Hollywood's $230 Million Ponzi Scheme

What's up guys, welcome back to Views. We're Jason, Natalie, Al standing by.

Yeah, why'd you want a podcast tonight?

Um, that is an interesting question.

It's like, are you sick?

Because it's like early.

Yeah, because I got a nice text from Dave. It's Tuesday and normally we're really scrambling to get like— Thursday's episode goes up at like 11 PM.

Yeah, Thursday's episode is usually recorded Thursday. Wait, what day is it, Tuesday or Wednesday?

Today's Tuesday. Would you have your days wrong? Is that why you called? I literally I was at home. All right, you can go home, Jay. Yeah, no kidding.

Let's wrap it up.

I was like, I got the text like, you want to pod tonight? I was like, oh my God, yeah, yes, yes, yes! I yelled at him like, he wants to pod tonight, let me get it all done.

Um, well, it's because Natalie hasn't been here all day. Ah, you're—

that's what this is about.

Yeah, 100%.

This is a trap.

He's in love with you.

I know.

He is deep, deep-seated, underground in love with you, and he doesn't even know it.

No, he doesn't.

No, no, I'm not in love with that. I just can't function without her in the entire day.

That's love, brother.

No, it's about to love. Okay.

No, no, no. It's like I just sat here. Al, you can attest to this. Alex, what did I do all day? Where was I? Yeah.

I walk in the movie room and he's laying on the couch all cuddled up in a blanket.

What time is it? I don't know.

Like 2, 3.

Yeah.

And then he's calling Taylor, yelling, where is she?

Where is she?

And then she comes in.

I go outside to take a call or something. Where you going?

I've been here. Yeah, I've been here since 2 PM. It is now 9 PM.

Jesus.

I have just— you haven't moved, huh? I haven't moved.

In the same spot?

Yeah, in the same spot. Obviously I go up to pee a lot and like, you know, I, I haven't, I haven't actually moved since I've eaten. I haven't eaten yet since 1 PM.

Wow.

Um, yeah, so definitely some issues I have to work on.

Definitely codependency for sure.

But why I needed Natalie here is because I wanted to plan out the rest of the week. Like, I want to like, when are we going to start shooting the vlog? And like, yeah, and like We have people for that, but Natalie also knows the other side of my schedule.

Uh-huh.

So I just need her—

Which I can very easily communicate on text or on call.

I can't do it on phone. I just can't. I can't plan things on phone.

You're old school.

Yeah, I'm old school. He's old school. And also we have a Halloween party this week that I'm really stressed about. People are up my ass about hitting me up to come. And I just need to communicate with Natalie. I'm just really stressed. And Natalie likes to stay at home during the most high-stress moments.

I needed one day at home. The amount of work that I got done was—

I know she does it for that reason. Yeah, so like when there is the most amount of stress here, she leaves. I have to go home so she can actually get the work done. But that's tough for me because when there is the most amount of stress, that's when I need Natalie. Yeah, so it, you know, it just doesn't— the balance.

But like, you don't— like, you're totally fine.

Yeah, I really don't. But Tay was fucking great today. We had such a good time.

Amazing.

What did you guys do?

We watched this movie called The Astronaut.

You watched a fucking movie in the middle of the day?

Um, well, I was finishing it up, but yeah, bro. Yeah, yeah, I had kind of like a me day. What?

This is a stressful week.

I know a lot those? Well, when I get stressed, I just—

You have plenty of me days.

When I just get— when I get stressed, I just stop doing anything.

Me too.

I just like stop.

Do you ever get overwhelmed? You're like, I have like 5 or 6 things I need to do. I'm like, I'm not doing any of it.

Yeah. You just start pretending like you don't exist. Yeah. Like, yeah. You know those like, you know that meme of Homer Simpson fading into like the grass or the hedges? It's like, that's like literally what I feel like with my eyeballs. I'm like, okay, I'm not on this planet. None of this matters. And I'm just going to disappear. And then that's when I hear Natalie's voice pull me out of the hedge. Hey, dumb fuck. And then we have to do whatever we have to do.

Lock in.

Well, how was your day without me?

Was it incredible?

Fuck.

I woke up at 7 AM this morning.

I just went on a 3-minute rant about how difficult it was for me. She's like, I had the best day ever.

I woke up at 7. I went for a run this morning, which was great. Great start to my day. Made myself some breakfast. Had all my Zoom calls, did all my emails. I cleared out my entire inbox, which is really difficult for me to do.

Yeah.

And it was great. And I got back to everybody. Like, I feel really, like, I feel really organized. I feel really good about this week. And it is a very stressful week, but there's a lot going on.

What'd you have for breakfast?

I made a piece of toast with prosciutto and some soft-boiled eggs.

Prosciutto? Yeah. Wow.

It was very good.

You jealous of that, Dave?

Yeah. So I have been, I've been for breakfast, I've been eating bagels, Alex's bagels. I've been going, Alex, have you noticed that your bagels are disappearing quickly?

Taylor asked me yesterday, she's like, do you have more bagels?

I'm like, there were 10 left yesterday. What do you mean?

Do we have more bagels? Yeah, I go through them a lot. So I eat a lot of bagels and apparently they're not good for you.

It's like very processed.

Yeah.

