It's Canadian Viral Sensation & the Internet's Favourite Dad, Brittlestar! How he converted disappointment & failure at a time of rock bottom, into a new path of internet stardom & 600 million downloads. Plus a great recipe for Butter Tarts!

Delighted to welcome the incomparable, wise & wonderful viral phenomenon 'Brittlestar' aka Stewart Reynolds to The Good Listening To Show Clearing.  Brittlestar was 'Passed the Golden Baton' by fellow internet sensation and previous guest, Gurdeep Pandher of the Yukon.

You can also Watch/Listen to Brittestar's episode, extolling the virtues of Canadian Butter Tarts here: https://vimeo.com/chrisgrimes/brittlestar

With the 'moist-in-between' (!) of emerging fresh from a shower for his Clearing, this is a  delightful conversation indeed, suffused with life-affirming wisdom inviting us to trust the 'ebb-and-flow' that life presents us with, helping us to navigate and trust disappointment whenever it might present and be able to go with the flow: "We'll get there in the end..."

Brittlestar is a proud Canadian and a veritable multimedia marvel, boasting a staggering 600 million downloads to his name.  We hear the story behind his peculiar and wonderful pseudonym, its roots being in a band name dating back to 2004,  combined with the truly bizarre fact about the real-life star fish creature called Brittle Star, which also involves unconventional defecation!

Author also of "Welcome to the Stupidapocalypse" a side-splitting survival guide for the era of "Dumbageddon"! 

Brittlestar is happiest editing video and mixing music. He has given himself permission to treat any disappointments as creative stimulus. He recognises the need to keep going and keep being useful, all because you never ever know how useful you might be to certain people in their individually uncertain times. The work ethic is as important to Brittlestar as the spontaneity. His favourite quote from Thomas Edison asserts the following: “Impractical it may be but important, surely.”

As we wrap up this riveting discussion, we dissect the progression of personal ambitions and underline the significance of accepting change as a catalyst for personal growth. 

This episode is a medley of laughter, enlightenment & wisdom - and not forgetting of course the recipe & equation for Canadian Butter Tarts: Sex & Gold in a Blender = Butter Tarts!

Enjoy!

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'. If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

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Thanks for listening!

Transcript

Chris Grimes: 0:07

Welcome to another episode of the Good Listening To Show your life and times with me, Chris Grimes, the storytelling show that features the clearing, where all good questions come to get asked and all good stories come to be told, and where all my guests have two things in common they're all creative individuals and all with an interesting story to tell. There are some lovely storytelling metaphors a clearing, a tree, a juicy storytelling exercise called 5-4-3-2-1, some alchemy, some gold, a cheeky bit of Shakespeare and a cake. So it's all to play for. So, yes, welcome to the Good Listening To Show your life and times with me, Chris Grimes, Are you sitting comfortably here? Then we shall begin. Get in, and how seamlessly? The count of four, so I don't have to edit this later.

Chris Grimes: 1:00

Welcome, welcome to the Good Listening To Show, where I invite movers, makers, shakers, mavericks, influencers, and you'll see where I'm going in a moment. We have a wonderful multimedia influencing sensation in the form of a brittle star, aka Stuart Reynolds, when in trouble with his wife and or mother, I'm sure. But welcome, welcome thrice, welcome Stuart broke, brittle star to the Good Listening To Show. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here and you are an absolute, wonderful sort of internet sensation I was really enjoying researching you. You've written a book very recently called Welcome to the Stupid Apocalypse, which is survival tips for Dumbergeddon, so I was giggling from the get go. You've done collaborations with the likes of Gordon Ramsay, Ryan Reynolds, and just to blow some really happy smoke at you, Thousands of thousands of people watch your films weekly, but I think you've got the accolade of having had about 600 million downloads over time.

Brittlestar: 2:00

Yes, it's something, isn't it For?

Chris Grimes: 2:02

me for an old guy like myself, right. And you. I love the fact that you're the internet's favorite dad, but unproven with an asterisk.

Brittlestar: 2:11

There's a caveat there. It's like a little sort of asterisk there. That's sort of just a disclaimer, just so that we can't get sued. You know what I mean? It gets you someone else. It's a more favorite.

Chris Grimes: 2:19

I completely hear you. Obviously, you're a very, very proud Canadian and that's often the sort of main razzondettra of what it is you're. You're tweeting, filming, going viral with and about, and you do a lot of very clever endorsements of stuff like KFC and just a wonderful palette of stuff. So just go back a track. First of all, where's where does Brittle Star come from? How did you end up with that tag? If you like, Sure.

Brittlestar: 2:43

So the the name Brittle Star started as a band name back in 2004. I've been involved in music and writing and recording music for a long time. I've done radio jingles and all that kind of stuff. And in 2004, I was like, well, if I'm going to make an album, I should just make an album now. And I was lucky enough to work with a guy named Stephen Duffy from the Lilac time and or founder of Dran Dran and worked with Robbie Williams and all that kind of stuff and he sort of helps guide me through the process and he's been like a musical hero of mine. So I was I felt like you play a game with someone who's really good and you're like, ok, I have to really really try hard here. So I did try really hard and the album turned out great. But I was like no one's going to buy a t-shirt that says Stuart Reynolds on it. That's just not a very cool name to sort of have on the t-shirt. I need a better name. And my oldest son, owen, was about three at the time and he used to love.

Brittlestar: 3:36

Before bed we read this marine life book and one section was on Starfish. There's a type of starfish called brittle stars and they are long and spindly, they are really the ugliest of the starfish species and and the you know it's it's. They also defecated other mouths and they see through the tentacles. I was like, cool, that sounds, that sounds great to me, it sounds like it's fit perfectly. So I picked brittle stars, just jammed the words together and it kind of went from there.

