This Past Weekend with Theo Von - E539 The Amazing Acro-Cats

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00:00:30.140 We have some upcoming tour dates there in Colorado Springs in Colorado.

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00:01:00.220 And thank you so much for the support.

00:01:02.800 Today's guest is a cat advocate, a performer, and a trainer.

00:01:06.940 For almost 20 years, she's been touring with her performance crew of cats called the AcroCats,

00:01:15.280 where they perform routines, tricks, and much more.

00:01:18.980 She's also started the only all-cat band in the world, Tuna and the Rock Cats.

00:01:26.820 No one loves anything as much as Samantha loves cats.

00:01:31.020 Today's guest is Samantha Martin and the AcroCats.

00:01:35.380 Shine that light on me

00:01:38.980 I'll sit and tell you my stories

00:01:44.980 Shine on me

00:01:49.680 And I will find a song

00:01:53.880 I'll be singing

00:01:55.080 I love this guy.

00:01:56.020 Yeah, so I want to learn all about AcroCats

00:02:06.560 and I want to learn all about the traveling cat universe

00:02:09.900 and everything that there is to know about it

00:02:11.940 because it really is just fascinating to think about them cats

00:02:14.900 and everything that they're doing

00:02:16.840 and just how involved with it you are, you know?

00:02:21.660 Just to start, I guess, what are some...

00:02:23.480 Like, what is a cat, I guess, basically?

00:02:25.100 How would you even...

00:02:26.060 What is, like, a...

00:02:27.580 Like, I mean, I know it's kind of an easy question,

00:02:29.080 but what do you...

00:02:29.920 Some people probably aren't even...

00:02:31.640 That aren't big pets, like connoisseurs or whatever.

00:02:34.980 How do you put that in a...

00:02:38.580 Is there a certain size of it?

00:02:40.160 Or, like, how tall is a cat?

00:02:41.600 How tall...

00:02:42.080 Oh, boy, that's...

00:02:43.540 You're open with a question

00:02:44.500 I don't even know the answer to.

00:02:46.080 They really vary in size.

00:02:48.780 Some of the cats are more petite.

00:02:51.280 We do a lot of bottle babies,

00:02:52.460 so they tend to be a little bit on the smaller side.

00:02:55.100 Females are a little bit on the smaller side.

00:02:57.720 But, you know, cats are really kind of misunderstood.

00:03:01.300 Everybody thinks that cats are aloof

00:03:02.980 and that they can't be trained,

00:03:05.420 that they don't really need, you know, socialization

00:03:07.780 or kind of the same kind of things that dogs need.

00:03:10.780 A lot of people get cats, you know,

00:03:12.580 thinking that's not going to be any work at all.

00:03:14.520 I just have to scoop a litter box

00:03:15.800 or get an auto-scooping litter box

00:03:17.900 and throw out some food and be done with it,

00:03:20.060 where, you know, a dog is so much more work.

00:03:21.900 But in actuality, a cat is just as much work as a dog.

00:03:27.680 And people should invest that time

00:03:29.300 because cats are brilliant.

00:03:30.740 People don't realize just how brilliant cats are.

00:03:32.960 Yeah.

00:03:33.320 Oh, yeah.

00:03:33.900 I've seen some cats.

00:03:34.860 They have all types of cats.

00:03:38.000 Yeah.

00:03:38.460 They even had...

00:03:39.460 One cat went to space, I think, even.

00:03:42.520 I know a cat went down Niagara Falls.

00:03:44.540 Really?

00:03:44.860 You know a cat that went to Niagara Falls?

00:03:45.920 That went down Niagara Falls.

00:03:46.960 Oh, went down it?

00:03:47.620 The first person that survived a barrel trip down the falls,

00:03:52.720 she took a cat with her.

00:03:53.680 No way.

00:03:54.280 Yeah.

00:03:54.640 For good luck or just for...

00:03:55.860 Just, who knows?

00:03:57.020 I mean, I wasn't around during that time

00:03:58.680 to ask her afterwards,

00:04:00.220 what made you bring a cat down the falls with you?

00:04:03.100 But she and the cat survived.

00:04:04.900 Wow.

00:04:05.560 Yeah.

00:04:07.100 Okay.

00:04:07.600 So a cat, like...

00:04:09.240 And a cat can be, you said, almost any size.

00:04:11.800 Oh, yeah.

00:04:12.380 I mean, there's huge cats.

00:04:13.620 There's Maine Coon cats that are giant.

00:04:15.860 Our cats are a little bit on the...

00:04:17.320 They're all...

00:04:17.860 None of our cats are purebred cats

00:04:19.640 because they're all rescue cats.

00:04:21.820 Mm-hmm.

00:04:22.120 So they...

00:04:23.620 But the Maine Coon cats are giant.

00:04:25.560 I mean, I've seen, like, they're almost dog-sized.

00:04:28.980 Oh, wow.

00:04:29.580 So...

00:04:30.220 And then there's the real small ones,

00:04:31.920 the munchkins, and they have the short legs

00:04:34.440 and that they...

00:04:35.460 And, you know, it's not really good to breed

00:04:37.940 for certain things.

00:04:39.440 You know, it just seems uncomfortable

00:04:40.420 for some of the cats to have, like, short legs

00:04:43.320 and difficulty for them to get around.

00:04:45.340 But, yeah, they come in all different sizes

00:04:46.780 and shapes and large-ears, small-ears.

00:04:49.860 Some cats are hairless.

00:04:50.800 Some cats are...

00:04:51.540 Oh, damn.

00:04:52.200 ... completely, you know, furry.

00:04:53.380 Just...

00:04:53.700 So a cat can basically be almost any...

00:04:57.660 Like, how tall are the cats you work with?

00:04:59.560 Because the cats I've seen are probably...

00:05:01.040 A lot of them are about this tall, probably.

00:05:02.660 Well, I guess that's if they're just sitting up.

00:05:04.440 If they're walking...

00:05:05.700 Yeah.

00:05:06.380 Yeah, that's...

00:05:07.200 I mean, it's kind of...

00:05:08.340 There's a typical cat size,

00:05:09.740 but the Maine Coons are the ones

00:05:11.280 that are the giant.

00:05:12.140 Oh, a Maine Coon is the...

00:05:13.600 A Maine Coon, yeah.

00:05:13.940 The Maine Coons are the giant ones.

00:05:15.560 You know, see people, like,

00:05:16.560 with the record Maine Coon

00:05:17.960 and they're holding it

00:05:18.660 and it takes two arms

00:05:19.860 and it's still hanging over their arms.

00:05:22.220 Yeah.

00:05:22.860 It's like a play in the bass, kind of.

00:05:24.560 Yeah.

00:05:24.760 And do you employ any Maine Coons?

00:05:27.480 No, because they really...

00:05:28.820 We need small, agile cats to be acro cats.

00:05:31.560 Okay, so for acro cats,

00:05:32.720 we're talking a smaller cat.

00:05:34.100 We're talking...

00:05:34.820 What's the premier size,

00:05:36.440 kind of like a...

00:05:38.000 For an acro cat?

00:05:39.100 Oh, the runts.

00:05:39.880 The orphans, the runts, the strays,

00:05:42.020 the ones with the...

00:05:43.440 Especially the ones with the attitude,

00:05:45.060 with the troublemakers.

00:05:46.140 Oh, really?

00:05:46.520 Those make the best acro cats.

00:05:47.980 They do.

00:05:48.400 Those little...

00:05:49.120 Like, because they got, like,

00:05:49.900 short cat syndrome.

00:05:51.480 So they already have, like,

00:05:52.860 a little chip on their shoulder.

00:05:54.200 So they've got attitude

00:05:55.180 and they're like,

00:05:56.540 I'm, you know,

00:05:57.600 don't mess with me.

00:05:58.900 I'll show them.

00:05:59.700 I'm going to show you.

00:06:00.740 And so, yeah, those make...

00:06:01.780 Those are the best acro cats.

00:06:02.920 And they're a little bit

00:06:03.320 on the smaller side

00:06:04.300 so they can do a lot more.

00:06:05.680 Okay.

00:06:06.120 They can climb higher.

00:06:06.620 They can jump further.

00:06:08.680 Yeah, it's just...

00:06:09.840 They're more agile.

00:06:10.740 So, yeah, we tend to employ

00:06:12.740 strictly rescue cats.

00:06:15.280 Okay.

00:06:15.600 No purebreds.

00:06:16.720 Oh, really?

00:06:17.340 So you guys...

00:06:18.300 So acro cats

00:06:19.460 is a lot of rescues then?

00:06:22.180 Oh, yes.

00:06:22.740 Yes.

00:06:22.960 They're all former orphans,

00:06:24.140 rescues, and strays.

00:06:25.980 Man, it's almost like

00:06:26.940 the Bad News Bears in a way, huh?

00:06:30.480 You know, I've...

00:06:31.440 That movie, have you seen it?

00:06:32.440 Yeah, yeah.

00:06:32.540 Yeah, I've seen it.

00:06:33.280 It's been a long time.

00:06:34.180 So I kind of don't really

00:06:37.000 remember the premise.

00:06:38.220 Yeah, I think it was just

00:06:39.140 some of them were kind of like...

00:06:41.600 Yeah, some of the kids

00:06:43.360 were kind of like

00:06:44.120 having a tough time, you know?

00:06:45.740 It was like those type of kids.

00:06:48.080 So how did you get started

00:06:49.440 with acro cats?

00:06:50.640 And what is acro cats,

00:06:52.460 first of all?

00:06:53.340 So the amazing acro cats,

00:06:55.920 they're a troop of former

00:06:57.480 orphan rescues and strays

00:06:58.940 that have come into my life

00:06:59.980 over the years.

00:07:00.700 And I've trained them

00:07:01.820 to do awesome things

00:07:03.160 to show people

00:07:04.600 that not only can cats be trained,

00:07:06.320 but they should be trained.

00:07:07.480 So they travel around the country.

00:07:09.500 We now tour in a large bus.

00:07:11.800 We initially started out

00:07:12.680 in a small ambulance

00:07:14.320 and then slowly built up

00:07:15.940 to this giant money pit of a bus.

00:07:19.660 Yeah, busing is expensive.

00:07:21.160 Oh, so expensive.

00:07:22.580 So you guys were in an ambulance.

00:07:24.040 At one point,

00:07:24.840 I started things...

00:07:25.740 I started my career,

00:07:27.240 you know,

00:07:27.580 with an ambulance

00:07:28.880 back in the days

00:07:30.340 when I was, you know,

00:07:31.200 doing rats

00:07:31.960 and wildlife education

00:07:34.140 and all of that.

00:07:35.200 So I've been working

00:07:36.200 with animals since I was 10.

00:07:37.560 Okay.

00:07:38.240 So you've been working

00:07:39.100 with animals

00:07:39.540 since you was a child, really.

00:07:40.960 You was really

00:07:41.580 just a child animal worker.

00:07:44.560 And they...

00:07:46.040 And so you get started,

00:07:47.100 you said, with rats first?

00:07:48.820 I knew I wanted

00:07:49.560 to be an animal trainer

00:07:50.380 since I was seven.

00:07:51.460 Okay.

00:07:51.800 So you knew out of the gate

00:07:52.880 you wanted to be out there

00:07:53.900 with them animals.

00:07:54.780 Yes.

00:07:55.120 And how did you know

00:07:55.820 you'd be at a zoo

00:07:56.660 or something would flare up

00:07:57.780 in you when you would

00:07:58.360 see an animal

00:07:59.020 or how did you know

00:07:59.860 that you loved them?

00:08:00.780 Well, I...

00:08:01.800 My parents did, like,

00:08:03.400 a letter every year,

00:08:04.420 like, those annoying

00:08:05.600 Christmas letters

00:08:06.280 that people send out

00:08:07.200 detailing their whole year.

00:08:09.620 Oh, yeah.

00:08:10.000 Like, Patty got her

00:08:11.280 a menstrual cycle

00:08:12.280 or whatever.

00:08:12.860 Yeah, yeah.

00:08:13.380 And Danny's playing volleyball

00:08:14.580 or whatever.

00:08:15.080 Yeah.

00:08:15.620 Yeah.

00:08:16.200 So my parents did one

00:08:17.560 every year.

00:08:18.420 Yeah, we got those

00:08:19.320 in our neighborhood.

00:08:20.120 Some of them were too much.

00:08:21.480 Oh, yeah, yeah.

00:08:22.680 One year they sent it

00:08:23.480 and it was like,

00:08:23.920 Ron left us,

00:08:24.820 if anybody's seen

00:08:25.720 or whatever, call us.

00:08:26.840 And we're like,

00:08:28.040 this is for Christmas?

00:08:29.720 Like, it was just...

00:08:31.040 But some of them

00:08:31.520 got it a little invasive.

00:08:32.540 But, okay, sorry,

00:08:33.480 I interrupted you.

00:08:34.060 Yeah, oh, no, yeah.

00:08:34.780 But so looking back

00:08:36.160 through all those

00:08:36.880 Christmas letters,

00:08:38.680 it talked about how...

00:08:40.760 It talked about wanting a cat,

00:08:42.160 wanting a cat.

00:08:42.740 As soon as I was able to talk,

00:08:43.940 I wanted a cat.

00:08:44.900 And then I found a book

00:08:46.280 that was like a book about me

00:08:48.180 that I had filled out

00:08:48.960 when I was seven.

00:08:49.820 Oh, yeah.

00:08:50.100 And it said,

00:08:50.820 when I grow up,

00:08:51.600 I want to be...

00:08:52.720 And I put on...

00:08:53.700 I filled in animal trainer

00:08:55.380 or Indian.

00:08:56.780 Oh, that's good.

00:08:57.680 Yeah, yeah.

00:08:58.460 And that's kind of

00:08:58.920 the same thing

00:08:59.680 almost because the Indians

00:09:00.280 were so close to nature,

00:09:02.380 really, you know?

00:09:03.280 Yeah, yeah.

00:09:03.760 It really is kind of

00:09:04.660 similar path, I guess.

00:09:06.300 Yeah.

00:09:06.600 Spiritual connection

00:09:07.720 with animals.

00:09:08.480 Yeah.

00:09:08.880 So...

00:09:09.340 So you wanted to be

00:09:10.000 really dialed in

00:09:10.840 out of the gate.

00:09:11.560 Oh, yeah.

00:09:11.940 I knew what I wanted to do

00:09:12.980 right from the get-go.

00:09:13.840 My parents,

00:09:14.920 they had a different

00:09:15.900 plan for me.

00:09:17.160 What did they think

00:09:17.760 they wanted...

00:09:18.380 I mean,

00:09:18.600 they wanted the traditional...

00:09:20.240 I mean,

00:09:20.380 they sent me to college

00:09:21.100 to get my MRS.

00:09:22.700 They didn't care

00:09:23.340 what I majored in

00:09:24.220 as long as I came home

00:09:25.880 with a husband

00:09:26.440 that had a good degree

00:09:28.060 and a future.

00:09:28.880 Oh, yeah.

00:09:29.300 That's what they wanted.

00:09:30.320 They did not anticipate

00:09:31.640 me being an entrepreneur

00:09:34.280 and I'm going to start

00:09:35.640 a business with rats

00:09:36.740 and that's kind of

00:09:38.040 how it all started

00:09:39.060 right after college.

00:09:40.220 I moved to Chicago

00:09:41.180 and I was like,

00:09:41.740 I'm going to start

00:09:42.280 a business with rats.

00:09:43.660 And what made you...

00:09:44.500 Did you see something?

00:09:45.840 Did you...

00:09:46.580 Were you at a...

00:09:47.740 live event?

00:09:49.580 Did you...

00:09:50.340 Were you at a christening

00:09:52.520 or a...

00:09:53.680 Were you at like,

00:09:54.880 you know,

00:09:56.480 a performance

00:09:57.500 of Phantom of the Opera

00:09:58.900 or like what set

00:10:00.560 made you think,

00:10:01.240 okay,

00:10:01.560 I'm going to start

00:10:02.520 doing a live performance

00:10:04.560 at Animals

00:10:05.100 because that's a real...

00:10:06.640 The only people

00:10:07.240 that's ever done that

00:10:08.080 is Noah,

00:10:09.520 probably Noah's Ark

00:10:10.520 and God probably.

00:10:12.620 Yeah, yeah.

00:10:14.240 Did you see...

00:10:14.980 Yeah,

00:10:15.120 did you see a performance?

00:10:16.220 Did you see something

00:10:16.860 that was like...

00:10:18.240 Yeah,

00:10:18.540 yes,

00:10:18.860 actually,

00:10:19.240 I watched a documentary

00:10:22.080 on Mo DeSesso

00:10:23.240 who was the rat trainer

00:10:25.140 for the original

00:10:26.340 Ben and Willard movies.

00:10:27.860 Okay,

00:10:28.440 bring him up.

00:10:28.980 Mo DeSesso,

00:10:29.700 how do you spell it?

00:10:30.320 Mo DeSesso.

00:10:31.280 Mo DeSesso.

00:10:32.380 Yeah,

00:10:32.780 he was one of the original

00:10:35.240 Hollywood animal trainers.

00:10:37.120 He,

00:10:37.540 he was my,

00:10:38.760 my mentor.

00:10:39.480 He was my,

00:10:40.180 I mean,

00:10:40.500 I saw this documentary

00:10:42.180 that he did

00:10:42.840 on the Discovery Channel

00:10:44.460 back when they showed animal,

00:10:45.960 you know,

00:10:46.200 when they showed stuff

00:10:47.060 like real things

00:10:48.340 on Discovery Channel

00:10:49.340 and he,

00:10:50.640 it was like behind the scenes

00:10:51.680 training of the rats

00:10:52.580 for this movie

00:10:53.160 and I was like,

00:10:54.180 yes,

00:10:54.440 this is what I want to do

00:10:55.420 with my life.

00:10:55.980 I want to train animals

00:10:57.020 for film and television

00:10:58.060 and,

00:10:58.980 and I ended up getting

00:10:59.700 to meet him.

00:11:01.300 Animal trainer,

00:11:01.840 Mo DeSesso,

00:11:02.320 who trained such notable

00:11:03.260 animal stars

00:11:03.880 as Ben the rat

00:11:04.940 and Annie's dog,

00:11:06.180 Sandy,

00:11:06.660 died July 2nd

00:11:07.460 in New Hall,

00:11:08.820 California.

00:11:09.280 He was 83.

00:11:10.940 He trained over 600 rats

00:11:12.600 for the two rodent

00:11:13.780 horror hits,

00:11:15.080 winning a Patsy Award

00:11:16.280 for directing

00:11:16.820 Ben the rat

00:11:17.640 in Willard

00:11:18.420 and another sequel

00:11:20.180 for Ben.

00:11:20.840 Wow,

00:11:21.040 so he could really

00:11:22.380 conduct a rat.

00:11:24.720 Oh,

00:11:24.880 he could train any animal.

00:11:26.200 He was just amazing.

00:11:27.780 I,

00:11:28.040 I was so thrilled

00:11:29.180 because I ended up

00:11:30.420 getting stranded

00:11:31.020 in California.

00:11:31.920 I was working

00:11:32.540 on a rat documentary

00:11:33.480 and part of it

00:11:34.540 was filmed in Los Angeles

00:11:35.600 in the summer

00:11:36.300 and I got stuck there

00:11:38.180 because of a heat embargo

00:11:39.120 so I couldn't get my rats

00:11:40.220 back to Chicago.

00:11:42.220 So you're there,

00:11:43.300 you're working

00:11:43.680 on a rat documentary.

00:11:45.020 Yes.

00:11:45.940 Called?

00:11:46.460 It was called Rat.

00:11:47.700 Okay, Rat.

00:11:48.460 Yeah,

00:11:48.800 Mark Lewis,

00:11:50.000 it was,

00:11:50.400 Mark Lewis kind of

00:11:51.120 gave me my big break

00:11:52.060 as far as working

00:11:53.100 on documentaries

00:11:54.200 and getting my first

00:11:55.800 really big break

00:11:57.240 as far as training rats

00:11:58.760 so it was,

00:11:59.780 it was so serendipitous

00:12:01.020 how everything,

00:12:01.880 how everything happened

00:12:02.920 really.

00:12:03.380 My whole,

00:12:04.120 you know,

00:12:04.380 the whole life story

00:12:05.240 from,

00:12:05.920 you know,

00:12:06.260 the rats

00:12:07.180 to the,

00:12:07.720 you know,

00:12:08.420 to the cats

00:12:09.240 but I was out,

00:12:10.440 I was working

00:12:10.960 on the documentary

00:12:12.240 for the other part

00:12:13.640 of the documentary.

00:12:14.580 We'd filmed the first part

00:12:15.400 in New York

00:12:17.040 and then we finished it

00:12:17.960 in Los Angeles.

00:12:19.300 There's a heat,

00:12:19.960 you know,

00:12:20.160 during the summer

00:12:20.660 you cannot fly animals

00:12:22.120 in cargo

00:12:22.600 so my rats were,

00:12:24.120 and I were stuck

00:12:24.900 in California

00:12:25.880 so I looked up

00:12:27.180 Mo DeSesso

00:12:27.720 and I drove out

00:12:28.920 to his ranch.

00:12:29.680 No.

00:12:30.600 And I introduced myself

00:12:32.280 and they welcomed me

00:12:33.200 into their home.

00:12:33.940 I stayed with them

00:12:34.540 for about three weeks

00:12:35.540 or so.

00:12:36.260 I cleaned

00:12:37.100 every inch

00:12:37.820 of his place.

00:12:39.020 His training room,

00:12:39.800 I organized

00:12:40.260 his training room.

00:12:41.580 I just worked

00:12:42.440 every day.

00:12:43.040 They'd have to drag me

00:12:43.920 in for meals

00:12:44.500 and then he worked

00:12:45.880 with me every day

00:12:46.500 with training.

00:12:47.360 I learned so much

00:12:48.240 from him

00:12:48.580 and,

00:12:49.340 you know,

00:12:50.200 when I left

00:12:50.840 he cried

00:12:51.380 when I left.

00:12:52.060 I was like the daughter

00:12:53.060 that he'd always wanted

00:12:54.960 and in a way

00:12:56.080 he was like the father

00:12:57.080 that I wished I'd had

00:12:58.080 because my parents,

00:12:59.200 you know,

00:12:59.380 they liked animals

00:13:00.240 but they weren't

00:13:01.220 like true animal lovers.

00:13:02.660 Yeah,

00:13:03.040 they didn't love them

00:13:03.680 like you did.

00:13:04.380 Yeah,

00:13:04.580 I mean,

00:13:04.820 I loved them

00:13:05.320 right from the beginning

00:13:06.260 and it just was

00:13:07.240 drawn to them.

00:13:08.840 It was my life calling.

00:13:10.720 So you leave out of there,

00:13:11.860 the documentary gets finished

00:13:13.200 and now you're

00:13:15.060 a rat trainer.

00:13:16.120 Yeah,

00:13:16.380 I'm a rat trainer

00:13:17.280 and then I ended up

00:13:18.360 being a chicken trainer

00:13:19.240 after that

00:13:20.120 because Mark Lewis

00:13:21.020 did a film

00:13:22.240 called

00:13:22.820 The Natural History

00:13:23.560 of Chickens.

00:13:24.340 He hired me again

00:13:25.080 for that

00:13:26.000 to train the chickens

00:13:26.800 and I didn't know

00:13:27.360 anything about chickens

00:13:28.420 when I took that job.

00:13:29.440 Oh yeah,

00:13:30.040 who could?

00:13:30.840 Yeah,

00:13:31.240 it was,

00:13:31.560 I mean,

00:13:31.740 back then the internet

00:13:32.540 there was just

00:13:33.100 some Yahoo groups

00:13:34.360 and so I mean,

00:13:36.400 and he was a tough guy

00:13:37.320 to work for too.

00:13:38.140 I mean,

00:13:38.480 if you did,

00:13:40.260 if things did not go right,

00:13:42.340 he would just

00:13:43.480 yell at you

00:13:44.880 like two inches

00:13:45.740 from your face.

00:13:46.580 I mean,

00:13:46.840 he was intense.

00:13:47.500 Oh,

00:13:47.740 he was so intense

00:13:48.720 and I mean,

00:13:49.440 I saw there were nights

00:13:50.260 when I worked

00:13:50.820 on the rat film

00:13:51.540 that I cried every night

00:13:53.360 but it was,

00:13:54.320 you know,

00:13:54.480 he was so good.

00:13:55.420 I mean,

00:13:55.520 he really knew

00:13:56.220 what he wanted.

00:13:56.700 Like what are you saying?

00:13:57.220 Like damn it,

00:13:57.740 get these rats to do it

00:13:59.080 or whatever.

00:13:59.580 Yeah,

00:13:59.840 it was just,

00:14:00.260 he was very hardcore

00:14:01.300 and you know,

00:14:03.180 very few people survived

00:14:04.420 working for a Mark Lewis film

00:14:06.680 but his film was,

00:14:08.960 you know,

00:14:09.220 won awards

00:14:09.880 so when he asked me back

00:14:12.360 to do the chicken,

00:14:13.580 I didn't get yelled at

00:14:14.720 the entire shoot.

00:14:16.160 I mean,

00:14:16.560 nobody could have

00:14:17.420 a conversation with me

00:14:18.440 during the chicken

00:14:19.020 training portion

00:14:19.920 because I was learning

00:14:20.960 about chickens.

00:14:21.580 There were so many things

00:14:22.800 that could go wrong

00:14:23.540 with this chicken training thing.

00:14:25.240 I'm sure.

00:14:26.200 Yeah.

00:14:26.700 Even just the term

00:14:27.640 chicken training.

00:14:28.580 Yeah.

00:14:29.440 Sounds like it's not

00:14:30.440 going to work out.

00:14:31.140 Oh yeah,

00:14:31.520 I had to get,

00:14:32.360 I had to have a white silky hen

00:14:34.000 go broody

00:14:35.720 which means they lay,

00:14:36.760 where they lay on eggs,

00:14:37.980 right?

00:14:38.560 So,

00:14:39.300 and then once the chicken,

00:14:40.660 once I found a chicken

00:14:41.600 that actually laid eggs

00:14:42.640 because this broodiness

00:14:43.640 has been bred out of them

00:14:44.720 over the years

00:14:45.200 because most people

00:14:45.900 want them for food

00:14:47.000 or just egg.

00:14:48.060 Yeah,

00:14:48.300 they don't want them

00:14:48.940 to lay on them.

00:14:49.580 Yeah,

00:14:49.920 they don't want them

00:14:50.480 to lay on them

00:14:51.400 so I had all these

00:14:52.280 white silky chickens,

00:14:53.520 found one that laid eggs

00:14:55.300 and set on them

00:14:56.280 so then I had to

00:14:57.160 take the eggs

00:14:58.100 and put,

00:14:59.120 replace them with golf balls,

00:15:00.780 keep the eggs safe,

00:15:01.900 then transport that chicken

00:15:03.700 to somewhere in the south.

00:15:07.800 I was,

00:15:08.540 I was somewhere in the,

00:15:10.080 out in the country

00:15:11.000 with these chickens,

00:15:11.700 working on these chickens,

00:15:12.860 with these chickens

00:15:13.500 so I got to get them

00:15:14.620 on the flight,

00:15:15.520 get them to the location

00:15:16.580 and then put the eggs

00:15:18.220 in an incubator

00:15:19.440 and on the exact day

00:15:21.360 that he needed to shoot

00:15:22.580 these chickens hatching,

00:15:24.420 they had to hatch.

00:15:25.780 So,

00:15:26.440 it,

00:15:26.860 there were so many things

00:15:27.680 that could have gone wrong.

00:15:28.800 Yeah.

00:15:29.160 So many things.

00:15:30.020 We were playing God

00:15:30.960 at that point in a way.

00:15:31.940 Oh,

00:15:31.980 yeah,

00:15:32.300 I mean,

00:15:32.900 it was so,

00:15:33.840 so stressful.

00:15:34.720 I had to train a rooster

00:15:36.260 to crow on,

00:15:37.200 on cue.

00:15:39.140 So,

00:15:39.800 and I had no,

00:15:40.540 I mean,

00:15:40.800 I was really,

00:15:41.760 you know,

00:15:41.960 I was,

00:15:42.300 I was self-taught.

00:15:43.120 This is pre-internet.

00:15:44.140 This is before

00:15:44.700 you could look up

00:15:45.740 all the things

00:15:46.320 and just find answers.

00:15:47.780 I mean,

00:15:47.960 I was.

00:15:48.240 And what do you do?

00:15:49.020 You don't,

00:15:49.560 do you tickle them

00:15:50.400 or whatever?

00:15:50.680 What do you do

00:15:51.300 to get a rooster

00:15:52.120 to do it?

00:15:53.860 Well,

00:15:54.160 you would find,

00:15:55.180 you,

00:15:55.900 you,

00:15:56.340 you find out

00:15:57.060 what make them,

00:15:57.660 would make them

00:15:58.220 crow naturally.

00:15:59.200 So,

00:15:59.920 they actually,

00:16:00.680 they kind of trained me.

00:16:01.560 So,

00:16:01.660 I'd have a rooster

00:16:02.440 in the downstairs

00:16:04.020 with a baby monitor.

00:16:06.100 So,

00:16:06.640 I'd be upstairs

00:16:07.460 and anytime I heard

00:16:08.360 that rooster crow,

00:16:09.240 I'd go running downstairs

00:16:10.560 and then I'd wave

00:16:11.600 an American flag

00:16:12.420 and click and treat

00:16:14.740 and give the,

00:16:15.440 you know,

00:16:15.580 because I knew about

00:16:16.340 clicker training

00:16:16.860 at that point.

00:16:17.360 So,

00:16:17.580 I would click and treat

00:16:18.860 and give the rooster,

00:16:20.260 you know,

00:16:20.780 a reward for crowing.

00:16:23.020 So,

00:16:23.320 I also,

00:16:23.720 but I also knew

00:16:24.280 that I needed

00:16:24.620 to put it on a cue

00:16:25.540 so that it couldn't just,

00:16:27.040 we couldn't be waiting around

00:16:28.260 for it to crow.

00:16:29.040 I needed to signal

00:16:29.960 for it to crow.

00:16:31.180 So,

00:16:31.400 that's what the flag was for?

00:16:32.320 The flag would be,

00:16:32.860 like,

00:16:33.120 I'm waving the flag,

00:16:33.940 it's still crowing,

00:16:34.700 I'm waving the flag,

00:16:35.420 I'm clicking and treating

00:16:36.180 and not really knowing

00:16:37.680 what I'm doing,

00:16:38.200 just hoping it's going to work.

00:16:39.320 Create a pattern.

00:16:40.240 Yeah,

00:16:40.640 yes,

00:16:41.160 yes.

00:16:41.460 And people would be

00:16:43.160 trying to talk to me

00:16:44.040 and I'd be like,

00:16:45.460 what if I taught the chicken

00:16:47.220 to follow a ribbon

00:16:48.760 and we could put that ribbon

00:16:50.620 on the camera

00:16:51.240 and then the chicken

00:16:51.820 would follow that camera

00:16:53.140 everywhere

00:16:53.500 because we need those cameras

00:16:54.680 like right in the camera shots.

00:16:57.060 I mean,

00:16:57.220 nobody could talk to me

00:16:58.060 about anything

00:16:58.760 because I was so hyper-focused

00:17:00.360 on making these chickens

00:17:01.740 perfect for this film.

00:17:04.160 And I mean,

00:17:04.940 it turned out beautifully.

00:17:06.860 I mean,

00:17:07.040 I couldn't believe

00:17:07.840 how all my hard work

00:17:10.400 paid off.

00:17:11.760 Yeah,

00:17:12.120 so it was,

00:17:12.820 but I,

00:17:13.220 you know,

00:17:13.560 it's pretty remarkable.

00:17:14.940 Yeah,

00:17:15.180 I mean,

00:17:15.420 it really,

00:17:16.100 considering I didn't really know

00:17:17.660 anything about chickens

00:17:18.700 when I took the job.

00:17:19.680 Yeah.

00:17:20.800 Yeah,

00:17:21.200 and it seems like

00:17:21.740 an insane job to take

00:17:22.980 and do.

00:17:24.680 Oh,

00:17:24.980 yeah,

00:17:25.300 yes.

00:17:25.420 And then to pull it off.

00:17:27.100 Yes,

00:17:27.460 and to pull it off

00:17:28.200 and not get screamed at once

00:17:29.860 the entire shoot.

00:17:31.600 Oh,

00:17:32.080 yeah,

00:17:32.340 that was,

00:17:33.300 that was amazing.

00:17:34.600 Wow,

00:17:34.760 so you got the rooster crowing,

00:17:36.180 you got,

00:17:37.040 you've,

00:17:37.720 you're working with the chickens.

00:17:39.520 So how do you then

00:17:40.820 turn it over into

00:17:42.020 acro rats

00:17:43.000 you started with?

00:17:43.880 Well,

00:17:44.040 I started with the rats.

00:17:45.020 Rats were first.

00:17:46.760 So I had,

00:17:48.000 after I met Mo DeSesso,

00:17:50.020 I had an idea

00:17:51.860 that when I moved to Chicago,

00:17:53.780 I had,

00:17:54.080 at this point,

00:17:54.740 I've had rats

00:17:55.340 since I was 16.

00:17:56.420 Okay.

00:17:57.040 So you've been a rat owner.

