Episode Transcription

00:00 Okay, so you get picked to be on a game show where you can win a hundred thousand dollars, but there's one problem and it said that the game show doesn't exist. Yeah, that's pretty much what happened on today's episode. The greatest show it never made. It was a game show, but it didn't actually exist. It was a scam. It was all a big scam. Could you imagine like if you get picked, you go through the whole process like if I got a big brother, yeah made it the whole three months and at the end they were just like just kidding. 00:23 that's that's pretty much what this bus. This is things I learned last night, a comedy podcast where every week we learn about an interesting topic and this week's topic is Nikita Russian and his game show that almost could. So let's jump into the episode. 00:38 Hey man, what's up? Have you ever heard of Nikita Russian Nikita Russian Nikita Russian? Is this a phone? He also no he also goes by Nick Russian. Here's a picture of him. Here's a picture of him zoomed in a little bit. Okay, I don't know who this is Nikita Russian or Nick Russian. Here's the thing. Here's the thing. If you look up Nikita Russian on the internet, 01:08 Yeah and like Google on sure find him on Wikipedia. Sure, what you're going to find is he's going to be called con con con Nick Russian con con co n like dot ceo in no Nick Russian con. I don't know how I can make this more clear. It says Nick and then the next word says Russian and then the next word says con okay like con man 01:35 it's right, but I didn't know if it was like parentheses con like no, no, no, no, it's just Nick Russian con sure like a sentence, but without the other parts that make it a sentence, maybe a free if you okay, Nick Russian, but here's the thing. Here's the thing you find the stuff. It's his con yeah. We're going to talk about this. I don't know if that's accurate, so I want you to keep an open mind. 02:02 Okay, that's what I'm asking is con a name in this or is it saying no, no, no, no, they're saying people Nick Russian is the name they're saying he's the Nick Russian con yeah. Well, no, it's not the Nick Russian con. It's just Nick Russian con okay yeah. 02:22 yes, didn't do it. All we did was take sips of our competing brands of energy drinks to see which one will sponsor us first. We're running a test right now to see which one gives us the most 02:42 it's not a Mick Ultra dude. We talk about bag bag baby. All right, so Nick Russian. Here's the deal he's he lives in the old UK. You got right. If you manager says I had to post more stuff about this, so we just trying to make it natural. 03:01 For the thumbnail, where I go. 03:06 Is this their brand? This is what presidents do with a baby trying to get sponsored by that baby. 03:18 the Gerber baby is the deciding vote. The Gerber baby sees its shadow. Joe Biden wins he's not even running doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. That's how I don't make the rules. So the question is a I don't make the rules. The baby does he make the baby doesn't understand why Joe Biden dropped out. He doesn't get it. Yeah, we've tried to explain it to him yeah, but he's a baby baby. It's very difficult. 03:45 to get the point across the system is people think they like to roll college is like complicated and stuff. It's just the girl for baby, the carper baby gets to pick really what it is. You can't change it in the middle. We put two pictures next to each other. Yeah, they go yeah. 04:05 but he starts at the beginning of the whole campaign because it's they're far apart. They're like miles apart. If you can't change, you can't change that way through or else. I mean he's going to do three miles in. It's like the tour and then it's like is he turning or no, no looks like yeah, it's insane America. The system doesn't make sense, but it's been working 04:34 It's the great experiment anyway, Nick Russian, Nick Russian, not Russian. He's British, okay, Russians, a name Russian is his name, Nick Nikita, Russian name goes by Nick for sure. Con is not a part of the nature, sure, sure, sure. So he was a aspiring TV producer in the early two thousands. Okay, he had the dream. He had his dream 05:02 to get into reality TV reality TV is just popping off. Survivor is huge. Big Brother is huge yes and you're starting to see things like like real world is taking off. Stuff like that is interring the zeitgeist a point of real world, nothing. It was real world. It was like the first like Jersey Shore. That's what I thought because yeah you were just there was no game. It was just no. It was just this group of twenty somethings living in the real world. 05:30 that's the concept yeah, and you just follow their life for a summer or something like sure like summer house got or jersey shore, jersey shore. I forgot that one or van or pump rolls or whatever MTV shows existed. Did you watch next next was a mess? Listen, this is going to scratch the itch for some millennials yeah. 05:54 next next parental control room raters room raters shoot and then Robin Big. You can't forget Robin Big. Yeah, I was a good one. Yeah, that was a that was supposed to be a buddy comedy and they sat down to film the buddy comedy and the the foot at the behind the scenes footage that they got was better was better and they were like. Let's just make it a reality show yeah and so then, but I mean like all the reality shows there was scenes and stuff, but for sure yeah anyways, so Nick, Nick Russians watching this 06:24 the the boom of of reality TV take off made yeah. Oh, that was a reset for that. I didn't sign up for that. Did you send up for that 06:35 no. I only signed up for catfish because you thought you were being catfish or you wanted to be one. Oh, I signed up because I was like having catfish in this girl and I need. I need to be exposed or I'll never stop. I can't. I can't get. I'm in too deep. I can't tell the truth. Stop. I need to get caught. I have to get caught. I'm desperate to yeah. Please catch me. No, I did I 07:04 I did sign up for made and 07:12 I did because I well, if you don't know the purpose of the show made was like if you would sign up and you'd be like it be usually like a fat kid who's like I want to be a body builder and so they would send a body builder to his town yeah and you would work with a body builder for three whole weeks enough time to get fit yeah and then they would make that kid who's still fat. It's only been three weeks of training. That's not like make that kid. I remember this episode. 07:37 very vividly yeah is that that kid had to compete in a body building contest. Yeah, and it was a thing about like how he's gained confidence and stuff. Yeah he was not in a mean way still fat. