1 00:00:00,930 --> 00:00:03,060 Matt Stagliano: Well, would you look at that I haven't fired 2 00:00:03,060 --> 00:00:06,750 myself from hosting this podcast yet. So I'm going to call that a 3 00:00:06,750 --> 00:00:10,650 small victory. This week, I'll keep this intro pretty short. 4 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:14,430 What you're about to hear is part two of a long conversation 5 00:00:14,430 --> 00:00:19,800 that I had with Johnny Edward, about all things WPPI 2024. If 6 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:22,380 you haven't had the chance, be sure to go back and listen to 7 00:00:22,380 --> 00:00:25,380 part one, because that will give you the foundation for 8 00:00:25,380 --> 00:00:28,830 everything that we talk about here. That's it. That's my 9 00:00:28,830 --> 00:00:32,730 introduction. So let's dive in, shall we? Thanks again for 10 00:00:32,730 --> 00:00:36,240 joining me. And without further delay, here's part two of the 11 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:39,960 WPPI 2024 recap with Johnny Edward. 12 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:06,570 Jonny Edward: You know, I guess probably the biggest overriding 13 00:01:06,570 --> 00:01:08,730 thing, like the thematic element that keeps coming back to me is 14 00:01:08,730 --> 00:01:11,370 this idea of like, firstly, honoring ourselves as artists, 15 00:01:11,370 --> 00:01:14,640 and then thusly honoring those who we're working with, 16 00:01:15,030 --> 00:01:19,650 alongside colleagues, allied professionals, models, subjects, 17 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:21,990 you know, all of these different things, and it just feels like 18 00:01:21,990 --> 00:01:25,380 it's really easy to lose sight of that, you know, art, to me is 19 00:01:25,380 --> 00:01:28,800 this really beautiful poetic expression of self. And so when 20 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:31,530 we lose sight of ourselves, we lose sight of our arts. And then 21 00:01:31,530 --> 00:01:34,080 when we lose sight of ourselves and our art, we lose sight of 22 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:36,990 everything that comes along with that. Everything that that sort 23 00:01:36,990 --> 00:01:39,810 of encapsulates that includes the people directly and 24 00:01:39,810 --> 00:01:43,110 peripherally, who were engaged with and involved with directly 25 00:01:43,110 --> 00:01:46,380 and indirectly, but I think so much of this just comes back 26 00:01:46,380 --> 00:01:48,780 down to that, for me, at least, 27 00:01:49,019 --> 00:01:52,526 Matt Stagliano: you know, I find myself beating myself up quite a 28 00:01:52,597 --> 00:01:56,749 bit, because I feel like an elitist I feel like a snob, or 29 00:01:56,820 --> 00:02:01,186 that I have a very high opinion of myself when I go to a show 30 00:02:01,258 --> 00:02:05,409 like WPPI, because I'm so insulated in my own little world 31 00:02:05,481 --> 00:02:09,632 of my own business, and I'm trying to make things work and 32 00:02:09,704 --> 00:02:13,855 survive. And I don't know the numbers, but I'd have to say 33 00:02:13,927 --> 00:02:18,149 probably 50% are probably not full time, pro photographers, 34 00:02:18,221 --> 00:02:22,730 right? Or they're Pro, but it's a side hustle or whatnot. Yeah, 35 00:02:22,802 --> 00:02:27,311 which is all fine. But I think I find myself being a little bit 36 00:02:27,383 --> 00:02:31,820 too, too exclusive, too elitist. And I want everybody to be at 37 00:02:31,892 --> 00:02:36,258 the same high standard that I try to maintain that, you know, 38 00:02:36,329 --> 00:02:40,195 is my version of a high standard. And when I don't see 39 00:02:40,266 --> 00:02:44,274 that I get annoyed. And you know, that's not necessarily 40 00:02:44,346 --> 00:02:48,569 right. It's not my position to judge anybody else or feel a 41 00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:52,649 certain way about someone because they're not doing what 42 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:57,229 I'm doing. So I often find that I need to keep myself in check, 43 00:02:57,301 --> 00:03:01,381 because I can go from just kind of cool guy to judgmental 44 00:03:01,452 --> 00:03:05,747 asshole. In lightspeed. Yeah, I'm a nobody in a huge pond of 45 00:03:05,818 --> 00:03:09,898 photographers. Yet, in my own world, I am a big fish in a 46 00:03:09,970 --> 00:03:14,193 teaspoon, right? So, you know, as much as I sound like, I'm 47 00:03:14,264 --> 00:03:18,415 cutting things apart. While I talk about this. It's really 48 00:03:18,487 --> 00:03:21,851 nothing but stream of consciousness. So we were 49 00:03:21,923 --> 00:03:26,503 talking a few minutes ago about the shooting bays, and ways that 50 00:03:26,575 --> 00:03:30,941 we can maybe improve them. I wanted to get your thoughts on a 51 00:03:31,013 --> 00:03:35,236 couple of things. One, I know, when we go into the shooting 52 00:03:35,307 --> 00:03:39,530 base, there's typically one light, maybe a two light setup. 53 00:03:39,602 --> 00:03:43,896 Yeah. And like you're saying, don't touch them under penalty 54 00:03:43,968 --> 00:03:48,119 of death, because then you won't be able to get a properly 55 00:03:48,191 --> 00:03:52,843 exposed photo. Yeah, I wanted to get your feel. Because they went 56 00:03:52,915 --> 00:03:57,352 back to strobes this year from constant lights last year. Yep. 57 00:03:57,424 --> 00:04:01,933 Would it be better to say, All right, here's a two light setup. 58 00:04:02,005 --> 00:04:06,299 Here are the settings for three different looks with that to 59 00:04:06,371 --> 00:04:10,665 light setup. And you have three minutes, one minute for each 60 00:04:10,737 --> 00:04:14,530 setup to try it out. To give people a little bit more 61 00:04:14,602 --> 00:04:19,039 variety. I don't know if that's feasible. But let's talk about 62 00:04:19,111 --> 00:04:23,405 that the constant versus strobe can we do you know, multiple 63 00:04:23,477 --> 00:04:25,410 lighting setups in one day. 64 00:04:25,410 --> 00:04:27,956 Jonny Edward: So on the constant versus strobe thing, obviously, 65 00:04:28,007 --> 00:04:31,113 I'm heavily biased in this since I predominantly use constant 66 00:04:31,164 --> 00:04:34,373 lights these days. And I do that for a number of reasons. As an 67 00:04:34,423 --> 00:04:37,479 artist, I use constant lights. And I've elucidated on this a 68 00:04:37,530 --> 00:04:40,433 little bit before but because it allows me to stay better 69 00:04:40,484 --> 00:04:43,386 connected to the person in front of my lens, there's less 70 00:04:43,437 --> 00:04:46,646 technical minutiae to deal with, there's less things that could 71 00:04:46,697 --> 00:04:49,549 possibly go wrong. If you're working with a professional 72 00:04:49,599 --> 00:04:52,502 model, sometimes it's really nice to have a straw because 73 00:04:52,553 --> 00:04:55,507 they can just move relative to the flash, right? So you're 74 00:04:55,558 --> 00:04:58,410 working with someone who's amazing and they just, and it 75 00:04:58,461 --> 00:05:01,312 looks like dance and it's mesmerized, and that's not how 76 00:05:01,363 --> 00:05:04,368 most people are who step in front of our lens. It's jarring 77 00:05:04,419 --> 00:05:07,576 If you're nervous, and you sit here and you put me in front of 78 00:05:07,627 --> 00:05:10,377 all these lights, and I'm uncomfortable, then you just 79 00:05:10,428 --> 00:05:13,433 start throwing strokes to be able to walk, you know, and so 80 00:05:13,484 --> 00:05:16,743 it's uncomfortable. So I do that number one to stay connected to 81 00:05:16,794 --> 00:05:19,951 the people. But as an educator, especially because I work with 82 00:05:20,002 --> 00:05:22,600 so much shadow, it's really brilliant to be able to 83 00:05:22,651 --> 00:05:25,401 demonstrate foundational lighting topics in real time. 84 00:05:25,451 --> 00:05:28,507 You know, if I were to take the key light in front of me and 85 00:05:28,558 --> 00:05:31,614 move it away and say this is what feathering looks like. And 86 00:05:31,664 --> 00:05:34,822 so we don't have to imagine it. And we don't have to jump to a 87 00:05:34,873 --> 00:05:37,979 screen on the back of a camera or something where it's either 88 00:05:38,030 --> 00:05:41,137 going to, you can just see it, you can see Phil in real time, 89 00:05:41,188 --> 00:05:44,294 here's what happens when we turn that up. Here's what happens 90 00:05:44,345 --> 00:05:47,146 when we turn that down, you can see the effective color 91 00:05:47,197 --> 00:05:50,354 temperature look at when those shadow lights become warmer and 92 00:05:50,405 --> 00:05:53,614 cooler. So it's very, it's a lot easier to I think, educate and 93 00:05:53,665 --> 00:05:56,618 empower photographers when working with constant light. So 94 00:05:56,669 --> 00:05:59,419 I you know, once again, this goes back to ideal versus 95 00:05:59,470 --> 00:06:02,729 monetary. And I think that's the big debate. I know that Profoto 96 00:06:02,780 --> 00:06:05,734 wanted to be the exclusive provider of light and Profoto I 97 00:06:05,785 --> 00:06:08,993 love working with your strobes. If you want to pick up a maniac 98 00:06:09,044 --> 00:06:12,100 who makes amazing art is a wild card to be up sometime, I'll 99 00:06:12,151 --> 00:06:15,155 totally throw everyone for a loop and switch over to strobe 100 00:06:15,206 --> 00:06:18,364 that's not true, but maybe it's true. But um, you know, I know 101 00:06:18,415 --> 00:06:21,368 they wanted to do that, I wouldn't necessarily want to see 102 00:06:21,419 --> 00:06:24,067 something like WPPI or TPM switch to using constants 103 00:06:24,118 --> 00:06:26,970 exclusively. But I think a mixture is important, I think 104 00:06:27,021 --> 00:06:30,026 it's really important to be able to show photographers that 105 00:06:30,077 --> 00:06:33,030 ultimately, outside of the physics element light is light, 106 00:06:33,081 --> 00:06:36,086 whether it's coming from an incandescent bulb, whether it's 107 00:06:36,137 --> 00:06:38,938 coming from the sun, whether it's coming from a strobe, 108 00:06:38,989 --> 00:06:41,943 whether it's coming from a constant light, light is light, 109 00:06:41,993 --> 00:06:44,845 and of course light behaves differently. And we can talk 110 00:06:44,896 --> 00:06:48,105 about CRI and skin tones and get into the nerdy aspect. But for 111 00:06:48,156 --> 00:06:51,364 our purposes, 95% of the time, light is light. And I think it's 112 00:06:51,415 --> 00:06:54,470 important for people to get away from the dogma and from the 113 00:06:54,521 --> 00:06:57,526 sales pitches and go oh, fuck, like, I can literally have a 114 00:06:57,577 --> 00:07:00,582 light bulb from my house and make world class art, I do not 115 00:07:00,632 --> 00:07:03,688 need to have a $5,000 strobe with a $5,000 modifier on it. I 116 00:07:03,739 --> 00:07:06,642 also think that it allows us to educate better when we're 117 00:07:06,693 --> 00:07:09,799 working with constant light. So that did throw me for a loop. 118 00:07:09,850 --> 00:07:13,109 And in fact, with the production team when I was talking to them 119 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:16,318 before, before, you know, WPPI actually took place I was like, 120 00:07:16,369 --> 00:07:19,119 Listen, if there's constant light, please give me that 121 00:07:19,170 --> 00:07:22,327 because then you don't have the trigger issue. And I think for 122 00:07:22,378 --> 00:07:25,383 me, that's the hardest thing I guess if I if I was going to 123 00:07:25,434 --> 00:07:28,591 summarize this is if you're a new or photographer, new ish, if 124 00:07:28,642 --> 00:07:31,901 you're new to let's say, studio lighting, or whatever we want to 125 00:07:31,952 --> 00:07:35,109 say you're not comfortable, we don't even need to use the word 126 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:38,114 new. I think that's probably wrong. You're not comfortable 127 00:07:38,165 --> 00:07:41,017 with studio lighting. And now you have 30 Fucking people 128 00:07:41,068 --> 00:07:44,072 behind you. And you've been waiting in line for 30 minutes, 129 00:07:44,123 --> 00:07:47,434 and it's someone you really want to photograph and you're already 130 00:07:47,485 --> 00:07:50,540 fucking trepidatious and you might be taking that Xanax just 131 00:07:50,591 --> 00:07:53,290 enough, you know, in your fucking shaking. And you're 132 00:07:53,341 --> 00:07:56,397 like, Hello, my name is Chris and I you I love your look and 133 00:07:56,448 --> 00:07:59,554 and now you have this fucking light you've never worked with, 134 00:07:59,605 --> 00:08:02,813 you've never mounted a trigger onto your camera. You