April 1, 2025 • 32 mins
In an unforgettable night at the Frick Frack Blackjack during a music festival, I discovered the magic of trading unique items in a vibrant carnival atmosphere. From a jar of cicada skins to a collection of whimsical treasures, this experience highlighted the joy of nostalgia and the fun inherent in bartering, leaving me with laughter and stories to share.
• Introduction to Frick Frack Blackjack and its unique concept
• Overview of the music festival atmosphere and excitement
• Gathering quirky items for betting and the thrill of the game
• Descriptions of items won including cicada skins and a lightsaber
• Reflections on human connections and the joy of engaging experiences
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Chris (00:00):
Top Shelf Stories with J Chris and Tony.
Let me tell you a little storyof how I acquired a
(00:26):
softball-sized jar of cicadas.
This is Top Shell Stories.
All right, so you guys know Igo to this music festival, right
.
Tony (00:39):
Like every weekend.
Chris (00:40):
Every Memorial Day weekend, year after year, year,
I have gone down to southernillinois to a four-day camp in
music festival.
A camp in music festival meansyou camp right near the stages.
There are places where youshould not camp and cannot camp
because it's the stage.
Otherwise, camp there.
I mean, it sounds fun, I woulddo it.
(01:02):
It is phenomenal.
Don't wear shoes.
Listen to music all day, hangout.
Why don't you wear shoes?
It's just, it feels great, man,it's good.
I don't like grass, I'm fine,then wear your fucking shoes,
okay, sorry.
so everyone's having a greattime, right?
But one of my favorite thingsat this music festival, and one
of the stories I'm going to tellyou today, is about this thing
(01:25):
called Frick Frack Blackjack.
Frick Frack Blackjack is abunch of carnies that go from
festival to festival, streetfestival to street festival,
music festival to music festival, with a little caravan full of
random goods Random goodsacquired from patrons from other
(01:46):
festivals, from other festivalsand what you do there is you
bring random goods and things tothe table, so it's not like a
lost and found and they're usinglost and found items I mean it
kind of sounds like a lost andfound is a little bit of that,
I'm sure.
I'm sure if you found somethingalong the path at the music
festival and you're like, ohdang, that is a button that says
(02:09):
butt drugs, I'm gonna put thatin my pocket.
Tony (02:12):
For the gamble it away.
I feel like you came up withthat because you have a button
that says butt drugs no thatthey exist, they are out there I
them.
Chris (02:22):
He won.
But you could, for example, atFrick Frack Blackjack.
They do not accept the Americandollar, the Canadian dollar,
any type of Euro or Dortch markor anything Zimbabwe dollar,
whatever you got, they ain'ttaking it.
No stock certificates, nothing.
It's all trading.
(02:43):
It's all trading Like it usedto be.
It should be now.
So, how it works is you go upand this is a carny tent caravan
across the country that hasbehind it.
Picture this You're at a musicfestival, it's four in the
morning, the music has stopped.
You go to your tent to get yourbag of goods that you want to
(03:08):
gamble away at frick frackblackjack.
This story is about me.
I had a bunch of vintage unusedbottle caps from old sodas.
Can I ask you one really quick?
Sure, uh, so this is actualblackjack with cards.
Yes, okay.
So I'm at my tent.
I grabbed my bag.
My bag contains unused bottlecaps from vintage sodas and
(03:30):
drinks how?
Tony (03:32):
how did you find them unused?
Chris (03:34):
uh, my great grandmother, my gram, my wife's grandmother
actually went to a store and hadthem for crafting.
She gave me this bag oractually it started as a big box
of crap and I shrunk it down toa little bag of crap.
You lost it all at the frickfrack blackjack well, no so I
didn't want to carry a bunch ofcrap to the frick frack
blackjack.
I just had a little pouch in mymusic festival bag full of
(03:57):
random things for frick frackblackjack and it contained fanny
that's called unused bottlecaps from vintage sodas, Even
with cork tops and shit.
They were great Little thumb,thimble nail protectors from
funeral homes From probably likethe 20s, the 30s, 40s.
Right Are these prizedpossessions?
Tony (04:19):
I had.
These are frick frack blackjack.
Chris (04:24):
These are frick frfrack blackjack, All his family
heirlooms.
These are frick-frack blackjackpossessions Because I noticed
from my years of experience thatpeople bring a lot of unique
things there and the unique iswhat they want.
They want the unique right.
I had a pocket, a jeans pocketthat you would sew onto jeans,
full of zippers, which I thoughtwould be of great value.
Tony (04:49):
I have to see a picture of that the Frick Frack Blackjack
right.
Chris (04:52):
It's a pocket from jeans, but not attached to jeans, that
you would sew onto jeans, fullof zippers that you would use to
replace zippers on clothing ifyou had a bad zipper, okay so
you carry around zippers.
I had this bag of goods and Itook it to the Frick Frack
(05:13):
Blackjack and inside of it was abunch of other goodies, right,
little tiny bag about the sizeof a lunch bag, like you would
take a lunch bag.
Yeah, frick Frack Blackjack.
It's four in the morning.
I've been drinking for a dayand a half partying at a music
festival and before bed Idecided I'm gonna go gamble away
(05:33):
my wares and see what I can get.
When you approach the tablesit's kind of intimidating
because there's all this action.
People are yelling andscreaming behind you.
You see shelves and shelves ofvarious goods, kind of like the
bottom shelves, kind of junk,like stuffed animals and random
crap like revised pockets fullof zippers.
The next levels, like picturesand like random.
(05:56):
The most random shit you couldever imagine in your entire life
is inside this tent and you sitdown at the table and there's
like 20 seats at this table forone game of blackjack.
And how it works is you placeyour goods and in my case I used
.
My first gamble was threebottle caps and two thimbles.
Who decides the price?
(06:18):
So as the carny comes around,they come to you and they say,
oh wow, what have you got here?
And of course I'm'm like I havevintage, never-before-seen,
never-used bottle caps andthimbles from funeral homes
across the country and I'moffering a few of them up here
for gambling and so, okay, let'ssee.
(06:38):
So the carney turns around andhe looks back at the shelf.
Tony (06:42):
Is it like Pawn Stars today?
He's like I got to bring anexpert in.
Well, there are no they will,they have.
Chris (06:49):
I want the story continues.
There is an expert that comesinto this story.
I mean there could be somethingexpensive.
I wouldn't doubt it if you hadall those people there,
especially those hippies.
Remember the just remind.
I'll remind you of the pocketfull of zippers.
It comes up later.
Tony (07:04):
This is a cash mat from a 1972 Dodge Charger.
Chris (07:07):
Exactly, dude.
So you come to this place, youput your bet down and they come
around in their carny ways andthey're like pirates, like
steampunk yeah, I've seen that.
And they're like hey, what doyou got here, I got these
fucking bottle caps and thesevintage symbols and they come to
you and they're all right Onesecond.
And they turn around and theygo through their fucking pile of
(07:29):
shit and they come back andthey're like you want to gamble
it for this sticker with a witha, with a, with a dinosaur on it
.
And I'm like, no, fuck yourzipper or fuck your sticker.
I don't want that shit, fuckyour sticker, I don't want that
shit.
And then they turn around andthey go back and they look and
then the guy came with like alittle fidget spinner thing.
Looks like a Nintendo, right.
(07:50):
I'm like all right, let'sfucking bet and he puts it down
and that's our bet.
So you're one one, you'redealer versus five or six of us
were there at the time.
So, but then how do you?
You're playing against thedealer.
That's how blackjack works.
Okay, so if the dealer's, Iunderstand that.
Tony (08:07):
But we don't have money here.
Do you, though?
