Motivation Monday, Hallmark Feels & Comedy Tickets with Ryan McKee

We kick off this Monday Morning Brew by turning the volume down on the noise and dialing up the motivation. Chris connects with Jineane Ford for Motivational Monday, sharing quotes that actually stick — and letting Jineane pick the one that sets the tone for the week ahead.

Then Andrea delivers another Hallmark Christmas Movie Review, this time diving into A Grand Ole Opry Christmas, a time-travel story packed with music, heart, and a few unexpected feels. Cozy, meaningful, and definitely Andrea approved.

The laughs roll in when comedian Ryan McKee calls ahead of his headlining show this Saturday night at Rocky’s Cocktail Lounge. We talk travel, Christmas at his parents’ house, life with a Chihuahua, and gift ideas for anyone navigating a long-distance relationship. Ryan also gives us the details on the show — Saturday at 6:30 PM, 21+, tickets available now at Chrisbennettcomedy.com

We wrap it all up by giving away two tickets to the show to Brian from Pinedale, proving once again that Mondays don’t have to be rough.

Motivation, holiday vibes, comedy, and giveaways — it’s a perfect way to start the week with The Morning Brew.

Transcript

Sick Days And Weekend Recap

SPEAKER_03 0:00

From the Horn Auto Center Studios, Chris Bennett and the Morning Brew. Janine, you there?

SPEAKER_02 0:06

Yes, I am.

SPEAKER_03 0:07

Good morning. Good Monday morning. How was your weekend?

SPEAKER_02 0:11

It was good, except I've been battling a cold that's racing around all over here on the val on the mountain. I'm sure a lot of people are. Dang it. A lot of coughing and looking at the pretty Christmas tree and just kind of getting myself, you know, together.

SPEAKER_03 0:24

Yeah, yeah. I think I got something too. A little head cold. I went down to the valley this weekend and saw the Nutcracker. Oh, how was it? Well, my wife loves it, but she also loves Hallmark Christmas movies. So her and I have different opinions. But I've never seen the Nutcracker. I'm it was amazing, but no words, Janine. They don't they don't have any dialogue. It's just dancing. And singing. It's singing. But it was great to be with my family, and that was good.

SPEAKER_02 0:52

That's good, you know?

SPEAKER_03 0:54

Yeah, but I did spend the second act in my car sleeping because I wasn't feeling good.

SPEAKER_02 1:00

Because you weren't feeling great. I think we yeah, we caught some little cold thing last week. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 1:05

Yeah, so um, is there any news or anything we should touch on?

SPEAKER_02 1:09

I you know what? I just think we have to say that this morning, the news, a lot of really sad news. You heard of a couple murders and then shootings, and uh awful, awful morning to wake up and look at the news. So, you know what? I just say this. Let's just all pray for the victims and try to uh just it was just awful waking up to the news this morning overall. You know what I mean? Yeah. Rob Reiner and then the two different shootings at Brown and in Australia. Oh my gosh. Yeah, yeah.

Seasonal Light And Motivational Quotes

SPEAKER_03 1:35

Well, uh to quote a Thomas Rhett song, in a world full of darkness, be a light. So we uh I I just want to focus on the good stuff because time to get motivated. You ready? Yes, I am. All right, uh, with it being uh the season of light, we have the light, the world giving machine, we have all this great stuff going on. I looked for quotes about uh hope, joy, and renewal. Here we go. First one is from Desmond Tutu. He says, Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all the darkness. Is that a good one? That's a good one. He has a cool ass name, too. Tutu. Uh Joy is not in things, it is in us. Richard Wagner. I like that one. Yeah. Uh Amelia Earhart. She said, A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up to make new trees of light. Oh, I like that. I like that one. And uh, we got two more. Uh Aristotle said it is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light. And last one, Mother Teresa. Where there is love, there is joy. Aww.

SPEAKER_02 2:45

What is today's I love all of them, but I have to go with the tree of light.

SPEAKER_03 2:51

Yeah, it's Amelia Earhart. Today's motivational quote of the week is from Amelia Earhart. A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up to make new trees of light.

SPEAKER_02 3:04

I love that. I hadn't heard that one before. Yeah, me neither.

SPEAKER_03 3:06

Awesome. Well, Janine, thank you so much uh for getting motivated with us, and I hope you feel better, and I hope you have a great day.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

You too, Chris. Love ya. Okay, bye bye. Bye.