Especially the bagels that Alex gets.

Like I get 2 bagels with cream cheese, but I get all cut up veggies. I got all the veggies in the world. I've been thinking I've been eating healthy, but it's actually like I'm like, I can tell I'm getting like pudgy because of it. I was going to like do a little fast. Yeah, DJ Zedd has been posting on his Instagram stories that he's on a fast and has like time. He has a little timer for his fast.

Yeah.

And he's like 136 hours in. No, no food.

Crazy.

And it's like making me really jealous because like I want a timer to show my friends and be like, look how far I am. So I'm thinking that I may do that soon, maybe after the Halloween party. Apparently if you like fast once or some shit for like 3 days, you like lower your chances of dying by 20%.

Your cells like start to regenerate and like kill off other things or whatever.

Yeah. Have you ever done it? Have you ever done a 3-day fast?

No, no, I've never done anything like that.

I think I've done 24 hours. 3 days is wild.

24 hours, I'm sure I've done on accident, but like, that's like—

you just work that, you just get—

your hunger goes away.

Yeah, it's mainly like my throat. My throat needs like something to be moving up and down it.

Or—

Okay.

Okay. Like the cock. Jesus Christ.

I'm being serious. My throat always needs to be lubricated.

We know you're being serious and it's concerning.

No, I love a cock in my mouth too.

No, seriously, listen to me. This is why I need a big dick in my mouth. No, no, no. I just need stuff in my mouth or I feel like I'm getting sick.

Right.

So yeah, I do consume things a lot. That's why I chew gum a lot. But yeah.

David's mom was on Jon Bon Jovi's Instagram.

Oh yeah, big deal. My mom actually texted me the other day. I mean, she really likes to keep her private life private, but she was really stoked. She said she's still processing it. Yeah, she can't believe it. Well, my dad— I texted in the group chat saying she's on Bon Jovi's Instagram.

Yeah.

And she was talking about how her heart rate went up again or something. And my dad's like, okay, where do we draw the line? Enough is enough. My dad— the phone call was really funny with my dad after we left Bon Jovi.

Oh yeah, yeah. What did he say?

I don't remember, but it was just like funny because it was obviously her crush.

Yeah.

And like, obviously nothing would ever happen.

He said something like, do you like him? Like he was joking, but yeah, it was something like that.

Yeah, but it was funny. It was funny to hear. And then it was funny, like my mom defending it, being like, you know, I could obviously never— I would never— like, yeah, it's just a crush I had back in the day. I'm like— and then I remember telling her, I was like, why are you explaining it that way? It's actually like a lot more suspicious. No one ever thought there was going to be anything between you and Bon Jovi.

That's love. That's real love.

Like having to explain that you still have to go through those conversations.

Like Naveen and I go through that. We're like, you say things that are so obvious just to maintain.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. With love, you do actually say the obvious. Yeah.

Naveen said this thing to me.

That's why Natalie calls me a dumbass all the time.

I feel like it's the reverse.

That's true, because I'm in love.

Naveen said something today. She goes, she said something to me. And I was like texting somebody and I didn't answer right away and she was like, "Hey, hey, Shrimpa!" She calls me Shrimpa. She's like, "I'm talking to you!" Like that. And I was like, "Okay, okay, I just— give me one sec." I was— Dave, I was fucking 2 seconds late in answering her, right?

Oh yeah. Did she think you were texting some girl?

No, no, no. I just wasn't like— it wasn't like locked in, you know?

Oh, I do that too.

And she goes—

That's not even love though. That's like fucking— Abuse.

I was like, you're gonna thank me one day for being like that. She's like, because this is how marriages break up. It's like, because I stay on you. She goes, we're gonna stay together. And I was like, wait, what kind of fucking logic is that?

I'm not sure.

It's probably true.

That's really crazy, man. It's really crazy you got that wife.

Okay, can I tell you about this doc I watched?

No.

Oh my God, please no, dude. Please, for the love of God. What could it— what is it about? Billy Joel? The Beatles? An octopus?

Steely Dan? Who? Steely Dan?

Oh my God, I was at a vintage store like shopping or whatever, resale shop.

Oh, Oh my God, fuck this. Actually, I go to vintage stores all the time.

I saw there was like a Steely Dan, like an old vintage Steely Dan poster, and I almost bought it for you.

Oh, that's really sweet.

Wait, wait, wait, you didn't know that she was going to reference Steely Dan?

No, I didn't.

I thought she just was blowing past you.

She's just blowing past it.

Damn, you took it too. You were like, another story, here we go.

And I'm glad I didn't fucking buy it.

What's your story about the—

Okay, there's a doc on Amazon. I'll keep it short.

Bear with us. Bear with us.

It's called Hollywood Hustler. Okay, and it's a guy that came to Hollywood, blah blah blah blah blah, and he, he basically tricked everybody into like investing in his movie company.

Con artist.

Yeah, he just— but he did it to all his friends too. Okay, and it's just like a really good doc, and I can't do it.

I'm sorry, is it our fault? Because I feel like we blew that one.

Was my fault. No, that one was my fault.

Really? Because I feel like we blew the wind out of your sails, like, even before you left the dock.

Well, it's not really—

What was the point of that?

I just got tired all of a sudden and I couldn't really tell.

