Which Riddle Riddle?

#372: My Hearts Don't Lie w/ Joey Bland

00:00:01

Erin

This is a HeadGum Podcast.

???

Quick! Time to choose a meal deal with McValue. The $5 McChicken meal deal? The $5 McDouble meal deal? Or the new $6 Daily Double meal deal? Each with its own small fries, drink, and four-piece McNuggets. There's actually no rush. I'm just excited for McDonald's. Price and participation may vary.

Erin

Adal, GPC and I just got our Hey and Riddle tattoo. Did you get a Riddle tattoo?

Joey

Yes.

Erin

Where is it?

Joey

Yeah, let's see it. Huh?

00:01:02

JPC

Let's see it. What did you two get?

Erin

He got Hey, and I got the first Riddle, and then your job was to get the second Riddle?

JPC

Yeah, the second. And that's the name of the show, is Hey Riddle Riddle, and the tattoo does not work if you didn't get that, because otherwise it's just Hey Riddle, and no one will know what the fuck that means, or Riddle Hey, depending on how we stand.

Joey

You know how I've been super unorganized recently? Okay. Recently, the last seven years. Seven. I got from the Magic Tavern.

Erin

Oh my god. Where?

Joey

On my lower back.

Erin

That fits. You got a tramp stamp. No. From the magic tattoo.

Joey

I got a tattoo on my lower back.

JPC

Well that actually fits because Erin got ass cheek and I got taint for our tattoos. So now it kind of like it all reads.

Erin

Well I got a tattoo that says ass cheek and it's on my face.

JPC

Yeah I got a forearm tattoo that says taint.

Joey

Is any tattoo Charlie Chaplin gets a tramp stamp? That's a lot of fun. And that's a lot of fun.

JPC

And that's what we like to call a lot of fun.

Joey

Let's air out the room. Our guest today, Mr. Joey Bland. Thank you so much for being here.

00:02:03

???

Hey, I'm tattoo-less. None. None. I'd be superfluous in your podcast title tattoos because I am a fourth person in a three-word title.

JPC

No, it'd be like room tone. You need that to set the mood for the tattoo that you're about to see.

???

Fair enough, fair enough. I could be a pause before or after. Joey Bland, human room tone.

JPC

God. Human metronome. With a name like Bland, it kinda does fit.

???

Oh my God, I know. I had an audition one time and the guy was like, Joey Bland? That's gotta be a stage name. And it's like, stage names are the reverse.

???

You go the other way, right?

???

You'd be like, I'm Joey Starm.

Erin

Hi, I'm Jennifer Boring.

???

Yeah, well that was my reply was like, it is, it is a stage name. My real name is Joey Rasmussen.

Joey

Now, Joey is anything but bland. You might know him from Improvised Shakespeare, one of the best improv shows you'll ever see. You might know him from the brand new podcast Like Minds, which you can find anywhere you find podcasts. You might know him from being a champion on Jeopardy, Boy, if you did, I'd be impressed. X amount of years ago. Was it... I don't know how to phrase this without insulting any listeners. Was it normal or college? It was normal Jeopardy.

00:03:16

???

And it was... The real thing? The real thing. The real thing. I was on it in 2005. I won twice and lost once. Everyone loses once.

Joey

Do you remember your final Jeopardy question that you won on?

???

Oh, God. Yeah, 100%. You gotta remember, I won twice. And I remember the final Jeopardy that I lost on. Would you like to hear them?

???

I would love to.

???

Okay. The first one was essentially, I think the category was something like 18th century correspondence. It was a really weird thing.

Erin

I would just write pigeon and then truck.

???

Yeah, it was crazy. It was a silly, not even a category. Oh, so Erin, pigeon, that's like the type of correspondence?

Erin

I'm not saying I would win.

???

I'm just saying I would panic and write pigeon. But that would fit in the category, correspondence with a C, not correspondence like the people who, but it was about a correspondent. And the question was basically, it was a quote, and it was like, who wrote this to her husband in whatever year, and it was an Abigail Adams quote.

Erin

Remember the ladies, I'm sure.

???

That's the one. That's the one. And I think we all got it.

00:04:16

Erin

You all got it?

???

Yeah, I think so. And then the second one was much harder, and it was one of those things where someone had not made it to Final Jeopardy, so it was just down to me and this other guy. and it was I think it was world capitals or some kind of capitals and I was pretty I that was I was like I know those um but that wouldn't really help and it was something this uh essentially the question was like what is the oldest capital city in the Americas and it was founded in like 14 something so at first people were like Boston you're like no 1400s my god so you have to think Where did Columbus land? And I kind of remembered that he landed on the island of Hispaniola, which is where Haiti and the Dominican Republic are, so I wrote down Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, which was correct. Oh, huge. But that also was really, really, because I had more than twice the other guy, so I knew I was going to win. So I was like floating at that point.

JPC

And the other guy wrote Pigeon, right?

00:05:17

Joey

I truly think the saddest thing you can watch on TV is on Jeopardy when someone goes, I guess, zeroes out or goes below. And for Final Jeopardy, they're like, we don't want you on camera. You can't even sit quietly.

???

Go to the shame box.

???

Back to the green room. Yeah. And, uh, and then, but I finished, they shoot like five in a day or they did. I'm sure they still do. They shoot like a week in a day. And so I finished, I was the Thursday and Friday shows. So I left LA as the champion. Like I've never flown home higher. Like it was just amazing. Then I came back and lost the first one the next morning and it sucked. You, but you went home? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I flew home. They only shoot on like Tuesdays and Wednesdays or something. So I flew home. So you had like a whole week of downtime. They had a week off and so I had two weeks off, flew back in.

Erin

And you couldn't tell anybody. You had to just walk around the world as the reigning Jeopardy! champion and no one knew. No one could know.

Joey

You're doing that thing where you jump and kick your heels and people are like, wow, Joey's really good.

Erin

Were you being so funny in improv shows that week? I killed. Zip, zap, zoom, ho, whoa.

00:06:18

Joey

Such good callbacks.

Erin

All kinds of cool tag outs. You're doing cartwheels instead of sweep edits.

Joey

This is how you do this stuff. Fair ladies and gents, our play takes place in Santo Domingo.

JPC

So what was the one that you got out on?

???

The question all boiled down to basically who's the youngest person to ever run for president on a major party ticket? Mr. Beast And it was Thomas Dewey of Dewey Defeats Truman and I knew I wasn't gonna get it. But I also made the giant colossal Jeopardy error of betting everything.

Erin

Oh no.

???

Never bet everything. You can't win with zero, you can win with a dollar. I wouldn't have won with a dollar, but I was stressed.

JPC

So this is the big regret, but it wouldn't have mattered.

???

No, my big regret was, there are sites you can go on now, and I think you could even then, that tell you every situation, the rules you should follow on a wager. And I was in second place, and I should have wagered in a certain pocket, and if I had done that, The woman who beat me, she and I both missed it. Okay. But I could have won by waiting correctly.

00:07:31

Joey

That's fascinating. I never even thought about there being like websites or guides where it's almost like Doyle's poker book or something where it's like here's the things you should always move in this manner.

JPC

There's a website that I use for that and it like without fail tells me because I use it because I have restaurant anxiety and it always says scream at the waiter and I've yet to do it yet.

Erin

I think you're reading your own blog.

JPC

I'm reading, it's a blog.

Erin

Yeah, it's your blog.

JPC

Yes.

Erin

Yes, okay. We're on the same page.

JPC

I like the way this guy writes.

Erin

When you were going on to Jeopardy, was there categories that you were like, please don't be on there? Or in stuff that you were kind of hoping for?

???

No, I read opera for dummies and I read classical music for dummies. I had one opera question and I still got it wrong. Nice. But there's not a lot of opera on there. What was your major in college? My major was religion.

Erin

We're

00:08:41

???

You know, there's such and such uprising in this country, and you're like, I've never heard of this thing, resulted in the collapse of the city of Nairobi. And you're like, well, I do know Nairobi is the capital of Kenya, so I'll guess Kenya. They do kind of nest clues a lot of times in Jeopardy! questions.

JPC

That's interesting. Probably doing the crossword over and over again, the more you watch Jeopardy, the more you get a sense for the language that they use and how you answer those questions.

Erin

Did you sweep a category while you were on it?

JPC

No, I came close.

Erin

What was the category?

???