don't know 135 00:08:02,864 --> 00:08:06,022 why your screen is black because of exposure compensation. And 136 00:08:06,073 --> 00:08:09,077 you're sitting there and you have two minutes to create and 137 00:08:09,128 --> 00:08:12,031 it feels like everything is going fucking wrong. That's a 138 00:08:12,082 --> 00:08:15,087 shitty experience. Yep. I think that for me was harder than 139 00:08:15,137 --> 00:08:18,448 anything else was seeing someone who is so excited and so fucking 140 00:08:18,499 --> 00:08:21,249 elated. Then look at their camera go Johnny, why is it 141 00:08:21,300 --> 00:08:24,406 black, and I'm like, listen, it's for this reason, I've never 142 00:08:24,457 --> 00:08:27,767 used your camera. If you take it to Canon, Fuji Sony, they'll fix 143 00:08:27,818 --> 00:08:30,925 it for you come back, I'll make sure your first but it was so 144 00:08:30,975 --> 00:08:33,726 defeating for them. So it adds an unnecessary layer of 145 00:08:33,776 --> 00:08:36,934 technical complexity to people who are already struggling with 146 00:08:36,985 --> 00:08:40,193 the technical side of our craft. And I think that is very, very 147 00:08:40,244 --> 00:08:43,147 unfortunate. So I would love to see the reintroduction of 148 00:08:43,198 --> 00:08:46,304 constant and I don't care. It could be Nan light, it could be 149 00:08:46,355 --> 00:08:49,614 aperture, it could be go docks, I have no invested interest. But 150 00:08:49,665 --> 00:08:52,925 I think just to allow people to be more invested in the creative 151 00:08:52,976 --> 00:08:56,490 process rather than technical minutiae. That is huge, because they're 152 00:08:56,520 --> 00:09:00,780 Matt Stagliano: now looking at you to be not only the model and 153 00:09:00,780 --> 00:09:04,350 the teacher, but also the technical expert on their 154 00:09:04,350 --> 00:09:07,860 specific camera model from their specific platform on their 155 00:09:07,860 --> 00:09:10,290 specific firmware that they haven't updated because they 156 00:09:10,290 --> 00:09:12,540 didn't know they could update it. That was one thing that I 157 00:09:12,540 --> 00:09:16,200 saw over and over and over and primarily with Nikon shooters, 158 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:21,960 that their exposure compensation settings buried like 37 menus 159 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:26,040 deep. And it was unfortunate because I saw great shooters 160 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:29,250 with great ideas. Yeah, struggling with the technical 161 00:09:29,250 --> 00:09:33,660 side. And I think that does add into the frustration it takes 162 00:09:33,660 --> 00:09:37,710 you out of the element. It takes you out of the process, and all 163 00:09:37,710 --> 00:09:41,550 that good energy that you had just spills out all over the 164 00:09:41,550 --> 00:09:46,620 floor. You got defeated by your camera. You know one thing I 165 00:09:46,620 --> 00:09:50,520 would have liked to have seen because Profoto did a great job 166 00:09:50,550 --> 00:09:53,670 in the production team are the unsung heroes of the LM 167 00:09:53,670 --> 00:09:56,310 Jonny Edward: and everyone else on that team are fucking the 168 00:09:56,310 --> 00:09:59,220 real MVPs and heroes, watching 169 00:09:59,220 --> 00:10:03,150 Matt Stagliano: Kelan and Matt just crushed the entire show. I 170 00:10:03,150 --> 00:10:06,090 mean, it just nonstop. I can't imagine what's on their 171 00:10:06,090 --> 00:10:10,830 shoulders and they crushed it. But having technical experts in 172 00:10:10,860 --> 00:10:15,300 the shooting Bay Area, a Profoto, representative or two, 173 00:10:15,420 --> 00:10:18,660 yeah, right, going back and forth, just making sure that 174 00:10:18,690 --> 00:10:21,750 people understand how to use the trigger, maybe talking about the 175 00:10:21,750 --> 00:10:23,430 product a little bit. It's 176 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:25,115 Jonny Edward: a missed opportunity for these brands to 177 00:10:25,167 --> 00:10:28,539 me too. And obviously, like, I'm a single fucking solo LLC, right 178 00:10:28,590 --> 00:10:31,548 guy, and he's in the suburbs of Denver in this, you know, 179 00:10:31,599 --> 00:10:34,245 generational area where I'm basically surrounded by 180 00:10:34,297 --> 00:10:37,565 nothingness or people who are in their 70s, who want to give me 181 00:10:37,617 --> 00:10:40,367 antique. So like, I am very isolated in that way, not 182 00:10:40,419 --> 00:10:43,635 isolated, like you. But I mean, so you take this Profoto idea. 183 00:10:43,687 --> 00:10:47,007 The other brilliant thing is, if I was Profoto, not only would I 184 00:10:47,059 --> 00:10:50,276 want my technical experts there to do that, but if the line is 185 00:10:50,327 --> 00:10:53,544 20 people long walk that line, every party, you're going to be 186 00:10:53,596 --> 00:10:56,812 coming up, let's do this, let's do that. It allows for a level 187 00:10:56,864 --> 00:10:59,873 of interactivity and service that could directly translate 188 00:10:59,925 --> 00:11:03,089 into revenue. And it's not to say sell to us at all points in 189 00:11:03,141 --> 00:11:06,046 time. But for more of a consultative element to be like, 190 00:11:06,098 --> 00:11:09,419 Hey, have you ever used strobes before? No, you haven't? Are you 191 00:11:09,470 --> 00:11:12,531 on Nikon? Let's make sure this setting is right. Big enough 192 00:11:12,583 --> 00:11:15,385 value that would fucking add would be substantial. The 193 00:11:15,436 --> 00:11:18,497 comfort that that would create would be amazing, the stress 194 00:11:18,549 --> 00:11:21,610 that would alleviate would be fantastic. And especially for 195 00:11:21,662 --> 00:11:24,826 the person who's running the booth, or for the model, they're 196 00:11:24,878 --> 00:11:27,991 now not being confronted with that in that two minute period 197 00:11:28,043 --> 00:11:31,207 that has already been addressed and is taken care of. So this 198 00:11:31,259 --> 00:11:34,268 person can focus on what it is they are doing. And yeah, I 199 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:37,433 think it's you know, sometimes you get thrown to the wolves, 200 00:11:37,485 --> 00:11:40,390 there is an understaffing element to all of these things 201 00:11:40,442 --> 00:11:43,554 always everywhere in life. Now, you know, if you're going to 202 00:11:43,606 --> 00:11:46,615 have someone running a booth, they should have worked with 203 00:11:46,667 --> 00:11:49,780 those strobes or gotten a crash course on it, even if it's a 204 00:11:49,832 --> 00:11:53,152 basic video thing, like, this is how you swap a battery. This is 205 00:11:53,204 --> 00:11:56,368 how you reset the transmitter. These are the basic things and 206 00:11:56,420 --> 00:11:59,429 even having a laminated sheet for them to say like If This 207 00:11:59,481 --> 00:12:02,594 Then That, here are the three steps like unplug the modem to 208 00:12:02,646 --> 00:12:05,758 start, give it 10 seconds and plug it back in. That's hugely 209 00:12:05,810 --> 00:12:08,923 empowering for everyone. So I couldn't agree more with that. 210 00:12:08,975 --> 00:12:12,087 And there is that that that sort of sad element of the timer 211 00:12:12,139 --> 00:12:15,356 thing like I did not run a timer the first day WPPI production 212 00:12:15,408 --> 00:12:18,780 quickly gave me a handler day to to run a timer for me. Yeah. Now 213 00:12:18,832 --> 00:12:21,996 that was kind of odd, because everyone was self managing. And 214 00:12:22,048 --> 00:12:25,368 I would address them and I would just talk to the crowd and mass 215 00:12:25,420 --> 00:12:28,481 and say, Hey, listen, I'm not going to run a fucking timer. 216 00:12:28,533 --> 00:12:31,697 Number one, I don't have the ability to number two, we're all 217 00:12:31,749 --> 00:12:35,018 adults. If you take a little bit longer, or you're a little bit 218 00:12:35,069 --> 00:12:38,286 shorter, but let's be courteous, you can feel the energy. When 219 00:12:38,338 --> 00:12:41,554 people are like, alright, Matt, you've done fucking enough get 220 00:12:41,606 --> 00:12:44,822 out of the way. You know, when you're overreaching, let's self 221 00:12:44,874 --> 00:12:48,039 manage, because we're adults, let's self manage because we're 222 00:12:48,091 --> 00:12:51,152 a community. And I get that that's not necessarily feasible 223 00:12:51,204 --> 00:12:54,316 for every place and time but that hardline two minutes, even 224 00:12:54,368 --> 00:12:57,688 when I was shooting it a couple of days when we were together at 225 00:12:57,740 --> 00:13:00,905 TPM, I got in and I got that one light turned off. And by the 226 00:13:00,957 --> 00:13:04,277 time I turn that light off, got my camera settings fiddled, went 227 00:13:04,329 --> 00:13:07,389 in and talked to the model who was there and said, Hey, I'm 228 00:13:07,441 --> 00:13:10,710 Johnny, what's your name? You're a fucking badass. Thank you so 229 00:13:10,762 --> 00:13:13,874 much for killing it. And step back. It was brought to you at 230 00:13:13,926 --> 00:13:17,143 47 seconds and I was like, Oh, shit. Okay, now it's time to go 231 00:13:17,194 --> 00:13:20,411 in for me. The trigger wasn't registering properly with my hot 232 00:13:20,463 --> 00:13:23,731 shoe. So I was dealing with an exposure compensation issue. And 233 00:13:23,783 --> 00:13:26,844 I just shot with the black screen. And what a lot of people 234 00:13:26,896 --> 00:13:30,060 don't realize is on mirrorless that actually affects not only 235 00:13:30,112 --> 00:13:33,225 what you're seeing, but the focus based on how stop down the 236 00:13:33,277 --> 00:13:36,389 lenses. So then your camera's guessing while you're guessing 237 00:13:36,441 --> 00:13:39,710 in the strobes firing at random fucking times you like I hope I 238 00:13:39,761 --> 00:13:42,822 get something that's fucking great. And you might walk into 239 00:13:42,874 --> 00:13:45,779 something and you walk away shaking and you're like, Oh, 240 00:13:45,831 --> 00:13:48,996 look at this great photo that I kind of made, but was kind of 241 00:13:49,048 --> 00:13:52,316 made for me just based on chance and happenstance. Yeah, I love 242 00:13:52,368 --> 00:13:55,584 the idea of the settings thing that you said too. I think that 243 00:13:55,636 --> 00:13:58,645 even if it wasn't three defined setting, saying all right, 244 00:13:58,697 --> 00:14:01,498 people were working with strobes. We're locking in our 245 00:14:01,550 --> 00:14:04,559 ISO and our shutter speed. However, here's three different 246 00:14:04,611 --> 00:14:07,724 aperture settings for low key high key middle of the ground, 247 00:14:07,776 --> 00:14:10,629 really dark shadows, really bright shadows somewhere in 248 00:14:10,681 --> 00:14:13,897 between and saying, shoot with all of this, see what you want, 249 00:14:13,949 --> 00:14:16,906 because what people would do, especially since I'm a well 250 00:14:16,958 --> 00:14:20,278 known photographer, as well, as they take a shot, I'm like, hey, 251 00:14:20,330 --> 00:14:23,599 what do you think of it? They're like Johnny, what do you think 252 00:14:23,650 --> 00:14:26,971 and I do doesn't fucking matter what I think. Like, I'm not here 253 00:14:27,022 --> 00:14:30,083 to portfolio review. I'm not here to create for you. Do you 254 00:14:30,135 --> 00:14:33,300 want bright shadows? No, well, then that's probably not good. 255 00:14:33,352 --> 00:14:36,464 Let's darken those up. Right So giving people some levity or 256 00:14:36,516 --> 00:14:39,836 some like space to play in a way that still safe in a way that's 257 00:14:39,888 --> 00:14:42,742 still predefined, but where there's some fucking switch 258 00:14:42,793 --> 00:14:46,010 there would be monumental. And then someone gets to decide for 259 00:14:46,062 --> 00:14:49,071 themselves. If they own the brain that's between their two 260 00:14:49,123 --> 00:14:52,391 ears. I like it darker, I like it brighter, and then they start 261 00:14:52,443 --> 00:14:55,711 to develop a way of critically evaluating their images. So in a 262 00:14:55,763 --> 00:14:58,824 very direct but indirect way we start to better equip these 263 00:14:58,876 --> 00:15:02,092 artists to evaluate their own work and what it is they want to 264 00:15:02,144 --> 00:15:05,309 do and why. And so we're not just having someone recite verse 265 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:08,369 we're helping them actually develop the language skills to 266 00:15:08,421 --> 00:15:10,860 compose verse of their own. And that is massive 267 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:14,250 Matt Stagliano: at portrait masters in Arizona last