- You've got... zzz-mail. - Let's talk about that.
♪ (theme music) ♪
- Good Mythical Morning! - And happy birthday to you, Rhett!
I got a little surprise present for ya in Good Mythical More!
- Right now? - But it depends on how you...
- ...do in this episode. - Oh, I gotta wait on it.
- So pony up. - Okay, I am anxiously waiting for that...
...birthday surprise. But in the meantime, lemme say that I don't believe that
I have ever slept-walked, or sleepwalked, or I don't know what the past tense of
- ...sleepwalking is, but I'm gonna... - Walk-ed.
...say slept-walk-ed. Slept-walk-ened. But Link, you have.
- You've slept-walk-ened. - Oh I... Yeah, I have.
- I have. And I'm proud of it. - Thirty percent of the...
- ...population has. You're in good company. - And the thing is...
...when you're sleep walking, you have no control over what you're doing.
That's my excuse, okay. And it leads to bizarre results,
which we are gonna go through today with some specific sleepwalking instances.
- It's time for Let's Talkers... - ♪ (harp glissando) ♪
- ...about Sleepwalkers. - (laughing) Hey!
- You wanna talkers first? - I will talkers first.
- Whatcha got? - I gonna kick things off with...
...James [Currins] of Palm Harbor, Florida! I love when we get to...
- ...go to Florida. Love it! - Mhm.
- It's so... spicy down there. - James was a frequent...
...sleepwalker. And then one night in 1998, he was 77 years old.
- Oh! - He got out of bed, just like he...
...always did when he was sleepwalking. This time, however, he grabbed his
trusty cane and he walked straight outta the the house and into a pond.
- Ooh. - In Florida they wall that...
- ...taking a bath. - (laughing)
Unfortunately for James, the Pond was filled with gators...
- Oh. - ...because, remember, this is Florida.
You just don't walk into the ponds, because the ponds have gators.
- No. - So he wakes up, surrounded...
- ...by gators, stuck in the mud. - Oh, no. So he can't run out.
Visit Florida, where when you wake from a nightmare, you wake up into a nightmare.
- Dang. He's 77, too. - So he's in the middle of this pond...
...stuck in the mud. He's got his cane. So he does what any 77-year-old man
with a cane surrounded by gators would do. He starts caning gators.
- Yeah. - He starts caning the gators.
And let me say that if you're starting a band in Florida right now, please,
please, for my sake, call it Caning Gators.
- Caning Gators? And then he died? - (laughing) Yes!
- Or what? - Yeah, and then he died. That's it.
- Show's over. No. - (laughing)
Actually, he somehow alerted the neighbors. I guess he was yelling at the
same time this was happening. They come out and they see...
- ...an old man. "Caning gators!" - "I'm caning gators!"
And the cops show up, and the cops shine lights on the gators, and the gators
go away? Apparently, that's all it takes in Florida?
- I don't know. - Whenever you're gonna sleepwalk...
- ...in Florida, make sure you bring lights. - We don't have a video of James...
...fighting off the gators, but we do have a video of this old man riding...
- ...his pet alligator. Pet crocodile. - (person filming the video laughing)
- (Link) Seriously? - (Rhett) That's his frickin' pet, Link.
- (Link) Is he pushing? - (Rhett) He keeps it in his backyard.
(Rhett) No, he's not pushing. He's just staying on it.
(Link) Oh my goodness! Is he gonna... Tilt the camera up, please!
It's like, at the moment when he's about to go into the pond, the guy forgets...
- ...that he's filming. - Well, it's easy to get taken away...
- ...when you're seeing that kind of thing. (stammering) I forgive him.
- It was slow, but it was very dramatic. - Yes.
- But it didn't seem smart to me. - No.
I'm not endorsing that practice. Uh, neither am I endorsing the one...
- ...I'm about to tell you about. - (laughing) Okay. Please.
Lesley Cusack of Warrington, England, not only slept-walked for 30 years...
- ...but also slept-ate for 30 years. - Hmm.
This is called nocturnal binge eating, A.K.A. nocturnal sleep-related eating
disorder, A.K.A. please lock my cabinets.
- (laughing) Yeah. - Right? She has no clue what she...
...eats until the next morning when she sifts through the garbage to look...
- ...at the empty packaging. - Mm.
- This is like my teenage years, though. - (laughing) She has unknowingly eaten...
