Louisiana. Why am I getting reports that you banned dancing. We're gonna bow. So we turned the whole state and Footloose. Can I be Kevin Bacon? Can you dance? Of course, salsa Tango. Merengue Bachata and dirty. I can teach you the good ones. Swing Zydeco Cajun Jitterbug. Y'all are forgetting the best to dances out there lying and square. What is this geometry? You forget Circle and triangle. Or just don't know how to do. He all just jealous. You can't boot scoot.
Like me, what in the world is happening, right? Right now. Something beautiful little girl, a sloppy time. Is it really that was four months ago? Some cool Young found it and people freaked out so it's not banned. No, can never ban this Fade Out. Oh I still don't know what that means and you never will. Hello and welcome to season 1 episode 6 of Katie and Eric's infinite Quest at ADHD Adventure. Today, we have a special guest, Bend Brainerd comedian, extraordinaire in this episode.
I talk about alligator wrestling. We talked to him about having ADHD and being a content creator. I'm pretty sure I made a kill or Citrus joke citrus-based joke as always.
Before we begin. We have a couple of announcements, first and foremost, if you're interested in supporting infinite Quest, we do have a patreon Global patreon.com slash infinite Quest, but if you're strapped for cash, like we are the best and easiest way that you can support us is by going to your podcast, listening venue of choice and leaving us a review and a few Stars, alright? That concludes our announcement section.
And without further Ado, here's Ben Brainerd on Katie and Eric's infinite quest in ADHD Adventure. Here we go. Transition function. Hi everybody, and welcome back to Katie and Eric Symphony Quest is me Q source. And it's me. Hey dude. And we're here with an exceptionally cool and special guests. I'm trying not to freak out. It's fine. It's been Brainerd from Tick-Tock. Hello. Hello. Its me from Tick-Tock. It's we see, it's true. It's here. You heard him talking it's real.
So you might know, then he does, he does many things on Tick Tock, he's a fantastic comedian. You might know him as his State videos are very popular in which he wears. Many hats. We're going to talk about that a little bit later in the show. But you know what? Ben was kind enough to come on and we're just thought we would vibe and chat about Tick-Tock, and ADHD, and comedy and all sorts of cool things. So um, here we go transition. It's also really hot here in lovely Georgia.
It's hot and humid and we're film were recording in a different location than normal and it's like 10 times more humid in this room than I expected it to be. I just wanted that to be stated on the record because you guys know what state I live in actually know what state. It's Florida. I live in Florida the Hot humid capital of the country. I believe it's not good and we just had a tropical storm. Hit. Yes or no. I'm fine. I'm Hannah alligator at this point.
I don't care as fine as someone is legally allowed to be in Florida. That's what I'm just doing. I never tell people. I'm doing fantastic but I am. I'm well, I'm living, I'm surviving, that's good. Oh my gosh. Well, thank you so much for being here. This is like really cool. We were so excited. Cited when you agreed to be on and like I speak for both of us. When I say, we think you're just great on Tick-Tock and yeah, just really pumped that you're
here. And you imagine our surprise when you were like, also, I have ADHD and we're like, one of imagine my surprise, when my psychiatrist was like, yeah, no, that's exactly what you have. I wasn't surprised at all but he did not even look at my results. He like made me fill out this paperwork because I was like, I think this is what I have and he was like, oh yeah. This out and I filled out and he didn't even look at his like, know you got it.
And what was this? Was this recently, this was actually just in January. Okay, well, hey, welcome to the club. Yeah. He's a late diagnosis person. Yeah, I yeah. So there's a lot of us because we just grew up thinking that things were fine before you also like really good in school when you were a kid. So yeah people just called you lazy and not broken, right? Yeah. So yep. Yep. Yep. Yep.
That's pretty much how I really My God, all of my school is just like, why aren't you doing the work? I'm like, cause I'm getting a job. Why would I do that? That doesn't make any yet. And then I got to college and it's not like the work was all that hard. There was just more of it and I had to travel to get to college and I didn't live a mile away like I did in high school and then I got bored.
So I just stopped going all together and then I was like, you don't have I think I have this thing and then I went and Both my parents, like, nah. And then I went in the psychiatrist like, oh yeah, for sure. Well, congratulate mean, I always feel like weird because people tell me all the time, they like, hey, I just got diagnosed. I'm always like, congrats like that seems wildly inappropriate graduation. There's some, there's some, it's a wiggly.
Yeah, but it's oh. So you were in academically successful kid which this? This Is my wheelhouse because I that is my story is I was always been brilliant at school because I didn't have to try and then the trying happens and then you go, what? I don't like this. My brain do not like and then he's bad things happen. So what was was that part of the decision that you made to go talk to a psychiatrist? Like what was the if you feel comfortable? Like, what was the did you have
an impetus? Well, okay, so I feel like it's important to note here that And I have combination type, so do I? Yeah. So impulsive decisions is for sure like I'm not gonna sit here and be like, I sat down. I made a logical analytical and like I looked at my life and I said, this is the moment. This is the step that I need. It was just kind of like there's
a thing, I think I have. And I'm free on Tuesday, its most, and then I walk in. He's like, what you brought you in, I was like impulsive decision-making, use it. Well, He grabs you by the shoulders swung around and said, yep, you got it. Watch out there. Got it. I was actually working with loud noises. I was working in a, in a call center in Orlando at the time and I had a really hard time actually doing the job. It was just like, it was all it
wasn't like a long day. It was only like four to five hours of work and like 30 minutes or. So, a bit at the end was just cleaning up from the day which was fine, but it was still Like four hours of very monotonous work that I didn't want to do. It was just calling people that very obviously did not want to be called and I had a really hard time actually convincing myself to do the work. So I was like I wonder if there's a reason turns out.
