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This Is Theatre?! (Wrestling, Weird Music, and Breaking the Rules)
36 Plays1 month ago
Talking out loud about the stuff that won’t leave us alone.
This week we get into weird art. The kind that shouldn’t work, but does.
Curt falls down a rabbit hole with a French-Canadian duo making microtonal, alien-sounding music that feels completely unlike anything else right now. It’s chaotic, technical, a little unsettling, and somehow incredibly satisfying.
James brings in professional wrestling ahead of WrestleMania, breaking down why it’s more than just spectacle. It’s storytelling, performance, choreography, and live audience energy all rolled into one.
Somewhere in the middle of all that, we end up talking about why this kind of work feels so refreshing right now. When so much of culture feels polished, optimized, and predictable, there’s something about messy, human-made art that hits differently.
This week’s Intos:
• Angine de Poitrine
• Professional Wrestling and WrestleMania
So… what are you into right now?
Email us:
sowhatareyouintopod@gmail.com
Follow along:
Instagram + TikTok: @sowhatareyouintopod
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Transcript
Podcast Consistency and the High Dropout Rate
00:00:00
Speaker
It is episode seven. Oh, I stopped counting. I stopped counting. I have no idea.
00:00:07
Speaker
Episode seven. what are you into? Lucky seven. We're in. Slide this volume down as you talk. Well, I built in a fade in the, well, it goes on ah little bit.
00:00:21
Speaker
I can also, I should probably edit this. I should make another. No, it's great. It's great. Uh, episode seven of so what are you into? Which is great. That means we have been doing this now for theoretically two months consistently. And I'm proud of us. Look at us.
00:00:38
Speaker
You know, they say adult friendships are hard, but we've been so consistent. You just got to start a podcast. just Start a podcast and you will always maintain your friendships. I don't know where the stat came from, and maybe it was not true, but I think I saw something on the health site that is X of like 97 or maybe 90% of podcasts don't get past three episodes, just statistically. Wow. And so it was kind of saying, hey, as creative, whatever your endeavor is, we're kind of giving stats for various creative enterprises. But it's like sometimes the best thing you can do when you're creating something is to just power through create a momentum for yourself so that you then go, oh, well, I wouldn't miss that. We've been doing it for so long. It's like less about having such a genius idea and more just applying practical consistency to build
00:01:33
Speaker
a habit. So anyway, I saw that stat about podcasts and I was like, well, we're doing it. I think what's helped me on ah my end wanting to continue this is that not once have I asked the question, how many people are listening to this?
00:01:48
Speaker
No, me either. Me either. Because if I do- fact, I keep forgetting to look at the view count. I i purposely don't because if if it's, I don't know, I don't have a number in my head. But if I do look at it and then it's lower than whatever that number is, it might send me down a spiral that I don't want to go to. So I'm just going to assume that, you we've reached the masses and it's it's it's reaching the people it's supposed to reach. Joe Rogan wishes he had...
00:02:13
Speaker
This kind of audience. Right. Loyal and and good. um But before we get into We need sway elections. Sorry. No, no, no. We're going to. Well, we will get to that point. We were going to get there We're going to have so much influence and we will. We'll have the power to. We'll use it for good.
00:02:30
Speaker
We'll use it for good. Like we're going to sway the election for the city comptroller. That's the kind of effect I want to have. There you go. Yes. There you go. That's our goal. Um, we were talking before we got on the podcast, uh, Curt and I have both separately had long weeks, months.
Freelance Life in the Entertainment Industry
00:02:46
Speaker
Um, for, for those, I mean, I'm assuming a lot of people that are listening know who we are. If anyone who doesn't, we are actors, we're directors, writers.
00:02:55
Speaker
I'm a choreographer, like, uh, Kurt, coaches, like, you know, we, as freelancers, you tend to have ah so many jobs. You know, they say multi-hyphenate for a reason because you have to do so many things in this industry right now. But I i was saying to Kurt, I don't know. Do people, I don't know if people understand what as a typical week of a freelancer, especially in LA, looks like.
00:03:18
Speaker
Yeah. um I, okay, so on my end, I'm just going to use last week as an example. I had, two separate projects at Disneyland alone, which included ah two performances, but then rehearsals for one of the performances. And one of those rehearsals was an overnight, which ah we have because most things at Disneyland happen outside, they can only do their technical rehearsals at night. i don't know if this is secret.
00:03:46
Speaker
So that means I'm clocking in anywhere from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. m in the morning. and staying until possibly the sun coming up just so that we can get our technical rehearsal in. And then I got to go home sometimes in rush hour traffic.
00:04:03
Speaker
And somehow managed to go about my day and do the other things that I've committed That that drive from Anaheim to LA, on paper, you're like, it's not that far.
00:04:14
Speaker
When you're driving it, it may as well be to Montana. It feels yes yes it feels impossibly long. Because there's, so where I live, if there's no traffic, I can get from here to Anaheim in 30 minutes easily.
00:04:27
Speaker
But because there's always too many people in Southern California, yeah It's taking me almost two hours to get there sometimes. yeah And that nothing drains your soul more than getting to that outlet mall on the halfway point. And it's only been an hour. Oh, the outlet mall. Yeah, you it's a deceptive mall because you feel like, what is it called? it decide it the Citadel? or am i The Citadel. It's very gaudy and yeah tacky. It has like large Greek Roman looking figures beckoning you to come and spend your money. and yeah um you know but ah
00:05:03
Speaker
It's very deceptive because you get there and you think you think you're home and... you And you're not, you have so far to go. so So that's just the Disney part of it. But then also in the mix of of that, i was I'm choreographing two music videos. um I have to then prepare for rehearsals for a guy who didn't like musicals because we're taking that to London next month.
00:05:21
Speaker
You start next week, We start rehearsals for that next week. so i and And you were doing Realm, a ton of Realm and we were doing Realm. Yeah, we finished filming Realm last week. for Realm too. and you were And you were there for one of them. So that's just my end. What what have you been doing?
00:05:38
Speaker
Well, i'll I'll get into the specs in this in a second, but I don't know if you feel this way that the biggest obstacle for me that I've been trying to manage better in this year than I did last year, but it's been it's been grinding me down a bit recently is the abrupt transition between the things where any one of the things that I'm doing Genuinely, I'm like, wow, that's a cool, interesting thing.
00:06:01
Speaker
But it's the rapid transition from one part of my brain to a very different aspect of creative output. so like last week, this week, as an example.
00:06:14
Speaker
I've had five different projects where I was asked to come and and shoot some stuff for Realm, which was great. So it's like, that's kind of me in in social media cinematographer mode. At the same time, I'm editing a documentary for Guiding Like Musicals to be partnered with The Pro Shot.
00:06:33
Speaker
That's like very creative editing brain. At the same time, i um m was the DP and... and sort of did not director but but visual director for a brand new project that is not even out yet but that i'm also in so i was doing two or three shoots where i'm like setting up the camera and i had an awesome uh my friend eric carroll was there to kind of be my eyes when i couldn't be because i was in front of the camera so trying to check the so that and then yeah i do had a lot of um Awesome clients coming in and doing some really cool creative sessions at my studio.
00:07:14
Speaker
ah And then I'm traveling to teach this weekend. I'm teaching a workshop and I'm also doing a premiere and I'm also pitching a film that I am trying to direct to some producers. So,
00:07:28
Speaker
It's like I, each one of
Managing Burnout and Creative Stress
00:07:30
Speaker
those is awesome. Yeah. But trying to roll between those has been, i found my, I don't know if you ever do this. And Kim frequently asked me if I'm okay, but I'll sometimes pull up in front of where we live and I'll just sit there in the car, not doing anything.
00:07:49
Speaker
Uh-huh. And Kim will be like, are you avoiding coming inside because of me? And I'm like, no, I am disassociating. And it's not a it's not a conscious. I just pull up and I'm like.
00:08:02
Speaker
this like my brain? Yeah, my brain is like, we can't activate. And i find that going for a walk very, very helpful. Yesterday, I was feeling really just overwhelmed with how many problem solving things i needed to address.