No, you don't have money.
Chris (08:11):
So the dealer came to me and he offered me a sticker
first and I said fuck yoursticker, I don't want that shit.
That's not a fair trade.
He said hold on, I'll getsomething better.
Tony (08:21):
And he went back to his shelf and he brought back a
fidget spinner so he does thisto each player.
Yes, okay, so everyone's set.
That's what I want to know.
So it's like an hour, 20 perhand.
It takes fucking forever, butit's hilarious.
Chris (08:31):
Yeah, that's what I'm saying, because everyone's got
fucking rubber chickens andfucking glow like all this
random shit right.
I get it.
Everybody good, everybody good.
We start dealing cards and itdeals cards just like you play
poker or just like you playblackjack.
He draws a 17.
I got an 18.
I win.
I get to keep my bottle capsand my thimbles and I got the
(08:55):
little fidget spinner.
So the next hand comes up, I'mlike, all right, I'll raise the
ante.
I keep everything out there andI go back to my pocket or my,
my bag of goods.
Was there anything you'reeyeing up behind him?
You're like I want that.
Not really, but it happenswatch so then I get this shit I
get this shit, I got this bag.
It's second hand.
(09:15):
I'm like, all right, I'm gonnaput up the bag the the pocket
full of zippers.
I think this is gonna go big.
I think to myself and by thistime a friend of mine had come
by, I had like three peoplewatching me.
So I get start gettingrambunctious.
And I'm like here we go, thesefucking pocket full of zippers.
And the guy comes around againand he's like what the fuck is
(09:37):
this?
I'm like it's a fucking pocketfull of zippers.
Dude, you've never had thatcoming along.
And the first thing you saidwas what the fuck is this?
It's the most valuable thingthat's on the table right now
and there's like fucking pokemoncards and like I don't even
know butt plugs, all kinds ofshit, anything you could ever
imagine.
These people are trading up andthey're at it all up on the
(09:59):
table, and he's like I don'twant your fucking pocket full of
zippers, this is trash.
I'm like fine, fuck you and sothen I brought out like die cast
vintage like luke skywalker andchewbacca and I put those down.
He's like, oh, these arefucking pretty good right here.
And he's looking at them andthey're from like the fucking
70s or some shit.
I got them in some way.
So he goes back behind the walland he's like, how about this?
(10:23):
And he brings me like, uh, asoap dispenser with like baba
fett on it or something, and I'mlike, all right, that's fine,
but you need fucking more.
This is trash.
So he comes back and he's likeI got this rubber band gun.
I'm like fucking rubber bandgun, it doesn't work, bullshit.
And he loads it up.
I'm like find me a fuckingrubber band and I'll maybe let
(10:44):
you put that down on the table.
And he's fucking looking around.
He finds a rubber band, shootsone of his co-workers they all
fucking have a big laugh aboutit puts it down.
That's part of the deal.
And then I think I was bitchingand moaning about something
else and he gave me a lightsaber.
It was broken, lightsaber thingright one of those, one of those
things you flick out and itgets bigger.
Tony (11:06):
So we make a deal.
Chris (11:07):
I'm like, all right, fucking great, right, remember,
it's four in the morning.
It's been a day and a half.
This is the second time they'vedone this through the night.
The guy's like fucking runningon E probably ecstasy by E, I
mean and he's fucking doing histhing and there's like a whole
gaggle of carnies that are likeswitching turns, running the
blackjack table.
(11:27):
There's like a baccarat,there's a phylo shit, like
there's a whole bunch of littlegames, right, so we make the
deal.
He keeps going around and, likeyou said, the games take
fucking forever because they'refucking joking with you and
running the fucking run, hefucking the other girl comes,
blah, blah, blah, fucking.
Time elapses.
(11:47):
I'm talking to my friend.
All of a sudden this womancomes by.
She's behind the counter andshe's like oh, what you got here
?
Holy shit, you got a lot.
I'm like, yeah, I'm letting itride and I turn around and all
the shit's still there that theguy already added to my fucking
stack.
So I had like all my shit plusall the shit I agreed to bet
with.
And she's like well, what arewe gonna do now?
(12:09):
What are you gonna bet with menow?
So at this point I'm like thisgirl doesn't realize that all
this shit I already made a deal.
This isn't all my shit.
This is like 50, 50, shit righthere, it's the house.
But she's like what the fuck?
And so she turns around andshe's like, how am I gonna
fucking do this, whatever?
Whatever she brings out, thisjar, this jar is like the size
(12:31):
human thumb in it the size oflike a softball, or maybe a
little bigger.
It's got a screw top on it.
Maybe it had tootsie rolls like300 of them in it, or something
.
At one point or something.
It's full of cicadas.
Tony (12:44):
Ew.
Like the skins of cicadas right.
Chris (12:51):
I'm like, I'm like, I'm in bitch, let's do it.
Tony (13:00):
They only come around every nine years.
Chris (13:03):
The whole thing was fucking.
I am.
I am on one at this point.
I got a crowd behind me of likethree or four people.
I know I'm fucking rolling.
I skipped the part about thepockets.
She was in love with thepockets.
The pockets were in the pile,the pocket of zippers I was
arguing with her about.
I'm like she had all this shitout and I'm like no, not just
(13:26):
the pocket.
Tony (13:26):
I'll give you three fucking zippers.
Do you want a long zipper?
A?
Chris (13:28):
medium zipper, a short zipper.
She's like I don't know.
I'm like then take one of each,fucking throwing them down like
they're dollar chips and shitlike, and then I'm like you can
keep the fucking pocket, but I'mkeeping the rest of these
zippers.
I'll be back next year.
Whatever run the fucking table.
She had the fucking.
I agreed all of my shit forthis little jar, this fucking
(13:49):
softball size jar of fuckingcicada skins.
Right, she runs around fuckingdouble down, dude, it was a
double down.
You know what double?
Tony (14:01):
down means we had to fucking figure out how the hell
I was gonna match she was gonnamatch what was the number next
thing, you know, all yourzippers were on, so then all my
zippers were on the line.
Chris (14:14):
She had a bunch of other shit on the fucking line she had
brought, like all these thingsall the more I'm sitting there
at this table with like a pile.
I started with this littlebaggie with fucking bottle caps
and thimbles and three handsdeep.
Now I might have skipped a hand.
I'm sitting here with thisfucking pile of shit in front of
(14:36):
me and we're fucking doubledown, spinning and I lose or
maybe it was a draw, but Ididn't win and I didn't really
care and the woman ran away andthe guy comes back and he's
fucking looking at the cards andlooking all the shit and he's
like what?
(14:57):
What happened here?
I'm like, well, me and herfucking drawed and then I
fucking put double down and thenshe fucking brought this.
He's like how'd you get the gun?
I'm like I don't know, it'spart of the fucking thing.
And he's like all right, high,low.
He puts down a seven and I'mlike, fuck high, fuck hi, bam
(15:20):
queen, I take all this shit, soI have.
Now I have arms full of shit,yeah, and this guy and this
couple, this beautiful woman andthis man, come fucking walking
in and he throws a 20 down onthe table as I'm talking to my
friends with all my shit, tryingto fucking hoard it into my
pockets.
Tony (15:40):
I got fucking a lightsaber you got to play one more hand
to get a bag.
Chris (15:43):
I got a lightsaber.
I got a fucking hand soapdispenser.
I got bag of.
I got a jar full of cicadaskins.
I had fucking like all thesestickers, these, whatever.
The guy throws a 20 down, she'syelling at him.
She's like get the fucking shitout of here.
What the fuck is this?
And then he's like, well, Idon't understand, I want to
(16:05):
fucking buy some things.
