Mandy Kaplan:
Hello everybody, and welcome to Make Me a Nerd. I’m Mandy Kaplan, a mainstream mom whose mission it is to explore the world of nerd culture that I’ve been missing out on and afraid of my whole life. I have a very special returning guest. She is an actress. She is a singer. She is a voiceover superstar. And when I first asked her to do this podcast two years ago, she was a little unsure what she could nerd out about, because the things she was nerdy about weren’t considered classic nerdery — if I’m using that word correctly, that I just made up. But now she is a full-on D&D nerd. It’s Justine Huxley.

Justine Huxley:
Yay! Thank you. Yes, I definitely have become a full-on D&D nerd. I got into D&D because of voice acting, which is also very nerdy, because video games and cartoons are nerdy in the best way possible. I love being a nerd. I’ve always been a musical theater nerd, but I didn’t know anything about D&D except for the fact that it was called Dungeons and Dragons and that you roleplayed. So I couldn’t really see myself in it, based on the fact that I heard the game was super long and you have to devote so much time to learning it and everything. And then because of voiceover, because of the game that I’m in, Apex Legends, I had a friend that asked me to play on stage with her and some other voice actors, and I got hooked.

Two years in, I am loving it so much. And what I just did a couple weekends ago was I played D&D live at the biggest tabletop gaming con in the country, called Gen Con, in Indianapolis. The amazing voice actress and on-camera actress and theater actress Anjali Bhimani is a fabulous D&D player, but she also has become this incredible game master or dungeon master, and does this show called The Puppy Roll, which is a wonderful show of D&D where we all play puppies. I played an NPC, or non-playable character, puppy named Lily, who’s a hound. And Anjali just told me the other day, because of my performance and how we highlighted the character — this is an actual dog that you can adopt — there’s a family that is really interested in adopting Lily, which I was so excited about. So sweet.

Mandy Kaplan:
Oh, what?

Justine Huxley:
And The Puppy Roll raised a ton of money for Petco Love, the charity that we do the show for. She usually does the show once or twice a year, and it’s just a fabulous cause. I believe the website is thepuppyroll.com if people want to get involved or are interested in adopting puppies. They also brought out three adoptable puppies on stage that people could adopt, and one was adopted, which is incredible.

Mandy Kaplan:
How do you not just eat them?

Justine Huxley:
Exactly. Exactly.

Mandy Kaplan:
Now, I am very familiar with the mainstream version of this, the Puppy Bowl, which happens during the Super Bowl. And now they have Kitten Bowl. And I’ve got to tell ya, I watch every minute of it. I love it so much. Because watching dumb — not dumb, I shouldn’t say that. I’m sorry to the puppies of the world. Watching innocent puppies play, and having people commentate as if they’re actually playing football, is hilarious.

Justine Huxley:
Yes. So cute.

Mandy Kaplan:
I love it so much. So I’m familiar with the concept, and I love that you did this. I love that you’re performing all over the country and the world doing D&D. But I want to ask you: the very first time you played, about when I started this podcast, were you terrified?

Justine Huxley:
I was terrified, because I really didn’t know what I was doing. I don’t like being on stage performing in front of people when I don’t know what I’m doing very much.

Mandy Kaplan:
So you’re not an improv gal.

Justine Huxley:
I have been, but it always had terrified me. And I think just doing it more and more — I’ve done, I think, over fifty live shows now in the last two years. And now I’m just so much more comfortable with it. The first time I ever played, I thought to myself, just try it, see if you like it. We’ll see what happens. And I loved it. I loved being on stage. I always love being on stage.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes, this I know.

Justine Huxley:
I’m an actor.

Mandy Kaplan:
Because she’s done Miscast many, many, many times.

Justine Huxley:
Yes. Like 15 times or something now. I always love being on stage, and I love roleplaying. And I think for me, D&D is more fun than just straight improv where you have no idea what you’re doing. At least D&D has rules and you’re playing an actual character. So you’re not just playing yourself in a situation. You’re playing a character. The character has a backstory. It’s basically like doing a live play, but you’re improvising what the character would say, which I think is more fun for me than just straight improv.

Mandy Kaplan:
Right. Right. Now, I am a casual observer, and I’m going to say three phrases that you have used in the last three minutes. What do these phrases actually sound like? Dungeon master. Live show. And roleplay. It all sounds like sex work.

Justine Huxley:
It does. It all sounds like that. You’re right.

Mandy Kaplan:
Right? I’m sure The Puppy Roll is some position I don’t know about.

Justine Huxley:
That’s so true. I never thought about it that way.

Mandy Kaplan:
It’s pretty sexy stuff, Justine.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah, it is.

Mandy Kaplan:
All right, keep it in your pants, because we are not here to talk about sex shows, unfortunately.

Justine Huxley:
No. Except that my character — one of the funny things about my character is she’s very naive. She’s very sweet and lovable and just loves giving hugs and cuddles, but one of her attributes is she doesn’t know how to do the romance. So she’s just totally clueless, and wants to be a good wingwoman to her friends that do know how to romance, but she really has no idea. She set one of her friends up with a weed, with a plant. She just has no idea. So yeah, she’s very unsexy.

