Which Riddle Riddle?

#376: All Pervert's Eve w/ Ross Bryant

00:00:01

Ross

This is a HeadGum Podcast.

Adal

All right, so I put in a bid, guys, and I won. It's a storage unit. I guess the owner died or something. I watch a lot of Storage Wars. You guys seen that? You heard of this?

JPC

Oh, man. Yeah. No, I'm excited for you. I hurried over because I heard I put in a bidet.

Erin

Why did you hurry over? Did you need to use a bidet?

JPC

No, let's just do what you're going to do.

Erin

If you have to use a bidet, I don't really want to be hanging out right now.

00:01:04

Adal

Because a bidet is the only toilet that pisses in your butt? Or whatever.

JPC

Not the only toilet, but no, let's do what you were gonna do. I can deal with my thing later or whatever.

Erin

Adal, this is so exciting. There could be something worth so much inside this storage unit.

Adal

I know. So many times people, you know, they pay 20 bucks and they open it and it's like a bunch of vintage toys or like Santa or whatever. Like, it's so exciting that anything— Like an old car.

Erin

Like an old car. You haven't opened it yet? Did you just not wipe? No.

JPC

So there could still be stuff in there that I could... You could have like... hand towels or... Why didn't you just wipe before you came here?

Adal

Well, where were you 50 minutes ago, Erin?

Erin

50 minutes?!

Adal

Could you pull up your pants at least?

Erin

No, no, let's just open the storage unit. I feel someone sort of banging at it. Let's hold on, let me open it. Whoa, oh my gosh.

Ross

It's Ross Bryant. Wow, hello. Whoa.

Erin

Did you breathe in there, Ross? My God.

Ross

Oh gosh, it was pretty close in there. Wow.

00:02:05

Adal

Did anyone place a bidet on me before you cracked open the door? You're in luck, friend. Ross, thank you so much for being here. Of course, we know Ross from back in the day in Chicago in a little show that could called Improvise Shakespeare. A little mom and pop show that is now sweeping the nation.

Ross

A little mom and pop show taking lace front shirt comedy to every state in our great land.

Erin

You are Chicago comedy royalty, Ross, because you also did Second City as well. You were around that whole town.

Ross

Well, I got around that big, beautiful, windy city for sure. I love it so. I miss it truly. I feel like I was just hanging out with some Chicago folks not too long ago and it got me real nostalgic.

Erin

Do you miss the winters though?

Ross

I mean, of course, that's a real gotcha question, Erin, because of course, yeah, who could really miss the winters? But what I really do miss about it is the camaraderie that it creates, that everybody goes through this annual hazing ritual of pain and torment as all of nature is trying to destroy you with wind. But every time you go into any interior space, you're met with such warmth and fellowship as people look up at you with foggy glasses. And piping hot mugs of stew.

00:03:29

Erin

You should work for the Chicago Tourism Board. That was gorgeous.

Adal

Yeah, I feel like that should be shots of Old Town with what Ross just said but narrated by Bill Murray or something.

JPC

Yeah, but can we change stew to wet beef? I mean, we're really trying to push the wet beef at this point.

Ross

Yeah, baby. I mean, we joke, but, oh, I miss the wet beef. For the un-Midwesterners among us, or perhaps un-Bear viewers, an Italian beef sandwich is like a hard hoagie roll piece of Italian bread with a bunch of loose beef inside. But if you get it wet, then you take the whole sandwich and you dunk it in that juice. So that you get to live the dream of eating a soggy sandwich that is like falling, falling apart like wet cardboard in your hands as you attempt to eat it.

Erin

Hard to defend Chicago food. Hard to sort of die in the hill of deep-dish pizza. Sorry, sorry.

JPC

9 out of 10 Chicago women carry au jus in their purse. Erin, confirm or deny?

00:04:32

Erin

Confirm!

Ross

You carry it as like pepper spray, right?

Erin

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Ross

Yeah, yeah. Everyone comes strapped with a little cup of Anjou and another little cup of Giardiniera in case an attacker comes out of the mist.

Erin

But not ketchup.

Ross

No. Not ketchup. Not around here, baby.

JPC

In Chicago, we call it Bear's Spray because it's what you spray on a Bears fan to get them distracted for a few seconds to give you time to slip away.

Ross

Yeah, aerosolized little peppers and cauliflower just in case anybody takes a swipe at you. That's Bear's Spray.

Erin

Now Ross, you are very intelligent and I know this because I've seen you do improvised Shakespeare and you're one of the best to ever do that too. So an echelon of intelligence that this show is not used to. What is your relationship with riddles, puzzles, lateral thinking problems, escape rooms?

Ross

Hmm. I mean, that's that's quite a heaping helping of praise. But I, I gotta say that I think I'm probably more of a trivia guy than I am a puzzles guy. I'm kind of late, late to puzzles. I've now started doing doing crosswords and stuff. And I really do like them. But I always feel when it comes to riddles, I sometimes they're fine. But sometimes I really feel like I'm banging my head against the wall and riddles kind of make me feel dumb.

00:05:47

Adal

Well, they're crafted to infuriate because a lot of times, especially with the riddles we do on this show, there's a ton of information being omitted that is meant to be impossible to glean when you are confronted with what's on the page.

Ross

Um, yes. Some riddles I've encountered are written with, like, pristine mathematical elegance, but it seems the majority of them are written with the logic of a Bazooka Joe comic. Yeah.

JPC

Well, like with trivia, sometimes, even if you might not know it, there is context in the way that the question is asked that allows you to, like, make an inference. And riddles are devoid of that context. They are trying to trick you, and there usually is not helpful context in there to guide you to a correct answer.

Erin

Yeah, there's an arrogance to it. They're trying They're trying to make you fail.

Ross

Yeah, exactly. Because think of riddles. It's trolls and crafty warlocks. This is their medium.

JPC

Literally a Batman villain. This is villainous behavior.

00:06:49

Adal

Nefarious behavior indeed. Yeah, there's no cross-worder. Batman's not fighting the logic problem.

Erin

Mr. Trivia, my favorite Batman villain.

Ross

I mean, there has to be at this point. Is there not a crossword king? Like there's Calendar Man. Is there a crossword king?

Adal

Barry trivia would be a great villain. Ross, what was your college major? Were you a theater guy?

Ross

I was, oh boy, get this. I was not a theater guy. I self-designed a performance studies major through the Interdisciplinary Studies Department. That's wild. So I'm one of those people who like made their own major. Damn. I wanted to make a major even less marketable than a theater degree.

Erin

What was the best class that you took while you were there?

Ross

Golly, I think the one that really sticks in my memory is this history class I took called American Culture in the 20th Century. And it cut the, or it wasn't even, it was world culture. It was like world history in the 20th century. And it kind of took a look at culture from the end of World War I, basically up until the present day. And so it was an awesome sort of cultural survey of all these little political and artistic movements in that time. It was kind of mind blowing. The text of it, which was written by the professor, who was an excellent professor, Jim Winders, was just like a reading list of like the coolest novels and viewing list of the best paintings and cinema and whatever. It was just like, it was a real like a guidebook to an era of culture that was really interesting. And this was one of the first college classes where he made a big show about like, in this class, we're going to cover punk rock.

00:08:32

Erin

We gotta get Jim Winders on the show, guys.

Adal

I was just gonna say two things. One, Jim Winders is the best Sam Shepard character I've ever heard. And two, it sounds like based on that class, Ross, that you could go toe-to-toe with Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting.

Ross

Um, golly, maybe. Although, no, no, I would not like those apples. If there's a big ol' chonky equation on the wall, I'm moonwalking out of that room.

Erin

But I bet you could beat him in a fight.

Ross

Maybe. I'm kind of a tall drink of water, so I'd probably at least be able to calm his forehead while he impotently took swings at me that kept missing me by two or three inches. I like to say Ross is a tall pitcher of punch.

JPC

Yeah, I'm always saying I could probably take Jason Bourne down no problem.