00:17:58.160 You've been,

00:17:58.520 you've had them,

00:17:59.080 yeah.

00:17:59.120 I knew how smart they were.

00:18:00.860 I knew how,

00:18:01.460 just,

00:18:02.440 just one of the most

00:18:03.260 trainable smart animals ever.

00:18:05.000 And they're also misunderstood.

00:18:05.840 So I've always been drawn

00:18:07.560 to those kind of social rejects

00:18:10.620 of the animal world.

00:18:11.980 The,

00:18:12.000 the,

00:18:12.280 the rats.

00:18:13.060 The underdogs.

00:18:13.700 The underdogs.

00:18:14.340 Exactly.

00:18:14.820 The underdogs.

00:18:16.120 So,

00:18:16.880 so I started putting,

00:18:19.160 you know,

00:18:19.460 I was like,

00:18:19.980 I bet you I could put

00:18:20.840 a little show together.

00:18:21.560 I'm going to teach these rats

00:18:22.740 to do tricks.

00:18:23.920 And,

00:18:24.360 and I'm going to,

00:18:25.220 you know,

00:18:25.460 put a little show together

00:18:26.300 that'll get some attention

00:18:27.360 to these rats.

00:18:28.200 And then maybe I'll get that film,

00:18:30.340 that big,

00:18:30.780 you know,

00:18:31.100 break that I wanted.

00:18:32.080 So I was working

00:18:32.920 at a pet shop at the time.

00:18:34.600 And where in Chicago?

00:18:35.540 Yeah.

00:18:35.680 In Chicago.

00:18:36.320 Okay.

00:18:36.820 I was at Newtown Aquarium.

00:18:38.480 And then the owner

00:18:39.540 was a monster.

00:18:40.560 Oh,

00:18:40.720 really?

00:18:41.260 Oh yeah.

00:18:42.000 He was,

00:18:42.480 he was just the worst human ever.

00:18:45.220 Why was he even in the game?

00:18:46.320 Why was he even in the,

00:18:47.120 the money,

00:18:48.260 the money.

00:18:49.260 And,

00:18:49.360 and,

00:18:50.140 in the pet money?

00:18:51.380 Well,

00:18:51.740 there was other things

00:18:52.620 he was doing.

00:18:53.140 And they,

00:18:53.460 well,

00:18:53.560 he was getting fish,

00:18:55.120 you know,

00:18:55.560 in from other countries.

00:18:57.060 And there were more,

00:18:58.180 there was more in with the fish

00:19:00.220 than.

00:19:01.360 Like renaming them,

00:19:02.520 not selling appropriate.

00:19:03.300 No,

00:19:03.520 no,

00:19:03.720 they,

00:19:04.040 there,

00:19:04.340 there were,

00:19:05.360 you know,

00:19:06.880 the fish that he were,

00:19:08.460 he was getting shipped in.

00:19:10.280 There's white styrofoam

00:19:11.920 on the bottom.

00:19:13.020 Right.

00:19:13.660 Oh,

00:19:13.880 those other things

00:19:14.520 getting shipped in as well.

00:19:15.500 He was shipping in under the fish.

00:19:16.860 So it was probably a front.

00:19:18.040 Yeah.

00:19:18.320 So it was a front,

00:19:19.040 but he also was,

00:19:20.540 if he,

00:19:21.040 his,

00:19:21.360 his idea was like,

00:19:22.140 if I,

00:19:22.460 if I get a hundred of these,

00:19:23.960 I get a huge discount.

00:19:25.460 If I get a hundred of these annolis,

00:19:27.140 if I get a hundred of these Burmese pythons,

00:19:29.040 and if they all die and I sell just one,

00:19:31.140 I'll still make a profit.

00:19:32.240 Wow.

00:19:32.460 And so he didn't care about the animals.

00:19:33.760 So I came in and I of course cared about the animals.

00:19:36.320 I'm working overtime.

00:19:37.400 I'm taking the animals home and separating all the snakes and feeding them.

00:19:41.620 So they don't eat each other.

00:19:42.940 And I,

00:19:43.500 you know,

00:19:43.660 I'm,

00:19:43.820 so I'm,

00:19:44.340 I'm going to the library and researching on how to take care of these animals.

00:19:48.040 So I was in charge of the rodents and the reptile section.

00:19:50.900 And they're arch nemesises,

00:19:52.000 aren't they?

00:19:53.100 Well,

00:19:53.560 yeah,

00:19:53.880 yeah.

00:19:54.160 There was,

00:19:54.600 they,

00:19:54.980 they are not friends.

00:19:57.240 So the,

00:19:57.920 you know,

00:19:58.260 the rodents were downstairs and then the reptiles are upstairs.

00:20:00.620 And I,

00:20:01.160 so I'm learning about them,

00:20:03.000 you know,

00:20:03.380 having to go to the library and creating these cage cards so that I,

00:20:06.320 when people came in,

00:20:07.480 I could,

00:20:07.900 I could educate them on like,

00:20:09.580 okay,

00:20:09.840 you're interested in buying this particular lizard.

00:20:12.060 Well,

00:20:12.400 this is what it needs to,

00:20:14.020 what you need to take care of it.

00:20:15.640 And it's going to need a heat,

00:20:16.980 you know,

00:20:17.180 heating light and a rock and all these various things.

00:20:20.060 And so,

00:20:20.800 so I did all my research and,

00:20:22.180 and I was really,

00:20:23.040 I mean,

00:20:23.300 I did love the job,

00:20:24.680 but I just,

00:20:25.100 he was just a monster.

00:20:26.420 Yeah.

00:20:26.860 And at that point I had my little rat show trained up.

00:20:29.520 Oh,

00:20:29.860 perfect.

00:20:30.140 So you got the rats,

00:20:31.040 you got performing now.

00:20:32.400 But yeah,

00:20:32.660 they're performing in nightclubs and things like that.

00:20:34.760 Okay.

00:20:34.940 Now,

00:20:35.120 so that sounds like,

00:20:38.040 yeah,

00:20:38.220 I would love to see that.

00:20:39.280 And it's something that's important.

00:20:41.940 The rats are performing in nightclubs with you as the trainer.

00:20:45.920 They're not.

00:20:46.500 Okay.

00:20:47.020 Yeah.

00:20:47.320 So with you as the trainer,

00:20:48.360 the rats are performing in nightclubs and you guys are,

00:20:51.580 how many rats are in the show?

00:20:53.960 There's probably,

00:20:55.240 oh,

00:20:55.780 maybe six,

00:20:57.100 six,

00:20:57.600 six or seven rats.

00:20:58.920 And they climb up ladders,

00:21:00.380 they jump through hoops,

00:21:01.420 they'd even bull.

00:21:02.320 And I,

00:21:03.060 but the best trick was they would run,

00:21:04.820 they,

00:21:05.020 they drive up into an ambulance and then they would go up a fire truck into a

00:21:10.380 burning little kid's house with,

00:21:12.760 you know,

00:21:12.920 fake flames,

00:21:13.520 of course.

00:21:13.860 And there'd be a doll in the,

00:21:15.460 in the house.

00:21:16.640 So that the rats would go up the ladder,

00:21:19.200 rescue the doll,

00:21:20.120 come back down and put it into the ambulance.

00:21:22.620 No way.

00:21:23.340 So it was,

00:21:24.180 they were so much fun to teach and work,

00:21:26.180 work with.

00:21:26.580 And people were just amazed that these rats are doing these,

00:21:29.300 these amazing tricks.

00:21:30.340 So they're the amazing acro rats.

00:21:32.420 And I had little business cards made up that said,

00:21:34.800 uh,

00:21:35.320 the rat company trained acro rats for all occasions,

00:21:39.100 film,

00:21:39.800 television,

00:21:40.280 live shows.

00:21:40.980 And I told everybody at work that someday somebody is going to walk in

00:21:44.780 that door and they're going to need a rat for a movie and I'm going to be

00:21:47.200 ready for it.

00:21:47.880 Right.

00:21:48.200 Wow.

00:21:48.660 So that was a lot of your ambition.

00:21:50.560 So you'd seen Mo DeSesso have this,

00:21:52.940 um,

00:21:53.860 you'd seen that documentary and then it had an effect on you.

00:21:56.920 And then next year you end up out there,

00:21:59.100 you end up get to getting to work with him.

00:22:01.060 So now you're really feeling like you're on the right path.

00:22:03.520 Yeah.

00:22:04.060 Okay.

00:22:04.340 So you have the,

00:22:05.300 you have the rat show going in Chicago.

00:22:07.560 Yeah.

00:22:07.800 Yes.

00:22:08.220 And you're performing where you're performing after hours in the pet shop.

00:22:12.440 Yeah.

00:22:12.860 No,

00:22:13.100 I'm not in the pet store,

00:22:14.600 but I'm working,

00:22:15.100 I'm like after hours in nightclubs.

00:22:16.900 Okay.

00:22:17.240 I was taking the rats and you know,

00:22:19.720 they'd hire me to,

00:22:21.020 to bring the rats in or actually,

00:22:23.240 you know,

00:22:24.060 I don't even know if I've got really hired or so.

00:22:26.040 Maybe it was just kind of a pass the hat kind of thing.

00:22:28.180 Cause you know,

00:22:28.800 any opportunity I had to train these rats.

00:22:31.080 Yeah.

00:22:31.580 But how do you even approach that?

00:22:32.980 Cause in the beginning,

00:22:33.700 if you say,

00:22:34.320 Hey,

00:22:34.560 I'm going to come in later,

00:22:35.480 I'm going to bring in a couple of rats.

00:22:36.680 I think people are going to be like,

00:22:37.640 I don't know,

00:22:38.840 you know,

00:22:39.180 or people are like,

00:22:39.920 how do you have that initial conversation with some of the performance venues and stuff?

00:22:44.500 Well,

00:22:44.660 it was Chicago.

00:22:46.340 Chicago's was very,

00:22:47.520 you know,

00:22:47.920 kind of open-minded.

00:22:49.680 They,

00:22:49.880 you know,

00:22:49.980 they,

00:22:50.320 they liked anything,

00:22:51.900 you know,

00:22:52.260 interesting and different.

00:22:53.740 Yeah.

00:22:53.920 And I had,

00:22:54.820 my roommate had connections with certain nightclubs at that point.

00:22:58.620 So,

00:22:58.880 so,

00:22:59.540 you know,

00:22:59.900 she hooked me up with some of the nightclub people and then word spread that,

00:23:04.060 you know,

00:23:04.340 there's rat lady.

00:23:05.440 But who comes to the show?

00:23:06.520 Is it just people that are at the nightclub that it's already staged performance at the

00:23:10.540 nightclub?

00:23:10.960 And it's like,

00:23:11.440 now we're going to have the accurate.

00:23:12.780 Yeah.

00:23:12.940 Now the accurate are going to perform.

00:23:14.260 We're going to do a couple of shows.

00:23:15.800 And,

00:23:16.240 you know,

00:23:17.140 it was just,

00:23:17.560 it was just fun.

00:23:18.360 It was,

00:23:18.560 it was basically,

00:23:19.380 I'm just trying to get attention to these rats,

00:23:21.620 hoping that I'm going to get this break at some point so that I can get to the next

00:23:25.340 level.

00:23:25.980 Okay.

00:23:26.260 And so how does that start to happen?

00:23:27.980 How does,

00:23:29.520 do you get a break?

00:23:30.540 That's well,

00:23:31.120 the big break came in.

00:23:32.080 And when I was in the pet,

00:23:32.980 when I was working at the pet store,

00:23:34.260 okay.

00:23:34.800 Waiting with my little business card,

00:23:37.160 you know,

00:23:37.800 the rat company,

00:23:38.540 I named my company,

00:23:39.380 the rat company.

00:23:40.360 Yeah.

00:23:40.560 Yeah.

00:23:40.980 Trained rats for all occasions,

00:23:42.560 film,

00:23:42.960 television,

00:23:43.540 live shows,

00:23:44.360 waiting for that moment,

00:23:45.780 that big break.

00:23:46.420 And these two guys walk into the pet store and they're like,

00:23:49.200 we need a rat.

00:23:49.880 We need a couple of rats.

00:23:51.140 And I'm like,

00:23:52.580 I got,

00:23:53.020 I got your rats.

00:23:54.300 I'll even,

00:23:54.720 they can even answer a toy telephone.

00:23:56.320 I'll do it for free just for the movie credit.

00:23:58.400 So I got the job because my price is great.

00:24:01.360 And I,

00:24:02.360 and because my boss was kind of a dream squasher and,

00:24:06.200 and with the movie industry,

00:24:07.260 they don't give you a lot of notice.

00:24:08.500 They'd call me on a Friday.

00:24:09.460 They say,

00:24:09.760 okay,

00:24:09.940 your,

00:24:10.160 your day's on Monday.

00:24:11.440 That's showbiz.

00:24:12.140 Yeah.

00:24:12.380 Yep.

00:24:12.780 So I asked for the day off and they said,

00:24:15.640 Nope,

00:24:16.000 sorry.

00:24:16.840 And so,

00:24:17.380 but then I quit my job.

00:24:18.680 I quit my full-time job for a one day non-paying film shoot with rats.

00:24:25.060 And,

00:24:25.200 and it was,

00:24:27.360 it was my big break.

00:24:29.820 It was.

00:24:30.160 Yeah.

00:24:30.460 It was.

00:24:30.820 I mean,

00:24:31.120 everything happened after that.

00:24:32.780 WGN showed up.

00:24:33.980 Okay.

00:24:34.280 So hold on.

00:24:34.680 So let's,

00:24:35.080 so you get the break,

00:24:36.000 you go to the set,

00:24:37.100 you do the shoot with the rats.

00:24:38.620 And how did they pull it off?

00:24:39.920 Oh,

00:24:40.160 I mean,

00:24:40.560 they,

00:24:40.680 they,

00:24:40.960 the rats did perfectly.

00:24:41.900 I went out to the,

00:24:42.780 yeah.

00:24:42.920 I mean,

00:24:43.180 I went,

00:24:43.400 I went out there the day before with a practice location.

00:24:47.120 I rehearsed them.

00:24:48.240 So I kind of knew what that,

00:24:49.100 you know,

00:24:49.420 what,

00:24:49.840 so they were patterned.

00:24:50.700 Talk them on the way in,

00:24:51.500 like,

00:24:51.660 look guys,

00:24:52.060 this is it.

00:24:52.700 Like,

00:24:52.880 do you feel like you have that,

00:24:54.900 you know,

00:24:55.740 that,

00:24:56.160 um,

00:24:57.180 you can create that ambiance with them that you guys are.

00:25:00.160 Oh yeah.

00:25:00.840 Yeah.

00:25:01.180 We're just,

00:25:01.620 I mean,

00:25:01.840 there's like,

00:25:02.560 it's really hard to feel Jackson kind of with them,

00:25:05.260 you know,

00:25:05.700 it's there,

00:25:06.120 there's this like,

00:25:06.760 it's like a,

00:25:07.560 almost like a,

00:25:08.600 an,

00:25:10.680 field.

00:25:11.760 So especially when you're working on a,

00:25:14.160 on a set with an animal and you can't be right next to them.

00:25:17.760 So you've,

00:25:18.300 you've done your training,

00:25:19.260 you've done your prep with the rat or any animal.

00:25:22.540 And now you're off camera and you have to send in the rat or whatever animal it is to do what you've trained them to do.

00:25:31.040 And you are not,

00:25:31.700 you can't be next to them.

00:25:33.020 So there,

00:25:34.140 there's this like electric feel,

00:25:37.020 like a communication going where,

00:25:38.700 you know,

00:25:39.020 like God,

00:25:39.580 just like,

00:25:40.900 you know,

00:25:41.320 you've got this,

00:25:42.280 you've got this,

00:25:42.840 you've got this,

00:25:43.380 do this,

00:25:43.840 do that,

00:25:44.140 you know?

00:25:44.460 And,

00:25:44.800 and,

00:25:45.060 and it,

00:25:46.120 when it,

00:25:46.480 when it comes together and it's such a magical moment when,

00:25:49.540 and they just pull it off.

00:25:50.660 And I mean,

00:25:51.280 the whole crew applauds.

00:25:53.560 I mean,

00:25:54.000 they were just,

00:25:55.160 everybody was just amazed that,

00:25:57.100 that this,

00:25:57.700 just that this happened.

00:25:59.340 Right.

00:25:59.740 And then a film crew showed up,

00:26:01.540 you know,

00:26:01.960 news crew,

00:26:02.620 because they heard that there was going to be a rat lady,

00:26:04.660 you know,

00:26:05.360 on,

00:26:05.980 on the movie set.

00:26:07.200 So they coined me the rat lady of Chicago.

00:26:09.840 Oh God.

00:26:10.340 Beautiful.

00:26:10.860 Yeah.

00:26:11.340 So then CNN picked it up and broadcast this,

00:26:15.320 you know,

00:26:15.520 all over the country.

00:26:16.620 And next thing you know,

00:26:17.460 I'm flying to Italy to be on this show with the Mino D'Amato show on Christmas Eve with my trained rats.

00:26:23.260 And it just snowballed from there.

00:26:25.980 I mean,

00:26:26.300 so you flew over there for Christmas Eve to be on an Italian television show.

00:26:31.380 Yes.

00:26:31.840 And how many rats do you have with you?

00:26:33.280 I had about six rats with me.

00:26:34.820 Oh yeah.

00:26:35.760 And then,

00:26:36.200 and what did,

00:26:36.760 do you remember any of the names?

00:26:37.700 You remember any of the,

00:26:39.560 Oh,

00:26:39.900 probably the Jasper and Ramsey and Cicero.

00:26:43.120 And I named a lot of,

00:26:43.980 I named,

00:26:44.380 started to name them after streets in Chicago.

00:26:45.960 So I had to Cicero and Harlem and,

00:26:48.080 uh,

00:26:48.880 yeah,

00:26:49.340 Jasper and Ramsey came later on.

00:26:50.940 But yeah,

00:26:51.580 so that a lot of them were Chicago streets.

00:26:54.080 So gunshot would be one of them.

00:26:57.180 Gunshot's a cute name actually.

00:26:58.660 Wow.

00:26:59.040 So you have these rats and you guys are over there.

00:27:01.280 Do you remember that?

00:27:02.060 Was it Christmas Eve?

00:27:02.940 What was it?

00:27:03.680 Yeah,

00:27:03.840 it was Christmas Eve and as a show called the Mino D'Amato show.

00:27:06.740 And they didn't give me an earpiece for translation.

00:27:10.100 So the guy's like,

00:27:11.100 and I'm like,

00:27:13.420 no way.

00:27:14.660 I don't know what you're saying.

00:27:18.100 You're just sitting there and the guy is speaking what?

00:27:22.380 It's,

00:27:22.780 you know,

00:27:23.480 I'm in Italy,

00:27:25.040 so.

00:27:25.340 He's speaking Italian.

00:27:26.060 Yeah,

00:27:26.320 I'm speaking Italian.

00:27:27.180 I don't know any Italian.

00:27:28.860 I'm like,

00:27:29.520 I don't know what you're saying.

00:27:30.460 But he realized that I didn't know,

00:27:33.280 I didn't know what he,

00:27:34.660 I didn't have my earpiece.

00:27:35.840 So then he translate.

00:27:36.900 Luckily he knew,

00:27:37.600 he both knew,

00:27:38.980 he knew Italian and English.

00:27:39.980 So then he would repeat the question in English and then I would answer and then he would translate it back.

00:27:45.340 So it was saved,

00:27:46.920 but there was a deer in the headlights moment of like,

00:27:49.220 oh no.

00:27:50.200 Cause you're also a very attractive woman.

00:27:52.320 And was there ever any of these guys trying to like hit on you?

00:27:55.020 Was there like a lot of love interest going on?

00:27:57.540 Surprisingly,

00:27:58.180 I did really well.

00:28:00.200 And,

00:28:00.680 you know,

00:28:01.140 it is in spite of being the rat lady and having rats crawling all over me,

00:28:05.120 much better than the cat thing or the cat thing was a real game killer.

00:28:09.280 But the,

00:28:10.840 but the,

00:28:11.340 as the rat lady,

00:28:12.760 I mean,

00:28:13.100 I did get,

00:28:13.760 you know,

00:28:14.060 I did have a lot,

00:28:14.940 I mean,

00:28:15.120 I had stalkers.

00:28:16.040 Oh,

00:28:16.380 really?

00:28:16.820 Yeah.

00:28:17.220 They,

00:28:17.500 it was crazy.

00:28:18.440 I had a guy show up in a limo outside of my house.

00:28:21.980 A rich stalker.

00:28:23.160 Yeah.

00:28:23.620 Yeah.

00:28:23.860 He was,

00:28:24.280 he was very young and yeah,

00:28:26.440 apparently he had money and he'd been,

00:28:28.340 you know,

00:28:28.620 like just kind of an adoring fan and wanted to take me for a limo ride.

00:28:33.340 And I'm like,

00:28:33.800 well,

00:28:33.920 I don't really know you,

00:28:35.920 but you got to go,

00:28:36.820 huh?

00:28:36.940 Well,

00:28:37.500 I,

00:28:37.580 I sat and had a drink with him in the limo.

00:28:39.540 So I'm like,

00:28:40.060 I've got to let you drive off with me in this limo,

00:28:42.980 but I'll,

00:28:43.320 I'll sit down here with you for,

00:28:45.060 for a bit.

00:28:45.540 Cause I mean,

00:28:46.320 I mean,

00:28:46.720 after the,

00:28:47.600 the whole,

00:28:48.300 you know,

00:28:49.240 WGN,

00:28:50.020 Chicago very own rat lady,

00:28:51.900 and then CNN,

00:28:52.660 and then the flying out to Italy,

00:28:54.260 then didn't things just like snowballed.

00:28:55.960 I was like on all the big talk shows and Geraldo and the Polish shore.

00:29:01.380 He had that series back then.

00:29:04.380 Yeah.

00:29:05.060 Yeah.

00:29:05.620 Oh,

00:29:06.280 Pauly's world was it?

00:29:07.500 Yeah.

00:29:07.640 It was a two part episode where I trapped him,

00:29:09.540 where I lock him in the room overnight with all the rats.

00:29:12.940 Really?

00:29:13.260 Yeah.

00:29:13.460 Pauly.

00:29:13.960 Yeah.

00:29:14.240 And did,

00:29:14.600 was Pauly flirting with you?

00:29:15.580 He likes the ladies.

00:29:16.800 You know,

00:29:17.360 if he was,

00:29:17.900 I wasn't picking up on it because I really wasn't even familiar with him.

00:29:21.100 I didn't even know who this guy was.

00:29:22.700 I'm like,

00:29:22.960 why is it?

00:29:23.380 Was he,

00:29:23.860 what's his weasel thing he keeps talking about?

00:29:25.860 Yeah.

00:29:26.020 Cause the weasel and the rats.

00:29:27.480 That's really,

00:29:28.580 that's the same marsupials.

00:29:30.860 I think they're weasels.

00:29:34.380 Well,

00:29:34.440 wrote that.

00:29:35.560 Rodentia.

00:29:36.240 Yeah.

00:29:36.680 I don't think weasels are rodents.

00:29:38.840 They're,

00:29:39.100 they're weasels are more of the,

00:29:40.520 the,

00:29:40.860 like the ferret,

00:29:42.400 uh,

00:29:43.360 group and,

00:29:44.400 you know,

00:29:44.880 rats and our rodents.

00:29:46.520 So,

00:29:47.300 um,

00:29:47.860 yeah,

00:29:48.080 I don't think the weasels and rats are really related,

00:29:49.900 but they might be enemies.

00:29:52.020 Yeah.

00:29:52.480 Per se.

00:29:53.340 Yeah.

00:29:53.580 I could see that.

00:29:54.820 So things really start going.

00:29:56.680 The rat game is good.

00:29:58.040 You're out there and you're,

00:29:59.320 and like,

00:30:00.280 what's the show?

00:30:01.600 How long is the show with the rats?

00:30:03.380 Oh,

00:30:03.660 it shows like maybe 10,

00:30:05.140 12,

00:30:05.820 15 minutes or so.

00:30:07.100 Oh my God.

00:30:07.460 So you're crushing it.

00:30:08.560 And are people paying you good money to come and perform?

00:30:10.840 No,

00:30:11.120 not really.

00:30:11.700 I mean,

00:30:12.260 it was,

00:30:12.820 it was,

00:30:13.360 it was just,

00:30:14.700 I mean,

00:30:15.100 it was decent money then.

00:30:17.120 I mean,

00:30:17.420 it also was a nightclub.

00:30:18.280 I got free drink.

00:30:19.240 So,

00:30:19.540 so,

00:30:20.600 and then whatever tips I might get,

00:30:22.740 they might pay me a nominal fee.

00:30:24.120 Cause I also,

00:30:25.020 at that point I had,

00:30:25.820 uh,

00:30:26.100 you know,

00:30:26.400 other animals I had,

00:30:27.320 you know,

00:30:27.700 snakes.

00:30:28.040 So they would hire me sometimes to walk around with a snake at,

00:30:31.480 at a club and such.

00:30:32.600 So,

00:30:32.880 you know,

00:30:33.160 it was kind of,

00:30:34.680 you know,

00:30:35.260 it was back in the,

00:30:35.980 the nineties.

00:30:37.040 So,

00:30:37.840 uh,

00:30:38.360 you,

00:30:38.800 you got paid a nominal amount and then free drinks.

00:30:41.320 So it's,

00:30:42.240 it was like fun.

00:30:43.160 And then you're getting to,

00:30:44.000 you know,

00:30:44.480 meet all these interesting people and kind of get paid a little bit to do it and,

00:30:48.340 and,

00:30:49.120 you know,

00:30:49.340 and have fun and just kind of build a name and get known.

00:30:52.880 Like,

00:30:53.200 I mean,

00:30:53.400 I became,

00:30:53.940 I was like the rat lady of Chicago is,

00:30:56.380 and it all stemmed from this whole idea that I had.

00:31:00.440 And then the guys walking in that pet store,

00:31:03.160 what are the chances of that happening?

00:31:05.440 I'm there.

00:31:06.360 I take,

00:31:06.720 I get the movie job.

00:31:07.940 I quit my job.

00:31:08.940 I quit my job without hesitation and bam,

00:31:11.700 it just snowballs into all of these things.

00:31:15.360 Yeah.

00:31:16.100 I mean,

00:31:16.740 yeah,

00:31:17.020 look,

00:31:17.520 I,

00:31:17.780 if anybody knows the rat world,

00:31:20.500 I,

00:31:20.820 I know it and love it.

00:31:22.900 You know,

00:31:23.920 I know it and love it.

00:31:25.220 I'm a rat and I'm a rat at heart.

00:31:27.280 I've got the heart of a large rat probably.

00:31:30.200 And that's normal.

00:31:31.880 I think so if you're selling something online,

00:31:36.800 it's well,

00:31:38.360 it can be hectic.

00:31:39.300 I remember when we first started our online store,

00:31:42.160 it was,

00:31:43.060 it was,

00:31:43.940 um,

00:31:44.400 we were piecemealing it.

00:31:45.800 We were trying to figure it out all ourselves.

00:31:48.220 And,

00:31:49.240 uh,

00:31:49.720 it was,

00:31:50.560 it was a nightmare,

00:31:51.640 but things changed with Shopify.

00:31:54.740 That's right.

00:31:56.020 A lot of times success with selling online comes by having,

00:32:01.860 a successful sales platform helping you.

00:32:06.280 That's where Shopify comes in.

00:32:09.140 Nobody does selling better than Shopify home of the number one checkout on the

00:32:14.220 planet and the not so secret secret with shop pay that boost conversions up

00:32:20.920 to 50%,

00:32:22.320 meaning way less carts going abandoned and way more sales going upgrade your

00:32:29.080 business and get the same checkout that all birds,

00:32:33.000 a low and skims uses sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com

00:32:41.620 slash Theo,

00:32:43.220 T H E O all lowercase.

00:32:46.360 Just go to shopify.com slash T H E O to upgrade your selling today.

00:32:53.480 Shopify.com slash T H E O.

00:32:57.620 And how do you get into,

00:32:59.340 because now he,

00:33:01.980 I mean,

00:33:02.340 what you've been most known for now would be the,

00:33:06.040 um,

00:33:06.840 acro cats.

00:33:07.600 Yeah.

00:33:07.780 Now.

00:33:08.120 And now I'm not,

00:33:08.680 yeah.

00:33:08.820 Known for the,

00:33:09.580 but the acro cats.

00:33:10.580 So,

00:33:10.820 and,

00:33:11.020 but how do you get to that?

00:33:12.160 How do you get from,

00:33:13.520 I mean,

00:33:14.000 from rats to cats?

00:33:14.920 I mean,

00:33:15.100 one could say it'd be easy to see how you would get there.

00:33:18.280 Well,

00:33:19.120 cats are,

00:33:20.000 cats are notoriously difficult to work with.

00:33:22.380 I had experimented putting a cat in one of my shows early on.

00:33:26.580 Oh,

00:33:26.820 with the rats.

00:33:27.620 Yeah.

00:33:27.720 With the rats.

00:33:28.440 I had a,

00:33:28.880 I had it like,

00:33:30.500 uh,

00:33:30.820 it was supposed to pull a sled and the rats had little Santa hats on it.

00:33:35.300 And the cat was,

00:33:36.020 you know,

00:33:36.220 going to,

00:33:36.520 you know,

00:33:36.700 wear like antlers and pull the sled.

00:33:38.940 It worked in the,

00:33:39.680 and it worked perfectly in rehearsal at home.

00:33:41.960 Everything was great.

00:33:42.760 And then I tried it,

00:33:44.180 uh,

00:33:44.480 you know,

00:33:44.720 in a live atmosphere.

00:33:45.700 And the cat was like,

00:33:46.840 forget this,

00:33:48.320 just zips across the stage.

00:33:49.900 And the rats are like,

00:33:51.240 you know,

00:33:52.140 popping out of the sleigh,

00:33:53.780 you know,

00:33:54.020 they're all fine.

00:33:54.680 Yeah.

00:33:55.240 They're just like,

00:33:56.540 what's going on?

00:33:57.400 You know,

00:33:57.800 things have changed.

00:33:59.100 Somebody called it audible.

00:34:00.300 They're doing lines from Mac bath up there and shit.

00:34:02.680 The cat abandons the sled.

00:34:03.900 The rats crawl back in the sled and just sit there waiting for the,

00:34:06.800 you know,

00:34:06.960 what's next.

00:34:07.600 The cat was crazy.

00:34:08.940 So,

00:34:09.360 so I was like,

00:34:10.380 ah,

00:34:10.900 so I didn't work with cats for,

00:34:12.080 for a long time,

00:34:12.960 but years later I,

00:34:14.840 I had,

00:34:15.800 I had been working as a wildlife educator because at one point I discovered I

00:34:19.500 couldn't make a living on just rats.

00:34:20.760 So I kind of expanded and I was,

00:34:22.340 I was,

00:34:22.780 uh,

00:34:23.320 working pretty steadily teaching,

00:34:25.200 uh,

00:34:25.900 kids,

00:34:26.320 you know,

00:34:26.500 schools and libraries,

00:34:27.680 uh,

00:34:28.080 all about wildlife.

00:34:29.340 And so at that point you kind of given up on the rat.

00:34:31.500 Oh,

00:34:31.840 no,

00:34:32.020 it's still the rat.

00:34:32.620 Are you still doing the rats?

00:34:34.140 I'm still,

00:34:34.500 no,

00:34:34.640 I'm still getting all the rat work.

00:34:35.880 I'm like,

00:34:36.560 you know,

00:34:36.760 I was getting any like,

00:34:37.640 uh,

00:34:38.200 music videos and horror movies,

00:34:40.140 anything that came into town that needed a trained rat.

00:34:42.120 Any rat work,

00:34:43.020 any rat work.

00:34:43.680 I'm getting the rat work.

00:34:44.440 You're the baby.

00:34:44.960 I am the one to come to for the rats.

00:34:46.420 Yeah.

00:34:46.920 Yeah.

00:34:47.340 God,

00:34:47.640 that's so good.

00:34:48.640 And then,

00:34:49.380 um,

00:34:49.960 what about,

00:34:51.360 so you're getting the rat work.

00:34:53.600 You're also realizing the,

00:34:55.340 but this,

00:34:55.800 but you also,

00:34:56.180 but you start to realize that it's not enough income.

00:34:58.500 Yeah.

00:34:58.780 Yes.

00:34:59.120 Yeah.

00:34:59.500 And where are the rats living?

00:35:00.720 Do rats living with you?

00:35:01.620 Oh,

00:35:01.880 always.

00:35:02.320 All the animals always live with me all the time.

00:35:04.660 Like it's never been a separation of,

00:35:07.120 of me and the animals.

00:35:08.760 And would y'all sleep in separate rooms or what's that like?

00:35:11.180 Um,

00:35:11.860 the,

00:35:12.400 I had a rat room at one point.

00:35:14.040 I was a landlord's worst nightmare,

00:35:15.500 really.

00:35:15.980 I mean,

00:35:16.240 I mean,

00:35:16.580 I just,

00:35:17.320 those rats were,

00:35:18.920 I mean,

00:35:19.280 I had a whole room full of them just dedicated to the rats.

00:35:21.980 And would they get out sometimes?

