Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: It's like the deck without the view.
It's like a pastor without his pew.
[00:00:06] Speaker B: It's like the pew without the pow. It's like the yes without the wow.
[00:00:12] Speaker A: It's like the wow without damn. It's like the shim without the sham.
So much better.
[00:00:21] Speaker B: So much better podcast no one ever heard.
[00:00:27] Speaker A: Hello, my friend. Welcome to Words that Move Me. This is Dana. This is the podcast. This is exceptional, truly. We have one of my favorite people on the podcast today.
We've known each other for actual decades. We have been dance partners. We have been colleagues. We have been rap battle counterpoints.
Today we're talking to Will Loftus, my friends, the one, the only, the uber talented and compassionate and thoughtful and good and great and all the things.
Wow. So I'm smitten, obviously. But before we get to this conversation where we talk about all the things, I'm gonna celebrate a win that I just thought of, and then away it went. Away it went.
I do. I have it. Okay, here's my win this week.
Dear friend Cat Burns asks me, as I'm on my way to meet with her for dinner, what size shoe are you? I say, I'm an 8 and a half slash 9, which is true.
And then she doesn't mention this again.
I'm at dinner with her. We're sitting, we're having a conversation, and she goes, I'll be right back. If I don't do this right now, I'm gonna forget. I was like, okay. Kat comes back with a puma box.
Okay.
And I'm like, oh, yeah. You asked me what size shoes I wear. What's this about? She's giving me a pair of shoes.
That's kind of an intimate thing. Like, you don't really just, like, give somebody a pair of shoes.
Kat just gave me the pair of shoes that might be my dance shoe. If you know me, you know how long and hard I have searched for a sneaker that is danceable, that doesn't make my knees feel like they're gonna shoot out the back of my legs.
And I think I just found it with this fucking puma thing. I'm gonna go get it.
Can you see it?
That was a joke because it is literally the same color as a neon yellow highlighter.
But when she gave it to me, it was dark out, so I thought it was white. I thought it was, like, it looked cream when I tried it on at night.
Lo and behold, this is a bright yellow sneaker. So basically, I'll never get struck by a vehicle which links into today's episode, you'll find out. I really love it. I feel like this is my new like it's a gym shoe and a dance. I think I can wear this shoe to dance in. I'm really excited to find out. Anyways, it's a Puma running system Classic would be a running shoe.
I don't run, but I'm pretty stoked on this becoming my new. This is my new shoe of the summer. So thank you, Kat, and for gifting me a shoe, which is an intimate thing. And I'm just so grateful for you and for Puma.
I am available for brand deals.
Okay. On to you, listener, viewer, what's going well in your world and what do you wear to dance in? Please tell me. God, take it away.
Congratulations on. I'm so glad that you're winning. Let's Will Loftus. Oh my gosh. Friends, I forgot. We also have some special guests in this episode. Joining us via FaceTime, Trisha Miranda, Tassandra Chavez and Tyce Diorio and Will Loftus all in one. How did we get so lucky? We didn't. We made this life for ourself. I don't believe in luck. I'm working on my backup argument for that. But for today, take it or leave it. This is me. This is my show.
This is the episode Will Loftus. Enjoy.
I tried. Sorry.
Will Loftus, welcome back to the podcast. We've done it once before, but I forgot to be charging my computer, which she's fully charged and charging.
So this is take two. Take two. Will, thanks for coming back.
[00:04:27] Speaker B: Woohoo. Thank you. I'm so grateful. Thank you to be here, really.
[00:04:30] Speaker A: And it is going to be better. We're already liking our outfits more. Yes. My lipstick identically like to the pantone number code, matches my shirt perfectly.
[00:04:42] Speaker B: Gorgeous.
[00:04:43] Speaker A: And kind of also is going with your vibe.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: So, you know, it's good. I feel like we both love to practice, so I feel like this is great for us. Do you know what I mean?
[00:04:50] Speaker A: Very few things do I love more than a rehearsal, including turning off the ac, which is brand new. Ask me how much it costs.
[00:04:57] Speaker B: How much?
Too much.
So much. But is it worth it?
[00:05:03] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:05:04] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:05:04] Speaker A: Because here we are at three in the afternoon on a mid summer Los Angeles day, both wearing sweaters. By the way, you're wearing a jacket. I'm wearing a sweater. But it gets hot. And I am a person who values comfort.
[00:05:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:17] Speaker A: Yeah. Are you phased by temperature? This is my first question for you on the podcast.
[00:05:22] Speaker B: I mean, definitely, definitely for sure. I do like to say, though, I don't like to be dressed by the weather.
[00:05:28] Speaker A: Okay. You're dressing the same no matter what.
[00:05:31] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I dress the same 365 days a year and 366 on.
[00:05:35] Speaker A: So climate control is actually very important for you.
[00:05:37] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:05:39] Speaker A: See, it's hard for me to focus if I am A, hungry, B, too cold, C, too hot. So I also, oddly enough, I seem to do fine on set if there's something like really demands my focus. Yeah, like we're shooting 96,000 and it's supposed to be 105, but it's actually freezing cold and raining.
Movie magic. I don't know how they did that, but yes, it was raining that day and I can get the job done and I'm fine. But if I have to sit here and rattle out emails.
But it's 74 degrees instead of my preferred 73, I'm not getting. I have to come fix the thermostat.
[00:06:16] Speaker B: Is that weird?
[00:06:16] Speaker A: I can't get.
[00:06:17] Speaker B: No, not at all.
[00:06:18] Speaker A: It's not weird.
[00:06:19] Speaker B: It makes complete sense.
[00:06:19] Speaker A: It makes total.
Oh, my God. I'm so glad you're back. Okay, so objective number one. Introduce yourself. Tell the listener, viewer, what it is you would like us to know about you.
[00:06:30] Speaker B: Okay. Okay.
I am Will Loftus.
[00:06:35] Speaker A: It's going so well.
[00:06:36] Speaker B: It's going so well.
Born July 6th from South Carolina.
I'm a creative type that loves to make things and loves dance and loves all things, art and dance and all that.
[00:06:49] Speaker A: What do you not love? What, like, really gets under your skin, Will?
[00:06:52] Speaker B: Oh, I love that. It just got dead silent, too. The air finally.
[00:06:57] Speaker A: Yeah, the air finally turned off. And all eyes are on.
[00:06:59] Speaker B: Why not love? I don't know.
I love a lot, you know, I really do. I really do.
[00:07:04] Speaker A: I'm drawn to you. I've been drawn to you since day one.
I am going to share this story. Is this okay with you? So it is also how we started the previous episode, which is my first encounter of Will Loftus was watching one of your solos. Was it Minnie?
[00:07:22] Speaker B: It was Minnie.
[00:07:23] Speaker A: Minnie breaks us down. Friends who are not familiar with the convention dance competition landscape. Minnie is 7 to 10 years old.
[00:07:30] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay.
[00:07:32] Speaker A: And Will Loftus was dancing to a song called Baby Got so.
Okay.
Okay, well, in my mind, you're wearing a button up short sleeve shorts of some sort. Like some cargo.
[00:07:50] Speaker B: No, no. Well, they could have been. They could have been calf length, you know.
You know, just to show the ankle.
[00:07:57] Speaker A: Which you do have nice ankles.
[00:07:59] Speaker B: And Feet, you know. Thank you.
[00:08:00] Speaker A: But like a button up. And were there flames on that shirt?
[00:08:04] Speaker B: There were flames, and it was satin. And then there was also a derby hat encrusted with a line of flames similar to the shirt around this part. Around the brim.
[00:08:17] Speaker A: Not the brim. The band.
What do we call that? We need a hat? Anatomy.
[00:08:21] Speaker B: It was the accoutrement. Yeah.
