- They're like, "Hey, Danny.
Could you do me a favor?
If you go home and you shower tonight,
can you put Saran Wrap on your arm
so we can keep that Petunia fresh?"
And I was like, "Yeah, I'm like 10 or 11.
I don't have to shower at all if you don't want.
That's fine."
I'm like, "Mom, Mom!
The bosses said I don't have to shower."
- This week, I'm sitting down with the one and only star
from The Adventures of Pete & Pete,
Figure It Out, and All That, Danny Tamberelli
on Throw Back with Nickelodeon.
I'm your host, Anthony Padilla,
and it's time for some adventures.
The star of The Adventures of Pete & Pete,
All That, and so much more, Danny Tamberelli.
You ready to throwback?
- I am, I'm ready.
I'm ready for this trip down nostalgia lane.
- Nostalgia lane is my favorite road.
- It's a great road.
- So how did it all start for you?
Did you know you were funny as a kid?
- I didn't know that I was funny
but I was doing things that got people's attention
in the form of laughter.
- [Anthony] I mean-
- So, I did know about that pretty young, I guess.
- [Anthony] Were you like the class clown or?
- To a point, you know, I grew up
going to public school my whole life.
So I would get tutored on the set,
when you get tutored you end up just
blowing through your curriculum
because it's one on one with the teacher,
not in a classroom with 20 people.
- So you're basically a genius.
- [Danny] So basically, no, not a genius,
I would just come back and I would be done with all my work.
I had to be in school physically
but then I would just, you know, get in trouble
being a class clown-
- 'Cause you already knew most of the-
- 'Cause everything was done,
I was like, what do you want from me?
- Yeah, you're like, I'm sitting here, are you happy?
- What do you want me to do?
- Look, I'm just gonna go mess around in the back, okay.
(laughing)
Just leave you guys to do, I'll tell ya,
oh yeah, no, Jimmy, that answer's 17.
- What did you parents think about the whole thing,
you know, you getting cast on a big show and
- Well, at the very beginning of it it wasn't anything-
- It wasn't a big show yet.
- It was this little, yeah,
it was just these little vignettes
and it would be funny to see these little shorts
in between other, bigger shows that I would watch,
I was like oh this cool.
- So you were just watching a show
and you would see yourself?
- It would pop up, yeah.
- You're like whoa. - Oh yeah.
- Were your friends super impressed with that?
- Yeah I mean, they were fine about it.
I went to public school so there was
anytime my head started to get a little
ego heavy. - They'd bash you down.
(talking over each other)
- Well like when I moved in 5th grade I was the new kid,
didn't matter if I was on TV,
and they were watching Pete & Pete.
I was still the new kid so I got picked on little bit
at the very beginning, they'd tease me,
they'd all sorts of things.
But I got them to come around because we shot in New Jersey
so I figured out a way that I could bring everybody in the
5th grade class on a field trip to the set of Pete & Pete.
- [Anthony] What?
- And then they could be extras in it if they wanted to be.
So I got them in the show and then I got friends.
Isn't that funny how it works like that?
- That is so cool.
Did you know that you were making something special
that held a place in so many people's hearts?
I guess being a star. - It's a tough question
because I was growing up while I was shooting this stuff,
so like it was a weird thing for me
because I feel like Little Pete and I shared a lot
of similarities, but also a lot of differences,
like I wasn't a big of a tough guy.
- Right. - In real life.
Going back to it now and seeing how people respond to it
and how they're you know,
I see people with Petunia tattoos for real.
- Right and that was the tattoo
that your character had in the show.
- [Danny] Yeah, oh yeah.
That is something really powerful because
that's a permanent thing, that they care about the show
that much and it meant that much to them,
that they had to go and do something like that.
Which I get - How does that make you feel
like seeing a tattoo - It feels amazing.
It's amazing. - from your character.
- It's amazing, it's really like,
'cause it effected me the same way,
'cause again like I was growing up and I was watching it.
And it was something that I would've watched
if I wasn't on the show.
- What do fans usually say
when they recognize you in public?
- You look so familiar man, where are you from?
- [Anthony] Do you have to tell them or do they?
- It depends, it all depends on how hard
I can smell the wood burning in their brains
it's like I gotta put this fire out,
something bad is going to happen.
Or like the people that look and walk by,
then you see them again walk by.
It's like I know you from somewhere, and it's like did you
go to Calvin Coolidge Middle School in Des Moines, Iowa?