And she's like you don'tfucking buy shit.
Yelling at him like fucking.
Put your shoe on the table.
So he goes to me.
He's like dude, let me buy someof your things, I of your
things.
I'm like fuck you, man.
I worked hard for this shit.
Dude, I have been here for 45minutes.
There's no way you're gettingany of this shit from me.
(16:25):
He's like come on, dude, let mejust get.
Like, let me get thatlightsaber for 20 bucks.
Give him a cicada I'm like gofuck.
Tony (16:31):
I think that's what he asked for first.
I'm like fuck off dude, like nodude I'm not playing with you.
Chris (16:37):
You're look at you.
Why don't you gamble that hat?
Do you like the hat you werewearing?
And he's wearing this reallynice, like fitted yankees hat.
It's all fucking brand new.
There's not even fuzz on it,the rim's not bent, nothing he
comes up with money.
He's got this hat I'm like soand now?
Tony (16:55):
you want to play games?
Chris (16:57):
do you want to play games or do you want to fucking have
that?
Hat and he's like I can't giveup my hat.
And she's like come on, man,sell him one of your things.
So finally I'm like all right,I'll give you the soap dispenser
and the lightsaber.
Why would you, for 20 bucks,you want to say, kids get that
bad.
So I give him this brokenbroken't give up broken broken
(17:18):
plastic retractable lightsaberwith like a flashlight at the
bottom end of it with nobatteries.
Right, it was actually aflashlight baba fat soap
dispenser with like a broken topand it doesn't even have any
soap in it or nothing.
I don't really like this game.
This dude was so fucking happy.
He's like thanks so much, man,I'm gonna get you back sometime,
(17:41):
don't you worry.
Dude Like this is the best ever.
Tony (17:44):
Well considering, you gave me $20 for 10 cents worth of
goods I got $20, dude.
Chris (17:50):
So I go back to camp.
Everyone's asleep at the camp.
It's like 200 yards away, maybe, right, like from here to the
shooting.
President Trump, yeah, snipershot, sniper shot.
Right, I go back to camp atlike four in the morning,
whatever, five, four thirty,whatever it is now there's
nobody up, the music's likenearly dead this, the birds are
(18:10):
chirping and shit.
I'm unloading all this shit Igot out of my pockets under,
like the community table likethat, like Like in the center of
camp.
So I wake up in the morning,glorified, and all I hear is
what the fuck happened lastnight.
There's this pile of justfucking gypsy hippie shit all
(18:33):
over the table, a jar of bugs, afucking gun with rubber bands.
So I wake up and, yeah, I wakeup in the morning and I'm like,
yeah, dude, I got all thesefucking bugs with this gun last
night.
It was fucking wild.
And everyone's like, well, I'mnot understanding if I'm like on
(18:53):
drugs or something or if I'mwhat.
Then my mom wakes up and she'slike chris, were you at the
frick frack blackjack?
And I was like, yeah, why?
She's like I could hear youcackling and harassing them from
the tent last night dude, I did.
She heard your ass 200 yardsaway frick, you know, you know.
Tony (19:15):
What's funny about that is a parent can hear their child
from everywhere, from anywhere.
Chris (19:22):
But I was cackling in the angle of the way we were down
the hill from it.
I could totally understand howshe heard me, but, dude, that
was the most fucking fun overlike an hour of 20 minutes that
I was completely by myself,completely like off.
Fucking what, what the hell wasI doing?
Tony (19:43):
gambling shit ahead of fucking do they only set this up
like really late?
Chris (19:49):
they, yeah, they don't like they're there.
It's in like an area that'slike the art center, where
there's a lot of art structuresand the festivals.
Tony (19:58):
This is like in the middle of the woods.
Chris (20:00):
Well, it's kind of it's like off to the side and there's
like a gypsy home that you canvisit during the day and they
like do like meditation sessionsand all this other hippie
bullshit stuff there.
But then at night, next to it,is this fucking Frick Frack
Blackjack and yeah, it's open atthis festival.
It's open from like probablytwo in the morning till seven in
(20:20):
the morning.
Jesus, it runs all night longand there's people.
Dude, remember, I told thestory once about the guy who got
his ass tattooed.
Yeah, so he came in while I wasgambling, while I was fucking
throwing chips or throwing allmy shit down, and he's like he
walks in and I'm like, oh,fucking I and I announced it.
I'm like everybody, a fuckinglegend has just entered the
fucking tent and they're like hegoes, he goes.
(20:43):
You must have seen my ass,haven't?
Tony (20:45):
you and I'm like you bet your fucking ass I did dude.
Chris (20:49):
He's like yeah, yeah, that girl's name's still on my
fucking ass.
For those of you who don't know, three Dimes Reviews did an
episode back a few years agowhere I told the story about the
guy who gambled.
He bet that if she won the bethe could tattoo his name on her
(21:09):
ass.
He was a professional tattooartist and the carny agreed that
if she won she would gettattooed her name on his ass.
He's got so many tattoos,what's another one?
He wasn't even that tattooed ofa guy.
Really, she won the hand.
Later that night he did comearound and get his ass tattooed
(21:33):
behind the fucking.
Tony (21:35):
Well, yeah, it sounds like frick frack blackjack.
Your word is your bond.
It's absolutely that, dude.
Chris (21:42):
Or you could never be.
Yeah, it's so much fun.
This year's was a little scaledback, which I'm kind of okay
with.
Last year they had like a wholestage and a whole act and a
whole show.
Well, I'd be more impressed ifthe guy got the tattoo on the
penis than the butt.
Tony (21:56):
That would have been a better bet it would have been a
better bet.
She doesn't have a penis,though, so it's not equal he's
gonna tattoo a badge lip sidehis initials on the clit but
yeah, that's the story of FrickFrack Blackjack man.
Chris (22:14):
That shit's fun.
Look it up on the internet.
Frick Frack, they go aroundBlackjack.
I can only imagine living likeas I was sitting there at the
table waiting for everyone tolike on the internet.
Frick Frack, they go aroundBlackjack.
I can only imagine living likeas I was sitting there at the
table waiting for everyone tolike settle their bets and shit.
You look around and you see thepeople behind the counter and
they're like full-fledgedsteampunk carnies.
They've been going around yearafter year doing this.
(22:34):
They do have an exchange thingwhere you can like exchange
dollars.
It's like a scrap, like a swapmeet style.
Oh, my.
God, okay, so like it exists,but like that dude, I came out
of there with 20 bucks, I turnedsome bottle caps into $20 and a
jar of fucking cicadas that I'mfucking pretty proud of,
(22:56):
actually.
So where are the cicadas now,proudly displayed on my shelf in
my bedroom?
Perfect, yeah, probably.
They were on the coffee tablefor a while and like three days,
and katie was like what thefuck are we doing with this job?
Tony (23:08):
let's put them where we have sex.
Chris (23:10):
It's the skin of cicadas, man yeah, so that's actually a
very common thing.
I googled it how does frickfrack not the skin of the skin?
That's fucking weird how does.
How does frick frack blackblackjack work?
Bet anything barter blackjackgaming show, step up and place
the bet there's.
(23:31):
But there's one catch there'sno money allowed for frack
blackjack or glow sticks theywill fucking.
You.
Put a glow stick on the table,they will throw it at you, in
your face, with the force of ahundred men.
Tony (23:42):
I don't blame them.
Chris (23:44):
Fuck your glow stick.
I'd throw that.
I'd throw it at you if youweren't.
Frick Frack, blackjack and me,yeah.
So this is that's.
That's really common.
There's a lot of stuff Likethere's even images of Frick
Frack.
Tony (23:55):
Blackjack.