...raw potatoes. You'd think into one raw potato and you'd wake up.
- Not when you're sleep walking. - I mean, I like a floppy fry...
- ...but not, like, a crunchy one. - Yeah.
- Cough syrup. Soap powder. - Mm.
- And Vaseline. - Brought to you by Vas.
- (laughing) Never can have too much Vas. - No.
(laughing) You're not supposed to eat it though.
It does sound like an episode of our show. I mean, all this stuff.
- Yeah, it does. - She's only ever woken up once.
She remembers standing in the kitchen with paint in her mouth.
- Yeah, that'll do it. - She was eating PAINT!
- Yeah, that's not good for you. - No.
I mean, it's better than a raw potato. I can tell you that much.
It is not good. Do no eat paint. Or raw potatoes. Just stay in your bed.
Maybe she needs to chain herself to her bed. I don't know.
This next one took place in Buies Creek, North Carolina, in the early '90s.
- Okay. It is, yeah. - That's where we're from, incidentally.
Two middle school boys named Rhett and Link were sleeping on the floor
of what the McLaughlins called the "extra room."
- Mhm. - We had two mattresses.
Two mattresses. Two separate sleeping bags.
- One television with... - Just wanted to clarify.
...two knobs. Two knobs on the television. Once for you, one for me.
And if you hadn't picked up on this yet, we're talking about ourselves.
And I remember waking up and hearing some scratching and some knocking,
and looking over and seeing you, Link, my best friend...
- Yeah. - ...right next to the door.
So you've got the door that's on the wall, you know, and then you got
right next to the door. And you were right next to the door.
- Like if the door was here... I was here. - And you were, like, going, "Hehhh."
You were making inaudible "Hehhh." And you were reaching for the doorknob
on the wall, and so were just kind of scratch-- it freaked me out.
- Like this? "Hehh." - Waking up seeing somebody just...
...facing the wall going, "Heh, heh, heh," and just scratching.
I was trying desperately to get out of the sleepover.
You were trying to get out. Yeah. And so I wake up, and I did the thing
that you're not supposed to do when you encounter someone sleepwalking.
- Punch 'em in the face. - But I was like, "Link. Link? Link."
And all of a sudden you were like (hiccup-like gasp). And then you looked
at me. And then you were completely disoriented, and I kinda guided you
back down to your sleeping bag. And then you said you didn't remember any...
- ...of it in the morning. - Oh, no.
- But I helped you, man. - I still don't remember it.
- Why were you trying to leave me? - Uh, it's spooky in there with that...
- ...television with the fuzz on it. - (laughing)
Why do you leave the television on with the fuzz on it.
So, you know what? You fared pretty well. You never had any crazy stuff...
- ...happen to you. - (laughing) 2003, Denver, Colorado.
And unnamed nurse took an Ambien before going to sleep one night. Now, Ambien
is known to induce sleepwalking. She doesn't remember what happened
after that, (high voice) but the cops do! She got into her car and she went...
- ...for a little nocturnal joyride. - (chuckling)
She had a fender-bender at an intersection, and, of course,
she does what you normally do when you have a fender-bender. You get out of the
car to inspect the damage. No, to pee in the middle of the streeet.
Ah, well, that can be a great distraction. Any time a wreck somebody...
- ...I get out and pee, and they just... - Drive away. Back away slowly.
"Okay, cool. I don't need your insurance information anymore."
She urinated right in the street, at which point, she was arrested.
- Yeah, you can't do that. - "Freeze! Put your pants where...
- ...I can see 'em!" is what they said. - (laughing)
- Probably. I don't know. I wasn't there. - Yeah.
And we don't have video of the nurse peeing in the street, but I do have video
of a dog peeing while standing on his front legs.
- No, you don't. - (laughing) Yes, I do. Let's watch it.
- (Rhett) Oh, gimme a break. - (Link) He obviously took an Ambien.
- (Link) I mean, this is amazing. - (Rhett) Hold on.
- (Link) This is like a circus dog. - (Rhett) Look how he's peeing everywhere!
(Rhett) His hind parts begin to look like a turkey with its head cut off.
(Link) He's making a circle of urine protection around himself.
(Link) And it's good that the leash is already yellow.
- (Rhett) Can I train Barbara to do this? - (Link) Yes. You should.
(Link) You hold her legs like a wheelbarrow race and you just...
