I would not have thought that. I would not have thought I felt that way. Looking back at my childhood self, this kid who had forced my family to, you know. I learned a new song on the piano. Let me play it for everybody. Let me sing Let me dance at Thanksgiving. I thought I was confident, but I guess I wasn't. And that was something that I think I've gained through life. Hi, and welcome to Five Rando Questions, the show with unexpected questions and unfiltered answers.
I'm your host, Danny Brown, and each week I'll be asking my guest five questions created by a random question generator. The guest has no idea what the questions are, and neither do I, which means this could go either way. So sit back, relax, and let's dive into this week's episode. Today's guest is Mandy Kaplan. Mandy is an actress, voiceover artist, singer, writer, podcast host, and stinky cheese addict living in LA.
Her voice can be heard in hundreds of commercials, video games, website videos, and more. On screen, she can be seen starring in feature film 30 Nights of Sex to Save Your Marriage available on Tubi and other streamers. She also co wrote and produced the movie and blames it for the total loss of respect her family now has for her. Her hilarious cabaret Miscast, Right Singer, Wrong Song has been running in LA for 14 years, raising money for Project Angel Food.
Her podcast, Make Me a Nerd, chronicles her exploration of nerd culture that she has been afraid of her whole life. She is also in development on several projects as a TV screenwriter. So, Mandy, welcome to Five Random Questions. Thank you, Danny. I'm so happy to be here. I'm excited to have you. I know I was a guest and thank you very much for that on your Make Me a Nerd podcast. So it's nice to be able to return the favor, so to speak.
And I have to say, reading through there, obviously as we've gone through your bio, it's clear you're a super busy person. So is this why you forgot to mention your husband and amazing son in there? Well, first of all, nothing I say in that bio is true. I'm actually a pharmacist. No, I do focus on work and creativity and it is frequent. I realize. Oh, crap. I have a family I have to take care of and I do have an amazing husband and son, so I tried to just make a joke of it in the bio. Awesome.
And happy birthday to your son. You mentioned in the green room there. 15th birthday. So happy birthday, Mandy's son. I'm sure you listen to this podcast. So happy birthday. And you also mentioned that you're a stinky cheese addict. So I'm curious, A. How did that come about and what for you makes a good stinky cheese? Probably the salt content. You know, when something's very salty, that makes me happy. And I'm so. I like blue cheese, gorgonzola, truffle cheese.
And all of that is upsetting to my husband. I can't order it at a restaurant because he can't sit across the table and have stinky cheese in his face. So that's how I cheat on him. I go with other stinky cheese lovers and eat the cheese, but I think it's salt. And is it like the. Is it the stinkier the better? Like, the stronger. I like mature cheese, but not stinky. I guess I don't really have stinky cheese, but it's very mature. You know, old cheese, if you like.
So is the stinkier the cheese, the more mature, the more stronger the flavors. That just. It doesn't work that way. I'm not a cheese expert, I'm just a cheese lover. So I don't pretend to know, but I know that strong cheese that turns a lot of people off. I like that. And I hate ricotta. I hate mild cheese like that. So for me, it has to pack a punch. Awesome.
Well, speaking of stinky, we will try not have any stinky questions, but that can't be guaranteed because I have no idea what the questions are. So if you're ready, Mandy, I'm going to bring up the five random questions or the random question generator, and we'll go from there. I'm not afraid. Awesome. Okay. All right. I feel this has been preloaded almost because we've been speaking of stinky stuff. Mandy, question number one. What's the longest you've gone without showering?
Oh, I am a. I'm a big showerer, if that's a word. But if I've been sick or had like surgery or something, and they won't let you shower, so I'd say four or five days is the absolute longest. But normally I'm a one to two a day showerer. Now. Is that because you live in la? Correct. So is LA kindy more humid? I've never been to la, but is it more humid so you feel fresher, you need to shower. So just like a habit you have? It's the opposite. LA is dry and it is personal habit.
They say that women aren't supposed to wash our hair every day. I can't not Wash my hair. It feels greasy and it's not for me, but I know a lot of women only wash their hair every three days or four days or something, but I just like feeling clean and fresh. Sue me. And you'd mentioned there that you're someone that likes to have a shower once, maybe twice a day, and obviously wash your hair a lot. And use an example.
