Ira and Louis discuss the Tony Awards, 90s TV shows, Gaga in Joker 2, new Grammy categories. Plus, Rebecca Black joins to discuss her music career post-“Friday,” the importance of Hilary Duff, and more.

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TRANSCRIPT

 

Ira Madison III: And we are back with an all new episode of Keep It. I am Ira Madison III and I  am back from Barcelona.

 

Louis Virtel: I’m Louis Virtel. And do the viewers, a.k.a. listeners, even remember us? It’s been two weeks. I’m self-conscious. We are a podcast. We are called Keep It.

 

Ira Madison III: I want to shout out the people in my Instagram DMS who were like, What happened to the episode? And I’m like, I don’t know, maybe you should listen to the entire episode where we told you that we would be back in two weeks.

 

Louis Virtel: In the episode we said we won’t be here. So using the clues in the episode, think ahead. Anyway, we’re back.

 

Ira Madison III: It’s sort of felt maybe it felt the people like when you would watch TV in our era, you know, millennial, millennial era of growing up watching TV. And you actually sometimes wouldn’t know if there’d be a new episode of the TV show. You were watching the next week.

 

Louis Virtel: Right. Yeah. We would basically have to decode, like, the commercials on TV. Like, even sometimes they would kind of fool you. They’d be like, this week on Men Behaving Badly, like, oh, like guest stars. And you’re like, Wait a minute, did that person guest star before Swoosie Kurtz Were you already on this episode? And then you’re like, wait, it’s a rerun? Like, you would have to figure it out yourself.

 

Ira Madison III: Men Behaving Badly.

 

Louis Virtel: I don’t know why that was the first.

 

Ira Madison III: Shut up.

 

Louis Virtel: Thursday night fail. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III: Have you ever see the British version of that show?

 

Louis Virtel: No. I mean, which, by the way. So it makes sense that it was a British show because that’s such a British title. I never put it together.

 

Ira Madison III: Yeah. I can’t imagine any NBC execs in 96, you know, coming out with Men Behaving Badly unless they were like, Oh, this is the name of a British show. Men Behaving Badly, men behaving a little cheeky.

 

Louis Virtel: No. And here in the States, it’d be called like Studs or Stags or something.

 

Ira Madison III: But it’s actually funny now that we’re in this era where most shows that I feel like are adapted from a lot of foreign things that like it just happens all the time now, but you sort of never know. Whereas they used to be very obvious about we’re just carbon copying like a British show, and then it’d be awful, like coupling.

 

Louis Virtel: Right? Yes. Yes, yes. Now, a bunch of memories are flooding back to mind from shows of that time. The Single Guy. Was that a British show?

 

Ira Madison III: The Single Guy was not a British show, but it was a Friends rip off.

 

Louis Virtel: Right. That’s okay. We also had that obviously, too, because we kept trying to replicate the success of Friends for a while, too. I believe we gave Ming-Na a shot there.

 

Ira Madison III: We did. We did the whole the whole crux of this era of TV. Chuck Klosterman talks a bit about it in the nineties. His latest book, basically, like anything on TV at that point, was watched, not because, like we were seeking it out because of streaming. It was watched just because you left your TV on. And most hits like like a show like this. If you put a show on after Friends, it would get like 25 million viewers just because, like, only 10 million people, like, decided to turn their TV off after Friends, you know, and like that’s why shows that lasted a season are shows that nobody fucking remembers like had more viewers than like the Game of Thrones finale times three.

 

Louis Virtel: Right, right, right. The show, Working, which I was a fan of at the time, survived for a while, I think, based on this principle. But I know Fred Savage is among the most canceled of current celebrities, right now? So this is my way of being timely with this conversation.

 

Ira Madison III: The thing that also used to happen back then was they would just decide to move a show because they were like, it’s getting good enough ratings. What if we moved it to another night and used it to lead into another show? We want people to watch forgetting that. I don’t know. Most people don’t know that this show that they used to watch on Thursday, just like, you know, like after Friends or, you know, like after or whatever else they were watching. It’s now all of a sudden on Tuesday fucking nights, like you’d have to have TV Guide or you’d have to be watching that network regularly to see commercials that would tell you that the show that you used to watch is like now moved to a Tuesday.

 

Louis Virtel: It’s painful. And by the way, when a show moves like that, I feel like subconsciously, you know, this means it’s not as cool anymore. Ah, this means like like like it’s shifts. Like when something is on Thursday, the night, you really love watching TV and then it moves to Monday or something. You know, when it moves to the Touched By An Angel portion of the week, you know it’s not as cute anymore.

 

Ira Madison III: I will say Mondays for a bit was a Melrose Place night.

 

Louis Virtel: Right. No, totally.

 

Ira Madison III: I believe Mondays are a bitch who I think was the tagline. So, you know, sometimes it was cool.

 

Louis Virtel: Prestige, like Melrose Place as, oh, the Emmys, Melrose Place, it racked up.

 

Ira Madison III: Melrose Place earned a  lot of Emmys. I’m going to put that out there. I’ll put that out there. We’re also going to talk about the Tony Awards.

 

Louis Virtel: Yeah, they threw the razzle dazzle on for us. Wasn’t that nice?

 

Ira Madison III: Broadway is back. I feel like.

 

Louis Virtel: How many times do we get to say that over the last few years?

 

Ira Madison III: Would you, would you step off the subway into Times Square? Someone just whispers into your ear, Broadway is back.

 

Louis Virtel: Yeah, it’s like slug worth.

 

Ira Madison III: Yeah. They’re like, Go see Chicago. You’re like, Who’s in it this week? Well, remember The Single Guy? Because Ming-Na is now Velma Kelly.

 

Louis Virtel: By the way. You know, I’ve seen Ming-Na in Chicago. Don’t even threaten me with a good time.

 

Ira Madison III: Speaking of a good time. I love. I love the segways. I missed our segways. Um, Rebecca Black is here this week as our guest, and that’s really wild to me because this podcast comes out on Wednesday.

 

Louis Virtel: Right, which is going to confuse the viewers. Oh, my God. This this dovetails with our conversation about days of the week, so. Well, I’m really worried. Yeah. We’ll see how it goes. We get canceled this week. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III: Anyway, I’m jetlagged and I’m. I’m ready for a fun episode. I will say Primavera Sound, the music festival that I went to in Barcelona was fantastic. But I’d seen most of those acts before. The act that I got to see finally was Jessie Ware and.

 

Louis Virtel: Oh.

 

Ira Madison III: Iconic. She ate. She ate in like a long pants and like a dress shirt and a ponytail.

 

Louis Virtel: Oh, chill, relatable, etc.. I bet she sounds exactly like she does on record.

