Hi, I’m Ludwig, and this is my last meal. Every person has exactly two things in common. We all gotta eat, and we’re all gonna die. Today’s Guest is livestreamer, YouTuber, podcaster, founder of Off Brand Productions, and author of the parody short story My Brother Slam Is Dead. What? How do you know that? Ludwig, in that fifth grade class, they said that your comedy career peaked when you said that the protagonist was asked to do the dishes and instead… Showered with them. How has the slide downhill been since? Dude, that’s crazy. Yeah. No. The class erupted in laughter. That was a high I’ve never gotten again. That was like, the first time doing heroin. I’ve spent my whole life chasing the dragon. Ludwig, the first time you did Heroin, it was 2018, behind the 7-11… Chill, chill, chill. No. Welcome, man. Thanks for coming on. Thank you for having me. I told you before the show, but I’ve been wanting to come on this show for so long. Cause I watch his show… and I’m very judgy. Who have you judged the hardest on the show? There were some people that, like, they did too many restaurant foods. I’m like, where’s mom’s cooking? Like, you’re going down the street to, like, Spitz? Like, what are we doing here? I think Spitz does good work. Yeah, they’re not bad. They’re not bad. So what was your strategy in picking your last meal? I tried to pick… first off, like, courses. You know, Like, I tried to get, like, a range and then also, like, things that. That usually encapsulated time periods of my life. So, like, you know, cooking for my mom in high school or, like, dishes my girlfriend really likes or things from France when I visit my family there. And so I try to get all those elements. You’re like a perennial storyteller. The Cronkite School of Mass Communications did you well, man. Oh, my God. I forget. You do research. And so… how do you think that studying journalism affected your ability to tell a story? I’ll be honest. What helped way more was watching Dane Cook when I was, like, 12 years old and listening to the BK Lounge in Middle school. But it definitely helped, like, you know, formulate the structure of how a story goes and, like, a hook and all that stuff. So there’s a lot I learned doing that, and I’m glad I had that, like, incubation period before going off into work world. Hell, yes. How often do you think about dying? Not often anymore. I was scared of it when I was, like, a kid. When I was younger, so the first time I ever thought about it, I was playing Mario 64. I remember this, and I go to my mom and I said, mom, how many lives do we have?.. Cause, like. Cause we. I was like, I think I just game overed. And, you know, you start with three or whatever, and she’s like. She was like, oh, honey, one. And I remember thinking at the time, I was like, damn, bummer. video games are way better than real life. Yeah, it’d be so sick if you could have, like, three. You know what I mean? You could do so much more. But that was the first time. And then I had, like, a little arc with it. But I’m chill now. That’s great, man. Well, I’m excited to get into the linear story arc of your life. I’m excited to maybe reignite some of that death anxiety. You ready to do it? How do you pace yourself to be able to eat all the food?.. I have only had a protein shake, and then I went crazy on the peloton. Oh, you’re perfect. I went stupid on that thing. That’ll actually give you a natural stopping point because your stomach’s not expanded right now. It’s like professional eaters before a hot dog competition. They’ll actually eat a bunch of cabbage and stuff to bloat them, so then they pass it. So right now, your stomach’s actually pretty small. Ludwig, for the first course of your final meal, we have a pumpkin scone, A little bit of maple drizzle icing on there. We have a cappuccino, whole milk, only the best. And then a baguette with Normandy butter. Now, this is president butter. Can I break you off a piece of baguette? Just give me. Just give me. Rip it with your hands. Oh, God. Yo, cheers, man. You know that ratatouille? That ratatouille thing? You know, it’s a good loaf. That’s a good loaf. That’s a good loaf, brother. We’re eating good. Are we digging into the bread first? Dude, dig in, man. Talk to me about the baguette. You are French. This is the most French thing in the world. Yeah. So I’m the least French person in my French family because I’m the only person born in America. You know what I mean? Oh, interesting. Yeah. Everyone else is born in France or, like, Sweden, but every time I would go to France, like, a lot of French food’s intimidating. Baguettes are not intimidating. So like the American kid, what I would do is I would Just eat baguette. I’m going a little stupid with this, if you don’t mind. Dude, please, I’ll get stupid with you. I just want would eat, like, baguette, but, like, plain. And my mom used to get so mad at me, she’d yell at me. She would be like, le monche pas le pen sec. Which just means, like, don’t eat plain bread. Like, it’s a waste of. You’re wasting your food. You’re just eating plain bread. And I was like, but, mom, it hits. Did you say that at the time? You said, but, mom, it hits. I was really advanced in my vocab. Baguette is fire. Oh, that’s so good. Something about French butter. What are they doing to the cows over there? They’re actually so the grass is actually denser, especially in Normandy. That’s why a lot of the best butter comes from there. And there’s actually a brand in America called Plugre, which in French, plugra. Mm. More fat. More fat. So richer grass creating more butterfat content. About 82%. There’s only about 80, though. Damn, you’re smart and shit. I think you’re really smart and shit too. No, and I believe that. I think you do the thing where you demur and you say, like, no, I’m actually dumb. But then inside, the gears are turning really, really