Mandy Kaplan:
As am I.

Justine Huxley:
No, I saw your movie, Mandy.

Mandy Kaplan:
Oh, what movie is that, Justine? Is that Thirty Nights of Sex to Save Your Marriage, available on Tubi and other streamers?

Justine Huxley:
You got it.

Mandy Kaplan:
Oh, okay.

Justine Huxley:
You got it.

Mandy Kaplan:
So when I said, want to come back on the podcast, and what are you into these days, what are you nerding out about, I was a little surprised when you chose Fackham Hall.

Justine Huxley:
Yes. Yes.

Mandy Kaplan:
But I want to ask, before we dive into Fackham Hall, are you a Monty Python person?

Justine Huxley:
Oh, love it.

Mandy Kaplan:
Because that’s this kind of humor.

Justine Huxley:
Yes, I very much enjoy Monty Python. I loved Spamalot, the musical.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes.

Justine Huxley:
For me, this is very British Airplane! humor.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes. The Naked Gun.

Justine Huxley:
And I love Airplane!. It’s one of my favorite comedies. I just think it’s so silly, so ridiculous. And it just makes me guffaw and laugh out loud every single time. The other thing about this movie that I love so much is that I love British things. I’m one of those Anglophile Americans who love British shows, movies, plays. I love Brits.

Mandy Kaplan:
Okay.

Justine Huxley:
I always tell Scott, my partner — I always tell him, if you had a British accent, it might just make you even higher on the list for me. I just love Brits.

Mandy Kaplan:
Okay, let’s dive into that. So does he feel less than? Because he doesn’t, because he’s a stupid American?

Justine Huxley:
No, he’ll do a British accent for me sometimes.

Mandy Kaplan:
Oh, hot.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mandy Kaplan:
Okay, and we’re back to the sexy stuff. So this movie, it’s called Fackham Hall, and it really is The Naked Gun treatment of Downton Abbey.

Justine Huxley:
Yes. Naked Gun, for sure.

Mandy Kaplan:
Right. It’s Downton Abbey.

Justine Huxley:
It’s Downton Abbey, Upstairs, Downstairs. It’s all the PBS shows, the PBS British shows. It’s also — spoiler alert, if anyone hasn’t seen it yet — it also switches midway to an Agatha Christie comedy.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes, yes, it does.

Justine Huxley:
A murder mystery, Agatha Christie.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes.

Justine Huxley:
So that’s really fun too. You get both British worlds. And it’s a period piece. I love British period pieces. I watch Call the Midwife. I watch Downton Abbey. I watch all the PBS murder mystery and feel-good shows. The one about the vet in Yorkshire.

Mandy Kaplan:
Okay. Well, if you are listening and you are thinking, oh, I meant to watch that, I recommend pausing the podcast, going and watching it, and coming back for this love fest about Fackham Hall. Because it’s just going to be two people laughing and sharing the funniest parts, and those will all be spoiled for you.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah.

Mandy Kaplan:
So go ahead and watch it and come back. Welcome back to Justine and Mandy’s —

Justine Huxley:
Yes.

Mandy Kaplan:
Fuck ’em all.

Justine Huxley:
Obsessed.

Mandy Kaplan:
The opening sequence, where they go into the mansion — it really feels like Downton Abbey. The music is perfection. But the detail they include —

Justine Huxley:
Oh, yeah.

Mandy Kaplan:
Whoever did the set design and the costumes was spot on. Everything was great. And they’re showing, in the downstairs part of the mansion, that when the bell rings you can tell which room is which. Every room has a bell. And they show you, this is the parlor, this is the maid’s chambers, this is the — this is the masturbatorium.

Justine Huxley:
Yes. And then the bell falls off.

Mandy Kaplan:
And the bell is ringing, ringing, ringing, ringing, ringing, and then it falls off.

Justine Huxley:
It’s so good. Have you seen this before I mentioned it, or is this your first time seeing it?

Mandy Kaplan:
I had, and I laughed, but I didn’t pay much attention to it. I think I put it on in the background when I was doing other things, so I missed a ton. So this time I really focused.

Justine Huxley:
It really goes so fast. It’s just joke after joke after joke after joke. It’s brilliant like that. I love it.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes. And you can’t look away, because not only is it packed wall to wall with jokes, which it is —

Justine Huxley:
Right.

Mandy Kaplan:
But there is a real plot, and there are real plot twists. And if you tune out like I did the first time, you’re not following along. And they took care to give it a real plot. A plot that on some level makes sense. But it does — not that it matters.

Justine Huxley:
It doesn’t even matter. And something I love about it that I just found this out today — I didn’t realize, when I was doing more research for it, is that Jimmy Carr, who plays the Vicar, is one of the writers of the movie.

Mandy Kaplan:
Oh, he’s not credited on IMDb.

Justine Huxley:
You know the Vicar?

Mandy Kaplan:
Oh yes, and I’m a big Jimmy Carr fan.

Justine Huxley:
He’s credited on Wikipedia, and he had an interview about writing the movie.

Mandy Kaplan:
Okay, I’m not questioning you.

Justine Huxley:
Just wanted to put it all there.

