Sergio Cilli, Writer, Director, Actor

00:00
People did not want to see robots doing comedy.

00:12
Welcome to another episode of Chewing the Fat. I am your host, Big Robb. Thank you so much for tuning in,  downloading the podcast. I certainly do appreciate that. Thank you to all the folks that have bought me a coffee at chewingthefatbr.com by clicking the little coffee mug.  Certainly does help the podcast to keep going so that we can continue to tell these beautiful, messy human stories.  Right now joining me from Portland, Oregon, please welcome  Sergio Chilli. Sergio, thank you so much for being here. You bet. How's it going?

00:42
Going well, man. Going well. ah Folks that may not know who you are,  I feel for them because  I realized  just this year that I have been a fan of yours for at least 16 years.  Because I worked in uh television uh in a production room  and when uh we got that B-roll came out, I cannot tell you how many people I shared that with and was like, come on, come on, you gotta see this. You gotta see this. This is amazing.

01:09
Cause it was what we were all dealing with. And when you work on the production side, you know, yeah, it's that I love that it had a new, I had a resurgence, you know, with the popularity of the AI audition videos.  I thought I'm going to put this back out because nobody,  I don't even know if I'd ever even posted it on Instagram. It was an old YouTube video and it was so fun to see people connecting the dots.  Um, you know, I had a long, I mean, I still,

01:39
think of myself as a sketch guy, I'm not a little, I'm like semi-retired sketch guy, but I used to do lots of sketch videos with my group Cream in LA and was like doing UCB, Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. yeah, thank you, thank you. Yeah, no, it was great. It really was. And I do have a question about the, got that B-roll. In the...

02:07
in the chyron that's rolling up behind you. What is turtleneck fights?  I actually made a video. Uh, it was a joke, of course. Yeah. Yeah. But then a lot of people, I I put it in there, like, we'll see if anyone catches it. And of course you don't know when you make a video, it's going to go viral. So I just thought that, you know, maybe a thousand views or something and it would go unnoticed. But when millions of people watch something,  people do, people do notice.  And it was a joke. And then we actually made a video.

02:36
Answering that question that was not as popular  called the history the history of turtleneck fighting and the story goes that when  To uh what do call tailors?  Mm-hmm. We're making outfits and that  One of them was they got into a fight and ruffled one of their Turtle and and ruffled one of the the neck collars to make a turtleneck

03:07
And,  uh, he thought that looks pretty good.  So then they started doing turtleneck fighting, like a fight club thing. It's a,  it's a very funny video. And then we put so much energy into it. The little cash we made from licensing out, we got that B roll, um you know, we used to pay for the history of turtleneck fighting, which never again, like never, uh, never went off like we thought it would, but that's the lesson of viral videos. Yeah.

03:35
I should have made some kind of sequel. But you know, I will definitely find it, watch it, put a link to it in the show notes and things like that along with everything else. Type cream history of turtleneck fighting and you will find it. It's still there. Awesome. I can't wait to watch it now. You're in Portland now. Is that area home for you up in the PNW or? Oh, you mean like where I grew up? No, it's not.

04:04
No, it's not. It's just,  uh, I wanted to stay on the West coast.  Um,  and we really wanted to live somewhere a little greener with seasons.  Um, we had two little kids when we moved up here who were still little, but not as little.  Um, and just kind of wanted to slow down a little bit as far as like the day to day lifestyle. I love that. Where, where did you grow? Where did you  grow up though? Personally.

04:32
A few places. I was born in New York City and then we moved to Atlanta, Georgia. Oh wow, not far from Not too far.  And we were there  until  I was a teenager and then um we moved to Colorado of all places. And then I went to Ithaca College,  know, upstate New York and then I moved to LA. So I've been all over the place.  Oh, that's awesome. Was  the entertainment

05:02
bug kind of something you had from a from a young young child growing up? Oh, yeah. I mean, yeah. And even in hindsight, even earlier than I thought, uh used to make like sketch videos when like when handy cams became a thing that turned to like, you know, the early  90s. Yeah. As soon as my parents bought a handy cam, we started making like comedy videos.  And it's funny to see that because like it clearly was like something

05:31
I was interested in and he was too. didn't pursue it. He's a musician. Um, but yeah, I loved doing it, but like the real like,

05:41
in my back or the bug or whatever you want to call it happened in high school. There was a video making program that was offered  at my school  and we did a night shoot this little like mafia  like parody mafia thing I wrote. Yeah.  And my teacher was like let's let's shoot it at night. It's gonna look way better and shot at night and we even got to like

06:08
light cigarettes to make it smokey. This was, you know, the nineties. So you could do anything like that. And like, it was just like crazy. We like stayed up till like two in the morning shooting this thing. And I learned about coverage and it was just so fun. And I just like went home and my mom was up waiting for me or heard me come in or whatever. And it was like, how'd go? I like, this is what I want to do. I was like, I want to do this.

