1285 – Welcome to Acting Camp | Multiplex Ep13
Getting ready to host an immersive acting camp for the Crispy Commander leads to mundane mall meanders.
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Episode 1285 – Welcome to Acting Camp | Multiplex Ep13
[START OF RECORDING]
SCOOTER: Friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, whether you eat cereal for breakfast or you don’t, or whatever you eat for breakfast, this is a podcast…it’s strange that a sleep podcast would have breakfast cereal come up so much, and there’s another podcast, The Empty Bowl, that is chill, sleep-related, that’s also about breakfast cereal. That’s pretty cool that breakfast cereal is so prevalent in bedtime and relaxation, chill-out, fall-asleep podcasts. But I think that’s just 'cause it unites us. We love breakfast and breakfast cereals, but you don’t have to, either. If you loathe breakfast cereals or you just say, well, I prefer…breakfast cereals? No. I don't know, this has petered out already, which is good, 'cause it’s time for Sleep With Me. It’s a different podcast to put you to sleep. It’s a sleep podcast we’ve been making just about eleven years, almost…I don't know, almost 1,200 episodes or 1,300 episodes?
I’m not sure. I think we’re in the 1,100s. But it’s a podcast to put you to sleep, keep you company, and take your mind off of stuff, which is a little bit different. I’m here to be your friend and talk to you. The show is a little bit silly. It does take some getting used to. I just heard from somebody who supports the show directly; I think they said it took four tries and now they pay for a free podcast so it can be out there. So, give it a few tries. Just see how it goes. That’s because it’s so different than what you may expect, and of course, I mean, if I…I would be skeptical or doubtful about the idea of a sleep podcast and stuff like that. So, that’s the other thing, 'cause your skepticism kinda is like, oh, wait, this doesn't make any sense. This doesn't make any sense. Oh, it doesn't make any sense. So, it’s kinda like that.
The structure of the show…this is your little greeting to welcome you in. Regular listeners, too; welcome. So good to see all you, all your pets out there, and people that don’t have pets as well. There’s pet…whatever. Usually I pander to pets, but now I’m gonna pander to people without pets. Hey, people without pets, I’m pandering to you. So, yeah, there you go. That petered out, too. Petering out pandering to people without pets, profusely. Profusely pandering to people without pets in a podcast. Sleep With Me. So, glad you’re all here. What we got is…the next thing you’ll hear is support. That’s how the show comes out free twice a week, the people that support those sponsors. If you prefer a ad-free experience, check out Sleep With Me+.
Then we’ll have a long, meandering intro that’s meant to ease you into bedtime, totally separate from the support. That’s about fifteen minutes or so, and then later on we’ll have our episodically modular story, Multiplex. Most listeners prefer this version of the show, but if you think you prefer just the stories, you could check out Bedtime Stories From Sleep With Me in your podcast app of choice. But just see how this one goes. If you’re new, try this one first, then try that one. Or, a lot of people listen to both. So, I’m glad you’re here. I work really hard. I yearn and I strive. I really hope I can help you fall asleep. Thanks again for coming by. All of you that support the show, thanks again for making this possible. This is how we come to you twice a week. Thanks.
INTRO: [INTRO MUSIC] Hey, are you up all night tossing, turning, mind racing? Trouble getting to sleep? Trouble staying asleep? Well, welcome. This is Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep. We do it with a bedtime story. Alls you need to do is get in bed, turn out the lights, and press Play. I’m gonna do the rest. What I’m going to attempt to do is create a safe place where you could set aside whatever’s keeping you awake.
It could be thoughts on your mind, things you’re thinking about, thoughts about the past, the present, the future, thoughts that are just there, thinking thoughts, it could be feelings, anything coming up for you emotionally or left-over feelings or where you’re tired from feelings and you can't…you’ve had so many…this is just my situation right now…and you’re exhausted from feelings but then you can't…your feelings are like, yeah, but not sure about this sleep thing, either. It could be physical sensations, it could be changes in time, temperature, routine, you could be going through something, you could have something coming up, you could work a different shift or a different schedule. There’s a lot of people…right now I’ve been at a place where everybody works twelve hours.
I know people that work twenty-four-hour shifts in my family, or they’re on duty twenty-four hour…you know, there’s a lot of different…however it is. It could be something temporary or it could be something mid, long-term. Whatever it is, I’m glad you’re here. The only reason I run through that stuff is so you get a sense you’re not alone. You get a sense maybe this is…and it’s different 'cause this is a podcast, but this is a community of people. Most of the people that benefit from this podcast are just a silent community of people out there who need this podcast or enjoy this podcast to get the rest they need, but they do understand that we share something, and it’s something that’s a little bit vague and hard to describe, but I think…I talk about the deep, dark night and a little bit of loneliness, and that might not be your exact experience.
But, I don't know, we share something, right? That’s just the only words I can come up with to describe it. Why is that important? Well, for me, it’s important for a couple reasons. One, during the day, with people that can sleep, they just can't quite relate. So, when I tell them about it or when I was a kid and I told them about it, they’d say, oh yeah, that’s too bad. Maybe you should think less. Or, can't you think about something nice? Then you’ll fall right…just get snuggled in and think about something like cotton candy…fields of cotton candy, and you’ll…you should fall right asleep. You gotta think about something…I don't know if any…nobody’s ever called me ‘bub’ before, but I think they’d say, come on, bub, just think about something nice. Then you’d say, okay, well, I guess I’m on my own with this…would be my natural reaction, right?
Or maybe I would try that. I guess I could see how a person that could sleep good would think the idea of fields of cotton candy would be a good idea for bedtime, but all of us…you could do a lot of rumination about that. You say, okay, there’s a lot of downsides to this. So, that’s one reason, is whatever it is that’s keeping you awake, I may be able to relate to how it feels, and even if I can't…you say, no, yeah, I don't think you can relate to how it feels for me, or you haven't been through something similar. The thing is there’s enough people listening around the world right now that someone out there really can relate to how you feel and they know how you feel, and they’re nodding right now because maybe they’ve been through something similar that has kept them awake or prevented them from falling asleep or made them wake up early or made them toss and turn. I can tell you, they are really glad you are here.
They are nodding and sitting up in bed right now and welcoming you in, and they’ve been listening long enough that they know that if this podcast works for you and helps you out, one day you’ll be in the same position they are to welcome in this new listener in this strange, digital way that actually works, that is actually real, because you’re welcoming in…I don't know, it makes…I don't know, it’s important, or it’s important to me, we’ll say. But I have to believe that’s one of the things that works about this show, and it’s the reason I make…one of the reasons I make the show, because I know how it feels and you know how it feels, and we share that, even if it’s a little bit different, and it’s kinda shared like one of those paper…chains of paper thing, or the kids holding hands made of paper.
Maybe, I don't know. Maybe that’s…you know, this podcast has strange analogies, too. The last thing that’s important about this and why I make the show is that you deserve a good night's sleep. You deserve a bedtime where you can get the rest you need so your life is more manageable, where you don’t have to dread bedtime, and that it’s not a hassle. You’d say, well, at least I got that silly podcast to listen to to keep me company. So, you deserve a bedtime you could feel neutral about or even look forward to, and a bedtime routine that kinda brings you comfort and reassurance. I hope I could be a part of that, 'cause if you get the rest you need and your life is more manageable, your life is gonna be better.