No, it's our fault because we laughed at you.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So anyways, go watch it.

Are you getting paid?

Am I getting what?

Are you getting paid by Steely Dan to promote this doc? All right, here, let's restart again. Let's restart again. Let us give you energy because I think that story may actually be Good.

Can I tell you about this Amazon doc I watched?

Yeah, of course. What is it? What is it about?

Okay, well, it's really cool. It's about this guy named Zach Horowitz.

Zach Horowitz? From Steely Dan?

No, no, not from Steely Dan, you fucker. Oh, my bad, you fucker. Name one Steely Dan song.

I don't know.

You don't know one?

Highway to Hell.

It's not a bad guess.

Paparazzi.

That's AC/DC. That's Lady Gaga.

I'm sure I know Steely Dan.

Espresso. Espresso.

Come on, I know one.

Name one Steely Dan song, I'll fucking Venmo you $10.

Dude, your body language, I wish people saw that. It was like you were about to offer me $1,000. Name one Steely Dan song. Fucking, you know what, $5, it's yours.

Times are tough.

Um, um, Pick Me Up When I Go.

Not a bad guess.

I'm putting the right words together.

Like songs like kind of like that, name like that.

Turning Around.

There's Turn That Heartbeat Around. That's pretty good.

That's really good. I would have probably gotten there in 5 guesses.

Go, go, try, keep going.

No, please.

Do one more.

Go to the fucking doc, please.

Do one more.

Wait, what does this have to do with the Jordan Horowitz thing?

It's not a Steely Dan doc. It's a doc about a Hollywood scam artist.

Wait, you brought up Steely Dan.

You brought up Steely Dan.

Wait, what?

I said, do you want to watch a doc? And you go, I don't want to fucking hear about Billy Joel. Stewie Dan.

Oh no way.

Yeah, this is about like a scam artist. Oh, I—

that's why I've been confus—

that's why— that's why you're confused.

That's why your story fell flat to me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I was like, so where does Stewie Dan come in?

No, no, if I watch a Stewie Dan doc, you'll know.

Okay, okay, okay, okay. All right, so this is nothing to do with—

do you think the audience knows who Stewie Dan is?

Do you think the audience is following this at all after this?

Okay, not—

all right, go.

This doc is a guy named Jordan Horowitz. No, Yeah, Jordan.

Jesus Christ.

All right, go.

Hey, it's a doc called Hollywood Hustler. Yeah, it's a kid, blah blah blah blah blah. He, he's got a, he's got a mom. The mom marries this, the richest guy in Chicago. Okay, okay, like the one of the biggest moguls in Chicago. Yeah, and his name's Zach, and he's like, all right, fucking awesome. So now he's like At 14, he goes from being a poor kid to a rich kid.

Because of this dad.

Yeah, because this new stepdad. And he's rich. And he loves being rich. And it like changes him, you know? There's like a chasm.

But it's not his money.

It's not his money.

He just loves the idea.

He loves the boats.

Loves socializing.

Yeah.

Yes, okay.

So he gets out of school and he's like, I'm gonna fucking be the best. I'm gonna bring all my boys with me. Like, just like you. Like, I thought about you when I was watching it. I thought about Ilya a lot too. And he was like, he's like, they went to Indiana State and they're like, we're gonna be boys, we're gonna be brothers. He's like, we're gonna fucking take over the world and Zach's gonna lead the way. Zach was the guy that everybody like loved and was like, Zach can do anything.

The guy, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like he can charm his way through.

He can charm his way into anything. He's a good looking guy. Zach starts a company called Fuel, F-U-L. It's a smoothie company.

Okay.

In downtown Chicago and he's making smoothies. And he gets all his boys from the frat to come and work at the fucking Fuel, right?

Yeah.

And they're working, and he calls them one day and he goes, "You're not gonna believe this, but Howard Schultz just emailed me from Starbucks." Howard Schultz created Starbucks.

Yeah, yeah.

So one of the reasons—

You're telling his frat boys this?

Yeah, I tell the frat boys this. And they're like, "Holy shit, dude. Holy shit." He's like, "Howard Schultz, he's gonna buy Fuel. He's gonna buy it. He's gonna give us $300 million for Fuel." For just one store? Yeah, for just one store.

Okay.

Maybe, eventually. Well, then eventually Fuel closes and they can't do it. Zach moves to LA, brings his high school— brings the college sweetheart with him, starts acting, and then he gets into— he's like, oh, he creates this business. He's like, basically what I do is I buy shitty movies and I sell the rights to Latin America. And this is right at the time when streaming is getting big.

Okay.

Right? And I sell them to Latin America. And blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And so basically he gets like millions of dollars. He gets money from everybody. He has all his boys put all their money in, all their parents' money in. And he— and the whole thing was made up. There was never one deal with Netflix. There was never one deal with HBO. Howard Schultz, he never knew. And his wife married him. And then the boys all like were just like, what the fuck?

He stole money from all his friends.

Everything.

How much money?

He stole, I think, like, you know, I mean, something— it's over like $500 million.

Oh dude, you gotta fucking lead with that, brother.

Yeah, well, this guy, he stole $500 million. Do you want to hear the story?

Yeah, yeah, I just said it at the beginning. That was—

Steely Dan's a great band, you want to hear about it?