00:08:19
Speaker
I got to figure this out. I got to figure that out. got figure And when I went for, all I went for just like a nice 45 minute walk and about 20 minutes in, it just literally felt like a dam broke. And I was like, oh, oh, here's a solution. Here's an idea. And so then I started making phone calls and I'm sending emails. So it's actually been really helpful is figuring out for me that walking is one of the best ways I can sort of grease the wheels when I feel I feel paralyzed frequently, not because I'm not excited, but i just it's like too many things happening at once to to focus on.
00:08:54
Speaker
um i feel like you It's a weird. It's a weird thing. yeah So I don't know if you you would call it this, but what I experience is a burnout you know yes because yeah there are so many projects and you're splitting your brain. And and how you're using that creativity depend on the project you know alters how much energy you need to put in. And ah I have found, had to talk to my therapist about this because I was teetering on the idea that like, oh, do am I overwhelmed? Do I not like doing this? And it's not that I don't like doing it, but I just, maybe I was stretching myself too thin in one aspect. Yes.
00:09:24
Speaker
And I need to find a healthier balance to tackle all those things. Because yeah, the amount of times I've come home and like I've had a long day, but then I see there's some dishes in the sink that I need to clean. And just the thought of even touching the heaviness. Yes. I was like, nope, let me just sink into this couch and not move for about 20 minutes to possibly an hour. Just because of the thought of doing another task is that daunting.
00:09:47
Speaker
i I had a ah thought. i was working with a ah student recently um who we had done a bunch were not much we'd done several sessions putting her on tape for this project. She had gotten a pretty awesome director's chemistry read callback.
00:10:04
Speaker
And she was really anxious. i was talking to her and her mom and she was like, I'm really i'm feeling so much anxiety about this callback. And as I said this advice out loud to her, I went, wow, Kurt, that was you should you should listen to yourself sometimes. But I told her, I was like, look, the anxiety you feel and the the stress you're feeling is the result of the fact that you were doing so many things right.
00:10:30
Speaker
And you're, you've put in all this effort and it is opening doors and now you have to step through those doors. And I was like, the reality is most the people that, that went out for this project and are on this journey, they don't feel any of that because they never heard anything. They, they, they were, they weren't even in contention.
00:10:48
Speaker
So yes, technically,
00:10:53
Speaker
like they feel less stress and less anxiety because they never had a shot. you are You are doing the thing. You are you are in the mix. And the the stress and anxiety you're feeling is a natural response to the fact that you are doing good work and it is opening doors, which is allowing you to step through and step through. And as I was saying that, I was like, huh, maybe I should listen to that. But there is a truth of i try And this year, particularly last year, I had a real, not not breakdown, but I just really stripped away a lot of things, really honed in on physical health and mental health of just prioritizing sleep, prioritizing feeding myself the the kind of foods that make sure that I'm taking care of myself, that I was exercising, just like just basic maintenance.
00:11:44
Speaker
And then this year I've started to, I feel like, add more things back in. And as I begun to feel that pressure, ahve been trying to remember like, no, you know what? This pressure can is actually, I'm lucky that I get to have this kind of pressure.
00:12:01
Speaker
Now I need to manage it. Now I need to not say yes to everything. But that's been a really helpful way to to think about it because all these things are genuinely awesome. But you're right.
The Unpredictability of Opportunities
00:12:11
Speaker
It's like sometimes if they're all coming on you at once, you start to go, wait, do I even, do I hate this? It's like, no, no.
00:12:17
Speaker
That's just a moment. That's just a moment to re to balance and to... Go, what, what am i where do I need to take a break? You know? Yeah. You recalibrate and just take, it takes some outside perspective to sometimes see it that way. But, um, yes yeah, but yes here we are. Yeah.
00:12:33
Speaker
Also too, i don't know if you feel this, but we do all these things that we, we plan on making work for ourselves. So we commit to things where we're, But then out of the blue, things that we don't, we cannot schedule or prepare for, you get a last minute commercial audition, you get a last minute submission. And all of a sudden you're like, well, i still have to do those 17 things I committed to. Yeah. But they're all now second priority to this.
00:12:59
Speaker
so you gotta yeah we we were We were talking about this podcast a few months ago before we started it and we were at coffee and you literally were like, I just got a phone call. i have I literally have to go do this audition and I have to be there in an hour. And it's like, I immediately was like, yep. i got you that's je And so that is a special kind of chaos that I don't know if I've mastered yet. i don't I don't know if you can because it's so spontaneous that you you you basically just have to be game for the ride and whatever comes on that journey, you just have to accept it as is because there I can't stress to people that aren't in this industry enough how how random this industry can be. No matter what you plan for, it's like, great, I'm glad you made a plan. Here's what we're going with and it's something you did not think about. So yeah, it This happened a few weeks ago where somebody, one of my friends reached out to me with an opportunity to actually, it was going to be in London at the same time you guys are in London, which is crazy.
00:13:56
Speaker
And for like two days, it was when I was on set filming, i was filming NCIS, which comes out tonight. Check it out. Yeah. inside pi CBS and Paramount Plus. um But I was literally on the way to set and I was getting these emails about this thing and it was like, I need you to decide the next two days. And it was genuinely an awesome opportunity.
00:14:16
Speaker
so This is so cool. But I was literally pulling into set going, Wait a minute. I got to – okay, I need to read this, but I but i need to – and I had to give myself the grace to say, even if I don't land this opportunity, i i need to be focused right now that I am on set and I'm present.
00:14:36
Speaker
and i And I had to say, I'm so sorry. i can't even think about this until really tomorrow. um And then the next day i rolled around and I kind of looked at it and I went – There's so much material. I don't think I can get it ready in time. So I just had to say, I'm so sorry. i think I have to pass on it.
00:14:52
Speaker
Just a lot happening. And it was a, I'm so bad at turning things down or saying no. It was like a learning moment of going, you can't take another thing on right now. Even if that thing is objectively sweet and like, that would be so cool. i went, ah, it's not, this is not for me. And I think the older I get, the more I'm learning to listen to that intuition a little bit more.
00:15:14
Speaker
It also helps that my wife, Kim, is constantly going, Say no! Say no! Protect your sanity. He's always encouraging me to like do less. Yes. No, it's true because like you know my personal thing is I want to show up and do the best job possible. And I know I can't give you my full focus or the energy that it needs, the work is not going to be there. You're not going to be happy that you're doing it. Yeah. So I'd rather i'd rather tell you no and hope for a better opportunity and better timing than to give you 35% because that's all I can spare at this exact moment.
00:15:52
Speaker
Yep. um All right. Well, ah enough about the woes of the freelancer. Who who wants to go first? do you want to go first? Okay.
Unique Musical Obsessions and Styles
00:16:01
Speaker
yeah Sure. Okay. All right.
00:16:03
Speaker
Okay. so Okay. You to ask me a question? Oh, yeah. I got it. The formal. Kurt, so what are you into this week? So do you know, almost every week I bring in a movie because that tends to be a thing that I love. I love movies. And we've talked about this. I am more prone to watching movies and TV shows than I am necessarily to explore music okay that I'll change this week.
00:16:26
Speaker
Oh boy. I discovered i have fallen so far down a rabbit hole. Between last Thursday and today, five days ago, I've fallen so far down a rabbit hole to the extent that I have listened to this, this musical art art artists, artists, um, on repeat on loop.
00:16:49
Speaker
I have watched every video get my hands on I tried to actually get tickets to see them. They're going to be in Los Angeles in August. And it's the one day where I'm not going to be in rehearsals. And I was like, Oh my god oh my God, I'm going And it was sold out because they have gone viral in the last like month, even less, really the last few weeks.
00:17:09
Speaker
I don't know why it showed up in my feed. I don't know what the recommendation was. I'm going to send it. He's going to send it to me. i would love to send it to you void of context. If you've already seen it, let me know. Okay.