Adal

Depending on the edits.

Erin

Ross, I think you might be my trivia partner for a Like Minds live show this week. Thank goodness.

00:09:33

Ross

That's very exciting. I mean, I think we're going to be a formidable duo.

Erin

Yeah, I think we're going to win because last time you beat me when we were in like minus together. Eviscerated is maybe the correct word.

JPC

Erin, what are your go-to categories? Like, what are your strong suits for Trump?

Erin

Oh, nothing. And that's why I'm really happy I'm with Ross.

Adal

Great. She does protest too much.

Erin

I have no corner of expertise.

Adal

The next category is Hingham cross streets. Ah, fuck.

Erin

That's where I'm from and I still won't know.

Ross

I do remember it, that show, though. I think it was that show. It might have been another one where it was like sort of a charades section where your partner had to, through the art of pantomime, convey a painting. Whoa. And my partner, Rekha Shankar, successfully mimed Picasso's Guernica.

Erin

That's insane.

Ross

Holy shit. No small feat.

Erin

That's insane.

Adal

Now, Guernica's where Ethan Hawke has his legs elongated? Yes. That is Guernica.

00:10:35

Erin

Now I'm forgetting the real woman. In the show that I did with you, I confused Madame Tussauds and who is the woman?

Adal

Madame Bovary?

Erin

No, Marie Curie. I confused them. So I'm actually quite smart.

Ross

Yes, Madame Curie, the discoverer of radium. Yes. Madame Tussauds.

JPC

Both made of wax.

Erin

Famously.

Ross

We're short on famous madames. It was an honest mistake.

Erin

Thank you so much. I really appreciate that.

Ross

I mean, it was either them or Butterfly.

Erin

Because we have a Chicago classic with us today, I decided to be a little ambitious with our warm-up riddles. And we're going to do 26 warm-up riddles from a listener who submitted them named Shannon. So thank you, Shannon. Now, all of these riddles, you'll have a little bit of a helping hand, because they all begin with a letter of the alphabet, and I'm going to read them in order.

00:11:38

Ross

Okay. So the first answer will begin with an A. The answers start with successive letters of the alphabet?

Erin

No, the answers will start like, so the answer to the first riddle will begin with an A, the answer to the second riddle will begin with a B. Okay, got it, got it, got it. It's basically midnight my time here in Los Angeles, so I can't be expected to explain this riddle game.

Adal

Aren't you two hours behind us?

Erin

It's fine. It's not 722. It's basically the middle of the night.

JPC

It's still light outside and I can see a bunch of candles in your pocket.

Erin

Nope. Nothing.

JPC

Oh yeah, nope. Yep, that's right.

Erin

Okay. It floats like a log. It looks like a log. Yet it isn't a log. It's... Apple.

Adal

A picture of a log.

JPC

No, you can't just... What can't I do? What can't I do?

Erin

You can't think of a word before I even read it and then just guess. This one doesn't feel totally like a riddle.

Ross

It looks like a log. It floats like a log.

Erin

It isn't a log. I bet people sometimes confuse it for a log and then they go, oop.

JPC

Is this like a boat?

00:12:39

Erin

No.

JPC

It's a word that starts with A, it's not like the word A. Yeah, I guessed a picture of a log. Oh, oh, oh. Alligator.

Erin

Yes.

Adal

Yes.

Erin

Whoa.

Ross

An Allimigator.

Erin

What is white when it's sturdy and black when it's clean?

Ross

Blueberry. Nope.

Erin

You see, you did that thing again where you thought of the, yes, a blackboard. I do want to see a scene.

Adal

Oh, go ahead. Ross, we're going to have you be a high school teacher, and you are teaching today about North American reptiles, and you have never seen one. JPC and Erin, you are the students, and you're sort of catching on that your teacher may not know what they're talking about. Got it.

Ross

But evolution is a pretty incredible thing because some creatures, some native fauna that exists in North America is relatively recent as it sort of progressed through the annals of natural selection. But then there are things like our native reptiles, such as the alligator, who are relatively unchanged since prehistoric times. Long, log-like creatures, frequently mistaken for logs, And much like logs flammable You can Sometimes what excuse me?

00:14:00

Erin

Sorry, mr. Jeffrey. I'm sorry. Mr. Jeffrey's. Uh, you look like you're furiously googling something I'm just grubhubbing I'm just grubhubbing to the school.

Ross

Hmm.

Erin

Yeah, mr. Jeffrey's to the school strike three Sorry, wouldn't that be a strike three?

Ross

I'm sorry, are you reading Principal O'Connor's emails to me?

Erin

Yeah, well, she's really kind of opening up to the student. She's really honest with us about what's going on in the school.

JPC

She puts a lot of your business on your Wikipedia page now, just because you've been caught I don't want to say lying, but now I have to. Lying to students about how many strikes you're on. So she puts a lot of it on your Wikipedia page now. Do you say flammable?

Ross

I have a dedicated Wikipedia page. Yes, yes. Yeah, let's try to get back to the topic at hand. Native North American reptiles. Yes, the lovable, flammable alligator. That's why, of course, they need to live in aquatic, marshy environments because if they are exposed to too much direct sunlight, they will instantly catch a blaze.

00:15:10

Erin

The principal said you're a grifter and you don't know anything about anything? Is that true, Mr. Jefferies?

Ross

The principal said that? O'Connor said that about me.

JPC

If they're cold-blooded reptiles, how do they not get direct sunlight? Don't they need direct sunlight to warm their blood?

Ross

Who said anything about cold blood? I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm the liar and you're standing over here talking about cold blood? One, you.

JPC

I guess I'm a student I shouldn't be talking to like this, I think. Or I don't know.

Erin

Mr. Jefferies, your coffee smells like bourbon.

Ross

We're worried about you. Let's take those emotions and kind of try to shift them over into focus. I want you to get some eyes up here on the blackboard and as you're taking notes, finals are two weeks from now.

JPC

Is this an alligator that you've drawn on the blackboard? Is that what you think an alligator is?

00:16:13

Ross

Yeah, you can see its snout up here, the tail back here, and of course the wheels down below there.

Adal

Ross, that sucks. Now you've ruined alligators for me. Because I want to drive them.

Ross

Oh, wouldn't it be great? I wish some animals had wheels. So good. Horses. Pigs.

JPC

This is how like a Dr. Moreau gets started. Be like, God, wouldn't it be good if we put some wheels on this thing? Someone's like, yeah, I don't know, man.

Ross

Yeah, that'd be a great specific mad scientist boondoggle. It's like, yes, they said I was mad, but I shouldn't dabble in God's domain. We'll just wait until they see me skating on a possum.

Adal

What's the, is it something derby where they just drive cars to slam them into each other?

???

Demolition derby. Demolition derby.

Adal

I've been to one, and it was the muddiest thing I've ever seen. Yeah. The first 40 rows got mud everywhere.

00:17:15

Ross

There's a splash zone, but there's also a zone where a fender might shoot at you at 35 miles an hour. Yeah.

Erin

Adal, are you suggesting we do this with woodland creatures?

Adal

Yeah.

Erin

Or put them on wheels and crash them into each other?

Adal

If we just do a demolition derby with woodland creatures, I think it would be so entertaining. Oh, a critter derby. Yeah. A critter derby.

JPC

In the state that I grew up in, there was a dedicated demolition, like a permanent dedicated demolition derby track that was like 20 minutes away from my house that I've been to and it was only for demolition derbies. Like that's enough people wanted to watch demolition derbies in my hometown that they had a dedicated space for that.

Erin

And you're from Connecticut? I'm just kidding.

Adal

I was going to say, Ross, would you believe he's from Indianapolis?

Ross

Yeah, well, when I was in Wadesboro, North Carolina, yeah, you went down to the county fair, and when everything was wrapping up, you just, like, went down the street to the demolition derby, where guys were hammering into each other with the rear bumpers of their cars until everything fell apart.

Erin

And they could have just been kissing all that time, what they really wanted to do.