Selecting The Quote Of The Week

Amelia Earhart’s Kindness Takes Center Stage

Wrap-Up And Well Wishes

Hallmark Movie Review Setup

Time-Travel At The Grand Ole Opry

SPEAKER_03 3:16

And now it's time for Chris's wife to give us her Christmas Hallmark movie reviews. All right, my love. What Hallmark Christmas movie from the 2025 collection are we reviewing this morning?

SPEAKER_01 3:27

We're doing a grand old Opry Christmas.

SPEAKER_03 3:31

Oh, a grand old Opry Christmas. Holy moly, this one sounds good. Here's what I think it's about. Uh, I think it's about a janitor at the grand old Opry who hates Christmas, and there's a big old Christmas uh event happening there with the biggest uh Nashville star, and uh they end up falling in love, and he is quits being a janitor and goes on the road with a famous country musician.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

Uh no.

SPEAKER_03 4:06

Oh gosh, dude, for a minute I thought I I thought I nailed it. Okay, well, what's uh grand ol' Opry Christmas about?

SPEAKER_01 4:15

So this is about um uh uh an aspiring songwriter, and she has a famous country music father who um hopefully when she was a little teenager, and so she goes to honor her father, the granular operator having a special Christmas celebration because he had a famous Christmas song, and they want her to honor her father. But she ends up sitting in a special seat on the stage that transferred her back in time to see her father, and she gets to finish a song that she never got to finish because he passed away.

SPEAKER_03 5:03

It sounds so beautiful. I'm I'm gonna be sad if I find out this thing did not get a good uh review.

SPEAKER_01 5:11

No, I loved it. And I'm like I said, you know I'm a sucker for time travel. And I mean, as someone that lost my dad when I was, you know, younger, it um it always gets me. So good job with this.

SPEAKER_03 5:28

Heck yeah. So out of uh scale one to five cups of hot cocoa, how many cups of hot cocoa do you give a grand old Opry Christmas?

SPEAKER_01 5:36

I give it four cups of hot cocoa.

SPEAKER_03 5:39

Heck yeah. My wife says a grand old Opry Christmas is worth checking out. We love you, my love.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

Love you.

SPEAKER_03 5:47

Bye.

SPEAKER_01 5:48

Bye.

Comedian Ryan McKee Joins

SPEAKER_03 5:49

Good morning. It's the morning brew with Chris. Who's this?

SPEAKER_04 5:52

It's producer Ryan. Headliner producer Ryan coming to town.

The Chihuahua Divorce Story

SPEAKER_03 5:58

That's right. This is headliner Ryan McKee that is headlining our comedy show this Saturday night at 6.30 p.m. at Rocky's Cocktail Lounge. It's 21 and over. Doors open up at 5. Bring your own food, and Rockies will take care of the drinks. Tickets are$25 at Chris Bennettcomedy.com. You're in Wilmington right now. Uh, when are you leaving uh for Arizona?

SPEAKER_04 6:22

I'm flying out on Wednesday myself, and I'm bringing my chihuahua on the plane. Oh my goodness. People, yeah, people get a little uh weird as that when I say I have a chihuahua. I'm a six-foot man, 200 pounds with a four-pound chihuahua.

SPEAKER_03 6:41

You're like uh Paris Hilton. Do you have a little purse for uh your chihuahua?

SPEAKER_04 6:46

No, I stole her out of her natural environment of a purse. I I didn't, you know, Chris, I didn't mean to get a chihuahua. No. You know, I I won her as a prize in a contest.

SPEAKER_03 7:02

Oh no, what was the contest?

Holiday Plans And Family Traditions

SPEAKER_04 7:04

It was called My Divorce.

SPEAKER_03 7:06

Oh heck yeah! Congratulations!

SPEAKER_04 7:10

I knew my ex-wife wanted that dog, you know. So I told my lawyer, get that dog by any means necessary. And I won. Yeah. And now I had to do, all I had to do was give up the house.

SPEAKER_03 7:23

Uh, there not a bad trade, not a bad trade. Not a bad trade at all. And uh, do you get any weird looks being a middle-aged uh man with a little chihuahua when you're traveling with her?

SPEAKER_04 7:36

Oh, yeah. I mean, people think that having a cute chihuahua will make women approach you.

SPEAKER_00 7:43

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_04 7:44

But that's not the case. Picture a guy holding a chihuahua with his hips out, holding a mocha latte. It's it's, you know, you see a guy like that, you don't assume he's, you know, like a a manly guy around the house, you know. It's not really what women are looking for.

Long-Distance Love And Gift Hacks

SPEAKER_03 8:07

Well, I hope you and Frida uh travel safe. Is she gonna be up here in uh Solo on Saturday, or is she staying and pacing with your parents?