00:17:21
Speaker
But I just want you to play the first bit. I just i just want to i just want to watch you react. I could explain it, but I'm not going to. are you Are you texting it to me? I'm texting it you. Okay.
00:17:34
Speaker
Oh, I'm so excited for this. Tell me if you've seen this. No, I don't know what this is. Okay, I'm clicking right now. Oh, this is exciting. Oh, I'm excited for this.
00:17:45
Speaker
i will play I will put in the corner of this video what it is. you describe what you're looking at? this is a It feels very Mardi Gras. seeing a lot of yellow and green and purple.
00:17:59
Speaker
What is happening? What is... Yeah, I'm into it. Give me some polka dots.
00:18:09
Speaker
What is this? This helmet! But it's the nose that's dangling, but also the one that... It's nightmare fuel.
00:18:22
Speaker
Oh, this bass line is sick. What's the double bass? It's the...
00:18:36
Speaker
This is fantastic. Okay. Well, I'll let you... i'll i'll ah you can can return to it later. Yeah. okay So what this is, this is a duo, is a French-Canadian duo that goes by the name Angine des Protruines, which literally translates to like heart pain, um pain of the heart, essentially.
00:18:57
Speaker
It is a How do I describe them? They're like... mike they so they they play... Microtonal music, meaning the guitar has twice or I don't even know how many exactly, but way more frets than normal.
00:19:14
Speaker
And they are playing the notes between the notes, which you might hear when you listen to music that is like like Indian music or Middle Eastern music. There's a lot of these halftones.
00:19:25
Speaker
They also are looping. So that guitar that he has, he has a bass on the bottom and a guitar on the top. He also has a series of looping pedals in front of him. And I know you haven't watched any of it yet beyond just that little clip, but if you do...
00:19:40
Speaker
they begin to build these insanely complex layers where he is, he doesn't have shoes on, so he's playing barefoot. He's literally doing that because he is mixing and looping with his feet while he's playing.
00:19:55
Speaker
So he frequently will go in and he will silence his guitar and he'll be playing the next, the next layer that you can't hear as he's recording it. And then he'll,
00:20:06
Speaker
activate it, turn it up. So then that comes in and then he'll, and they just build these insanely complex things, but they're also working in absolutely abstract and insane time signatures. Like,
00:20:22
Speaker
bafflingly complex. But there's something, I don't know what about this music, absolutely scratches like this part of my brain that I cannot get enough of.
00:20:33
Speaker
I think the aesthetic is fun. I think the idea is, the the the gag to me is like, these are like two aliens who have been sent to earth and are communicating their bizarre foreign alien music to us. Yes. um They only communicate by making grunts at each other, which is very funny. And then they turn to the audience and they grunt.
00:20:52
Speaker
um They've been working together apparently since they were like teenagers and they started this duo. I think they officially kind of announced their stuff about two years ago, but in the last week or two,
00:21:04
Speaker
They have like blown up everywhere and they're going on tour. um It's weird music. I played it for Kim. She thought it was impressive, but it sounded upsetting to her.
00:21:15
Speaker
and I've noticed there's, I've watched so many videos of people reacting to it and there's two kinds of reactions. People are either like, I love this or they're like, Oh, oh it doesn't it sounds wrong to me.
00:21:28
Speaker
i don't know what it I don't know what it is about this stuff, but i I'm obsessed. I also watched a bunch of React videos from composers. They're using a lot of classical music structure and elements, but they're doing it in this very sort of modern rock, but with a lot of like middle Eastern sensibilities to it, it is weird. It's, it's bizarre. And I think it is such a vibe. It is so fun to listen to and I can't get enough. And that is, this is my new musical obsession that I've just, I've watched countless videos. I've watched reaction videos. I've watched breakdowns. I've watched guitarists like get on and try to,
00:22:13
Speaker
The frequent the frequent um response is people will be reacting, being like, okay, ha these guys are weird. And they'll start playing and they'll go, wait And they'll grab their guitar and be like, what? with What? and like it's just It's this baffling kind of question.
00:22:29
Speaker
um And also just the vibe is very... David Lynch, weird, um the mask of it all, but it's also kind of goofy and silly. It's kind of Muppety.
00:22:43
Speaker
ah i love that. No, that's so cool. Angine Des Protruines is the name. And i I'm obsessed. I think they're incredible. and they're Just incredible musicians. The the drummer is insane.
00:22:57
Speaker
Like some of the songs they do you're literally going... how did how is he How are they counting? And they are precise. They are so precise together. It's kind of astonishing. mean So, you yeah, you don't really talk about your music choice or your your style that much. But I remember us having conversation months ago, if not last year, because I mentioned Steve Reich to you. um Steve Reich, depending on how you want to pronounce it. um And then ah you there was also ah another composer that you enjoy, like when you're like working, that you like to play in the background. um So would you say that, is does this kind of fall into that category of,
00:23:37
Speaker
things that just sonically inspire you, like like you kind of just visualize while you're hearing it. Is that this for you? have all I can, when I listen to their music and I like immediately follow them on Spotify, literally like a month or two ago, they had 25,000 listeners. And in the last few weeks, they now have like 500,000 listeners, maybe more at this point. um But yes, like especially this track, I'm literally like, this is a movie. This is an action scene. This is a high scene. this is a like i Every time I hear it, it just i like visual things just leap out at me. I'm a huge fan of Jean-Baptiste and yeah his his take on, he's got a wonderful album where he does kind of jazz renditions of classical songs.
00:24:23
Speaker
classical music. And I grew up listening to classical music, playing classical music. I was I played violin. played, I did. Yeah. i played violin. I played piano.
00:24:33
Speaker
i you know, singing Italian arias. So I, my mom, my mom, we would listen We would go to symphonies, we would listen to classical music on the radio. And there's such beautiful structure and um the way that classical music builds on itself and the way that it it's so varied and it's so layered and it's so complex, but it also finds a way to all bring that together. This to me, and also i love like Jean-Baptiste doing his riff on classical stuff because he takes what's structured and then he just, he paints magic with it. But this reminds me of like classical music, but what if classical music had...
00:25:19
Speaker
rock and roll and don't know. There's like the structure of it I find so refreshing. And I've seen a lot of videos where people have talked about this group in particular recently where a lot of people seem to be resonating because they feel like this is the antidote to sort of the flattening of music, especially as AI music proliferates. And even just, let's be honest, a lot of pop music, you kind of it all... Kind of sounds same. It's the same chord progress.
00:25:53
Speaker
And to hear something that is just so wide. and It's played completely live, completely handmade, but still embracing technology. Like looping is very much this electronic technology, but so distinctly odd and strange and bizarre and not right.
00:26:11
Speaker
it It feels like the musical equivalent of what I've been craving in the kinds of movies I've been drawn to, which is like, I want to see something weird and bizarre and messy that doesn't feel like it was made in a vacuum of this is what the algorithm wants. This is what our you know data suggests that we need to have a TV show with these three characters. and you like i just i So much of what I watch or engage with feels like a series of boxes that have been checked for most audience appeal. And so when you encounter something that just seems so strange, you go, this shouldn't exist. It just kind of feels like magic to me. Yeah. It's it's kind of like, do you, do you listen to Jacob Collier?
00:26:56
Speaker
Yes. Yes. It reminds me like because what, something that he takes is the fundamentals of orchestral arrangements, but then the way he likes to harmonize and even his chord progressions aren't what we are used to in Western music a lot of times. And so it's off putting to some people, some people can't listen to a stuff just because they feel like it's too much, ah you know, dealer's choice on that kind of stuff. But it's so fun. I think to listen to this, ah to like where he's going to go And that's what yeah it sounds like this group is for you too. you're in You're curious about how they land this plane that they've now jetted off you know into the stratosphere. And it's really, i think when groups take risks like that, to me that stands out rather than the 13th pop star this month to come up with a single that, like you said, sounds just like the first one. So that's really cool. I think ah there are some incredible...