year 268 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:19,650 when I was in helping in the booth when people would come up. 269 00:15:20,670 --> 00:15:23,430 And before you know, someone would be shooting the next 270 00:15:23,430 --> 00:15:26,730 person in line, I'd be having a conversation with them saying, 271 00:15:27,300 --> 00:15:30,660 so what is it that you have in your mind? What's the look that 272 00:15:30,660 --> 00:15:34,350 you want to have? And is this how you would set things up? And 273 00:15:34,350 --> 00:15:36,840 they might say something like, Yep, this is exactly what I 274 00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:41,370 wanted, or I've never used strobes before. Or, you know, I 275 00:15:41,370 --> 00:15:45,930 usually only use one light that at least gave me information to 276 00:15:45,930 --> 00:15:49,950 say we're going rate, I understand what your level and 277 00:15:49,950 --> 00:15:53,730 capability is. Do you want to stretch that? Or do you just 278 00:15:53,730 --> 00:15:57,030 want to shoot your style? Or do you want to shoot for a properly 279 00:15:57,030 --> 00:16:00,570 exposed photo, as listed on the settings on their beautiful 280 00:16:00,570 --> 00:16:05,640 white poster board? Do you want that? My intention was to just 281 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:10,170 get people to think critically about what it is that they want 282 00:16:10,170 --> 00:16:14,310 it to slow down a little bit, have some intention, and tell me 283 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:17,280 what it is that they saw in their head so that I could help 284 00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:21,930 them create that? Yes, I did not want them like they were doing 285 00:16:21,930 --> 00:16:25,500 to you say what do you think of this? I would always turn that 286 00:16:25,500 --> 00:16:31,170 around. What do you think of it? Yeah, totally. Right. So you 287 00:16:31,170 --> 00:16:34,680 know, in thinking and brainstorming like we are about 288 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:37,050 how to make this experience better. From a shooting Bay 289 00:16:37,050 --> 00:16:40,950 perspective, I had alluded way early in this conversation to 290 00:16:40,950 --> 00:16:45,360 Peter Hurley section down the end, I was wondering if it would 291 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:50,580 be possible to create a cordoned off area just for shooting base 292 00:16:50,580 --> 00:16:54,570 kinda like they had in the TPM portion earlier in the week. And 293 00:16:54,570 --> 00:16:59,550 have in that main hall, a cordoned off area for nothing 294 00:16:59,580 --> 00:17:03,600 but shooting base have a limited amount of people having like a 295 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:08,640 bouncer Yonsei, there's only 100 people allowed for these 30 296 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:12,930 Shooting bays at a given time, and you've got an encounter in 297 00:17:12,930 --> 00:17:16,110 and out counter when someone then you let someone else. 298 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:23,430 Right, and in a way that allows people to not feel the chaos and 299 00:17:23,430 --> 00:17:27,450 the pressure and the intensity of it all. And they walk around 300 00:17:27,450 --> 00:17:30,420 and they shoot what they shoot, whether you have time slots, or 301 00:17:30,420 --> 00:17:34,710 whether it's a one in one out thing, capacity issue. I feel 302 00:17:34,710 --> 00:17:40,800 like by removing that into its own area, yeah, that Yeah, it'll 303 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:44,430 be crowded at times. And it will be, you know, good flow all day 304 00:17:44,430 --> 00:17:48,960 long. But it's not going to hinder getting to some of the 305 00:17:48,990 --> 00:17:52,620 other booths as well. And it's not taking away from the 306 00:17:52,620 --> 00:17:57,030 vendors. And if you want it to have vendors or other high 307 00:17:57,030 --> 00:18:01,500 profile educators wandering around the shooting Bay Area, 308 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:05,700 awesome. That just adds to it. I feel like we're trying to 309 00:18:05,700 --> 00:18:11,700 combine too much into the trade show portion. And we're 310 00:18:11,700 --> 00:18:15,600 sacrificing creativity for commerce. Right. And there's, 311 00:18:16,470 --> 00:18:20,340 yeah, there's the balance that everybody that's ever organized 312 00:18:20,340 --> 00:18:24,930 a trade show how to wrangle with right. And it's not an easy 313 00:18:24,930 --> 00:18:30,390 task. Yep. But I'm wondering if more people are leaning into 314 00:18:30,390 --> 00:18:35,010 having that shooting experience, making that its own thing, 315 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:39,750 Disneyland pass instead of going on Photowalks. I've got my $150 316 00:18:39,750 --> 00:18:45,450 ticket. And that allows me into a private shooting bay area as 317 00:18:45,450 --> 00:18:48,930 much as I want during the week to learn different things to 318 00:18:48,930 --> 00:18:51,720 work with different lighting, rather than just having an 319 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:56,400 avenue of shooting base, creating an experience out of it 320 00:18:56,430 --> 00:19:03,300 that is attached to but somewhat separated from the main 321 00:19:03,330 --> 00:19:06,570 tradeshow era. Oh, great. What were some of the best things 322 00:19:06,570 --> 00:19:07,500 that you saw at the show? 323 00:19:07,830 --> 00:19:09,900 Jonny Edward: I think what probably probably my favorite 324 00:19:09,900 --> 00:19:12,330 things that I saw had nothing to do with the shooting bays had 325 00:19:12,330 --> 00:19:14,730 nothing to do with the vendors. It was seeing people who let's 326 00:19:14,730 --> 00:19:17,940 say only knew each other online from across the world and 327 00:19:17,940 --> 00:19:22,230 running to each other, like a cinematic film and jumping into 328 00:19:22,230 --> 00:19:25,530 each other's arms going, oh my god, I finally get to meet you. 329 00:19:25,530 --> 00:19:27,930 I finally get to say hello, I finally get to hang out with 330 00:19:27,930 --> 00:19:30,150 you. You've helped me so much. We've known each other for years 331 00:19:30,150 --> 00:19:33,000 now we get to be present as people. So that humanistic 332 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:35,370 element saying the same thing in the hallways and people being 333 00:19:35,370 --> 00:19:39,240 like, Oh my God, oh, it's so and so wonderful. Hey, can I get 334 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:42,030 this and get that like that was really really beautiful to me. 335 00:19:42,030 --> 00:19:45,870 It felt so innocent. And it felt so cool and wholehearted and it 336 00:19:45,870 --> 00:19:48,810 was such an aside to the chaos and the commerce and all of 337 00:19:48,810 --> 00:19:51,840 these other things that sort of define so much of this to just 338 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:57,330 see people genuinely excited and in passion to see one another 339 00:19:57,330 --> 00:20:00,270 and to be present with one another that for me was was 340 00:20:00,300 --> 00:20:03,960 absolutely brilliant. I love that there's some really amazing 341 00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:07,920 educators and I love seeing the people who have notoriety, Be 342 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:12,600 gracious to actually stop and take the time to go like, Hey, 343 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:15,810 I'm exhausted. But oh my gosh, you said you love my work. I 344 00:20:15,810 --> 00:20:19,170 have two minutes. But those two minutes are yours. Let's talk. 345 00:20:19,170 --> 00:20:23,100 Let's take a selfie. So seeing people being human and operating 346 00:20:23,100 --> 00:20:27,120 from that, sort of almost prerogative of humaneness was 347 00:20:27,120 --> 00:20:30,360 brilliant. On the flip side, I saw some really ugly things, 348 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:33,210 where there were people of notoriety, who literally could 349 00:20:33,210 --> 00:20:36,450 not be bothered to even smile at folks. And that felt really 350 00:20:36,450 --> 00:20:40,020 fucked up. But the nice thing about that is the contrast 351 00:20:40,020 --> 00:20:43,320 creates a beautiful differential where you see the people who 352 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:45,660 don't do that, and it makes the people who do that much more 353 00:20:45,660 --> 00:20:49,920 significant and lauded. I mean, to be completely honest, since 354 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:51,990 we're this far into the conversation, some of the best 355 00:20:51,990 --> 00:20:55,380 chats I had, were in the bathroom, no lie, like, I was 356 00:20:55,380 --> 00:20:58,170 standing at a urinal, and someone came up there to down 357 00:20:58,170 --> 00:21:00,480 space. And they're like, Hey, you're Johnny, right? You know, 358 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:02,370 doing the site. And I'm like, Yeah, I'm Johnny, what's going 359 00:21:02,370 --> 00:21:04,290 on? And they're like, Yeah, you were killing it out there, man. 360 00:21:04,290 --> 00:21:06,120 Like, I really want to come to your booth. That's phenomenal. 361 00:21:06,120 --> 00:21:07,680 I'm like, Oh, where are you from? I'm from Madison, 362 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:10,200 Wisconsin. I shoot weddings. Oh, what do you want to get into? 363 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:15,060 And so over the course of this, streaming, 30 or 45 seconds, you 364 00:21:15,060 --> 00:21:17,670 know, we connected as human beings and we're washing our 365 00:21:17,670 --> 00:21:19,590 hands, and it's like, Hey, I hope to see you tonight. Are you 366 00:21:19,590 --> 00:21:23,040 going somewhere? So you know, even you talking about that 367 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:25,740 elements of things being removed, I would love to just 368 00:21:25,740 --> 00:21:29,700 see like, an off floor lounge. And it doesn't have to be a 369 00:21:29,700 --> 00:21:32,220 quiet space. But in one of the other rooms, it's like, Hey, do 370 00:21:32,220 --> 00:21:35,070 you need to reset like we're gonna essentially use library 371 00:21:35,070 --> 00:21:38,670 voices. We're gonna have some ambience musics, and she'll stop 372 00:21:38,670 --> 00:21:41,790 playing, there's fucking chamomile tea and water. You can 373 00:21:41,790 --> 00:21:44,550 come in and you can just sit amongst everyone else and just 374 00:21:44,550 --> 00:21:47,520 be like, Hey, we're just people here. And we don't have to be in 375 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:49,800 motion. We don't have to be achieving. We don't have to be 376 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:52,650 producing. We don't have to be purchasing, we can just be 377 00:21:52,650 --> 00:21:55,770 present with one another. There's so much power in that. 378 00:21:55,770 --> 00:21:58,140 And that's a hard thing to quantify. But for me, that was 379 00:21:58,140 --> 00:22:01,050 my, my favorite thing. And I had that happen. You'll Vaughn is a 380 00:22:01,050 --> 00:22:04,230 perfect example of this. Um, she's this, you know, spark plug 381 00:22:04,230 --> 00:22:08,040 of a woman from Serbia and is really amazing. And we've been 382 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:10,560 talking for a long time and she literally ran up and was like, 383 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:13,950 throwing Muay Thai elbows at people to get through the crowd 384 00:22:13,950 --> 00:22:17,010 and just jumped on to me and Kelly robots. I was there. And 385 00:22:17,010 --> 00:22:19,230 she was like, what was this? Okay, I'm like, It's fine. It's 386 00:22:19,230 --> 00:22:21,480 fine. But it was hilarious. And she's like, Oh, my god, god, my 387 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:24,060 image is being judged right now. I have to get in there. And I'm 388 00:22:24,060 --> 00:22:26,040 like, I hope you do. Well. She's like, I don't even get a shit 389 00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:29,100 about that. It's just nice to meet you. So those moments 390 00:22:29,100 --> 00:22:32,460 between moments were fucking amazing. Us at the Capri. You 391 00:22:32,460 --> 00:22:35,100 know, just sitting there dancing and looking around and being 392 00:22:35,100 --> 00:22:37,890 like, all right, for a second, there is no hierarchy. There is 393 00:22:37,890 --> 00:22:39,570 not like, oh, you're a professional and you're a 394 00:22:39,570 --> 00:22:42,420 hobbyist. Oh, you're an educator. Oh, you're an artist. 