Athletics Check with Johnny Stanton IV

Khary Payton & Ned Donovan are Waiting For Travis To Come Back From Best Buy - Athletics Check Ep 9

• Johnny Stanton IV • Season 1 • Episode 9

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Johnny Stanton IV hangs with with TTRPG stars and the incredible actor Khary Payton, known from The Walking Dead and DC's Cyborg, and producer Ned Donovan from Encounter Party.   Khary and Ned share their love for sports and nerd culture and how those things have interwoven throughout their lives.  From chasing the highs of performing in front of others in basketball (Khary) and lacrosse (Ned) to finding the same feelings of shared goals and team camaraderie in D&D later in life, this episode shows that playing games as a kid can lead to a career if you have enough imagination.  Make sure you stick around to see how Khary & Ned's nerd-to-jock ratios changes over the episode!


Encounter Party:
@EncounterParty
https://www.encounterparty.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/encounter_party

Ned Donovan:
https://www.neddonovan.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/neddonovan
Twitter - https://x.com/neddonovan

Khary Payton:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kharypayton
Twitter: https://x.com/kharypayton

Producer: Johnny Stanton IV & Anand Shah
Technical Director, Sound Designer & Editor: Frank Janisch 
Executive Producers: Sandeep Parikh & Anand Shah

#criticalrole #thewalkingdead #dungeonsanddragons #ttrpg #nerd #jocks

Johnny Stanton IV:
https://www.stantoniv.com/
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@johnnystantoniv
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/johnnystantoniv
Twitter - https://x.com/johnnystantoniv

Athletics Check Pod
https://www.athleticscheckpod.com
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@athleticscheckpod
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/athleticscheckpod/

Check out our Patreon for bonus content and extra one-shot TTRPG adventures with every podcast guest: https://www.patreon.com/AthleticsCheckPod

Johnny Stanton IV:

Hey guys, I just wanted to jump in here before we start the show to tell you a bit about this project that I'm really, really excited about called Sync. I'm one of the co creators of this fifth edition sourcebook module, uh, subclasses, magic item tattoos, dungeons. It's basically bringing together the worlds of American traditional tattoo art from Sam Rusk. Uh, an incredible tattoo artist within the TTRPG industry. And pirates! Who doesn't love pirates? What's awesome is that you can go to get. syncrpg. com right now to reserve a 1 pin called the Storm in a Bottle pin. It's this really cool pin of a ship in a bottle with a glittery, stormy background. Uh, normally this thing would retail at right around 15, 20. And you can get it for 1 if you go forward with the Kickstarter campaign with your 1 pledge in this pre launch campaign. So make sure you go to get. syncrpg. com right now to get your exclusive pin. I'm really excited about this Kickstarter in September, so I really hope you guys follow along. And, uh, let's get to the rest of the show.

Travis Reaves:

I was just sending pictures to Frank going, this is a disaster. This is a

Johnny Stanton IV:

disaster. It was not a disaster. This

Travis Reaves:

episode is amazing. Let my shame not overtake the fact that this episode is for as much as we, yeah, it's a banger. Yeah. That's it. Like all of my grief is because of what I imagine it could have been, but what it is, you're still lucky. This is still good. And if you have anything to say about it, I will, I will, I will, I will cry.

Johnny Stanton IV:

Welcome back to Athletics Check. My name is Johnny Stanton. Uh, this is Travis Reeves, and we're gonna talk to, uh, some nerdy people today about their love of sports. And trust me, they love sports a lot.

Travis Reaves:

They do.

Johnny Stanton IV:

Our guests for this, for this, uh, episode, by the way, incredible actor, Kari Payton. Yeah. An incredible producer and creator of Encounter Party. An actor. Uh, Ned Donovan, just the

Travis Reaves:

nicest, nicest people

Johnny Stanton IV:

of all time. Car, you know, from the walking dead, um, the voice of cyborg in pretty much every DC animated show and movie.

Travis Reaves:

I, I was

Johnny Stanton IV:

so,

Travis Reaves:

so cool.

Johnny Stanton IV:

Credible. Um, both Ned and Carrie are incredible. I want to talk about one thing really quick. And Travis, I think knows what's coming is that, uh, We, we are, we're a small production here and we wear a lot of hats. Travis, not only are you co host, but what else do you do for the podcast?

Travis Reaves:

This episode one,

Johnny Stanton IV:

this, this, this whole thing, the whole thing, everything.

Travis Reaves:

Oh, this episode. I just kind of fucked everything up. No, everything. What do you do for athletics? Sure. I am part of a small crack team of individuals that, uh, well, these are, these are our microphone, my microphone trap trap setup. I do the audio for the show and occasionally. Some light production work, whatever that means to you. And yeah, you know, we're what you would call DIY. I certainly did it myself and sometimes, and sometimes I feel like I just did myself and this time I definitely did done myself.

Johnny Stanton IV:

Do you want to tell a little bit of a story? I, I, I You correct me where I'm, where I'm worried. I, I, I, I leave the picture because we show up at Kari's agent's friends or ex's house or something. I was too stressed to get that beautiful place in Los Angeles. Uh, in the back, we're going to have an outdoor shoot is like early enough in the afternoon where it wasn't going to get too dark, uh, or we thought, and, um, certainly no one

Travis Reaves:

will have an hour and a half long fuck up.