 

Ira Madison III: She does. She does. She sounds even better. Amazing voice. She did basically the entire deluxe album, which, as I recall you said, wasn’t disco.

 

Louis Virtel: I do tend to fall asleep to it. Yes. I think she’s talented. I just prefer the older Jessie Ware. I prefer Running era. Jessie Ware. Do you know who I saw for the first time?

 

Ira Madison III: She played Running.

 

Louis Virtel: I saw Muna.

 

Ira Madison III: She played Running.

 

Louis Virtel: For the first time. Talk about people who sound exactly like they do on the record. They were fabulous. And they’re going to be taking over this summer via the Fire Island soundtrack.

 

Ira Madison III: So Muna is iconic. Muna, I met at We Hope Pride and Naomi and Muna. She and I had a whole convo about how Muna needs to come on Keep It.

 

Louis Virtel: Okay. Good. Well, we’re both on the same side in that argument. So, should happen. Ultimately.

 

Ira Madison III: We’re going to make it happen. We’ve Dm’d about it. And I they we have already addressed the fact that they did not do the bridge to Sometimes in their cover for the movie Fire Island, but

 

Louis Virtel: Which is very controversial, by the way, because that’s a strong bridge.

 

Ira Madison III: I think they apparently they just didn’t have time to. But I think it works and I think it works in the context of the film.

 

Louis Virtel: Definitely, because the song kind of stops and picks up with a power chorus at the end, which is very appropriate. But anyway, but the the Max Martin branded emotions really culminate during that bridge. So the bravery of leaving it out was, you know, it’s like Prince leaving out the the base of When Doves Cry. Ultimately, it was a genius move, but it could have been disastrous.

 

Ira Madison III: Hmm. You know, I think those doves cried enough. They didn’t need to cry anymore, you know.

 

Louis Virtel: I don’t know where you’re going with that, but. Okay.

 

Ira Madison III: When does keep crying? That’s when I get scared.

 

Louis Virtel: Stop it already.

 

Ira Madison III: All right. We’ll be back with more. Keep it. The 75th Annual Tony Awards were held Sunday night hosted by recent Academy Award winner and more importantly, recent Keep It guest, Ariana Debose, the big winner of the night, was A Strange Loop, which won for Best Musical and netted Jennifer Hudson her EGOT. All right. We talked about competitive arts before, but, you know, she’s earned this EGOT. That’s how Whoopi got her EGOT. She’s in it.

 

Louis Virtel: It’s. It’s crazy, by the way, that it’s still only the 17th competitive EGOT. Like you’d think we’d be in, like, thirties or something, but by now. But Jennifer Hudson, getting this production Tony, is very exciting. But I just want to say, when there is a new EGOT, they should there should be like a celebration of some to I don’t know, like. Like Rita Moreno should night them with a foot tap or shoulder.

 

Ira Madison III: Right. I just saw it on Twitter, you know, or people, like, texting me, like articles about it. And I’m like, this should have been, you know what it should have been? It should have been like that fucking awkward moment at the Grammys where remember when they were, Trevor Noah was like Beyonce, stop what you’re doing. You’re about to be the most part. You’ve got to win the most like Grammys or something like that. With Beyonce, it was like, Where is Julius? Where’s my bodyguard? Am I going to have to shoot Trevor Noah. But it should be a moment like that, you know, like the producers, especially at the Tonys, which is like the faggiest awards show.

 

Louis Virtel: Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III: They should know if someone’s about to EGOT, so like there should have been bells and whistles.

 

Louis Virtel: Definitely. Especially since, by the way, there are so few living EGOT winners. You got the Lopezes, you’ve got your got Whoopi Goldberg, etc.. But for the most, Jennifer.

 

Ira Madison III: And Mario Lopez.

 

Louis Virtel: Yeah. When Mario EGOT-ed for interviewing Maria Menounos on Extra. No, but it’s for the most part, it’s people like Helen Hayes and Richard Rodgers and etc.. So to have living EGOTs among us is just a very exciting thing. And also I have the distinct feeling she’s going to keep winning awards, so she’s going to be buttressing this EGOT for the rest of her life.

 

Ira Madison III: She could maybe win an award, an NAACP or something for that Christmas movie I wrote for her if New Line ever decided to make it.

 

Louis Virtel: Oh.

 

Ira Madison III:  Just putting that out there.

 

Louis Virtel: I’ve actually completely forgot about that. And I’m happy you’re bringing it up and all ornery about it.

 

Ira Madison III: New Line forgot about it too.

 

Louis Virtel: Now, okay. Speaking of things that didn’t happen at the Tonys, you know who didn’t show up? Angela Lansbury.

 

Ira Madison III: Listen.

 

Louis Virtel: First of all, they threw her tribute or whatever, her lifetime achievement to the pre-show, which was suspicious enough, and then she didn’t appear in person or on video. And guess how I feel about that? Not good.

 

Ira Madison III: Do you think she’s mad at the Tonys?

 

Louis Virtel: I think she might be ailing. It’s concerning me.

 

Ira Madison III:  Hmm.

 

Louis Virtel: She has 165 years old, and I say that affectionately. We brought this up during my Keep It a couple of weeks ago. This is a woman who was first nominated for an Oscar 78 years ago. I mean, I don’t expect her to live much longer, but man, they really left a huge question mark on this occasion, which, like haunted me the rest of the ceremony.

 

Ira Madison III: Well, I have it on good authority that she is in Glass Onion: Knives Out 2.

 

Louis Virtel: She’s in Mary Poppins Keeps Returning. Yes. Mary Poppins won’t go away. That’s the second sequel.

 

Ira Madison III: Also Jesse Tyler Ferguson won the Tony for Best Featured actor. So this is turning into an awards show pipeline.

 

Louis Virtel: True. Also, I’m particularly happy for him because we brought this up during our interview with him. He’s routinely nominated against costars, sometimes up to three costars, like he was that one year with Modern Family. And so for him to take it over his two costars alone, feels like a particular triumph for Jesse Tyler Ferguson.

 

Ira Madison III: I will say that I could have predicted that he would win this award because I feel like the Tonys, more so than any other award show, even the Oscars, likes to reward the community and reward people who have been doing the work. You know, like it’s rare someone’s going to get like a win for a breakout performance, you know, unless it’s a huge, huge breakout. You know, it’s really got to be like, okay, you did this show, but you’re nominated against people who you know, like have been like seasoned in Broadway. And so we’re going to give them the award. You know, like the, what, two people who I guess were sort of up for a thing like that would have been the leads in MJ and A Strange Loop. And then Myles Frost won.