Gosh, what was it? Dogs of the Bible. My major, Professor Holmes, will be so pleased. My dissertation on dogs of the Bible. There was one I feel like they showed outlines of countries, and I was just going right through it, and the last one I just really clunked up. I don't know, this was a long time ago.

JPC

You have pretty good recall of these things. It was traumatic.

???

It was easily the most nervous I've ever been in my life. Like when you start, my hand, like you have your thumb on the buzzer thing and my thumb was like just waving off the whole thing. I couldn't even compress it at first, I didn't think.

00:09:45

Erin

The skill of knowing a lot about everything, does that help you doing improvised Shakespeare? Because I feel like you guys like pull on so much stuff. Well, I mean,

???

Yeah, now it sounds real, this, you know, all real heady stuff. But I think, yeah, I mean, I think with improv, period, the more you know, the better, right? Yeah. Yeah.

Erin

But that's not really what this show is, just as a heads up.

JPC

Did we get that on mic? I'm gonna have to review that later.

???

I would say not knowing a lot of stuff, but being interested in a lot of stuff.

JPC

Yeah.

???

Was definitely helpful. Yeah, yeah, for sure. And, uh, yeah, and I think there was... I'll also say going on Jeopardy!, part of the tryout was definitely like an audition. Like, they wanted to see if you could... be chatty on the show.

Erin

Flirt with Alex Trebek.

???

Kind of. Those were the Alex days. And I will say, for a guy who, like, he was super good at his job. He did one of those things to me when I lost, and I missed the Thomas Dewey thing. I didn't even recognize it in the moment when I watched it. He looked at my answer and he goes, I think I guessed Barry Goldwater. And he goes, oh, not even close. Which sounded really jerky when I watched it. But on the day, I didn't feel that at all. I always felt like, oh my gosh, I'm making dad proud. And if I missed one, you could just tell he was like, hey, shake it off, kid. You'll be fine. And then he got one right, and he was like, you could feel like a pat on your back. He was really good at it.

00:11:13

Joey

I guess Easter Island, when I was on it, he said, swinging a miss, bitch.

JPC

When I auditioned he was like hanging outside of like the casting area just like playing a guitar like trying to look like Disinterested right and then like people would be like hey, are you? Yeah, actually my hotel's like not far away.

???

Oh, yeah, don't get me wrong like he was very good at his job But he was a total violent

Erin

I do watch the clip of him saying, so losers, when he calls that woman and her friend losers. It's awesome. It's awesome. And I love Alex Trebek, but this clip is one of the best things.

Joey

But he was famously a really mean guy. Unless he's trying to get Poon on the quad. So Joey, clearly love Jeopardy. What is your relationship with riddles, puzzles, lateral thinking problems, crosswords, escape room, anything like that?

???

Oh god, I always feel like lateral thinking puzzles, riddles and that, I always know when the riddle gets read, I'm like, I know what I'm supposed to do. I understand that it's not, don't take it at face value. We'll see you next time.

00:12:40

Erin

After doing Minds, the podcast version and the live version, I feel like the way your brain works, though, if I were to be recruiting people who did Chicago improv to do an escape room with me, you would be someone I would think of.

???

I am beyond honored. I think I like being on the other side of it. I like being the person constructing the puzzle box. And I guess I'm that side of the sadism of it.

JPC

You would rather be Jigsaw than the person who has to cut their own arm off to get out of the- You know what? Me too!

???

I mean, but who? Would any of us? Yeah, I guess. As if you're just like, God, I'd love to be strapped into that thing. Rip my jaw.

Joey

Huh, would I rather be Jigsaw or Carrie Elwes? Let me think about that.

???

Hottest young actor of all time. I like to play the game, you know? Yeah, I do. My podcast, like mines, I do tend to write things puzzlier than like a straightforward trivia question. Somebody said like, you ask questions like a bridge troll.

JPC

And I took that as high praise. That feels like what a riddle is, right? A question a bridge troll would ask would be a riddle. That's my first riddle. Buck.

00:13:48

???

There you go. In that way, I'm very much summoning like my father who would like we play Trivial Pursuit in my house and he would never play because he kind of knew everything I think and he just had the patience for everyone else and he would walk through the kitchen and he would hear the question he would just say like, lucky charms. We'll be like, what the hell was that? And then afterwards he'd come back in and he'd be like, well, it was about the moon and there is a moon marshmallow. Like it was something really, really tangential. Just enough to like make everyone pissed off.

Erin

I love that he wasn't smug about it. He was just sort of getting his coffee. No, he definitely wasn't.

JPC

He was just passing through.

???

On to work.

JPC

Well, speaking of work, let's all get to work, and I'm going to read some riddles, and we can do our best to try to solve these riddles. Let's crack this. These are all going to be user-submitted riddles, and this first one is going to come from Mikos. It's kind of a warm-up riddle. Mikos writes, What has a nose and a tail, but cannot breathe? Nose and a tail, but cannot breathe.

Joey

Is this like a penny?

JPC

That's a really great answer, and it's acceptable, but it's not the one we're looking for.

00:14:51

Erin

Today we're

Joey

That was my next riddle. That was a really great question.

JPC

It is T-A-I-L

Joey

Nose and a tail, but know what? But cannot breathe.

JPC

Cannot breathe.

???

So it's not alive. Does wine have a, like a glass of wine have a nose? But I think it also can breathe.

JPC

Yeah, wine, I think, is famously something that you let breathe. You let it breathe.

Erin

But it can't literally breathe.

JPC

Well, but this is, I would say that it can't even figuratively breathe either, because that's no, it does no type of breathing one way or the other.

Joey

Is this like a freaking statue? Breathless.

00:15:53

JPC

It's not a statue because we're not doing an image. And I think that, um... Yeah, it's not a statue at all.

Erin

Oh, a plane.

JPC

Erin, plane is a great answer.

Erin

And it's not it?

JPC

It's not it, but it is... Yes, it is. I say it is. Erin, you don't have to participate for the rest of the riddle. You can have it off. You get off on a technicality. Because the answer's not plane, but it is like plane in that it has a nose and a tail that are not like a... Hey Riddle Riddle. And Erin, you don't have to do it anymore because you got played and you did so well so now you can take your much needed break. Or you can choose to help a friend.

???

Not like a rocket.

JPC

No, I would say this is much more of a personal transportation device. A bike, a Segway, a scooter. Segways have a tail. Scooter's closer. Scooter's closer.

00:17:04

Joey

Do people still put bras on their cars? Remember those? Like, it's not a bra.

Erin

Oh my god, my car has been wearing a bra at all. Oh my god.

Joey

How old's your car? There's like a black, I think they call them like bras. They would put like a black, mostly like Mitsubishi Lancers and stuff. They put like a black covering over it. You know what?

JPC

This might be a small town panel and I'm outing myself. I have seen what you are describing I did not know that it was called a bra, and I don't know what function it serves.

Erin

Adal, let's go to the car strip club. Is it covering the headlights? Buddy, I don't know if you're into that sort of thing. Let's go. Don't ask me about my first kiss. Don't ask me about my first kiss.

JPC

Right, Adal, like the grill of the car? The grill of the car, yes. And I have seen that. I don't know what it's for.

Joey

But in the mid-90s, everyone in my small town had like, not everyone, but a lot of people who had Mitsubishi Lancers would put up.

???

Everyone in my small town who also had a Mitsubishi Lancer.

JPC

This is like the jeep ducks thing that I just found out. It's been going on for a couple years but I just found out about it the other day. Ducks? Yeah you'll see people who drive jeeps specifically and they have these little rubber ducks and they keep them on their dashboards but if they see other jeeps like in the wild it's like a it's like a hey good on you type of thing where they'll take one of their ducks and put it on top of someone else's jeep to like pass the What's going on? I'd like to see a scene. The shrug. The little shrug.

00:18:47

???

I think airplanes just as good.

JPC

Yeah. As a skateboard, I agree. Would it be better? I think airplanes are even better than skateboards.

Erin

Yeah, let's play fucking Tony Hawk's plane. I'd like to see a scene. We'll have you two be cool kids at the skate park and Adal, you are a dad that used to skateboard and you're trying to like hang and be as cool as them.

???

Sure.

JPC

Today we

Joey

What?

???

Hey, mister, you alright?

Joey

You fell down pretty hard there this year. Yeah, yeah, no, no, no. Stay back, stay back, stay back.

