This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] The Twenty Sided Tavern & Broadway Podcast Network.

[0:30] Madelyn Murphy: One more time. Would you bring us in please?

[0:36] Conner Marx: Nat 20!

[0:40] Madelyn Murphy: I'm so sorry. I had to. I had to. The computer freaked out at your immense inhale.

[0:47] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah. You want me to do it again? No. No.

[0:51] Conner Marx: One thing that microphones can't handle are inhalations.

[0:53] Madelyn Murphy: Apparently just Maddy's booking.

[0:57] Conner Marx: Mine is a wheeze.

[0:58] Cassidy Sledge: It sounds like I need to see a pulmonary specialist.

[1:02] Madelyn Murphy: Is this it? Yeah, we're all in really good shape.

[1:07] Conner Marx: The soul of a wizard who's been trapped for thousands of years in a certain cadaver is finally misting off into the sunset.

[1:12] Madelyn Murphy: Yeah, that's some Billy vibes from Hocus Pocus. When he cuts the stitches in his mouth, it goes...

[1:17] Conner Marx: Cuts the stitches in his mouth?

[1:21] Madelyn Murphy: Yeah, yeah. His mouth was sewed shut by the witches so that he wouldn't speak. And then when he finally cuts it open, he spits out dust and leaves and then goes, witch. Calls Bette Midler a witch. It's pretty cool.

[1:33] Conner Marx: Yeah, because that one kid was a freaking nerd virgin and lit that candle on fire.

[1:37] Cassidy Sledge: Yep. Have you not seen Hocus Pocus?

[1:40] Conner Marx: I have not. Oh, really?

[1:42] Madelyn Murphy: Oh, it's fun. It's a delight.

[1:44] Cassidy Sledge: Kathy Najimy, what a dreamy.

[1:46] Conner Marx: Hey, welcome back to Ale! And Well Met! It's the 20 Sided Tavern podcast.

[1:55] Madelyn Murphy: And this is the last one for, well, a little bit. It's our last one backstage at Stage 42.

[2:02] Conner Marx: Oh, yeah. In New York City.

[2:04] Madelyn Murphy: And I'm Alex and I'm here.

[2:09] Conner Marx: I'm Maddie. I'm here.

[2:14] Cassidy Sledge: We need you upright. If you stop either, we're going to be in trouble.

[2:19] Madelyn Murphy: I don't need to do both.

[2:20] Conner Marx: Are you breathing? How are you guys respirating?

[2:22] Cassidy Sledge: I'm here. I'm inhaling and exhaling each time generating a considerable amount of moisture in my personal area.

[2:29] Madelyn Murphy: That's our moist mouth boy.

[2:32] Cassidy Sledge: I'm cozy as folk right now, guys.

[2:36] Conner Marx: Word. How's your dew point level and respiratory acuity?

[2:41] Cassidy Sledge: Both at 400 percent.

[2:44] Conner Marx: Wow. I don't know if that's good or bad, frankly.

[2:46] Madelyn Murphy: Call 9-1-1.

[2:47] Cassidy Sledge: Oh, that explains why that beanbag is soaked through.

[2:51] Conner Marx: Oh, yeah, baby.

[2:53] Cassidy Sledge: You don't want to see the underside.

[2:54] Madelyn Murphy: Sitting in your own little puddle over there.

[2:56] Conner Marx: I think you have bed sores, but also your face is going to look amazing for decades.

[3:00] Cassidy Sledge: Oh, my God. Thank you.

[3:01] Conner Marx: Yeah, moisture.

[3:02] Cassidy Sledge: So dewy.

[3:03] Madelyn Murphy: I also kind of want to paint a picture, as it's our last time filming in our what we call the soft room. There's just so much, so many relics of a year of doing shows like we're surrounded by Legos, old ass flowers, Easter eggs, pretzel bites, a lot of Arizona Iced Teas.

[3:21] Conner Marx: Those are an all scape. Please help yourself.

[3:22] Cassidy Sledge: Oh, hell yeah. But Arizona Iced Tea, which is Cassie's calling card.

[3:25] Conner Marx: Absolutely.

[3:26] Cassidy Sledge: A bunch of books that have been given to us by our friend Kaylee of Orbit Books.

[3:32] Conner Marx: Recording stuff, a TV.

[3:34] Cassidy Sledge: The Arizona Iced Tea is also next to a mostly consumed bag of nerd clusters, which have taken their toll as well.

[3:41] Conner Marx: Yeah, double Cassidy calling card.

[3:43] Cassidy Sledge: And I'll have you know, those dried flowers hanging up were given to me by Cassidy on my very first performance almost a year ago.

[3:50] Madelyn Murphy: Oh, nice.

[3:51] Conner Marx: That's so great.

[3:52] Cassidy Sledge: It's crazy.

[3:52] Madelyn Murphy: And when the last petal falls, the curse will be broken.

[3:56] Conner Marx: Wait, actually, speaking of calling cards. The lights that we hung up are from my wedding.

[4:00] Cassidy Sledge: Are you serious?

[4:01] Conner Marx: Wait, really?

[4:01] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah.

[4:02] Conner Marx: They're from my wedding. They were just sitting in a closet for like three, four years.

[4:05] Madelyn Murphy: That makes sense. I was about to comment.

[4:07] Cassidy Sledge: I was going to say we have maybe 40% of these bulbs still rocking over right now.

[4:12] Conner Marx: Yeah, well, they were outside for a while.

[4:14] Cassidy Sledge: But I mean, yeah, I mean, but there were way more of them were working when we hung them up.

[4:19] Madelyn Murphy: And I'm not 100% sure why.

[4:22] Conner Marx: 40% is generous.

[4:23] Cassidy Sledge: They're mostly done.

[4:25] Conner Marx: I think there's something very exciting. We've had a lot of guests come in and sometimes we will blow up balloons to celebrate their debuts.

[4:30] Madelyn Murphy: And when we bap the balloons around in this room, if you hit a light that's already on with a balloon, it will turn to a different shade of white.

[4:36] Cassidy Sledge: And then you go, oh, shit.

[4:41] Conner Marx: Oh, fuck. Let's try and fix it.

[4:42] Cassidy Sledge: And then you hit it again.

[4:43] Conner Marx: And then it dies.

[4:43] Cassidy Sledge: It's over.

[4:44] Madelyn Murphy: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[4:45] Cassidy Sledge: That's probably it.

[4:45] Conner Marx: Yes.

[4:47] Cassidy Sledge: Oh, I love that balloon bap.

[4:48] Conner Marx: How many times have we done that?

[4:49] Cassidy Sledge: There's like a lot.

[4:51] Conner Marx: 30 lights that are out.

[4:52] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah, a whole bunch.

[4:52] Conner Marx: RJ and I have fun.

[4:55] Cassidy Sledge: You gotta come up with games to entertain yourself.

[4:55] Conner Marx: Yeah.

[4:57] Cassidy Sledge: But wait, speaking of like calling cards. So I know that Cassidy's Ghost is haunting me if I find Arizona iced tea or a Nerd Cluster or a handwritten note.

[5:04] Conner Marx: I feel like everybody has left some calling cards here.

[5:07] Madelyn Murphy: Murray, it's got to be a baseball hat.

[5:11] Conner Marx: I mean, I have many. I wear a lot of literal hats in the show.

[5:16] Cassidy Sledge: And yeah, I mean, there's a whole bunch of them in the other room.

[5:19] Madelyn Murphy: It's a baseball hat and the scent of your beard oil. I'd be like, Murray's spirit is here.

[5:23] Conner Marx: I know the scent of it because I've chewed on your beard a lot.

[5:26] Cassidy Sledge: How's it taste?

[5:27] Conner Marx: Wiry.

[5:29] Cassidy Sledge: It's more so a texture than a taste.

[5:31] Conner Marx: Let's be real.

[5:33] Cassidy Sledge: You have an incredible beard.

[5:34] Conner Marx: Incredible.