- You're like nope. - Nope, didn't.
But sometimes I just let it go
and I'm like did you watch Nickelodeon when you were little?
Yes, oh!
And then it happens.
And if they're Pete & Pete fans,
usually the next question is, and I don't know why this is
because we're all cognizant adults here.
- What is it?
- Is the Petunia tattoo real?
No.
- They thought an 11 year old had a Petunia tattoo?
- Seven year old even.
- You were seven at the early state?
Oh my god.
- Yeah, so.
- [Anthony] They thought you were seven with a tattoo?
- [Danny] Sometimes they get intoxicated with nostalgia,
it makes them lose their rationale for a minute.
- [Anthony] It's 'cause they believed it
when they were seven year old watching that.
- Of course.
- And they just got it in their head that it was real.
- And then usually the person's like
I'm fully tatted up because of Pete & Pete.
- How did it feel walking around
as a seven to 11 year old with a tattoo?
- It felt pretty cool because we were shooting in
New Jersey, if I was like off for a day and they
were shooting, I would go back to my regular school.
So there were times where I'd go back to my public school
with the Petunia tattoo.
- You still had it?
- Because, well, we got to a point where they were shooting
and we didn't have enough Petunia tattoos
to get through whatever we were doing.
- [Anthony] So they're like this is a lot of responsibility
for you, you gotta preserve this.
- [Danny] No they would be like, they're like hey Danny,
um could you do me a favor if you go home
and you shower tonight, would you put Saran Wrap on your arm
so we can keep that Petunia fresh?
- That's a lotta responsibility.
- And I was like yeah, I'm like 10 or 11,
I don't have to shower at all if you don't want,
like that's fine.
Mom, mom, the bosses said I don't have to shower, so,
look look, I got carte blanche over here.
The show's been over for three years, take a shower.
(laughing)
- I'm preserving the tattoo.
So is it true that you learned how to play bass
from Iggy when he was on the show?
- I learned how to play a song from Iggy Pop.
It's a song called "TV Eye," which is a great song.
- Did any of that influence your music career?
- Oh a hundred percent.
I basically wanted to play bass forever,
I've always wanted to play bass, I just,
it's what I gravitated towards,
and when I was in elementary school they didn't offer it.
So they're like you can play violin or guitar.
- You're like bass.
- Yeah so I tried the violin, I was god awful at it.
And I was like venting about my frustrations on the set
and the prop master, Dan Fisher, he heard me
and the next day he brought me one of his basses.
He had a couple and he had a bass,
he's like I got a dog recently, I can't play the bass,
I play the bass and the dog goes nuts.
Like not into it, so he gave me his, which I still have.
- He gave it to you to have.
- He gave it to me.
And so that's how I got my bass and started playing.
- [Anthony] So that changed your entire life trajectory?
- Yeah that was, yeah for sure, 100%.
He taught us how to play "TV Eye" with Mike.
Mike, 'cause Mike played guitar.
One day we were talking about it,
he's like next day I'm gonna come in,
I'm gonna bring my guitar, like we'll jam at lunch.
I was like Iggy Pop wants to jam with us.
- [Anthony] He just wanted to jam?
- He wants to jam at lunch.
- [Anthony] With, how old were you at the time?
Eight, 11. - 11, 12.
- You're just an 11 year old jamming with Iggy Pop.
You're like this is normal.
- Yeah, so he's like what do you wanna learn?
I was like can we play "TV Eye?"
And he's like okay.
And he just started playing it outta this crappy little amp
and it started smoking while we were playing it,
kinda blew it up.
(laughing)
- Like for real?
- Yeah for real.
- So I'm gonna throw out a few names
and I'd love to hear your first reaction.
- Okay.
- [Anthony] To hearing some of these. Michael C. Maronna
- Michael C. Maronna was my TV brother.
One of my good friends, he was a groomsman in my wedding.
- [Anthony] Whoa for real?
- [Danny] Yeah.
(talking over each other)
Mike and I are still very close.
We started doing these like reunion shows
back in like 2011 or 2012 that were really fun
and we didn't wanna stop hanging out,
so we decided to do this podcast,
"The Adventures of Danny and Mike."
And I was like well this is my idea
so my name is going first this time, pal.
'Cause we all knew that he was Pete and I was and Pete.
- Yeah.
- Just, you know, logistically speaking.