If you're sick, for example, or unfortunately, if you're in hospital for an extended period, if you've ever been in that position, how do you feel at the end? If you're like a frequent shower and you couldn't do it for, say, three, four, five longer, et cetera. If I've had a cold and I don't get in the shower for two or three days, when I do, it's almost religious. It's like a rebirth. It's so refreshing and invigorating. Which showers are, to me every day. I mean, let's get personal.
I blast music, I sing at the top of my lungs. I. You know, it's like a party in there. So if I've gone a few days without, I desperately need it and enjoy it.
I know one of my earlier guests on this season, actually, I think she kicked off the first episode of season three, Lauren Purcell, she mentioned that she has a weird thing in the shower where she plays shower belly, where she'll get a bar of soap and make little drawings, if you like, on her belly of, you know, characters, doodles, et cetera, I never heard of. And I thought, okay, that's interesting, I guess, your shower party behavior, et cetera.
Just singing, dancing away, and doing your hair, et cetera. No shower belly there. No. Awesome. Okay. Well, I feel that was a reasonably nice, easy one to get the episode kicked off. Sure. Let's see how they go if the keep is as easy as this. So question number two. Okay, yeah, yeah, I like this. Question number two. Mandy, how have you changed since you were younger? This is such interesting timing, Danny. And I think that that happens in life. Something comes up, and then it keeps coming up.
And I recently came across a binder of old memories my mom had sent me because she's trying to erase any proof of my existence in her house. So she sent me this big folder and said, here, you take it. I don't want it anymore. And it was report cards and playbills from plays I had done when I was younger. And one of the things that was in it was a local news article about I. I was in a summer theater program, and somebody Came to show what the kids were up to.
It was like Stage Door Manor, you know, one of these summer theater things. And I must have been 11 or 12 and for some reason they picked me to interview about my experience at this summer theater camp. And the quote they used was my saying I'm not a confident person and I get so nervous and then I said something cheesy like so I use it in my art because I was 11 or 12. But I would not have thought that. I would not have thought I felt that way.
Looking back at my childhood self, this kid who would force my family to, you know. I learned a new song on the piano. Let me play it for everybody. Let me sing Let me dance at Thanksgiving. I thought I was confident, but I guess I wasn't. And that was something that I think I've gained through life. I'm a pretty confident person with flaws that I acknowledge, but I'm confident now. Well, it's interesting you mentioned that you felt you were confident at that age.
As an 11 year old girl you felt you were confident but then looking back and looking at the notes that came out that your mum shared and I almost wonder if it's because it was like family friends so you knew who they were. But if, I mean, was it that case? Did you perform at school for musicals and stuff like that and you were confident then anyway or I would perform. Anytime, anywhere for anyone who would let me all the time. Still do.
I think when you're young though you haven't had failures and survived them and you haven't had successes, you've got nothing in the bank. So now as an adult I can say, well yeah, I really whiffed it on stage last night. I did not do well, but I survived. And here I am today living my life or you know, the converse of. I really nailed it. That was my best performance last night. That was great. I think when you're young you have nothing to draw on so you're just an insecure mess, I guess.
Well, I've watched some of your videos and you do very confidently love to get. And I'm going to say this in the nicest way possible, I mean it in the nicest way. But you do love to get in the faces of your audience, right up close to them, like singing to them. There's one, I don't know if it's a promo that you shared recently for your upcoming show where you're talking about snapping at them or something and you're getting right in the face and you actually Bite someone's T shirt.
I bet your kid Danny, I bit a kid and he is my son's friend and he was sitting in the front row and I was doing a song as Snoopy from youm're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. My cabaret is called Miscast and it is comedically bent. The songs are supposed to be funny. So I went to bite his shirt and go and instead I actually got his shoulder and I had to text Alex, this child I've known since kindergarten, the next day and say, I'm so sorry I bit you last night. It was a weird moment.