[5:35] Cassidy Sledge: You don't need to hear this. You hear it every day of your life.

[5:38] Conner Marx: Yeah.

[5:39] Cassidy Sledge: But let's, at least this day, allow you to hear it five or six times in a row.

[5:43] Conner Marx: Oh, thank you. You have an incredible beard.

[5:44] Cassidy Sledge: I want you to enter a beard competition.

[5:47] Conner Marx: I can't. I can't.

[5:51] Cassidy Sledge: I take a lot of pride in whenever people are impressed by my beard being able to be like, yeah, man, it just grows out of my face this way.

[5:56] Conner Marx: And people are like, what do you do? What do you use? And I'm like, nothing. Genetic.

[6:01] Cassidy Sledge: Watch it.

[6:02] Conner Marx: Yeah. It's genetic and unattainable. It's the same reason I'm flat footed and bald.

[6:07] Cassidy Sledge: So, you know, you play the hand you're dealt.

[6:09] Conner Marx: I think the Connor calling card is food that has been left out and allowed to petrify for months.

[6:16] Cassidy Sledge: I'll have you know, I am maybe the only person who uses the acrylic plates in this whole goddamn building.

[6:25] Conner Marx: Oh, that's true.

[6:27] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah. I see you with like, you're just like mounds of rice and fish or whatever.

[6:31] Conner Marx: I do dishes.

[6:32] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah. No, I'm just saying you have certain things that have petrified and lived on your desk.

[6:37] Madelyn Murphy: Let's talk about Lemon Pig for a second.

[6:40] Conner Marx: We gotta discuss Lemon Pig.

[6:41] Cassidy Sledge: Lemon Pig is also the little brother of that fucking pumpkin.

[6:43] Conner Marx: And the pumpkin was the thing that concerned me.

[6:46] Cassidy Sledge: And pumpkin and Lemon Pig. Your goddamn science experiments you were doing at your fucking dressing room.

[6:49] Conner Marx: So Lemon Pig, I will be the first to admit Lemon Pig looks horrifying.

[6:56] Cassidy Sledge: That Lemon Pig also went fast. I'm a Lemon Pig person.

[7:02] Conner Marx: I usually make them on New Year's. I'm like, yeah, that one just shriveled.

[7:06] Cassidy Sledge: Hold up. Lemon Pig is a thing.

[7:08] Conner Marx: Yeah, it's a New Year's thing.

[7:09] Cassidy Sledge: I did not know this.

[7:10] Conner Marx: I also thought you just created something.

[7:12] Cassidy Sledge: No, they're a New Year's thing. It's for luck. You give it a, you put a penny in its mouth for luck and then it's, you're supposed to have it all year.

[7:22] Conner Marx: And there's something about the chemical reaction with the copper and the acid that actually like preserves, like it shrivels, but it doesn't like shrivel.

[7:30] Cassidy Sledge: So it just dries out. And then you keep it and it's supposed to be good luck for a year. And then you throw it away on New Year's Eve and you make another one, right?

[7:38] Conner Marx: I didn't know the lore. I just knew that Lemon Pigs were a thing.

[7:41] Cassidy Sledge: Oh, good luck. Lemons and acid are a natural contraceptive.

[7:46] Conner Marx: So there you go.

[7:48] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah. I mean, lemons and, sorry, copper and acid are natural contraceptive.

[7:53] Conner Marx: The right kind of acid though, kids. Make sure you're not-

[7:56] Cassidy Sledge: Okay, here we go. We're getting into knowledge about intrauterine devices.

[7:59] Conner Marx: You don't have a bunch of, uh, oh yeah, yeah. The Egyptians discovered.

[8:02] Cassidy Sledge: You stuff some copper up there, it mixes with-

[8:05] Conner Marx: Oh, I feel like a copper, yeah.

[8:07] Cassidy Sledge: Oh, you do. And it still works, still a lot of people do them. Mixes with vaginal acidic secretions, bam, natural contraceptive.

[8:15] Conner Marx: Fuck your sperm right up, son.

[8:17] Cassidy Sledge: Murder them, little bastard.

[8:18] Conner Marx: To anyone listening, we are not condoning just stuffing pennies up there. Please don't. Go talk to a gynecologist.

[8:22] Cassidy Sledge: But there are many options for contraception.

[8:24] Conner Marx: Pennies are so gross, just definitely not, like, unsanitized.

[8:30] Cassidy Sledge: You can't just grab a handful of change and shove it up your business.

[8:34] Conner Marx: And now I just think of, if someone said penny for your thoughts, it'd be like, no, don't!

[8:36] Cassidy Sledge: Penny for your maidenhead?

[8:41] Conner Marx: Yeah, the worst possible way to say that.

[8:44] Cassidy Sledge: To drag us back. Let's make, let's-

[8:47] Conner Marx: We were gonna reminisce about our time together.

[8:50] Cassidy Sledge: Let's get and post a photo of Lemon Pig, because it is a true-

[8:54] Conner Marx: It's an elegant-

[8:56] Cassidy Sledge: Let's get it all out, let's put it all on the table.

[8:59] Conner Marx: So, I don't know if there was an occasion, but Cassidy left-

[9:05] Cassidy Sledge: I think it was you, right, Lesmy?

[9:07] Conner Marx: Left this lemon with, like, toothpicks for legs, and a little slice in the oblong stemmy part-

[9:14] Cassidy Sledge: The butthole.

[9:14] Conner Marx: To make a mouth. Uh, and-

[9:17] Cassidy Sledge: The front butthole.

[9:18] Conner Marx: Yeah, you're supposed to use cloves, but I forgot to bring them in, and all we had that were, like, stabby in the theater were matches.

[9:24] Cassidy Sledge: Matches for eyes, and within hours, it just-

[9:29] Conner Marx: It's horrifying.

[9:30] Cassidy Sledge: Desiccated and turned into this eldritch husk.

[9:34] Conner Marx: You could somehow feel the venomous grudge in its eyes.

[9:40] Cassidy Sledge: When you made eye contact with it, it was like it was begging for you to kill it.

[9:44] Conner Marx: Yeah.

[9:44] Cassidy Sledge: Or, and it was saying, but if you do, uh-

[9:47] Conner Marx: Bad luck.

[9:47] Cassidy Sledge: You'll get yourself cursed.

[9:48] Conner Marx: Yeah, that's really weird.

[9:48] Cassidy Sledge: The lemon pick was next to a mini pumpkin that was a holdover from Halloween times.

[9:52] Conner Marx: Right, which was-

[9:54] Cassidy Sledge: And mini pumpkins-

[9:55] Conner Marx: Had just dried out just fine.

[9:56] Cassidy Sledge: No, it had-

[9:57] Conner Marx: It was covered in mold, dog.

[9:58] Cassidy Sledge: It was not.

[10:00] Conner Marx: It was a fucking school form.

[10:02] Cassidy Sledge: It was a hard, dried, covered in mold.

[10:04] Conner Marx: One half was mummy, and one half was goo.

[10:06] Cassidy Sledge: People were upset. I came in one day, and there was, like, a sort of a quarantine station built around them with paper towels taped down, and then they were removed from my station and placed, like, in a shoebox somewhere else.

[10:12] Conner Marx: I was able to find them and return them to a compromised throne of just sitting on a shelf out of eyesight unless you know to look for them, and then when you do accidentally-

[10:19] Cassidy Sledge: You make eye contact.

[10:22] Conner Marx: With its angry match eyes.

[10:28] Cassidy Sledge: With me, who moved your-

[10:30] Conner Marx: Soulless match eyes.

[10:31] Cassidy Sledge: Who moved your precious eldritch babies.

[10:34] Conner Marx: And I purposely left clues so you would find it.

[10:37] Cassidy Sledge: The clue being the 18 paper towels I used to cover my hands to move them to the shelf.

[10:41] Conner Marx: For hair protection.

[10:49] Cassidy Sledge: It was for your own hygienics? Safety?