hard. I think I’m like, if you were to pick Bowser in Mario Tennis, where some stats are like, he’s doing really well there. And other stats are like, wow, his speed is really bad. I’m very min/max I was a Donkey Kong Jr. In Mario tennis. That was your guy. I’m not a video game guy. And I know you said that you were the worst gamer in your friend group. I was also that generally, yeah, Mario Tennis, I could beat the computer on hard with my feet. N64. That is a real thing. DK Junior. How do you find that out? I got too good with my hands, and I, you know, had no challenge. You’re a different animal, Josh. I feel like you, like, you, like, beat things. You’re like, I need a bigger challenge now. Kind of. Yeah… I want to talk to you about accepting new challenges. Cause you’ve said you just want to bake bread, that you understand that your content creation days are by definition numbered. Because, of course, there are a lot of people don’t want to think about it. You just want to open a bakery, dude. Your nice, simple life, dude. Mm. I think people ask me a lot, like, what will you do after content creation… And so it’s a question I’ve thought about maybe more than… like most people think of like after their career. Cause maybe it’s like, oh, you go to 65, then you retire. You’re not being a YouTuber until you’re 65 and then retiring. Unless you’re Rhett and Link. Yeah, I don’t know. I’ve just always loved bread. And I think like, what’s the most valuable thing you can do is like provide value to community. And it’s like if you can just create amazing bread for your community, it’s like you are one of the biggest pillars of that space for your local community. It’s like same with being an amazing barber. Those are like the people who hold it all together. So. And this is the thing that I like, you know, I don’t like cutting hair, I like eating bread. I feel that. How much of that do you think is a desire for like real life social relationships as opposed to millions of digital parasocial relationships? Yeah, I think it’s like I wanna see the tangible positives that I can add to like a local community, like the people specifically around me. Because I think sometimes I get wrapped up in like world problems, you know, global issues, which are important. But like, you read about it all day and then it’s like, what can you do? And it’s like low key. Not much. Right. Like raise awareness, but you have everybody raising awareness on the topics that people are already aware of. And obviously there’s like many people do great things on a global platform, but I think you see a lot more impact if you just help the people around you. And I think if everybody adopts that mentality too, it’s like, then the whole world is better for it. So it’s like that’s where you make the most impact. That’s where I should be making an impact. You have a million people influencing five people around them as opposed to five people influencing a million people. Exactly. Yeah. Kind of suck this down. Damn. Suck that down, dude. No, Never ask anything. Also, cheers. Earlier he was like, has any guest finished every single bite of food? And I was trying to tell him, like, we should forgot that there’s like nine sticks of butter coming out. That’d be tough. Yeah, we start with a full baguette and then it’s like, yeah, we have nine more courses. Little Abby, dig into the scone, man. What’s the deal with the scone? Oh my gosh. So, okay, my girlfriend, like I say, I have this dream of being a baker, she gets mad at me when I bring it up. Cause my girlfriend Cutie’s a phenomenal baker. Like, absolutely could make anything I want… And the issue is she does, like, weekly bake alongs. And I’m not trying to break 200 pounds again, so I can’t eat what she makes, but when she makes pumpkin scones, I eat it every time. That’s like the one I’m coming downstairs and it’s like Halloween time. She made a pumpkin scone. I’m like, all right. You know, don’t give these ones away. You’ve called livestreaming, like, a great way to collectivize the human experience. You can get thousands, millions of people tuning into something like a world record speedrun attempt. Do you think that there is any digital substitute for proper real life interaction? Because that’s the thing that scares me in general. Is there something sacred about actually, like, being in the same room with somebody sharing that experience? And do you think it kind of leaves it a bit hollow when it is something that’s only digital? I mean, I think 100% right. Like, I think there’s a lot of value. And I’ll give you an example is like, I don’t know if you know Rainbolt, he’s the guy who. Yeah, the one that can, like, find anybody on the planet. Yeah, yeah. He sees an image for 45 seconds… Don’t invoke his name. He’s gonna find me, man. He will. He’ll be here in like an hour and a half, so watch out, everyone. But he lives in Thailand now, and so he’s able to use, like, discord and hang out with friends that he’s grown up with or played games with to keep that friendship connection. And I think that’s super legitimate and valuable. But I also think there’s a, like, this touch you that you can’t replace. The meat is important. The meat is important. It is. Like our human bodies. I can smell your pheromones and your emotions. You know what I mean? And you can read my face, facial expression. You ever get a text and you read it and you’re like, why is she mad at me? Yeah. And then you talk to her later and she’s not mad at all. It’s just how you interpret. And so there’s more layers that disjoint communication when it’s digital as opposed to in person. I think all those layers kind of lead to an ultimate lack of empathy, which is the thing that frightens me the most. If you were to play pickup basketball with someone and you missed a shot and they said, kill yourself, loser… You’d be up in their