And then, yeah, and then when did he join Steely Dan? Okay, that was— that— I actually like that.

I would definitely watch.

Do you know what that would— that what just happened there, that was proof. Have you ever seen those TikToks where it's like, it's like a little kid at graduation looking for their parents and then they see their parent and they like light up and the caption is proof that showing up matters? That's kind of what just happened here when we gave Jason our energy. The story just became so much more lively.

Sure.

And vivid.

Like, lively.

Yeah, softly. Lively. I gotta learn better words. So this is just a sign. This is actually a learning lesson to me to treat Jason with more respect.

Thank you so much. Can I bring 10 people to the Halloween party? No, no, no. But it made me think of you because I was like, it was part of me. I was part of me. I was watching it. I was like, wait a minute, has the whole thing been a scam with Dave?

That's really funny.

It's all a facade.

I was like, no, he actually did it. And I haven't given him any money.

I'm gonna lose my mind, Jay. I'm really angry today.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, put it into the pod. Just like Running Man last night. He was angry and he was trying to save his wife and kids. You're gonna try to save your life around here. You're the Running Man, I think.

Why did you just randomly plug that movie?

Because it was great.

Okay.

It was great. I mean, I loved it. I mean, I rarely go to a movie where I'm like, oh, fuck yeah.

Yeah, yeah, no, I love Glen Powell.

Oh, got to talk to him.

It does feel like—

Yeah, fuck yeah. I got to talk to him. My second time getting to talk to him.

What did you say to him?

I walked up to him and I was like, fuck, there's no way he's going to remember me. But I was like, hey man, we met at the Top Gun premiere. I'm like, I'm sure you don't remember.

Jesus. What did he say?

And he was like, okay, okay. He definitely didn't remember.

Obviously didn't remember you, Jay.

The Top Gun premiere was like a thousand years ago.

Jay's so funny.

No, we talked at the Top Gun premiere.

Jay, what? Come on, are you fucking kidding me?

Oh, you are angry today. I didn't even— I said I didn't think you would remember me, but I thought maybe there'd be a chance.

Come on, dude, how many times have you had people do that to you? That's fine. Is that not crazy?

I mean, yeah, that's your line of work.

100%. You're right.

I understand you know Glenn Powell, but don't hit him with a 'I don't know if you remember me.' No, I said you probably don't remember.

I said I'm sure you don't. I said I'm sure you don't remember me. Uh, and, and then he didn't—

he was great.

He was great. But that's like, you don't put a guy on the spot like that. You should know that out of all people.

Okay, so I think he's gonna remember.

Jay, Glen Powell has done 19 projects this year. This is his 20th fucking film. You think he remembers talking to you on a boat 7 years ago? I mean, is that crazy?

Well, you're just like really crazy.

We talked for like 10 minutes at the, uh, at the Top Gun premiere. Like, I sat with him for a while.

I just think it's funny because you you out of all people have been around like celebrities for so long. Sure. But then like it all just goes out the window when you talk to one because you get so nervous and you just like, you just fall right into like, I'm a big fan.

Yeah, yeah, I do. And, and I particularly like him. I was excited about him.

Big fan. So then I, so then I said, sorry, I also just came off pretty angry. I'm not, I'm angry about other things.

I know, I know. It's, you want the trees cut down, I get it.

Okay.

Let's get into it. Let's just leave Glenn Powell at the door. Wonderful guy. I won't tell you guys what we said. Besides, I don't want to speak out of turn here. This special conversation I had with Glenn Powell. Okay. It's kind of private.

Okay. Well, what is it? What did you talk about?

I stole my love, Chad Powers. And he was like, oh dude, thank you so much. And then I'm like, I tell everybody. And then he was like, oh please. Yes. We're trying to get the word out there. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So yeah, I'm like, you know, I'm kind of, I'm an influencer for Chad Powers now.

No, Chad Powers is great.

Chad Powers is so good. Okay, go ahead. So the trees.

Well, I'm just mad because, um, I'm not upset because it's— yes, I'm upset.

This is ridiculous.

You're out of your mind. I don't even want you to put this on the podcast because they're going to hear it and they're going to go, oh wow, he's going back. He's lost it.

Really?

I don't want to talk about it.

No, no, let's do it.

I don't want to talk about it.

I just— well, okay. Go. I'll tell the audience. I'll tell them, but I won't get into it.

Okay, go.

I just— my neighbor's not letting me trim his trees and I really— It's eating at my view. Like, I'm saying, to the point where I think it's like, it's, you know how I've been having dreams about selling the house? I think it's because the trees are starting to block the view. It's the trees? It's going into my head. I'm sorry, I'm such a sucker for views. That's all I worry about. And that's it. I'm not gonna get into it because I can rant about this for 3 hours.

Great, let's do it.

No, I'm not.

No, I wanna tell you what I think. I'm like, "Well, now, so you're telling me this." He's like, "Guys, he's like really upset about it." He's like, "Now, when you come to the house, I promise you, you walk into the backyard, it is a gorgeous house. You look to the left, to the west, gorgeous view." I know, Jay, I know. Gorgeous view. I know it's incredible. And then you look in the middle and there are some trees there.

Do you know why?

Do you know why? Now you look to the right.

Do you know why?