Johnny Stanton IV:

So we, we set up in the backyard and Travis is, um, is showing up a little bit later. We're trying to get all the audio equipment set up. I have my buddy Rick helping with, uh, with video. Cause Frank was away on business. Cause Frank was away on business. And, um, Travis comes up to me and says, Hey, uh, I, I forgot a really important part of equipment and I'm going to have to run over to Best Buy. I'm like, okay, yeah, no worries. At this point

Travis Reaves:

we were already like an hour late. Yeah, that's true. We we were already an hour late Because it was one of those days if I have any Los Angeles residents here where you get on the road And Google Maps says you're gonna be there at this time and then like a carrot on a stick you keep moving and so does Your arrival time. They

Johnny Stanton IV:

keep

Travis Reaves:

on getting moved and also I was like I can get to Glendale in 45 minutes That was at Los Feliz. Yeah, that was Los Feliz That's not why that's not your fault. It's still my fault,

Johnny Stanton IV:

but that was Los Feliz I mean, we can't complain about the location because the location was incredible. It was

Travis Reaves:

beautiful It was incredible,

Johnny Stanton IV:

but Travis comes up to me really quietly says, okay, we have to get something for Best Buy Um, I think it should take me like a 10 minute drive each way and I'm like cool. Yeah, no worries I mean first episode with Amy I had to go run over to Best Buy while you were setting up Yeah, I was like, you know, I knew I knew the exact pressure that you were feeling I didn't we were in Amy's home. We didn't want to be like spending too much time there You Also, there's

Travis Reaves:

never been a better person to have to disappoint than Johnny. There's another story. We'll get into another time. You feel, I've never really understood. Okay, I just remember that story. It's gonna be a different time.

Johnny Stanton IV:

Kind of fucked up your proposal. Um, you didn't fuck up the proposal. Yeah, we kind of, I was thinking,

Travis Reaves:

first of all, sorry for swearing. Let's finish this story first. But there's this, You ever wonder what the difference between a professional athlete and a normal human being is, or perhaps maybe a manager or a CEO? When things go awry, I've never understood, I guess I should say, like, what makes a two minute drill possible. Until I saw the absolute calm that overtook this man as his professional world was crumbling around him. No and

Everyone:

I will say we

Johnny Stanton IV:

got we did get Kari like at most 48 hours before The episode, it was gonna be an episode with Ned and Mm-Hmm. Kari is an, is one of the, uh, cast members of Encounter Party. And yeah, Ned created an encounter party. Sure. And it was gonna be so amazing. He asked him, I got to meet Kari the night before. It was, we were so lucky to be able to get somebody, like both of them. Yeah. And uh, and then Travis gets in the car and I remember I kept on seeing people drive down the road. I'm like, is that Travis? No, okay, that's not Travis. That's not Travis. And I think, and then even after the point where I was expecting, Okay, Travis is going to be here any minute. Then I get a text from Travis saying, I just got to Best Buy. And I'm like, He's almost here, guys.

Travis Reaves:

As daylight just fucking dwindling. So I forgot for any AV, I forgot the Thunderbolt cable. Then I, it doesn't matter. It was, it doesn't matter at this point.

Johnny Stanton IV:

The important thing is that you have an extra now,

Travis Reaves:

but I'll ever turn that

Johnny Stanton IV:

smart. So we, uh, We, we don't have video for this episode. That's the point is we do not have a video legitimately too dark. It was too dark. I think maybe after the first five or six minutes, it got to the point where you guys were trying your hardest to fill them. And it was just like, I mean, I w I was just sending pictures of Frank going, this is a disaster.

Travis Reaves:

This is a

Johnny Stanton IV:

disaster. It was not a disaster. This episode is amazing. And we got to talk to two incredible sports fans who just so happened to be Some of the biggest nerds on the planet.

Travis Reaves:

Yeah. Let my shame not overtake the fact that this episode is for as much as we, yeah, it's a banger. Yeah. That's it. Like all of my grief is because of what I imagine it could have been, but what it is, you're still lucky. This is still good. And if you have anything to say about it, I will fire you. I will, I will be upset. I will cry. He

Johnny Stanton IV:

will. And for the, for those of you who get to watch Patreon, you get a little bonus after show of myself running a little D and D game for all of our guests. And I was so excited for this one because I had, I don't want to spoil any of it. I'm just a little bit upset with myself because I didn't do it. Nail the finish.

Travis Reaves:

This is just a commiseration. Both of both. I mean, one of

Johnny Stanton IV:

ours cost us an hour and a half. One of ours was like a little bit of a joke that I messed up the punch line of, but I'm not going to say who's who. Anyway, we have like one of

Travis Reaves:

those dogs on tick tock when they're like, who ate the trash?

Johnny Stanton IV:

Travis is just facing the corner with his tail between his legs. No, we love Travis. He, he'll, he'll still have a job after this episode. We're going to get him fixed soon. It'll be fine. Uh, on that note, we have, uh, the incredible Ned Donovan and Kari Payton showing up on Athletics Check right about now. Welcome to Athletics Check. Hey, this is, uh, super fun. We got Kari Payton. We got Ned Donovan. Kari Payton, I apologize, um, And, uh, yeah, this is my show to be able to talk to nerds, sport lovers, just like, combination. You guys fit the Venn Diagram, from what I understand. I live right

Ned Donovan:

smack middle of that Venn Diagram. Yeah,

Johnny Stanton IV:

you guys are, uh, I mean, you, you, the Venn Diagram of like, of the sports and nerd. Like just people, uh, people within that community. I think you were telling me a story last night at the encounter party, a get together, I wanna say encounter, party. Party, but that just ends up being counter party. That's the counter party. The counter party. Um, that, uh, you, you found like one of your like best friends was a DD fan, but like it happened over like the course of three and a half years. Three and a half years, you didn't know. And I think that's just like such a story that. That a lot of sports fans who are D& D nerds can relate to because for a long time, D& D was just kind of something you hit away. And a lot of people are still are. So like, tell me, like, tell me that story one more time. So, uh,

Ned Donovan:

my longest running DM, Hopper Crane, shout out to Hopper Crane. Uh, and I are, that's not a real name. Hopper Crane, that's a great name. Are a huge New England Patriots fans. And we went to a New England Patriots bar in New York City and we knew each other for a very long time. And when I was in pitch for Encounter Party, the podcast, uh, I was on a phone call during a Patriots game at that bar talking about Dungeons and Dragons and Hopper's head like whipped around, like I've never seen anything like it and comes running over and they're like, I'm sorry. Do you play Dungeons and Dragons? And I was like, yeah. Huge fan. I got this podcast and they were like, I have a homebrew world. I'm putting together a team like the Avengers. And, uh, now I've been in my longest running West marches campaign is like, you know, six years now.