But yes, I will put it all out there and I do like to involve the audience. Did you have to also get in touch with his parents to say, hey, that is not a love bite, that's there. Don't be giving your son a hard time or something? That was me. His mom is a very good friend. So I think I just said, how funny is that? I bit your kid last night. You know, that is awesome because as I mentioned, you do come across as very confident and very stage polished.
And I mean that again, I mean that in a nice way. I don't mean you're like forced or anything. So very confident and professional. Is there something that you might, if you got a chance to go back in time that you might want to tell your 11 year old self about confidence or you know, perform and keep out or anything like that? Well, I think it is the value of failing, the value of bombing. I never did stand up, but I actually teach kids.
I've directed musicals for kids and stuff and I tell them all the time, you will survive. Even if you go up on stage and you forget all your lines and you pee your pants, you will survive. Your life will go on and you'll learn from it. And I wish I had. You know, that's why I try to instill that in kids. And I think I grew up in the 80s and I think that that was not a time where my director would have said that to my 12 year old self.
They would have said, go out there, do it, you'll be great, Smile, sing, dance. If you mess up, keep going. But they wouldn't have said, like, if you mess up, that's okay, you're going to learn from it and grow from it. Do I sound cheesy? Yeah, no, no, I, I agree. I, I'm also, I was a teen in the eighties and I agree, like very different generational, you know, approaches to encouragement, especially when it comes to adults in a certain position. Talking to kids and encouraging.
And if I'd messed up, I used to play rugby back in Scotland, I would have got not a punch, but a good clip around the ear, you know, from the. The gym teacher, because that was allowed. And that's how you encourage players to be better. You physically abused them. So, yeah, very different. Yeah. So if you're going back in time, don't come back in time and be a rugby player in Scotland high schools. That's just my recommendation. Mandy, you grew up in Scotland. I would have guessed New Jersey.
Oh, interesting. I'm just kidding. Interesting. But yeah, I guess maybe a lot of Scots moved to New Jersey as expats. Who knows? I was totally kidding because of your accent. No, no worries at all. So I like that. I like the confidence part of that. It's always, you know, and we try and instill it. In our case, I know you obviously instill it in your son and even, you know, confidently biting his friends, which is always fun things to do.
So on that note, then, let's have a look at question number three. Three. This is an interesting one. I'm curious about this, Mandy, Question number three. Would you rather be stuck in a house with someone you hate or being stuck in a house alone? I think this answer has changed in my life. And 20 years ago I would have said stuck with somebody I hate because I actually didn't like being alone. And now in my elder years, I really enjoy alone time and I really thrive.
So my knee jerk reaction was like, not alone, not alone. And then I thought, no, wait, I do like being alone. The caveat being I have to have my phone with my music and my podcasts, and I can't, you know, it can't be, like, quiet. Right. So better alone. You can certainly be in a house on your own physical being and no one else. And you think that maybe comes from.
And maybe not, obviously, like I mentioned in the bio there, the introduction, you're a very busy person, so downtime is going to be key for you, I would imagine. But you also feel that might come with parenthood, where houses get busier, lives get busier because of, you know, schools, school runs, all that kind of stuff. So it's nice to decompress alongside all the other stuff that you might do. Absolutely.
I think my appreciation of alone time started when I had a child and it felt like, oh, I might never be alone again. This person might always be attached to me in some way. And so, yes, I agree wholeheartedly. Don't you feel that way? I Do purely from a point of view that our kids are super busy with sports and stuff, so they've got school already, then they've got sports, so they're super busy. My wife does a lot of the driving. Kudos to her for that to get them about. So it's nice.
But I always find that there's always something to do as well, you know, so you do your work day, then you get dinner made and you got something else done. So any little time that you can grab to yourself. I adore it, to be honest. Me too. And before the pandemic, I've always worked out of the house, but my husband worked in an office and now he's home, he works remotely and so it's very rare that I'm alone in my house. I used to be here alone all day.
So now I really appreciate just time by myself. Now does that also equate to can you watch like a super scary movie and be the only person in your house or do you need someone else to be? Not need, but feel more comfortable with, hey, my son's upstairs, my husband's in the garage or something like that? No, I like scary movies. I can watch them by myself. Okay, so we're all good then. We don't need anybody in the house. Awesome. And what age do you think?