[00:08:24] Speaker A: And let me tell you, stop the show for me. I did not see any more than Baby got Sauce. It was so fucking saucy. And it was. And so from now on, you're called Will Sauce.
And that is what I need a listener, viewer to know is that you're saucy.
[00:08:41] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:41] Speaker A: Yeah. But you're smart. You got a keen eye. I always love your choreography when I see it on. I almost said on convention stages, but now it's also on feature fucking films and on stages and screens, and I'm just so excited by all that you have created for yourself. I think you're such a great example of what's possible when you love things, when you have a big appetite for doing things and making stuff. And.
[00:09:06] Speaker B: Thank you. That means a lot. We've known each other forever, been through.
[00:09:11] Speaker A: Everything, and worked together a couple times, but not as many times as one might think, actually.
[00:09:14] Speaker B: Yeah. But I probably a lot. Like, if I think we really.
[00:09:18] Speaker A: Well, we worked together on a very important music video shoot, which.
[00:09:22] Speaker B: Oh, Hosier. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:09:24] Speaker A: Work song by Hozier. Will is my partner, my dance partner in that video, and you can see us for a couple frames.
[00:09:32] Speaker B: If you blink, you'll miss us.
[00:09:34] Speaker A: And there's a lens flare at that. At that moment also, which makes it so beautiful. It is pretty, but does make it kind of hard to see.
[00:09:42] Speaker B: Also unrecognizable.
[00:09:43] Speaker A: I'm gonna let Isaac know that I want to see the director's edit, which undoubtedly has more of us.
[00:09:48] Speaker B: Yeah. There was a rehearsal video. That's amazing.
[00:09:50] Speaker A: Oh, that's right.
[00:09:51] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Ooh. I mean, yeah. Maybe it'll come back. Yeah, it should come back.
[00:09:55] Speaker A: I'll link to that.
[00:09:55] Speaker B: Yeah. It's really beautiful.
[00:09:56] Speaker A: We did also get to kind of lift the music video experience and dump it on stage at Coachella, which was super special. And we were very visible for that. It was like, sunset, main stage, work songs.
[00:10:11] Speaker B: Truly one of my favorite performances of my life, Literally.
[00:10:15] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:10:16] Speaker B: I shared with you. Yeah.
[00:10:18] Speaker A: Top five easily. So good. Oh, well, yeah, we've shared some fun stuff.
[00:10:22] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: And not to mention PA In New York, we had a. In the Heights moment. That was so much fun. You got me through that. That was a night shoot. Well, it was meant to be a night shoot, and it turned into a night. Into the morning shoot.
[00:10:34] Speaker B: Yeah, it was a morning shoot.
[00:10:35] Speaker A: And we were playing a game during that.
During that shoot, which we're gonna get to. We're gonna save that for a little bit later. I wanna ask, because I got introduced to you in the convention sphere.
[00:10:44] Speaker B: Yeah, Yeah.
[00:10:45] Speaker A: I wanna ask, how do you think that training prepared you for what you are doing now, which is like, big ass fucking stars, big ass fucking budgets.
What did you learn as a comp kid? Or what are the values instilled in you from those days that you think prepared you well or didn't maybe?
[00:11:03] Speaker B: Well, I mean, first of all, I think it's really important to acknowledge, like, me and you as well. We both have had such incredible mentors and teachers in our lives outside of.
[00:11:14] Speaker A: The bubble of convention kids, you know what I mean?
[00:11:16] Speaker B: Who I do feel like, as I was coming up as a convention kid, it was just the perfect amalgamation of people were teaching there who I really connected with and latched onto. And then, you know, Mandy Moore is obviously a huge person, huge mentor in my life.
And it was cool because I got to see her really start doing convention as well and then become Mandy Moore. So I just. I do feel like there were so many amazing teachers who I connected with in that sphere who then on their own, became their own incredible commercial choreographers and kind of got to see them go on that journey as well.
[00:11:51] Speaker A: And.
Yeah, so you didn't just learn from them in the room, but you learned from their career trajectory.
[00:11:56] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:56] Speaker A: And you were like, oh, that's the thing. You can be a teacher and a person who choreographs at dance studios and a choreographer of the tv, film screens and of pop tours and of, you know.
[00:12:09] Speaker B: Well, and I think I also learned, too, from them that, like, it's so important how you show up in those spaces. You know, say more or just in any space. It's like, I don't know. I just. I think the more I've worked and the more, like, the older I've gotten, I'm just like, how you show up anywhere is so important.
Yeah. And that's one thing that, like, especially Mandy has taught me is like, being early, knowing what. Knowing your moves, knowing what you're doing, like, being a prepared person. Like, all of that, be professional. All of that I learned in the convention spaces and from those people. And that definitely has carried me, or it Stuck with me as I've gotten older.
[00:12:45] Speaker A: Yeah. So you're a person who likes to be prepared, huh? I have to discuss already. We love a good rehearsal. I love rehearsal.
[00:12:53] Speaker B: Yeah. It's my favorite thing in the world.
[00:12:54] Speaker A: I love rehearsal.
I do think I. I do my best work when I am a combination of very prepared.
[00:13:03] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:03] Speaker A: And also very willing to say, ditch the plan.
[00:13:08] Speaker B: Well, you have to.
[00:13:08] Speaker A: Those are my best days is when I'm so ready to ditch the plan. And I'm like, I know there's more.
I know this is going to be fun. This is going to be play. Who's down to play. Like, I've done my work.
I know I'm ready. Who wants to play?
Those are my.
[00:13:21] Speaker B: That's my heart.
[00:13:23] Speaker A: I feel like you have this similar mode, Right. Because I know you love to prepare, because I have been on the receiving end of a FaceTime call from you that was like, dana, I'm trying to prepare for this game. What do I do? And I'm like, yes, I see that, and I love you for doing that. But I also know there are people who are like, I'm gonna feel it. I'm gonna walk in the room, and I'm gonna dance, and I'm gonna feel it. And that's what it is.
[00:13:42] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:43] Speaker A: Do you think your mode is prepare and ditch the plan? Is that how you kind of.
[00:13:48] Speaker B: I think. I think when I first started choreographing, I was very much like, every step has to be prepared and everything.
But I think now I've realized that, like, you have to do the work, like, in terms of, like, knowing the references, that if you're doing a reference, doing your research, knowing what you're referencing, who you're referencing is so important.
And then. Yeah. Creating a structure or creating, like, I don't know. Mandy has always taught me to, like, break down the music and to look at. And I think I also, too, I love, like, math. I'm, like, such a math nerd.
[00:14:18] Speaker A: Yeah. You start with the numbers.
[00:14:19] Speaker B: I do. So I start with the numbers, first verses, and I turn into a puzzle.
And then typically, I like to tackle the part that scares me the most first, you know, because I feel like if I've gotten that part, then there's.
[00:14:32] Speaker A: No big, scary monster. Everything else is manageable.
[00:14:34] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. And then I like to kind of jump. So. So I think it's, like, coming in now as prepared as you can, and then, like, exactly what you said. Being able to, like, ditch the whole thing, Throw it away.
[00:14:43] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:14:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:44] Speaker A: So you do song structure first. Like, break down the eights.
[00:14:47] Speaker B: Yeah, typically.
[00:14:47] Speaker A: It's so funny. I always start with that. Like, I'm always, like, writing it out, doing my eights, and then I almost never look at it again. Oh, yeah, almost always. It just goes away. But it's like an essential piece. If I don't do that first.
[00:15:00] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:01] Speaker A: It's like getting in the car without GPS and just like, oh, well, we'll find out. I don't do well with that.
[00:15:06] Speaker B: Well, sometimes it's overwhelming, I think if you don't break it down like that.
[00:15:08] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:15:09] Speaker B: It feels like, you know, like, when you're like. Like when your room or your apartment is, like, messy.