JPC

Stay down. Don't get up, don't get up, man.

???

No, no, no, no, no. I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine. Dude, your pants are ripped bad. Ooh, my coccyx, my coccyx. It looks like you're bleeding out of, like, your leg, too. No, no, no, no, no, no. Yeah, man, I can see your underwear, and it's filling with blood. No, no, no, no, no. Don't stand up.

00:19:48

JPC

Don't stand up. I think it was, did you have tomatoes in your pocket?

???

No, yes. Hey, Brian, I'm gonna call my dad.

JPC

Yeah, my dad's an ear, nose, and throat surgeon, so he might be able to help with whatever he's got.

???

I think it's my testicles. Oh my God. Dude, don't show us your testicles.

JPC

Yeah, we're kids. Hey, mister. Hey, mister, we're kids. No, I'm saying the... We're 14 and 15, so please don't show us your testicles.

Joey

The tomatoes, those are... I have... Can you go get a grown-up? What? Go get a grown-up.

JPC

It's a skate park.

???

Hey, mister, one of your eyes is facing the wrong direction.

JPC

Oh no, not again. It's a skate park, man. There are no grown-ups here. It's just me and my shitbag friends. Yeah, man, there aren't supposed to be any grown-ups.

???

What are you even doing here, man? Here, let me... Oh my god, your testicles swell.

JPC

Let me get on my wall. Where did you get that old Bart Simpson-looking skateboard? I've never seen a skateboard like that.

Joey

It's so wide. You know the arcade machine, the Simpsons arcade machine with the four players and like Homer has a bowling bag and Marge has a vacuum?

???

I guess? I guess I know the theory of what you're saying. I understand everything you're saying.

00:20:50

Joey

I know what Simpsons is. I don't remember what Lisa had but Bart had a skateboard but I won the 1987 championships and they gave me a replica. 1987?

JPC

Wait, 87? Yeah. That's like 10 years before either one of us were born.

???

Yeah, and two years before The Simpsons. Well, this is like Tracey Ullman's show. Oh, yeah. Hey, you're pretty cool, man.

Joey

Oh, what? Hold on, let me get out my phone. Can you say that again, record?

???

Uh, that's your phone? What's up? It has an antenna.

Erin

Hey guys, working on your jump. Oh my god. Sorry, my dad's here.

???

This is your dad? Your dad? Carol! Hey Carol! Your dad knows about the Tracy Ullman show. And I think his testicles exploded. Yeah, one of them's getting real big.

Erin

Sorry, guys, my dad sucks. He named me Carol and I'm like a child and that's sort of a lot. After Carol Channing. It's horrible. And he wanted to connect with me because he knows I love skateboarding. We can sort of skate away. You don't have to talk to my dad.

00:21:53

???

Yeah, we can go, Carol, if you want, but seriously, I think your dad's severely injured.

Erin

Yeah, yeah. And that's still not gonna bring Mom back. Let's go, boys.

Joey

There goes the most beautiful girl in the world.

JPC

I love you, baby. Hey, man, you can't say shit like, oh, no, I forgot that you're her dad. That's my daughter. Yeah, no, it's fine.

???

It's still weird for you to say it when we can see you're nuts.

JPC

I just, I had a gut reaction when an old man said that about Carol, who's a friend of mine.

Erin

Yeah, don't worry, guys.

JPC

We got defensive for Carol.

Erin

Let's go to 7-Eleven and tell them.

JPC

You could've named her after the movie, Carol. Quick somebody wear my clothes and do a cool trip

???

Stop trying to take your pants off. Holy crap, sir. Nobody's putting on your clothes.

JPC

This guy just got all his clothes off. No one's going to stop. Yeah, good luck getting your clothes off because your whole leg is so swollen at this point.

00:22:57

Erin

Yeah, dad, don't have my friends wear your clothes and then film themselves doing a trick to send to mom. That's weird, dad.

???

I can't feel my stomach. I bet you can't, sir. Your testicle is the size of a Nerf football. It looks like your stomach is filling up with dead blood.

Joey

I know Nerf. I know Nerf. Everybody knows Nerf. What's Nerf?

???

We're still kids. Carol's right. Let's get to 7-Eleven. Oh man. My sister did win a skateboard. She won a skateboard from Pizza Hut, and it was like the width of a coffee table. And it's Dr. Pepper on it.

Joey

That's the most 1990s sentence. You know how it's like, for sale, baby shoes never worn, the saddest sentence of all time? Right, right, yeah. One skateboard from Pizza Hut, Dr. Pepper is the most 90s sentence ever concocted that rules. Does she still have it?

Erin

I'm sure she's a famous skateboarder now on that skateboard.

???

Yeah, maybe you've heard of her. Her name is, insert, someone other than Tony Hawk.

00:23:57

Joey

Bam Margera.

???

Yeah, maybe you've heard of Bam Margera's sister.

Joey

I thought he was a wrestler. No! That's Bam Bam Bigelow. That could be Bam Bam Bigelow.

Erin

Bam Margera? Bam Margera?

JPC

He's the Jackass guy on the outs.

Erin

Oh, Bam Margera.

JPC

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't use the French pronunciation of Margera.

Erin

This has happened to me before. What are the consonants in that name?

???

Bam? Bam. Bam is as you said.

Erin

B-A-M. Yes.

???

And then Margera is, I think it's M-A-R-G-E-R-A?

JPC

If this was My Jeopardy, I would be out.

Joey

It does sound like something Gomez would say to Morticia.

JPC

Bam Margera.

Erin

Yeah.

Joey

Oh my God.

Erin

Or it sounds like I'm trying to say something and I've just burnt my tongue into oblivion.

JPC

I remember we used to get on my little brother's goat because we would play Tony Hawk Pro Skater. I want to say three. And in that, they would let you design your own character. And we made a character whose name was Bam Marinera. Aaron, you ever go on eBay and just type in aggro crag and see if you can buy a piece of the rock?

00:25:05

Erin

No, but I will now.

Joey

I remember the aggro crack. You ever watch Nickelodeon Guts?

Erin

Oh yeah. I'm trying to get, um, what was that Nickelodeon show? The Temple one. Legends of the Hidden Temple. Yeah, I'm trying to get that whole set off eBay. The Hall of Holmack? Yeah.

JPC

The Hall of Holmack. Oh man. Okay, let's do this one. This one is going to be a riddle from Ben. So this is a corrupt and evil... Bam! From Ben Margiore. This is from Ben Martinelli's. A corrupt and evil king had been condemning and putting people to death. All executions happen in public and, for the appearance of fairness, the king has stipulated that even though he knows a person is guilty, they will get a chance to live. The moment before an execution, by beheading, the condemned will be presented with two small pieces of folded paper. The king says that one piece of paper is written innocent and the other is written guilty. The condemned must take one of the pieces of paper, unfold it, and show it to the crowd. If they choose innocent, they are free to go. If they choose guilty, they are immediately beheaded. One day the king condemns you! Up to now, everyone condemned has chosen the piece of paper that says guilty and has been beheaded. You assume that both pieces of paper say guilty, and you are correct.

00:26:16

???

Oh. How? This is a really sad story.

JPC

You're correct. Tune in next week. The question is, how do you survive?

???

Oh, both pieces of paper say guilty.

Joey

I think Let me finish. This is gonna sound dumb.

JPC

You're allowed to think.

Joey

I think you go, hmm, you make a big meal of being like, ooh, eeny, meeny, as fast as you can, you grab both pieces and you open them and show it to the crowd and go, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look.

Erin

Hey Riddle

???

Ostensibly, one says innocent. It doesn't say not guilty, it says either innocent or guilty.

JPC

Innocent or guilty are the things that these two pieces of paper say, but again, you assume that they both are guilty and you are correct.

00:27:19

Joey

So the crowd knows and they don't care. So it's not like you do pull one and then you go, just before I die, show the other one, but nobody cares?

JPC

I will say, here's what I will say, it's not that the crowd knows, it's that you know, but how are you going to get the crowd to like, you know, how are you going to survive this ordeal?

Erin

And I can't bring my own paper, that says anything on it.

JPC

Man, I would love it if you could, but you can't because it has to be in the king's handwriting.

???

I'm assuming we're not going to get out of this by getting the crowd on our side and leading a revolution.

JPC

I mean, I will say that that might be the way that you get out of this, but It's not the operative part of this answer. I say. We. I guess.