00:27:52
Speaker
mainstream singers doing really interesting things right now. So I don't, I don't want to be like, ah, the all modern music sucks. I don't, I don't think that at all, but a lot of times you hear it and you go, I couldn't tell you, you know, I go to work out and I hear the mix and I go, I, this is all, it's all the same song. It's just like, yeah and when you hear something so distinctly odd and strange and But also, whatever they're doing microtonally and the mathematic structure of the music, for me, it like really... yeah Maybe it's my ADHD brain, but it like... It just it feels... It's so satisfying. It also kind of i I almost equate it too the the way they play almost sounds like they are creating the language of an alien...
00:28:37
Speaker
an alien species that's speaking to each other through music. It'll be like, bo but ban and and and and and now dan and in and and and didn did it did did it did it like, you know, it reminds me of, do you remember in nerdy prudes must die? The song, the, the Lords in black song.
00:28:51
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. A lot of that stuff that Jeff was doing, it actually reminds me of that where it's not necessarily beautiful, but you feel like there's communication happening. I don't know. It's cool. There's a technical term for what he used in that. And I know I heard Jeff and Matt both say what it was, and I don't remember what is. I cannot remember either. But there is a term for what tone Jeff wrote that in.
00:29:17
Speaker
So it does exist. Yeah. And I think, it's you know, one could look at the costumes and all of it and feel like it's kind of a, maybe a a gimmick. I've seen comments like, oh, it's a gimmick. i I don't think it is. I think it's a it's very playful. It's very goofy. It's very weird. And their music is goofy and weird and playful. And that feels like it reminds reminds me of a lot of the kinds of stuff that we're drawn to creatively where you want goofiness and playfulness and not taking yourself too seriously.
00:29:43
Speaker
at the same time as you want masterful creativity. And I think that mix of this is, this is goofy. We know it's goofy. We know it's weird. We know it's a little silly. There's this one, there's one moment where they finish a song in a concert and they both stand up and they're like stretching. They're like, like, they're like acting like they're really like sore from like the crazy thing. And then they immediately just go into it again. And it's, it's goofy and weird, but I do think the costumes in a way,
00:30:10
Speaker
Yes, they're part of the aesthetic, but they also direct you to what I think they want you to really listen to, which is the music. They're like, listen to the notes. There's no lyrics. There's no there's no you know anthem, anthemic-like things to sing along to.
00:30:23
Speaker
it's It's the music. And so by by removing their face from it, it really makes you lean in and listen to the notes in a way that... Yeah, just I just last thing I expected to get into this week, but I am so in. I tried to get tickets. They were sold out.
00:30:42
Speaker
um But I also think you're incredible. I think there's i think there's a performance element, too. You know, like so like the costumes or the makeup that they're using. First of all, they're not the first ones to do that. I could talk about Daft Punk, Deadmau5, Gwar, Slipknot. So many groups that have done this.
00:31:01
Speaker
thing where they don some sort of costume or mask as part of the act. ah I think people are also where it's relatively new that we have this much accessibility to an artist, whether that's social media, Instagram, things like that. So we're seeing every facet of their life. um But there was a time where you only saw them in, you know, on TV or in a magazine ah besides listening to their music. So to have a group, you know, this in 2026 still doing that performance element, I think is really cool. We need more people to do that. I think it helps you stand out and gives like, hey, this is our style. This is what you're getting when you come to our show. um
00:31:42
Speaker
that's really cool i'm i'm excited for you to uh dive more into this and i'm gonna take a listen too because though even the first minute that i watched looks incredible they i i it's the no i it's this nose i can't get over the pinocchio nose yeah it's just like because i just i would hit i would hit my instrument trying to play it with the nose um Also, so they their original music videos from like two years ago and they kind of announced the act were goofy and weird, but also a little like a little David Lynch, a little upsetting where they're like putting cans of sardines and like squeezing them into their mouths. And then like there's a shot where he's got like five joints shoved into the the the nose and he's like lighting it up. And and you're like, OK, these guys are having these guys are aware of the fact that this is goofy as hell and weird. And they're not shying away from that.
00:32:33
Speaker
um You know, there's one more thing I wanted to throw at you too, and it's oh different, but reminiscent. But for some reason, ever since you got me into the jungle album, which I've just been devouring, I've been getting a lot of cool dance recommendations.
00:32:47
Speaker
And have you watched any of Ricky Ubeda's stuff? Oh, yes. I love you. seeing Have you seen the, it's not serious. It's not that serious. The dance video set in a school.
00:33:00
Speaker
i haven't seen this one. ah So it's it's very different in sense of like it's not a musical act, but it felt... I've watched this video this week like a dozen times. It is a short film told entirely through dance.
00:33:16
Speaker
um It is... it takes place like at a like a prep school kind of looking energy. It is weird. It is strange. The movements are... it But it feels so messy and human. And yes for some reason, I literally kept bouncing between watching Angine des Portuines and then I'd throw on this dance video. I think it's so cool. i don't know if you've seen this this dance video or not. I haven't, but I'm i'm watching it right now. And you know there's a fair there's a funny thing because...
00:33:47
Speaker
little backstory about me. So I grew up in the competition world. Everything's very upright, you know, very precise, big formation, stuff like that. And then obviously, i think in the heyday of So You Think You Can Dance, where contemporary and modern movement became more prevalent, it kind of morphed into, you know, the stuff that we're seeing now. Now, TikTok kind of squished some of that. So everything became condensed and people, you know, what's popular is a little more staccato movement and um lot of hands, lot of upper body. That being all that to say, ah for instance a lot of hands, lot of hands.
00:34:22
Speaker
I can't stand it. You just made a new trend. um But what I do love is that um there are still there are still dancers. And and like so this is kind of to your point about the fundamentals, right? If if you have a deep understanding of music, you know how to add layers to that to create a very unique sound.
00:34:37
Speaker
stuff like what Ricky is doing here. I think what Shay did with jungle's album, a visual album is taking the fundamentals of dance, but finding a new rhythmic way to express it because all of these people, as I'm watching are so gifted and you can tell the training is there, but their way that they're exercising that movement is so specific and cool. That's exactly. And that's the overlap between that and the, the, the duo that I showed you is I'm like, these are clearly artists who have a mastery of their craft who are now,
00:35:08
Speaker
Now they have they they're so clearly gifted in the fundamentals. like Listening to people whove talk about just the drummer's ability to stay on rhythm and these insane time signatures and then go and then just change it. And I felt the same way watching watching this video where I'm like, I've never seen anybody move like this.
00:35:26
Speaker
like there's just There's moves that feel so um I want to say they're like, they're so evocative in a very primal kind of way. So often when I think of dancing, it comes from musical theater and it often is very precise and it's this very like everything. And, and I was just watching this going, I'm,
00:35:45
Speaker
i'm I'm like intuiting emotional context clues by how people are moving and it's like emotional and it's weird and it's like sexy and it's strange and I don't know. I was just, an it it felt like it scratched this itch that I mentioned a few weeks ago about oh ago about what I've been looking for in movies of like, I want to see something that doesn't feel clean and and and perfected, you know? I'm just watching shows on streaming so often there's just this this sheen and this varnish to the way everything is shot and film and the dialogue and the acting.
00:36:21
Speaker
And when you come across something where you go, what? yeah What am I looking at? Just, yeah, the the sort of existential threat I think a lot of creatives are looking at and hearing and being told, get on board, get get your generative AI in order because this is the future. And um that might be a future for some people, but it it does feel like when I see things like this, it just makes me go, nope.
00:36:49
Speaker
Nope, there's still interesting things to be done. And in fact, those things might actually have even more value when the idea of a perfect perfect thing in terms of perfect choreography, perfect lighting, perfect cinematography, perfect everything. It's like that is actually not that interesting when it's done when it can be done with a prompt.
00:37:10
Speaker
I can do everything with a prompt perfectly. I don't care. I want to see what it, what it looks like when a human being makes something weird and strange that you go, what that could only come from your weird mind and like everybody coming together and doing something weird. So yeah, I just, i found both of these things so refreshing.