I mean you mentioned earlier, obviously parenthood had a part in that. Was that like the main cutoff point? Did you enjoy being in amongst yourself or in places yourself before that, or was it just. It just gradually came about? I don't know. I mean, I was a young, in my 20s, some things, like I loved having roommates. I couldn't fathom living alone. I liked being in a dorm in college. I liked being surrounded by people.
And I'm not sure when the switch happened, but I feel like, I think when the options are taken away with your roommate, you could say, hey, get out, I'm doing something. But with your family, you're tethered to them. And I think that that all of a sudden makes it start to feel more desirable to be alone. I know one of my guests from, oh, I'm gonna say season one, I could be wrong. Maybe in season two he's an empty nester.
Him and his wife are empty nesters now, so they've got adult kids and they've moved on. They still come visit, obviously, but they're out the home. And one of his answers was around is kind of similar where he really, I think it was about regrets and he really missed the fact that it was just him and his wife now. So whereas before he was, you know, praying for silencing and time away from the kids, etc. Now that they'd gone, he was missing all that noise, hubbub, et cetera.
And I wonder if, you know, if this question was asked to you in, say, 10, 15 years time or whenever your son may move out the house, if the same answer would apply. I'm always curious about these kind of things, if that changes. It's an emotional thing to think about. As we have teenagers, the thought that they might not be there in a few years is heartbreaking to me. You know, I want him to fly out of the nest. But, yes, I might change my answer again in 10 years and say I'd rather be.
Well, not. Not with someone I hate, but just my cherishing alone time might diminish and because I'll miss him so much. No, I hear you. And we'll have to revisit this. I mean, I'll be imagining the same boat. So let's make a date for 10 years down the line and see. See how we feel. Yes. Okay. Perfect. Okay. So let's have a look then at question number four. Question number four, Mandy, what was the best thing to happen to you in the past year? Wow. It's been a terrible year.
It's. God. I will say that my son Casey decided to do a production of Chicago with a teen theater company that we had never worked with before. And seeing that production, they were all like, Broadway ready. And Casey did so well, and it felt like this thrilling shift for him from doing plays with kids to being an independent performer. And we loved it. We went to six shows right in a row. We just couldn't get enough of it. And it was exhilarating and fun and a real highlight.
So, you know, gun to my head, that's my answer. But, yeah, but it's been a tough year, I think, for a lot of people. And so, unfortunately, that has probably marred my vision of the whole year. Yeah. Thankfully, you've had that positive. That one. At least that one positive. The fact that it's your son is even better. Yes. And does he take any of his creativity from. Because obviously, you're a very creative person.
You've got your podcast, you've got your musical, you've got a whole bunch of voiceovers and a movie that you wrote and produced, even if it made your family tinker away in the background there. But they've got a whole bunch of creativity this year. Some naturally take some of that from you? Oh, yeah. Is your husband also creative, or is it mostly from your end? My husband is hilarious, and he can play the guitar, and he is very handy and creative with his hands.
And I am all singing and dancing and comedy. And Casey, I think, has taken aspects of both of those things. Casey can play a lot of instruments. He's very musical, but he also loves to get up on stage and make people laugh and sing and dance. It's a good combination. That's awesome. And has he. Because I know sometimes kids can see the parents perform while it's at home. You know, singing, dancing, doing whatever at home, just being happy.
But sometimes that can make kids be embarrassed or feel embarrassed, especially as they get older, you know, from little kids to teens, et cetera. And I know sometimes our kids give me a look or give my wife a look because we've done something. Has Casey ever done that? Has he always been just really happy that he's in a creative family like that? So, sure, there are moments when I'm joking with his friends, and he's like, oh, mom, you're just so embarrassing. And I get that.
But he also has grown up. When I was teaching kids, he kept saying, I wish you could be my teacher. I wish you were directing the play at my school. And he always respected me and what I was doing. And I think part of it was he saw how happy it made me and how much I loved the kids I was working with. And some of his experiences were like, this grumpy guy comes in and screams at us every Tuesday after school and doesn't want to be there. And so he was having a different experience.