00:35:23.160 I mean,

00:35:23.660 they chewed,

00:35:24.280 they chewed a hole in the screen,

00:35:26.000 uh,

00:35:27.220 uh,

00:35:27.640 of the,

00:35:28.040 uh,

00:35:28.680 of the apartment.

00:35:29.340 I was in,

00:35:29.940 I guess I'd have to move every like three to six months.

00:35:31.960 Shawshank rat dimption.

00:35:32.980 That's a,

00:35:33.220 it's a horrible play of words.

00:35:34.620 And I'm on a sidewalk and I'm looking up,

00:35:36.700 you know,

00:35:37.040 at my second floor apartment and I see rats on the ledge.

00:35:40.060 And I was like,

00:35:40.760 what's going,

00:35:41.420 why are the rats out on the ledge?

00:35:43.280 And I go upstairs and I'm like,

00:35:44.940 oh,

00:35:45.120 they chewed a hole through the screen and they were climbing across the ledge

00:35:48.220 and then hopping in the window to the rest of my house.

00:35:50.240 So I'm like,

00:35:50.660 oh,

00:35:51.280 well,

00:35:51.620 so,

00:35:51.860 you know,

00:35:52.000 I had to do some patchwork and,

00:35:53.480 and such,

00:35:54.460 but yeah.

00:35:55.020 Cause they like to,

00:35:55.680 now do you think that they didn't want to be a part of the show anymore or are they like?

00:35:59.420 No,

00:35:59.560 they were just being rats.

00:36:00.560 I mean,

00:36:00.800 they,

00:36:01.200 they had a whole room.

00:36:02.100 I wanted them to have freedom and,

00:36:04.740 and,

00:36:05.300 and have,

00:36:06.340 you know,

00:36:06.560 cause there were ropes and ladders and all sorts of toys in there for them.

00:36:09.300 So,

00:36:09.580 but they're also rats are going to do what rats do.

00:36:11.700 They're rodents.

00:36:12.180 They're going to chew.

00:36:12.840 Oh yeah.

00:36:13.260 Rats want to do retch.

00:36:14.660 Yeah.

00:36:14.880 Yeah.

00:36:15.640 And,

00:36:15.960 and yeah,

00:36:16.340 so there,

00:36:16.760 and there was a lot of them because,

00:36:18.320 you know,

00:36:18.580 also especially for Halloween,

00:36:20.600 you know,

00:36:21.000 that was a big hiring time for me with,

00:36:23.780 with rats and be the,

00:36:25.520 you know,

00:36:25.860 the,

00:36:26.320 I don't have the rat lady of haunted house and such.

00:36:30.160 So,

00:36:30.460 but yeah,

00:36:31.860 the,

00:36:32.040 the,

00:36:32.340 you know,

00:36:32.580 the rats and all the animals,

00:36:34.020 I raised all my animals from babies and they were part of,

00:36:37.340 you know,

00:36:37.740 part of my daily life.

00:36:39.160 I took them everywhere with me and,

00:36:40.920 you know,

00:36:40.980 I'm their mom and you have to,

00:36:42.820 especially if you're working with any animal in any kind of public setting,

00:36:46.720 you,

00:36:47.200 you know,

00:36:47.420 you need to acclimate them to that early on.

00:36:50.220 And that's,

00:36:50.840 that's a,

00:36:51.300 you know,

00:36:51.480 it's a lot of work and dedication to be carting around.

00:36:54.940 You know,

00:36:55.240 I'd be walking down the street,

00:36:56.280 I'd be pushing a stroller or carrying a carrier,

00:36:59.260 you know,

00:36:59.800 people be like,

00:37:00.500 they'd have this look on their face like,

00:37:01.640 Oh,

00:37:01.920 I can't wait to see what's in the carrier.

00:37:03.440 And then I just see their face drop when they'd see that it was rats.

00:37:06.880 So they were like the color drains.

00:37:09.160 Out of their face.

00:37:10.060 And they can't handle it.

00:37:10.980 Yeah.

00:37:11.200 Yeah.

00:37:11.360 They're like,

00:37:11.800 Oh,

00:37:12.200 but because the rats are just misunderstood,

00:37:13.700 but they're such wonderful pets.

00:37:14.960 And I turned so many people into rat lovers.

00:37:17.440 I convinced parents to get your child,

00:37:19.860 not a hamster.

00:37:21.200 Or they're just misunderstood.

00:37:22.660 It's just the name,

00:37:23.500 but they're the best.

00:37:24.460 They won't ever bite your child.

00:37:26.480 They'll come.

00:37:27.160 You can teach them names.

00:37:28.500 You can teach them tricks.

00:37:29.760 They,

00:37:29.980 they are affectionate.

00:37:31.100 They're the best pet that you can,

00:37:32.400 you can buy for a child.

00:37:33.480 But you know,

00:37:34.760 it was,

00:37:35.100 it was,

00:37:36.040 I guess I turned a lot of people into rat lovers.

00:37:38.280 Well,

00:37:38.440 we said one of my first jobs was selling hamsters.

00:37:40.220 When I was growing up,

00:37:41.220 we used to sell them outside of raves and concerts.

00:37:43.480 And I grew up in a hamster breeding area.

00:37:46.200 And so you'd see a lot of rodentia,

00:37:48.300 small rodentia,

00:37:49.220 small ground game.

00:37:50.840 The Roborowski's were the ones that were sold then.

00:37:53.700 I don't know if you're familiar with that strand of them.

00:37:56.080 Um,

00:37:56.960 but that was the,

00:37:58.460 like kind of the popular strand of ham that was going on in our area.

00:38:02.280 Bring it up.

00:38:02.780 The Roborowski's if you can there,

00:38:04.600 Ben,

00:38:05.880 if you don't mind.

00:38:08.300 Yeah.

00:38:09.020 This is the dwarf hamsters.

00:38:10.460 These are a lot of what we were peddling back in the day.

00:38:12.560 Oh yeah.

00:38:13.020 No,

00:38:13.220 I had,

00:38:13.600 I had hamsters growing up too.

00:38:15.300 Beautiful.

00:38:15.680 And a lot of that market went to Russia eventually,

00:38:17.880 or they started getting these Russian imported hamsters.

00:38:20.940 And that for a while,

00:38:22.660 uh,

00:38:23.520 that killed a lot of the,

00:38:25.360 like they started getting more like the red eye,

00:38:28.880 the small white red eyed hamsters still cute,

00:38:31.840 but not what a lot of kids were looking for really.

00:38:35.240 And that really,

00:38:36.140 I think a lot had to do with like a lot of that Stephen King kind of when he,

00:38:40.240 you know,

00:38:40.440 when that kind of stuff took off.

00:38:41.840 But,

00:38:42.160 um,

00:38:42.820 so you really were like a mother to a lot of these rats.

00:38:47.420 Oh yeah.

00:38:47.900 I mean,

00:38:48.160 I,

00:38:48.480 I,

00:38:48.940 you know,

00:38:49.260 hand raised them all.

00:38:50.380 And do you ever get any issues with the actual mother of the rats?

00:38:53.120 Was there ever any moments where you had to be like,

00:38:54.940 let them know that they,

00:38:56.980 it was a shared territory or that you were just there to help?

00:39:00.160 I mean,

00:39:00.720 it's,

00:39:01.000 it's,

00:39:01.360 I didn't like take the rats away from their mother prematurely,

00:39:04.800 but as soon as they were weaned,

00:39:06.180 I mean,

00:39:06.380 the mom rats isn't really like,

00:39:08.200 these are my children.

00:39:09.380 I want to take care of them.

00:39:10.320 Oh,

00:39:10.520 she's not.

00:39:11.100 Yeah.

00:39:11.320 No,

00:39:11.540 they're like,

00:39:12.120 go,

00:39:13.000 I'm tired,

00:39:14.240 tired of you all.

00:39:15.520 So,

00:39:15.920 you know,

00:39:16.280 once,

00:39:16.640 once they're weaned,

00:39:17.480 you know,

00:39:17.720 then I would start to,

00:39:18.760 you know,

00:39:18.900 I'd carry them around in my pocket or,

00:39:20.840 you know,

00:39:21.060 you know,

00:39:21.560 on my shoulder,

00:39:22.420 maybe in my hair,

00:39:23.420 you know,

00:39:23.640 just,

00:39:24.340 I'd carry them around everywhere.

00:39:25.860 That's beautiful.

00:39:26.380 Yeah.

00:39:26.700 They were,

00:39:27.140 you know,

00:39:27.540 they were like,

00:39:27.980 you know,

00:39:28.260 part,

00:39:28.660 you know,

00:39:28.920 part of me and they,

00:39:29.920 they were very comfortable.

00:39:32.400 Oh yeah.

00:39:33.080 To be held and to be on me.

00:39:34.700 They'd be on,

00:39:35.920 you know,

00:39:36.100 my shoulder.

00:39:40.320 They've got such great personalities.

00:39:41.660 They're just misunderstood.

00:39:42.780 So,

00:39:43.680 you know,

00:39:44.000 you say,

00:39:44.540 I've heard you say that misunderstood.

00:39:46.180 Yeah.

00:39:46.560 And look,

00:39:47.120 baby girl,

00:39:47.440 I think it's beautiful that you love these animals so much.

00:39:51.720 I think it's just important to find something to love,

00:39:54.140 you know,

00:39:54.840 and yeah,

00:39:55.820 what's so misunderstood about them.

00:39:57.200 Do you feel like,

00:39:58.040 well,

00:39:58.140 they just have a bad reputation.

00:39:59.720 How did they get it though?

00:40:00.880 Well,

00:40:01.100 I mean,

00:40:01.300 they started it.

00:40:02.420 Yeah,

00:40:02.800 they did.

00:40:03.160 But I mean,

00:40:03.660 well,

00:40:03.920 the whole,

00:40:04.540 the plague,

00:40:06.000 the plague didn't help.

00:40:08.420 Yeah,

00:40:08.740 that didn't help.

00:40:09.720 And then of course,

00:40:10.260 they're always played villains in the movies.

00:40:12.820 So,

00:40:13.040 you know,

00:40:13.540 the,

00:40:13.780 right.

00:40:14.460 You know,

00:40:15.020 the Willard,

00:40:15.520 Ben and the Willard movies.

00:40:17.280 Chuck E. Cheese,

00:40:18.040 they tried to bring them back and give them a little bit of that.

00:40:19.800 That was kind of some good PR.

00:40:20.820 I feel like.

00:40:22.060 Well,

00:40:22.520 yeah,

00:40:22.720 but it's still like,

00:40:23.820 you know,

00:40:24.180 it's just that we're rat,

00:40:25.940 you know,

00:40:26.660 Ratatouille helped some.

00:40:28.260 Yeah,

00:40:28.480 that did definitely did help,

00:40:29.800 help some.

00:40:30.640 And,

00:40:30.740 and people have are definitely,

00:40:32.060 I mean,

00:40:32.220 there's now there's a rat fancier.

00:40:34.120 Yeah.

00:40:34.540 There's,

00:40:34.760 there's a lot of people.

00:40:35.740 There's a lot of rat ladies out there now.

00:40:37.420 Oh,

00:40:37.560 I'm a damn rat king.

00:40:38.780 I mean,

00:40:39.040 our,

00:40:39.380 our tour is return of the rat tour.

00:40:42.100 Yeah.

00:40:42.480 Oh,

00:40:43.160 that's our standup comedy tour is the return of the rat tour.

00:40:45.960 And so,

00:40:46.840 um,

00:40:47.800 I,

00:40:47.980 I certainly get that some people don't understand the value of a rat.

00:40:53.180 Yeah.

00:40:53.620 Yeah.

00:40:54.000 They just,

00:40:54.480 it's just,

00:40:54.880 you know,

00:40:55.080 the name rat.

00:40:55.860 So sometimes I tell people it was a African gerbil or a Honduran hamster,

00:41:00.500 Honduran long-tailed hamster.

00:41:02.320 And that changes their attitude.

00:41:03.660 And then they're like,

00:41:04.280 Oh,

00:41:04.500 okay.

00:41:04.760 It's kind of cute.

00:41:05.420 And then like two months later,

00:41:06.380 I'd be like,

00:41:06.700 it's actually a rat,

00:41:07.500 but then they're in love.

00:41:09.240 They're already in love.

00:41:10.000 Yeah.

00:41:10.360 So,

00:41:10.740 or one of these Jamaican branch kittens or whatever,

00:41:13.500 and you trick them or whatever.

00:41:14.800 Yeah.

00:41:15.020 And it's just,

00:41:15.900 yeah,

00:41:16.180 it's just,

00:41:16.680 I'm like,

00:41:17.500 yeah,

00:41:17.860 it's just your buddy.

00:41:18.700 It's your buddy,

00:41:19.440 uh,

00:41:20.320 Marvin or whatever,

00:41:21.920 or whatever.

00:41:22.940 And if I had to ship them,

00:41:23.820 I've had to,

00:41:24.260 I've had to transport them.

00:41:25.320 Cause I would,

00:41:25.720 I was flying out,

00:41:26.520 you know,

00:41:26.720 being flown to places,

00:41:28.040 you know,

00:41:28.180 Los Angeles to do things.

00:41:29.560 And so I'd have to bring,

00:41:30.840 you know,

00:41:31.020 get the rat,

00:41:31.600 take the rats on the flight.

00:41:33.120 And I'd,

00:41:33.520 I'd have the health certificate say,

00:41:34.940 you know,

00:41:35.380 Honduran long-tailed hamster,

00:41:37.160 because if you got the wrong person and they saw rats,

00:41:39.540 they don't want rats on their plane.

00:41:41.000 So I just put it on the,

00:41:42.560 you know,

00:41:42.900 they don't want us anywhere.

00:41:44.000 And they'd be like,

00:41:44.680 they look a lot like rats.

00:41:46.000 And I'm like,

00:41:46.540 yeah,

00:41:46.820 don't they?

00:41:47.820 Yeah.

00:41:48.260 They do a little bit.

00:41:49.080 Yeah.

00:41:49.860 Yeah.

00:41:50.220 It's very,

00:41:50.860 it's a very exotic hamster that does look a bit like rats.

00:41:54.100 Yeah.

00:41:54.200 And what was your life like personally at the time?

00:41:57.960 Like,

00:41:58.440 what was your,

00:41:59.100 were you married?

00:42:00.100 Were you single?

00:42:01.140 Never married.

00:42:01.940 Never married.

00:42:02.700 No,

00:42:03.140 no.

00:42:03.620 When you know what you want to do and you're seven years old.

00:42:06.140 And that was,

00:42:07.980 it was my life dream.

00:42:10.040 You can't like,

00:42:11.240 I mean,

00:42:11.840 marriage is a job.

00:42:13.220 I mean,

00:42:13.460 it's,

00:42:13.760 I mean,

00:42:14.000 it's all,

00:42:14.740 it's all fun and romance in the beginning.

00:42:17.160 And,

00:42:17.860 but if you,

00:42:18.440 if you have a,

00:42:19.680 if you actually sign the paper and you have a partnership with somebody,

00:42:22.380 now your actions affect them.

00:42:24.200 And I wanted to be able to hop on a flight and take a job anywhere,

00:42:28.520 you know,

00:42:29.280 because I knew what I wanted to do at such a young age.

00:42:33.060 And then,

00:42:33.920 you know,

00:42:34.220 my life decisions would be affecting another person if I,

00:42:39.280 if I got married.

00:42:40.260 And that's too much.

00:42:40.960 Yeah.

00:42:41.240 And I,

00:42:41.520 I wanted my freedom.

00:42:42.520 I wanted freedom to pursue my passion,

00:42:44.640 my dream,

00:42:45.260 what I wanted to do since I was seven is to,

00:42:48.480 so it,

00:42:49.840 it was just not,

00:42:51.020 my parents,

00:42:51.720 they were married for 54 years.

00:42:53.080 Wonderful marriage.

00:42:53.740 Like literally like,

00:42:55.200 honey,

00:42:55.440 I'm home.

00:42:56.420 There was no arguing in the house.

00:42:57.960 It was,

00:42:58.360 it was just like,

00:43:00.200 I don't,

00:43:00.560 I was like out of the,

00:43:01.560 out of a movie.

00:43:02.180 It was like Pleasantville.

00:43:02.840 I always tell people I came from Pleasantville,

00:43:04.500 but it seemed a little,

00:43:05.800 you know,

00:43:06.140 boring and stifling.

00:43:07.220 And I wanted to adventure and excitement and go places and do things and train,

00:43:12.020 you know,

00:43:12.340 train animals for film and television.

00:43:14.160 And,

00:43:14.480 and,

00:43:14.960 you know,

00:43:15.340 I loved horror movies.

00:43:16.320 So obviously rats were the way to go.

00:43:18.580 And,

00:43:18.760 uh,

00:43:19.340 yeah,

00:43:19.920 it's just,

00:43:20.300 so I never,

00:43:21.020 yeah,

00:43:21.300 I did not go to take the marriage,

00:43:23.000 um,

00:43:24.080 route.

00:43:24.580 Yeah.

00:43:24.940 Was there love at some point?

00:43:26.940 And it was just,

00:43:27.580 did you ever,

00:43:28.180 did you ever date a man and they just couldn't accept the animalia that was in your life?

00:43:31.640 Um,

00:43:32.360 I mean,

00:43:32.820 I,

00:43:33.040 I've,

00:43:33.660 you know,

00:43:34.040 I've had,

00:43:34.420 I've had great romances.

00:43:35.800 I mean,

00:43:36.160 I've had boyfriends throughout the years and,

00:43:38.320 and,

00:43:39.080 you know,

00:43:39.500 wonderful love affairs and,

00:43:41.100 and really,

00:43:42.100 you know,

00:43:42.320 relationships that,

00:43:44.000 you know,

00:43:44.240 a lot of times it would,

00:43:46.440 it would kind of,

00:43:47.200 I'd kind of have to break up with them in the spring because it was baby season.

00:43:50.920 So when baby season came around and I'm,

00:43:53.700 and I'm bottle feeding,

00:43:54.940 you know,

00:43:55.420 animals,

00:43:56.060 it's really hard to maintain the,

00:43:59.260 the,

00:43:59.560 the romantic relationship.

00:44:01.060 Yeah.

00:44:01.420 It's hard to breastfeed a man if you're bottle feeding an animal.

00:44:03.840 It's like I'm bottle feeding,

00:44:05.260 you know,

00:44:05.440 and I'm like,

00:44:05.920 it's all right.

00:44:06.460 I mean,

00:44:06.760 I got to bottle feed these,

00:44:08.020 you know,

00:44:08.520 animals like,

00:44:09.460 like around the clock.

00:44:11.520 But that's an excuse.

00:44:12.280 I think you hear a lot from women.

00:44:13.620 They're like,

00:44:13.820 Oh,

00:44:13.920 I have to wash my hair.

00:44:15.080 I have to bottle feed these animals.

00:44:16.500 You have to bottle feed these animals.

00:44:17.720 I think that's something that sometimes you would hear a lot.

00:44:22.100 Like I've definitely heard that from girls before.

00:44:24.280 I have to bottle feed these animals.

00:44:26.720 Yeah.

00:44:27.160 We have to redo the stairs at my dad's house,

00:44:29.880 whatever.

00:44:30.220 I'm like,

00:44:31.060 it's another excuse.

00:44:32.520 Yeah.

00:44:32.820 Just,

00:44:33.320 Oh yeah,

00:44:33.700 definitely.

00:44:34.100 I'm getting my teeth remodeled or whatever.

00:44:35.920 I'm like,

00:44:36.260 you're lying to me.

00:44:37.780 I think you don't like me.

00:44:39.520 I can show you the baby animals.

00:44:40.740 I'm bottle feeding.

00:44:41.580 And there was some,

00:44:42.100 there was some that actually wanted to participate.

00:44:44.240 Yeah.

00:44:44.620 And,

00:44:44.900 and so,

00:44:45.680 I mean,

00:44:45.780 I've had boyfriends and relationships.

00:44:48.680 Throughout the years.

00:44:49.880 It's,

00:44:50.860 but I just,

00:44:51.640 I just never wanted to,

00:44:53.500 you know,

00:44:53.680 I've even had the marriage proposals.

00:44:55.260 Like they,

00:44:55.660 they want it.

00:44:56.620 Yeah.

00:44:56.740 They wanted to marry me because I,

00:44:59.320 I,

00:44:59.760 I'm,

00:45:00.580 yeah,

00:45:01.320 I'm a real,

00:45:01.760 I'm actually really great girlfriend.

00:45:04.180 And,

00:45:04.280 you know,

00:45:04.760 I'm,

00:45:05.620 I'm loyal and driven and creative and,

00:45:09.180 you know,

00:45:09.320 but I still have a fun side and,

00:45:10.960 and I'm smart.

00:45:13.260 And,

00:45:13.340 you know,

00:45:13.660 I'm just like,

00:45:14.120 there's a lot of,

00:45:15.000 a lot of things,

00:45:17.060 but I'm not,

00:45:18.140 I don't want to do dishes and,

00:45:19.760 and I don't want to do that whole housewife stuff.

00:45:22.580 Right.

00:45:22.920 You don't want to be a housewife.

00:45:23.920 I don't want to be a housewife.

00:45:24.960 And,

00:45:25.060 and so many,

00:45:25.920 you know,

00:45:26.120 you want to be Tarzan's wife.

00:45:27.380 Kind of just,

00:45:28.180 I just want to have,

00:45:30.400 yeah,

00:45:30.600 I don't want to,

00:45:31.540 but so many,

00:45:32.340 that's the end game is just like,

00:45:34.060 it's got to lead somewhere.

00:45:35.600 So it's not going to lead to marriage and you doing my laundry.

00:45:40.700 Right.

00:45:41.080 I want to be able to have my own freedom.

00:45:42.920 I want to do,

00:45:43.520 I want to live my life the way I want to live it.

00:45:45.600 No,

00:45:45.780 I certainly understand that.

00:45:47.100 I mean,

00:45:47.920 I understand that a hundred percent.

00:45:49.820 I didn't,

00:45:50.740 for years,

00:45:51.360 I didn't,

00:45:51.720 when people were married,

00:45:52.500 I was like,

00:45:52.800 what do you even mean you're married?

00:45:53.980 That seems crazy to me.

00:45:56.500 But like,

00:45:57.680 it took me a long time to even consider being married one day for so long.

00:46:01.700 I was just so again,

00:46:03.320 not against it,

00:46:04.000 but I just wanted to live.

00:46:05.220 I wanted to be free.

00:46:06.520 Yeah.

00:46:06.920 And see who I was or who I wasn't without also affecting somebody else,

00:46:11.880 you know,

00:46:12.300 too heavily.

00:46:13.220 Yeah.

00:46:13.920 But then even in relationships,

00:46:15.280 I haven't done the best job of being a relationship man.

00:46:21.040 I want to get into the cats.

00:46:22.760 You know,

00:46:23.020 I'm glad that you talked about the rats because,

00:46:25.600 you know,

00:46:27.900 rats are near and dear to my heart in the sense of being that underdog,

00:46:31.820 being that animal that doesn't get looked at twice sometimes,

00:46:34.480 you know,

00:46:35.560 or people would rather look at it almost disapprovingly before they even give it a

00:46:42.540 chance to look at it.

00:46:44.280 Even just with a look of possibility,

00:46:49.800 right?

00:46:50.280 Rats don't really get that very much.

00:46:52.100 Um,

00:46:53.860 now,

00:46:54.260 how do you get to the cats?

00:46:55.260 How do you start catting around?

00:46:56.780 And just so we know,

00:46:57.760 so we're talking a regular size cat.

00:46:59.720 How tall is it again?

00:47:01.060 Uh,

00:47:01.840 if we had one,

00:47:02.900 I would have been here.

00:47:03.680 You'd be able to see.

00:47:04.520 How tall is a cat?

00:47:05.180 Can you pull,

00:47:05.880 look that up?

00:47:06.480 It's how tall is a regular cat?

00:47:11.640 I mean,

00:47:13.260 it would be about,

00:47:14.100 yeah.

00:47:16.920 Oh,

00:47:17.320 9.1 to 9.8 inches.

00:47:19.880 Wow.

00:47:20.440 Okay.

00:47:21.100 So yeah,

00:47:21.480 about 10 inch cat.

00:47:22.680 Yeah.

00:47:23.100 Yeah.

00:47:23.320 So a 10 inches in height.

00:47:25.900 Okay.

00:47:26.340 How do you get into cats?

00:47:28.380 How do we get to acro cats?

00:47:29.700 How do we get to,

00:47:30.820 cause I'll tell you what happened for me was,

00:47:32.800 um,

00:47:34.020 my ex-girlfriend loved cats and she had two cats and,

00:47:37.760 and I didn't,

00:47:39.060 I was always,

00:47:39.880 I've always been skeptical of cats.

00:47:42.140 To be honest with you,

00:47:43.200 I've been skeptical of a lot of stuff and cats was one of those things.

00:47:50.820 And,

00:47:50.900 um,

00:47:52.100 yeah,

00:47:52.260 my stepdad would always even say stuff.

00:47:54.140 Like he would call the cat's name sometimes,

00:47:56.200 like even in the neighborhood or he'd call them like homosexuals or whatever.

00:48:00.140 Just say,

00:48:00.580 you know,

00:48:00.880 just stuff you say to cats or whatever.

00:48:04.060 And so I was always like,

00:48:05.780 Oh man,

00:48:06.580 I don't know if cats are okay or not.

00:48:08.580 And,

00:48:09.160 um,

00:48:10.380 and then my ex-girlfriend had two cats.

00:48:12.400 She loved them.

00:48:13.140 And she has been to your show before and she loved it.

00:48:18.060 And so she was telling me about it one time and it just blew my mind.

00:48:21.700 I was like,

00:48:22.360 there's somebody,

00:48:23.240 just carting cats around and just do.

00:48:28.800 And they're,

00:48:29.200 the cats are doing shows and performing and putting on shows.

00:48:31.940 And it just,

00:48:32.860 I mean,

00:48:33.520 it just shook me to my,

00:48:34.920 the core of my curiosity.

00:48:36.560 You know,

00:48:36.780 where'd she see the show?

00:48:38.060 I want to say she saw it in Portland,

00:48:39.620 Oregon.

00:48:40.140 Okay.

00:48:40.580 Yeah.

00:48:40.800 Yeah.

00:48:41.000 Yeah.

00:48:41.240 We've not been able to make it back out.

00:48:42.900 This was years ago.

00:48:43.820 Yeah.

00:48:44.160 We've,

00:48:44.680 uh,

00:48:44.920 post COVID it's,

00:48:46.180 you know,

00:48:46.480 we've had been a lot of struggles getting,

00:48:48.220 getting things back,

00:48:49.300 but we have not been able to get all the way back out to Oregon yet.

00:48:51.880 But we always did love going to the West coast.

00:48:54.120 Yeah.

00:48:54.480 I went before everything fell apart.

00:48:57.340 Um,

00:48:58.020 what fell apart?

00:48:59.660 Oh,

00:49:00.200 the,

00:49:00.500 the,

00:49:00.960 uh,

00:49:01.940 there was a series of,

00:49:03.440 uh,

00:49:03.900 of things.

00:49:04.420 Well,

00:49:04.620 I got diagnosed with cancer.

00:49:06.280 Oh,

00:49:06.460 you did.

00:49:07.040 I'm very sorry to hear that.

00:49:08.760 And then,

00:49:09.260 uh,

00:49:09.580 but I was cured.

00:49:10.420 I went through treatment,

00:49:11.220 was cured.

00:49:11.780 Oh,

00:49:11.940 I'm happy to hear that.

00:49:12.780 So I,

00:49:13.440 I had,

00:49:14.060 so I took one year off to,

00:49:15.820 to get my health back.

00:49:17.600 And then the next year I was immediately back out on tour,

00:49:19.840 did a nine month tour with the cat,

00:49:21.760 with the cats.

00:49:23.120 Okay.

00:49:23.580 And,

00:49:23.940 uh,

00:49:24.960 right.

00:49:25.460 You know,

00:49:25.680 at the end of that tour,

00:49:26.600 a driver that we had had for four or five years,

00:49:30.780 scammed me and,

00:49:32.420 uh,

00:49:32.960 and tried to basically steal the bus.

00:49:35.280 So it just wiped us out financially.

00:49:39.140 And just as we were trying to explore the options of trying to bring justice to what has happened,

00:49:46.720 COVID hits.

00:49:48.000 So,

00:49:49.060 you know,

00:49:49.780 we were,

00:49:50.140 it was just bam,

00:49:51.500 bam,

00:49:51.920 bam.

00:49:53.140 Man.

00:49:53.840 Yeah.

00:49:54.320 So,

00:49:54.640 and then because the bus set for two years without being able to tour,

00:49:58.560 when we finally got it back and then we had to undo all the damage that this guy had done because he was,

00:50:02.900 he was supposed to be converting another bus first because he said,

00:50:05.720 this bus is no good.

00:50:06.680 It's dangerous to drive.

00:50:07.960 We'll get,

00:50:08.520 we'll get,

00:50:08.980 find a shell of a bus and then I'll transfer everything over to the,

00:50:13.400 you know,

00:50:13.560 that's usable.

00:50:14.560 And he lied.

00:50:15.000 He was like all,

00:50:15.720 it was all a lie.

00:50:16.540 It was all a lie.

00:50:17.340 In the meantime,

00:50:18.020 he was just retrofitting the,

00:50:20.760 my bus that was actually perfectly fine.

00:50:23.100 There's issues with it,

00:50:24.140 but it was not a death trap.

00:50:25.820 Like you said,

00:50:26.380 it was,

00:50:26.860 he stripped the wrap off of it because it was a gory,

00:50:29.400 you know,

00:50:29.580 covered with cats.

00:50:30.480 It was gorgeous wrap,

00:50:31.380 stripped the wrap off of it.

00:50:33.100 He's tore out the interior,

00:50:34.520 took,

00:50:34.700 took out all the cat,

00:50:35.780 you know,

00:50:36.080 catification,

00:50:36.920 the kitten city area,

00:50:38.040 just demolished.

00:50:39.280 And he was putting a bedroom in the back.

00:50:41.600 I mean,

00:50:42.160 he just,

00:50:42.900 I guess he was going to flip it.

00:50:44.240 And,

00:50:44.680 and I don't know how,

00:50:45.920 I don't know how his end game was going to work.

00:50:47.600 Cause I still had the title.

00:50:48.760 I mean,

00:50:49.020 I just paid the thing off and we'd,

00:50:51.280 we'd raised it.

00:50:52.020 It's not like,

00:50:52.740 it's not like I bought,

00:50:54.300 we ran,

00:50:54.860 we got it through a Kickstarter.

00:50:56.160 So the fans donated money to get this bus.

00:50:58.400 It's not like I can go out and buy another bus.

00:51:00.040 And what,

00:51:00.600 why did he do this so much?

00:51:01.920 Did you,

00:51:02.500 was he just a driver?

00:51:03.860 He,

00:51:04.180 he was,

00:51:04.940 he was kind of a pathological liar.

00:51:08.260 And he was young,

00:51:09.520 which made it,

00:51:10.860 which made prosecution really difficult because he,

00:51:14.440 he,

00:51:14.840 small town,

00:51:16.000 there's the sheriff,

00:51:17.100 a family that has a sheriff in the pocket.

00:51:19.340 What do you mean?

00:51:20.040 Ricky did that.

00:51:21.060 Yeah.

00:51:21.660 It seems like a,

00:51:22.340 he said,

00:51:22.740 she said kind of thing.

00:51:23.720 And I mean,

00:51:24.500 that sheriff just questioned me like I was the,

00:51:26.740 the,

00:51:27.040 the bad one.

00:51:27.900 And,

00:51:28.160 and pretty much what he,

00:51:30.900 because he doesn't have assets and no lawyer is going to take the case.

00:51:33.840 Yeah.

00:51:34.320 The law,

00:51:34.760 it's like,

00:51:35.480 I mean,

00:51:35.640 it's not about the money.

00:51:36.580 It's about justice.

00:51:37.760 He committed a felony,

00:51:39.460 you know,

00:51:39.840 he,

00:51:39.940 he just,

00:51:40.680 I mean,

00:51:41.460 he just decimated me to my core.

00:51:44.480 I mean,

00:51:44.840 I'll never,

00:51:45.880 I mean,

00:51:46.100 I had,

00:51:46.480 I had dreams of doing so much more as far as like good work.

00:51:50.400 I mean,

00:51:50.620 I could be one of,

00:51:51.440 I could have been one of those people out in crisis situations like Katrina

00:51:55.120 rescuing animals because we were in a really good place at that point

00:51:59.600 before the,

00:52:00.840 before,

00:52:01.300 before the scam happened and you know,

00:52:03.580 and that setback.

00:52:04.380 And then we've just had to put more,

00:52:05.920 so much money into the bus to get it back to its original shape.

00:52:09.740 And then everything's dry rot,

00:52:12.400 having to sit for so long while COVID was going on because I couldn't travel.

00:52:16.980 And it's,

00:52:17.360 it's,

00:52:17.880 we're still sinking right now.

00:52:19.380 It's sitting in a shop in Iowa and they were supposed to be fixing this

00:52:23.080 light out.

00:52:23.640 And they're like,

00:52:24.600 they decided,

00:52:25.280 well,

00:52:25.560 we're not going to be able to get to it.

00:52:27.380 It's,

00:52:27.660 you know,

00:52:27.860 we,

00:52:28.000 we thought it was going to be this,

00:52:29.540 that this would fix it,

00:52:30.920 but it didn't.