Erin

Does it have to do with something you say?

JPC

No, it has nothing to do with something that you say.

Joey

Is this like the plot of that Denzel Washington movie where he stays inside the bank? Glory.

Erin

Inside Man.

Joey

I love Inside Man.

Erin

I love Inside Man too. They marketed it wrong.

00:28:21

JPC

I'd say totally underrated. The taking of Pelham 1-2-3 actually. That's what this is. The remake. It's the remake. I know Denzel wasn't in the original and I don't know that he was in the remake. He was. He was. It was him and Travolta. And it was him and Travolta. The original is great. The original is fun. Did Travolta, did he have his real hair?

Joey

I hope you enjoyed.

JPC

He's Wiggs on a credit card commercial. You want some clues? I have some clues for you. This might help spark something. Your first clue is your hands are free.

Joey

In Greece, doesn't it sound like he's only seen people laugh? He's only ever seen it written down.

JPC

You may not speak at all on the execution platform. If you do, you will be immediately executed. Does that include, like, noises? Whistling? You can do some of your classic Michael Winslow helicopter landing. And the executioner's just hand-sweating on the axe, waiting for you to, like, say something that's, like, Peter Frampton, like, guitar kind of sounds like a person speaking, but as long as you keep it Frampton.

00:30:01

Joey

I stall until Tackleberry can take the shot.

Erin

Tackleberry! Do I, like, fold it in a certain way that makes it look like it says innocent?

JPC

That's so fun. Ooh.

Erin

Or do I like combine guilty and guilty?

JPC

Yeah, that was my thought, can we manipulate the letters?

Erin

Yeah.

JPC

Um, that's not, that's not the answer, but I love where your head's at.

???

Is there some kind of sign language going on? My hands are free.

JPC

Your hands are free.

???

I can't say anything, but I can show something. I can demonstrate.

JPC

You may not signal or gesture in any way that you know that both pieces of paper have guilty written on them. Okay, so that clue implies that the crowd does not count.

Erin

I sneeze and the paper shows. I sneezed so hard the paper whips up.

JPC

The answer will not be in any way showing both pieces of paper to the audience. I will say that.

Erin

Because again, you can't say this is about to say guilty because they both say guilty.

JPC

Uh, no, I think it would be taking this like the raving.

???

This is the job. I like I like JPC's job. I like being the person who's like, I have all the power. Yeah, and I'm giving I'm giving you better clues than you think. And you all see and we all seem dumb.

00:31:06

JPC

Okay, your next clue is that doesn't help. You are, in a way, using the King's trick against him. Because he's put guilty on both of these papers. You know that. The audience doesn't know that. And you're going to use his trick against him. Yeah. One and only one piece of paper must be shown to the public. That's a big clue. The whole solution to this revolves around them only seeing one piece of paper.

???

Is it a third piece of paper? Oh, no.

Joey

Oh, is it something of like, if you like swallow the piece of paper, the only way, of course they'll be like, well, we have the other piece of paper to tell, and when they gotta show that, Wait, what? That would be amazing if the king's like, no, no, no, don't show them that paper!

JPC

And the next day you eat it again.

Erin

Everyone's standing in silence. Every day you re-eat the paper.

JPC

I do want to see a scene. Adam, hold on, you got the answer. The answer is you eat one of the pieces of paper very quickly. They are forced to show the remaining piece of paper. If they show the piece of paper that's remaining that says guilty, you'd have to assume that you ate the piece of paper that said innocent, so you are. You actually got it by eating it.

00:32:11

Joey

I do think Joey's right where it's like any sort of... Monarch is going to be like, we'll simply, like Vlad the Impaler is like, cut the man open. Like, what do we, I do want to see a scene. JPC, you are a, you are the king of the land. Joey and Erin, you are a sort of duo who's been sentenced to death, but you are, you're like a vaudeville couple and you're trying to stall. This makes sense, right? JPC, you're the king of Peoria and this is, you're trying to stall your death.

???

Hey Riddle Riddle.

JPC

As we all know, it is illegal in this land, punishable by death.

???

Death!

JPC

Yes, people are ready for death. To dance in the King's Dance Hall. You too have been convicted. Fairly. Everybody saw I was fair. In the court of the King, and you are to be put to death. Death! As is our custom, I give you last words, so if you have any last words, you may speak them now.

00:33:26

Erin

You said punishable.

JPC

Your words. Yes, you're to be executed.

Erin

So it sounds like you want us to do puns?

Joey

What? We're only telling you what we heard from your own mouth, your majesty.

???

Wait, what is this?

JPC

What's going on? What is this? Did I say puns? You there, the person in the crowd who's enthusiastic, did I say puns? I think that might be a bird. Last words. These are your last words. Most people do like a prayer or something. Not to tell you how to do your last words, but... Hmm.

???

Didn't... Hold on. Hold on. If these are the last words I can speak in my entire life, Take me please away from my wife.

00:34:31

Erin

But... Wait, is my husband gonna be in the afterlife? Oh brother.

JPC

Does it? Let him finish! Alright, the bird's right. I like where this is going.

Erin

Oh good, I hope the afterlife has the baseball game. Because he'll complain if it doesn't. The wife isn't rhyming!

JPC

The wife's not rhyming. This almost feels like a routine, right?

Erin

I hope my sister's there, because who's he gonna flirt with?

???

It has the delivery of jokes.

Erin

Workshopping!

Joey

Workshopping!

???

Moving on from this life, ooh, that'd be swell. I can't wait to go wherever's next cuz I'm living in hell.

Joey

I love baseball.

JPC

So what is the vaudeville routine?

???

Are you part of the routine? Hey, hey, take it easy. We're just pitching here.

Erin

We're just pitching. I love baseball.

00:35:32

JPC

You do what now?

Erin

I'll catch whatever you throw at me next. What the fuck?

Joey

You asked for this punishment

JPC

Here's what we'll do. You weren't killing you.

Erin

Oh, okay. As long as I get to go to heaven.

JPC

I'm looking at my knights in the background. Do I not get the joke? Him, he's good.

Erin

Knock, knock.

JPC

Okay, here we go. Classic joke. You're gonna like this.

Erin

A knock, knock.

JPC

Who's there? You go. You go who?

Erin

No, you start the joke. You say it.

JPC

Okay, kill him. You've already said it. Where's the sword? That's my line. I'll do it. You go. You start the joke. Hey, why don't everyone, why don't you go take a little break and we'll be right back.

Erin

I need to redo that scene.

JPC

Hey, I think so. We'll be right back with a little more Hey Riddle Riddle. Oh brother.

00:36:41

Joey

I've done it, JBC Erin, I've done it. I found a way- What this time? For the three of us, specifically just the three of us, to breathe in space. Does that make sense?

Erin

Casey walks away kicking rocks, hands in pockets.

Joey

Sorry buddy, maybe next time.

JPC

Oh boy. You know what? I feel bad. I feel bad that Casey's not going to be able to breathe in space. What if we do this? What if we pool, like, our money and, like, get him in on whatever technology Adal is going to unveil to us?

Joey

What if we just pool our money and buy him a subscription to Rocket Money? That's more useful, right?

JPC

Oh, yeah, Rocket Money. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings. Rocket Money, why didn't I think of that?

Erin

And Rocket Money's 5 million members have saved a total of $500 million in cancelled subscriptions, with members saving up to $740 a year when they use all the app's premium features. I've been using Rocket Money long before they were a sponsor. I love it. It helps me keep track of my spending and it will send me alerts if there's a big spend, and then it will also put them in all these really beautiful color-coded categories. Very satisfying.

00:37:54

Joey

Yeah, look, I have Casey's bank information here. Of course, we all do. Look what he's paying for. He's paying for Sleep Monthly magazine? What is that?

Erin

Oh my God, he subscribes to every other Riddle podcast but ours.

JPC

Oh my God, you should sleep daily. You should not be, that's way too little sleep. And also, Rocket Money makes it easy to save for goals, like if you want to save up enough money to breathe in space. Rocket Money can analyze your accounts to find the best time each month to put extra money aside. And, Rocket Money will even try to negotiate lower bills for you. The app automatically scans your bills to find opportunities to save and then goes to work to get you better deals. They'll even talk to customer service so you don't have to. That's a great deal.