395 00:22:42,450 --> 00:22:45,240 Oh, this Oh, that there's just people who are you know, getting 396 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:48,180 near three sheets to the wind, Double fisting drinks, kind of 397 00:22:48,390 --> 00:22:51,240 bobbing around like night at the Roxbury going, Oh, this is 398 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:54,870 fucking cool. Together. That was lovely. Because there were no 399 00:22:54,900 --> 00:22:57,540 errors. There was no presupposition, it was just 400 00:22:57,540 --> 00:22:59,910 like, Oh, we're all fucking here. And none of us know what 401 00:22:59,910 --> 00:23:02,550 we're doing. And we're all trying to fucking figure it out. 402 00:23:02,550 --> 00:23:05,550 And we're all spiraling into entropy. And we're all gonna go 403 00:23:05,550 --> 00:23:08,340 back home and go, What the fuck just happened. But for these 404 00:23:08,340 --> 00:23:11,970 very ephemeral moments, we're just like, Alright, we're here. 405 00:23:11,970 --> 00:23:14,880 And we're together. And we're enjoying this. And that's enough 406 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:17,820 hard stop. period on the fucking sentence. 407 00:23:18,299 --> 00:23:20,459 Matt Stagliano: Yeah, I found I found that quite a bit, 408 00:23:20,999 --> 00:23:24,749 especially at that big party, that I did look around at one at 409 00:23:24,749 --> 00:23:27,809 one moment, and everybody was just really cool with each 410 00:23:27,809 --> 00:23:32,489 other, which is a big contrast to the same party, same club 411 00:23:32,489 --> 00:23:35,399 last year where there was just a really strange vibe to it, they 412 00:23:35,399 --> 00:23:38,549 did a great job. And you know, you'd mentioned one thing about, 413 00:23:39,029 --> 00:23:41,399 you know, having these kind of like chill rooms when I was 414 00:23:41,399 --> 00:23:45,059 going to SHOT Show for a lot of years over at the Venetian in 415 00:23:45,059 --> 00:23:51,359 the sands. One of my friends companies would have a suite, 416 00:23:51,479 --> 00:23:54,899 and a good size suite that was opened the entire week, they 417 00:23:54,899 --> 00:23:59,339 spent a good amount of money on it. It was basically a Delta sky 418 00:23:59,339 --> 00:24:02,459 lounge, you know, where you could wander in and out there 419 00:24:02,459 --> 00:24:06,329 was always someone there from the company. Yep. And people 420 00:24:06,329 --> 00:24:09,869 could just go, you didn't have to be like, Oh, if it's the 421 00:24:09,869 --> 00:24:13,049 Profoto suite, you didn't have to go up and talk about Profoto. 422 00:24:13,859 --> 00:24:18,689 It was literally just cheese and crackers and drinks and quiet 423 00:24:18,719 --> 00:24:24,179 and good internet. And it wasn't so removed from the show floor 424 00:24:24,329 --> 00:24:27,089 that you felt like you had to walk to another hotel to get 425 00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:30,359 there. It was, you know, a conference room that they had 426 00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:34,919 commandeered and turned into this. And it was great. Because 427 00:24:34,949 --> 00:24:39,089 if someone did want to slip away and get off the floor, just so 428 00:24:39,089 --> 00:24:41,939 you could have a conversation be like, Hey, let's go over to 429 00:24:41,939 --> 00:24:46,139 Johnny's, you know, suite and talk in there for a few minutes. 430 00:24:46,349 --> 00:24:49,829 And it was great. And I really enjoyed that. And that's not 431 00:24:49,829 --> 00:24:53,609 something that I saw and maybe I just didn't know about them and 432 00:24:53,609 --> 00:24:56,999 that they existed but outside of the staff rooms. I don't think 433 00:24:56,999 --> 00:25:00,539 anything like that existed. And it could be a good A thing you 434 00:25:00,539 --> 00:25:04,889 know, hey, this, this lounge sponsored by Profoto on Tuesday 435 00:25:04,889 --> 00:25:08,279 sponsored by figma. On Wednesday, write whatever, and 436 00:25:08,279 --> 00:25:12,389 have it be a place that people can go and just relax a little 437 00:25:12,389 --> 00:25:14,819 bit. They did something like that at portrait masters in 438 00:25:14,819 --> 00:25:18,389 Arizona they did. They had like quiet rooms of beanbag chairs 439 00:25:18,389 --> 00:25:22,979 and whatnot. And it was pretty cool idea. So I'm just wondering 440 00:25:22,979 --> 00:25:25,469 if that can if that can grow to scale, or if it would just be 441 00:25:25,469 --> 00:25:26,339 unmanageable. I don't. 442 00:25:26,339 --> 00:25:28,728 Jonny Edward: And you even even talking about that makes me 443 00:25:28,781 --> 00:25:32,073 think, you know, not once again, not to shit on anything or be 444 00:25:32,126 --> 00:25:35,364 overly critical, but like just better signage in general. You 445 00:25:35,417 --> 00:25:38,603 know, like, just no one knew where the fuck they were going. 446 00:25:38,656 --> 00:25:42,054 Most of the time, even me being on production being on modeling. 447 00:25:42,107 --> 00:25:45,133 And this isn't a knock on production. They did phenomenal 448 00:25:45,187 --> 00:25:48,638 relative to the cards. They were dealt, but like when I had to go 449 00:25:48,691 --> 00:25:51,982 eat the first day I was on the show floor. They were like, oh, 450 00:25:52,036 --> 00:25:55,115 it's in Montego D. And then someone's like, well, there is 451 00:25:55,168 --> 00:25:58,513 no Montego, there's Montenegro. And I'm asking everyone who has 452 00:25:58,566 --> 00:26:01,805 a bad she looks like their hotel staff or security. So no one 453 00:26:01,858 --> 00:26:04,725 knows. And finally, he just started walking. And I saw 454 00:26:04,778 --> 00:26:07,857 someone with a plate of food. And I was like, it has to be 455 00:26:07,910 --> 00:26:11,149 that way. And I just wandered into this corridor into a door. 456 00:26:11,202 --> 00:26:14,547 But there were no signs anywhere that said anything. So I think 457 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:17,945 people you know, like there's so much going on. And there is so 458 00:26:17,998 --> 00:26:21,343 much overstimulation that even to go well, like, yeah, it's the 459 00:26:21,396 --> 00:26:24,529 place where Pratik had his class. And you're like, that was 460 00:26:24,582 --> 00:26:27,608 24 hours ago, and I dumped all of that information out of 461 00:26:27,661 --> 00:26:30,794 necessity. Um, so just having some guideposts or people who 462 00:26:30,847 --> 00:26:34,085 are just roving going like, Oh, where are you going? What are 463 00:26:34,138 --> 00:26:37,112 you trying to get to? Is that for TPM, or WPPI? You just 464 00:26:37,165 --> 00:26:40,350 trying to register it, hopefully getting an anchor point. So 465 00:26:40,403 --> 00:26:43,430 something like registration doesn't move. So then you get 466 00:26:43,483 --> 00:26:46,668 there. And they're like, oh, it's an you know, archive, see, 467 00:26:46,722 --> 00:26:49,907 and you're an archive, see, they're like, no, actually, it's 468 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:53,093 in blue and a now. And that's exactly three football fields 469 00:26:53,146 --> 00:26:56,172 away that way. And you have to knock on the door and say, 470 00:26:56,225 --> 00:26:59,623 banana to get into the basement to get your badge. And it's just 471 00:26:59,676 --> 00:27:02,703 unnecessary brain damage for everybody. If any of this is 472 00:27:02,756 --> 00:27:05,782 something we can do a thing about, right? Let's remove it 473 00:27:05,835 --> 00:27:09,180 from the equation. It's sort of like obviously, this maximalist 474 00:27:09,233 --> 00:27:12,419 thing going right now, but like in my photography, generally 475 00:27:12,472 --> 00:27:15,551 speaking, I'm like, does this element say something in the 476 00:27:15,604 --> 00:27:18,737 frame? If not, let's remove it. So all of those unnecessary 477 00:27:18,790 --> 00:27:21,975 obstacles that can be addressed. All that that means is that 478 00:27:22,029 --> 00:27:25,161 people are going to have a better experience, they're going 479 00:27:25,214 --> 00:27:28,187 to be more connected, they're going to be more immersed, 480 00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:31,267 they're going to be more joyful, they're going to be more 481 00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:34,346 creative, like we have a finite amount of energy as human 482 00:27:34,399 --> 00:27:37,744 beings. So let's not make people allocate that finite energy to 483 00:27:37,797 --> 00:27:40,877 things that we could address on their behalf from from the 484 00:27:40,930 --> 00:27:44,221 forefront of it. And that's for me, that's what it really sort 485 00:27:44,275 --> 00:27:45,390 of boils down to. For 486 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:48,750 Matt Stagliano: me, the energy this year was definitely better 487 00:27:48,750 --> 00:27:51,300 than it was last year. I think, you know, there were more 488 00:27:51,300 --> 00:27:55,200 people, there was definitely more excitement around 489 00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:58,770 everything. I two met a ton of people that I had never met in 490 00:27:58,770 --> 00:28:02,160 real life. And that felt really cool to actually be able to 491 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:05,010 shake the hands of people and give hugs to people that I've 492 00:28:05,010 --> 00:28:08,340 known for years and never met in person. You know, I spent a lot 493 00:28:08,340 --> 00:28:12,090 of time with my friend Bassam, who I've known for years. And 494 00:28:12,090 --> 00:28:16,170 we, he lives five hours north of me, and we've never, we've never 495 00:28:16,170 --> 00:28:19,290 met. So it was good to spend a lot of time with him. The 496 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:23,010 vendors this year, were very well curated. Maybe the vendors 497 00:28:23,010 --> 00:28:26,550 just came back that haven't been there for a few years. And it 498 00:28:26,550 --> 00:28:29,280 seemed like there was just a better energy amongst the 499 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:31,650 vendors, there was more to look at more to play with more to 500 00:28:31,650 --> 00:28:34,290 see. And it was it was a really good time. And there were a 501 00:28:34,290 --> 00:28:39,150 couple of things that I really loved about the show. And there 502 00:28:39,150 --> 00:28:41,910 were a couple of things that I didn't like. And I think we've 503 00:28:41,910 --> 00:28:45,540 talked about stuff we didn't like, but what I what I did love 504 00:28:45,660 --> 00:28:50,310 in the TPM summit in the portrait masters Summit, was the 505 00:28:50,310 --> 00:28:54,870 fact that there was one room where we all got to see all the 506 00:28:54,870 --> 00:28:58,830 speakers, there was no running from place to place. It was just 507 00:28:58,830 --> 00:29:02,220 you had your seat, you had your room, it felt intimate, it felt 508 00:29:02,220 --> 00:29:07,770 good. It was very engaging. And I really like that setting. But 509 00:29:07,770 --> 00:29:12,420 again, you've got 8000 people in an area or logistics, right? So 510 00:29:12,420 --> 00:29:15,420 I'm not I'm not bashing anything. But I think that's one 511 00:29:15,420 --> 00:29:19,200 of the things that I loved because it just felt better. It 512 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:23,460 felt smaller and more communal. I started looking across the 513 00:29:23,460 --> 00:29:30,540 industry. There are a ton of photography podcasts that are 514 00:29:30,630 --> 00:29:34,770 not technically focused, right, you've got Nikki doing the 515 00:29:34,770 --> 00:29:37,590 portrait system, which is nominal from a business 516 00:29:37,590 --> 00:29:43,140 standpoint. You've got podcasts out there that are very focused 517 00:29:43,170 --> 00:29:47,250 on no pun intended, very focused on the technical aspects of 518 00:29:47,250 --> 00:29:52,770 things. There's room for so much more personality in this space. 