00:18:15

Ross

I mean, yeah, to me, yeah, I mean, if J.G. Ballard was sitting right next to me and he was like, oh, this is pretty spicy stuff.

Erin

What has two hands but can't scratch itself?

JPC

Cantaloupe.

Erin

No. JPC, you're doing a thing. A clock. Yes. I would like to see a scene. Adal, you're a clock and you're super itchy and you're asking Ross for help. Bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong b

Adal

Bong bong. Yes. Hey, sorry. Yes. Hello. Sorry. Do you mind? Could you grab a chair or stepladder? Do you mind just turning me over? I don't need my batteries changed or anything. I wouldn't. That's gross. I know. I know. You don't have to do that. But could you just scratch? It's got an itch. Sir,

00:19:40

Ross

You want something? Maybe I want something. We meet in the middle and that's how deals are struck, friend.

Adal

Meet in the middle? Struck? These are all clock terms. I love this. Now, just from your cadence, I'm gonna guess, pervert? Well, uh, jilty as charged.

Ross

Oh, you've been charged. Okay, so here's what I say. Charged, but up till now only alleged.

Adal

Now, you know these little things I got that's like minute, second, hour? You know those are hands, right? Little tiny hands?

Ross

Yeah, your tiny little hands.

Adal

I bet there's something somewhere on you that if I put it in these hands, it would look so big.

JPC

Hey, you're the guy in the house who gives inanimate objects what they want, right?

Ross

That's me.

JPC

Hey, uh, this is gonna sound like a strange request, but could you... Could you beat the shit out of me? Not enough to, like, make my stuffing come out, but enough to rearrange my stuffing so, like, I'm more comfortable to lay on.

00:20:43

Ross

Oh yeah, just sort of flatten you out, but in order to do that, I'm gonna have to wail on you pretty hard.

JPC

Hey, you know, as hard as... as hard as it needs to be, you know? I mean, you know, dealer's choice when it comes to do whatever you want to do, and honestly, I got a bunch of cushions on this couch that kind of would like the same treatment.

Ross

So what I'm hearing is enthusiastic affirmative consent.

Erin

Hey honey, um, can I talk to you a second?

Ross

Yes.

Erin

Why did I get an Instagram DM from our blender that said, Hey, girly, just thought you should know. Are you doing it again? Are you doing weird stuff with the inanimate objects in our house? Don't lie to me.

Ross

I don't. I don't like the judgment of that word weird.

Erin

Look me in the eye. You're

Ross

I'm giving them, Charlotte, I'm giving them what they want. I'm giving them what they want and what they need.

Erin

I would pack a suitcase, but God knows what you did to that.

Adal

Oh, the suitcase begged me. This is sort of like an NC-17 Brave Little Toaster.

00:21:49

Erin

Which already is quite terrifying. I don't think we need to make it any scarier. What was I talking about? Oh, yes. These alphabet riddles. What is the hardest key to turn? And it begins with a D and JPC. Date. Nope.

Adal

Hardest key to turn. Dead. Daikon radish. Hardest key to turn.

???

Donkey. Donkey. Donkey.

Ross

I'd like to see a C. Yes, I was like, what sort of a D and a T?

Erin

Yes. JPC, you're a really stubborn donkey and Ross, you are trying to get him to move.

Ross

Please, please.

JPC

He naw. He naw.

Ross

Petunia, we've got to get you up to the mill or else we won't be able to grind the flour.

JPC

We? We won't be able to grind the flour? He hell naw. He hell naw.

Ross

Please. Come on. This is how it works. You help me bring the sacks up to the mill. We grind them into flour and then it's a trough full of tasty oats for you come sundown.

00:22:54

JPC

I've been talking. To the ponies and the horses about doing like a four-leg union type of thing. Because we have rights.

Ross

A four-leg union? We're going four legs good, two legs bad on me?

JPC

I mean look, we have legs, we have rights, we have bargaining power. You say grind, I say hee-nah, and then if more donkeys were here we would say it together.

Ross

Sure, you can start a four-leg union if you want, but soon your union rep's going to be breathing down your neck, the horse is going to be coming to you for dues, it's going to be a whole nother... What I'm offering you at the farm is the right to work. It's the right to work.

JPC

Interesting, that sounds pretty interesting. I didn't know anything about dues and maybe they're kind of... Huh. Okay, now this is making a lot more sense. You say, go up to the mill, walk around in a circle, grind all the- Hey, fuck you! No way! Hell nah! I'm not falling for your back-breaking, union-busting, farmer tactics.

00:24:09

Ross

Look, I'm not trying to bust any unions. I'm just trying to make a pitch for a free enterprise, Petunia. Uh-uh. You know, it's this kind of aggressive moxie that's showing me that I've maybe been a little too hard on you. How would you like to be a four donkey of the barnyard?

JPC

Hey Riddle.

Ross

That's exactly what I'm telling you. Okay now, I think I could sell this. What I'm offering you is some petty authority over the other animals in the barnyard. I don't like that word benefits and let's not bring it up again.

JPC

Sure, sure, sure. Alright, horse, cow, I made a really good deal. And the good news is, no more... We're getting health insurance? Huh, okay. Just write that down, you're gonna be a problem. Cow gonna be a problem.

00:25:10

Erin

Wait, what does that mean? It doesn't mean anything. Wait, are you wearing a tie? What's going on?

Adal

What does it say next to my name?

Erin

A moo?

Adal

Hey, can I get wheels? I heard some guys are getting wheels. Can I get wheels?

JPC

A lot of guys are getting wheels, but only if they get with the program. Oh, I'll get with the program. When you join in, you get wheels.

Erin

No, we're unionizing, right?

JPC

Okay, we're gonna have to, let's see. You're gonna go to a meat packing plant.

Erin

What does that mean?

JPC

It doesn't matter, it's fun.

Erin

I'm doing that thing that Sally Field did in that one movie. With my little, what do cows have, hooves up? Union.

Ross

Come on. Oh, she's gonna fall. It just says Union and eat more chicken. Scene. Oh, brother.

Erin

I reference that movie all the time and I don't know the name of it. What the hell is that movie called?

JPC

Marie Curie.

Adal

Oh, is it Silkwood? Is Silkwood something?

Erin

Norma Rae. Forget it. Forget it. Forget it. Forget it. Forget it. Alright, here we go.

00:26:17

Ross

Yes. Isn't it so galling that the anti-union people call it right-to-work legislation?

Erin

Oh, that's brutal.

JPC

I love it because you get to name the legislation whatever you want and explain it however you want. We had a ballot measure here in Illinois fail that was going to tax home purchases over a million dollars. And when it showed up on the ballot measure, it had like 1,500 words to the question. And you were like, oh, yeah. This is how things work. Like, things don't get to be fair. They get to be the way that... They get to be intentionally designed to make sure that people vote against their interests. That's always fun. right to work. If you wanna work, you gotta get a work permit, a work permit, a work permit. If you wanna work, you gotta get a work permit. And I was like, hell yeah, I gotta, what the fuck? I'm 14, I don't wanna get a work permit, what are you talking about?

00:27:34

Erin

Create a catchy jingle and I'll do literally anything.

Ross

If you wanna work before you're 18 at the textile mill that's right next door.

Erin

And I'm literally like dancing over to the textile mill.

Ross

I think I did get a work permit because I did like I grew up in a kind of a tourist area of North Carolina and like during the summer like that is a that economy runs on teens. Teen labor is making it all making all the gears of industry turn down.

Erin

Seaside towns run on teens. They're scooping ice cream, they're saving kids from the ocean.

JPC

There's not a boat dock in this entire country that isn't run by a 16-year-old pumping your gas.

Ross

Yeah. Teens are pumping, they're... Teens are pumping. They're renting ski-dos.

Erin

They're pumping, they're scooping, they're running.