 

Louis Virtel: Right, right, right.

 

Ira Madison III: And he is so fucking good.

 

Louis Virtel: It reminds me of a few years ago when Rachel Bay Jones won for dear Evan Hansen the applause that rang out when she won for that role, which I’m not saying that’s not a juicy role that doesn’t have good songs, but it’s not I don’t know. You don’t leave Dear Evan Hansen really thinking about that role. But people were so excited she won. And you can feel that like palpable community thing whenever you watch the Tonys. That’s also why I think the Tonys is probably the most guaranteed good time when you’re watching an award show because you feel like you’re really immersed in someplace specific, you know? I mean, like you would think the Emmys would kind of give you that, but I don’t know. There’s less of a of a vibe and definitely less of a vibe with the Oscars, which, you know, they hand to sort of random people every year. Now.

 

Ira Madison III: It’s weird because I feel like the Emmys does. We’ve thought about this, but like the Emmys doesn’t really capture the feel of watching TV and it certainly doesn’t capture the feel of like TV now, you know? Yeah, it’s just sort of like trucking out, you know, like people who they want to give awards to, but it doesn’t feel representative of like all the shit we’re watching and it’s never really felt that way. You know, I felt sort of like disillusioned, I guess, sort of by Emmys shit when like in like an Oscar, like an Oscars snub, it’s always talked about, you know, like someone’s going to be like, Oh, this underrated movie or all this cult classic, you know? But I just remember, like, Buffy, you know, like when that was like getting like lauded by critics. But it’s on the WB and it’s called Buffy the Vampire Slayer when that wasn’t even getting any fucking like writing nominations is just sort of like, what are we doing here? Like, you’re only nominating there are only nominated for a while, like the the big four, like the primetime network shows. And then it became like the Netflix shows, you know, like House of Cards, and like those things. And Orange is the New Black. And then once, you know, Netflix started to lose its luster, it became whatever. You know.

 

Louis Virtel: I will say about the Tonys, because they’re always necessarily drawing from a smaller crop of potential nominees. You do feel like you get a sort of comprehensive view of what’s happening on Broadway. Other than this year, you would really not know. There is a gigantic performance of Funny Girl going on right now.

 

Ira Madison III: Sometimes when there are nominations for like Best Musical, I’m always like, You know what? There’s room for everyone.

 

Louis Virtel: Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III: Because everyone gets nominated except the Tonys were like, you know what  we’re not going to do? Talk about that show.

 

Louis Virtel: I mean. Also in a way, like again, I haven’t seen Funny Girl. I mean, I obviously know the Barbra Streisand movie very well. Loved Kay Medford in that movie.

 

Ira Madison III: You know what I would say, by the way, sidenote.

 

Louis Virtel: Oh, go ahead.

 

Ira Madison III: I constantly, always used to think Audrey Hepburn was in Funny Girl because she’s in the movie Funny Face.

 

Louis Virtel: Right. Iconic black little slip of an outfit. Yes.

 

Ira Madison III: Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel: But again, I haven’t seen this Funny Girl on Broadway or whatever, but I’m sort of glad they snubbed it because it lets you know they aren’t just giving everyone in the room a quote unquote, like fair opportunity. Like it’s it’s not just publicity for Broadway. Like, there is like an awards body that’s thinking, all right, well, we want to award the best stuff. This isn’t the best stuff. So let’s move it along. You know, even if it’s a little awkward.

 

Ira Madison III: I know. I mean, because it’s like no offense to Beane Feldstein, who I think is fantastic.

 

Louis Virtel: Yeah, we, of course, love her.

 

Ira Madison III: Yeah, but it really did feel like one of the more like Craven, like money like Tony grabs in recent history.

 

Louis Virtel: Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III: It was like, who was asking for this?

 

Louis Virtel: Right now.

 

Ira Madison III: I would rather see Beanie Feldstein in a million other things than Funny Girl.

 

Louis Virtel: It does seem like a strange match because he didn’t we weren’t familiar with her as a singer. You certainly weren’t. Didn’t want to pair this new singing talent with these particularly loaded and fabulous songs, you know, as as a first go. So, yeah, it’s just a strange outing altogether.

 

Ira Madison III: You know what I want for her? I want to, I want to team up with our brother. I want to see her and Jonah on screen together.

 

Louis Virtel: It’s sort of like Cate and Rooney Mara. I’m like, I keep kind of forgetting you guys know each other, even though you do remind me of each other in a certain way too. Like, let’s solve something here. We can do something together.

 

Ira Madison III: And what’s interesting is he’s gone through such a weird and strange sort of like career that it’s led to sort of like what I think is like a really beautiful place now. Like, I really like Jonah Hill as an actor, and I like for Beanie to sort of go on that journey, too, you know? I think she’s figuring it out.

 

Louis Virtel: Yeah, I mean, Booksmart, Lady Bird, I mean, the hits are there. You know, I’m not concerned for where she can go as an actress. I didn’t watch Impeachment. Did you watch that?

 

Ira Madison III: I watched the scenes Annaleigh Ashford was in before she came on Keep it.

 

Louis Virtel: Right. No, that I watched. Yes.

 

Ira Madison III: Impeachment was not for me. I am. I, I feel maybe like how some of the Brits are when when there’s another, there’s another fucking thing about The Crown. I’m like, I am tired of stories about Bill and Hillary Clinton and Monica Lewinsky.

 

Louis Virtel: Yeah. Mm hmm.

 

Ira Madison III: I’m just tired of it, as I’m tired of hearing about Kim Kardashian in this fucking dress. This dress. This dress. Now that people are like, Oh, she damaged Marilyn Monroe’s dress. And people are, like, livid about it online. It’s like you didn’t even though this fucking dress was still around until a month ago. Why are we talking about this? It’s over. Is the cousin Oliver of pop culture stories?

 

Louis Virtel: Yeah. I mean, I will say this as somebody who loves, like, pop culture minutia and it could potentially, you know, get into the world of caring about, like, antique pop culture things. Even me looking at this dress, I just think it’s ultimately one dress she wore. I don’t know. Nor is it like the definitive garment she’s ever worn. I think of all these, like, Seven Year Itch and How to Marry a Millionaire and Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend. And so it’s just not that important to me.

 

Ira Madison III: And it’s only important in the context of its relation to a man, JFK.

 

Louis Virtel: Right.

 

Ira Madison III: And to that I said no. Time’s up on that.

 

Louis Virtel: Okay. Wait. Back to the Tonys. I will say without a doubt, actually, not without a doubt. There were two performances that were amazing. But man, that MJ performance. I mean, I have to say, even if you’re skeptical about the existence of the MJ show and a little bit mad at what’s her name, Lynn Nottage, for being involved, that was the showstopper of the night. I mean, you watched that and thought, okay, that’s a Tony winning performance right there.

