Buried Treasure: Animal Week/The Doughnut Is Right (S2E11)

Hey, grownups! Lee here! See Story Pirates Live! Our amazing touring cast, including Eric, will be visiting some East Coast cities this spring to perform some of your favorite songs from the podcast. And they'll take suggestions from kids in the audience to create a brand new story that will only be seen once. Best of all, all of our upcoming shows are on weekends, so no need to worry about school nights or bedtime routines. We'll see you soon in Munhal, Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Ohio, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Medford, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston, and Richfield, Connecticut. Tickets to all of the shows are on sale now at StoryPirates.com slash live! Oh hey, Story Pirates podcast listeners! Lee here! Welcome back to Buried Treasure, where we throw back to some of our favorite full episodes from the Story Pirates archives. Today we're revisiting the 11th episode of Season 2, which features a classic song, a hilarious story, and the very first time the Story Pirates visited the Isle of Monsters. You know, the Isle of Monsters, where we also went in the season finale this past season! Now as you may have heard, we have a secret codename for every episode, and in Buried Treasure, those codenames are secret, no more. Because I'm gonna tell you right now that the secret codename for this episode is actually pretty easy to guess. It's The Isle of Monsters. Coming up right after a few words for the grownups! Oh, come on! Oof! Oof! Hey Siegfried! On guard! Siegfried, it's me, it's Peter! Oh, whoops! Hi Peter! Why are you huffing out on the deck in the middle of the night? I'm bored. How about you fight me? What? No, thank you. Why not? Come on! Hey, stop! Hey, watch where you're swinging! Hey, hey, hey! Whoa, whoa, whoa! What is going on? Siegfried, you know the house rules! Don't ever raise your axe above hip height! I know, I'm just going a bit stir crazy as all. What? Why? We're flying through the air on a ship. What could be cooler than that? I miss the action of my Viking days! Storming the beaches of Vinland, having herring eating contests with Voldemort the tired! Every day was a new thrill! Now it's always the same. What would make you feel better? Monsters! Scared, are you? Not me! I slayed Fafnir the dragon in his foul cavern lair. I saved him here the giant from the Midgard serpent! I need to fight monsters or I'll never be happy again! Okay, drama? Siegfried, we're on a very important quest to find kids' stories. We can't just go fight a bunch of monsters! You're right. We should fight a bunch of monsters. No, that's not what I said. You know, I love adventures but monsters sound scary. I'll? Monsters? You're right! We should go to the Isle of Monsters! I love monsters too! No, Rolo, I said the Isle of Monsters. It's an island with monsters. Oh, I don't want to do that. I'm definitely afraid of islands. Exactly. Let's go fight the monsters on that island! No, Siegfried, we're saying let's not go fight the monsters. We should go fight the monsters! No, Siegfried, you're misunderstanding us. We are not saying that we should turn the ship towards the Isle of Monsters so we can go fight the monsters. Incredible idea! Turning the ship! To the Isle of Monsters, the great monster island in the sky! No! I love slowly pirates! Think of something you like and just try to write about it. Oh my goodness, this is so good, I have to make this again. Just think of the most weird things they can ever think of. I put some jokes in there. I hope you like it. The slowly pirates. Welcome back to the Story Pirates Podcast everyone, where we take stories written by kids and turn them into sketches and songs. Today we also happen to be hurtling towards the Isle of Monsters, which is, I believe, an island full of monsters that is floating in the sky. Right you are, Peter! Onwards! I'm scared! Me too! Also me. And me! How about a story? Uh huh! Okay listeners, if you've ever wondered what animals would say if they could talk, this next story is for you. Here's the author to introduce it. Hi, my name is Ronan and I'm eight years old. I live in Rhode Island and this is my story Animal Week. And when she opened her eyes, the wolf was gone! AHHHH! What was that? Was that a wolf? I know, I scared my kid! Kid, kid, calm down. I'm sure it was just a bunny or a squirrel or something. Heather, that was a really good scary story! Thanks Ms. Abbott! I learned it from an older kid. And thanks for taking us all camping and lighting this bonfire and encouraging us to tell stories. Oh, you're very welcome. Speaking of stories, I have a better one. Huh? Yeah, I can do better. So this one's actually a true story and I'm sure you kids don't remember it because it was before you were