JPC

There's a restaurant in my neighborhood, it must be a family restaurant, because every time I go in there, there's hosts and hostesses that look like they are 15 years old, and I'm like, What is like you I I might get my hope they all also look very similar so my hope is that they're all like cousins or something yeah and this is just like hey our dad owns the restaurant and lets us you know work there's something less nefarious about having your like son work at your restaurant than it is with just being like our restaurant hires 15 year olds because they're pretty dumb and we could get them to do whatever we want

00:28:58

Erin

I went back to home to New England last week. And it's really true that all every single like seaside tourist town, the entire economy is 15 year olds. They're the mayor, they're the volunteer fire department. It's all teens. They're all kissing.

Ross

They're all kissing. They're having the summer of their lives. That was me every summer, except for the kissing part. That was me every summer. Yes, scooping ice cream by day, working at a coffee shop by afternoon, working at a restaurant by night, and working overnight as a DJ from midnight to six. Holy shit.

Erin

What? What were you playing?

Ross

I was playing hot adult contemporary tunes on 99.1 The Sound. Wow.

Erin

Did you have a DJ name?

Ross

No, I just went into my own name. It's, you know, it's late night. It's not like drive time. It's not like PJ Scooter and the Gooch.

Erin

Which would be great.

Ross

Which I know.

Adal

Great broccoli cheddar soup at PJ Scooter and the Gooch. I just found out that the Gooch is 15.

00:29:59

Ross

My world is shaking. He's got the voice of a 50 year old chain smoker.

Erin

When you were doing it, what kind of music are we talking about? What year was this?

Ross

This was like in the early 2000s. So it was like, God, A song that really sticks in my head is Goodnight Moon by Chivalry. Whoa. Chivalry. Wow, they had different music in North Carolina. I guess so. This is a song that I bet you probably can't identify by name, but I bet if you hear it, it will unlock some long dormant part of your memory. Oh, I just listened to it.

Adal

It's, they don't care about the young folk.

Ross

But I remember distinctly that like, if you wanted to, this was still a pretty old school setup, where like the ads were on eight tracks, and every song that you played was not an mp3, it was a CD that you loaded in. And it was all timed out to the second so that it would end on the hour. So you could call the CBS News, put a phone down and have the CBS News play through the phone onto the radio. This was like such a relic, even at the time. But this meant that the timing was such that if you kind of went off script of what you're supposed to play, you had to find other songs that fit the time code so it would still land on the hour. So I got really familiar with songs that were like between one and two minutes long, because you'd have to always wedge those in at the top of the hour.

00:31:25

Adal

Here's another Ramones song.

Ross

I played Girlfriend in a Coma by the Smiths probably a thousand times because it's so short and it would always land like right at the top of the hour.

JPC

And were you listening to the first two thirds of Apples and Bananas by Raffi?

Ross

There was also a Cure Live song that had a super super long instrumental coda and if you wanted to go on a bathroom break you could always throw that on because it was like 15 minutes long and you could fade it out whenever and no one who was listening would notice. That's awesome.

Erin

Awesome. Were you like making jokes and being funny? Was your persona like goofs and gags?

Ross

Or were you... You were distinctly discouraged from doing japes, jests, goofs, and gags. No! It was very much a like, hey, what's up? It's the top of the hour. And coming up next, we got Goodnight Moon by Chivary, followed by David Gray with Babylon.

Adal

99.1 the sound. There's a song I haven't thought about in 20 some years.

JPC

I like the idea of a guy listening to this at like 3 in the morning calling up the radio station being like, that guy who got spit in the records is too funny. I'm trying to relax and listen to my music at 3am. He's too funny on there.

00:32:37

Ross

Ripping it up up there. I can't get to sleep on it. Kind of the gales of laughter just blasting out of me.

Erin

Well, we are going to take a quick little break because we've only gotten to the letter D but I have faith in us post break that we're going to be able to bring this home.

JPC

Erin, can you give it to us as like a radio DJ doing like a station break?

Erin

Yeah. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm going to talk really slow so I get exactly to the time I have to hit. See you after the break.

???

And I'll be there too. Me, the Gooch. I can't wait to get my white permit.

Adal

My name is Robert Smith and here's the cure doing disintegration.

JPC

This podcast is sponsored by Squarespace.

00:33:43

Erin

Today we're

JPC

Why did I say it like that? Showcase your offerings with a professional website. Grow your brand and get paid all in one place. Domain. Domain. Domain.

Erin

Domain. Adal, this is a good idea because I can get discovered fast with integrated Squarespace SEO tools. Every website is optimized to be indexed with meta descriptions, an auto-generated sitemap, and more. So you show up more often on search engines and bring in more of your ideal customers. Gosh, this is like, my hand's more paper cut than hands.

Adal

Yeah. And you can also get analytics. You can make smarter business decisions with Squarespace's intuitive built-in analytics tools, reviews, website traffic, learn where to focus engagement and track revenue from bookings, invoices, or product sales.

00:34:49

JPC

And I actually don't know if we should say this. I think I can actually get a lot of trouble for saying this. I don't know if Squarespace has cleared me to say this, but I think it is the only website that you can use that won't give you a paper cut.

Erin

Squarespace makes it easy to showcase your expertise and engage clients with video content on your website. 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. Like the one Baby Adal runs.

Adal

Yeah, perfect. Squarespace is perfect. But I'm saying, I told you guys to stop hanging out with Baby Adal. Remember Dr. Chameleon made Baby Adal to, like, replace me or something?

Erin

We don't have time for lore.

JPC

Remind me again, what makes this one Baby Adal? Anyway, head to squarespace.com slash riddle for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, use offer code riddle to save 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain. Is it just the way he dresses? Head of an Adal, body of a baby.

00:35:53

Erin

Hey, hey, Adal, JPC, can I talk to you guys for a second? 10 inches taller.

JPC

Thank you.

Erin

No.

JPC

Oh, for her. Oh, no, we were just... Oh, Adal and I were staring into each other's eyes and kind of feeling each other's arms. Uh, no, Erin, let's focus on you or whatever. What's your thing or whatever?

Erin

I texted you, said, come over, I need attention. Also, I got something new for my house.

JPC

Ooh, what'd you get?

Adal

Personality?

Erin

It's my new rug from Quince.

Adal

Oh, that's gorgeous. Isn't it amazing? Ooh, is that 100% Mongolian cashmere?

Erin

No, that's my sweater. That's my sweater you're feeling.

Adal

Oh, sorry, let me step off you. That would be insane for a rug.

Erin

And I bet it was so expensive, right? Wrong. It was just $60. There's classic denim I can get from Quinn's, real leather, wool outwear, and my new rug. Look, I'm making a snow angel on my new rug!

00:36:56

Adal

I'll look in a minute. I love Quinn's! I'll look in a minute, Erin. I'm looking into JPC's eyes. Now, JPC, I feel like you would look amazing in their suede trucker jacket. It's perfect for layering, even though you've got these, you know, 10-inch pythons now, these big biceps. It just looks really casual but put together.

JPC

And by partnering directly with ethical factories and top artisans, Quince cuts out the middleman to deliver premium quality at half the cost of similar brands. And Adal, I gotta say, it looks like somebody cut the middle out of you and just left fucking chiseled abs. What's going on, my man?

Erin

You guys, you guys. I've been sick. I'm not just obsessed with their rugs, but I also love their bedding. I have their sheets, bath, cookware, travel accessories, and my wardrobe. What are you guys doing?

Adal

Yeah, cool. Why aren't you looking at me? It's all amazing, Erin. Just calm down.

Erin

Layer up this fall with pieces that feel as good as they look. Go to quince.com slash riddle for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada too! That's q-u-i-n-c-e dot com slash riddle. Free shipping and 365-day returns. quince.com slash riddle.

00:38:02

Adal

Oh no, JPC, they made it Canada too.

JPC

Canada 2, The Squeakquel.

Adal

We gotta go.

Erin

Bye, Erin. Bye. Why is that bad?