Yeah, sure is always to get medicine so that I could sit down and do the work then I lost that job so it doesn't matter. I'm curious. I'm Cheering. So the call center, I'm picturing you in like a like a, like an officee lini chair with a headset on and you're like, leaning back and you're kind of like bouncing while someone's on the phone. Did you have? I got like, where was there, like a default fidget or was it? Did you Pace? Did you like throw a ball up in
the air and catch it? Like you had to be going up. Steve McQueen. Exactly. Like. Okay, first of all, it was like a very low-key call center. Like it was just for like Like one small business so there was like six of us that worked there throughout the week at any given time there was like two maybe three of us in the office and the office was just a house that they put some desks in. So there was like a kitchen right behind me there was like a bed off to my right.
Like it was just wonderful like it's smoothie, our like a place to work in which did not help. And yeah, so I would do enough to when you looked at the paperwork at the end of the night. You'd be like he's an average worker, but it would just be that would be out of fear. Be the end of my shift. I like oh no and I would just be rapid dialing like numbers on the phone. Like hello do you want? No Jello? Do you want? No so I don't think I would I don't know if I have like my legs shake.
I do that a lot. It's Shaking right now. That's a thing that I do. I would listen to podcasts and stuff. Nice, well, I was like at work in my like just quietly or I would like or I would watch like TV on the computer like quietly and if someone actually answered a call that I would just pause it really quick and go. So I would just make it so monotonous which sometimes it would work very well. But sometimes the extra stimulus would be too much and that Only focus on the other thing.
Yeah, it's a delicate balance. You have to strike. You did it. Congratulations. You made it halfway through the episode someday. You made it 15 minutes to the episode someday when we're famous podcaster, will have a commercial here, probably for Casper mattress or me undies, but right now, we don't really have anything to say. Let me see parachute. So hey, thanks for listening. Do you really appreciate you? Don't forget next week is our dungeon dragon.
I'm really excited and the page. We also have figured that was really good, really cars in the commercial Okay, bye. Hey, drunk. Patreon.com transition. So what was it like? So going from the call center, where you were, like, you know, kind of like struggling to, like, do the thing to like, winding up in March, there's a pandemic on to like, now you're doing tick-tocks, like every day, what was it like in terms of like that, what was that transition like, how did that even happen?
How did you wind up on Tick-Tock? Like what is your Tick? Tock story Tick, Tock stories. I was really reluctant to download it. Say I'm actually Because yeah, me too. I don't I thought it was just a trend that go away and much like every other Trend at, like, musically came first. I was, I was, I never downloaded musically. I never got Vine. I never got in and I never watched any of those like the only Vine references. I know where because people said one around me and I said, what
is that? And they said you don't know and then they would have to show me. But I like I've never been on Vine or watched any of that stuff. I barely watched Tick-Tock. I'm just now recently. Italy like started to actually watch Tick-Tock but it's so funny your head sometimes you're like yeah person so much better than me. Oh my God. It wasn't even that I just never wanted to.
I don't I don't know if there's somebody at one point and this was if you look back like my first video ever was like in February, like, I haven't I downloaded it in February, I didn't have it for a very long time before I got my first viral video and that's not supposed to To be like I'm that good?
It's just that's a testament to how much I didn't want Tick Tock. Somebody was like, Hey, if you're going to be a comedian or an entertainment at all you have to download Tick-Tock. Trust me, this is my job and I was like, fine, so I got it and I started putting out videos quarantine hit and I put out a video every single day for the
next 30 days and day. 14 was The first table sketch video and so I was like, I guess I'll just keep doing these and we're not were eight months and she's so okay. So I promise I won't I'm going to try and ask you only really good questions about your doodle sketches. But my my main question and this is one like I've because I've been watching your videos for like a long-ass time. Do people like, did you have to get all of the stuff or like, as as like you got more popular to people start.
Ending, you like this is the thing of my state. Like here are the things of my people like how did you get stuck on this? Is this is what I'm worried about. The most people sent me most of the stuff so if you if you look at like the very first few and even some of the characters now the original idea wasn't supposed to be like a thing that I'm a series. It was just like a one-off idea that I had and it was just those five characters of Florida California.
The government New York and Texas because I felt like those would be the best. They have the most crazy personalities that the biggest and their outfits were very much. Not anything specific, right? Florida had a tank top and a flamingo hat that I just had just stuck. Yeah, Texas. Were, you know, the the flannel with the cowboy hat but I just had California. We're Ward unbuttoned flannel with a beanie and glasses that I just had New York, had a trench
coat weirdly that I had. And at first DC was just a polo. So it none of it was just like State related stuff. It was just things that I had. And when I moved on from that I started asking my friends. If I could borrow stuff that they had, like, I have a friend who's a really big Ohio sports fan and I was like, hey, can I borrow some Um, something gear. And he gave me an Ohio, State jersey and her hiyo State hat.
Then I asked my buddy, Lou, if I could borrow his Saints jersey, oddly enough, my friend Lou gave me Louisiana gear and that's what I use to this day is just the jersey that he gave me. So I asked people if I could borrow stuff and then it event, by that time it had taken it off enough. And people were like, can I send you stuff? And I was like, I gotta get a p.o. box. And then I did. And now everything you see back here, I don't think I bought a single hat and this is
impressive. This isn't even all of them. This is probably like a third of my hat's. How I'm curious. Have there ever been any states that you like we're having a hard time personifying like California, California of coffee, like liberal whatever, Florida alligators, crazy. But like, yeah, I have ever been a state. We're like, what is that states? Like identity. How do I do a caricature of that
state? Most of the Midwest, I was like I was sitting here thinking because I'm from Illinois, I'm from Michigan. And so I was like, how many times have people from Illinois, been like offended by your every time? You know, Cardinals and not Cubs and it's just like, yeah. So I wore the Cub stuff because that's what was sent to me. And people are like, you know, Illinois It just Chicago. And I said, I would I beg to
differ. There's nothing like, if I leave if I leave Chicago, I'll just hit corn and I'm not going to discuss about corn. See, they're going to be Chicago or you're gonna and then and listening for in costume. I'll send you a bunch of like, John one, really? You can. I mean, what really put me off on the idea that the entire Midwest is the same is when I did the first Ohio sketch, which was the first midwest state that I did pee. Who would comment things?
Like, no, that's Michigan or no, that's Illinois, or no. That's this. I'm like, all of you are the same thing. Like, I owe ask people for information about Ohio and they gave me stuff. And then later, I asked people for information about Indiana, and they gave me the same stuff other than, like, a few things.