That means our world’s gonna be better, 'cause your world’s better, and that is important to me and a lot of other people that are here right now with us. You’re important. So, I’d just like to point that out. The way this show works is I send my voice across the deep, dark night. I’ll use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones, pointless meanders, and superfluous tangents. So, I’ll go off-topic, I’ll get mixed up, I’ll forget what I was…just like you’ve seen already, and that’s all because my job isn't to get to the point. It’s to keep you company. So…did I say I use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones, pointless meanders, and superfluous tangents? I think I did. My voice is not traditionally soothing. This is a podcast that you kinda just barely listen to, and that is a little bit different.
You say, a podcast I just barely listen to? I say, yeah, like a out-of-focus picture or sand running through your hands or music on the breeze…music on a summer breeze that you can't quite hear but you know there’s music playing somewhere, and it sounds kinda nice. That’s what this podcast is. You can listen to it, but you don’t have to listen to it. It’s a podcast you just barely listen to, but you could listen. Believe it or not, it’s a sleep podcast that doesn't put you to sleep. I’m here to keep you company while you fall asleep, not to put you to sleep. There is no pressure to fall asleep with this show. I’m here to keep you company and be your friend in the deep, dark night, not to put you to sleep.
You could fall asleep whenever you wish, and ideally you don’t even notice when you fall asleep. That’s the whole thing that’s supposed to work about this show, 'cause as hard as I’ve tried to fall asleep in the past, it never worked, right? So, you don’t have to try to fall asleep. Just kick back and listen to your bore-friend, your bore-bae, your bore-sib, your bore-bud, your bore-bor, your Borbie, your neigh-bore, your bores, your…Borbie, bore…best bore-friend f’eva, your bore-bruh. That’s the reason the shows are over an hour; no pressure to fall asleep. I’m gonna be here to keep you company. There’s people who are listening who can't sleep at all and people who listen during the day because they need a break.
So, I’m here for you, and that’s…I’ll be here when you’re asleep and when you’re awake, and there’s over 600 shows ready to go in our ad-supported archive, so you can just listen whenever you want. So, those are the important things. The other things that throw people off…I kinda went through this before and it’s a little late to go through it now, but a lot of people don’t like the show or me ever or for a little while when they first get here. So, I do recommend…and this is just from listener feedback over the years…give the show a few tries. You got nothing to lose, and if it doesn't…if it doesn't work after a couple nights or if for some reason you already know you just don’t like me…those people actually support the show, so it’s kinda funny.
So, you could give it a few tries, but if you don’t want to, sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou has other sleepy podcasts and sleepy stuff set up, so check that stuff out and see if one of those works for you, because it’s got other sleep podcasts and other stuff on there you could check out. You still deserve a good night's sleep. You still deserve a bedtime you don’t have to dread, even if you loathe me or…I mean, I’ve gotten every e-mail in the book over the past ten years, so…yeah, it’s fine. I’m here to put you to sleep if I can and to keep you company if I can. But when people…when the show works for people on the second or third try, they realize, oh, I have been looking for this the whole time.
It is kinda like listening to TV in the other room, but it’s more…it is like talking to a friend, but with no social pressure. It is like this and this. Oh, I have been looking for this. So, just see how it goes and go from there, right? ‘Cause I really hope I can help you out or you find something else that helps you fall asleep. So, that’s one thing. The last thing is the structure of the show. I’m gonna run through why we structure the show the way we do and how you could change it up. But at first, give this version a few tries, 'cause this linear, ad-supported version is how most people listen, and…the feedback I get, what most people prefer.
They prefer something free that’s ad-supported and they just listen to it linearly, and a percentage of those people might set a sleep timer for a hour, a small percentage of people might set it for forty-five minutes, some people let it run all night, some people stop it even earlier and listen to a episode over four or five days. So, just kinda see how it goes with that, but that’s…how we got to this is…the structure is…it’s what has worked for the most number of people. It starts off with a greeting; friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, so you feel seen and welcomed in, you get a sense…oh, this podcast is kinda playful, kinda goofy and a bit different, but it’s friendly. It’s trying to welcome me in. Maybe I’ll check it out.
Then there’s the sponsors so the show’s…you don’t have to pay for it. If you prefer something without ads, Sleep With Me+ has got you covered. If you’re not in a position to support the show financially, Sleep…our referral program…you could find out about. You refer people to the free podcast and you get free…ad-free episodes and story…ad-free, story-only episodes, too. But most people like it this way 'cause it’s just set it and forget it, I guess. Then after the support is a long, meandering intro. That’s meant to ease you into bedtime. It is separate from the support. It’s a show within a show. It’s about fifteen to twenty minutes long, and yeah, I could do the same intro every time. I could say the same thing every time. I could do it in two minutes.
I personally couldn't 'cause I can't stay on topic, but I could have…I could do a hundred takes and then take the shortest take and just run that intro every time. The reason I don’t is because, one, that wouldn't be any fun. It would be…I don't know, it’d get boring, right, even though this podcast is a bit boring. But, two, I believe from making this show for a long time that we need something familiar that’s different every time, that there’s something in that familiarity but variety where whatever’s keeping us awake, it can't quite adjust. But if it’s too familiar or too repetitive, I’ll wake up or I won't be able to fall asleep, 'cause I’ll start thinking about it. So, that’s why the intro is different every single time. The reason it’s twenty minutes long or so is to ease you into bedtime.
It gives you a buffer between the story and getting ready for bed or getting in bed, and you can use the intro…people use it a lot of different ways, right? There are some people who are already asleep — we’re so happy for them — there’s some people who are in bed getting comfortable, there’s some people getting ready for bed and they could kinda hear me, but they’re brushing their teeth and stuff, too, and then there’s a lot of people doing a wind down, whether it’s in bed and they’re drawing or knitting or paging through something or they’re stretching or they’re doing some relaxing activity or they’re just lying or sitting, to ease you into bedtime. It’s just what works for me personally most of the time and what a lot of studies and stuff say works. So, try that out.
There are some people that used to skip the intro; now they listen to Betime Stories From Sleep With Me, but that’s what the intro is. Then there’s support, then there will be our bedtime story, and then there will be our…oh yeah, then that’ll be the end of the show. So, that’s the structure of the show. That’s why I make the show. I’m really glad you’re here. Myself and a team of people work on the show really hard. We yearn and strive, really hope we can help you fall asleep, and these sponsors and the people who support the show directly are how we’re able to do it for you. Thank you so much.
Alright, hey everybody, it’s Scoots here. Welcome to our episodically modular series, Multiplex. Multiplex is a tale of four friends in a shopping mall, trying to help the people at the shopping mall get to where they need to go. If you’re new, welcome to Multiplex. It’s a episodically modular series with a bit of seriality. But what episodically modular means is you can listen to the episodes in any order. In these episodes, the main character’s gonna catch you up on the story so you’ll have everything you need to know. So, then you could say, well, this is the episode that comes after number 12 and before number 14…but you could listen to this one first and then listen to Episodes 1 through 12, and I think you’d be fine. You could even listen to them even more out of order.
Now…yeah, and if you decide you want to listen to them in order, you could do that, but mostly you’ll be kinda barely paying attention. So, you could choose how you kinda want to listen, but the episodically modular thing is a thing I learned many, many years ago making this show, that even though the episodes are numbered, you could…don't worry, they’re episodically modular. I guess alls that means…yeah, is that you listen to them in any order. I’m here, believe it or not…now, this is interesting for those of you that listen to the show on a regular basis and these episodically modular shows on a regular basis. I’m not here in the climb-in closet. I’m sitting in a twin bed in the guest room of my parents’ condo or whatever, a split-level or half…I guess it’s a condo. Well, it’s not standalone; it’s connected on both…other sides to other…I think…I don't know.