Erin

Cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go to RocketMoney.com slash Riddle today. That's RocketMoney.com slash Riddle. RocketMoney.com slash Riddle. Casey, good news! You can't breathe in space! I don't know how to deliver news.

JPC

But we can. Eats little fish. $28 for hot editors weekly. I should be daily too.

00:38:59

Erin

I get that one too.

JPC

This podcast is sponsored by Squarespace. Oh, did you get it? Did you get it on camera?

Joey

No, sorry. I wasn't recording.

Erin

No, me neither.

JPC

Guys, come on. I feel like, and this is not an indictment of you, but I feel like I keep doing the same skateboard trick. I keep hitting myself in the junk, going down this rail the exact same way every time, and I feel like you guys are just fumbling with the camera, and I'm beginning to think it's on purpose.

Erin

Adal and Erin make eye contact.

Joey

Wink wink wink.

Erin

No.

Joey

Well of course we did build a beautiful website on Squarespace. Yeah we're using Squarespace. For all your goofs and slips and gags.

JPC

It's the all-in-one website platform designed to help you stand out and succeed online. Whether you're just starting out or scaling your business or hitting yourself hard in the junk with a rail, Squarespace gives you everything you need to claim your domain, showcase your offerings with a professional website, grow your brand, and get paid all in one place. And I need to pay to offset the cost of the terrible damage I'm doing to my body.

00:40:06

Erin

Yes, and Squarespace makes it easy to showcase your expertise and engage clients with video content on your website. Like of you doing this awesome trick that you're going to have to do a few thousand more times. Upload and organize your videos, create stunning video libraries, and even monetize your content by adding a paywall. Perfect for online courses, exclusive tutorials, and premium workshops. And videos of JPC falling gracefully.

JPC

But all the videos so far are like you guys and like your face, it's like reaction shots because you have the camera turned the wrong way.

Joey

Well that's because we've been using Squarespace's analytics, JPC I'm not going to pronounce that word how you pronounce it, analytics, because we're making smarter business decisions with Squarespace's intuitive built-in analytics tools. We can review website traffic we've learned a lot of people love when we make fun of you, learn where to focus our engagement, which is like kids laughing at us laughing at you, and track revenue from bookings, invoices, or product sales.

JPC

You know what? I don't care, I'm gonna post whatever videos that you guys make, I think the content is gonna stand on its own, I think I'm gonna be successful, and if you wanna be successful, just head to squarespace.com slash riddle for a free trial, and when you're ready to launch, use offer code RIDDLE to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

00:41:21

Joey

GPC, why don't you do a flip Ollie over that bookcase?

Erin

Okay, I'll try it one more time. Take 100.

JPC

Oh, it doesn't hurt anymore. Uh-oh, it doesn't hurt anymore. Oh boy.

Joey

I like it less. Jealous much? New coat, new shirt, new pants. Adal, you didn't get those from the Emperor, did you? Uh, no, I think that guy was actually not wearing any clothes. Oh.

Erin

I knew it. And everyone says he was. And I knew he wasn't. I felt like I knew he wasn't.

JPC

Interesting that my experience with the emperor, his clothes are awesome.

Erin

Adal, your clothes look fantastic. Thank you. They look like very expensive. That must have costed you an arm and a leg.

Joey

Uh, no. Actually, we don't pay with limbs, we pay with money. But this was actually very cheap in terms of money. This is from Quince, my good lady. Oh, I love Quince. Quince has the kind of fall staples you'll wear non-stop. Like super soft 100% Mongolian cashmere sweaters. Touch, please, touch. Starting at just $60. That's bonkers.

00:42:25

???

$60?

Joey

Yeah, $60.

Erin

Their denim is durable and fits right, and their real leather jackets bring the clean, classic edge without the elevated price tag. I have sheets from Quince. I got a skirt from Quince. I love Quince.

Joey

On the walk over here, wearing Quince, a bunch of photographers were like, who is that guy? That's clearly like someone's little brother, like Nathan Levi's cousin or something.

JPC

What makes Quince different? They partner directly with Ethical Factories and Skip the Middleman so you get top tier fabrics and craftsmanship at half the price of similar brands. And middlemen are flipping out about it. I saw a middleman on the phone in a parking lot tearing the hair out of his head he was so mad at Quince. No, he looks really distressed. Personally, I love my lightweight hoodie. I think it's perfect for the cooler weather. It's kind of the in-between hoodie that you can get between a fall jacket and your summer clothes. It's awesome. It's a must-have staple of my wardrobe.

00:43:29

Erin

And I got my eye on some boots at Quince for the fall. Just a tall boot. I haven't had one of those like riding boots in a minute and I'm excited. I might get them in black or maybe like a chocolate color. Come back to me. Come back to me.

Joey

Sounds good, friends. Puts on sunglasses. So keep it classic and cool this fall with long lasting staples from Quince. Let's go to quince.com slash riddle for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. That's q-u-i-n-c-e dot com slash riddle. Free shipping and 365-day returns. quince.com slash riddle.

JPC

Adal, I have got Erin on a joke website. I'm about to sell her chocolate boots. I think she's going to walk around in them.

Erin

Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum.

JPC

Okay, I will stay and watch this.

Erin

Nom, nom, nom. Eats them like Cookie Monster.

JPC

This show is sponsored by BetterHelp.

Erin

Guys, I need to find a better solution than what I've been using. I've been going up to this character that's sitting at a booth that it's like free advice for five cents. She's being like really mean to me. And then I tried to like kick a football and she moved it and went, are you are you joking? That's so embarrassing. And I feel like that's not good therapy moving forward. I need to find a better solution.

00:44:40

JPC

Oh, Erin, you can't be doing that. You got to do what I do. You have to whisper your secrets into a rock and throw the rock into the ocean.

Joey

We're back.

JPC

Talk to an online therapist at BetterHelp.

Joey

Yeah, Erin, BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform, having served over 5 million people globally. It's convenient as well. You can join a session with a therapist at the click of a button, helping you fit therapy into your busy life, I assume, plus switch therapists at any time.

Erin

And BetterHelp's quality therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in the U.S.

Joey

They're not going to move a football on you, Erin.

JPC

Erin, they won't move the football or they won't throw the rock back. In fact, they've been told specifically not to throw any rocks.

Erin

BetterHelp does the initial matching work for you so you can focus on your therapy goals. A short questionnaire helps identify your needs and preferences. In their 10-plus years of experience, an industry-leading match fulfillment rate means they typically get it right the first time. And if you aren't happy with your match, you can switch to a different therapist any time to your tailored needs whenever. Whenever!

00:45:56

JPC

Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Riddle Hey Adal, can I tell you a secret? Yeah. It's me. I'm in the booth. I'm in the booth.

Erin

Nice one. Well, I'm gonna go back to the booth and try the football one more time.

JPC

I'm gonna let her have it this time. I'm gonna let her have it. Hey Adal, hey Erin. Can I tell you something that I'm kind of like ashamed of?

Erin

Yeah, of course. Always.

JPC

When I was a kid, all of my two brothers, all of our birthdays are within a month and it's all around Christmas time so we used to just get like Christmas birthday gifts and sometimes we would just get like combo gifts together and I would always tell my brothers that we could pool all of our money together and just get one big Lego and then I would insist on doing the Lego and putting it together myself.

00:46:57

Joey

How do you put together one big Lego?

JPC

Oh, I guess it's more like an expensive Lego kit, not one big Lego block.

Erin

I mean, you didn't really understand finances. You didn't have anything like acorns early when you were growing up, so how are you supposed to know?

Joey

Hee hee hee! Hey kids, it's me! Birthday Santa!

JPC

Birthday Santa?

Joey

That's right.

JPC

You're real?

Joey

Yes, and I want to tell you about Acorns Early, which is something JBC it sounds like you and your brothers wish you had. Yeah, we could have used. Yeah, absolutely. Acorns Early is the smart debit card and money app that grows kids' money skills as they grow up.

JPC

Oh, so cool. You can start with in-app chores tracker and teach your kids the value of a dollar. Then, let your kids set their own savings goals and start building healthy money habits early.

Erin

Kids can spend what they've earned with their very own customizable debit card, giving them that extra sense of independence. Plus, with Acorn Early's early spending limit and real-time spend notifications, parents always stay in control. And I mean, I would have loved having this growing up. I would know way more about money than I do right now.

