EP. 174 — Nicole Was Trying to be Fun and Surprising with Betsy Sodaro & Mano Agapion

BF-174-20221002-Mano&Betsy-JDv02-DYN.mp3

Sasheer [00:00:11] Hi, Nicole.

Nicole [00:00:12] Hi, Sasheer.

Sasheer [00:00:13] We have a very fun show today.

Nicole [00:00:15] We do.

Sasheer [00:00:16] It’s spooky season.

Nicole [00:00:18] Oooh wee. Halloween’s upon us.

Sasheer [00:00:21] And we have two people who love the spooky stuff.

Nicole [00:00:25] Love Halloween and spooks.

Sasheer [00:00:27] We had Betsy Sodaro and Mano Agapion.

Nicole [00:00:29] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Sasheer [00:00:31] Mano and Betsy have already done this show, so we mixed up the Besting Each Other questions, and we’re going to ask them some spooky stuff instead.

Nicole [00:00:40] You know that you love them.

Sasheer [00:00:42] Go for it. Go for it.

Nicole [00:00:43] Well, you know Betsy from Netflix’s Jizzed– Oh, my God.

Sasheer [00:00:48] What?

Nicole [00:00:49] You know Betsy, and you love her from Netflix’s Disjointed and Hubie Halloween, the sitcom Ghosts, Duncanville, Bob’s Burgers, Superstore. There’s just so many stuff. She hosts the Funny Feeling podcast with Marcy Jarreau, and then co hosts We Love Trash with Mano Agapion. And Mano is…

Sasheer [00:01:11] Oh. You want me to finish this sentence? Okay. Mano is a comedian who we also know from UCB. He was on Hacks, wrote for Pretty Smart and Punky Brewster, also hosts the Drag Her! podcast–covering all things RuPaul’s Drag Race–We Love Trash with Betsy, and Podcast Killed the Video Star with Oscar Montoya. And they have a podcast together called…

Nicole & Sasheer [00:01:39] 2 Spooky 2 Handle.

Nicole [00:01:45] You didn’t want to say it together? This wasn’t fun for you? It seems like you got really mad. I was just trying to be fun, and different and, like, surprising.

Sasheer [00:02:05] No. It was very surprising.

Nicole [00:02:09] You hated it. I won’t do it again. I’ll be really quiet.

Sasheer [00:02:19] You can do it. You want to do it? They have a series called 2 Spooky 2 Handle on Earwolf Presents, and it comes out every Friday in October. Did you want to add anything, Nicole?

Nicole [00:02:53] No, I was just trying to be fun and spontaneous with it. Well, can’t wait to talk to Mano. Okay. Betsy. We have questions. Queries.

Sasheer [00:03:23] Spooky queries!

Betsy [00:03:24] Spooky queries? Uh oh. Okay. What if this, like, fucks us all up and we all, like, die from being so scared?

Nicole [00:03:37] I mean, is that a chance you’re willing to take?

Betsy [00:03:40] Yes. Always. Always.

Nicole [00:03:44] “Yes. Always.” Okay. Have you ever spent Halloween with Mano Agapion?

Betsy [00:03:53] Yes, I have. A bunch, I feel. I feel like probably, like, 12 years or something.

Nicole [00:04:04] Oh. What is the best or the spookiest Halloween you had?

Betsy [00:04:11] The spookiest Halloween? Oh, Mano was not here for this one. But John Carpenter… Wait. I should do one with Mano.

Sasheer [00:04:23] No. Both answers.

Nicole [00:04:25] Yeah, both of them.

Betsy [00:04:28] So Mano was not at this one. But John Carpenter–who made, like, The Thing and a bunch of great horror movies–he’s also a musician and, like, does all of his own music for these movies. He was at Palladium, and me, and Gabrus, and a big crew went and lost our minds at the Palladium on Halloween. ‘ Cause he did Halloween–he made the movie Halloween–and made the music, like: dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee. And it was really a blast. That’s kind of maybe the dorkiest thing I’ve ever done in my life, you know? As I’m talking about, like, that’s pretty dorky. What’s a Mano one? There was one where it was, I think, the first year we lived together and I want to say Halloween–it was, like, a Sunday. And it was a Sunday and we had been partying pretty hard. And so, we had some friends come over like, “Let’s just chill.” And we watched House of the Devil, which is this spooky movie where it’s very slow building… And then the last 20 minutes are fucking nuts. And I had a panic attack during it. And I was like, “I got to– I think I better– I’m going to go to bed. I gotta get out of here.” I, like, freaked out during it.

Sasheer [00:05:51] Oh, my God.

Betsy [00:05:52] I wonder if Mano will remember.

Sasheer [00:05:55] Did you let people know that was what was happening?

Betsy [00:05:58] No, not at all. That was when I was still like, “I better not say any of my feelings ever and just really slam them down and have it physically mess me up for a while.” So, I was just like, “Yeah, I’m just going to go to bed.” And I just ran into my room and was just, like, freaking out in my room.

Nicole [00:06:20] That is such an interesting thing that I think a lot of people do, where it’s like, “I’ll just let my feelings affect me and never tell a soul.”

Betsy [00:06:27] No. Yeah, never. And I will act–like, it’s obvious something is wrong with me. There have been so many times where Mano’s like, “Are you okay?” And me being like, “Yeah, I’m fine, I’m fine,” as I’m pacing back and forth and just being like, “Oh, my God.” You know, like, just so obviously something is wrong, but me being, “I’m fine! Fuck you, man, for asking.” You know? Yeah. I feel like we were taught to just be like, “Everything’s okay all the time. Don’t do anything about it.” And you’re like, “Okay. All right, I won’t. I won’t.” There used to be Halloween parties right at the street next door. Some people from, like, IO West all lived in this big, huge house, and they would always throw a gigantic Halloween party. And I remember going a couple of times with Mano, and it was fun. You know?

Nicole [00:07:36] That’s fun.

Betsy [00:07:36] Yeah.

Nicole [00:07:38] Yeah. I like that.

Betsy [00:07:39] Yeah.

Sasheer [00:07:40] Do you think Mano would rather be a ghost or a zombie?

Betsy [00:07:48] Ooooh. Um, I think a zombie. I think Mano would be a zombie–and, like, one of those fast ones that are really scary, like World War Z. ‘Cause he also doesn’t believe in ghosts, even though he’s seen them twice. And he’s like, “I still don’t believe in them.” It’s like, “Mano, you have crazy good ghost stories.” And he doesn’t believe in them. And he absolutely believes in zombies.

Nicole [00:08:16] Oh, interesting.

Sasheer [00:08:17] And hasn’t seen a Zombie.

Nicole [00:08:18] Hasn’t seen nary a zombie but knows they’re there. I also don’t believe in ghosts, and I’ve encountered two ghosts. Oh, yeah. Same as Mano.

Betsy [00:08:30] Nicole! What?

Nicole [00:08:30] There was a ghost in my apartment, I’m pretty sure–and then a ghost out of my bed at a hotel.

Betsy [00:08:38] Yes. And you don’t believe in it?

Nicole [00:08:43] Sure don’t.

Sasheer [00:08:44] Hmm. Interesting.

Nicole [00:08:45] Uh huh.

Sasheer [00:08:47] Betsy?

Betsy [00:08:47] Yeah?

Sasheer [00:08:48] Would you rather be a ghost or a zombie?

Betsy [00:08:51] I want to be a ghost. I want to be a ghost, and I want to, like, mess with my friends. You know, they’ll be like, “I smell Taco Bell. Betsy’s here.” I just want to mess with my friends.

Nicole [00:09:08] I love that you’re the ghost who brings Taco Bell. What a fun ghost.

Betsy [00:09:13] Yes, that’s going to be my thing of, like, you’ll hear a doorbell, and you’ll go, and you’ll open it up, and it’s your perfect order… And you’ll be like, “Well, thank you, Betsy.”

Nicole [00:09:26] I mean, move over, Casper. You’re the friendliest ghost.

Betsy [00:09:29] Yeah, get out of here, Casper, you wiener.

Sasheer [00:09:33] I feel like I’ve seen stories where people are like, “Yeah, me and my grandmother would always, like, look at the butterflies in her garden. So, whenever I see a butterfly, I know it’s my grandma.” But yours is like… “Taco Bell.”

Betsy [00:09:45] Whenever you see a Taco Bell, you’ll think of me.

Nicole [00:09:51] Okay. Would Mano eat candy corn or black licorice?

Betsy [00:10:00] Oh, I bet candy corn. Candy corn over black licorice, I’m pretty sure. Yeah… Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Nicole [00:10:10] Have you ever seen him either?

Betsy [00:10:11] I feel I’ve had to have seen him candy corn. I could see him revealing today that he loves black licorice–and that would freak me out. I just recently found out he doesn’t like Italian subs–like, Italian sandwiches–and that messed me up for, like, a couple of days, where it’s like, “What have we been doing? What are you doing, man?”

Nicole [00:10:40] Wait, what is an Italian sandwich?

