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00:00Wow.
00:02Producers 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 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 for
00:58this 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.
01:12Good one.
01:14How are you?
01:16How are you?
01:18Right. Nice to meet you. Thank you.
01:20Did you want to say something? I was going to say, I think
01:22we're ready to get started. We haven't started?
01:24We haven't really started. We haven't
01:26even started.
01:28Julia, can you open the show?
01:36Oh, Julia's going to open the show.
01:38I've been nervous, I do.
01:40You're nervous? Yeah. So am I, Julia.
01:42Don't be nervous. Thank you.
01:44Welcome 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
02:16in 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,
02:28which is obsessive-compulsive disorder,
02:30and I have anxiety,
02:32and I have depression,
02:34and 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.
02:55On that note, Dan, you can do the first question.
02:58Hi there, Howie.
03:00I'm Dan Arturo Martinez.
03:02Hi, Dan.
03:03I am an aspiring animator
03:05who had just graduated back in 2022,
03:07built my own computer,
03:09run my own animation software,
03:11off the shelf, of course, and...
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.
03:26Moving on to the question.
03:27Okay.
03:28When you were in high school,
03:30you got expelled
03:31because you impersonated a member of the faculty
03:34hiring a construction company to 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 3 o'clock,
04:00and I just thought it would 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,
04:10would Howard Mandel please come to the office?
04:13And then the vice principal said to me,
04:15Howard, did you invite somebody
04:17to put an addition onto 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, which I thought was pretty responsible.
04:30And my parents came into the office,
04:32and he explained to them what I had done,
04:34and it was kind of fun for me to watch my parents try 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 would be funny,
04:46and it got me thrown out of school,
04:49so the punchline was on me.
04:51Mmm.
04:53Thank you, Dan.
04:56Mariah, you are next.
05:02Is this applause? What is this?
05:04Some people have sound sensitivity,
05:06so that's why we're trying to...
05:07Okay.
05:08I didn't know what you were doing,
05:09and they didn't tell me at the beginning,
05:10so I was thinking after every answer,
05:12I saw you all going,
05:13and that could mean,
05:14yeah, 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 the 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, O-negative blood,
05:45an intubation tray with a 22-centimeter
05:47endotraico 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.
06:14Well, it'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?
06:22Yeah.
06:23It is.
06:24Yeah.
06:25I was scared to let the world know
06:27that I was autistic
06:28because in the past,
06:30I have been bullied for it,
06:31and I was scared as an adult
06:33to 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
06:43with the world that 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,
06:59my 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.
07:09And I asked if somebody could open the door
07:12because there's germs,
07:13and they thought it was funny.
07:14And they said,
07:15no, you open it.
07:16And 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 it with my shirt,
07:22and they knocked it away.
07:23And then I finally...
07:24I panicked,
07:25and I was having heart palpitations
07:26and a panic attack.
07:28And I said to him, I said,
07:30you know, Howard,
07:31I've been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder,
07:34and if you don't open the door and let me out,
07:37I can't breathe right now,
07:38you're going to have to call 911.
07:39This is legitimate,
07:40and I take...
07:41I take medication.
07:43And they opened the door,
07:44and they went out in the hall,
07:46and 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.
07:54Oh!
07:55And I was so embarrassed,
07:59devastated,
08:00and I walked out into the street,
08:02and I didn't know where to turn.
08:03I was so afraid of what was going to happen next.
08:06And some guy came up to me in my periphery
08:08and said,
08:09are you Howie Mandel?
08:10And I said, yeah.
08:11He goes, I just heard you on Howard.
08:12And I thought, oh, my God.
08:13My heart sunk.
08:14Like, I just thought,
08:15this 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 the 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.
08:30I got flooded with a ton of mail
08:31of people who said that they felt more comfortable
08:34that 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.
08:59Dylan 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
09:13that you shave for the same reason?
09:15Well, 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.
09:37You can do whatever you want!
09:38Whatever you want to ask me,
09:43I'm here for you.
09:44Uh, Julia, you're next.
09:47Julia's next.
09:52Um, were you ever worried
09:55that if you got support or treatment
09:57for your OCD,
09:58it would impact people's, like,
10:00view 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,
10:07I'm being totally serious now.
10:09I suffer from OCD.
10:12I don't just have OCD.
10:13I suffer, and it's really,
10:15at times, really debilitating.