- True, you're definitely the and Pete.
- So yeah.
- Is that heartbreaking to know that his name was first
in The Adventures of Pete & Pete?
- Not anymore.
- Redemption.
- Redemption, yes exactly.
- Lori Beth Denberg.
- Vital information for your everyday life.
I was terrified to take that over because that was her bit.
It was really, those were big shoes to fill.
- You felt a lot of pressure.
- I felt a lot of pressure, which is why I just tried
to do it my own way and not copy her.
- Josh Server.
- Josh Server, Ear Boy.
- Ear Boy.
(laughing)
- [Danny] Bernie Kibbitz.
Bernie Kibbitz, one of my favorite characters
that Josh did, he hated getting into it
because it'd take a long time.
- Yeah he said it took like four hours.
- Oh did he talk about it? - Yeah, yeah.
- Nick Cannon.
- Oh Nick Cannon.
- [Anthony] Yes.
- We were Spice Boys together.
- [Anthony] Which spice were you?
- [Danny] I was Hairy Spice.
- [Anthony] Hairy Spice.
- [Danny] And he was Sweaty Spice. (laughing)
- [Anthony] Some of the biggest 90's music stars.
- Oh man yeah.
- Would come out onto All That.
Do you have any standout memories from those times?
- [Danny] Oh boy, I got to play bass with Wyclef.
That was pretty rad.
- [Anthony] That's so cool.
- Yeah.
- Do you have any memories that stand out to you
in particular with Britney Spears?
I saw something online about that one.
Britney Spears. - I see what you do now.
Britney Spears, who is that again?
I ruined a take of probably the first performance
that she did because she had a butterfly tattoo on her back.
She came out and we all came out to like do the outro,
like all right give it up for Britney Spears.
And like I looked and then I'm just like
staring at it like oh yeah.
And then they'll be like cut.
Danny, can I see you in the booth?
And they're like-
- [Anthony] You got punished.
- I got told in the booth they're like
can you not look at Britney Spears' tush?
And I was like I wasn't, I was looking at her tattoo.
(laughing)
- [Anthony] Yeah a likely story.
- Yeah I know.
That's my story, I'm sticking to it.
- So that take never made it in, it never made-
- That take never made it in,
the second one did though and I-
- You're like very much looking forward
- I was very much, it was the weirdest outro ever.
Thank you very much for Britney Spears,
and like holding my head.
- When you were on Nickelodeon and you'd get slimed,
you took it all the way.
You would catch the slime in your mouth.
- Yeah I went crazy.
- You just went for it, you went as far as you could.
- I loved the reaction that it got
and I loved that if I did the secret slime action
somebody wins a prize and like, I was all about it,
I mean I wasn't giving anything away.
Nickelodeon's giving it away.
(mumbles) I want them to have everything,
unless the little kid was being a brat.
I had a couple kids that were like
you're never gonna guess what I do.
- [Anthony] And then you're like
- And I was like you know what now I'm playing the game
and guess what, you're not even getting
a pair of British Knights, sorry.
(laughing)
- Broke a lotta hearts. - I did.
- But only 'cause they broke yours.
- [Danny] I did, it's true.
But I also sent a lot of people to Cape Canaveral.
- I never thought I'd be able to ask some of this.
What did the slime taste like?
- It's an age old question, yes.
Well depending on the brewer.
- Oh there were different brewers?
- Different brewers.
- They're different flavors of slime?
- It's the amount of water that you put into it.
- [Anthony] Right, different consistency.
- [Danny] Food coloring always the same.
For Figure It Out it was vanilla pudding and water,
but depending on how much water you put in
it was either more liquidy or more viscous.
I prefer viscous.
(laughing)
- [Anthony] You prefer?
- Yeah 'cause it's like-
- Can we get the viscous slime today?
- I would like the viscous please because then at least
where it hits, it kinda just stays.
When it was more liquid like it would just like-
- Splash.
- It would just go everywhere.
And to bring it full circle from not showering
in Pete & Pete, I'd shower four times a day
on the set of Figure It Out because they would slime me
at least once a game.
You know, we'd do four in a day.
So I'd like get slimed and be like
all right Danny go back in there and freshen up.
- [Anthony] Did you have your own shower?
- Cleanest I've ever been.
- [Anthony] Oh good.
- Yeah.
- What's the biggest misconception
about being a young actor?
- That we all end up crazy and homeless.