face. How many times Has that happened? Like 10. How many times in a video game lobby has that happened? Oh yeah. Even on a. In a. Like a first two minutes of meeting someone in like a valorant game which has like a voice chat feature, someone could instantly tilt because of whatever happened to them previously. Contextually. I don’t know. And then call me a slur like that can happen. That won’t happen in pickup basketball. Right. If I’m playing with people I don’t know within two minutes of meeting them. The friction to get there online is way lower. Cause the consequences. Way lower. Yeah, yeah. I think the consequences. And then people’s actual internal guilt because they’ve grown up with that anonymity. I had to explain this to my fiance who was very offline yesterday. When I said, oh man, Ludwig’s been swatted a bunch. And she goes, what is swatting? And I had to sort of explain this from scratch to a person who had no idea. I was like, well, somebody will call in a fake bomb threat to somebody who’s generally live streaming. Cause then the police show up with their guns drawn, press it to their temple. And then. And I don’t know what. And then. And she goes, why? Why would anybody. Do they know how dang — And it was really funny seeing it from a fresh perspective. Do you think we’re just raising a generation of emotionless, empathy less monsters? No, I don’t. I like to believe that it’s not like future generations are screwed and we have way less empathy. I mean, there’s obviously more power in the Internet and the ability to like find information. But I think this is like something that you learn and you grow and it changes, you know, throughout time. Like, I don’t think the people who are calling in swats are 35 year olds with a family. Yeah, right. You know what? I have a lot of hope in the future generation. I think they’re a good group. Talk to me about watching sunsets with a 55 year old Taiwanese stranger. Tsun La. Oh my God, I’m saying it wrong. It’s a tonal language. Tsun La. But yeah, I lived in this area that had like a hiking trail… and I was in this phase where I would go on my Vespa over this hiking trail like a 75 year old man and stretch at sunset… That’s all. I would just stretch. You said you’re not 30 yet. Yeah, I’m acting like this is like three, four years ago too. And I would go like three, four times a week. And then one time this 50 something odd guy passes me, he just gives me the wave, sees my Vespa and he’s like, I used to drive one of those and we just get to chatting. And then every single time I would go. Because he would also walk at sunset, we would just keep talking. And this happened like time and time and time again until we exchanged like, whatsapps. It’s cool talking to someone who’s like, from such a different background, different generation, different part of the world. Because I feel like… it grounds you. You know what I mean? Like I can learn a lot from this guy. Cause I don’t. Yeah, yeah. I’d have zero of the experiences he’s had. So I just sit there, I just let him yap. I’m like, hell yeah. Tsun La. Yeah. Tell me why watching sunsets grounds you. Because some people, they feel small as part of the cosmic force and they get a lot of anxiety about that. But it seems like you get a lot of comfort in the idea that there are things a lot bigger than you. Yeah, I don’t know. I think that’s cool. You know what I mean? Everyone’s seen a sunset. And when I say everyone, I mean everyone who is living now and who has ever lived and like they’ve experienced it, but it’s always like a different sunset in a different part of the world that might look more beautiful, less beautiful, whatever. So I think it’s like it’s connecting to me to like the broader human species in a way that like, you know, other things can’t do. Like, there’s very few things in life that you will experience that every human who’s ever lived has gotten to experience. You’re saying that sunsets are the world’s first live streams? In a way. In a way I imagine like, you know, like probably in like, you know, 55 or maybe… I don’t know how old… When did we start? Like in 600 BC or something. You think humans started in 600 BC? Maybe seven, six thousand years, right? I think it’s been like roughly 200, 200,000 years. Am I crazy? Tortillas were invented 12,000 years ago. Why are we both looking at Damien? Damien? Who’s got us? Who’s got us?.. Species. I imagine back in the day after they were hunting, you know, big ass mammoths. They’re all like, yo, guys. Sunset starting soon. Jack. Right around like it’s a tv. It’s fire. It’s a good one today. It’s a good one. Ludwig. For course number two, we have the chutoro sushi. This is the slightly fattier part of the tuna belly. And then we have a lobster roll. We actually have two lobster rolls. We got one hot with drawn butter, one cold with mayonnaise, some Cape Cod, kettle chips. I know you’re a New England boy. Go, Pats, go. And then we got some lemon on the side, wasabi, ginger, soy sauce. I’m excited. Dig in, man. Tell me about the sushi and the lobster rolls. I like fish. I’m geeking so much just seeing this food in front of me. I’m barehanding this, by the way. Dude, you should barehand it. I’ve had the opportunity to travel a few times and for whatever reason, I think just because of Naruto. But since I was like 12 years old, I love Japan… When I was in college, I tried to do the jet program, which is where you go to Japan to teach English. I got denied. I got. On what grounds? I don’t know. When I later told Chris Broad, who’s a Japanese YouTuber, that I got denied, he laughed in my face and he says, nobody gets denied. So I must have had a horrible resume or something like that. But because of my job, now I’ve gotten to go. And I gotta say, sushi hits. Dude, this hits… You also have more Japanese professional cooking experience than I do. How did you