Where I live in the slums.

It's just—

It's a beautiful view to the east.

No, it's not that. It's not that. It's not that I'm mad. Like, if I came here for the first time, I'd be like, beautiful view. But it's, I've lived here long enough that I know the potential of this place. And it is wasted potential when those things aren't trimmed. That's all. It's just like, imagine you had a friend who's capable of something amazing, but he just sits around on the couch all day.

Why are you looking at me?

That's what it is. This is my friend that's sitting on the couch.

I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what. I'll go over to the neighbor.

No, please, please, please.

If I get it done, me and Glenn Paul will go over to the neighbor. I'll bring Glenn with me.

Can you FaceTime Glenn to FaceTime my neighbor?

100%. I think I can get that done.

Glenn, I don't know if you remember me, but I snuck into your phone and added myself as a contact.

You forgot me from last night?

Who?

No, but what if—

You should keep doing that with Glenn every time you see him. I don't know if you remember me from the Mission: Impossible and then also the Running Man and then also the Chad Powers premiere. But he's just like, here's that man. Here's that 50-year-old.

Let's say it's not me. Let's say it's Natalie gets it done. Michael gets it done. What if we can get it done? Let's just say, okay, will you like start to obsess over something else?

No.

You'll be done?

No, no, no.

You promise?

I don't obsess over anything like this other than the trees.

Nat, is that true?

I mean, the trees have been an ongoing thing for years now, so yes, I guess.

But like, will I do a renovation in my living room for like different marble? Like some other stupid shit?

Yes.

But I'm not going to obsess over that. If someone was like, no, you can't do that. Okay, fine. I don't need to do that. The trees. The trees here for some reason. And you know how I feel about the environment, Jay.

Yes, I know.

I want it eliminated.

Oh my God.

No, no, but you know, you know, we— I had my famous tree podcast back in 2019.

Remind me.

Well, didn't we fight about the trees or something?

I'm sure. At the old house? Trees all the time.

Yeah, at the old house.

What did we say?

I don't know.

You said I hate trees. Oh, I said I hate nature.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So you—

It's not like you're going out and destructing nature though.

No, no, no, no. I just want just a haircut.

Yeah, okay, so let's say, how about, what if I can get it done for you?

I don't wanna go about this in any illegal way.

Oh, nothing illegal, nothing illegal. No, I'm gonna go talk to him.

Yeah, I'll give you a nice check.

I don't even want anything. I just wanna make sure that once it gets done—

Just shut the fuck up.

Oh yeah, okay, yeah, for sure, I'll shut the fuck up.

Okay, great.

Video podcast.

Let's get it done.

Let's ask for something big here.

Video podcast, wait a minute.

This is gonna be quite the achievement if you can pull it off.

You need something good in return. Netflix is doing video podcasts now.

I know, dude, you've told me 6 times. You've told me 6 times.

Could you imagine? We could be on Netflix.

I actually wouldn't want to do that.

Oh, right. Why? Because you're gonna sit around talking about trees all day?

You know the reason I don't like our podcast on YouTube is actually the same reason I don't want it on Netflix. It's because I like that people find our podcast when they really need, when they really look for it. Like, I like it like buried deep in some kind of fucking trenchy hole. Like, I don't like, I don't like that people are watching the vlogs and they're like, what's this hour-long video? And then they click on the podcast and they're like, this is fucking boring. Not that it's boring, but it's a podcast. If you've never listened to a podcast, right, it's a bit like— I hate, personally would never listen to a podcast to save my life, right? Like, I don't like listening to podcasts. I just don't understand it. So other people like me that are just used to a 5, 6-minute video from me, then when they come across the hour-long podcast, I just don't want them to be confused. And I think Netflix is another way of somebody easily finding the podcast, and I don't want us to be easily accessible.

Right, right, right. We'll continue to live in the trenches.

Sorry, you know me, Jay. I'm fucking, right now I'm really stressed. You got me at a bad time.

Okay, all right. All right, I'll get off of it.

Sorry, sorry.

I love talking about the video podcast.

Okay, sorry, Nat, we'll leave you.

Sorry, go ahead, Nat.

Well, the other night I was at home by myself and I gave myself the biggest ick that I've ever given myself about myself. And I had this whole existential crisis about it.

Doing a Dutch oven?

No, no. I was sitting in my room, I was watching TV, and I have a bunch of stuffed animals on my dresser. And I was thinking, I was like, that's probably Like, if a guy ever comes over and like sees all my like childhood stuffed animals on my fucking dresser, like that— I'm like, I'm almost 30. Like, isn't that like so icky? It's like, is this woman a freak? She's a stuffed animal girl. Like, that's weird.

It's just weird for you.

Why?

Because that's not like the persona you give off. Like, if I went to Taylor's house and sure, stuffed animals on the dresser, I'd be like, hell yeah, she's like a child at heart, she loves this. You're like, um Like, I'd expect maybe like a Shrek action figure.

A Shrek action figure?

Like, that's as far as I would go.

Why, you don't think she has a soft side?

Um, not the way she's— no, I'm just saying— I know she does.

But what she portrays.

But for what you portray, yes. If I came home and there was like a pink unicorn and like, you know, there's definitely a unicorn, a little bear, like, I would be confused for sure.