Adal

GPC, you know how not too long ago Erin was a car we don't really need to dwell on it? Sometimes you're asking yourself weird things like, why didn't they teach us this in school? I feel that way almost any time I'm dealing with money. Amen. Famously, I'm very bad with money. Famously, you're very good with money. That's why I'm giving my kids AKA my cats, a headstart on their money skills with acorns early.

JPC

Now, if I know your cats, they're going to take those acorns, put them outside your door and then feed them to squirrels so they can watch squirrels going outside of your door. Uh, but children, human children, they're very different. They have different learning patterns than cats. We're getting wildly off topic. Erin used to be a car. That's why she's not here, but that's been resolved at this point.

Adal

So we don't have to worry about that. Mostly been resolved. Acorns Early is the smart debit card and money app that grows kids' money skills as they grow up. This is something that I am going to be gifting to friends, that I myself hopefully one day will be gifting to a child and again to my cats. Start with the in-app chores tracker, teach your kids or cats the value of a dollar. Then let your kids set up their own savings goals and start building healthy money habits early. And you could maybe be like, hey, let's set a goal that you save up to buy, I don't know, like a car one day.

00:39:34

JPC

Yes, because it is legal to buy a car. Yes. Even if it is or was a human at some point, because if it's now a car, it's fine. And there's no laws against that. Plus, 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 spending limits and real-time spend notifications, parents always stay in control. I have played around with the Acorn's Early app, so it's still a little early for my child. But I really love the features. I really love how like simplified it is. I actually think that it like can make learning about money fun and engaging. And I think that those are very important things. It's also really important to like demystify, you know, the money, you know, money isn't something that's like, you know, dirty or dangerous or something. It's just like a tool like anything else that we use to exist in society. And I think that Acorns Early is a great way to introduce children to that.

Adal

Absolutely. Hey JPZ. Do you notice, even though Erin's not a car anymore, that sometimes when she sneezes it sounds like vroom?

00:40:36

JPC

Yeah. And sometimes when she, not to be indelicate, farts, it sounds like honk, honk, honk. Passes gas.

Adal

It sounds like honk, honk, honk, honk, honk, honk, honk. Yes. And then I immediately want to get, anyway, 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. Akron's Early is issued by Community Federal Savings Bank, member FDIC, pursuant to license by MasterCard International. Free trial for new subscribers only. Subscription fee starting for $5 per month unless canceled. Terms apply at akrons.com slash earlyterms.

JPC

Erin's not a car. Take control of your money.

???

Ah, Erin. Uh, uh, Barbare Erin. Uh, also JPC. Just Paladin, uh, Coan. Great.

Erin

Love.

???

Love it.

Erin

Love. What is this vibe?

Adal

Yes, we all love D&D style adventures, right? Full of humor and heart. Guys. Uh-huh. I know I do. You need to check out Tales from the Stinky Dragon.

00:41:43

JPC

Oh, I know Tales from the Stinky Dragon. It's an award-winning D&D comedy podcast hosted by an all-star team of writers, comedians, and voice actors. You can join along for an auditory adventure with immersive sound design, an original score, and gripping stories set in a fantasy world. Plus, it's suitable for all ages, yet full of complex characters that make you laugh and cry. This podcast needs to be experienced by everyone, whether you're a seasoned D&D player,

Erin

or completely new to the game. Oh, this sounds up our alley. It's comedy with heart. Oh, wait, we don't have heart. So you're probably jonesing for some heart. Join a cast of five quick-witted friends as they overcome disastrous dice rolls, bewildering roleplay, and heartfelt moments of camaraderie. Your gut will both split from laughter and fill with butterflies as these goofballs weave a hilarious heartwarming story together. Again, would love to know what it feels like to have a podcast that has a little bit of heart on it. Can't wait.

JPC

Okay, how would you know if you like this show? Well here, let me tell you some other shows that it's comparable to. Critical Role, ever heard of it? The Adventure Zone, ever heard of it? Dungeons and Daddies, ever heard of it? Gumshoes and Dragons, you might not have heard of that one, but it's good. Hello from the Magic Tavern, you probably heard of that one. You and all your friends will love Tales from the Stinky Dragon.

00:42:55

Adal

And I gotta say, the episode The Quick and the Undead, where the party helps out a ghost mummy, is outstanding.

JPC

Discover why Tales from the Stinky Dragon continuously stands out among so many D&D shows. The hype is real. Check out Tales from the Stinky Dragon anywhere you listen to podcasts or on YouTube.com slash StinkyDragonPod. That's Tales from the Stinky Dragon.

Adal

Tales from the Stinky Dragon. It's a natural 10, which we're going on a scale of 1 to 10. Yeah, it's good. It's a natural 20.

???

But the scale's 1 to 10, so... It's a great show.

JPC

That's it.

Erin

Hey Riddle Riddle You know, you would think- Yeah, I think we're on R. Yeah, I think we're on R. We are on E. Oh, E. And JPC, think of that E word that you're going to say no matter what the riddle is.

00:43:56

JPC

E-grapes? Oh, no.

Erin

Oh, no. As I went through a field of wheat, I picked up something good to eat. It was white and had no bone, and in 21 days it walked alone.

Adal

Ear of corn. No. Sentient ear. Ear of corn, comma, sentient. E. Oh, what's that? An egg?

JPC

Yes, an egg. Oh, damn it. Elderberry.

Adal

Now Ross, you beat JPC and I to the answer when we should have known the number one answer to riddles. If you did a test of all riddles and what the answers are and you weighted them, egg and wind and shadow are probably the top three. Okay, it runs around the pasture, yet it never moves.

00:45:00

Erin

Yes. Fig. No. And you know what? I messed up and just let's just get through G really quick. Four fingers and a thumb, yet flesh and blood.

???

I have none.

Erin

And you know what? I did rock right into that. And I have read all these riddles and I just gave it away. And I literally went, oops, I fucked up. OK, it's OK. It's OK. It's OK when Erin fucks up. The more you take away, the bigger I become. What can I be?

Adal

Hole.

Erin

Yes, a hole.

Adal

Fuck hole.

Erin

I scream. We all scream. For what? What jack has a head but no head? So it kind of looks like a head, but it's not really a head.

Ross

Jack-o'-lantern? Jack-o'-lantern?

Erin

Yes, I'd like to see a scene. Ross, you are a jack-o'-lantern and JPC, you just smoked a ton of marijuana and you think your jack-o'-lantern is talking to you.

00:46:04

Ross

This is rather similar to our pervert and clock.

???

Huh.

Erin

Well, let's see. Let's not just jump to conclusions.

JPC

Let's not put the pervert before the horse.

Ross

We'll see which one of these things is the perv.

Erin

That's what Hey Riddle Riddle is.

Ross

The overarching meta riddle of the episode is spot the perv.

Erin

It's always JPC. It's always JPC.

???

Okay, I should get like a large lemonade. Large lemonade. Large lemonade. What the heck?

Ross

Ooh, when ghouls and sprites and ghosts come out.

JPC

Oh, I should get a sprite. I should get a large sprite. Oh, thank you so much for that suggestion, pum-pumpkin? Please, call me Jack. Oh my god. Okay, no, no, no. No, I'm just high. My jack-o'-lantern is not talking to me. I'm just high carving a jack-o'-lantern. I shouldn't be doing this while I'm high.

00:47:10

Ross

Oh no, I'm very much alive. I'm very much talking to you. Why, this is the year when spooky ghouls and ghosts come out. When tombs give up their spirits and the veil is thin between the lands of the dead and the land of the living. The times when strange things happen.

JPC

So you were a dead pumpkin? Or you were a dead guy? Or you're a ghost? You inhabit a pumpkin or what?

Ross

You ensouled me. You carved me.

JPC

Okay. You're scary? Or what's scary? Or am I? Because I'm really high and I'm like so not following any of this. I should get a big lemonade.

Ross

Look, I'm sorry. Have I been too obtuse with my sort of poetic pumpkin ramblings? The time of year around Al Hallow's Eve is the time when uncanny things and occurrences can come to pass. You carved a face on me, and so I am now imbued with a pumpkin-y soul thanks to you and your knife.