[00:15:14] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:15:15] Speaker B: And it's, like, overwhelming. And then you just don't clean it for a couple days because you're like.
It's like. Sometimes I think we're confused.
[00:15:21] Speaker A: All those eight counts out there, just, like, wandering. It's like severance when the. On the screen, when the number is like, I don't know how long the bridge is. I don't know if there's an instrumental break. I don't know if. No, but we're locking that in. We're putting it in bins. I'm saying that's verse one. Here's chorus one. At the end, there's a double chorus. We can repeat chorus one, but we don't want to repeat. Yeah. Yeah. It helps, like, lock things out.
[00:15:42] Speaker B: We have to make it accessible, and you have to make it, like, mentally possible.
[00:15:45] Speaker A: Approachable. Yeah. Like, oh, that. I can do that.
[00:15:48] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:15:48] Speaker A: I'm glad we're on the same plane as that.
Has there ever been a moment where you weren't prepared and it worked out fine?
Or disaster?
[00:16:02] Speaker B: I don't know about full disaster. I mean, I think there's definitely been situations where I've been thrown into something very quickly that I don't love. It's not my. My style of working. But I think to that point, though, there can also be a lot of magic that can be found in the moment.
[00:16:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:17] Speaker B: You know?
[00:16:17] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:18] Speaker B: So I don't prefer that, but I definitely been thrown into those situations.
[00:16:22] Speaker A: I've been pleasantly surprised a couple times recently. Riley and I will walk into a room, and I've budgeted, like, two hours for a thing.
[00:16:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:16:30] Speaker A: And it just happened. I'm like, I don't know what this is gonna be. We're gonna. This is probably gonna take some time because I have no fucking clue what it's gonna be.
[00:16:36] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:16:37] Speaker A: And I'm like, well, what if we.
And then 20 minutes later, I'm like, should we go get a coffee? You're like, what do we do when it's done? We wound up warming up, like, really, like giving a full sweat warmup.
[00:16:50] Speaker B: But that's what's fun about like creativity and making shit too. It's like, oh, sometimes it can just come like that.
[00:16:55] Speaker A: Sometimes it just comes.
[00:16:56] Speaker B: And sometimes it just comes and then sometimes they don't.
[00:16:58] Speaker A: But like, sometimes you have to work.
[00:17:00] Speaker B: Yeah. And it's fine either way.
[00:17:02] Speaker A: Do you know what I mean? It's fine either way because work is also fun.
Yo. Okay, okay. Tell me your thoughts on this, cuz this is a story that I've been believing. One of my favorite art heroes who I talk about on the podcast Ad Nauseam is an artist called Tom Sachs. And he has a saying. I don't know if it's his or if he's just. The first time I heard it, the best reward for great work is more work.
[00:17:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:27] Speaker A: And I. That was like gospel in my mind is like, if you're not getting more work, it means that maybe your work wasn't great. Like, that's what I made that sentence mean. So you're getting more work, then that means your work was great. So I'm like, you looking at the.
I'm reading that sentence from backwards versus do the great work. And then there's a reward at the end. That's fine. But what I'm trying to rewire now is like, actually maybe the best reward for great work is a vacation.
[00:17:57] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:58] Speaker A: Is like, is not having to work.
[00:18:01] Speaker B: Totally.
[00:18:02] Speaker A: But here's what's up. Okay, so I think I know where you're leaning. Like, I love what I do. And sometimes I go on a vacation, I like, bring a book and I'm just like, kind of wish I had a project. Like, I kind of wish I was doing something. So where do you stand on, on, on that the best reward for great work is more work?
[00:18:21] Speaker B: True or false? I don't know. Well, I think that two opposing things can simultaneously be true. So I think there's truth and value in that, sort of. But I also, like, I think to what you're saying too, it's like there is value in like, having time and resting. And also like, I don't know if you feel this, but I'm like, I love this. Like, I want to be doing some version of this or creating forever, you know? So to me, like, I love someone like an Adele who like pops out, is here for a year And a half and then goes away, and then you don't see her. Like, I love that.
[00:18:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:53] Speaker B: So I think that there's also, like, such beauty and value. I actually remember we were doing Coachella. I remember Jilly said something to me that has really stuck with me, which was like, you know, when you're thinking about manifesting your life or whatever, it's like, instead of thinking about the things that you want, think about the lifestyle that you want and really hold onto that and, like, you'll kind of attract more from there. And I think that's really stuck with me because I think I really respond to that. And I love the, like, Adele sort of approach of, like, here I am for three years and here I'm not for two years.
[00:19:26] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:26] Speaker B: You know, I think that's fun.
[00:19:28] Speaker A: You can miss me.
[00:19:29] Speaker B: Yeah. I think it's beautiful and, like, it allows you to take some time to really do the things that you feel really connected to.
[00:19:34] Speaker A: Okay. You know, so when you disappear, will Loftus into your lifestyle to the ether. What are you doing in there?
[00:19:41] Speaker B: Ooh, Putting my feet in the grass and reconnecting to why I do this and just, like. I don't know, just like, reconnecting to, like, humanity. And I just think so much of what we do, even, like, with the traveling and the teaching and stuff that we do, it's like, it's amazing and so much fun. It's so high energy and the physical traveling part of it. Of what we do too. And then when we're on a gig, it's so. Again, high energy.
So I think it's just. It's doing therapy, meditating, resetting.
[00:20:21] Speaker A: Let me get.
Create a ritual with my daily life here.
Like, a ritual is a sign that I've had enough time of not being on a gig to be in myself separate from a gig. Like, if I have a morning routine where I'm, like, on the bike and then a breakfast ish, that's normal. And then, like, dog walk schedule is normal, and I'm not having to have people watch my dog. And, like, that's how I know I have gone away, is that I have a routine. Cause our worlds are. Don't make routines easily. No, they don't. Having a routine in our life is not easy other than the routine is Thursday morning, early as fuck. I go to LAX and I land in whatever city. And then I teach seven classes and judge 72 hours. And then I return and I'm dead to the world on Monday. That's a routine. But that's not the routine that I'm.
[00:21:10] Speaker B: Or you can. I feel like you can find. I don't know if you're like this, but like when you're filming like a movie or a longer project, I find routine within that.
[00:21:16] Speaker A: I find routine on set. Like an on set routine of like checking in with our first aid person who I always wind up having such a good relationship with. The on site medic. I love.
[00:21:27] Speaker B: They're always, they're crucial.
[00:21:28] Speaker A: Crucial a B. But they also see everything because they're not always working like our gaffers and our, you know, crafty and our cooks. And like, those people are always working. They're constantly working. But like a first aid person or the medic hopefully is not so working all the time that they really get to see shit. Yeah. I love making friends with them. I'm always asking them, like, hey, what's up today? How's everybody doing? And they're like, I like to. I like getting my reports from them. Set medic.
[00:21:55] Speaker B: That's the best thing. It's the best thing.
[00:21:58] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. I asked Comfort earlier today who her favorite department is interfacing with because we're talking about the many roles of an associate and how sometimes, yes, you're making up eights. Sometimes, yes, you're leading the day, but also sometimes you're just the. Being the liaison. You're just being the communicator between the two heads of department, whatever. Who, what department is your favorite to interface with?
[00:22:20] Speaker B: I mean, I love wardrobe.
[00:22:22] Speaker A: That's what she said too.
[00:22:23] Speaker B: I do. I love, like, I love. Because it's like, I don't know how you feel doing the movement is so important.
[00:22:28] Speaker A: It's essential.
[00:22:29] Speaker B: It's. It's crucial. That's also why, you know, it's funny, I think some I, I kind of get made fun of often for wearing sort of regular clothes when I choreograph when I work. But I think I've just found that, like, typically when you're, when you're actually dancing this work or you're whatever, you're in like pants that don't feel great or you're not in a sneaker and not.