00:52:31.540 And now we're,

00:52:33.200 we have other jobs that are more important than you.

00:52:35.400 So we basically get the bus back and it's not fixed.

00:52:39.020 And it's all,

00:52:40.000 Iowa is the only place that can fix this issue.

00:52:43.320 So once again,

00:52:45.100 it just,

00:52:45.980 just hit,

00:52:47.320 hit,

00:52:47.740 hit again,

00:52:48.360 hit hard with no,

00:52:49.160 with nothing with it,

00:52:50.540 not being repaired and having to spend,

00:52:52.900 you know,

00:52:53.580 this money,

00:52:54.560 bad luck and bad actors.

00:52:56.160 Yeah.

00:52:56.620 Yeah.

00:52:56.740 Bad actors that aren't helping you.

00:52:58.000 That just are not being helpful.

00:52:59.440 And it's,

00:53:00.420 especially,

00:53:01.600 you know,

00:53:01.840 as a female too,

00:53:03.020 it's a struggle to get,

00:53:04.800 you know,

00:53:05.620 respect as a,

00:53:06.900 as a woman,

00:53:07.440 to get things done as a woman.

00:53:08.780 I,

00:53:09.040 I resort to having a guy make that call because I can't get anything done.

00:53:13.360 Yeah.

00:53:13.940 So it's unfortunate.

00:53:15.200 Yeah.

00:53:15.340 I'm sorry that that happens.

00:53:16.960 Yeah.

00:53:17.300 It was,

00:53:18.020 so it was definitely rough times.

00:53:20.160 And we're just finally kind of getting,

00:53:23.160 you know,

00:53:23.680 getting things rolling again.

00:53:25.160 And,

00:53:25.780 and it's just hard to find help post COVID.

00:53:28.620 Nobody wants to work.

00:53:29.660 Yeah.

00:53:29.800 Nobody wants to travel.

00:53:30.720 It's hard to find a,

00:53:31.600 you know,

00:53:31.940 girls that whose boyfriends will let them go on the road.

00:53:35.180 It's bizarre.

00:53:36.080 There's that double standard guys can tour.

00:53:38.080 Girls can't.

00:53:38.900 Yeah.

00:53:39.760 Yeah.

00:53:40.160 And we need more women out there entertaining everybody.

00:53:42.620 It's important.

00:53:44.300 So how do we get from rats to cats?

00:53:46.780 Take me on some of that journey.

00:53:48.420 So,

00:53:48.900 so I was,

00:53:49.700 you know,

00:53:50.220 the rats I had to,

00:53:51.480 I had to,

00:53:52.160 I realized I couldn't make a living on just rats.

00:53:54.620 So I became the rat company and friends.

00:53:56.360 And then I ended up changing the name to amazing animals.

00:54:00.760 And I was doing the wildlife show.

00:54:03.080 So I was doing the,

00:54:04.020 doing those.

00:54:04.660 And was that a traveling show as well?

00:54:06.100 No,

00:54:06.380 no,

00:54:06.560 it was,

00:54:06.900 well,

00:54:07.060 it was kind of traveling.

00:54:08.000 Like we were going to school.

00:54:09.020 Schools and stuff like that.

00:54:09.920 But it wasn't like the tour.

00:54:11.320 It wasn't touring yet.

00:54:12.540 So I,

00:54:13.180 I fell in love with touring like way,

00:54:15.720 like way later on.

00:54:16.900 And that's kind of when the cats came into play.

00:54:19.080 So I was doing the wildlife shows and libraries and schools,

00:54:22.880 educating kids.

00:54:23.740 But my really,

00:54:24.340 you know,

00:54:24.620 my heart and soul was,

00:54:25.500 I wanted to,

00:54:26.060 still wanted to train animals for film and television.

00:54:28.860 So I realized.

00:54:29.860 You wanted the show animals.

00:54:30.920 You wanted,

00:54:31.340 yeah.

00:54:31.660 Yeah.

00:54:32.000 Yeah.

00:54:32.260 I just was like,

00:54:32.980 always what I wanted to do is I see my,

00:54:35.080 you know,

00:54:35.320 and,

00:54:35.600 and see my cats in a commercial or see my animals in a commercial.

00:54:39.940 So there's,

00:54:40.600 you know,

00:54:40.780 there's a,

00:54:41.100 you know,

00:54:41.300 there's not so much rat work out there.

00:54:43.820 It's just not a whole lot.

00:54:44.920 So I thought,

00:54:45.700 well,

00:54:45.860 maybe I should,

00:54:46.900 you know,

00:54:47.060 there's a lot of dog trainers out there.

00:54:48.920 The rats,

00:54:49.720 you know,

00:54:50.020 have kind of met their limit.

00:54:51.400 You know,

00:54:51.820 let's revisit the cat.

00:54:53.160 I know we had that one experience where there was,

00:54:55.740 I was like,

00:54:56.540 there's gotta be a way to work these cats.

00:54:58.580 So you still want to do animals for film and television and you decide you're going to give cats another shot.

00:55:04.320 Yeah.

00:55:04.500 Let's give cats another shot.

00:55:05.720 Cause I've always loved,

00:55:06.600 always loved cats,

00:55:07.480 but I know they're,

00:55:08.200 they are difficult to work with.

00:55:09.700 It is,

00:55:10.140 it is,

00:55:11.080 they're,

00:55:11.580 they're,

00:55:12.140 you know,

00:55:14.280 they're small.

00:55:15.300 So they,

00:55:16.020 there's a lot of predators out there.

00:55:17.360 So they're a little bit like what could get me,

00:55:19.760 what could get me.

00:55:20.560 So,

00:55:21.020 you know,

00:55:21.400 I had no idea,

00:55:23.660 you know,

00:55:24.200 I had no idea.

00:55:25.000 Like I needed to figure out how to make this work.

00:55:29.440 And I,

00:55:29.740 so I thought,

00:55:30.280 what if I did what I did all those years ago with the,

00:55:33.960 like,

00:55:34.180 with like with the rats and try that with the cats,

00:55:36.540 put a little show together and start taking it around to like low key,

00:55:41.340 no pressure,

00:55:42.340 not charging money,

00:55:43.260 just passing the hat.

00:55:44.400 I started in art galleries.

00:55:46.120 So I basically like,

00:55:48.620 I'm going to let the cats teach me how to teach them.

00:55:53.000 So,

00:55:53.660 okay.

00:55:54.060 And so do you set up something kind of at home?

00:55:56.580 Do you audition some cats?

00:55:58.040 Like how do you,

00:55:59.400 so I had this cat Tuna had to come into my life.

00:56:01.700 That was brilliant.

00:56:02.620 I mean,

00:56:02.820 she was very focused,

00:56:05.140 wanted to learn.

00:56:06.180 I had learned clicker training a lot more about clicker training at this

00:56:09.180 point.

00:56:09.580 So I was,

00:56:10.500 I actually started with Tuna.

00:56:12.760 Tuna was the inspiration behind the whole thing.

00:56:14.620 I was taking her to pet expos,

00:56:16.800 just kind of showing off what she could do,

00:56:19.140 you know,

00:56:19.360 and I'd have her ring a bell and tap a tip jar at a,

00:56:21.840 at a rescue table.

00:56:22.820 And then I donate,

00:56:23.880 you know,

00:56:24.140 donate whatever she got into the rescue.

00:56:26.080 And so I was just taking her everywhere.

00:56:27.800 I was,

00:56:28.080 I was taking her to the film festivals and having her play a guitar,

00:56:32.140 ring a bell and do some things,

00:56:33.340 trying to get her some work there.

00:56:35.200 And I thought,

00:56:36.160 well,

00:56:36.400 let's,

00:56:36.920 you know,

00:56:37.260 try putting a show together.

00:56:39.520 And so I,

00:56:40.660 I found an art gallery that was looking for some kind of entertainment.

00:56:45.420 And I,

00:56:46.100 the band I had put together already at that point,

00:56:48.240 and that was pretty solid.

00:56:49.860 The band,

00:56:50.260 what do you mean?

00:56:50.740 The,

00:56:51.140 the rock cats.

00:56:52.360 So we had the,

00:56:53.420 we had a guitar,

00:56:54.900 drums,

00:56:55.640 uh,

00:56:56.260 and piano.

00:56:57.080 And these are cats performing.

00:56:58.280 Yeah.

00:56:58.560 So the band actually came first.

00:57:00.320 And what cats were in it?

00:57:01.240 Tuna's in it?

00:57:02.200 Tuna,

00:57:02.720 Tuna played the cowbell,

00:57:03.780 but that came later.

00:57:04.940 Okay.

00:57:05.100 So she was the,

00:57:06.400 she was the donation collector for the band.

00:57:08.580 Okay.

00:57:09.140 So she's really,

00:57:09.960 yeah,

00:57:10.240 she's,

00:57:10.700 she's got to earn in the bucks.

00:57:12.280 Yeah.

00:57:12.400 She's the one,

00:57:13.100 you know,

00:57:13.360 like,

00:57:13.660 Hey,

00:57:14.220 better put some money in this tip jar.

00:57:16.180 Yeah.

00:57:16.540 Yeah.

00:57:16.820 Yeah.

00:57:17.020 You gotta have that.

00:57:18.300 And,

00:57:18.540 and the band had a,

00:57:19.400 had a curtain.

00:57:20.400 So the rock cats,

00:57:21.220 they had their own table,

00:57:22.180 they had their instruments,

00:57:22.900 had their scent on it.

00:57:23.800 So,

00:57:24.380 so they,

00:57:25.060 the cat,

00:57:25.780 the band,

00:57:26.240 the cat band seemed to work.

00:57:27.600 Now the rest of the act,

00:57:29.000 I mean,

00:57:29.180 I,

00:57:29.440 I,

00:57:29.680 I went to home Depot.

00:57:31.040 I got a couple of ladders and big rope.

00:57:35.100 So the ladders to keep them from folding in.

00:57:37.460 And I found some,

00:57:38.340 some stools at Ikea.

00:57:39.760 My,

00:57:39.940 my initial setup was very crude.

00:57:41.780 Just whatever it could,

00:57:43.520 you know,

00:57:43.640 it was a lot of like dog agility props,

00:57:45.920 small dog agility props.

00:57:47.360 So,

00:57:48.020 so then I find an art gallery.

00:57:49.880 I'd set everything up and the cats,

00:57:52.020 I mean,

00:57:52.340 it was just,

00:57:53.860 the cats would come out.

00:57:55.420 They,

00:57:55.700 they'd like look around and stretch,

00:57:58.380 groom a little bit.

00:57:59.580 And,

00:58:00.000 and,

00:58:00.720 you know,

00:58:01.040 it was kind of a,

00:58:01.800 just an utter fail.

00:58:03.380 I mean,

00:58:03.700 there was a lot of,

00:58:04.380 a lot of fails,

00:58:05.520 right?

00:58:05.540 They wouldn't,

00:58:06.120 they wouldn't perform.

00:58:07.240 Was it stage fright or was it anger?

00:58:09.740 Do they hate?

00:58:10.360 They didn't,

00:58:10.980 this is all,

00:58:11.640 this is new to them.

00:58:12.620 This is new to me.

00:58:13.520 Yeah.

00:58:13.700 They don't even know that they're a show cat yet.

00:58:16.180 Yeah.

00:58:16.580 So,

00:58:16.900 so I'm,

00:58:17.480 I'm like trying to figure out,

00:58:18.960 okay,

00:58:19.120 what,

00:58:19.780 what do you need to make,

00:58:21.300 make you comfortable?

00:58:22.140 So I,

00:58:22.740 so I started bringing my own floor,

00:58:24.240 like a rollout floor.

00:58:25.420 So I brought a floor that had their scent on it.

00:58:27.400 And I realized that they're always doing this.

00:58:29.460 Like,

00:58:29.720 okay,

00:58:29.960 I go,

00:58:30.300 okay,

00:58:30.540 they don't like,

00:58:31.500 they don't like knowing what's behind,

00:58:34.120 not what,

00:58:34.880 well,

00:58:35.040 you know,

00:58:35.220 what is behind them.

00:58:36.020 They need to know what's behind them.

00:58:37.400 So then I put up a backdrop behind them.

00:58:39.420 So now they have a solid back wall behind them.

00:58:41.720 They have a floor that they're familiar with the scent.

00:58:44.200 And I've been working them at home.

00:58:45.980 And now I'm bringing them into this new environment.

00:58:50.140 Tuna's pretty solid.

00:58:51.040 She'll do her trick.

00:58:51.900 She'll ring her bell.

00:58:52.960 She'll do the various things.

00:58:54.140 The other cats.

00:58:54.560 She's your go-to.

00:58:55.420 Yeah.

00:58:55.660 She's the go-to.

00:58:56.580 Now the other cats are a little bit,

00:58:58.160 you know,

00:58:58.460 hesitant.

00:58:59.020 They're a little slow and,

00:59:00.800 but they're doing it,

00:59:01.520 but they're doing it,

00:59:02.400 but they're doing it at their own pace.

00:59:04.660 So,

00:59:05.020 so then I would just have to come up with funny things to say while,

00:59:10.120 while we're waiting for the cats to maybe do something or maybe not do

00:59:13.260 something.

00:59:14.040 And so you had to be the performer at that point.

00:59:16.220 Oh yeah.

00:59:16.720 I mean,

00:59:16.940 I've consistently had to be the performer because those cats are mixing it up

00:59:19.720 every show.

00:59:20.340 I never know what's going to happen or not happen.

00:59:22.080 and because it's,

00:59:24.320 I have a,

00:59:25.280 well,

00:59:25.440 cause they're damn cats.

00:59:26.220 Well,

00:59:26.420 the cat,

00:59:26.720 well also because I have a personal relationship with the cats.

00:59:30.240 They're not just kenneled with,

00:59:32.700 where they just come out during training and then they're back to the kennels.

00:59:36.420 I mean,

00:59:36.560 I watch television with these cats.

00:59:38.480 I sleep with these cats,

00:59:39.560 you know,

00:59:39.760 like it's been,

00:59:40.460 I take them on road trips,

00:59:41.740 you know,

00:59:41.940 we're.

00:59:42.440 So cats would sometimes sleep in your bed.

00:59:44.420 Oh yeah.

00:59:44.980 Yeah,

00:59:45.160 of course.

00:59:45.580 I mean,

00:59:45.900 especially if it's a little cold,

00:59:47.320 you know,

00:59:47.480 pile on more cats.

00:59:48.700 I mean,

00:59:49.100 yeah.

00:59:50.260 Oh,

00:59:50.800 unlimited.

00:59:51.420 Yeah,

00:59:51.940 yeah,

00:59:52.340 exactly.

00:59:53.200 They purr.

00:59:53.920 It's so comforting.

00:59:54.760 I mean,

00:59:54.940 just,

00:59:55.320 I love,

00:59:55.640 I love them.

00:59:56.560 So they're my babies.

00:59:57.500 I've raised some of them from two days old and,

00:59:59.680 you know,

00:59:59.880 bottle feed,

01:00:00.820 you know,

01:00:01.160 so,

01:00:01.560 you know,

01:00:02.160 saved hundreds of kittens with bottle feeding.

01:00:04.380 Cause that's like one of my,

01:00:05.560 turned out to be one of my superpowers is to be able to,

01:00:07.800 to save,

01:00:09.320 save little babies.

01:00:10.800 And so like little by little,

01:00:12.820 the cats taught me what they needed to feel comfortable on,

01:00:16.840 you know,

01:00:17.100 on stage.

01:00:18.240 And the,

01:00:19.460 they started to,

01:00:20.760 you know,

01:00:21.220 the applause,

01:00:22.620 there's something called like a secondary reinforcer.

01:00:25.440 So there's a primary reinforcer,

01:00:26.820 which is the food click equals treat.

01:00:28.680 Okay.

01:00:29.080 They get a treat.

01:00:30.740 Right.

01:00:31.140 So then the applause actually starts and laughter also becomes a secondary

01:00:38.360 reinforcer.

01:00:39.160 So they're like,

01:00:39.800 Oh,

01:00:39.940 if we hear applause or laughter,

01:00:42.760 we're all,

01:00:43.600 that means we're doing good.

01:00:44.860 We're going to get a treat.

01:00:46.420 And the,

01:00:47.600 so of course they'll take advantage of it and do things just to get that

01:00:51.220 laughter,

01:00:51.820 which really,

01:00:53.140 which ends up kind of paying off in the show because people just find it

01:00:57.200 hysterical.

01:00:57.780 As cat comes out,

01:00:58.820 doesn't,

01:00:59.200 sometimes they just leave the stage and sit out in the crowd the whole time,

01:01:03.120 come back,

01:01:03.780 sit on us.

01:01:04.300 It's like a Kodak black or something.

01:01:06.980 Yeah.

01:01:07.120 They,

01:01:07.260 they decide what they want to do when they want to do it,

01:01:09.620 if they want to do it.

01:01:11.040 And I just kind of follow helplessly along and come up with some witty

01:01:14.340 batter to cover their,

01:01:15.900 their slowness and their fail moments.

01:01:18.220 And you know,

01:01:18.640 it's kind of like my story as well.

01:01:20.320 And how each of these cats came into my life,

01:01:22.500 their story,

01:01:23.620 how they came in,

01:01:24.340 you know,

01:01:24.500 how they came to be,

01:01:25.720 what their special skills are,

01:01:27.240 what just,

01:01:28.060 you know,

01:01:28.400 I see.

01:01:29.140 So a lot of it is not as much.

01:01:31.160 There's,

01:01:31.480 there's,

01:01:31.760 there's certainly some training of the actual cats,

01:01:35.340 but there's also you training yourself just to understand that these are

01:01:41.680 cats and I need to try and just make it as comfortable environment for

01:01:47.180 them to be here.

01:01:48.460 And then I need to train myself how to react if they don't react or,

01:01:53.500 or how to react to whatever they're doing.

01:01:56.160 Yeah.

01:01:56.560 And,

01:01:56.880 and they're all interesting.

01:01:58.240 So they,

01:01:58.540 they're,

01:01:58.960 it's almost like improv.

01:02:00.440 Oh,

01:02:00.700 it is improv.

01:02:01.380 It's totally improv.

01:02:02.240 Yes.

01:02:02.520 And they come out,

01:02:03.320 we have carriers that they're in and they,

01:02:05.440 when they come out of their carrier,

01:02:06.600 they're the doors are,

01:02:07.540 of the carriers are open.

01:02:08.560 The carriers are,

01:02:09.300 there's are a safe place for them.

01:02:10.920 It's,

01:02:11.340 it's like a,

01:02:11.980 like a,

01:02:12.500 a,

01:02:13.300 a portable.

01:02:14.580 It's like a green room.

01:02:15.460 Yeah.

01:02:15.900 Yeah.

01:02:16.100 So,

01:02:16.360 you know,

01:02:16.600 like they,

01:02:17.100 you know that that's,

01:02:18.260 that's a safe place.

01:02:19.340 All of my cats are whistle trained to go to a carrier,

01:02:21.360 which is great for emergency situations.

01:02:23.220 If you need to call your cats quickly and get them out of the house,

01:02:26.220 because if there's a,

01:02:27.120 there's a fire or some disaster,

01:02:28.560 the fact that you can blow a whistle and the cats come running,

01:02:31.200 they go in the carriers,

01:02:32.100 they're used to traveling.

01:02:33.180 So if they're not feeling it or they're having an uncomfortable moment and

01:02:37.060 they're not liking the person in the front road that has big hair,

01:02:40.720 which I'm always picking up on,

01:02:42.220 I'm always watching the cats.

01:02:43.480 I'm watching the audience.

01:02:44.440 I'm watching like just constantly reading.

01:02:47.100 And communicating with these cats while doing the show and,

01:02:51.260 and making mental notes about,

01:02:53.480 okay,

01:02:53.780 you know,

01:02:54.800 wiki does not like people with big hair and the front row.

01:02:57.860 They do not like wheels rolling by.

01:03:00.100 That's the,

01:03:00.740 you know,

01:03:00.940 that's baby's crying.

01:03:02.040 Everything stops when the babies cry.

01:03:04.580 So it's,

01:03:05.600 yeah,

01:03:05.840 it's,

01:03:06.360 there's a lot of challenges,

01:03:07.480 but if they don't feel like coming up or if they have a moment,

01:03:10.260 they're like,

01:03:10.620 I need to,

01:03:11.500 I'm going to,

01:03:11.880 I'm going to go back to the carrier.

01:03:13.040 They can do that.

01:03:13.800 So they're,

01:03:14.460 they,

01:03:15.000 that is their safe.

01:03:16.200 That's their safe.

01:03:16.920 You know,

01:03:17.160 it's like a portable base camp for them.

01:03:18.580 So when I,

01:03:19.260 when I take them out for like outings or camping,

01:03:21.740 you know,

01:03:22.220 I have a harness on them and then I also have a backpack.

01:03:25.780 So wait,

01:03:26.100 camping.

01:03:26.560 Is that part of the show?

01:03:27.540 Is that,

01:03:27.920 no,

01:03:28.020 that's just for fun.

01:03:28.960 Okay.

01:03:29.200 You guys will go camping.

01:03:30.300 Yeah.

01:03:30.580 Oh yeah.

01:03:30.940 Because when I,

01:03:31.620 when I'm raising new kittens and to,

01:03:33.520 to,

01:03:34.260 you know,

01:03:34.640 either to adopt out or to be in the show,

01:03:38.900 you know,

01:03:39.140 I,

01:03:39.460 I want to bomb proof them so that they're comfortable in any atmosphere because,

01:03:44.220 you know,

01:03:44.500 the way the world is today,

01:03:45.780 the disaster could be around any corner.

01:03:47.800 Yeah.

01:03:48.080 And these cats need to be able to be comfortable being transferred to,

01:03:52.400 to other areas and,

01:03:54.040 you know,

01:03:54.140 loud noises.

01:03:54.800 So I always,

01:03:55.580 you know,

01:03:55.700 I have clicker and so clicker and anytime they're,

01:03:58.280 they're freaked out by something,

01:03:59.560 especially there's a window of time with kittens where they,

01:04:03.100 they adapt really quickly.

01:04:04.840 Like they may hear thunder and be like,

01:04:06.940 right.

01:04:07.740 And then I click and treat during that moment.

01:04:10.160 And I turn that bad experience into a good experience.

01:04:14.000 Now,

01:04:14.960 the next time it thunders,

01:04:16.520 they're like,

01:04:17.260 Oh,

01:04:17.520 well that's nothing.

01:04:18.360 And everything's okay.

01:04:19.840 My treat.

01:04:20.220 Yeah.

01:04:20.520 So even fireworks and such,

01:04:22.520 I mean,

01:04:22.720 I click and treat during my cats are not bothered by fireworks because

01:04:26.320 they've all been,

01:04:27.900 I've all,

01:04:28.240 I've can,

01:04:28.620 you know,

01:04:28.820 whenever fireworks have been around,

01:04:30.740 I had the clicker and the treats out and click and treat and click and

01:04:33.380 treat.

01:04:33.700 So anything that,

01:04:35.180 that they found distressing.

01:04:37.060 And I,

01:04:37.620 and I've learned more and more over the years since I've been doing this,

01:04:39.960 because I put it together in like 2005.

01:04:43.260 And I,

01:04:44.880 you know,

01:04:45.040 over the years I've gotten better at reading the cats and knowing what they

01:04:48.680 need.

01:04:48.940 I don't need the floor anymore for them.

01:04:50.960 We still have the back,

01:04:52.220 we still have a,

01:04:52.900 like a solid back wall,

01:04:54.500 but they're,

01:04:55.040 they're,

01:04:56.100 they're just,

01:04:57.420 you know,

01:04:57.640 if it's gotten better.

01:04:58.760 I mean,

01:04:58.960 our cats trustworthy.

01:05:00.520 That's what I wear.

01:05:01.360 I mean,

01:05:02.460 our cats trustworthy.

01:05:04.020 Oh no,

01:05:04.920 my goodness.

01:05:05.500 I mean,

01:05:05.800 we have the treats and I knew it.

01:05:08.400 I knew it.

01:05:09.200 We have cups of treats and,

01:05:10.640 and various cats have their favorite treats.

01:05:12.960 Some cats have allergies.

01:05:13.860 So we have to have Turkey for the cats that have allergies.

01:05:16.180 We have to have the primo treats for cats like Ostie,

01:05:19.020 who's,

01:05:19.360 who's a seasoned pro and is,

01:05:21.960 you know,

01:05:22.240 is literally we negotiate when,

01:05:24.520 when it comes to her pole climb and jump to my back trick.

01:05:27.940 Like there's a negotiation that happens every time.

01:05:30.280 She's like,

01:05:30.640 what do you got?

01:05:31.220 Oh,

01:05:31.380 she's like the OBJ of cats.

01:05:33.100 Yeah.

01:05:33.220 There are some things in life that are okay to be a total crap shoot,

01:05:38.840 you know,

01:05:39.240 like trying a new milk in your coffee or,

01:05:41.540 um,

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01:05:46.180 but finding the right doctor shouldn't be a total crap shoot.

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01:07:01.880 ZocDoc.com slash Theo.

01:07:05.740 Yeah.

01:07:06.200 Who's in the show?

01:07:07.100 What are some of the big,

01:07:08.100 like Tuna was obviously,

01:07:09.700 is Tuna still on the show?

01:07:10.420 Well,

01:07:10.560 the original Tuna passed away to cancer.

01:07:12.460 Oh.

01:07:12.840 So I.

01:07:14.060 And how did you guys do that?

01:07:15.560 Did you guys,

01:07:16.640 did you guys have a ceremony or anything like that?

01:07:18.640 Well,

01:07:18.940 I mean,

01:07:19.300 by then,

01:07:20.580 because I've,

01:07:21.660 I've,

01:07:22.680 you know,

01:07:22.920 I've been traveling.

01:07:24.320 Were you all on the road when it happened?

01:07:26.760 It happened during,

01:07:28.440 you know,

01:07:28.680 like right after,

01:07:29.780 right,

01:07:30.600 right after a tour.

01:07:31.480 So I had like one last round of shows with her.

01:07:34.340 And then I knew that it was going to be time.

01:07:36.200 So it was after our show.

01:07:37.840 And every year,

01:07:38.440 we go to New Orleans for Christmas.

01:07:40.400 So that was kind of her last time.

01:07:43.060 And so I got to,

01:07:44.100 you know,

01:07:44.280 so we had January,

01:07:45.480 February off.

01:07:46.140 So I got to spend time with her and,

01:07:48.460 and,

01:07:49.240 you know,

01:07:49.540 and a fan,

01:07:50.180 you know,

01:07:50.300 I had to let the fans know that,

01:07:51.700 that this was going on.

01:07:52.840 And because these people have supported us through years,

01:07:55.880 through all the,

01:07:56.460 all the disasters,

01:07:57.440 all the crises,

01:07:58.180 you know,

01:07:59.000 the fans have been helping us through.

01:08:00.980 And so they're,

01:08:01.700 they know the cats.

01:08:02.700 It's not like the days of Lassie were bringing in another Lassie.

01:08:05.540 I couldn't just be like,

01:08:06.580 bring in another Tuna.

01:08:07.680 But I did,

01:08:08.580 I,

01:08:08.820 you know,

01:08:09.280 I brought the,

01:08:10.020 I let the fans know that Tuna is passing and we,

01:08:13.740 I,

01:08:13.920 I had five white cats that came in to audition to take her place.

01:08:19.440 And Tuna helped train,

01:08:21.640 you know,

01:08:21.920 the training process kind of helped,

01:08:23.480 you know,

01:08:23.740 pick the,

01:08:24.660 you know,

01:08:24.760 the protégés.

01:08:25.480 And of course,

01:08:26.320 nobody could top,

01:08:27.540 Tuna was just brilliant.

01:08:28.640 There's,

01:08:29.200 so now we have two Tunas that took the place of the original Tuna.

01:08:32.760 And one of them's Aji Tuna and one's Albuquerque Tuna.

01:08:35.700 Oh,

01:08:36.100 okay.

01:08:36.440 So you still have some Tunas,

01:08:37.680 but it's different now.

01:08:38.760 Yes.

01:08:39.160 And the original Tuna helped choose these ones.

01:08:41.400 Yes.

01:08:41.740 So there's,

01:08:42.160 there's pictures of,

01:08:43.440 of,

01:08:44.160 you know,

01:08:44.540 the original Tuna next to Aji Tuna and Albuquerque,

01:08:47.800 you know,

01:08:48.040 they're both ringing bells.

01:08:49.620 And so,

01:08:50.260 so it kind of,

01:08:51.140 you know,

01:08:51.460 made everybody part of the process and everyone,

01:08:54.880 you know,

01:08:55.440 everyone grieved together for the,

01:08:57.680 you know,

01:08:57.960 the loss and embraced the,

01:08:59.720 the new Tuna.

01:09:00.700 So,

01:09:01.020 you know,

01:09:01.760 I,

01:09:01.940 I keep people,

01:09:03.260 you know,

01:09:03.720 involved.

01:09:04.340 Yeah.

01:09:04.480 Cause it's a family.

01:09:05.420 Yeah.

01:09:05.720 People love,

01:09:06.600 I mean,

01:09:07.340 my ex-girlfriend is a cat lover.

01:09:09.300 She loved her cats.

01:09:10.700 You know,

01:09:11.360 she loved them.

01:09:12.400 She was a good cat mom and she loved them.

01:09:14.280 And she,

01:09:14.820 I was amazed.

01:09:15.820 It was one thing that even just showed me how good she was at loving people was just,

01:09:19.480 you know,

01:09:19.800 how much she could love a cat and,

01:09:21.400 and really,

01:09:22.440 you know,

01:09:22.800 think about a cat.

01:09:24.920 Um,

01:09:26.020 did you guys bury Tuna anywhere special or how did that go down?

01:09:29.000 Oh,

01:09:29.240 we cremated her.

01:09:30.180 So she's,

01:09:30.660 I have like a whole little,

01:09:31.720 uh,

01:09:34.120 glass area with the various,

01:09:37.200 you know,

01:09:37.640 Pinky was the first to go.

01:09:39.080 She was my guitar player.

01:09:40.880 She was my best guitar player ever.

01:09:43.620 Um,

01:09:43.980 and then,

01:09:45.000 then Tuna,

01:09:46.360 you know,

01:09:47.280 when we lost,

01:09:48.640 you know,

01:09:49.020 the pandemic was really tough on the cats because they're used to,

01:09:52.000 that's so much stimulus.

01:09:53.360 They,

01:09:53.580 they,

01:09:53.920 they love working.

01:09:55.480 I mean,

01:09:55.680 if the cats aren't working there,

01:09:57.240 their health,

01:09:58.200 you just like with people,

01:09:59.200 if you,

01:09:59.700 if a person quits,

01:10:00.880 no purpose,

01:10:01.500 you know,

01:10:01.680 no purpose,

01:10:02.240 if they lose their purpose in life,

01:10:03.800 then they kind of,

01:10:05.140 their health and mental health is affected.

01:10:08.020 So,

01:10:08.640 you know,

01:10:08.880 we lost a couple of cats during that COVID time.

01:10:11.880 And I just lost two,

01:10:13.980 17 year old cats that had been from the beginning.

01:10:17.360 They were my,

01:10:18.280 from the very beginning,

01:10:19.500 when I first started training cats,

01:10:21.020 they were there with me.

01:10:22.140 And then to,

01:10:23.040 you know,

01:10:23.240 lose,

01:10:23.600 lose them within four months of each other.

01:10:25.540 And who were their names?

01:10:26.360 And it was Oz and Newey.

01:10:29.480 And it was,

01:10:30.400 And Oz,

01:10:30.760 is that Middle Eastern?

01:10:32.400 Well,

01:10:32.880 as Oz,

01:10:33.500 well,

01:10:33.760 I was watching Oz,

01:10:35.660 that series Oz with the Oswald State Penitentiary.

01:10:39.020 Oh,

01:10:39.280 okay.

01:10:39.540 Yeah.

01:10:39.820 I was bottle feeding Eddie and Oz and it would take one episode per kitten per feeding.

01:10:44.880 So I chewed through that entire series.

01:10:47.180 And so that's how Oz got his name from,

01:10:49.340 you know,

01:10:49.740 from Oz.

01:10:50.440 And he had a little bit of a,

01:10:51.920 every once in a while,

01:10:52.740 he would just go get crazy and beat up an orange cat for,

01:10:56.860 you know,

01:10:57.180 just,

01:10:57.720 just out of nowhere.

01:10:59.620 And I,

01:10:59.780 and I,

01:11:00.440 I think it's because,

01:11:03.200 you know,

01:11:03.820 he was listening to all that violence in the background.

01:11:05.880 I should have chosen some more friendly programming for him to listen to because he definitely

01:11:10.960 had a temper.

01:11:12.100 Right.

01:11:12.520 I was just like,

01:11:13.180 Oz,

01:11:13.660 we're the sweetest cat we have.

01:11:15.260 What's going on?

01:11:16.220 Why are you acting out like this?

01:11:17.900 He's got a dark side.

01:11:19.080 Yeah.

01:11:19.280 He had a very dark side,

01:11:20.500 but everybody loved Oz.

01:11:21.800 I mean,

01:11:21.980 he was,

01:11:22.500 I mean,

01:11:22.700 he didn't do much.

01:11:23.600 He was not the brightest one,

01:11:25.160 but everybody loved him so much.