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, should not have compete right. Yeah 07:54 yeah, but was doing all the poses and all the stuff and was like yeah. I really gained a confidence and he helped me see that it wasn't about what my body looked like in the inside, but what about who I looked like on the inside? You know, it was like okay anyway, so I sent him for made because then I signed up to be a comedian. Oh really? It was like two thousand nine. It's so interesting to me and you had to put like who the celebrities you wanted to work with were and I put Dane Cook, so well he was the biggest of the time. So that's not yeah, that's not yeah surprising yeah 08:24 it'd be like someone putting Matt right now. It's pretty similar actually a six months ago, six months ago, six months ago for sure, a for sure. Yeah, I told you I went and spoke in my high school to the drama classes of my high school yeah, and I did like four classes where they just came in. They got to ask me questions because I'm a person who works in sometimes. I make fun of my wife for this because she's a theater degree, and I go yeah, but I work in theater 08:54 she didn't like that joke, but my drama class. I came and spoke to my high school, my high school yeah and the first question every single class asked every single class yeah raises her hands. Yeah, but do you know Matt right every single class and you got to say and by the f I started to be like yeah yeah, I do you met him though. I have open for him yeah, but not before he was so you could say yeah. 09:22 I was like can say yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah we're bros yeah you see this trophy. That was mine. We gave him that you can't tell, but so Nick Russian Nick Russian has dreams of starting his own reality TV right right right not made not not any not. It was 09:45 It was a game show, reality game show, but like like competent long term competition show like Big Brother or survive. Okay, yeah, he's calling it project ms to so he goes and he takes out an ad in the paper and in this ad it says want to win a hundred thousand dollars. So great, great. Well, I should say it says where is he at the UK? Okay, so it wasn't a hundred thousand dollars. It was a hundred thousand whatever you case. We're in the UK 10:15 London sure I can't name another place. Sure, no, I do know that I do know that eventually we end up in London, so I guess he he had to take it across. Yeah, he had to post it across all of them. I don't know what their L. Is it London London is yeah. You know what I saw the other day. I don't know if this is true, so might be misinformation great. We're just going to throw it out there as if it's true, please if if 10:45 UK of the UK was a state. Do you know where it would rank as an economy along the fifty states? Take a guess forty seven close actually really close yeah forty nine really yeah, forty nine blow it for sure. It sucks to be so bad dude. It really does unfortunate yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah a fun thing. I know that one did yeah. What do you know about London? 11:15 tell me what you know about London. Did you know that London yeah is smaller in square mileage than Springfield, Missouri? Did you know that sure that's Paris? No, I'm pretty sure it was Paris that that was stat was no it's a London. Are you sure it was London? I'm a hundred percent because London has like almost the amount of people that Los Angeles has yeah, but it's crammed into the square mileage of Springfield that 11:44 Okay, so he puts up these these. I heard that somewhere shut up. He put it out in the paper and this ad was like hey, we're doing a game show yeah project in us to be a part of it come to these auditions there. You there's a potential for you to win a hundred thousand dollars. If you participate in this okay, so puts this ad out bunch of people show up and they show up to this. It's like a it's almost like a wedding venue. It's like an event space you rent, but it's like 12:13 really nice and Ritzy. Okay, there's a camera crew there. There's all these like is Ritz catered a reference to the risk Carlton. I think Ritz was a word before the Ritz Carlton like I think Ritz Carlton made that part of their thing because there's that song from the nineties where it's on the Ritz. Yeah God wasn't joking. Was it putting on the Ritz? Our God isn't awesome. 12:37 I don't think that's the lyrics he's putting on the Ritz. He was for sure that is not the lyrics. Is he putting on the Ritz? Yes, 12:54 Our God isn't here either. 13:01 he was not putting on the Ritz dude. What are you talking about that's not in the on the Ritz? No, he wasn't. You think our God is an awesome God because he was cool. I swear on my life. This is a new Mandela effect. I swear he said he wasn't our God wasn't joking wasn't put on the Ritz here. I got a God was a what 13:28 our God wasn't joking, wasn't putting on the reds, our God wasn't putting on the Ritz, our God wasn't joking, wasn't putting on the Ritz. Our God is an awesome. God, you think no 13:45 I swear on my life that this was a thing and now I'm losing my mind. Oh here it is okay. Okay, so you just type in a chat when he runs when he rolls up his sleeves, he ain't just putting on the rates. Our God is an awesome God. 14:03 there's a thunder in his foot. He ain't just putting on the ritz out. God is an awesome guy. There's thunder in his yes steps and lightning in his fist. I'm not crazy. How crazy is it to be like our God loves everyone and is just really compassionate and carrying it also there's thunder in his footsteps and lightning in his fists. What is he thinking? I thought I was insane for a second. Mike Tyson over here in the lyrics at all. 14:32 I was losing it. Okay, so God wasn't put on the Ritz, but Nick was. And so he had the set up and there was like catering, there was a film crew and he was doing interviews with everyone that was there to see if they'd be a good fit for the show. He's solely casting this thing. Yeah. So he's casting it, but no, he's there's like a crew. There's a director on set. So the director is interviewing as well. Okay. And then there is, which I'll show you. I don't have a video, a picture of the director when he's young, so I can show you the director later when he's old. 15:01 yeah, that's the I can have my eyes to be like to be like. That's what he would look like. All right, I can figure it out and so and then there was a psychologist there that was like interviewing them and seeing if they were like psychologically fit to be on the show sure, and so he interviews all these people. I wouldn't pass on they'd be like. Why'd you take those antidepressants? They be like. Are you allowed to be a pile of the FAA says no so to CBS 15:33 I didn't say no, by the way, the F a said you need to get a fa doctors. They were like hold on a said side this get your parents to sign this. My dad says I can fly this plane. Excuse me, I said my dad not get on the okay my dad says so you're forty. You can't talk like that anymore. Okay, 16:03 stupid, so he's got like a whole like he's he's casting this yeah he's casting and so they're asking call yeah yes yeah they're asking he's asking on the questions he's saying okay we're going to whittle it down to thirty people and so then does the interviews does all the thing everybody goes home and they're like anxiously waiting to find out am I going to be a part of this they are they have visions of big brother they have visions of survivor and this was a time to where I do think you need to acknowledge nowadays 16:33 these sort of shows have changed where now, if you're watching this show, these people are already social media influencers that they put on the show back then casting like knows certain people that they want to put on a thing yeah back then people who would get on these shows were literally nobodies and it would jump start their career. These people would become famous for being on these shows right now. It's inverted and so this was all these people a most why I think I have a better shot of getting on Big Brother now yeah, because you're already famous. 