[00:22:50] Speaker A: So I like the lemon legging that makes you feel cold and lifted and whatever.
[00:22:54] Speaker B: So I like to make it in the thing that's close to probably what the dancers are going to wear.
[00:22:58] Speaker A: Love that I was just going to say. Or vice versa. I rehearse for.
I don't know, honestly, like, I rehearsed for my entire life from age 18 to very recently.
To be dancing Marty Koudelka in basketball shorts and a 3XL T shirt. Yeah. Yeah. And then the 2020 experience comes along and you're wearing a high waisted tuxedo pant. And of course looking so cheap, really sharp. But like I can't bend over anymore. I can't. Like there's no, no material around my crotch for me to be grabbed. I'm just like, oh, that's it. Like it's really wild. It changes everything.
[00:23:35] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:35] Speaker A: So I like to also. Yeah. I like to know as early as possible what is the world. And then I will dress my rehearsal dress as close to that.
[00:23:42] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:43] Speaker A: As soon as possible.
[00:23:44] Speaker B: Wait, who made those costumes for. Was it Tom Ford?
[00:23:49] Speaker A: Ask me if I have three versions of everything still in my closet. Yeah. Three white tuxedo jackets, three black tuxedo jackets, three tuxedo pants, three tuxedo shorts, three corsets, which is lucky for the Seaweed sisters, because now we are laced.
[00:24:04] Speaker B: Wow. Dressing.
[00:24:05] Speaker A: We wore my Tom Ford for rather important on top and then happy socks, polka dotted boxer shorts on the bottom, which was such a good look.
I bet Tom Ford would have even liked it.
[00:24:17] Speaker B: Of course. I'm kidding.
[00:24:18] Speaker A: Okay. I would love to hear like a big lesson learned from that gig. What is. I know. And there were probably many. So just pick one.
[00:24:27] Speaker B: Oof.
Lesson learned from.
[00:24:30] Speaker A: From Wicked experience. The Wicked.
[00:24:33] Speaker B: Yeah, I think we learned. We all learned a big lesson in like in stamina and just endurance and endurance and showing up.
[00:24:42] Speaker A: Stay focused and stay performing and stay.
[00:24:45] Speaker B: Yeah. So I think I just learned a lot about staying really present and staying with the day and not getting overwhelmed about the thing as a whole.
And just really, really, really focusing on like, okay, today, this is what we're doing and this is it and we have this task and then, you know, and I think I learned that a lot too from watching the girls, like watching Cynthia and Ari, how they just showed up every day too.
[00:25:08] Speaker A: Not ever under too much pressure or stress.
[00:25:10] Speaker B: No. But it's also like for that movie too, is like every day felt like the most worst day, the biggest day of your life. So. So I was like, I don't think we could get. We had time to get overwhelmed about the whole thing as a whole. Or both movies as a whole.
[00:25:23] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:24] Speaker B: So yeah, I think I just learned a lot about staying in the moment.
[00:25:28] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:28] Speaker B: Yeah, you had to.
[00:25:29] Speaker A: When you walked away from that, did you feel big and strong? Like, oh, that was like an Ivy League education.
[00:25:35] Speaker B: And I think, I think not initially. I think because by that Point, you know, because we finished a little bit early because of the strike. So it was a little bit of abrupt, like, oh, shit. Did that really just happen?
You know, it was like a little bit of that feeling, and I think the exhaustion kind of caught up. So I think that those things have sort of integrated in the months and years since.
But I think. Yeah. Ting, ting.
[00:26:01] Speaker A: Unprofessionale.
Sorry.
[00:26:04] Speaker B: Sorry.
[00:26:06] Speaker A: Okay, so the months that followed were probably uncertain because of the untimely ending of the project.
[00:26:15] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:26:16] Speaker A: Did you ever.
So when did you feel, like, case closed and last button? Or are you still reshooting? Like, what's happening actually?
[00:26:23] Speaker B: Well, I haven't gone back. They did just recently do some reshoots, like a couple weeks ago.
No, I mean, I don't know. Yeah, I guess when we finished, we were a little bit. Or when the strike happened, we were not 100% sure if or when we would be coming back. So I think I sort of made peace with it being the ending of filming.
[00:26:42] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:26:42] Speaker B: But I don't know. But weirdly, it feels like it hasn't ended. It's like this thing that we, you know, it's like it's still coming out, so I think it keeps on giving. So. Yeah. So I don't know.
[00:26:51] Speaker A: I'm wondering if you ever felt what I'm calling empty desk syndrome, which is going from having a daily. Every day is the biggest day of my life, to, like, you wave it off and it's gone and it's in the world. And you're like, who am I?
What do I have to say if the script isn't telling me or if Chris isn't telling me or if Warner Brothers is or John Shu isn't? Like, what do I do now?
Have you had one of those from Wicked or from something else?
[00:27:21] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I mean, Wicked.
I was really, really, really grateful when the strike happened.
Ari was like, we're going to Boca. She's like, you're coming. We're going to Boca, Florida right now, and we're going.
[00:27:34] Speaker A: That's nice. Yeah.
[00:27:35] Speaker B: So we went and visited her family right afterwards, which was really beautiful. And then I took a.
I went back to London and then kind of took a trip around Europe for like a month. Ish. So I was kind of just floating. And then, I don't know, kind of, like, around that fall was when Ari called me to do. Yes. And nice. So I was kind of, like, instantly into that. But I do think that, like, after the, you know, series of things that we did after last year, and kind of when I moved back to la is sort of the first time I felt that, like, oh, cool. So what's.
[00:28:06] Speaker A: What now?
[00:28:06] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:28:07] Speaker A: How do you handle that? Is it.
[00:28:10] Speaker B: Oh, I. I'm so fine with it now. Yeah, I think I've just. I've. I've. Yeah, like, what we were just talking about, it's like, I think we both have done this for so long that I'm like, I don't. I don't desire to have consistent output every month, every day, every year.
[00:28:26] Speaker A: So you're cool with having an empty desk?
[00:28:27] Speaker B: So cool with it.
[00:28:28] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:28:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:29] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:28:29] Speaker B: But I still freak out sometimes, and I'm like, am I ever gonna.
[00:28:32] Speaker A: It's less about, like, what do I do with my time?
And, like, what do I want to say right now? What do I want to say?
And so I started a podcast so that I always have to have something to say.
I think the time that that happened to me, that was the most overwhelming was right after the 2020 experience. I moved to the Bay Area with my.
With my fiance at the time and started investigating sexy. I was like, what is sexy? I just did this, like, backup version, Tom Ford version of sexy. But what is sexy to me? And I think that that space that. That empty desk allowed for a research and development phase that I've kind of never had, really, personally. Like, I've gotten to research plenty for Elvis or research plenty for, you know, in the Heights or whatever big bite I'm taking. I always get to do a lot of research. But outside of that, I feel like I go into, like, maintenance mode, and I'll train a lot, I'll take a lot of class, or I'll watch a lot of shit. And I'm, like, filling the cup with more data points, like, more media versus research and developing things that I don't have time for when I'm on the gig. So maybe I'm curious about what it is that you're researching and developing now. Like, what is important to you right now?
[00:29:53] Speaker B: Well, a lot of.
I already said it earlier. A lot of therapy, like, I love looking inward and being like, what's. What could be better?
[00:30:03] Speaker A: Thank you. Mental health awareness, you know?
[00:30:05] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:30:06] Speaker A: What could be better here versus, like, what does my art need to say?
[00:30:09] Speaker B: Yeah. And also, too, I think when you're so busy, it's easy to be like, oh, this is happening because of that, or, like, because I'm. But when you sort of have that space, you're kind of like, you. You know, it's that moment in Wicked when she's like, it's me.