It's like a gimmick you canhave come to your party.
Chris (23:59):
Yeah, this is a huge thing actually.
Yeah.
Frick Frack Blackjack BaltimoreAt four in the morning.
Baltimore has their own FrickFrack Blackjack At four in the
morning.
After two days of musicfestival partying, it is one of
the most fun experiences.
I had such a blast making thesegambles and it might have been
because I kept winning, but itwas so much fucking fun dude wow
(24:22):
, it's such a blast because ittakes like the risk out of it,
because, like you're putting upshit you don't give a shit about
.
Like that jacket right there,dude, that, that jacket, that,
yeah, would be like like gold oh, dude you would be third or
fourth shelf worth of shit youcould walk out with like a model
car from the 40s.
(24:42):
All right, remind me next timeI go with you to come and stop
at Tony's place and grab thisMichael Jackson lookalike jacket
.
Tony (24:52):
What if I had?
Chris (24:52):
that deer head.
Would that get me?
That would get you a lot.
I remember a couple years agothe most prized thing everyone
wanted was a fucking.
For some reason there was justa license plate.
It was random, I forget evenwhat state it was, but everyone
wanted that fucking licenseplate.
Dude, the guy who finally wentaway from the license plate was
like hailed, Hailed as achampion, Like he fucking
(25:15):
negotiated his way up.
Could, he have sold that tosomeone else, like you did to
somebody.
No.
Tony (25:20):
The fact that I came out of there.
Chris (25:22):
The fact that I came out of their money with money.
Tony (25:24):
That was out of desperation, not because he
wanted the piece this can bedesperation is that sought after
?
Chris (25:30):
here's what it was.
Here's what it was.
So music goes to like four thiswas like 4 30 in the morning.
There was probably some mollytype rave going on and this guy
had this gal that was way out ofhis league and he's like, oh,
let me go take her to thefucking casino, right?
And then he got there and hewas fucking broke.
No matter how clean his jeanswere, no matter how fit his cap
was, he didn't have money forthat fucking experience.
(25:52):
He had to come to some dirty,barefooted fucking hippie with
thinning hair in his forties tofucking man up and buy some
fucking trash to play games.
That's what it was.
It was a fucking complete flipof the switch.
That girl probably thought Iwas a God at that moment.
If, if she went home with himat the end because of that, she
(26:15):
probably thought I was a God.
Tony (26:17):
I'll just be honest, for sure a hippie god like a like a
crystal clear shot of a yeti.
Well, we have a name for that.
I would that podcast.
I would for sure go to thismusic festival just for this,
sleep all day, just so I couldbe wide awake for frick black
(26:41):
jack tony, I am telling you,there are people it's so funny.
Chris (26:45):
They come in there this is their fucking shtick, they
love this, right.
And they come in there with anold fucking suitcase and they
open it up and like there'sthings hung on the top part of
the suitcase and they likefucking have a retractable
suitcase stand and they put thatmotherfucker next to them with
all their shit in this suitcaseand they're just like like a
(27:08):
prop comic, throwing shit up,bringing it back, switching
their idea.
Dude, it is insanity whatpeople on drugs especially, will
do playing at Frick FrackBlackjack.
Dude, it is insanity.
It is the most hilarious thingyou'll ever experience in your
life.
I wish more people couldexperience, but it requires
(27:30):
committing to a four day musicfestival a lot of the time,
which is a big commitment, foran hour of fun at the fucking
steampunk casino.
I don't know, it seemed likethey were everywhere.
It seemed like you didn't haveto go to they do, they'll come
to like a state fair or like acounty fair, like well, actually
I I am going to a three-daymusic festival next month.
(27:55):
You should see if frick frackblackjack's going to make a
jimmy?
No, because if they don't andyou tell them they might show up
Like I don't know how thebusiness arrangement works
between the festival and thecarnies that show up to do
swapping, but it's just like.
It's like an act.
It's an entertainment act.
All of the people there areacting.
Tony (28:13):
Here.
I got a good Frick FrackBlackjack good right over here.
Frick Frack Blackjack Goodright over here.
Oh, he's found something herein the shop.
Chris (28:21):
in the bunker he's found something he believes would be a
good item for Frick FrackBlackjack.
Tony (28:31):
Number one, grandma comb brush, combo with a mirror, oh
yeah dude, this fine piece, ohyeah, with the wrapper.
Chris (28:36):
Dude With a Coke mirror, with the Coke mirror and the
wrapper dude With a.
Coke mirror.
With the Coke mirror and thewrapper it looks like a flip
phone comb that opens up thatsays number one grandma.
Why does it say number onegrandma?
They all do this would.
How many do you have?
A thousand, you have a thousandof these.
Tony (28:55):
I don't personally, but I know how to get at them.
But I'm telling you.
Chris (28:58):
What the fuck are you talking about?
Personally, but I know how toget at them.
But I'm telling you what areyou talking about.
You could start banking theseup like five, five grandma comb
bets at a time dude like I canmake it to the license plate you
think you could move your wayup with that shit if you had a
thousand, because you could losea few hands if you got a
thousand just just.
Tony (29:18):
The transport gets a little tricky yeah, that was the
thing.
Chris (29:22):
So my my objective was to have this.
I just had a tiny bag like thesize, like I said, like a lunch
sandwich bag full of shit.
Too bad, you weren't usingmoney, you were lying on lucky's
trick.
You'd have been coming homewith cash on the table instead
of fucking fucking bugs.
There's no amount of money thatcan move that jar oh my god
(29:44):
hands, dude, I'm not evenkidding.
I bet you would take 25 000, youthink so, for 25 grand I'd
trade my jar of cicadas if I, ifI, if I gave you a hundred
dollar bill you'd be like hereyou go.
No, because then I I can nevertell that story.
You can tell the story.
You just don't have the bugs,if anyone.
Tony (30:05):
If anyone, you're telling me this story.
No, I don't know.
You still have the bugs.
Chris (30:08):
This story told on this podcast will be challenged by
somebody in the fucking audienceand I will fucking send you a
leg of one of these fuckingcicadas.
You say can send you a leg ofone of these fucking cicadas?
You say you still have them.
I don't see them.
I have them.
There's no denying this storyyeah, yeah, I.
Tony (30:29):
So I got a cousin.
He's actually, uh, a listenerof this fine podcast.
Um, he's sort of addicted toauctions and that's a.
Thing and uh, he bought a boxfilled with about a thousand of
those combs and uh for like fourbox or something also about a
(30:53):
thousand bamboo hand backscratchers that telescope out
from themselves.
Uh, but they only go about nineinches, so you can't get still
not far enough reach it's goodenough for me, brother.
Yeah, oh, yeah, for sure, forsure.
But um, yeah, he, he was comingto job sites handing them out
(31:16):
10 at a time like I gotsomething for you, bro.
I'm a big fan of these.
You can have that one.
Chris (31:22):
I'm going to take this.
It's free to take.
Are you talking about the D?
I will find out next MemorialDay weekend if they are at this
festival, how much that's worth,what this is equal to.
I will put just this out thereand I will negotiate with that
motherfucker and I will take apicture of the two items and we
will throw fucking dice.
Tony (31:45):
I think you're getting a half-use.
Don't mess up my wrapper.
A half-use button no, it had awrapper.
I have it.
I'm not going to fucking chewon it.
Yeah, it has to have thequality control stamp on it too.
You can't put it in a wrapperthat didn't come in that didn't
come in.
Chris (31:59):
That's good shit.
Well, it was $12.
Look it, pack of 12.
All right, well, yeah, so thatis the top shelf story of
playing Frick Frack Blackjack.