17:07 a big brother. Do you guys have any interest in someone that homeschoolers know about? Yeah, what's your homeschooler audience like? Because I can bring them. They're not going to like all the show manses and shirtless people on the show though, so this season would have been perfect for him to love pentagon. There's like no oh yeah, they're all over crazy so 17:30 So if you're not in a big brother, this is this is a season to jump in on because you know, usually we have to wait like two months for people to really lose their minds, but episode for immediately episode for really brought it on is great yeah watch it stream. We're watching peacock. When does episode come out? No, it's paramount plus when is a paramount plus this episode. This episode comes out soon. This will come out August twenty seventh. Oh shoot. 17:57 Never mind then have it back to school week. 18:05 in the early days of this show, we did like affiliate ads where we were like a sign up for grammarly and use code till and and we got like fifteen cents and now we just do patreon. It's a much better way. It's better for us as creators. It's better for you as listeners and it's a much more fun way for us to interact. We do monthly hangouts like on zoom. We just hang out and play games online and and get to know each other. It's a really fun time, so 18:32 but still use our code till in at grammerly dot com because I think it's still I might get like a couple cents from that, but join us on patreon because we're having a great time. If you don't, we're going to have to start doing mobile game ads. 18:49 they all are going on. I'm a Disney right now. If you're listening to this just know that like because when all the kids go out to school, Disney is a paradise dude yeah yeah yeah it's awesome okay, the so the people who come out into a whole tangent people where you spend a two minutes. We don't think we got all the stuff we got. I go. Disney is great when kids are gone and you're like 19:17 Whatever dude. 19:21 okay, go on. So the people that this tracks to the casting call are people who think this is going to be their break back. They're people who want to be famous for stuff right. Maybe don't have a lot of talent, maybe have some talent, but they want to be famous and so this is kind of a dream. I'm trying to think anybody who's famous from well. I mean I get I mean, are there people who got famous from these shows that we would still know about now? You know 19:49 I don't know like there was the wave of American Idol winners yeah American I was for sure Kelly Clarkson yeah, but then Ruben you didn't hear from Ruben at all yeah. Who knows what he's up to? I mean I bet he's toying still. I doubt it. What's his last name? Sten and remember to her Susan Boyle? Yes, Oh Ruben's dead. Is he really? I'm kidding. Oh shoot 20:16 No, he's still torn. Oh, is he really yeah? Okay, he's got a good sandwich, but you're a Susan Boyle. Yes, he's like she became famous for being ugly. People were just like people like oh my she was also a really good singer. Yeah, but be a water. They were like oh my 20:38 like that's why she went viral like you would never expect that to sound good. You're like that's a nice. Well, that was it was became famous and she was bullying. If she was a bad, she got bullied into fame. It's wild. If she was a bad singer, she would have just been like that just a bash in the pan like like what I don't know the man. Yeah, that guy he had a splash in the moment. He still does cameos. We'll buy one for the end of this episode. 21:07 he can do our fiddle off 21:12 or a hundred percent spending money on that. It's a layer. It's okay, so I remember we're at Nick. People want to become people want to become famous, so they're auditioning for this people that draws yeah yeah, so we're people. He knows it down to thirty people, reaches out to all of them and says congratulations. You've been selected and sends them a beefy contract and the contract outlines what they can wear every day, right, the things that they're allowed to talk about and kind of gives a 21:41 early understanding of what the show is going to be okay, and basically the nature of the show is they're going to be split into teams of ten. There's going to be three teams of ten that are going to be facing off against each other in London over the course of a year and each team needs to raise a million dollars and that's what they what they're told and the pay it for a hundred thousand dollars yeah, and so the winners, oh which split the million, they split it ten ways and everyone takes and his thought is okay. 22:10 so your thought is you have three teams yeah if if one team reaches a million dollars, team two reaches seven hundred thousand team three reaches five hundred thousand, then you're at a one point two million dollar profit. I don't know if that's the idea. I mean if I looking at this as a con that's probably the idea. I don't think that's the case in this scenario, though sure so, but I'm just seeing a like. Oh, I can yeah 22:40 yeah just that layout. I go. I understand the con so is pretty good. 22:50 pretty good God. I need thirty people to try to make a milk and then they each split the winning team. The other two teams get nothing yeah. The winning team is a split. Let's say they all three reach a million dollars yeah, but it's whoever did it first yeah. Whoever gets their first sorry guys. I get two million dollars while all get of you get pretty good yeah yeah well, so and it's going to be a year, so he tells them all 23:19 you need to figure out housing. You need to figure out your jobs. You need to figure out what I'm saying. When I say figure out, they need to figure out the fact that you're not going to be able to pay rent for a year. You're going to you're not going to work for a year. You're leaving a house. Yeah, you're going to be in London for a year doing this, and so you need to make arrangements with your personal life before this date and then show up at your divorces. The eyes your 23:48 whatever you need to do, take care of it now because you're going to be gone for a year, you know, and so all these people that's like the people who did the nine month cruise. You remember the nine month cruise thing that's still going on even by the time that this episode comes they're still on it. That's the thing they at the time of recording have thirty three days left yeah yeah, which is insane by the time this comes out. They will have twenty days. That's such a long time. 24:17 to do one thing. Yeah, I told Reagan. I said as of yesterday. Yesterday was our nine months in Los Angeles, cheese and that's how long they've been. That's how long they've been on the freaking boat dude. Can you imagine being on a boat that long? I love the videos. They're all tired of it. They're also so they've got to be yeah, and so these people, these people trusted this. They started making them rangers because because at the at the casting call while they were there, Nikita comes out and kind of 24:46 presents the show to them and in the cast and call he said hey weave. What was he calling the show? It's project ms to that's right and he's like he's like hey, CBS is running this channel for is going to run this show. It's sponsored by Richard Branson is sponsoring the sure he's cash flow in it and so like they hear all this stuff. They believe this is pretty legitimate and it's the boom of reality TV. 25:15 and so they they told they're told shop in London on this date bring whatever you need for a year. Take, pay baby okay, I think turn and then full audible it back into this. You went to you went and then came back and went bro amateur hour dude. We've been doing this for like seven years. 25:44 it's the bang man. We've been doing this for seven years again, so hard to do some this long. Can you imagine doing something to imagine doing for seven years, seven to make twelve dollars? 