[00:30:22] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:23] Speaker B: You know, you're like, oh, shit, it's me.
[00:30:25] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:25] Speaker B: So I. So, yeah, I think that's been a huge focus, I think, since I've been back in LA is, like, working on the self. Working on the self. And, like, also, it's been really interesting, I think, to have lived here. I lived here for 13 years, and then I was kind of away from here for three years, and I think we might have mentioned this last time, but, like, there's something that happens when, like, you don't have a set place that you're from or that you forget how much you identify with where you live and where you exist.
I think having that stripped away for three years sort of made me understand myself or, like, have to learn myself in a different way.
[00:30:58] Speaker A: Yeah, totally.
[00:31:00] Speaker B: And then I think also, too, moving back to LA after that time away really, like, held a mirror up and I was kind of like, whoa, I have to be a different version of myself to exist in the way that I want to in this place again, you know?
[00:31:13] Speaker A: Yikes. Yes. You know? Yeah.
[00:31:15] Speaker B: But within that, a lot of. I also love, like, I'm researching, like, I love, like, silent films, like, the Artist, Metropolis, City Lights, Buster Keaton. Like, I love all that kind of stuff. So I've been. My apartment's also built in, like, the 20s, so it's very, like, gives very old Hollywood energy. So I think I've been really connected to, like, that kind of stuff since I've been back. Nice to answer that, like, practically intangibly. That's what I mean.
[00:31:38] Speaker A: That was gorgeous. But I liked both answers. Thank you for both. I love giving two answers.
[00:31:43] Speaker B: Existential and practical.
[00:31:44] Speaker A: Yes. She used to get so mad at me for giving two answers all the time, no matter what we were doing. Somebody asked a question, and I will come at you with two answers. Or we're doing, like, fun facts, like a group share at the beginning, like, set the room. And I would always have two. And he's like, here comes those two. Get ready. But I.
Why stop at one? Like, do I have to leave? Like, if it was a hard rule, I would oblige.
[00:32:10] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:32:10] Speaker A: Okay. I want to circle back really quickly to yes. And because we shared a mega fucking super sick, very cool moment when I was having a. Whose Life Is this Moment Choreographing for Paula Abdul.
[00:32:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:32:25] Speaker A: And you were having a Whose Life Is this Moment choreographing for Ariana Grande and the. Yes. And Music Video is not by a secret, an homage to Cold Hearted Snake.
[00:32:35] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:32:36] Speaker A: Which was one of the numbers I was responsible for choreographing in her super sweet summer tour. What was it called? Magic. Magic summer tour. Great. Nice. And she was like, oh, it would be really cool if I could do some of the. Some of Ari's choreography. It was so cool what she did. Ba, ba, ba. And I was like, oh, okay. This is an important conversation to have. So I didn't choreograph that. So we had, like, that's a discussion. I happen to know the person who did choreograph that. Let's have a conversation. And so she was like, oh, my God, yes. If we. If we could talk to them. If you could, could you just tell them how much I love it? Just start with that. And I was like, yeah.
Hey, Will, Paul Abdul is a really big fan of your choreography and is wondering if maybe we can incorporate it into our show somehow. What was it like to hear that? And what is our life?
[00:33:30] Speaker B: I mean, insane.
[00:33:31] Speaker A: Yeah, it's insane.
[00:33:32] Speaker B: Insane. Like, yeah. Like, I don't even know. Like, I forget where I was when you called me, but I remember just getting that call and being like, what?
Like what?
I mean, it's such an honor and such a legend. And, you know, I think going back to what you were saying, too, it's like, I'm such a fan of, like, research and knowing history and where that sits in history, because also, too, that's an homage to Fosse's Take Off With Us. Take Off With Us.
[00:34:01] Speaker A: Erotic.
[00:34:02] Speaker B: So just to be able to make something in. In that history, and that is just the biggest.
[00:34:09] Speaker A: To fit into that lineage is crazy cool. To fit into the history is cool. But to circle back to what you mentioned earlier about knowing your references.
[00:34:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:34:18] Speaker A: It's like, half the job.
And not just to have watched your reference, but to know that Paula Abdul is a jazz dancer through and through, and to know that Fosseh and where he came from came not out of, like, trying to recreate the wheel that we call jazz, but, like, his limitations as a ballet dancer, that he didn't have much turnout and that there's this because of this. And I mean, I think that you knowing those references is why. Yes. And was a grand slam instead of a hit.
[00:34:51] Speaker B: Thanks and means a lot.
[00:34:53] Speaker A: Yeah, I. It's so good.
[00:34:55] Speaker B: Thank you. Well, it's just. I. Yeah, it's just like, I think there's been so many amazing, amazing people in our industry that do this, and I think it's just we get to.
[00:35:05] Speaker A: Learn from each other.
[00:35:05] Speaker B: It's so special. And it's such. Yeah. And it's like such an honor to make things, you know, it really is. So I'm like, I just.
[00:35:12] Speaker A: A lot. It takes a lot of time.
[00:35:14] Speaker B: But you know what's insane? I think about. It's really not insane, but like, I think about like the dancers and the rehearsal space and the PAs and the wardrobe people and the like crafty. From the like the people who made this back. Like, I just think about all of them. And it's like.
[00:35:30] Speaker A: Of the past versions.
[00:35:31] Speaker B: Oh yeah. Of all of it. Apollo Fosse. Of everyone. It's like. Yeah. Honoring all those people. Because it's not just.
It's not just the one or two creatives that make things.
[00:35:39] Speaker A: So that's some heavy lifting. Do you think that way going into a project and is that about. What about all the people who came before and all the kinda. Yeah, I do. That works for you?
[00:35:49] Speaker B: I try not to. I try to know it, but not get so overwhelmed or shackled to it.
[00:35:58] Speaker A: Or if I let them down, then everything will be for nothing.
[00:36:02] Speaker B: Yeah.
So I don't know. So I guess it's a mixture of both. I think it's like important to know, but then you also have to like release and let yourself do your own work. But.
But yeah, I don't know. I just think so many people come together to make the things that we make.
[00:36:15] Speaker A: And maybe it's that maybe now that you're saying that, it kind of relieves the pressure. Like the success of this video does not ride on me. The human, the community that builds this thing, the.
And the. And the community that receives it. I think that's something we don't think about enough actually.
Like, I can't tell you how many music video breakdowns or commercial. Like I'm hired to do a thing and they ask for a viral dance.
[00:36:43] Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, no.
[00:36:44] Speaker A: And I'm like, I'm sorry, it's the worst. You don't get to decide what's viral and I, the choreographer, don't get to decide what's viral. I can even be a person who has made up viral dances before and still not know exactly how to make it. Because it's up you to. To the people, the world in the moment.
[00:37:02] Speaker B: The Internet decides.
[00:37:03] Speaker A: And so I think in that there is this like beautiful triangle of impact.
You have the work itself, the time, and the person who that's falling on. But any of those three variables change and there's a difference in impact.
So if you, if you're relieving yourself from like. Okay, it's not entirely up to me whether this work is good or bad or what I had intended or not. Like, I've gotten into projects where I swear to God, I can see it and then it comes out and it looks different. I'm like, oh, that's not what I thought it was gonna be. And that happens all the time.
[00:37:41] Speaker B: All the time.
[00:37:42] Speaker A: But yeah, I do think it's important to remember that it's like you and the moment and the person who's viewing it that decides the value of the thing.
[00:37:51] Speaker B: Well, and not to get like too like, existential and whatever, but I also go full. No, I really, I really do think that, like, at its like purest form, I think that creativity really is an act of service, you know, I did.
[00:38:06] Speaker A: Not know that's where you were headed with that. And I really need to hear that right now.