06:36
We had already looked at other colleges. was like, those aren't going to work. What are the film schools? So it was a complete like 180 shift around 70, 17. That would have been pretty sweet. I'd be like 120 now, but. That's awesome. That's awesome. is that also, so the quote filmmaking bug kind of got you then. Where did your sense of humor?

07:04
uh originate from and start that you really started to where you always kind of like the wisecracker the class clown as they say that type of stuff. Yeah, I'm sure there's some trauma somewhere to attribute it to.  Second child need need more of the attention. m But it is always come naturally to me. I see it in like my kids too. It's it's fun to see it on the other end. um Like I would I don't

07:32
me and my parents ever listen like it's not like they weren't funny but like it wasn't like oh my dad was always cracking jokes and watched Jerry Lewis or whatever like right it wasn't like that but you know I think it came from  do that well in school you have to find your way to fit in there's usually some sort of pain you're blocking yeah yeah that's why I say that I did not do very well in school  so you find other ways  to fit in or or to find your place I think

08:02
Yeah, no, I totally agree with that. a uh fat kid,  a fat adult,  I had to use, I used comedy and humor as  a self-defense coping mechanism so that I wouldn't get beat up because it's hard for, you know, somebody to beat you up when they're laughing and all of their friends are laughing and you're making them laugh and they want to keep you around because of that and don't put their fist in your face. So, I mean, I definitely understand that. Yeah, 100%.

08:32
So, in the stuff that you're doing  now,  the will AI replace us?  What?  And it's brilliant. It's so good because  as a voice actor myself, it's one of the things that we talk about in our little groups all the time and things like that. it's like, because I know  voice actors that were like, oh, I'm doing this thing and I'm  helping build this thing and blah, blah, blah. And I was like, you're putting us all out of work.

09:02
Um,  you know, and I think  especially what you're doing as far as the actual on camera AI actors and things like that, it,  definitely shows, shows the gaps  is, is  that you, is your own work, what caused you to, or your own fear for work, what caused you to start like, Hey, let's see what happens with this. How good is it? Yeah. I mean, it came about very organically  in, um,  that

09:32
you know, I was probably reading the same messages everyone else was reading or the headlines that were coming out around last year around summertime. I feel like, uh, 2025, there was a lot of upgrades to the AI tools and it was kind of blowing people away. Um, and my mom sent me like an article, I think it was like a New York times article or something about like Hollywood is over or something like that. And we were on vacation at the time and

10:01
you I read it and I was just like, really like hit me. It's probably like the mood I was in that day, you know, like you get the right mix of when you get certain news and  I was super down and like, uh, I remember very vividly we were at like a park with the kids on like summer break  and I was I don't know what we're going to do. Like, I think we got like really figure out something. I think it's like over like tomorrow or something.  And she was like, you know, I think

10:30
you should really go home when we get home. I think you should just start using it and like see what it is and see what you're so afraid of. I had never used a, I hadn't even like done chat GPT. I had literally done nothing. I was so, I'm one of those people that didn't even have an iPhone until like it was freakishly late to get one.  You know, I feel like I was like one of the last hundred people to get one.  So I've never been, I've been always kind of analog. love records as you can see right here.  Um,

11:00
I've always been kind of, I love like 70s filmmaking. Like I've always been that kind of soul. I've been an old soul.  So I never used AI and she's like, when we get home, you should start playing with it and see what happens. Um, so you can at least know what people are talking about. And when people are asking you what your opinion is on, you'll have an opinion. So when we got back, I made a few calls to see like, well, I literally didn't even know what the programs were called. I got some advice on which ones to use.

11:29
And made a couple hundred percent AI videos. And, you know, coming from a sketch background, there was something really quite, it was like, honestly, it was like, I was like, wow, like I can have an idea and like start making it 10 seconds later. And, know, like I live in Portland now, I don't even live in LA anymore. Like all my funny friends still live there. So like initially I was like, wow, this is kind of cool. Maybe I will start making comedy videos in my free time again.

11:59
Cause I certainly didn't stop doing it cause I didn't like it. It was more about, I had a career, was directing commercials and other things. I had writing projects and I just didn't have time to like, if you know anything about like indie sketch comedy, but you're basically producing it. Like you're going to the, to target and buying the whatever props you need and then returning them. it's a lot of Yeah. Like I made, I mean literally like 30 or 40.

12:28
sketch videos that way and I was burnt out by like 31 like like I don't want to do that anymore and then when you get a taste of like having a production behind you as I got bigger budget things you're like I'm really done with that now. So anyway there was like I was very much. uh I did honestly. Making comedy videos with AI and I made a couple and one it took forever to get a good take.