Johnny Stanton IV:

You sent me a video this morning where it was, it's your like a one minute Video like it's a show that you that you do. I am the

Ned Donovan:

host of daily tips that may or may not help you right daily micro podcast 45 seconds to 70 seconds long where you get a tip of the day that may or may not help you and today's tip is about buying sports jerseys. Uh, go to places where they don't like your sports team and check thrift stores. I have a Corey Dillon jersey. If they're not vandalized already. Correct. I have a Corey Dillon jersey I found in New York City for like six bucks.

Johnny Stanton IV:

Well, I was gonna say Game

Ned Donovan:

day jersey.

Johnny Stanton IV:

Because, because you're a Patriots fan and I think a lot of our listeners are just gonna hate you already. Everyone hates me. You spent half the video of that video, like the 45 seconds, half of it is you apologizing for being a Patriots fan. Look,

Ned Donovan:

I don't apologize. I just understand everyone hates me. Just, just, just, but, but, but seriously though. Well,

Johnny Stanton IV:

let's be clear, Kari, you're a Falcons fan. I'm a

Khary Payton:

Falcons fan. Because, because the thing is, is that as a Falcons fan, there was one thing that I could be sure of. That the Falcons and the New England Patriots were gonna suck.

Everyone:

Mm hmm.

Khary Payton:

And then Tom fucking Brady comes along, and 20 years! But you guys had Matty Ice. It was pretty good. Dude, you know what? I'm still mad that they did not take Haloti Nada instead of Matty Ice. Because I was like, I was like, I remember that draft and I was like, I was like, If we're going to do this right, you gotta start in the middle. You gotta start in the middle with that big honking dude. And Baltimore! Got there, uh, got there at Super Bowl with Haloti Nada. I love Matty Ice. Ain't nothing wrong with Matty Ice.

Johnny Stanton IV:

A lot of people still think that he's, he's gonna come back. I don't, I'm not so sure.

Khary Payton:

I mean, Carson

Johnny Stanton IV:

Wentz got a job before he did. And I don't know if he's officially retired, but that's rough.

Ned Donovan:

I don't think he's coming back. Here's what I'll say, Johnny. This is my defense of my New England Patriots. There's no

Khary Payton:

defense, man. You get two minutes. You know what, can you stop bringing it up? Then I will give you, I will

Ned Donovan:

give you an hour.

Khary Payton:

How long was your podcast? 45 seconds. Yeah. 45

Ned Donovan:

seconds.

Khary Payton:

Starting now.

Ned Donovan:

My father's from Boston. And when I was a kid, as all other kids in the nineties, I was obsessed with Ken Griffey jr. And I went out and bought a Seattle Mariners hat with my own money and I wore it home. And my father looked me in the face at seven years old. And he made me sit outside until I burned it or went with him to buy a Red Sox hat. I was conditioned at like a very young age. My father, God rest him, glorious man, his final words on earth is he sat up in his deathbed twelve hours before he died and screamed at the top of his Fuck the Jets. And so, I, I have one, If I am a fan of anything else.

Johnny Stanton IV:

You told that story a little bit ago. I did. And I wanted you to save it for the pod. We already knew that story. Yes,

Ned Donovan:

yes. And I was trying to repeat it for the pod. No, no, no. We knew it before you said it. Yes, because Jenny told us already. What's Jenny got to do with this? Why is my wife part of this? Wait,

Johnny Stanton IV:

hold on. We know things about you.

Ned Donovan:

What's happening

Johnny Stanton IV:

right now? We already knew about Slugger the Sea Dog. We already knew about Slugger. I heard that you brought him up. I know, all this stuff, all this material that we had, I was so excited. I was so hoping that we were going to be able to reveal it to you. I was going

Khary Payton:

to tell stories about your life and pretend that they were mine. What's

Ned Donovan:

happening?

Khary Payton:

Why? Did you call my wife? Yeah.

Ned Donovan:

What?

Johnny Stanton IV:

I did get in contact with her. Oh my god! Okay, so something I like to do for the show. This is how this happens. This

Khary Payton:

is how this happens. Yeah.

Johnny Stanton IV:

So I like to contact family members of my, of my guests if they allow me to talk to them to get in background information about like them growing up as sports fans with them growing up as nerds and getting really granular stuff that like, why the hell do you know this about me? Right.

Ned Donovan:

Okay.

Johnny Stanton IV:

I introduced myself last night to Kari at the party, and he said, Hold on, I have to tell you, you reached out to my partner last night on social media. I'm like, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.

Khary Payton:

But here's the thing. Here's the thing is that is that my partner, you know, the Uber talented, beautiful and amazing Tracy Swatley who is uh, who is the um, the uh, key makeup artist on The Walking Dead. Sure. Okay. So, uh, so the thing that, that, uh, I always preface this with like,

Johnny Stanton IV:

please don't tell your partner or your family member or whatever that I'm reaching out to you because the whole point is to surprise.

Khary Payton:

Yeah. Yeah. And, and uh, but the thing is, is that, is that Tracy, because she is, In like, very close contact with a lot of very, you know, like, popular people. Sure. She gets this all the time. Sure. So, so I, so when she got a message, she was like, man, who the fuck is this? You know what

Johnny Stanton IV:

I mean? The blood drained from my face when he was saying that.