[10:54] Conner Marx: I don't get grossed out by much. Like, really, blood, like, vomit, any-

[10:59] Cassidy Sledge: I'll hold your hair back any time.

[11:00] Conner Marx: I really don't get grossed out by much.

[11:02] Cassidy Sledge: I could not stand-

[11:04] Conner Marx: That's funny.

[11:06] Cassidy Sledge: We won't bring it into the room now if that's the case, but I-

[11:09] Conner Marx: As someone- I also have- I would say similarly, there are- There's not a lot that grosses me out, but I definitely am capable of revulsion and a real gag factor, but just-

[11:20] Cassidy Sledge: Little lemon pig just seems so cute to me.

[11:24] Conner Marx: I just love him too much.

[11:25] Cassidy Sledge: Even-

[11:26] Conner Marx: It's like the old dog who needs to be put down, who clearly resents still being forced to live day in and day out.

[11:31] Cassidy Sledge: Looking at you with roomy eyes, begging for death.

[11:35] Conner Marx: Yeah, just be like, please kill me.

[11:38] Cassidy Sledge: I will say this. Lemon pig, bless.

[11:40] Conner Marx: Blessings be.

[11:41] Cassidy Sledge: I don't- I am uncomfortable being within a foot of lemon pig.

[11:45] Conner Marx: I can't explain it.

[11:46] Cassidy Sledge: I'm so sorry. I would have taken it home or something. I didn't know that it was that bad.

[11:49] Conner Marx: I think a wayward soul is trapped in lemon pig.

[11:53] Cassidy Sledge: You're so correct.

[11:55] Conner Marx: I think if I touch it with my skin, it will absorb into me.

[12:00] Cassidy Sledge: I'm so sorry. I'll take lemon pig home.

[12:04] Conner Marx: Are you planning on taking lemon pig home?

[12:06] Cassidy Sledge: Oh yeah, I-

[12:06] Conner Marx: You have to be so careful that he might disintegrate on the subway home.

[12:09] Cassidy Sledge: I think this is actually a good question for the room. It's like, what is a thing that you have acquired during this show that is maybe not a spoilable soul coffin?

[12:20] Conner Marx: Yeah, what's something you've gotten that you think you're gonna treasure?

[12:30] Cassidy Sledge: Or what are some of the coolest things you've received from fans?

[12:34] Conner Marx: Yeah, to echo Connor, so many amazing, cool pairs of dice. Either people will bring us amazing professional sets of dice.

[12:43] Cassidy Sledge: I'm also so impressed by people who make their own dice, and they'll customize it to be like, I made this for you because I thought of you in this way, or you once mentioned this thing. Here's dice that contain that thing, which to me, the idea that people want to make stuff, A, is just awesome, and then B, to give it and be like, this is to commemorate something that you've done or that I think would bring you joy is so cool.

[13:06] Conner Marx: I think that's cool as hell.

[13:08] Cassidy Sledge: I love that there's not just nerd culture.

[13:11] Conner Marx: Culturally, we've gotten back into-

[13:13] Cassidy Sledge: Offerings?

[13:13] Conner Marx: Like, yeah, and inside of fandoms, trading friendship bracelets and stuff.

[13:19] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah, the Taylor Swift bracelets.

[13:20] Conner Marx: We've gotten a lot of those.

[13:22] Cassidy Sledge: I find those incredibly moving, because they're personalized in a moment.

[13:25] Conner Marx: Yeah, they're so awesome.

[13:27] Cassidy Sledge: Literally, a message is there.

[13:27] Conner Marx: Jasmine and I call them our candy wrists, and all of us, I think it's fair to say, any of us who get a bracelet, wear it with that particular cohort.

[13:35] Cassidy Sledge: I usually wear it on the day, and then I have a pile of them.

[13:38] Conner Marx: Yeah, the candy.

[13:40] Cassidy Sledge: You and Jasmine walk out here looking like Ding Dang Ong Bok, man.

[13:43] Conner Marx: Yeah.

[13:43] Cassidy Sledge: You've got them about up to your elbow.

[13:45] Conner Marx: That and the space buns, I'm an undercover cop at a rave, baby, but I treasure each one, for sure, because it means a lot.

[13:51] Cassidy Sledge: And then other than that, anytime somebody has made little sketches for us, or notes, I keep those.

[13:57] Conner Marx: The drawings are really great.

[13:59] Cassidy Sledge: The arts and notes are really great.

[14:00] Conner Marx: Unbelievable.

[14:01] Cassidy Sledge: Thank you so much. And I'm going to pop them in a scrapbook. Actually, I have some time carved out during our hiatus, where literally there's a day that's called scrapbook day, and I'm going to look through all of it and preserve it, because I tend to be a hot mess with physical documents, and they'll get, I don't know, I'll be like, that one thing, and it'll take me 14 months to find it, and then for some reason there's Jell-O on it, and it's congealed into a lemon pig-esque mold.

[14:26] Conner Marx: That's my lemon pig.

[14:27] Cassidy Sledge: So I run out of preserve.

[14:28] Conner Marx: Why don't you keep lemon pig out of your mouth?

[14:31] Cassidy Sledge: Lemon pig is never far from my mind, because it's haunting me for life.

[14:37] Conner Marx: Like Annabelle the doll.

[14:38] Cassidy Sledge: This is my lemon pig.

[14:40] Conner Marx: Lemon pig's my Annabelle.

[14:43] Cassidy Sledge: The drawings are incredible. So much cool art. I'm a box. I like, I don't have a scrapbook. I will put everything will go in my memory box. And I just have a box that's, you know, stuff.

[14:48] Conner Marx: Oh, I had that. But somehow I dumped water on it. I don't know when.

[14:54] Maddie Murphy: You slipped and cotton candy fell in it.

[14:58] Conner Marx: Could be. Who's to say this is why it's got to be laminated.

[15:04] Cassidy Sledge: Cass, what about you?

[15:08] Maddie Murphy: Stuff I'm taking home?

[15:09] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah, I think. Yeah, definitely. Dice and bracelets. And Maya, one of our stage managers, crocheted us all these little tiny bags to separate our what? Was it the 100th show?

[15:15] Conner Marx: 100th, I think.

[15:20] Maddie Murphy: It's where I put all my like, the little tiny things that I get from everybody. It's like my good luck, like D&D Grigri.

[15:27] Cassidy Sledge: Same. D&D Grigri. And I have a, like a button badge that somebody gave me that says emotional support thembo. And it is, I think maybe my favorite thing that I've ever been given in my entire life. I love it so much.

[15:41] Conner Marx: Yeah. Enamel pins, too.

[15:43] Maddie Murphy: Yeah.

[15:43] Cassidy Sledge: I like little jiggly janglies.

[15:45] Conner Marx: I got so many Kirby's. I'm so excited about them.

[15:49] Maddie Murphy: I do have a denim jacket, actually, at home that I put all my enamel pins on. And it's actually hard to wear because it's 12 pounds. And it pokes you. And those are my jiggly janglies.

[15:59] Cassidy Sledge: So again, it's I'm going to bring them home.

[16:00] Conner Marx: Yeah, but it raises your AC at least two points.

[16:03] Maddie Murphy: Oh, yeah. I could be shot with an arrow and it's not going to go through.

[16:07] Cassidy Sledge: Attack me with a knife, fool. You're not going to get through this enamel pin of the thing someone gave me.

[16:12] Conner Marx: Let me just quickly turn to the side and hit me in this very specific patch.

[16:16] Maddie Murphy: Don't try to stab me in my left shoulder. You'll never get through.

[16:20] Cassidy Sledge: Oh, OK. Do we have like a singular moment that we've experienced on stage where you were just kind of like, oh, yeah, this is like my favorite job I've ever had?

[16:31] Maddie Murphy: I mean, you clearly got one in mind. So you go first.

[16:34] Cassidy Sledge: OK, yeah, I mean, I'm sure we all have had a bunch.