Betsy [00:10:42] You know, so, like, with a bunch of different, like… Like, salami, pepperoni–you know, those big, like, sloppy sandwiches, which I love so much. And Gilli found online– Or we, like, shared a bunch of food stuff–me, Mano, and Gilli. And we found this gigantic sandwich–that’s three and a half pounds–in North Hollywood. And Gilly hit up the chain, being like, “I think we can eat this. Let’s all go.” And then Mano revealed–he was like, “Oh, I don’t like Italian sandwiches.” And both Gilli and I were like, “Wait, what? Like, for always you’ve not liked this? What have we been doing, man?”

Sasheer [00:11:32] Aww.

Betsy [00:11:32] Yeah.

Nicole [00:11:32] That’s really funny. That happened when I found out Sasheer didn’t like ice cream. I have never seen her eat it or enjoy it. But one day she just said out loud, “Oh, I don’t really like ice cream.” And I was like, “What?” And to this day, it really blows me away. Sometimes she’ll have a dollop of it, and I’m like, “She doesn’t want more?” And I’ll watch her. And I don’t think she knows this. Do you know that, Sasheer? Any time you have a spoonful of ice cream, I go, “Will she get more?” and I get really invested.

Betsy [00:12:11] “She’s got to get more one of these days.”.

Nicole [00:12:14] “Didn’t she like it? Doesn’t she want more? Doesn’t she want her own–maybe to take home and slop in her mouth, in the car?”.

Sasheer [00:12:25] No, if I’m eating ice cream, I’m definitely not eating it in the car.

Nicole [00:12:29] But that’s a fun place to eat it. You think about things, you eat it.

Sasheer [00:12:32] It seems unsafe.

Nicole [00:12:36] Sure. But you got a spoon in a bowl. What more do you get? You can’t eat, like, an ice cream cone in the car. That’s danger.

Sasheer [00:12:47] They all sound dangerous to me.

Betsy [00:12:48] I feel like that’s safer, though, than a bowl in a spoon, right?

Sasheer [00:12:51] Yeah, because you have to hold the bowl and hold the spoon.

Nicole [00:12:55] Yeah…

Sasheer [00:12:56] Who’s driving?

Nicole [00:12:57] Oh, I’m parked in this situation.

Betsy [00:12:59] Okay, you’re parked.

Sasheer [00:13:01] Oh, I did not realize you were just sitting in the car instead of going inside to your home.

Nicole [00:13:08] “I got to sit in the car and finish this!”

Betsy [00:13:11] Are you afraid it’s going to melt? So, you’re like, “I got to eat it right now.”

Nicole [00:13:15] Yes. I also have a problem with, like, consumption and like–what’s it called? Portion control. So, I’m like, “Let me get all of this ice cream in my mouth because there might not be any ice cream tomorrow.” And those are, like, real thoughts I have sometimes when I’m eating; I’m like, “What if I never get to eat again?”

Sasheer [00:13:35] Like, there may not be any ice cream tomorrow ever, anywhere?

Betsy [00:13:39] In the world.

Nicole [00:13:40] I think they’re called intrusive thoughts. And I have them about ice cream. I go, “I might never have ice cream again.”.

Sasheer [00:13:50] “Gotta eat it all right now.” But then if that’s the case, I would think you would want to, like, ration it out.

Nicole [00:13:56] Oh. Interesting.

Sasheer [00:13:58] You know? If there’s never any more ice cream?

Nicole [00:14:00] I don’t think I’m like that. I think if, like, an apocalypse happened, I’d be like, “Well, I’d better eat all of the food now because I don’t ever want to, like, have to decide to not eat this morsel. If I don’t have any morsels, well, I don’t have to decide anything.” I’ll die. I’ll die.

Sasheer [00:14:18] Yeah, you won’t last long.

Nicole [00:14:19] Sure won’t.

Betsy [00:14:21] Yeah, you’ll eat too much, and then you won’t be able to, like, run away from bad guys. You’ll be so full and tired. But maybe that’s the way to go in the apocalypse.

Nicole [00:14:33] Right?

Betsy [00:14:34] You know? You’re like, “I don’t want to survive.”

Nicole [00:14:36] Yeah. I don’t really want to be alive after, like– Especially, like, a zombie apocalypse where I have to, like, run away from someone trying to eat me.

Betsy [00:14:44] No. No way.

Sasheer [00:14:46] No thanks.

Betsy [00:14:48] No way, dude. I’m giving in so quick. I’m not even gonna try.

Nicole [00:14:55] Wait, Sasheer, would you fight? I think you would. I think you’d get really buff and, like, be a leader.

Betsy [00:15:00] Yes! Yeah, you would, like, run the new civilization.

Nicole [00:15:03] Yeah, I think you’d be our new president.

Betsy [00:15:04] And you’d get corrupt, and mess it up again.

Sasheer [00:15:10] Wow. Thank you so much.

Nicole [00:15:13] You’re welcome.

Sasheer [00:15:14] Yeah, I would definitely try to survive. I’d, like, try to outrun it. And then I guess I probably would find a group of people and try to leave the city.

Betsy [00:15:22] Yes. Good.

Nicole [00:15:24] Yeah. And then you’d talk about your friend that you once had who gave up so quickly; you’d be like, “You can’t be like her.”

Sasheer [00:15:31] “We have to keep fighting for her.”.

Nicole [00:15:34] And the picture you show is just me slopping up ice cream. They’re like, “Why her?”

Betsy [00:15:40] “Our new utopia is called ‘Nicole!’”

Sasheer [00:15:44] I actually use that photo of you by your door that looks like you died. Your head shot where it’s just, like, in front of a bunch of flowers, and it looks like a memorial. I would use that and be like, “She actually is dead now.”.

Nicole [00:15:58] “She is dead.”

Betsy [00:15:59] “It worked out now.”

Nicole [00:16:01] “She preemptively did a memorial.” Oh boy. If you and Mano were to do a couple’s costume/coordinated costume, what would it be?

Betsy [00:16:12] For a second, I was like, “I don’t know what you just said.” But now I know. Now I know. Recently, I sent him a picture of these two dudes who were Patty and Selma from The Simpsons, and we were kind of like, “That’s a pretty great costume.” That would be pretty fun–being Patty and Selma from The Simpsons.

Nicole [00:16:34] Wait. Who are Patty–I’m looking them up–and Selma?

Betsy [00:16:37] They’re Marge’s sisters. They, like–

Nicole [00:16:39] Oh, who smoke cigarettes.

Betsy [00:16:40] Smoke a lot and–yeah, yeah–are very funny.

Sasheer [00:16:44] That’s a great costume.

Nicole [00:16:45] Wait. Their names are insane. Patricia Maleficent and Selma Bouvier-Terwilliger-Hutz-McClure-Discothèque-Simpson-D’Amico?

Betsy [00:16:59] She, I think, has married a bunch of people. Yeah, I think that’s kind of a runner. I also have not watched a lot of the new Simpsons–and by new, I mean the last, like, 27 years.

Nicole [00:17:19] It has been on for an outstanding amount of time.

Betsy [00:17:22] Yes, yeah, yeah. It’s crazy. Great. I mean, that rules.

Sasheer [00:17:29] It does well.

Betsy [00:17:30] Imagine…

Nicole [00:17:32] Imagine having a job for that long.

Sasheer [00:17:34] Man.

Nicole [00:17:35] Wow.

Sasheer [00:17:36] Sounds nice.

Betsy [00:17:37] That would be wild.

Sasheer [00:17:39] Betsy?

Betsy [00:17:40] Yes.

Sasheer [00:17:40] Would you rather go to Disney’s Haunted Mansion or Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights?

Betsy [00:17:48] Ooh. Horror Nights. Yeah, I love Horror Nights so much.

Nicole [00:17:51] Okay. Just so you know, this year, The Weeknd is curating Halloween Horror Nights and they just play his, like, one or two songs on loop.

Betsy [00:18:02] I went.

Nicole [00:18:04] How was it?

Betsy [00:18:05] It was weird. And there’s this one part where, like, a nurse is getting in your face and is, like, holding his head.

Nicole [00:18:15] Oh!

Betsy [00:18:15] And then she’s like, “Isn’t he hot?” And I was just kind of like… “What?” I was so confused the entire time. I was like, “What is this? What’s happening, man?”

Nicole [00:18:29] I mean, that is horrifying. Holding up someone’s head and going, “Isn’t he hot?”

Sasheer [00:18:35] Like, if his head was in an oven–that would make more sense for her to be like, “Isn’t he hot?”

Betsy [00:18:42] That would make way more sense. It feels like The Weeknd was like, “Okay, and then have them ask people if I’m hot.”

Sasheer [00:18:54] “I want to see if people think I’m hot.”

Betsy [00:18:55] Yeah, yeah. “And then take a tally of how many people think I’m hot.”

Nicole [00:19:00] So funny.

Betsy [00:19:01] It was strange. And, like, one of the people working there–they’re like, “It’s, like, the most popular maze we’ve ever had.” Because people love The Weeknd.

Nicole [00:19:12] Oh, it’s a maze?