26:01 Okay, so he he gives them the date. The thirty people make arrangements. They work on some they sell homes, they cancel rents, they they quit their jobs. They sign a contract though yeah. They sign this contract and they even some of them even a little off relationships. Yeah yeah and could you imagine 26:26 you, your girl, your day, you talk about something to grab coffee tomorrow. Yeah, you're like yeah sure, and then the well, I'll just meet you there. Okay, that's a red flat. If you're in a relationship yeah for a while and they go, I'll meet you there at a broken up with yeah yeah say actually I think I'm busy. Let's just we'll drive separate. Oh no sorry, I'm sorry. I've got other things I died. 26:52 I think I'm dead. Actually, I can try next week. This is this is easier if I just die. It's easier on me. If you don't get a chance to dump me, I'm bringing up now. That's the problem is that my wife would just like you should meet there. No, I'm breaking up. No, I'm gonna do it. What here's the papers. I got signed and everything. I wanted to drive, sign and everything. You've got pre signed divorce papers 27:20 yeah, I've been signing for you for years anyways, so I might as well sign for you on this light fraud. Okay, so these people show up to the I'm saying they legally can hold him to certain things because they've got this contract legally in theory. So they show up to this location in London. It's a park. They get there and nobody's there. It's raining and they have their bags. There's on and thirty people 27:48 trickle in. They see the thirty of them, but there's no camera cruise one to okay. This is no like hey. Are you here for the reality TV show and this is and everyone's kind of excited, but it's raining thirty kids waiting on their dad to come home standing in the rain, the rain and they're like they're like maybe this is and someone's like maybe this part of the show. Maybe this is like the first challenge, but there's like hitting cameras and so they're like kind of like and they're like oh interested and then how long do you wait? How long did they wait? 28:17 well, they're there for a little while, like I don't think this is part of the show. This is this, so they wait for a little while and then out of the bushes comes the key to Russian. He didn't go out of the bushes. He just came from another part of the park walks up. Oh for real, he did show up and he walks up and like oh hey, there's the producer and he goes 28:44 Welcome Hello my children to Project M S R 28:56 project in to our ms to a master to project asmr in. 29:06 ass. What is it? No sign language confidently knows the comes out. He goes the m realizes he doesn't know the s welcome to project 29:27 Yes, to do and I just like now Gavin. 29:41 he got Kevin Hart to come do a set in the park. It was a scene trustworthy. We spent all of your money on this okay, so he does show up yeah, so he split how long so he's there. They've been waiting. I don't know forty five minutes, but not long three groups and the three groups there at the park there at the park. That's how the park you guys go over there. This is just you guys go over there yeah and then so then he talks to them one to one one to ten in each group. 30:10 and basically dumps on them. Oh hey, this is a little different now. He says one of you is going to have to be the camera man and so Blair, which style yeah, so pick pick out one of you who you think is the best suited to be the camera man and then also you guys had to operate this boom mic. Well, he said he said also by the way you need to also come up with where you're going to live and what you're going to eat. 30:40 all of that is not provided for you. That's part of the show. You need to. You need to figure out shelter and food and water and all your essentials as well as a team. So they pretty pretty much tells them hey, welcome to London. You're homeless now. Good luck and again, that's what those flights of migrants are. What you know how you know how we're on to sandis keys flying people from the border. Different trying to start in he's just like 31:11 he's like project them as three yeah and you're like. Was this what you're doing? He goes three you can't do the figures don't been right yeah, so they all of a sudden find out oh okay. So now everything's also on us now. I did say in the contract that food and shelter was provided 31:38 right, so they're like. Oh, this is not exactly what you said anymore. Be so man, they were like where's the director and he's like the director is not here. He's like I, I you actually can call me the direct yeah. It be sweet. If you call me direct, it'd be really cool. I'd be really excited if you call me the director. I have his little chair yeah. I'll be bringing it around when you're doing stuff. You'll see me. He's just in the distance all over London, watching them, two of the groups hear this news and they they're outraged. 32:06 and they immediately go home. They're like twenty people yeah, two groups were like this is ridiculous. They're like one group of ten is like two groups down like they're like we've got they're like we got the contract like two whole threating or like ten people total stay, because I could imagine like two people from each from one group stayed and then you know two whole groups together had the conversation and we're like this is you lied to us. We have a contract. We're going to take legal action. We're going home 32:36 Yeah, and so they threaten the legal action. They get out of there. The other group has no idea that this happened. Hey, what I get we can drive together if you want to so I'm coming home tomorrow. No, I didn't win. I'm really sorry for all the stuff I said about your mom and and you doing tomorrow. Yeah, you free 33:06 Pick me up from the airport. 33:11 right, so twenty people leave yeah the other ten. They don't know that that happened though they they don't know that the other see them leave the like shoot guys is the game is going. We got to go yeah and so and they're like pushing them like the people who are left. They're like like I'm going to beat you and they're like all right, whatever you're doing. I don't know, so these people they think okay. This is messed up. We don't think that this is legit, but at the same time we've already committed. Let's just give it a shot. Yeah, I already so as my dog, 33:39 right. So there's a guy named Tim and I'm going to show you a picture of Tim. This is a picture of Tim now. Okay, so this is Tim. I can picture really younger. This is not the director. This is one of the group people in the group of ten right. Based on this picture, I want you to say I can picture what he looks like younger. Okay, good happy. Based on this picture, I want you to take a guess on what this guy's career is based on this picture. What do you think he does for a living? I think you can get it. I really genuinely think you can get this 34:09 Is he in his space where he does this thing? No, okay, no. I mean he might have done this there before. I don't know, but the space won't give you any what he does for a living now. Well, he's done it since then, so since the early two thousands when this was filmed, he was he was pursuing this career as well. Okay, 34:28 you think I can get this? I think you could genuinely based on this photo. Guess what he does? Oh geez, okay, is he a hairdresser? That's close. No, it's not. What does he do? 34:44 he's a cloud. He's a full he's a full blown clown. He's for audio listeners. He's a clown. He is a cloud like a literal cloud, full blown cloud. He's like an actual like a part, not like a halfway clown. He's full that's a full clown red nose and everything. So okay, look at that picture. You can't tell me the base of that picture. Now that you know you're like that is a pretty clown way to talk. No I think I would have guessed it 35:14 I don't think I would have guessed it at all. You thought I was gonna look at that picture and go that's a that's a I genuinely did. I genuinely I genuinely thought you'd see that I wanted to be a rodeo clown when I was younger really yeah. I never been to a rodeo 35:33 just thought it looked cool. Is that rodeo clouds were sick bro or way braver than the bullfighters? So here I do have here we go okay. Here's a picture of him when he was younger at the time, and so he was the only person and he was a clown. Then he was a clown then too yeah okay, so he was the only person in this group of ten that actually lived in London. 