The Assembly (CA) - Season 1 Episode 1

MegaFrame.Collection

5 hours ago

Transcript

00:00Wow.

00:02I...producers and directors.

00:04So this is a very special assembly.

00:06I always loved assembly in school

00:08because it got me out of class.

00:10Whoa!

00:12How are you doing, buddy?

00:14It's nice to meet everybody.

00:16I'm Devin.

00:18Hi, Devin. I'm Howie.

00:20You have a lot of paperwork.

00:22Yeah. What's your name?

00:24Yiddish.

00:26Yeah.

00:28It's so weird to talk Yiddish

00:30to a man wearing this.

00:32Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good to meet you.

00:34Good to meet you. Who are you? I'm Liam.

00:36Liam? Yeah. That's Hebrew?

00:38Yeah. Oh, my God.

00:40Wow. Did somebody

00:42say all the Jews to this side of the room?

00:44And you snuck in. Turns out I'm 25%

00:46Jewish. He's 25%

00:48Jewish. When my mom found out

00:50she was half Jewish, I nervously

00:52asked her if I had to get a quarter circumcised.

00:54Haha, that's a good joke.

00:56I like that. Is that okay

00:58for this show?

01:00Wow. More people are coming

01:02to the assembly. It just seems like

01:04every time I blink, there's more of you.

01:06This is amazing.

01:08This is how we do it.

01:10Yeah, for sure.

01:12Good one.

01:14How are you? I'm Kelly. How are you?

01:16Yeah, how are you? I'm right.

01:18Nice to meet you. Thank you.

01:20Did you want to say something? I was going to say,

01:22I think we're ready to get started. We haven't started?

01:24We haven't really started.

01:26We haven't even started.

01:34Julia, can you open the show?

01:36Oh, Julia's going to open the show.

01:38I'm a bit nervous, I do.

01:40You're nervous? Yeah.

01:42So am I, Julia. Don't be nervous.

01:46Welcome to the assembly.

01:48We are a bunch of autistic and neurodivergent interviewers.

01:52We're very delighted to have you join us here today.

01:54We really are.

01:56Our rules are no questions are off the table,

01:58no subjects are out of bounds,

02:00and all might happen.

02:02So could you please tell us your name?

02:04I'm Howie Mandel.

02:06And I am so thrilled to be here.

02:08This is so exciting to have a real conversation,

02:12a real honest, wonderful conversation

02:14with people who are legitimately interested in the answers.

02:18I cannot wait.

02:19And there's no rules.

02:20I love no rules.

02:22And you're also neurodivergent.

02:24Yeah.

02:26I have extreme OCD,

02:29which is obsessive compulsive disorder,

02:31and I have anxiety,

02:33and I have depression,

02:35and I believe that everyone is neurodivergent.

02:40I believe that that is why it is called the spectrum.

02:43There aren't two people that think alike,

02:46that are alike,

02:47that see the world the same way.

02:49That's part of humanity.

02:54On that note, Dan, you can do the first question.

02:59Hi there, Howie.

03:01I'm Dan Arturo Martinez.

03:03Hi, Dan.

03:04I am an aspiring animator

03:05who had just graduated back in 2022,

03:08built my own computer,

03:09run my own animation software,

03:11off the shelf, of course.

03:13So can I ask you a question?

03:14Yes.

03:15Can I have a job?

03:18I could hire you when the time comes.

03:20Okay, thanks.

03:21No question is off the table.

03:23Moving on to the question.

03:27Okay.

03:28When you were in high school,

03:29you got expelled because you impersonated

03:32a member of the faculty hiring a construction company

03:35to expand the school.

03:37Yeah.

03:38Why did you do that?

03:39I don't know.

03:42You don't know?

03:43I don't know.

03:44You don't remember?

03:45I do remember, but you asked me why.

03:46I don't know.

03:47In the moment, I thought it might be funny,

03:50and I called a construction company

03:52to get an estimate on an addition to the library.

03:56And I did that because I was going to be in math class

03:58at three o'clock.