Khary Payton:

Yeah. Oh God. We were

Johnny Stanton IV:

successful up until this point. Yeah,

Khary Payton:

and so, and so at the, you know, at some point we're, Tracy and I are talking and she's like. Wait, are you doing an interview or a podcast? Who is that guy? And she was like, Oh, that guy called me up and was asking, and she was like, the thing you need to know about Tracy is, is that everybody confides everything with her. Because she is all Vault

Everyone:

Vault. I love it. And

Khary Payton:

she doesn't say anything . And uh, and uh, and so she is like, just like as you were conditioned by Moon Child and Syndrome to Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Or, or is it, uh, is that the right one? What about Moon Child and syndrome? No, no, no. It's not Moon Child and it's, uh, it's the one where, you know, like, like you get kidnapped into a group and then they, so Stockholm Syndrome, yeah. Yeah. Stockholm Syndrome. Is how you became like a boss? Yeah. Yeah. This is how she, she was like, just like, uh, like taught herself to not say anything. And so I, and so I was like, I was like, you went barking up the wrong tree with Tracy. I absolutely did. And so, but, but, uh, but then I, but I knew the gig. And so I was like, Okay, what'd you find out about Ned? Tell me everything. So we were gonna, we

Johnny Stanton IV:

were gonna try to finish your stories. And yeah, it didn't,

Khary Payton:

it would have been way funnier if you didn't tell us all these stories. How I, yeah, how, how, um, how I go to Chicago and start accidentally doing Chicago accents with our, with, uh, with Tracy's family. Yeah. The moment that you talked to somebody with that accent, you just come out of it. Yeah. We were going to tell the story about your dad. If you

Ned Donovan:

had told the story about your dad. Yeah. I would have lost my if I would have

Khary Payton:

been like, fuck the saints.

Johnny Stanton IV:

Okay. Kari, last night you told me that, you know, you're, you're, you're, are you from Georgia? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So you're telling me

Khary Payton:

Augusta raised in Athens.

Johnny Stanton IV:

Very cool. That's just, that's sports right there. You got Augusta golf Athens, Georgia Bulldogs football. Oh yeah. You, uh, you were mentioning a couple of, you know, the people that you are fans of. You also mentioned the Chicago bears. Yeah, you're from Chicago and you're not

Khary Payton:

from Chicago. My, my, uh, my, my, uh, partner, her family from Chicago, but you have a relationship with somebody on the team is Peyton. It's true. Of course. You know, growing up. That's the one jersey, you know, that is going to have my name on the back. Yeah, sure. And, uh, and he's, you know, greatest of all time, you know, pretty much. And then, uh, and then of course, uh, and then my, my, my cousin, I found out my cousin is actually Justin Fields,

Johnny Stanton IV:

starting quarterback for the Chicago Bears. Yeah.

Khary Payton:

So, so, uh, That's

Ned Donovan:

burying the league,

Johnny Stanton IV:

bro. Yeah, yeah, that's correct. I mean, He said, of course, we were supposed to know this. Like, you were supposed to do your research on it, on him as well. I'm sorry

Khary Payton:

I didn't call Tracy. Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, she would've said no anyway. Yeah. Yeah. That's common combination knowledge, but, but you weren't gonna get it out of her.

Johnny Stanton IV:

This episode is brought to you by Hero Forge custom miniatures. Hero Forge is a free to use online character design application. That basically means if you want to play a TTRPG and you want to have a 3d printed miniature of your character, Hero Forge is the place to go. You can print them at home. You can print them there and they will ship them to you. They are always incredibly. Crafted and designed and the print process is so exact. It's really impressive. Every time I get to see one of these miniatures, their character design and customization is second to none. You get to 3d model your mini right there on screen, and you can see it as a real time updates to any kind of customization you want. Their facial customization is super impressive. Make sure that you go to hero forge. com to design your custom miniature today. And always check back regularly because they always come back. With the coolest updates, they have new content every week, whether it's a new piece of clothing, a new race, whatever you can imagine, you can make it on heroforge. com. So go to heroforge. com today to start designing your own custom miniature. What's up guys. It's Jon again. I just wanted to thank you for listening and to encourage you to join our Patreon at patreon. com slash athletics check pod. You'll have access to all of the little mini adventures that I run for each and every guest. This is about 10 to 15 minutes where I run them through a short. TTRPG adventure. And for a lot of these people, especially the athletes, it's their first time running a game like this. So it's my honor to get to be their very first game master. And one of the best parts about being a paid member of the athletics check podcast, Patrion is that you get a chance of having your name shouted out in the middle of an episode. People like Andy Chang, Camilla Francis, Xavier, Lally, John Guillaume, Jamie Bellen, Will Zachary. Laura Ditch, Lidaria Smith, and Daniel Silva. Thank you so much for being paid members. Hope you guys are enjoying the show. Let's get back to the action. For Athletics Check, I feel like it's, I want to find the people who are the perfect mixture of the jocks and the nerds. Great. Um, I think that there is a little bit of jock and a little bit of nerd in all of us. Absolutely. Um, and I think, at least I strive for 50 50 as much as possible. Sure. I think that there's great qualities on both sides, obviously. The way I see it, all a nerd

Khary Payton:

is, We're all nerds because we all read a book about something. It's true. You know what I mean? Yeah. You could be a nerd about, like, very unnerdy

Johnny Stanton IV:

shit, but you a fuckin nerd. It's true. You know, about it. In my opinion, nerdiness is just a synonym for passionate. Exactly. And it, i, it, it, it can apply to sports as well. So it's really, we're all just, we're all just nerdy. Yeah. That's all it is. Yeah. Yeah. But what would you say your guys' ratio of like nerd to Jock is? Is it 50 50? Is it leaning a little heavier on one, one side or the other?

Ned Donovan:

Well, as a kid, Mm-Hmm., I was a two sport varsity athlete, and then in the winters I did musical theater. Right. And I played d and d all the time. So that feels pretty close to 50 50. Yeah. Uh, now. My religion is watching football, uh, and I play a lot of D& D, so I would say like, I'm in the ballpark.

Johnny Stanton IV:

Yeah. I'm in the

Ned Donovan:

ballpark. I'm probably a little bit more nerd. Having a D& D TV show really tips that shit, you know what I mean? But like before the D& D TV show, it was pretty close.

Khary Payton:

Yeah, yeah. I was always, you know, I mean, I, I played so much basketball growing up and uh, and, but then I, but. I was always, I was always kind of, you know, in one, out the other. I was a, I was a, you know, a rapper growing up. So I guess that gave me a certain side of, you know what I mean? How long

Ned Donovan:

have I not known you,

Khary Payton:

Kari?