519 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:55,920 Should there be a gossip podcasts or should it be an 520 00:29:55,920 --> 00:30:00,450 industry news where you know, it's like 62nd industry Use, 521 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:04,050 Jonny Edward: I do think that there is a sort of pervasive 522 00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:08,670 self imposed stoicism, right? Yeah. Where we take everything 523 00:30:08,670 --> 00:30:11,670 so seriously. And shooting is serious. And what we do is 524 00:30:11,670 --> 00:30:14,790 serious and making money is serious and, and there's all of 525 00:30:14,790 --> 00:30:18,210 this weight to all of it. And I think I'm a I tend to be a 526 00:30:18,210 --> 00:30:20,430 counterpoint to that just because I'm a big personality 527 00:30:20,430 --> 00:30:22,800 and I laugh at myself and I laugh at the world. And, you 528 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:24,690 know, I'm an ass and I'm an asshole. And I'm also a really 529 00:30:24,690 --> 00:30:27,630 amazing person. And all of these things sort of coexist. So yeah, 530 00:30:27,630 --> 00:30:31,080 I think that there needs to be more space just for fucking fun. 531 00:30:31,230 --> 00:30:35,040 Fun, right? Yes, for fucking fun. And I think that even goes 532 00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:37,200 back to the idea that we were talking about knocked up, 533 00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:40,410 diverge back into the shooting Bay thing, but like, that's why 534 00:30:40,410 --> 00:30:43,920 Mitzie thing was so great. Because it was all so serious in 535 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:46,560 there were serious models seriously style, doing very 536 00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:49,290 serious things. And then she was over there with these really 537 00:30:49,290 --> 00:30:52,710 radiant human beings be like, pretend like you just had a Jack 538 00:30:52,710 --> 00:30:56,190 in the Box popping you in? Because it was such a 539 00:30:56,190 --> 00:30:59,760 counterpoint to the austerity of so much else. Right. So not only 540 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:02,130 do I think there is space for that, I think it's a fucking 541 00:31:02,130 --> 00:31:06,510 necessity. I think it's it's a natural part of human emotion. 542 00:31:06,510 --> 00:31:09,270 Like we need a space to be vulnerable. And that's also 543 00:31:09,270 --> 00:31:12,060 something that's missing. Like, where do we get together and not 544 00:31:12,060 --> 00:31:14,790 talk about it from an analytical standpoint, but just say, You 545 00:31:14,790 --> 00:31:18,390 know what, that like, I'm not sure I want to do this anymore. 546 00:31:18,390 --> 00:31:20,790 I don't think that I'm any fucking good. Like, I might just 547 00:31:20,790 --> 00:31:23,550 want to sell the business. I'm not making six figures right 548 00:31:23,550 --> 00:31:26,640 now. In fact, I'm struggling to make fucking five. And there's 549 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:29,640 someone banging on my door right now who might break my kneecaps, 550 00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:32,880 like, that type of thing needs to be spoke about. But we just 551 00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:36,360 need to laugh at the joy of it at the absurdity of it, of the 552 00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:39,420 fact that this is what we do and how we do it and bring some 553 00:31:39,450 --> 00:31:43,500 other emotions in so that we could be more whole, as 554 00:31:43,500 --> 00:31:46,890 individuals and as a community and embrace the entirety of 555 00:31:46,890 --> 00:31:50,430 this. And I even have to do that at workshops. Sometimes there'll 556 00:31:50,430 --> 00:31:53,130 be this thing and everyone's so focused, it's like, well, I 557 00:31:53,130 --> 00:31:55,410 need, I need to get the shot. And this needs to go into 558 00:31:55,410 --> 00:31:58,350 fucking photo VO. And I need to make two steps forward. And this 559 00:31:58,350 --> 00:32:00,930 is going to result in 710 K sales. And I'm like, Listen, 560 00:32:01,230 --> 00:32:04,020 this isn't a knock on anyone. But for a second, can we just 561 00:32:04,110 --> 00:32:06,720 just admire the fact or appreciate the fact that we're 562 00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:10,050 in the fucking first world. We're in a beautiful studio, 563 00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:13,470 we're all eating fucking, you know, like noodles and curry. 564 00:32:13,590 --> 00:32:16,680 We're photographing beautiful humans as beautiful humans, like 565 00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:20,850 this is fucking pretty amazing. And let's just laugh at the fact 566 00:32:20,850 --> 00:32:23,580 that we all happen to have converged at this point, and the 567 00:32:23,580 --> 00:32:26,970 butterfly fucking effective all of this, that we happen to not 568 00:32:26,970 --> 00:32:31,290 only be alive, but alive together, making fucking art in 569 00:32:31,290 --> 00:32:32,880 a world that's on fire. 570 00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:36,027 Matt Stagliano: All week, you and I had kind of had our 571 00:32:36,108 --> 00:32:40,870 different stresses. Yeah. And getting through the workshop, 572 00:32:40,950 --> 00:32:46,035 really, at the end of the at the end of the week really started 573 00:32:46,116 --> 00:32:51,281 to set the tone for that Friday night. Yep. So last Friday night 574 00:32:51,362 --> 00:32:56,285 of WPPI. The show it ended on Thursday, we do the trade show. 575 00:32:56,366 --> 00:33:01,127 We do the workshop all day Friday. And then we have to pack 576 00:33:01,208 --> 00:33:06,212 up all the gear and send it back to Nan right. And I just like 577 00:33:06,293 --> 00:33:10,974 you from your first person perspective, to talk about what 578 00:33:11,054 --> 00:33:16,220 happened because we had a great team pack up all of these lights 579 00:33:16,300 --> 00:33:18,480 that Nan light had sent us. 580 00:33:18,690 --> 00:33:21,420 Jonny Edward: So this is this is for any of you once again who 581 00:33:21,420 --> 00:33:23,280 haven't been involved in production. This is a little bit 582 00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:27,180 of insight into how these things actually unfold or fail to 583 00:33:27,180 --> 00:33:31,590 unfold. Wonderful day. We it was such a once again such a great 584 00:33:31,590 --> 00:33:33,750 day, we ended on a good note everyone was fucking dead on 585 00:33:33,750 --> 00:33:37,110 their feet. You know, like Matt had said earlier by 2pm people 586 00:33:37,110 --> 00:33:39,720 like ordered food in and there's just people with like, you know, 587 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:43,080 subs halfway and their mouths staring at the ceiling. Like 588 00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:46,380 they're on you know hoarse doses of Xanax and ketamine, they're 589 00:33:46,380 --> 00:33:49,500 just fucking gone. Because it's been an exhausting week and for 590 00:33:49,500 --> 00:33:52,200 all the right reasons, but it's still overwhelming. And so this 591 00:33:52,230 --> 00:33:55,860 ends and we're wrapping up and we have all of this stuff to 592 00:33:55,860 --> 00:33:58,890 break down we have six sets, we have the gear that we brought 593 00:33:58,890 --> 00:34:01,500 in, we have Paulina stuff we have now in light stuff, we have 594 00:34:01,500 --> 00:34:04,140 to separate out everything from Black Box studios. And 595 00:34:04,140 --> 00:34:07,080 thankfully, Matt was there Kayla Douglas was there, Rick Lewis 596 00:34:07,080 --> 00:34:09,570 was there and we had a bunch of attendees who are like, I'm in 597 00:34:09,570 --> 00:34:12,840 it for the fucking long haul, which I'm so grateful for. I 598 00:34:12,900 --> 00:34:15,990 kept trying to get rid of them. I'm like, you paid me to be 599 00:34:15,990 --> 00:34:19,170 here. You do not need to help and they're like, fuck you. I 600 00:34:19,170 --> 00:34:21,720 didn't help because I want to be of service. And I was like, 601 00:34:21,750 --> 00:34:24,630 Alright, I'm gonna put my ego aside and say, You know what, if 602 00:34:24,630 --> 00:34:26,850 you're giving me your hands, I'm gonna put them to work because 603 00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:30,750 you just lucked out. So anyway, we do this in mass as a team. 604 00:34:31,140 --> 00:34:33,840 And you know, some people are really experienced with this. 605 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:35,790 Some people are and there's nothing wrong with that. So 606 00:34:35,790 --> 00:34:37,530 we're just trying to make sure the right lights go into the 607 00:34:37,530 --> 00:34:41,250 right boxes, gear gets separated basic logistical stops. So we 608 00:34:41,250 --> 00:34:43,500 get into this and then we realize we don't have the 609 00:34:43,500 --> 00:34:47,340 shipping labels. This is the first thing right? And let me 610 00:34:47,340 --> 00:34:50,880 backtrack for a second NAMM light was kind enough to send 611 00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:54,330 this literal trailer worth of fucking gear, this veritable 612 00:34:54,330 --> 00:34:58,380 palette to the Mirage to make things easier. Well, it came via 613 00:34:58,380 --> 00:35:01,380 UPS unbeknownst to me and our Arrived at FedEx. So the first 614 00:35:01,380 --> 00:35:04,470 surprise was before we're breaking down is picking it up. 615 00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:07,080 And you know, the people at FedEx are like, Oh yeah, there's 616 00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:11,460 a $250 handling fit. And I was like, What do you mean, you 617 00:35:11,460 --> 00:35:14,790 receive packages? You received a package like that's what you do. 618 00:35:14,790 --> 00:35:17,580 It'd be like getting charged a grill fee for a steak or 619 00:35:17,580 --> 00:35:21,060 hamburger. And you're like, how else do you make this sir? Mess? 620 00:35:21,270 --> 00:35:24,600 Whoever. So that was fine. That was an incidental cost. But we 621 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:27,090 get it. We get it over there. We don't have enough space. We had 622 00:35:27,090 --> 00:35:29,970 to get Uber excels. I literally got put into the back of a 623 00:35:29,970 --> 00:35:33,930 truck, like a Tetris piece, and probably dislodged multiple 624 00:35:33,930 --> 00:35:37,350 vertebra being stuck in the back of this fucking truck, like a 625 00:35:37,350 --> 00:35:40,950 minion. And I'm already small, but I got cut in half, quite 626 00:35:40,950 --> 00:35:43,860 literally. So anyway, we're packing all this stuff up, and 627 00:35:43,860 --> 00:35:47,460 we realize, oh, fuck, we don't have the shipping labels. And so 628 00:35:47,460 --> 00:35:50,430 everyone pauses and we were in such great momentum, and we're 629 00:35:50,430 --> 00:35:53,160 all shooting the shit. And we're dancing and we have music on. 630 00:35:53,430 --> 00:35:56,280 You were telling jokes. Were just there. As people in a hush 631 00:35:56,280 --> 00:36:00,630 falls over the crowd. All of the energy that was up here suddenly 632 00:36:00,630 --> 00:36:03,870 comes down, out of the room. It's a whisper, and I'm like, 633 00:36:03,870 --> 00:36:08,820 Hey, everyone. You're all doing great. But the reality is, we 634 00:36:08,820 --> 00:36:11,760 don't have the labels, and we need to open up and unbox 635 00:36:11,790 --> 00:36:15,210 everything that we just backed up. Because without those, we 636 00:36:15,210 --> 00:36:18,930 can't do anything. And to everyone's fucking credit, they 637 00:36:18,930 --> 00:36:20,850 took it on the chin, and everyone's like, that's fine. 638 00:36:20,850 --> 00:36:24,060 We're gonna make this happen. So everyone starts unboxing. I 639 00:36:24,060 --> 00:36:27,480 can't remember exactly who it was who found it. But someone 640 00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:29,730 finds it and it was like the winning Lotto number, they 641 00:36:29,730 --> 00:36:33,600 hauled it all. And it was like fucking a scene from The Lion 642 00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:36,690 King, we all looked off and we're chanting. So you know, it 643 00:36:36,690 --> 00:36:40,440 was the sun rising in prehistoric times. And we're 644 00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:43,680 like, fuck you're in. So that's fine. So we get back to what 645 00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:46,110 we're doing. And we're read duct taping and we're repacking, and 646 00:36:46,110 --> 00:36:47,910 we're doing this, we're doing that we're getting everything 647 00:36:47,910 --> 00:36:50,730 segmented. And now we're looking at time, and we're like, holy 648 00:36:50,730 --> 00:36:53,430 shit. Like, if we don't get these boxes out to ship. 649 00:36:53,640 --> 00:36:56,760 Tonight, we're gonna have to do it tomorrow. We