00:37:28
Speaker
Yeah. Ah, I love art. Um, it's alive. That's so cool. I, I can't wait to check more about this. Um, cause this group sounds amazing. And, uh, Yeah.
00:37:39
Speaker
Thank you for bringing that to my attention. This is this is really exciting. I'll turn it over to you, James. What are you into?
Passion for Professional Wrestling
00:37:46
Speaker
All right. So the topic I want to talk about this week is something that I have been a fan of for a very long time.
00:37:53
Speaker
I realized I've always dropped little nuggets about it in that different conversations and people, it's not a secret, but I've never talked at length about why I like it. So ah the timing is really great too, because probably the biggest event regarding that thing is this weekend. So today I'm going to talk about my love of professional wrestling.
00:38:16
Speaker
So let's get into this. Amazing. Okay. So I started watching wrestling probably after the big craze for kids my age, the attitude era, which is probably the most notable or or memorable thing about WWF. Now w WWE ended around the year 2000. Some would say argue 2001, but that's another time for another podcast.
00:38:44
Speaker
I started watching in August of 2000. At that time, The Rock was still involved. Stone Cold City of Austin was about to come back, but some of the newer faces of wrestling were starting to trickle in, so there was a new movement happening.
00:38:59
Speaker
And I only got into it because the summer camp that I went to, these kids were playing the video games and I never knew who any of the characters were. I didn't know what was going on. So I would go home and kind of do a little studying of my own just so I could be up to date with what these wrestlers were doing.
00:39:17
Speaker
However, i accidentally fell in love with it. And it has now been 26 years of me watching and keeping up with wrestling. That's how I met my best friend.
00:39:33
Speaker
I've been to, i think, more than 12 live events all over the country. Oh, wow. um i i I've been to, I think I've been to i've been to two WrestleManias.
00:39:45
Speaker
I've been to three, no, two Summer Slams, a Survivor Series, a Royal Rumble. i i i I don't watch religiously anymore. There was a time where I would tune in every Monday and every Thursday or Friday or sometimes Tuesday, depending on when SmackDown was airing.
00:40:03
Speaker
And then i I still have my collection of DVDs from the pay-per-views. They're sitting in my parents' basement right now. And they're asking me like, okay, you're going to get rid of those? ah But wrestling has just been this thing that has been a constant in my life. And I bring it up now this week because their big event for w WWE this weekend is WrestleMania.
00:40:23
Speaker
Now WrestleMania has kind of transcended ah the sports entertainment world because it was a big inclusion with celebrities and music guests and and that's how they market. It's it's this big global event.
00:40:36
Speaker
ah They're doing it in Vegas again this year for the second year in a row. um There's a lot of a conversation to be had about the current state of the product, specifically WWE, because now there are two big companies in America, WWE and AEW.
00:40:55
Speaker
ah AEW was born out of frustration with WWE's product for a while under Vince McMahon. A lot of the storylines, just a lot of the direction that the business was heading for that company, people weren't a fan of. And so probably your more diehard and and hardcore fans were gravitating towards this new company called AEW, which was started by some wrestlers, but also financed primarily by Tony Khan, whose father and as well as himself, they are owners of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
00:41:24
Speaker
um So basically you had billionaires running the two top wrestling companies in in the United States. ah Now, fast forward, Vince McMahon is gone and TKO, which is now the entity that also owns the UFC.
00:41:41
Speaker
They ah acquired WWE. So now they're all under this umbrella ah for better or for worse, depending on who you want to talk to, because obviously there's a lot of ties to our current administration within that as well. um So some people are kind of viewing WWE under this very MAGA umbrella, and I don't fault you for looking at it that way. um I try to view it from a standpoint because i you know I've had my ah misgivings about working for Disney and they're some of their business practices. So I look at it from the perspective of the performers, right? These are men and women who are sacrificing their bodies 300 plus days a year.
00:42:23
Speaker
Um, they are constantly in the gym, constantly traveling. When you watch these wrestlers fall on a mat, they're not, you can't fake falling down, right?
00:42:34
Speaker
You can prepare yourself. You can, you can do whatever you want. But like at the end of the day, you are smacking your back across the floor. You're running into a post. You're colliding with another human being. And these aren't just like small people that you're tripping into. We're talking like 200 plus pound people.
00:42:49
Speaker
pound people that you're going full speed into and and accomplishing feats of ah and unconscionable strength. And then not to mention there's match types where you're adding in tables and ladders and chairs. And ah there's events where you're throwing people over top ropes and they're landing on the floor. Sometimes you're wrestling for as short as three minutes. Sometimes you're wrestling out there for an hour. And I haven't gotten into the whole aspect of independent wrestling that is happening in probably wherever you're listening right now. There's just small companies that just love wrestling. And they are – they're doing that at VFW halls and churches and and banquet hall, you know just like wherever they can get it. Because –
00:43:33
Speaker
What is so cool about wrestling is that it has lasted the test of time. They were doing wrestling before TV was invented. All right. There was there was the the current state of what we're watching as wrestling started basically as a circus act.
00:43:47
Speaker
And it's only evolved since then with being able to watch it on TV. And ah it's and and and here's the real thesis of my ah my my bring this week is that wrestling.
00:44:02
Speaker
is theater for theater kids. So you want to think about the production value, the character work. It's a lot of ah lot of heavy choreography and stage combat, um but it's so much live interaction with an audience. It thrives on having an audience there. Probably the strangest time I've ever watched wrestling was during COVID where the performers were still performing, but they didn't have an audience. And so they were yeah weird. It was crazy. They had to build. Well, what they did is they took a ah ah venue in Florida and made made what was called the Thunderdome and they put a bunch of LED screens around the whole area and fans could like sign up for to get a spot and basically watch from their computer screens. But then their face would show up in the stands.
00:44:50
Speaker
It's so weird. just so and then And then production would funnel in crowd noise to make it sound like it was alive. But really, you're just watching two, three, you know four people in a ring wrestling with no one else there. So it was kind of crazy. But ah but yeah, it's it's a constantly live thing.
00:45:09
Speaker
At least with WWE and AEW, there are weekly shows that in America. So on any given Monday, really? Okay. So Monday, no, wait, every single day of the week, there is live wrestling.
00:45:22
Speaker
So there's something that's constantly new. It's crazy. um Storylines can get recycled. That is a thing, but you're you are, you're always entertained because like there's an evolution of the story that you're following and they don't always end at the same time. So you might see the tail end of one thing, but then a different characters on another journey. And, and, and so you're following that story too.
00:45:43
Speaker
I think the reason I've always liked wrestling is because it's at the end of the day, it's a story about good guys versus bad guys. And as a comic book nerd, as a guy who watched Power Rangers, you know like it's a very simple concept and you can just watch a story and you can also have the added benefit of liking the way that a person wrestles if they just have a really good wrestling style. So when you marry those two things together, good story and good wrestling, you can get some really wonderful feuds and and and enjoyment out of it. um Not everything succeeds. I've seen some really terrible stuff come out of wrestling.
00:46:17
Speaker
But at the end of the day, it's it's something I can rely on that if I just want some background noise or I want to tune in and ah maybe I've spent a couple of weeks busy, but then I can hop back in and figure out what's going on. It's the easiest thing to drop into.
00:46:31
Speaker
um So ah this weekend being the biggest event for WWE, WrestleMania, two nights, Saturday and Sunday, they're going to have, i think something like 14 matches maybe between the two days. And yeah, uh, yeah, it's just, it's just nice to see like the culmination of their year and, and watch some, uh, some fun storylines come to a head.
00:46:51
Speaker
It's so interesting. Have you, i was just looking this up. I just heard somebody recently speak about this on another podcast that I listened to. one of the hosts is a huge, huge wrestling fan. Um, he was saying that the reality show or it's a documentary series called unreal.
00:47:07
Speaker
yeah netflix Yeah. Have you watched this at all? I have. i And he was saying he was saying it actually is really interesting because, you know, for a long time there was this, you don't speak about it, it's the to keep, preserve the reality, but in that this this documentary series, they really are kind of showing you all the...