Brittlestar: 4:07

So then, fast forward, from 2004,. In 2013,. I started to make more efforts into social media and ended up having a couple of viral videos and I had all the social handles, all of the domain names, all that kind of stuff that for brittle start. I thought, well, I'll just stick with that, that's fine, we'll just roll with that and see what happens. I mean, it seemed like such a silly thing to do anyway. So who cared? And? And it's stuck. And now people who have known me for years, instead of calling me Stuart, will refer to me as brittle or Brit, which is just bizarre.

Chris Grimes: 4:42

But anyway, whatever, and I just want to congratulate you for hooking me in with defecates through its mouth and the idea of getting your music career started with I know I'll pick a name which is about defecating stuff from my mouth, and then welcome to the music biz. That's fantastic.

Brittlestar: 4:57

It's sort of good to sort of. You know, it's good to go after your enemies before they can be enemies They've already taken the wind out of their sails.

Chris Grimes: 5:05

And a brittle star. I think we've got to get the whole world googling as to what an actual brittle star looks like as well. I know it looks like you because you're called brittle star, but I'm intrigued by the, the monster, and the creation that you've created a monster.

Brittlestar: 5:18

Yeah, it is, it is, they are, they are really not. They're kind of creepy, it's all hell, and and it's they. They're much, much thinner than I am and they're fascinating creatures, though, for sure. Absolutely yeah, and I think. I think about a year ago, when you used to Google brittle star, it would always be the creature that would come up first, and now I occasionally pop up first my Wikipedia page.

Chris Grimes: 5:40

So take that mother nature. Take that mother nature. Also. You were invited to the White House to speak at one point and the question on my lips as soon as I read that was what was that in the? In the tenure of Obama, Trump or Biden?

Brittlestar: 5:54

That was in the Obama years and it was 2016 before everything went to hell. And, yeah, it was great, it was. It was a phenomenal. As a Canadian, it was weird to be there because you, as Canadians, were, it was the world, you see, the White House and lots of pop culture and all that kind of stuff. But I was there as part of the arrival ceremony for the Prime Minister of Canada, who was doing his first state visit, and it was great. It was just really sort of surreal to be there and very silly, and especially being there in the capacity of a guy who made videos on the Internet. It was like, ok, I guess this is the thing now, this is fun.

Chris Grimes: 6:34

So yeah, an honor. I like even more that. It was, in my perception, the coolest of the three that I called out there. I know in Obama's tenure is fantastic.

Brittlestar: 6:42

I always have to do the caveat of saying people this I was invited to the White House. The Obama years, the cool years, yeah, exactly.

Chris Grimes: 6:50

Exactly Also, I would just like to also blow the extra bit of happy smoke at you. I loved your description of a butter tart, if I may say, because if you put sex and gold into a blender, you get a butter tart.

Brittlestar: 7:05

It's true, it's true, it's true. I mean, I mean that's it's kind of its own alchemy.

Chris Grimes: 7:09

Really, that's what it is, it's yeah, at least that way into what we're doing. Thank you.

Brittlestar: 7:14

So for people who don't know, and especially in the UK, butter tarts are a specifically Canadian treat. They're like a small sort of pastry shell and like to look like a tart, like a little pie, and inside that is like a caramelized sugar and butter mixture. That has been described by heretic Americans as a pecan pie without the pecans, which is not true, but it's close and was described by my niece when she was about nine. She lives in London, england, and she described it as it's kind of like a mince pie and I was like no, it's not Nothing like a mince pie and sex and gold in a blender, if I haven't said which is really a hard definition for a nine year old.

Brittlestar: 7:58

I wasn't going to go that far. I was like that's fine, Sure yeah.

Chris Grimes: 8:02

So that's why you're the world's favorite dad because I can parenting skills there. That was lovely. So, brittle star, would you prefer that I call you Stuart throughout, would you Shall I just go for it? What would you like me to call you?

Brittlestar: 8:15

You could. Whatever feels right is the right answer, whatever feels appropriate.

Chris Grimes: 8:19

Yeah, and, by the way, you were passed the golden baton by our mutual friend, an extraordinary human being as well, Gurdeep Panda of the Yukon, who uses his gift of banger dancing to dance on the ice scapes of Canada. What? An extraordinary viral sensation he has become as well.

Brittlestar: 8:34

He's phenomenal, he's such a. What's really frustrating and terribly annoying about Gurdeep is that when you meet him you're like damn it, he's just as nice in real life. It's not an act, it's like this. He walks the walk. Yeah, we were lucky enough to go to Whitehorse, to the Yukon, and visit him in his cabin and it was just, it's otherworldly. I mean, he's like the most Canadian guy I've ever met in my life. He's like complete Canadian.

Chris Grimes: 8:58

Lovely, and I love the fact you got to actually go to his remote cabin as well.

Brittlestar: 9:03

Oh, it was great. There was a moment where we were it was myself, by my wife, shannon, and we were sitting in this cabin and it's essentially one room and there's no running water, and there was moments where we were sitting on his chairs and couch that he had and he was sitting on a pillow, like Guru style, in the middle of the room, backlit by these two windows and this sort of very northern light coming through, and I thought, oh man, I really want to take a picture right now, but I think it might be weird if I just break conversation and pull my phone up and take a picture. But he's, you know it's. He also offered us tea and we were like yo, that'd be lovely. And then we had the tea and we were like I don't really want to finish the tea, we have to do other things, but I'm not going to waste it because he had to keep cards water from Lake Labarge to his cabin and you're like I'm not wasting it, I'm going to drink it, I have to drink it.

Chris Grimes: 9:56

So Did you say there were northern lights popping off in the background when you wanted to take the photograph?

Brittlestar: 10:02

No, not northern lights popping, not northern lights or rural Brailleaus, but we saw that on the way there in the plane actually, which is amazing. I know just. There's a very distinct color to light, like to sunlight in the north. That's very thin, it's very. It's much cooler than a, than a more southern color of sunlight. It just got a slight blueish hue to it. It's just, it's just very distinct.