Tony (32:15):
That could be a good name for our podcast actually.
Chris (32:19):
Thank you for tuning in.
Don't forget to go to musicfestivals and enjoy concerts.
Live music is the lifeblood ofyour heart, it's dead.
Tony (32:26):
We have the internet now Pandora.
Chris (32:30):
For Chris, jay and Tony.
We're out.
Top Shelf Stories with J Chris and Tony.
Let me tell you a little storyof how I acquired a
(00:26):
softball-sized jar of cicadas.
This is Top Shell Stories.
All right, so you guys know Igo to this music festival, right
.
Tony (00:39):
Like every weekend.
Chris (00:40):
Every Memorial Day weekend, year after year, year,
I have gone down to southernillinois to a four-day camp in
music festival.
A camp in music festival meansyou camp right near the stages.
There are places where youshould not camp and cannot camp
because it's the stage.
Otherwise, camp there.
I mean, it sounds fun, I woulddo it.
(01:02):
It is phenomenal.
Don't wear shoes.
Listen to music all day, hangout.
Why don't you wear shoes?
It's just, it feels great, man,it's good.
I don't like grass, I'm fine,then wear your fucking shoes,
okay, sorry.
so everyone's having a greattime, right?
But one of my favorite thingsat this music festival, and one
of the stories I'm going to tellyou today, is about this thing
(01:25):
called Frick Frack Blackjack.
Frick Frack Blackjack is abunch of carnies that go from
festival to festival, streetfestival to street festival,
music festival to music festival, with a little caravan full of
random goods Random goodsacquired from patrons from other
(01:46):
festivals, from other festivalsand what you do there is you
bring random goods and things tothe table, so it's not like a
lost and found and they're usinglost and found items I mean it
kind of sounds like a lost andfound is a little bit of that,
I'm sure.
I'm sure if you found somethingalong the path at the music
festival and you're like, ohdang, that is a button that says
(02:09):
butt drugs, I'm gonna put thatin my pocket.
Tony (02:12):
For the gamble it away.
I feel like you came up withthat because you have a button
that says butt drugs no thatthey exist, they are out there I
them.
Chris (02:22):
He won.
But you could, for example, atFrick Frack Blackjack.
They do not accept the Americandollar, the Canadian dollar,
any type of Euro or Dortch markor anything Zimbabwe dollar,
whatever you got, they ain'ttaking it.
No stock certificates, nothing.
It's all trading.
(02:43):
It's all trading Like it usedto be.
It should be now.
So, how it works is you go upand this is a carny tent caravan
across the country that hasbehind it.
Picture this You're at a musicfestival, it's four in the
morning, the music has stopped.
You go to your tent to get yourbag of goods that you want to
(03:08):
gamble away at frick frackblackjack.
This story is about me.
I had a bunch of vintage unusedbottle caps from old sodas.
Can I ask you one really quick?
Sure, uh, so this is actualblackjack with cards.
Yes, okay.
So I'm at my tent.
I grabbed my bag.
My bag contains unused bottlecaps from vintage sodas and
(03:30):
drinks how?
Tony (03:32):
how did you find them unused?
Chris (03:34):
uh, my great grandmother, my gram, my wife's grandmother
actually went to a store and hadthem for crafting.
She gave me this bag oractually it started as a big box
of crap and I shrunk it down toa little bag of crap.
You lost it all at the frickfrack blackjack well, no so I
didn't want to carry a bunch ofcrap to the frick frack
blackjack.
I just had a little pouch in mymusic festival bag full of
(03:57):
random things for frick frackblackjack and it contained fanny
that's called unused bottlecaps from vintage sodas, Even
with cork tops and shit.
They were great Little thumb,thimble nail protectors from
funeral homes From probably likethe 20s, the 30s, 40s.
Right Are these prizedpossessions?
Tony (04:19):
I had.
These are frick frack blackjack.
Chris (04:24):
These are frick frfrack blackjack, All his family
heirlooms.
These are frick-frack blackjackpossessions Because I noticed
from my years of experience thatpeople bring a lot of unique
things there and the unique iswhat they want.
They want the unique right.
I had a pocket, a jeans pocketthat you would sew onto jeans,
full of zippers, which I thoughtwould be of great value.
Tony (04:49):
I have to see a picture of that the Frick Frack Blackjack
right.
Chris (04:52):
It's a pocket from jeans, but not attached to jeans, that
you would sew onto jeans, fullof zippers that you would use to
replace zippers on clothing ifyou had a bad zipper, okay so
you carry around zippers.
I had this bag of goods and Itook it to the Frick Frack
(05:13):
Blackjack and inside of it was abunch of other goodies, right,
little tiny bag about the sizeof a lunch bag, like you would
take a lunch bag.
Yeah, frick Frack Blackjack.
It's four in the morning.
I've been drinking for a dayand a half partying at a music
festival and before bed Idecided I'm gonna go gamble away
(05:33):
my wares and see what I can get.
When you approach the tablesit's kind of intimidating
because there's all this action.
People are yelling andscreaming behind you.
You see shelves and shelves ofvarious goods, kind of like the
bottom shelves, kind of junk,like stuffed animals and random
crap like revised pockets fullof zippers.
The next levels, like picturesand like random.
(05:56):
The most random shit you couldever imagine in your entire life
is inside this tent and you sitdown at the table and there's
like 20 seats at this table forone game of blackjack.
And how it works is you placeyour goods and in my case I used
.
My first gamble was threebottle caps and two thimbles.
Who decides the price?
(06:18):
So as the carny comes around,they come to you and they say,
oh wow, what have you got here?
And of course I'm'm like I havevintage, never-before-seen,
never-used bottle caps andthimbles from funeral homes
across the country and I'moffering a few of them up here
for gambling and so, okay, let'ssee.
(06:38):
So the carney turns around andhe looks back at the shelf.
Tony (06:42):
Is it like Pawn Stars today?
He's like I got to bring anexpert in.
Well, there are no they will,they have.
Chris (06:49):
I want the story continues.
There is an expert that comesinto this story.
I mean there could be somethingexpensive.
I wouldn't doubt it if you hadall those people there,
especially those hippies.
Remember the just remind.
I'll remind you of the pocketfull of zippers.
It comes up later.
Tony (07:04):
This is a cash mat from a 1972 Dodge Charger.
Chris (07:07):
Exactly, dude.
So you come to this place, youput your bet down and they come
around in their carny ways andthey're like pirates, like
steampunk yeah, I've seen that.
And they're like hey, what doyou got here, I got these
fucking bottle caps and thesevintage symbols and they come to
you and they're all right Onesecond.
And they turn around and theygo through their fucking pile of
(07:29):
shit and they come back andthey're like you want to gamble
it for this sticker with a witha, with a, with a dinosaur on it
.
And I'm like, no, fuck yourzipper or fuck your sticker.
I don't want that shit, fuckyour sticker, I don't want that
shit.
And then they turn around andthey go back and they look and
then the guy came with like alittle fidget spinner thing.
Looks like a Nintendo, right.
(07:50):
I'm like all right, let'sfucking bet and he puts it down
and that's our bet.
So you're one one, you'redealer versus five or six of us
were there at the time.
So, but then how do you?
You're playing against thedealer.
That's how blackjack works.
Okay, so if the dealer's, Iunderstand that.
Tony (08:07):
But we don't have money here.
Do you, though?
No, you don't have money.
Chris (08:11):
So the dealer came to me and he offered me a sticker
first and I said fuck yoursticker, I don't want that shit.
That's not a fair trade.
He said hold on, I'll getsomething better.
Tony (08:21):
And he went back to his shelf and he brought back a
fidget spinner so he does thisto each player.