04:00And I just thought it'd be funny to look out the window

04:02and seeing this guy in the field measuring,

04:04and he had his clipboard.

04:06And then I saw the principal go out,

04:08and then I heard over the loudspeaker system,

04:11would Howard Mandel please come to the office?

04:13And then the vice principal said to me,

04:15Howard, did you invite somebody to put an addition

04:18onto the library?

04:20And I said, no.

04:21I was getting estimates.

04:23And then he...

04:25You were trying to ask for a quote

04:26on how much it's going to cost.

04:28Yes.

04:29Which I thought was pretty responsible.

04:30And my parents came into the office,

04:32and he explained to them what I had done.

04:35And it was kind of fun for me to watch my parents

04:37try to be serious.

04:38Like, what are they supposed to say?

04:40We told him never to hire anybody

04:42to put an addition onto the library.

04:44And I thought it'd be funny.

04:46And it got me thrown out of school.

04:49So the punchline was on me.

04:51Mmm.

04:53Wow.

04:54Thank you, Dan.

04:56Mariah, you are next.

05:02Is this applause?

05:03What is this?

05:04And some people have sound sensitivity.

05:06Yeah.

05:07So that's why we're trying to...

05:08Okay.

05:09I didn't know what you were doing,

05:10and they didn't tell me at the beginning.

05:11So I was thinking after every answer,

05:13I saw you all going,

05:14and that could mean,

05:15yeah, it was okay.

05:16All right.

05:18I thought he was gonna...

05:19I thought he was gonna do something better than that.

05:22Okay.

05:23So my question for you is,

05:25you were a doctor in a medical drama series,

05:29St. Elsewhere.

05:30Right.

05:31And this is a hypothetical question.

05:32Okay.

05:33So imagine a patient walks into the emergency room

05:36with a gunshot wound to the chest.

05:38They're not breathing.

05:39They have no pulse.

05:40What would you do?

05:42D5 lactated ringers,

05:43colloids,

05:44O negative blood,

05:45an intubation tray with a 22 centimeter

05:47endotraco tube,

05:48an open thoracotomy tray,

05:49and two number 16 central intravenous catheters,

05:52and a mass suit.

05:53Stat.

05:54I like your medical jargon.

05:56She knows what I'm talking about.

06:00That's a wonderful question.

06:02And I don't...

06:03I hope it's not important and imperative

06:04for anything that's gonna happen today.

06:09Jenny, you're next.

06:10Well, it's nice to meet you.

06:15It's nice to meet you.

06:16It's cool to see you in person.

06:17Nice to meet you.

06:18I've been sitting beside you.

06:19Yeah, I know.

06:20I can't believe it.

06:21Is this real life?

06:22It is.

06:23I was scared to let the world know that I was autistic

06:28because in the past I have been bullied for it

06:31and I was scared as an adult to get bullied for it again.

06:35But I've learned to love and accept myself

06:37who I am with it.

06:39I was curious,

06:41what made you decide to share with the world

06:44that you had OCD?

06:46I didn't.

06:47I didn't.

06:48I did it by accident.

06:49I had been diagnosed with OCD

06:52and didn't want to tell anybody

06:54for fear of how people would react.

06:56I wouldn't be able...

06:57I thought it would embarrass my family, my kids.

07:00People wouldn't give me work anymore.

07:02I would be bullied.

07:03But I was on Howard Stern

07:05and I didn't want to touch the doorknob to get out.

07:10And I asked if somebody could open the door

07:12because there's germs

07:13and they thought it was funny.

07:14And they said, no, you open it.

07:15And I went to grab a Kleenex

07:17to open the door with a tissue

07:19and they took the tissue away from me.

07:21And then I went to do with my shirt

07:22and they knocked it away.

07:23And then I finally, I panicked

07:25and I was having heart palpitations

07:27and a panic attack.

07:28And I said to him, I said, you know,

07:30Howard, I've been diagnosed

07:32with obsessive compulsive disorder.