01:11:27.040 We came up with tricks that he could do.

01:11:29.960 They were kind of fake tricks in the show.

01:11:33.060 And,

01:11:33.540 you know,

01:11:33.940 like he jumped through a tissue paper hoop,

01:11:35.940 but,

01:11:36.360 you know,

01:11:36.580 it was only this far.

01:11:37.500 And he basically tear open the tissue paper and walk through to the other side.

01:11:41.540 And,

01:11:41.900 and it was just so endearing.

01:11:43.700 People love that.

01:11:44.860 Yeah.

01:11:45.460 And,

01:11:45.780 and God dang,

01:11:48.000 I love seeing cats do something if it's good.

01:11:50.180 Oh yeah.

01:11:50.740 I mean,

01:11:51.100 knew he was number one in the end,

01:11:52.480 went towards the end.

01:11:53.320 She,

01:11:53.460 she was brilliant.

01:11:54.300 She could do a lot.

01:11:55.060 She was one of my best film cats too,

01:11:56.740 but she would,

01:11:57.740 at the end,

01:11:58.240 she was like,

01:11:58.640 I'm going to raise my,

01:11:59.340 I'm going to do the one thing.

01:12:00.320 Who's number one,

01:12:01.320 raise my paw.

01:12:02.000 And then I'm going to play the piano and that's it.

01:12:04.160 That's all I'm going to do.

01:12:05.240 And I was like,

01:12:05.860 all right.

01:12:06.380 A lot of seniors get like that.

01:12:07.860 They got one,

01:12:08.500 you know,

01:12:08.800 they do their last trick or they'll,

01:12:10.600 you know,

01:12:11.040 you know,

01:12:12.240 and then they'll just want to have a little bit of dessert and go to bed early or whatever.

01:12:15.500 Oh yeah.

01:12:15.840 She was such a cranky cat.

01:12:17.180 She just lay on my chest and growl and purr at the same time.

01:12:20.760 I mean,

01:12:21.380 just,

01:12:21.680 that was so tough losing her.

01:12:22.960 Cause she was my baby.

01:12:24.020 And like Oz loved everybody,

01:12:25.820 but knew he loved me.

01:12:27.120 And I said that it was really rough to,

01:12:30.240 you know,

01:12:30.480 when you have to make that decision to let him go.

01:12:33.080 And so now I have,

01:12:34.580 you know,

01:12:35.660 the youngest cat right now is two,

01:12:39.020 two years.

01:12:40.280 And,

01:12:40.860 but we are,

01:12:41.280 we're auditioning because we just had to retire two of our other seniors.

01:12:44.420 So we're auditioning new cats for the show.

01:12:48.080 Okay.

01:12:48.240 So we have two potentials.

01:12:49.700 We actually brought two of them to two that we're,

01:12:51.980 that we think are,

01:12:53.500 are good accurate potential.

01:12:56.700 Yeah.

01:12:57.020 One's named crush because she was the only survivor in a salvage a lot and a car that was about to be crushed.

01:13:03.660 Oh,

01:13:04.440 so we got to her in the nick of time.

01:13:06.440 Yeah.

01:13:06.700 It really is a,

01:13:07.260 you know,

01:13:07.660 great name.

01:13:08.300 And she's,

01:13:08.820 she is just,

01:13:10.220 uh,

01:13:11.120 so,

01:13:11.720 I mean,

01:13:12.380 one,

01:13:12.800 one training session,

01:13:13.840 and she's already hopping on the skateboard.

01:13:15.240 Like I'm ready to,

01:13:16.540 she's ready to rock,

01:13:17.220 ready to,

01:13:17.660 ready to do this.

01:13:18.660 And,

01:13:18.800 and can you tell cats that want to be in the show and cats that don't?

01:13:23.320 That's a little,

01:13:24.200 is that something?

01:13:25.220 Well,

01:13:25.520 it's,

01:13:25.920 it's hard to know.

01:13:26.680 Females generally work better.

01:13:27.920 Like all the females have had a better work ethic than the males.

01:13:32.460 The males are a little bit more like,

01:13:35.180 why don't we just,

01:13:35.880 you know,

01:13:36.240 hang out and watch TV.

01:13:38.120 And yeah,

01:13:38.900 like,

01:13:39.300 you know,

01:13:39.560 do I really like Alba Cortuna is,

01:13:41.920 you know,

01:13:42.420 he's like,

01:13:43.540 he plays the cowbell and he'll like hit it once.

01:13:46.400 And I'm like,

01:13:46.920 come on,

01:13:47.360 like,

01:13:47.540 how about,

01:13:48.020 how about three?

01:13:48.920 And he's like,

01:13:49.720 one,

01:13:50.520 two,

01:13:50.840 three.

01:13:51.380 So,

01:13:51.600 I mean,

01:13:51.800 they do,

01:13:52.400 they do understand.

01:13:54.020 Well,

01:13:54.380 a lot of people don't want to work anymore.

01:13:55.700 I think it's a problem that we've had across,

01:13:58.160 uh,

01:13:59.780 the animal kingdom and the human kingdom.

01:14:01.800 Oh yeah.

01:14:02.320 That a lot of the work ethic is disappearing.

01:14:05.360 Um,

01:14:06.700 how did the touring start?

01:14:07.880 So I had just come back from a thing called a festival of cultures where I was doing a wildlife program,

01:14:15.980 but it was touring.

01:14:17.460 So we were touring with five other groups.

01:14:19.800 There are Polynesian paradise,

01:14:21.660 Africa,

01:14:22.700 um,

01:14:22.980 the,

01:14:23.260 uh,

01:14:23.700 European where they did sword fighting.

01:14:26.500 And are these all animal shows?

01:14:27.660 No,

01:14:27.980 no.

01:14:28.080 They're,

01:14:28.380 so they were,

01:14:29.340 they were,

01:14:30.220 it was an educational tour.

01:14:31.960 So they basically were educating people about the,

01:14:35.220 uh,

01:14:36.020 their,

01:14:36.700 this culture.

01:14:37.480 Got it.

01:14:37.900 So the,

01:14:39.180 uh,

01:14:39.440 and some of it was more fun,

01:14:40.660 you know,

01:14:40.840 like Europe,

01:14:41.380 Europe,

01:14:41.740 they did sword fighting and,

01:14:43.180 uh,

01:14:43.760 native America was,

01:14:45.160 that was a little bit more educational.

01:14:46.420 And then I represented wildlife of the world.

01:14:48.640 So I,

01:14:49.320 my little segment would be bringing out various animals and doing like a little wildlife presentation to,

01:14:54.700 to,

01:14:55.080 you know,

01:14:55.540 teach people like,

01:14:56.680 you know,

01:14:57.060 these various animals from these parts of the,

01:14:59.100 of the world.

01:15:00.100 And that's when I fell in love with touring.

01:15:02.080 I mean,

01:15:02.300 that's when I was driving and traveling in an ambulance at that,

01:15:05.140 you know,

01:15:05.380 initially.

01:15:06.400 And you guys got an old ambulance and turned it into the Accra cats.

01:15:10.080 Well,

01:15:10.300 I turned it,

01:15:10.840 that was for the wildlife of the world.

01:15:12.900 And then I got a small RV after that.

01:15:15.020 So that last year I had the band together and I set it up on the kitchen table in this

01:15:19.480 RV that we had.

01:15:20.680 And so people would be walking by the RV and I'd be like,

01:15:23.440 Hey,

01:15:24.080 you want to see something cool?

01:15:25.980 And I open up the RV doors and the band would play,

01:15:29.340 you know,

01:15:29.700 the cat band would play.

01:15:30.680 And they're like,

01:15:31.160 what?

01:15:31.960 Cause usually it's something,

01:15:33.720 it's sex.

01:15:34.180 Yeah.

01:15:34.580 You see something really,

01:15:36.020 you know,

01:15:36.180 like,

01:15:36.920 you know,

01:15:37.400 I don't know.

01:15:38.520 I'm not sure.

01:15:40.680 So that's when I knew that maybe I could do something with these cats.

01:15:46.220 So when I got back and I knew that wildlife,

01:15:48.200 they weren't going to be including us in the next round of tours.

01:15:50.660 And at this point I would fall in love with,

01:15:52.880 with touring and traveling and what did you like about it?

01:15:55.240 Oh,

01:15:55.360 just seeing things get to see,

01:15:57.220 you know,

01:15:58.100 I,

01:15:58.540 because we try to stay in places for,

01:16:00.640 you know,

01:16:00.840 we don't tour like a band does where you're like one off,

01:16:03.300 one off,

01:16:03.640 one off.

01:16:04.040 That's how,

01:16:04.380 what fun is that?

01:16:05.520 So,

01:16:05.940 but if we stay in a place for like three weeks,

01:16:08.520 you get to know people.

01:16:09.780 I mean,

01:16:10.120 I have,

01:16:10.780 I,

01:16:10.960 we go to new Orleans for like almost a month every December.

01:16:13.660 So I have friends there.

01:16:15.100 I mean,

01:16:15.320 I get to enjoy,

01:16:16.720 I get to enjoy that city.

01:16:18.040 You know,

01:16:18.480 I get San Diego,

01:16:19.560 beautiful weather right by the oceans,

01:16:21.340 the sea lions,

01:16:22.200 all the things that you can see in these other cities that are awesome.

01:16:26.300 We're going to the East coast this year.

01:16:28.000 So,

01:16:28.300 you know,

01:16:28.680 Portland,

01:16:29.640 Maine,

01:16:29.980 absolutely love it right there,

01:16:31.360 but we're performing so close to the ocean and you get to meet,

01:16:35.220 you know,

01:16:35.400 you get to meet people and get to know people and,

01:16:37.740 you know,

01:16:38.240 just see,

01:16:39.380 you know,

01:16:39.720 I love roadside attractions.

01:16:41.120 I mean,

01:16:41.340 I'm a sucker for like biggest ball of twine next exit,

01:16:45.220 pull off now.

01:16:46.240 Yes.

01:16:46.620 I'm totally seeing that.

01:16:48.040 Yeah.

01:16:48.440 We had a carnival worker in and he,

01:16:50.440 his great grandfather had three legs and he was in one of the original like dime

01:16:58.700 show,

01:16:59.100 like one of the side shows,

01:17:00.240 like back in like vaudeville days,

01:17:02.680 almost right there.

01:17:03.280 Franklin teeny.

01:17:04.240 That's him.

01:17:05.140 And he had three legs and we had his great grandson in.

01:17:07.580 It was a cop.

01:17:08.460 Yeah.

01:17:08.600 And I saw his segment.

01:17:09.660 I watched cause I was like,

01:17:10.760 pretty cool.

01:17:11.460 Yeah.

01:17:11.700 Yeah.

01:17:11.880 He seemed interesting.

01:17:12.720 Cause I've always,

01:17:13.620 I always was loved.

01:17:14.700 I always loved carnivals when I was that whole lifestyle.

01:17:17.380 Since I was young,

01:17:18.560 when I've read that,

01:17:19.780 the book,

01:17:20.160 the boxcar children and I stare at those freight trains and I just wanted so badly to hop on

01:17:25.440 one and just go because I mean,

01:17:27.400 my parents,

01:17:28.320 I was their girl.

01:17:29.180 I was their daughter.

01:17:29.800 They kept me on a pretty short leash.

01:17:31.500 Yeah.

01:17:31.900 So I was,

01:17:32.780 I was not allowed to roam the country outside the neighborhood.

01:17:36.160 You wanted to get off leash fully.

01:17:37.720 I want to get off leash fully.

01:17:39.200 Exactly.

01:17:39.820 And just see things and,

01:17:41.240 and experience life.

01:17:43.080 And,

01:17:43.380 you know,

01:17:43.940 the,

01:17:44.200 the,

01:17:44.800 all the,

01:17:45.520 all the,

01:17:46.140 oh no's and all the,

01:17:47.440 oh yay.

01:17:47.860 So,

01:17:48.220 because it's,

01:17:48.860 there's been a lot of,

01:17:49.700 I mean,

01:17:49.860 I've learned so much on the road.

01:17:51.340 Like they gave me no instructions when I bought my first RV.

01:17:54.040 They just handed me the keys,

01:17:55.660 drove off the lot.

01:17:56.600 And I popped all the tires within the first six months because it was,

01:18:00.540 it was stored outside and.

01:18:03.000 Oh,

01:18:03.200 the tires were a lot.

01:18:04.220 Yeah.

01:18:04.740 They had no instructions at all.

01:18:06.600 So then good Sam dumped me.

01:18:08.000 So I didn't have that kind of,

01:18:09.120 you know,

01:18:09.420 roadside assistance anymore.

01:18:11.060 And so this is when you're on the,

01:18:12.080 you,

01:18:12.200 so you start the tour.

01:18:13.160 Yeah.

01:18:13.460 You start the tour.

01:18:14.080 You started in an RV.

01:18:15.840 So yeah,

01:18:16.200 we started,

01:18:16.700 we got,

01:18:17.020 we had an RV and.

01:18:18.480 And is it Acro Cats?

01:18:19.640 That's the name of the time?

01:18:20.620 Yeah.

01:18:20.900 Yeah.

01:18:21.180 That was the amazing Acro Cats.

01:18:23.300 And we did our first,

01:18:24.760 you know,

01:18:25.740 we did our first like,

01:18:26.600 real show was like in 2006 at a,

01:18:28.700 at a little place called the reversible eye.

01:18:31.560 And that was actually one of the more successful shows at that point.

01:18:34.240 I was like,

01:18:34.580 okay,

01:18:34.780 I'm finally doing,

01:18:36.200 I've got enough put together that I can pull off a show.

01:18:38.720 Where was this?

01:18:39.420 It was in Chicago.

01:18:40.680 Okay.

01:18:41.120 And do you have all the cats you want?

01:18:42.320 How many cats are in the show?

01:18:43.440 At this point,

01:18:44.000 I think there was like maybe six,

01:18:46.120 six,

01:18:46.600 seven cats in the show.

01:18:47.700 Okay.

01:18:47.880 Was there ever a cat you wanted to get?

01:18:49.780 You just couldn't get the contract right or the deal right with them or

01:18:52.540 whatever?

01:18:53.080 Like it,

01:18:53.940 it's,

01:18:54.480 well,

01:18:54.880 there's two 2009 is kind of when things really shifted,

01:18:58.700 shifted from,

01:19:00.300 you know,

01:19:00.680 cause my initial goal was to get the cat's attention for,

01:19:03.900 for film and television work.

01:19:06.340 Like that was my goal.

01:19:06.980 Yeah.

01:19:07.420 You still like,

01:19:08.260 yeah,

01:19:08.820 I'm still trying to get them film and television work.

01:19:11.880 Right.

01:19:12.100 And it was working.

01:19:15.920 I started,

01:19:16.540 you know,

01:19:16.760 I mean,

01:19:16.960 my cat Bowie is on a blue Buffalo tastefuls commercial.

01:19:21.480 He rocks it.

01:19:22.480 Really?

01:19:23.200 Oh yeah.

01:19:23.800 He's,

01:19:24.120 it's,

01:19:24.460 he's,

01:19:24.820 he,

01:19:24.920 he nails every shot.

01:19:26.640 He's perfect.

01:19:27.580 Looks in the camera.

01:19:28.740 He's,

01:19:29.080 he's,

01:19:29.380 he's fantastic.

01:19:30.100 I mean,

01:19:30.720 he's a poster child.

01:19:31.780 He's,

01:19:31.960 he's on the stores of the,

01:19:33.360 you know,

01:19:33.500 when I go down the pets in the pet store,

01:19:35.660 I'm like,

01:19:35.920 there he is on all the food packages.

01:19:37.420 And,

01:19:37.900 and I'm like,

01:19:38.900 that's my boy.

01:19:39.700 You know,

01:19:40.020 it was like,

01:19:40.440 yeah,

01:19:40.980 he's,

01:19:41.340 he's killing it.

01:19:41.960 He's so great.

01:19:42.980 And he swaggers.

01:19:44.100 He's got such a swagger.

01:19:45.620 So,

01:19:46.140 so,

01:19:46.720 but initially that's,

01:19:47.580 you know,

01:19:47.740 I started it to do that.

01:19:49.380 But then 2009 is when things shifted because I,

01:19:53.820 I wanted to add another cat to the show.

01:19:55.720 Okay.

01:19:56.220 And at this point,

01:19:57.000 why,

01:19:57.460 why do you,

01:19:57.840 is the show faltering or you just not?

01:19:59.800 Well,

01:20:00.040 a lot of the cats,

01:20:00.860 like,

01:20:00.980 you know,

01:20:01.140 they start out strong.

01:20:02.360 They're doing eight tricks.

01:20:03.640 And the second,

01:20:04.620 you know,

01:20:05.020 they're going,

01:20:05.720 you know,

01:20:06.540 middle of the first year,

01:20:08.100 you know,

01:20:08.280 between the year one and two,

01:20:09.760 they're like,

01:20:10.440 yeah,

01:20:10.720 so we're only going to do these tricks,

01:20:12.540 these two tricks.

01:20:13.280 I'm just going to,

01:20:14.300 I just want to do these two tricks.

01:20:15.900 So they get an ego.

01:20:16.600 Yeah.

01:20:16.980 So they're,

01:20:17.520 so they renegotiate their contract.

01:20:18.880 And I'm like,

01:20:19.260 I'm only going to do these two tricks.

01:20:20.460 I'm like,

01:20:20.720 well,

01:20:20.920 who's going to do these tricks?

01:20:23.100 That's not my problem.

01:20:24.120 They don't care.

01:20:24.400 They don't care.

01:20:24.880 Not my problem.

01:20:26.160 So,

01:20:26.480 so then I'm like,

01:20:27.620 well,

01:20:27.700 I need to add another cat to the show.

01:20:29.060 We need someone,

01:20:29.720 you know,

01:20:29.880 and I,

01:20:30.200 I don't,

01:20:30.660 I'm like,

01:20:31.020 well,

01:20:31.820 I really want it to be a rescue cat,

01:20:33.380 but I don't want to just pick one and be,

01:20:36.420 what if it's not like the right one?

01:20:38.280 And I can't just return it.

01:20:39.520 Cause well,

01:20:39.760 this one's dumb.

01:20:41.220 I can't do that.

01:20:42.400 So I thought,

01:20:42.740 well,

01:20:42.840 why do I foster a litter?

01:20:44.440 And then I'll train them all,

01:20:45.960 pick the best one and then find the rest of them home.

01:20:48.440 So that was my plan.

01:20:49.860 And then I found a,

01:20:51.900 a,

01:20:52.480 a rescue that,

01:20:53.840 you know,

01:20:54.120 we're desperate for foster.

01:20:55.520 So,

01:20:56.220 so they snatched me up immediately because there was a dire need for,

01:21:00.580 for fosters.

01:21:01.660 And,

01:21:02.180 and they sent me into the trenches.

01:21:03.740 I mean,

01:21:04.040 I had no,

01:21:05.000 no knowledge,

01:21:06.300 no,

01:21:07.040 it's not,

01:21:07.580 I didn't,

01:21:07.860 I had no idea what I was getting into.

01:21:09.200 So they send me to a rescue,

01:21:13.080 a shelter.

01:21:13.660 That's basically an intake facility,

01:21:15.800 not open to the public.

01:21:17.200 People dump off animals there.

01:21:19.020 They take,

01:21:19.760 send me the kitten room and they say,

01:21:21.720 so whoever you don't,

01:21:24.060 whoever you don't pick from this room today,

01:21:25.860 we're going to be euthanized.

01:21:27.600 12 kittens in that room.

01:21:28.900 And this is a Japanese game show.

01:21:31.020 No,

01:21:31.500 it's,

01:21:31.940 no,

01:21:32.400 it's,

01:21:32.920 it's a,

01:21:33.600 it was a,

01:21:34.280 yeah,

01:21:34.460 I was just joking.

01:21:34.880 I don't know.

01:21:36.040 But no,

01:21:36.540 that's,

01:21:36.900 it could be a Japanese game show.

01:21:38.880 Very much.

01:21:39.680 I don't know.

01:21:39.720 It probably,

01:21:40.180 it probably is a Japanese game show actually was with squid game out there and whatnot.

01:21:45.040 I could see that.

01:21:46.300 So you just,

01:21:47.040 you walk into a room.

01:21:48.640 I walk into a room like wherever you don't pick,

01:21:50.500 we're going to euthanize.

01:21:51.480 I'm like,

01:21:51.820 what?

01:21:52.780 So I was like,

01:21:53.560 I'll take them all,

01:21:54.340 give them all.

01:21:55.520 So I,

01:21:56.040 so you left out of there that day with how many cats?

01:21:57.820 With 12 kittens.

01:21:59.400 I take them home.

01:22:00.480 They have respiratory.

01:22:01.160 Sorry,

01:22:01.200 I didn't mean to make that sound.

01:22:02.400 They have,

01:22:02.600 they have,

01:22:02.860 they all have respiratory issues.

01:22:04.320 I didn't know all my cats get sick and I'm medicating like,

01:22:07.880 you know,

01:22:08.640 20 some cats,

01:22:10.200 right?

01:22:10.980 I get everybody healthy.

01:22:12.700 I train everybody up.

01:22:14.320 And that was a really,

01:22:15.460 like,

01:22:15.700 you know,

01:22:16.140 that there's a pet overpopulation problem.

01:22:17.900 You know,

01:22:18.300 that there's a problem,

01:22:18.920 but until you're thrown into a situation like that,

01:22:22.060 where you're actually told these kittens are going to die today because no,

01:22:26.580 there's no home for them.

01:22:27.840 You see people dumping off their cats on a regular basis,

01:22:31.380 just leaving them behind.

01:22:33.060 You know,

01:22:33.480 they're not part of the family.

01:22:34.600 They're just left behind like garbage.

01:22:36.380 Well,

01:22:36.660 cats act like they want to leave all the time too.

01:22:39.240 Some of it is their fault.

01:22:40.580 I'm not going to say that that should happen,

01:22:42.720 but some of the cats are like,

01:22:44.800 well,

01:22:45.520 that's because the person has not invested the time in the cat.

01:22:50.520 And that could very well be true.

01:22:51.960 And that is part of what,

01:22:53.700 that's where the,

01:22:54.780 where the,

01:22:55.140 where the change happened.

01:22:56.520 So I got these,

01:22:57.920 these 12 kittens.

01:22:58.940 I've ended up finding homes for all of them.

01:23:01.340 And,

01:23:01.920 and I realized that,

01:23:03.820 and I went in and I got more.

01:23:05.240 I bet nobody wanted to talk to you.

01:23:06.520 Cause if you even talk to somebody,

01:23:07.660 I'm like,

01:23:07.920 this lady's going to try to give me a cat.

01:23:09.500 Oh no,

01:23:10.180 we're very picky about where we adopt.

01:23:12.580 Yeah.

01:23:12.700 Oh wow.

01:23:14.740 I mean,

01:23:14.960 they have to fill out an application,

01:23:16.360 all,

01:23:16.660 you know,

01:23:16.840 all the things.

01:23:17.680 So,

01:23:17.900 I mean,

01:23:18.380 I,

01:23:18.860 this was just really,

01:23:19.920 you know,

01:23:20.380 eyeopening for me.

01:23:21.120 And I also realized that,

01:23:22.820 that part of the,

01:23:24.420 not only were just kittens being dumped,

01:23:26.200 but people were leaving their adult cats behind.

01:23:28.400 And that's because they,

01:23:29.600 they felt like their cat didn't care.

01:23:31.300 They didn't have a relationship with their cat.

01:23:32.760 And that's why I thought,

01:23:33.380 well,

01:23:33.480 I can make a difference here.

01:23:35.220 I,

01:23:35.960 so part of the,

01:23:36.900 you know,

01:23:37.100 my part of my show is like an educational to inspire people to,

01:23:41.080 you know,

01:23:41.580 like,

01:23:41.840 Hey,

01:23:42.080 not only can cats do tricks,

01:23:44.100 you can teach your cat,

01:23:45.060 look at the relationship.

01:23:46.060 My cats act like dogs.

01:23:47.420 They follow me around the house.

01:23:49.120 I mean,

01:23:49.400 I,

01:23:49.580 the little kittens that I just started training,

01:23:51.380 they follow me around like puppies.

01:23:52.880 They're like,

01:23:53.220 what are,

01:23:53.420 what are you going to work?

01:23:54.140 What are we going to work?

01:23:54.860 Let's do something.

01:23:55.500 Let's do something.

01:23:56.600 And,

01:23:56.980 and I realized that I can make a difference here.

01:23:59.700 I can help save lives.

01:24:00.900 So not only have I saved,

01:24:02.660 you know,

01:24:03.180 actual lives,

01:24:04.000 but I've fostered and found homes for 340 cats and kittens since 2000,

01:24:09.640 since that 2009.

01:24:11.140 And I,

01:24:11.820 you know,

01:24:12.040 through my show,

01:24:12.840 I foster,

01:24:14.060 foster a bunch,

01:24:15.020 take them on the road with me,

01:24:16.080 teach them tricks,

01:24:16.760 put them in the show and then find homes for them.

01:24:19.600 Right after the show,

01:24:20.200 people can't even adopt them.

01:24:21.500 Well,

01:24:21.680 because we stay in a place for,

01:24:23.320 for a while.

01:24:24.140 They have to fill out,

01:24:24.980 they fill out the applications.

01:24:26.200 We check the references and if they,

01:24:28.440 you know,

01:24:28.600 get approved,

01:24:29.160 they get a,

01:24:29.600 they get the training kit.

01:24:30.800 All the kittens are,

01:24:32.040 are trained to go to a carrier at the sound of a whistle.

01:24:34.820 They're all,

01:24:35.660 they're all comfortable with traveling in a car,

01:24:37.760 which is a big thing.

01:24:38.700 And they're all trained to do a parlor trick.

01:24:40.660 So like a high five,

01:24:41.760 a sit pretty,

01:24:42.360 a spin,

01:24:42.800 maybe even playing the piano.

01:24:44.160 And who's going to leave a cat behind that high fives you when you come in from work that day and they give you a high five after your bad day.

01:24:51.720 You're not going to leave that cat behind.

01:24:53.960 So,

01:24:54.220 so my admission is like no cat gets left behind when disaster strikes or you move.

01:24:59.980 You're,

01:25:00.500 that cat's part of your family.

01:25:02.000 And because I've given the cat a good start by training them to do the basics and they are,

01:25:06.980 they're all clicker trained.

01:25:08.120 No cat left behind.

01:25:09.240 It's like the Marines almost.

01:25:10.600 Yeah.

01:25:10.780 No cat left behind.

01:25:11.380 It's like semper feline.

01:25:12.440 Yes.

01:25:12.940 You know,

01:25:13.200 this cat is going to be a permanent part of your life.

01:25:15.420 I've already pre-trained it.

01:25:17.740 All it already knows.

01:25:19.180 Yeah.

01:25:19.440 It's already knows that,

01:25:20.980 you know,

01:25:21.380 all you have to do is give him the cue and he's going to sit pretty for you.

01:25:24.680 And here's,

01:25:25.400 here's the whistle to call him for,

01:25:26.920 for mealtime.

01:25:28.060 So that's part of the,

01:25:28.980 so part of the show also is that not only you are the cats performing,

01:25:32.080 but there's this underbelly.

01:25:33.900 There's this positive underbelly of,

01:25:35.740 um,

01:25:36.740 you shelling out cats to people and getting cats.

01:25:39.240 That's in the homes.

01:25:40.240 Yeah.

01:25:40.720 Okay.

01:25:41.020 Well,

01:25:41.380 good homes.

01:25:42.040 Good homes.

01:25:42.800 We don't just like hand them out on the corner.

01:25:45.080 Yeah.

01:25:45.300 Cause I mean,

01:25:45.800 yeah.

01:25:46.240 I mean,

01:25:46.560 yeah.

01:25:47.220 That's the thing about a cat.

01:25:48.200 People are always like,

01:25:49.180 dude,

01:25:49.460 do you want a cat?

01:25:50.260 And he'd be like,

01:25:51.460 just,

01:25:52.080 Oh,

01:25:52.300 just if you leave your door open,

01:25:53.760 like a cat will come in.

01:25:55.580 That's a,

01:25:56.160 that was always the thing about cats.

01:25:57.540 Like you don't like one of my friends was like,

01:26:00.420 dude,

01:26:00.700 I think I'm going to buy this cat.

01:26:01.660 I'm like,

01:26:01.940 dude,

01:26:02.080 you don't buy a cat.

01:26:03.140 You just,

01:26:04.360 just be somewhere and just get a cat.

01:26:07.860 Yeah.

01:26:08.080 They choose you.

01:26:09.240 Here in your life.

01:26:10.200 Like they will,

01:26:11.100 like just,

01:26:12.320 you know,

01:26:12.900 they let you know.

01:26:13.900 They're like little whispers from God or whatever.

01:26:16.100 Yeah.

01:26:16.220 Just,

01:26:16.460 you know,

01:26:16.740 I mean,

01:26:17.140 we've had so many instances of,

01:26:19.860 you know,

01:26:20.080 on Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago,

01:26:22.120 one day a bus pulls up,

01:26:24.060 door opens,

01:26:25.260 a cat comes out,

01:26:26.480 a little kitten comes out,

01:26:28.100 steps out of the bus and walks up to our front door.

01:26:31.620 It just like,

01:26:32.680 Hey,

01:26:32.880 I heard this is a place to go.

01:26:34.320 I need to be,

01:26:36.460 I need to be here.

01:26:37.780 So I'm like,

01:26:39.060 what just happened here?

01:26:40.380 This bus door just opened.

01:26:41.740 This kitten came out and they're sitting at my front door.

01:26:44.280 I mean,

01:26:44.400 I witnessed it happen.

01:26:45.900 You know,

01:26:46.280 it's just,

01:26:46.740 a lot of cats have that fast pass or whatever.

01:26:48.680 I know,

01:26:49.220 um,

01:26:50.720 with the tour,

01:26:51.640 what's,

01:26:52.900 what was one of the tougher times that you had?

01:26:54.520 You ever have a time where just the show barely got off the ground or it just didn't,

01:26:57.760 something just happened?

01:26:59.360 Well,

01:26:59.740 I mean,

01:27:00.260 there's been so many,

01:27:01.340 especially with the bus.

01:27:02.340 We had this Texas fiasco where we finally got back on the road and we had a fan clutch issue.

01:27:09.860 The,

01:27:10.220 the,

01:27:10.800 uh,

01:27:11.300 the bus broke down.

01:27:12.960 The,

01:27:13.340 some,

01:27:13.580 a couple of guys tried to fix it.

01:27:14.880 They made it worse.

01:27:15.840 We were stuck in a,

01:27:17.160 in a bar off in the middle of nowhere for like three days.

01:27:21.360 We had to cancel our show in Dallas.

01:27:23.200 And I,

01:27:23.640 I've probably canceled maybe a half dozen shows in my lifetime.

01:27:28.780 Like I am one of those show must go on.

01:27:31.160 If there's a way to get there,

01:27:32.100 I will get there and do this show.

01:27:33.600 I mean,

01:27:34.060 even when I was going through cancer treatment,

01:27:35.800 had a broken foot at the same time,

01:27:38.080 I was still doing the show.

01:27:39.620 You know,

01:27:40.100 the show must go on.

01:27:40.900 People are excited about these cats.

01:27:42.580 You know,

01:27:42.760 they're like,

01:27:43.220 can't wait to see the cats again.

01:27:44.740 Like we have repeat people,

01:27:46.400 people that see the show every time we come to town.

01:27:48.480 Oh,

01:27:48.720 cat people are absolutely insane.

01:27:50.900 They have their favorite cats.

01:27:52.020 They have all my,

01:27:52.660 my cats have their own merch.

01:27:54.120 And so,

01:27:54.700 you know,

01:27:54.980 people,

01:27:55.240 I don't want to let down the people that are so excited about the cats.

01:27:58.300 And,

01:27:58.400 and,

01:27:59.460 you know,

01:27:59.620 but we were,

01:28:00.180 we were grounded.

01:28:01.200 We were not able to get,

01:28:02.620 you know,

01:28:03.140 to,

01:28:03.460 to that destination.

01:28:05.340 So we finally,

01:28:06.880 you know,

01:28:07.160 we ended up getting towed to a proper repair place and it doesn't get fixed in

01:28:12.000 time.

01:28:12.240 So we're having to rent U-Hauls and live in the theater during the show,

01:28:18.160 during the show run.

01:28:19.460 So then we get to,

01:28:20.800 and this was like,

01:28:21.800 March,

01:28:23.260 a couple of years ago in Texas.

01:28:26.100 And when they had that freak snow storm in Texas.

01:28:28.440 So,

01:28:29.040 so we,

01:28:29.960 the show was canceled.

01:28:30.940 Then it wasn't,

01:28:31.640 then it was canceled.

01:28:32.220 Then it wasn't because of the snow storm.

01:28:34.000 So we're living in the venue,

01:28:35.760 you know,

01:28:36.640 with everything set up,

01:28:37.600 ready to go in case we can do the show.

01:28:39.540 And then the bus that was supposed to be ready for Houston,

01:28:42.200 the broke down 20 minutes out of the shop.

01:28:46.120 So we did not,

01:28:47.580 you know,

01:28:47.760 we didn't have the bus yet again.