 

Ira Madison III: It is one of the best musicals I’d seen in years. It’s just so fucking electric, like watching it. So I loved MJ The Musical.

 

Louis Virtel: Also, I didn’t realize that they were going to juxtapose Michael Jackson with a few of his mentor types, like Bob Fosse, who’s a part of that number.

 

Ira Madison III: Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel: And the stack of brothers.

 

Ira Madison III: Really what I really like about it is the show is about the people who influenced Michael from his father, to Fosse, you know, to obviously Quincy Jones. You know, it really sort of like takes you on a journey of, like, what created him.

 

Louis Virtel: Mm hmm. But then also, there was this other performance from a musical I was barely familiar with called Paradise Square, Joaquina Kalukango. This performance, she basically stood on stage, craned her neck at the audience, and belted out notes at them, and eventually just a tear fell like straight down her face. It was as if it had been animated onto her face. And everyone you could feel people grabbing their chairs. You could feel people not breathing. As she performed the song, it was un believable. And then when it came time to announce the winner for that category, previously I had been very sympathetic to my girl, Mare Winningham, which, if you’ve not seen the 1995 movie Georgia with Jennifer Jason Leigh, you get a wonderfully sympathetic, frustrated performance from Mare Winningham in that obviously she’s the best part of movies like Saint Elmo’s Fire. She’s now with Anthony Edwards, her former costar in the movie Miracle Mile. He made an appearance during the ceremony, too. I thought I was going to be a Mare Winningham stand all night. Lo and behold, this woman came in and just blew the lid off the joint. And in such a surprise, I just couldn’t believe it. It’s one of the it’s it’s now out there among the greatest Tonys performances of all time.

 

Ira Madison III: I, like, didn’t get to see Paradise Square, like, when I was in New York. Like, I had plans to see it, and then I was sick and I’m desperately going to try and see it before she leaves. She was in Slave Play. I saw the Broadway production, and I saw here in a revival of Color Purple. So, like, I know that, like, I know that she’s got it. And I like after that performance, I’m like, I got to see that. That is what I love about the Tonys, by the way. It’s what I used to always love about the Tonys like, you know, I was like a kid who was really in the theater, you know, like working on stage crew. In high school. I just like hoping to like live in New York, you know, and be a part of like this world that felt like it was, like, so far away from you. Right. It feels even, like, harder and, like, more mysterious, I guess, than, like Hollywood, in a sense. You know, because it feels like it’s just like movies are made everywhere. Like it’s sort of like it always felt like theater was in one fucking place. And, like, the theater that you did in high school was just sort of like, I don’t know, fun and, like, theater and like. And so you get like that. And some of you would like the one person that you knew would somehow magically make it so that world. But it was while I was watching those performances that just like you’d watched them time and time again and it would be like this. This is like why I want to go and see theater and be a part of that world. And she was fantastic.

 

Louis Virtel: Speaking of The Color Purple, it was presented to her by Cynthia Erivo and Danielle Brooks. Obviously Veterans of Color Purple, and that was awesome to see. Those two in particular looked amazing. So the three of them together was just an insane tableau. I want to say just about.

 

Ira Madison III: Do you think that Fantasia’s going to EGOT? Do you think? Because you know The Color Purple movie.

 

Louis Virtel: Right? It’d be so weird if she were bad because I feel like Fantasia has that convulsive passion thing, like she can’t help but pour it all. Like, we’re going to be getting like, you think Viola Davis cries? This is going to be a blizzard of tears.

 

Ira Madison III: I will stay out there with you, Troy.

 

Louis Virtel: Yes. Oh, my God. I want to hear more of your Fences impressions. I want to say just about greatest Tonys performances of all times. First of all, Viola Davis doing King Hedley II, which is the rare play monologue you’ve ever gotten at the Tonys. Great. Obviously, you’ve got Jennifer Holliday doing Dreamgirls, a performance people need to see that needed to be basically shot to me on Twitter. And I like waffled about having to watch it is Grand Hotel. Have you ever seen this?

 

Ira Madison III: Yes.

 

Louis Virtel: Oh, my God, I it’s okay. So this actor, Michael Jeter, who won the Tony for it, gives this drunken performance and it’s this like razzle dazzle song with arms up in the air and, like, they’re welcoming you to the Grand Hotel, guys, you have never seen anything like this in your life. It is so funny, so endearing. The audience flies to their feet. I believe Jane Krakowski is lingering somewhere in the performance too, because she was in that version of Grand Hotel. You must watch this Grand Hotel Tonys performance. Oh, it is. It is. I’m just filled with endorphins even talking about it is an incredible performance.

 

Ira Madison III: That I would also offer. Sutton Foster.

 

Oh, please. Anything Goes.

 

Drowsy Chaperon. Well, Drowsy Chaperon, but also anything goes but The Lights, the 1997 Tony Awards performance when they do My Body which well, if you saw the Billy Porter revival of it at Encores, which I’d like to forget about, watch the 1997 Tony Awards performance. That is fantastic. And I will never say no to Cheyenne Jackson’s thighs in those short shorts, in those hoochie daddy shorts. But anyway, don’t walk away from Xanadu.

 

Louis Virtel: So I don’t I don’t believe we had thighs before that performance. I believe those were the world’s first thighs.

 

Ira Madison III: Okay. Faye Dunaway saw those as she was shook.

 

Louis Virtel: No, she was like a she. Right. She thought she did something in the movie Barfly and she was wrong.

 

Ira Madison III: Angie Dickinson saw Cheyenne’s legs and was like, Well, damn, what happened? What am I insuring my legs for?

 

Louis Virtel: Oh, my God. Police Woman That’s a show that’s never come up in this podcast. Well, we’ll reserve a moment for that in the future. By the way, though, what did we think of the Sondheim tribute, which was just clips of him talking about how inspirational he is and Bernadette Peters singing Children Will Listen because guess what? Children almost fell asleep for me. I, I barely could stay through it.

 

Ira Madison III: As we talked about with Sondheim, there have been no there were 9000 tributes to that man while he was alive. So imagine trying to do one that anyone is going to find interesting now.

 

Louis Virtel: I guess that’s true. But it just felt you would have thought like they would have brought a bunch of people on stage or something. Not that I don’t just want to hear Bernadette sing, but there were a couple more options I think that they could have exercised.

 

Ira Madison III: Probably it is, probably in his well, he’s probably like, I’m sick of y’all.

 

Louis Virtel: He’s like, leave it alone.