Like, the only difference was that, like, Ohio puts chili on spaghetti and Cincinnati and like Indiana has a town called Santa Claus. Like, other than I was like very specific thing, exactly the same state and that's what happens everywhere. You get one, big city and everything outside of it is the exact same for the entire minute. Like, it's just Wyoming. What what, what am I gonna do for Wyoming? Yeah. Jeff Wyoming's. Just always kind of frustrated that it's at the end of every
alphabetical list. Yeah, it's all thing. The only reason Colorado was any different is because they have legal weed. They have mountains and we'd and that's what separates called righto. So that has to be his personality is mountains and he's just a crunchy weed, smoker, she beat. Its, it also has to be hard though, to because like, I mean, comparatively like you have your it like what? Like 1.5 million followers right now.
Something crazy. So like we're pretty small fish, he's compared to you but see you have more eyes. Like you've got more people looking at you and saying like that's Illinois. Hey like what is that? Like having having that many people just like watching your stuff all the time? Is that, does it ever get like overwhelming or weird? Not really, really think about it, honestly. Hey, it's not, I think is it's just a law of big numbers or something. It just doesn't matter. It doesn't really.
I don't feel it any differently. It was there a point when you were, like, okay, now I don't have to, like, I'm not, I'm not. Not looking anymore or you have have you never looked? I used to look it got to a point but it's not because like, you know, I didn't want to, it's just that I couldn't possibly keep up everything because it's not just Tick-Tock that I'm posting on. I'm also posting on YouTube and Instagram and patreon and Twitter and so I like it
combined across all platforms. I've probably got like 2 million followers. So when I post it on tick, tock It get like a few hundred comments but then I'll also get those same comments on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter and Patriot. And I there's just no way to possibly keep up with all the comments anymore. So what I'll do is I'll post I might respond to some early comments but then I'll just look back at it and like a couple hours and whatever comments or at the top.
I'll I might like I'll like it and respond to that, but it's just it's impossible to keep up anymore. As far as information about the state I asked people to Tell me what I should do for their state. So I'm not like personally going out and be like, this is what I think of Illinois. It's just like, I'll ask people like, hey, what's special about Illinois? And then they'll, like, people from Illinois, will tell me about Illinois, and then that's what, I'll turn into the sketch.
So, for the most part, I'd say most of my comments are pretty much like, hey, this is spot on the one that, and I think it got the most backlash about was Michigan. Oh, I'm from Michigan. Let's do this. Yeah, and the only Reason is because people from Michigan, tend to think that the, the Upper Peninsula, just doesn't matter or exist. So yeah, that's the thing, I wore Detroit is also a yes, that's why we're mad, it's because we know it's just that, it's so much better.
We just can't possibly acknowledge it. We were doing the same where, the movie was terrible. I wore Detroit close to represent the lower Peninsula, so I had like a lion's Jersey and tigers hat and then I spoke with a, with a you What the you Pur accent. Nice. And everyone was like, that's not what we sound like. And I said I would beg to differ. I would I don't think you ever heard yourself in a mirror? It was agreed like growing up in Michigan in like not here getting.
So used to the accent and I'm moving to California and then going back it's like do oh my god, do I sound like shit? People will comment. Like that's not what we sound like and then I'll respond with that's not what? You sound like, and I bet if you left your house, you'd probably hear it. Do you feel any, like, a smug sense of vindication in getting to represent Florida as a person
who lives in Florida? Because everybody was shits on Florida. Like, everybody always shits on Florida and it's just like, I've seen your material. You should on Florida. Wait a minute, do what I do it accurately that's true. This precise like this kind of precision. It comes like I don't I don't think I feel that. I mean I've seen like those
those videos. Some of the artists on Tick-Tock will do like I'm turning all these states into the tick talkers, that best represent them and like I get tagged in that a lot with people just go on then Brainerd for Florida because I play Florida but like I'll be the, I don't know. Mr. Hamilton lives here to he's got four million more followers than me. I think he's probably, I mean, he'd way too nice to be a representative of the city.
But he's got a he's got a bit much bigger following than I do when I when I see people make fun of Florida. It's never very like specific. It's just kind of like Florida's dumb and crazy. And then when I do it it's like here's an actual article about a thing that happened in Florida and I'm going to make jokes about this specific thing. At least I tried to track him down, possible. Yeah. Yeah. I mean I live 30 minutes away from A lake with over 10,000 alligators in it. Like, what?
This is just a normal thing and nobody talks about it, I guess. Just, yeah, it's there. That's it. Who counted the alligators? What? Oh, somebody, I don't know. Yeah. Is they had for environmental displacement reasons. Like, you got to know how many just about how many alligator in there. So they count the alligators and every hurricane season, we count the alligators again, be like, well, there's a few missing. Okay. Okay, look, I don't like to eat. They're here tonight.
I like to Circle back to something that was just said. What does one do in a situation in which an alligator has gone? Missing, is there some people find it? It just like in their backyard. Yeah, it happens a lot. There's like neighborhoods out near that area and if they have like a pool in their backyard or something, they'll just find an alligator. And it one day. Yeah, it's just super casual it. My I got a buddy who found one in his backyard. So he just picked up.
Put it back in the lake like you do you know, like okay. So I don't grab this alligator real quick and it's good on back. You know, if you're not from here, there's a number you can call and someone will come pick it up. But I mean, generally, you can just go knock on your neighbor's door me like hey, can you do this for me? I rap never in my land handles out here today. It's just right there. But is there is there like shade if you call the number?
Like, are you like a little H, if you call the alligator number and you don't like deal with it, you don't tell people that you called it. I mean, most of the time when there's an alligator in your backyard you just let it you know and then it'll leave on its own. I technically have lakefront property here because there's a 4 foot strip of land, that runs all the way down until it touches a lake. You can hold Daddy's like 6,000 hours. Gators in that thing, I'm sure.