10:17At times, it's really hard for me
10:18to even be out
10:20or amongst other people.
10:21And I have...
10:23OCD also gives you
10:24these weird, reoccurring thoughts
10:26that don't really exist,
10:28and neurosis,
10:29and it's mentally painful
10:32for me sometimes.
10:33Uh, because I'm my age,
10:35and I, you know,
10:36I come from the 50s,
10:38and people did not talk
10:40about mental health.
10:42You know?
10:43And so I was afraid
10:44to go seek help.
10:46When I finally went to seek help,
10:48and they said that they were going
10:50to medicate me
10:52so that I would feel different,
10:54I was afraid,
10:55because I had made a career
10:57out of, um,
10:59kind of just being myself,
11:02that they were going to change myself,
11:05and 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 fear, right?
11:19So I decided to not suffer.
11:21And as it turns out,
11:22I 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
11:31nervous fear.
11:33People always thought I was on drugs.
11:35I was never on drugs.
11:36But because I move the way I move,
11:39when I'm really nervous,
11:41that's how I, that's how it shows itself.
11:44So I think I look different and act
11:46a little bit different,
11:47but you know what?
11:48the fact that I'm still in a position
11:51where people invite me
11:52to do a show like this,
11:53it's worth it.
11:56Yeah.
11:57And thanks for opening up
11:58and sharing your OCD with everyone.
12:02Okay, I shaved my balls.
12:11Sorry.
12:14Sorry.
12:15Woo!
12:19So this is like a face mullet.
12:21What?
12:22It's a chin wig.
12:23A chin wig.
12:24There we go.
12:26I remember growing up as a child
12:28watching you on Bobby's World.
12:30Bobby's World,
12:31for those that don't know,
12:32is a show that I did.
12:33I'm the voice of...
12:35I do it all.
12:36I do the voice.
12:37I was going to ask you
12:38if 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
12:46are old enough.
12:47Gizmo, right?
12:48I was Gizmo.
12:49On Gremlins.
12:50On Gremlins.
12:51So do you remember?
12:52He went...
12:55It's the same voice.
12:57I was also Skeeter
12:58on the Muppet Babies.
13:01Skeeter!
13:03It's the same voice.
13:06All right.
13:07Margo, you're up.
13:08Hi.
13:09I grew up with Bobby's World.
13:10Loved it as a kid.
13:11And also, I checked my online DNA.
13:13And I have 11 Mandels in my family tree.
13:17So it's possible that we are distant relatives.
13:18Shh.
13:19It's my cousin.
13:20Yes.
13:21Is this a family reunion show?
13:23Hi, cuz.
13:24Hi, cuz.
13:25Wow.
13:26My question for you is, what is your biggest insecurity?
13:29My biggest insecurity?
13:30Yes.
13:31That I'm offending or hurting somebody just by anything that I say or something that I say.
13:34I will promise you that even after this show, I will go back to wherever I am, at the hotel or wherever, and
13:39biggest insecurity? My biggest insecurity? That I'm offending or hurting somebody just by
13:51anything that I say or something that I've done. I will promise you that even after this show,
13:59I will go back to wherever I am at the hotel or wherever, and I will toss and turn for hours
14:07going, did I say something? Did I do something offensive? Did I make somebody uncomfortable?
14:13And this is the dichotomy of who I am because I'm in the public, and I probably come in contact
14:20with more people in my life than the average person comes in contact with, and I'm always
14:26concerned that I let people down or I offend or that they didn't get anything good. That's why I'm
14:34even looking back at production sometimes because I go, you know, are you getting anything that's
14:40useful, or are you wasting your time with Howie Mandel? Thank you so much for sharing that. I
14:47can relate to a lot of what you said. Thank you. Thank you.
14:49And next up is Devin.
14:57Devin. Oh, Devin. I met him earlier. Hi, Devin.
15:05Hey, how are you? How are you doing?
15:08I'm doing great. How are you?
15:10I'm doing good.
15:11Good.
15:13From, my, my question is, I was asked what I wanted to be.
15:25Yeah, I can't hear you. I'm old, and my hearing is bad. So you were asked.
15:31Ask what I wanted to be. I was 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, when did I know I wanted to be a performer? Is that what you're asking me?
15:48Yes.
