the most pointless endeavor because there was

again, nothing to do. Yeah. There was nothing to do. Nothing to do. And we sensationalize the dumbest shit and it's effective. But nothing to do was also better. I totally agree. Yeah. Totally agree.

Yeah, we had some sort of fight. Yeah. Now we're just like, let's not do this. Alright. Hey, Dollop fans. I know you love the Dollop. You love listening to the Dollop. Do you want to watch the Dollop? You're like, Gareth, what are you talking about?

By the way, it's not Gary, it's Gareth. Well, we have partnered with Lakeside Animation and we are starting to animate some of our episodes. So if you want to go watch a five-part animation, which is actually like a twenty-four minute animation, you can go to the link in the description. And if you want to watch a five-part animation, you can go to the link in the description. And if you want to watch a five-part animation, you can go to the link in the description. And if you want to watch a five-part animation, you can go to the link in the description.

And if you want to watch a five-part animation, you can go to the link in the description. And if you want to watch a five-part animation, you can go to the link in the description. And if you want to watch a five-part animation, you can go to the link in the description. And if you want to watch a five-part animation, you can go to the link in the description. And if you want to watch a five-part animation, you can go to the link in the description. And if you want to watch a five-part animation, you can go to the link in the description. And if you want to watch a five-part animation, you can go to the link in the description. And if you want to watch a five-part animation, you can go to the link in the description. And if you want to watch a five-part animation, you can go to the link our episodes. So if you want to go watch a five-part animation, which is actually like a 22-minute episode or 30-minute episode,

I can't remember, of the Rube, you can go to Lakeside Animation on YouTube and watch a really awesome animation of the Rube. It really genuinely kicks ass and we're very proud of it. And the more you share it, the more you give it to people, the more you follow Lakeside, all that stuff, the better chance we have of making a lot more of them. We're already making a second one so go there and watch the Rube.