[16:38] Maddie Murphy: Yeah, but yeah, but like the moment that it solidified for me was I think like show two or three. And that was back in the days when every time I went on, I went on with Stomp because we were the two understudies. And for whatever reason, the audience had decided that every single NPC would be named some iteration of like Dave or Davey or David or David, whatever.

[17:04] Conner Marx: And it was every single and it was relentless. And I think we made it to like the riddle room or like the game room NPC. And I was like, who's going to do it? Who's going to be brave and break free from this pattern?

[17:13] Cassidy Sledge: We've sent someone to raise their hand. And I was like, you give me a name. And he said, Bowie. And I was like, thank you so much. We're finally broken free from David. And then I just like I like collapsed behind the bench. It was incredible.

[17:30] Conner Marx: I'm pretty sure Diego and I were sitting next to each other and we heard Bowie and we're like the Cheshire Cats behind there, like and watching the twelve emotions go across your face as you realized it and then blacked out in your body was wonderful.

[17:47] Maddie Murphy: So you reacting like that, then I don't know how many people are in the audience, but everyone singularly. It's that moment of like antagonizing the DM, but it's such a playful way and just that payoff of gotcha.

[17:58] Cassidy Sledge: I just I can't believe I didn't clock it immediately.

[18:01] Maddie Murphy: And it took me like a good 10 seconds to figure it out.

[18:04] Conner Marx: I guess I remember looking over at Stomp who had this expression on his face where he was like he was definitely giving me like a do you know what you're saying kind of thing, which is kind of what made me like be like, why is he looking at me like that?

[18:15] Cassidy Sledge: And then it hit. It was great.

[18:20] Maddie Murphy: Does anything jump out to y'all, my boys?

[18:24] Conner Marx: There's one that I use sort of as a demonstrational example for why I think improv is so special and can be so thrilling. And you will have all heard me tell the story many times. I don't think I've said it on the podcast before.

[18:39] Cassidy Sledge: It was in the first 20 minutes we were in the Curious Hedgehog, Diego and I were downstage.

[18:46] Conner Marx: And Diego was maybe calming the wizard, I think, and started to do an improv. And he meant to say he sort of pulled me into an embrace and said, like, we can't be caught like this. What if my father finds out?

[19:04] Maddie Murphy: But what he actually said was, what if our father finds out?

[19:08] Conner Marx: And I think that it was a sort of a transitional moment for me because I was still early in my run where I was getting my sea legs and more of my focus was on doing a good job, which inherently keeps you focused on the wrong things. And it was the first time that I was relaxed enough to be listening and be able to say, wait, our father?

[19:34] Cassidy Sledge: And I kind of stopped the scene. I was like, did you say our father? And it was one of those beautiful gifts, one of those accidents or, quote, mistakes that end up being the heart of the show. And then the rest of the show, we played this step wizard, our father joke story. And it was thrilling.

[19:57] Maddie Murphy: Yeah, there's nothing like it, just like a weird slip up or somebody says something dumb in the first two minutes of the show and then like, that's the show.

[20:04] Conner Marx: And when you can catch it and be comfortable enough to be like, hang on, what?

[20:09] Cassidy Sledge: We're like, we were doing a Maddie when we did the whole shoe proposal nonsense.

[20:19] Maddie Murphy: It was literally just because we were all dead tired. And it was really just like Maddie and I trying to mess with each other in the like, picking the character moment.

[20:28] Conner Marx: And Barry turned around and like, she just gave me a, we call them zurbots, raspberries.

[20:35] Maddie Murphy: Oh, I gave you a raspberry.

[20:37] Conner Marx: Yeah, just right on my belly. And then and then said something like, it's rude to not do that. And then like presented.

[20:43] Maddie Murphy: And so I gave you a raspberry. And then you just went, we're married now.

[20:48] Conner Marx: And then like goblin culture marriage rituals would just ended up being the whole show. And it was like, we traded shoes and the Barry and the apprentice were it was just it's just these stupid things just turn into the whole show. And it's so beautiful.

[21:06] Maddie Murphy: We're just following the fun.

[21:06] Conner Marx: Yep.

[21:11] Maddie Murphy: Your shoe came off. And for some reason, everybody really liked that. And then we switch shoes.

[21:14] Cassidy Sledge: Ma'am, my shoe came off because you dove at my foot and ripped my shoe off.

[21:19] Conner Marx: Who's to say? Who's to say what happened? Shoes were removed from feetsies.

[21:23] Maddie Murphy: My shoe didn't just come off. It rested from my foot.

[21:28] Cassidy Sledge: That's Maddie's calling card. When you come back backstage after the show, you say, Kaylee, I'm so sorry. There's a couple of shoes still on the stage I'm gonna need you to grab.

[21:35] Maddie Murphy: Who's to say how these beautiful costume pieces come off of bodies?

[21:39] Cassidy Sledge: And that's Maddie's calling card on stage is also just a pile of shit that she has just like looted from everywhere. You'll turn around.

[21:45] Maddie Murphy: I love that.

[21:46] Cassidy Sledge: And I'll be DMing and doing stuff. And all of a sudden I'll like realize that Katya has been robbing everyone blind. And I'm like, what is this pile of refuse that you have in front of you?

[21:54] Maddie Murphy: Katya can do very little, but she can steal.

[22:02] Cassidy Sledge: She can do little, very little with, with a great success.

[22:06] Maddie Murphy: So it's a frickin' fort over there. It's like you build a fort for yourself.

[22:10] Conner Marx: Yeah. Just my little, little nest of trinkies. You never know when you'll need three umbrellas and a lay.

[22:15] Maddie Murphy: A stool. Yes. And a suitcase full of beer pong.

[22:22] Cassidy Sledge: That's for my traveling salesman days.

[22:25] Maddie Murphy: There's only so much.

[22:26] Conner Marx: Anyway, who's to say how your shoe fell off the foot?

[22:29] Maddie Murphy: Yeah, who knows? It's a mystery, but it's, it's beautiful that like improv works that way. Those are my, those are my memories. And then honestly, that and the run of 620s the other night was straight up insane.

[22:38] Cassidy Sledge: Oh, there was that night. Was it the 14s? Who was here for that?

[22:46] Conner Marx: It was me, Diego, and Murray were on the bench.

[22:50] Maddie Murphy: Where everybody rolled.

[22:51] Cassidy Sledge: For the 620, net 20s in a row?

[22:53] Conner Marx: No, no, no. This was a couple of months back. Someone had rolled, everyone was rolling with either advantage or disadvantage. I think it was a 14 and they rolled two 14s. The next person, two 14s. The next person, two 14s.

[23:08] Maddie Murphy: I might have my number wrong.

[23:10] Conner Marx: That's statistically improbable, but awesome.

[23:10] Maddie Murphy: It was insane.

[23:15] Conner Marx: Yeah, that's a one in 400 roll per person.

[23:16] Maddie Murphy: Yeah. Times.

[23:16] Conner Marx: Because I remember you, because the first two had happened and then you were like, hold on, before the trickster rolls, like you, you set some stakes for it too. You're like, if you roll two 14s, we'll do this crazy thing.

[23:26] Maddie Murphy: I think everyone got full HP back.

[23:28] Conner Marx: Yeah, it was something insane like that.

[23:30] Maddie Murphy: And deserved. I couldn't believe it.

[23:32] Conner Marx: I mean, that's the hand of God coming down. It's fate itself intervening and like doing something to the game.

[23:36] Maddie Murphy: Sometimes it's true. Sometimes you're like, whatever spirits are here, whether it be the demonic lemon pig or benevolent Arizona iced tea, sometimes you're like, there's something at work.

[23:49] Cassidy Sledge: The Nerdbusters of justice.

[23:51] Conner Marx: The dice are willing something here. And so sometimes we'll say things in stories now in the shows that are my favorite to be like, people will come and be like, oh man, I was really attempting to do this or not try to apologize, but try to be like, I wanted to do this. And we're like, no, the dice willed otherwise.