12:56
And two, was like incredibly limiting as far as like what your whatever you want to call them performer. I don't whatever it is,  whatever it is, it was very hard to get to do what you wanted it to do. And you had to work within the limitations of the performance. So I did like have some things that I thought actually came out pretty well. ah But even though  like maybe two days to get something usable and

13:25
But like the response was like, so either why are you doing this  or just like people weren't connecting with it at all.  And I was connecting with it because I had made it. Right. But people  did not want to see robots doing comedy. ah And that was very clear.  And I also didn't really enjoy making the videos like it was more of like an assignment.

13:54
But like, you know, if you've ever like, oh my God, like make collaborating with like a team of people and making something funny and we're all laughing and like trying different things, like it's the best. I mean, it truly is the best. I love doing what I do, but then it's still be like from your computer being like, Oh, it keeps like glitching out there. need to like do 17 takes before it doesn't glitch out. Like that's not like fun. That's just like doing the work. Yeah. So

14:20
This is a long winded answer, but I basically was like, I don't, I'm not going to make these videos anymore. No one likes them and they're not fun to do. And I do feel like I've gotten my answer of what AI can and can't do. And then of course, like a week later I was in the shower and I was like, Ooh, maybe if I put myself in these videos with AI, that would be interesting and, and funny. Yeah. And then I thought, and I had like a few months of like,

14:47
in my head like all the things it can't do.  And I was like, that's really cool. Let's  talk about what it can't do. Everyone talks about what it can do. I'm talk about what it can't do and I'm gonna show you by showing you its performance in its rawest form, which is the audition. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's, it's amazing. Cause  one, as an actor, it's the audition process is very nerve wracking period.

15:15
You know what I mean? As an actual performer.  So to  see how much worse it can be for something that's generated basically with a few keystrokes and things like that. It's like maybe  whatever that they scraped that they stole from other  actors putting up their audition performances are now dictating their ability to  audition as well.

15:44
I just think it's brilliant and I love  whenever you put the new videos out. It's just so... It's so refreshing to me as a performer to be able to like, all right, you know what? Lots of stuff goes on in the world. I can still just put the best me that I can be out there  and know for a fact it's better than this. But there's always gonna be a corporation, a company, a bean counter that's gonna be like, yeah, but...

16:13
that guy costs this much, this stuff costs nothing or way less or whatever. And it's like, okay, but you're literally getting what you pay for out of that. Yeah. And it's going to get better. And it's also, uh,

16:29
my job at this point that  I guess I've assigned to myself. You know, like there's gonna be new updates. I mean, there's already one now, but I feel like in the next couple of months, it will be really interesting to see what I do with it. I mean, I don't even know what I'm gonna do with it because I feel like my job, there will be an update  and it will be better in some ways, but I know there's gonna be things that can't do.  I have yet to see it do any kind of like,

16:58
scene with three or four other  actors and like do do a scene that's actually impressive. I still have yet to see it do like a actually real performance that is actually has substance. It's getting better like getting the lines right not doing all the glitchy things but it's still like a pretty emotionally vacant  thing like I'm doing one right now  and  it's  it's a little tricky because

17:27
It's not like they're glitching out as much as the early videos I did, but it still sucks.  And I'm like, well, is that interesting?  You know what I mean? Like just something being bad isn't really necessarily like the end of a video. So then I started. Understand like what this is about and like trying to see if it would, what it would say back to Tude. Yeah, yeah, I get it. When is this going to be over? Wow.

17:57
And, and I'm like, you want this audition to be over? Like, fine, let's fucking make it's over then. Like, I don't even want to work with you. Like, I feel like that's how the video is going to end. Like, you imagine, like, if you said that in an audition, that would be insane. would be career suicide. And it's not like the director is God or anything, but like you would just never act like that. That would be. That's saying like, I don't want to be here. So I'm thinking this video just ends with them being like, are we done yet? And I'm like, yeah, we're done. I think we are done.

18:27
I love that and and it's and like you said one of the I Like the transformation you've had like said to try and did like alright, here's the scene I'm an auditioning you for you know a dishwasher ad. Alright, here's a Christmas family dinner or thanks everything, you know or But like when you  What was it like when you did the  did the one and you got a gun pulled on you out of nowhere from zero prompts?  like

18:55
I mean, I think your reaction was genuine, if I'm not mistaken, that did you just pull a gun? Where like grip and  like, you know,  chamber around  at an audition for something. Yeah. Uh,  very exciting, honestly. I mean, it was like, well, yeah,  I'd say we're all like, oh, that was a good one. But like, you know, think about