Johnny Stanton IV:

You've not known me for a really long time. Most of your life. We hang out a lot! And he hasn't freestyled anything for you? No! He did for me earlier. What's happening? When we were talking about your history without your knowledge.

Khary Payton:

Yeah, yeah. You really could have gotten some good stuff out of Tracy if you, you know, waterboarded her. But I don't know if that would, you know, that's about all, you know, the only way you're getting anything out of her.

Johnny Stanton IV:

Did you have a rapper name?

Khary Payton:

Um Uh, yeah, it was, uh, what was it? MCK. Okay. MCK. It was simple. Simple? Easy. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Johnny Stanton IV:

Then what would your rapper name be?

Ned Donovan:

No one needs that. Maybe that's the name. No one wants this. Is, uh, is my rapper name. The Ned. The Ned. The Ned. Sure.

Johnny Stanton IV:

Yeah. Last night you were saying that your nickname for Encounter Party, or that your codename or something, was The Golden Retriever.

Ned Donovan:

Uh, no, so the way, the way that this one works is when we were pitching the show, everyone had like a title. Yeah. Right? So like, Andrew was the lore master, Brian was the dungeon master, right? Uh, Sarah was the heart. Uh, and Ned, uh, switched between sometimes I was the puzzle guy and sometimes I was the golden retriever because I make huge, big facial expressions. You're, you give golden retriever energy. If you cut to Ned, Ned's giving you some reaction. Ah,

Khary Payton:

okay. There you go. There you go. Everyone

Ned Donovan:

needs a golden retriever at their D& D stream.

Johnny Stanton IV:

Uh, where did you guys love for D& D come from? Was it, was it, now you said you grew up with it, did you grow up with it as well? No. Cause I didn't, I got it in college.

Khary Payton:

No, no, I got it like Very recently, you know, I was, uh, I was just playing with people who played D and D, uh, and, um, and, uh, I was having conversations with Liam O'Brien and Matt Mercer. And they were like, dude, you got to play D and D with your kids. And, and I was like, I was like, yeah, yeah, I should do that. That'd be fun. So I started, so, so, uh, so we got a game and I remember getting, getting it with, uh, the, um, the, the box with my, with my brother when we were in, Maybe junior high or something, but I just don't think we, we kind of flipped through it, but we really never played and didn't get, we just, we were like, the pictures are really cool. And that's about as far as we got. So, you know, cut to my forties and, uh, I get another box and start playing with my kids. My, my daughter's like six or seven, you know? And I'm like, okay. And a bunch of trolls come out and she's like, trolls. And I was like, I mean, poop turtles, and she's like, poop turtles, and you know, it's like, you know, and then, uh, you know, we beat up on the poop turtles, and she, she goes into this crazy monologue about, don't you come around Mudge Village again, and uh, you know, it's just like. She's taking after you with the monologues and everything. Yeah, yeah, just monologues, and uh, yeah, I guess she, she is my daughter. And so, uh, and so, so, you know, I would just have fun playing with the, the kids, and then, and then, um. And then the Critical Role guys asked me to, to, to play. And, and, um, and it was like, uh, it was just, I feel like it reminded me of ADHD because, because ADHD to me is, um, is, uh, You're really skillful at something but you're on the wrong court or the wrong on the wrong field Okay, it's like you're trying to play basketball on a football field. Okay, and then somebody's like no no, no No, and then they move you to the right spot and it's like and all of a sudden you can do crazy cool shit and it was like And it was like I had been training, like doing voiceover and black box theater and, and, uh, you know, and, and, and all, all of these, uh, you know, different things. And, and, uh, and they were like, and then they put the, this character sheet in front of me and, and, um, and started telling this story. And, uh, and granted I was playing with some really, really good, uh, with some of the

Ned Donovan:

best,

Khary Payton:

but, uh, but I felt, but I was like, I was like, you know what? Just throw me the ball. I can throw this down. And it was just like, and it was like the world came alive for me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And, but, but I was, I was in my forties. Yeah. Yeah. When, uh, when, uh, when I, the first time I, I like played as a player was, was, uh, broadcast as Shakasta while on the second season of, of, uh,

Ned Donovan:

that's kicking you off. Yeah.

Johnny Stanton IV:

Yeah. Yeah. Second

Khary Payton:

campaign of

Johnny Stanton IV:

That was right around. I think the same time I started playing, that was like what? 2018, 2017 and around there, 2017. That was when I, right when, around when I started, I was a junior or senior in college and I like football wasn't necessarily going great for me at that point, like lost my starting quarterback job. And, you know, I was just hoping I wanted something to like, it was also an injury and I was trying to figure out like, okay, where can I put all this energy towards? That's kind of what ended up, you know, I was moved, transferred that from Comics into the DND and yeah, you know, discovered Critical Role and you're one of the first guys I saw so crazy.

Khary Payton:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's it's wild. How I mean, the beauty of it is, is, uh, is I'm sitting at the table and, um, and, uh, you know, plant playing with those guys. And then I and which was fun, you know, and it was kind of, you know, one off here and there. And I started doing one offs a little bit. Yeah. And then these guys asked me to ask me to play and, uh, and, and, uh, and that, and that's when I realized this might be the best job ever.

Johnny Stanton IV:

Hell yeah.

Khary Payton:

You know what I mean? Because it, because I get to write, I get to, I get to act. And I also get to get to improv.

Everyone:

Yeah.