[24:06] Maddie Murphy: They didn't care.

[24:06] Conner Marx: And it's really fun and cool because then again, it's fun to, again, just be like, oh, I seed control. There is nothing I can do here except listen and play with the dice.

[24:16] Maddie Murphy: I love it. Whenever there's like a, an audience member, that's like the chosen one. And they will just shout out like before someone else will just go not 20 and call it. And then immediately it happens.

[24:25] Conner Marx: We had that during the run of six the other night and it was what really set it off.

[24:29] Maddie Murphy: It was, it was Diego rolled one for initiative.

[24:32] Conner Marx: Then I rolled one for initiative.

[24:33] Maddie Murphy: And then when it came back around to him went first and on his attack roll, he rolled another 20 and then I rolled the 20 on my attack roll.

[24:41] Cassidy Sledge: And at this point, and, but for mine, it was, I went to roll and it was just dead quiet and you just hear 20 and I just hit it.

[24:46] Maddie Murphy: And a 20 comes up and he lost his mind.

[24:51] Conner Marx: And then it was the most, this is top shelf for me. Cause I talk about the, uh, somebody flipping the card and there being a 20 on it in Pittsburgh all the time and Maddie doing it was, so we, we just rolled four twenties, five twenties in a row and it was Maddie's turn and with advantage throws and all anybody can see is a one.

[25:03] Maddie Murphy: And then she goes, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[25:13] Conner Marx: And grabs the physical dice camera and moves it over to a dice is hopped up on the edge of the tray.

[25:18] Maddie Murphy: And it's a 20.

[25:19] Conner Marx: Oh my God.

[25:19] Maddie Murphy: And the room went absolutely berserk.

[25:22] Conner Marx: It was awesome.

[25:24] Maddie Murphy: It was, I was like, we're not supposed to touch the dice cams cause they're very delicate and expensive. And I'm like, I know if I get an, this is a moment I'm going to do it and say, sorry later.

[25:33] Conner Marx: I was like, it has to be seen.

[25:36] Maddie Murphy: That was by a new mic, a new camera.

[25:38] Conner Marx: I felt like I got proposed to just the sheer joy, but it was also, it was just, you hurled yourself through the air at me.

[25:46] Maddie Murphy: You did like a lap and I like threw my hand up for a five and you just like, like just came into me like a comment, jumped up and hit me.

[25:52] Conner Marx: And I was like, what's up?

[25:54] Maddie Murphy: If I'd had Gatorade, I would have dumped it on you.

[25:57] Conner Marx: It was just, and it was also like, it was just the co coalescence in the big battle where then it wasn't just like my 20. It was that and everybody else's before.

[26:07] Maddie Murphy: Anyway, it's super cool.

[26:09] Conner Marx: I think I can't, I honestly can't come up with a singular moment. That was my favorite just because like everything, all of the vibes have blended together in such cool ways, which I love.

[26:19] Maddie Murphy: But I think my favorite in, especially in the latter half has been as people's roles have expanded and they get to do new stuff, watching people step into their new roles.

[26:28] Conner Marx: Like the first shows, the first, like it feels.

[26:34] Maddie Murphy: It just feels so good to watch everyone just get to expand and just continue to do new stuff and invent and bring new stuff.

[26:41] Conner Marx: So that's also been the thing within to be like, oh my fucking God, stop it.

[26:46] Cassidy Sledge: Purple, Cassie, green, like T.K. Conner, T.K. Conner, just yell at everybody.

[26:50] Maddie Murphy: So curmudgeonly.

[26:54] Conner Marx: It's great.

[26:56] Maddie Murphy: Don't be mean to my baby boy, T.K. Conner.

[26:58] Cassidy Sledge: God, oh, I loved it.

[27:00] Conner Marx: It was great.

[27:02] Maddie Murphy: Hey, how many times do you think you've calmed a wizard using the power of your thighs in the last year?

[27:07] Cassidy Sledge: Oh, specifically the thighs?

[27:12] Maddie Murphy: Yeah.

[27:12] Cassidy Sledge: Only maybe three times.

[27:13] Conner Marx: My lower body?

[27:16] Maddie Murphy: If your makeup is included, it goes up to.

[27:20] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah, if.

[27:20] Maddie Murphy: I mean, Barry has climbed onto my shoulders at least five times.

[27:25] Conner Marx: All right.

[27:26] Maddie Murphy: Who's to say how I end up on your shoulders?

[27:30] Cassidy Sledge: Here I am.

[27:31] Maddie Murphy: No shoes.

[27:33] Conner Marx: Somebody on my shoulders.

[27:34] Cassidy Sledge: I have used my butthole a lot to bring peace and clarity to the world.

[27:39] Maddie Murphy: You've saved Faerun with the power of your ass a bunch of times.

[27:44] Conner Marx: No, it doesn't matter.

[27:47] Maddie Murphy: Buttholes aren't limited to kitty cats.

[27:48] Cassidy Sledge: And I'm here to say that right now.

[27:50] Conner Marx: Alistair used his sweet thighs just the other night when we were in our 20s.

[27:57] Maddie Murphy: Yeah, his little drumsticks.

[27:59] Cassidy Sledge: I think one of my favorite moments with you, Maddie, was when we finally got to swap and I was in green and you were in purple and I was calming you down as the wizard.

[28:04] Maddie Murphy: I was like, Maddie's calmed me down a hundred thousand times by picking me up and rocking me. So I was like, I want to figure out a way to do this to her.

[28:11] Cassidy Sledge: But then I rolled a nat one.

[28:15] Maddie Murphy: And so I was like, well, here we go.

[28:18] Conner Marx: Hey, what happened when you were a trickster like two nights later and you tried to calm the wizard?

[28:21] Cassidy Sledge: Another nat one.

[28:24] Maddie Murphy: But I'm on for trickster tonight and I'm not going to roll a nat one.

[28:27] Cassidy Sledge: You have the opportunity to do the funniest thing ever, Cassidy Sledge.

[28:28] Conner Marx: It's not going to happen.

[28:30] Cassidy Sledge: I've heard that every time you've been the trickster, your first roll has been a nat one.

[28:33] Maddie Murphy: Yes.

[28:33] Cassidy Sledge: So far.

[28:34] Conner Marx: I don't appreciate that this is a line of questioning that's happening right now.

[28:37] Maddie Murphy: You have to do it again.

[28:40] Cassidy Sledge: No, Cassie, I'm here to amp you up.

[28:42] Conner Marx: I think you're going to roll a 20.

[28:45] Maddie Murphy: I think I'm going to roll a 22.

[28:46] Cassidy Sledge: If we can get a child in the audience to call out 20 beforehand, then they will manifest it for me.

[28:51] Conner Marx: OK.

[28:52] Alex: It's Alex breaking in on the edit to let you know that that fool did indeed roll a nat 20. It was nuts. The room had been informed of the stakes. The 20 hit. She took a lap through the audience. It was glorious.

[29:01] Cassidy Sledge: Anyway, back to the show.

[29:15] Maddie Murphy: I just wanted you to say if we could get a child.

[29:17] Cassidy Sledge: End of statement.

[29:17] Maddie Murphy: If we could get a child, dude, freaking game changer.

[29:22] Conner Marx: That's lemon pig talking.

[29:24] Maddie Murphy: Speaking of.

[29:25] Murray: Of getting a child, yes, we're bringing somebody up on stage because sometimes when it's a kid, how much do you guys think the—I personally feel like that sets a tone for the show in such a big way. The actual first decider role, like who we get, who comes up, like what they roll, the whole vibe, they're like really does something.

[29:47] Maddie: Yeah, yeah, I think also getting a kid up there, typically you try to read the vibe as quickly as possible. Sometimes you're like, you're real little, but maybe you're real scared and I want to give—but there's something also cool about having a kid up there because it's so raw. Like they're a kid, they're not acting, they're just like they are, and you can feel their trepidation or their personality too. And I think there's something really raw emotional to be like even a little kid vulnerable. You don't know how they're going to react, but there's raw excitement and like, and it's risky to have a kid up there, and I think that also is to the ethos of the show.