have no way to 650 00:36:56,760 --> 00:36:59,520 stage these in hotel rooms. We only have one predominant 651 00:36:59,520 --> 00:37:02,610 vehicle. We're already renting things we have to make this 652 00:37:02,610 --> 00:37:06,090 happen tonight. So I find a FedEx store. That's open until 653 00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:10,110 eight. And it's Friday fucking night on the strip. So it was 654 00:37:10,110 --> 00:37:15,210 empty the day before it is now Hey, OS, like absolute chaos, 655 00:37:15,210 --> 00:37:20,280 like LA freeway meets fucking and apocalyptic movie. And 656 00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:23,580 Paulinus husband Bill and I are like what could do in this so we 657 00:37:23,580 --> 00:37:26,370 throw all of these boxes into the back of the truck. We're 658 00:37:26,370 --> 00:37:28,860 wedging things in we're trying to figure out you know how 659 00:37:28,860 --> 00:37:31,110 things can't fall out. I basically have my head out the 660 00:37:31,110 --> 00:37:34,500 window like a watchdog. So it's stoplight some unsavory 661 00:37:34,500 --> 00:37:36,690 character isn't gonna steal one of these lights and take it to a 662 00:37:36,690 --> 00:37:41,310 pawn shop. It's fucking insane. But like, everyone's on Hi, back 663 00:37:41,310 --> 00:37:44,010 at the studio Bill and I are driving we're stuck in traffic, 664 00:37:44,010 --> 00:37:47,040 there was a brokedown Corvette from the 80s that held the 665 00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:49,710 traffic like it was it was not it was like it was something of 666 00:37:49,710 --> 00:37:52,230 an indie movie, you know, there's just this sort of like 667 00:37:52,260 --> 00:37:55,020 EDM soundtrack playing in the back. And I'm like, Bill, if 668 00:37:55,020 --> 00:37:56,970 this doesn't work out, you know, what are we going to do? And 669 00:37:56,970 --> 00:37:59,280 he's like, you know, maybe we'll just drive off a cliff. And I 670 00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:01,710 was like, yeah, that'd be swayed. And so we're in this 671 00:38:01,710 --> 00:38:04,770 pseudo existential, pseudo excited, pseudo exhausted state, 672 00:38:04,770 --> 00:38:08,130 and we get there, and we have the fucking truck is loaded. And 673 00:38:08,130 --> 00:38:11,310 so we put all of these on flatbeds and we get in and out 674 00:38:11,310 --> 00:38:15,060 of doing a jig. It's like the Joker coming down and do there 675 00:38:15,060 --> 00:38:19,140 is you may walk in Phoenix, I have fucking Sinatra playing, I 676 00:38:19,140 --> 00:38:22,530 backpedal. And guys, like, what's up, guys? And we're like, 677 00:38:22,530 --> 00:38:25,410 we got to ship this stuff out. It's gonna be fucking amazing. 678 00:38:25,650 --> 00:38:28,470 I'm getting ready to wipe the slate clean. And he's like, 679 00:38:28,470 --> 00:38:31,050 where are the labels? And I was like, boss, the labels are on 680 00:38:31,050 --> 00:38:33,930 the fucking box, right? Where we flip them, you can take a peek 681 00:38:33,930 --> 00:38:37,590 right there. And he's like, Ah, man, what the fuck do you these 682 00:38:37,590 --> 00:38:44,460 are UPS labels, you're at FedEx. That that uncomfortable? Pause 683 00:38:44,460 --> 00:38:50,430 is exactly what happened. So for me, everything came I was 684 00:38:50,430 --> 00:38:53,040 received at FedEx. And I'm like, Alright, there was a handling 685 00:38:53,040 --> 00:38:55,740 fee. So whatever is going on with the shipping, it can go out 686 00:38:55,740 --> 00:38:59,070 via FedEx. That's what was at The Mirage now. And because all 687 00:38:59,070 --> 00:39:01,980 of us were so utterly exhausted, none of us took a look at the 688 00:39:01,980 --> 00:39:07,530 labels. We were not out of this team of 10. And so I'm like, 689 00:39:08,550 --> 00:39:14,910 fuck, okay. Who's open UPS wise? No one man, all the ups closes. 690 00:39:14,910 --> 00:39:17,760 So now I'm dealing with the fact that we're in a 24 hour fucking 691 00:39:17,760 --> 00:39:24,060 city Sin City where, like, places closed down at 6pm on a 692 00:39:24,060 --> 00:39:27,930 Friday night. So I'm calling access points literally for UPS. 693 00:39:27,930 --> 00:39:30,300 I'm like, listen, I know you guys only deal with drivers. 694 00:39:30,390 --> 00:39:33,390 I'll throw you fucking undos like I got money in my back 695 00:39:33,390 --> 00:39:36,720 pocket. I'll rub your back. I'll you know be godfather to your 696 00:39:36,720 --> 00:39:39,390 first child, whatever the fuck and they're like Sorry, sir. 697 00:39:39,390 --> 00:39:42,510 We'd love to help you. We can. So Bill and I get the bright 698 00:39:42,510 --> 00:39:46,020 idea of fuck it like we're going to try and go to a Walgreens. 699 00:39:46,140 --> 00:39:49,050 Right? Like they have a UPS store. They're probably not 700 00:39:49,050 --> 00:39:51,450 equipped to handle this, but I'm like someone there need some 701 00:39:51,450 --> 00:39:54,900 fucking money. I'll ply the trade. I'll do whatever I need 702 00:39:54,900 --> 00:39:58,380 to fucking do like I'll don a Walgreens outfit and dance on 703 00:39:58,380 --> 00:40:01,470 the strip for the next four hours. Just to bring people into 704 00:40:01,470 --> 00:40:04,410 a place they can get cheaper booze, whatever the fuck. So 705 00:40:04,410 --> 00:40:06,840 we're heading to this Walgreens and then we realize it's the 706 00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:10,680 Walgreens on the strip, the eponymous strip Walgreens. And 707 00:40:10,680 --> 00:40:13,110 we're like, well, that's not going to fucking work. So we get 708 00:40:13,620 --> 00:40:17,400 stuck in traffic. I'm calling Matt. I'm calling Paulina. I'm 709 00:40:17,400 --> 00:40:21,240 like, Hey, things are fought. I don't know what we're gonna do, 710 00:40:21,240 --> 00:40:24,120 we need to schedule a pickup, we need to do this. So anyway, it's 711 00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:29,790 just this fucking thing. And I'm now my wit's end was an hour 712 00:40:29,790 --> 00:40:33,570 ago, was what three debacle is ago. So I'm just sitting in the 713 00:40:33,570 --> 00:40:37,830 truck Deadeye like a shark, just staring at these neon lights, 714 00:40:37,830 --> 00:40:41,070 and I can't even I'm not even upset. I don't even have the 715 00:40:41,070 --> 00:40:45,570 energy to be upset. I'm just fucking completely convalesced. 716 00:40:46,080 --> 00:40:48,210 And so we show up. And everyone's like, what are we 717 00:40:48,210 --> 00:40:50,220 going to do, and I'm gonna be, let's just let's unpack it. I'm 718 00:40:50,220 --> 00:40:53,400 like, it just has to go back inside. And so we come up with 719 00:40:53,400 --> 00:40:56,040 this plan where Paulina, and Bill are going to take care of 720 00:40:56,040 --> 00:40:58,440 it in the morning, and they're going to get an Uber XL. I'm 721 00:40:58,440 --> 00:41:01,530 considering changing my flight. I can't do the app, because it's 722 00:41:01,530 --> 00:41:04,890 just madness, with people trying to fly out, we come up with this 723 00:41:04,890 --> 00:41:08,460 fucking plan. And it ended up working out like credit to 724 00:41:08,460 --> 00:41:10,830 Pauline and Bill, thank you black box studios for letting us 725 00:41:10,830 --> 00:41:13,470 stay there. They were so kind, they didn't even charge us for 726 00:41:13,470 --> 00:41:16,320 the staging of the extra hours, the best of humanity, like 727 00:41:16,320 --> 00:41:18,840 people fucking came together. And we're like, Listen, this is 728 00:41:18,840 --> 00:41:21,600 a problem. But in the scheme of life, it's really not a problem. 729 00:41:21,810 --> 00:41:26,160 Let's fucking pivot and make it work. And so we get with a plan. 730 00:41:26,160 --> 00:41:30,060 And now Matt and I are going back to the Mirage. And I'm just 731 00:41:30,060 --> 00:41:32,100 like, we're sitting in the back. And now it's like, how are you? 732 00:41:32,100 --> 00:41:35,490 And I'm like, I don't even know. Like, how are you? And he's just 733 00:41:35,490 --> 00:41:39,420 like, like, we're both speaking in evangelical tongues. There 734 00:41:39,420 --> 00:41:43,110 weren't even word big enunciate. We're both just like primitive 735 00:41:43,110 --> 00:41:43,830 grunts. 736 00:41:43,920 --> 00:41:46,020 Matt Stagliano: It was at that point that I realized I hadn't 737 00:41:46,020 --> 00:41:50,580 eaten all day, right? I'm the type that will go go go and then 738 00:41:50,580 --> 00:41:55,110 realize, Oh, God, I have not even low blood sugar, I have no 739 00:41:55,140 --> 00:41:58,860 blood, or whatever. And I'll crash. And that's exactly what 740 00:41:58,890 --> 00:42:01,770 the way that I was feeling. At the end of the workshop. Now I 741 00:42:01,800 --> 00:42:05,670 snacked kind of throughout the day, but never really had too 742 00:42:05,670 --> 00:42:09,660 much of substance. And so sitting in the back of this 743 00:42:09,660 --> 00:42:12,690 truck, on the way back to the hotel theater, killing me, we've 744 00:42:12,690 --> 00:42:17,340 just had this amazing, like emotional day. And then the 745 00:42:17,340 --> 00:42:21,030 problem that we have to solve, and all I'm thinking is like, I 746 00:42:21,030 --> 00:42:24,120 just have to get back to the hotel room. Take a quick shower, 747 00:42:24,120 --> 00:42:27,540 I need something to eat really bad. So we get back. And because 748 00:42:27,540 --> 00:42:33,030 it's Friday night, and all week, I had brought out with me a an 749 00:42:33,030 --> 00:42:36,750 edible chocolate bar, a 200 milligram edible chocolate bar 750 00:42:36,750 --> 00:42:39,960 that was going to manage me throughout the week, and it was 751 00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:43,140 doing great. It was mainly for sleep at night, make sure that I 752 00:42:43,140 --> 00:42:47,340 can sleep a little bit. And I had a couple of pieces left, 753 00:42:47,340 --> 00:42:51,390 probably, I don't know, 40 milligrams worth of chocolate. 754 00:42:51,600 --> 00:42:57,150 Now, here's where it gets fun. So we go back to the room. You 755 00:42:57,150 --> 00:43:00,810 and I sitting there just dead. I'd like sharp and I'm 756 00:43:01,650 --> 00:43:03,750 Jonny Edward: exhausted. I'm like, Alright, 757 00:43:03,750 --> 00:43:07,050 Matt Stagliano: you go. Let's go get dinner somewhere. Everybody 758 00:43:07,050 --> 00:43:10,110 that we knew was basically gone. I'm like, let's go get sushi 759 00:43:10,110 --> 00:43:14,280 downstairs and hang out. What I'm going to do is I'm going to 760 00:43:14,280 --> 00:43:19,230 take a little bit of this chocolate bar right now. And 761 00:43:19,410 --> 00:43:21,540 then we could just kind of groove on a Friday night. 762 00:43:22,470 --> 00:43:28,080 Totally not intending to do what I did, which was take that get 763 00:43:28,080 --> 00:43:33,390 dressed in in my low blood sugar haze of my brain. I took the 764 00:43:33,390 --> 00:43:38,010 other half now. Now I would that's it. I was just hungry. 765 00:43:38,010 --> 00:43:43,170 And I was just eating chocolate. And I realized, oh no, I've made 766 00:43:43,200 --> 00:43:48,120 a disastrous error and wind up realizing that I took in the 767 00:43:48,120 --> 00:43:52,380 night taking about 3540 milligrams of this chocolate 768 00:43:52,380 --> 00:43:57,360 bar. And I go that's a lot for me. Given what I'm about to do. 769 00:43:57,750 --> 00:44:01,950 We go downstairs to the the sushi restaurant. And we have 770 00:44:01,950 --> 00:44:06,690 the same waiter that we had had a couple of nights prior. Yep. 771 00:44:07,260 --> 00:44:12,990 And he seemed a little bit aggressive. On this night. He 772 00:44:12,990 --> 00:44:16,050 was great. The first night we were there. Yeah, we kept him 773 00:44:16,050 --> 00:44:18,600 well, I don't know why he was aggressive. But he kept coming 774 00:44:18,600 --> 00:44:21,660 over and we were both still sober at this point. 775 00:44:21,690 --> 00:44:23,820 Jonny Edward: Yeah. Relatively lucid. Is 776 00:44:24,060 --> 00:44:26,190 Matt Stagliano: Is he like fucking with us a little bit? 777 00:44:26,340 --> 00:44:29,070 What's going on? So it brings up the socket, we're having socket. 