01:28:49.380 So we had to get another U-Haul,

01:28:51.380 get,

01:28:51.640 transfer all the,

01:28:52.500 the,

01:28:52.740 the cats and get a,

01:28:53.920 you know,

01:28:54.200 get a rental car,

01:28:55.380 get all the cats to the next venue.

01:28:56.920 And luckily the venues were all,

01:28:58.640 were amazing.

01:28:59.400 So they let us move in and sleep in the venue.

01:29:01.900 And we were sleeping on couches,

01:29:03.680 you know,

01:29:03.920 we got some air mattresses.

01:29:05.480 And also,

01:29:05.800 and when you go on tour,

01:29:06.560 how many people are on the tour bus with you or in the RV?

01:29:10.380 Well,

01:29:10.800 there's myself.

01:29:12.060 And then I usually have two,

01:29:13.820 at least two assistants.

01:29:15.120 And one point we had a driver that's traveled with us,

01:29:18.040 but post COVID drivers are really hard to come by.

01:29:20.940 You just,

01:29:21.540 you know,

01:29:21.700 there's a shortage of drivers and they,

01:29:24.040 they generally want an obscene amount of money and they want a hotel room.

01:29:29.640 That's crazy expensive.

01:29:32.740 Like we can't afford that.

01:29:34.080 I want to keep the ticket prices somewhat reasonable.

01:29:37.560 I mean,

01:29:37.800 we've had to raise the prices pretty,

01:29:40.300 you know,

01:29:40.820 intensely as it is,

01:29:41.820 but we always try to keep a level of seats that are affordable because,

01:29:45.800 you know,

01:29:46.080 between the fuel and,

01:29:47.640 and I mean,

01:29:48.820 it's so expensive.

01:29:49.780 And I've learned how to drive the bus since,

01:29:51.440 because I'm like,

01:29:52.080 I cannot be at the mercy of drivers anymore.

01:29:54.580 Did you have to get a commercial driver's license or no?

01:29:56.400 Well,

01:29:56.680 it's,

01:29:57.060 it's a,

01:29:57.180 because it's a private owned code.

01:29:59.020 So I,

01:29:59.220 I own it.

01:29:59.940 And,

01:30:00.180 and,

01:30:00.580 and I've,

01:30:02.040 because I've been driving big vehicles.

01:30:03.840 I started out with the ambulance and then it was a 23 foot RV,

01:30:07.200 then a 27 foot RV,

01:30:08.460 then it was a 35 foot bus.

01:30:10.200 And now it's a 45 foot bus.

01:30:12.580 So I've just,

01:30:13.520 you're driving an actual tour bus.

01:30:15.040 Yeah.

01:30:15.180 I'm driving an actual tour bus.

01:30:16.920 Wow.

01:30:17.960 Full of cats.

01:30:18.980 Full of cats.

01:30:19.560 And assistants.

01:30:20.640 Yeah.

01:30:21.140 So,

01:30:21.540 and then we hire someone to drive the longer,

01:30:23.680 like if it's a long drive,

01:30:25.020 because it's,

01:30:25.540 it's just tough on me to,

01:30:26.600 yeah,

01:30:26.840 it's a lot to drive.

01:30:28.040 So we'll hire someone to do the long drive and then I'll,

01:30:30.680 I'll drive like the short drives.

01:30:32.420 Like when we go to the East coast,

01:30:33.980 I'll drive to bought from Boston to Portland and then we're going to stay in

01:30:37.180 Portland for almost a month.

01:30:38.500 Oh,

01:30:38.740 good.

01:30:38.960 So,

01:30:39.480 so we get to,

01:30:40.200 you know,

01:30:40.420 settle in a campground and go back and forth with,

01:30:42.840 to the venue and be fine.

01:30:44.460 And yeah.

01:30:44.900 So,

01:30:45.140 I mean,

01:30:45.300 I just,

01:30:45.840 I love that part of it where you get to see,

01:30:48.420 you know,

01:30:48.820 you know,

01:30:49.160 I get to see people I haven't seen,

01:30:50.540 you know,

01:30:50.840 in a couple of years.

01:30:51.760 Oh yeah.

01:30:52.160 Or,

01:30:52.440 or we go like some places we go every year,

01:30:55.220 we go to Texas every year,

01:30:56.580 New Orleans every year.

01:30:57.620 Have you ever had issues with performers?

01:30:59.160 Like,

01:30:59.420 have you ever had an issue like a performer didn't make it to the show or like,

01:31:04.420 what's that kind of like?

01:31:05.500 Oh,

01:31:05.740 I had last,

01:31:07.420 the last time we were in Portland,

01:31:09.200 my assistant was supposed to fly in.

01:31:11.460 Her daughter got COVID.

01:31:12.360 So she got COVID.

01:31:13.100 And then the assistant that was with me,

01:31:16.800 she got COVID.

01:31:18.380 So I had to do the entire show myself.

01:31:21.960 And even our merch person who usually ran the merch also got COVID.

01:31:26.120 So luckily I had a mega fan and the sound guy who had been helping us with the show forever.

01:31:33.600 He,

01:31:34.320 you know,

01:31:34.640 they,

01:31:34.940 they chipped in and,

01:31:36.240 you know,

01:31:36.440 they helped me,

01:31:37.220 you know,

01:31:37.540 I'd box the cats.

01:31:38.600 They'd help,

01:31:39.220 you know,

01:31:39.500 reset the stage,

01:31:40.480 take the cats in.

01:31:41.440 I would run in.

01:31:42.400 And I would like have like kind of half makeup on.

01:31:44.580 I set the merch thing up and I'd,

01:31:46.880 you know,

01:31:47.180 start the selling of the merch and I'd instruct whoever volunteer was there.

01:31:50.880 Okay.

01:31:50.980 This is what you need to do.

01:31:52.280 And then I would go back out and get dressed for the show.

01:31:55.380 And then I'd run back out on stage and I do the opening announcements.

01:31:59.320 Right.

01:31:59.600 And then I'd sell the cat ears because we walk around with a tray cat ears,

01:32:02.620 get your cat ears,

01:32:03.500 cat ears,

01:32:03.980 get your cat ears.

01:32:04.900 So then I sell the cat ears,

01:32:06.640 do the opening announcement and then,

01:32:08.880 you know,

01:32:09.380 take the cat ears back.

01:32:10.900 And then I had a friend that was kind of with me who,

01:32:14.820 uh,

01:32:15.500 she didn't,

01:32:16.260 she was just there as like more of a friend.

01:32:18.780 She didn't really know how the show went.

01:32:20.560 She hadn't done any rehearsal.

01:32:22.440 So basically she was kind of at least another body on stage.

01:32:26.820 Oh yeah.

01:32:27.160 It was just pretty much me up there,

01:32:30.020 you know,

01:32:30.440 you know,

01:32:31.060 like,

01:32:31.320 okay,

01:32:31.440 let this cat out now,

01:32:32.460 let this cat out now and grabbing the props when I need them and,

01:32:35.440 and explaining to the audience,

01:32:36.940 like,

01:32:37.220 it's just me up here.

01:32:38.780 And I,

01:32:39.760 you know,

01:32:40.160 I've never done this part before.

01:32:41.840 So I'm like,

01:32:42.900 I'm looking at this long script.

01:32:44.400 I'm going,

01:32:44.760 I'm not going to say all that.

01:32:45.720 I'm just going to wing it.

01:32:46.760 So this is a situation.

01:32:48.020 So I don't know what's going to happen,

01:32:49.660 but we're just going to,

01:32:50.900 you know,

01:32:51.180 enjoy the cats.

01:32:52.000 And,

01:32:52.280 and,

01:32:53.040 and I had,

01:32:53.700 and I learned,

01:32:54.240 I mean,

01:32:54.440 I learned a lot after that experience.

01:32:58.640 I,

01:32:59.100 I changed a lot of our,

01:33:00.220 you know,

01:33:00.420 the way we sell merch.

01:33:01.600 I,

01:33:01.960 I was like,

01:33:02.400 this is insane.

01:33:03.900 So it's like,

01:33:04.740 we're going to make part of this self-serve and,

01:33:06.640 and,

01:33:07.380 you know,

01:33:07.880 just only the,

01:33:09.140 you know,

01:33:09.960 important things that do people have to,

01:33:11.840 you know,

01:33:12.160 dig for to give to the,

01:33:13.880 you know,

01:33:14.020 so,

01:33:14.140 you know,

01:33:14.540 I just,

01:33:14.840 I learned how I learned where some of the,

01:33:17.440 where improvements need to be made.

01:33:19.140 Yeah.

01:33:19.400 Sometimes it's certain things force you in a certain moment,

01:33:22.000 and then that's where you learn the most,

01:33:23.680 which is kind of wild.

01:33:24.600 Yeah.

01:33:24.980 Yeah.

01:33:25.340 And the show,

01:33:25.980 but the show must,

01:33:26.820 the show must go on.

01:33:27.880 I am one of those,

01:33:28.640 like literally,

01:33:30.280 the show must go on.

01:33:31.380 You don't just decide,

01:33:33.200 oh,

01:33:34.200 you know,

01:33:34.660 I'm not,

01:33:35.080 I'm not feeling it today or,

01:33:37.120 I mean,

01:33:37.420 I've done a,

01:33:38.020 like I've had full on sick where I could,

01:33:40.640 I had to talk and whisper,

01:33:41.700 you know,

01:33:41.860 like I'm doing,

01:33:42.860 I've got tea on stage,

01:33:44.780 whispering into the microphone because I can barely,

01:33:47.460 because I barely have a voice,

01:33:49.000 but I'm still doing the best I can.

01:33:51.360 And then immediately going and sleeping and,

01:33:54.140 and resting.

01:33:55.880 It's a lot.

01:33:56.100 Yeah.

01:33:56.480 Oh yeah.

01:33:56.680 Managing yourself and getting all that kind of stuff done is,

01:33:59.080 is a lot.

01:33:59.860 Um,

01:34:01.240 and then having to drive the bus too,

01:34:03.000 you know,

01:34:03.360 I can't even imagine.

01:34:04.700 And still train the cats and raise the babies,

01:34:06.900 the kittens,

01:34:07.940 uh,

01:34:08.440 you know,

01:34:09.060 that we have portable incubators.

01:34:10.380 So,

01:34:11.040 you know,

01:34:11.240 there's bottle,

01:34:11.820 but a lot of times we have bottle babies.

01:34:13.160 And have you ever gotten,

01:34:13.900 uh,

01:34:14.500 stopped by the police and they're like,

01:34:16.120 what's going on here?

01:34:17.980 Uh,

01:34:18.640 very,

01:34:19.240 very rarely.

01:34:20.160 I,

01:34:20.380 it's,

01:34:21.000 you know,

01:34:21.480 I think that it like animals bring out the best in people for the most part.

01:34:26.580 So we've run into so many great people.

01:34:29.860 Out on the road that have been so helpful and have come to our rescue.

01:34:32.820 Well,

01:34:33.180 like,

01:34:33.320 is there ever been a perform,

01:34:34.420 like,

01:34:34.760 uh,

01:34:35.420 a cat that had it all,

01:34:36.600 like a cat that kind of had it all.

01:34:38.660 And then just for some reason,

01:34:40.440 things just kind of fell apart.

01:34:41.640 Like the kind of like the Chris Brown of like cats kind of,

01:34:44.300 well,

01:34:44.920 they,

01:34:45.580 uh,

01:34:46.380 I think we've only had one cat that we were after like a year of trying.

01:34:51.440 I was like,

01:34:52.040 this cat is just not,

01:34:53.080 it's not going to be accurate material.

01:34:54.560 So we were tied,

01:34:55.980 you know,

01:34:56.340 we,

01:34:57.040 uh,

01:34:57.360 we moved him to another,

01:34:58.540 cause I also still train,

01:35:00.220 you know,

01:35:00.680 cats and other animals for film and television.

01:35:02.580 So I'm like,

01:35:03.220 well,

01:35:03.340 this guy,

01:35:03.820 he's got,

01:35:04.420 he's got model qualities.

01:35:05.620 He's a Siamese.

01:35:06.740 He's,

01:35:07.040 he's got the Siamese coloring.

01:35:08.500 So he could get,

01:35:09.320 he could get,

01:35:09.900 you know,

01:35:10.580 commercial work.

01:35:11.500 And so he was transferred to another department.

01:35:15.820 That's fair then.

01:35:17.020 But a lot of the cats,

01:35:18.120 if when they get to that,

01:35:19.100 you know,

01:35:19.380 they decide like,

01:35:20.320 okay,

01:35:20.560 I'm not going to do this.

01:35:21.700 I'm not going to do that.

01:35:22.500 Or when they get older and,

01:35:24.480 you know,

01:35:24.960 and some,

01:35:25.800 if they get joint pain.

01:35:27.220 Oh yeah.

01:35:27.860 And so then I,

01:35:29.780 I scale back on the tricks that I have them do because I certainly don't want

01:35:34.020 them to experience pain.

01:35:36.300 Of course not.

01:35:37.260 Was there ever a trick that you tried to get cats to do?

01:35:39.360 And finally you decided to be like,

01:35:40.380 we can't make this trick work.

01:35:42.840 there it's,

01:35:43.920 there's been some that I've tried because there's,

01:35:47.160 there's,

01:35:48.200 yeah,

01:35:48.680 there's some Russian cat circuses out there that,

01:35:50.820 that are,

01:35:51.540 they're different kind of,

01:35:54.980 I mean,

01:35:55.480 they're,

01:35:56.100 they're,

01:35:56.600 they're sharp.

01:35:57.300 Like,

01:35:57.500 I mean,

01:35:57.760 my cats come out and stretch and groom and just start,

01:36:00.740 it's like hiring family.

01:36:01.920 They're not professional,

01:36:02.800 but you know,

01:36:03.680 I've seen some pretty impressive things with these Russian cat circuses where

01:36:07.860 they really high up in the air or they do this army crawl on the,

01:36:11.500 on,

01:36:11.760 and at one point I was like,

01:36:12.760 I really want to teach this army crawl.

01:36:14.160 But then I looked at it and I was like,

01:36:15.560 how can that possibly be comfortable for the cat?

01:36:18.160 It just,

01:36:18.780 it just doesn't seem like it's,

01:36:21.780 it's,

01:36:22.360 you know,

01:36:23.640 I ended up abandoning,

01:36:25.300 attempting that trick because I,

01:36:27.340 I looked at it and I thought I just,

01:36:30.460 it doesn't seem right.

01:36:31.460 It doesn't,

01:36:32.120 how can that,

01:36:32.820 it's not natural.

01:36:33.640 It's not a natural skill at all.

01:36:35.260 Like balancing on a ball,

01:36:36.800 on a barrel,

01:36:37.840 climbing a rope,

01:36:38.720 jumping down to my back.

01:36:40.140 I mean,

01:36:40.560 those are all cat agility type things and they've got great balance.

01:36:45.240 You know,

01:36:45.860 none of the props are super high up with,

01:36:48.720 you know,

01:36:49.140 Asti,

01:36:49.720 the one that jumps to my back.

01:36:50.920 I mean,

01:36:51.040 that's an eight foot high pole.

01:36:52.660 Yeah.

01:36:53.060 I mean,

01:36:53.420 and she cheats.

01:36:54.940 She crawls down two,

01:36:56.820 three feet and then jumps to my back.

01:36:58.480 I didn't even know until I saw a video clip that she's been cheating the whole time.

01:37:02.580 Yeah.

01:37:02.820 She's not even doing the true job.

01:37:04.280 Like Leah Thomas or whatever.

01:37:05.640 Yeah.

01:37:06.400 I'm like,

01:37:07.100 have you seen these Russian cats jumping 20 feet up in the air down to a pillow?

01:37:11.120 Well,

01:37:11.400 Russia,

01:37:11.860 yeah.

01:37:12.480 Look,

01:37:13.020 it's the same as like when those Russian hamsters came in,

01:37:16.000 it kind of changed the game of hamster sales in our area.

01:37:21.340 I remember that.

01:37:22.300 The Russians are very severe about the dictatorship over animals.

01:37:27.820 Oh yeah.

01:37:28.180 It's a different energy.

01:37:30.640 has there ever been a time where like,

01:37:32.620 like you come back at halftime and the cats are all like just bummed out or they're smoking or whatever.

01:37:38.060 They're just like catnip.

01:37:39.400 They get into the catnip.

01:37:40.240 They get,

01:37:40.560 they get over to that merch table and roll around the catnip.

01:37:43.580 I'm just like,

01:37:44.040 Oh no,

01:37:44.800 it's like,

01:37:45.900 Oh,

01:37:46.060 and they'll go into the audience.

01:37:47.360 And if somebody's bought a catnip toy,

01:37:49.420 they'll dig it right out of the purse.

01:37:51.740 So just take it,

01:37:52.620 just take it.

01:37:53.460 Oh yeah.

01:37:53.960 I mean,

01:37:54.300 and they'll drink their beer.

01:37:55.780 I mean,

01:37:56.080 like Jack's loves beer.

01:37:57.420 So,

01:37:58.100 I mean,

01:37:58.400 everybody's like,

01:37:58.940 hold on to your drinks.

01:38:00.040 Do not give this cat beer.

01:38:01.540 She loves beer.

01:38:02.380 Don't let her drink the beer.

01:38:03.740 Yeah.

01:38:04.240 It's not be a single mother too.

01:38:05.880 Yeah.

01:38:05.900 It's just,

01:38:06.760 you know,

01:38:07.040 just because the cats are always,

01:38:09.400 they're opportunists,

01:38:10.320 you know,

01:38:10.600 they're,

01:38:10.860 they're going to do,

01:38:11.740 you know,

01:38:11.960 they're going to be like,

01:38:12.680 I'm just going to go to the catnip out there.

01:38:14.860 See ya.

01:38:15.640 And I'm,

01:38:16.300 I'm left like,

01:38:17.620 what am I supposed to do here?

01:38:19.280 Like with the,

01:38:20.280 cause Albuquer just like we used the supposed to be the star.

01:38:24.420 He's supposed to have this moment where we do a solo in the middle of the show.

01:38:28.040 Of course.

01:38:28.420 And it's his highlight.

01:38:30.200 And he's just,

01:38:31.480 he's like,

01:38:31.900 they're,

01:38:32.140 they got popcorn out there and PBR.

01:38:34.540 I'm just going to go.

01:38:35.560 And I'm like,

01:38:35.840 what do you mean you're going to go?

01:38:37.260 And he's like,

01:38:37.820 yeah,

01:38:38.020 I'm just going to go.

01:38:38.840 Right.

01:38:39.000 And I'm like,

01:38:39.380 yeah,

01:38:39.500 but this is your moment.

01:38:40.480 He's like,

01:38:40.900 yeah,

01:38:41.060 I'm just going to go.

01:38:41.880 And I'm standing there.

01:38:43.240 The music is starting.

01:38:44.900 I've got,

01:38:45.520 I don't have my solo cat.

01:38:47.260 He's just,

01:38:47.840 he's just gone to the bar to get a PBR and,

01:38:51.380 and,

01:38:51.480 and some popcorn.

01:38:52.860 Uh,

01:38:53.160 and I'm like,

01:38:53.700 send out Dixie.

01:38:54.880 So,

01:38:55.240 so Dixie comes out and does all the tricks just because she had been doing

01:38:59.040 them.

01:38:59.360 You know,

01:38:59.720 she was just,

01:39:00.340 just bam,

01:39:00.900 bam,

01:39:01.120 bam,

01:39:01.360 did the tricks better than he did.

01:39:02.800 So she saved the day.

01:39:03.540 She saved the day,

01:39:04.700 you know,

01:39:05.020 and he comes racing up on stage to try to take over because,

01:39:09.380 Hey,

01:39:09.500 no,

01:39:09.680 I don't want this other cat doing my job,

01:39:11.400 you know?

01:39:12.060 And,

01:39:12.200 and he's,

01:39:12.720 he's just failing because Dixie's just leaping,

01:39:15.780 you know,

01:39:16.240 higher and faster and long doing like,

01:39:18.440 he's like three beats behind everything.

01:39:20.680 So,

01:39:21.080 and that,

01:39:21.720 and at that point,

01:39:22.580 that's when that,

01:39:23.300 that portion of the show turned into a competition.

01:39:25.720 So I had to change that portion and because of that incident.

01:39:30.320 And so I'm all constantly having to change and evolve based on,

01:39:34.060 like we had a cat that got sick,

01:39:35.580 you know,

01:39:37.080 and then something was off.

01:39:38.760 Like the first show we did,

01:39:40.060 I was like,

01:39:40.540 something's wrong with Bowie.

01:39:42.160 So I,

01:39:43.020 you know,

01:39:43.280 I'd whisper to my,

01:39:44.160 you know,

01:39:44.320 like skip,

01:39:45.040 skip this,

01:39:45.760 skip this trick,

01:39:46.580 skip that trick.

01:39:47.220 So then Bowie went to the vet and I had to like rearrange the show and bring out,

01:39:54.880 you know,

01:39:55.360 this cat to cover for,

01:39:56.560 for this trick for Bowie.

01:39:58.300 And,

01:39:58.720 you know,

01:39:59.140 Asti,

01:39:59.520 you're going to be drumming,

01:40:00.720 you know,

01:40:01.180 for both shows.

01:40:02.920 And,

01:40:03.360 you know,

01:40:03.700 Asti's the one that's like the,

01:40:05.460 what the,

01:40:06.140 you know,

01:40:06.560 the one that's always like,

01:40:08.040 what do you,

01:40:08.360 she's like always,

01:40:08.880 what do you got when I get,

01:40:10.020 you know,

01:40:10.200 she has to climb up the pole.

01:40:11.280 Let me see what you got here.

01:40:12.300 Yeah.

01:40:12.480 The eight foot pole and leap to my shoulder where she walks three feet down and then leaps

01:40:17.440 to it.

01:40:17.980 She's like,

01:40:18.500 she literally is like,

01:40:19.420 what do you got?

01:40:19.960 If I don't have tuna or salmon and a good piece,

01:40:22.580 like she'll be like,

01:40:23.680 not doing it.

01:40:24.700 So then I have to go back and get something better and go,

01:40:26.560 how about now?

01:40:27.460 And then she'll do it.

01:40:28.540 Yeah.

01:40:28.680 Did you ever have like any issues where the show couldn't go on or like just issues with

01:40:36.940 some of your performers that made it tough?

01:40:39.160 Like what has been some of that?

01:40:41.700 Well,

01:40:42.280 we,

01:40:42.800 we had an incident where the star,

01:40:45.440 the original tuna disappeared to like three hours before the show.

01:40:50.020 The driver had left a little window open and tuna was nowhere to be found.

01:40:55.360 I mean,

01:40:55.540 I had posters up in 10 minutes.

01:40:58.160 I mean,

01:40:58.700 I'm walking up and down the street,

01:41:00.860 calling,

01:41:01.580 you know,

01:41:02.140 whistling all the things,

01:41:04.320 you know,

01:41:04.540 and you know,

01:41:05.400 tuna is like nowhere to be found.

01:41:07.660 Now it's two hours before showtime.

01:41:09.420 Now it's an hour before showtime.

01:41:10.860 You know,

01:41:11.040 I'm like,

01:41:11.320 what am I going to do?

01:41:11.960 She's the star of my show.

01:41:13.480 Like she is like,

01:41:14.240 this is like tuna.

01:41:16.100 You can't,

01:41:16.860 I mean,

01:41:17.380 she like any of the other cats I can cover for,

01:41:19.780 but I mean,

01:41:20.180 I have to have tuna.

01:41:21.620 Yeah.

01:41:21.920 And,

01:41:22.580 and then I noticed that there's this white cat right next door to the venue we're performing at.

01:41:28.820 And he's behind this wrought iron fence and how now,

01:41:32.740 and I was like tuna.

01:41:35.240 You know,

01:41:35.560 and the cat just looks at me like,

01:41:37.120 I don't know who you're talking,

01:41:38.840 I don't,

01:41:39.280 I don't know any tuna.

01:41:40.600 And I was like,

01:41:42.380 and then I asked the guy,

01:41:43.540 I go,

01:41:43.700 is this your cat?

01:41:44.340 He goes,

01:41:44.720 no.

01:41:45.180 And I'm like,

01:41:46.660 tuna.

01:41:47.640 And still like nothing.

01:41:49.100 Right.

01:41:49.280 So then I went and I got the bell and I put the bell right inside the fence and rang it.

01:41:55.020 And which of course tuna couldn't resist.

01:41:57.000 That was like,

01:41:57.600 Oh,

01:41:57.740 that's my trick.

01:41:58.520 It just,

01:41:59.020 just,

01:41:59.900 you know,

01:42:00.600 can't help it.

01:42:01.380 Like there's one cat that if I hit a piano note,

01:42:03.380 she comes running.

01:42:04.440 So I hit that bell in the cat that kept saying,

01:42:07.480 no,

01:42:07.620 I'm not tuna.

01:42:08.260 I came right over and rang the bell.

01:42:09.780 And I was like,

01:42:10.320 you've been here this whole time.

01:42:12.460 You've seen me running up and down the street panicking.

01:42:15.280 And you're just sitting here acting like you're this guy's pet.

01:42:18.040 When we have a show in like an hour now,

01:42:20.760 and you've just been watching me panic.

01:42:22.940 And you've been here this whole time.

01:42:24.200 And she's like,

01:42:25.880 yeah,

01:42:26.160 I mean,

01:42:26.360 didn't care.

01:42:26.800 Didn't care.

01:42:27.500 Like,

01:42:27.740 yeah,

01:42:28.120 whatever.

01:42:29.400 I'll do,

01:42:30.040 you know.

01:42:30.360 Actors are so hard to deal with.

01:42:32.120 Oh yeah.

01:42:32.580 The cat,

01:42:32.980 I mean,

01:42:33.200 it's,

01:42:33.480 that's most of what I've heard,

01:42:34.800 you know?

01:42:35.320 Yeah.

01:42:35.700 I mean,

01:42:35.920 that's a lot of what I heard.

01:42:37.960 Do they,

01:42:38.580 do the cats do like a halftime at the show or anything?

01:42:40.920 Or is there like a little break?

01:42:42.920 You guys all go back in the locker room or anything like that?

01:42:44.680 Or is it just one full,

01:42:46.080 the show is a,

01:42:47.040 well,

01:42:47.520 it's like,

01:42:47.820 it's like an hour and a half show.

01:42:49.760 Okay.

01:42:50.060 And then we do a meet and greet.

01:42:51.260 So,

01:42:51.540 so it's expanded over the years.

01:42:53.700 Now it's a nine,

01:42:54.560 we've now have a nine piece band.

01:42:56.400 It started out as a three piece band.

01:42:58.320 And then we,

01:42:59.180 you know,

01:42:59.360 we added cowbell and then we added chimes and we added a chicken on cymbal and

01:43:03.380 tambourine.

01:43:04.620 And then we added a horn section.

01:43:06.820 So now we have trumpet,

01:43:08.180 saxophone and clarinet.

01:43:09.200 Oh,

01:43:09.380 it's beautiful.

01:43:10.140 So we have this nine piece band.

01:43:12.120 Of course you gotta have.

01:43:13.620 Yeah.

01:43:13.840 Yeah.

01:43:14.020 Well,

01:43:14.160 people are more demanding now too.

01:43:15.660 People want to see it all.

01:43:16.860 It's,

01:43:17.080 and it's so much fun.

01:43:18.020 I mean,

01:43:18.200 I just love the whole band playing together.

01:43:21.020 Oh,

01:43:21.260 it's beautiful.

01:43:21.720 And then we do the meet and greet.

01:43:22.800 So people get to come up and depending on the size of the venue,

01:43:26.200 if it's up to 150 people can come up and get it,

01:43:29.780 do the meet and greet where they see the cats up close,

01:43:31.760 they can take photos with the band and they get,

01:43:33.980 and also that,

01:43:34.500 that way they can see that because the cats could leave literally if they're not

01:43:38.780 comfortable or they're freaked out,

01:43:40.640 they could just go.

01:43:42.180 I mean,

01:43:42.600 it's a big theater.

01:43:43.360 There's a curtain.

01:43:44.640 They could go in their carrier.

01:43:46.980 They could hide.

01:43:47.720 They could go back to outer space.

01:43:49.920 Also,

01:43:50.460 the fact that they're sitting there posing for a picture and just come,

01:43:54.320 comfortable with the stampede of people coming up to get photos with them.

01:43:58.000 It's a lot shows people also that like that.

01:44:01.500 This is,

01:44:02.120 this is a whole new level of cat.

01:44:04.400 And,

01:44:05.100 and if she can do it and because my cats do fail,

01:44:08.220 I mean,

01:44:08.500 they come out in the room and this,

01:44:10.660 you know,

01:44:10.920 you ever had a cat's fight on stage after the show we've had,

01:44:14.260 there's been some,

01:44:15.220 some issues where we,

01:44:16.880 there's some animosity that I have to keep certain cats separate for sure.

01:44:21.260 It's like strippers.

01:44:22.280 But yeah,

01:44:22.740 it's been,

01:44:23.320 there's been some,

01:44:24.200 some moments where I have to keep,

01:44:25.940 you know,

01:44:26.440 certain ones away.

01:44:27.540 And do you ever have cat jump into the crowd and he'd go after somebody or

01:44:30.660 anything?

01:44:31.060 Yeah.

01:44:31.760 After it was,

01:44:32.440 luckily it was after the show.

01:44:33.640 So there was a little,

01:44:34.560 little incident afterwards and we got them separated.

01:44:37.100 And,

01:44:37.480 but you know,

01:44:38.180 it's,

01:44:38.760 you know,

01:44:39.060 like if we see like the one cat,

01:44:41.700 like everybody knows who doesn't get along with,

01:44:44.420 with somebody.

01:44:45.180 So now we have spotters in the audience that it's like,

01:44:48.280 you know,

01:44:48.660 most of the cats are allowed to go out and wander and do their thing.

01:44:51.840 But if this cat leaves,

01:44:54.520 it's because he's,

01:44:55.960 you know,

01:44:56.500 he's starting some.

01:44:57.200 Yeah.

01:44:57.300 He wants to start something.

01:44:58.480 So bring,

01:44:59.040 you know,

01:44:59.280 make sure this cat comes back,

01:45:00.640 but the others,

01:45:01.140 they,

01:45:01.340 they're free to wander.

01:45:02.340 And,

01:45:02.480 and they,

01:45:03.120 and you know,

01:45:03.580 like I said,

01:45:03.960 it kind of keeps it fun because I never know what they're going to do.

01:45:06.980 I'm constantly having to,

01:45:08.280 to shift things around when,

01:45:10.300 when,

01:45:10.560 yeah,

01:45:10.720 and just make it work on the fly.

01:45:12.860 Yeah.

01:45:13.260 Are people allowed to bring cats to the show?

01:45:15.820 We prefer that they don't.

01:45:17.460 I mean,

01:45:17.600 we've had somebody occasionally sneak one in,

01:45:19.760 but they,

01:45:21.660 you know,

01:45:21.980 and sometimes the service dogs that have to be admitted,

01:45:25.320 we,

01:45:25.460 you know,

01:45:25.840 they,

01:45:26.040 they have to be at least four rows back so that they don't upset the show.

01:45:30.720 Yeah.

01:45:30.940 Yeah.

01:45:32.140 But yeah,

01:45:32.760 that's fair.

01:45:33.540 Yeah.

01:45:34.040 Is there,

01:45:34.580 after the show,

01:45:35.480 you ever celebrate everything?

01:45:36.500 Give the cats a little bit of champagne or anything to kind of enjoy the evening?

01:45:39.620 Kind of.

01:45:40.200 Oh,

01:45:40.460 I mean,

01:45:40.760 well,

01:45:40.920 you know,

01:45:41.220 the catnip parties for sure.

01:45:42.520 They get their,

01:45:43.020 you know,

01:45:43.280 catnip parties and they get the leftover snacks.

01:45:45.320 I mean,

01:45:45.720 we cook fresh chicken,

01:45:47.740 salmon,

01:45:48.340 tuna,

01:45:48.940 turkey,

01:45:49.640 chicken liver.

01:45:50.660 Like they eat better than we do.

01:45:51.920 Like I'm,

01:45:52.280 I'm eating Pringles out of a can.

01:45:54.560 Yeah.

01:45:54.940 That's like a day McCormick and Schmicks they're at or whatever.

01:45:57.280 And they're,

01:45:58.080 they're dining on fresh sushi,

01:46:00.300 like sushi grade tuna.

01:46:01.900 That's lightly seared on both sides,

01:46:03.440 rare in the middle.

01:46:03.920 That's how they like it.

01:46:05.220 Right.

01:46:05.580 And I,

01:46:06.200 and I'm like eating Pringles.

01:46:07.900 I'm like,

01:46:08.240 Oh man,

01:46:08.740 this smells so good.

01:46:10.160 Yeah.

01:46:11.040 It's baffling to me.

01:46:12.740 Is there a lot of competition in the market?

01:46:15.740 I've seen like,

01:46:16.680 there's like meow,

01:46:17.820 good death.

01:46:18.500 I'm trying to think of some of the,

01:46:19.740 or like a scratch box 20.

01:46:22.280 I've seen,

01:46:22.640 there's like some different band,

01:46:23.900 like cat bands that I've seen online,

01:46:25.800 but is there a lot of competition in the market?

01:46:29.240 I mean,

01:46:29.400 you mentioned there's some Russian shows.

01:46:31.100 Yeah.

01:46:31.660 I'm really like the only tourer,

01:46:33.920 touring act that of this nature.