Yeah, and I was looking at it and I was like, oh my God, like, this is just so icky.

No, but that's just for you. I see why you think so.

You don't think it's like, you don't think it's like weird when a grown adult has like stuffed animals?

Yeah, it is. If we also, if you put in that sentence, it is. Yeah, it's weird.

I don't know.

You're also, you're talking to a guy who has two Iron Man statues in his living room.

Yeah, but that's memorabilia. Like, this is just like—

Thank you, Natalie. Finally someone recognizing my art as worth something.

I don't know. I just had this weird thing. I was like, what are you going to do?

You're going to get rid of it?

Yeah, I got rid of all of them.

Oh, really?

Yeah, I donated all of them. I was like, this is so—

Okay, well, honestly, it's now it's triple the ick.

What?

Like the fact that they meant nothing to you, that you could just get rid of them. That's weird.

No, for sure. Like, I don't even think I put them there. Like, I think—

Oh, that's super weird.

Yeah.

Like, if it meant something to you, totally get it.

Like PR packages or something.

Like, I have a Tweety Bird in my closet. It sits in my closet, but I've had him since I was 4 years old.

Yeah, I have a bin of those.

Oh, you have a bin. Okay, so you keep those around.

I do keep them.

But obviously I have my Build-A-Bear in my bed or right next to my bed that Jason got me. And every time you hit his heart, it's Jason going, wow, this new addition that you added to your house is really cool, David.

I always say I'd love to watch Avengers for the third time.

When are we going to cut those trees down?

Yeah, you should add a new one.

I should update it. So yeah, do you go in and look at Tweety?

Um, yeah, I look at Tweety all the time.

And what do you do? You just kind of go, hmm?

Well, it's just like, I like, um, I like pinpoints in my house. Like, when I walk through the house, I've— this is how I— this is how I've organized my home, is like every single walk I want to keep myself stimulated. So like, from moss wall to action figures to Tweety Bird, like, everything is like an access to a new memory. So, oh wow.

And what do you think about, bro?

You know what I actually thought about? Yo, let me get Shelby and Sandy on the pod. This is a good idea. Okay guys, this is perfect timing. Shelby and Sandy are here, and if you don't know who Shelby and Sandy are in my life, they're very important. So like, I'm a big fan of fun art, and these guys are the most fun artists ever of all time. And how many pieces do I own from you guys?

Probably like 8.

Like a lot. Yeah. So like, anything that's colorful in my house is, is Shelby and Sandy.

Yeah.

So guess what? I thought of a new idea for a painting. Uh-oh.

Number 9.

Are you ready? No. Okay, so One of the first ones you got me, my girlfriend a long time ago got me, and it's a picture of the car I drove here in. It's a Toyota Corolla.

Okay.

Right. And it's a picture of it parked at a viewpoint. And the viewpoint just so happens— I've told you guys this, I don't know if I've said it on the pod, but the viewpoint just so happens, ironically happens to be this exact street that we are currently sitting on.

I have heard this.

So I got that. I got that painting in like, what, what year was it when you guys did that painting?

Man, you're asking really hard questions, David. It was like—

oh, sorry—

2016?

2016, maybe.

Yeah, sounds about right. 2016, 2017.

Okay, so that painting is from fucking 9 years ago, right? Mm-hmm. This house wasn't built yet. This house was built like 4 years ago, and like, I didn't know about the street, but where that setting takes place was on the street. And 2 years after I moved here, I realized that that house where that view, where that painting is inspired by, sits on my street 5 houses down. So I think it's like just like kind of crazy and very serendipitous. And now I thought it'd be really cool to do that same exact painting. Yeah, but like today, and like put them side by side and just to be like, here's the Corolla, and then like Natalie's Ferrari. No, but just like, I don't know what it is, but it's the— it's like I just think it's so crazy that you guys made this painting for me so long ago.

No, it's amazing.

And now I'm living on the street where the painting's from. Like, that makes no sense to me.

So what would the new painting be?

I don't know.

The view you have right now?

I think it'd be the same exact painting. I know it's gonna sound very materialistic, but it's gonna mean a lot to me. But like a new car. Like, I think it's like really cool to be like from the Corolla. Ah, yeah. But the same—

do you have a favorite car right now?

We made it.

I don't have a— like, I don't have—

or is there a car that you want that you haven't got yet?

I don't know, like what— that's why I don't like the idea of a car because I think it's so sweet to have a Corolla on there, and like having a Ferrari on there is like so incredibly douchey. But like, how do you— like, I just— I don't know. You know what I'm getting at?

New view with the Corolla, so you remember that you have the new and the old.

No, this is the view.

No, I know, but do this view the other way.

What?

To the next house.

I'd have to guess where the next house is.

Where's it going to be? Vernon Hills?

Wait, wait, wait. No, I think you're missing the point here.

I'm just riffing.

But do you know what I'm saying?

I don't think they see the vision either yet.

I like this.

And they're the Patriots.

I see a little bit of a vision. There's something there for sure. No, it's really good.

Okay. Is it? Like, I just think it's interesting. It's like 9 years apart.

I like—

Yeah.

You went into the future there. You finished your Celsius pretty quick.

Yeah, right. Yeah. I don't think that's a crazy thing to say.

No.