Khary Payton:

It's all of these things that, uh, you know, the excitement of, I did stand up for a little while. We'll talk about that too later. Just

Johnny Stanton IV:

a Renaissance man. And it's, and it's just,

Khary Payton:

you know, there's the immediacy of that to me in doing stand up the most fun. I mean, I love doing a set, but, but the most fun part about, about stand up is the first few minutes before

Everyone:

when, when,

Khary Payton:

uh, you get on stage and I, and. I go hunting for the, the person who's going to try and fuck up my act, who's going to try to like heckle, you know, and I was like, I was like, before you even get a running start, I'm just going to put up a

Johnny Stanton IV:

forearm in your chest. That's football right there. You're trying to hit them before you get hit. Exactly, you know. That's jamming the gap right

Khary Payton:

there. You, you get them and the thing is, is that by doing that you get everybody on your side. Oh yeah. And, uh, and it's like, and the audience is like, Oh, we're a part of this and you go. And so, and so that, that aspect of, of, um, of, of being like, okay, you know, how do I, how do I make this. This group, you know, in, you know, like into my own, you know, there, there's so much of that, that, uh, that aspect that I, that I love about it, but it takes so much, many of the things that I've, that I feel like I've been training at different parts, uh, you know, and, uh, and it brought it all together and the, uh, the only thing I just, every once in a while, I just wish somebody would. Like, uh, like, let me stand up and like, like actually take a great axe to the table, you know, it's, it's like the only thing

Ned Donovan:

as your producer, we got insurance. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He

Khary Payton:

keeps telling me no, but, uh, but maybe that's where the, the, the, uh, the sports angle comes in. You know what I mean? Cause you get your aggression out.

Johnny Stanton IV:

You absolutely get that. Just like, Adrenaline rush, roll a natural 20, you just want to run through a brick wall. It's absolutely true, and you were talking about like, before getting up on a, on a, on stage in stand up, kind of, I imagine you kind of get those same kind of butterfly feelings that I might have running out of the tunnel or something. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or before going, uh, uh, uh, uh. A recording of counterpart. Hundred percent. It's making sure, like or going up on stage on you doing, doing your musical before your stage fright is stage fright. Is stage fright. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. It's the beauty of, uh, they're all stages. Yeah.

Khary Payton:

Yeah. There's, there's the stage fright. And then, you know, there, there's something about like, like, like hanging with everybody. It, to me, there was a bit of a rehearsal. Mm-Hmm. locker room feel just of us getting to know each other. Yeah. A hundred percent. That, that, that helped me, like, um, feel prepared. Mm-Hmm. because, uh, 'cause to me there's nothing, there's nothing better than, uh. than being about to step on stage or, uh, or about to perform. And being feeling so prepared that it, that I, and I'm like, uh, I'm like, I don't think there's anything you can come at me with. Mm-Hmm. that, uh, you know, that and there's a, and there's a cockiness. Yeah. That, that comes along. It's being at the top of your

Johnny Stanton IV:

game. Yeah. Oh

Khary Payton:

my God. You know, and it's like, it's like, you know, it's like, it's, it's like when you're playing that game and just everything's going in. Oh, yeah. And you know what I mean?

Everyone:

Yeah. It flow through and it's like, I

Khary Payton:

was never a very good shooter. I was always trying to take it to the, to the, to the uh, to the rack. Yeah. To the rack. But, but, uh, but, but you know, every once in a while, you know, you just get hot. And it's just like, keep shooting, you know, and, uh, and to me with basketball, I never practiced shooting enough to actually feel like, like I was that prepared. It just happens sometimes, but, but, uh, but with the show. With, uh, with Encounter Party, it, it was like, uh, there were very few moments that, uh, that I was like, I felt, I felt so at home and ready to go. And the cool thing is, is that I didn't know what to expect from these people. I was, I was the new guy.

Ned Donovan:

First time I played with Kari for real was that day. Day one of, we did a, like a two hour, make burner characters one shot. So that Kari could like meet some of us. But only about half of us were free and I had to dip early cause I had a show that night.

Khary Payton:

Yeah, and uh, yeah, yeah, so that was the first time we did it. And um, and uh, and, and, I didn't realize just how well everybody complimented each other. Yeah. You know, you know, uh, you guys have

Johnny Stanton IV:

something special over there. It's,

Ned Donovan:

it's great. It's a really, when we cast the show in 2019, we specifically looked for people that had completely different backgrounds and skillsets for the sake of like, no one could, no two people should fill the same role. Right. And when, when we knew we were going to expand the table. for the tv show and and the the genesis beside behind that was purely aesthetical we realized if brian was in the center we needed three on each side and so we started talking about expanding up and we had a you know short list of names and car's name came up and brian and i were both like oh my god can we talk to kari payton please because it was like What Kari brings to our table is something no one from that podcast had. It's a completely different thing. It fills such a need and such a void. And like, I remember we came off that first day of filming and the podcast Recklessness probably. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the podcast people went aside and we were like, we got so lucky here. Yeah. Holy crap. Like, it is, it is so vital to these tables and for us especially. But it

Johnny Stanton IV:

wouldn't even be It wouldn't even exist for your pure, I think, drive and competitiveness, which I think is something that has crossed over from you playing lacrosse in high school and then into musical theater. Going like, just having that, having that drive I think is something that is beautiful. Absolutely. Something that you have to learn like going through

Khary Payton:

as

Johnny Stanton IV:

a young adult, as a child. And I think that's, that's one of the things that sports is so great at teaching you and why it's so important. And that I imagine is translated into your musical theater career and into, into getting a counterparty made. And you said, spent five years trying to get this thing, you know, created.

Ned Donovan:

Yeah. I mean, it's, it's interesting. I think about it a lot. Like I, I, Grind I'm a hustle human and that comes from a long time ago You know, I was launching acapella groups in high school and in college I was doing you know indie film everywhere and making underground theater. Like I've always just been a guy who makes stuff But a lot of my like grind to make stuff came from like practice It came from like I want to get really good at Touching the soccer ball. Like I want to get really good at catching that lacrosse ball. And I would, I would sit against a brick wall and I, you know, throw it a thousand times a night, like, and that was, that was baked into me at a really young age from playing sports. Yeah.

Khary Payton:

Yeah. No, I getting, getting on stage or on a, on a pitch or on a field, I was always like, don't misrepresent yourself.

Everyone:

Yeah.