07:34And if you don't open the door

07:36and let me out, I can't breathe right now.

07:38You're going to have to call 911.

07:39This is legitimate.

07:40And I take medication.

07:42And they opened the door

07:44and they went out in the hall

07:45and I could hear the broadcast.

07:47And I thought we were in a commercial.

07:49And I didn't realize it.

07:51I just broadcasted that whole thing publicly.

07:54And I was so embarrassed, devastated.

07:59And I walked down into the street

08:01and I didn't know where to turn.

08:03I was so afraid of what was going to happen next.

08:05And some guy came up to me in my periphery

08:07and said, are you Howie Mandel?

08:09And I said, yeah.

08:10He goes, I just heard you on Howard.

08:11And I thought, oh my God, my heart sunk.

08:14Like I just thought this is the beginning of it.

08:16And he just said two words to me.

08:17He went, me too.

08:18And I went, what?

08:19And he goes, I have obsessive.

08:21Thank you for talking about it.

08:22And I went, okay.

08:24So first time I ever heard somebody else,

08:26it was the first connection.

08:27That made me feel a little bit better.

08:28And I started getting mail.

08:29I got flooded with a ton of mail

08:31of people who said that they felt more comfortable

08:33that I mentioned it.

08:35And that's when I decided to be open about it.

08:37And my mission is to remove the stigma

08:41from anything that feels different.

08:46I'm sorry that happened to you,

08:48but glad that you're supporting the OCD

08:50and sharing it with the world and inspiring them.

08:52And I think you're a nice guy, so.

08:55Yeah.

08:56I think you're a nice lady.

08:57Aw, thank you.

08:58Dylan is next.

09:04Hi, Howie.

09:05Hi, Dylan.

09:06My question for you is,

09:08I heard you shave your head

09:09because it makes you feel clean.

09:11Is there anywhere else that,

09:13that you shave for the same reason?

09:21Well, uh, uh, not...

09:25We can go on to the...

09:26Go on?

09:27You said nothing's off the table.

09:31No, I don't shave any other place.

09:33And if I did, this lady right here

09:35said I'm not allowed to tell you.

09:36You can do whatever you want!

09:42Whatever you want to ask me,

09:43I'm here for you.

09:45Uh, Julia, you're next.

09:47Julia's next.

09:52Um, were you ever worried that if you got support

09:56or treatment for your OCD,

09:58it would impact people's, like, view of your humor?

10:01Like, it would make you less funny?

10:02That's a great question.

10:03So my whole life, I've been...

10:05It's not fun.

10:06Uh, you know, I'm, I'm being totally serious now.

10:09I suffer from OCD.

10:11I don't just have OCD.

10:12I suffer and it's really, at times, really debilitating.

10:16At times, it's really hard for me to even be out

10:19or amongst other people.

10:21And I have, uh, OCD also gives you these weird,

10:25reoccurring thoughts that don't really exist

10:27and, and neurosis.

10:29And it's, it's, it's mentally painful for me sometimes.

10:33Uh, because I'm my age and I, you know,

10:36I come from the 50s and, uh, people did not talk about

10:40mental health, you know?

10:43And so I was afraid to go seek help.

10:46When I finally went to seek help

10:48and they said that they, they were going to

10:51medicate me so that I would feel different,

10:54I was afraid because I had made a career

10:57out of, um, kind of just being myself,

11:02that they were going to change myself

11:04and therefore my career would change.

11:07So it did scare me a lot.

11:12But then the pain of what I was feeling

11:15outweighed the, the, the fear, right?

11:19So the, I, I decided to not suffer.

11:21And as it turns out, I can still have a career.

11:23So it hasn't changed any?

11:25I think my comedy is a lot more calm

11:28because I don't have that underlying nervous fear.

11:33People always thought I was on drugs.

11:35I was never on drugs.

11:37But because I move the way I move,

11:40when I'm really nervous, that's how I,

11:42that's, that's how it shows itself.

11:44So I think I, I look different and act a little bit different,

11:47but you know what?