So technically I have lakefront property and sometimes, you know, little bit, little baby, alligator football, you know, just pop up on the on the edge of the lake and if you just wait long enough, it'll go away. You know, it'll go back into the lake. So a lot of times it's just like you're not worried about it. If there's one in your pool, then you're like I'm not jumping in a pool to get the alligator.
So you have to wait for the other to get her to get out of the pool to be sunbathing on the deck and that's when you can do something about it. Really, the, the main thing you got to remember, right? Is that the muscles that close and alligator's mouth closed at about 4,000 pounds per square inch, which is like enough to break your bones.
But the muscles that open, an alligator's mouth, only open at about four pounds per square inch, so you can effectively close an alligator's mouth with a thick rubber band, which is why if you watch, like Swamp People or whatever, all they have is electric tape. You just put a A couple strands of electric tape around alligators mouth and he can't open it. Have you ever done this personally, Look over legal reasons. Can you not answer that question? What do you think I was doing or dad?
Right before I came here, I've lived in Florida for 24 years and there's a reason I have this knowledge. That's okay, that's superval. I'm this fascinates me like because I like I grew up in Illinois.
We don't have interesting. We have dear, we have vengeful, dear who like, you know, just wander the highways looking for The Souls of their lost lovers becoming like a Got a tank top, Floridian father would like his young child who's just turned FR, and it's like, it's your fourth birthday, son. I'm defined an alligator. Grab the electrical tape. Come on down, in the Land of 10,000 lakes up behind it.
While it's nothing. That's the safest way to do it and then just throw yourself on its back. Generally the smaller the better because it you can kind of pick it up there. They're long but they're not, you know, the smaller. They are the had the lighter? They are you I need to do this as soon as possible. 'Well, I've honestly like, at this point, I feel like a, like, a great ADHD hyper-focus coming on. I was, like, fuck your con. This is the month where Katie
became an alligator hunter. And, you know, ha ha ha. This is what happened. People tell me, cool things. And then I go, I want to do that. And like, now I'm a blacksmith, like, that's the last time that happened and now I just, I can foresee like, my future is going to be researching alligator, handling techniques, they're scared, they're more scared of you than you are of them. I saw a video because Anytime alligators are Florida pops up in a tick. Tock I get tagged in it, it just
went out without. Yeah, there's, I will get tagged in it by many people. If there's an alligator or some sort of Florida reference in it whatsoever. And I got tagged in this one, a little bit ago, a lot. There's a guy just swimming in a lake and an alligator comes up and just bumps his shoulder, and he looks over at it and does nothing. And then, the alligator bites his shoulder. It was a little nibble.
It wasn't like anything crazy. It was really like, to see how it tastes like, you know, the alligator tags. The noble and the guy like elbows and off, and then freaks out and climbs up the ladder, but you can see like the alligator doesn't go after him again. He just kind of drift slowly away. Like he's just done with this person. That's and you can see alligator way that they do or just like just their nose. Yeah. And he just drifts away, he doesn't care anymore.
And then there's like another guy in the corner. That is not the main focus of the video, but if you're looking for him, you can see him. He's like in the corner and he's still there just chilling. Like he doesn't Are like, he's just like, yeah dummy and that's just just gotten out goes, you know, it, they'll bother you a little bit, but if you, if you make a commotion there, they're not they're not gonna put up
with it anymore. There was also one that I got tagged in. There was a guy in a lake trying to swim to land and you could see this little alligator just like creeping up behind him. Slowly like if if the elegant era wanted to attack him he'd been done but the It was just chilling. Croute like he was just cruising you know, it's like mine is on business going towards this guy.
Try to check it out, you know, and people were screaming at the alligator from Shore and he was just swimming as fast as he could. He wasn't going to make it alligator was clearly catching him. So his buddy jumped off like a tree branch and move elbowed the alligator, just like straight-up just landed on the alligators, nose with an elbow, diving from a tree and then the alligator swam away. A super chill. You make enough commotion. They won't bother you.
This is, I feel like I'm learning a lot about a legate. Like, I should like I wasn't expecting this podcast to go this way, but I'm okay with it. Yeah, I'm learning. I learned a lot. I've seen that video in frankly, I learned a lot about myself when I saw that video. It's like, would you I love anybody in this world enough to elbow? Drop an alligator. I would elbow drop an alligator for you. Yeah, just you can't turn out. You can't pass up that opportunity. I would I would do it.
Well actually, I would do it because I want I would want I say that I did it, I was in say, I was like, he's our that's, that's a cocktail, that's a pretty solid little story that's just like, that's what I was trying to get on the mosque. Okay, so this alligator filled likes aside. I also feel like you are in a very unique position in this moment. What are what are things about Florida? That people don't know that
you're like, floored. This is awesome, we have really good whatever like, what's the, what's like the thing that you're like, oh, I wish people knew that we're not just Disney World. Well. You have 10 seconds. Oui. Have. The oldest city in America. That's cool. What what you mean like in on like st. Augustine. Florida is the oldest city in America. It was founded in like I don't I had to Google it but I think the fifteen or sixteen hundreds Huh. So what?
Yeah, it was founded by the Spanish. Yeah. It's just a, it's a span old Spanish Town and we have the fort there. The Castillo de San Marcos, is there? And it's a common thing. We all go on, like field trips and school to the Castillo de San Marcos, we take trips around this whole as st. Augustine, the Fountain of Youth quote-unquote is supposed to be in st. Augustine there is a fountain. You will not get younger by
drinking from it but it's there. The, the whole Fort was made out of Coquina rocks because it's like a soft like see rocks. They had plenty of it, but it's soft. So when they shot cannon balls out at the cannonballs would just get absorbed into the wall and then lose all momentum. Yeah. And if you go, like walking around the outside of the fort, you they're still Cannonball holes. They're like they took the cannonballs out, but like, there's still, you can see.
The holes are very clearly there of The Cannonball just going in and then stopping sweet. All the city, This wall. Yeah, oldest city in America. They still have like a lot of the original Canon cannons there that you can go look at and stuff. No fanfiction allowed. What? Because Canon Sue's, you're sorry for that joke. I'm sorry. But yeah there's also supposedly haunted of course.