[30:23] Conner: If we ain't Jasmine, what's up? What are you doing?

[30:29] Maddie: I just want the Theragun for my ass.

[30:37] Murray: Jasmine came in looking—Jasmine came in looking hot as hell, but my ass hurts.

[30:41] Conner: Okay, okay, have a good time fixing your ass.

[30:47] Maddie: There was one time we had a child, someone—I don't remember, I'm assuming it was you and Green picking this kid—but there was a child who was very enthusiastic, like jumping out of their seat, and we're like, okay, yay, come up on stage. And this child tried to leap onto the stage from like the front row. We're like, no, use the stairs, please.

[31:06] Cass: I remember that, yeah, that was me saying no to the child. And in the moment, I remember—I don't remember what the roll was. If it wasn't a nat 20, whatever it was, was high enough to succeed. And this child took the shot from our spellcaster, and as the spellcaster was going to toast the child, the child just goes—

[31:23] Murray: The best is when all of us—there are very few hard and fast rules here of like actual physical rules. There's like a shelf that none of us can reach anyway, but you can't climb on that shelf, which they purposely designed that we can't reach. You can't jump off the stage—God, thank God! Every single one of us would have broken the amount of times I would have leapt off of that stage after rolling a 20. Yeah, I'd be dead.

[31:46] Maddie: But I was gonna say the opposite rule is you can't jump off the stage, and you have to use the stairs to get on the stage because they have a custom, like non-weight-bearing little custom shelf made that holds up our lights, and they were like, you can't—it's also a ball trough.

[32:01] Conner: Yeah, and so that's the one thing of watching all five of us go, "No, no, no," like as if this kid was gonna dive out of a window. We're like, "No, heaven's the best to use the stairs."

[32:11] Cass: Yeah, I just remember the ceiling falling down when we were all on stage.

[32:19] Murray: Oh God, so bad.

[32:27] Conner: Oh yeah, that was—that was life is decided by seconds and inches. Did you turn your microphone off?

[32:32] Maddie: No, on purpose.

[32:38] Conner: There you go. To clarify for the listeners, the literal ceiling did not fall down, but there was a piece of debris, I believe, that fell into the audience, right?

[32:43] Cass: It wasn't debris, it was a piece of wood from the ceiling. It was like—it wasn't like a weight-bearing structure frame.

[32:48] Maddie: Yeah, whoa.

[32:54] Conner: So I think what it was is they determined that over the course of a year, the degree of our sound effects and like slowly shaking the ceiling loosened a piece, and it one day fell. And I want to give a mad props to Conner because I didn't see it happen, but it fell, and Conner stopped the show immediately. It was like, "Hold up, hold up, is that—is everybody okay?" Because it just—it was a piece that fell.

[33:06] Maddie: Did it hit someone?

[33:11] Conner: Yes, but in a like it glanced off their leg.

[33:16] Cass: Oh, thanks.

[33:20] Maddie: But that thing had nails sticking out of it.

[33:25] Conner: Yeah, they were very cool. Everything was very cool. We were very lucky, and honestly, we haven't had—I mean, speaking of luck, like for a show that is as physical and insane and like running around and jumping and picking each other up, it's like we really have had pretty good—like haven't had a whole lot go like wrong on stage.

[33:37] Maddie: Watch these last five.

[33:42] Conner: I know, right? Like I just send everyone to the hospital.

[33:48] Cass: All five of us are gonna like Three Stooges style slam into each other tonight. I don't know.

[33:54] Maddie: I want to also like—I think it's cool as hell because it's also, yeah, there's been luck, but there's also, you know, we do stunt calls, yes, and we trust each other and have built up a lot—spent a lot of time working up to things so that we can do it with each other for sure.

[34:03] Conner: Yeah, and I think that's also super cool too. So nobody assumes stuff. I think our only mid-show swing outs have been straight up accidents.

[34:08] Maddie: Yeah, the two of us—it was just somebody asked me the other day, I cut my fingy and I ate shit coming from the back of the house.

[34:12] Conner: Yep, yeah, pretty solid.

[34:21] Maddie: I was—oh my God, that was—it was a Bria and Erica's first time watching the show. I remember because that was like so nervous because I was like, "Oh my God, they're gonna be our guest stars. I want to do such a good job for them." And I ate shit. And I remember Erica slid into my DMs after the show was like, "Hey, are you okay?" And I was like, "Oh my God, guys, Erica and I are about to be friends." They messaged me to see if that was okay, and like I am in the ER, but like it's so cool.

[34:47] Conner: It's very exciting.

[34:48] Maddie: And I bring afterwards told me she was like, "I've been in sports long enough to know." She's like, "I saw you fall. I was like, oh no, she's out." She's out. And I remember because it was after act—I was getting onto the train, yeah, so I was stepping onto the train and then got a message from my—my phone rang, and I was like, "That's bad." And I picked it up, and I was like, "Hello?" She was like, "Where are you?" And I was like, "An A train is pulling into the station." She's like, "Can you get back here right now?" And I was like, "Yep, I'll be right there." And I just sprinted back and like because I came running in, and they put me in stuff, and then we just did a thing. Dirt, it was props to everybody for the transition because the three of y'all that were on stage didn't even stop.

[35:27] Conner: Yeah.

[35:34] Maddie: And just like we're doing a stage, and then like Cassidy came off, came off, and I just came back on like, "Woo!" And I was like, "Oh, the chaos magic's done a lot." And I was like, "You guys, I feel different." And yeah, I think that also speaks to like the level of trust that we have because to my knowledge, I remember RJ was on, and RJ didn't clock that I had injured myself, and I had asked Stomp to tell stage management to get you in purple. And I was just about to go downstage for the chase sequence, and I just kind of turned around, and I looked at Stomp. I was like, "Hey, how's the wizard doing on HP?" And he goes, "Um, not great." And I was like, "Oh, I'm so weak." And I just like threw myself at RJ, who just like picked me up, and I was like, "Oh, thank God I don't have to put any weight on my ankle.

Like, thank goodness." But the fact that he just like saw that as like an improv beat and just like took it instead of like having to check in and be like, "Hey, is your ankle okay?" The fact that he just like knew and caught me was amazing.

[36:28] Conner: Awesome.

[36:29] Maddie: Man, also you guys had a bunch of ideas for like what to do, and Stomp just filled me in, and then we just improbably—it was great. It was one of those things where it was like, yeah, that was the night that the BBG was the jar of flies, right?

[36:37] Murray: Oh yeah, when I cut my finger. It was so silly. It was on a can, and it was needed just one stitch, but it wouldn't stop bleeding. But then we did—you and Will clocked it, and then Will immediately went backstage to wait just in case he was called in. And then intermission comes, and they're like—they checked it. They were like, "Sorry, we gotta send you to the ER." And Will, they stripped this—I apologized a lot because I'd sweat a bunch in that costume. They put it right on Will, and then it was fun because the whole joke was as Tamerlane, and he was the paragon of masculinity. So act two comes in, and then strapping.

[37:13] Conner: That's what it's so funny.

[37:18] Maddie: Be like, "I've manifested it."

[37:23] Conner: I've Rocky Horror Picture Showed the man is here.

[37:29] Murray: That shit, man. I saw that from the back of that because you—it's also worth saying that you did it because you wouldn't let go. There was a tug of war over a seltzer can. Who's to say how it happened? You held on to this seltzer can so hard that it just—you guys ripped it in half.

[37:37] Maddie: That's wild.

[37:45] Conner: Who's to say? I blame Lemon Pig.

[37:52] Maddie: Yeah, it was probably—not wrong. Oh man, yeah, good times.