01:46:37.300 That's this,

01:46:38.180 and you know,

01:46:39.280 full on,

01:46:40.680 I mean,

01:46:40.960 there's,

01:46:41.160 there's Gregory Popovich.

01:46:42.680 He's,

01:46:43.060 who's based out of Vegas and he does tour around,

01:46:45.800 like,

01:46:46.400 I think once a year or so,

01:46:48.080 he hits in various places.

01:46:49.640 So he's,

01:46:50.860 he's kind of the only cat,

01:46:53.360 you know,

01:46:53.840 the like regularly touring show.

01:46:56.300 And then there is,

01:46:57.100 and that's a cat show also.

01:46:59.220 It's a cat's dogs,

01:47:00.480 birds,

01:47:00.800 and some other things.

01:47:01.660 Okay.

01:47:01.920 So it's multi-animal.

01:47:02.860 Yeah.

01:47:03.080 Multi,

01:47:03.460 multi animals.

01:47:04.720 So he's pretty well known for his cats and he started it in Branson and then got that Vegas job.

01:47:09.660 So,

01:47:10.200 you know,

01:47:10.440 he's,

01:47:10.720 he's,

01:47:10.980 he's definitely well known for the,

01:47:13.480 for the cats.

01:47:14.160 And then there's the,

01:47:16.040 I think there's some Russian two,

01:47:20.780 two women that do,

01:47:21.980 that do like a,

01:47:23.080 a cat act.

01:47:25.720 You know,

01:47:26.140 I think maybe they have like five cats or such.

01:47:28.440 And they do a lot of the,

01:47:30.120 they do some of the venues that I can't because my cats are,

01:47:35.720 they're not going to want,

01:47:36.840 you know,

01:47:37.020 if I'm in a,

01:47:37.500 if I'm in a hall where there's other things like booths and people always want me to come to these expos and whatnot,

01:47:43.720 I'm like,

01:47:44.200 you guys have like booths and serving food.

01:47:46.640 And my cats,

01:47:47.260 yeah,

01:47:47.480 my cats are like,

01:47:48.800 going to be like,

01:47:49.280 I'm just going to,

01:47:49.900 there's hot dogs over there.

01:47:50.980 I'm just going to go get a hot dog.

01:47:52.360 And why would I see?

01:47:54.260 So,

01:47:54.620 but you know,

01:47:55.460 but there's,

01:47:56.400 but there's definitely a couple of their cats are a lot more like precise because they're within relationship.

01:48:05.300 They have more of a professional relationship type of energy.

01:48:08.280 Yeah.

01:48:08.580 It's just,

01:48:09.200 you know,

01:48:09.640 they,

01:48:09.860 they go,

01:48:10.340 they're carried,

01:48:10.840 they go to their carrier,

01:48:11.740 they come out,

01:48:12.300 they work,

01:48:12.720 they go to their carrier.

01:48:13.420 They're not hanging out and watching television at night with the,

01:48:15.860 with the animals.

01:48:17.000 Right.

01:48:17.220 It's a very,

01:48:18.040 it's almost like being like Russian almost.

01:48:20.640 Yeah.

01:48:21.060 Very Russian people.

01:48:21.900 You know,

01:48:22.180 in Russia,

01:48:22.720 some of the children even have dolls that are made out of stone and you would see kids with like a three or four pound doll.

01:48:27.760 Like that's crazy.

01:48:28.720 But it also at the same,

01:48:29.940 it's like,

01:48:30.760 it teaches you that there's a weight of taking care of someone.

01:48:34.900 So it's,

01:48:35.600 it's just,

01:48:36.080 I mean,

01:48:36.340 I had to make a choice at one point,

01:48:39.220 either I can have a slick show or I can enjoy the,

01:48:42.780 enjoy being with the animals.

01:48:44.400 Right.

01:48:44.740 And I,

01:48:45.460 and I,

01:48:46.060 I'm happy with the choice that I made because people seem to really love the fact that those cats sometimes do it and sometimes don't.

01:48:53.200 And it actually is more encouraging because we sell training kits after the show so people can train their cats.

01:48:59.960 Oh,

01:49:00.140 people can do it at home.

01:49:01.140 Yes.

01:49:01.460 So they,

01:49:01.980 they're inspired to go home and train their own cats.

01:49:05.280 I love that.

01:49:05.680 And,

01:49:05.860 and it has made such a difference.

01:49:07.260 God,

01:49:07.500 that's so important,

01:49:08.520 honey.

01:49:08.860 Yeah.

01:49:09.260 That people,

01:49:10.420 I'll get letters from people and videos or look,

01:49:13.860 you know,

01:49:14.060 look what I trained my cat to do.

01:49:15.560 And,

01:49:15.700 and,

01:49:16.340 you know,

01:49:16.840 seeing your show changed my life.

01:49:18.160 And this relationship that I have with this cat is,

01:49:20.580 is,

01:49:21.100 has completely changed.

01:49:22.300 And the behavioral problems have stopped because I started paying attention and training my cat.

01:49:26.960 So there's so many benefits.

01:49:28.460 There's health benefits.

01:49:29.800 Cause a lot of people just think cats are fucking crazy.

01:49:32.080 Yeah.

01:49:32.440 No,

01:49:32.700 they,

01:49:32.960 they're just,

01:49:33.740 they have all this energy.

01:49:35.020 And if you're keeping them inside,

01:49:36.420 cause you need to,

01:49:37.380 because it's dangerous out there that you need to give them something to do with their brain.

01:49:42.640 Cause some people say they're even from outer space.

01:49:44.260 Do you ever feel anything like that?

01:49:45.740 No.

01:49:46.100 I mean,

01:49:46.760 I,

01:49:47.040 I mean,

01:49:47.540 I think that they're,

01:49:48.480 they're just very independent,

01:49:50.920 intelligent,

01:49:51.520 I mean,

01:49:52.940 smarter than dogs in a way,

01:49:54.360 because,

01:49:54.720 you know,

01:49:55.280 dogs are just like,

01:49:56.000 I'll do whatever.

01:49:56.680 We're cats are grudge holders and very like,

01:50:00.060 no,

01:50:00.400 you know,

01:50:00.680 stubborn.

01:50:01.480 And,

01:50:01.840 you know,

01:50:02.000 you really have to work within,

01:50:03.760 you know,

01:50:04.080 within the cats.

01:50:05.100 You have to make it fun for the cat,

01:50:06.640 for sure.

01:50:07.360 You have to find out what the cat likes to do.

01:50:09.140 I mean,

01:50:09.340 I spent a lot of time just hanging out with the cats,

01:50:12.160 watching them,

01:50:12.920 especially like the group of kittens we have,

01:50:14.820 you know,

01:50:15.100 they're all running around.

01:50:16.060 I'm seeing who's climbing,

01:50:17.800 who's,

01:50:18.040 who's,

01:50:18.480 who's,

01:50:18.980 you know,

01:50:19.340 who's perching,

01:50:20.420 who's,

01:50:20.760 who's using their paw.

01:50:22.580 Like what,

01:50:23.340 what,

01:50:23.600 what is this cat?

01:50:24.540 What,

01:50:24.780 you know,

01:50:25.140 what can this cat do?

01:50:26.280 What,

01:50:26.620 what should I focus on?

01:50:27.800 So I,

01:50:28.580 you know,

01:50:28.740 just by hanging out with the cats and watching what they do,

01:50:30.960 that's how I'm inspired by,

01:50:32.540 to come up with,

01:50:33.340 with a trick to coordinate what,

01:50:35.880 you know,

01:50:36.220 what they can do.

01:50:37.380 Wow.

01:50:38.020 If you had to pick like a Mount Rushmore of like your best performing cats and

01:50:41.940 you had to put four of them on it,

01:50:43.340 obviously tuna,

01:50:44.020 the original tuna is on there.

01:50:45.220 Who else is on there?

01:50:46.080 Uh,

01:50:47.780 boy,

01:50:48.540 the,

01:50:50.360 I mean,

01:50:50.700 Osti is very solid,

01:50:52.360 but slow.

01:50:53.480 So it's just slowly.

01:50:54.900 I mean,

01:50:55.320 just hysterically solid,

01:50:57.780 slow.

01:50:58.800 Bowie is,

01:50:59.360 is pretty,

01:51:00.520 is pretty good.

01:51:02.300 Uh,

01:51:02.460 albacore tuna is solid,

01:51:04.260 but you know,

01:51:04.840 it was kind of riding the,

01:51:05.740 the coattails of,

01:51:06.800 you know,

01:51:06.960 like the original tuna,

01:51:08.040 like he doesn't really feel like he has to prove himself.

01:51:10.800 You know,

01:51:11.160 he's like,

01:51:11.640 I'll do the minimum.

01:51:12.420 And where tuna had a really original tuna had a really great work ethic.

01:51:16.380 That's what's nice.

01:51:17.160 Yeah.

01:51:17.600 Yeah.

01:51:17.760 And that is very nice.

01:51:19.060 And,

01:51:19.520 and then I have,

01:51:20.280 um,

01:51:21.100 Newt is my youngest and she is a mad,

01:51:24.580 just crazy.

01:51:25.640 I mean,

01:51:25.980 I,

01:51:26.660 uh,

01:51:27.480 it's too,

01:51:28.480 I was quarantined with,

01:51:30.120 I had COVID for the first time ever.

01:51:31.820 I was in New Orleans.

01:51:33.100 So it was just her and I,

01:51:34.260 and I had all,

01:51:35.320 I had this time.

01:51:36.060 So I actually was able to do shaping.

01:51:38.160 Yeah.

01:51:38.420 So a lot of times what,

01:51:39.420 cause I'm training fast.

01:51:40.800 And shaping is what?

01:51:41.660 But shaping is when you just sit with clicker and treats and you wait for the cat to do

01:51:45.780 something.

01:51:46.200 And then the cat has to figure out what it is you want to do without any clue.

01:51:51.000 So you let them learn it.

01:51:52.440 I let them learn it.

01:51:53.200 Teach themselves.

01:51:54.040 Yeah.

01:51:54.260 That's really the best way.

01:51:55.520 Yeah.

01:51:55.740 So then they're like,

01:51:56.360 Oh,

01:51:56.460 I heard the click.

01:51:57.440 So,

01:51:58.160 okay.

01:51:58.440 What,

01:51:58.700 you know,

01:51:58.980 like you just see the light come on in their eyes.

01:52:02.420 Once they,

01:52:03.760 you know,

01:52:04.220 that light bulb moment where they get it,

01:52:07.220 they're like,

01:52:07.560 Oh,

01:52:08.180 I think I get it.

01:52:09.000 I thought,

01:52:09.360 you know,

01:52:09.580 cause at first they're just like,

01:52:11.240 what is it that you want?

01:52:12.960 You know,

01:52:13.180 like I just don't get it.

01:52:14.560 And then they hear the click and they're like,

01:52:15.860 okay,

01:52:16.680 something to do with the paw,

01:52:18.140 something to do with this paw,

01:52:19.640 something to do with this keyboard.

01:52:20.820 Oh,

01:52:20.920 I think it's the keyboard.

01:52:22.000 Like,

01:52:22.420 Oh,

01:52:22.700 okay.

01:52:23.060 And you know,

01:52:24.020 you just sit and you just wait.

01:52:25.700 And then they're playing damn stairway to heaven.

01:52:27.120 And then,

01:52:27.580 yeah.

01:52:27.840 And eating lamb.

01:52:28.840 Yeah.

01:52:29.700 And then when you see that light come on and,

01:52:32.000 and they're just,

01:52:33.600 they get it.

01:52:34.800 I mean,

01:52:35.360 so they basically,

01:52:36.040 they learn to learn and then they get creative too.

01:52:39.640 And they'll,

01:52:40.380 they'll come up with their own tricks or,

01:52:42.660 you know,

01:52:42.860 you'll start training them to do one thing and they'll be like,

01:52:44.700 no,

01:52:44.800 I want to do this instead.

01:52:46.260 And I,

01:52:46.820 yeah,

01:52:46.920 I love that about them,

01:52:48.220 the creativity of that,

01:52:49.640 that cats have it at the fact.

01:52:50.840 And,

01:52:51.340 and the fact that they're negotiators too.

01:52:53.320 Cause I mean,

01:52:53.920 once I'm on stage,

01:52:54.900 I'm,

01:52:55.120 I'm like in front of an audience.

01:52:56.400 I can't,

01:52:57.440 I can't like reset and be like,

01:52:58.940 okay,

01:52:59.160 we're going to redo this year and I'm not going to move on with the show until

01:53:02.160 we get this right.

01:53:03.260 I have to just go with the flow and they know that I,

01:53:06.040 you know,

01:53:06.300 they I'm a little stuck.

01:53:08.240 So they'll be like,

01:53:09.220 I'm not going to do this,

01:53:10.000 but I'll do this instead.

01:53:11.280 Oh,

01:53:11.660 I see.

01:53:12.100 And I'm like,

01:53:12.760 okay,

01:53:13.080 that's only the most cat thing I've heard all day.

01:53:15.940 Yeah.

01:53:16.420 I'll do this instead.

01:53:17.160 Yeah.

01:53:17.320 I'll do this instead.

01:53:18.380 Yeah.

01:53:18.600 But I do this instead.

01:53:19.960 We had a guy,

01:53:20.800 we had a corner on,

01:53:21.980 he said that cats would eat people if they passed away.

01:53:24.760 Have you ever heard that?

01:53:26.100 Oh,

01:53:26.300 I totally believe it.

01:53:27.960 I mean,

01:53:28.900 they said,

01:53:29.540 yeah,

01:53:29.660 this guy said a cat could even eat your face within like 30 something hours or

01:53:33.080 something if they wanted to.

01:53:34.160 Oh yeah.

01:53:34.520 I mean,

01:53:34.760 I respect that about cats.

01:53:36.160 A dog will die right along beside you.

01:53:38.500 A cat's going to be like,

01:53:39.540 is she taking her last breath?

01:53:41.180 Maybe I'll start early.

01:53:42.260 But I respect that.

01:53:45.800 I respect that cats are grudge holders too.

01:53:48.700 Like they,

01:53:49.080 you do something that,

01:53:50.200 that they don't like,

01:53:51.520 you know,

01:53:51.920 they like write it in their little book and like,

01:53:54.760 I'm going to remember this.

01:53:56.100 You just did this.

01:53:57.360 And so,

01:53:58.100 yeah,

01:53:58.320 that's,

01:53:58.680 and I,

01:53:59.140 I really do respect that about cats because they are not as forgiving,

01:54:02.660 which is why,

01:54:03.800 you know,

01:54:04.020 you have to really,

01:54:05.900 you know,

01:54:06.320 make it,

01:54:06.880 you know,

01:54:07.140 it can never be forced.

01:54:08.540 It's got to be fun for the cat.

01:54:10.740 And,

01:54:10.980 and like,

01:54:12.440 if they're going to perform,

01:54:14.300 they really,

01:54:14.880 or they mean it.

01:54:16.140 Yeah.

01:54:16.600 Yeah.

01:54:16.720 Cause you're not going to get anything for free out of a cat.

01:54:18.940 Yeah,

01:54:19.220 exactly.

01:54:20.120 And,

01:54:20.440 and you know,

01:54:20.960 but if it's,

01:54:21.500 if it's a high,

01:54:22.440 you know,

01:54:23.360 reward,

01:54:24.080 like if it's a salmon,

01:54:25.420 I mean,

01:54:25.980 it's like,

01:54:26.400 okay,

01:54:26.640 I'm going to drum a little bit more for the salmon than I will for the

01:54:29.600 chicken.

01:54:30.260 You know,

01:54:30.840 with the youngsters,

01:54:31.900 the kittens are like chicken.

01:54:33.060 That's great.

01:54:33.620 We'll do everything.

01:54:34.600 They don't know.

01:54:35.120 Yeah.

01:54:35.300 They don't know.

01:54:35.760 But the season ones,

01:54:36.660 they're like,

01:54:37.020 yeah,

01:54:37.200 let's see what you got here.

01:54:38.500 That chicken,

01:54:38.980 that salmon looks a little dry.

01:54:40.420 You got anything better?

01:54:41.520 Wow.

01:54:42.160 Just,

01:54:42.740 yeah.

01:54:43.160 So,

01:54:43.940 and I've had the cats,

01:54:44.760 that same cat go up that pole four times in a show and just wait up

01:54:49.420 there.

01:54:49.600 And I have to stop the show of,

01:54:52.260 you know,

01:54:52.500 cause I'm at this part of the show and then Oste's back up on that

01:54:55.460 pole because she left instead of going back to her carrier,

01:54:58.780 went back up the pole because she liked the particular cooking that

01:55:01.820 day.

01:55:02.100 The cooking was good that day.

01:55:03.420 So she's like,

01:55:04.240 I want more.

01:55:05.040 So now the show's changed a little.

01:55:06.440 We're going to keep,

01:55:06.920 we're going to do maybe some different things that we might not do.

01:55:08.500 Got it done.

01:55:09.120 Yes.

01:55:09.400 And I got to back,

01:55:10.140 go back over there,

01:55:11.280 get,

01:55:11.920 do assume the position where I'm like leaning over.

01:55:14.640 She does the jump to my back and then sometimes leaves again.

01:55:18.300 Yeah.

01:55:18.700 And then ends up back on that pole and people are like pointing and I'm

01:55:22.080 like,

01:55:22.240 Oh,

01:55:22.400 again.

01:55:23.500 So a lot of it's just watching you work with cats.

01:55:25.740 It's like just the reality is that it's almost impossible what we're

01:55:30.120 going to do our best.

01:55:31.320 Yeah.

01:55:31.580 Yeah.

01:55:31.760 I'm just standing there like my,

01:55:33.540 you know,

01:55:33.800 my arm flung out at this cat grooming and because especially cause I mean,

01:55:39.100 I had probably one of the worst experiences I ever did early on in my

01:55:44.280 career.

01:55:45.020 I got a week long gig in Branson and cause Popovich abandoned Branson for

01:55:51.180 this,

01:55:51.620 for the,

01:55:51.860 for the gig in Vegas.

01:55:54.240 So they had no cat act and they have billboards.

01:55:56.820 People were traveling miles to see that,

01:55:59.120 you know,

01:55:59.320 his,

01:55:59.560 his cats.

01:56:00.300 And so they hired this guy to put together another act to take the place of

01:56:04.980 this.

01:56:05.180 So he,

01:56:06.200 he hired a dog act,

01:56:07.620 a bird act,

01:56:08.680 and then a cat act.

01:56:09.980 And it was,

01:56:11.020 he had,

01:56:11.480 so a Russian,

01:56:12.640 some,

01:56:12.900 a couple of Russian people coming in with cats,

01:56:14.800 but he had one week where he didn't,

01:56:16.680 they weren't available.

01:56:17.660 So he,

01:56:18.220 he brought me in on the advice of somebody who had never seen my show.

01:56:21.740 And then,

01:56:23.600 you know,

01:56:23.760 people are expecting this,

01:56:24.960 you know,

01:56:25.360 these amazing.

01:56:25.720 And this is a big opportunity cause you're coming into Branson.

01:56:28.140 Yeah.

01:56:28.660 Full theater.

01:56:29.660 I mean,

01:56:30.160 tuna ran off stage the very first rehearsal.

01:56:33.020 Oh,

01:56:33.440 it was just,

01:56:34.200 I mean,

01:56:34.980 the,

01:56:35.260 you know,

01:56:35.580 the,

01:56:35.760 the,

01:56:36.080 the guy,

01:56:36.940 he was like,

01:56:37.320 listen,

01:56:37.840 you know,

01:56:38.080 your act is just,

01:56:39.340 I'm not,

01:56:39.840 you're supposed to be the headliner,

01:56:41.160 but you can't be.

01:56:41.840 So I'm going to have to bury you in the middle.

01:56:43.740 And,

01:56:44.160 and then in the meantime,

01:56:45.520 you know,

01:56:45.660 the dog people hated us because we weren't organized.

01:56:48.320 The bird people hated us cause the cats wanted to eat the birds.

01:56:50.940 Yeah.

01:56:51.140 So,

01:56:51.620 and I'm just mortified cause the cats aren't doing anything in that.

01:56:54.900 And the cats are super sensitive.

01:56:56.160 So they're feeling the hate from the audience.

01:56:58.680 Right.

01:56:59.040 You know,

01:56:59.300 cause there people are expecting awesome cats and they're getting

01:57:02.320 Samantha's not so amazing agro cats.

01:57:04.680 And,

01:57:05.120 you know,

01:57:05.780 and I,

01:57:06.300 I mean,

01:57:06.560 I just wanted to slither out of town in the middle of the night,

01:57:08.860 not even collect my fee and go back home.

01:57:11.220 Did you have to end the show early?

01:57:12.360 Well,

01:57:12.760 no,

01:57:13.020 I was,

01:57:13.460 I fulfilled my week.

01:57:14.640 And during that time period,

01:57:15.920 the guy that,

01:57:16.540 that hired me,

01:57:17.880 he gave me all sorts of tips and got help,

01:57:20.580 got me organized and showed me how to play off.

01:57:23.960 You know,

01:57:24.460 like when,

01:57:25.160 you know,

01:57:25.540 when a cat did something,

01:57:26.620 you just commit to it.

01:57:27.940 Like,

01:57:28.100 look at that.

01:57:29.480 The cat's doing nothing,

01:57:30.640 but isn't that great,

01:57:31.800 you know,

01:57:32.180 and,

01:57:32.380 and just really exaggerate the moves,

01:57:35.060 you know,

01:57:35.300 you know,

01:57:35.620 not do no teapot arms.

01:57:37.140 You had to just,

01:57:37.960 you know,

01:57:38.480 bring that excitement.

01:57:39.720 Even though the cat isn't doing anything,

01:57:41.300 you just play it off as that's what it's supposed to do.

01:57:44.140 Look at this fucking cat.

01:57:44.700 Look at this amazing cat.

01:57:46.040 Look at that.

01:57:46.800 Yeah.

01:57:47.600 Go,

01:57:48.080 you know,

01:57:48.460 so we just did the best we could.

01:57:51.180 And then,

01:57:51.780 you know,

01:57:52.320 it was a very long,

01:57:53.320 quiet drive home of like,

01:57:55.700 do I,

01:57:56.080 should I even continue this?

01:57:57.640 It was a hot mess because I,

01:57:58.920 it was an epic fail.

01:58:00.800 Epic fail until,

01:58:02.440 you know,

01:58:02.680 I thought that was the worst until I bombed on Colbert.

01:58:06.480 Oh yeah,

01:58:07.100 I saw that.

01:58:07.960 Oh,

01:58:08.140 that was the worst.

01:58:09.080 Oh,

01:58:09.280 and as soon as,

01:58:09.900 and Nui,

01:58:10.600 as soon as I opened up the carrier,

01:58:12.040 Nui was like,

01:58:13.140 didn't come out to skateboard.

01:58:14.940 And I was like,

01:58:15.820 oh,

01:58:16.200 and she's like,

01:58:16.780 what'd you think was going to happen?

01:58:18.100 And I was like,

01:58:18.660 you jerks,

01:58:19.580 you know,

01:58:19.840 this is our big opportunity for us.

01:58:21.820 We're starting our Kickstarter campaign and you guys are going to do this now?

01:58:25.800 Really?

01:58:26.160 And they're like,

01:58:26.620 oh yeah,

01:58:26.980 they got me good on that.

01:58:29.280 I was just like,

01:58:30.540 but luckily he was a good sport about it.

01:58:32.600 Yeah,

01:58:32.740 I saw he came out and kind of walked on the ball like that.

01:58:35.020 Yeah,

01:58:35.060 he had cat ears on.

01:58:36.360 He kept those cat ears.

01:58:37.260 He put them on occasionally.

01:58:38.580 Oh,

01:58:38.740 that's cool.

01:58:39.380 He was really great.

01:58:40.420 That was awesome.

01:58:41.120 Yeah.

01:58:41.340 I mean,

01:58:41.720 but I only like four tricks out of 10 happened.

01:58:45.780 Do you think you really have any control over the cats?

01:58:47.960 Do you think?

01:58:49.540 It's,

01:58:50.300 I mean,

01:58:52.000 a little bit,

01:58:54.280 but it's really,

01:58:55.460 and I think what went wrong there is that there were two,

01:58:58.680 because they pick up on nervous energy.

01:59:00.480 So if I'm nervous,

01:59:01.640 they're nervous.

01:59:02.180 And then I had all these extra assistants that were like,

01:59:04.440 we want to be on the show.

01:59:05.740 So we had too many people involved,

01:59:07.980 too much energy,

01:59:08.860 and they felt it,

01:59:10.400 and they felt all that nervous energy.

01:59:12.080 So they were like,

01:59:12.700 oh,

01:59:12.860 we can't,

01:59:13.380 we're not going to do,

01:59:14.020 we just can't do this.

01:59:14.920 So just like we really can't do when people want to hire us for an event,

01:59:20.400 and it's a mixed bag of people,

01:59:22.820 like some are cat lovers,

01:59:24.140 some aren't,

01:59:24.940 like my cats feel that energy.

01:59:27.840 They're like,

01:59:28.660 we're,

01:59:29.320 we don't feel the love.

01:59:31.100 So that's why we do the,

01:59:32.540 we rent out a theater.

01:59:34.320 You know,

01:59:34.580 we're not really for hire.

01:59:36.260 Right.

01:59:36.520 It's more,

01:59:37.000 we want cat lovers to come.

01:59:38.620 Yeah.

01:59:38.920 So it's a self-produced show.

01:59:40.200 So I rent out the theater.

01:59:41.640 We do the advertising.

01:59:42.900 We do marketing.

01:59:44.080 We do,

01:59:44.660 you know,

01:59:45.180 do everything from the beginning to end.

01:59:48.280 And,

01:59:48.500 you know,

01:59:49.100 it's hard to find venues that'll even let,

01:59:50.940 you know,

01:59:51.180 that'll let us rent.

01:59:52.080 Oh,

01:59:52.120 for sure.

01:59:52.420 I mean,

01:59:52.580 well,

01:59:52.780 it's hard to find humans that will believe in what you're doing.

01:59:55.340 I mean,

01:59:55.520 I think it's,

01:59:56.320 a lot of people think it's absolutely insane to drive around in a van with 11 cats or something.

02:00:02.080 They think it's insane.

02:00:03.220 Yeah.

02:00:03.420 It's something that you see of like a hoarder or somebody that's a,

02:00:06.880 some freelance Noah'sarchy and type of human,

02:00:13.940 you know,

02:00:14.260 but I think when you see that you love it so much and that your goal or a lot of your goal is something to get these cats into like big time programming and get them fun opportunities if they want,

02:00:25.820 if they want it and also to kind of meet the cats where they are.

02:00:29.200 It's like if they're not,

02:00:31.260 if some of them don't have it,

02:00:32.520 they don't have it.

02:00:33.260 You don't have to tell them that really.

02:00:34.580 You just work with what they are willing to work with.

02:00:36.840 Yeah,

02:00:36.860 exactly.

02:00:37.420 Work within their parameters.

02:00:38.880 Yeah.

02:00:39.120 And then,

02:00:39.560 and,

02:00:39.780 you know,

02:00:39.900 inspiring people to,

02:00:41.240 to train their own cats.

02:00:43.040 And,

02:00:43.300 and I know I've had,

02:00:44.460 I've saved,

02:00:45.380 like I've saved some of my own cats lives just because,

02:00:48.840 because of the training routine.

02:00:50.300 Like,

02:00:50.780 you know,

02:00:51.080 like I would have band practice every time,

02:00:53.180 anytime I cooked the,

02:00:54.520 because the band is set up in the kitchen,

02:00:56.600 anybody,

02:00:57.180 you know,

02:00:57.460 the band comes running and they take their place on their instruments and they start playing because they want,

02:01:02.380 they want treats,

02:01:03.180 you know,

02:01:03.500 they know I'm cooking.

02:01:04.320 What song will they play?

02:01:05.380 It's all free form jazz.

02:01:06.740 It's like their own music.

02:01:08.200 So it's,

02:01:08.680 it's,

02:01:09.000 you know,

02:01:09.300 not all of it,

02:01:10.020 not,

02:01:10.460 not a lot of them are big hits,

02:01:11.820 I would say,

02:01:12.460 but it's their own.

02:01:13.680 I used to live in Alphabet City in New York for a little bit.

02:01:15.580 And you would hear a lot of some of that at certain nights or whatever.

02:01:18.600 But yeah,

02:01:19.120 with the one cat,

02:01:19.880 like my guitar player,

02:01:21.100 she was solid.

02:01:21.860 She's my best guitar player ever.

02:01:23.180 She didn't show up for band practice.

02:01:24.480 Like she always showed up for band practice.

02:01:26.780 And I found,

02:01:27.400 I went looking for,

02:01:28.280 and she was like sitting in front of the fireplace.

02:01:30.280 And,

02:01:30.540 and I even offered her a free,

02:01:31.860 freebie,

02:01:32.400 like,

02:01:32.520 here,

02:01:32.740 how about take this?

02:01:33.600 And she was like,

02:01:34.220 not interested.

02:01:34.880 And I was like,

02:01:35.200 something's wrong with pinky.

02:01:36.340 So I took her to the vet and she had a fever and I might not have noticed

02:01:40.220 anything was wrong for,

02:01:41.500 for several days to the point of where it was too late.

02:01:44.100 But because I had a routine established and because I have a routine

02:01:47.140 established with these cats,

02:01:49.040 you know,

02:01:49.400 even blowing the whistle for feeding time,

02:01:51.200 you can tell within five minutes if something's wrong with somebody,

02:01:54.220 just where they might have a limp,

02:01:55.500 they might be favoring one side of their mouth and they chew,

02:01:58.220 you know,

02:01:58.440 like something's wrong.

02:01:59.980 You know,

02:02:00.480 I,

02:02:00.620 I can,

02:02:01.020 I can tell just because I've,

02:02:02.520 you know,

02:02:03.000 established a routine and it doesn't,

02:02:05.260 you know,

02:02:05.520 you don't have to put together a huge act like I have.

02:02:08.400 You can just,

02:02:09.620 one simple trick,

02:02:11.180 you know,

02:02:11.660 even just the whistle to the carrier will give you all the information you

02:02:14.600 need to know whether or not your cat needs to go to the vet.

02:02:16.880 And now you can take your cat to the vet because it's already oriented to a

02:02:20.740 carrier because when we do fostering and we adopt them out,

02:02:24.200 they're all,

02:02:24.800 they're already all used to traveling.

02:02:26.020 Do you feel like they are the performers or that you are the performer?

02:02:31.220 I,

02:02:31.680 I think that I'm,

02:02:33.000 it's,

02:02:33.280 it's a,

02:02:34.060 it's a combination.

02:02:35.060 We're both,

02:02:35.800 we're,

02:02:35.980 we're,

02:02:36.760 we're,

02:02:37.000 we play off each other.

02:02:38.160 Like,

02:02:38.460 so,

02:02:38.620 so whatever,

02:02:40.120 you know,

02:02:40.560 whatever is happening with them and,

02:02:43.900 you know,

02:02:44.560 we'll,

02:02:45.360 we'll,

02:02:46.060 you know,

02:02:46.580 causes my,

02:02:47.740 you know,

02:02:47.940 so it's,

02:02:48.300 it's,

02:02:48.540 it's both.

02:02:49.240 We're,

02:02:49.560 so we're both performers by definitely the improv thing.

02:02:52.600 It's,

02:02:53.060 I mean,

02:02:53.260 I have to be like,

02:02:54.820 just be on and also,

02:02:57.580 but not nervous either.

02:02:58.600 So,

02:02:59.440 it's,

02:03:00.260 I have to be like,

02:03:00.780 okay,

02:03:01.540 it's going to be fine.

02:03:02.340 It's just,

02:03:02.640 you know,

02:03:02.900 I always tell people,

02:03:03.900 especially new people that are,

02:03:05.340 you know,

02:03:05.700 get a little stage fright that,

02:03:07.620 and I also suffer from stage fright,

02:03:09.540 which really sucks to suffer from stage fright.

02:03:11.900 It's normal.

02:03:12.520 Yeah.

02:03:12.880 So I'm like,

02:03:13.480 oh,

02:03:13.840 it's very normal.

02:03:14.700 You know,

02:03:15.020 I had to kind of shove myself out there because there's the part of me that there's,

02:03:20.380 there's the,

02:03:21.020 there's the nurturer,

02:03:22.040 the bottle raise,

02:03:22.940 you know,

02:03:23.240 the,

02:03:23.440 the shy girl,

02:03:24.640 because I mean,

02:03:25.200 I was the,

02:03:25.660 the shy outcast growing up.

02:03:27.660 So there's still that shy little outcast in,

02:03:31.100 in,

02:03:31.540 in me that's taking,

02:03:32.640 that's a nurturer.

02:03:33.660 But then there's,

02:03:34.680 you know,

02:03:34.980 Samantha,

02:03:35.700 the show person.

02:03:36.700 Right.

02:03:37.000 And I don't even know where she is.

02:03:38.600 She's probably drinking at the bar.

02:03:40.200 I don't know,

02:03:41.260 but I'm like,

02:03:41.920 where is she?

02:03:42.520 Is she going to show up?

02:03:43.260 I have to go out there.

02:03:44.160 I don't even know what,

02:03:45.300 what she's going to show up,

02:03:46.980 you know?