00:48:03

Joey

Right, right. I mean, but I'm like a newer thing. Like, I'm for kids who have birthdays around Christmas. I understand. But anyway, piggy banks are cute and great for loose change, quarters, etc. But these days there's so much more that kids need to know about money. He he he. Acorns Early makes it easy to teach kids lifelong money skills that they can actually use in the real world.

JPC

And I love the Acorns Early app. I've played around in here. My kid's a little too young to start it right now because they're kind of like a little toddler. But I'm so excited for them to be able to use features like this because I think, like, being able to track all of these things when you are young and have money literacy at a young age is so, so, so important to being a, you know, person that exists in the world nowadays.

Joey

Well, I'm a person that exists in the world. Who said I wasn't?

JPC

Anyway, if you're ready to teach your kids the smart way to earn, save, and spend, get your first month on us when you head to acornsearly.com slash heyriddle or download the Acorns Early app. That's one month free when you sign up at acornsearly.com slash heyriddle.

00:49:10

Joey

Acorns Early Card is issued by Community Federal Savings Bank, member FDIC, pursuant to license by MasterCard International. Free trial to new subscribers only. Subscription fee starting from $5 per month unless canceled. Terms apply at acorns.com slash earlyterms. Hee hee hee. Ooh, Santa needs to lay down. I mean, birthday Santa needs to lay down.

Erin

Love whatever your thing is, man. Don't stress.

Joey

Ho hee hee ho.

???

Hey Riddle Riddle.

JPC

Okay, we are back and we're going to do some riddles now that were submitted. This actually, it's kind of like a riddle game. It's a game within a game that was submitted by Elvis Brown, they them. Elvis Brown has presented sets of riddles. And in each set, one of the riddles is a real riddle with a real answer. I think that they say it's like a real bad riddle. And the other riddle is a decoy riddle that is just like nonsense and doesn't have an answer. So you have a two part job here. First part is to pick which riddle is the real one, which one's the fake one. Okay. And then to solve the real riddle. Cool. Okay, so here's your first set of riddles.

00:50:23

Joey

And just to be clear, the red herring has no answer. There's no

JPC

Hell, I bet we could scratch our brains and kind of come up with one, but I think that on purpose they're just supposed to be, it's supposed to have, it's like Erin's vaudeville act, where it's got the- Hold on, that was perfect. It's got the essence of vaudeville, but it doesn't necessarily- Lay off my wife. It's vaudeville shaped.

???

So if we can solve one, it's probably the true riddle.

JPC

That's correct, that's a good way to know. So here's your first set. What is always on its way but never arrives? Oh, I know that. That's your first riddle. And your second one is, what is it that makes tears without sorrow and takes its journey to heaven?

Joey

I know the answer to the first one. It must be real. What is always on its way but never arises tomorrow? The future.

JPC

Or the future. Yeah, that would be, I guess, an answer to the riddle that is listed as the fake riddle. No way. What is it that makes tears without sorrow and takes its journey to heaven? Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel Onions Angel On Tears Without Sorrow, and takes its journey to heaven. Yes, that is a, is that an acceptable answer?

00:52:01

Joey

Or like, if the balloon gets away from the kid, the kid's gonna be crying. Yeah, but that's sorrow.

Erin

Maybe he's crying from joy.

JPC

He's crying from joy because he loves seeing it ascend. He was abused by a balloon.

Erin

His balloon was his new stepdad, and he's happy to see him.

???

Young Isaac Newton, and he's like, ah buoyancy, it works.

JPC

I do think I want to see a scene. We're gonna see a scene where Joey, you're gonna be playing Erin's mother. You're introducing Erin to her new stepdad, and it's Adal, and you're a balloon. With like a face drawn on it.

Joey

Hey, yeah. Okay. Just very quickly, I just need to say. Yeah. There could be some sort of, I don't know, minor league sports team that's like the Santa Fe, Angel Onions, or the... The Montgomery, Alabama balloon stepdads. Did we solve that riddle? Just putting it up.

???

Not even close.

Joey

Oh, okay.

???

I was so far away from solving the riddle.

Erin

This happens so often on the show that we'll do a scene and then he'll start reading the riddle again and I'll go, fuck.

???

Okay. I just wasn't sure if he had said balloons is acceptable.

00:53:01

JPC

Balloons is not acceptable, but it is an acceptable scene and I do want to see it. Great. Yeah, it makes sense.

???

Hey Kelly, can you come in here please?

Erin

Yeah, just finishing up my homework. What's up? You're dressed nice.

???

Thank you.

Erin

Welcome.

???

Well, that's not by accident. Um, I'm going out to dinner with Max. You remember I talked about Max?

Erin

Yeah, he was on that dating app. Yeah. Yeah.

???

Yeah, that's right. That's right. And you know, we've seen each other once or twice, and I think it's time that you meet Max.

Erin

Okay, but mom, I'm so sorry, your track record with some of these guys has been a little

???

I know. Well, first off, I don't need you to tell me how to date.

Erin

Oh, I know, of course. I trust you. But you're not wrong. You're not wrong. I trust you. And I just, I'm going to ask this and it's going to sound so condescending, but is this, I'm sorry. It's not an object with a face on it. It's not like a model with googly eyes.

Joey

Kelly, my ears are burning. Well, you get it.

00:54:04

Erin

Hi. Is he at the door? Is that him?

???

He's right here. Here he is. Up here. Look up. That's the sound it makes when I rub the back of his head.

Erin

OK, now your hair's all staticky, so. It's nice to meet you, Max.

Joey

This is Max. This is Kelly. Enchanté. I know what you're thinking. He's so tall. Kidding. He's a balloon with a face drawn on it.

Erin

Mom, can I talk to you for a second?

???

Of course. I'm sorry, Max. I told you this might happen, but my daughter comes first. Hey, no worries. I respect your boundaries.

Erin

It's not that he's a balloon with a face on it. He works at my school. Mom. Wait. He works at my school. Everyone's gonna make money.

???

He's a guidance counselor.

Erin

He told me that. He's the happy balloon at our school that they hand kids when they're going through a hard time.

???

Oh! Well, no, I think this is a great opportunity, Kelly. Oh my God! He's so sweet and he's so funny. No wonder they hand him to kids when they're upset.

Joey

Better deflate than never. All right. See? Close the window, close the window, close the window, close the window, close the window.

00:55:06

JPC

Max! Max! Cut to Kelly's school. Watch your step, Kelly. There's some sawdust on the ground because someone got sick and I'm just cleaning it up.

Erin

Okay.

JPC

Hey, when's that mom of yours gonna get off her high horse and give me a second date?

Erin

Oh, she's moved on. What?

JPC

What do you mean she's moved on?

Erin

Sorry. Sorry, mop with googly eyes. That also worked in my school.

JPC

My name's Mr. Jameson.

Erin

I'm sorry, Mr. Jameson.

JPC

While we're at school.

Erin

Sorry, Mr. Jameson.

JPC

And it's not googly eyes. That is a really reductive way to describe someone's eyes.

Erin

Okay, well you're a mop with... Hi everyone. So, Mr. Jamison said you wanted to kill me. No, I didn't say that.

00:56:28

Joey

He has a recording. I think you underestimate what inanimate objects with faces can do.

Erin

I wish I went to a real school so bad. Well. This place is so haunted. I hate it here. I'm not getting a good education at all.

Joey

This is a real school. OK. Your grades do transfer.

Erin

All right. Well my teacher is a ruler.

Joey

And I know what you're thinking. Hey, did I get bonked on the head and I'm in a coma?

Erin

I ask that every day. I also ask if the school got struck by lightning and there was a curse put on it.

Joey

Listen, your mom is hiding in the closet. And she has something, well we both have something important to tell you, which is... I will freak out if you're having a balloon baby.

Erin

I'm pregnant. No!

Joey

Pop!

JPC

Was it mine?

Joey

I feel like she can hear us.

JPC

I feel like she can hear us. You're definitely in a coma. Oh, God. That would legitimately, Erin.

Erin

What is the answer to that riddle?

JPC

That would kill the balloon. That would not hold up in a court of law, by the way. Tears without sorrow and takes its journey to heaven. Cheers everyone! Okay, so that one didn't quite work out because you immediately came up to a pretty plausible answer to the first fake riddle, but let's try the second. Yeah, the sets. The second set. Here we go. The second set is, I rise and fall no matter what. Only at final's rest do I not budge. What am I? That's your first one.