[37:58] Conner: Oh man, now I'm trying to think of other like—oh, I got a good one. Favorite BBG costumes. Like you guys have like—like when you've like turned into the BBG, what was a favorite thing that you turned into?

[38:06] Maddie: Oh, well, Cassie turned into a Toyota Corolla for one show, and it was just perfect because she dressed up like the hood ornament of a car. It was rad because it was like—what is that? Stephen King evil car?

[38:11] Conner: Christine.

[38:16] Maddie: Uh, Christine, yeah, or Maximum Overdrive. It was just great. Everything about the delivery of it, she disappears, they're saying the thing, and that Toyota Corolla, she rises up in the helmet and like strikes a pose, and everything about it is—everybody without her saying it went, "I know exactly what that is."

[38:32] Conner: I think the best part was—I don't know shit about cars, but I knew that horsepower was a thing, so I just summoned a bunch of horses and effectively fighting the Toyota Corolla.

[38:49] Maddie: You just fought a bunch of horses.

[38:49] Conner: Famously a thundering powerful engine in the Corolla.

[38:57] Maddie: So many horses under the hood of a Toyota Corolla with all four of those cylinders pumping. It was great. It also was just fun to fight a machine in a way. It just changed things a little bit.

[39:02] Cass: I love that. So there was a bunch of really cool combat moves to fight the car.

[39:07] Maddie: That's rad. I love every time Conner's a robot of any sort is always great too. I love it so much. You always—and that robot always inexplicably has a sword come out of its arm.

[39:20] Conner: And it's always—look, here's the deal, all right? Do I always want there to be robots in the show? Yes. Do I force them in indiscriminately? No. The tone has changed. I make myself—the inclusion of the advert was important. I restrain myself. Every show I do vocal warm-ups, and I repeat a mantra, which is, "Conner, do not put robots in the show arbitrarily."

[39:50] Maddie: I'm here to say please, in this final week, everything robot.

[39:55] Conner: Look, in my head, they are—that's the thing. I don't tell anyone. I got it. We're gonna come—we're all coming running on the stage tonight going, "Oh God, the robots! Robots everywhere, you guys!"

[40:04] Maddie: Yeah, we've done that.

[40:10] Conner: I just think everything's made better with robots.

[40:14] Editor Alex: Again, yeah, we did a robot show. My friend Jesse, who I think the folks in this room have met, yeah, and the folks who are listening, he's a wonderful writer and actor and DM, and I studied under him for many years. We did a sort of a space opera live stream, and we write stuff together, and our joke is every draft is titled whatever the title of the piece is in parentheses, "All the characters are robots."

[40:36] Maddie: That's so good.

[40:36] Conner: That's very good.

[40:42] Maddie: Just always great. You also were—Conner, one of my other favorite BBGs that comes to mind is when you were a Godzilla, but sexy. It was like bodacious.

[40:48] Murray: So it was a giant ass.

[40:53] Conner: Yeah, it was thick.

[40:53] Murray: Yeah, it was thick with three C's.

[40:59] Conner: Yeah, I ended up like at the bottom of a pyramid. That was one of those things where we like built a—like everybody on stage turned into—like we had built like a cheerleader-esque, you know, the horse in a swimming pool, S people on top of people.

[41:11] Maddie: When did you do the Zoltron? Also, was that the same show when we did the like Power Rangers assemble?

[41:15] Conner: Oh no, that was a different one. It's a—that was a different one, but anytime we could just climb on each other to form a—yeah, all about it. The power of it, fucking joust a couple—like, oh yeah, we had a joust. I looked—I just saw that on the internet.

[41:25] Murray: I think my favorite BBG when you were DMing that I can recall is you were just—you were a worm in an apple.

[41:31] Maddie: I was gonna say that's my favorite I've ever been was the half a worm in an apple because you also like—you wrapped a blanket—you actually like came out, and I was like, "That is an apple."

[41:40] Conner: Yeah, I put the red thing or I tucked it into my waistband so it was down there, and then I took—found a piece of green fabric and made a little like, oh, like, you know, a stem. And then I was just a worm coming out of the top of the apple. Also, you exposed your tummy, so there for some reason was just a lot of tummy rubs, and I believe Neil did a purple nurple on you.

[42:02] Maddie: He did, and then Diego defeated me by doing a keg stand.

[42:09] Conner: Oh yeah, off of me, yeah. And it was—I think the second keg stand he did on—he had like killed an urchin by doing a keg stand off of him, and then he did that, and that was also the one where like, man, that was one of those where like you killed him, and then the ground opened up, and he fell down, and I think Barry or somebody had to like sacrifice themselves to tackle the worm apple into like an abyss, and then Neil like came up with a card that was like, "No, I cast lightning lure. I'm gonna pull him back." And then somebody assisted, and it was—he latent me. He did the once-a-quest thing of like you can restore someone for one hit point because it was great because I didn't know what he was going to do, and so I was like, "Very, very be dead, rip."

And then Neil came in. It was so good, and everybody was—it was just one of those beautiful moments where everybody—the room was just like, "No!" And then one someone stands up and goes, "No!" And everybody freaks out. So I got—so great. Dungeons and Dragons kicks ass. I have screamed it from the top of my lungs many times in the past year.

[43:10] Maddie: I remember there was one time very early on where we were still kind of being told like as DMs to just like, you know, have two adjectives and an animal, and if it wasn't an animal, sorry, we couldn't do it. And someone had suggested college acapella group, and I remember I saw that suggestion. I looked at Stomp. I was like, "They're animals!" Stomp, and he was like, "I don't know if stage management's gonna go for it." And I was like, "What if we just—what if we just tried it?" He was like, "Okay." And so I don't remember what the adjectives were, but I was like, "Okay, I think that the concern is that it needs to be a singular entity." So I had the entire college acapella group exist in this like amorphous blob of just like limbs and like sporadic mouths that existed and kind of like—there is a—there is a monster. There is a very specific, very scary monster basically that you made the acapella group into, and I can't remember the name, but it's something like—it is this element.

[44:31] Conner Marx: To save my life, how or why. But we came across a Zamboni and used it to get everywhere, including underground. We Zamboni-ed into the caverns. And any time we parked the Zamboni to start a scene in a location, there would always be some tertiary NPC whose leg was trapped under it. And who would beg for them to be like, just back up the Zamboni six inches. Yeah, that was a show with Ify, me, Diego, and Ify. And it was great because every time we'd be in the cavern, we'd be like, just back up. And we're like, we can't move the Zamboni. It was just like a vampiric slug, a trail of blood. The thing we say at the beginning of every show, the gibbering mouther. If you Google gibbering mother, it is a gooey pile of mouths, teeth and tentacles.

I've run a one shot several times with gibbering mothers. I didn't know the lore behind that, though. They're amazing. Like the lore behind them is kind of crazy cool. And it's all this dark magic. And yeah, and the way that they're created is often, you know, a horrifying sacrifice for a great boon. But they create this monster. That was the one shot I ran for you. Remember? In the dressing room.

[45:49] Maddie Murphy: Was it a gibbering mother?

[45:51] Conner Marx: It was a gibbering mother. Oh, man, that was such a long time ago. It was. It was. Oh, my God, it was almost an exact exact year ago because it was it was the horror within one shot available from Arcane Library, if you'd like to look it up. But it's it's the BBG is Shegolg, the writhing clot that blackens the stars. And he has a bunch of gibbering mothers that he turns the followers into.

[46:15] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah. Yeah. I was like, we thought, oh, yeah, I kept just kept trying to find fingers. I thought the fingers were the key. I remember that. Because I found one. And I became convinced fingers were necessary. For the record, it was not supposed to happen. You were supposed to find a ring. But I was like, oh, I'm going to put in some like extra spice so that like there's still a finger with the ring on it. And then Maddie, for the rest of the quest, was like, we have to find the finger. We've got to find the rest of the fingers on his hand. That's Maddie's calling card. Just fingers everywhere. Fingies and teeth.