Yeah, so, it’s not a split-level 'cause it’s got a place on each side of it. So, let’s just call it a condo and be done with it, 'cause I don't know all those other terms. But even though I’m here in Florida…and probably because of it…because he cares so much…you wouldn't believe it, but coming to you all the way from the Greater Los Angeles Area…the greatest thing in the Greater Los Angeles Area, in my opinion, or the greatest thing about the Greatest Los Angeles Area; when he’s there. If he’s not there, I say, well, his…what he’s left behind is pretty great, but there’s a lot of other great things, too. But we’ve got our Hollywood announcer coming to you from Florida, from the border of Pasco and Hernando counties. When you hear this, I probably won't be here any longer, and I got…so, if I missed anybody, I don't really have any…I got a lot going on, basically.
But that’s why Antonio’s here, too, 'cause he loves me, really, and he loves all of you and he loves sleep. So, I don't have anything smarmy to say. Well, except for…he doesn't love remaining perfectly still and quiet so the mic can't pick up anything when he’s sitting there, still. But actually, I think he does love that. It’s our Hollywood announcer, Mr. Antonio Banderas. The friends, the ladies, the gentlemen, the boys, the girls, the friends beyond the binary, the friends beyond the binary, the ladies, the gentlemen, the boys, the girls, it’s time to be here with my friend Scooter, Drew, to be here with all of you for the love of sleep. It is my distinct pleasure to be here to help you fall asleep and for us all to journey together into the Multiplex. Chicka-chicka-cha. Yeah, yeah. Wow, that double-yeah, man…thank you for being here, Antonio, and your support and for your love of sleep and the listeners. You really set an example for me. Thank you so much.
Alright, hey everybody, my name’s Wyatt and I’m here, coming to you recording audios to tell you a tale that’s never been told but it’s being told in parts, a tale of myself and my friends, Josie, Santos, and an associate that would become a close friend, Boyd, the Corncob Kid. This is a tale of adventure, but there’s a reason you haven't heard it before, is because the tale…the adventurous tale…well, we didn’t find a reason…a good reason to share it with anybody, but there is a good reason because it led…it was a grand adventure that led us someplace quiet, quiet on the inside, quiet and stable and full of dignity and without grandness, a great adventure that didn’t bring us to a grand place.
I feel like it’s easy to confuse that, because the reason I’m telling this story is because I had a very small public-access show not long after this adventure…a few years after this adventure, but where I would show autumnally-themed movies, and in-between the movies and during breaks, I would interview people, including my friends that I met on this adventure, or some of them. With the digital age here, those public-access shows were uploaded and people saw them and said, wow, that’s some movie magic. How did this guy…who are these performers and how did they get them to look so real? How did they achieve even practical special effects like this? That’s why I wanted to clear the air with these audios.
I don't know when they’re getting published or if they’re getting published, but none of that was makeup. None of that was acting. All of it was real, and all that’s important not because I was interviewing somebody that looks really cool, sounds really cool, and is from maybe another world, but because meeting them, crossing paths with them, helping them, took me and my friends, who were all on our way to the Leagues of Ivy or something similar…and we had…we were just finishing high school and we each had a path laid in front of us towards what people are told they need to achieve in order to feel great and okay. It’s not just our parents, in our case, though they encouraged us.
It was something internal, something in our society and our world, not something that’s wrong, per se, really, but something we had bought into, and we thought it would lead us where we were supposed to go, but this adventure changed our paths from those paths of high achievements to something different, and that’s why I’m telling this story. But it is quite an adventure. It started with us…I had lost a scholarship and I was down about that because I thought, well, I’m supposed to get this scholarship and go to this really hard school to get into, and I’m gonna have to find a different way to get there, 'cause that’s where I’m supposed to be.
Suddenly when we were wondering about that, Boyd came along, and Boyd said, actually, I got a way to make some money, and it’s not really doing anything wrong, but we gotta go into this old mall that’s been closed down, and there’s a large supply of Julius J Juice concentrate, a concentrate for a flavored drink that you couldn't get the concentrate anymore. Boyd said that this stuff had been discarded not because it went bad, because it was in cans and it could last for a very, very long time; just because of the changing…the businesses and the…closing the businesses, that this was free for the taking. Boyd was the only one that knew about it, and Boyd was actually able to sell and had previously sold it on what would become the internet.
This was back when it was just bulletin boards and…I don't know, I think…I always say it was alt.juice.fan.juliusjjuice or something, but people say that’s not true, Wyatt. But I say, that’s what…that’s just how I remember it, eh? We headed into the mall to get this juice…Julius J Juice concentrate and bring it out of there and sell it and help pay for my trip to school, and Boyd would obviously keep the largest cut, but…and then we found out that this mall was something different. There was something happening there, something otherworldly. Basically, the short version is workers were appearing and disappearing who needed our help. When we helped a mall worker at a store, we would find a friend from an autumnal movie who needed our help.
At first we thought it was immersive theatre or something like that that you’d go to nowadays, but then we realized it was real. We also realized and found out that the mall…one day in the mall equalled one hour in the world outside of the mall. So, time was running at a different pace. So, no one would miss us as we helped days pass by. We found that the mall had magical properties, but we’d also find out that the food places for us to eat and drink would be stocked, and there was also a person that couldn't be seen doing all that, making sure we were fed and had stuff to drink. Then we found out we had somebody guiding us, the Crispy Commander, Commander Crunch, a breakfast-time, famous cereal mascot. A sentient, real being was there, and he was kinda guiding us.
So, they were guiding us. Each time we helped one of these autumnal figures from the films…so, their movies would play in the Multiplex. They would come out of the movie, they would need our help, and they would need our help to get back in the movie with something changed, mainly their behavior or what they were looking to achieve so that they wouldn't get in trouble like they do in all the movies, where there’s…in the movies, they’re not the heroes, right? They’re the main focus of the movie. The hero is — a lot of times — a secondary character or a set of characters who teaches them a lesson, and the lesson’s never good for the autumnal figure. So, our job was to kinda change history only in films and get them back in the movie.
When we did, what would happen is the movie would become a cereal commercial and they would become a cereal mascot similar to Commander Crisp or the Crispy Commander. So, we had the Count du Chocolate, mommy…we still had yet to help the person who couldn't be seen. So, we’re meeting these characters from the films, helping them, getting them back into their films so that the movie wouldn't turn out non-positive for them, and then they would become cereal things. But a couple things had to happen recently. We met the person who couldn't be seen, and after seeing their movie, Josie had kinda gone into the movie to kinda see what it was like to be them…or kind of in a outrage, because the person who can't be seen was so poorly behaved.
Then we met the person who couldn't be seen, and they said they wanted to change, but we weren't so sure they actually wanted to change. They also kinda seemed to be suspicious of the Crispy Commander, who was in charge of them. Obviously having a person who couldn't be seen working for you has its advantages, right, as we would learn later on. But we kinda went back and forth 'cause we said, we don’t…of all the autumnal figures, you’re the most poorly behaved, because you’re constantly choosing it clear of mind. We didn’t say that directly, but it was our…they were a hard person to like, especially after seeing their movie. We were to believe they could change.
But they said they had helped us in the mall, so we brought them to the bookstore and assigned them to read a bunch of books, wondering…okay, 'cause they said they wanted to change, and they also said they didn’t want to become a cereal mascot. So, we said, okay, we’ll read all these books, some about growth, some about change…and we just need to buy some time. ‘Cause we didn’t know what to do, right? So, then we headed back…and we headed back to the Multiplex, and there was…there’s been a theatre that’s been locked where a movie’s playing. We can't figure out what movie it is. But then we decided to go into the projection booth of the person who couldn't be seen’s movie and kinda get a sense of what was happening in the projection booth.