Mandy Kaplan:
Slow your roll, Huxley. I was just saying I didn’t see his name as a writer. He is a brilliantly funny, very edgy comedian.

Justine Huxley:
He’s so funny.

Mandy Kaplan:
He’s perfectly cast as a vicar. He looks very conservative.

Justine Huxley:
Perfect.

Mandy Kaplan:
You could imagine him playing the Prime Minister, or being the Prime Minister. He has an upper-crust accent. And then he famously did, I think, the Tom Brady roast on Comedy Central — or he did one of the roasts that made me just fall in love, and I was like, who is this guy?

Justine Huxley:
Oh, did he? I didn’t realize that. I love him. He has some of the funniest game shows.

Mandy Kaplan:
Oh, it’s Rob Lowe, sorry.

Justine Huxley:
Oh, it’s Rob Lowe. Yeah, he has one of the funniest game shows. I think it’s called 8 Out of 10 Cats. It’s just so silly. It’s always packed with a bunch of the best British comedians. And I don’t know if you’ve seen this, Mandy, but one of my favorite shows right now — and I can’t believe I didn’t mention this as something to talk about on this podcast with you — is Last One Laughing.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yeah.

Justine Huxley:
Have you seen Last One Laughing on Amazon Prime?

Mandy Kaplan:
No, no.

Justine Huxley:
Okay, maybe that’s our next episode.

Mandy Kaplan:
All right.

Justine Huxley:
Okay, Last One Laughing. He hosts the British version. They have so many versions from all over the world, and it relates to this because it’s comedy. So basically you have a host, and then you have comedians in a room that are locked in a room for six hours together, and they have to make each other laugh. I think it’s usually like 10 comedians or 12 comedians. They have to make each other laugh. And whoever laughs first —

Mandy Kaplan:
Is out.

Justine Huxley:
Is out. So the last person that’s laughing wins for charity, or they just win the trophy. It depends on the country. I don’t think in the UK they win anything except for the title. But I first got into it in COVID, because the Australian version came on and Rebel Wilson was hosting, and it was hilarious.

Mandy Kaplan:
Oh.

Justine Huxley:
I didn’t know any of the Australian comedians, but I just fell in love. I watched the German version, the Swedish version, the French version, the Spanish version, the Italian version.

Mandy Kaplan:
Whoa. And it didn’t occur to you to choose that for my podcast?

Justine Huxley:
I don’t know, because it was on six months ago. I’ve watched the Irish version, the Canadian version, and now the UK version just had their second season, maybe four or five months ago. And it has some of my favorite comedians. Alan Carr, who’s incredible, who was on the Traitors, the UK celebrity version of the Traitors. And just some of the best British comedians. And Jimmy Carr is the host of that, and he’s hilarious. So I wouldn’t expect anything less of him for this movie, because he’s so good.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes. He’s so smart, he’s so foul-mouthed. And the bit that they do with the Vicar is that his punctuation is wrong. I didn’t write down any examples — I could have, we could have just quoted them.

Justine Huxley:
We could have gone on forever.

Mandy Kaplan:
So he says terrible things about Jesus and God and choir boys, and he makes all of these gaffes. And then when he goes back and puts a comma in in the correct place, it’s a totally different sentence, and it works every goddamn time.

Justine Huxley:
It really does. And one of the funny things about Jimmy Carr is that — well, this is not funny, but he has dyslexia in real life.

Mandy Kaplan:
Oh, okay.

Justine Huxley:
Which really works for the character.

Mandy Kaplan:
Mm-hmm.

Justine Huxley:
And I don’t know if he decided to put that in — putting his dyslexia as a comedic thing — because we laugh out of pain and hardships. I just thought it was so perfect.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes. We’re going to take a quick break, and we’re going to dive into the plot of this movie, Fackham Hall, when we come back.

Welcome back, everybody. While I have your attention, I’d like to let everybody know that Make Me a Nerd is a production of TruStory FM. Engineering by the peerless Pete Wright. My theme song is Wonderstruck by Jane and the Boy. You can get me on social media at Mandy underscore Kaplan underscore Klavens on Instagram, or Mandy Miscast on TikTok. If you would be so kind as to leave a review on Apple Podcasts for the podcast, write a review and I’ll give you a shout-out on the air. And if you’re feeling really supportive, go to makemeanerd.com/join. Hitting that button will get you your episodes ad-free and early, and my eternal gratitude. Thank you so kindly.

Okay. So one thing I wanted to mention when you were talking about Last One Laughing is a past episode I did with Kyle Olson about Game Changer. Do you know Game Changer, the college dropout?

Justine Huxley:
I don’t.

Mandy Kaplan:
Okay, it’s —

Justine Huxley:
Oh! I have heard of Game Changer. I’ve seen some clips. Yes, yes, yes.

Mandy Kaplan:
Really funny. And they do weird challenges that are physical and funny. So highly recommend listening to that episode, if you’d like.

Justine Huxley:
Very funny. Yes.

Mandy Kaplan:
Trying to get access to Game Changer. It’s really the best of the best, just having fun and letting us watch. And that’s what it sounds like Last One Laughing is.

Here we are in the lovely Fackham Hall, and the butler is named Cyril. And Cyril is always just lurking in the background. And finally, Lady — what’s the family’s name? Davenport.