So there's like ghost tours during like Christmas time they string up the whole city in Christmas lights and you can do like the Night of Lights and get like a horse carriage. Ride throughout the whole town. There's also, we have another city in Florida. That is debatably. The oldest city in America and that's Pensacola Florida in the Panhandle. They were Incorporated like a few years before st. Augustine. However, they lost their incorporation for a while and
then got reincorporated. So they were founded before Saint Augustine but weren't a city for a minute and then they became a city again after saying. Just seen. So like if you go to Pensacola anybody that knows anything about Pensacola and lives there. They will argue with you night and day about them. Actually being the oldest city in America to see a fight just between the entire population of both of those people is wielding alligators sprinting at each other, the amazing Pensacola to
win. If it was, if it was a fistfight yeah Pensacola it when they're younger and there's more of them really do it. Yeah. Got to keep your Weber on YouTube, you can click lamp them out, shut up and eat you. However, if they were allowed to bring a friend that lives close by st. Augustine would recruit Jacksonville and it would be all over you thought a lot about this is yeah, it was a mistake. I would play this like as a D&D campaign.
Like I'm I'm here for this portion of Katie and Eric's infinite Quest is sponsored by the Florida visitors bureau. We're here with been fine art teaching this. All about You never think about Florida being historical. Like I don't know why, but like, in my brain like, Florida, just like happened in like the 80s, but like very historical or to have you start basic before that.
It was just like this black, nothing of just like we have a lot of our towns or named after the Native American tribes that were here before us. And because we were Spanish owns. They got the stay for a minute. You know. They weren't like I mean Christopher Columbus was a terrible person. That but he didn't land on Florida. He landed in like, I don't know the Bahamas or wherever.
So the Spanish came here. So we're like half like half our state is based off of like, Spanish stuff and half horse ate his face off of like Native American stuff and we still have the Everglades of course. So right if you want to go check out like the swamp of all swamps this is this is the Yellowstone of swamps in our state that people just forget about, you know? And we also have Panama City Beach. PCB spring break capital of the world. I did a show there one time.
Yeah. MTV Spring spring break was filmed in. Panama City Beach, Florida. Thanks. It won't be very clear. I was not on MTV Spring break. I thought you were everyone frantically googly? No, I did. I did a magic show their one time. It's very weird. Katie is frustratingly. Successful in a number of different. Yeah. My weird - weird. My weird claim to fame that nobody on Tick-Tock knows about is that I'm actually a professional magician and and then I always look cuz I got Niche die.
Got Niche, done Tick-Tock into talking about sex and dating Steve and then, but I'm like, but also like I read minds for a living. That's like what I do. Like, I have a silly character and it says, the whole thing. Yeah, I know I did. I did a shown in the movie on the beach, so I've done a couple comedy shows and PCB. Oh my God, the whole town is a lot older. You think given its reputation as the spring break capital of, we also have a few more capitals with a lightning strike shark by
Ms. Capitals of the world. Wow. Which is pretty cool. And Florida could ciao. Congratulations, we have. This is a weird one that I only know because my friend went there there's a college in Lakeland Florida. Shout-out Florida Southern they have the only Citrus major In the country. You can major in Citrus at Florida, Southern University. Okay, they do a lot of acid there but boom. All right, we're gonna edit that part out. Now, I have to go surprisingly, I put it just only because I
viscerally hate you. It's not. It's that's it. Is, I pray for your death. It's also a we both have a deathly allergy to terrible joke. X. So we have to go to find them like adjusting, that's what I'm doing. I'm doing the that was a micro dose to you. I've been on it for 26 years. You're listening to season 1 episode 6, of kidding. Eric's infinite question, ADHD adventure with Ben Brainerd, we have more than Brainerd coming up after this.
We just thought, I just thought we'd, I tried to break up the recording a little bit, so you can go to the bathroom or like ginger Mission. It's an Omission. Yeah, you need popcorn, go get some popcorn. Don't you need some popcorn from the Thing, maybe Milk Duds or something else. I always put a Milk Dud in the bottom of my slushy so it's frozen know why and--yeah Katie? It's amazing. You want to take a milk done, you put it at the bottom of your slushy, then it's frozen at the
end. And so you're like, I'm Out of Milk Duds and I just finished my slushy but then there's a frozen milk to that the bottom. And you get to eat, it really good back to the show. What was we were going to change the subject was? Yeah. So our producer. Brian is telling us we have to move on, right? I didn't do it. I didn't Brian - Brian lives in the hearts and minds of us all, but mainly, our hearts were being honest, but I'm so I'm
curious. What, like, what is your, how would you describe your process of creating content, which is where you created in the first place? Because you're creating it out of nothing? It's not like cooking. When you write scripts, you are able to listen eats me. Yeah. And it's an end. D factor into any of that. Like, I'm sure it does. The whole process will probably go a lot quicker. If didn't have any HD, I'll be
honest with you. If I took my medicine regularly, I'd probably have a lot more content out there, same TBH. But I commend whole process. Kind of starts, with the first step is getting the information, so I don't actually just trust Google, a lot of times on this stuff because you like, it almost of the study information about Bates is just opinions like this is a thing that we think is a real thing about this
state. So I go and I post on Facebook is usually placed I go to that's the easiest platform to gather all this information so I'll just post like hey let me know what you know about such and such and then I let that post simmer for like two hours and then I'll go through all the comments and I'll take the ones that either. There's a lot of responses to or I've seen a few times and I'll make a list. About those things.
And then I do my own research where I'll Google like, hey, cliches about such and such state or hmm, common phrases in such-and-such state, you know, because every every state has their own kind of like dialect, like Louisiana and New. Mexico are like the biggest ones in that, like, Louisiana speaks Cajun French. So they have all these sayings.
Like, fais dodo means party like Night, like a party that lasts all night long, but look, phrased like directly translates to, like, take a nap and I guess it comes from just like, like back then, when they would have these parties, I would have a room in the back where mothers would go to put their children down to sleep so that they can go rejoin. The dance party stood. So you gotta go put, you gotta go. Put the baby down to do.