all born, but I remember it very clearly. Too clearly. I'm talking about Animal Week. AHHHH! Abbottal Week? Mom, come on, this is scary! That's right. Animal Week. The week all the animals started talking. That sounds pretty cool actually. Okay, I guess I just won't tell the story then. Oh, no, I didn't mean to. I'm coming to that. I'm coming to that. Okay, fine. Someone grab me my guitar. Mom, no one wants to hear you play guitar. I actually would. Oh well, aren't you sweet Owen? But it's okay if my own child doesn't want me to play guitar, then I will just play my piano. Bring me my piano. Whoa, that piano came out of nowhere. Here I go. I remember a scary week back in the early aughts. When the creatures and the critters started to speak, that's right, they learned to talk. It started on a Monday with mammals they were first. They looked at each other, took a deep breath, and what came out were words. The cows said, Hey, oh, coyote! The coyotes, they would shout, Hey, tasty morsel! But they said humans were so freaked out. It was so freaky. I was just like, what is happening? And then my dog looked me right in the eye and just goes, I have no idea. And then we just stared at each other for a full hour being like, what? Because it was animal week, animal week, the week that the animals learned to speak. Wait a second, I think I remember hearing about this in a book about the olden days. Thank you, Heather. That made me feel good. On Tuesday, all the reptiles started talking to the pets. Get away from my eggs. Get away from my eggs. It has to be like that's an error. It wasn't. We were screaming in terror. Because it was animal week, animal week, the week that the animals learned to speak. Oh yeah, I remember this from our school trip to the museum. The museum of things that happened a billion years ago. Okay, perfect, love that. I turn, here I go. When it was all about the fish, they had a lot to say. Once they started talking, they talked and talked all day. They said, blop blop ah, blop blop ah. There were plenty of them. All the humans felt so helpless. Why? Because it was animal week, animal week, the week that the animals learned to speak. Dance break. Hey! Ha! Mom, I've never seen you dance like that. Is it okay to be doing flips like that at your age? Okay, listen up everyone. I am 43 and that is actually considered very young in a lot of circles. Just tell us what happened next. Well, this story has an ending, but it isn't very fun. See, the rest of the week was happy. Huh? Yeah, turns out the animals were actually really friendly and everyone had a good time. Nothing specific happened on Thursday or Friday and the weekend was just... It was a blast. Oh! But then the week, well, it was done. The animals had to go back to normal and only speak to their own kind. But now whenever I see a dog or a cow or a snake or even a goose... Get out of here, goose. I wonder what's on their mind? Because of animal week, animal week, the week when the animals learn to speak. Yes, it was animal week, animal week, the week that the animals learn to speak. Yay! That was a good story. I thought so too. The boost is back and it's talking. Run for your life! Woo! Cause it was animal week, animal week, the week that the animals learn to speak. The end. That was such a good story. I love it. It's so cool. Friends, I think we've made it to the Isle of Monsters. Now this is what I'm talking about. Everybody off the ship. It's time for a fight. Follow me pirates, I'll light a torch. Quick, don't fall behind. This island is very wooded and spooky. And dark for real. Wooded and spooky and dark for real. Wooded and spooky and dark for real. Wooded and spooky and dark for real. Wooded and spooky and dark for real. What was that? That's what we came here for. A monster, rare and for a fight. The torch went out. It's pitch black. I can't say anything. That's what pitch black means, Peter. Someone's stepping on my foot. It's not me. Me neither. Me neither. Friends, do any of you have big yellow eyes? No. On God. Monsters. They're everywhere. I love monsters. I love monsters. I love monsters. Small monsters. Monster in the null monsters. I love monsters. I love monsters. Fast monsters. Slow monsters. Situated in null monsters. I love monsters. I love monsters. Creepy. Proudly. Spooky, guys. If you dare to find us, you're in for some surprises. Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Thanks, Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks We'll be right back. Hey grown-ups, Lee here. See Story Pirates Live! Our amazing touring cast, including Eric, will be visiting some East Coast cities this spring to perform some of your favorite songs from the podcast. And they'll take suggestions from kids in the audience to create a brand new story that will only be seen once. Best of all, all of our upcoming shows are on weekends, so no need to worry about school nights or bedtime routines. We'll see you soon in Munhal, Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Ohio, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Medford, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston, and Richfield, Connecticut. Tickets to all the shows are on sale now at storypirates.com slash live. I can't believe we're both Siegfried. It's true. I can't fight another Siegfried. I just can't. Oh my goodness. I am so happy to hear that I am not a fighter. Wait, wait, wait, but why exactly? Siegfried, it's a good, strong name. It was the name of my uncle, and his uncle before him. If your name is Siegfried, then you too must be good and strong and Siegfried-y like me. That means we're the same. We're all monsters in a way. Peter, you eat everything in sight. Just like Growler. Lee, you're thirsty for power. Sounds like Frong. Kneel before Frong. Rachel, you have a mysterious and unsavory past. Classic Marf. Marf? Where's Marf? Marf. And Megan, you have an encyclopedic knowledge of all things musical theater, which is, quite often, a nightmare. It's true. And as Will Rogers once said to me, a stranger's just a friend you don't owe money to yet. And believe me, I owe Will Rogers a lot of money. How old are you? The point is, I guess we're all more alike than we think. There will not be a battle today or ever. Hooray! I will say, though, that I still miss the action of my glory days. Well, how could you do a battle but safely and with your friends? Huh. Sports? Sports! We can teach you all ship ball. Ship ball? It's from season one. Oh. Should we do a story first? Yeah! I love stories. Well, then buckle up, buddy. Yeah, because here to introduce it is the author. I'm Rhea. I'm 15. I live in Canada. And this is my story. The doughnut is right. Ladies and gentlemen, it's Wednesday at 3 AM. So you know what that means. It's time to play no one's favorite game show. The doughnut is right. Welcome your host with the most doughnuts, and their author, Isaac Princeton, the 11th. I've got 100 million doughnuts, but there's only one that makes me go nuts. Can you guess my favorite one? Because there's only one doughnut that I like. Ha ha ha! Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the doughnut is right. As always, we are recording live and beautiful downtown LA in a tiny studio in the middle of an alley. And why do we record in the middle of an alley? No, I'm actually asking, why do we record in this tiny studio? Where's my producer, Ted? What's the deal? Oh, um, we producers are on a very tight budget. OK, well, I can't argue with that. Anyway, you all know how the game works. A whole bunch of people show up outside our tiny studio in an alley, and five are chosen randomly. All right, let's start picking. Ted, open the doors. Everybody calm down. OK, back up, back up. I'm only picking five. OK, only five. You, you, you, not you, you and you. Everyone else better luck next week. Close the door. Please close the door. As always, that was insane. Let's meet our contestants. From Pensacola, Florida, it's Nayla Shimsky. Nayla, welcome to the donut is right. Why don't you tell us a little bit about me? I'd be happy to, Edgar. I would describe you as a very skinny man with a huge head. Wow, must be a lot of brains in there. Who's next? Next from NoMalaska, it's Ailey Circle. Ailey, all the way from Alaska. My goodness, tell me, Ailey, what do you think of my name, Edgar Oscar Isaac Princeton, the 11th? Frankly, it sounds fake. That's because it is. Who's our next contestant? From Bemidji, Minnesota, say hello to Mads Frownshoe. Welcome, Mads. Tell us, can you believe that this show has been on the air for 54 years now, and no one has ever won? You know, Edgar, I was just telling my wife. And let's meet our last two contestants real quick. From other places, it's Marvin and Chacal. Welcome to you both. Sorry we don't have a budget for any more microphones. So why don't you just give everyone a good wave? Nicely done. Now you all know how the game works, but let's hear the rules one more time. Edgar, our contestants have to try 100 million different kinds of donuts while they listen to you talk about your family. And if they can guess which donut is your favorite, they will win a billion donuts to take home. Wow, a billion donuts? You know, I'm starting to see why the budget is so tight. Chad, is that why we're on such a tight budget? Yeah, the fact that we have to make 100 million donuts every episode for the contestants to taste and also have another billion on hand in case someone wins has strained the budget. That makes sense. Well, sounds like a heck of a deal for these contestants, but tell us, what happens if they guess wrong? Edgar, if our contestants guess wrong, they will be dunked into a 