Justine Huxley:
Davenport.

Mandy Kaplan:
Lady Davenport says, “Do you ever worry that Cyril is listening in on all of our conversations?” It’s just perfection.

Justine Huxley:
And there’s also an Electra — an Alexa joke — as well.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes.

Justine Huxley:
So good.

Mandy Kaplan:
The way she pronounced Cyril — it was perfect. So they establish this wealthy family, and then they hard cut to a good-looking guy on the streets named Eric Noone, who grew up in an orphanage. And the mother superior brings him to the orphanage as an adult and introduces him to this older gentleman, and says, “Our doors are always open to unknown men with an interest in specific children.” And this creepy guy’s like, “Yeah, I came here for Eric, no one.” It’s just so on the nose.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah, and then you find out he’s not wearing pants.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes. Oh, it doesn’t let up.

Justine Huxley:
It’s so funny.

Mandy Kaplan:
It’s a hat on a hat on a hat on a hat, and I love every one of them.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah, me too.

Mandy Kaplan:
And so the old man says, “I have this letter to deliver to the Davenport mansion, to Fackham Hall. Go, be on your way.” And he says, “Nothing is going to stop me.” And then he gets on his bike. So I’m certain that sheep are going to come into the road and stop him, right? A flock of sheep. Or a car, or a tornado. But no — the film’s title swoops onto screen and knocks him off the road a little bit. And I just thought that was so much fun, to use graphics like that.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah, totally. And then he literally is knocked off the road by the daughter.

Mandy Kaplan:
Mm-hmm.

Justine Huxley:
Which is perfect. And their love story is so cute, and you just want them to be together so badly. It’s just adorable. I just love them. I love that actress too. She was in Jojo Rabbit.

Mandy Kaplan:
Thomasin McKenzie, yes.

Justine Huxley:
Yes, Thomasin McKenzie.

Mandy Kaplan:
Ugh, yes.

Justine Huxley:
She’s so cute.

Mandy Kaplan:
She’s so good.

Justine Huxley:
Love her.

Mandy Kaplan:
And it’s strange that you care so much about these young lovers, because really it’s just a series of fart jokes. And yet, we do care somehow.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah, we really do.

Mandy Kaplan:
They’re adorable together.

Justine Huxley:
They’re so cute.

Mandy Kaplan:
So they arrive at Fackham Hall. Do you remember what the gate above it reads?

Justine Huxley:
It’s incestus ad infinitum, I believe.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes. Incest without end.

Justine Huxley:
Yes.

Mandy Kaplan:
Because Rose’s older sister Poppy is engaged to her cousin, and they keep marrying their cousin.

Justine Huxley:
Because they keep marrying their cousins. Who’s played by the wonderful Tom Felton.

Mandy Kaplan:
Oh, I don’t know him.

Justine Huxley:
So he was in Harry Potter. He was the little villain boy in Harry Potter. Have you seen Harry Potter?

Mandy Kaplan:
Yeah, but I don’t like to talk about it.

Justine Huxley:
Got it. Anyway, so it’s fun that he’s playing this very funny character, and in Harry Potter he was so mean and vile.

Mandy Kaplan:
Gross. Was he Draco?

Justine Huxley:
Yes, he was Draco. I forgot the name.

Mandy Kaplan:
Oh my God, okay.

Justine Huxley:
So he had the blonde hair, and he’s so different now that he’s older. He has the dark hair. And he’s gross in this, but he’s like funny gross. He’s not mean.

Mandy Kaplan:
No, he’s very hapless. He doesn’t really care.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah.

Mandy Kaplan:
He just wants to take over the mansion and marry someone. Doesn’t really care who. Isn’t picky.

Justine Huxley:
No, doesn’t care.

Mandy Kaplan:
Oh God, I’m just anticipating some things, but I want to go in order.

Justine Huxley:
I know, I’ve got my notes too.

Mandy Kaplan:
So they’re going to have a wedding. Rose is our leading lady.

Justine Huxley:
Yes.

Mandy Kaplan:
Her older sister, Poppy, is going to marry this gross guy. Why can’t I think of his name?

Justine Huxley:
Davenport.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yeah, but his first name.

Justine Huxley:
It’s another Davenport.

Mandy Kaplan:
So —

Justine Huxley:
Oh, his first name. I can get it for you. His first name is Archibald Davenport.

Mandy Kaplan:
Archie, yes. So guests arrive, and this rich British guy gets out of the car with his American wife. And he’s like, “Please, they don’t understand Americans here. Don’t be so American.” And she’s like, “Okay, why would I?” And then whips out a baseball bat and slings it over her shoulder and marches into the manor. It is so dumb. She’s carrying a baseball bat for no reason.

I talked about the attention to detail, which is so — and if I skip something that you want to laugh about, by all means bring it up.

Justine Huxley:
No, go for it.

Mandy Kaplan:
The way everything is decorated is so lavish, and there are jokes hidden everywhere. So I’m sure if I watched it three more times, I would pick up on way more. But one thing I loved is downstairs, where the servants are, there is a sign on the wall. It almost looks like artwork, or a PSA, and it says, “Unionizing causes cancer.”