00:48:23

JPC

Father. My father carved a pumpkin. Jesus Christ, how high are you? I think I'm like really high.

Erin

The pumpkin gets in the car and drives JPC's character to the hospital, fills out the paperwork for him, checks him in, gets him an IV drip.

JPC

You gotta drink some water, man. I think they'll give me like an IV here. I think I'm not supposed to drink water because the inner counteracts with the, hey pumpkin, thank you so much for driving me. I got too high. I need to be here for a little while. Um, thank you, you know, take the car for the night. Like, that's, we could call it even, you can get up to your pumpkin antics.

Ross

Well, somebody, somebody has to be at the hospital to greet you when you're discharged. One of us has to be responsible, I guess, because it sure isn't going to be you.

Erin

We see a montage of the pumpkin helping JPC's character get sober. They're roommates. They're kind of like the odd couple, but they learn to love each other. We see them sort of be each other's best man at each other's weddings.

00:49:26

Ross

What you need is to find a third space, a place where you can make friends and cultivate a hobby and an interest. Live above the influence.

???

I don't know, Pumpkin.

JPC

Do you think I'm ready?

Ross

I mean... Is anyone ever ready?

JPC

Is this goodbye? Am I moving on with my life? Are you moving on with yours? Am I ready to go out into the world again?

Ross

Cassie's so beautiful, and more than that, she supports you. She makes you a better person.

JPC

I think if she knew that I was being Cyrano de Bergerac by a pumpkin, maybe she wouldn't like me. I mean, does she even like me?

Ross

Yes, I did write most of your love letters and your vows.

JPC

Does she even love me or does she love the pumpkin inside of me, you know? I think I have to tell her. I think I just have to tell her.

Ross

I suppose honesty is the best policy, but, but, but don't be hasty. Cassie, Cassie!

Erin

Hey Pumpkin, how you doing? I love my sweet Pumpkin. I love how sweet you are to me.

00:50:29

???

Oh, yes, my angel. Never will I fear your touch.

JPC

What the fuck? Cassie, who is this? Jack? You motherfucker! Punches the pumpkin, instantly destroys it. Oh no. Uh oh.

Erin

I hold him in my arms. I knew the whole time, sort of spiritually. I knew it was the pumpkin the whole time.

JPC

It was a really old pumpkin. It was pretty much fallen apart anyway.

Erin

It was pretty rotten.

???

I was already pretty soft.

JPC

One punch really blew that whole thing up.

Erin

JPC, I was trying to call your character Pumpkin in sort of the affection couple-y way.

JPC

I know. It was funnier that you were fucking the pumpkin.

Ross

And the pumpkin was like, just trying to express his emotion through you.

Erin

Okay, great. Hold on, let me really quick. How do you fuck a pumpkin? Oh, okay.

Adal

I think that's pretty straightforward.

Erin

Is it? Is it? Okay. You could do traditional or... Is that where the riddle is? Here we go.

JPC

Yes.

Erin

We made it to J, and that's pretty good, but we're going to keep going. Acts like a cat, looks like a cat, yet isn't a cat. What is it?

00:51:33

???

A kitten.

Erin

Yes, a kitten.

???

Nice.

Erin

What am I? My fleece is white as snow, and everywhere that Mary goes, I am sure to go. Lamb. Little lamb.

JPC

See, we're burning through these. That's not a riddle. Some of these aren't riddles.

Adal

Can you imagine Mary just- It's more kind of a fill-in-the-blank. Can you imagine Mary doing donuts in a parking lot? A lamb with wheels? On her wheeled lamb?

Erin

You guys, my naivete, having completely forgotten what the show is like, I thought we were going to get through these in the first 10 minutes of the show and then get to real Riddle. But I'm a fool. I didn't realize how many perverts we needed to see in these scenes. What is it that makes two people out of one?

Adal

Marriage, melding, morphing. Morphin.

Erin

Morphin. It's morphin time. What is it that makes two people out of one? Wax? No, I think this is actually a pretty good riddle. Wax?

JPC

Can you remind me what letter we're on? M. M. Oh, that's why we were saying morphin.

Erin

What is it that makes two people out of one?

00:52:33

Adal

Oh, motherhood?

Erin

That's beautiful, but no.

Adal

So women aren't people until they're a mother, Ross? Wow.

Erin

No, no, no, no, no. What is it that makes two people out of one?

JPC

Two people out of one?

Erin

Think about it. Think in a Riddle way.

JPC

Mitochondrial DNA.

Erin

No. Well, it's not actually two people, but it kind of looks like two people.

JPC

Oh, is it that thing when you cut up a paper and you fold it out and then it's a bunch of people holding hands?

Erin

No, that's like a little garland, a little people garland. No.

JPC

Yeah, a little people garland for Christmas time.

Erin

Christmas? Christmas! What is it that makes two people out of one and begins with an M?

Adal

Oh, movie theater sneaking children? When two kids kind of put on an overcoat?

Erin

No.

JPC

Is it Mongolia? Because Genghis Khan, they say, kind of culturally... It makes one person look like two people, to interrupt you. Oh, movie theater tritch coat.

Erin

No. I feel like we're sort of stuck in a movie theater trench coat. I'm going to give it to you. You guys had a perfect score before this, but I'm going to say it in three.

00:53:44

Adal

Medallion. Mustache.

Erin

Two. A mustache. One. A mirror.

JPC

Motherfucker.

Erin

What always has one eye open?

Ross

Who is the strange one who lives in the sea? He has eight arms but no legs.

Erin

What has a thousand needles but does not sew?

JPC

Cyclops.

Erin

No.

JPC

We're getting lost. A porcupine.

Ross

A porcupine. A porcupine.

Erin

I would like to see a scene. JPC, you're going to be a porcupine parent and you're being asked by your porcupine son, Adal, to sew a costume for him for Halloween.

JPC

Well, have fun out there. Be responsible. Don't eat too much candy and try to be back before 10.

Adal

Hey Dad, do you mind? Never mind.

JPC

No, hey buddy, come on. You can tell me anything or ask me anything. Is it about sex?

00:54:46

Adal

Yeah, kind of. Sort of.

JPC

Okay.

Adal

Do you mind S-E-W upside down M-W-ing me a costume?

JPC

Wait a second. How is this about sex?

Adal

Well, aren't our little guys sort of our sexual organs?

JPC

Okay, okay. You're not going out tonight. Let me lock the little porcupine door.

Adal

What's going on? You told me that each one of our quills is a special gift to be given only once.

Erin

Ding dong! Trick or treat!

JPC

Oh shit. Oh boy. You're grounded, so go to your room. And I'll be in there in a minute to talk and shake it. Gotta turn off all the lights and give it. Hello, trick or treat. Happy Halloween.

Erin

Hi, I'm just here with my daughter. She's dressed like a witch, trick or treat. Oh my god, you're a porcupine. Is it true that porcupines, all their needles have nerve endings in it?

00:55:48

Ross

Hey man, you're here with your kid, okay? Come on. Yeah, my kid's- He's the most sensitive part of the quill, the tip.

Erin

Yeah, is it?

JPC

No, that's not- who told you that? Are you going to that goddamn college where that man is teaching the wrong lessons about animals? I have half a mind to go down there myself and give him a quill.

Erin

Yeah, well he taught me that reptiles have very hot blood.

JPC

I'm getting porcupine hot blood at the insinuation- Porcupine burst into flames.

Erin

Scene. He was right.

JPC

The professor is vindicated after all. Should have been standing in that direct Halloween sunlight.

Erin

This is the Halloween episode? In so many ways, yes. We celebrate Pervert Day, which is October 8th every year, of course.

Ross

There's All Hallows' Eve, then Halloween, then of course Pervert Day.

Erin

I can't believe we have Ross Bryant on our pervert episode. He's so versatile as a comedian. We could have done anything with Ross and we chose pervert.