—cool to look into the future. Like, what's next? It's a little bit of like, maybe, maybe in 9 years you can do a third.

So David's pumped about the fact that this is the view. Yep. And it's, it's almost like, uh, what's that word? History wrote the future. I don't know, there's a serendipitous—

here we go, here we go—

instead of the car, it's like the backside of this house.

Okay, there's a little bit of a house.

So now it's like I drove here, but now it's my home. Whoa.

No, no, no, that— there, listen, we got to keep going with it. Sorry, guys, it's gonna have to be like a series. 9 more paintings of just stages.

And then when I get evicted, we could do a third one, eviction notice, uh, and it's me driving away from the view. I don't know. Okay, maybe it's too much.

No, it's cool. We're gonna think— really? Are you just— yeah, I might not happen right in this. Do you need it to happen right now? No, no, no, no.

Does the idea have to happen now? I just thought of this yesterday when I was in the shower. I was thinking about that painting. Yeah, yeah.

I think that these guys like it. They're like a little different than you and I. They're painters. They like to sit on it.

Oh, like you think they're taking it in differently?

Like it's going to hit them tomorrow when they're having their tea.

It'll probably happen today. A little morning tea? Yeah.

The second they touch like an easel or like get a little colored something in their hand, I think they're going to feel it.

I'm so jealous of their life. Of more than anybody.

Yes, I agree.

Because when you go to your office downtown— sorry, art studio, art studio— you walk in, I know I'm not an asshole. You walk in, it's fucking huge, there's cool shit that they've done everywhere, and they just have music on and they're just fucking painting. Like, that's the best.

Wait, what do you guys think about your jobs?

It's pretty cool. There's like the— there's like this side that everybody sees, like, online. Sure. And then when we have like our friends, yeah, and visitors come. But then there's like the emails and the meetings and the phone calls that are work, you know.

But are you guys— okay, okay, so you guys are handling that too? Yeah. Oh, okay.

Like, if I could paint, I'd just put on Steely Dan all day.

But that's what I'm saying, like, what would you paint? What would I paint?

Yeah, what would your style be?

Um, probably like— you seem like a clay guy. Pop. He does seem pretty— is that a reference to my weight? Um, I would do like pop art if I could. Yeah, yeah. When I go to museums, my wife makes me go to museums, and so we go like half and half, like classic shit and you're like, this is boring, I don't care.

I compare you guys to like a musician. So like, I imagine, I imagine like a musician has made it because they've made 5 hit songs, like a really good one, right? Has made like 5 hit songs that everybody knows, 5 to 10. And I feel like you guys have made your 5, 10 hit songs, and for the rest of your life, your hit songs are your style of art. Like, you've discovered it, and now for the rest of your life that will always be adored for, for your style. And I like, as like, I don't know, I know you guys always reinvent yourselves and like you guys are always trying new things.

Yeah, it's fun to play around with the different materials. Yeah, but wait, this is a really nice compliment, keep going.

But you guys are like, you guys have grandfathered yourselves into the world where like I feel like there's a level of like you can be relaxed when you do your job. And I think that's what, that's, that's what makes me—

in the beginning you're kind of figuring out your style. Yeah, like what you want to do, but we've kind of done it. We have— I like that we have confidence in what we're doing.

We know, and everyone, everyone knows what you're doing. Everyone, everyone knows. Like, I've never ever doubted. Like, if I have an idea for a painting, I've never been like, show me this before. I've never doubted.

Yeah, it's been fun with you, David. Yeah, you've given us like only a couple days to make a painting sometimes.

It's been fun. You really rush us.

You gave him 2 days once?

No, there was— he, he had AD come Architectural Digest. Yeah, to your old house.

Which one was that? Was that the black?

Yeah, but you said you needed— you're like, guys, I need a painting and it— I need to fill a wall. Architectural Digest is coming to my house and it's got to be quick. And we were like, how quick? And you were like, like, like 3 days. And we were like, whoa, okay. And we just said— we were like, we just put everything to the side. Damn, I thought about it and we were like, okay, what could— what could we do that would be really nice? Yeah, in that time frame, 3 days. And then that's the— that was the— in—

we created—

that was the first time we ever did like the black mirror painting.

Yeah, it was all black.

I remember the white frame.

Yeah, it was really sick.

Is there a moment where you're like, this isn't done, but fuck it, he needs it? No, it was like, yeah, we're gonna do—

we made it and it was like, this is Literally perfect. Oh, great.

Yeah.

Good, good. I have a question.

It's amazing because it is all black. Yes.

So like, but it's like physical.

I could have done it, but, but no, but it is them.

Yeah, it's really, it's really, it's really interesting.

I did it. Maybe they were in Vegas. They left me in the studio and I just slapped some along. You won't know the difference.

What were you saying?

I was saying, um, do you got— you guys, obviously your art will be worth more when you're dead. Do you have like a big life insurance policy? Like, uh, do you worry about your life?

There were, you know, when I was, uh, I think when I was like, that's a good question, 20, I had like my first real job. Yeah. And like part of like, I don't know, like I did a 401k and like a Roth IRA, and there was also like you could check this box to have have like a small insurance policy. Yeah. And then you had to write in the name. And so Sandy and I actually have two other brothers. Uh-huh. And so the, the brother in between us, Corey, I put his name on it, and it literally said if I died, Corey would get $15,000. Okay. Like, that's what I was worth that time. Yeah. So I said, kill me if I die, and Corey all of a sudden has a new jet ski. You guys all know exactly what happened.