 

Ira Madison III: Stop singing, stop singing my damn songs. And if you’re going to sing my songs, so can you. Can you sing anything besides Children Will Listen. Anything. Okay, come on. Can you sing  something from Bounce.

 

Louis Virtel: How about Madonna get her ass out there and sing More from Dick Tracy, which I fucking love. That is one of my favorite Stephen Sondheim songs.

 

Ira Madison III: I mean, he he put he put all his whips and chains into that song. Okay. Oh, yeah. He went down to the basement.

 

Louis Virtel: Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III: And wrote that song. Okay.

 

Louis Virtel: I’m so happy that I want more.

 

Louis Virtel: Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III: He was in the sex dungeon writing them songs for Dick Tracy. Let me tell you that.

 

Louis Virtel: Sooner or later, I’m going to flog you with this cat a nineTtails. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III: All right. We’ll be right back with the queen of Fridays Rebecca Black.

 

[AD]

 

Ira Madison III: If you’re listening to this show, then you were probably at L.A. Pride over the weekend and saw this guest perform on the main stage. Unless you’re one of our millions of listeners who don’t live in L.A., but we’re not talking about them this week. So please welcome to Keep It the new queen of Hyperpop, Rebecca Black.

 

Rebecca Black: Hi. I’ll take the title. I’ll take it.

 

Ira Madison III: I am.

 

Louis Virtel: Tell me, tell me about being it. Tell me about being at L.A. Pride. First of all, because we were both there and what your experience of it was, because I am used to that chaos by this point. I’ve been going for 175 years, but someone like you, a young star, I’m sure, has to be gently traumatized by how much is going on in L.A. Pride.

 

Ira Madison III: Not a youngster, Louis.

 

Rebecca Black: Louis I’m going to need 25 nights a week. Honestly, I mean, it was not my first L.A. Pride. I my first L.A. Pride. It’s so funny. Like, as a young person growing up kind of around L.A., like, I’m not from L.A., I’m from Orange County. And it was always this like big thing, especially within a lot of my friends growing up. Like, like people would sneak into L.A. Pride, like it was like the party of the season. And also, I mean, we were all a bunch of slightly underage people who may or may not have known that we were gay at the time, but it was like this big, like, fantastical event that I’d never gotten to go to until I was I think I was 21 was the first year that I went to the actual like L.A. Pride Festival. And and that was the first time I kissed a girl. So it’s a very it’s a very prominent thing in my in my life. And it was this is my first I’m going to actually work it. And it was a very different experience, a whole different set of emotions. But I love the place.

 

Louis Virtel: I was going to say congrats on your first queer experience being eventized, like you literally did it at the correct location.

 

Rebecca Black: I did it with I. I want to say it was mid Kim Petras set. It was probably one of the best experiences of my life. And yeah, thank you to L.A. Pride for that, but

 

Louis Virtel: Ira and I talk about this a lot. There was a yeah, this would have been three or four years ago. There was a time when you could not avoid Kim Petras in L.A.. You would go to, like, the ATM and she’d be performing.

 

Rebecca Black: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, she still is. She was.

 

Louis Virtel: Yes. Are.

 

Ira Madison III: What’s also exciting is you performed at Coachella because I’m very good friends with Ty Sunderland. And so I was at the Rebecca Black and Friends performance you did. You had Ty there. Vincent came out. What is that like? You know, you know, like, you know, I think everyone is familiar with your music career and where you’ve gone. What does it feel like to be at Coachella at this age and also like doing this kind of music? I called you Queen of Hyperpop now, but like, how did you get into, like, I love this shit now, you know, was it like a love of Sophie as a kid? Was it like meeting newer people in the industry as you grew up?

 

Rebecca Black: Yeah. I mean, the Coachella thing, at every every experience, especially, I mean, this year has been so crazy because over the last couple of years, I know a lot of people have talked about kind of my story as like now there’s this reintroduction to who she is and all of these words get thrown around. And a lot of that a lot of that time, like I was sitting in my house for it. I mean, nobody was out, nobody was doing anything. So it was it was this crazy, like, unreal experience and, like, almost like a deja vu moment in a different way based on what I what I went through when I was a teenager around Friday. But like, none of that really translates into like a feeling of real life until you’re actually there in the room and, like, testing it out. And I’ve done my first headline tour this year. I did Coachella, even L.A. Pride. Like, every time I get out there or like get to the event, I’ve just no idea what to expect. And I’ve been really lucky to have such, like, insane experiences like that. Coachella set really. Like I, I remember getting to the Do LaB and being like, nobody could show up. I hope people show up like there is a possibility that nobody shows up. And I’m here like playing to ten people and that’s going to be fun. Um but then it

 

Ira Madison III: Do LaB is secretly where it’s at,at Coachella.

 

Rebecca Black: It is. It absolutely is. And I’ve known that as like a patron of Coachella. But to actually do it and like see it be this like insanely queer, beautiful, fun, exciting experience and to be able to give that to people was, was crazy. It was so it’s always so exciting to see, you know, just the response and to spot even one person, like in a crowd, like knowing lyrics to whatever song it is, like whether it’s Friday, whether it’s the new stuff like that, it’s just it’s an endlessly like, mind boggling experience.

 

Ira Madison III: It’s interesting you bring up, you know, like this reintroduction because I feel like, yeah, my reintroduction to you was 2021, early like pandemic. And I, first of all, I love your EP so much. Rebecca Black Was Here. I think it’s fantastic. Micah Jasper is one of my favorite producers working right now, so I really love.

 

Rebecca Black: He’s Going To Die.

 

Ira Madison III: The work that you do have. But you know, I feel like 2021 people, there’s still a point where we’re still sort of in our houses and this reintroduction happens. And so it’s sort of happening while you’re, you know, like you said in your house. How did it feel? I guess, you know, you talk about people knowing the lyrics, you know, to your first song. How did it feel to, I guess, reclaim that with working with 100 gecs who are amazing, by the way as well and then like 303 on the Friday remix. Who, I fucking well 303 and they had like a resurgence in 2021 too. Big Freedia, Dorian Electra. Like, did it feel like you were re-taking control of your own story in the music industry?

 

Rebecca Black: Definitely in a way. I mean, I had had that idea to do the Friday remix for a long time because of that like hope that maybe it would feel like I got to do this in my own way and do it in a way that I maybe had some control over. Because, I mean, I’ve told the Friday story a million times over, and I it’s it was something that, you know, like 2011 going viral then was such a different experience than what it is now. I mean, even now, like you have people everywhere on Tik Tok, whatever, going viral without really even realizing that it’s happening or knowing that it’s going to happen. I mean, just you never think that something like that’s going to happen to you.