00:56:54

Ross

Look, you didn't choose this. This is all of our brains working together in the strange alchemy of improvisation. And there's one rogue element, one X factor that that has brought pervization to you.

Erin

That's in the Venn diagram of all four of our sense of humor is pervert. I'm pleased, but. So we're on cue? Yeah, this is not a riddle. So this is just not a riddle.

00:58:00

Adal

You live in a town where they had a contest to make somebody queen for a day and you have won that contest and you are sort of having your day where you get to sort of have the run of the town.

Erin

Alright, what is it next then? More mean for me, I suppose. What's those things that they, the man that comes in to make me laugh, what's his called?

JPC

Excuse me, you just need to sit quietly in the cell until you're ready to be executed.

Erin

What's it called?

JPC

Just sit quietly in the cell until you're ready to be executed. Never has the Queen for a Day program been this Horrible.

Erin

I did so good. I did so good. I put several good citizens to death. It's a jester. I want a jester to make me laugh. I'm queen for the day.

JPC

You've been deposed. I'm telling you ma'am, you've been deposed.

Erin

You've been deposed. I'm queen for the day and I say you get booped on the nose and then your head gets cut off.

00:59:04

JPC

Stop. I'm the jailer. Stop booping me on the nose.

Erin

Boop.

JPC

Ma'am, I'm committing regicide today, okay? This is not how I envisioned my day going.

Erin

This is you. This is not how I envisioned my day going. That's how you sound to me.

JPC

That's not how I sound. That's not how I sound. That's a gross oversimplification.

Erin

Well, put me back on that throne and I'll do a good job. I'll do better than anyone could on the throne. What would you do?

JPC

If I put you back on that throne, what would you do today?

Erin

Justice.

JPC

No.

Erin

Liberty.

JPC

No, that's how you started the day.

Erin

A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage.

Adal

We cut to her back in the throne in front of an audience. Queen, ma'am, your highness.

Erin

What can I do you for then?

Adal

We brought a school, there's a local school that's here. They thought it would be fun. You came out and you said let them eat ass.

Erin

Yeah.

Adal

Now I can't make that right.

Erin

It's my catchphrase then.

Adal

Can you go back out there, pull yourself together, and please... Right, pull myself together.

01:00:07

Erin

Stop drinking mead.

Adal

Give them sort of a fun, sort of... Come here kids!

Erin

Alright everyone, gather around. Who's the deal? I think... Give up now.

Ross

We can't unhear what you said, your majesty. No, no. We can't unthink it. Now it's all I can think about.

Erin

Kids, listen, listen, listen. Let me, hold on. Here's the thing.

Ross

We told you we were hungry, that we had no bread to eat, and then you said... No, let's not quote what I said.

Erin

Let's not paint me into a corner here for being that kind of bad.

JPC

Queen, can I have a question? Why do you have thick eyeshadow, you're wearing a bandana and a tri-cornered hat, and you have long hair with, like, coins sewed into it?

Erin

What about all that? What about that? It's cosplay.

JPC

It's an interesting look for a queen. I just wanted to know what... It's cosplay.

Erin

I can do whatever I want. I'm queen for the day. Sort of a Jack Sparrow... I won the contest.

01:01:08

Ross

Sort of Keith Richards energy.

Erin

Here's the thing though, here's the thing about this. I wrote the best essay in the entire land, alright? And it was an essay contest and I said I'd be queen for the day. And off with all your heads. One, two, three. This head, her head, his head, her head, their head, her head, this head, this head, all the heads. Slice, slice, slice, slice, slice. Heads on sticks.

JPC

You are, without a doubt, the worst queen I have ever seen.

Erin

Well, thank you.

Adal

We cut to the very next morning and Erin, you wake up hungover in bed.

Erin

Oh my god, what did I do? No, I'm probably fine. This is just classic anxiety. Let me just... No, my lovely.

???

You actually had a really wild night with me, my lovely.

Erin

And who's this? Is this Keith Richards?

???

Can't you tell? Can't you tell?

Adal

You have to imagine Keith Richards' wife once a day is saying, and now who's this? Is this Keith Richards? Now who's this?

01:02:13

Erin

Now who's this? What is it that runs in and out of town?

Ross

I do like the idea of our queen for a day in a 24 hour period getting overthrown. Thank you for being a tyrant.

Adal

Yeah, we pick up with you in jail, Erin. Bad queen.

Erin

Yeah, sorry. Well, I got a lot done in a very little amount of time.

Adal

That's true. That's fair.

Erin

You guys, we're going to finish this because I believe in us.

Adal

Did a whole Marie Antoinette arc in 20 seconds. Just like Sofia Coppola.

???

Yeah.

Adal

Yeah. We're on R? S. What is it?

Erin

Oh, no, R. We're on R. Sorry. What is it that runs in and out of town all day and night?

JPC

River?

Erin

Nope.

JPC

What has no feet or hands or wings, yet climbs to the sky? Where my name is to be recited again. Nope.

01:03:18

Erin

What has no feet, or hands, or wings, yet climbs to the sky?

JPC

Rear plate. The sun.

Erin

Nope.

Adal

You can kind of see it from far away.

Erin

It's R or S? No, it's S. It's S. Sears Tower. No. What has no feet or hands, but climbs to the sky, and it's not- Skyscraper?

Adal

Star?

Erin

There's like a reason why it climbs to the sky, and it's not permanent.

JPC

Sunrise. Sunset.

Erin

No. No, I like that. Yes.

Adal

Stars.

Erin

But there's a reason, like there's something that happens.

Adal

Spider? That's changing. Smoke?

Erin

Yes, smoke. Oh, smoke. Fantastic. Smoke. Okay, great.

Ross

Yeah, buddy.

Erin

Yeah, buddy.

Ross

Snitchy binges, baby.

Adal

Sweet snitches, buddy. T through Z, we're in a home stretcher. This is it. This is it. We're right there.

Erin

Oh, this one is a, this is the worst riddle we've ever had on the show. And Shannon, this is not a judgment on you. I'm just saying this is the worst.

Adal

This is the worst riddle we've ever had. And this is not an accusation against the person who sent it in. No, no, no, no, no, no.

01:04:23

Erin

Because I will say, I think what is it that makes two people out of one a mirror is a fantastic riddle.

Ross

That's very good.

Erin

So this next one, I will say, I think this is my least favorite we've ever had. I think she's going to say the answer.

JPC

I think Erin's going to accidentally say the answer. There's so much preamble here, I think she's going to accidentally say the answer. The answer's locked and loaded.

Erin

Just because it is 2am here in Los Angeles.

JPC

2am! Is the answer 2am?

Erin

No, it's 8.05.

Adal

Erin, should we do U through Z and come back to T? Double back?

Erin

What pets make stirring music?

JPC

What was the answer, Erin?

Erin

Don't say this. GBC, I'm so easily tipped over right now. Don't do this to me. I'm fragile. Turtle?

Adal

Turtle doves? This is tea?

Erin

Yeah, it's a tea. It's an instrument. Is that your hint?

Adal

Oh, timpani?

Erin

No. What pets make stirring music?

JPC

Trumpets.

Erin

Yeah.

JPC

Whoa. Trumpets.

Erin

You love it?

JPC

Do you love it? Tell me you love it.

Erin

Tell me you love it.

JPC

Tell me you love it.

Erin

What goes up when rain falls? Umbrella.

01:05:25

JPC

Smoke.

Erin

An umbrella.

Ross

Roses are- I tell you, any of you grow up in a house that does Christmas crackers?

Adal

Do you know what I'm talking about? No, but I went to England to study abroad and my mind was blown that they were ubiquitous. It's a huge deal.

Ross

They're like tubular, they're tubular log or alligator shaped. You kind of pinch both ends and there's like a little firecracker inside, a little puff of like gunpowder. And inside there's like, you know, little trinkets and riddles and jokes. And the last few of these have been very Christmas cracker coated.

Erin

And do you wear the little paper crown hats?