35:58 and so he's like guys. We can all go stay at my flat. That's a London thing. They say that instead of apartment is a you guys can just come home with me. Yeah, he's like he's like we can go stay at my flat and figure out our game plan and he's like he's like also. I do have a video camera. I could be our cameraman and so ten is like volunteering to like you know sure take charge, take advantage of the situation. I just need a percentage from each of you when we win. Yeah, just give me twenty percent of your winnings 36:27 of each of your that's extra twenty grand right. That's the way to play that each though. If everybody gives you if every person gave you to everyone gives you twenty percent. Oh, that's the way to play this game. See that's that's that's why man you should be in big brother. So he becomes the camera man here. He is with one of the other contestants back at his flat. Yeah, I don't know what she's doing. She grew to be that old lady in Shutter Island. You know that goes 36:59 you know, so they go back to the flat. They start putting together a plan, a game plan of what they're going to do back to his. This is his apartment, his flat. What's the artwork back there? I think that's bugs bunny playing the trumpet. That sort of looked like to and so everybody goes back to a clown. Yeah, everybody goes back to his apartment. They start game planning what they're doing. This group of ten is like hey, this is a little messed up. We don't know what's going on here, but 37:26 we're going to give it a shot. We're here. It looks like the other people went to go take action. So we're going to take action and we're going to put together a plan of how we're going to play this game in that process. Whenever they were at the park, Nikita was like, oh, by the way, there's a new contract. Sign it tonight and I'll come by and pick it up. And so they go home. They start looking at the contract. Things are tweaked a bit like you're not going to get any food. You got to get your own food. You're not going to get any shelter. You got to get your own shelter, things like that. 37:54 So there's been some changes now like oh, that's weird that you prize money still the same prize money still the same, but it's a little bit more clear now that it's like you're earning this hundred grand and the concept for the show is your under cover billionaire. Yeah, that's the show. The show is we're going to go out. We're going to raise this money, but it's right to figure out how to become yeah. If you haven't seen undercover billionaire, undercover billionaire is a show where they took great 38:20 first season they found the only good billion. Well, it was his idea for the show yeah, and so he's genuinely honestly might be the great guy, the only good billionaire yeah and the concept was you get dropped into the city you've never been to before, usually a smaller city you a hundred dollars cash yep and you have a phone with no contacts like a flip phone with no contacts and truck, a pick up truck, pick up truck and you just have to you have what was it thirty days? No is ninety ninety days 38:47 to start a company that was worth a million dollars. Yeah, he didn't make a million dollars, but the company had to be valued out a million dollars. Yeah, yeah, and then ninety days to do it great first season. Second season was also entertaining, but they were normal billion. They were normal billionaires who were a sucked bad. They sucked who were just like yeah. You're like oh my gosh dude. Every time they talked, you'd be like so they 39:15 the then one of them is a pretty recognizable figure yeah, and so we are pretty sure pretty sure that the help he got from like there was a local dealer there like a car dealer guy yeah who like really kind of helped to get his business started and invested in him. Yeah, we're we're ninety percent sure that that guy recognized just new and was just like yeah dude play this game for sure. I'll work with you. What do you say his name was 39:39 Oh, I don't remember what he said his name was, but I know that that guy like met him out of the blue one day and then as a yeah. Sure he's later gave him like yeah. I'll write you check for ten thousand dollars. I believe in you because I believe it grant card. Don't I mean I'm great card. I don't care. He sucks dude. He's a bad person. He does. He's not going to listen to this yeah. He might know he won't. He likes stuff where people so 40:08 so this shows similar except for these people have no experience making a million dollars right and they're all they're in a bigger city. One of them was a clam. These people literally have no experience making money and they're in a city they've never been. Here's the thing though. If you think about it, ten people to get to a million dollars, you each just got to make a hundred grand in a year. It's not easy right, but it's also not incredibly difficult. 40:36 You know? 40:40 screacard. Oh, like here's a thing yeah, you could, let's hear theory. No keep going could just go get a couple jobs and pull it off in theory. I mean as long as you don't pay taxes yeah, but I guess you're splitting your living ten ways. Like if you're fine living in a place with ten people yeah, my rent with ten people in my apartment, my rent would be two hundred bucks. Yeah it's not bad, not bad and this is two thousand to yeah 41:08 Anyways, so... 41:13 Hey, thanks for checking out this episode. In that mailing list, we give updates on past episodes. and every week things are changing. So if you want to keep learning stuff, in the Tillon verse. 41:39 I like that. I've never said Till and Verse before, but I'm Till and Verse, that's the best place to do it. You can go to text tilland to 66866. There's a lot of ways to sign up for going on in the Till and Verse. 