Do we're going. Do do so you got to put the baby to sleep so you can go get, go get Count on or whatever. That's good. I knew it. Yeah, New Mexico has like like if you look up things up, things boricua say. But broken nose things broke and you say they have like a whole dialogue that they have that's like specific to New Mexicans and then you have like Regional dialects you know I like the northern Midwest say like hot dish Castrol instead of like potluck or something like that,
you know? Or Like the pop vs. Soda debate, you gotta figure out which asked very good option. Yeah, you gotta know which states a y'all and which ones say you guys, and which ones say yous guys. So do you say soda or pop? I'm just, you know, I say slight ruin. You say soda. Fuck you. Oh God. Let me just bask in this win. We're talking about this yesterday in the car and like I'm a fervent team pop. I've been popped my whole life.
I don't even like pop but I'm perfectly teen pop and everybody just even know about it. You're so wrong. Was right over there wrong opinions. Fuck they are like you can have it. You're still running the weird one to me. Is that some states don't say soda or pop? They just say Coke. Well yeah, that's just what it is. They just say Coke and it's like hmm that's an actual thing. Yeah, that I can't stand by,
that's just incorrect. Like that just doesn't that's it. More specific version of a thing. It doesn't make any sense. Behold the Sprite? What are you drinking? It's a Coke, it's a Coke. What doesn't make sense? The the one this is something I learned is like what? Okay, so in Florida if you decide to play a hilarious prank on your neighbors and you throw a bunch of toilet paper into their tree, what do you call that in Florida. Okay. Okay. That's yeah. We call it going.
TP, going tp'ing. But apparently, a lot of people say like it's called papering like some states, call it papering. There's a couple of other ones like that's like a thing to, it's like a regional centers that bring him to me. I just want to talk all of us a crease while we're on the subject. Of doing this. Do you have a name for the night before Halloween? I called House Hallows Eve. Hallows, Eve, Katie, build a build a day off because you're building your costume for your call.
I guess. That's right. We're sitting in a room full of fabric. I could guess that all the way in Connecticut. We call it Mischief Night, and I've heard that like, yeah, only specifically in like Connecticut. Like, you know, you see those Maps where it's like the color at all, these people say pup, all these people say soda, it's like the whole country has like no name for it or very at the
Mill Lake solid name. But Then for some reason, everybody in Connecticut, says Mischief Night, Mischief Night, Michigan calls, it devil's night. I guess I know we don't still been brainer that he's wrong about State, and it's like that's like 50 percent of your
life. Right now, is people telling you you're wrong about States. I'm just joining this join the winning team, maybe it wasn't Michigan, but somebody said maybe was Minnesota, I think maybe it maybe is Minnesota, but somebody was like, yeah, a few people were just like, we call it devil's night and you know this place. So Mischief Night. I heard that one in Connecticut.
I think New Jersey also has something, and then either Michigan and Minnesota. There's like a group that call it devil's night, but if you celebrate, excuse me, if you celebrate did the where toes, that's like a three-day long celebration, each day has like a different name. So there's like the de los Muertos, and then there's like All Saints Day and then there's something else as well. So that like that celebration lasts from Like October 31st
until like November 2nd. And it's like, three, separate, three full days of like three separate things, too long. Time to put a baby to sleep for what you got to put your baby to sleep. Oh, I know it's call back. Okay, so, here's here's Mike. You're just crushing this Crush in the game today. So when you were like a little little baby comedian, just like starting to make yourself, you know, and known in the world. Did you ever think?
Felt like your life would just be a republic, an encyclopedic repository of weird trivia facts about States. Like is this where you saw your comedy career going? No, not specifically about States but like, like even up to this point, I was still just like a wealth of bizarre knowledge that nobody ever needed to know. Like I was fun to have on trivia team because I would just get the bizarre things, you know, but now it's just like I will get the bizarre things and the state things.
Yeah. Yeah, okay. So okay, so we're at ADHD progress, we can talk about whatever we want, what is your favorite weird fact? Like, what's your favorite like? Let me like. Well, here's my five minute pitch about like, what? Like, you're weird topic. Like what's your thing? Now that you say that I've forgotten everything, that's a great. I have like four, like very specific ones. Clearly you had an answer but I will know. I mean I'm what are what are
your things? It's I'm my truly weird thing and we're going to talk about some different Podcast. But I became obsessed with the idea of figuring out how big the turkey was and Christmas. Carol, Scrooge, rinse the turkey to the Cratchit and not going to tell the story. Because if this is like a and I went on like like when I went on a three-day research Bender like I didn't eat or sleep for three
days and I I figured it out. I found the answer to how big the turkey would have been in A Christmas Carol and it is one of my favorite things in the whole world. World to talk about it, and everyone's like, what the fuck is wrong with you? Like, they're like, yeah. Like I'm, you know, I'm an accountant and I'm a librarian and I'm like, I know how big the turkey was an improvement care. People are like, why, why are you the way that you are?
And I say because I have ADHD. Thank you, and Hyper focus is a bitch and that's it. That's the whole story. But maybe I'd say the alligator thing I already told you guys just, I mean that was it. That was super interesting. The bite force thing. Yeah, the bite force on an alligator. I don't it. No one was inside like confirmed that but I'm pretty sure it's like four and four thousand like it without a doubt. It is an insane amount higher Biting Down than opening up.
I remember on on Nickelodeon back in the in the mid 2000s there was like a commercial break where they said that fact and like this kid was getting bullied by a kid and it was one of those weird premises were like gushers or magic. So you can like do some magic thing. So this kid eats like a snack and suddenly he can like transport people places and he In sports the bullet. This bully to be holding an alligator's mouth shut. And it's like, did you know that the pope of up above?
And so he's stuck there because like he can hold it shut but as soon as he lets go it's going to be. So anyways that's why I know that because Nickelodeon thanks, Nikki this segment sponsored by gushers I don't really have any like I have a lot of things of just like this is the hill that I will die on. But it's never really liked bizarre, fact related. It's just like here's my opinion and I'm right. What? What is your favorite? Hilda die on.