00:47:27
Speaker
how the magic is made and how, how these performances and these character arcs are constructed. And it sort of shows you this sort of insane production of it all. And he was recommending, like, if you're not into the WWE, just conceptually, it actually might be a really interesting way to,
00:47:43
Speaker
learn more about it. And he was talking about it and enough that I went, I really want to watch this series. Cause I, yeah I haven't watched much wrestling, but hearing him talk about what the documentary talks about made me go, oh that's creatively fascinating. And I was curious if you had watched it or not. I have watched it now. I will say this, uh,
00:48:02
Speaker
So kayfabe is the term and that's the fictional world with which wrestling exists. And for a very long time, the rule was you don't break kayfabe. You don't. So this that's meant wrestlers like back in the 70s and 80s, if you were a good guy and a bad guy or a baby face and a heel, they would not interact in real life. You would never see them together because you didn't want to dispel the belief that that these two hated each other and they're going to have a match on Friday and and you're going to be there and watch them tear each other apart.
00:48:31
Speaker
Unreal has kind of made her a little rift in the wrestling discourse. Interesting. Because... I think we're getting a version of what the behind the scenes the scenes is that WWE wants you to see.
00:48:46
Speaker
i do think they are dramatizing some elements of that. And there is also a storyline on Unreal. So I'd say watch it. just say like If you're just curious about like how things go, I think there's some truth to like the structure of how they make these things happen.
00:49:00
Speaker
I do think they dramatize certain elements of that. So take everything with a little grain of salt. And if you have any questions, ask me because I can tell you, well, right now there's a very specific storyline that happens that I know is fake.
00:49:12
Speaker
um So, but it's, it's fun to watch. them you yeah do you do you find that people discussing how the sausage gets made diminishes sort of the fun of it at all or do you is that a fun thing to engage with like where what do you what's your thought on that kurt i'm gonna this is you just open up a big can of worms nothing will make you hate wrestling more than going on the wrestling subreddit No one hates wrestling more than wrestling fans.
00:49:45
Speaker
They are so parasocial with this industry that they dissect every single facet of every single thing they see. They think they know everything because it's almost like this. They don't want to be duped. They don't want to pretend. ah So the word is Mark, right? You're a Mark if you fall for the things that are happening in front of you.
00:50:02
Speaker
And no one wants to be perceived as a mark. So therefore they question and belittle and and try to just pick apart every single single thing that happens, lest they be deemed a mark and actually have a genuine emotion. Like, listen, like it's a storyline. I don't think people get wrapped up when you're watching the pit. And if you cry because something happened on that show, all you're all of a sudden an idiot.
00:50:24
Speaker
No, but wrestling, for some reason, people feel this like weird complex in which they cannot be duped. Everything must be discerned quickly and with with very little nuance. And so I found that, listen, the fastest way to hate something is to go on the subreddit for it. so I found going onto to the wrestling subreddit, it's called Squared Circle.
00:50:47
Speaker
People will talk themselves into hating something that is just so benign. And ultimately to the point where like if you see a live thread of any show that's up, all the worst people are just giving every terrible take they could possibly give before you've even had time to digest what you just watched. Right. So then you have to wait like an hour or two for other people to kind of chime in and say, hey, I actually kind of liked that. like, oh, what's wrong with you? Are you are you a shill for the company? or not It's like, no, like maybe I just liked the thing that i I watched. And also, I didn't like another thing. Like, for instance, Logan Paul is a full-time wrestler for WWE. I can count on one hand how many times I've watched one of his matches, willingly. Right.
00:51:26
Speaker
you know, because I just choose not to watch. I don't care about the guy. And there are other wrestlers like that where I just don't care to watch them. And it's okay. You're allowed to not like something, but to put, uh, yeah, it's, it's really Reddit is the most, the most bad faith takes of from people who claim to like the thing that they're talking about. It's just such a and it's black Like, and I mean, I don't know how to, this is why i don't post anything in terms of comments half the time, because you, even if you do post like, oh, I really liked this moment. I liked how this, the amount of people that are ready to pounce on you for enjoying something is, is, is saddening. Actually. i don't know why we developed this like cynicism,
00:52:12
Speaker
towards joy. i think we talked about this a couple of weeks ago on the podcast. like people are It's like we're predisposed to be cynical and unhappy, especially in the face of someone else's happiness. um And it's not like you're having joy in other people's pain if you're saying that you're happy about something, but it's almost like they take it that way. ah Right. Yeah. So, ah so I, I'd say like, I have a a much more detached relationship with wrestling. I think I just enjoy it. I enjoy the social aspect of watching with my friends. um Occasionally I'll get some friends together to watch what are called the big four. So that's Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series. And you know, people, and those are people who might've watched wrestling before, or at least know those names. And so thought you know it's good to just like watch a little show and then go on with the rest of your day. It's not um it's not an obsession for me, even though it's something I've been watching for 26
00:53:02
Speaker
um So yeah, that is a boy. And at its core, I mean, it is theater, right? Like it is, it is, it is a theatrical story based story driven campaign that involves stunts and physicality. And I think sometimes there's this, this misnomer of like, Oh, it's all it's, it's fake. It's like, well, maybe the relationships and the, you know, the, the nemesis of this and the enemy, whatever. Yeah. The stuff they're physically doing. Yes. Are they trying to actually like kill each other in the ring? Probably not.
00:53:35
Speaker
But but they are they're leaping and jumping and slamming. And none of that is fake. Like that is genuinely a physical no kind of improvisational plan, but improvisational act that requires. Yeah. Tremendous skill and craft and care. And it's your watch. It's like watching professional athletes. Yes. And also watching, I'd say even Broadway performers, right? So you think about ensembles who are dancing eight shows a week. You know, you really don't have vacation. You kind of have vacation time, but for the most part, you're expected to be there every single week.
00:54:11
Speaker
Your bodies wear down after a while and you're, you know, you might have to learn something on the fly or if it's like a mid-show swing out or something like that. And wrestlers, you know, there are people who have to just be ready to go on in case someone gets injured and they've got to rewrite the script, you know, on the fly. um i i think there's just, it's a it is a performance. it's ah It is an art. It's a performance element. And they've just been able to marry athleticism with that in a way that's very reminiscent to you know, live theater.
00:54:42
Speaker
um So I, I think that's why I've always liked it. um ah But on that note, Kurt, I want to play a game with you.
Wrestling vs. Movies: A Fun Game Segment
00:54:51
Speaker
Okay. All right. So wrestling is full of so many outlandish storylines, ah but so are movies. So are some TV shows. So we're going to play a little game here.
00:55:04
Speaker
I'm going to give you a log line and you're going to tell me if this is, a plot from a TV or movie. doesn't You have to name the TV or movie, just if it's from a TV show or a movie, or if it's the storyline to a wrestling feud.
00:55:19
Speaker
Incredible. Okay. All right. So i'm going to start with our first one here, and I will give you the answer. A satanic cult leader kidnaps a millionaire's daughter in a plot to marry into the family and take control of their company.
00:55:38
Speaker
Movie logline. all right. And the answer, it's a wrestling feud. is Yes, that was The Undertaker versus Vince McMahon ah during the corporate.
00:55:51
Speaker
Well, yeah, it was it was the ministry versus the corporation. And Stone Cold Steve Austin was also in the middle of that. I'm going to speed run to the end of the story. The whole thing was a setup by Vince McMahon himself to get back at Stone Cold Steve Austin.
00:56:05
Speaker
Does that make sense? Not at all. It was stupid. And everyone it when it would that reveal happened, everyone said, what? because that meant he orchestrated the kidnapping of his own daughter.
00:56:16
Speaker
ah Hey, wouldn't put it past that man, you know? Yes. oh with those Believe me, there's plenty of stories about that guy. all right. So, ah so yeah, so that one was a wrestling feud.
00:56:30
Speaker
Next one. A rapper fights his way back from a near fatal injury after being stabbed by a Puerto Rican playboy and his henchmen.