Justine Huxley:
I missed that. That’s so funny. Oh my gosh.

Mandy Kaplan:
It’s just perfection, and it looks like a genuine something that would be up in the hall where all the servants work.

Justine Huxley:
It’s so good.

Mandy Kaplan:
And live.

Justine Huxley:
It’s so good. I also just love Damian Lewis as the father, as Lord Davenport. He’s so great. I usually see him in these very dramatic roles.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes, Homeland is all I know him from.

Justine Huxley:
Homeland, and The Forsyte Saga. He’s so gross in that. It’s another British period piece that I love.

Mandy Kaplan:
Okay.

Justine Huxley:
And he’s just very serious usually. And he is so funny in this — like the whole Heimlich maneuver that he gives on himself.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes.

Justine Huxley:
And he gets shot a million times with bows and arrows, and he’s somehow alive still. He should have died so many times in this movie. And spoiler alert, he finally does. But he’s so good at the physical comedy.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes.

Justine Huxley:
And you never know when a dramatic actor is also good at comedy unless you give them a chance. And I’m so glad that he was given this opportunity, because he’s so spot on with the physical comedy.

Mandy Kaplan:
He’s goofy as hell, and I can’t find the quote. When he’s dying and he gets stabbed and the knife is there, and then he’s like, “Quick, use the gun and shoot out the knife.” And then he gets shot, and he’s like, “Use acid to burn the bullets out of my body.” And he keeps suggesting a new deadly thing to fix the old thing. I can’t find my notes, but oh, I was cackling.

Justine Huxley:
That’s so good.

Mandy Kaplan:
It’s a shocking cast, getting him in this.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah. So good.

Mandy Kaplan:
And I should mention another one of my favorite actresses, who’s not shocking, is Anna Maxwell Martin.

Justine Huxley:
Oh, yeah.

Mandy Kaplan:
Motherland. Are you familiar with that? BritBox?

Justine Huxley:
I have never seen Motherland.

Mandy Kaplan:
I think that’s what it’s called.

Justine Huxley:
I’ve got to see it.

Mandy Kaplan:
Am I getting that right?

Justine Huxley:
I’m not sure.

Mandy Kaplan:
She is so twisted.

Justine Huxley:
But yeah, I love her.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yeah.

Justine Huxley:
I’ve seen her in many things before, and she’s a fantastic actress.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes.

Justine Huxley:
I love her. She’s perfect for this role too. She’s so funny.

Mandy Kaplan:
Oh, she’s so funny. She plays the head of the downstairs. I can’t think —

Justine Huxley:
Oh, yeah, yeah.

Mandy Kaplan:
I can’t think of who it was on Downton Abbey, but they seemingly have counterparts for some of them.

Justine Huxley:
Oh, totally. Like the great aunt, Bonaparte, who just says the most ridiculous things in this. She’s totally the dowager countess.

Mandy Kaplan:
Dame Maggie Smith. Yes.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah, Dame Maggie. So she’s my favorite character in this whole movie.

Mandy Kaplan:
Oh.

Justine Huxley:
She says the most outlandish things. I just love her so much. She’s so funny. I just laugh so hard when she comes on screen.

Mandy Kaplan:
It’s this freedom you have that something like Family Guy has. Similar freedom. You don’t really have to follow any rules. It doesn’t need to be realistic, or make sense, or exist in the real world.

Justine Huxley:
Right.

Mandy Kaplan:
So you just have the freedom to be like, you know what might be funny? And then you just get to do it. And it’s delightful. It’s so freeing.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah.

Mandy Kaplan:
They make a joke that is so funny, and then it comes back at the end. They’re at the party and they are introducing everybody, and you see these two gossipy ladies, and they’re like, “Oh, he’s so handsome. Oh, I wish I could marry him. Oh, do you think they’ll consummate?” or whatever. And then they say, “Oh, have you met the Bechdel sisters?” People. That joke slayed me. It’s so next level.

Justine Huxley:
It’s so good. So good.

Mandy Kaplan:
The word delighted keeps coming to my mind. I absolutely loved it. We already talked about the priest’s punctuation issues, and Jimmy Carr.

Justine Huxley:
Yes, yes.

Mandy Kaplan:
But my biggest laugh is coming up right after this.

And we’re back. When Rose and Eric, our two ingenues, are in the loo — because now I use British terms — and they’re having this big heart-to-heart moment, and then there’s a guy next to them having loud diarrhea. I couldn’t stop laughing. Why am I a twelve-year-old boy?

Justine Huxley:
It’s always funny, no matter how old you are. It’s just funny.

Mandy Kaplan:
They just went for it, in a Jeff Daniels Dumb and Dumber outlandish way.

Justine Huxley:
Oh, totally.

Mandy Kaplan:
Oh, I loved it so much.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah, definitely.

Mandy Kaplan:
And I love that they were being all romantic in the bathroom next to that.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah, it’s so good. I love that. I also love when Eric is pouring for the children at the party. You don’t see who he’s pouring the champagne to, and then he pours full glasses of champagne to these very tiny children that are probably like four years old. Just so stupid funny.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes. He’s — I don’t know that actor, but he is charming as all get out.