Ross

Oh yeah, you put the little paper crown on. My mom is a super Anglophile and only in the last like 10 years has made this, has like crowbarred this into being a family tradition that we never had growing up.

Erin

She tried to gaslight you into thinking that you were doing it at five, like remember when we were growing up?

Ross

She's like photoshopping paper crowns into our old family photos.

01:06:25

Erin

I was in Australia for a couple Christmases and they do it too, but I'm sure it's some mutated version of the English one because everything is just a slight bit right of center of the English version one in Australia. Roses are red, violets are blue, and I'm forever saying I love you. What am I then? What shouts along the street and hasn't any lungs? It tugs at leaves and hurls them at people old and young. The wind. Speaking of Chicago, the wind. I'd like to see a scene. Ross, you are the Chicago wind. And you are really trying to knock down Adal and JPC who are walking down the street together.

Adal

So I was, uh, I was saying to Charlie, I said, you gotta try, you gotta go to, um, Alinea, and you gotta try, they have a wine pairing that would just knock your... My hat, my hat, my hat!

Ross

Oh my god! Hey, wait! Where do you think you're going there, you jagoffs? You think you can just walk around the corner of the building at State and Clark and not get your hats blown out there, bud? Nice try there, jagoff.

01:07:38

Adal

I'm coming in off the lake at 50 miles an hour, dickhead. Oh, we got a smart-ass lake effect over here. Listen. Listen, I am- That's right. If I'm blowing in from the west, that's just a breeze.

Ross

This is lake effect, buddy. I'm going right down your frickin' collar.

JPC

Those were brand new 959 Cubs Hats Limited Edition. You owe us a hundred bucks, wind.

Ross

Oh, listen to Danny Northside over here. Go Saks! I'm blowing right on your nards for that one, pal. Oh, oh!

JPC

Cold Nards! Cold Nards! I feel like a... I feel like a damn alligator!

Adal

Oh, that's shittier than a slice of lume all night. Listen, hey, Wynn, listen. Listen, hey, maybe there's something we give you that makes you sort of, you know, blow away, bother some- Trying to bargain with me?

Ross

You're trying to bargain from a- This ain't a, uh, this ain't a clock pervert negotiation here, pal. The wind can't be bought, okay, bud? I'm just saying, there's probably some- I'm not the 35th Ward Alderman, okay?

Adal

It can't be bought. Hey, that's my second cousin, okay? Watch your mouth.

01:08:42

Ross

Yeah, I'll bet it is. Hey, shake the hand of Danny Jaworski next time you're out there, okay? Oh, you know Jaworski?

Adal

You know Jaworski?

Ross

Yeah, he's probably busy piping a house right now, but... Oh, shit.

JPC

Wind, I didn't know you were Polish. Hey, look, we got more in common.

???

Hey, guys, you guys are all right.

JPC

He's a Sox win, but all of a sudden he's a Cubs favorite. We're all the same down here.

Erin

Yeah, of course, right at the end. Everything was leading to that. Do you think Second City has ever done that scene? Where the Chicago wind is like, that's gotta be me.

Ross

Yeah, George Wendt wrote that scene in like 1974. That became Cheers, Erin. Are you Canadian?

Erin

That's amazing. All right, we're gonna quick, so quick. So, so, so fast. What shouts along the street and hasn't any lungs? Wendt. It tugs at leaves. Yes. Through, I didn't even finish it. Through me you see me. Through solid... X-ray.

01:09:50

Adal

X-ray. Yes. Okay. X-ray.

Erin

What am I?

Adal

Zebra.

Erin

I'm found... Yellow. No, it's Y. We're on Y. No, what am I? I'm found in socks and scarves and mittens. I'm found in paws and playful kittens. Yes, yarn.

Adal

Zebra. Xylophone.

Erin

No. Saws sing it. We snore it. Bees drone it. Yes. That's it. We did it! We did it! I don't think I would have ever guessed that the Z riddle answer was going to be zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Ross

Lordy. My pleasure, my pleasure to be here. Yeah, I got something to promote. I'm actually premiering a new podcast soon called Push the Roll with Ross Bryant. It's a tabletop roleplaying game actual play podcast where friends of mine and I play the game Call of Cthulhu. We have special guests come in. But perhaps members of this very podcast will join us shortly. But the premise is that our Patreon subscribers submit titles that we use to inspire brand new scenarios. So these sort of horror tales that we tell can take place anywhere, any when, it's all riffed out on the fly. And we've recorded a bunch of them. They've been very funny and creepy. So that sort of like horror comedy vibe is something you're into. Check out Push the Roll.

01:11:30

Erin

Who are some of the people in the cast who are there all the time?

Ross

Let's see. We've got very fun folks from the world of like actual play like Josephine McAdam and like Becca Scott and Paula Deming and people from like more like actorly side of things like Matthew Lillard and Abu Bakr Salem. And lots of people from the world of improv, like Matt Young from Hello from the Magic Tavern. Tomorrow we'll be recording with Adal. Yes. And other folks, yeah, like Vic Michalis and Brennan Lee Mulligan and all kinds of fun folks. Cool. That's amazing.

Erin

Yeah, definitely check that out. Adal JPC, anything else to add or promote?

Adal

Um, I would suggest go to wherever you can watch videos, maybe TikTok, your TikToks or your Instagrams. Um, and there's a video Ross that killed me, which is, I think it's you on Game Changer doing a Tom, it's the prompt is like Tom Waits. I forget what the full prompt is.

01:12:37

Ross

Yeah, that's the premise of that episode is that they have like a big karaoke book with real artists and fake song titles. And you can pick the artist, and then you have to improvise the fake song in the style of that artist. And randomly, they had Tom Waits in there. Not one that I feel like the kids are clamoring for impressions of, but Tom Waits is dear to me, so I had to take a swing.

Adal

But it's a killer Tom Waits impression, so please check that out. JPC, anything to plug or promote?

JPC

Oh, this Sunday we are going to be in Atlanta. There may be our tickets still available, so if you haven't, if there are tickets still available, heyriddleriddle.com slash live is where you get them, and then next Tuesday Nashville, and then next Friday Denver. So we would love to see you in Atlanta, Nashville, and Denver, and those are coming up very soon. Also, make sure that you check out Gumshoes and Dragons. I believe right now our fifth episode just dropped, so you can check that out anywhere you find podcasts. Erin, anything to plug?

01:13:39

Erin

Just if you get a chance to watch Ross do improvise Shakespeare before I moved to Chicago I saw videos of you doing it Ross and it was like blew my mind and I've seen you do it live a number of times and it will blow your mind I'll never get tired of it it is it's like a magic trick so if you get a chance to see improvise Shakespeare I know it's in Chicago a lot and then in LA you guys do like you and Greg Hasson

Ross

Joey and Blaine. Yeah, we perform monthly at the Largo in LA and we have a lot of dates on the road coming up soon too. So if you're in, I don't know when this comes out, but October 1st. Okay, cool. So We'll be coming down to the South. So in the middle of October, you can check us out in Atlanta and then up through Tennessee, Chattanooga and Nashville. So please come check us out. That's very, very kind of you to say.

Erin

Don't miss out on it. It's like some of the best comedy I've ever seen. It's very consistent. So impress your friends.

Ross

It's a very smart highbrow show, but we definitely still do play pervert pumpkins.

01:14:42

Erin

Oh yeah, it's deeply silly. It's mostly perverts. Sorry, I should mention, it's mostly perverts.

Ross

Perverts all the way down. It's mostly, it's pervs only.

Erin

Okay, amazing. And then, oh, I say Jupiter. I'm the one who gets that side of the show. I forgot that I have the pull cord. Sorry guys. Bye!

JPC

Bye!

???

Are there any parrots in the music?

JPC

Hey there, Rids and Quartz. If you liked that, you are going to love this week's Patreon. We're doing more listener-submitted hot takes, and that's all that happens. Nothing weird. You can listen to that plus our entire back catalog at patreon.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com.com