42:04 these people are trying to figure out how they're going to they're going to raise money and then the key that comes back to collect the contracts and so it comes back to collect the contracts. You guys, what do we think about you guys doing and and then just doesn't leave and stays the night with them and is a gamus going to sleep over here. Yeah, I bought a sleeping bag too. I'm going to hang out here and they're like that's weird and then it is at the next night and they're like hey 42:29 how long you got to do this because I got to be here to oversee and make sure you guys do this for the full year and like what about the other teams? And he's like you don't need to worry about them. I'll be there to wait, so he's just staying with them. Yeah, so they asked they started asking some more pointed questions. Long story short, the truth comes out that he's homeless and so he needed a place to stay and he chose he was like oh you guys have a place to stay. I'll stay with you wait what and 42:58 what he's doing for work right now is he's working at a bookstore and the show got pushed off for a little bit because he needed to save up a little bit more money, so he was working extra shifts at the bookstore to save up a little bit more money, but he didn't have a place to stay, and so then he was like I'm just going to stay with you guys while we shoot this show got pushed off that got yeah. We pushed it off a little bit, but I'm going to stay with you 43:28 also the director dropped out. That's why he's not here and so did the film crew and Richard Branson and yeah never a part of this Richard. Yeah, I don't know. I never actually said and the person I thought a person who told me she worked at CBS actually worked at CVS and so that really messed up my whole life and so and then the psychologist was actually his girlfriend. 43:57 and then she broke up with me after because she was like you're trying to scam these people yeah and she's I was like what you know and she was like is this why you may miss drive separate here and she was like no you know I just can't stand being around you so I think me and my wife drive separate everywhere. We can't do car rides together. We go out for fancy dinner dates. She sits across the room at a different table 44:23 it's better and then not anywhere in here. You pay the bill for two tables. Yeah, how we how we doing checks? Oh actually you could give it to that guy over there. See that table it's to the sad looking guy over there. Just by himself twenty four. He ordered no table three plates of spaghetti that he's just shoveling over there. Yeah, give the checks to that guy. Hey yeah, this lady said you were going to pay for her. I will 44:50 I will so home. She's got her bedroom door locked. You see with different rooms. Yeah, so they they're outraged. He he reads the room and he leaves for real. It goes so how many days into they go? This is a homeless person who's duped us here for like five days now okay, and so he leaves and they are like well the mission 45:19 still. They're like they're they're kind of peeved at this. Yeah, of course, so they put together a plan. They're like well, you want to be on TV. We're going to get you on TV, so they called I'll be on TV either way. They called London nightly. I think is what the show's called great, which is like there's sixty minutes or whatever yeah and it's like hey, we got a concept for you sure and they're like oh yeah. You do that. They're like tell us about it. This is how they talk on the phone. Hey, I got a concept for you. Oh yeah, 45:50 Oh, do you think there's a person in the operating room with the headset? Oh, that's a great gossip job. That's all they do right. I just feel the all the incoming all the like ooh yeah, spill the tea and they needed they did. Wow yeah, this is an interesting for TV. We don't like this idea. Thanks for telling me about it. I really enjoyed it. 46:17 yeah sorry. This is just the burger king drive through you called when you could walkie talkie into drive throughs. Do you remember that era? You don't you never tried that no, so you could frequency match yeah the drive through and end up on like you could have a walkie talkie that frequency match what they were using for the drive there. That's insane. I don't know you could do that yeah now you can't because now they use like they're it's like a software through a computer that radio yeah, but you should just be radio jees. That's so you could 46:46 walky talky in and you say stuff to the people who drive through that's hilarious. I never tried that much. No, I didn't know you could do. I feel like I missed out now Vernon dude. I would have loved that maybe it was up to date where you were to that maybe because yeah. That was my thing. We did have one of my buddies got one of those like bull horns on his car with the cb radio, so you could yell at people from your car. We see a kid's old time drive by 47:12 yeah. Drive by it. We drive by kids on their bikes and stuff yeah. I remember very specifically. I was riding my bike to my grandma's house and a car pulled off the side of the road like they were going to hit me and then went back. 47:33 We all see this right. It's a funny joke. It's not. It's not funny. It's not fun. It's okay. I was a little as a boy. It's fine. We know we've talked about this. It's funny to threaten people and not follow through 47:53 Hahaha! 48:02 I think so he leaves for a bit. They call the news and the news is like sick. We love this idea and the guys like I've been filming for like five days. I've got all this footage of all this stuff. Yeah, I'm like sweet. Meet us at this location. We're going to do a foot of drop and so they take a box of all the footage they meet him there and while they're gone, Nikita comes back and they're like we need to keep him here and so they're like hey, we change our minds. So yeah, it'd be sweet if you hung out with us. 48:30 we like you like yeah. We think you're really cool. While play monopoly yeah and so they really lock him in the house. They want to let him leave no, no, no, no, you stay here. You stay here. You stay here. Yeah, yeah and the other people show back up and they're like hey, he's back. They're like call him and tell him he's here and they can come do an interview. Hello hey, you're not going to believe this. I probably won't tell me anyway. 48:59 that guy was called earlier about you know what I'm talking about. I got him right here and Nikki Nikki Nikki Nikki. What was his last name Russian? I put down Croatia. I knew it was somewhere over there, so we're over there yeah. Nikki Russia, yeah yeah yeah he's here. We've got him. We've locked him in one of our bedrooms. You guys want to interview him for stuff. No 49:26 call us back if he kills somebody like they're not. Yeah, so they're like yeah, we'll be there tomorrow and so like sweet and so they say you can say that I here yeah. They trap him in house really yeah, because we're so mad at me earlier yeah like hey, we're just really forgiving people well, so they they trap they he's kind of down. It's not like they it wasn't like that. It was like hey, you're staying here staying here. We boarded the door. You can't leave and they're like here's what we think and they like kind of grilled them for a bit. Oh, jees I've like 49:55 we here's everything we gave up to be here. These was this was our dream to do this thing and you took it from us yeah and and so then they lock him so they set up a diary room. I didn't tell you this yet, they set up a diary room in his house like big brother, so they could do their diaries throughout this because they had a moment where they were like we're going to pursue this yeah and then they were like oh, this is something else, but they kept filming everything right, so he they let they track them in the diary room okay and then 50:23 the news comes. They film an interview with him like where is he he's in that back room? I you guys legally done this. This is okay, hold on. We'll take the chains off the door yeah. It takes like twenty minutes like okay. He's not in there. Was he wrapping out the back? They forgot to shut the white, like blowing up the window gasp and they're like 50:53 now this makes good TV. Oh, you said he escaped. Oh, we're so right now. Now you guys got to find them. If you find a 100 grand going on, that's awesome. That's awesome. So so they interview him and they interview all the people in the in the house and then they