Chris Grimes: 10:29

And, by the way, he was passed the golden bat, and by another internet sensation, a guy called Patrick Dexter. Have you heard of him? He was yeah. So I'm on an extraordinary path and I'm so delighted to meet you because of the golden storytelling trail of where it takes me, and so I'm intrigued that Patrick Dexter led to go deep, which led to you, and it's an absolute pleasure to have you here in the clearing. Well, thank you so much for having me. It's exciting.

Chris Grimes: 10:53

So let's get on the open road of curating you through the journey whereby we're going to talk about a clearing a tree. I'm going to shake your tree to see which storytelling apples fall out. How'd you like these apples? We're going to talk about alchemy, gold, a couple of random squirrels, a cheeky bit of Shakespeare, a golden baton and a cake. So it's all to play for, and in fact, you can even have a butter tart, if you want, as your cake as well. So let's get you on the open road. So, first of all, mr Brittle star, I'm giving you a more formal title, you say whatever.

Brittlestar: 11:24

It feels right, I'll take it.

Chris Grimes: 11:26

So, brittle star, where is what is a clearing for you? Where in your extraordinary mind scape do you go to get tutter free, inspirational and able to think?

Brittlestar: 11:35

This is going to seem odd and I hesitated when I had a brief thought about this, but I think I'll just go with it. It's the mottin. It's not in the shower, but it's the moment coming out of the shower and tallying off. So if you're coming with me and to that journey, just prepare yourself. The towel is on, but but loose.

Chris Grimes: 11:55

Yes, and flicking towels at noon or dawn or whatever, that's great. So if I may, then it's very, very specific bathroom, or just in the world, whenever you're on on the way out of a shower. That's your happy I know.

Brittlestar: 12:06

I think it's largely at home. I think I don't have the same experience in a hotel, is traveling or like that. I guess it's much more at home, for whatever reason, it seems really cliche. I remember thinking, oh, maybe I get my ideas like everybody else in the shower, and I thought no, they don't actually come in the shower. It happens in the moment between when the shower is off and I'm coming out and I'm getting ready, and that's kind of like oh OK, I don't know why.

Brittlestar: 12:28

Yeah, well something, something Freudian about it that I don't want to think about.

Chris Grimes: 12:32

We won't need to go there, but we you've had some epiphanies then in that. I mean, what do we call that interworld between in and out the shower? I've never heard it named as a zone before I'm going to say the moist in between.

Brittlestar: 12:42

No, that's terrible. Let's not call that the in between. So the damp in between, that's better. The damp in between, that sounds good.

Chris Grimes: 12:49

It appeals to me. Here we are in the moist in between in your bathrobe. That's all the first guest congratulations about 160 episodes in. Who said the moist in between? And I love you. Thank you very much. I'm so sorry, I'm slightly obtrusively with a tree in your shower, stroke moist bits in between, clearing Totally, totally.

Chris Grimes: 13:09

We're going to shake your tree now. It's all normal. We're both going up here and I'm going to shake your tree now. So this is where you've been kind enough to think about your responses to the five, four, three, two, one constructs. So I still have thought about four things that have shaped you, three things that inspire you, two things that never fail to grab your attention. So the squirrels that will come in, and then a quirky, unusual fact about you brittle style, we couldn't possibly know until you tell us. So over to you to interpret. The shaking of your cadapay can appear rather as you see fit.

Brittlestar: 13:41

So these are the things that sort of shaped who I am. Again, this is sort of verge on the cliche, but I think being a dad, becoming a dad, really shaped who I am now, and I've been a dad for the past 24 years and that's what really changed me dramatically. I think that I was married when I was really young and I got divorced when I was really young and then remarried. I think that shaped me. And then, carrying through from that, I think that disappointment and and not achieving certain goals that I thought I had also shaped me and then and then, finally, what shaped me is just the, the notion that it's OK to create things, it's OK to sort of express and create things. I think that's those are the sort of four things that stand out to me is like the things that have made me who I am and made me perceive or filter or or or process the world in my head.

Chris Grimes: 14:49

And, if I may, that there sounds like the through line there is. There is a moment of crisis or in between this again, the failure of a marriage in crisis, followed by failure to get where you thought you might be. I mean, was that a disappointment based on a career path you assumed you were on and you weren't, or what happened?

Brittlestar: 15:05

Yeah, I mean like the disappointment aspect is is having those failures, or perceived failures, where you think, oh, this is who I thought I was and I guess I'm not, and initially it's kind of hurt. It hurts and it's it's a little bit crushing and you get a bit down and depressed. But I found that, you know, after a little bit of time you start to realize well, actually this may be kind of worked out the way it was supposed to. I don't even mean that in a predetermined destiny way. I kind of mean that in a this is just a more natural fit. This seems like much more comfortable. It's the same way that water will flow to things. You know you can't force water to go in a direction. It'll go in the direction it wants to go.

Chris Grimes: 15:49

And I feel like there's a fluidity then in your trust in the process.

Brittlestar: 15:56

Absolutely, and I think you kind of have to. I was actually, I do this newsletter and and I do these little weekly posts and thoughts and pondering and and the title I have for this coming weeks is something like I can't exactly what it is, but something like sometimes it's better to go floppy and then hard and it's really terrible. It sounds dirtier than it is and it really isn't, but that idea of like just kind of letting things happen and not being too freaked out over it and then getting onto that track and then and then you can put your effort into really going, you know, full tilt or full speed into what you think is good or what you might be good or what feels good. I can't. It all sounds really dirty when I say it this is terrible, this is taking a terrible turn. I'm so sorry, but I think that it's.

Brittlestar: 16:41

It's those moments of realizing, because I think when you're a kid, you think to yourself this is who I am, yes, this is who I want to be. And then, as you go through life, you realize, okay, that the picture ahead of my head when I was 16 is is unrealistic and actually I kind of don't really want that. It's not even a conscious decision of saying I don't want to do that. It's just like getting close to those goals and going this doesn't feel right and then finding a different path and around it and then realizing, well, I kind of hit all the core elements of what I want it to do anyway. So that's, that's the main thing.