 

Ira Madison III: And viral is like viral could be like a day and a half now.

 

Louis Virtel: Yes, totally.

 

Rebecca Black: It’s really facinating.

 

Ira Madison III: 2011, viral. It’s like we’re talking about it for three months.

 

Rebecca Black: I know. I don’t I don’t understand how much there was talk about. It really was so different. Anyways, yeah, doing the remix was was it really just like the experience of creating it totally evolved the way that I felt about the song because I to be able to like work with Dylan from, from 100 Gecs and send him stands and have him send me something back that I was like, Oh my God, this is so sick. And have the same experience with Dorian, with Freedia, with 303 and have everyone be so excited to be a part of something as well regarding that song. Like, I felt like I had a kick me poster on the back of my bag for half a decade of my life, if not more. And so it felt really, really special to even make it so like I was obviously excited for it to come out, but just the process of making it, I feel like was so like strangely healing for, for me and, and like also a way you were asking how I got involved in like the hyperpop and kind of queer pop space. Like that was something that I had been just a fan of as like somebody who’s grown up and evolved my own taste and gotten in endless rabbit holes of Sophie, of Gecs, of all of these, like Charlie, I mean, these iconic pop and in left or pop icons, iconic icons, whatever. But, you know.

 

Ira Madison III: I mean, listen, I’ve seen the Crash Tour four times at this point so.

 

Rebecca Black: I’m so jealous.

 

Ira Madison III: She was going to get a restraining order at his point.

 

Rebecca Black: But it’s just such a it’s such a it was such a special thing to be able to, like, be so welcomed by the people that I was just so inspired by. And yeah, it was just really great.

 

Louis Virtel: It’s cool to hear you talk about how much fun it is to collaborate because when you meet other artists, do you find that you rarely relate? Do you feel like almost like an alien to them compared to how you came up as like a prominent person? Do you are there people you’ve been surprised to find yourself really relating to and including their biographical story?

 

Rebecca Black: That’s a good question. I mean, there’s definitely I feel like more and more and more and more, there’s no the traditional way of like being kind of this idea that some person get scouted as a teenager in a mall and then or with a guitar and get signed to a label immediately. And it’s like in two months, you know, all over all over the world and touring and has adoring fans like I think that is kind of that isn’t as much of a relevant story obviously anymore. And everybody’s experience is so unique. And I think I think what I have been surprised to relate to, I don’t know if surprised is the right word, but what I find myself relating to are people relating to each other a lot in conversations I’ve had, or just that like everybody has been doing this forever, like people have been around whether or not you realized it or knew it forever. And to find any like sense of recognition and to feel like people thought that you just kind of like, boop, now you’re here. Like, I don’t know if that’s how people felt when I kind of had this reduction reintroduction, but like, people spend years really, really working and or just trying to develop like themselves into what they’ve become now, whether it’s, you know, Charlie and The Crash or whatever. Like all these things are years and years and years in the making without them even really realizing it. And I think that’s something to really do. But yeah, everyone starts in time to it’s just is so different and it’s fascinating to see where those things kind of line up.

 

Ira Madison III: I know I was reading this great Vulture interview you did last year about like your influences, you know, from like Madonna to Gwen Stefani. And I’m always interested in sort of like younger musicians because, you know, like, first of all, Louis and I are gay as well. Like we grew up like in the period that we grew up and like we there’s overlap obviously with our pop stars. But, you know, it’s interesting because I feel like, you know, I interviewed Lil Nas X once for Entertainment Weekly. The Britney that I was into was the very different era than the era he was like, This was formative to me. And that era to me was, you know, like, okay, I’m already like in my early twenties, you know, sort of like going to bars already. So like when you think of like pop icons, you know, and like we are pop pop icons too, like who are the people who inspired you and sort of like what were the eras of music of them that also really spoke to you? Because, you know, I have to imagine like Baby One More Time is something like it felt almost like an oldie to you.

 

Rebecca Black: I think it was two. Iconic, but still a classic. It’s still classic. I mean, it’s so it’s so funny. I mean, there are definitely I even have the Metamorphosis experience with with people who are younger than me and hearing from my brother and my brother’s girlfriend, who are a few years younger in their experience of pop or music or the Internet is so different. And like I have a seven year old sister and I am scared to even know what that means to her. But I. Iconic, iconic eras, iconic eras I mean my first ever album that like I listen to every day all the time. The first couple of albums would be the Britney Spears Toxic album In The Zone. Hilary Duff Metamorphosis.

 

Ira Madison III: Oh, okay.

 

Rebecca Black: Queer or not  that is an iconic album. I mean, it’s it’s funny because there’s also the Internet. So, like, I spend a lot of my time going back and like that’s I think the Madonna that I appreciate. Like, I mean, we were already at like 4 minutes Madonna by the time I really was understanding who she was. But now, like some of my album, my favorite Madonna albums are like most iconic inspirational albums are like Ray of Light. Like, I didn’t even exist really. But I go back and I watch those tours as I watch I watch her and and it’s just so inspired by her and but probably one of the most formative ones that I remember real time, really, just like being so enamored with, with what she did. And that was it was around the time that I think Friday would have been around was was like the Gaga Born This Way album.

 

Louis Virtel: Of course.

 

Rebecca Black: That was like prime like 13 year old me like singing it in the car with my mom and just so like enamored with every performance that she did, every everything that she did and obviously, like, has kind of transcended itself.

 

Louis Virtel: Also, it must be said about Hilary Duff. She had an album sometime after that called Dignity, which was kind of her Kylie esque. It’s iconic that she had a song called Stranger on that album that was really, really good. I wish we kind of got a little bit more of that. Hilary Duff. Not that I don’t enjoy her now.

 

Rebecca Black: True. I feel the same way about Lindsay Lohan. I’m like Rumors.

 

Louis Virtel: Oh please.

 

Rebecca Black: That’s a song and I still listen to that.

 

Ira Madison III: The amount of times that I put on Daughter To Father is probably I probably should talk to my therapist about it.

 

Louis Virtel: I remember when she had that song from Herbie Fully Loaded. That was I Want to Come First, Lindsay. That is awfully suggestive.

 

Rebecca Black: Oh, she’s amazing. She.

 

Louis Virtel: I loved Rivers. I also heard a rumor. Wait, have we talked about this on the show, Ira? That Michael Jackson secretly wrote Rumors.

 

Ira Madison III: By Lindsay?

 

Louis Virtel: Yes. And if you listen to it, it kind of sounds like one of those 2000 Michael Jackson rage songs. It kind of makes sense. I don’t know if this is true. It might be it might be completely false. It’s a rumor I’ve heard.