So when it comes to professional endeavors, Casey's not embarrassed by me. He's very proud of me when it comes to my, you know, making a dumb joke because I think I'm cool with his friends. He is very much embarrassed by me. And it sounds like, obviously, I mean, obviously, you guys got a great relationship. When he schooled the Chicago production, was he leaning on you for tips and being involved, or was it more standoffish and just. He went ahead with his class. He did it.
And I help him run lines, and he'll say, how was that? And I'll give him a few notes, but it was all him. I didn't want to interfere with his process. He's really talented and hardworking and makes me really proud. Do your kids play the sports you played? No. No. So I used to play. My daughter does cheer. I could never. Even in my fittest, younger days, I could Never do what she does anywhere near it. She's like bouncing up, jumping backwards, everything.
And my daughter plays soccer or football from uk, but soccer anyway, which I dabbled with, but I was more rugby, so I more just like, you know, bashing into people. So, yeah, I see what they do. And I just. Like you were mentioning with Case, it blows my mind as to how they can do what they do at such a young age as well. Right. I mean, 15. I know it's sort of that middle age between childhood and into adulthood, but still kind of young. I feel for, you know, they're still.
They're still kids at the end of the day. Yep. But would you. How would you feel, or how would they feel if you said, you know, in the second half of that game you did this and you didn't pursue the play or whatever, and you gave them notes, Would they be like, oh, thanks, yeah, you're right. Or would they be pissed? Yeah. So I've done that with my son because not. Not because I played soccer, but we watch it together.
That's how he got started, as we used to watch it, and I would take him down the park, we'd kick him out, I'd tell him, you know, why certain things would work the way they would, et cetera. So you ask for feedback and over again. But whether it's accepted or not, it's a different, you know, different matter altogether, which is fine. It's his game, you know, it's his approach and it's. It's down to how many coaches in his team to do what they wanted.
I'd hate to say something that basically was the opposite of what his coach wanted him to do for a game or for a session, etc. Right. So that'd be why I would step back and. And obviously, as we've. We've talked about, you're very creative and it sounds like Casey's coming from a similar point. Out of all your creative outlets, is there one that you'd love to see Casey go into, or do you not have a preference if it came to it? No, I just want him happy.
I want him to be able to support himself, which is tough if you say, I'm going to be a singer or an actress or musician, but whatever it is, I want him to be as happy as he is now doing it. He loves music. He's just. It's 247 for him these days and I want that for him. Perfect. Well, hopefully in again 10 years or so, we might be revisiting this episode And Casey's got a massive career behind him in whichever field he takes there on the outlets. Knock wood. Back at ya with your kids. Thank you.
So we're doing really well here, Manny. We've reached almost the end of the hot seat time for you. So let's bring up question number five. I think this is a good way to finish the question. The hot seat for you. Question number five, Mandy, how would your friends describe you? Do you remember the movie Election with Reese Witherspoon? I do know of it. I have never seen it, but I do know of it. Oh, okay.
Well, her character's name is Tracy Flick and she is absolutely type A. You know, when she wants something, she's gonna drive everybody crazy to get it. And I think that's the reputation I have with my friends. I'm very type A. They, I know they come to me in sheer terror when they have to change a plan. I know we said we'd have lunch this weekend, but actually I can't have lunch. I'm sorry. And they know I've been planning lunch. I know what I'm ordering for lunch.
I, you know, so I know that they would say I'm funny and generous and kind, but type A, I think would trump all of those things. Oh, I used a dirty word, but. We'Ll have to bleep that one out. But yeah, I think, I know they'd say a lot of nice things.
And do you think the type A control, if you like, for lack of a better description, do you think that's because it's like a bounce off from your creative side where it's more maybe free floor and you want to, you know, expand and not be stuck to a certain, you know, mindset or linear path, etc. When it comes to creative side, do you think maybe that's bounce from there or is it more from maybe, you know, how you've been, how you've seen others or whatever that's made?