Khary Payton:

You know what I mean? Like, like when you step, when you step on here, this might be the one time. You know, they see you do what you do. Right. It's like, don't fuck, don't let them walk away thinking. Yeah, he was all right. He was fine. He was pretty good. You know, you better let them walk out of there with their hair on fire. I make your presence known. Yeah. Yeah. I remember, um, being on stage at, you know, at, uh, doing, doing, uh, a show called, um, the, um, I hate it when I can't remember shit, I'm getting old. No, it's not. I've always been done this, but I, but I, I was, I was doing this show where not a lot of people were there, but there was a couple of people in the front who just seemed like they weren't.

Johnny Stanton IV:

They

Khary Payton:

weren't feeling it. And, uh, and, and I had a moment where, where I was supposed to yell at some kind of, you know, like, like person off in the distance. And, uh, and I was like, and I was like, I'm not going to let them leave here thinking that, you know, this is just some experience. This was just some experience. So I, so I, so I bent down and I fucking yelled at him, you know, and I noted they walked away and they were like, I don't know what

Ned Donovan:

the

Khary Payton:

fuck. Yeah.

Ned Donovan:

But they remember you! But they remember me!

Khary Payton:

You know? And, uh, you know, at the end of the day, you know, you want, you want to give somebody an experience that they're gonna, that they're not gonna soon forget. Yeah,

Johnny Stanton IV:

yeah, yeah. Well, we're, uh, nearly out of light here. Yeah, yeah. Light is low. So, it's a little bit of a shorter episode, but what we're gonna do is, uh, first off I want to thank you both so much for being on the show, for agreeing to, and, you know, This is such a cool opportunity, you know, I've been able to got to meet you earlier a little bit last year at the encounter party Like premiere at the Dungeons and Dragons adventure show. I know you were there. I didn't get the chance to meet you there But I got to meet you last night It's so great to be able to see more people who are sports fans in the kind in the industry. Yeah I, I want to get the ratios as, as after having all these conversations. What do you feel like your guys ratio, and I, I apologize we didn't get to even talk about the minor league baseball hats. Which I know is something that you've been so excited about. We'll have to do a part two. You guys have

Ned Donovan:

to come back. You

Johnny Stanton IV:

can tell me all about the minor league, uh, hats that you have. Um, but I do want to get, like, what is your, what do you feel like your guys ratio is? 50 50, 60 40, nerd, jock. Like, after having all this conversation, realizing what, you know, What brought you into like the person that you are and having sports be a part of that? What would you say your your ratio is at the top of your head?

Khary Payton:

I mean, it's it's pretty 50 50 for me. I mean I grew up It was sports and it was for me growing up like sci fi comics. Oh cool. Sci fi and comics, like my dad, it was Star Trek. He was a huge Star Trek fan. You know, and uh, you know, he was like, I remember he went to a convention and he was like, he's kinda conservative, you know. And he was like, he was like, okay, well I thought I was a big fan. I didn't realize. Shit man, these people are crazy. You know, but he loved Star Trek, but he loved, uh, you know, he loved merging. You know, because he was a doctor and a chemist and love merging science with wonder, you know, and, and my mom is absolutely the biggest sports fan. I know when I, same

Johnny Stanton IV:

thing with me and my mom is way bigger sports fan. Oh

Khary Payton:

yeah, yeah, yeah. Baseball middle of the night. I'm in, I'm in, you know, LA, she's in Georgia, you know, my, my, uh, I remember my uncle once he, he was, uh, he had like, Double bypass surgery or something. You know, we're all worried about him. You know, I'm having drinks with friends You know, it's it's it's like 10 30 11 at night in LA, which means it's like 2 in the morning in In in Georgia, you know, my mom calls me. I was like guys. I got to take this. I'm sorry Yeah, you know I get up I walk away. I was like mom is everything. Okay. She's like, are you watching this game? You know, she is the biggest You know, and, uh, and she was, she was the one who was always like, uh, you know, it was Georgia. It was the Falcons. I mean, you know, the, uh, the, the, the year that, that, that tour through that, that pass that, that, uh, um, uh, Georgia in the, in the Georgia dome, I was there on the 50 yard line. I could have slapped Jake from in the back of the head. I was, you know, I, I literally, I, it was a one time I really used my walking dead. Yeah. To get in. I was like, I was like, guys, I need a ticket. Somebody get me in there.

Johnny Stanton IV:

You got your hell of a ticket. I got,

Khary Payton:

I, no, no, no, no. They didn't. They had me in a ticket in the rafters, but they got me in. And, uh, you know, and I'm sitting there and I was like, I'm in, I'm in, I'm looking around. And then there's somebody who's, who's holding two signs. And they're like, Mercedes Benz lounge and VIP blah, blah, blah lounge. And I was like, I walked in there, I walked up to him. I was like, which one of these lounges is the nicer one? And he was like, Oh, the Mercedes Benz lounge is down there. You go right into the, you know, I was like, Huh? And That's what I was like, and I literally walked up to the security guard and I was like, Hi, Kari Payton of Walking Dead, King of ZQ. Um, I just was wondering if it, I gotta, did you have

Johnny Stanton IV:

the dreads at the time? No, no, I didn't have

Khary Payton:

the dreads. Those are, that was just a big wig. Sure, sure, but I know, yeah, yeah. But I, so, so I, so I literally walked up to him and I was like, Listen, do you think I could get down there? And he was like, they're not gonna let you in there. And I was like, I was like, You think I could go and ask somebody? It was like, sure, if you want to try. I walked down, I get down there. It was the night that Trump came to the thing. So there, so I, so I go down the escalator. All right. And there's like, and there's like, you know, MPs, you know, military, you know, and everything, you know, with AKs, you know, and I'm just like, how are you doing? Thank you for your service. How you doing? for your service. Walking down, you know, no badge, no nothing. I get to the next lady, I was like, How you doing? Kari Payton King, Zeke of the Walking Dead. I was just wondering if, uh, And she was like, I don't know who you are. I was like, I bet your boss knows who I am. And she was like, Martin comes over. Martin knows who I am. He was like, you want to try to get in there? Go ahead. Well, I get down to the, to the bottom level. I get down to the bottom level. There are three people at the door and there, the, the glass like, like wall is, is like two stories high. Yeah. You know, there are, there are four bars in there. It's, it is gorgeous. This is the real VIP. Joint. And I, and I, and I, I scope out the three, Ladies who are sitting there checking everybody's, you know, credential.