Who starts these movies? How much magic is there? The projector was running, right? ‘Cause the movie’s always on a loop, and it was clear there’s some sort of…you know when you see it in a film, it’s like you could just look at something and you could tell something magical or mystical is happening. It was pretty apparent that the projector had something magical or mystical happening with it. So, we were kinda trying to assess what to do. Should we stop the movie? Should we go back and work with the person who couldn't be seen? Then we found these love letters, and we started reading these love letters and love poems. They were from the Crispy Commander to what turned out to be a real human person.
The Crispy Commander had fallen in love with her when they tried to do a new marketing campaign for a former version of the Crispy Commander’s cereal called Frunchies. Just Frunchies, 'cause they had gotten rid of the Crispy Commander. She was a grad student, I guess, in the first commercial. It was like, don’t you remember how good it was to eat Frunchies? Maybe you could bring a little bit of Frunchies back into your adult life. So, a campaign to appeal to young adults with the Frunchies cereal, which I think stands for ‘fruit crunchies’. It’s a pretty tasty cereal. I mean, probably the wrong time to bring it up, but I do prefer it to Commander Crisp. So, I could understand. But the Commander Crisp at first had a kinda childish view not of love but of having a crush.
We’re not even sure if initially he realized it was a commercial. But also in…apparently the Commander Crisp comes from the cereal realm. Someone brought him here because he was being retired. Because they said, nobody eats your cereal anymore. Frunchies is gonna be our main brand. No more Commander Crisp with Frunchie…and the Frunchies. But Commander Crisp had kinda thought he was in love with this actress, and at some point he got brought here and offered this opportunity. There’s something hazy about it, but it’s also like communicating with a middle-schooler, which we had not realized before because Commander Crisp kinda presents himself as a authority figure.
But reading the love poems and the love letters…and then Commander Crisp told us, yeah, at first it was a actress, but then I realized it was a real person, and I love her and I’ve been coaching her in acting from afar by letter. Now, this is the time when doing this kind of stuff by letter wasn’t that out of the ordinary, 'cause you could only do it by phone…wait a second, we didn’t even think about phone calls. Okay, that’s something to think about. I mean, I’m talking as a character in the story, you know, but we hadn’t got to that point yet. But…wait, did we ever?
But anyway, the part we weren't happy with was that the Commander Crisp had invited her to come for an acting camp to the Multiplex, an immersive acting camp, which was a believable story 'cause that’s what we had thought; not an acting camp, but we thought we were in an immersive theatre experience. He’s gonna bring this real woman to the mall, and he’s not…he’s a cereal mascot, right? We said, this plan doesn't make any sense, but the Crispy Commander said, okay, well, you could either help me or I could keep running more movies or something like that, and then you could not help me.
You won't get any money to go to university, and maybe the person who couldn't be seen or somebody else will just start showing up at your house and borrowing your bicycles without permission and not bringing them back, and that kind of thing. So, we were kinda stuck. What are we gonna do, right? It’s quite the situation to be in. So, that’s where we left off, right? Yeah, I’ll go from here with our story.
So, we started to talk things over, right? What are we gonna do about this? How are we gonna handle this? We had told the Crispy Commander, okay, where do we start? The Crispy Commander said, start with…first of all, I haven't seen the person who couldn't be seen in a while. Where did…? I know you were meeting with them. We said, oh, yeah, yeah, he was gonna get some other stuff ready. I think…it was confusing 'cause we didn’t know about this. We kinda made up a fib, you know? He was gonna work with the…getting stuff ready for something, camp, but we…I don't know, it didn’t make any sense to us. I think he was finding acting books and acting…oh, and then the Crispy…said, oh, good, good, good.
So, the bookstore. Okay, go get the invisible…the person who couldn't be seen, and then start decorating. Like, put stuff up on one section so it looks like you’re welcoming…he has all the layouts and stuff, and he also closed everything off. Oh, by the way, he should have already closed off everything. So, I hope you don’t think you’re gonna be dishonest with me, because now…he’s been checking every…in and out and all the…there’s only one in and out, and that’s where we’re gonna set up a welcoming thing, but you won't do that part. But decorate the food court, and you’re gonna all maybe start to come up with stories, 'cause I’ll…don't worry, I’ll be paying attention.
So, you’re gonna be acting students and I’m gonna do the acting coaching over the PA system for the mall, 'cause it’s…don't worry, I got every…I got my end figured out. We were like, what the heck is going on? But we were like, okay, okay, okay, we’ll do it, of course. We just want peace. Even the Crispy Commander’s like, what harm can it be? It was a bit like all those stories, you know? Like, I’m gonna be the best coach in the world, and I really am good at acting. It’s one of the things I’ve done. I guess I didn’t realize…this is gonna work out just fine and I’m gonna be the best coach ever, and it’s gonna end…this is gonna end wonderfully. We were like, oh, boy. I guess we had accepted that…but we had seen a lot, you know, that a cereal mascot could be real. This isn't like a movie, you know?
It’s like…I mean, we had been led to the point slowly where we could say, okay, time has changed. There’s a walking-around cereal mascot. There’s something called the transverse plane where…universe intersect. There’s a cereal universe. There’s an autumnal-figure universe. Somehow there’s a magical movie…but I don't think any of us were gonna…I mean, maybe Franny, you know, or Count du Chocolate…it wasn’t like any of us were looking to spend any time with…we knew the cereal…the Crispy Commander was real, right? But I don't know. So…but we said, okay, we’re gonna get to work. But meanwhile we were like, we’re gonna have to think of a plan to do this. So, we headed back to the bookstore, and believe it or not, the person who couldn't be seen was there still, reading, and they said that they’re…they’re very…they were very studious.
I guess they were scientists, right? They were very excited to test out what they had learned in all these books we had given them to read. We said, well, you gotta get a bunch of acting books together. You’re really here doing acting research if the Crispy Commander comes. Did you really close all the exits and ways to get in, even the way…? Yep. I don't have any…I don't have access anymore. The Crispy Commander is the only one that has access. Okay, so, we’re gonna have to set up this fake camp. We just want to know if…I guess we didn’t think to think that the Crispy Commander was listening in the whole time, but we were kinda talking quietly enough. ‘Cause this was a different time, right? You’d have to be in a vent really listening. But we said, but we’re gonna try to trust you. Let’s…can we get this straight again?
So, you want to go back to your world and not become a cereal mascot, right? They said, yeah. I know he…the person who couldn't be seen knew what was happening, right, that we were helping these autumnal figures change so their movies wouldn't end in a non-positive way, but that the only way it could end in…if it ended in a non-positive way, that somehow they’d become a cereal mascot. The Crispy…or, I mean the person who couldn't be seen said, I don't want that, right? Like, that’s not what I want for me. We said, okay, well, we’ll help you try to achieve that, but what’s your second thing? Or, we still don’t understand why you’re doing all this other than wanting to be good and change. He said, well, the Crispy Commander did say if I don't help, that the film could be put…stuck…the film could melt.
My film could melt, and if my film melts, then that’s…that means…that’s a version of going…crossing over the Rainbow Bridge. A lot of crossing over the Rainbow Bridge here. So, the Crispy Commander basically said, you could try to change. You could go over the Rainbow Bridge. You could try and change and work with me, see if that works. If that doesn't work, you could have…eventually maybe you’ll have free reign and I’ll let you wander this world, and maybe I could keep your movie running and we could find a way…the Crispy Commander — I don't think — has figured this part out yet, but that I could go in and out of that movie and your world, and I’d have free reign. But I don't trust…there’s something about the Crispy Commander. We said, yeah, that he’s…the Crispy Commander’s childish. Or, not a…you know what…?