Chris Grimes: 17:13

Yes, and then the the tension. When you're always pushing too hard for something, it often doors stay closed because you're just pushing too hard and it's not authentic enough.

Brittlestar: 17:21

Yeah, it's, it's. I mean, it's really. It's the Gandhi thing of it 's. You know, if you're looking for the answer, stop looking for it. It's, it's. It's it's letting these things happen and it's not being apathetic, but I think it's being willing to learn and willing to adapt.

Chris Grimes: 17:37

I think and I love the idea of sometimes it's fast, sometimes it's slow, so the ebb and flow highs, the lows, lows, highs, ebb, flow, and at its core there's a flow to everything.

Brittlestar: 17:47

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I couldn't. I couldn't have possibly imagined. You know, I've been making social media content and videos for the past 10 years is my only job and it's supported a family of four and it's that that was unfathomable when I was 16. Like, well, you're going to make films on your phone? You won't, we'll hardly ever use it to talk to people, you'll just film and you'll share it with people around the world and then millions of people will see it. You're like, well, that doesn't make any sense. But, you know, falling into that and kind of being aware of opportunity, then going, okay, this is the opportunity. I didn't expect this opportunity. Yeah, I didn't plan for this opportunity, but I've got this opportunity. Let's, let's just go. You know, let's push the pedal to the floor and see, see we can get.

Chris Grimes: 18:33

What point did it? Suddenly the door open on a sort of lubricated hinge or the window of opportunity, so that it started to go viral for you, because a lot of people may want to make films but you can't necessarily hit that zeitgeist in the way that you have.

Brittlestar: 18:48

I mean, I think that there's. You know, there's a Thomas Edison quote which is when opportunity knocks, it often looks like work, and so people don't answer the door. I think that's it's. It's very true and it happened for me back in. I mean, it was one of the things that's unique to my circumstance Was that in when I started doing social media videos, we had Essentially nothing to lose.

Brittlestar: 19:17

We were our we're. Our business from the previous 10 years, 15 years had a catastrophic failure and we were incredibly in debt and we had the notice in the front door of the house. We came back one day. It's like the whole bit and it was. It was dire straight. So we had. It was kind of like, okay, let's try this, let's just see what happens, and that made it a lot easier. It wasn't like I had a nice job and I was comfortable and I had money, and it was like, well, I'd maybe like to try this. That's, that's really hard to go. Well, I'm just gonna drop everything and try it. For us it was more case of which Whatever, we've struck oil in the backyard, so let's just start building oil rigs.

Chris Grimes: 19:59

And being your wife, shannon, and your two boys, and yes that's right?

Brittlestar: 20:02

Yeah, exactly. So I think. For me, it started with we had a viral video in 2013 August of 2013, it's a 10 years ago and Then we had we quickly fall we panic and we realized how popular it was. We made one immediately the next day and it was not as popular, but pretty much as popular and then made another one a week later, in a different format of different stocks. We wanted to do something that was more sustainable, that we could do, and that was really successful. And then, literally within a month, disney contacted us and said would you'd like to fly to California? We'd like to Pay to make some videos and your whole family can come to and it'll be really fun? And I was like I didn't know you can get paid for this. But okay, let's do this. This sounds better than not having money and not going to California.

Chris Grimes: 20:48

So, yeah, and at that point, how did you know? You don't have to be specific, obviously, but how did you know what to even charge when that was given to you on a plate, if they're not?

Brittlestar: 20:57

I had no idea what so ever. I was really kind of at the mercy of them to sort of be like we're gonna pay this much money and the amount that they offered for that first batch videos we made for them Was more than I had made in the previous like four months combined. Yeah, so that was, that was a convincing. It was and now it was still wasn't a lot of money, like I wasn't making very much money, but at the same time it was so much money for us. It was like, well, this is obviously something. And then the big, the big Hinge point for us was being in California and it was an event where there was a bunch of other Social media personalities who were kind of blown up at the time. So people like I don't know if you, if you're familiar with grumpy cat.

Brittlestar: 21:41

The little cat. Yes, grumpy cat was there, that type of thing. Grumpy cat got its own trailer, by the way, which I'm still a little bit bitter about, but grumpy cat's also dead. So who won? And? But we talked to other content creators and we were there one evening and our question myself and Shannon was like what do you do for a living? And they said, well, youtube. But what do you do for living? Well, I make videos. So what do you do for a living? Well, I do stuff on social media. It was like, oh, we had no idea you could do this for a living. And we literally just decided, shannon and I that night went back to the tell room and said, okay, we got it, we got to try this, we got to just see what happens over the next, you know, year or so and see if we can continue this and, if I may, that's another going back a few paragraphs to the idea of Just going with the flow of what's presented.

Chris Grimes: 22:28

That's where the time was taking you, or the the ebb and flow is taking you.

Brittlestar: 22:32

Yeah, and I think again, it's not about being apathetic, it's not about being just playing where the wind takes you. I think it's a case of being aware of what might be an opportunity, with those little blips and opportunities in life which are fascinating to me, where you get these opportunities and go. This is weird. This is a weird opportunity. I should probably try to do something with it.

Chris Grimes: 22:51

I Work was knocking at the door. It could be hard work, but you're willing to give it a go. Yeah, exactly, exactly, exactly, so lovely shape it is for me say so. Do you want to say anything else about shaping before I move you on to three things that have influenced?

Brittlestar: 23:04

No, I don't, I mean I think that just. I think just learning from disappointment, learning from Not achieving things that you thought were your goals and they may be in retrospect they end up not being what you actually really wanted or would be comfortable getting or doing, and then having that ability and permission to give yourself, where you can just create things, doesn't matter people like them not. If you can get things out of your head, that's great, that's good.