Justine Huxley:
I don’t either, and he’s wonderful.

Mandy Kaplan:
I think he also was a child actor, which would make sense.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah. He’s adorable and so funny. I just think he’s fantastic.

Mandy Kaplan:
Ben Radcliffe.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah, he’s great.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes. They’re all great. I didn’t find a weak link.

Justine Huxley:
No, they were all fantastic.

Mandy Kaplan:
Oh, his IMDb picture is dreamy.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah.

Mandy Kaplan:
Because he’s goofy in this. He’s cute, but he’s not so dreamy. But ooh, that picture. I invite you all to check that out.

Justine Huxley:
Oh, you know who else is so great in this — I mean, he’s great, but the writing is so funny — they have Tolkien, the Lord of the Rings writer, in this.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes.

Justine Huxley:
It’s so funny, and that he’s talking about the Orc language. The fact that he’s just randomly in this is so good. I’m a big Lord of the Rings fan, and I’ve been to Hobbiton twice, so that really tickled me.

Mandy Kaplan:
What the hell is Hobbiton?

Justine Huxley:
Hobbiton is where they shot a bunch of the Hobbit scenes in the movie, in New Zealand.

Mandy Kaplan:
Oh.

Justine Huxley:
It’s incredible. It’s gorgeous. It’s in New Zealand. It’s about two hours away from Auckland, in a town called Matamata. And they have basically recreated —

Mandy Kaplan:
So the town isn’t actually named Hobbiton. They call it that.

Justine Huxley:
No, that’s what they call it in the movie.

Mandy Kaplan:
Okay. I was like, what a coincidence.

Justine Huxley:
That’s what they call it in the movie. It’s Hobbiton, where the Hobbits live in the movie, and they’ve recreated the entire set. That’s where they shot. And I’ve been twice, because I went to two cons in New Zealand and they took us there. It’s the most incredible place, and you go in and it’s basically like you’re in the movie.

Mandy Kaplan:
Wow.

Justine Huxley:
It’s amazing.

Mandy Kaplan:
That’s so cool. And I have made such nerd progress. I did Lord of the Rings, one of my very first episodes, with Richard Hellstern, who is very knowledgeable and passionate about Lord of the Rings. So everyone go check that out. I knew nothing about Lord of the Rings.

Justine Huxley:
Yes. Oh, I’m so glad you watched.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes. And now, through my nerdication, when Lady Davenport said, “Oh, my precious,” and Tolkien was like, “My precious,” I was like, I get that reference! I’m in the know now.

Justine Huxley:
You got it.

Mandy Kaplan:
I’ve come such a long way. They throw a big party, and they have a piano player who sings a song. And I’m hoping you’ll consider singing it for Miscast one day. It’s called “I Went to the Palace with My Willy Hanging Out.”

Justine Huxley:
Oh my gosh, it’s so funny.

Mandy Kaplan:
And they take it to the next level, although they pixelated it. He stands up and he actually has his penis hanging out, which they pixelated. I would think they would go for it, but maybe it would give them a different rating or something.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah, it would probably give them a different rating. There’s a musical theater song — I don’t know if you know it. I think it was cut from a musical maybe in the ’70s, and it’s called “Their Things Were Out.” Have you seen that?

Mandy Kaplan:
No, no. Writing it down.

Justine Huxley:
Have you heard this song? It’s really funny.

Mandy Kaplan:
Is that what it’s about?

Justine Huxley:
Oh, yes. It’s just like this girl that’s like, “Oh my God, their things were out.” It’s a very silly song. I feel like somebody should do it for Miscast at some point. It’s very funny.

Mandy Kaplan:
You’re really enlightening me about so many things today.

Justine Huxley:
I’m so glad.

Mandy Kaplan:
Well, I loved that performance of “I Went to the Palace with My Willy Hanging Out.”

Justine Huxley:
It’s so good. It’s like a Noël Coward song, but much dirtier.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes, good call.

Justine Huxley:
It’s great.

Mandy Kaplan:
That started me thinking about the soundtrack, because the soundtrack to this film is actually very beautiful and takes itself quite seriously.

Justine Huxley:
Oh, yes.

Mandy Kaplan:
It’s scored really well, which adds to the pretension, or the Downton Abbey feel of it all, the PBS feel.

Justine Huxley:
Yes.

Mandy Kaplan:
I really loved that. Eric and Rose sneak away and go to a pub. Do you remember the name of the pub?

Justine Huxley:
I forget the name of the pub. What is it called again?

Mandy Kaplan:
The Dog and Drake.

Justine Huxley:
That’s right. That’s right.

Mandy Kaplan:
And who’s on the sign for the pub? Snoop Dogg and Drake.

Justine Huxley:
That’s right. Oh my God, it’s so silly.

Mandy Kaplan:
I was very into the signage in this movie.

Justine Huxley:
Great signs. I mean, just the first sign you see, with the incestus ad infinitum.

Mandy Kaplan:
Mm-hmm.

Justine Huxley:
It’s fantastic. And it’s so funny that she has to become one of the Cockney guys to be cool with them. It’s so funny.