The person who couldn't be seen nodded. They said, well, what do you need me to do? We said, just keep at it. Get the acting books together, start to do whatever the Crispy Commander tells you, and maybe there’s gonna be times we’re gonna need a little distraction, right? Also, yeah, we don’t know…we’re still trying to figure out what we’re gonna do. Then the person who couldn't be seen is like, well, why would you do anything? We said, well, we gotta do something. This is…we can't bring somebody else into this situation, right? Even if we just lock the doors and she goes home…is this all set up? The invisible person couldn't…said…they said, yeah, I got a limo booked. I got plane tickets bought. I said, there’s something about this that’s just not adding up, though. You’re being fully honest with us?
The person who couldn't be seen said, yeah, yeah. That’s what I’ve done; I called and made the reservations, I called and did that. We said, wait a second, the phone calls…has the Crispy Commander been calling anybody? The person who couldn't be seen says, as a matter of fact, yes, and the phone has rang, too. We said, okay. We said, where? He said, in the main office. We said, okay, that’s where the PA system must be. So, oh boy, maybe he’s even watching or listening, too. Oh, great. We’ll just have to do what we do here. But you get the…all the acting stuff ready, and we’re gonna head out and we’re gonna start…we’re gonna go, I guess, get some crafts and decorate the food court. I take it you’ll do all the cooking and stuff still. The person who couldn't be seen…yeah, I’ll get the stuff ready.
Yeah, you know, I’m a chemist, so I’m also a great baker and cook. So, yeah, I’ll start getting everything ready for that. Right as we kind of agreed, the Crispy Commander strolled in and said, hey, just checking up. The Crispy Commander was very chipper and started laughing hysterically at the person who couldn't be seen 'cause they were covered in tea and they had a sign on their back. They laughed at them and said, you better get cleaned up because you’re gonna need to be invisible when she comes. Alright. Then the person who couldn't be seen said, yeah, here’s the books. I’m gonna get…start…I’m gonna go…they’re gonna go to the food court. I’m gonna go to the food…they’re gonna go to the…whatever and get stuff. I’m gonna start getting everything ready, to get every…get food ready and all that stuff.
The Crispy Commander said, okay, I’ll check out these books. Get to work, everybody. So, we headed…and we went to the craft shop, and there was a party supply store…but the craft shop didn’t work. So, then we went to the party supply store and we started blowing up balloons. Then we realized, okay, well, if we blow up enough balloons, we can talk while we’re blowing up the balloons, because probably…maybe the Crispy Commander heard all that. But the Crispy Commander’s still very confident. So, the Crispy Commander thinks all the bases are covered, so maybe that’s a good thing. We didn’t really have a plan, anyway. So, we started blowing up balloons and stuff, and then we realized, okay, what if we use the person who couldn't be seen. They said, what do you mean?
They said, okay, so, if the Crispy Commander’s watching things either by vents or by camera…these cameras are not gonna…the Crispy Commander might be able to listen and see, but not clearly. We said, I don't understand. Then they said, like trick-or-treat. The invisible person could trick-or-treat as an actress. We said, oh, okay. We’d have to figure out what she looks like. We said, okay, that’s problem one we gotta solve. But we could…okay, so, we could do that. But he’s only seen her in commercials anyway, so we just gotta figure out that part. Then we were like, wait a second, it’s all in the love poems and everything. Then we were laughing about the descriptions, and there was even drawings. We said, yeah, yeah, yeah, that’ll work. We’ll use the descriptions and the drawings.
But that’s only one part…that’s not a plan, actually. So, how are we gonna let her know and stop that part, right? What are we gonna do about that? So, we started…but we started…we got all the balloons figured out and then we said, let’s just decorate the food court with the balloons and the signs. ‘Welcome to interactive acting camp, the’…stuff like that. The Crispy Commander had it all written out, too, for us. So, we got to work on that in the food court, and as we were doing that, we hoped a plan would slowly formulate in our minds.
Alright everybody, here’s…this is Wyatt. Sorry, my…I got a little interrupted there, but…I guess when I was…last left off telling this tale, we didn’t have a plan, right? We were getting the food court decorated and kinda talking to each other. Idle chatter, I guess. Then we heard the voice of the man who couldn't be seen, because he had cleaned up and he was not-seeable again. But he was also whispering to us; it’s almost time, it’s almost time. We’re gonna have to do…do you have a plan? I don't know. It’s a little bit hazy, but when you don’t have a plan, that’s not something you really remember, right? But at some point, pieces of a plan started to come together, 'cause we were trying to get more information from the person who couldn't be seen.
I’m pretty sure it was Boyd and Wyatt; they were talking about the projector a lot, and the idea that if the film was…got stuck in the projector and melted or whatever on purpose by the Crispy Commander, that that…so, we were kinda saying to the person who couldn't be seen…so, that would mean you’d be gone and your world would be gone, huh? Said, forever. Said, man, that’s heavy stuff. They said, why don’t we just stop the movie from playing and take the film out, then? We could get you back in the movie first and then stop your movie from playing. You didn’t think to try that at all? If we take the film, you’ll be back in your movie. Maybe you’ll be a different person. Maybe you won't. But if we take the film out of the projector and hide it, the Crispy Commander can't do anything to it.
It’s just a theory, but you would be back in your world and you’d be…you wouldn’t become a cereal icon and you wouldn't…you would…you’d be…you know what I’m saying? I think that would work. The person who couldn't be seen said, oh yeah, that sounds reasonable. That sounds like a good plan. We said, of course, we’d need your help to get to that point. We have one piece of the idea which is you pretending to be her, but how are we gonna keep her out? He said, what do you mean? We said, I thought we went over that. Go to the costume shop, get…once we know what color hair she has and what length of hair, you’ll pretend to be her, right? Just because the cameras aren't that good. The cameras are not gonna be in color, and she could walk around with us. He said, okay, okay.
But that’s the only part of the plan we came up with. Now…so, we got pausing your movie…and again, we were talking in low voices and crinkle…a lot of crinkling of paper, which we thought would cover up our voices. Since we were working on these signs, we figured maybe a ‘Welcome to acting camp’ sign out front where she was gonna get the thing. Then we said, okay, can we figure out a way…so, she’s arriving by limo, right? You arranged all that. The person who couldn't be seen said, yeah, I arranged all that. So, the limousine will take her. We said, okay, can you arrange for either the limo to wait or to go around…maybe to drive away but then to come back right away or have another limousine pick her right back up? ‘Cause we don’t want her to come in.
She’ll tell the limo driver…they’ll hopefully strike up a conversation about this idea. Man, but then…so, we were trying to think, and then we said, the love letters. We’ll just send her a letter with everything in it, and we’ll make two sets of letters, too, because the Crispy Commander…so, we’ll each write her a welcoming letter on one piece of paper. We’ll show those to the Crispy Commander. Like, welcome to acting camp. I’m Josie. I’m Wyatt. I’m Boyd. They call me the Corncob Kid. Something about…I’ve been at this acting school, acting camp, whatever, for this long. So, we gotta remember we’re not dealing with some sort of cereal…we’re dealing with a children’s cereal icon, not some sort of cereal genius. So, we just gotta figure this out.