Chris Grimes: 23:33

That's a lovely testament to the creative process as well, trusting your own voice in what it is you want to disclose to the world as well.

Brittlestar: 23:39

Absolutely, and it's being able to again giving yourself permission to do it. I think a lot of people think, oh, I'm not good enough, it doesn't matter. There's lots of terrible people making lots of money doing things, so you can just do it. Don't worry about that stuff. If you get money, great, if you don't, that's still great, that doesn't matter, they're both great, fantastic.

Chris Grimes: 23:54

Now we're onto three things that inspire you. There could be some overlap, that doesn't matter, but what would you like to say about that?

Brittlestar: 24:02

three things that inspire me. I think that, weirdly, we've had some terrible news this past week where my wife's sister died and she was quite young and it's terribly and terrifically sad and I Posted on lives. Didn't know what I was going to do, but I had to acknowledge online because I'd been pretty quiet and so I posted this sort of little thing talking about her and the amount of compassion online was Very inspiring. It was like this is okay, people aren't horrible.

Brittlestar: 24:39

I think that one of the things that social media mistakenly gives people the impression is that the world is full of horrible people. The world does have a lot of horrible people, but the world has a lot of amazing people as well, and the social Social media just makes it easier for the horrible people to be heard. They sound louder but they're not, they're just. I mean, there was so many lovely things and I think that that when I see that for in that post for myself and then I think about other times I've seen that compassion online it makes you remember that it's like you just happen to hear the worst Easier. It's easier to hear the worst than it is to sort of know that there's good people there, so it's good to remind yourself of that.

Brittlestar: 25:21

I think Other things that inspire me is is when is watching the stuff that other people create. Whether it be any kind of, doesn't matter what the creation is books, it could be essays, it could be art, it could be videos, it could be anything, music. I Just love the idea that people are creating things for the sake of creating things sometimes, which is great. It's about the process. It's about creating something in the world that wasn't there before and that's exciting. That's very, very inspiring to me.

Chris Grimes: 26:00

I think finally Giving birth to ideas.

Brittlestar: 26:03

Yeah, yeah, exactly. I think that's great. I think that's really important. Then I think one of the other things that really inspires me is way back in 2013, when we were starting. In that fall, just before we went to do stuff with Disney, I was on Vine, an app called Vine, which was 6.4 second looping videos. That was how we got our start.

Brittlestar: 26:27

I've been invited to this big Vine meetup in Toronto at Young Dundas Square and there's about 2,000 or 3,000 people there and it was just shocking to think that this was like my phone, except this is the real world impact of it. I didn't know if I was going to go, but I've been sort of coerced in the going and I was invited up on stage. I'm standing up on stage with like Shawn Mendes and stuff like that, who was like 15 at the time, and all these other really prominent young content creators and creative types. Before I got to the stage, I was walking across kind of hesitantly towards the square and this woman, who must have been in her mid-50s, mid-to-late-50s, ran over to me and gave me a hug, gave me this bigger and bigger hug and she said I want you to know that your videos have gotten me and my family through a really dark time recently. I was like, oh well, I didn't know what to say.

Brittlestar: 27:25

I don't think it's a testament to the healing power of my comedy. I think it's more the idea that you never know if the thing you're creating and putting into the world might be someone's life preserver. I think that's incredibly inspiring to me, and it has been. I've been fortunate enough to hear those comments from people throughout the years, and that's the thing that motivates me. It's like, sure, I'll put this out. I think it's good for me, which is a reason enough to do it, but then it's also like I'll put it out, maybe a few people will get some value at it, and it gives the creative aspect some utility, which is really good for me. I like that.

Chris Grimes: 28:06

And, if I may, just again happy smoke for you as well. It comes across really really warm, comedic and family-friendly, so there's no arrogance to it. What you're putting out is actually genuinely there to just express what you feel, but it's actually got a real kind lens to it.

Brittlestar: 28:23

Well, I mean, I think that I mean I appreciate that. Thank you very much, but I think that that's probably due to the fact that I'm a terrible actor and I just it's just what you see is what you get. This is it's also about sustainability. I mean in a more practical sense, it was like when we started doing stuff it's like we do really crazy things and characters and pranks and stuff and it was like I don't want to do that for 10 years. I don't want to do that continuously. I just have to do what's going to be easiest for me to do and feel most natural. And I think there's enough authenticity. And especially the medium itself is so intimate. People are holding you in their hands and they're listing on headphones on the bus or on the train or in the bathroom, and it's like this is the very vulnerable, intimate connection you have with people and the more authentic you are, the better it is.

Chris Grimes: 29:10

And the main thrust, being the internet's favorite dad, is obviously what you crystallize it to be as the main cut and thrust of it.

Brittlestar: 29:17

Yeah, and I'll tell you that the internet's favorite dad thing in the bio was there was an actor named Alan Thick who was a very popular sitcom actor fellow Canadian as well, and we ended up working with him once in Hollywood with a program called Entertainment Tonight. And great guy, just a super nice guy. Never heard a bad thing about him, which is lovely, which is amazing. But he used to have in his bio on Twitter America's favorite dad, but he's spelled favorite the Canadian and British way as a little bit of a nod, like I'm America's favorite dad, but I'm actually Canadian. And then he, when he died, I thought, well, he's not using it anymore. I won't steal it outright, but I'll just change it to the internet's favorite dad and I'll just steal it like that. So it's, it's stuck since. That was nice.

Chris Grimes: 30:07

At this moment. Just pause briefly. I've just had a signal saying that I've got a low battery because I left my charger where I shouldn't have done yesterday.

Brittlestar: 30:13

So that's, all cool.

Chris Grimes: 30:14

I've just got to wrestle with a cable. As I say, I made a human area yesterday. I left my MacBook charger about 300 miles away in the UK in a place in Harrogate. They're posting it back to me tonight, so in the meantime, I've been to Harrogate.