Betsy [00:19:15] Yes. Isn’t that weird?

Nicole [00:19:18] It is weird ’cause I work right by it; that’s where our trailers are.

Betsy [00:19:24] Yes. Of course.

Nicole [00:19:25] And I just hear The Weeknd on loop on Fridays. Friday night, I’ll be like, “Oh, I got to get home–The Weeknd has started.” Like, literally.

Betsy [00:19:36] Yeah, that really works on so many levels.

Sasheer [00:19:38] Yeah.

Nicole [00:19:40] But I didn’t realize it was a maze that people were going through.

Betsy [00:19:42] It’s a maze that you walk through, and there’s truly just a bunch of fake The Weeknds hanging out and getting killed. It’s very strange. I didn’t understand it one bit.

Nicole [00:19:55] Interesting.

Sasheer [00:19:55] That makes it worse that only a couple of songs are playing over and over again because you can get lost in there. And then you’re like, “Wait. There’s no other option of songs? Still this?”.

Nicole [00:20:07] I think that’s part of the nightmare. You just keep hearing that one song over and over and over again.

Sasheer [00:20:12] Which one is it? Is it the one, “I can’t feel my face when I’m with you–?”.

Nicole [00:20:15] No, it’s a more current one. I think it’s, “Doo. Doo doo doo doo. Doo doo–”

Betsy [00:20:23] That’s– Oh, yeah! Now I know. Now I know it. Mano and I have a bit–and I feel I’ve asked probably both of you individually. Mano and I have this thing called–Mano came up with it–“hell song.” So, like the one song you will hear as you’re burning in hell forever. Mine is: “I’ll be your Superman–” I hate that song so much. That would be hell.

Nicole [00:20:52] Wait. I don’t know that song. “I’ll be your Superman–”

Betsy [00:20:58] I’m mad that I even sang that much of it. I hate it.

Nicole [00:21:04] Oh, what is your hell song, Sasheer?

Sasheer [00:21:09] I’m trying to think. I don’t know.

Nicole [00:21:11] I really hate that “Suddenly I see–!”.

Betsy [00:21:13] Oooh!

Nicole [00:21:13] That was, like, in every song in, like, the mid 2000s. I hate that thought.

Betsy [00:21:22] That’s a good one. That would suck. That would suck. “Suddenly I see–” Oh, that’s a really good– I just got, like, bad chills.

Nicole [00:21:32] Wait. What is this Superman song?

Betsy [00:21:35] 3 Doors Down. He played at Trump’s inauguration because nobody else would. Ah, it’s the worst song. I hate it so much.

Nicole [00:21:49] That’s very, very funny. Sasheer, do you know your hell song?

Sasheer [00:21:50] Maybe the Smash Mouth, “Somebody once told me the world was–”

Nicole [00:21:54] Wait, that makes me so sad. I love Smash Mouth! I love all of the TikToks of people falling that goes, “Somebody–”

Betsy [00:22:13] That’s such a wonderful move. Whoever created that–give them a fucking Pulitzer Prize or whatever. That is so funny. Just “Somebody–”

Nicole [00:22:32] I’m so sad that you don’t like Smash Mouth, Sasheer.

Sasheer [00:22:34] I think it’s the overuse.

Nicole [00:22:36] Oh, okay. Do you like Shrek?

Sasheer [00:22:38] I do like Shrek.

Nicole [00:22:40] Smash Mouth is in Shrek.

Sasheer [00:22:42] The song.

Betsy [00:22:43] So, then you can’t like Shrek, man.

Sasheer [00:22:49] Ipso facto.

Nicole [00:22:52] So, you love Smash Mouth ’cause you like Shrek.

Sasheer [00:22:57] I guess.

Nicole [00:22:59] Okay. Betsy, do you think Mano prefers Disney’s Haunted Mansion or Universal’s Halloween Horror Night?

Betsy [00:23:06] I think Horror Nights. I think so. We’ve gone a couple of– We went this year together, and it’s just so fun. He shoves me to get in the way of people, so he can escape. He’s shoved me a couple of times. One time– No, I think it was Tarver who pushed me to the ground.

Sasheer [00:23:32] Oh, my Gosh! No.

Nicole [00:23:39] He pushed you to the ground?

Betsy [00:23:43] Shoved me just hard enough where I was, like, off-balance, and I just ate shit. Like, at the start of a maze–and I was like, “Oh, okay.” But Mano will absolutely, like, shove me at the people jumping out to be safe.

Nicole [00:24:03] Boy, that’s very funny.

Sasheer [00:24:06] Yeah, you wouldn’t want to be in a real disaster with these people.

Nicole [00:24:08] No. Just pushing you around.

Betsy [00:24:11] No, no. They would get rid of you so fast.

Sasheer [00:24:16] I just did an immersive theater Halloween thing.

Betsy [00:24:21] What’d you do?

Sasheer [00:24:21] I forget the name of it.

Betsy [00:24:21] Delusion?

Sasheer [00:24:26] I think that’s what it was.

Betsy [00:24:27] In, like, Pomona?

Sasheer [00:24:28] Yes, yes, yes.

Betsy [00:24:30] I did it. What’d you think?

Nicole [00:24:34] I had so much fun. It was great. I had never done anything like that because it wasn’t like you just roam by yourself in a haunted house. It was like a story was happening and you were being led by actors to go to the next part. So, an actor dressed up like a cult member would be like, “You have to help me find my brother!” And then we’d go around the back of the house, like “We have to get in this truck before Old Man Reeves sees us.” And then we had to, like, jump in this old truck. And then old man Reeves comes out, like, in character.

Betsy [00:25:10] And you’re just like, “Oh, my God. Oh, my God.”.

Sasheer [00:25:13] It was really cool.

Nicole [00:25:15] Oh, wow.

Betsy [00:25:15] You’re, like, in a horror movie. It really feels like it. At one point they’re like, “Get in this grave!” And you all kind of slowly make your way into this big hole in the ground. Nicole, I think you would love it. It’s really fun.

Nicole [00:25:30] Ooh, maybe I’ll go.

Sasheer [00:25:32] It was very active. I was like, “This isn’t… accessible, honestly.” You had to go up and down stairs. You had to go crawl under beds.

Betsy [00:25:39] Yes.

Nicole [00:25:40] “Crawl under beds?”

Betsy [00:25:42] Yeah. There was one point where I was, like, sprinting and sweating. It’s intense. It’s fun.

Sasheer [00:25:49] It’s intense.

Nicole [00:25:50] No one just described anything I want to do.

Betsy [00:25:53] Yeah, honestly, maybe you wouldn’t like it.

Nicole [00:25:57] I gotta sprint and sweat?

Sasheer [00:25:59] And sometimes they would, like, take one person away to have their own adventure. They took some girl away, and she was, like, handcuffed to the staircase with this crazy ghost lady.

Betsy [00:26:11] Yeah.

Sasheer [00:26:11] And I was like, “How long was she here by herself?”

Betsy [00:26:15] That happened to Marcy. And Marcy’s like, “None of you knew I was gone!” And we were like, “Sorry. We were hiding under a bed, getting, like, creeped on by this giant egg-spider-man-thing.”

Nicole [00:26:31] This sounds insane. “Nobody knew I was gone.” “Sorry. We were under a bed.”

Betsy [00:26:39] It’s nuts. Oh, it’s really fun. Yeah, we had a good time. I love stuff like that.

Sasheer [00:26:48] What’s your favorite Halloween activity?

Betsy [00:26:51] I think going to these haunted mazes–I love it so much. I love Halloween so much. And yeah, doing all of these, like– I’m doing a spooky cocktail, one that I did last year, where you get a bunch of free cocktails, and there is kind of a story, and you can kind of do little mazes and stuff. And then there’s, like, burlesque dancers in the middle and, like, singers. It’s cool. It’s very cool. And then, like, Knott’s Scary Farm–we’re going to. Oh, I love it so much.

Sasheer [00:27:31] What’s your favorite thing to do with Mano during Halloween?

Betsy [00:27:35] Like, mazes. All of this stuff. Everything–I’m like, “Mano, you gotta come, man. We gotta do it. It’s so much fun.” Because, you know, we grab each other, and we laugh, and scream, and freak out, and laugh. It really is so fun.

Sasheer [00:27:55] And you got to do that with somebody you’re comfortable with.

Betsy [00:27:57] Yes.

Nicole [00:27:58] Okay. We have now finished this segment/portion.

Betsy [00:28:02] Okay.

Nicole [00:28:02] Now we’re going to send you away… And talk to Mano.

Betsy [00:28:06] Oooh. Okay, goodbye!

Nicole [00:28:10] Goodbye!

Sasheer [00:28:11] Okay, see you soon!

Betsy [00:28:12] Goodbye!

Nicole [00:28:13] Goodbye!

Sasheer [00:28:14] See you soooon.

Nicole [00:28:16] Soooooon.

Mano [00:28:29] My queens. My queens! Okay. Okay. Oooh, my God. Give me.

Nicole [00:28:38] Have you ever spent Halloween with Betsy?