they they get a bunch of like weird action shots of the people in the house like playing games and like sleeping in the sleeping bags and stuff like that. 51:21 and then they leave and they turn to the the people and they like like. Thank you so much for your time and then they just like turned in a key and just walk out and don't say a word. He's like okay, okay, weird yeah and so then they tell him that all right you got to go. You know what you did and so they essentially just kick him out. He asks for the footage and I don't hey can I have all that footage and like what are you going to do with it? 51:49 And he's like, I'm going to make a T and so they kick him out. He's got no place to go. He goes on, finds one of his friends. He like sleeps on the street that night, finds his childhood friend and they go to the pub together and he's like, he's like, Hey, cause they used to like make movies and stuff together growing up. They were like those kinds of kids. 52:11 and they haven't seen each other in years and so they're kind of catching up and he's like he's like yeah. Let me tell you this thing. I was all the good stuff that's happening in his life, Mary, the job, you know, all these things fun stuff, starting his new career and entrepreneur. What's up with you and he's like I'm home. I you know I'm home. Have you ever heard of reality TV? No, I have it 52:35 You love it. You it's your thing, man. So imagine this. I get thirty people to make one hundred thousand. That's three million dollars, three million dollars winning team. One hundred thousand a million dollars as my problem. I get to two mil axis like, dude, this is I could do this. I could do this once a year, once a year, make two million a year. Easy, easy. You want in? Yeah, you win. And so they're talking, they're catching up, whatever. And then the TV in the pub turns on London Knightley and it's his special. 53:03 and there's his interview and he's like he's like everyone in the Bob is like that. Is that the guy and then his friend is like that's that's literally you isn't it and he's like yeah. I did. I did do that thing. That's my twin. That's my that's the twist. That's the it's a twin twist. It's a twin twist the whole time. The first that was real. That was real everybody. He beat them to the 53:32 the meet up yeah twin beat them to meet at dude. The other twin shows up to the park with the camera crew and director and he's like no one's there. I got yeah and then ice walks away on the phone with we tell him the wrong day or he's on the phone with Richard Branson and CBS the conference guys again. No one showed up. I thought we casted do you want to show up here and then and see and Richard Branson like I'll drive separate. He was a whole thing. He's like I'll be there in twenty minutes because he fly anywhere in twenty minutes. 54:01 yeah, because he can fly because yeah, Richard Branson is super Paris. Remember when he went to space and did that whole video where he rode his bike yeah like he was riding to work. Do you remember that was that he wrote his bike? What are you talking about Richard Branson that did that? I'm pretty sure those were your boys motorcycle. No, I don't know what you're talking about riding his bike. I know when he went to space. I don't know what you talk about right road, his bicycle to the launch pad. Oh, I do think I know what you're talking about. Wasn't that Richard Branson like it was his commute to work? 54:30 Yeah, he was just like in some fresh air on my way on my way to go to space. I do remember this. I'm a commoner. I'm just like you on my little bicycle before I go to space. I take this trip to outer space. I wanted to get one last feel of what it's like to be poor to be like one of you to be like can't afford a car right. I'll ride my bike. Yeah, how quaint 55:00 didn't have a bike rack at the launch pad. Yeah, there is. I'm saying 55:08 just bike to the launch pad. That's so absurd. Okay, anyways, so his friend is really mad and then that's the last time they ever talk and then he ends up being homeless for a while. That whole group says their goodbyes. They go home and that's kind of the end of it until twenty twenty three until a wrong wrong tab. 55:36 until let's see what's the year here, twenty, twenty three in October, a documentary drops on prime, okay, called the greatest show never made and they brought the whole cast back one, not the whole cast. Everyone who said yeah, I'll be on this. So about half of the group, six people came back and they recreated his apartment and okay, then relive their experience here and kind of tell the stories and then they shut the door. 56:06 and they said you guys shut after make a million dollars to make a million dollars can't leave this. He goes. You don't recognize me. 56:18 and come back for a documentary and he walks in the room. He goes. Thank you for being here. Welcome project to him. Three Nikita Nikita, so 56:46 They they tell the whole story. It's a three part documentary series, okay, definitely one of those ones where it should have been a single the first episode. I think the second one just vamps for a whole episode. The third one is the ground breaking episode because they brought Nikita back. Oh and so like now here's Nikita now. Honestly, glow up. Oh Nikita. Here's the thing though is not Nikita Russian. We find out okay. He actually 57:14 never was kind of so Nick Russian was actually born Keith Anthony Gillard and he legally changed his name to Jack Lister in his early twenties and then and then changed again to Nikita Russia and he was like that's the one that's me. I'm Nikita Russian. He growing up was like a film nerd like really wanted to get into that stuff right, but 57:41 did not have a good childhood, had actually a really bad childhood and then left home at like sixteen to escape it, and that's why he changed his name because he had a really hard time throughout his early twenties. He in London, he was in Surrey, okay, and then yeah, he went to London and he studied English at University of London, but it eventually dropped out and so he had a really bad sense of self, like a really negative sense of self was very 58:10 not confident right and then he went on MTV's made. I wish that were true. I was like oh what now he had really negative self confidence, so he changed his name from Keith to Jack Lister. All you got to do is change your name, but he didn't feel like that fit, so then he changed to the key to Russian and each time he changed his name. He like changed his personality. He's like he's like I'm finding who I'm going to be yeah. The key to Russian he this person was a tv producer and he's like 58:39 He had this dream of Nikita Rush that's gonna make these TV shows and they're gonna be successful. And he had this big dream of we're gonna make this show, which was Project MS2, and the concept was exactly how it was gonna be. When he recounts the story, he says that in that initial meeting, he said, I don't know where it got misconstrued. He said the goal was to film a pilot and then sell it to CBS. And then a court people like, 59:08 Richard Branson to sponsor it and he said, but we're not going to like. We didn't have that to begin with. Okay, he said the film crew I had there was actually students and his goal was to have them come film the whole thing, but after that first shoot, he couldn't get them to buy in for a full year to film everyone. They're like, yeah, we have class and so yeah, that kind of fell apart, have school and a girlfriend and you got to end all that 59:38 you go to. What do you want success? Do you want to be successful or do you want to be a degree and so people with three degrees work, serving tables? Okay, 59:50 so they dropped out his director and him had a falling out, so his director dropped out okay, which is director honestly coolest guy ever. This guy is steven Tyler Perry. Okay, those are the grasshopper from a bug's life. 01:00:10 Oh my gosh he does that's insane, and so the way Nikita tells a story is the goal was to shoot this and then sell the pilot right right and that's why he wanted the a full year to try to sell this thing. Well, after everything fell apart, he still wanted that footage because he was like I still really believed it and I still thought we could sell this concept. 