I need to be in control of these kind parts of my life, for example. I think it's like a natural part of me. I've always been a planner and I've always had follow through, which I'm very proud of. And I can't understand why the rest of the world doesn't operate that way. It's just that's who I am. I know I have every day scheduled. I'm trying the older I get to relax and say, oh, the plan blew up, you know, we're not going there, we're going here instead. And we're not going at five.
We're going at seven. Okay. I try to be relaxed, but. But it's hard. I want everything to go according to plan. Has there ever been an example you mentioned? Your friends know they'd say really nice things about you, but they know that when it comes to organizing stuff, not to step outside the. Not to paint outside the lines almost. When it comes to the organization of something, was there an example where something happened, it was planned, and for whatever reason, it went askew.
And that's when your friends realized, oh, crap. Based on your reaction, now we know not to do that again. Well, I think my closest friends know, because I will call my best friend and bitch about a different friend, right? And I'll say, she canceled lunch at the last minute, and that's so frustrating. And so my best friend knows, oh, you don't do that to Mandy. Like, Mandy. This stuff drives her crazy.
My more casual friends aren't afraid of me yet, but they know that I'll send a text that, you know, hey, ladies, we said we'd meet in a month. Wondering what time. Where are we meeting? What can we bring? Who's driving? Like, I want to make that plan so they get the sense of, like, well, geez, it's a month away. What does she care what we're eating or what time we're meeting? But I need to know those things. Does that make sense? It does. And it sounds like you've got that nice buffer as well.
Now, can you say that to all your friends, or is there generally one really good friend that. That you're a good. That's a good buffer for you. Sorry. So if someone does, you know, piss you off, you think, okay, I'm gonna go speak to her now and rant about her over there. Yeah. Yeah. I have a best friend, and my husband always has to hear it, but it's really a me problem. I rationally know the world should not run on my clock and my schedule, but when I'm in the moment, I want it to.
And I know that's not realistic. And so I would never say to you. You said we were having lunch, and you canceled lunch, and how could you do that to me? I keep. I just say, no problem, but inside, it's like, oh, now where am I gonna get my salad with avocado or whatever I had in mind? Mo. Now, I feel really bad for having to reschedule this chat, because now I know what that must have done to you. So I apologize. Mandy. I feel bad for that not at all. But because life happens.
Right as I was talking, I thought, oh gosh, Danny's gonna think this is side eye at him, but it's not. But do you want to see the voodoo dolls I made of you? Oh, that would explain so much now. That would really explain so much. I mean, seeing my wife the last few weeks. Oh, what's going on here? Old age kicking in? Nope, just Mandy over in her leg stabbing again. Yeah. Well, Mandy, we have reached the end of the five random questions and thank you so much for being in a hot seat.
As is only fair, I've had you in the random question hot seat for the last half hour. Just over that. So it's now time for me to hand over the baton and place the question master rule over to you. Okay, first of all, do I get a grade for my performance? Well, let me think. Until the voodoo doll statement, I was probably going to see round about an E. Yeah, yeah, definitely. And it took a nosedive when I admitted. Yeah, okay. But yeah, I'm gonna go like, I don't even know.
There's like a letter in the Alphabet now for the grid for that one. A negative Z. Okay, well, I think as you and I have gotten to know each other over two podcasts and as your listeners will realize, I'm obsessed with food. I'm a foodie, I love to cook, I love to eat. My question to you is, if you could only eat one ethnicity of food, which one would you choose? And then I have a follow up question. Oh, two. That's cheering. Okay, then the first one, super easy, it would be Indian curry.
Proper Indian curry being from the uk. It's one of, it's funny, it's classed as one of the UK's national dishes. Obviously it's not from the UK, but some variations of Leandern curry are from UK because they were made to be, you know, to allow British taste buds to, to eat it properly and not be, you know, not be affected by the spices that you can get in a proper curry. So yeah, I mean, we don't, I don't really get that in Canada.
You can, we do have, you know, curry restaurants or Indian restaurants in Canada. I feel they're just a little bit different. And again, maybe it's like because they've been tapered a little bit for the North American palette as opposed to the European palate, as opposed to the actual original, you know, palate from India where it originates from. So yeah, I would say Indian curry and probably I would imagine a buna or Something like that.