11:48The fact that I'm still in a position

11:50where people invite me to do a show like this,

11:53it's worth it.

11:55Yeah.

11:56And thanks for opening up and sharing your OCD with everyone.

11:59Okay.

12:02I shamed my balls.

12:11Sorry.

12:14Sorry.

12:15Whew.

12:16So this is like a face mullet.

12:21What?

12:22It's a chin wig.

12:23A chin wig.

12:24There we go.

12:25I remember growing up as a child,

12:28watching you on Bobby's World.

12:30Bobby's World, for those that don't know,

12:32is a show that I did.

12:33I, I'm the voice of...

12:35I do it all.

12:36I do the voice.

12:37I was going to ask if you could do the voice,

12:39still do the voice of Bobby.

12:43This is the same voice that I did.

12:45I don't know if any of you are old enough.

12:46A gizmo, right?

12:47A gizmo.

12:48On Gremlins.

12:49On Gremlins.

12:50So do you remember?

12:51He went...

12:56It's the same voice.

12:57I was also Skeeter on the Muppet Babies.

13:03The same voice.

13:04All right.

13:06Margot, you're up.

13:12Hi.

13:13I grew up with Bobby's World,

13:15loved it as a kid,

13:16and also I checked my online DNA,

13:19and I have 11 Mandels in my family tree.

13:22So it's possible that we are distant relatives.

13:25Shh.

13:27It's my cousin.

13:28Yes.

13:30Is this a family reunion show?

13:34Hi, cuz.

13:35Hello.

13:36Wow.

13:37My question for you is,

13:38what is your biggest insecurity?

13:42My biggest insecurity?

13:43Yes.

13:46That I'm offending or hurting somebody

13:51just by anything that I say

13:52or something that I've done.

13:54I will promise you that even after this show,

13:59I will go back to wherever I am,

14:01at the hotel or wherever,

14:03and I will toss and turn for hours going,

14:07did I say something that I probably,

14:10did I do something offensive?

14:11Did I make somebody uncomfortable?

14:13And this is the dichotomy of who I am,

14:16because I'm in the public,

14:18and I probably come in contact

14:20with more people in my life

14:22than the average person comes in contact with,

14:25and I'm always concerned that I let people down,

14:29or I offend,

14:31or that they didn't get anything good.

14:33That's why I'm even looking back at production sometimes,

14:36because I go, you know,

14:37are you getting anything that's useful,

14:40or are you wasting your time with Howie Mandel?

14:45Thank you so much for sharing that.

14:46I can relate to a lot of what you said.

14:53And next up is Devon.

14:57Devon.

15:00Oh, Devon.

15:01I met him earlier.

15:03Hi, Devon.

15:05Hey, how are you?

15:07How are you doing?

15:08I'm doing great.

15:09Great.

15:10How are you?

15:11I'm doing good.

15:12Good.

15:14My question is,

15:18I was asked what I wanted to be.

15:25Yeah, I can't hear you.

15:27I'm old, and my hearing is bad.

15:29So you were asked.

15:31Ask what I wanted to be.

15:34I asked when I want to be a performer.

15:37You want to be a performer?

15:38When did you know you want to be a performer?

15:44You're asking me,

15:45when did I know I wanted to be a performer?

15:47Is that what you're asking me?

15:48Yes.

15:49Yes. Okay.

15:50Okay.

15:51So the truth is, I didn't know that I wanted to be a performer.

15:55I was always getting in trouble.

15:56I was always getting thrown out of school.

15:59And what happened is, I went to a comedy club in Toronto called Yuck Yucks.

16:03And I was seeing a show.

16:05I was watching a show.

16:06And then somebody said, if anybody who wants to try this, wants to get up on stage, try it.

16:12And a friend that I was sitting with dared me, said, Howie, I dare you to get up.

16:16And I didn't even have an act.

16:18I was just really scared.

16:19If you look at old tapes of me, if somebody shows you, if you go on YouTube and you look in the 1980s, Howie Mandel, I'm really scared because I don't have an act.