100 foot tall bucket of warm donut glaze. Wow, that sounds terrifying. And delicious. Anyway, it's time to play the game. Ted, let's bring out those 100 million donuts. All right, back it up. Okay, careful, there is not a lot of room here. Okay, just this way. Oh, watch out for the key. Look, look, look. Okay, that's good. All right, dump the donuts. Wow, that is a lot of donuts. Thanks, Ted. So, contestants, you know the drill. Once you hear the donut buzzer, you will start trying every single one of these 100 million donuts while I talk about my family. Are you ready? Yeah, I guess so, yeah. All right, audience, count with me in. Three, two, one, donuts. You know, the thing about my family is that I think we're all equally afraid of vulnerability. For example, my brother, Kevin James Joyce Carroll Oates Princeton VIII, he's too scared to even shake hands with anyone, let alone open up. We'll be right back after these messages. Do you love donuts? Do you think donuts are good? Well, comment down to Marge's donuts. We got a lot of them and they're good too, but don't take my word for it. Ask one of our many satisfied customers, like this one. Oh boy, I love these donuts. Real good, I tell ya. Real good. See, what I tell ya, satisfied and a real customer. So comment down to Marge's donuts. You'll probably like them. Okay, thanks, bye. Okay, thanks, bye. Okay, how do I press stop? Do you think they could tell that you're my nephew? And welcome back to the donut is right. And after that, my mother never signed me up for team sports again. Ah, would you look at that? It looks like our contestants have already finished trying all 100 million donuts. Now is their chance to guess which one is my favorite. Nayla, tell us which one you think it is. Is this a Boston cream? Oh, nope. Looks like once again a contestant has guessed wrong. Which means it's time to say hello to this 100 foot bucket of warm donut glaze directly below you. That's okay because the glaze is yummy. Thanks for playing, Nayla. Thanks, Edgar, I really... Into the glaze! I'm okay, it is yummy. Oh! Ali, it's your turn. Which donut do you think is my favorite? French Cruella. Oh, sorry, no. Oh, shoot, I really thought I... Not even close. Mads, Jelly. Good gravy, no. Marvin, you still don't have a microphone, but what do you think? Close, but totally wrong. Well, it looks like we're down to our last contestant. Chacal, guess which one of these donuts is my favorite? Ooh, looks like she's thinking. Well, okay. We're in no rush. It's not like she's going to guess that my favorite donut is a... plain donut. No one ever does. Uh, Edgar, what did you say? What? Nothing, I was just thinking silently in my head. No, you just said that out loud. You slipped up. What? Well, it looks like Chacal has her answer. All right, I guess I'll give you my microphone. What's your answer, Chacal? Plain donut? Chacal, you just won one billion donuts! Wow, I won! Boy, I really slipped up. I'm whispering the answer. Weird that I did that for the first time in 54 years, but I guess I'm free from this insanity. Congratulations, Chacal. I'm impressed. Here is one billion donuts! All right, back it up. Slowly, slowly. Watch out for my core. Wow, a billion donuts. It doesn't get much better than this. Oh, does it? The Guinness World. Records? That's right. I'm from the Guinness World Records, and I have for you an award for being the only person to ever win the donut is right in all eternity. Wow, well, it seems like this National Nightmare is finally over. Thanks so much for tuning in, and we won't see you next time here on... The Donut is Right! The Donut is Right was brought to you by Marge's Donuts. Marge, you're on the wrong side. Oh, yeah, gotta love a donut. Buy my donuts. The end! And now, Lee speaks with the author. Hey, Rhea, it's so great to talk to you. How's it going today? Not bad. Yeah, what have you been up to? Um, I've been writing another story, and just... Really? Yeah. Awesome, just for fun? Yeah, just for fun. That's awesome. I'm so glad you're here. I'm so glad you're here. I'm so glad you're here. I'm so glad you're here. So, how was your day? Fun? Yeah, just for fun. That's awesome. And how did you get the idea for The Donut is Right? Are you a fan of donuts? I love donuts. What do you like about them? They're so interesting. Like, how could a bit of fried dough taste so good? How do you think donuts got invented? Hmm, maybe a baker just accidentally dropped a bit of dough into a frying thing, and then he pulled it out and took a bite, and he was like, oh, good, I have to make this again. And you live in Canada, right? Well, I haven't lived in Canada my whole life, so... Where else have you lived? Well, I was born in Fairfax County, Virginia, and then when I was five, my parents, we basically sold everything we had, moved into a tiny