Mano [00:28:43] Yes.

Nicole [00:28:44] Okay.

Mano [00:28:46] Do you want a specific memory yet or just a “yes” or “no?”.

Sasheer [00:28:49] Yeah. Do you have a favorite memory of a Halloween you’ve had together?

Nicole [00:28:53] Wait. How many years of Halloween? Before memory–how many Halloweens do you think you’ve spent together? How many years?

Mano [00:28:58] Oh, God. So many. Like… I moved here in 2008, so I think literally since 2008. So, what’s that math? 14?

Nicole [00:29:09] 14?

Mano [00:29:09] Probably 14.

Nicole [00:29:11] Okay. 14.

Sasheer [00:29:12] Wow.

Mano [00:29:13] Maybe there’s, like, a few in there we missed. But anyway… I remember a lot of them, but one of my favorite memories was literally the year I… I remember. What I remember was I got too high. Have you heard this story? I got too high and sliced my thumb open.

Nicole [00:29:31] Oh no.

Mano [00:29:31] So, I was trying to carve a pumpkin while I was high.

Sasheer [00:29:35] Oh boy.

Mano [00:29:35] And I thought I was going to have a really nice time. I got really high, I had my pumpkin, I had birthday cake ice cream with me, and I was like, “This is about to be a nice night in.” And I was carving a pumpkin, and I was trying to do the thing where you, like, chip away, so that, like, the light comes through the flesh of the pumpkin. You ever see that sophisticated thing?

Nicole [00:29:57] Yet.

Mano [00:29:58] I was not able to do it. I had a really bad knife. And I was literally keeping my hand far away, but as I was trying to chip, it perfectly came through and then, like, went into my thumb.

Nicole [00:30:11] Oh, God.

Mano [00:30:12] And what was scary about it is that it did not hurt. Isn’t that the worst? You know when you’re like, “Oh, it doesn’t hurt.” That’s actually maybe worse. You ever had that?

Nicole [00:30:22] Yeah, when I dislocated my ankle, it did not hurt at first. And then when I was like, “My ankle looks like a U-turn”–then I was like, “Oh, this is the most exquisite pain I’ve ever been in.”

Mano [00:30:33] Oh, God. So long story short, I had to go to the hospital. I had to get my thumb stitched up. Blah, blah, blah, blah. And then I was like, “Oh, God. I don’t know if I’m going to make it out for Halloween.” And then Betsy was like, “Just come.” And I came as a crazy cat person. And so, my big, bandaged thumb actually worked really well with my costume.

Sasheer [00:30:57] I love that.

Mano [00:30:58] So, that was, I think, my first Halloween memory or the one that’s coming to my mind early in our friendship.

Sasheer [00:31:05] Well, that’s good.

Nicole [00:31:06] Yeah, I like that. I also like a crazy cat lady costume. I just watched a Hoarders with a lady who hoarded cats. And it was wild. She had over 50 cats.

Mano [00:31:15] Cats are hilarious. Me and Betsy are trying to write a horror movie about a cat lady. It’s going to happen one of these days.

Nicole [00:31:24] I like that.

Sasheer [00:31:25] Love that.

Nicole [00:31:26] That is a good idea.

Mano [00:31:26] Yeah. They’re scary.

Sasheer [00:31:27] Okay. Mano, do you think Betsy would rather be a ghost or a zombie?

Mano [00:31:35] I mean, I’m gonna say ghost. She’s on a TV show called Ghosts. She has a podcast about ghosts. Yeah, I think she likes ghosts, and she’s very into it. Zombie’s hard. That’s a hard life. But the pounds just melt away when you’re a zombie. Oh, my God. Ghosts are even trimmer.

Sasheer [00:32:03] Ultimate diet.

Mano [00:32:03] Yeah.

Nicole [00:32:05] Would you rather be a ghost or a zombie?

Mano [00:32:10] Ghost. Because if it’s like Beetlejuice… I feel like with Beetlejuice, you don’t even know you’re dead. You’re just like, “Oh…”

Nicole [00:32:16] Beetlejuice is a ghost?

Mano [00:32:18] Well, I mean, like, all the people in Beetlejuice. Have you seen Beetlejuice?

Nicole [00:32:22] They’re all ghosts?

Mano [00:32:22] You haven’t seen Beetlejuice?

Nicole [00:32:23] Maybe not. I know that he wears that suit. And there’s a table?

Mano [00:32:29] Yep. Young Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis are ghosts, and they don’t even know they’re ghosts until someone’s like, “You’re ghosts.” And they’re like, “Oh. Well, I’m having a nice time.”

Nicole [00:32:41] Seems like a nice, friendly movie.

Mano [00:32:42] Yeah.

Sasheer [00:32:43] I think I watched Beetlejuice when I was younger, and then I watched it again maybe last Halloween. And I fell asleep through most of it because that’s what I do. But I, like, woke up at different parts, and I was like, “What the fuck is happening? There’s so much happening in this movie.” It’s wild.

Mano [00:33:00] You got to wake up the Day-o scene, huh? “Day-o!” You’ve seen that, Nicole.

Nicole [00:33:05] I think that’s at a dinner table, right?

Mano [00:33:07] Yes. Yes.

Nicole [00:33:09] “Day-o–“.

Nicole & Mano [00:33:13] “Daylight come and we want to go home.”

Mano [00:33:15] Yeah.

Nicole [00:33:16] That’s a fun song.

Mano [00:33:17] So, ghosts. I mean, zombies–that’s a lot of work. Zombies are like, “Uch.” They’re also, like, clingy, and they’re climbing on top of each other. And fast zombies are even grosser. I hate fast zombies.

Nicole [00:33:31] Okay, Mano.

Mano [00:33:33] Yeah.

Nicole [00:33:33] Do you think Betsy would eat candy corn or black licorice?

Mano [00:33:38] Damn, I know she hates both. She really hates both. Wow. I think I’m gonna say licorice for her because literally last night, she said, “I hate candy corn.”

Sasheer [00:33:54] Whoa. What? How did that come up?

Mano [00:33:56] The very wonderful, magical Jess McKenna bought some candy corn flavored red vines and, like, left them…

Sasheer [00:34:03] Okay. That sounds like a mess.

Mano [00:34:06] Oh, they are repulsive. They are absolutely untenable. They’re horrible. And I just took a bite out of curiosity, and then I was like, “Oh, it’s not even good.” And I can eat an occasional candy corn. Betsy was like, “Oh. I hate candy corn.” I know she doesn’t like licorice, but I’m going to say licorice.

Nicole [00:34:26] Okay. Do you like candy corn?

Mano [00:34:30] I want to eat, like, three.

Nicole [00:34:32] Okay. Do you like black licorice?

Mano [00:34:34] No, but there’s so many licorice-themed liquors. What’s that about?

Nicole [00:34:43] Yeah, I don’t know what that’s about. That is interesting. Is Frangelico licorice?

Mano [00:34:52] I don’t know. I don’t remember which one that one is. But Uzo is licorice if you’ve had Uzo–you know, the Greek one.

Nicole [00:34:58] No.

Mano [00:34:59] Pretty rough. Pretty rough. So, I’m going to say maybe Betsy could take a shot of Uzo–maybe she can handle the black licorice.

Sasheer [00:35:09] Okay. If you were to do a couple’s costume or a coordinating costume, what would it be?

Mano [00:35:16] Burke and JonBenét Ramsey. So, we can be the little brother and sister fighting just moments before the brother murders his sister.

Nicole [00:35:27] Without skipping a beat. JonBenét Ramsey. And Burke.

Mano [00:35:35] We have a really sick obsession.

Nicole [00:35:37] Okay. I don’t think I know these kids.

Mano [00:35:39] You don’t know JonBenét Ramsey?

Sasheer [00:35:41] I know JonBenet Ramsey. But I don’t know Burke.

Mano [00:35:44] So, Burke is–

Nicole [00:35:45] That’s her brother?

Mano [00:35:47] The popular–the often suspected–killer of JonBenét Ramsey.

Sasheer [00:35:52] Ohhh.

Mano [00:35:53] After years of, you know, research, people are like, “There’s a lot of weird stuff. Burke was a weird kid. He seemed disaffected.” All kinds of weird things led up to them being like– They think that her brother killed her. And then the parents were like, “Are we going to lose a second kid? We lost one kid. Are we going to lose the second kid?”.

Sasheer [00:36:15] Damn. Yeah, I guess I thought most of the blame was going to the parents. I didn’t know the brother was even a potential suspect.

Mano [00:36:21] I mean, there is blame there, too. They’re bad people. So, to give you a nice lighthearted answer, that or… I don’t know. No. Okay, I’m just going to say that. I’m just going to say that; it’s really sick.

Sasheer [00:36:37] Wait. Were you going to say?

Nicole [00:36:39] Yeah, what were you going to say?

Mano [00:36:40] Hans Moleman and Grandpa Simpson from The Simpsons.

Nicole [00:36:46] Who’s Hans Moleman?

Mano [00:36:48] Yeah, he’s a funny old man. He’s a funny old man from The Simpsons.