I love the water.

Come on, he's a water guy.

He's got to get through your—

Anyway, I didn't die.

And well, now Corey's owed $3, $5, $10 million. Right.

Have you ever watched the doc Price of Everything? What is it? It's a doc on HBO that's so good, and it just explains the art world to the common person. And it's so interesting. It's like basically how art dealers take 50% and art dealers and go and find— you guys aren't struggling, but they'll go find like the struggling person who's on the Lower East Side in New York and like no money.

Art dealers have the power.

Art dealers have the power, and they can create anyone. That they deem fit, but they also take half the money.

There's a lot of different avenues, you know, in art. Yeah, you know, like different, um, like topics, let's say, that you can focus on. Yes. So Sandy and I, we really enjoy being a commercial artist in addition to fine art.

I got you, I got you.

You know, like, we, we love making the, like, the things that David has in his house, the one-of-a-kind hand-painted paintings. Yes. But we also like doing, you know, like the brand collaborations. Like, you just got home from Beijing. We did a collaboration with Fila Golf. Oh, great.

Oh, that's perfect for you guys. Yeah.

Yeah.

Especially in Beijing. It's amazing. Yeah.

And they like the bright colors and everything and iconography.

Can you let us know what a charge for a brand would be for a painting like that?

What a charge would be? Yeah.

Well, you don't have to say. It sounds like it's like a secretive thing. For what?

I don't know.

He's saying, how much is a painting from a brand? Yeah. Like if a brand's like—

I know how much I paid for my painting and you guys gave me a deal.

Totally depend on—

it's way cheaper with what they say. They ripped you off.

Yeah, look, it's a couple hundred bucks. $127,000.

What are you talking about? $20. Jason bought David a birthday gift one year.

Yeah, and I loved it. I thought it was so cool.

I broke it a year later. Oh, it's—

it works.

Did you fix it? Chipped on the side. It's, it's impossible to, uh, to, to fix. It just chipped. Nothing's impossible. It was an earthquake that broke it. I didn't break it. Oh really? Just heads up.

Yeah, it's still on the wall. Yeah, yeah.

No, no, it's, it's one of the fucking coolest things ever.

We just brought the neon back. That one's all fixed up.

I know, so I had a Shelbey and Sanni painting here from— fuck, it's a neon sign. Yeah, but it's also— it's the neon sign baked into a painting. Yeah, and it says "Proud Not Satisfied," which is like my slogan from when I used to play tennis in high school. And our last Halloween party or birthday, I think it was my birthday, one of the Doughbrik's employees is carrying pizza right by it and just crushed— crushed the neon sign like an elbow. Elbow? Uh, it was like an elbow, yeah. And she looks at me, she goes, happy birthday. I go, okay, that's okay.

I got a FaceTime at— I think it was at your birthday or something. Everybody was in tuxedos. Yeah, I was like putting my kids to bed and you were like, uh, Edwin. You were with Edwin, you know, the Cazcanes guy.

Oh yeah, yeah.

And you were— everybody was hammered. Yeah. Okay.

And you were Shelby, the fucking neon, bro. The fucking neon, bro.

And I was like, we can— it'll be okay, we can fix it.

And you were like, okay.

Oh, all right, well, one more.

Yeah, Jason would be a pop artist.

What artist would you be if I could make art?

Yeah, yeah, that's a good question.

Um, I just like things with light. You'd be a neon artist? Um, I would— I wouldn't like to bend the neon, but I'd like things to light up. I just love when things glow.

With what artist? Like James Turrell, maybe.

James Turrell, sick. Or like any kind of like box lights, like anything that has like a light behind it. It doesn't have to necessarily be neon. I just like, I just want to see it glow in the dark.

David, you are a light. Thank you.

See, that's why. That's why.

And Natalie, what kind of artist would you be?

Just all dark, gothic.

Just, yeah, black. Just straight black paintings. Stuffed animals. I really like pop art though, too. Oh no, you know what I like? I like abstract. Yeah, like scribble stuff and like make it all whimsical and like people don't know like what it means and it's—

you like Jackson Pollock? The splattered paint?

That's like too chaotic. I'm thinking like, you know, they do like ombre, like sunsetty, just like kind of colors and then there's like a scribble in the corner and like Rothko.

I don't know. Yes, yes, that's me. I love art. You guys are so lucky.

Well, thank you for joining us.

You're welcome to come anytime.

Uh, I, I will.

I'll come to your studio, bring your wife, we'll make it.

Oh my God, she would love it actually. White wine. Okay, go, go take it. Yes, yes.

You guys take it away. Shelby and Sandy, thank you for joining us. Please go follow them. What's— what are your socials, Sam? @shelbyandsandy on Instagram. Please go check out the art, or just like look at any video from my house. It's probably in every corner. Um, okay, thanks guys. That's all the time we have for today's podcast. Thank you guys for listening. Thank you, Jason, for joining me. Natalie, Shelby, and Sandy, go follow them all their socials, and we will see you guys for the next one.