16:27And I'm standing on stage and I'm going, okay, okay, okay, all right, all right.

16:31And they start giggling at me because I'm afraid.

16:33And I start to go, what, what, what?

16:35Because I didn't know what anybody was laughing at.

16:37And because I told you I have those mental health problems, I carry rubber gloves with me because I was afraid of germs.

16:43And I took it out of my pocket because I was scared.

16:46I pulled it over my head.

16:47And when I started breathing, the fingers were going up and everybody started laughing like that.

16:52And then I popped it off my head and everybody applauded.

16:55And I walked off and the guy said, come back tomorrow.

16:58So I came back the next day and did the same thing over and over.

17:01That did change your life, basically.

17:03It changed my life.

17:04That night changed my life.

17:05And I said, this is what I want to do.

17:07From that time on, if I want to do something, I do it.

17:11Whatever you want to do, you try.

17:14It's fun to try.

17:15Trying is what life is about.

17:17Look at us.

17:18We're doing a show together right now.

17:20Howie and Devin are on the assembly.

17:23Yeah.

17:24Yeah, let's hear it for us.

17:26Thank you for your question.

17:30Next up is Austin.

17:34Hi, Austin.

17:35Hello.

17:41I'm just wondering because I know throughout your whole career, you've changed up your facial hair many times.

17:47So why did you get rid of your goatee so many times when that's basically your trademark?

17:53Why did I shave?

17:55Yeah.

17:56Most of the time it was an accident.

18:00I had a little goatee.

18:02Soul patch.

18:03I think that's what it is.

18:04He's right.

18:05You know, I wanted to make it a perfect triangle.

18:08Yeah.

18:09And then sometimes it wasn't so perfect, so it went away.

18:11But you want to hear a funny story?

18:12Hit me.

18:13Which is when Deal or No Deal took off, it got so popular that somebody sent me, I wish I had it here, ladies go to these places to get waxed.

18:24Do you know about that?

18:25Oh, I don't know.

18:26Yeah, I think I know that.

18:28So...

18:29Should I know that?

18:30What?

18:31Should I know that?

18:32I'm telling you that.

18:33I don't know.

18:34I'm not talking about anybody here.

18:36But they have their choices.

18:38They can get a Brazilian.

18:41They can get a landing strip.

18:48They sent me a menu and on the menu there was a Howie Mandel.

18:52There was a little triangle.

18:55And I'll tell you something, that meant more to me than a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

19:01Who's the next question?

19:07It's in my mind.

19:08I don't want to know your, like, facial hair.

19:10Okay, that's okay.

19:11All right.

19:12I was literally waxing poetic.

19:16All right, Andrew, you are next.

19:20Hi, I don't know how to follow that question.

19:22I'm sorry you have to come after that.

19:31Okay.

19:32If you had a time machine, what person would you bring back to the present?

19:42My father.

19:43Oh?

19:44My father was my, uh, was my biggest fan.

19:51My father came to every show I did.

19:53Every amateur show, everything.

19:55He was always on the side.

19:56And I would tell a joke or say something.

19:58And it didn't matter if the audience was laughing.

20:01I would turn and I'd see my father in the wings and he would laugh.

20:05And my father died very young.

20:06He died at 63 years old in 1989.

20:10That was devastating.

20:11And that's when, that's when I thought about quitting comedy.

20:15Because it was hard to go and try to be funny and care about laughing when you lost the closest person in your life.

20:24I thank you.

20:27Uh, Alexis, you're next.

20:39Um, my question to you is what is the darkest thought you've ever had?

20:48Well, here's my, here's my fear now.

20:55I don't really want to answer that because I, uh, I, I don't want to trigger myself.

21:02You know, and I don't want to, I don't want to bring it up.

21:04I don't want to trigger anybody who's watching.

21:06That's kind of a scary thing to do because the thing about OCD is you can't make that thought stop.

21:14So if you bring that thought up and then you're triggered and it just keeps going, then, uh, and I'm right now I'm just concerning myself.