Okay, so, we’ll write her letters and then we’ll…you’ll give her the…you’ll leave the letters…man, but…maybe give her the letters before she comes in? We can't do that. What’s the plan when she comes in? Then the person who couldn't be seen said, she’s gonna come in; there’s a red carpet. She’ll follow the red carpet. The red carpet’s gonna lead down one of the hallways here, which I’ll unlock, and it’ll look like they’re magically opening for her. Then we said, well, why can't you just give us the keys now? He said, no, no, the Crispy Commander’s gonna be in advance…the Crispy Commander planned for that. Lowering the key down, I’ll use the key, and then the…on a string. We said, bummer. So, we…so, then the back hallway will lead through those…that service hallway, it comes right out here.
There’s red carpet on the other side of that service hallway. We said, okay, so, yeah, what if you put the letters…? Yeah, I think the Crispy Commander will do that. We’ll present the Crispy Commander with the idea. Like, let’s start writing these letters, right? So, we kept decorating. The person who couldn't be seen went and got costume stuff secretly, or visited the costume shop secretly and kinda moved some stuff around — obviously he couldn't be walking around with that stuff — and then went to the…Sailing the Seas, a stationery…got us some stationery, brought it back…friendship stationery, and we started writing letters. One set of letters; welcome to acting camp. The other set of letters…you know, hey, this is not what it seems, and be aware. Then we said, here’s what you do.
You’re gonna stash one set of letters under the red carpet for when she goes through one of the…or, yeah, stash the other letters under the red carpet, and then after she reads the first set of letters, when she goes from the entrance into the first service hallway…so, you’ll unlock those doors. You’ll still have the key. She’ll read the letters. You just whisper to her, read those letters, or look under the carpet. She’ll read the letters; she’ll want to go. You could still unlock the door, or maybe the door will still be open, 'cause you could be hold…yeah, hold…keep the door…holding it open. The Crispy Commander won't be able to appear, anyway. She’ll read the letters. She’ll go right back out the door. You’ll have set something up with the limo. Okay, great, and she’ll be gone.
So, that was our plan. It seemed like…okay, we’ll have part of the plan solved. I guess then we wouldn't need…'cause then…I guess we wouldn't need you to be undercover pretending to be her, in this case. This plan…I think this plan’s gonna work great. So, we decided on that plan and that it seemed to be a reasonable plan. So, we wrote the first set of letters and we wrote the second set of letters underneath, folded them up, put them in our waistbands, and then took the second set of letters…didn’t seal them, obviously…let Crispy Commander read them. The Crispy Commander was very pleased 'cause it was like, exactly what Crispy…like, do you want to be…? We could make boondoggles together and maybe learn Mizner together. We’re all gonna be a cohort. I can't wait.
Acting…who’s your favorite actor, you know, that kind of stuff. We knew a lot of the…even though she was a little bit older than us…I mean, we didn’t…you know, assuming. We knew all the same lingo, right? We were…in some sense, she was a grad student or a post-grad student. We were kinda more…knowing what’s going on than she was. But I’ll tell you, with all these plans, things never go as you think they do. I’m kinda jumping ahead, but basically what happened was the day came and the letters were hid, the costumes were hid, or the costume for the person who couldn't be seen was hid. She arrived. I guess…'cause it’s kinda anticlimactic, so even in my story, I guess I can't make it climactic because…well, there’s a part…I play a big part in this and I just want to get to it because I’m not proud of it.
But it’s kind of a key part of this part of the story and a key part of our story as a whole. Because what happened was she got there. She read the first set of letters and seemed excited. The limo left, but it was supposed to keep pulling around every few minutes, because we figured the Crispy Commander was gonna have to hold the keys so the Crispy Commander wouldn't see the limo return. She read the letters, she had a snack, she signed some guest book, and we had to decorate that thing. Not that important. Then she followed the red carpet. Follow the red carpet. Then the doors magically opened when she got there. This was a time of automatic doors but not these kind of doors; you know, storage hallway doors or service access hallway doors.
But they opened onto another red carpet and they held it open, but as she crossed the threshold, something whispered in her ear; look under the carpet. Then…now, this was a anticipatory moment for us because she read the letters. But we could hear her 'cause we were right on…we were down the hallway on the other side of the doors, and she was reading them aloud. The Crispy Commander…while we couldn't hear the Crispy Commander at that point, we could sense the Crispy Commander breathing and watching and not getting…not being happy, right, but also kinda being stuck in the vent, holding the key to lock that door and then unlock the next door, which wasn’t a great plan, right, because now we kinda had the Crispy Commander where we wanted him.
But she read the letters. So, she had read letters from both of us…from all of us welcoming her and then these letters warning her. At first she was a little bit quiet and made some noises like she was on more alert, but then she started to really get excited. Like, oh, okay…like talking about method and immersion and an immersive…this is an immersive experience, all that. Now, meanwhile, we were on the other side of the door wondering what to do. This all happened very quickly, but we were like, what are we gonna do? We can't let her cross over this…we can't…one set of doors is open. Oh, we’d also talk to the person who couldn't be seen…is about fumbling.
So, I don't know how you fumble when you’re invisible, but we were hoping that the person who couldn't be seen was fumbling at some point…instead of seeming like they were working with us, that they were somehow fooled, too. But she was gonna get…she was coming towards the other doors, right, but they were still locked. She pushed on them and they didn’t open yet. Meanwhile — and in a millisecond of time — we were going back and forth with each other. What do we do? What do we do? What do we do? It was Boyd — because his experience as the Corncob Kid — who pointed at the three of us with a look. He said, B-U-L-L-Y. We were like, what, what?
I mean, we were talking, but just my memory said, you’re a clique and you’re an exclusionary clique and I’ve had a lot of experience with that, and that’s how I went from Corncob Kid to the Corncob Kid. We covered it, right? We were like, what do you mean? He’s like, talk about her before she comes through the door. She’s gonna be listening as she’s waiting for the doors to open. But we were kinda stuck. And I had held onto this secret for so long that I’m gonna tell you that I had to tell my friends, and I didn’t really know anything about acting other than what I saw on TV, but everybody’s like, I don't know how to do…and I said, okay, I’m gonna tell you guys something and you’re gonna all be very upset and unpleased with me.
We could talk about it another time, but I want you to channel your immediate feelings and talk to me…talk to her as if you were talking to me. Or, talk to me but pretend you’re talk…talk to her but pretend you’re talking to me. They were like, what, what, what? I said, you know, you guys didn’t know this, but…or maybe you found out and you’re just not telling me, but the reason I lost the scholarship was 'cause of shoplifting, and not just once, but over and over again. I got a second chance and I blew the second chance. They said, yeah, we knew, we knew, we knew you were talking to the right people to get help, and we’re proud of you, but this isn't really the best time to talk about it.
I had one more…whatever, I was gonna…anyway, it was…this was a outside scholarship with a rule about it, but I hadn’t lost my entrance into the school. But what happened that I didn’t tell you guys is that I didn’t just shoplift from stores. I stole from all of you. They were like…and then I pointed out these things that meant so much to each one of them. For Josie it was this pendant from her nana, and…she thought she lost it and she got in a lot of discipline, and she really thought she lost it. For San it was this…and this mechanical calculator thing. I don't even know what it was, some sort of math, science thing that had been passed on from his grandfather to his father to him. I don't know, I don't know, some sort of…some science, math device, but not digital. Handcrafted.
Even for Boyd…I’ll be honest, I took money from Boyd. I said, and I didn’t even take it to keep it. The two items I stole from you both, I threw them away. I didn’t just throw them away; I ruined them first, and I don't even know why I did it. I don't even…but I didn’t have to say any more because their faces showed such a range of intense emotion that they already started talking right at the door and saying things in a projection voice and…about her and her acting and the ads they had seen her in and what a joke it was and how could someone expect to compete with them? They channelled all that energy instantly through that door, and Boyd did, too, even though it was just money, money that Boyd probably needed, too. I channelled my feelings. Mine were a little bit more baffled, but you need every kind of voice there, 'cause I still don’t know why I did it.