get fired as a line cook from Tatsu Ramen after two days. Two days. Have you cooked at many restaurants? Not much, but I have. It is a hard job. And not only is it hard, you’re not paid as hard as you are working. No, there’s a disparity there. I didn’t bring non slip shoes the first day. I’m like slippery slipping and sliding everywhere, like. And I’m basically just like a. Like a line cook. I’m like just doing the same. I’m just putting the broth in and then what fat they want alongside. Yeah. And I’m doing this for like, I think eight, nine hours. And I’m sweating and I’m earning, I think maybe like $10 an hour. After I do two days, I go across the street. Cause this is in… Pico and Olympic in West la… There’s a Best Buy. I needed to like pick something up from Best Buy. I see there’s a job application there. I apply, they offer me $12.50. Huge. It’s air conditioned. And I’m like, bro. I’m not cut out. I can admit I’m not cut out for that chef life. And so I went. I went to the nice, comforting Best Buy instead. Dig the lobster, man… Also, you’ve said some out of pocket stuff on your streams, but maybe the most out of pocket thing. Hold on. I’ve ever heard is you talking about Trevor Everett saying that he can’t cook. I’ll give you the platform right now. I know you’re nervous to clear the air. Oh, my God. Why do you think Trevor can’t cook? I disrespected Trevor. It’s not that I didn’t think Trevor could cook. It’s that I thought your name was Trevor. Now I’m offended. What? Oh, my God. Now we’re both offended. What the heck? Trevor, my man. I had mixed you guys up. The way Cutie had phrased it is she’s like, yeah, I got like, mythic dude coming to judge cooking… And in my mind, I’m like, oh, Josh is coming through. Yeah, The jacked, handsome, most successful. And then Trevor shows up and I was like, this guy can’t cook. That was my first thought. This guy’s not the guy who does the meal thing. That was my thought. But I was wrong. Thank you for saying that. And I apologize. Thank you. Have you cooked any of these meals? No, none of these, unfortunately. But I did want to take this. Opportunity because you did did say it. And I want to challenge you to a cook off. I want to challenge you. No, not right now. Oh, my God. Right now. Oh, my God. I was like, all right, get me in, get me in. No, but I want to challenge you. To a cook off. You can pick at any dish you want, and Josh and Cutie can judge it. Really hurt. I’m down. I literally had a friend text me. He’s like, Ludwig’s talking about you on his stream. I was like, what? What are you looking at me for? Like, what did I do? I forget I’m not just talking to my homies when I’m live. Sometimes you’re talking to my homies. Right? All right. A cook off. I get to pick the meal. Whatever you want. All right, let’s do it. This is happening somewhere. Somewhere. This is happening somewhere and sometime. We’ll talk. Anyway, enjoy the rest of your meal. Thank you for apologizing. Details to come. Thank you for coming to surprise me and scare me… He was gonna swing, I swear. You like lobster rolls? Uh huh. I think this is a number one… Are you a Hot lob for all of Cold. Really? Mm. Hot all day. Yeah. And I remember like the first time I had it, I like I ordered one, I ate it and I was like, I’m gonna get another one. And then I ate it and I was like, I’m gonna get a third one. And I just ate three just like there. Cause I just loved it so much. I wanna talk to you about your relationship to success and money. You have called Twitch streamers generally unable to live functional lives and not able to do their laundry or pay taxes or shower on regular basis. I think the simplest answer for that is probably that the more you stream, the more money you make. So people are just heavily incentivized to keep doing that ad nauseam. Do you think it’s actually about the money or is it simply about watching that number going up and feeling like you’ve won the game? Yeah, it’s definitely gamified… because oftentimes they earn such a large amount of money… and they’re almost sitting on it like a dragon. Like it’s not for a purpose, obviously. Like it can financially set them up, their children up, their grandchildren up. So there’s always value to money. But I think Twitch and you know, the other streaming sites as well, have gamified streaming so much that they care less about how much you’re making and more about almost like their relevancy and their average viewership being high and like new peak concurrent viewership numbers. The real currency is just attention… It’s just keeping people transfixed… And that comes from both the supply and the demand side, both the audience and the people actually doing it. Your self worth becomes attached to how relevant you are, which you can objectively see if you go, There’s a website, SullivanHome.com that ranks you and you have a ranking on how good you are doing. And if you’re doing bad, it goes red percent down, bad month, bad week, bad year. And you feel bad when that happens. So I almost think it’s like a defense mechanism to feel better about themselves. They work harder than they really need to and maybe I would say also they work less efficiently. They’re just putting all their time into streaming instead of maybe being more well rounded and knowing how taxes work or whatever. You seem like you have a pretty healthy relationship with money though. You’ve talked about the two phases in life as it pertains to money. The first is trying to get safety and security, set yourself up with maybe a house. And then the second, which is kind of where Life almost begins is what fulfills you and actually makes you happy. What stage are you in right now? It might be phase two, but I think what the reason I work and the reason I do what I do is mostly responsibility at this point… And, you know. Cause I have, like, a certain amount of