15:49Yes. Okay. So the truth is, I didn't know that I wanted to be a performer. I was always getting
15:56in trouble. I was always getting thrown out of school. And what happened is, I went to a
16:00comedy club in Toronto called Yuck Yucks. And I was seeing a show. I was watching a show. And then
16:07somebody said, if anybody who wants to try this, wants to get up on stage, try it. And a friend
16:13that I was sitting with dared me, said, Howie, I dare you to get up. And I didn't even have an act.
16:18I was just really scared. If you look at old tapes of me, if somebody shows you, if you go on
16:22YouTube, and you look in the 1980s, Howie Mandel, I'm really scared because I don't have an act. And
16:28I'm standing on stage and I'm going, okay, okay, okay, all right, all right. And they start giggling
16:32at me because I'm afraid. And I start to go, what, what, what? Because I didn't know what anybody was
16:37laughing at. And because I told you I have those mental health problems, I carry rubber gloves with
16:42me because I was afraid of germs. And I took it out of my pocket because I was scared. I pulled it over
16:47my head. And when I started breathing, the fingers were going up and everybody started laughing like
16:51that. And then I popped it off my head and everybody applauded. And I walked off and the
16:56guy said, come back tomorrow. So I, I came back the next day and did the same thing over and over.
17:01That did change your life, basically. It changed my life. That night changed my life. And I said,
17:06this is what I want to do. From that time on, if I want to do something, I do it. Whatever you want to
17:12do, you try. It's fun to try. Trying is what life is about. Look at us. We're doing a show together
17:19right now. Howie and Devin are on the assembly. Yeah, let's hear it for us. Thank you for your
17:29question. Next up is Austin. Hi, Austin. Hello.
17:35I'm just wondering, because I know throughout your whole career, you've changed up your facial
17:45hair many times. So why did you get rid of your goatee so many times when that's basically your
17:51trademark? Why did I shave? Yeah. Um, most of the time it was an accident. I had a little goatee
18:02soul patch. Soul patch. I think that's what it is. He's right. You know, I wanted to make it a
18:06perfect, uh, triangle. Yeah. And then sometimes it wasn't so perfect. So it went away. But you
18:11want to hear a funny story, which is when deal or no deal took off, it was, it got so popular
18:17that somebody sent me, I wish I had it here. Ladies go to these places to get waxed. Do you know about
18:24that? I don't know. Wait, yeah, I think I know that. Should I know that? What? Should
18:30I know that? I'm telling you that. I don't know. I'm not talking about anybody here. But
18:36they have their choices. They can get a Brazilian. They can get a landing strip. Yeah. They sent
18:48me a menu. And on the menu, there was a Howie Mandel. There was a little triangle. And I'll
18:55tell 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. I don't want to know your, like, facial hair. Okay. All right. I was literally
19:13waxing poetics. All right. Andrew, you are next. Hi. I don't know how to follow that question.
19:21I'm sorry you have to come after that.
19:31Okay. If you had a time machine, what person would you bring back to the present?
19:38My father. My father was my, uh, was my biggest fan. My father came to every show I did. Every
19:54amateur show, everything. He was always on the side. And I would tell a joke or say something. And
19:59it didn't matter if the audience was laughing. I would turn and I'd see my father in the wings
20:03and he would laugh. And my father died very young. He died at 63 years old in 1989.
20:10That was devastating. And that's when, that's when I thought about quitting comedy. Because
20:16it was hard to go and try to be funny and care about laughing when you lost the closest person in
20:23your life. I thank you. Alexis, you're next.
20:29Um, my question to you is what is the darkest thought you've ever had?
20:47Well, here's my, here's my fear now. I don't really want to answer that because I, I, I,
20:58I don't want to trigger myself, you 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. That's kind of a scary thing to do because the
21:09thing about OCD is you can't make that thought stop. So if you bring that thought up and then
21:16you'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. And I don't want to know my, I don't want to bring up my darkest thought. No, that's totally
21:33hard. I'm afraid to do that for myself. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Next is Alex.
21:42Thank you very much. Okay. First off, I noticed that you were fidgeting a bit and I brought a
21:46fidget toy that's packaged unused if you would like it. Yeah. Would you like it? Yeah. Okay. Awesome.
21:50Here you go. Thank you. That's so sweet of you. Um, so my question for you is I, I also have OCD. I'm
21:57like a major germaphobe. Like I see bugs crawling over me all the time kind of thing. I'm sorry.
22:02Um, well, I'm chilling with it now. You know, I just, I've learned to like work with it instead
22:06of against it. And so my question is for you, what is one positive you find with your OCD?