00:58:11

Joey

I rise and fall without rest?

JPC

I rise and fall no matter what. Only at finals rest do I not budge. What am I? And then the next one is I have no legs to dance and no lungs to breathe, yet I do all three. What am I? All three? I have no legs to dance and no lungs to breathe, yet I do all three.

???

What's three? That's two things.

JPC

Yeah. Could drive a fella crazy.

Erin

I'm

Joey

Oh yeah.

JPC

Oh yeah. Your EKG. The coma machine. They call them coma machines. That's right. This guy's all jeopardy and he thinks it's EKG.

Joey

Well, the Smiths call them that.

JPC

Yeah.

Erin

I'd like to see a scene.

00:59:12

JPC

I will say that the coma machine slash EKG I think works pretty well for this riddle answer. I'd like to see a scene. It's not the one that they said.

???

But they do have an answer to that one and the other one is just completely- Fuck. Yeah, you got that. The other one is like, here's two verbs, now we say three. I thought it was going to be a clever.

Erin

JPC, you are a head surgeon, and Adal, you're a nurse at Scrubbing Inn, and there's been like a technology breakdown, so you've gotten one of the interns to be the EKG, played by Joey. And you're a little nervous.

JPC

So we've got the rest of the situation figured out because of the blackout. We have candles, obviously, and enough light in here. I think everyone has enough light in here. Great. The one thing that we don't have is a working... And you don't have to start yet.

Joey

Oh, sorry. I was just feeling the pulse.

JPC

No, great.

Joey

Oh, Flatline. Dr. Flatline.

JPC

No, it's still beeping. It's still, but we just... Oh, sorry. Because this is kind of the pre-surgery... This is like Amish surgery. Huh?

01:00:14

???

That's offensive.

JPC

Are you Amish?

???

You say Mennonite. Mennonite surgery, please. Mennonite?

JPC

Well, that's what we're all here doing.

???

What are you talking about?

JPC

Hey guys, I'm a head surgeon and this guy's head is like pretty much fucked.

Joey

Well he got punched by the knockout machine, Mike Dyson.

JPC

Yeah, so we have to really focus up here.

Joey

Look at his head.

JPC

Ben, that's not your job. I'm sorry. Okay? You're supposed to be looking at his heart.

???

So Ben's gonna do... Do you want a regular beep, or do you want me to just... every now and again? Oh, I need regular. Yeah, but... I could just save it for if he goes out. If he goes out, then I can give you... Oh, now that's interesting.

Joey

Doctor, can I do a fun one? I have perfect pitch. Let me get a... Let me get a... God, yeah, that was really offensive.

???

I'm Mennonite. I'm a Mennonite.

JPC

You can't say R. Kelly to a Mennonite. What are you doing? I'm sorry. I just... Okay, that's actually an interesting point. We actually don't need, like, all of the beeps if you want to just give us the important beeps, like beeps if things change.

01:01:16

???

Yeah, okay. You got it.

Joey

You got it.

JPC

Right?

Joey

Because, like... Put an emphasis on the beeps. So if everything's fine, be like, beep, like... Speeding up!

JPC

Also, it's a real honor to be here with you guys.

Joey

I know I'm just an intern.

JPC

That's, yeah, you know, we all have to start somewhere. Yeah. Yeah. Glenn was an intern once.

???

Yeah. That's right. Did you ever have to be a machine?

Joey

I want to say yes, but I haven't. I feel like this is the first time.

Erin

I don't know when is a good time to say this, but I am awake.

JPC

Good. Oh, you're confused because it's night time and you're awake? That's okay. We're just doing surgery at night time. It's kind of a breakfast for dinner situation.

01:02:17

Erin

I originally came in, my head really hurts so bad, and I fell asleep and then you guys were talking and I heard you and I don't want to be impolite and interrupt you guys.

Joey

You must be so confused, there's so many candles you must think you're in like a meatloaf music video.

JPC

Or like a John Hughes film. Or like a John Hughes.

Erin

No, I've been in a meatloaf music video. Which one?

JPC

Honestly if I had just from looking at you, I would have guessed Meat Loaf music video and not John Hughes film.

Erin

Can you put me under please?

JPC

What's that?

Erin

Can you put me under?

???

We can't do that because there's been a blackout.

JPC

Yeah, so we have to keep you awake, but we're gonna track your heartbeat.

???

Yeah, I'm tracking your heartbeat. Yeah. If you think there's anything I should tell them, it's okay to tell me.

Erin

Okay, so I tell you and then you tell them.

JPC

If you want. I'm kind of tracking it anyway. Yeah. Actually, that's really great because your heart can't lie. So if you want to tell him anything that's going on with your heart- Your hips can't lie. Okay, I'm confused because you're touching her hips. She's asleep.

Joey

I'm sorry. Oh, we didn't even have her count back from 10.

01:03:17

JPC

Okay, so yeah, you landed on the I have no legs to dance and no lungs to breathe, yet I do all three, and that is fake. So the one that you're looking for is I rise and fall no matter what, only at final rest do I not budge, what am I?

Erin

Elevator.

JPC

Interesting. Yep. Elevator could work too. A rise and fall no matter... It's not elevator. That's not what we're looking for. EKG machine works as well.

Erin

Tide.

JPC

The baton.

Erin

A conductor's baton.

JPC

That's fantastic. We're done. This is more something that I will say everyone has. Not everyone has, but I guess like... Marionette. Yeah, I don't want to be like... You heard me. Yeah, what was it that gave it away? When I said everyone has it, I was like, no, not everyone has it.

Erin

I think there's a couple people that have it.

JPC

A diary. A diary. I think most people are like, I actually don't even know if most people are, I would say most people have these. A majority of people have these. Lungs. Is it something, is it like a body part? It's like a body part, yeah. Rises and falls, no matter what, only at final rest do I not budge. There are people that believe that every time you go to sleep, you die, and a new you wakes up in the morning. You would never know. It's just like The Prestige.

01:04:55

Erin

The Illusionist. I try to guess Light Adal every time these movies go.

JPC

It's just like The Illusionist. You're thinking of Jessica Biel.

Erin

Edward Norton. It's not eyelids. It's not butt. It's not lips.

JPC

It's not breathing. It's not breathing. It's the body parts. We all got them. Feet. It's feet. Boo. Although I'm not an insect, some people found me very difficult to exterminate. They called me something like, insane priest. The first half of my name means the same as scrape. And my last three letters are a medal. Who am I?

01:06:02

Erin

And then we have... That one has to be fake. I'm begging that one to be fake.

JPC

Rip Steele. Throw me off the highest building and I'll not break. But put me in the ocean and I will leave a grieving wife.

Joey

Piece of paper. Piece of married paper.

JPC

Piece of married paper.

???

Throw me off a building, and I won't break it. Throw your voice off the building.

JPC

So what are our guesses for which one is the fake one?

Erin

I hope the first one's a fake one.

???

Man, that first one has a lot going on.

JPC

Because the second one, paper, is... Why would paper leave a grieving wife?

Erin

Because it would disintegrate in the water. Because water kills paper.

JPC

But if you drop paper from a building, it doesn't. You know how women always be crying over paper? Where should we do Christmas?

01:07:14

Erin

Hey, I was thinking maybe I don't know maybe your family's house Do you have like Christmas traditions that I really big on look?

???

I don't know I we don't really celebrate Christmas much in my family you do whatever you want you do whatever you I think we need to take this out

Erin

Um, what?

???

Outside?

Erin

A date? Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. We should go. Where should we go?

???

Uh, okay. Yeah, let's go outside. Let's go outside.

Erin

Let's go outside. I love it. Okay, I was thinking for the nursery. Maybe green?

???

You're coming? Hey. Hey. Listen. Hi. We got stapled by accident.

Erin

Wait, what do you mean?

???

I'm a phone bill.

Erin

Wait, no. No, that's not possible.

???

You're a birthday card. We don't belong together. Some kid stapled us together for no reason. Okay? Just cause staples are fun.

01:08:16

Erin

I think that's beautiful. I think that's fake.

Joey

Honey, don't stare. It's just a phone bill and a birthday card. Don't stare.

Erin

Why not?

Joey

It's interesting.

Erin

Okay, well, you know what? I think any piece of paper can fall in love with any piece of paper. And if you only gave me a chance, I'm a really cute birthday card. It says, over the hill, happy 40th birthday. And then in it, someone said, I love you, Pete. Thank you, thank you for your friendship.