00:56:43
Speaker
going to say wrestling. You're correct. That was a feud between John Cena and Carlito with his associate Jesus, which is funny because in storyline, they were at a club that would, it wasn't on TV, but they were at a club over a weekend between the ah Friday and then the next Friday. And then Carlito and Jesus stabbed John Cena.
00:57:07
Speaker
But in reality, John Cena was actually filming a movie called the Marine. So they had to write him off while he could go film that movie. When he came back, he then had a basically a handicap match against both of those. But what I love about all of this is that he came back and they they put they put a bandage over where his kidney is to make it seem like he got stabbed in his kidney.
00:57:32
Speaker
And then on paper, what you see, because John Cena eventually wins the match, but what you see is just John Cena versus, oh no, John Cena defeats Carlito and Jesus. Because you can't necessarily see the accent. on Anyway, so Carlito defeated, John Cena defeated Jesus.
00:57:49
Speaker
um All right, here's another one. Bloodlines and dynasties are on the line as Dwayne the Rock Johnson plays the final boss, an egomaniacal tyrant that wields his power against a grandson of a plumber who attempts to cement his family's legacy and restore honor to his once royal family.
00:58:10
Speaker
I cannot think of a rock movie that follows that plot, so I'm going to say wrestling. It's a wrestling feud and it was so fucking stupid. Okay, listen. So there was there was a feud between Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns that just could have written itself. But then The Rock, who was on the board of TKO, which I mentioned earlier, he decided to wield his power. And he's like, you know what? I'm going to put myself in this feud. And so what he was going to do was push Cody to the side and have a ah match between The Rock and Roman Reigns.
00:58:39
Speaker
And they actually had a press conference announcing that. But the fans were so upset about it that basically they had to shoehorn Cody back into the match. The Rock was like, well, I want to wrestle. So on the two nights of WrestleMania, they actually had The Rock wrestle a match on the Saturday night just so that they could make him happy. And then they still had the match.
00:59:00
Speaker
So is it was The Rock and Roman Reigns versus Cody Rhodes and another guy named Seth Rollins. Only for Cody and Roman to then have another match the next night. just so that the rock could have his match.
00:59:14
Speaker
Is there like a writer's room for this? Is there like, yes, they hire writers. Okay. Yeah. Okay. And you'll see that on, on real, they'll, they'll, they have writers and they do find this stuff out.
00:59:25
Speaker
So interesting. it's crazy. All right. A couple more. A long lost brother returns from the ashes to seek revenge on his older brother for the fire that left the younger sibling disfigured and full of rage.
00:59:41
Speaker
I'm going to say WWE. Yeah, it is. Okay. So this is the feud between Kane and The Undertaker. The Undertaker is a a very famed wrestler in WWE. And he's famously like undead, right? This is this undead creature. And he had this manager named Paul Bearer. it? Paul Bearer.
01:00:00
Speaker
And for a while, Paul Bearer and The Undertaker had split up. And so Paul Bearer was looking for revenge against The Undertaker. and oh Basically, what happened is he said Paul's way of getting back at The Undertaker was to bring back the brother that Undertaker thought was dead because there was a big house fire and there was supposed to be he's supposed to be dead. Well, turns out he's not dead. And so for weeks, Paul Bearer saying, oh, Cain is coming back. Cain is coming back.
01:00:30
Speaker
And so the Undertaker is having a match with Shawn Michaels. ah The lights go out and these flames erupt. And here comes this big, like almost seven foot tall masked dude ah named Kane. And he rips the door off the cage and then he starts beating up his brother. And then Shawn Michaels ends up winning the match because Kane interfered.
01:00:49
Speaker
that was That was epic. That was epic at the time. um All right. last Last one. And you've been doing pretty well so far. So I think you're going to get this one.
01:01:00
Speaker
Hulk Hogan must fight off a gauntlet of supernatural forces dedicated to erasing his existence from the timeline.
01:01:09
Speaker
I'm going to guess WWE. You're actually wrong because it's from WCW. See, there was another company. There was another company that folded in 2001 called WCW. Now, the plot line they gave you about the satanic cult leader, the undertaker kidnapping Vince's daughter, Right.
01:01:30
Speaker
A guy that worked on that storyline also worked on this one. It's two separate companies. His name was Vince Russo. He came up with some of the weirdest things, including a feud between two dudes where they were fighting over one of the guy's moms, and the final match had that mom on a forklift.
01:01:45
Speaker
ah So in this Hulk Hogan feud, basically he left WWF, at the time it was WWF, to go to WCW. But there were these wrestlers who didn't want Hulkamania there. And so they all like they had these weird they were called the Dungeon of Doom, but there was like a guy called the Yeti who was actually just a mummy. And they had ah a shaman and and just people like all kinds of weird gimmicks. And their whole thing was like trying to get rid of Colcomania. And it none of it made sense. And it finally ended in a match where.
01:02:17
Speaker
Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage had to fight off people up a whole tower, like a cage that had tears. And they were supposed to make their way to the top of the tower and, or or maybe down, I don't remember, but they got out, but the match wasn't over yet.
01:02:30
Speaker
And so they kept fighting for like 10 more minutes and then the match ended, even though they already got out. It made no sense. None of it made sense because wrestling is crazy and it's, but it's wonderful. Yeah. So you have a favorite plot, like arc or like moment, a plot that like stands out to you as like, this is, this is wrestling at its best.
01:02:51
Speaker
Is there anything that like sticks out to you where you go this is the, whether it's a moment or I don't know. Is there, is there any moment that you go, this is peak? So yeah, there is one though. So you've actually seen me wear the shirt before. There's a wrestler called CM Punk.
01:03:04
Speaker
um And he's probably the only wrestler that I was like, yeah, that's my guy. Just because he was so different. He never felt like his promos never felt ah rehearsed. It just felt very off the cuff and he felt very genuine. And um he was feuding with John Cena at the time. And they kind of recreated this storyline that Punk had used on the independence called the Summer of Punk, where he basically threatened to win the top championship in the company, but then leave the company. And so he and John Cena, it was kind of like the the ah the anarchist butting up against the ah the but the company man.
01:03:39
Speaker
And it was probably the most electric that company had felt in years, especially since WCW had closed. So it had been like 10 years at that point. And just watching essentially a 45-minute match between two great wrestlers and with a fantastic story was amazing.
01:03:55
Speaker
like That's what you want. You want the story to match the the quality of the wrestling. And that was just a perfect synergy of all of that stuff. um I think that's that still sticks out. And that's been what? since That was 15 years ago.
01:04:09
Speaker
Do you have any strong thoughts on Rey Mysterio? I mean, one of the greatest of all time. have you First of all, I need to know what stem cells he got because this guy's in his 50s and he's still wrestling. But he's like...
01:04:24
Speaker
flying around and like it's it's ah unreal how this guy does this. I have some one more thing to send you to react to. if you could just do a blind reaction. Blind reaction. this That would be sweet.
01:04:35
Speaker
Okay. Right now I'm going to play this in the episode just so that you can react to it. I'm just going to let you know context here. Oh, I remember you said you did this.
01:04:48
Speaker
Oh my gosh.
01:04:52
Speaker
Kurt, your haircut in this. Your haircut in this. ah
01:05:01
Speaker
Oh, man. This was the first commercial I ever first professional gig I ever had in Los Angeles. I think I had moved to Los Angeles maybe two or three months before that.
01:05:13
Speaker
so it was like March or something of 2010. And um I did a 7-Eleven commercial with Ray Mysterio. He was the nicest guy. was so cool.
01:05:24
Speaker
He was so chill.
01:05:27
Speaker
I didn't know. i didn't know what I was doing. I had no idea who he was. i I knew John Cena. I'd heard of John Cena and I had to go, Whoa, John Cena. And then I had to go the undertaker. And every time I would say ah a different Russell's name, they would do a crazy like lighting cue that would change. Um,
01:05:45
Speaker
Anyway, James, I just felt like that was something I needed to share with you. I'm so glad you did. I have known that you did that because you you have mentioned that before, but it's such a such a gem. I'm so glad. it's such a weird moment from my life.