Sasheer [00:36:53] I don’t know this funny old man.

Nicole [00:36:55] Me either.

Mano [00:37:00] He’s a little mole man. He’s really funny, and he’s, like… You’d love it. Literally, you could look up a YouTube compilation of his stuff because he’s just, like, a classic, crazy, old character.

Sasheer [00:37:09] Is he the one with the glasses?

Mano [00:37:11] Yes. Yes. He looks like a little raisin, and they give him the craziest things to say. There’s even, like, a scene where, like… This is so crazy, but they, like, drill a saw into his head, and he’s just like, “Ouch.” It’s really great.

Nicole [00:37:38] Okay. Would you prefer Disney’s Haunted Mansion or Halloween Horror Nights?

Mano [00:37:46] Oh, God! Halloween Horror Nights. Halloween Horror Nights. It’s a little more spookier. It’s just actually terrifying. The theme parks–less magical–but Halloween horror nights. Yeah. More magical, more spooky, more kooky. And man, the Eddie Murphy version of Haunted Mansion was not a very good movie. So, that’s neither here nor there. But I need you to know that.

Sasheer [00:38:10] I don’t think I’ve seen it.

Nicole [00:38:12] I haven’t seen it either, but thank you for letting me know that it’s a skippable watch.

Mano [00:38:17] It’s a stinker. You know how, like, some movies are perfect parent movies. It’s a perfect parent movie because you just put it on and any given parent is like, “Oh, that’s cute.” All the parts that are supposed to be scary–they think it’s cute.

Nicole [00:38:35] So, did you go to the Halloween Horror Nights this year?

Mano [00:38:38] Yeah, I went with Betsy.

Nicole [00:38:40] Did you like it?

Mano [00:38:41] Yeah, we had a blast. We did VIP, which is the best way to do it.

Sasheer [00:38:46] Oh, what’s the difference between that–VIP and…? What’s the experience?

Mano [00:38:50] VIP is much better. Well, you have to just wait in a longer line when you’re not VIP, so you pretty much get to, like, cut everything. And they have a The Weeknd-themed horror maze there this year that is not very good. But I think you two would especially just tee-hee-hee and giggle at how weird it is that they made The Weeknd-themed horror maze.

Nicole [00:39:16] It’s bizarre. I told Betsy; our trailers are right there.

Mano [00:39:21] Oh, yeah?

Nicole [00:39:21] So, like, as you round the corner, that base camp is ours. And on Friday nights, I just hear The Weeknd playing on loop. It’s bad. It’s terrible.

Mano [00:39:34] Oh, that’s hell. That’s really funny. Okay. Yeah, well, go there, and go see the killer clowns one, too. Because that one kicks ass.

Nicole [00:39:44] The killer clowns one? Where’s that?

Mano [00:39:46] It’s at Universal Horror Nights. And it’s like, you know, based on the 80s movie Killer Clowns, and it’s really good.

Nicole [00:39:53] Alright.

Mano [00:39:57] Y’all aren’t going.

Sasheer [00:39:59] Good to know.

Nicole [00:40:01] I’ll put that in my pocket.

Sasheer [00:40:03] I don’t like scary, scary stuff. Is it really scary?

Mano [00:40:05] Then you should not go. Yeah, you should not go.

Sasheer [00:40:07] Yeah, then I won’t.

Nicole [00:40:09] I do like scary, scary. But, like, in my house where I can, turn it off, you know?

Mano [00:40:13] Yeah.

Sasheer [00:40:15] Yeah. I don’t want to have to, like, finish it. I don’t want to complete the thing. Do you think Betsy prefers Haunted Mansion over Horror Nights?

Mano [00:40:27] Yes. She prefers Halloween Horror Nights at Universal. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s cute. Haunted Mansion’s cute, but, you know, there’s not that much to do there.

Nicole [00:40:40] Yeah. I’ve never been. I have been to Disney twice now, but there’s a lot of walking and too many lines.

Mano [00:40:47] Tons. I think when you go to Disney, you end up walking, like, seven or eight miles. It’s something crazy.

Sasheer [00:40:53] I’m sure.

Nicole [00:40:53] It was awful. And everyone was very ugly. It was really loud. You’d see families of four and be like, “How are they all looking like that?” It is wild.

Mano [00:41:06] Yeah. I don’t know how they afford it either. I’m like, “It doesn’t feel like you have money, but y’all are spending a lot here at Disney.”

Nicole [00:41:13] Well, because they saved for a while to come to Disney. I listened to a lady yell at the gate person about it.

Mano [00:41:19] Damn.

Nicole [00:41:19] She said, “We flew across the world to get here. We spent a lot of money to be here. Why don’t my tickets work?” She was like, “Hold on.” It was pretty funny. She was, like, really mad. But then they figured it out, and they got it. And she did say, “Thank you. I’m sorry.” She seemed stressed. It was also, like, 8 p.m., and I was like, “You spent a lot of money. Why didn’t you get here earlier?” Anyway.

Sasheer [00:41:44] Yeah, they can hardly see anything.

Nicole [00:41:46] Right? It’s dark. What is your dream Halloween activity to do with Betsy?

Mano [00:41:51] Oh, God. I mean, we love going to haunted trails and such. It’s such a fun thing we do together. Yeah, we went to Delusion this year as well–still in a horrible, creepy house, but with a different kind of angle. I would recommend it. Yeah. It’s going to be haunted trails or just watching haunted movies at home; that also kicks ass. I’m gonna say the trails because it’s just, like, so interactive and special and such an experience.

Sasheer [00:42:21] Yeah.

Nicole [00:42:22] What’s your favorite, like, movie to watch with Betsy? You have a favorite horror movie?

Mano [00:42:28] Oh, God. I’m going to weirdly say Troll 2 because it’s like a bad movie, but it’s kind of spooky. Have you all seen it?

Nicole [00:42:39] I have not.

Mano [00:42:39] You should watch it. Oh, you’ll laugh every second of the way. Um, there’s also a documentary about how crazy the movie is, called Best Worst Movie–about how they made this scary movie in earnest, and then it became known as, like, one of the worst movies ever made. And it’s really fascinating because the director is the kid who was in the film, and he’s like, “This movie ruined my life. So, now I’m going to do a documentary about how this movie ruined my acting career.”

Nicole [00:43:09] Oh, my God. How wild.

Mano [00:43:11] It’s really good. So, watch one of those.

Nicole [00:43:14] This kid didn’t act again after the movie?

Mano [00:43:16] No. He talks about it. A couple of people in it talk about it. They’re like, “I would go in an audition room, and even though I would take it off of my resume, people would go, ‘Are you in Troll 2?’ And I knew I wouldn’t get the job. I knew I wouldn’t get the job.”

Sasheer [00:43:34] Oh no.

Nicole [00:43:34] Dang.

Mano [00:43:34] But, yeah, watch Troll 2. It’s bad, bad, bad. Cuckoo, bonkers. It was an Italian guy who wrote a script in English, and he tried to make it sound really American. So, then all the characters are American actors, but they’re saying a script that an Italian guy wrote for them in English. So, the characters are saying crazy shit like “I’m a hot babe for you and you can’t handle it.” Like, it’s really good. It’s good.

Nicole [00:44:03] “I’m a hot babe for you and you can’t handle it.”

Mano [00:44:05] It’s really good.

Nicole [00:44:07] I feel like there aren’t that many documentaries or books about, like, the craziness that went into making wild movies like that. I want a Don’t Worry Darling documentary.

Mano [00:44:20] Ohhh. Right?

Sasheer [00:44:23] I got to know what’s going on. Everyone’s unhappy. What happened?

Nicole [00:44:26] Every single person involved is so unhappy with that movie.

Mano [00:44:29] I love it. I want a Dateline NBC that, like, takes it serious and gets into what the fuck happened.

Sasheer [00:44:37] What happened? Break it down, please. Where does it start?

Mano [00:44:41] Spit-gate? Can you believe we made it through the spit-gate?

Nicole [00:44:43] It really looked like that man was spitting on him.

Mano [00:44:46] I know!

Sasheer [00:44:46] It really looked like it.

Nicole [00:44:48] Now we need to bring Betsy back and compare and contrast answers.

Mano [00:44:53] Okay.

Nicole [00:45:06] Betsy, Mano–together you’re hosting a short run of spooky podcasts.

Mano [00:45:12] Yes.

Betsy [00:45:13] Yes, we are.

Nicole [00:45:15] It’s for Earwolf presents, called 2 Spooky 2 Handle. It starts October 7th and will run for all of October. Will you tell us a little bit about it?

Betsy [00:45:25] Yes! Mano?

Mano [00:45:27] It’s great. It’s a spooky time. Honestly, I’m happy to talk about it. And may I say: Betsy?

Betsy [00:45:44] Thank you so much, Mano. Thank you so much for that. And you know what, everybody? Mano really gets to the point. Okay, let’s do it one word at a time.

Mano [00:46:01] It. Is… No, it’s great. It’s just a spooky, stupid thing. It’s what we always do. We talk about horror through the lens of dumb idiots like us.