778 00:44:29,430 --> 00:44:34,290 But everything out of his mouth was like, looking at us a little 779 00:44:34,290 --> 00:44:36,810 weird. And I start to have these moments of paranoia where I'm 780 00:44:36,810 --> 00:44:40,440 like, is he dosing our food? Like did he put something in the 781 00:44:40,440 --> 00:44:44,760 socket and he's just waiting for us? Because everything is just a 782 00:44:44,760 --> 00:44:47,010 little bit weird. So we're sitting there and we're having a 783 00:44:47,010 --> 00:44:52,110 good time. And then it happened. Everything kicked in at once. 784 00:44:52,500 --> 00:44:56,220 When they put those first person cameras on, you know, and it's 785 00:44:56,220 --> 00:44:59,010 facing the person's face and they're looking around and the 786 00:44:59,010 --> 00:45:03,840 whole angle Little is just this real dystopian view of what 787 00:45:03,870 --> 00:45:06,240 person is experiencing, and they're stumbling through a 788 00:45:06,240 --> 00:45:09,960 party. And sometimes it's like hyperlapse. That's what I felt 789 00:45:09,990 --> 00:45:13,230 like was starting to happen. I look up for my meal, and I look 790 00:45:13,230 --> 00:45:16,500 at you and you've got eyes, the sides of Frisbees, and you're 791 00:45:16,500 --> 00:45:19,200 looking at me going, oh, yeah, we're in the same place, aren't 792 00:45:19,200 --> 00:45:22,320 we? And I said, Yeah, this is gonna get weird. We need to 793 00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:26,070 settle up and get out of here immediately. But let's use the 794 00:45:26,070 --> 00:45:28,980 restroom first. And we get up and start walking through the 795 00:45:28,980 --> 00:45:34,050 casino, and we do one lap around the casino. And then we do 796 00:45:34,050 --> 00:45:37,500 another lap because we just kept taking rights. And we wound up 797 00:45:37,500 --> 00:45:41,130 at the same spot. We're like, I can't do another lap. So we're 798 00:45:41,130 --> 00:45:45,840 like, alright, let's let's hit The Strip. And just go outside 799 00:45:45,840 --> 00:45:51,360 get some fresh air. We started walking out of the four exit 800 00:45:51,360 --> 00:45:54,510 because we couldn't find it for some reason couldn't find a 801 00:45:54,510 --> 00:45:58,260 restroom at The Mirage. Yeah, don't ask why just 802 00:45:58,260 --> 00:46:00,510 Jonny Edward: we got we got stuck in the casino floor loop. 803 00:46:00,510 --> 00:46:03,690 Like we were just literally, it was like Groundhog Day. 804 00:46:03,690 --> 00:46:06,628 Matt Stagliano: So we find this this exit and it's by the Rum 805 00:46:06,694 --> 00:46:10,742 Bar in the cafeteria. So we go out, and we just start walking, 806 00:46:10,808 --> 00:46:14,726 we get outside and we get hit with that fresh, fresh air and 807 00:46:14,791 --> 00:46:18,644 it feels so good. And it's the lights of the strip. And I'm 808 00:46:18,710 --> 00:46:22,889 standing there and I'm going, we made a disastrous error here as 809 00:46:22,954 --> 00:46:26,807 well. Because now we've got to deal with the strip, keep it 810 00:46:26,873 --> 00:46:30,987 together, keep it together, keep it together, keep it together. 811 00:46:31,052 --> 00:46:35,101 Now, at this point, my high is getting more and more and more. 812 00:46:35,166 --> 00:46:38,954 And I'm just starting to feel super groovy. And when I get 813 00:46:39,019 --> 00:46:42,938 like that I shut down and I'm observing everything and we're 814 00:46:43,003 --> 00:46:46,791 walking by street performers that are awful. Just not good 815 00:46:46,856 --> 00:46:51,101 street performers at all playing Oregon's playing guitars playing 816 00:46:51,166 --> 00:46:55,084 pipes. I don't know what they were playing. But it felt like 817 00:46:55,150 --> 00:46:59,198 walking the 20 yards past. This guy playing in Oregon, took us 818 00:46:59,264 --> 00:47:03,247 45 minutes and it very well may have taken us 45 minutes. But 819 00:47:03,313 --> 00:47:06,904 we're walking. So that's happening. I'm getting freaked 820 00:47:06,970 --> 00:47:10,888 out. I look over you. You're just laughing at me because I'm 821 00:47:10,953 --> 00:47:15,133 freaked out. But you're freaked out too. So we keep walking. All 822 00:47:15,198 --> 00:47:19,116 of a sudden, a woman starts running at us full bore. I don't 823 00:47:19,182 --> 00:47:23,035 know what's happening, but she takes off. Suddenly, a guy's 824 00:47:23,100 --> 00:47:27,084 chasing her with a full beer in his hand. Yep. I think he had 825 00:47:27,149 --> 00:47:31,328 just robbed him of his phone and took off. I tried to chase like 826 00:47:31,394 --> 00:47:35,638 grabbed it out of his hand while he was talking and just ran. And 827 00:47:35,704 --> 00:47:39,949 he winds up tripping over a curb and eating it. And everybody was 828 00:47:40,014 --> 00:47:43,932 like, Oh, no one looking to help them. No one's came out and 829 00:47:43,997 --> 00:47:47,720 we're like, Look at this guy. But world. I'm like we just 830 00:47:47,785 --> 00:47:51,834 witnessed a crime. Yep, walking forward. Keep walking straight 831 00:47:51,899 --> 00:47:55,818 in the distance. We see Caesars Caesars must have a bathroom 832 00:47:55,883 --> 00:47:59,866 because moth to a flame it's a beacon. There was literally no 833 00:47:59,932 --> 00:48:03,589 place to just turn off into like an In and Out Burger or 834 00:48:03,654 --> 00:48:07,768 something to use the restroom. So we're like, Alright, let's go 835 00:48:07,834 --> 00:48:11,556 into the casino. Now after a week of being at WPPI in the 836 00:48:11,621 --> 00:48:15,735 Mirage, now the Mirage, if you haven't been to Vegas is kind of 837 00:48:15,801 --> 00:48:19,654 like the middle aged couple of the Vegas casinos where they 838 00:48:19,719 --> 00:48:23,572 kind of want to go out and party a little bit but you know, 839 00:48:23,637 --> 00:48:27,490 around 11 o'clock, you kind of dead you know, as opposed to 840 00:48:27,556 --> 00:48:31,474 like ARIA or Cosmo which are much younger and hipper and the 841 00:48:31,539 --> 00:48:35,457 Mirage is a great place. But it's just kind of like a middle 842 00:48:35,523 --> 00:48:36,960 aged married couple of 843 00:48:37,290 --> 00:48:41,010 Jonny Edward: 80s Nostalgia vibe about at the sound. Yeah. So 844 00:48:41,280 --> 00:48:41,850 we're like 845 00:48:41,850 --> 00:48:44,040 Matt Stagliano: all right there Caesars. Let's get into Caesars 846 00:48:44,100 --> 00:48:53,070 and we walked in. I was ready for what we experienced. I don't 847 00:48:53,070 --> 00:48:56,700 know what went through your mind when we went in there. But all I 848 00:48:56,700 --> 00:49:02,700 saw when I walked in was like Russian mobsters. Bright lights 849 00:49:02,730 --> 00:49:09,570 a line for the nightclub? Yeah, Omnia, that was there. That line 850 00:49:09,780 --> 00:49:12,360 and you and I are walking in. You're dressed the way you're 851 00:49:12,360 --> 00:49:16,500 dressed. I'm in like a Canadian tuxedo, rolling in in a 852 00:49:16,500 --> 00:49:21,510 turtleneck in a denim jacket. I could not have felt more out of 853 00:49:21,510 --> 00:49:25,650 place. And it wasn't just the drug paranoia that was going on. 854 00:49:25,800 --> 00:49:28,620 We were literally there was 855 00:49:28,500 --> 00:49:31,558 Jonny Edward: like 12 women from South America dressed like 856 00:49:31,626 --> 00:49:35,839 Leeloo from the fifth element over girls dispersing and coming 857 00:49:35,907 --> 00:49:40,120 together like a lava lamp. Like it was it was literally it was 858 00:49:40,188 --> 00:49:44,130 it was a paragraph out or a fucking Hunter S Thompson trip 859 00:49:44,198 --> 00:49:47,460 in real time that we were living into. We walked 860 00:49:47,940 --> 00:49:52,950 Matt Stagliano: for Caesars find the restroom and I go in. I go 861 00:49:52,950 --> 00:49:57,030 in first. I'm like running recon apparently. So I go in and 862 00:49:57,510 --> 00:50:02,400 standing there in there, too. Whoo Persian gentleman rather 863 00:50:02,430 --> 00:50:08,010 sizable guys hammered, absolutely hammered in the 864 00:50:08,010 --> 00:50:11,640 corner. Speaking to each other, I don't understand a word that 865 00:50:11,640 --> 00:50:14,850 they're saying. But it starts to get a little bit heated. Like 866 00:50:14,850 --> 00:50:18,060 they're having that drunk friend argument. Then one of them does 867 00:50:18,060 --> 00:50:22,110 that slow motion turnaround I can see in the mirror, slow 868 00:50:22,110 --> 00:50:25,620 motion and focus on me because I'm the other human in the room. 869 00:50:26,070 --> 00:50:30,900 And he starts going a, and I'm like, no, just stare at the wall 870 00:50:30,900 --> 00:50:35,400 mat, stare at the wall, and starts wandering over to me. And 871 00:50:35,400 --> 00:50:38,640 I'm just like, out of there. And there were multiple anti 872 00:50:38,640 --> 00:50:42,600 chambers in this bathroom. It was like looking at this endless 873 00:50:42,600 --> 00:50:46,530 hallway. There's no way I'm getting out of here. So do a 874 00:50:46,530 --> 00:50:54,510 loop around Caesars and the strange feeling of I don't 875 00:50:54,510 --> 00:50:57,990 belong. But I didn't belong. And we needed to get out of there 876 00:50:57,990 --> 00:51:01,200 quickly. Now. Did you see anything in there? I'd love your 877 00:51:01,230 --> 00:51:04,680 your thoughts. I can remember every step that I took in every 878 00:51:04,680 --> 00:51:07,470 face that I saw and trying to get out of this place. Was there 879 00:51:07,470 --> 00:51:12,060 anything weird that you saw, as we know, it was? It was 880 00:51:12,090 --> 00:51:15,150 Jonny Edward: it was such an odd crowd. It was just it's hard to 881 00:51:15,150 --> 00:51:17,730 even typify. I don't know, it was like a sort of like a Chad 882 00:51:17,730 --> 00:51:23,610 convention mixed with like a division to like lower tier frat 883 00:51:23,610 --> 00:51:27,780 party. But if everyone was wearing masks of the same 884 00:51:27,780 --> 00:51:31,800 person, everyone was dressed slightly differently, but looked 885 00:51:31,800 --> 00:51:35,190 identical. And they all had this like similar despondence where 886 00:51:35,190 --> 00:51:38,820 they weren't even excited to be there. And the tables were 887 00:51:38,820 --> 00:51:41,640 insane. And everything was insanely good. It was like that 888 00:51:41,640 --> 00:51:45,360 the verbs bittersweet Symphony video, so we were walking and 889 00:51:45,360 --> 00:51:48,060 not only did we stand out, no matter which way we walked, we 890 00:51:48,060 --> 00:51:51,810 were countered to the flow of the way everyone else was 891 00:51:51,810 --> 00:51:54,300 walking, just getting shoulder checked by these like 892 00:51:54,330 --> 00:51:59,970 emotionless, like Pink Floyd knights, just mindlessly 893 00:51:59,970 --> 00:52:02,910 walking. And that was my bit too. I'm like, Oh, my God, I'm 894 00:52:02,910 --> 00:52:06,000 drowning in a sea of people. But it's not even people. It's just 895 00:52:06,000 --> 00:52:10,980 like a mass of the same person, we have to get the fuck out of 896 00:52:10,980 --> 00:52:15,630 this place. The buzz was going but it was starting to turn 897 00:52:16,050 --> 00:52:17,250 south a little bit. 898 00:52:17,730 --> 00:52:19,500 Matt Stagliano: We're like, Alright, let's get back outside, 899 00:52:19,530 --> 00:52:23,760 let's get back to the hotel, this was clearly a bad idea, to 900 00:52:23,760 --> 00:52:28,530 walk a mile and a half to take a piss and then walk all the way 901 00:52:28,530 --> 00:52:31,140 back right? We could have accomplished this at The Mirage. 902 00:52:31,140 --> 00:52:36,300 But you know, adventure, as we leave, we get out, we get back 903 00:52:36,300 --> 00:52:40,230 to the Mirage we walk in now we've got to navigate the Mirage 904 00:52:40,230 --> 00:52:42,900 again. And we're like, Alright, there's no way that we're going 905 00:52:42,900 --> 00:52:45,750 to be able to get from the entrance to our room in one 906 00:52:45,750 --> 00:52:48,270 piece, we should probably stop halfway and have a drink at the 907 00:52:48,270 --> 00:52:55,110 bar. So we start walking to set a bar. And as for blocking, I, 908 00:52:55,530 --> 00:53:00,060 I'm walking to help the center all the way and you're to my 909 00:53:00,060 --> 00:53:04,530 left. And I'm basically hugging the right side of the pathway. 910 00:53:04,710 --> 00:53:09,540 And I can see this couple coming out of the slots like in there's 911 00:53:09,540 --> 00:53:12,360 a pillar in the way so they were going to come behind the pillar 912 00:53:12,420 --> 00:53:16,800 and then widen. And I saw this happening. And I knew that they 913 00:53:16,800 --> 00:53:20,760 were going to present right in front of us. And as I'm walking, 914 00:53:20,790 --> 00:53:25,650 they came out exactly where they were supposed to scared the shit 915 00:53:25,710 --> 00:53:31,650 out of me. I jumped. In my mind, I was just like, Oh, that was a 916 00:53:31,650 --> 00:53:37,170 little startling. In reality, I think you could probably say, if 917 00:53:37,170 --> 00:53:39,540 Jonny Edward: you were at like an elite CrossFit game and 918 00:53:39,540 --> 00:53:42,240 someone who was doing a box jump in reverse, but that person 919 00:53:42,240 --> 00:53:46,860 happened to be Nosferatu. His fucking arms folded across his 920 00:53:46,860 --> 00:53:50,820 chest and he hopped back like his life depended on it. And it 921 00:53:50,820 --> 00:53:54,720 startled me. And in the moment that I saw it happening, I went 922 00:53:54,720 --> 00:53:57,420 back to the default like I'm gonna laugh so hard. I'm gonna 923 00:53:57,420 --> 00:54:01,860 have a fucking panic attack laugh. And so now Matt's frozen 924 00:54:01,890 --> 00:54:05,460 upon hitting the ground, very athletic. I was very impressed. 