Yes, okay, so everyone's set.
That's what I want to know.
So it's like an hour, 20 perhand.
It takes fucking forever, butit's hilarious.
Chris (08:31):
Yeah, that's what I'm saying, because everyone's got
fucking rubber chickens andfucking glow like all this
random shit right.
I get it.
Everybody good, everybody good.
We start dealing cards and itdeals cards just like you play
poker or just like you playblackjack.
He draws a 17.
I got an 18.
I win.
I get to keep my bottle capsand my thimbles and I got the
(08:55):
little fidget spinner.
So the next hand comes up, I'mlike, all right, I'll raise the
ante.
I keep everything out there andI go back to my pocket or my,
my bag of goods.
Was there anything you'reeyeing up behind him?
You're like I want that.
Not really, but it happenswatch so then I get this shit I
get this shit, I got this bag.
It's second hand.
(09:15):
I'm like, all right, I'm gonnaput up the bag the the pocket
full of zippers.
I think this is gonna go big.
I think to myself and by thistime a friend of mine had come
by, I had like three peoplewatching me.
So I get start gettingrambunctious.
And I'm like here we go, thesefucking pocket full of zippers.
And the guy comes around againand he's like what the fuck is
(09:37):
this?
I'm like it's a fucking pocketfull of zippers.
Dude, you've never had thatcoming along.
And the first thing you saidwas what the fuck is this?
It's the most valuable thingthat's on the table right now
and there's like fucking pokemoncards and like I don't even
know butt plugs, all kinds ofshit, anything you could ever
imagine.
These people are trading up andthey're at it all up on the
(09:59):
table, and he's like I don'twant your fucking pocket full of
zippers, this is trash.
I'm like fine, fuck you and sothen I brought out like die cast
vintage like luke skywalker andchewbacca and I put those down.
He's like, oh, these arefucking pretty good right here.
And he's looking at them andthey're from like the fucking
70s or some shit.
I got them in some way.
So he goes back behind the walland he's like, how about this?
(10:23):
And he brings me like, uh, asoap dispenser with like baba
fett on it or something, and I'mlike, all right, that's fine,
but you need fucking more.
This is trash.
So he comes back and he's likeI got this rubber band gun.
I'm like fucking rubber bandgun, it doesn't work, bullshit.
And he loads it up.
I'm like find me a fuckingrubber band and I'll maybe let
(10:44):
you put that down on the table.
And he's fucking looking around.
He finds a rubber band, shootsone of his co-workers they all
fucking have a big laugh aboutit puts it down.
That's part of the deal.
And then I think I was bitchingand moaning about something
else and he gave me a lightsaber.
It was broken, lightsaber thingright one of those, one of those
things you flick out and itgets bigger.
Tony (11:06):
So we make a deal.
Chris (11:07):
I'm like, all right, fucking great, right, remember,
it's four in the morning.
It's been a day and a half.
This is the second time they'vedone this through the night.
The guy's like fucking runningon E probably ecstasy by E, I
mean and he's fucking doing histhing and there's like a whole
gaggle of carnies that are likeswitching turns, running the
blackjack table.
(11:27):
There's like a baccarat,there's a phylo shit, like
there's a whole bunch of littlegames, right, so we make the
deal.
He keeps going around and, likeyou said, the games take
fucking forever because they'refucking joking with you and
running the fucking run, hefucking the other girl comes,
blah, blah, blah, fucking.
Time elapses.
(11:47):
I'm talking to my friend.
All of a sudden this womancomes by.
She's behind the counter andshe's like oh, what you got here
?
Holy shit, you got a lot.
I'm like, yeah, I'm letting itride and I turn around and all
the shit's still there that theguy already added to my fucking
stack.
So I had like all my shit plusall the shit I agreed to bet
with.
And she's like well, what arewe gonna do now?
(12:09):
What are you gonna bet with menow?
So at this point I'm like thisgirl doesn't realize that all
this shit I already made a deal.
This isn't all my shit.
This is like 50, 50, shit righthere, it's the house.
But she's like what the fuck?
And so she turns around andshe's like, how am I gonna
fucking do this, whatever?
Whatever she brings out, thisjar, this jar is like the size
(12:31):
human thumb in it the size oflike a softball, or maybe a
little bigger.
It's got a screw top on it.
Maybe it had tootsie rolls like300 of them in it, or something
.
At one point or something.
It's full of cicadas.
Tony (12:44):
Ew.
Like the skins of cicadas right.
Chris (12:51):
I'm like, I'm like, I'm in bitch, let's do it.
Tony (13:00):
They only come around every nine years.
Chris (13:03):
The whole thing was fucking.
I am.
I am on one at this point.
I got a crowd behind me of likethree or four people.
I know I'm fucking rolling.
I skipped the part about thepockets.
She was in love with thepockets.
The pockets were in the pile,the pocket of zippers I was
arguing with her about.
I'm like she had all this shitout and I'm like no, not just
(13:26):
the pocket.
Tony (13:26):
I'll give you three fucking zippers.
Do you want a long zipper?
A?
Chris (13:28):
medium zipper, a short zipper.
She's like I don't know.
I'm like then take one of each,fucking throwing them down like
they're dollar chips and shitlike, and then I'm like you can
keep the fucking pocket, but I'mkeeping the rest of these
zippers.
I'll be back next year.
Whatever run the fucking table.
She had the fucking.
I agreed all of my shit forthis little jar, this fucking
(13:49):
softball size jar of fuckingcicada skins.
Right, she runs around fuckingdouble down, dude, it was a
double down.
You know what double?
Tony (14:01):
down means we had to fucking figure out how the hell
I was gonna match she was gonnamatch what was the number next
thing, you know, all yourzippers were on, so then all my
zippers were on the line.
Chris (14:14):
She had a bunch of other shit on the fucking line she had
brought, like all these thingsall the more I'm sitting there
at this table with like a pile.
I started with this littlebaggie with fucking bottle caps
and thimbles and three handsdeep.
Now I might have skipped a hand.
I'm sitting here with thisfucking pile of shit in front of
(14:36):
me and we're fucking doubledown, spinning and I lose or
maybe it was a draw, but Ididn't win and I didn't really
care and the woman ran away andthe guy comes back and he's
fucking looking at the cards andlooking all the shit and he's
like what?
(14:57):
What happened here?
I'm like, well, me and herfucking drawed and then I
fucking put double down and thenshe fucking brought this.
He's like how'd you get the gun?
I'm like I don't know, it'spart of the fucking thing.
And he's like all right, high,low.
He puts down a seven and I'mlike, fuck high, fuck hi, bam
(15:20):
queen, I take all this shit, soI have.
Now I have arms full of shit,yeah, and this guy and this
couple, this beautiful woman andthis man, come fucking walking
in and he throws a 20 down onthe table as I'm talking to my
friends with all my shit, tryingto fucking hoard it into my
pockets.
Tony (15:40):
I got fucking a lightsaber you got to play one more hand
to get a bag.
Chris (15:43):
I got a lightsaber.
I got a fucking hand soapdispenser.
I got bag of.
I got a jar full of cicadaskins.
I had fucking like all thesestickers, these, whatever.
The guy throws a 20 down, she'syelling at him.
She's like get the fucking shitout of here.
What the fuck is this?
And then he's like, well, Idon't understand, I want to
(16:05):
fucking buy some things.
And she's like you don'tfucking buy shit.
Yelling at him like fucking.
Put your shoe on the table.
So he goes to me.
He's like dude, let me buy someof your things, I of your
things.
I'm like fuck you, man.
I worked hard for this shit.
Dude, I have been here for 45minutes.
There's no way you're gettingany of this shit from me.