19:22
of you. had never. That was the first one I ever did too.  So like that it got that off the rails so quickly  was like, holy shit. I've got something  way better than I could have ever met. I never could have written this. ah And I showed it to like a few friends before I put it out and they're like, Oh, I love how you made him pull a gun. was like, no, I didn't tell it to do that. And they're like, no way. I'm like, so I'm like, this was again, like it's all hindsight now, but like

19:50
I made it really clear. Like that's why I started putting the prompts in the either in the description or in the thing below. That's why I like a big thing that says I didn't tell it to do this because this was all like no one had ever seen anything like this. Yeah. But it was like catching lightning in a bottle. It was like incredible. I had to watch it a few times. Like even the first time it happened, I didn't even register what had happened.  Um,  and I just thought it would be a funny joke. Like that was like one of the, the way I like,

20:19
I'll usually like think of something and then I'll write down the beats really quick. Mm-hmm. Which is like how I used to write sketches and like I wrote down the questions first before I even  did any of the prompts and like one of them Which I just thought was going to be a joke was and now do one where you're just not being weird because I knew like everything they do is weird Yeah, so I just thought that would just be a funny joke that I say and then it does Does whatever it does but in no

20:49
I could have never possibly imagined that it would pull a gun.

20:54
It was amazing. Yeah. Yeah. And again, like you said, it's you couldn't have scripted that. It's  weirdly collaborative with  a computer,  that's where... Which is what I've been saying. It's like, that's not collaboration. Yeah. But that's the thing is like you,  the prompt did not identify that it was now collaborating. It didn't think that it was doing something not weird.

21:23
Or maybe you did think it was doing something not weird and that pulling a gun is normal for it.  you know, that's where you, that human spark, that creativity was like,  oh, okay. All right. Let's dive deeper into this. And that's where your background comes into play. And that's where you're able to take that and then just  run with it. And it is so freaking good. It is so freaking good. Oh, thank you so much.  Yeah.  I put a lot of pressure on myself every week.

21:53
wife she was here she was like yeah we talked like every week I'm like I don't know how I'm going to do this again like it really feels like I've created a Frankenstein monster I'm not like not grateful about I'm like super I love it I mean to have people like what you're doing is incredible but the pressure that I probably do put on myself to either one-up it or at least keep it  at the same level right is crazy and like it only seems to be getting like every time

22:22
Like I really loved, I'll just say like, I'll toot my own horn, I loved the one I.

22:27
The Shawshank Resumption. Oh my God. Is one of my favorite ones. And that was the last one I did. And I was like, Oh God, I I just made one even better than I thought I could ever do. But that's also really exciting too. And do take the pressure off myself is, and I don't even know if you know this about me, but I was on a show on this deep cable channel called current TV, which like it was a company, it was a channel that Al Gore owned.

22:56
Like in the early  2000s.  So I was like on the show as a writer and performer for seven years. And like I had a really tiny fan base, you know, like it was small, but like it was a job and like that's how I paid my bills for a long time. But I had a clip show and I had to do one every week.  I realized and I also I also worked in late night television uh before that. ah I worked at a late late show and this idea that like every day you got to do it.

23:26
And some days are just gonna be better than other days. was very, was probably the only reason I kept going because it was like, okay, if you're just making one a week or two a week, I was even making three a week in the beginning. Wow. And being like, not all of them are going to be as good, but like, if you just keep doing it, you're going to hit like, they're all going to be baseline good, but like a few of them are going to be amazing. Yeah.

23:53
Well, I mean, that's like if you're in the writer's room and you're, you know, there are five other people and you're all, all right, need five, five jokes, whatever, five parts of my long from everybody. And somebody is going to go through and four of them might not hit five of them might not hit on a specific day. But then you come back the next day, like, okay, it's like, they wrote better than I did this day, but I still turned it out. I still, I still did something. I still felt like, Oh yeah. I was like, I was a segment producer.

24:21
I the writers for late night, I they would turn in like a hundred jokes and maybe two got picked. If you got two in out of a hundred, that was like, shit, he's good. Right, right. But it's, mean, same type, same type of mindset though. You can't like, you can't  limit yourself  on,  on what  the perception of whoever the, you know, the reader, the viewer or whatever it's going to be. It's like, you know what?  I put in good work. I put out good work.

24:50
It's going to be especially when you're talking to internet type stuff. You know what I mean? It's like  there's no formula for going viral. You know what I mean? It's like it's going to, it's going to be what hits somebody. And then it keeps getting, you know, shared out and liked and  commented on and all the other things that the algorithm  algorithm needs.  Hey, algorithm, but he invented the algorithm. he did. Yes, he did. And never put that together. Hmm. Hmm.