???

Well, that's, that's really sweet. That's really sweet, but I'm not a romantic, okay? I'm August- Yeah, you're all numbers. I'm August Verizon.

Erin

Yeah, I get it. And yeah, no couple has ever enriched each other's lives where one is an emotional right brain type and the other is logic. You're right.

???

I don't deal well with being forced into this, okay? Maybe if we'd met under normal circumstances, but we're pierced together.

JPC

You know what you should do, Pete? Yeah, yeah. Since you know he's cheating, you should get him a 40th birthday card and staple the fucking phone bill into the birthday card. Smart.

01:09:20

Joey

Smart. That's so smart.

JPC

And then give it to him. That's what I'll do. Here you're over the hill. He'll see the Verizon bill and he'll know that you know. Yes. That's genius. Perfect trap. Alright. Yes, yes, it is my birthday.

Joey

You didn't have to get me anything. Busted. Cheatin' ass. Hey, I got a good explanation for this. Oh yeah? What? Yeah. This gun. Oh no. Back off. Don't do anything rash. Calm down. Just calm down. Wait.

???

What's that? What's that? Phone bill and birthday card? Oh no.

Erin

The 40th birthday card jumped in front of the gun to protect the phone bill.

???

Bland!

Joey

Oh, I'm shot. Wait. No, the birthday card. No, I am shot. I am shot.

Erin

It's just paper. It goes through.

Joey

It's just paper.

JPC

Hold on, hold on. I can't operate on this birthday card. I'm a head surgeon.

Joey

Now, Joey, August Verizon, that's Tennessee Williams? Yeah. My name is August Verizon.

01:10:26

???

It's a one-act play.

JPC

August Verizon. Throw me off the highest building on an outbreak, put me in the ocean, and I'll leave a grieving wife.

Erin

It's not real.

JPC

That's fake. That one's fake.

???

So I'm going to give you- Reread that crazy one.

JPC

I'm going to give you the crazy one again. That's the busiest riddle I've ever heard. It's busy. It's busy. And I will say that this answer has like, it is leading you to a proper noun, like it's a specific thing.

Joey

Yeah, the three letters that spell a metal, is it tin? Yes. Rasputin. It's Rasputin!

JPC

Some people found me very difficult to exterminate, they called me something like the insane priest, the first half of my name means the same as scrape, and my last three letters are in metal.

???

That's barely even a riddle.

Joey

That's just like a historical fact. Rebus? The thing where it's like a bunch of pictures?

01:11:28

JPC

Right, right. Is that a rebus? She had a sitcom. Rebus McIntyre.

Erin

I'd like to see a scene. Joe, you are Rasputin and you are going into your regular dive bar after everyone thinks you're dead and you're a little smug about it.

???

Okay. Uh, one vodka, please.

JPC

Holy shit! Uh... Vodka, please. Yeah, no, uh, yes, one vodka for, uh... What the fuck? For Rasputin!

???

No doubt you're noticing the bullet holes?

JPC

No! We didn't! No!

???

I have been shot. I have been shot. So you know, so you see them, yeah? I know.

Joey

Didn't they cut off your... penis?

???

Oh yes, here it is. Woah! Pickle it.

Erin

Pickle it now for his store. Let it go from museum to museum forever.

01:12:38

???

Josiah, why are you always pickling everything? I kill a spider.

JPC

Pickle it. I have pickles. What am I supposed to do? I brine. What else is brine good for?

Erin

Hey Rasputin, we weren't celebrating a death takes down. Banner.

???

Mission accomplished. Oh, I see now. I see now you have told on yourself. No!

Joey

We hate Anastasia!

???

You do not like me, the mad monk? So I down her at your party. She's not good enough to hang out with you guys. And so you stab me, poison me, put bullets in me, throw me into icy lake. When he stands up, it always looks like he's on like 10 ladders. He's so tall. I like the icy lake.

JPC

When he stands up, it's that Looney Tunes thing where like water comes out of all the holes.

Joey

That what thing?

JPC

We have Looney Tunes.

???

Surely we have Looney Tunes. I've seen the future. I don't think we have Looney Tunes quite yet. Right around the corner. Looney Tunes is my name for my little drawings that I do.

01:13:42

Joey

What's the mouse with the hat? Tell us more about that one. His name is Goofy.

Erin

We're running out of ideas on how to kill you, Rasputin. Let's try this. Simon says die.

JPC

I will not die. Do not obey Simon. Maybe we try killing Rasputin with kindness. Rasputin, you're looking so good, man. And still I live.

???

I cannot be killed.

???

Instead of celebrating my death, you should celebrate my life. I am the spirit of, as we Russians say, joie de vivre.

JPC

I think we really just want to be done with Rasputin. Maybe we all just poison ourselves and we like kind of like regroup in heaven or hell.

01:14:44

???

Don't do that guy, you're my only friends. What's up, Doc?

JPC

Big anvil falls. What's up, Doc?

Joey

Falls off a cliff, holds up a sign.

JPC

Well, you guys did a really great job with that. And by you guys, I mean Adal got that last one, so congratulations. Yeah, you really knocked that out of the park.

???

Well done.

JPC

You got that Rasputin one dead set. Now, I will say, now that I saw that, I do like that. Oh, come on. Only the smartest of brains. Thank you to Elvis for submitting that. And that brings us to my favorite part of the show, the part where we kind of plug some stuff. Joey, what do you have to plug and where can people find you?

???

Listen to the Like Minds podcast if you like- Minds. Yeah, if you like bridge troll-level trivia questions that sometimes are as convoluted as Elvis' Rasputin Riddle. We release new episodes every Wednesday. Anywhere you listen to podcasts, please follow, rate, and review all that stuff. Also, I perform at the Improvised Shakespeare Company. We're on the road regularly. You can find out improvisedshakespeare.com. We do regular shows in LA, and we travel the country.

01:15:58

Erin

It's so good if you haven't seen it. Also, I can't recommend both things enough. Adal and I went on Like Minds and had a fantastic time.

Joey

If you're looking for a place to start, listen to Erin and I's episode. Also, Matt and Arnie did an episode, right?

JPC

Already out there.

Joey

Yeah, they did. They sure did.

JPC

What do we have to plug? We can go listen to bonus episodes on the Patreon every Friday, and we have Gumshoes and Dragons every other Monday. I believe right now we have maybe two or three episodes out at this point.

Erin

And then come see us on tour. HeyRiddleRiddle.com slash live. We're gonna be in places in October and November. And Adal.

Joey

And Adal. I had one final thing to plug which is, you know how I like to go to like thrift stores, antique stores? Yeah. I found this an old vaudeville duo oh my god i'd love her to put audio to tape and it's just you have to listen to it it's just you don't hear this kind of humor let me just press play yeah and this will take us up hey who's on who's on who's out there

01:17:01

???

Who? I think you mean what?

Erin

Oh, my husband. What's out there? What a nightmare. He doesn't do the dishes and he doesn't make my lunch.

???

You could eat a sandwich if you did anything else with your mouth other than flap those jaws.

Erin

Oh, brother.

Joey

Oh, sister.

Erin

We're siblings, and we're married.

Joey

What reason it never worked out?

Erin

Knock, knock. Can't turn us off.

Joey

No use, star.

Erin

No use, star.

Joey

Would you believe they recorded in separate rooms?

Erin

Knock, knock.

Joey

That's who's here.

Erin

Jupiter. See you later, guys.

JPC

That's who's here.

Erin

That does sound like two people who have to just guess what the other person said 18 years before.

Joey

That's so fucking funny.

???

Are there any parrots in the music?

01:18:11

JPC

Hey there Denny's and Debra's, if you liked that, you're going to love this week's Patreon. It's a return, after four years, to the Disney twins. You can listen to that plus our entire back catalog at patreon.com. Hey Riddle Riddle by joining the clue crew for $5 a month or start your seven day free trial or the review crew for $8 a month. Plus you get those ad free episodes. See you there.

Erin

That was a hate gun podcast.

???

Quick, time to choose a meal deal with McValue. The $5 McChicken meal deal? The $5 McDouble meal deal? Or the new $6 Daily Double meal deal? Each with its own small fries, drink, and four-piece McNuggets. There's actually no rush. I'm just excited for McDonald's. Price and participation may vary.