925 00:54:05,820 --> 00:54:09,240 And then these, this old couple who literally looked like they 926 00:54:09,240 --> 00:54:11,790 could have been, I don't know, like a parody out of the Beverly 927 00:54:11,790 --> 00:54:16,920 Hillbillies. just stands there, staring at us in time stops for 928 00:54:16,920 --> 00:54:20,940 a moment called Matt. Matt is frozen in like the Heisman 929 00:54:20,940 --> 00:54:24,840 trophy pose. I'm laughing so hard. I might actually piss my 930 00:54:24,870 --> 00:54:28,050 pants. And then all of a sudden it's like the hyperlapse thing 931 00:54:28,050 --> 00:54:31,200 or like the time scaling and video then time just starts 932 00:54:31,200 --> 00:54:35,310 again. So slowed, it expands and contracts. 933 00:54:35,340 --> 00:54:38,160 Matt Stagliano: We get past that couple and we're pretty good. 934 00:54:38,430 --> 00:54:41,040 You're nonstop laughing. 935 00:54:41,070 --> 00:54:43,410 Jonny Edward: I'm dying. I'm like people are getting up to 936 00:54:43,410 --> 00:54:48,510 see who's laughing so hard. I am just geeking out like 10% 937 00:54:48,600 --> 00:54:50,400 Matt Stagliano: Howling laughing we're like alright, let's go to 938 00:54:50,400 --> 00:54:52,050 the center bar. So we go to the center bar and we sit down at 939 00:54:52,050 --> 00:54:54,420 the bar. Now one thing you have to know about the center bar, 940 00:54:54,420 --> 00:54:58,740 it's run by the all of bartending staff. They all seem 941 00:54:58,740 --> 00:55:02,070 to have come from the same place. Isn't gang because they 942 00:55:02,070 --> 00:55:06,540 were all built like they had spent years in a Thai prison. 943 00:55:06,630 --> 00:55:10,110 The rest of their penalty was to serve drinks at the center bar. 944 00:55:10,110 --> 00:55:10,200 And 945 00:55:10,200 --> 00:55:12,420 Jonny Edward: one of the guys I spoke to before actually fought 946 00:55:12,420 --> 00:55:16,740 Roy Jones Jr. I mean caliber to this like legitimate badass 947 00:55:16,740 --> 00:55:17,400 dudes. 948 00:55:18,030 --> 00:55:20,820 Matt Stagliano: Well, the funny thing was, I'd sit at the bar. 949 00:55:21,060 --> 00:55:25,260 And despite how we were feeling, we still held it together 950 00:55:25,290 --> 00:55:30,030 relatively well. And there was zero sloppiness, but boy, oh, 951 00:55:30,060 --> 00:55:34,500 boy, they hated serving people drinks. And I was watching it. 952 00:55:34,500 --> 00:55:37,170 And I said, you know, Hey, can I have a couple of woodfords. And 953 00:55:37,200 --> 00:55:41,070 the guy looks at me, he's just like, uh, now clearly, I 954 00:55:41,070 --> 00:55:44,550 offended him in some way, shape, or form. In the music that was 955 00:55:44,550 --> 00:55:48,210 playing the band that was playing, they were a cover band, 956 00:55:48,450 --> 00:55:51,540 and they were fine. They were serviceable. And I turned 957 00:55:51,540 --> 00:55:55,290 around, and I looked at them. And it was like, every eighth 958 00:55:55,290 --> 00:56:00,660 grade substitute English teacher had gotten together and created 959 00:56:00,660 --> 00:56:03,480 a cover band that was going to go play Las Vegas, they were 960 00:56:03,510 --> 00:56:07,830 recapturing their youth. Every time I turned around, there was 961 00:56:07,860 --> 00:56:11,460 another person appearing, there were some on the stage, there 962 00:56:11,460 --> 00:56:15,000 were some that were standing off the stage, they're going on, the 963 00:56:15,000 --> 00:56:18,030 guitarist started to walk around the bar and sit at people's 964 00:56:18,030 --> 00:56:22,710 booths, lap, laps and riff. All I wanted to do is watch the band 965 00:56:22,710 --> 00:56:27,060 from this point, because they played terribly. They had no 966 00:56:27,060 --> 00:56:31,470 presence, there was no style, but I wanted nothing. But to get 967 00:56:31,470 --> 00:56:34,980 these guys to play every event that I'm ever going to attend 968 00:56:34,980 --> 00:56:36,540 again, it 969 00:56:36,540 --> 00:56:39,390 Jonny Edward: became an exercise and people watching and so this 970 00:56:39,390 --> 00:56:42,390 all sounds innocuous enough, but you have to once again reframe 971 00:56:42,390 --> 00:56:46,080 relative to our states of mind, and what had preceded this, so 972 00:56:46,080 --> 00:56:48,750 we're sitting there sipping on the Woodford that you know, no 973 00:56:48,750 --> 00:56:52,140 one wanted to serve to us. Next to this people who didn't want 974 00:56:52,140 --> 00:56:56,490 to be there. Having just had our you know, strange Nosferatu 975 00:56:56,490 --> 00:57:01,350 strip mugging Chad convention experience both just wide eyed 976 00:57:01,350 --> 00:57:04,260 and bushy tailed going. This is our last night in Vegas 977 00:57:04,260 --> 00:57:06,510 together. All right, like just 978 00:57:06,510 --> 00:57:08,820 Matt Stagliano: trying to end the week with a meal and a 979 00:57:08,820 --> 00:57:14,550 cocktail that's developed into this adventure. Right? And I 980 00:57:14,550 --> 00:57:18,060 don't know at what point we finally called it a night, I 981 00:57:18,060 --> 00:57:19,950 Jonny Edward: distinctly remember looking over and we 982 00:57:19,950 --> 00:57:22,320 were getting to the end of whatever Woodford that was, 983 00:57:22,320 --> 00:57:26,370 whether it's the third or fourth and I'm like, Matt, kinda kinda 984 00:57:26,370 --> 00:57:27,960 think I want to go what do you think it was? Like? Yes, 985 00:57:27,960 --> 00:57:32,970 absolutely. The switch got turned off on the receptivity to 986 00:57:32,970 --> 00:57:35,670 all of the experience for the night and it was just like, 987 00:57:36,420 --> 00:57:39,990 getting home like lost in the woods, follow the compass, there 988 00:57:39,990 --> 00:57:44,520 has to be a road in that general direction. Let's hike out 989 00:57:45,030 --> 00:57:49,710 Matt Stagliano: as exhausted and as high. And as just mentally 990 00:57:49,710 --> 00:57:54,240 spent. As I was on that last night. It absolutely made the 991 00:57:54,240 --> 00:58:00,240 entire week come together. And I feel like all the stresses just 992 00:58:00,240 --> 00:58:05,160 kind of washed away. What a great way to end the week. And I 993 00:58:05,160 --> 00:58:09,690 can't say that. I've never done that in Vegas before. But this 994 00:58:09,690 --> 00:58:16,080 was certainly the most memorable most visual night that ever. The 995 00:58:16,080 --> 00:58:18,450 Jonny Edward: only thing that I could think from the outside 996 00:58:18,450 --> 00:58:21,120 looking in as it must have looked like we looked like like 997 00:58:21,120 --> 00:58:27,630 a B movie version of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Sort of, 998 00:58:27,930 --> 00:58:31,140 you know, we can't stop here because it's bad country is the 999 00:58:31,140 --> 00:58:34,260 organist is playing the same three notes that sound that are 1000 00:58:34,260 --> 00:58:39,240 sounding so off key and ominous while we're just sauntering up 1001 00:58:39,240 --> 00:58:42,720 and down, drip like zombies, like these two morons 1002 00:58:42,750 --> 00:58:45,480 Matt Stagliano: are coked out of their head and like, no, no, 1003 00:58:45,480 --> 00:58:49,440 we're near that. And we're on basically a chocolate bar and 1004 00:58:49,470 --> 00:58:54,870 Xanax exactly, like just trying to chill from a huge week. And I 1005 00:58:54,870 --> 00:58:58,620 think it's probably a great way to end this entire episode, 1006 00:58:58,620 --> 00:59:01,980 which I'll probably have to cut into several parts. But dude, it 1007 00:59:01,980 --> 00:59:07,440 was it was a ton of fun to see you. It's been amazing to kind 1008 00:59:07,440 --> 00:59:09,960 of go through the whole week again, what's next for you? 1009 00:59:09,960 --> 00:59:12,900 What's are you going? Are you going to have any workshops 1010 00:59:12,900 --> 00:59:13,320 coming up, 1011 00:59:13,350 --> 00:59:16,230 Jonny Edward: I have a workshop in April here in Denver on the 1012 00:59:16,230 --> 00:59:19,200 27th and 28th. It is sold out. And I'm very grateful for that. 1013 00:59:19,200 --> 00:59:21,330 So for those of you who are attending, thank you so much for 1014 00:59:21,330 --> 00:59:24,990 giving me the opportunity to be part of your journey. I'll be in 1015 00:59:24,990 --> 00:59:29,970 Seattle in early May at my friend Simon Diaz's studio. So 1016 00:59:29,970 --> 00:59:33,360 he's a badass who also partied way too hard. Every time I saw 1017 00:59:33,360 --> 00:59:36,180 that man, he was four sheets to the wind but having a great 1018 00:59:36,180 --> 00:59:40,170 time. In the end of May or mid May, I should say the 18th and 1019 00:59:40,170 --> 00:59:43,350 19th. I'll actually be in Harlem, New York running my 1020 00:59:43,350 --> 00:59:48,030 first workshop in New York in collaboration with Nat light. So 1021 00:59:48,030 --> 00:59:50,490 I haven't opened that up publicly yet. Now I'm late and I 1022 00:59:50,490 --> 00:59:52,530 have not made a public announcement. We'll call this 1023 00:59:52,530 --> 00:59:55,980 the official public announcement for that. But I'm really excited 1024 00:59:55,980 --> 00:59:58,740 to be in New York doing it. It's been something I've wanted to do 1025 00:59:58,740 --> 01:00:01,830 since I started Getting into education at all. So it feels 1026 01:00:01,830 --> 01:00:05,250 like an apex point for me. We're gonna be at this really rad 1027 01:00:05,250 --> 01:00:07,980 studio called uptown shots, which is a brilliant 1028 01:00:07,980 --> 01:00:11,130 multipurpose production studio there. And I'm definitely going 1029 01:00:11,130 --> 01:00:13,650 to be bringing my A game I'll probably be in New York for 1030 01:00:13,650 --> 01:00:17,070 about 10 days. I want to do some touristy things, eat some good 1031 01:00:17,070 --> 01:00:19,230 food, connect with a lot of people I know out there and 1032 01:00:19,230 --> 01:00:22,290 certainly work with, you know, some of the diversity and magic 1033 01:00:22,290 --> 01:00:26,550 that exists only in that city. So that will be a wild, wild 1034 01:00:26,550 --> 01:00:29,250 ride. And when I'm laughing hysterically, you know on too 1035 01:00:29,250 --> 01:00:32,160 many Xanax out on the streets in New York, I have a feeling I'll 1036 01:00:32,160 --> 01:00:35,670 blend in even more than I did in Las Vegas, which will be peachy 1037 01:00:35,670 --> 01:00:36,030 keen. 1038 01:00:36,330 --> 01:00:37,680 Matt Stagliano: No one's gonna bat an eye. 1039 01:00:37,740 --> 01:00:40,710 Jonny Edward: I laugh like an asshole like I feel at home when 1040 01:00:40,710 --> 01:00:43,650 I'm in New York. I just people telling me to fuck off I tell 1041 01:00:43,650 --> 01:00:46,140 them to fuck off. And I'm like, all my heart strings are being 1042 01:00:46,140 --> 01:00:48,480 pulled at just the right time. And it's 1043 01:00:48,570 --> 01:00:51,330 Matt Stagliano: cool, man. Well, I might. Maybe I'll try to be a 1044 01:00:51,330 --> 01:00:54,600 wedding crasher sometime in May and just drive down maybe I'll 1045 01:00:54,600 --> 01:00:58,470 pick up some people along the way and we'll just do a bus tour 1046 01:00:58,500 --> 01:00:59,550 and follow Yeah, 1047 01:00:59,940 --> 01:01:02,640 Jonny Edward: well let's go into get into like a West Side Story 1048 01:01:02,640 --> 01:01:08,610 as Brawl you know in the Bronx this dressed up similarly, 1049 01:01:08,760 --> 01:01:12,900 that'll be what actually takes us viral and makes makes us 1050 01:01:12,900 --> 01:01:16,920 famous. Is this snapping in denim on the streets of the 1051 01:01:16,920 --> 01:01:21,000 fucking Bronx? The art No, the mentor ship? No, the positivity. 1052 01:01:21,000 --> 01:01:23,880 Fuck no. Did you see them doing the shuffle in that Tiktok 1053 01:01:23,910 --> 01:01:26,820 video? Fuckin infamy immediately. 1054 01:01:26,970 --> 01:01:29,760 Matt Stagliano: Thank you my friend. Again. Love your setup. 1055 01:01:30,120 --> 01:01:34,560 love talking to you, man. I love you as a human so I will. I'll 1056 01:01:34,560 --> 01:01:35,550 talk to you soon, man. 1057 01:01:35,820 --> 01:01:37,800 Jonny Edward: I look forward to it. Alright, take it easy. 1058 01:01:38,310 --> 01:01:38,910 Cheers, man.