 

Rebecca Black: I mean, it would be in the credits. If you look online, he would be.

 

Louis Virtel: Rebecca, You’re like a detective.Yeah.

 

Rebecca Black: I’ll find out before this podcast is over.

 

Ira Madison III: We find out Michael Jackson was writing rumors under some secret name.

 

Rebecca Black: There are two Jacksons on here.

 

Louis Virtel: That’s. It’s something like one of his cousins or something is credited on it, but he secretly wrote it.

 

Rebecca Black: Okay.

 

Louis Virtel: Because, you know, Michael Jackson would be somebody who might ghostwrite a thing or two. That’s why I’m not in the business like you, Rebecca. That’s just me speculating.

 

Rebecca Black: I’ll take it, I’ll take it. I love a rumor about rumors, you know?

 

Louis Virtel: Okay, well, tell us what. What are you up to for this summer? What are your plans? What are you most excited about? What’s thrilling to you?

 

Rebecca Black: Well, I have a few more prides that I’m doing on this kind of like, makeshift pride tour. I’m I’m in a couple of weeks. I’m going to Chicago, I’m going to Minneapolis, Tulsa.

 

Louis Virtel: Home of Hansen.

 

Rebecca Black: Yes. Yes. Icons. And and then as I as I get back. I just finished an album. I finished my first album. So, you know, there’s a lot of a lot of work to be done there before it comes out. But I’m really, really excited about it.

 

Ira Madison III: Who did you work with, producer wise, so you can say?

 

Rebecca Black: Yeah, I worked with some some newbies and some oldies. The old actually, if you’re a big Micah Jasper fan, you’ll see him all over that. Mm hmm. I worked with some people that I don’t know if I want to share yet, but people that I.

 

Ira Madison III: Michael Jackson. Ghost wrote a song.

 

Rebecca Black: Michael Jackson.

 

Louis Virtel: Rebecca. You sound so good. Yeah.

 

Rebecca Black: Oh, God. But, yeah, it’s a it’s definitely, like, one of my most. I think it’s definitely the thing that I’m the most proud of that I’ve ever made and some really cool and cool people to be a part of it. They were.

 

Ira Madison III: One thing I want to say that must be so exciting to I just, you know, I just working for a queer artist who is sort of, you know, gaining traction. I’m friends, you know, I said I’m friends with Vincent as well. And I find it’s so exciting to be, I guess, in this new era where we’re seeing a lot of younger queer artists being able to go from like pride to pride and sort of like introduce themselves to other gay people. Because I feel like when Louis and I were growing up, like it would be the Pointer Sisters.

 

Louis Virtel: Right? It would just be a legacy act. Yeah, that is so true. And now it’s like so like lined with new young queer people and totally.

 

Rebecca Black: Yeah, I mean, it’s so not to, like, you know, kiss L.A. Pride’s ass or any of these prides. I mean, you would hope that they’re including queer artists in their lineup, but but it’s just really cool to get that opportunity and to be recognized and, and, and to see that, like, queer people are really, really connecting with other queer people and those words and that art. And I just hope to see more and more of it. It’s super cool.

 

Ira Madison III: Well, thank you, Rebecca, for being here. I have one last question.

 

Rebecca Black: Sure.

 

Ira Madison III: What is your actual favorite day of the week?

 

Louis Virtel: Yeah, if you had to pick one.

 

Ira Madison III: Like an actual one.

 

Rebecca Black: Historically, I feel like I’ve said a Saturday, which I think is true. I also, funnily enough, like a Tuesday I think is a pretty good one. Friday is also

 

Ira Madison III: Tuesdays used to be Buffy days for me. Buffy used to come out on Tuesday, so I’ve historically loved Tuesdays. I agree with like a Saturday or something because I want to say that growing up now Friday, a very bad together week to be.

 

Louis Virtel: I disagree with that.

 

Ira Madison III: What’s a fun day of the week?

 

Louis Virtel: But it’s you can’t be disappointed by the weekend yet.

 

Ira Madison III: It’s the worst day of the party because everyone is tired. And that is when you get the most cancelations on a Friday night.

 

Rebecca Black: Well, people. Yeah. I mean, things are different for the high schoolers, maybe. I don’t know. Yeah, I think Saturday is a really good day. I love Saturday night. I love a Sunday morning. You know, it all changes.

 

Ira Madison III: Okay. Saturday night in the Sunday morning is gay culture, to be honest.

 

Rebecca Black: At like 15 hours is very good.

 

Ira Madison III: Yeah. All right. Well, thank you, Rebecca. I’m looking forward to the album. And thank you so much for being here.

 

Rebecca Black: Thanks for having me.

 

Louis Virtel: What a pleasure.

 

Ira Madison III: I forgot. I can’t believe you brought up that Michael Jackson rumor thing. I’m going to be as obsessed with that for like literally the rest of my life.

 

Louis Virtel: I literally I feel like somebody told that to me and I’m like, I had this thought, oh, am I not supposed to say that? I’m like, I’m not in a universe where I protect Michael Jackson now. Oh yes, I’m saying this.

 

Rebecca Black: Paris is coming for you. Thank you, guys.

 

Ira Madison III: Yeah, thank you. Take care.

 

Rebecca Black: Yeah, yeah, you too.

 

<A.D.>

 

Ira Madison III: And we’re back with our favorite segment of the episode. It is. Keep It. Louis, what are you mad about?

 

Louis Virtel: Well, I thought I would do something brand new for this podcast and bring up awards. My Keep It goes to not all the new Grammy categories, but one in particular. Let me bring up optimistically the ones I enjoy. Songwriter of the Year Non-Classical. I’ve always thought it was kind of weird at the Grammys that there’s just one award for just person, which was best new artist. So I like adding to that canon. Best alternative music performance. Yes, I would like Bjork to win a single Grammy, so let’s throw that on there. Great.

 

Ira Madison III: I think that’s for Avril Levine.

 

Louis Virtel: Alternative. Man, do I miss that definition of alternative? I go to the mall stores on that side of the aisle. Not. Not the normal mall stores. Best Americana performance. These are all things I enjoy. Best book spoken word poetry album. Come on. I’m going to throw that one of the Indigo Girls. I don’t know what they’re up to. What I really am worried about is best song for social change. This sounds like an award they add to any number of like super corporate award shows to get like an artist to show up. You know, we invented this award so that, you know, name an artist, Ed Sheeran, you finally show up. Justin Bieber. We really love how you reached out to the, I don’t know, Native American population with their new songs. So we’re going to give this to you so that you come and accept this award.

 

Ira Madison III: Where Is The Love is so mad that this award didn’t exist.