[00:38:10] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, and it's like. And I think that we have to remember that, like when. When you're really, truly, truly connected to creativity, something is bigger than you, is flowing through you, you know, and so, yes, it might be your job to run the room or to, to do the things or something or to like, go grab a coffee, whatever, but it's like. But it's truest form, it's something bigger.
And. Yeah. So I think that kind of takes away a little bit of like, the ego of like, this has to be.
[00:38:37] Speaker A: My thing, you know?
[00:38:38] Speaker B: Yeah. Because it's never really your thing, you know.
[00:38:43] Speaker A: Oh, fuck. Yeah. I think we've both been really lucky to get to make on varying scales, but always stuff that is important to us.
[00:38:55] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:38:55] Speaker A: I'm wondering how you choose, because I'm sure, like, we're busy people, you can't say yes to all the things. How do you decide what gets a yes and what gets a no in terms of like, engaging with certain projects?
[00:39:08] Speaker B: Yeah.
I remember one of my favorite moments doing Wicked was being on like the side of. We were in the middle of a huge shoot day and me and John and I think Chris were having like a little tiny conversation about life. And I'll just never forget John talking about himself taking on Wicked and how he basically, like, for him, he had to find his personal in to be able to do the movie. He had to find out the way that he truly connected with it. And I remember just him instilling that lesson in me. And like, you have to really find your personal in whether or not the Audience is. Is gonna be able to see that or you're communicating that fully as an artist. It's like, what is your.
And so I think that for me is something that I've really been focusing on since is like what is my in and why am I doing that?
[00:39:55] Speaker A: And if there isn't one, let it go.
[00:39:57] Speaker B: Yeah. And let it go. You know, that's huge. Yeah. So I think just finding something that really lights me up fully and something I feel like, you know, it's like also something like I feel like I can't not do, you know, that's how I know when everything in me is like, I have to. There is no way I can't do this.
[00:40:13] Speaker A: Yes. Thank you for that.
[00:40:15] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:40:15] Speaker A: Okay, so before we move on to my favorite segment of this show, which doesn't exist with anybody except for you, I want it on the last episode.
There is a story of a thing that happened while you were shooting the film that involved a bus. And I'm wondering if you could maybe share that story again. It was.
[00:40:33] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:40:34] Speaker A: We don't.
The people. The people. The people should know. It's a pretty remarkable story. Are you prepared to share?
[00:40:41] Speaker B: Yeah, whatever.
Okay. Okay. How do I even.
Okay, so, so, so while we were shooting the movie, we got car. We. I was, you know, you were driving around, I was driving a car, pick you up and drop you off on the other side of the road.
Not an option for which is. Which is hectic and, and you know, especially fun at like 4:30 in the morning when you're like driving, you know.
[00:41:07] Speaker A: When driving on the right side or.
[00:41:08] Speaker B: From a night shoot, like you know, really fun.
But so yeah, it was definitely an adjustment learning how to drive on the opposite side of the road.
I remember one Sunday I was particularly exhausted and you know, I don't know for me like little, little luxuries when you're doing something like that is important. Like. So I love, I'm a big like I love candles. Like I love like candles.
[00:41:28] Speaker A: Yes. Will, tell us about your indulgence.
[00:41:30] Speaker B: Tell us what you smell. No, not a lot other than just like nice candles and like Epsom salt baths. Yeah.
[00:41:38] Speaker A: No, it's.
[00:41:39] Speaker B: You know what I mean? Like self care stuff.
[00:41:41] Speaker A: I love. I live.
[00:41:42] Speaker B: So one, one Sunday I was driving to buy candles.
It was like an 11 minute drive from my apartment. I was like, oh, this is great. I'll pop in, pop out, like whatever.
So I'm turning, I'm turning left to go to this candle store and basically there is a bus lane on my left.
I don't know if it's still like this in California, but before I left California, you can kind of like merge into the bus lane to like to do a turn, to do a swing.
[00:42:08] Speaker A: I don't know if it's encouraged, but sometimes I am driving in the.
[00:42:12] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Fully, fully.
[00:42:13] Speaker A: There's a stretch of Sepulveda between Oxnard.
[00:42:16] Speaker B: You're on the sidewalk where there's like.
[00:42:18] Speaker A: It'S like bus lane. Okay. To turn. And I'm like, well, I'm turning up.
Way down.
[00:42:23] Speaker B: 75 miles.
[00:42:24] Speaker A: But I'm going to kill.
Yeah, it's, it's six miles, but carry on.
[00:42:27] Speaker B: Yeah, well, so, you know, so I was at the light, I was ready to turn. No one was in the bus lane. No one. I thought. And I, you know, I'm like, cool, let me just hit it really quick, you know, blah, blah, blah. I go left and the bus basically comes and just goes.
And we, we, we make contact for. It felt like 10 years.
I'm gonna say it was probably four and a half seconds, five seconds. You know, it wasn't long.
But I think to paint that it was one of the double decker buses, you know, like very much like the red.
Like exactly what you think and hard to miss. Yes. I got hit by bus. Luckily, the bus driver could not have been nicer.
I did have to. I had to sit in the car and get on the phone with like the insurance and the police and whatever. And I had to watch the entire double decker bus of people deplane as I sat there with their luggage. Yeah. And so everyone was fine. Everything was fine. It was great. I mean, nothing was worse than. I mean. Well, that's not true. But like driving to work the next day would just the whole way, you know.
And also, I think. And also too, you know, when you're doing a production, it's like I can't just call insurance and figure it out. It's like I have to call production. You.
[00:43:47] Speaker A: You have to let your mom and dad know.
[00:43:50] Speaker B: Just so you guys know. Yep.
[00:43:52] Speaker A: Running.
[00:43:53] Speaker B: Had a little. Yeah. Bus.
[00:43:54] Speaker A: With the. Well, yeah.
[00:43:56] Speaker B: Bus.
[00:43:56] Speaker A: Thank you for so humbly sharing that story.
[00:43:59] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:44:00] Speaker A: Okay. Okay. Ready to do a little rhyming game? It's going to take us straight into our last segment.
[00:44:04] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:44:05] Speaker A: Okay. So you taught me this game. Did you know that? That I'd never known this game before you.
[00:44:09] Speaker B: That's really sweet and great. Thank you. You know, I didn't know. Well, Chris, I think Chris got.
[00:44:13] Speaker A: You learned it from Chris.
[00:44:14] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:44:14] Speaker A: Because you had Been doing it since, like, Teen beach times.
[00:44:16] Speaker B: I think we did it during Teen beach movie.
[00:44:23] Speaker A: Night shoot.
We are corseted up. Hair, makeup, wardrobe down. Alice, God bless her, is setting up lights for fucking probably six hours in the subway.
[00:44:36] Speaker B: And we were in a church, remember?
[00:44:38] Speaker A: Yep. And we're in a holding area in a church. Probably no ac.
You present us with a game that helps you to stay sharp but also loose.
[00:44:46] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:44:47] Speaker A: Explain the game. We'll ask this.
[00:44:49] Speaker B: Ooh.
Okay. Well, I tried to explain this last time. I don't think I did a great job with the actual rhyming structure.
But I think the game is. It comes from a place of, like. I think anytime you're shooting like that, there's always a time of the day when everyone starts to.
[00:45:05] Speaker A: Yeah. Crack out.
[00:45:06] Speaker B: And you either. Yeah, you either crack into, like, I'm gonna get angry. Some people get angry. Some people get shut down. Some people. Whatever. Some people get loopy and crazy. I like to just keep it fun and light. Cause making stuff is cool.
[00:45:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:45:18] Speaker B: You know? So this is. This is a game that I often will pull up whenever I feel like the energy's starting to shift. So the structure. Wait, you explained it better last time. It's like A, A and B relate but don't rhyme. Yes.