Mandy Kaplan:
I only have one criticism of the movie. And for me, that’s saying a lot, because I like to be critical, as you know. They do a running gag with a guy who keeps getting hurt, one of the servants.

Justine Huxley:
Right.

Mandy Kaplan:
And I’ve seen it before. It’s very A Fish Called Wanda. And I just didn’t need it. They brought it back way too many times for my taste, and I was just like, really? We’ve seen this so many times. So that is my —

Justine Huxley:
I still laughed, I’ve got to say. I still laughed.

Mandy Kaplan:
Okay.

Justine Huxley:
I don’t know why. It’s terrible. It’s terrible to laugh. But it’s like the old slipping on the banana peel.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yeah.

Justine Huxley:
It’s just so stupid. When he falls down the cellar door — oh my gosh, I laughed so hard. It’s just so stupid.

Mandy Kaplan:
I don’t know why I drew the line there, because here I am going, diarrhea is brilliant! Next level! And then I have a real issue with a guy getting hurt. I don’t know what it is. That’s my opinion.

Then we transition into our murder mystery. And Inspector Watt shows up. And they also do a very long sequence of “Inspector Watt,” “Inspector What,” and it’s a who’s-on-first, and it goes on a long time. It’s funny, but a very long time. And he’s going over the suspects, and he says, “I mean, where was I on the night of the murder? It could have been me.” The way he says it — I love that actor.

Justine Huxley:
He’s so great.

Mandy Kaplan:
I want to get his name too.

Justine Huxley:
I know. It’s like, I just don’t have anything negative to say about this movie. I just think it’s so joyful and funny, and it just feels like a breath of fresh air. Have you seen The Paper, the TV show?

Mandy Kaplan:
No.

Justine Huxley:
So it’s the spin-off of The Office, and it’s adorable. And I just feel like sometimes that’s the kind of entertainment that we need. And The Paper kind of reminds me of this. It’s like an American version almost of this. It’s super joke-heavy, super silly humor. I feel like sometimes we just need that kind of humor. We don’t always need the super highbrow, the super intelligent humor. Sometimes you just need that stupid slapstick humor.

Mandy Kaplan:
I agree.

Justine Huxley:
It’s so good.

Mandy Kaplan:
I agree. I’m not a fan of The Office.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah.

Mandy Kaplan:
So then I didn’t want to watch The Paper.

Justine Huxley:
Oh, interesting.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yeah, I liked the British Office.

Justine Huxley:
Okay. Yeah, then you probably wouldn’t like The Paper. I haven’t seen the British Office, which is a big faux pas on my part, because I love British things, but I need to do that.

Mandy Kaplan:
Can I make another British recommendation while we’re distracted?

Justine Huxley:
Please, yes.

Mandy Kaplan:
Have you ever watched After Life, the Ricky Gervais show, on Netflix?

Justine Huxley:
I loved After Life. I loved it.

Mandy Kaplan:
Okay. All right.

Justine Huxley:
It was so good. That was not very funny. But not intentionally.

Mandy Kaplan:
I think it’s laugh-out-loud funny. It’s my favorite — it’s my favorite thing, which is laughter through tears.

Justine Huxley:
Really? I think it’s so sad. I mean, it is funny, but I was crying the whole time.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yeah.

Justine Huxley:
It was so hard to watch, but also very beautiful.

Mandy Kaplan:
Oh, I loved it.

Justine Huxley:
It was great. It was just so sad.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yep.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah.

Mandy Kaplan:
So back to our lovely couple. I was amazed that there was actual intrigue, actual emotion, actual romance amidst all of this humor. And the couple is outside.

Justine Huxley:
Yes.

Mandy Kaplan:
They’ve chased each other outside, and it’s pouring rain on them, and they’re having this lovely moment. And then she says something like, “I’ll get the gardener’s eyes fixed.” And they realize it’s just the gardener using a hose on them, spraying them. Is that a reference to The Notebook? The rain?

Justine Huxley:
Oh, I don’t know, because I’ve never seen The Notebook.

Mandy Kaplan:
I’ve never seen it either, and everybody talks about that movie.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah, I know.

Mandy Kaplan:
Okay, I think that’s what that was, because you always see them in the rain in the poster. I just thought that was so funny, that now that they’re wealthy, they can get the gardener’s eyes fixed.

Justine Huxley:
That was so cute.

Mandy Kaplan:
And I don’t know if I did that moment justice. But when Eric realizes — oh, so Eric goes to jail for the murder, but he didn’t do it.

Justine Huxley:
It’s a great moment.

Mandy Kaplan:
And it doesn’t matter. The plot is so just dressing. Funny I should say dressing, because he gets out of jail just in time to stop Rose’s wedding to her cousin Archibald. She’s decided, okay, I’ll do this for my family to keep the manor. And he runs out. It’s like The Graduate, right? He runs to stop the wedding. He stops at a tailor to get a tux made, and then he comes back out in the tux and continues on his way.

Justine Huxley:
So funny. Oh, we forgot to say also about Rose’s sister Poppy, and how she leaves for that manure guy. That was so funny. Oh my God. That was one of my favorite parts. You think she’s going to leave Tom Felton, who’s highbrow and has the money and everything. You think she’s going to leave him for this hot young servant or whatever, but she leaves him for this guy that is like the hairiest man alive.