Later on I would figure out…I learned the tools I needed, but at this time, this had become a tool we needed, because on the other side of the door, we heard the Crispy Commander saying, please proceed through the hallway, and also, close that other door. Get the door…so, things were coming apart at the seams there. She was no…the spell was kinda broken about the acting camp, and she kinda threw down the letters on the floor, the actress, and she just…and she reacted in the moment, which was good, 'cause she didn’t think it through. Like, oh, maybe I’ll…because the things my friends were saying, that I were saying, were based…it was the best acting we would ever do in our lives, the only acting we would ever do, 'cause we weren’t acting.
We were channelling or something. We were in the moment, and it was an unpleasant moment. So, she stormed right back out, right to the front door, and right out the front door is the limo pulled back up. I’m assuming her eyes were watered. She got in that limo and it went off. We had done our job, but at what cost? In the moment…and not…while I kinda need to take a break after kinda recording this, too, to know that I just didn’t take from my friends…I took and destroyed from my friends, and with an intent buried…if you’ve ever been…everybody had an opinion, the adults in my life, as they found out about this stuff, or the people in my life.
Like, well, were you angry when you did this? No. Were you sad when you did this? No. I don't know. I don't think so. In fact…and I know that it wasn’t the case even now telling you. It was…it felt good, and not good being bad. It felt good because there was some sort of miscommunication going on. So, yeah, I’m gonna take a break at this part of the story, but the story kinda continued on from here, 'cause we wouldn't get a break. But at least the actress got a break, and she broke for home in that limousine. So, we’ll take a pause here, and…goodnight, everybody.
[END OF RECORDING]
(Transcription performed by LeahTranscribes)
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Multiplex
Cotton Candy
https://www.spunparadise.com/blog/the-history-of-cotton-candy
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/the-sticky-sweet-history-of-cotton-candy
https://hudsonvalley.org/article/cotton-candy-the-toothy-history-of-a-classic-circus-treat/
Early E-Commerce
https://blog.miva.com/the-history-of-ecommerce-how-did-it-all-begin
https://www.bigcommerce.com/articles/ecommerce/
https://www.thefulfillmentlab.com/blog/history-of-ecommerce
Midnight Book Releases
https://www.wizardingworld.com/news/remembering-harry-potter-midnight-book-launches
https://bookriot.com/history-of-the-midnight-release-party/
Limousine History
https://hollywoodlimousine.com/articles/a-brief-history-limos-la-area/
https://www.big-limos.com/a-history-of-limousines/
DOWN TO BUSINESS
It’s strange that breakfast cereal comes up so much in this sleep podcast
Shoutout to the Empty Bowl podcast
Petered Out Pandering to People with Pets
Deep Dark Night United
n/a
PLUGS
Sleep With Me Plus; SleepPhones; Rusty Biscuit Links; Emily Tat Artwork; NAPAWF; Anti-Racism Resources; Ukraine Relief; Crisis Textline
SPONSORS
Helix Sleep; Zocdoc; Progressive; Lumen
INTRO
Leftover feelings
Or maybe you’re just exhausted from so many feelings
Places that work 12 hours and up
A little vague and hard to describe
We share something, I know that
No one’s ever called me Bub before
Ruminating on Fields of Cotton Candy
A strange digital way that actually works
Shared like a chain of paper
Our world is better if you’re world is better
Music on a Summer Breeze
No pressure to fall asleep here
A lot of people don’t like the show at first. Or ever.
I’ve gotten every email in the book through the past 10 years
Talking to a friend with no social pressure
I could do the same intro every time, but that wouldn’t work
Familiar and Different Every Time
STORY
Welcome to Multiplex
This one comes after 12 and before 14
Going in any order
I’m actually sitting in a twin bed in my parents’ condo at the moment
It’s not split-level
Let’s call it a condo and be done with it
Wow, Antonio made it all the way to Florida for this recording
From the border of Pascoe and Hernando Counties
Antonio really loves me and you
Thank you for the double “hyah”, Antonio
Wyatt checks in
A tale being told in parts
An associate that would become a close friend
A grand adventure that led us to some place quiet
Quiet on the Inside
No Grand Place
Explaining my old public access show that featured autumnal friends
None of it was makeup, it was all real
My friends were on the way to the leaves of ivy
Boyd offered us a way to make money for school
Alt.Juice.Fan
Helping these immersive theatre performers
Time runs differently in the mall
When we helped these people, they would become cereal mascots
Crispy Commander, Commander Crunch
Of all the autumnal figures, the person who wouldn’t be seen is the hardest to love
Read these books about growth
A locked movie theatre
Who starts these movies? Who’s running the projector?
A magical, mystical projector
Love letters from the Crispy Commander
He fell in love with a real-life actress
A grad student in her first commercial
Appealing to young adults with Frunchies cereal
Frunchies is delicious, admittedly
Seeing the humanity in this cartoon figure
This was a time when love letters wasn’t that out of the ordinary
Wait, why didn’t we include any phone calls?
CC had invited her to an immersive acting camp at the mall
We have to help CC with this plan that makes no sense
He was looking at acting books
Go get the person who can’t be seen and decorate!
He’d closed off everything so we can’t escape
It’s a bit like those stories where the person wants to be the best coach ever at any cost
The person who won’t be seen is still reading at the bookstore
Let’s get some acting books
We have to set up this fake camp
We don’t know that CC isn’t listening in from a vent
He doesn’t want to turn into a cereal mascot
Why is he changing?
If he doesn’t help, the film could melt
No film is like going over the rainbow bridge
We have to do something
We can’t bring someone else into this situation
Something isn’t adding up
They made the reservations
Who’s been making the phone calls??
The phone is in the main office, with the PA system
You get the acting stuff ready and we’re going to decorate
He’s a great chemist and baker
CC strolls in, very chipper
He’s laughing at the invisible man, covered in tea
He better get cleaned up
Going to the Party Supply Store
We can talk under the sound of blowing up balloons
CC thinks all the bases are covered
CC can surveil us but not clearly
Invisible person can trick or treat as the actress
Oh, her descriptions are in the love poems!
How will we stop the real woman from coming here?
Let’s decorate the food court with the balloons and signs
Wyatt had to take a little break
We hope a plan will come to us
IP gets cleaned up
What’s the plan?
What if we just stop the projector and take the film?
IP might be back in their world but not be a cereal icon
We’d need IP’s help to get there?
How are we going to keep her out?
Low voices and a lot of crinkling paper
Can you arrange for the limo to not bring her here immediately?
Let’s send her a letter!
A fake welcome letter and a real, informative letter
CC is no cereal genius
She’s gonna enter and follow the red carpet
We can’t get the key out without CC knowing
We’ll propose these letters to Crispy Commander
Friendship Stationery
A Welcome to Acting Camp Letter
Stash one set of letters under the red carpet
Get her to read the letters
Let her escape and then dress up as her
It seems to be a reasonable plan
CC is pleased with our fake letters
We can make boondoggles and learn Meisner together
We knew how to communicate with her
The day came and the pieces are all in place
Even in my story I can’t make it climactic
A key part of our story
She got there and read the first set of letters
The limo left but was going to return
She had a snack and signed the guest book
The Time of Automatic Doors
We could hear her reading the letters aloud
We could sense CC watching and not being happy
She thinks this is method and an immersive experience
What are we going to do?