01:00:34 and it's interesting he's like and that's why I sold this documentary to Amazon. If that's how it ended, he goes and then I realize I can just sell a document. Well, the though at the end of his produced by Nikita Russian that big killer do I hate that you said that because that's literally how it ends, but it's not that's not what happened. One of the guys in the group, this guy in the bottom left was like was like what if this whole thing was just Nikita Russian again? 01:01:03 and he's one of the producers. We're going to watch this back and find out he did. He got us back again like and that's how it ends like that's where the credits roll after he says that and it's like okay, but it the he's not a producer in the credits, so well, the key to Russian is so yeah. That's a good point. Actually, so his name is not Nikita Russian anymore. Obviously now the key to Russian was homeless. It's in Quintin Wolf 01:01:33 you because he just sat there and went in night Shamala T be J in okay, okay night when they dark 01:01:57 Quinn. 01:02:01 in so in Quinn in Quintin Wolf, Quintin Wolf, Quintin Wolf, yeah and now he's he's an author. Oh yeah, he's got this one. I do like his cover art. I will say it's cover. It's good not poppin. Most of his books on Amazon have like seventeen reviews, but they're really sure positive. They're overwhelmingly positive. I mean you read the names on the reviews, though it's the key to rush in Keith 01:02:31 I'm just key, Keith Anthony, Giller, Jack Lister, it's all his names, so he went on to be an author, but here's the thing. Here's here's what I genuinely wonder, because he was still trying to make this happen. They were all really mad at him because they were like you crushed our dreams and we like gave up so much to come beyond this and his response. There's video, there's footage of him when they were kind of having that big blow up, blow up fight where they like you crushed our dream. He's like he's like this is my dream too. He's like he's like 01:03:00 you guys are crushing my dream to sure and I think he still was like we can still make this happen like yeah. He was still fighting to get a pilot put together okay, and these people turned on him and I want. I almost wonder if these people didn't turn on him in that moment. If he could have somehow kept them from turning on him and still got them to do the challenge, if they could have put a pilot together and if they could have actually sold it and made something happen, but he lost them. He lost them in that 01:03:30 and so if there was some way he could have kept their trust or something or restored their trust, could it have actually had? I think him being homeless didn't really still a lot of confidence. Yeah, I do think that I think him showing up and being like I kind of really need this to work out. You know, I mean yes, yeah, I will. Yeah, yeah, but it is interesting when you watch the these people are now adults and you watch them talk about it. 01:03:57 and they do still talk about him like he was clearly a bright guy. He was down on his luck and made some bad choices and he deceived us all and that was pretty sad and they were some of them were still really angry about it, but some of them like you could tell kind of felt for him in a way. So I don't know at the end. It ended up being a little moving, seeing them kind of all the people reunite and talk about that and then they all did like video diaries to Nikita goodbye messages. Yeah, yeah 01:04:26 and Gita sorry we had to vote you out. So I do think that there's a possible world where this could have worked, where this could have worked out, where they could have actually shut the pilot and could have happened, but because the group turned on him and he couldn't get them their trust back, it didn't happen and he went down. I don't think because I don't think he was ever a con man though. I don't think this was ever. I don't think it was ever like 01:04:51 Like you said, I'm going to take two million out of this. I think his goal was genuinely I'm going to make this show and he bit off more than he could chew. Oh sure, sure, sure, sure, sure. Then yeah, it all fell apart, but I wonder like there's, I don't think that production company would like CBS or you know, any TV channel would be like, let's commit to a full year of production. Yeah, that's a huge, that's a huge thing. Yeah, yeah. For something we don't know if it's going to work. Yeah, especially in that era. Now, 01:05:21 Maybe because now these sorts of shows we know work at that air in that era. It was so early and maybe, maybe because it was so big because survivor used to be forty days and now it's what like eighteen. That is true. Yeah, they make them all really short now. Yeah, that's a good point. I don't know. Well, anyways, it in the show ends with that moment that I told you about, but just before that moment I told you about this guy gets out his guitar. The director, the director sings. He's like I wrote 01:05:49 what I think could have been the theme song and so it's and it was actually genuinely very good and he plays it and it was it was when he rolls up his sleeve, he ain't putting on the wits. God is an awesome God. The last the song was the like hook was it's the greatest show never made and so you kept saying that hook 01:06:14 and then at the end after that how does the last time he hit it sing, sing how he sounds. I oh gosh. What do you think the melody is? It's a great show never made like I like a dad rock kind of thing. No, I can't you're you're on the right track. It was like it was raspy. It was kind of skinner t because he was playing acoustic guitar. So there's a little skinner t skinner t skinner t, but the last hook he hits the hook and then tags it. 01:06:44 the last time with a great show. Maybe it finally will maybe finally will yeah and so it kind of what is on this whole thing or as if just Nikita Russia getting us all back be crazy if he's one of the producers of this yeah. So it kind of tags with like the producers kind of set themselves up like we could make this show 01:07:10 it's kind of the way they set it up to end. So maybe in a couple of years we're going to see this show actually happen, because I genuinely do think that this idea is like a mixture of undercover billionaire in the amazing race, but with people long as he is a good at it. I don't know so there's a chance that we might see this actually happen. Now there's a chance they kind of put that up, set that up, so the documentaries on prime greatest show never made the show itself. The documentary is decent 01:07:40 the last episodes really skip episode to episode one and two or where all sure this is the end of the episode. This is the end. Well, you know what that means. Happy one. This is William Hong. This is T I L L and podcast. Thanks for watching all hell. The watcher Fetler off