25:19
You know, we should call it the Al Gore rhythm. The Al Gore rhythm. um No, I love it. And yes, the  kite scene in  Shawshank Reception  was amazing and so beautifully crafted in how that kite became so small in his hands was amazing.  And the wall that flew, it  was just a masterpiece in  fuckery. don't know what else to call it. But that was like me trying to do like

25:49
you know, in improv you always be like, okay, well like if that's what it like, let's explore that then.  I yes and it and ah it was really fun.  Yeah. Yeah. Um,  I think it's  like I think it's great. And I hope you continue to  be inspired in the work in putting out that stuff that's inside you that gets, know, cause yes, I feel like at some point  as you, you know, said you got burned out.

26:19
You may get burned out with this.  And also you don't want to get known as the, well, I'm a Places guy. You have  such  a deep history that precedes all of this. And you don't want to be, it's like, yes, this is a good uh chapter in your life and your career and all like that. But, of course, it's not the only thing.  You should definitely be known as the, we got that B-roll guy instead.  That's the thing.

26:47
That's the thing. Hopefully just a funny writer, director, actor guy. Um, and you know, I have other things cooking. mean, I am doing, which might end up being the final chapter. I'm not saying it is, is I'm developing a live show for will AI replace us that I'm going to do in LA and hopefully like I'm going to do a Portland, LA maybe. And then maybe take it like to Chicago and New York, which would be like a one hour live show that basically

27:16
takes you through a whole casting of a movie where this director has been given his opportunity to make a feature, but he has to use AI and we watch that journey. wow. I love that. That sounds amazing. That sounds amazing. And again, yes, you have so many other things in your acting arsenal and your background and your writing and everything that you've got going on there. I did have a question though. Do you think possibly

27:47
Um, Betsy Sidero's casting in Ghost came because she worked in Ghost Cart? I don't think so. No. No, I don't think so. Okay. Are you sure? No, I'm not sure, but I doubt it. I don't know. That was, that was some thrilling work. It was. I love that. I love that little video. That's another, again, I'll put a link in. That's another great video for you. Um, I can't just, because it reminds me of the stuff that again, I used to do because

28:17
I'm  a little bit older than you are. my, I had a handy cam and you know, a little hi-8, digital hi-8 and all like that. But  I also had the VHS camcorder. So it was full size crash recording on,  you know, two VCRs. And when I started in television, I mean, we had like one inch machines and three quarter inch decks with, you know, an umbilical and a camera and you're trying to go do news and this, that, shoot commercials or whatever. um

28:46
So the accessibility of the equipment to be able to create now, I think really has  spawned a lot more creativity.  Again, to give people  the access to be able to be creative.  Where is the line between the accessibility to the tools to be creative and then  the limitation of AI in replacing that human creativity?

29:15
Yeah, I think it's always gonna be in the hands of the creator. think it's an exciting time. I also think beyond that, it's when people talk about using AI. We definitely need rules for the corporations and the Hollywood machine. But I think it's damaging when we kind of lump it all together. Like I don't think

29:43
it's a big deal for a 15 year old to be experimenting  with the tools that are available to them. ah I know I would have probably loved to have played with it because maybe that's just how you make videos and maybe like that's going to be at least how you like form a voice of some kind. I mean, I'm sure that like, but that doesn't mean it  should be  replacing people. I think it would be like, I mean, again, like, you know,

30:11
when I had so many ideas when I was a kid that like I could never imagine I could never make because I was just a kid living in the suburbs. And like, I mean, I had this idea of like doing like a Star Wars parody and like how fun would it have been like if I could have actually tried to make that, you know what I mean? With the tools that are available now. um So I think there is something in that I don't and I'm not saying like,

30:38
That's why AI is good. I'm saying that it might be like a by-product that is nice. I've heard like CEOs of AI companies be like, well, think about the little guy in Oklahoma. I'm like, that's not who you're fucking making it for. Don't do not tell me like you started this trillion dollar, whatever this is for the little kid, the 13 year old in Oklahoma. So he had a voice. mean, that's not what this is about.

31:07
think it's true that yes, some people that may have never been able to make a video might be able to now, but that is not why we're doing this. And the protections,  again, as a voice actor, protections, I believe, I believe that we should have ownership of our  voice and our likeness and our name and things like that. And that all of that free content that these things scraped to get  their models,  those people should have been compensated.