[46:45] Conner Marx: Yeah. Mm hmm. I'm counting the bulbs in your hand. I love that line. No, no, no. Don't make Berry eyes at me in real life. What is something that you will all miss here from the New York run?

[47:03] Maddie Murphy: Oh, man. I mean, there's the like obvious corny ones like this is corny is OK. Yeah. I mean, I mean, I'm going to have another answer probably, but like I've been in a whole lot of place. I've been in a bunch of place. And this is a good dressing room. Like I've said it before, I think there is currently a video of me on the social media saying it as well, like it's so cool that like there are nine people that get along this well and have this much fun and like take care of each other, like on and off the field, like like where everybody's got everybody else's back out there. And then like when we come back into the dressing room, everybody's everybody's emotionally checking in on each other all the time and like really making sure that like the show is good and that we as a company are good and it's rare.

It's very, very cool. I treasure it deeply like and it's been such a good year and also like, you know, if I'm not in a play, I'm in like a restaurant or a bar or whatever small group of people trying to accomplish an objective always and like most of the time I want to fucking murder most of my co-workers and it's been really great to spend the better part of a year with just always stoked to see everybody. It's it's rad. I'm getting a little emotional and

[48:32] Conner Marx: Sorry.

[48:33] Maddie Murphy: Why are you apologizing?

[48:34] Conner Marx: I don't know. I mean, I mean, that's the corny answer. It is your eyes look extra blue when they tear up. This is somebody's cue to be like, I like the sparkly gloves. I hope they come on the road. Now, we're all too. We're far too sentimental. I know it's this point. I'll second what you said. I think it's a kind of a miracle actually to there are so many intersecting vectors set up to make it a tensor work environment that it is and somehow we've been able to think think think think think deflect quite a few of them that we see each other constantly. Our schedule is punishing enough with the shows in the evening and then often rehearsals during the day that it precludes us from having much of an expansive social life outside of this.

So we end up spending our days off together frequently that we are just constantly exposed to one another in a work environment that also blends in the volatility of making creative choices in a world that we're all very passionate about, you know, whether it's theater or D&D or improv or whatever the thing that lights you up is to have all of these sort of swirling currents together and to get along as well as we did. It's extraordinary and I'm so deeply grateful for the community that has come from this show and from the true friends that I have and from just the ability to spend a year of my life in such company is incredible. I moved to New York not shortly before this began and my big search at the time was that sense of belonging and community at home and people to call my own and this show delivered on that search more than I could have ever dreamed.

And like through wildly like mostly luck, like we've said before that we're all like not a hundred percent sure why any of us are really cast but okay, great. This is good. I think luck had to do with the beginning but also just everybody works really hard to hold space for each other in a difficult schedule that is very prolonged and I think that's just yeah, maybe lucky but also a testament to everyone orbiting around each other with respect and also just the thing of like this is fun. So the emphasis on how do we continue to make this fun for one another? How do we not drain the lifeblood out of something that all of us love for various reasons? And I think a lot of that too is us interacting with each other and then having amazing audiences that come and support and just be like this every day, every little trinket given, every repeat, every message sent, any time somebody just takes a moment and says I love this because of this, that's like, oh, it's the coolest. Yeah, I think that's my nugget of gratitude.

[51:33] Conner Marx: I love hearing from people that have seen the show whether it's online, whether it's directly afterwards, whether it's like one time I was taking a nap in the park and someone like very kindly tapped me on my foot and was like, I'm so sorry to bug you. I was like, whoa, whoa, and they were like, were you in the 20-sided tavern? And I had to like quickly brush the leaves out of my hair and sit up and be like, yes, I am capable of professionally representing this property. Hello. How are you? So much of my work before this has been in TV where I don't get to have that exposure. And while I'm sort of towing a line dangerously close to that of narcissism, I don't think that what I'm saying is about the personal validation I have as a reward of like you did a good job.

I think what's validating about it is seeing people who genuinely genuinely had a great time. Someone who says like, hey, I have been trying to start a D&D group and I just can't find people and this filled my cup. Someone saying like, hey, I don't, you know, necessarily feel the most popular or accepted in school, but here I just saw all of these people around that were just like me and it felt so welcoming and affirming. Anytime you can just see someone who has spent a bunch of money and a good chunk of their time and maybe traveled.

[53:07] Maddie Murphy: And a risk.

[53:08] Conner Marx: And a risk and enjoyed something and got something out of it. They rolled the dice. I do believe in art and I do believe in the power of storytelling as a sort of the nobility of that pursuit, but it can be easy to get distanced from that and detach from that and wonder like man, the world is in a really bad place. Is being an idiot on stage really doing anything? I think more important now than ever.

[53:44] Maddie Murphy: Yeah.

[53:45] Conner Marx: Yeah. I don't know grand scale, but I do know that there are moments of talking to people and seeing that they found meaning in the show that it does feel very like, well, that's awesome. Yeah, I think what I'm going to miss the most is knowing is I know that the show doing the show has provided a personal refuge for me from like, you know what bad vibes or I have this feeling going in and then you start doing the story and you the nature of just telling a story collectively can be very at least for me. Hey, it's not therapy, but I find it very therapeutic. I think too. I was once asked a question several months ago. I think it was in relation to my journey starting to DM and someone asked a thoughtful question of had have you got any pushback like has any does the audience not like that and I it sent me into a spiral of thinking where I was like, oh no, I've only met support and then thinking through is like and I can't think of maybe there's a few times people from the audience are a little too into it or maybe, you know, they're not perhaps in in this they may be imbibed a little bit.

So what they think is playful is actually maybe a little bit rude. But other than that, I think like just the constant positive feedback and support that the show gets and people are like, this is a positive environment like it's a positive feedback mechanism. There's not that like haters or people coming to hate on the show doesn't really exist because it just is not a place that supports that and I think that that's it. I've never been in something that is so encouraging of positive feedback mechanisms and like an idea of a Haven for people. I think what I'm going to miss is obviously being on stage and telling stories together just really lights me up but being backstage. I think kind of towards the beginning of the the contract.

It was like a man. I sure wish I was on stage having fun right now, but there's been a lot of really wonderful moments that we have had backstage together as swings just like getting to know each other very deeply and intimately and I mean, I've said this to will a thousand times. I firmly believe that he and I were siblings in another life just the way that we can like communicate without using English words and we just kind of make noises at each other and RJ and I have made so much music together backstage and it we never like try to jam it just always ends up happening and Murray. I know that we have had hours and hours and hours of conversation getting to know each other better and it's I hate how cheesy this sounds but it really feels like you know, we kind of have a found family with each other.

[56:33] Conner Marx: Oh my God, I'm getting emotional your blue eyes pop when you cry. Don't look at me.

[56:39] Maddie Murphy: Yeah, I'm grateful. Nice where it's it's the the last week of high school vibes around here in case anybody hasn't picked that up and I think that's a great place for us to bring it home. We're where we always are. When we end that episode of Alan well met we've got all do a show in about 10 minutes and we've been chatting for an hour, but this has been great. Thank you. If you're listening for listening, thanks for coming. Thank you so much for listening. Yeah, I'm coming to see the show and being on the discord and chatting with us and just engaging with this. Oh my God, it's it's what notes and the sketches and the bracelets and the dice and the we're going to miss you all paying attention and so giving a shit know that we keep and we treasure all of it and thank you for just being being down to listen to our dumb asses and also communicate back with us.

It's awesome. Yeah, don't be a stranger don't leave ever. We love it. Yeah. Yeah. So here's the deal podcast wise. We're going to disappear for about a month at least and but we'll be back because the show is not going anywhere. Well, it is going anywhere going all over the place. We're going to do a casual lap around the United States and and the podcast will be part of it and there will probably be some other stuff. So stay tuned but will we're going to take a take a deep breath. Get some energy back and we're going to come at you guys, you know, rested and ready and ready to have, you know, just adventure on adventure on Adventure. So until then and well, Matt, Matt 20.