Betsy [00:46:09] That happen to like it.

Mano [00:46:10] Yeah.

Betsy [00:46:11] Yeah. We check in with some of our favorite horror icons and see how they’re doing. We do this thing called the Scary Bowl, where we figure out who’s the best, and scariest, and horniest, like, horror icon and stuff. Yeah, it’s fun. It’s fun and super chill.

Mano [00:46:37] We bought a haunted doll for this particular podcast that is now haunting the Earwolf studios.

Betsy [00:46:45] Yeah. She’s nasty.

Nicole [00:46:46] Oh no… You bought a haunted doll

Betsy [00:46:49] I didn’t want to.

Mano [00:46:52] Betsy was against it.

Betsy [00:46:52] I wanted nothing to do with it, and then they’re like, “We’re buying one.” And they’re like, “Come take a picture with it.” And I’m like, “I don’t want to touch this shit, man.”

Sasheer [00:47:01] Did the seller have a description?

Mano [00:47:02] Oh, yeah.

Sasheer [00:47:02] Like on the site? How is it haunted?

Mano [00:47:05] There’s so many haunted dolls on Etsy and eBay. And we love looking at them. They have very funny stories.

Betsy [00:47:11] Yeah, there was one–this is not this one–where they’re like, “The spirit that’s inside this doll is very sensual.” And in the description, it’s like, “We recommend you put the doll in your bedroom and pleasure yourself in front of the doll.”

Sasheer [00:47:31] It sounds like this doll has a camera inside.

Mano [00:47:33] Yeah, it does, doesn’t it?

Betsy [00:47:35] I didn’t even think of that! Holy shit.

Nicole [00:47:38] I didn’t think of that either. I was like, “I don’t think I could, like, masturbate in front of a doll.”

Betsy [00:47:48] That’s not this doll, though. We didn’t get the horny doll.

Mano [00:47:52] They all have very funny stories. Like, they’re like, “She was bullied in high school, so now she is back to bring revenge to the people who bully you.” It’s really funny.

Betsy [00:48:03] Yeah, if you’re ever bored and want to see some wild stuff, just search for haunted dolls on Etsy or eBay.

Sasheer [00:48:12] Right.

Betsy [00:48:14] Yeah. It’s a fun little show that we got to do, and it’s coming out every Friday of October.

Mano [00:48:20] It’s so fun. It’s so fun and goofy, and there’s a real, like, payoff for listening to each episode because, like… Whatever. Just go listen. It’s so fun.

Nicole [00:48:30] Ooh. A payoff?

Betsy [00:48:31] I know. I was like, “Mano, that sounds cool.”

Nicole [00:48:39] We asked you guys questions. And the first one was: Have you ever spent Halloween with your friend? Betsy said, “Yes. A bunch of them. 12 years-worth of Halloweens. The spookiest Halloween was without Mano.”.

Mano [00:48:56] Oh no!

Nicole [00:48:57] “At the Palladium.” Is that how I say that?

Betsy [00:48:59] Palladium, palladium.

Nicole [00:49:02] “Palladium. And then a big group went to see him, and we were very excited. And then another Halloween with Mano where we watched a movie and Betsy had a panic attack. Also lived next door to big Halloween parties with the iO people.

Betsy [00:49:15] Remember those? Mano?

Mano [00:49:18] Yeah, I do. On, like, Wilton? On Wilton?

Betsy [00:49:20] Yeah.

Mano [00:49:21] Yeah, yeah, yeah. That big old house.

Betsy [00:49:22] Big old house.

Mano [00:49:23] Pretty but dirty house, if that makes sense.

Betsy [00:49:25] Yes, very pretty but dirty. Okay. What did Mano say?

Nicole [00:49:31] Mano said, “Yes. 14 years of Halloweens, but I did miss a couple of the Halloweens. So, I think it goes down to twelve.”

Mano [00:49:38] There you go.

Betsy [00:49:38] Holy shit.

Nicole [00:49:40] You’re both right on that. Mano’s favorite memory is he got too high and sliced his thumb open. He’d been trying to carve a pumpkin high–.

Betsy [00:49:46] On your bed!

Mano [00:49:46] Yeah.

Betsy [00:49:49] You were, like, on your bed, carving a pumpkin. That was, I feel, the first Halloween we hung out, right?

Mano [00:49:57] Yes. Yes, that’s what I said. I was like, “I think that was the first one.” And then I came as a crazy… You remember what I was?

Betsy [00:50:03] Crazy cat man!

Mano [00:50:04] There you go.

Betsy [00:50:06] “He’s a cat man.”

Nicole [00:50:12] But Mano had to go to the hospital, get his thumb stitched up. Betsy was like, “Come out for Halloween still.” So, he did. And then his big, bandaged thumb worked great for the costume.

Betsy [00:50:22] Yes, it did. Yes, it did. Oh, Mano.

Mano [00:50:24] I know. I remember that.

Betsy [00:50:30] Yeah, ’cause you were like, “I don’t want to go out.” I was like, “Mano! It’s fine. It’s just your thumb, man. Let’s go.”

Mano [00:50:38] Yeah. It was great. And it was my most comfiest Halloween costume, for sure.

Nicole [00:50:43] Was it jammies?

Mano [00:50:44] Yeah, it was, like, jammies and a dirty robe. It was great.

Nicole [00:50:47] That’s pretty funny. Oh no. I think Sasheer’s having problems. Can you hear, Sasheer?

Mano [00:50:53] Can you Shashear?

Nicole [00:50:56] She can’t Shahear.

Mano [00:50:58] Oh no. She’s shaking her head because she can’t Shahear.

Nicole [00:51:00] She can’t Shahear. Oh no, Sasheer. Why can’t you Shahear?

Mano [00:51:06] Come on, Shasheer.

Nicole [00:51:08] Sasheer!

Mano [00:51:09] We’re over here.

Betsy [00:51:11] Let’s just cheer her on.

Mano [00:51:16] Lend us your shears.

Nicole [00:51:18] Sasheer?

Sasheer [00:51:21] I couldn’t hear anything.

Nicole [00:51:23] Can you hear now?

Sasheer [00:51:24] Yeah.

Betsy [00:51:25] Yay.

Nicole [00:51:26] What happened?

Sasheer [00:51:27] I don’t know. My headphones just stopped working.

Mano [00:51:30] Do you have any haunted artifacts in your home?

Nicole [00:51:36] Yeah, do you want a baby doll who wants you to spread for her?

Betsy [00:51:43] “Yeah, this doll really wants to see some heiny hole.”

Sasheer [00:51:44] No, I don’t think I do. I don’t think I would. Well, actually, I mean…

Nicole [00:51:51] You did have a voodoo doll of yourself.

Sasheer [00:51:53] I was going to bring up the voodoo doll. I wouldn’t consider it haunted, though. But it is a voodoo doll.

Betsy [00:51:58] Wow!

Nicole [00:52:00] The way it was explained to me–voodoo dolls aren’t meant to, like, be evil or hurt other people. That’s actually, like, not the way you’re supposed to use the energy. So, it’s supposed to be a representation of you–and then whatever you want, you put that energy into the doll. So, it’s like, “I would like more money.” So, you put a penny in its stomach or something. Or, like, I would like more health or something. And so, you, like, feed it, water through the mouth or something. You’re essentially taking care of the doll and doing things, so that it can be a reflection of you–so that that happens in your life. Like, when I was looking for a house, I would whisper to it, like, “I really want this house. Will you please help us?”

Betsy [00:52:47] I like that.

Nicole [00:52:49] Hell yeah.

Sasheer [00:52:49] And then I got the house.

Nicole [00:52:51] Wait. I want a voodoo doll to whisper to.

Betsy [00:52:54] Yeah!

Mano [00:52:55] Yeah.

Nicole [00:52:56] Where do I get a voodoo doll from?

Sasheer [00:52:58] I made it in New Orleans with this voodoo priestess named Bloody Mary.

Mano [00:53:04] Cool!

Nicole [00:53:07] Do I have to go find Bloody Mary to make a doll, so I can whisper things to it? “Can I have more sex?”

Mano [00:53:11] So, wait. Betsy, you won’t do haunted dolls, but you’ll do a voodoo doll?

Betsy [00:53:16] That just sounds nice. It sounds positive, Mano. Come on.

Sasheer [00:53:17] Also, me and my friend–Michelle Buteau–made voodoo dolls. And then at the end of it, Bloody Mary was like, “By the way, you can’t throw these away. They’re a representation of you. So, you got them forever.” And I was like, “You gotta tell us that beforehand.”

Betsy [00:53:38] Yeah, that’s a big commitment.

Sasheer [00:53:40] Now, I, like, have a child.

Mano [00:53:42] It sounds like your doll has a very rich career in becoming a real estate agent and helping people get their homes.

Sasheer [00:53:51] Now, it’s, like, in an altar sitting on a couch that Nicole bought. You didn’t buy it for the voodoo doll, but she buys me a lot of little seating furniture–little chairs and little couches. So, the voodoo doll’s sitting on the couch right now.