[00:45:32] Speaker A: C, B and D must rhyme.
[00:45:35] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:45:36] Speaker A: C and D relate to each other, but not to A or B.
[00:45:39] Speaker B: Yes. So A and B relate. C and D relate. B and D rhyme.
[00:45:43] Speaker A: There it is. But then.
[00:45:44] Speaker B: But then you pick up the next A.
[00:45:47] Speaker A: Yes. The D sitting in a circle. Okay, so we hand off. It's a handoff game.
[00:45:50] Speaker B: It's the easiest game, but it's the hardest to explain.
[00:45:52] Speaker A: That's why. That's why. That's another reason why you're so right about the moment when you call this game. Because it's loud enough to get people's attention, but not so loud that you're going to be disruptive. And people can add themselves in and sit as observers, as witness while they learn the rules. That's why we don't know how to explain the game. Because there's never a moment where you have to teach it. You just like. There are some people who know it and they start playing and everybody's like, okay, okay, I can do this. Because from the outside looking in, it looks like you can do this.
[00:46:22] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:46:22] Speaker A: But then you're in it and you're like, what rhymes with me? Do you know what I mean?
[00:46:26] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:46:27] Speaker A: So we're going to give the listener viewer a couple rounds because I Had Tyoro on the podcast, who was also a part of that shoot.
[00:46:34] Speaker B: The best. The best.
[00:46:35] Speaker A: He is the best. I mean, should we call him and see if he can. If he can play around?
[00:46:40] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. I love that so much.
[00:46:45] Speaker A: Yes.
I get a double.
Yes. You guys also get a double.
[00:46:51] Speaker B: Wait, hold on.
[00:46:52] Speaker A: Hi, it's to Sandra on FaceTime. Okay. We're real time. Oh, it's more than a double. Who's in the back?
[00:47:01] Speaker B: Where are you guys?
Where are you guys?
[00:47:05] Speaker A: We're just driving from this, like, show that we went to go see support our friends.
No big deal. We're just recording a podcast right now and.
Thank you. I. I was just talking about the rhyming game Tice, where how good you are. We said you're iconic. Will you play around with us?
[00:47:28] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:47:28] Speaker A: I knew you were calling for my excellence.
Okay, okay, okay. I can't wait. This is great. Okay, okay. First word. First what is it? Leaf.
[00:47:38] Speaker B: Leaf.
[00:47:38] Speaker A: Okay, okay, okay, okay.
[00:47:40] Speaker B: The word is leaf.
[00:47:40] Speaker A: The word is leaf. It's like a leaf without the tree. It's like the honey without the bee.
[00:47:48] Speaker B: It's like the bee without the hive. It's like the four without the five.
It's like the five without the.
[00:48:00] Speaker A: Live.
[00:48:02] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:48:04] Speaker A: Yes, yes, yes.
[00:48:06] Speaker B: Am I okay? You're perfect.
[00:48:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:48:15] Speaker B: Without our drive.
[00:48:17] Speaker A: Yes. It's like the drive without the wheels. It's like. Oh, no, no, no, no. Oh, I lost it.
[00:48:23] Speaker B: The emotion without the feels.
[00:48:24] Speaker A: Oh, thank you. It's like the. It's like the drive without the wheels. It's like emotions without the feels.
[00:48:31] Speaker B: It's like the feels without the vibes. It's like the.
[00:48:35] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:48:36] Speaker B: Oh, no, no, no, no.
Oh, no. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.
[00:48:41] Speaker A: Wait, what. What was your first one?
[00:48:43] Speaker B: I know, cuz I don't know. What rhymes with vibes?
[00:48:47] Speaker A: Scribes. Scribes. Scribes.
[00:48:49] Speaker B: The writing without the scrib.
[00:48:51] Speaker A: I'm sweating. Scribe. Scribes. Scribes to you, Ty. Good luck.
Wait, what was that word? Scribes. S, C, R, I, B E, S.
Scribes. Good luck.
[00:49:08] Speaker B: It's the worst game I've ever played.
I've never been worse at that game.
[00:49:12] Speaker A: We all really dropped the ball there. But here's what we. What we caught.
Divine timing to catch you three in a moment and have us right here, right now. This was meant to be. Thank you. Thank you for picking up your phone. I love you. I love all three of you.
Okay, drive safe, my friends. It's so good to see your faces. Bye.
[00:49:29] Speaker B: Love you.
[00:49:30] Speaker A: Try around, just YouTube, see if it.
[00:49:32] Speaker B: Riley's like, we're gonna see if that makes the edit.
[00:49:34] Speaker A: I don't know. We did. We got the one at the beginning. No, no, it wasn't. We weren't filming. I know.
[00:49:39] Speaker B: Okay, we can do it. We can do it.
We can be better than that.
[00:49:44] Speaker A: Okay. Okay.
Offering from the room.
It's like the lip without the gloss. It's like the Carly without the cloth. Good luck.
[00:49:53] Speaker B: It's like the class without the Santa. It's like the.
It's like the hat without the bandana.
[00:50:00] Speaker A: It's like bandana without the color. It's like color, color, color.
[00:50:05] Speaker B: Are we doing this for ourselves today?
[00:50:08] Speaker A: Color's hard.
It's like bandana without the knot. It's like the tater without the tot.
[00:50:15] Speaker B: It's like the tot without the.
I was going to say toddler. I'm like, what rhymes with toddler?
[00:50:22] Speaker A: What rhymes with toddler?
[00:50:23] Speaker B: Do you know what I mean? No.
[00:50:24] Speaker A: That's a deep, deep hole that you're getting yourself into. It's like a tot, you could say. I mean, I almost said ketchup. Nothing rhymes with ketchup. Everyone knows that.
[00:50:34] Speaker B: Why?
[00:50:34] Speaker A: We were not playing the same today. Listen, listen. The game was for round one.
[00:50:39] Speaker B: And you know what I just learned? Tell me in terms of our rhyming structure. You want to keep B as simple as you can.
B has got to be streamlined. B has got to be like in the not hot.
[00:50:54] Speaker A: B is like first grade reading level.
[00:50:56] Speaker B: Yeah. You know?
[00:50:57] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:50:58] Speaker B: We gave ourselves some interesting beats. Well, because we have been good in.
[00:51:02] Speaker A: The past at this.
[00:51:03] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:51:05] Speaker A: Oh, my God. For you. Just for. For Riley. Okay. Here. You know what?
[00:51:08] Speaker B: Cheers. Okay. Okay. Can I start? Can I do one?
Okay, perfect.
It's like the coffee. Yes. Without the tea. It's like the U without the me.
[00:51:19] Speaker A: It's like the me without the us.
[00:51:23] Speaker B: It's like London without the bus.
[00:51:27] Speaker A: You saved me. Yo. If this game was played in teams, we'd be fine.
[00:51:32] Speaker B: Oh, but here's the other thing.
[00:51:33] Speaker A: There's other reason why it's great is that you usually play with a rhythm and then gradually the rhythm increases. So eventually you've got two people facing off and it's like fucking. Watching 8 Mile really is great.
[00:51:47] Speaker B: Very much.
[00:51:48] Speaker A: Well, I hope we didn't really let you down there.
The whole. Feels like. It feels like we really led up.
[00:51:53] Speaker B: To a point and then it's like.
[00:51:55] Speaker A: Kind of crumbled under the pressure, but it's not the End.
[00:51:58] Speaker B: But this is good, you know? Listen, if you ever have me back, I'll be better next time. I promise.
[00:52:03] Speaker A: Well, it's also okay to, like, say that you're the best one day, and then the next day just maybe not.
[00:52:08] Speaker B: Be the best at that, you know?
[00:52:09] Speaker A: Okay. Wrist roll with it. Rapid fire burnout round. Will, are you ready?