What's you're welcome? So okay, I cannot stand. Iliza Shlesinger, the comedian. Okay. I have argued about her a lot and I know people really like her and she's relatable, but I cannot stand her. I don't think, like, I give her chances. This is what I do. I watch her specials. I say I, if you're on Netflix, I will give you a shot and I I would watch I watched her last one Elder Millennial and I said, this is the same joke for an hour.
Her entire special give give give or take a couple jokes. Her entire special was just the difference between men and women for an hour. And there's a rule in comedy that like, you know, premises is can't be hacky, but if you keep doing it, it's played. I mean that that you can go to be. Look at like bits from the early 80s like that is like the oldest bit that I can think like, yeah, men are like this but then women are all like this and stuff like like it's just such a beautiful thing.
I am impressed at how like I left, I like stand-up comedy about a lot. I've done it once or twice as bad, but I appreciate like the craft of it. So I'm kind of impressed at how like you might not like like the her topic choices and all that. But like I thought. Correct like I'm actually now that I think of it curious to hear what you think about. Like it seems like technically She was pretty proficient, like, in the way that she sort of flowed in the way that she used Rhythm.
Like, I was impressed that she was that good at like 25. But I still, I mean, there's, there's a difference between being technically good at comedy and being funny. And I don't know if that's the exact right way to word that, but you can get a lot of the really small technical aspects of Performing stand-up comedy, correct, but still not have strong material. Like there are some Comics that are just like super out there with there.
Expressions and stuff like that and they sell the joke with their movements and their expressions and that's great. And that's just a technical aspect of saying up comedy, but a lot of times when those Comics do that stuff, you wouldn't be able to read their jokes and still laugh because they focus so much on selling the joke with with physical humor that they, you know, their actual writing doesn't hold up, which is what I have, a lot of respect for people like Steve, right?
Mitch Hedberg. Big people like that Anthony Jeselnik the Fantastic writing like you could read their jokes. And that in still think that it's funny. You wouldn't have to watch them, tell it. And that's the most impressive thing to me. Now, if you could do those things, if you could be that good at writing the actual material and then extra sell it with you. How you're performing it? Fantastic, do you think there are any comedians out there like that? Probably I was, I was going to
ask how, how did you find? I'm sure you've been asked this question a lot, but how did you find your comedic voice? Like, how did you develop it? Because you have such a distinctive thing that you do even, you know, like any time that you're performing cuz I watch all of your Tick Tock. So like I feel it clearly I'm an expert but you know like and I watch it stand up. So like an OG look how did you find that like when you started doing comedy?
Like was it trial and error? Or did you just like always have that kind of like feel of what you wanted to be? No I still don't really know. I think every time I perform now live I just kind of go well I could have done this different or I want to do that different. There's just like and there's a book called The Comedy Bible. And there's just like this general idea that you won't find your voice and comedy for I think the the general consensus is 10 years and I've only been
doing it for three. So I Tsar, I'm gonna be a lot different in seven years than I am now. Yeah, because I'll be continuing to grow. And that's a good thing. A lot of people compare my style now, to John Mulaney, which is accurate. I think I saw trying to topple him but we just have the same Cadence. Yeah, we just naturally have the same Cadence in way of speaking. Like, I'll be out of Comedy, I
have been talking. Like, I'm passionate about the Adding to the movie Cast Away, I hate the movie Castaway and how and but I was just passionately talking about that and someone who wasn't in the conversation, turned to me and went. Hey, is that a Mulaney bit? No, is just me speaking like that. Just what I sound like, normally. Like, I didn't know who John Mulaney was. When I started stand-up comedy. I did comedy. And then people were like, hey,
have you heard of John Mulaney? And I said, no. And they said, well, you should probably check it out. And then I watched him and I don't know why, but I really like this guy was like, dude you sound like him? This is, he also he seemed to happen really fast. Like I didn't know, it wasn't all. And then I the first I heard of it was new in town and I was like, oh, this is going to be like, I will add some time. I was like, he's gonna be like the next Carlin.
Like, he's gonna do all these bits, but as he goes, and it expends more of like the jokes about, like the difference between cats and dogs. Like, I'm interested in the mitzi's going to be doing when he's like 70, like what is he going to have Doug? Yeah, with that point. Well, let's see if he's still doing it at 70.
He's a very low-key /, like he got follow me on Instagram and then most the time when he does post it's just like here's a picture of my wife and like it doesn't really have like a very big social media presence. Of course, he does like the spot solely SNL and all that, but other than that like he's not really out there, I think they might have a Twitter which he just uses to retweet, Nick Kroll a lot but like Not out there. I don't, I don't know if he's gonna be in it at 70.
I hope he is, because I love his comedy, but he's just one of those guys. I'm not, I'm not so sure that he's just gonna be doing it forever because he seems like a guy that's just like, at some point. He's just gonna disappear. Yeah, and then I hope he does, I think he'll be happy. Yeah. Okay, so we're kind of I wish him the best.
So we're Wrapping up here at the end but I'm really curious because like you are your comedian and you're like doing the thing and you found a way to do the thing during the pandemic and such like a fantastically creative way. What advice do you have for us? Do you have for us? And then also, I could feel you just just through the bush and you were just beating right around.
I was going to say, what advice do you have for like Young comedians who like look up to you and are seeing the work that you're doing like onto I was going to ask an amazing intelligent questioning about other and you'll ruin dancing. What advice would you would you give to you know like young comedians kids were like watching you on Tick Tock. You're going like I want to be like Ben Brainerd when I grow up. Don't don't, don't be me be.
You don't look at my comedy and be like, I want to do that comedy. When I'm older it. Look at my work ethic and be like, I want to work that hard. That that caught at the thing that I care about the couple pieces of advice that I can give. It's just very general pieces of advice to all Comedians and you can tweak this a bit to fit, whatever it is that you're doing. Step number one is to just do it. There is no right way to start or wrong way to start. Just do it.
There's ways to find open mics in your town. Maybe not right now but they're out there. Jerry, if you're looking for them, just go on Facebook. It's there's groups go online. There's websites. There's a way to find out where the open mics are when they are and just do it. It's not going to be good at
first. I promise you that it's not going to be good but if you stick with it and you learn and you grow your going to get better, the other piece of advice that I have is it's never about being the funniest person in the room. It's always about being the hardest working person in the room. Hmm. If you have somebody in your scene, that's way funnier than you naturally, but he's not putting in the work and then you're not as funny as him.