01:06:00
Speaker
That you got to meet him. It full circle. Yeah. you know I'm trying to think. like I don't think I've actually met. You know what? I did meet one wrestler. He wasn't working for WWE at the time anymore, but randomly he was at the Abbey. And I was like, what are you doing here? But also the Abbey has basically become a straight bar now. So it wasn't that shocking see him there. I haven't been there since, gosh, like 2013.
01:06:22
Speaker
Oh, you're missing nothing. I'm not missing out. I'm only there if I'm ah there against my will. So no, you're you're you're totally fine. It's a lot of West Hollywood clubs and bars are like, what did I do to end up here tonight? Yeah. Oh, that pretty much every time. Because like I live so far away from West Hollywood now. Like if I'm there, i was either kidnapped or ah No, that was it. I was kidnapped. Yeah, I was kidnapped. Yeah, that's so funny. Um, um I love this trip down this, uh, this passion that you have. This is, this is awesome.
01:06:52
Speaker
Yes. I, uh, yeah, I realized I just never mentioned it, never really talked about it in depth about that. And, and there's more to say. I, uh, I, I think, I do think it's a lot of fun. And like I said, it's nice to have something that, you know, is new every single week.
01:07:05
Speaker
Yeah. That that's also part of, part of the enjoyment. Well, that's why I like this podcast because I think it's it is a space for us to bring these little eccentricities that we're into that are sometimes, yeah, hard to, even with your friends and family, you go, I know most people are not. So it's like, that's what I love about this where I'm like,
01:07:25
Speaker
who can i like for my thing this week? i was like, who can i send this to? And I was like, no one's going to care as much as I do, but I'm going to talk about it on the podcast. So it's like, I love, I love, this is the point of it. Like what's, what is that weird little thing that you're into at any given time? So that's so WrestleMania is this weekend.
01:07:44
Speaker
WrestleMania this weekend. I actually am going to I'm going to watch it late because I busy as always. So I have things going on. So I'll watch it after it airs. But gotcha. Yeah. So for you, let's plug some things here. So you've got an episode of TV coming out.
01:08:02
Speaker
Oh, man. Yeah. Tonight in CIS, I mentioned earlier, but um I got to do a top of show guest star, which is always fun. It's like top of show means you get higher billing, but it also means like you're an important character to the episode. And um I got to work on it. We shot it back in beginning of February. So pretty quick turnaround, actually. That's great. like Yeah, honestly, it was such a collaborative set. I thought going on to and NCIS, I thought it would be, you know, they've been doing that show for years. And I just thought it would be very like, show up, say you're lying, go home. But the director, his name is Rocky Carroll. He's actually in the show, but he directs a lot. And he was so collaborative and creative. And which i it it almost felt like being in like an indie film or or ah a project where we're discovering it I was like, this is crazy. I'm on NCIS. This show is like...
01:08:51
Speaker
a juggernaut ah procedural standard classic, you know, uh, CBS show. And I actually found it to be incredibly creative and fun. And my co-star and her name is Yael Grabglass and she was in Jane, the Virgin. And, She's on Matlock right now. and um She's so phenomenal in the episode. She has to do a lot of heavy lifting because her character is a Navy lieutenant who was ah stranded in the wilderness for like six months and was rescued. And so she has a lot of PTSD. And I'm her field producer who's there kind of helping her through the situation.
01:09:27
Speaker
i might be a little more closely connected to it than people realize. So tune in. Check it out. It's good stuff. Hey, no matter what you see, well's just because no matter what you see, Kurt Megan, he's always the nice guy. Remember that. He's always the nice guy.
01:09:42
Speaker
ah mean It was nice to do a role where i wasn't just pining after somebody. I do a lot of pining, lot of pining, a lot of... lot of yearning, a lot of longing. lot a lot of yearning, lot of yearning.
01:09:54
Speaker
um And so, yeah, this is the difference. I, you know what? I enjoy yearning. I think I yearn in real life a lot. So it, yeah, I'm a yearner. Yeah.
01:10:07
Speaker
A special skills yearning. i I do want things badly. I feel that. So I think that's why I can tap into like, love me, give me an opportunity, whatever. i i i yeah um Yeah, for me. ah So actually, by the time this airs, I will.
01:10:24
Speaker
ah ah So i'm I'm tonight while we're recording this, I actually have to head to Disney Channel Rocks for um Disney Channel Night at Disneyland, um part of a big Disney After Dark event. But ah we do have one more on Thursday, so which will be the day after this airs. So, yeah, I'll be doing that. I'm singing all the big hits from Disney Channel like Camp Rock. I saw a clip Mariah posted of you singing all on this together. and Yeah. my night And it made my night. Absolutely. And we're doing that original choreography, too, with a handheld mic. And I got to tell you, it's hard to do that choreography with a handheld microphone.
01:11:01
Speaker
um So yeah, so I'll be we'll be doing that um tonight while we're recording, but also on Thursday. I just saw a clip of Lucas Grabeil talking on the news about he's talking to somebody in an interview about like High School Musical and they're like do you guys all get together? Do you guys all connect, stay connected? And he was like, he basically goes through all the people he's connected to. He's like, I'm still close with Vanessa. I'm still he just leaves out Zac Efron.
01:11:26
Speaker
I believe that a whole part of the... But he's like, everybody else. And I was like, so so not Zac Efron. And not Zac Efron. He's like, we haven't been in a room together since 2008. And I thought that was...
01:11:38
Speaker
I always get the sense that he wants, Zac Efron wanted to remove himself from that project. Like, like, yeah like after his, you for his career. That said, he does, like, there was a great interview. Did you see Ironclaw?
01:11:50
Speaker
I did. And it was great. It was great. i love, there's a great interview where he was in an interview for Ironclaw, but they brought up High School Musical and he actually spoke about it very, he's like, he was like really reverent and was like, I love that I did that. I'm not ashamed of it. It's like, oh, that's nice. because You know, sometimes actors get so big and then they're like, yeah,
01:12:07
Speaker
I don't want to talk about my and it's like, no, man, this made you own it. Okay. So, so then what just happened is I did the Reddit thing where I, I projected a very negative stance on what, how Zac Efron felt about high school musical. And you just proved that if I had just read an article, I would have known that he's okay with it.
01:12:25
Speaker
But he's the only one who's not in, not connected. He's not, he's not answering Lucas Kerbiel's text. So, you know, we're just working with the info that we have. all right Zach, you got to get in the group chat, man. Just, just get back in there. if you're watching this, Zac Efron. Sorry, what else what do you all do have to promote? Sorry, completely derailed that. That literally it. um I mean, im yeah like I said, I'm busy, but in terms of performing your things for people to watch, that that's it.
01:12:47
Speaker
Yeah. There's like cool stuff coming. with You're going to be in London soon? you mean I'll be in London soon. There's many things did that are happening. yeah Those are future things. Exactly. There's a lot of things. a lot of things are happening. We just can't talk about what they are. yeah that's that's That's where we're at right now. Yeah.
01:13:03
Speaker
Yeah, that's it. This has been fun. Thank you for chatting
Engaging with Listeners and Growing the Audience
01:13:08
Speaker
with me today. This was great. If you guys like what you hear, you should share it, post about it, comment. What where are all the what are all the actions we need to do? Yes, let's do that. Yes. So of course, you can always email at us at sowhatareyouintopod at gmail.com.
01:13:28
Speaker
And then we have our socials at So What Are You Into Pod on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube as well. So make sure you leave some comments, share it with your friends. We're trying to grow our audience. So whatever you can to help us out will be greatly appreciated.
01:13:44
Speaker
probably gonna start posting links to the stuff we've talked about in the video so if you want to go check out some of the stuff we've been talking about let us know what you think about the stuff that we're into or write in with your own stuff awesome um thank you thank you as always listen stay curious curious