(laughing)
- [Anthony] I haven't heard the second part.
I have heard the crazy part though.
- There is definitely a stigma in child actors
and when I went to college part of the reason I also left
was like I was a jaded 18 year old kid
being like I'm always reading somebody else's lines,
and I'm always taking direction from someone else,
like I play music and this music's mine
and like that was sort of how I rebelled of like-
- Creatively.
- Trying to do, yeah.
And it was completely based on that,
even though the last six weeks that I was doing All That,
we were in the writer's room and creating,
and that stuff was really powerful for me.
It happened in a point of my life where I was just like
this is great and maybe I'm gonna come back to it,
but I wanna do something that I feel like I can,
you know, that really is truly my own.
And then I came back to New York
and I started writing sketch comedy again
and producing videos and stuff and just getting
back into being creative on that side
which made me wanna continue, you know, doing other things.
Sometimes people don't have that outlet,
I'm very thankful that I had music
as something that I could like take as my own.
- Yeah.
- Because I feel, what you said,
there are some people that go through the ringer as a kid
and they do a lotta fun things, but they, you know,
worked their whole life.
And they didn't necessarily find a hobby
or find something and then they're left with like
well I don't have any acting gigs to get into
so what am I gonna do now?
- There's no sense of self at that point.
- Right, right.
So you know, and you are vulnerable as a kid.
I've had great parents you know?
I would come back from L.A. from doing All That
and my dad told me that this isn't gonna last forever.
- [Anthony] Okay, okay.
- And I was like I know dad, I know.
And he's like you have to learn the value of a dollar,
so I talked to my buddy who owns the bagel store in town
and he's willing to give you a job on the weekends.
- So you were able to live a normal life?
- Sort of, but like people would come in and be like
I just saw you on Snick last night, make me a bagel.
You know it was kind of weird, and in that moment,
I was kinda like, I felt a little weird.
And like I had a story that's like
oh I'm just helping out my dad's friend.
- You had to defend yourself? - Yeah I just felt like,
it was hard for me as a 16, 17 year old kid.
- It's kind of embarrassing to-
- It was, it felt a little embarrassing
when they'd be like can you sign my bagel bag and then
like salt and pepper on that bacon, egg, and cheese.
But I wouldn't change any of it because it kept me grounded,
it kept me, you know understanding what it takes
to like work and be a human, and those things are important.
And not all parents have that kind of compassion
unfortunately, you know stage parents are a real thing,
it's a stereotype for a reason.
Their first notion isn't is this gonna effect my child
in a good way or a bad way?
Like my mom nixed a couple big things
that would've made me a lot of money.
She used to say that I don't want you to do anything that
makes you end up on the psychiatrist couch later in life.
(laughing)
- [Anthony] Okay yeah.
- And she was right, you know what,
I have a clean bill of mental health for what it's worth.
I mean I'm probably crazy, but I'm saying,
but I'm not diagnosed is what I'm saying.
- Keep it that way and you're not crazy.
- Right, exactly.
- All right Danny, one last throwback.
- Okay.
- [Anthony] I wanted to ask you
if this brings back any memories.
- Oh my gosh that is Tasty.
- That is Mr. Tasty.
- Lemme just see here.
(airy bell music)
- [Anthony] Can you smell it still?
(Danny sniffing)
- Yeah?
- It's his.
- It is his.
Does it bring back any memories?
- It makes me hungry.
- [Anthony] Yeah?
- Yeah.
(laughing)
- [Anthony] Does it bring back any memories especially now?
- If you do grand hand gestures like yes.
How 'bout a, yes, oh yes.
Now I'm sad that I wish he was here.
I thought it was gonna be fun but.
(music winding down)
- Oh he's back, thank you, thank you.
I'm sorry it was too real.
This was too real.
(upbeat music)
- All right thank you so much, Danny.
- Hey my pleasure.
- [Anthony] That was great. - Thank you.
- Do you mind playing us out while we sign out?
- Why not?
- Yes.
- Why not.
- I'd love to see your bass skills.
- Oh we gotta bass right here.
- Got a bass ready for you.
- What should I play here?
(bass music)
- And thank you so much for watching.
If you have a favorite Nickelodeon memory,
leave it below to join the conversation.
We'll see you next time on Throw Back.
(lasers)
(bass music)
(laughing)
- Bass makes you so happy.
(laughing)
- Bass makes me very happy, bass makes me uber happy.