But you're likeable and you work as hard as you possibly can at it. I you're going Be more successful than that guy. That's just how it goes. It be funny. Sure, that's part of the job. People pay you to tell jokes and make other people laugh. Yes. But if you're not working harder than everybody else in the room that I promise you, there's gonna be somebody that's doing better than you. That's amazing. Advice reminds me of what Ben
Franklin said. He said, I do believe in luck and I believe I have more of it when I work hard. Haha. Yeah, yeah but I want to so I To start asking all of our guests. I was literally. I was gonna see if you remembered. Oh, I was gonna do. Yeah, you do it. Look at that. I want to start like doing like you know an inside the Actors Studio thing. We're like we ask every guest like you know, that's not a series of question but the same question because I find it a
fascinating question. So the question is, would you rather play every instrument in the world masterfully or speak every language in the world, fluently? Every language in the world fluently, really? Why is that I can do? You know how many more people I can talk to make sure I can play a lot more. Like yeah, man, sure, I can play the piccolo flawlessly, but but I'm still going to get lost in Madrid like it anymore and also like I can just learn the instruments if I want to.
And you know what? I could go anywhere in the Old to learn them because I can speak every language. Fluently, that unlocks an infinite amount of doors. If you can, if you can play every instrument in the world like masterfully, sure some doors are open for you, but literally every door in the world is open, if you know how to speak every language. It's insane. It's insane. How much more opportunity there is for you out there if you can speak every language.
Insane, don't even, that's not even a question. Ian, I am I want to question the people that same instruments? Are you like there's something wrong there. They hate people. They don't I don't know. Hey did you say instruments? I did say instruments. You know? Hi. Well God, you did you not think about it at all? Was it don't think about it before you answer.
I need you to immediately respond to this question when you hear, and then you'd be HD thing of just answering the question before it's finished, because somebody was like, would you rather play all I every single incident masterfully and you're like yep. And they're like, there's a second part to this and you're like, doesn't matter. I'm not here for it. This is U plus 0 thought there's everywhere every language you can speak to any human in the
world. Right now. Always, I can redo all of my sketches in Spanish. Right now. Well, it'll be fine. Why haven't you done that already for one? Just say, no. Don't speak every language. Oh late. Well so I said it because I figured well, I was honestly, I don't understand. I was just about to say, music is the universal language which no, I just thinking language universal language. Even universal language. Went to Eric.
Yes. Well, I also want to say so, so far of the people that we've asked this question to people have given both answers. Some people answer very quick, thumbs people are wrong. But everybody gets more impassioned about their answer as they explain why? Which I think is hilarious and they start like giving like who would possibly answer the other the kit like mad? Okay, well I'm objectively right?
There's a million more doors. That would be open for you just by speaking for you're assuming that that's like the measure of what the good answer because the doors that woman. But what if you didn't really particularly care about people are talking to people. What if you wanted to like lock yourself in a shed, whatever for the rest. Drop down from empathy and you're just like instruments. Then that's fine. But like if you wanted to, I don't know. Do everything if you if you just
wanted to play music. Sure. But if you want to do to do, literally everything in the world, Yeah language. Yeah, I mean that's a fair argument. I just would like to say someday when the pandemic is over. I hope that I can get to Florida and I can like be like, hey then brainer, you want to hang out and get into a rant off? Because I just want to rant about stuff with you. Like that's all I want to do. I am very passionate person and I feel like me and you we could
rent well together. That's all I want. I have you ever joined my lives when I talk about politics? Yes, you are. Or like your rant game is so strong like you were but it's just good but that's my comedy. Like my brand of Comedy is like listen to me get really heated about like Christmas turkeys or whatever, and so like, I just appreciate a good rant. Like, that's a weird thing. My stand-up comedy is very not like that.
My stand-up is very logical and analytical and like methodical and then when I get on live, but I'm talking like this, I will just go, there's a hole, right? And just Sure. It'll be funny. Sometimes with my stand-up is very much just like dot dot dot dot. Love it. Okay, we should probably our producer. So I guess we have to move on Ben. Brenner, do you have any last thoughts last things? Last anything that you would like to say? Do you would have anything you
want to plug before you, you go? Yeah, I have the stain. Up is coming back slowly, but surely, and hopefully as safely as possible. Stand up is coming back. I have all of my shows available, On my website. Excuse me. So if you want to catch me live, go to my website been Brainerd.com. There's a button that says shows and have all of my shows, I'm not just in Florida right now. So I have Orlando, Miami, Little Rock Kansas City, Panama City. So I have several shows coming
up in the next couple of months. Tampa Bay, I believe I have a show there in February, so all that stuff is just on my website. Now, when ticket links become active, then I'll put them on there as well. So if you want to see me alive, just go to my website, member ana.k, Cam. Awesome sick. Then, thank you so much for being here. This is so much fun. We're such big fans and we're so grateful that you took the time to talk to us and this has been the key. Terry Sanford request.
Yeah, awesome. And also, I really want to see some sick alligator content from you. I don't know how, how do you give your near alligators and you're not just milking that for that. Sweet, alligator content, alligator, huh. Let me take a trip to the lake. All right. Well, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. And I hope you have a wonderful rest of your life lie. Special thanks to Ben Brainard for being with us today and thank you for joining us. You can find tour dates or been
brainard's live. Stand-up shows on his website been Brainerd.com, that's be entr a Ina are d.com, right? There, it is right there, tickets will be available. As soon as the pandemic stops pandemic. Whenever that might be as a reminder, if you're interested in supporting infinite Quest, we do have a patreon patreon.com backslash infinite Quest. And as always, thank you so much
for your support. We know we say this every single episode, but we just can't tell you what it means to know that there are people out there listening and excited about this project. So, we will be back next week with a very special, Dungeons & Dragons. Episode of infinite Quest and the week after that. We'll have burritos and ADHD on. So um we'll see you soon. Bye.