(16:25):
He's like come on, dude, let mejust get.
Like, let me get thatlightsaber for 20 bucks.
Give him a cicada I'm like gofuck.
Tony (16:31):
I think that's what he asked for first.
I'm like fuck off dude, like nodude I'm not playing with you.
Chris (16:37):
You're look at you.
Why don't you gamble that hat?
Do you like the hat you werewearing?
And he's wearing this reallynice, like fitted yankees hat.
It's all fucking brand new.
There's not even fuzz on it,the rim's not bent, nothing he
comes up with money.
He's got this hat I'm like soand now?
Tony (16:55):
you want to play games?
Chris (16:57):
do you want to play games or do you want to fucking have
that?
Hat and he's like I can't giveup my hat.
And she's like come on, man,sell him one of your things.
So finally I'm like all right,I'll give you the soap dispenser
and the lightsaber.
Why would you, for 20 bucks,you want to say, kids get that
bad.
So I give him this brokenbroken't give up broken broken
(17:18):
plastic retractable lightsaberwith like a flashlight at the
bottom end of it with nobatteries.
Right, it was actually aflashlight baba fat soap
dispenser with like a broken topand it doesn't even have any
soap in it or nothing.
I don't really like this game.
This dude was so fucking happy.
He's like thanks so much, man,I'm gonna get you back sometime,
(17:41):
don't you worry.
Dude Like this is the best ever.
Tony (17:44):
Well considering, you gave me $20 for 10 cents worth of
goods I got $20, dude.
Chris (17:50):
So I go back to camp.
Everyone's asleep at the camp.
It's like 200 yards away, maybe, right, like from here to the
shooting.
President Trump, yeah, snipershot, sniper shot.
Right, I go back to camp atlike four in the morning,
whatever, five, four thirty,whatever it is now there's
nobody up, the music's likenearly dead this, the birds are
(18:10):
chirping and shit.
I'm unloading all this shit Igot out of my pockets under,
like the community table likethat, like Like in the center of
camp.
So I wake up in the morning,glorified, and all I hear is
what the fuck happened lastnight.
There's this pile of justfucking gypsy hippie shit all
(18:33):
over the table, a jar of bugs, afucking gun with rubber bands.
So I wake up and, yeah, I wakeup in the morning and I'm like,
yeah, dude, I got all thesefucking bugs with this gun last
night.
It was fucking wild.
And everyone's like, well, I'mnot understanding if I'm like on
(18:53):
drugs or something or if I'mwhat.
Then my mom wakes up and she'slike chris, were you at the
frick frack blackjack?
And I was like, yeah, why?
She's like I could hear youcackling and harassing them from
the tent last night dude, I did.
She heard your ass 200 yardsaway frick, you know, you know.
Tony (19:15):
What's funny about that is a parent can hear their child
from everywhere, from anywhere.
Chris (19:22):
But I was cackling in the angle of the way we were down
the hill from it.
I could totally understand howshe heard me, but, dude, that
was the most fucking fun overlike an hour of 20 minutes that
I was completely by myself,completely like off.
Fucking what, what the hell wasI doing?
Tony (19:43):
gambling shit ahead of fucking do they only set this up
like really late?
Chris (19:49):
they, yeah, they don't like they're there.
It's in like an area that'slike the art center, where
there's a lot of art structuresand the festivals.
Tony (19:58):
This is like in the middle of the woods.
Chris (20:00):
Well, it's kind of it's like off to the side and there's
like a gypsy home that you canvisit during the day and they
like do like meditation sessionsand all this other hippie
bullshit stuff there.
But then at night, next to it,is this fucking Frick Frack
Blackjack and yeah, it's open atthis festival.
It's open from like probablytwo in the morning till seven in
(20:20):
the morning.
Jesus, it runs all night longand there's people.
Dude, remember, I told thestory once about the guy who got
his ass tattooed.
Yeah, so he came in while I wasgambling, while I was fucking
throwing chips or throwing allmy shit down, and he's like he
walks in and I'm like, oh,fucking I and I announced it.
I'm like everybody, a fuckinglegend has just entered the
fucking tent and they're like hegoes, he goes.
(20:43):
You must have seen my ass,haven't?
Tony (20:45):
you and I'm like you bet your fucking ass I did dude.
Chris (20:49):
He's like yeah, yeah, that girl's name's still on my
fucking ass.
For those of you who don't know, three Dimes Reviews did an
episode back a few years agowhere I told the story about the
guy who gambled.
He bet that if she won the bethe could tattoo his name on her
(21:09):
ass.
He was a professional tattooartist and the carny agreed that
if she won she would gettattooed her name on his ass.
He's got so many tattoos,what's another one?
He wasn't even that tattooed ofa guy.
Really, she won the hand.
Later that night he did comearound and get his ass tattooed
(21:33):
behind the fucking.
Tony (21:35):
Well, yeah, it sounds like frick frack blackjack.
Your word is your bond.
It's absolutely that, dude.
Chris (21:42):
Or you could never be.
Yeah, it's so much fun.
This year's was a little scaledback, which I'm kind of okay
with.
Last year they had like a wholestage and a whole act and a
whole show.
Well, I'd be more impressed ifthe guy got the tattoo on the
penis than the butt.
Tony (21:56):
That would have been a better bet it would have been a
better bet.
She doesn't have a penis,though, so it's not equal he's
gonna tattoo a badge lip sidehis initials on the clit but
yeah, that's the story of FrickFrack Blackjack man.
Chris (22:14):
That shit's fun.
Look it up on the internet.
Frick Frack, they go aroundBlackjack.
I can only imagine living likeas I was sitting there at the
table waiting for everyone tolike on the internet.
Frick Frack, they go aroundBlackjack.
I can only imagine living likeas I was sitting there at the
table waiting for everyone tolike settle their bets and shit.
You look around and you see thepeople behind the counter and
they're like full-fledgedsteampunk carnies.
They've been going around yearafter year doing this.
(22:34):
They do have an exchange thingwhere you can like exchange
dollars.
It's like a scrap, like a swapmeet style.
Oh, my.
God, okay, so like it exists,but like that dude, I came out
of there with 20 bucks, I turnedsome bottle caps into $20 and a
jar of fucking cicadas that I'mfucking pretty proud of,
(22:56):
actually.
So where are the cicadas now,proudly displayed on my shelf in
my bedroom?
Perfect, yeah, probably.
They were on the coffee tablefor a while and like three days,
and katie was like what thefuck are we doing with this job?
Tony (23:08):
let's put them where we have sex.
Chris (23:10):
It's the skin of cicadas, man yeah, so that's actually a
very common thing.
I googled it how does frickfrack not the skin of the skin?
That's fucking weird how does.
How does frick frack blackblackjack work?
Bet anything barter blackjackgaming show, step up and place
the bet there's.
(23:31):
But there's one catch there'sno money allowed for frack
blackjack or glow sticks theywill fucking.
You.
Put a glow stick on the table,they will throw it at you, in
your face, with the force of ahundred men.
Tony (23:42):
I don't blame them.
Chris (23:44):
Fuck your glow stick.
I'd throw that.
I'd throw it at you if youweren't.
Frick Frack, blackjack and me,yeah.
So this is that's.
That's really common.
There's a lot of stuff Likethere's even images of Frick
Frack.
Tony (23:55):
Blackjack.
It's like a gimmick you canhave come to your party.
Chris (23:59):
Yeah, this is a huge thing actually.
Yeah.
Frick Frack Blackjack BaltimoreAt four in the morning.
Baltimore has their own FrickFrack Blackjack At four in the
morning.
After two days of musicfestival partying, it is one of
the most fun experiences.