31:35
That was theft of intellectual property and they are never going to see it that way here for the most part. I don't think they'll ever see it that way, but I definitely think there needs to be some sort of legislation that gives you ownership of who you are. Yeah. Yeah, totally. it's, and I think, I mean, I'm hopeful that we'll get there too. mean, because the Hollywood system is so, has so much money on the line, like

32:05
I do think that I would hope that that helps us all because they're not going to lay down and be like, okay, just steal all of our stuff. And like, now you're the movie business. Right. So I hope so. I'm hopeful of it.  Um, because yeah, I mean, I create people all the time and I'm like, or not creepy, but like, I'm like, who is that? Like, what is that? Right. You know, they were like, that kind of looks like you, know, people have said, like some of the avatars I make look like me. And I'm like, yeah, I mean,

32:35
It's a possibility. Maybe 5 % me in there. Yeah, yeah, you just never know. I know you also have, aside from this, you do, because I'm gonna get into some other stuff, that you have another passion for foraging mushrooms, specifically, up there in the PNW? Yeah, I like foraging mushrooms. I think I saw a video, you were doing lobster mushrooms. Those things are huge. Yeah, they are. Huge. Yeah, yeah.

33:03
Yeah. That's big. Yeah. Four chinies are also really big too. What, uh, what got you into mushroom foraging? You know, it's just this thing of, all over wherever the curiosity takes me in,  in Oregon, there's just a lot of forests.  And,  um, especially during the pandemic,  just one of the things you could do is like go for a forest walk.  And if you're walking in the forest in Oregon, you will see mushrooms everywhere.

33:32
And I just had this like vision in my head of like, boy, it'd be so cool to like, go to walk around and pick a mushroom and be like, I can eat this one. I can't eat that one. Um, and I just, I don't know. was like a very strong feeling that I wanted to, and I'm Italian, which now I realize like that's been like part of our ancestry and ancestry for a very long time. Um, to like pick mushrooms, like it's thing there. Truffles and porcinis and like, it's definitely a big problem. Sure.

34:01
sisters were picking mushrooms. Like it's there's no doubt. Like the first time I did it, I felt like some DNA thing exploded. Yeah. Yeah. And then my wife, you can tell probably went out and my wife helps me with a lot of things. She was like, Oh, you should, found a class. You can take a class. And I took a class and the class blew my mind. And like the first time I ever looked for mushrooms, found eight pounds of porcini mushrooms, which the teacher was like, I cannot believe

34:31
I've never seen anyone do this.  Um, and I was like just hooked from then.  Um, and it is so fun, which kind of probably goes into what your show is about, which is like, it is one of the things I do  to like clear my head, to just sort of relax. It's, you know, a form of meditation and it is like the purest way of getting a dopamine hit  to like,

34:58
be in the woods in the quiet and you're like, Oh, there's one, you know? And like, you get that little like, wow, I  did it. Yeah. You know? And then you have like a few minutes  where you don't find one. Oh, there's another one.  And it's like, it feels great. Yeah. It's incredible.  And yeah, it's like, it's still dopamine hit, but like, boy, it's a lot more pure than getting a like or all the other ways we get it. Yeah. I love that.

35:27
So in that same vein, with everything you got going on and you're doing and the things that your mind is on, what is bringing you joy right now? Oh, gosh. My children. I've been really thinking about 45 and we've both been talking when I say we, my wife and I like, you know, this really isn't like

35:56
incredible time in our lives. We're like, we're still in really good shape. Our kids are still really young. They like love being around us, but they're still like becoming independent. We can travel with them.  I have a career that is going pretty well. ah All of our parents are still alive.  And  I honestly don't know that's, I feel like this is like,

36:26
the prime of my life.  I really do.  And thing about me is like, I've actually said this about phases of my life. So maybe I'm just that kind of guy. But I like that about myself. um But I do actually feel like my purpose in life is to spread joy. So when I am doing that, I feel lots of joy. And the coolest thing about this whole experience has been how much  joy I've spread to people.

36:56
Um, and I've gotten just so many wonderful messages from people about how I've helped them through a tough time, how like seeing the videos helped them laugh at something they were scared at. One person was like, it pulled me out of like a depression. I mean, you know, it's like, it really quite frankly, even like brought me to tears early on because I was like, wow, I'm like, just doing this thing is a God given and using it to spread joy, which like,

37:26
getting into really heavy things. like I like was on a run two years ago and I like made a deal with God, the universe, whatever you want to call it. I was like, if you give me a platform, I will use it to spread joy.

37:45
Sergio this is the second segment of the show. This is where we dive a little bit deeper into your mental health journey um Because I believe the more that we can share the more that  the burden of like depression doesn't feel as heavy so for you  How do you keep the darkness at bay? Well, um I Do meditate that helps quite a bit. I mean a big turning point for me was Drinking alcohol. Hmm

38:15
uh And I stopped drinking alcohol about three and a half years ago  and I certainly wasn't like someone that was like, oh my god, like I got stopped or like, you know, but I was a regular  I like oh work's done. I'm gonna have a beer now kind of a guy  and ah But I was like, you know, I would get random bouts of like boy I'm kind of down for like five days,  know, like I would call like random

38:48
and

38:51
I didn't really understand it. And luckily I was like talking to a therapist, but he's like, maybe you shouldn't stop drinking. Just see what that does. And I mean, it is a fucking depressant. Right. And I was like, Oh, that depressant that I take every day is making me depressed. Yeah. And not here to like tell people what to do. I'm just telling you what happened to me, but like, as soon as I stopped doing it, I was like, Oh my God.