But that's a UK dish, so I'm not even sure if that'd be classed as a curry. What is that? A buna? So it's like. I mean, you can get, well, it's chicken, pork. You can get vegetarian, you know, versions of it as well. But it's just basically the spice. I'm not sure what the spices are. You can get, like, different, you know, variations of the same meal based on the spice that you put together and the sauces and the veggies et all the amazing stuff that the chefs put in to make this dish.
So I'm not sure what exactly what a buna is, but it's like, it's just. It's really like a really nice sauce driven meat for me anyway, meat driven dish that comes with, you know, you can have like rice at the side, so some poppy domes at the side, some pilar rice, etc. So it's. Yeah, I would, if I could only eat one dish for the rest of my life, would not be good for my stomach or my poor plumber. But, yeah, Indian curry.
Okay, so you actually answered my follow up question, because I was going to say, like you said, Indian is the nationality, and then I was gonna say, but what? One dish. And you. You did it, Danny. But how spicy do you like it? Because I'm a. I love spicy food. Like, very spicy food. Yeah. I used to be the same as you. I used to love and could eat really spicy. As I've gotten older, I find that I've cut to tem.
Put it a little bit because it's not sitting as well as it used to, to keep it, you know, polite. Yeah. But I still love a spice. It's funny, we were in the or, I was in London last week in the UK for the podcast show, and I was there with the Captivate team. I work at Captivate. So the team was there. And on the. The last night, I'm going to say the team went out for a dinner and we went to a Chinese restaurant and we all got various tissues, several were sharing, et cetera.
But at the end, it was like some food left and we were just helping ourselves. And I had a tiny little bit of pepper in amongst this dish, which we didn't expect at all. So we all had this little bit of pepper and it was super hot. We were dying. There's tears, there was snot coming out our nostrils. It was horrible, horrible sight. So I love spicy food, but I tend to find the spicier end is a Little bit out my range now, so probably medium to hot, I would say.
Whereas I'm guessing you're up there with like the, like the last dab on hot ones, for example, that kind of spice level. Yeah. I recently did a podcast that we tried to recreate hot ones and we had like five in a row and the last one was called Dragon's Breath and now it was spicy. I'm not going to pretend there was nothing to it, but my two, the two co hosts were both coughing and spittling and snotting and I was just like, woo, that's hot. But I like it.
It's like a pleasant discomfort or burn. And so, yeah, I like it very, very hot. I can't cook that way for my husband and kid though. They would not be able to handle it. Oh, same here. And that's why I. I'd probably be Indian curry, because I can't make that at home because the smell. My kids and my wife especially, just, they're okay with smell, but they don't like it, you know, wafting about the house, has it been cooked, et cetera. But yeah, I'm with you.
Like, I don't mind heat, but as long as it's flavorful, it has to have flavor. If it's just heat for heat's sake, it's what's the point? I can just like stick a soldering iron on my tongue and be done with it that way, you know. But no, that was awesome and thank you. I'm going to have to go to a restaurant and find a restaurant now because now I really, really want to a curry. So a bit. Thank you for that. I wish that for you. I appreciate it.
So, Andy, as you mentioned, we've gotten to know each other over the last couple of podcasts and hopefully we'll continue that for sure. For anybody that wants to know more about your own podcast and your musical endeavors and every other creative outlet that you've got in your life at the moment. Where's the best place for them to find you, connect with you, etc. Probably Instagram. Mandy Kaplanclavns and those are both with K's.
I post about my show, Miscast, Right Singer, Wrong Song, and I post about my podcast, Make Me a Nerd. I'm on bluesky andymiscast and I do have a website, mandy kaplan.com where they can see everything. I will be sure to leave all these details in the show notes as usual. So if you're listening to this on your favorite podcast app or even on the website. Just check out the episode show notes and everything will be linked through to Mandy as normal.
So again, Mandy, thanks for sitting down in today's five Random Questions. Thank you. Thank you for listening to five Random Questions. If you enjoyed this week's episode, I'd love for you to leave a review on the app you're currently listening on or [email protected]. review and if you know someone else that would include enjoy the show, be sure to send them this way. It's very much appreciated. Until the next time, keep asking those questions.