[00:52:12] Speaker B: I'm so ready.
[00:52:13] Speaker A: Okay. Ready for. Ready for burp.
Coffee or tea?
[00:52:20] Speaker B: Coffee.
[00:52:21] Speaker A: Dogs or cats?
[00:52:22] Speaker B: Dogs.
[00:52:23] Speaker A: Morning. Rehearsal. Night. Rehearsal.
[00:52:26] Speaker B: 10 to 6.
[00:52:27] Speaker A: Sick.
Since you get both.
[00:52:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:52:30] Speaker A: You have, like, a functional hour of getting things done. Like, if you need to go to FedEx that morning, you could do that before rehearsal. Yeah, technically, like, on a need basis.
[00:52:37] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:52:38] Speaker A: Favorite color?
[00:52:40] Speaker B: Mm. It changes. I think today it's like.
I don't know, probably like a dusty pink.
[00:52:50] Speaker A: Nice. Kind of like the one that's coming out from behind you.
[00:52:53] Speaker B: Yeah. Like, maybe like this color, too. I don't know. Kind of both. I like both. Yeah.
[00:52:56] Speaker A: Favorite book. Speaking of looking at this.
[00:52:58] Speaker B: Ooh, my favorite book is a book called and Then There Were none by Agatha Christie. Yeah.
[00:53:05] Speaker A: Do you think you said that last time, too?
[00:53:06] Speaker B: No, I think I said something else. I might have said that.
[00:53:09] Speaker A: Because I don't remember that.
[00:53:11] Speaker B: No. Yeah.
[00:53:11] Speaker A: But I love that.
[00:53:12] Speaker B: I think you asked me what I was currently reading last time.
[00:53:14] Speaker A: Oh, right. I didn't.
[00:53:15] Speaker B: Yeah, but no. Yeah. And Then There Were none is one of my favorite books.
[00:53:18] Speaker A: Okay. How about a favorite move? Like, dance move?
[00:53:20] Speaker B: Oh, I do execute. Or to watch.
[00:53:24] Speaker A: To watch.
[00:53:24] Speaker B: Oh, I kind of forget. But. Well, to watch. I love, like, an axel. Like a, you know, like, shiny axel is like, I just obsessed with that.
[00:53:34] Speaker A: Yeah. And actually, the nostalgia I feel when I see them reminds me of how they feel in my body, which I would not choose to do a shiny axel today.
[00:53:43] Speaker B: No.
[00:53:43] Speaker A: But I. When I see them, I'm like, oh, that feels good. And so I love that.
[00:53:47] Speaker B: Do you know what I love, too? I love that we are of the generation that we have seen Mandy. We have seen Mandy more execute a shiny axel.
[00:53:56] Speaker A: You are right.
[00:53:57] Speaker B: And you have never seen anything better in your life.
That I'm not even seeing more force or momentum or just dance in general. Yeah, but like that, like, shiny axel. I can't. It's.
[00:54:10] Speaker A: That doesn't get topped.
[00:54:11] Speaker B: Ingrained.
[00:54:11] Speaker A: That doesn't get tops.
[00:54:12] Speaker B: Engrained. Thank you for that, core memory.
[00:54:14] Speaker A: How about a least favorite move? Will Loftus, do you have a move that you're like, oh, rather not to.
[00:54:19] Speaker B: Watch or to do or Both.
[00:54:20] Speaker A: Both. You know, anything.
[00:54:22] Speaker B: Anytime that The.
The kneecaps just, like, unconsciously make contact with the floor is something that I'm not super into.
[00:54:31] Speaker A: Actively opposed. I'm actively.
[00:54:33] Speaker B: You know what I mean? I just. It just. Because I just. I don't know. I'm so sensitive. Like, if I.
Yeah.
If I'm watching, like, a surgery or something on tv, I like, feel it. You know what I mean?
[00:54:44] Speaker A: Why are you watching Surgery?
[00:54:45] Speaker B: Well, you know what I mean? Like, if it's like, on, like, Grey's Anatomy.
[00:54:47] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:54:48] Speaker B: Yeah, like, whatever show.
[00:54:49] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:54:49] Speaker B: Fair.
[00:54:49] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:54:50] Speaker B: I'm like. I really, like, feel it. So, like, when someone just. I just feel. I feel it.
[00:54:55] Speaker A: Yeah, in your knees. I do, too.
[00:54:56] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:54:56] Speaker A: And I'm usually mic'd for those moments.
It's not. You're not getting a note. You're getting a sound for me, you're getting ah.
[00:55:03] Speaker B: Because you feel it.
[00:55:05] Speaker A: Last one.
[00:55:05] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:55:06] Speaker A: Will, what are the words that move you?
A mantra, a guiding principle, a quote, anything.
[00:55:11] Speaker B: Okay, so I think this is different than last time.
Okay, so I'm gonna mess up the actual quote I found. I was introduced to this quote by. Years and years ago, Maya Angelou did a thing on the Oprah Network. She had a masterclass, and it's brilliant.
[00:55:29] Speaker A: Nobody watched it because nobody's familiar with Oprah or Maya Angelou.
[00:55:32] Speaker B: Yeah. No, no, no, keep going. No, it's. It is.
[00:55:34] Speaker A: Your version is going to be better.
[00:55:35] Speaker B: It is brilliant. And it's. And you can watch all of the clips on YouTube. YouTube right now. But there's one section that she talks about, a quote from Terence that is to the effect of, I am a human being. Nothing human can be alien to me.
And I love that quote so much because I think it offers a lot of hope, but I think it also offers a lot of grace and compassion and curiosity. Opens you up to, like, maybe I can do that. Yeah, maybe it's attainable and accessible for me, too.
[00:56:10] Speaker A: Or. Or, like, I could understand that nothing, nothing in this world need confuse me. Nothing. Or, like, stop me. But I can. Like, I can understand. Maybe there's a. Maybe I have an in here. Maybe I could understand that.
[00:56:23] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:56:24] Speaker A: Beautiful.
[00:56:25] Speaker B: I know. I love that one.
[00:56:26] Speaker A: Thank you for sharing that, my friend.
[00:56:27] Speaker B: Of course.
[00:56:28] Speaker A: Thank you for sharing all, all of you, including your bus story and our bad rhyming day.
[00:56:33] Speaker B: Oh, so bad.
[00:56:35] Speaker A: And baby got sauce. Thank you so much for sharing that.
[00:56:38] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:56:38] Speaker A: I just, like, I think the world of you, and you're such a great example of what can happen when you love shit, including love. Stepping back. Yeah, like we don't always need to be doing the most.
We don't always need to be the best at rhyming. I wish we were more on today.
[00:56:54] Speaker B: But it's like, yeah, sometimes you're not. And that's okay, you know, take a.
[00:56:58] Speaker A: Retreat every now and then. Sabbatical?
[00:57:00] Speaker B: No, but I'm really grateful. Thank you for having me and it's such an honor to be on this podcast is such amazing people.
[00:57:05] Speaker A: We were duet partners just now. That was a duet, what we just did. Yeah, thank you my friend. But let's also do it again soon. We must thank you listener viewer for listening viewing. Be sure to subscribe, leave a rating, click the bell for notifications and get out into the world to keep it funky. Bye.
This podcast was produced by me with the help of many. Big, big love to our Executive assistant and editor, Riley Higgins. Our Communications manager is Fiona Small with additional support from Ori Vajrares. Our music is by Max Winnie, logo and brand design by Bri Reitz. And if you're digging the podcast, leave a review and rating and please share. Also, if you want to connect with me and the many marvelous members of the Words that Move Me community, visit words that move me.com if you're simply curious to know more about me and the work that I do outside of this podcast, visit thedanawilson.com.