employees. Like, I have family members who I’m trying to, like, support. I have. like, friends, family, all that stuff. So it’s like a responsibility and not like that I don’t enjoy it. I like that sense of duty. I find that to be, like, you know, purposeful. Yeah. How did you sort of exit that rat race of… needing to see the high number? Because you talked about getting. The first time you had 10,000 concurrent viewers on a stream, you were stoked. But then anytime you go up, you got to come down. You said the next day you’re just laid on the ground, unable to click the go live button because you were afraid of not getting to that level. Do you think you’ve gotten outside of that? It’s gotten better? That happened a lot. That probably happened like, 10 times where I have an incredibly good stream… But, you know, your best stream is only as good as your next stream. So if your next stream is bad, then that’s what people know you for. Like, it’s not like a film director. It’s not like James Dean. He did three good movies and he’s the goat. You know what I mean? Like, that doesn’t happen if you do three good streams. And the way I got over it was by just kind of sucking it up. I was like, this is a me thing. This is a my brain thing. This is a my expectations thing… I can’t start setting these insane expectations of myself because I’m just me. Do you think part of that is you stream for 31 straight days, 24 hours a day? It seems like there’s nowhere more you could push it from there. Do you think you hit a sort of terminus? Yeah, I think so. At that point, I was still, like, deep in the rat race of, like, you know, bigger number, better person. That’s the thing I used to say. And obviously, like, for that month, I was like the biggest Twitch streamer, both in, like, hours watched. And then I hit, like, the most subscribers anyone had hit, which was like, a cool milestone in achievement. And I thought after that, I was like, I made it red carpet. All right. Paparazzi. And I went live. And then, like, crashed down. Yeah, like, crashed down to almost less than I had before. I even did the subathon and I was like, oh, I thought things were gonna be different, and they weren’t different. And so then I realized, like, okay, I have way too much value in a number that I don’t have that much control in. So I need to start spreading where I found. Find value in myself outside of a single number that I can’t control. And I should put my value in things I can’t control. Yeah. What’s the biggest source of value that you find right now outside of any sort of numbers? I think it’s, like, the value that I add to the people around me. Like, I think that, like, makes me feel the best. The meat matters. Yeah. And I think that’s it. I think it’s literally like, can I make the lives of the people who I love better? And if the answer is yes, then it’s like, good day. Yeah. I love that, man. You ready to go to course number three? I’m so ready. Ludwig, for course number three, we got a tale of two moms here. We have your mother’s goulash with rice. And then we have Cutie, Your girlfriend’s mom’s chicken balls. Now, you sent us the recipe for the chicken balls, and then you had to send, I believe, three different addendums to explain the recipe. But I hope we have faithfully recreated these. I’m sure it’ll be delicious. Dude, jump into the goulash, man. I’m curious about this. Your mom’s friend, she’s cooking a Hungarian dish. What’s the deal? I think, like, a lot of my mom’s cooking comes from her mother, and so my grandparents are actually Spanish, so a lot of it’s from there. I don’t know how the hell they got goulash. I won’t lie to you. But the big dishes were like. It was like goulash paella. That’s the fish rice thing, right? It’s real hot. It was so much hotter than I was expecting. I looked at you and I didn’t. I thought you were weak for some reason. No, you got one. What? How dare you? This is where the bread goes crazy. Traditional Paella Valenciana actually only has chicken and snails in it. Yeah, crazy right? The one everyone eats is the yellow rice with the fish, right? Yeah. Yeah. Correct. Correct. They put shellfish on it, but real Valencians. Talk to me about your relationship with your mom, because you. I know. Still hot. I bit my tongue. I’m a fool. It’s our first major injury on Last Meals. I didn’t sign anything, I’m suing. You said that you were going to go to University of New Hampshire so you could stay close to your mom after your dad passed away. But then your stepdad, Peter, came into your life, and you said that you felt comfortable that your mom wasn’t really alone and moved to ASU. You seem like you have a deep amount of care for people. Did a lot of that come from how much your mom cared about you? I mean, yeah, 100%, but, like, also, it was just me and her, you know? So, like, my dad passed away when I was 10. And then my sister went to college. Cause she’s four years older than me. So, like, all of high school is just me and my mom, you know? That was like eight years. About eight years where she didn’t date anyone, she didn’t see anyone. I felt like maybe a responsibility. I was like, man, if I just left her, she’d be all alone in a quiet house that’s supposed to be for four people, and now it’s just one. Like, that’s sad. And then she met this dude, Peter, and they were sneaking around like I was an idiot. I would hear at like, 5am Someone shuffle out of the house… And then she’d be blushing. I was like, mm, who’s over? But he’s a very cool guy. And that’s when I realized I was like, okay, she’s her own person. She’s her own woman. She’s got her own life going on. Like, I don’t need to do this. I don’t think she’d want me to do this so I can adventure to the great beyond. And I also didn’t get into UNH, so that made it a bit easier. You didn’t get into UNH? I didn’t even get into UNH, bro. It