02:03:47.300 And then I get out there and then bam,

02:03:49.980 the cats start.

02:03:51.320 And,

02:03:51.720 and,

02:03:52.040 and then there's that part of my personality that can,

02:03:55.400 they can pull it off.

02:03:56.420 And I'm like,

02:03:56.800 oh,

02:03:57.160 thank God you showed up.

02:03:58.100 I didn't know where you were.

02:03:59.180 She's like,

02:03:59.460 I was at the bar,

02:04:00.180 you know,

02:04:00.480 you know,

02:04:01.160 I'd show up.

02:04:02.500 Will you have a cocktail for you?

02:04:03.880 Go on stage.

02:04:04.280 Usually.

02:04:05.700 I'll have a little bit of,

02:04:06.200 I'll have a glass of wine.

02:04:07.500 you gotta have fun.

02:04:08.800 Yeah.

02:04:09.220 Yeah.

02:04:09.520 Well,

02:04:09.780 it's just mainly to just,

02:04:11.720 you know,

02:04:12.160 so I'm relaxed and,

02:04:14.140 and then the cat,

02:04:15.260 you know,

02:04:15.400 so the cats are relaxed.

02:04:16.800 Oh yeah.

02:04:17.040 There's videos of cats even drinking wine,

02:04:18.980 but do cats care if you use profanity or drink around them?

02:04:22.500 No,

02:04:22.760 they,

02:04:23.500 they,

02:04:24.120 I mean,

02:04:25.100 they use profanity and,

02:04:27.740 you know,

02:04:27.900 in their own little world,

02:04:29.000 they,

02:04:29.240 they drink and smoke and do all the things.

02:04:31.520 I mean,

02:04:31.820 Asti's always seems as high as a kite on weed,

02:04:34.960 you know,

02:04:35.200 like a puff of smoke comes out of her carrier.

02:04:37.580 You know,

02:04:37.800 we all kind of see it because,

02:04:39.280 you know,

02:04:40.100 you just like Albuquerque with the popcorn and the PBR.

02:04:42.980 Of course,

02:04:43.380 he was not really holding a PBR and chugging it and popcorn and his other,

02:04:47.420 I mean,

02:04:47.580 they don't have opposable thumbs.

02:04:48.800 They can't really do that.

02:04:50.180 But,

02:04:50.680 you know,

02:04:50.940 I painted a picture and we all saw that.

02:04:53.340 Like we all saw him walking down the aisle with popcorn and,

02:04:56.860 and a PBR because he's got terrible taste in beer.

02:05:00.160 You know,

02:05:00.460 we all knew that he would chug that PBR,

02:05:03.120 you know,

02:05:03.580 before coming up on stage to try to take back what Dixie stole.

02:05:07.460 And,

02:05:08.460 you know,

02:05:09.340 and,

02:05:09.560 and everybody that's on the road,

02:05:12.000 because we're,

02:05:12.580 we're,

02:05:13.140 we're in this 45 foot by eight by five foot space with these cats and we're

02:05:18.020 days on end,

02:05:19.660 you know,

02:05:19.980 just,

02:05:20.340 just us.

02:05:20.880 It's kind of like,

02:05:21.560 you know,

02:05:22.060 Tom Hanks and Castaway with Wilson,

02:05:24.460 you know,

02:05:24.680 they,

02:05:25.180 you know,

02:05:25.380 we have whole backstories and you know,

02:05:28.940 where the cats,

02:05:29.720 we,

02:05:29.880 we know what,

02:05:30.760 you know,

02:05:31.280 what school they went to,

02:05:32.560 what they majored in,

02:05:33.480 what their,

02:05:33.960 what their job was,

02:05:35.500 you know,

02:05:35.720 they all worked at the mall at one point.

02:05:37.860 No,

02:05:38.060 I think it's fascinating.

02:05:39.100 It's important.

02:05:39.780 And it's important to build a world of whatever,

02:05:41.880 for whatever your world is that you live in,

02:05:45.380 you know,

02:05:46.620 it's important to add characteristics to things and make them,

02:05:51.600 bring them more alive.

02:05:52.640 You know,

02:05:53.060 I think that's really interesting.

02:05:54.520 And personalize them.

02:05:55.380 Because,

02:05:55.740 you know,

02:05:55.900 we do a calendar every year with their likes and dislikes and their fun facts.

02:06:00.200 And is there ever any sex between the animals or do you ever engage?

02:06:03.580 You ever see any stuff like that?

02:06:05.160 I mean,

02:06:06.000 the,

02:06:06.420 all of our,

02:06:06.880 all of our cats are spayed and neutered because it would be really irresponsible,

02:06:11.020 especially once I got involved in,

02:06:12.540 in rescue to,

02:06:14.180 you know,

02:06:15.500 they don't,

02:06:16.460 they decapitate the wean or like,

02:06:18.820 do they?

02:06:19.300 No,

02:06:19.660 it's the testicles.

02:06:20.840 So,

02:06:21.020 Oh,

02:06:21.060 they take the testicles off.

02:06:22.060 Yeah,

02:06:22.280 the testicles.

02:06:23.280 It's a less invasive surgery than the spay.

02:06:24.960 The spay they actually have to cut,

02:06:26.420 you know,

02:06:26.740 like open and,

02:06:27.980 and it's,

02:06:28.940 yeah,

02:06:29.260 it's,

02:06:29.620 but it's,

02:06:29.960 it's so important.

02:06:30.740 There's so many,

02:06:32.060 you know,

02:06:32.380 and we lost so much ground with COVID,

02:06:34.160 you know,

02:06:34.380 as far as the TNR programs,

02:06:35.900 because I,

02:06:36.180 because I work,

02:06:36.920 I have a lot of friends that are involved with TNR,

02:06:39.320 which is really,

02:06:40.240 you know,

02:06:40.500 What's TNR?

02:06:41.440 Trap,

02:06:41.880 neuter return.

02:06:43.220 So,

02:06:43.700 you know,

02:06:44.080 if you want to have an interesting guest on,

02:06:45.960 this guy,

02:06:46.440 Sterling,

02:06:47.020 the trap king,

02:06:48.300 he,

02:06:48.780 he does TNR.

02:06:51.220 And I mean,

02:06:52.160 they,

02:06:52.740 they go out there,

02:06:53.640 they set these traps because there's cats that are not going to be indoor cats.

02:06:57.140 They've been living outside.

02:06:58.160 They're street cats,

02:06:59.040 but they're also reproducing.

02:07:00.960 And then now you're going to have a hundred of the cats.

02:07:03.300 They're out there smashing,

02:07:03.780 dude.

02:07:03.940 If you leave the windows open,

02:07:04.940 you can hear it.

02:07:05.440 It's just on and on.

02:07:06.840 And so something has to be done.

02:07:08.460 So guys like,

02:07:09.220 you know,

02:07:09.600 Sterling comes in,

02:07:10.700 they come in with traps.

02:07:12.240 They get permission from the,

02:07:13.480 from the complex of the owner and they come in,

02:07:16.400 they set the traps up and they can't just leave.

02:07:19.320 They can't just set the trap and leave.

02:07:21.120 They have to,

02:07:22.020 because otherwise when the,

02:07:23.680 when the cat gets trapped,

02:07:25.340 you know,

02:07:25.720 if the sun,

02:07:26.300 you know,

02:07:26.600 inclement weather,

02:07:28.240 they got to mill around.

02:07:29.720 They got to mill around.

02:07:30.780 And they're going to wait to see,

02:07:31.920 to catch this cat.

02:07:33.080 And then they have to get it over to the place.

02:07:36.020 That's going to do the surgery at six in the morning.

02:07:39.560 I mean,

02:07:39.960 it's a huge dedication.

02:07:41.500 Crap new to return.

02:07:42.460 I got to look into that.

02:07:43.920 Yeah.

02:07:44.260 Yeah.

02:07:44.800 Have you ever had PETA come out and say anything about your show?

02:07:47.200 Have you ever had any issues like that or no?

02:07:48.740 Any,

02:07:49.060 we had one person come in California,

02:07:51.520 California,

02:07:52.120 one picketer.

02:07:53.260 Yeah.

02:07:53.420 But it's that,

02:07:54.320 it's,

02:07:54.720 you know,

02:07:55.160 and then they,

02:07:56.080 they left two hours before the show even started.

02:07:58.540 And anytime somebody has attacked me on social media,

02:08:02.480 we,

02:08:02.720 I have like a thousand people that come back with,

02:08:05.800 have you ever seen her show?

02:08:07.320 If you saw her show,

02:08:08.260 you would see that these cats are her family.

02:08:10.720 They're her,

02:08:11.440 that they're loved,

02:08:12.220 that they are not abused.

02:08:13.080 They're not being forced,

02:08:14.100 that they,

02:08:14.700 they literally are doing what they want to,

02:08:16.960 what they want to do.

02:08:18.020 They're,

02:08:18.520 they're free to leave.

02:08:19.680 I mean,

02:08:19.980 they are,

02:08:20.820 their carriers are open.

02:08:21.900 There's a whole theater for them to explore.

02:08:23.640 Some of them do.

02:08:24.640 Sometimes people will start laughing.

02:08:25.920 I'm like,

02:08:26.200 what's going on?

02:08:27.220 They've gone up to the second level and they're doing stuff off with the

02:08:30.680 props up there and just,

02:08:32.000 just exploring.

02:08:33.600 You know,

02:08:33.840 I'm like,

02:08:34.380 there's a show going on guys.

02:08:36.960 There's a show going on.

02:08:37.780 I was like,

02:08:38.000 yeah,

02:08:38.200 but there's a piano up here.

02:08:39.620 You know,

02:08:39.840 there's a piano up here.

02:08:40.900 And I'm like,

02:08:41.600 yeah,

02:08:41.800 I saw the piano earlier,

02:08:43.060 but we're doing a show right now.

02:08:45.100 And on,

02:08:45.940 and I mean,

02:08:46.500 I saw,

02:08:47.020 I have these conversations with the cats and most of the time they don't,

02:08:50.620 the audience doesn't hear,

02:08:52.380 but every once in a while,

02:08:53.360 they'll hear my part of it where I'll just have just,

02:08:56.040 I'll just be like,

02:08:56.780 I'm just,

02:08:57.700 you know,

02:08:58.120 like I am for this stops now because it was like Albuquerque.

02:09:03.060 We had been practicing his opening thing.

02:09:05.120 He comes out,

02:09:05.700 he turns on a light that starts the show.

02:09:07.760 We rehearsed it.

02:09:08.780 We did it every day for weeks.

02:09:10.380 He knows what to do.

02:09:11.820 Showtime comes along and he's like,

02:09:13.980 I just,

02:09:15.240 and I,

02:09:15.540 and so I'd have to turn it on for him.

02:09:17.160 And then the day came,

02:09:18.380 he comes out and he's just like,

02:09:19.560 and I'm like,

02:09:20.780 Oh no,

02:09:21.400 you don't.

02:09:23.580 Enough.

02:09:24.120 You know how to do this.

02:09:25.440 You have been doing this trick for weeks on end.

02:09:28.420 You know what to do.

02:09:29.400 And he's like,

02:09:29.900 what are you doing?

02:09:31.060 You know,

02:09:31.360 of course they don't hear that part.

02:09:32.500 You know,

02:09:32.700 he's like,

02:09:32.980 what are you doing?

02:09:33.600 I go,

02:09:34.300 he's like,

02:09:34.820 you're embarrassing me.

02:09:35.660 Oh,

02:09:36.020 I'm embarrassing you.

02:09:37.860 You're the one embarrassing me.

02:09:39.100 I'm the one looking like a crazy person talking to herself up here when you know how very well how to turn on this light.

02:09:44.700 And,

02:09:45.100 and he's like,

02:09:45.700 okay,

02:09:46.060 all right,

02:09:46.460 fine.

02:09:46.760 Just stop.

02:09:47.320 I'll do,

02:09:47.700 I'll do it.

02:09:48.240 So he went and he turned on the light.

02:09:50.740 And after that,

02:09:51.540 we never,

02:09:52.040 we didn't have a problem.

02:09:53.480 You know,

02:09:54.980 we had that little moment of like,

02:09:56.360 okay,

02:09:56.540 we're going to talk about this right now.

02:09:58.420 You're going to,

02:09:58.940 you know how to do this.

02:10:00.220 You're going to do it.

02:10:00.820 I'm not going to keep doing it for you.

02:10:03.220 And every once in a while he goes back into he,

02:10:06.220 now he has this whole weird little routine where he comes out,

02:10:09.620 he does a little dolphin thing.

02:10:11.100 Cause when he comes up,

02:10:11.920 you'll see,

02:10:12.260 he likes to dolphin.

02:10:13.380 So he's like,

02:10:13.940 Oh,

02:10:14.060 I need a little extra,

02:10:15.240 you know,

02:10:15.520 let me just dolphin a couple of times.

02:10:17.040 And he goes out and he almost hits it and he thinks he's gotten it.

02:10:19.920 And I'm like,

02:10:20.520 you didn't get it.

02:10:21.480 And he's like,

02:10:21.780 Oh,

02:10:21.880 I totally did.

02:10:22.480 I go,

02:10:22.720 no,

02:10:22.880 you didn't.

02:10:23.280 It's like,

02:10:23.600 it's still,

02:10:23.960 it's not on.

02:10:25.600 And he,

02:10:26.080 and he's like,

02:10:26.600 are you sure?

02:10:27.160 And I'm like,

02:10:27.420 yeah,

02:10:27.540 I'm really sure.

02:10:29.080 And he'll go back out there and,

02:10:30.700 and,

02:10:31.480 you know,

02:10:31.720 and he'll finally,

02:10:32.600 you know,

02:10:32.900 he'll get it,

02:10:33.540 but it has to be just right.

02:10:35.040 If it's too hard to turn on,

02:10:36.860 he won't do it.

02:10:37.680 Right.

02:10:38.040 And if it's too easy,

02:10:39.060 he'll just breathe on it or he'll use his chin.

02:10:41.460 And I'm like,

02:10:42.120 you cheater,

02:10:43.300 you cheater.

02:10:44.200 You just,

02:10:44.740 you know,

02:10:45.000 but people still love it.

02:10:46.540 Like I said,

02:10:47.200 it,

02:10:47.420 it,

02:10:47.720 yeah.

02:10:48.180 Yeah.

02:10:48.400 It's somebody being,

02:10:49.400 it's just seeing somebody being around cats is,

02:10:52.680 you know,

02:10:53.480 because there's a level of insanity to it for some people.

02:10:56.020 Cause they can't imagine it.

02:10:57.660 But the fact that you love it,

02:10:59.320 I think is what makes it so important.

02:11:01.040 And the fact also that you guys are,

02:11:03.220 um,

02:11:04.340 helping getting cats in homes,

02:11:05.940 you know,

02:11:06.240 I didn't even believe in cats.

02:11:07.460 I remember at first somebody told me about a cat or something.

02:11:09.700 And I was like,

02:11:10.780 what the fuck are you talking about?

02:11:12.680 When I was a kid,

02:11:13.400 you know,

02:11:13.640 I was like,

02:11:15.320 you know,

02:11:16.120 what are you even fucking talking about?

02:11:18.060 The cats are so amazing.

02:11:19.260 I just,

02:11:19.700 I mean,

02:11:20.020 I love them so much.

02:11:22.360 And it's so too.

02:11:24.960 I mean,

02:11:25.520 I mean,

02:11:26.600 cause I'll have the worst show.

02:11:27.580 I'll feel like I just had the worst show ever.

02:11:29.100 And people come up and like,

02:11:29.980 this is the best show I've ever seen.

02:11:32.160 And on the joy that people have,

02:11:34.240 you know,

02:11:34.620 they're like,

02:11:34.980 I haven't smiled.

02:11:35.760 I haven't,

02:11:36.140 you know,

02:11:36.340 I was going through cancer and I haven't smiled in three years.

02:11:39.160 And this is the first time I've smiled.

02:11:41.240 And,

02:11:41.520 you know,

02:11:41.820 I get letters from,

02:11:43.180 you know,

02:11:43.420 like my,

02:11:44.000 you know,

02:11:44.340 divorced couples.

02:11:45.280 It's like,

02:11:45.620 I,

02:11:45.800 I brought my daughter to see your show.

02:11:47.760 And the very week,

02:11:48.680 you know,

02:11:48.840 we got your training kit.

02:11:50.060 But the next week I went over to the house and I,

02:11:52.780 I paid for,

02:11:53.520 I paid my admission price and my daughter had set up a whole little cat circus in the basement.

02:11:58.580 And it's like,

02:11:58.960 I still hate Stanley,

02:12:00.080 but I love those cats.

02:12:01.140 Yeah.

02:12:01.640 Yeah.

02:12:02.240 So yeah.

02:12:03.340 It's a joy.

02:12:04.260 It's look,

02:12:05.260 it's fascinating.

02:12:06.480 I think it's fascinating.

02:12:07.440 I think it's fascinating to get to sit here with you,

02:12:09.280 Samantha Martin,

02:12:10.100 and to learn about Acro Cats.

02:12:11.820 You guys are going on tour,

02:12:13.620 right?

02:12:14.220 We'll put the links to where they can find you guys' tour.

02:12:17.100 Where is it?

02:12:18.400 Oh,

02:12:18.940 the website.

02:12:19.920 Oh,

02:12:20.180 rockcatsrescue.org.

02:12:22.140 Rockcatsrescue.org.

02:12:23.160 You can find the tour for Samantha and the amazing Acro Cats.

02:12:27.100 And we're going to get a couple of cats up here.

02:12:29.020 Yeah.

02:12:29.220 Yeah.

02:12:29.400 We've got some cats and some kittens,

02:12:30.960 some foster kittens too.

02:12:31.840 Two that are possibly going to be joining the team.

02:12:36.540 And right now we have 10 foster kittens,

02:12:38.940 which is a lot.

02:12:39.280 Oh,

02:12:39.380 wow.

02:12:40.100 Yes.

02:12:41.180 The portal is open.

02:12:42.600 Yeah.

02:12:42.900 So I,

02:12:43.560 I mean,

02:12:44.580 I have them all stationing.

02:12:45.960 I have all these little like stools and things.

02:12:49.380 So they're all trained to go and,

02:12:51.000 you know,

02:12:51.120 it's called,

02:12:51.540 I call it the lion pyramid of kittens.

02:12:53.740 So,

02:12:54.280 you know,

02:12:54.560 the,

02:12:54.880 I have,

02:12:55.540 they'll all just come racing in and then assemble,

02:12:58.760 you know,

02:12:59.120 on their various platform.

02:13:00.600 Oh,

02:13:00.740 yeah.

02:13:01.000 And then we'll have it assigned,

02:13:01.700 and this is adopt us that,

02:13:03.320 that,

02:13:03.680 you know,

02:13:03.980 we put behind them and,

02:13:05.220 and it's,

02:13:05.680 and it's just,

02:13:06.540 it's just chaos initially.

02:13:08.140 And then eventually they all find their place and they sit and they sit

02:13:11.120 pretty and they do their thing.

02:13:12.280 So it is,

02:13:13.060 you know,

02:13:13.260 like I said,

02:13:13.780 and it's just,

02:13:14.580 I,

02:13:15.360 I,

02:13:15.540 I love training and watching them learn.

02:13:18.040 Oh,

02:13:18.220 a hundred percent.

02:13:18.880 Come on.

02:13:19.640 And,

02:13:20.160 and just,

02:13:21.160 it,

02:13:21.540 it's such a,

02:13:23.100 it's a completely different cat than the cat that's never paid attention to,

02:13:28.500 or just,

02:13:29.640 you know,

02:13:30.120 bowl of food is left out 24 seven.

02:13:32.220 And,

02:13:32.680 and all that,

02:13:33.660 when cats are capable of so much more,

02:13:35.460 I just,

02:13:35.780 you know,

02:13:36.020 just spend 10 minutes a day with your cat.

02:13:38.200 All it takes is,

02:13:39.440 you know,

02:13:39.800 this is your family member and 10 minutes a day.

02:13:42.560 It isn't too much to ask just to,

02:13:44.960 you know,

02:13:45.280 and it really enriches.

02:13:46.780 Yeah.

02:13:47.060 That's definitely fair.

02:13:47.920 Some people think cats are,

02:13:49.760 they don't know.

02:13:50.660 They don't know what they are,

02:13:51.720 even if they have them.

02:13:53.160 But you're saying that there's a lot more to cats that people aren't seeing

02:13:56.620 and investigating and that they can spend a little bit more time and do

02:13:59.300 that.

02:13:59.820 Yeah,

02:14:00.200 exactly.

02:14:00.740 And then less of them be left behind when,

02:14:02.900 you know,

02:14:03.240 well,

02:14:03.620 I got to move and the place isn't allowed.

02:14:05.280 Well,

02:14:05.400 you find a place that allows.

02:14:06.420 Cats will stay though,

02:14:07.600 too.

02:14:07.900 Cats will,

02:14:08.800 I'm not moving and they'll stay.

02:14:10.780 So sometimes people do leave their cats.

02:14:12.800 Sometimes cats leave the people too.

02:14:15.340 Yeah.

02:14:15.540 Well,

02:14:15.880 that,

02:14:16.120 that is,

02:14:16.660 you know,

02:14:16.860 but if a person developed that relationship,

02:14:19.040 then that,

02:14:20.160 that cat is going to want to go wherever,

02:14:21.820 wherever you go like that.

02:14:23.640 Like my,

02:14:24.060 is that true?

02:14:24.620 Yeah.

02:14:24.980 Oh,

02:14:25.200 absolutely.

02:14:25.620 If you,

02:14:26.340 and if you just invest a little bit of time in your cat,

02:14:28.700 then they're definitely going to want to stay with you.

02:14:31.480 I mean,

02:14:31.920 they,

02:14:32.620 you know,

02:14:32.880 that when,

02:14:33.580 you know,

02:14:33.800 when tour time comes around and it,

02:14:36.120 I mean,

02:14:36.560 they definitely,

02:14:37.880 I don't want to be left behind.

02:14:39.020 I want to be left behind.

02:14:40.340 Something's happening.

02:14:41.120 Something's happening.

02:14:41.780 And they,

02:14:42.200 they really,

02:14:43.080 I mean,

02:14:43.520 they,

02:14:43.720 they want to go.

02:14:44.460 Yeah.

02:14:44.560 They want to go.

02:14:45.240 They'll love the attention.

02:14:46.160 They love,

02:14:46.940 you know,

02:14:47.180 they,

02:14:47.440 I mean,

02:14:47.600 they had the back third of the buses all decked out for the cats.

02:14:50.180 Oh,

02:14:50.620 they have the,

02:14:51.540 add in some pictures.

02:14:53.340 Yeah.

02:14:53.460 I mean,

02:14:53.740 I mean,

02:14:53.760 some cats are performers.

02:14:56.120 Some cats are who knows,

02:14:59.040 you know,

02:14:59.400 I think there's a lot to know about cats and I don't know a lot of it,

02:15:02.200 but I'm grateful to just sit here and,

02:15:05.280 and hear about it today and to know what's going on,

02:15:08.640 that there's cats out there.

02:15:09.920 There's something about knowing there's cats out there,

02:15:11.400 traveling the globe,

02:15:12.780 performing at night.

02:15:13.560 That kind of keeps me going.

02:15:15.360 Let's get a couple of cats up here and see,

02:15:17.120 let's see what we can see.

02:15:18.780 So there's a lot of,

02:15:19.860 there's a lot of work that take,

02:15:21.580 that goes into training,

02:15:23.320 training an animal.

02:15:25.180 Yeah.

02:15:25.640 That's fascinating.

02:15:26.800 Especially cats because you have to acclimate them to so many different

02:15:29.160 things.

02:15:31.740 Yeah.

02:15:32.180 Most people think a cat is just crazy,

02:15:34.180 but it's,

02:15:37.140 it can be more than that.

02:15:38.980 What?

02:15:40.520 Wow.

02:15:43.640 Dude,

02:15:44.120 that's great.

02:15:44.940 Oh my God.

02:16:00.100 Oh,

02:16:00.740 wow.

02:16:01.300 That's sexy.

02:16:03.180 All right.

02:16:03.620 All right.

02:16:05.160 Try the small one.

02:16:06.760 It's really.

02:16:07.960 Tuna.

02:16:08.560 Tuna.

02:16:10.240 Whoa.

02:16:11.980 Gosh,

02:16:12.560 she's bad.

02:16:13.200 And then I'll see girly gets a good hype on this one.

02:16:17.340 All right.

02:16:17.600 Tuna.

02:16:17.980 Hop.

02:16:18.520 Hop.

02:16:19.520 Hop.

02:16:20.000 There you go.

02:16:21.180 Hop.

02:16:22.540 Okay.

02:16:23.120 Hop.

02:16:23.560 Hop.

02:16:23.740 Hop.

02:16:26.340 Hop.

02:16:27.700 Oh,

02:16:28.200 that's a party cat.

02:16:29.700 Wow.

02:16:31.420 It's clean.

02:16:32.360 That cat's clean,

02:16:33.220 huh?

02:16:34.040 Yeah.

02:16:35.180 What do y'all clean it with?

02:16:37.380 Oh.

02:16:38.700 Oh,

02:16:39.380 wow.

02:16:39.880 Oh,

02:16:40.320 that one.

02:16:42.960 Oh,

02:16:43.840 they could work at AutoZone,

02:16:46.040 dude.

02:16:46.200 That's unbelievable.

02:16:47.620 Oh yeah.

02:16:47.880 We did it.

02:16:48.320 We did a car commercial really early on.

02:16:51.200 It was hysterical with the cats.

02:16:54.000 Tuna,

02:16:54.480 Tuna,

02:16:55.520 Tuna.

02:16:55.980 I think you were late on that tree.

02:16:57.240 I'm out of here.

02:16:59.040 We can bring up the kitten.

02:17:00.280 Yeah.

02:17:00.480 Where's the chicken?

02:17:01.940 Yeah.

02:17:02.380 The chicken's here.

02:17:04.280 Wow.

02:17:04.760 This is neat.

02:17:05.660 I didn't know that an animal could do something like that.

02:17:12.540 Do you want Twix to jump over the hotel?

02:17:16.560 Oh,

02:17:17.400 she could be a night manager at a motel.

02:17:20.020 Twix,

02:17:20.560 possible future acro cat.

02:17:22.760 I have anything again.

02:17:23.860 Oh,

02:17:24.420 you cheated.

02:17:25.380 You gotta clear it.

02:17:26.880 You gotta clear it.

02:17:29.480 It was nice for you not to beat up the kitten.

02:17:33.240 Let's try it again.

02:17:34.060 Get a running start.

02:17:34.660 Get a running start.

02:17:35.660 Get a running start.

02:17:38.260 Get a running start.

02:17:39.500 You're kind of cheating there.

02:17:42.440 So,

02:17:42.960 the goal is for,

02:17:44.880 we would click once,

02:17:47.560 he clears it without stepping on it.

02:17:49.680 Oh,

02:17:50.160 I see.

02:17:50.560 So,

02:17:50.720 he wants to,

02:17:51.200 the click reinforces the exact movement that you want.

02:17:54.800 So,

02:17:55.240 he's cheating or he's just taking it easy?

02:17:57.300 Well,

02:17:57.700 he doesn't,

02:17:58.140 he hasn't quite gotten it yet.

02:17:59.320 He's still in the training.

02:18:00.720 Like,

02:18:00.900 I just started working on this two days ago.

02:18:02.860 Mm-hmm.

02:18:03.620 Yeah,

02:18:03.840 crush it.

02:18:04.160 I have to send the,

02:18:05.500 the clip of the skateboarding that we've been working on.

02:18:08.260 Because it was one day of,

02:18:09.540 one day of training with the skateboard.

02:18:12.280 Yeah,

02:18:12.720 these cats are really chilling out here now.

02:18:15.840 Yeah.

02:18:17.100 Damn,

02:18:17.600 it's like a dang strip club in here.

02:18:19.460 there.

02:18:22.420 Wow.

02:18:22.900 Here we go.

02:18:23.420 Here we go.

02:18:23.500 Here we go.

02:18:24.060 Here we go.

02:18:24.640 Here we go.

02:18:25.220 Here we go.

02:18:25.720 Here we go.

02:18:26.640 Okay.

02:18:27.920 Here we go.

02:18:29.300 This is the most cats we've ever had at once time.

02:18:33.440 Anywhere.

02:18:37.700 That's the best.

02:18:40.020 Here we go.

02:18:40.560 Down here.

02:18:41.540 Here we go.

02:18:41.800 So that's Samantha.

02:18:42.460 He's trying to take us off.

02:18:43.340 Oh.

02:18:43.440 That's good.

02:18:47.480 Wow.

02:18:48.100 They're beautiful.

02:18:49.640 They're all available for adoption.

02:18:52.360 Well,

02:18:52.600 except we are.

02:18:53.280 Except we're crushing to it.

02:18:54.500 Crushing Twicks are kind of on the,

02:18:57.560 they may be,

02:18:58.380 they may be hired.

02:18:59.600 If they don't go on tour,

02:19:00.600 they're available for adoption.

02:19:01.760 Well,

02:19:01.980 they'll go be on tour regardless.

02:19:03.380 So when we go out on tour,

02:19:05.060 they,

02:19:05.440 we bring them all out.

02:19:07.040 Oh.

02:19:07.700 You know,

02:19:07.980 we'll kind of,

02:19:08.580 it'll be kind of like a test,

02:19:09.780 like a test time to see who's,

02:19:12.700 who loves it.

02:19:13.440 Like some,

02:19:14.600 some cats are just born to be on stage.

02:19:17.280 Yeah.

02:19:17.800 This is,

02:19:18.300 we want,

02:19:19.000 I want this job.

02:19:19.900 I want to do this.

02:19:20.680 Other cats are like,

02:19:21.460 I don't want this job.

02:19:22.640 So they,

02:19:23.140 I want to be a house pet,

02:19:24.120 but I'll still do some tricks.

02:19:25.560 So those are the ones that we adopt out.

02:19:28.080 And just because we had retired two of our cats recently,

02:19:31.480 is why we're,

02:19:33.240 you know,

02:19:33.800 hiring.

02:19:35.060 Yeah.

02:19:35.420 The stage isn't for everybody.

02:19:36.960 Yeah.

02:19:37.440 It's,

02:19:37.580 yeah,

02:19:37.720 it's definitely not for everyone,

02:19:39.380 but,

02:19:39.660 but it's for the acro cats though.

02:19:41.420 It is for the acro cats.

02:19:42.940 I think,

02:19:43.700 you start out with like some,

02:19:46.060 you know,

02:19:46.360 simple.

02:19:46.840 This is like,

02:19:47.260 Oh,

02:19:47.380 this is easy.

02:19:48.060 We hear the click.

02:19:48.700 We get this treatment.

02:19:49.880 They're letting you sit pretty.

02:19:52.580 Oh,

02:19:52.980 I'm just glad you're not giving them.

02:19:58.300 Opioids or anything like that.

02:20:00.040 I know people ask you,

02:20:01.060 how you do drug your cats or you declaw your cats.

02:20:03.460 I'm like,

02:20:03.660 they're acro cats.

02:20:04.340 They need to be able to climb.

02:20:05.500 Well,

02:20:05.700 the Japanese are drugging those dogs that are on Instagram,

02:20:09.020 but that's a different conversation.

02:20:11.160 The acro cats,

02:20:12.140 Samantha Martin,

02:20:12.840 thank you so much for spending time with me and just for letting me learn

02:20:15.760 about these cats.

02:20:16.820 And yeah,

02:20:17.740 they really are beautiful today.

02:20:20.340 And I look forward to seeing a show sometime.

02:20:22.980 Yeah.

02:20:23.380 We're trying to book in Nashville.

02:20:24.680 If we can get the theater to call us back.

02:20:27.380 Well,

02:20:27.800 yeah,

02:20:28.060 we'll see if we can help.

02:20:29.020 But this is really awesome.

02:20:31.880 And I appreciate you guys coming and spending time with us today.

02:20:33.960 Thanks for having us.

02:20:35.080 Now I'm just floating on the breeze and I feel I'm falling like these leaves.

02:20:40.700 I must be cornerstone.

02:20:45.920 Oh,

02:20:46.720 but when I reach that ground,

02:20:48.620 I'll share this peace of mind.

02:20:50.760 I found I can feel it in my bones.

02:20:54.780 but it's going to tell you.

02:20:58.780 Yeah.

02:20:59.880 Yeah.

02:21:00.740 Yeah.

02:21:01.340 Yeah.

02:21:01.540 Yeah.

02:21:02.200 Yeah.

02:21:02.720 Yeah.

02:21:03.540 Yeah.

02:21:04.260 Yeah.

02:21:04.380 Yeah.

02:21:04.580 That's it.

02:21:05.000 Yeah.

02:21:05.220 Yeah.

02:21:05.480 Yeah.

02:21:06.480 Yeah.

02:21:06.900 Yeah.

02:21:07.380 Yeah.

02:21:07.980 Yeah.

02:21:14.840 Yeah.

02:21:15.500 Yeah.

02:21:16.000 Yeah.

02:21:16.340 Yeah.

02:21:16.500 Yeah.

02:21:20.460 Yeah.

02:21:20.680 Yeah.

02:21:21.580 Yeah.

02:21:22.600 Yeah.

This Past Weekend with Theo Von - October 17, 2024

E539 The Amazing Acro-Cats

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