I had such a blast making thesegambles and it might have been
because I kept winning, but itwas so much fucking fun dude wow
(24:22):
, it's such a blast because ittakes like the risk out of it,
because, like you're putting upshit you don't give a shit about
.
Like that jacket right there,dude, that, that jacket, that,
yeah, would be like like gold oh, dude you would be third or
fourth shelf worth of shit youcould walk out with like a model
car from the 40s.
(24:42):
All right, remind me next timeI go with you to come and stop
at Tony's place and grab thisMichael Jackson lookalike jacket
.
Tony (24:52):
What if I had?
Chris (24:52):
that deer head.
Would that get me?
That would get you a lot.
I remember a couple years agothe most prized thing everyone
wanted was a fucking.
For some reason there was justa license plate.
It was random, I forget evenwhat state it was, but everyone
wanted that fucking licenseplate.
Dude, the guy who finally wentaway from the license plate was
like hailed, Hailed as achampion, Like he fucking
(25:15):
negotiated his way up.
Could, he have sold that tosomeone else, like you did to
somebody.
No.
Tony (25:20):
The fact that I came out of there.
Chris (25:22):
The fact that I came out of their money with money.
Tony (25:24):
That was out of desperation, not because he
wanted the piece this can bedesperation is that sought after
?
Chris (25:30):
here's what it was.
Here's what it was.
So music goes to like four thiswas like 4 30 in the morning.
There was probably some mollytype rave going on and this guy
had this gal that was way out ofhis league and he's like, oh,
let me go take her to thefucking casino, right?
And then he got there and hewas fucking broke.
No matter how clean his jeanswere, no matter how fit his cap
was, he didn't have money forthat fucking experience.
(25:52):
He had to come to some dirty,barefooted fucking hippie with
thinning hair in his forties tofucking man up and buy some
fucking trash to play games.
That's what it was.
It was a fucking complete flipof the switch.
That girl probably thought Iwas a God at that moment.
If, if she went home with himat the end because of that, she
(26:15):
probably thought I was a God.
Tony (26:17):
I'll just be honest, for sure a hippie god like a like a
crystal clear shot of a yeti.
Well, we have a name for that.
I would that podcast.
I would for sure go to thismusic festival just for this,
sleep all day, just so I couldbe wide awake for frick black
(26:41):
jack tony, I am telling you,there are people it's so funny.
Chris (26:45):
They come in there this is their fucking shtick, they
love this, right.
And they come in there with anold fucking suitcase and they
open it up and like there'sthings hung on the top part of
the suitcase and they likefucking have a retractable
suitcase stand and they put thatmotherfucker next to them with
all their shit in this suitcaseand they're just like like a
(27:08):
prop comic, throwing shit up,bringing it back, switching
their idea.
Dude, it is insanity whatpeople on drugs especially, will
do playing at Frick FrackBlackjack.
Dude, it is insanity.
It is the most hilarious thingyou'll ever experience in your
life.
I wish more people couldexperience, but it requires
(27:30):
committing to a four day musicfestival a lot of the time,
which is a big commitment, foran hour of fun at the fucking
steampunk casino.
I don't know, it seemed likethey were everywhere.
It seemed like you didn't haveto go to they do, they'll come
to like a state fair or like acounty fair, like well, actually
I I am going to a three-daymusic festival next month.
(27:55):
You should see if frick frackblackjack's going to make a
jimmy?
No, because if they don't andyou tell them they might show up
Like I don't know how thebusiness arrangement works
between the festival and thecarnies that show up to do
swapping, but it's just like.
It's like an act.
It's an entertainment act.
All of the people there areacting.
Tony (28:13):
Here.
I got a good Frick FrackBlackjack good right over here.
Frick Frack Blackjack Goodright over here.
Oh, he's found something herein the shop.
Chris (28:21):
in the bunker he's found something he believes would be a
good item for Frick FrackBlackjack.
Tony (28:31):
Number one, grandma comb brush, combo with a mirror, oh
yeah dude, this fine piece, ohyeah, with the wrapper.
Chris (28:36):
Dude With a Coke mirror, with the Coke mirror and the
wrapper dude With a.
Coke mirror.
With the Coke mirror and thewrapper it looks like a flip
phone comb that opens up thatsays number one grandma.
Why does it say number onegrandma?
They all do this would.
How many do you have?
A thousand, you have a thousandof these.
Tony (28:55):
I don't personally, but I know how to get at them.
But I'm telling you.
Chris (28:58):
What the fuck are you talking about?
Personally, but I know how toget at them.
But I'm telling you what areyou talking about.
You could start banking theseup like five, five grandma comb
bets at a time dude like I canmake it to the license plate you
think you could move your wayup with that shit if you had a
thousand, because you could losea few hands if you got a
thousand just just.
Tony (29:18):
The transport gets a little tricky yeah, that was the
thing.
Chris (29:22):
So my my objective was to have this.
I just had a tiny bag like thesize, like I said, like a lunch
sandwich bag full of shit.
Too bad, you weren't usingmoney, you were lying on lucky's
trick.
You'd have been coming homewith cash on the table instead
of fucking fucking bugs.
There's no amount of money thatcan move that jar oh my god
(29:44):
hands, dude, I'm not evenkidding.
I bet you would take 25 000, youthink so, for 25 grand I'd
trade my jar of cicadas if I, ifI, if I gave you a hundred
dollar bill you'd be like hereyou go.
No, because then I I can nevertell that story.
You can tell the story.
You just don't have the bugs,if anyone.
Tony (30:05):
If anyone, you're telling me this story.
No, I don't know.
You still have the bugs.
Chris (30:08):
This story told on this podcast will be challenged by
somebody in the fucking audienceand I will fucking send you a
leg of one of these fuckingcicadas.
You say can send you a leg ofone of these fucking cicadas?
You say you still have them.
I don't see them.
I have them.
There's no denying this storyyeah, yeah, I.
Tony (30:29):
So I got a cousin.
He's actually, uh, a listenerof this fine podcast.
Um, he's sort of addicted toauctions and that's a.
Thing and uh, he bought a boxfilled with about a thousand of
those combs and uh for like fourbox or something also about a
(30:53):
thousand bamboo hand backscratchers that telescope out
from themselves.
Uh, but they only go about nineinches, so you can't get still
not far enough reach it's goodenough for me, brother.
Yeah, oh, yeah, for sure, forsure.
But um, yeah, he, he was comingto job sites handing them out
(31:16):
10 at a time like I gotsomething for you, bro.
I'm a big fan of these.
You can have that one.
Chris (31:22):
I'm going to take this.
It's free to take.
Are you talking about the D?
I will find out next MemorialDay weekend if they are at this
festival, how much that's worth,what this is equal to.
I will put just this out thereand I will negotiate with that
motherfucker and I will take apicture of the two items and we
will throw fucking dice.
Tony (31:45):
I think you're getting a half-use.
Don't mess up my wrapper.
A half-use button no, it had awrapper.
I have it.
I'm not going to fucking chewon it.
Yeah, it has to have thequality control stamp on it too.
You can't put it in a wrapperthat didn't come in that didn't
come in.
Chris (31:59):
That's good shit.
Well, it was $12.
Look it, pack of 12.
All right, well, yeah, so thatis the top shelf story of
playing Frick Frack Blackjack.
Tony (32:15):
That could be a good name for our podcast actually.
Chris (32:19):
Thank you for tuning in.
Don't forget to go to musicfestivals and enjoy concerts.
Live music is the lifeblood ofyour heart, it's dead.
Tony (32:26):
We have the internet now Pandora.
Chris (32:30):
For Chris, jay and Tony.
We're out.
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