was unh. It’s not like Harvard. There’s a lot of big schools here. You didn’t get into UNH? Why do you think I went to ASU? The Harvard of the Southwest? Tell me about Cutie’s mom’s chicken balls. So Cutie’s a godlike cook. This is like, the one dish that she makes. It’s like, you don’t keep track of how much you eat. Okay, I hate the way I’m gonna phrase this. You can go, like, two, three, four, five balls deep. You know what I mean? Yeah. Sometimes I’ll go six, seven balls deep if I’m really feeling it. Cause it’s just. It’s just like. It’s like a snack. It’s Just like a yummy snack. So I just keep eating it. So of all the dishes she makes, this is the one that, like, when I see it and I come downstairs, I’m like, it’s a great day. Yeah, it’s a great day to be alive. Man, can I dig into the chicken balls? So, for people who don’t know, this is a crescent dough filled with shredded chicken, cream cheese, and mushrooms that are then crusted in nuts and breadcrumbs and then dipped into chicken gravy. That is insane. It’s good. It’s just good food. That’s insane. It’s like if you combine a Costco chicken bake with a coconut ball. Dude, if the Costco guys got ahold of. Oh, my God, they can never. You’d hear the boom. It was funny when you sent me the recipe for the chicken balls. You said that Cutie’s mom, who passed away, was a notoriously incredible cook and a notoriously terrible recipe writer. I think those little quirks are what you really remember about people after they pass, rather than the big gestures. You’ve said that when somebody passes away, it’s kind of a war to keep them in your memories for as long as possible that you’re eventually going to lose due to time. Do you remember any of those funny little quirks about your dad? Yeah, man. That was like. That was like a deep fear of mine that became, like, realized. Cause it’s like little things. Like, I was 10 when my dad died, so it’s like, what does his voice sound like? Is something that, like, you know, unless you have, like, a lot of recordings, like, you forget, like, what did he smell like? You know, I think it’s those things that you don’t necessarily think about. And, like, obviously it’s easier to know what someone looks like, but, like, it’s those other things that make up what a person is. It’s the meat, it’s the smell, it’s the voice, it’s their presence. It’s everything. Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, I think his weird quirks… I think, honestly, it was his smell. Like, for some reason, he always smelled like old, genuine leather. And occasionally, like, I’ll catch a whiff, and it’ll smell exactly like him, and I’ll get so emotional. It happens, like, once, every… Like three years, it’ll just be a random. Cause I’m not seeking it out. It’s just, like something in my life I hit, and I’m like, that’s my dad right there. Which is always a cool thing I like when it happens. So my dad passed when I was 19, and I get emotional. This is so dumb. Every time Jar Jar Binks gets brought up in conversation. Because my dad, for whatever reason, would call me Binks because I love the character Jar Jar Binks. And then he would do the most unhinged Jar Jar Binks impression. That made no sense. Where it’s going. I’m Jar Jar Binks, and it made no sense whatsoever. But anytime I hear Jar Jar Binks. Someone’s doing, like, a misa thinks. Yeah. Literally. Oh, my God. That’s sweet, though. That’s cool. It is really sweet. Dead dad Club. Dead dad Club. I’ve been talking about starting, like, an adult orphanage. Okay. Yeah. Do you think that your dad dying at a young age gave you… a lot of perspective on life and death? Yeah. Yeah. Cause I think maybe, like, the more normal progression is you’re eased into death. Right. So a lot of people’s first experience with death is a family pet that maybe they had before, you know, the parents had before the kids was born. So I think you’re eased in. But, like, age 10, like, dad’s kind of the big one. You know what I mean? That’s like. That’s one of two there crossed off. So I think it made it very real, you know? And, like, you’re 10, bro. I don’t think you know how to deal with that. So what I did is I just watched cartoons for a week straight and then just, like, cried a bunch. And I love cartoons now, so that’s a positive that came from it. But I think what it also did is, like, made me grapple with death earlier than you might. And so, like, I had to, like. Cause I struggled. It wasn’t at the start, I was like, okay, yeah, people die. Cool. Sure. But, like, at the start, I was like. I was scared of it, too then. You know what I mean? I was like, I don’t want that to happen to me or anyone else I know. And so I had to go through that and then, like, come out where I am now, which is like, yeah, I’m more okay with that happening. Yeah. Did it sort of make you think that at any point in time, something bad can happen, so you have to live it up right now? Did it make you more scared of taking certain risks? I think I left with the perspective that everything will always work out because it has to. Cause, like, no matter what happens, good or bad, the world will keep spinning. And, like, you kind of just have to make the best of the situation you’re in at all times, you know? So, like, if I got fired from a job, everything will work out. Like, I’ll have to find a new job, like, and it just will have to work because I don’t. There’s no other option. Because the world keeps spinning. Like, I can never just stand still and let things pass me by. I will have to always actively, like, do what’s best for me and the people around me. And that gives me a lot of maybe, like, false confidence, too, because, like, well, if everything’s gonna work out, then I can do everything. Like, it’s going to work out confidently. You know, and when it does, it, that’s okay. Cause I’ll just adapt to it. And if it really