22:13Well, 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, uh, I, uh, if I could not have it, I would be thrilled. Uh, I think that, um,
22:27it's become part of the vernacular of our society. You know, people come up to me and they go,
22:31oh yeah, I, me too. I'm a little OCD. And that's because they're persnickety and they want to,
22:35they want a clean desk or they want everything in order. If you legitimately have OCD,
22:40diagnosed OCD, um, you can't control your thoughts. And even when you know that your
22:48thought makes no sense, that what I'm doing and what I'm thinking is not the, what is not reality,
22:54and you can't stop that. That's debilitating. It's terrifying. It's terrifying. So out of that
23:02terror, I can't imagine anything that, anything positive. If there is one positive, it's that
23:11other people share this same debilitating issue and you know that you're not alone and there's
23:16some comfort in that. Yeah. Thank you, Alex. I love this.
23:36You haven't aged today, by the way. You've only seen me for an hour. Why would I have aged?
23:42I'm old. I'm the oldest one here, probably. Who's the youngest person here?
23:46I'm 18. Alex, you're what? I'm 18.
23:48You're 18. What? I'm 18 as well. You're 18 as well.
23:53I'm going to be 70 this year.
23:56I know, I'm tall for my age. Christian, you're next.
24:05Howie. Christian. Yeah. I've been, I've been dying since I've been, you know,
24:12watching Deal or No Deal. Uh, I love the show, by the way.
24:15Thank you, buddy. Can you tell me the question? I've been dying here. Let's hear it.
24:24Christian. Yeah. I'm only going to ask you once.
24:27This is a big decision.
24:35This question can change your life. It's all or nothing, Christian.
24:44What's your last name?
24:44Armstrong. Christian Armstrong. Deal or No Deal?
24:58I'll take the deal.
25:01Thank you. Deal. Deal.
25:07Next up is Kai.
25:15How are you?
25:15I'm doing great. How are you?
25:17Good, good.
25:20Um, my question is, if you could, um, telepathically speak into the minds of this
25:26current generation, what would you say?
25:27Don't worry. You know, I think that worry takes up too much of our lives.
25:39And I think we just have to be. And we just have to do. And we just have to be who we are. And we
25:47can't worry about what other people think. We can't worry about what other people are doing. We can't
25:52worry about what other people have that we feel we don't have. All the things that I was worried
25:59about when I was young and all the things that I was scared about and all the things that I was
26:03concerned with are, they don't mean anything. I think it's really important just to enjoy
26:11this second, this moment right now. And just we're all together. We're all safe. We're all happy.
26:19We've all been fed. We have a roof over our heads. We're good. That's my advice. Thank you.
26:27You're welcome.
26:31Um, that is it for our questions. Okay. Uh, Dylan, would you like to close the show? Sure.
26:44Howie Mandel, thank you for coming on the assembly.
26:49What did you think of this experience? It was wonderful. It was amazing. And I'll tell you why,
26:58because this is in my history in show business, the most honest, beautiful, original, authentic
27:08conversation I've ever had on camera. You know, I learned that humanity and all, all humanity is
27:17beautiful and wonderful and joyful. And we should all, each one of us should be celebrated and is
27:25a star.
27:27Where do you want me? Where do you want me? In the middle?
27:39Oh, we can do this. Thank you, everybody. I love you all. I love you.
27:58Howie Mandel, thanks for having me. Thank you. Thank you so much. This is great. My back is out.
28:07It's a long time to sit for an old man. I got a fidget thing out of it. I really needed it.
28:13She knew it. It's like timing. I'm sorry about shaving my balls.
28:26It's like shaving my balls, I'm sorry about shaving my balls. I'm sorry about shaving my balls.
28:31And I was like, I was so happy. Oh, I'm not gonna use heavy balls.
28:33It's like 15 minutes later, that's all, all of us.
28:35And hopefully you'll see.
28:36I'm sorry. It's like you've got a new one.
28:38I'm sorry about how you've been so happy about shaving my balls.
28:40I'm sorry. You have to see what you're doing here.
28:42I'm sorry about shaving my ball, you'll see what you have in your balls.
28:45I mean, you'll see me tomorrow during the morning.
28:47Okay, so I'm sorry.
28:48I'll see you on the emerge of this episode, I'm sorry about shaving.
28:49I'm sorry. You can't forget the music.
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