Betsy [00:54:04] Yes! Yes!

Sasheer [00:54:04] But for months, I had my doll and Michelle’s doll, like, in a plastic bag–just, like, thrown in a corner in my house somewhere–because I was like, “I’ll deal with this later.” And, like, both me and Michelle just felt bad for months. And not that, like, calamity was happening in my life, but things weren’t going well, I wasn’t feeling good, and I was like, “What is happening?” And I found those dolls, and I was like, “Have they been, like, suffocating? Like, are they not okay?” And I looked online, and it was like, “Yeah, you gotta take care of these dolls.”.

Mano [00:54:39] No!

Sasheer [00:54:40] And I talked to Michelle about it, and she was like, “Yeah. I also was, like, feeling kind of gnarly for the last few months.” So, then I took them out. If you can’t do anything with them for a while, you have to, like, put them in a white cloth and put them in a drawer. So, I did that, so they could just be safe for a minute. And then I gave Michelle’s hers. So, I was like, “You do whatever you want with it. I don’t want to be responsible for your life.”

Betsy [00:55:05] Yeah. Holy shit.

Nicole [00:55:07] “I don’t want to kill you.”

Sasheer [00:55:08] And then I put mine out in an altar, and I was like, “I will respect you. I don’t want to just throw you away and put you in a corner.” And things have been going great!

Betsy [00:55:18] Wow.

Mano [00:55:20] This feels like a lot of work.

Nicole [00:55:23] Well, it doesn’t, though, because, like… What? She sits it on a couch from Etsy, and then you’re just, like, nice to her–you say “hello,” “goodbye”–and whisper what you want.

Sasheer [00:55:33] Yeah.

Nicole [00:55:34] I want one of these dolls.

Sasheer [00:55:37] I’ll take you to New Orleans; we’ll do it.

Nicole [00:55:39] Will you?

Mano [00:55:40] Cool!

Sasheer [00:55:40] Yeah. I was thinking about going recently–like, soon.

Nicole [00:55:43] Take me!

Mano [00:55:46] Take us!

Betsy [00:55:47] Take us!

Nicole [00:55:47] Let’s all go!

Betsy [00:55:47] Let’s do it! Wow!

Nicole [00:55:54] We gotta get through the rest of this quiz.

Sasheer [00:55:55] Okay

Betsy [00:55:56] Oh, yes.

Sasheer [00:55:58] We asked each of you if you thought the other person would rather be a ghost or a zombie. And Betsy said, “Mano would be a zombie–and one of those fast ones, like World War Z.”

Nicole [00:56:11] Oh, my God!

Sasheer [00:56:14] Mano doesn’t believe in ghosts, even though he’s seen them twice.

Mano [00:56:21] True. That’s true.

Sasheer [00:56:22] You were like, “Not scary enough,” or, like, “Not believable?”

Mano [00:56:25] It was so believable that I decided to shut down the fantasy part of my brain. I was like, “No. Shut it down.”.

Sasheer [00:56:33] Whoa… Wait, what happened?

Betsy [00:56:36] Dude!

Mano [00:56:37] Okay. I’m going to try to do this quickly, so I don’t take up too much time. But in Greece, I was staying at my brother in law’s house on the island of Milos. This is the house he grew up in. It’s, like, a hundreds-year-old house. It’s one of those, like, white port concrete huts you see on posters in Greece. And a very simple house–two room, little hut house. We get there, we’re pulling tarps off. It’s dusty. It’s, like, dusty. And I’m already just like, “This place is so fucking old.” The bathroom is outdoors. And I’m also put off because his father used to be a goat butcher. And when you enter the house, there’s a closet. There’s, like, a creaky old closet filled with old goat butchering equipment–like, old, rusty, nasty machines. So, whatever. I try to go to sleep. I think I’m asleep. And then–because there’s no doorway where I’m sleeping–like, smoke begins to gather. And I see a dark figure appear in the doorway, and their hands drug all the way to the floor. Like, your knuckles are on the floor.

Nicole [00:58:01] No.

Mano [00:58:04] Really nasty. And I have, like, sleep paralysis, so I’m like, “Oh, I can’t move. I can’t move. I can’t move.” So, I’m like, “Oh, this is a dream. I cannot move. What am I going to do?” Eventually. I’m able to, like, shake it off, and then I face the wall, and I’m like, “I am not moving until it is–you know–like, stark bright.” I’m like, “I’m not moving until it is so bright the light is pouring in through the window.” So, I sleep terribly. And the next morning, my brother-in-law–this is the house he grew up in–takes me to breakfast, whatever. And he’s like, “How did you sleep?” I was like, “Not very good. I had nightmares.” He’s immediately inquisitive, and he’s like, “What did you dream of?” I was like, “I just had nightmares. I don’t want to– I had nightmares.” At that point, I was like, “It was a nightmare.” When we get back to the house, he goes into a dresser–the dresser in the room I slept in–and he pulls out an old notebook. And he shows me a drawing he drew as a child and says, “Did you see him?” And it is a dark figure with hands to the ground.

Betsy [00:59:08] Isn’t that fucked up?

Mano [00:59:11] And I don’t believe in ghosts.

Nicole [00:59:12] And you don’t believe in ghosts.

Betsy [00:59:15] “And I don’t believe in ghosts.”

Nicole [00:59:18] God. That’s wild.

Sasheer [00:59:19] That’s so scary.

Mano [00:59:21] I know!

Nicole [00:59:22] “Did you see him?”

Mano [00:59:22] Yeah. And he was like, “Oh, he’s fine.” Like, he was like, “He’s around.”.

Sasheer [00:59:28] “That’s Edgar.”

Mano [00:59:28] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Betsy [00:59:29] “Don’t worry about Edgar.”.

Nicole [00:59:30] “His arms are just a little long.”

Sasheer [00:59:31] “He can’t help it.”

Nicole [00:59:33] Oh, my God.

Sasheer [00:59:36] Wow. I thought you were also going to say that you saw, like, a bunch of goats.

Nicole [00:59:39] Yeah, I thought it was going to be a bunch of ghosts.

Sasheer [00:59:42] A transformer of goats.

Mano [00:59:44] No, but something about that equipment put me off. I was like, “There’s a wrong vibe around that. There’s something weird going on here.”.

Sasheer [00:59:52] Spooky!

Betsy [00:59:58] Too scary, Mano!

Mano [00:59:59] Very scary. But surprisingly, Betsy, I also said I would be a ghost.

Nicole [01:00:04] Yeah, this is true.

Betsy [01:00:07] You would? Okay.

Mano [01:00:07] But I brought up fast zombies.

Sasheer [01:00:09] Yeah, yeah.

Nicole [01:00:10] You said, “Fast zombies are nasty.”.

Sasheer [01:00:13] He was like, “Too hard of a life. Too much work.”

Betsy [01:00:17] Oh, yeah, that’s fair enough. That’s fair. I thought you would love to be a fast zombie, Mano.

Mano [01:00:22] I know. It’s either/or. But I thought about Beetlejuice, and I’m like, “Oh, Alec Baldwin as a ghost seems to be having an okay life.”

Betsy [01:00:29] Yes. Absolutely.

Mano [01:00:33] They don’t even know it half the time.

Betsy [01:00:35] Yeah, they didn’t even know they were dead for a long time.

Mano [01:00:37] Right? Sixth Sense… They don’t even know it. They’re having a fine time. The Others.

Sasheer [01:00:42] The Others. Yeah.

Betsy [01:00:44] The Others. Yes.

Nicole [01:00:45] I haven’t even seen The Others.

Sasheer [01:00:47] Just live your life. Nicole Kidman was in that.

Nicole [01:00:49] Ah, Nicole Kidman?

Mano [01:00:50] Yes.

Betsy [01:00:51] AMC’s Nicole Kidman was in it.

Mano [01:00:56] “Sometimes ghosts feel good in a place like this.”

Nicole [01:01:00] I still haven’t seen the commercial, but I understand all the references. People just tell me it’s AMC’s Nicole Kidman. I go, “Okay, great. Sounds like fun.” People seem to love it.

Betsy [01:01:12] I’ve gone to a couple movies where people are, like, saying it with her. And every time people are clapping and cheering.

Nicole [01:01:24] The things that resonate with people are really funny. It’s just a simple commercial for AMC and people were like, “We fucking love it! It’s stupid as hell!”

Betsy [01:01:35] Yes. Like, as soon as her heel hits that puddle, people are like, “Yeah!”

Nicole [01:01:41] That’s so funny. Okay. We asked, “Would your friend eat candy corn or black licorice?” Betsy said candy corn over black licorice. She feels that she has seen Mano eat candy corn. She also could see that Mano reveals he likes black licorice, and it would freak her out–kind of like when you revealed that you hated Italian subs. Mano said, “She hates both. She really hates both. Maybe licorice for her because last night Betsy said, ‘I hate candy corn.’” But Mano said he likes candy corn, but only, like, three. He does not like black licorice.

Betsy [01:02:17] Yes! Okay. Good.