goes to shit and, like, and you die, then you don’t have to worry about it anyway. Yeah. So it’s like, you’re none the wiser if you’re dead. Exactly. So it’s like, everything will always work out, and if it doesn’t, then that’s okay anyway. Yeah. Do you think that you’ve actually processed your dad’s death and the tragedies that happened to you when you were younger, or do you think you just sort of coped with it and keep moving along? What’s the difference? Yeah. I don’t know. I don’t wanna stand here and pretend that, like, yeah, I nailed that shit. You know what I mean? Like, I crush it. I’ve dealt with it perfectly. Or, like, nah, it’s super repressed. And, like, I want to have to unpack that. I genuinely don’t know. And, like, the only thing that I’m interested in now, as far as, like, my dad’s death, is, like, learning more about who he was, you know, for the people who are able to have more time with him like that. That’s the only thing that really comes up in my head. It’s not like, any regret or, you know, sadness that I haven’t dealt with. Ludwig, for the final course, we got the espresso shot, we got the smuckers uncrustable. And then we have prep with lemon zest, a little powdered sugar, and then a lemon butter sauce on there. That’s fancy. That looks good. Hey, cheers. Cheers, man. I had a great time. To a good meal. To a good meal. Okay, tell me after. where’s the rank? You might crack, like, top seven, top eight. No, I know how much the numbers mean to you. I’m gamifying it. I’m like, okay, come back in a disguise. Tell me about the emotional meaning behind the Smuckers Uncrustable. This is my favorite snack. I started my whole streaming career through this video game called Super Smash Bros. Melee. This video game called Super Smash Bros. I’ve heard of it, man, I mained Lucario in college. Okay, so now you’re already wrong. Cause Lucario’s not in Melee. Well, he’s in one of them. I started commentating for it. That’s like, what I did. I would literally just commentate people who are good at this video game play the video game. Good enough that I got 1,000 people follow me on Twitter for commentating this game good. And I was like, hey, I’ll start streaming a bit. That’s nuts. And I had like five people tune into my streams, you know, and then 10 and 15 and then 20. And those people all knew me from commentating this video game. Like, I owe my career now to that. And I had the opportunity to work at this company called beyond the Summit that made, like, the coolest events for this video game as, like, a producer. And they had Uncrustables on site. I think that weekend I might have had 25. I went in 185 pounds. I left in the 190s. This is five years ago. I have not looked back. Cultivating mass. I have never gone back to the 180s once. I gained 10 pounds in one week on just Uncrustables. But, yeah, that’s my love of PB&J. The espresso. You a caffeine fiend? Yeah, I think, like, I have every day, one cappuccino, one Red Bull. That’s every single day. The push and pull between the European and the American is beautiful on that. Yeah, I got it. I’m mixed. I gotta, you know, gotta be true to me. But tell me about the crepes. How do we deal with them? This is the holiday dish for me. Mm. Mm. This is Christmas time. My mom is cheffing up crepes. And we just opened the presents and we’re digging in, and you start savory crepes. And then you go, sweet crepes. You’re gonna be happy with that. That’s fire. That’s excellent, man. How do you say that’s fire and French? C’est bien. Yeah, my French is legitimately, like, equivalent to a 7 year old’s. You said that you have sort of come to terms with death. Where do you think you go when you die? What happens after? After the big Sleep. Yeah, you particularly. Me specifically. Not you. Or me. Shit, man. I don’t know… I don’t know. Stars, Heaven, something like that. Pretty good. Concise. Concise theory. One of those two. Yeah, maybe it’s like, heaven. And I get up there and it’s like, my dad, my grandma, and everyone, they’re like, what up, dude? We missed you. We dap up. We caught a Red Bull and a cappuccino. Yeah, we got it ready for you, actually. We knew you were coming. We still need caffeine here. Start ripping darts. But it’s not something that I worry so much about. Like, I think you know, what it is, is what it is… And so I’m just, like, doing what I can do while I got this short time on Earth to, like, be the best person I can be and help as many people around me and live out whatever dreams I have. And then what comes next is, like, cool. I got it. Where do you think that sense of morality comes from? Because there are a fair amount of people that don’t understand morality. If you don’t believe in an afterlife, why are you doing this on Earth? Where does that sense come from for you? Well, I think my mom is super generous. She’s, like, the most generous person I know. Like, with her time, with her money, with her behavior, attitude or whatever. So… I think it’s an effort to be like her in that sense. But then also, it’s like, even if you believe in nothing. Right. You’d be the biggest atheist in the world. Like, it is selfishly good of you to be as nice to people around you as possible, because if everybody operates in that fashion, then everybody will be equally nice back to you. Like the Aristotle Golden Rule… You know, so, like, even if you believe in nothing, there’s no, like, you know, scripture that dictates your morality. Like, having good morals and people not murdering people. Right. Like, why should you not murder people? Well, you don’t want to get murdered. You know? What’s one thing that you still want to accomplish before you die? Oh, I want to have kids. Yeah. That’s a big one. What’s your main motivator for having kids? I think it’d be dope. Same, but, like, actually kind of. Right? Yeah, I just think it’d be cool. Like, I