39:20
Like I feel so, mean, it was basically since I was like 20, I had a drink a day, you know, in some form. And as soon as I stopped doing it, I was like, I could not believe how much more positive I was, how much easier it was to not go down the dark rabbit hole. Um, that combined with like meditation, exercise, um, it's huge. And I think I've been really lucky that

39:50
There's a great Ru Paul quote, like don't, it's okay to look at the darkness, but don't stare at it. Which I think is like, which I take as like, be aware of the things that are going on, but don't, don't like focus on it intensely because it is too much and there's always something. And. You know, I really do try to like focus on like what's in front of me. I definitely, you know, I do what I can as far as being like a good citizen, but there are limitations to what.

40:21
I'm willing to like let bring me down on a daily basis. Like I just won't read the news for a couple of days. won't, you know, I do really. It's our job to one spread joy and like. And. To do that, I also feel like I need to protect my happiness. You know.

40:46
I mean, that makes perfect sense. What's the saying? You can't can't  pour out of an empty cup. You can't give if you have nothing inside you to give. so yeah, protecting that internal resources  or refilling that resource, whether it be from the meditation, taking the walk in the woods, you know, finding those little those little mushrooms of joy that you,  you know, find on your walk,  spending time with kids. Those are the those are the things that help fill up the well so that you can then

41:17
pour out onto others ah through your talent and through all the other stuff that you've got going on.  Is there any special like act of kindness you like to do  for others?  mean, other than- I really- Well, I do love making people laugh.  I know it's the same answer, but it is like, it is the thing. uh Even like as early as being a child, I remember being  saying like, I want to make someone laugh.

41:47
On the bus today. I want to make at least one person laugh today on my way to school. So it's always been like a big part of who I am. Um, I really also like to acknowledge when people are doing something I like.  Um, I don't think we compliment each other enough,  which I think is an act of kindness, of course, but I, I, I'd really try to, if someone's doing something cool or that I like, I try to acknowledge it. don't go, well, we probably know they're Yeah.

42:17
Yeah,  I'm  one of the big believers in that. It's kind of like if somebody crosses your mind, I'm going to send a text. Oh yeah, totally. I do that too. Hope you're doing well,  whatever.  Yeah.  If they respond great, if they don't, that's also great because I feel like I did my part in acting on what happened. know what mean? Well, it does feel good to...  I've always said, oh, it's really selfish to be nice.

42:46
because it actually, it is, it does actually make you feel good. I mean, I do it for myself as much as for someone else. Yeah. Which, you know, what a, what a great way to feel selfish. I mean, by doing something nice. I'm doing it cause it feels good. Not because I am nice. Yeah. It's like, like quick economy. Nice. I'm really just selfish. Yeah. Here's a flower. I get out of here. Yeah. Yeah. No, I love that. I love that.

43:16
Any em And you talked about You know kind of during the during the lockdown finding that uh meditative walks doing the uh mushroom foraging and things like that Do you have any advice  just for anyone looking for something to  kind of take their mind off of uh Stuff that might be weighing down. Maybe they are staring too much into

43:46
the darkness. mean, really do feel like getting into nature is incredibly important.  Um, if, if you have access to it, even just going to a park,  I, there's something that happens when you're outside that,  um, I think is very powerful and it's like, you know, we're connected to it.  Uh, I started to notice it. I had, when we had our first born and like,

44:14
a baby would be crying and you take it outside and it calms down immediately. I mean, it's kind of crazy. mean, like that, how much we just like need fresh air and just need to like see the sky.  Um, because I was living in LA at the time and it's a pretty, you know, pretty urban.  Um,  and  definitely would not be like going into the woods at all. But like when you have little kids, a lot of times we would spend time out, we'd spend a lot more time outside. We'd go to a park or I take them on a

44:44
some nature center near, you know, one of the places we love to go with Althadena, that that was a great area. uh So I think getting outside, getting out of your head is  a huge part of my mental health.

45:07
Alright Sergio, it's time now for the third segment of the It's time now for the  Fast Five. The Fast Five. Fast Five. It's time now for the Fast Five. Fast Five. Sorry, I'm still working on that theme song.  No, no, it's good. I think you're done.  Fast Five is powered by Poddex. It's an app created by my friend Travis Brown. If you go to chewingthefatbr.com slash poddex,  you can get a link to download the app. It's great for podcasters, but they're great icebreaker questions as well.

45:37
So no wrong answers, just first thing that comes to top of your mind.  You ready to roll? Yeah. All right, here we go. Question number one.