 

Louis Virtel: When Fergie and JT came together to solve every problem. And succeeded. In the year of 2003. Yeah. Here’s my thing about songs for social change. One, I mean, what is the metric for this award? Are we measuring the social change on some social media? Are we? I guess my feeling is the songs that have actually made social change occur aren’t often explicitly about social change. I think about a song from the fifties like Rock Around the Clock, which, you know, became sort of anthemic for the new the Bobby’s Soxers and sort of got the the percolation of rock and roll going. I just don’t think you can measure social change in a song against other songs about social change. And I think it feels strange and largely ignoble. And I just don’t want to hear the efforts of people trying to win this award. I think it will sound pretty contrived.

 

Ira Madison III: I will say that I don’t think Rock Around the Clock would win an award for social change.

 

Louis Virtel: No, that’s. I agree. You wouldn’t even think.

 

Ira Madison III: I do think Kate Bush is going to win best new artist, though.

 

Louis Virtel: Oh, that’s very funny. I continue to be thrilled with the Renaissance for her. I think we should be whispering more artists from that era into the ears of impressionable youngsters. I just want to go up to a Gen Z, you know, gay kid and say, Suzanne Vega.

 

Ira Madison III: When is Taylor Dayne’s time?

 

Louis Virtel: I know we can get serious about this. Taylor Dayne, if you go to like, a pride and I mean a pride anywhere I’m talking. Toledo, Ohio. I’m talking. There’s a good chance. Taylor Dayne, Taylor Dayne’s there. And you think to yourself, well, she had that one song. You know, maybe if I run into her while I’m wasted or something, I’ll watch that performance. Guys, she could be performing in a parking lot. She could be performing on the roof of an abandoned 7-Eleven. Taylor Dayne will knock your fucking socks off. She’s like the bang for your buck pride icon. So if she’s around, see Taylor Dayne.

 

Ira Madison III: Love will lead you there. To Taylor Dayne at Pride.

 

Louis Virtel: To the Toledo Pride.

 

Louis Virtel: Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III: Okay, my Keep It this week is I’m going to flip it around and do a Keep It up this week.

 

Louis Virtel: Oh, my God. If listeners don’t know what this is. We did a thing once upon a time. The reviews were negative where we did a positive. Keep It up. Ira is reviving this controversially.

 

Ira Madison III: I think that the idea of Lady Gaga being in Joker Two, directed by Todd Phillips opposite Joaquin Phoenix and it being a musical is the best thing to ever happen to cinema.

 

Louis Virtel: Okay. The number one thing. Wow. You’re saying over say the invention of sound. Yes.

 

Ira Madison III: This this would bring the people together like Madonna thought music would. Okay. I am talking about Incels who love the original Joker. I’m talking about film bros who like to argue that the Joker is actually good. I’m talking about little monsters. I’m talking about the gays who just love trash movies, musical enthusiasts. People who really love the Hangover. This. This is going to do it. This. This is. This is world peace. This is Nobel Peace Prize. Joe Biden. Thank you.

 

Louis Virtel: Ultimately he is responsible. Okay. I do have a couple of thoughts about this. One of them is, I will say, and the thought of Jared Leto as the Joker is still fresh on my mind. In regards to Lady Gaga performing as Harley Quinn in this movie, it’s not really a role you can overact. So I’m going to encourage her to take it.

 

Louis Virtel: Also, I want.

 

Ira Madison III: Also, I want the like Margot Robbie Stans to be like verses Gaga stans about why the fuck does Gaga get on the track to get an Oscar for playing Harley Quinn? When Margot Robbie was churning out her best work in the Suicide Squad and in Birds of Prey.

 

Louis Virtel: My friend Elise tells me that I would be very surprised by Birds of Prey that it was way better than people give it credit for.

 

Ira Madison III: You haven’t seen Birds of Prey still?

 

Louis Virtel: No.

 

Ira Madison III: It’s good. It’s really good, Louis.

 

Louis Virtel: I was I was doing my literature. I was I was doing my.

 

Ira Madison III: We weder locked in the fucking house.Birds of Prey dropped early pandemic. There was nothing to do. You were busy playing Whiplash

 

Louis Virtel: I’m still sneering.That’s true. I’m still sneering at everybody involved in Bombshell. I’m sorry. Margot. You’re you’re among the ranks.

 

Ira Madison III: Rosie Perez is iconic in this film in Birds of Prey. Okay, I think you would love it.

 

Louis Virtel: Okay. I mean, obviously. The stench of the last Joker movie, which was, as all of Twitter agreed. The we live in a society movie.

 

Ira Madison III: It was abysmal. It was abysmal. It was it was, um, someone did meth, watched all of Martin Scorsese’s films and then scribbled a ransom note and Todd Phillips shot it as a film.

 

Louis Virtel: Correct. As my friend Devin Field said it basically just a movie about asking, what if the Joker smoked cigs? That basically what the movie is. But also, I made this observation on Twitter yesterday. Sorry to repeat it for anybody who already read it, but adding a violent brat with pigtails in the sequel, we already did this. It was called Problem Child two okay, stop stealing from the classics.

 

Ira Madison III: Listen. I thought only two movies could save the world. And it seems like we’re going to get both in 2024. 2024 or 2025. Joker two and Paddington three.

 

Louis Virtel: Are we getting Paddington three?

 

Ira Madison III: Paddington three is being shot next year. Added It’s called Paddington in Peru. Okay, you’ve had enough. He’s had enough of these white people he’s going back to the motherland with his marmalade, mush and speaking espanol.

 

Louis Virtel: Finally being himself.

 

Ira Madison III: Okay.

 

Louis Virtel: I like him retreating to South America, just like Hannibal Lecter.

 

Ira Madison III: People forget that Paddington is a bear of color.

 

Louis Virtel: That’s true. Sorry. I have to pass away. The bear of color. Oh, my God. And also, by the way, we’re getting that Barbie movie, too. So the Margot Robbie Stans should be fed eventually.

 

Ira Madison III: Ugh. My Peruvian bear.

 

Louis Virtel: Oh, my God. That’s so funny, Unfortunately.

 

Ira Madison III: All right. That’s an episode of Thank you to Rebecca Black. We’ll see you next week. Keep It is a Crooked Media production. Our senior producer is Kendra James. Our producer is Chris Lord. Our executive producers are Ira Madison III.

 

Louis Virtel: And Louis Virtel.

 

Ira Madison III: Our editor is Charlotte Landes and Kyle Seglin is our sound engineer.

 

Louis Virtel: Thank you to our digital team, Matt DeGroot and Nar Melkonian and Delon Villanueva for our production support every week.