Mandy Kaplan:
He looks like an ogre. She runs by a shirtless gardener, right?

Justine Huxley:
He looks like an ogre. Yeah.

Mandy Kaplan:
And he looks like a Chippendale dancer.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah.

Mandy Kaplan:
And she starts running towards him, and passes him, and embraces the manure guy.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah. And he just has this steaming pile of manure on a wheelbarrow.

Mandy Kaplan:
And then he ends up dumping her later.

Justine Huxley:
It’s so good. I love that.

Mandy Kaplan:
Oh, it’s a ten out of ten.

Justine Huxley:
I love it. So funny.

Mandy Kaplan:
I mean, there’s not much more to say. Did we get to all the —

Justine Huxley:
Oh, one of my other favorites is when Rose is reading One Shade of Grey, instead of Fifty Shades of Grey.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes. Yep.

Justine Huxley:
So good, because they didn’t have fifty shades back then. Just one. Just one.

Mandy Kaplan:
It really is a rewatch. It just invites itself. How many times have you seen it?

Justine Huxley:
Twice.

Mandy Kaplan:
Oh, okay. I think upon viewing five and six, you would notice even more things, even more decor and costume choices. She wants to go to the pub, but she’s dressed like a rich person, and he’s like, “You can’t walk in there like that.” So she looks at a laundry line where there are maids’ uniforms hanging, and she’s like, “I have an idea.” And then the next shot, she has ripped a tablecloth from the laundry line and turned it into a gingham dress. And she looks like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz.

Justine Huxley:
Yes.

Mandy Kaplan:
Obviously we think she’s going to grab a maid’s uniform and throw it on. Every moment is fully realized. It’s so much fun. I don’t really smoke pot — I think once a year, if that. But this is something that I want to watch if I’m smoking pot, because I think I would just giggle so hard.

Justine Huxley:
That’s so funny.

Mandy Kaplan:
It’s really funny.

Justine Huxley:
I love also at the end, you know, they say what happens to the people after the fact and everything.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes.

Justine Huxley:
And the fact that Rose and Eric go to Blackpool on their honeymoon — Brits make fun of — do you know Blackpool?

Mandy Kaplan:
Yeah, I don’t know.

Justine Huxley:
So Brits make fun of Blackpool all the time. They think it’s just the worst, one of the worst places to go. It’s not anything fun. It’s just a dumpy little town that turns out is huge for ballroom dancing, and has like the biggest ballroom dancing competition in the world. People from all over the world go there. But otherwise Blackpool is not really known for much. I’m sure it’s better now, but in those days Blackpool was the dumps of the dumps, and they’re going there for their honeymoon. It’s a very inside Brit humor thing, which I love.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes, that I did not get.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah.

Mandy Kaplan:
I’m sure there’s a few of those.

Justine Huxley:
That’s okay. Oh, I’m sure for me too.

Mandy Kaplan:
Because this did get a theatrical release, I read. Really brief, and then it went to HBO.

Justine Huxley:
It did. Yeah.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yeah.

Justine Huxley:
I didn’t see it in the theaters. I just saw it on HBO.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yeah. Oh, it is absolutely hilarious, and you are absolutely wonderful.

Justine Huxley:
It’s a joy.

Mandy Kaplan:
Tell people where they can find your work.

Justine Huxley:
Thank you. You can find me at Justine Huxley on all of the socials. I’ve been doing charity streams on the Six Sides of Gaming YouTube channel for their D&D shows. We have been donating to the charity Give Kids the World. It’s an amazing charity. I got to go to Orlando a few weeks ago and meet them at a con, and we did a live show.

It’s a charity that is very similar to Make-A-Wish. They take kids — chronically ill or terminally ill children — and give them an experience, and have them live in this village in Orlando. They take them to one of the theme parks, or multiple theme parks, and it’s really beautiful. There were some kids that came to our show. And we’ve raised, I think, over $40,000 so far, just in the past month. It’s been incredible. So we do usually one or two live streams a month for this charity, playing very silly D&D.

Mandy Kaplan:
Oh, that’s great.

Justine Huxley:
Yeah.

Mandy Kaplan:
You are such a wonderful human being and performer and nerd, and I love you so much.

Justine Huxley:
Oh, I love you, Mandy. I just love being able to do all these shows. Miscast is for such an incredible charity, for Project Angel Food, and —

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes.

Justine Huxley:
The Puppy Roll’s for Petco Love, and our D&D shows a lot of times are for Give Kids the World.

Mandy Kaplan:
Yes.

Justine Huxley:
It’s really nice to be able to perform and do something you love for a great cause, and that just makes me so happy.

Mandy Kaplan:
I couldn’t say it better. Thank you so much for being one of my favorite Nerdicators.

Justine Huxley:
Thank you.

Mandy Kaplan:
Oh, I put this list away, but we have more.

Justine Huxley:
Yay.

Mandy Kaplan:
We’re going to do Last One Laughing.

Justine Huxley:
Yes, please. I would love that.

Mandy Kaplan:
Okay. All right. Thank you, everybody, for listening. Until next time.