- ...wait for her to pee. - (Rhett) No, I think I'd have to...
- ...call Caesar. - (Link) You gotta get Caesar.
(Rhett) "Caesar, I need one thing from you. I need you to train Barbara...
- ...do to this." Okay. - (Link) It's weird. It's a really long...
- ...video. It's mesmerizing. - In 2008, researchers from the...
...University of Toledo -- they're always doing the research in Toledo, you know?
- Holy toledo! - They reported on the first case of...
...someone sleep-emailing. This was a 44-year-old woman who will remain
unnamed. Not by me. If I knew her name, I'd tell ya right now. But the Toledo...
...people said we shouldn't name her. - Mm.
Um, she went to bed around 10 PM, got up two hours later, made her
way to the computer, logged in using her password -- which, that must be the
key to remembering your password: be asleep. That would help me.
Well, the password is stored in that part of the brain.
- In the sleeping part. - Yeah, you gotta store it in...
- ...the sleeping part. - Okay. And then, after she logged...
...into her computer, she begins emailing friends of hers. One of the emails
reads, "Come tomorrow and sort this hellhole out.
- (laughing) - Dinner and drinks, 4 PM.
- Bring wine and caviar only." (laughing) - (laughing) What?
- That is amazing! - That's like a weird party invitation?
Yeah. And incidentally, this is the exact transcript of a recent email...
- ...from Trump to Putin. Yeah. - (laughing)
- Oh, you got those emails? - Yeah, I hacked 'em.
I hacked 'em. Another one simply read -- not from Trump to Putin...
but back to the woman who's sleepwalking --...
- Back to her. Okay. - ...simply read, "What the."
She's sing-- "What the." And then she's singing.
She's typing this in and then singning it out.
- That's crazy. - Now, they have actually...
She has no recollection of doing this. And the guys in Toledo have come up...
- ...with a name for this: "zzz-mailing." - Only in Toledo could you come up...
...with a name that catchy. - That's clever. I like it.
And this... You know what? I've kind of put two and two together.
Z-mailing exists, and you're a sleepwalker, which I think will help me to explain
some of the emails I've been getting from you in the middle of the night.
The most recent one being, "Come tomorrow and sort my garage out.
No dinner provided. Bring trash bags, a broom, and massage oil...
- (laughing) - ...It's going to be a long day."
- And you didn't respond. - I did not respond.
- You made me feel very uncomfortable. - I was not sleeping!
- Oh, this was an actual request. - (laughing) Yeah!
- Okay. - Yeah, I mean, "massage oil optional,"...
- ...maybe I should have said? - (laughing)
Would that have... I don't know. I was just like, "Hey, massage is involved.
- Maybe it'll help me... - Okay!
- ...clean out the garage." - Well, now that I understand that...
...it's an open invitation, I'll respond differently next time.
It's too late. It's totally clean. You're not involved.
- Lotta massage oil on the cement, though. - Okay, maybe you're out there...
...and you are suffering from sleepwalking. But that means you're probably not getting
a good night's sleep. There a book that can help with that and help you
get your best Zs. It's called the The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your...
- ...Life, One Night at a Time! - (Link) And we've got a deal...
...for you. Go to audible.com/gmm to get a free audiobook and a 30-day trial.
Of course, there's all types of books on there. I'm listening to Charlie and...
- ...the Chocolate Factory. Right now. - In your earbuds.
No, but I listen to it with the kids. Got Lord of the Rings.
Or The Sleep Revolution, also a highly rated book.
- Yeah, also an option. - Link in the description.
That's for liking, commenting, and subscribing.
- You know what time it is. - My name is Jaden.
I live in Toledo, and it's time to spin The Wheel of Mythicality.
Thanks to Audible for sponsoring this episode. Remember to go to
audible.com/gmm for your free audiobook with a 30-day trial!
Thank you, Audible. And click through to Good Mythical More, where I'm gonna
bestow upon Rhett his birthday gift. Happy birthday, man.
- (Rhett) Yeah. It's my birthday. - Are you ready for this? Oo-wee!
- (Rhett) "Shout out to hangnails!" - Shout out to you, hangnails!
Look at you, just hanging around, like, "I got nothing to do."
You're so small, but you make such a big impact, like a really smart child.
Yeah, and when you rub against the inside of my sheets...
Not trying to make this awkward, but you do.
[Captioned by Kevin: GMM Captioning Team]