45:48
What makes you lose track of time?

45:52
ah social media. Hmm. Yeah, you can get caught in that scroll pretty, pretty easily. ah I know that's probably that's that's not a very inspirational message. but  it's a no, no, no, no, it is factual. No,  picking mushrooms, that would also be true.  There. That also makes time go by really fast.  But no, but it is still very factual. And I think that's one of things we got we got to be careful of though.

46:22
You spend so much time ingesting other people's content or whatever that you lose the time to be creative yourself or to do something else. Or checking when people like what you're doing and you're like checking that and you're like, should we be making something else other than checking how well it's doing? Love it. Question number two.

46:48
So do you like to plan things out in detail or be more spontaneous?

46:54
I like to create the, I like to plan things and leave room for spontaneity. It's a really big part of my creative process.  I love that.  I feel like I'm very  plan the broad strokes type person, but  leave space for  the  little pieces of magic to show up when they need to show up.  Yeah. I love that. Question number three.

47:24
burger or hot dog.

47:27
Burger burger, what's your go-to burger? Well, I stopped eating red meat a while so I do impossible burgers.  Okay, I will say like  I Acknowledge how the hamburger is the perfect meal. It was always my favorite thing. So now I'll Impossible meat is okay. I mean, it's good But I've found that like what you put around it is just as important  And I'm like a cheese and pickles kind of a smash burger minimalist. Yeah

47:56
Like the raw white onions diced,  pickles, American cheese or cheddar cheese, and mayonnaise. really like it like that.  That's literally like my go-to burger right there. Yeah. That's awesome. Now I'm hungry for a burger. Question number four.

48:18
I swear this is a random question. This is just not I did not plan this but  Okay, best Morgan Freeman movie of all time. Oh my god Hey, Shawshank Redemption Shawshank Reshemption Shawshank Reshemtion. You mean that kind of scene we caught it probably is my favorite one though It's the one that definitely comes to mind first.  Yeah, you know, it is one of my favorite movies as well I feel like there are a lot of guys that  that is their favorite movie  and I don't know it's really good. I

48:47
Yeah, it's beautifully like it's beautifully shot It's got it's got great acting storytelling,  you know all of that in it But I don't know why I feel like it just resonates with guys for some reason. You know Mr. Director, what do you think? Well, my wife likes it too. Oh, think I think I think it's for everyone ah And it's got just enough scary prison stuff without being too much.  You know  Yes

49:16
Like we know he gets raped. But we don't need to like, yeah, we don't need to see it. We knew it happened, but I was like, okay, that was just enough terror that I got it. Yeah, no, I think that's great. I think that's great. All right, I had question number five.

49:36
If someone made a movie about your life, who would play you? Now I also  add a second to this is like, who would actually get the gig,  but who would you want to play you as well?

49:52
I can't remember, he was the dude in New Girl. Who's the guy from New Girl that I get told I look like him a lot. that would be a good, guy who played me. Johnson. I've gotten that Jake Johnson would play me in a movie. Um, and what was part two to it? Yeah. So who would you want to play you and who do you think would actually get the gig? Who would actually get cast? Um, who would actually get, well, I think Jake Johnson would, would get it. I think he's.

50:21
Um, and who would I, I mean, I would want him to do it. you go. Great. Timothee Chalamet. You know, I think he would be a good young Sergio for my origin story. That would be good. Yeah. I could see him getting some, uh, B-roll. Uh, yeah, go on. I think that'd be great. Yeah. I mean, because what was it? Uh, Daniel Radcliffe played, uh, uh, Weird Al Yankovic. So yeah. No, I love that. I love that.

50:48
Well, Sergio, that is our Fast Five and that's the show as well, my friend. Thank you so much for being here and giving me some of your time. I really do appreciate this,  Oh yeah. Thanks for having me. It was fun.  If folks want to keep up with you, what is the easiest way that they can find you and everything you got going on?  You can just go to  Sergio Chilli.  My Instagram handle is that S-E-R-G-I-O-C-I-L-L-I. I feel  like that's where I'm the most active.  So go there.

51:17
I'm going to be setting up a YouTube channel too that has longer versions, which will probably be called Will AI Replace Us on YouTube. But it's not set up yet, but it's one of the, it's on the list of things to do. Okay. Well, I will make sure that I put the links to your Instagram in the show notes so that folks can find you again. Thank you so much for everything that you do with the joy you are bringing to this world that we are in.

51:44
I love you and I love what you're doing and I wish you nothing but success  in everything that you have going on.  Oh, thanks so much. Appreciate that.  And if you would like to support this podcast, I'd appreciate it if you bought me a coffee at chewingthefatbr.com.  But until next time, I look forward to the chance we have to sit a spell  and chew the fat.