travel trailer, and went all over North America for the next four years. No way, really? Yeah. What was that like? It was crazy. I mean, I was only five, so basically the only thing that I can remember that I knew was going to all these different places, you know, camping and Walmart parking lots at night, and then sometimes going to campgrounds with pools and amusement parks. There's just a crazy contrast between those for four years. Wow, until you were nine years old? Yeah, around nine and a half when we moved to Canada. How many brothers and sisters do you have? I have seven siblings. Whoa, that's so many. I know, three sisters and four brothers. And how many of you were around during the traveling days? Well, let's see, two of them were actually born while we were traveling. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, my parents pulled up our roots when they had five children under the age of 10. I don't know how they did that. That is so wild. I know, it was really cool actually. It was like, I want to do this traveling more often. We found a couple siblings while we were on the road. That's so cool. You must be a really close family. Yeah, I would say we are. Since we're all homeschooled, all of us are here during the day, so we've had a lot more time together than other families usually do. Wow, so much time together. Do you find that that makes you more tolerant of each other? Sometimes, although it can get a little irritating, little siblings since they're so used to being around you all the time, when you go downstairs through your book, they're like, come on, come play with me. To be honest, I'm a bit reclusive. What does that mean to you? Well, I'm introverted, so I much prefer to hang out in my room and read books than go places, meet people. When I'm with close friends, that's fun too, but I'm more happy in my own kind of space. So here's one more question for you, and I think you're the only person in the world who can answer it. Which of these donuts is the most introverted? You have to imagine you're on a game show now. Okay. Okay. I'm not going to talk about my family while you decide. Okay. Donut number one, Boston cream donut. Okay. Donut number two, glazed donut. Donut number three, jelly donut. Donut number four, chocolate donut. Donut number, only two more. Donut number five, coconut sprinkles. And finally, donut number six, a powdered donut. Which of these donuts is the most introverted? I have two theories. One, the glazed donut, because it's always keeping itself behind the curtain. And the jelly filled donut, because it has, you know, a slightly rough outside, but then it has a whole bunch of, you know, a fun side to it in the inside, but you just have to, you know, just kind of friend it and get to know it better. You're correct. Yay, what did I win? I wish I could pull a switch right now and a million donuts would fall on you wherever you were. That would be great. Rhea, thank you so much for talking to me today. Yeah, thanks for choosing my story. Thanks for listening to this week's episode and thanks to our authors, Ronan and Rhea. Here we go. Here's this week's Story Spark. Kids write a story about a character from your imagination who makes the greatest comeback of all time. That means whatever your character is doing or trying to do, they're having a pretty tough time. It might even seem like all hope is lost. But then your character defies the odds and shocks the world with their comeback. As always, grownups can send in stories to storypirots.com. See you next week. Bye-bye! This episode features performances by Jerry Burgos, Matt Garry, Quinton Johnson, Alexis Lambrite, Peter McNerney, Jack Mitchell, Megan McNeil, and Rachel Winnitsky. I'll of Monsters was written by Rachel Winnitsky, arranged by Jack Mitchell, and produced by Eric Gerson. Animal Week was written by Rachel Winnitsky and produced by Eric Gerson. You know, a lot of people ask me what we do with all the stuff we use in the stories each week after we're done. And the answer is I keep everything in this storage closet right here on the ship. Here, I'll take you in. Let's check it out. Who put all these golden bananas right by the door? Alright, so here we are in the storage space. You'll see everything from every story that we've done here on the ship. Like, see, right over here is the Klesmer Band from Animal Week. Hey guys! And here's the Donut Glaze Dunk Tank from The Donut is Right. We keep everything because you never know when you're going to need it again. Like, for example, right now, I want to take a swim in the Donut Glaze Tank while I listen to Klesmer music. Hey Klesmer friends, kick it! Alright! This glaze is so viscous. I love it! It's disgusting and delicious and fun at the same time. Honestly, what else can you say that about? Wow! Great Claire Network! Woo!