Brittlestar: 30:30

I've been to this Harrogate and there's Harrogate. Which one is it? It's Harrogate.

Chris Grimes: 30:34

Harrogate is Yorkshire which has got the famous Betty's tea rooms in it.

Brittlestar: 30:39

Yeah, that's that's what. I'm sure that's the one and it has a. There's a big sort of stately home nearby?

Chris Grimes: 30:44

Yes, You've been to the same place, I'm sure, yeah, so just let me just run it around. Do you mind? If I dash downstairs and if you do your thing, this bit will be edited out.

Brittlestar: 30:56

I'll I'll entertain the people watching.

Chris Grimes: 30:59

Ladies and gentlemen, brittle Star will have to do mine that I'm doing this for you. So sorry, bit of comedy. I will be back.

Brittlestar: 31:07

Yeah, take your time, it's all good. So, hi everyone, we're just waiting, actually, as Chris goes downstairs and finds his charger or the spare charger, and if you're watching on Facebook, I would love it if you just drop a little comment and let us know if you're enjoying the show. So far, it's going to be edited down to a tight, professional, shiny podcast, but you get to see the guts, you get to see how the sausage is made in the best possible way, and I want you to enjoy this journey. I want you to remember the good bits and I want you to repress the bad bits. If you can, that'd be great.

Brittlestar: 31:44

I do apologize, my forehead. I look at it and see it now in the live. As the little shiny. I could de-shine my forehead, but I feel it's too late. We were too far into the program now for me to do that. So I think that you just have to accept the fact that my forehead is shiny and maybe put a piece of tape over the screen where my forehead is and like an electrical tape, something opaque, and that will probably help dim the glare and you'll be able to appreciate the show.

Chris Grimes: 32:14

I myself have a shiny head and thank you very much indeed for that seamless filling. No editing required. No, thank you for going with the comedy of modern technology and yes, I've now. There was that wonderful bing sound which is music to all of our ears because I have power. Once again, thank you sincerely for that and I'll look forward to listening to what you're doing, gold. So we're now into squirrels. What are the two monsters of distraction? What never fails to grab your attention, irrespective Squirrels of what else ever else might be going on for you, brittle star.

Brittlestar: 32:48

Design and intent are. I love good design. If you came to my home you'd be like, do you? But I think that I do. I have I don't always have the best ability to do design Well. I mean designed by anything like packaging Doesn't matter If it's packaging doesn't matter. If it's packaging doesn't matter, If it's art doesn't matter, If it's whatever the design, clothing doesn't matter. I'm fascinated by that because that's that's someone who is either finding better ways to do things or trying to find ways that haven't been done yet and that's exciting to me. So that's, that's always like a stop type thing. But you're right down to packaging. I love good packaging. Oh, phenomenal, Fantastic, Love that kind of stuff.

Brittlestar: 33:37

And the other thing is music. Production is another. It will just draw me in and it's something I've shared with both myself and both of my sons is that we all shared tracks back and forth, kind of like listen to this, listen to this, and I've tried to follow. I remember reading an article with interview with David Bowie from 1990. I want to say two. Or might have been that, no, it was 98. And he said that he had someone on his staff who had sent him the top 10 CD singles at the time every week and he would listen to them just to make sure he didn't fall behind.

Brittlestar: 34:14

And I thought I'm going to do that so it's easier to do now. I don't need I don't need to know what staff to do that, I just I don't have staff to do that, but I can just listen to it on one of the streaming services. Everything to go through the new releases every week and it never I think is very rarely a week goes by where I haven't listened to something. Go wow, that's great, that's just the coolest production I haven't. And again it goes to that idea of like here's someone who's found a way to do something better, or someone who has found a way to do something I haven't seen or heard before.

Chris Grimes: 34:42

There's an opportunity, the gift that would probably keep on giving his brittle stars bangers. You can sort of do that on the weekly, I don't like this.

Brittlestar: 34:49

I don't like the blue. I don't like the moist in between thing that we've got going on. I don't like the girls starts bangers. It's a whole. Maybe it's all only fans account.

Chris Grimes: 34:56

Maybe that's what I should start, and so you have had a parallel in another world. You would have been here as a musician, I'm assuming, because it wasn't unsuccessful by the sound of it.

Brittlestar: 35:09

No, I mean we had the first. What's funny is that the first album, brittle Star album, was licensed by MTV, so it actually made money. It was cross promoted with killers, hot fuss, their first album on Amazon and the States, so it sold and and it was heard by a lot of people, which is great. But I think it was just one of those. I think if I'd been that age now, I feel I could have done more with it.

Brittlestar: 35:40

Thanks to the way the industry set up and the mediums have changed, I think there's more opportunity, like back in 2004, which doesn't seem both to me it's a long ago, is a long time ago. There was, I mean, you were still sending CDs to people and it's like that's just unfound. But it also made it very prohibitive to do anything. So you're like I have to send out 20 CDs. That's going to cost me, you know, $140 to send out. That's a lot of money to spend out every week just doing stuff, whereas now you can, you know you can easily get, you can reach hundreds of thousands of people from your phone, which is crazy.

Chris Grimes: 36:21

And I remember hearing stories about how Elton John would always get all of the most up to them. Yeah, always sent him in CD form, so you're in good company. Exactly similar career trajectories, absolutely obviously so now we're on to a quirky, unusual fact about you, brittle style. We couldn't possibly know until you tell us.

Brittlestar: 36:41

I have told some people about this and I'll say that slightly, but I, when I was 19, I fell off a cliff and had plastic surgery. Oh, so I fell 70 feet off a cliff, I bounced twice and I landed, thankfully, on my face and it's a broke. My face broke my fall and I had a. It was a. It was a bluff and you could safely go down the bluff to the lake if you went down zigzag and really hugged the side of the, the, the, the bluff itself. And I Misstepped and yes, yes, exactly, and I.