SPEAKER_04 8:15

Staying and pacing with my family. So she likes just sitting, she's old, so she's just like sitting on my dad's lap and while he's watching, you know, murder she wrote or whatever he watches. Nice.

SPEAKER_03 8:29

Um, so the show is the 20th. Are you staying at your parents for Christmas?

SPEAKER_04 8:34

Uh yeah, I am. Ooh, nice. Yeah, Paison. It's a Paison, Arizona. Christmas for Ryan and Frida.

SPEAKER_03 8:43

Yeah, and your mom was a home ec teacher, so I imagine she uh takes Christmas pretty seriously. Does she still treat you like a little kid on Christmas? Do you get cool gifts? What is Christmas like at uh your parents' house?

Show Details And Ticket Giveaway

SPEAKER_04 8:56

Oh, we still put out cookies for Santa. Oh, nice. Uh and milk, you know. Oh, nice. I wonder if Stanley even really likes lukewarm milk and pale cookies, though. But hey, you know, it seems to be his thing. Um and uh my mom makes a lot of food. I gain about 25 pounds when I'm back in town because, you know, former homec teacher.

SPEAKER_03 9:21

Yeah. Heck yeah. And then uh, do you get stockings? Does your mom get you all matching uh pajamas, matching underwear, anything like that?

SPEAKER_04 9:30

She does. She gets she always gets us like matching flannel pajama bottoms that she makes us all wear um and take pictures in. So there's a good like 10 years of pictures of my brothers and I looking uh melancholy in our flannel pajamas.

SPEAKER_03 9:53

Well, I can't wait for this year's picture of the melancholy McKee brothers in their flannel pajama bottoms.

SPEAKER_04 10:01

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 10:03

We are on the phone with Ryan McKee. He is headlining our comedy show this Saturday night at 6 30 at Rocky's Cocktail Lounge. It's 21 and over. Tickets are$25. Get them at Chris Bennettcomedy.com. Ryan, we met your girlfriend last week. She is real Harvard teacher, uh former Hooters waitress. I was wondering if you could maybe help other people out that are in long distance relationships with uh some good gift-giving ideas.

SPEAKER_04 10:32

Yeah, when you're in a long-distance relationship, it's easy to get a gift.

SPEAKER_03 10:37

Why is that?

SPEAKER_04 10:38

Because all you have to do is buy them a plane ticket to come see you. Oh you need that is they they think it's amazing. Um and, you know, it doesn't take a lot of thought to get there.

SPEAKER_03 10:58

There you go. Dude, long distance dating, I've I heard people knock it, but uh you are just making it sound like it's the bee's knees.

SPEAKER_04 11:06

Oh, yeah, it's the best. I only have to I see her about once a a month, so I only have to like shower and shave once a month. I just totally let myself go for the rest of the month. It's so easy.

SPEAKER_03 11:22

Are you gonna shower and shave for the comedy show this Saturday night?

SPEAKER_04 11:26

Yeah, I'm going to.

SPEAKER_03 11:28

I'm gonna guys.

SPEAKER_04 11:30

But uh otherwise I would not be.

Winner Announced And Final Promo

SPEAKER_03 11:33

Make sure you mark your calendars and come join us for an amazing night of stand-up comedy this Saturday at Rockies. The show starts at 6:30, doors open up at 5 p.m. Bring your own food. It is 21 and over. Tickets are$25 at Chris Bennett Comedy.com. And of course, we have headliner Ryan McKee, who I'm so excited to see his hour. And we have Anthony Thornton featuring a very funny comedian from the valley, a regular at Mic Drop Comedy Club and Chandler. And Cameron Khan will be opening. And uh, I'm gonna go ahead and give away two tickets right now. Compliments of Chris Bennett, comedy. Uh, just first caller. Go ahead and give me a call and say I want to go to the comedy show. 928-532-4144. Good morning. It's the morning brew with Chris. You are caller number one. Who's this?

SPEAKER_00 12:26

Chris, me and my wife want to go to the comedy show.

SPEAKER_03 12:29

Heck yeah, buddy, you just won two tickets. Compliments to Chris Bennett Comedy to go see Ryan McKee. As heard on Q Country, he won an Emmy for his work on the late, late show with James Corden. It's gonna be a fun night. We have Anthony Thornton, Cameron Kahn joining us. And uh, if you weren't as lucky as Brian from Pinedale and his wife to win two tickets, you could buy yours today at Chris Bennett Comedy.com.$25. It is$21 and over. Bring your own food, and Rockies will take care of the cocktails, the beer, and the mocktails as well. What radio station hooked you up?

SPEAKER_00 13:06

92 5 Q Country. You know it.