Mano [01:02:21] Yeah, yeah. Pretty good. Yeah. Wait, did you pick black licorice a little bit more over candy corn?

Nicole [01:02:27] I think I forgot that.

Betsy [01:02:28] They didn’t ask. I think I would go candy corn over black– Black licorice I cannot handle one bit.

Nicole [01:02:35] Black licorice is nasty. Sasheer, do you like candy corn?

Sasheer [01:02:39] Not really, but I would eat it over black licorice.

Mano [01:02:42] Yeah.

Nicole [01:02:43] I wouldn’t eat either.

Sasheer [01:02:43] Well, I didn’t even know that was an option.

Mano [01:02:44] You have to one.

Betsy [01:02:47] Wait. No way, man.

Mano [01:02:50] It’s absolutely not an option.

Sasheer [01:02:50] Thinking outside the box.

Nicole [01:02:54] I don’t want either of those fucking things. They’re nasty.

Betsy [01:02:56] Yeah, they’re gross.

Nicole [01:02:58] Candy corn is so fucking sweet, and the texture is thick.

Mano [01:03:01] Awful.

Nicole [01:03:01] And if you’re listening right now and you’re like, “I like candy corn,” think again.

Mano [01:03:06] Yeah, think again.

Betsy [01:03:07] Think again.

Mano [01:03:08] You’re eating wax.

Nicole [01:03:10] Yeah, it’s nasty. Sugar wax.

Betsy [01:03:12] Sugar wax.

Sasheer [01:03:16] We asked each of you what would be a couple’s costume that you would do? Betsy said Patty and Selma from The Simpsons.

Mano [01:03:26] Dang!

Sasheer [01:03:27] The sisters. And Mano said Burke and JonBenét Ramsey.

Betsy [01:03:37] You would be JonBenét, right, Mano?

Mano [01:03:39] Yeah, I would prefer that.

Betsy [01:03:40] I would absolutely be Burke.

Sasheer [01:03:45] Or Hans Moleman and Grandpa Simpson.

Betsy [01:03:48] Oh! That’s good.

Mano [01:03:49] Yeah. So, we were kind of close.

Betsy [01:03:51] That’s good.

Nicole [01:03:53] The auxiliary characters of The Simpsons.

Betsy [01:03:55] Yes. Yes.

Nicole [01:03:58] Boy, it was very funny. Without skipping a beat, Mano said Burke and JonBenét Ramsey.

Sasheer [01:04:03] Yeah. Had it queued up.

Betsy [01:04:03] Mano! Okay.

Nicole [01:04:09] We asked, “Would you prefer Disney’s Haunted Mansion or Halloween Horror Nights?” Betsy prefers Halloween horror nights for sure. She just went through The Weeknd’s maze. A nurse held up The Weeknd’s head and said, “Isn’t he hot?” Mano prefers Halloween Horror Nights. “It’s spookier and actually terrifying. The Eddie Murphy version of Haunted Mansion isn’t very good.” But he did go to Halloween Horror Nights this year with Betsy. They went VIP and didn’t think The Weeknd’s maze was good, but… Mano thought it was fun.

Betsy [01:04:41] Oh, yeah.

Mano [01:04:42] Yeah. I thought it was bad but fun.

Betsy [01:04:46] Yeah! I mean, yeah. I like people holding heads at me and screaming, “Isn’t he hot?”.

Sasheer [01:04:52] It is quite a confusing sensation because you’re like, “Am I supposed to be scared or turned on? What do you want from me right now?”

Betsy [01:05:02] That’s kind of a lot of these, like, mazes and stuff, where you’re like, “I think I’m supposed to be scared.” But then a lot of, like, sexy people doing stuff, and you’re like, “And turned on?”

Mano [01:05:15] It’s confusing. Werewolves? I mean, come on.

Betsy [01:05:18] Werewolves. Dude.

Nicole [01:05:20] We also asked if you thought that your friend would like Universal Halloween Horror Nights over Disney Haunted Mansion. Both of you said Halloween Horror Nights. And then Betsy told the story about how Mano always pushes Betsy ahead and, like, into the scary thing.

Mano [01:05:40] Yeah. I want her to go first.

Betsy [01:05:43] Yeah, yeah.

Sasheer [01:05:44] One time Drew Tarver pushed Betsy all the way to the ground.

Mano [01:05:46] Oh, my God. Yeah, I’ve also done that to Mark Rennie. Or I’ve just been like, “Take Mark!”

Sasheer [01:05:54] “Here!”

Nicole [01:05:58] Really funny. We asked, “What is your dream Halloween activity to do together?” Betsy said, “Mazes. It’s so much fun. Also, there’s a cocktail and burlesque dancer one. It’s awesome. We grab each other and freak out. It’s fun.” Mano said, “We love going to haunted trails. We love doing that together. We went to Delusion this year. And just watching haunted movies at home. But the trails being interactive is special.” Also, Trolls 2 is Mano’s favorite movie to watch with Betsy because of the line, “I’m a hot babe for you, and you can’t handle it.”

Mano [01:06:39] That’s kind of paraphrasing what’s-her-name, remember? You know. I was telling them about Elliot.

Betsy [01:06:45] “Oh, Elliot.”.

Mano [01:06:45] They haven’t seen Trolls 2. Isn’t that crazy?

Betsy [01:06:47] Well, we got to watch it.

Mano [01:06:49] Yeah.

Betsy [01:06:50] It’s kind of a longer version of The Bread.

Mano [01:06:53] Yeah.

Betsy [01:06:55] Like, in a great way of just like, “Oh, my God, dude.” It’s awesome. I think you’ll like it because it’s fun. It’s such a blast. Okay, we’re having a viewing. Boom.

Mano [01:07:08] I also got to give away this one– No, I won’t give it away. Just watch.

Sasheer [01:07:11] Yeah.

Mano [01:07:12] It’s too funny. No, I can’t. I can’t do it.

Nicole [01:07:14] Give it to us. Tell us.

Mano [01:07:17] Just because I was explaining to them it’s an Italian guy who tried to create an English script. And there’s a part where the boyfriend gets kneed in the nuts, and he replies by saying, “What are you doing? Trying to turn me into a homo?” And then what does the girlfriend say to him?

Betsy [01:07:35] I can’t… “You’re real nuts.”

Mano [01:07:37] Yeah, she’s like, “Wouldn’t be too hard. My dad would cut your little nuts off and eat them.”

Betsy [01:07:45] “And eat them.” And then some stuff about, like, “And I’m not into group sex.” Like, very strange. There’s a documentary actually about the making of the movie. And they interview that girl and her boyfriend, Elliot. And they were like, “We kept trying to tell the director that kids don’t speak like this. Like, American teens do not talk like this. And he was just like, ‘Oh, yeah, whatever, you American dogs. I know.’” Like, it’s wild.

Mano [01:08:21] He called them dogs a lot.

Nicole [01:08:24] Wait. He called them “dogs?”

Mano [01:08:25] A lot. Yes.

Sasheer [01:08:25] Okay, now I actually really want to watch this movie together.

Nicole [01:08:31] Yeah, yeah.

Betsy [01:08:32] Yes. We gotta watch it. It’s incredible.

Mano [01:08:35] I brought that up too, Betsy. The doc. So good.

Betsy [01:08:40] It’s so good. It’s so good.

Nicole [01:08:43] Oh, how fun.

Sasheer [01:08:44] Well, thank you for sharing your love of spooky things with us.

Mano [01:08:48] Yes. Of course.

Betsy [01:08:49] Thank you for having us and letting us!

Mano [01:08:51] Yeah. Thank you. Y’all are the freaking best.

Betsy [01:08:53] We love you.

Mano [01:08:55] We love y’all. Thank you. Thank you.

Sasheer [01:08:57] We love you!

Nicole [01:08:58] And you can listen to 2 Spooky 2 Handle on Earwolf now?

Sasheer [01:09:05] Starting October 7th.

Betsy [01:09:08] Yes. Perfect.

Sasheer [01:09:12] Always a joy. So glad you could come on the show.

Mano [01:09:15] Y’all are the best. Love y’all.

Nicole [01:09:17] All right. Goodbye!

Sasheer [01:09:20] Goodbye!

Nicole [01:09:22] Goodbye!

Mano [01:09:25] Bye.

Nicole [01:09:34] Usually we answer questions and queries, but today we didn’t. But if you have a question or query that you would like answered, either email to nicoleandsasheer@gmail.com or call or text 424-645-7003. Feel free to leave us a voice memo as well.

Sasheer [01:09:52] We also have merch at podswag.com/

Nicole & Sasheer [01:09:54] bestfriends.

Nicole [01:10:00] You didn’t get mad that time. That was nice. It was really funny, Sasheer. You were very angry.

Sasheer [01:10:19] Because it wasn’t like you were trying to say it with me. You just did it, like, a hair after it. So, it was very jarring. Not helpful. It threw me off.

Nicole [01:10:30] Sorry.

Sasheer [01:10:31] It was unexpected.

Nicole [01:10:31] Sorry.

Sasheer [01:10:33] It’s okay.