Brittlestar: 37:27

This is a good lesson for any kids listening If you're about to fall off a cliff or a bluff and you're trying to get down sideways, don't think you can outrun it. It doesn't work. You can't outrun gravity. Gravity will always speed you up. And I misstepped and I, instead of leading into the cliff, I took another step forward and that was my mistake and I made, I made two giant steps of like 10 feet distance and then I just flew into the air and then hit twice way down and then, to add insult, injury my friend and my girlfriend.

Brittlestar: 37:56

At the time they safely quickly to burst down the side of the bluff to see if I was okay and I turned around and I said to my girlfriend I think I'm just winded. And when I turned around she threw up because you could see my skull, through my face I'm. I see it all been ripped and ripped back and then, luckily, I was able to. I went to the hospital and there was an intern who was working it's a holiday, monday, a bank holiday and the interns said listen, I'm interning in plastic surgery. I can give you stitches. You'll have a scar from your eyebrow to your lip, or I can give you plastic surgery and you probably won't be able to tell after a number of years. I was like, let's do that, let's try that. So that's, that's why I look so good. That's what I'm saying.

Chris Grimes: 38:37

And how old were you when you bluffed and fell out?

Brittlestar: 38:42

1919.

Chris Grimes: 38:44

Stunning.

Brittlestar: 38:46

Yes, I was 19 and the woods. There's now a fully developed road and beach there, but at the time they were just putting in the foundation for the the road and so it was just large rocks at the bottom which I landed on and they sent the ambulance out to get me. That first ambulance got stuck. They had to take me out of the ambulance, put me into a second ambulance and they had to carry me further past all the rocks and stuff because they couldn't get the ambulance closer and my I made the front page of the local paper where I happen to be you did so I mean alive

Chris Grimes: 39:14

but bruised and we having nightmares for years later, because that's an absolutely profound near-death experience.

Brittlestar: 39:19

Well, you know what you know, what's phenomenal about it is that when I was being treated, the doctor said to me, in light of how the accident happened, he said you're gonna have weird precipice, vertigo, the top of stairs, the edge of anything. And he said but the weird thing about it is that you're probably gonna want to jump. And it was really bizarre. For a number of years afterwards I would be at the top of the stairs or like hanging over a balcony. I'd be like I can just go. And I think it's because there's a there must be that endorphin rush, you know adrenaline rush of just being like, ah, I'm just gonna let go because it's too late, doesn't matter anymore, and that's a dangerous thing. You shouldn't just let yourself go off the top of stairs.

Chris Grimes: 40:07

You should take them one at a time and that is a relatable condition, by the way. Many, many, I I experienced it myself where you do have thought process of I could just leap off here and then, yeah, you stop yourself. So I'm not sure if that's totally unique to having vertigo or whether that's just. I mean, yeah, people can write in and tell us I, I think that it's something we all experienced. But obviously you've had a slightly more visceral experience of it than I certainly have. It's it was.

Brittlestar: 40:33

It was a long road to recovery after that not tremendously long, but long enough, especially when you're 19 and your girlfriend's renting a place. It's the side of the lake, it's lakeside You're like I've just ruined it. I have to wear a back brace and my face is all mangled. So, yeah, it's not worth it. Don't, don't, just let go. It's not a good idea, not a good idea. But thank you, for that's a really interesting idea.

Chris Grimes: 40:50

Not a good idea, but thank you for that's a really quirky and unusual fact. Thank you for that. We have shaken your tree, hurrah. So now we're in the sort of slightly damp place in between in your shower. We stay in your clearing. Now we're moving away from the tree, but now we're in the. We're talking about alchemy and gold. Next, when you're at purpose and in flow, brittle star, what are you absolutely happiest doing?

Brittlestar: 41:15

I think Really. Specifically I'll say that it's when I'm in the process of Editing videos and the process when I'm mixing music, when I've taken all the elements of these sort of scattered ideas I have and then I'm they're actually starting to take shape. That's exciting to me. I don't think, you know, I don't necessarily buy into the idea that people have a purpose in life. I think you just sort of make yourself useful if you can, and that's how I. That's usually when I sort of feel like I'm doing something Actual which is good. Yeah.

Chris Grimes: 41:57

And now I'm going to award you with a cake, and this is the final rich storytelling metaphor. So, first of all, do you like cake? Brittle star, I love cake. You also like buttertards but that's a very good Canadian, thank you. Thank you. What sort of cake would you like then?

Brittlestar: 42:15

Let's see, I would like. I would like an Angel food cake. No carrot cake, I want carrot cake with a nice cream cheese icing.

Chris Grimes: 42:24

It shall be yours. In fact, this is a dog's toy that looks a bit like a carrot cake, so it does so, thank you very much. Now you get to put a cherry on the cake in the form of what's a favorite inspirational quote. You gave us a beautiful Edison one earlier on, but what's a favorite Sorry, not a favorite. Ed is a great. What's a favorite inspirational quote? That's always given you sucker and pulled you towards your future.

Brittlestar: 42:42

And it's there's. This is a really sort of niche, but there's a Documentary film made in 1954 about where, at the town where I live, stratford, ontario, and there used to be really briefly here the town used to be the center for the Grand Truck Railway we would there was a huge industry to repair locomotive trains, like steam locomotive trains, and that industry fell apart and so they had to do something. It's very similar to my little journey, which is really weird, but they had to do something and come up with an idea of to save the town essentially. So they said we're going to make their, it's clear, called Stratford, let's make a Shakespeare festival, the Shakespearean festival. And. And so they hired Tyrone Guthrie, the famous British director, stage director From the Times, to come over and guide them through this process of setting up this Shakespearean festival. And start my nose at you. There we go, that's better now. And In 1954 they did this in 1952. In 1953 they opened the theater.