think it. I think. I think I could do it. Good. Yeah. Like, I think I could be a good dad. I was gonna ask, and. And I think it’d just be cool to, like, be able to share, like, what I know and try to, like, you know, guide somebody in a way. And at the end of the day, like, they are the human they are, but, like, hopefully I can set them up to, like, be cooler and better than me. It’s super similar to the way that I’ve always thought about it, but I’ve recently had these, like, pangs of guilt. Like, am I only having kids out of the narcissistic want to prove that I can do better than the generation before me and I can create a kid better than I am? Do you ever feel that? Who cares? Dude, who cares, man? And I think you could. And, like, I think you could. I think if you’re not doing that right, if you’re not basically using the child as a vehicle to achieve dreams that you didn’t get to achieve, then I think you’re fine. Right. Like, I think you would be a good parent. And I think you’ve had a lot of experiences that you’ve been gifted by probably, like, parental figures, parents in your life that you can use to help somebody else. And, like, I don’t think it’s like, on some selfish shit. And even if it is, who cares? Like, I think it’s still a valuable thing for that. That Human. Yeah. You wanna have kids at the same time and coach their basketball team? Dude, let’s do it, man. Potential human. They have to go to state or we don’t love them. We don’t love them. Damn straight. Our kids are gonna be starting point guard and shooting guard on that team. No other kids are gonna get the shoot. Dude, my kids gonna be bad. And you’d’re gonna be so scared to come up to me like, we had the bad joke. Ready to get in the lightning round? I am. There’s a lightning round? There’s a lightning round. Who’s the one person dead or alive you’d want to share your actual last meal with? It’d be my mom. Yeah. 100%. What song do you want to be played at your funeral? Just the two of us. That was a banger. You got real sexy in there. Do you think you could beat your stepdad in a street fight? Despite the fact that he’s a black belt and Kenpo karate. Peter got a surgery recently. So right now, if I get that leg, I think I have a good… I got a good. But I don’t think I could hit Peter, so I probably lose. Who’s your dream eulogizer at your funeral? Ooh, who reads the. You googly? Ben Stiller. Hell yeah. In the Zoolander voice. Which ice climber is sexier? They’re not children, are they? Popo. They are. Are you serious? They’re children? They’re famously, actually. Really famously. They’re famously Inuit children. I was. Yeah, that’s. They’re indigenous too. Yeah. Respect all cultures. So you said which one? Sexier? Well, I’d say which one. Which would you rather f– ? Pikachu or Mewtwo? Dammit. No, no, no. We can’t. We can’t. Me too. Me too. 100%. Me too. Yeah. He’s built like a dump truck, man. What’s the hardest goodbye you’ve ever had to say? I don’t think I’ve had, like, crazy emotional goodbyes. Probably my dog, actually. My dog. Cause that’s one that, you know, right? Like, that there’s a certain time where. So, yeah, it’s my dog, Sophie. What’s your greatest regret in life? I don’t have many. Cause ultimately I’m very happy with the place I’m in. So it’s like, even the shitty things that I’ve done, which, like, I’m not proud of, have brought me here and like, butterfly effect, if I change that. So I don’t, like, want to change it, but like… But like, there’s some things that I’m not proud of. Like, one time we were playing tag in third grade and I was it before we got in line. In line is the safe zone, and I pretended I ate a rock and I started crying because I didn’t want to be it. You’re a real piece of trash, man. Real piece of trash. I know. I know Gavin should not have been it, but, like, I kind of low key guilted him into being it because I was like, I ate a rock. You shouldn’t be allowed to tag me. Like, that was. That was messed up. Gavin watches the show. No, we know Gavin’s here. Is there a single video game that I could beat you in? My bad. Gavin. NHL hit. NHL hits. Yeah, you got me there. Light up, man… Finally. Are you happy? Yeah. Are you happy? It’s complicated. It’s changing. It’s changing. Is it changing within a day or a week? Constantly. It’s changing within the hour. But if we’re talking existential happiness. I have plans to be happy. Okay, that’s good. Ludwig, if you wanna deliver your last words to that camera right there. I’d be like, subscribe to Mythic Kitchen. What? If you said the name of the. Channel correctly, though. subscribe to the Mythical Kitchen channel on YouTube. That’s pretty good. I like that Ludwig. Truly, man, thank you so much. Thank you for having me. I’m so excited. I ate wonderfully. Thank you to everyone who cooked. I really appreciate it. And thank you for watching at home if you did. Can’t wait to watch the cook off against Trevor. Oh, man, I’m gonna lose. I’m gonna dust your ass. And NHL hits 2003. Someone break out the PS2. While I’m doing the cook off, you pull up with a PSP PlayStation. Ludwig, please tell the people where they can find you. I’m out on the Internet if you wanna seek it out. I’m sure you could find it, but there’s no pressure, too. I hope you just live a good life. Buy his bidets. if you want a bidet too. You can do that. Yeah, buy any bidet. Changed my life. Bidets. They’re… actually… just, I think, a necessity. It’s like. It’s like being like, why would you use a toothbrush? Just use your finger with toothpaste. It’s like once you try this toothbrush thing, it’s gonna blow your mind. Same thing with bidets. Much rather give up my toothbrush. I would go back to fingering the teeth if it meant that I could keep watering my hole. We all gotta eat and we’re all gonna die. But in the meantime, you can wear our last Meals hoodie, available now Mythical.com.