Johnny Stanton IV:

I mean, The Walking Dead is the biggest show in the world at this time. One of these three women have to be a Walking Dead fan.

Khary Payton:

I know. I was just, I don't know why I picked the one in the middle. I walked up, I said, how are you doing? I'm Kari Payton. I play King Ezekiel on The Walking Dead. There's a really good friend of mine. I just really want to say hello. You think I could walk in there? And she, she looked at me and she went. And I, and I, I walked into that bar. I got myself a drink. I looked on the other side of the bar and I was like, is that the field?

Johnny Stanton IV:

Hell yeah.

Khary Payton:

And I walked out onto the field. I sent my drink on the, on the, uh, on, on, on the 50 yard line, like right behind, you know, the Gatorade bar or whatever. And that, and I was like,

Johnny Stanton IV:

I'm

Khary Payton:

not fucking moving.

Johnny Stanton IV:

No,

Khary Payton:

this is it. And I just, and I sat there. Did you go to the game with

Johnny Stanton IV:

anybody? Were you on your own? No, I was on my own. Oh my God. I just

Khary Payton:

met a bunch of bunch of people watching the game. And, uh, and I sat there. And until the last 30 seconds, we, we had that game one.

Johnny Stanton IV:

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's the definition of acting like you've been there before. It's like, they're not going to ask any questions if you act like you've been there. You know,

Khary Payton:

that was, I had never done anything like that before. Well, here's what's important. Someday you're gonna

Ned Donovan:

walk up and you're gonna say, Hi, I'm Corey Payton. I play Tolo on Encounter Park. There you go. That's when we got it.

Khary Payton:

That's when we got it. I

Johnny Stanton IV:

think that's a good point to end it. I think I want to ask you guys to do two things for me. Great. Athletics check. You guys are now in the annals of history in athletics check. Great. And one of the first first 10 episodes. Thank you so much for doing that. And I want to retire your guys's jerseys. Oh, but we don't exactly have jerseys numbers for you guys to wear. But what we do have are, uh, D100. Yeah, sure. And what you can do is roll a d100 and figure out what number is going to be risen up to the rafters Uh, that no one else can have. I'll take that. I have a couple dice, uh, here next to me. What,

Ned Donovan:

what's already been taken?

Johnny Stanton IV:

Taken are 87, 39, 6, and 44.

Ned Donovan:

Someone got the tight end number in the first ten. The tight end. 88's

Johnny Stanton IV:

still there. That's wild. 87, So, who wants to roll first? I'll go. Bring em. Woo!

Ned Donovan:

Number 93. It's a good

Khary Payton:

line number right there. Yeah, man.

Ned Donovan:

Wait,

Everyone:

wait, wait. That's the

Ned Donovan:

same thing in reverse. It is

Khary Payton:

the same thing in reverse. That is the same thing in reverse. There you go. You know what?

Ned Donovan:

Those numbers called to you.

Khary Payton:

I've always wanted to rush the quarterbacks. There you go. Uh.

Ned Donovan:

A quick anecdote about Kari Payton. On our show, he rolled dice so aggressively that he started to create a new dice rolling technique so they wouldn't roll off the table. And you'll notice, for about half the episodes, Kari rolls and immediately puts his hand on top of the dice track. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that is purely because he would throw them

Johnny Stanton IV:

so hard they would bounce back up. Oh my gosh. Alright, let's see it. What number is going into the rafters?

Ned Donovan:

We have 67.

Johnny Stanton IV:

67, that's a good O Line number right there. Yeah, I would make a terrible O Lineman. And the last thing I would love for you guys to do is, you gotta roll me an athletics check. Yes! What's my bonus here? I'm gonna ask you, what do you feel like your athletics bonus is? Are you proficient? What's your strength score? I

Ned Donovan:

would call myself proficient. I'm not the strongest guy in the world. I currently am on a path to knee surgery. So we're not going to say that my athletics is fantastic at this time. plus two? I'm going to give myself a plus two because I'm, uh, egotistical. Alright, alright. What is that? I mean, that's a 20 non natural. Boom. That's 18

Khary Payton:

plus 2 right there. Let's go. I'll do, uh, I'll do 1 cause, uh, cause I'm, cause I'm 51. Yeah! There you go.

Johnny Stanton IV:

That is a Six plus one. Six plus one. Seven! Lucky number seven. Lucky number seven. You know what? You know what? If you're the offensive lineman and you're the defensive lineman, I'm gonna say that was a pretty good run, Buck. Yeah. There you go. There you go. I think, uh, I think he ran right through me. Um, For the Patreon viewers, um, we're gonna do probably the shortest little micro session that we've ever done, but we, I do wanna make sure that you get the chance to be able to do this. I appreciate you guys for being so patient. Heck yeah, man! so much. Thanks for having us. Incredible. Everybody at home, Role main athletics check. All right. Thanks for listening, everyone. If you enjoyed the show, please take a moment to rate it and leave us a review. You can find us on YouTube, Apple podcast, Spotify, and everywhere else podcasts can be found. Don't forget. We do have a patron in which we talk to each of our guests about playing Dungeons and Dragons, and I run them a little adventure. I hope you guys do enjoy that. If you are a patron subscriber. Audio editing and music by the incredible co host, Travis Reeves, video production and editing by Frank Janish. And I'm your host, Johnny San, the fourth to find out more about what I do. Check out my website, stantoniv. com. This has been an effing funny production. We'll catch you next time. But until then, can you roll me an athletics check?

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