How do you fumble when you’re invisible?
Boyd has a plan
B-U-L-L-Y
You guys are an exclusionary clique
Talk about her and make her feel not welcome
I held onto this secret that I have to tell you
Talk to her through me
I lost the scholarship because of shoplifting
I burned through my second chance
They knew that happened
I stole from all of you, not just stores
I stole Josie’s Nana’s pendant
I stole a mechanical calculator from San, a family heirloom
I took money from Boyd
I ruined them and then threw them away
I don’t why I did it
A range of intense emotion
Saying things in a projection voice
Making the actress feel not welcome
We hear her pausing
The acting camp spell is broken
She reacted in the moment, which was good for us
The best acting we’d ever do in our lives
In the Unpleasant Moment
She stormed right back out and left
I need to take a break after talking about this
It felt good, weirdly
The story will continue
At least the actress got a break
We’ll pause here
SWM+ THANKS
n/a
SUMMARY:
Episode: 1285
Title: Welcome to Acting Camp | Multiplex Ep13
Deep Dark Night United: n/a
Plugs: Sleep With Me Plus; SleepPhones; Rusty Biscuit Links; Emily Tat Artwork; NAPAWF; Anti-Racism Resources; Ukraine Relief; Crisis Textline
Sponsors: Helix Sleep; Zocdoc; Progressive; Lumen
SWM+ Thanks: n/a
Notable Language:
- Petered Out Pandering to People with Pets
- Bub
- Ruminating on Fields of Cotton Candy
- Condo
- Julius J Juice Concentrate
- Alt.Juice.Fan
- Pieces of a Plan
- Cereal Icon
- Cereal Genius
- Friendship Stationery
- Boondoggle
- The Time of Automatic Doors
- Anticipatory Moment
- B-U-L-L-Y
- Science Math Device
Notable Culture:
- The Empty Bowl podcast
- Multiplex
- Antonio Banderas
- Trick or Treat
- Meisner
Notable Talking Points:
- Leftover feelings
- Or maybe you’re just exhausted from so many feelings
- Places that work 12 hours and up
- A little vague and hard to describe
- We share something, I know that
- No one’s ever called me Bub before
- Ruminating on Fields of Cotton Candy
- A strange digital way that actually works
- Shared like a chain of paper
- Our world is better if you’re world is better
- Music on a Summer Breeze
- No pressure to fall asleep here
- A lot of people don’t like the show at first. Or ever.
- I’ve gotten every email in the book through the past 10 years
- Talking to a friend with no social pressure
- I could do the same intro every time, but that wouldn’t work
- Familiar and Different Every Time
- Welcome to Multiplex
- This one comes after 12 and before 14
- Going in any order
- I’m actually sitting in a twin bed in my parents’ condo at the moment
- It’s not split-level
- Let’s call it a condo and be done with it
- Wow, Antonio made it all the way to Florida for this recording
- From the border of Pascoe and Hernando Counties
- Antonio really loves me and you
- Thank you for the double “hyah”, Antonio
- Wyatt checks in
- A tale being told in parts
- An associate that would become a close friend
- A grand adventure that led us to some place quiet
- Quiet on the Inside
- No Grand Place
- Explaining my old public access show that featured autumnal friends
- None of it was makeup, it was all real
- My friends were on the way to the leaves of ivy
- Boyd offered us a way to make money for school
- Alt.Juice.Fan
- Helping these immersive theatre performers
- Time runs differently in the mall
- When we helped these people, they would become cereal mascots
- Crispy Commander, Commander Crunch
- Of all the autumnal figures, the person who wouldn’t be seen is the hardest to love
- Read these books about growth
- A locked movie theatre
- Who starts these movies? Who’s running the projector?
- A magical, mystical projector
- Love letters from the Crispy Commander
- He fell in love with a real-life actress
- A grad student in her first commercial
- Appealing to young adults with Frunchies cereal
- Frunchies is delicious, admittedly
- Seeing the humanity in this cartoon figure
- This was a time when love letters wasn’t that out of the ordinary
- Wait, why didn’t we include any phone calls?
- CC had invited her to an immersive acting camp at the mall
- We have to help CC with this plan that makes no sense
- He was looking at acting books
- Go get the person who can’t be seen and decorate!
- He’d closed off everything so we can’t escape
- It’s a bit like those stories where the person wants to be the best coach ever at any cost
- The person who won’t be seen is still reading at the bookstore
- Let’s get some acting books
- We have to set up this fake camp
- We don’t know that CC isn’t listening in from a vent
- He doesn’t want to turn into a cereal mascot
- Why is he changing?
- If he doesn’t help, the film could melt
- No film is like going over the rainbow bridge
- We have to do something
- We can’t bring someone else into this situation
- Something isn’t adding up
- They made the reservations
- Who’s been making the phone calls??
- The phone is in the main office, with the PA system
- You get the acting stuff ready and we’re going to decorate
- He’s a great chemist and baker
- CC strolls in, very chipper
- He’s laughing at the invisible man, covered in tea
- He better get cleaned up
- Going to the Party Supply Store
- We can talk under the sound of blowing up balloons
- CC thinks all the bases are covered
- CC can surveil us but not clearly
- Invisible person can trick or treat as the actress
- Oh, her descriptions are in the love poems!
- How will we stop the real woman from coming here?
- Let’s decorate the food court with the balloons and signs
- Wyatt had to take a little break
- We hope a plan will come to us
- IP gets cleaned up
- What’s the plan?
- What if we just stop the projector and take the film?
- IP might be back in their world but not be a cereal icon
- We’d need IP’s help to get there?
- How are we going to keep her out?
- Low voices and a lot of crinkling paper
- Can you arrange for the limo to not bring her here immediately?
- Let’s send her a letter!
- A fake welcome letter and a real, informative letter
- CC is no cereal genius
- She’s gonna enter and follow the red carpet
- We can’t get the key out without CC knowing
- We’ll propose these letters to Crispy Commander
- Friendship Stationery
- A Welcome to Acting Camp Letter
- Stash one set of letters under the red carpet
- Get her to read the letters
- Let her escape and then dress up as her
- It seems to be a reasonable plan
- CC is pleased with our fake letters
- We can make boondoggles and learn Meisner together
- We knew how to communicate with her
- The day came and the pieces are all in place
- Even in my story I can’t make it climactic
- A key part of our story
- She got there and read the first set of letters
- The limo left but was going to return
- She had a snack and signed the guest book
- The Time of Automatic Doors
- We could hear her reading the letters aloud
- We could sense CC watching and not being happy
- She thinks this is method and an immersive experience
- What are we going to do?
- How do you fumble when you’re invisible?
- Boyd has a plan
- B-U-L-L-Y
- You guys are an exclusionary clique
- Talk about her and make her feel not welcome
- I held onto this secret that I have to tell you
- Talk to her through me
- I lost the scholarship because of shoplifting
- I burned through my second chance
- They knew that happened
- I stole from all of you, not just stores
- I stole Josie’s Nana’s pendant
- I stole a mechanical calculator from San, a family heirloom
- I took money from Boyd
- I ruined them and then threw them away
- I don’t why I did it
- A range of intense emotion
- Saying things in a projection voice
- Making the actress feel not welcome
- We hear her pausing
- The acting camp spell is broken
- She reacted in the moment, which was good for us
- The best acting we’d ever do in our lives
- In the Unpleasant Moment
- She stormed right back out and left
- I need to take a break after talking about this
- It felt good, weirdly
- The story will continue
- At least the actress got a break
- We’ll pause here
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