21:23I don't want to trigger myself and go down a wormhole that I'm not, I'm having a good time right now.

21:28Yeah.

21:29And I don't want to know my, I don't want to bring up my darkest thought.

21:32No, that's totally.

21:33I'm afraid to do that for myself.

21:35Yeah.

21:39Next is Alex.

21:42Thank you very much.

21:43Okay.

21:44First off, I noticed that you were fidgeting a bit and I brought a fidget toy that's packaged unused if you would like it.

21:49Yeah.

21:50Would you like it?

21:51Yeah.

21:52Okay.

21:53Awesome.

21:54Here you go.

21:56Of course.

21:57That's so sweet of you.

21:58Um, so my question for you is I, I also have OCD.

21:59I'm like a major germaphobe.

22:00Like I see bugs crawling over me all the time kind of thing.

22:02I'm sorry.

22:03Um, well, I'm chilling with it now.

22:04You know, I just, I've learned to like work with it instead of against it.

22:07And so my question is for you, what is one positive you find with your OCD?

22:12Well, I don't think that it's a gift, you know, I don't, if it's a gift, I'd like to return it.

22:17But I, if I could not have it, I would be thrilled.

22:23Uh, I think that, um, it's become part of the vernacular of our society.

22:30You know, people come up to me and they go, Oh yeah, I, me too.

22:32I'm a little OCD.

22:33And that's because they're persnickety and they want to, they want a clean desk or they want everything in order.

22:38If you legitimately have OCD, diagnosed OCD, um, you can't control your thoughts.

22:46And even when you know that your thought makes no sense, that what I'm doing and what I'm thinking is not the way, is not reality.

22:54And you can't stop that.

22:56Yeah.

22:57That's debilitating.

22:58It's terrifying.

22:59It's terrifying.

23:00It's terrifying.

23:01So out of that terror, I can't imagine anything that, anything positive.

23:09If there is one positive, it's that other people share this same debilitating issue.

23:14Yeah.

23:15And you know that you're not alone and there's some comfort in that.

23:18Yeah.

23:20Thank you, Alex.

23:22I love this.

23:23You haven't aged today, by the way.

23:39You've only seen me for an hour.

23:41Why would I have aged?

23:42I'm old.

23:43I'm the oldest one here, probably.

23:45Who's the youngest person here?

23:46Probably me.

23:47I'm 18.

23:48Alex?

23:49You're what?

23:50I'm 18.

23:51You're 18.

23:52What?

23:53I'm 18 as well.

23:54You're 18 as well.

23:55I'm gonna be 70 this year.

23:56What?

23:57I know.

23:58I'm tall for my age.

24:00Christian, you're next.

24:05Howie.

24:07Christian.

24:08Yeah.

24:10I've been dying since I've been, you know, watching Deal or No Deal.

24:13I love the show, by the way.

24:15Thank you, buddy.

24:16Can you tell me the question?

24:18I've been dying here.

24:19Let's hear it.

24:24Christian?

24:25Yeah.

24:26I'm only gonna ask you once.

24:29This is a big decision.

24:30Mm.

24:36This question can change your life.

24:41It's all or nothing, Christian.

24:44What's your last name?

24:45Armstrong.

24:46Christian Armstrong.

24:51Deal?

24:52Or no deal?

24:58I'll take the deal.

25:06Deal.

25:07Deal.

25:08Next up is Kai.

25:15How are you?

25:16I'm doing great.

25:17How are you?

25:18Good, good.

25:19My question is, if you could telepathically speak into the minds of this current generation, what would you say?

25:33Don't worry.

25:34You know, I think that worry takes up too much of our lives.

25:38And I think we just have to be, and we just have to do, and we just have to be who we are.

25:47And we can't worry about what other people think.

25:49We can't worry about what other people are doing.

25:51We can't worry about what other people have that we feel we don't have.

25:55All the things that I was worried about when I was young, and all the things that I was scared about, and all the things that I was concerned with, they don't mean anything.