Brittlestar: 43:47

In 1954 they filmed the documentary Recreating the process of setting up the theater, and they had Alec Guinness in it and Irene Worth in it. That Tyrone Guthrie, they all came to do this documentary and reenact these meetings. It's a you know, bob So-and-So's house on Coburg Street and that just like, just really it was really weird for a tiny town at the time 20,000 people, and it was an Oscar nominated film. Anyway, in the middle of this film is one meeting that's happening and this is this is, I'm getting to the quote In the middle of this meeting, one time they they talked to Tyrone Guthrie about how they want, they need something to save the town, they want to do the Shakespeare festival, this idea to do this and and it all seems so far fetched and it probably won't happen, and it's it's, it's not going, not worth the effort.

Brittlestar: 44:34

And he says impractical, it may be, but important surely. And that's kind of been since I've learned that quote about again about 10 years ago, that I've kind of clung to that, that idea of like, yes, these sometimes things are impractical but they might be important to do them. So that can be anything that could be like. Right down to prior to starting Getting the social media, we took a trip to Scranton, pennsylvania, because it was the location, fictional location of the office, the American version of the office, and we were going to the cast party and we had no reason to go, we had no money to go. It was like we just this is we should go, and really it was one of those pivotal moments where it was like this is impractical, but it was obviously very important to kind of change our perspective and now we've got new hope and new pep in our step Wonderful. So just position the quote to the next question.

Chris Grimes: 45:24

Wonderful. So just position the quote against.

Brittlestar: 45:26

It just hangs on its own, sure and practical it may be, but important surely, and I love lovely.

Chris Grimes: 45:33

Yet what's the what notes? Help or advice might you proffer, with the gift of hindsight to a younger version of yourself? Brittle stuff.

Brittlestar: 45:44

I would say to enjoy the process and don't sweat the disappointments, because you'll be and you get something out of them anyway.

Chris Grimes: 46:03

Similar vein. That's a lovely answer too. What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?

Brittlestar: 46:10

I think the best piece of advice I've ever been given has been to keep going. I think that idea of just I mean that's another quote, essentially a Churchill quote if you find yourself going through hell, keep going. It's also a Stephen Deppie song a lot of time, keep going. There's just that notion of just one foot after the other, keep moving.

Chris Grimes: 46:35

Lovely. We're ramping up now to a bit of Shakespeare, and I'll explain a bit about that in a second. But just before we get there, this is the past. The golden baton moment, please. So, having experienced this now from within, who would you most like to keep the golden path of the story trail going? Who would you most like to pass the golden baton on to, would you say?

Brittlestar: 46:55

I would like to and, if she hasn't done it before, I think it would be really great to hear from Rosie Holt. I think that'd be amazing. She's a comedian. I've been lucky enough to make a couple of videos with her in the UK and I think she's done an amazing show run at the Edinburgh Festival, the French Festival, and, yeah, I think she'd have some phenomenal stories. Now she's like I think that she's going to be an absolute superstar.

Chris Grimes: 47:25

I know who you mean, actually, and she's indeed wonderful. So your mission should you just accept it is to pass the golden baton on to her. She doesn't have to say yes, just an open question, thank you. And now inspired by Shakespeare, and thank you sincerely for that. And now inspired by Shakespeare and all the worlds of stage and all the men and women merely players. This is about legacy. Now, how, when all is said and done, brittle star, would you most like to be remembered?

Brittlestar: 47:50

I think when I was young I wanted to be remembered as like some sort of serious artist and I think as I get older I care less about that and I really just want to having sort of experience to you know how you think of people who have died and what they left behind and stuff. And I think how I'd like to be remembered is by people saying he was all right, that's good, that's good enough.

Chris Grimes: 48:16

Where can we find out all about you and indeed your forthcoming tour? Even Welcome to the Stupid Apocalypse Survival Tips for Dummergeddon. Where can we find out all about you on the Internet?

Brittlestar: 48:26

So you can find about me and social media. Just look for at Brittle star B-R-I-T-T-L-E-S-T-A-R. Look for my smiling face with my glasses, and you can find me at Brittlestarcom.

Chris Grimes: 48:38

Wonderful as this has been your moment in the sunshine, in the Good, listening to Show stories of distinction genius. Is there anything else you'd like to say?

Brittlestar: 48:45

I just want to thank you for having me on. It's been an absolute delight, and it's made me think about things today that we're probably good to think about.

Chris Grimes: 48:54

So ladies and gentlemen, you've been listening to the wonderful social media phenomenon that is Brittle star, who don't forget, put sex and gold into a blender. You get a butter tart. In fact, can you say it, because it'll sound lovely in your Canadian twang Sure?

Brittlestar: 49:12

He puts sex and gold into a blender. You get a butter tart. There you go.

Chris Grimes: 49:17

So, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much indeed and good night. So thank you very much indeed to my wonderful guest, brittle star Stuart Reynolds, the internet's favorite dad. Don't forget to check out the Good Listening to Show new website at wwwthegoodlisteningtouchowcom. And if you too would like to be my guest, then there are a number of series strands that will explain exactly how you can be my guest to reach a large global audience. Care of my show on UK Health Radio, with an audience reach of 1.3 million and growing across 54 countries. So if you'd like to showcase your story, your brand, your business, your book, then have a look at the various series strands and then get in touch to get involved. Care of the website, wwwthegoodlisteningtouchowcom. Thank you for listening. Until next time. Goodbye.

Chris Grimes: 50:05

You've been listening to the Good Listening to Show here on UK Health Radio with me, chris Crimes oh, it's my son. If you've enjoyed the show, then please do tune in next week to listen to more stories from the clearing. If you'd like to connect with me on LinkedIn, then please do so. There's also a dedicated Facebook group for the show too. You can contact me about the program or, if you'd be interested in experiencing some personal impact coaching with me care of my level up your impact program. That's chrisatsecondcurveuk On Twitter and Instagram. It's At that, chris Crimes. So until next time for me, chris Crimes, from UK Health Radio and from Stan, to your Good Health and Good Bye.