Hi there, and welcome to "Is it a Good Idea to Microwave This?", the behind-the-scenes special! I'm your host, Jonathan Paula.
Now, for the last half a year or so, you've fallen in love with our quaint little Internet show that airs twice a week.
And I'm here in beautiful, sunny California to show you a little bit of behind the scenes of how we make the show and where it all started and some never-before-seen footage!
*theme song plays*
Jory: There's no reason why you would ever have to microwave this!
Jon: (in exaggerated Boston accent) This is the appliance section here at Jonny's Leftover Emporium!
Ezra: You see the tower of microwaves!
Jory: The masks- they do nothing!
Jon: You're not gonna believe this! You know, right here, in the land of opportunity, Hollywood!
Jory: Why? Well, the microwave is starting to get a little bit stinky!
Jory: Is it a good idea to microwave this?
Jon: The behind-the-scenes special!
I'm here now at Universal Studios Hollywood to take you behind the scenes of the microwave show and into some of your most frequently asked questions.
We'll start out with a question that's not that frequently asked but deserves answering, nonetheless: "What's the history behind the show?"
Well, it all started back on May 2nd, 2007, when Jory and I found our first microwave.
Jon: At the end of the school year, everyone started to move out of our dorm, leaving behind all of the stuff they couldn't bring with them. Scavenging all of the items I found in the hallways, I opened up my very own leftover emporium.
Jon: (in exaggerated Boston accent) And over here, my appliance section! Come, follow me! Look- microwaves for sale! Low price, $5 each! Over to my right here, the Chefmate.
Jon: Then, here's the Proctor Silex, the Sanyo, the Panasonic- we have it all! Each microwave, goin' low price, $5!
Jon: (narrative voice-over) Since there was no way I'd be able to sell all of the microwaves we found, Jory decided to have some fun with one of them.
Jon: (voice-over narrative) So, we converted an empty dorm room into the laboratory, grabbed a spare microwave, and the show was born!
We've acquired six microwaves from around the Little Buildiing, people moving out, and we've decided to test 'em, to see what they can really do.
We found out that, if you stick a light bulb in the microwave and you have it on "high," it will glow a rainbow of colors, a plethorous amount... If that's a word...
Jon: I'm standing in front of the Hollywood Reservoir right now to answer your next question: Where do you get your microwaves?
Well, the very first microwave we got came from the Leftover Emporium, as you just saw. Ever since then, we've been purchasing our microwaves from Craig's List.
Jon: To save money, we also buy them used, and when Jory gets through with them, obviously, they're significantly used!
Now, a lot of people have asked me, "Well, where do you film your show? Is it like a special room?"
Jon: No, we actually film our show outside. You know, not very similar to the fountain behind me, but we actually film it in my backyard.
And we're standing underneath this lattice-work structure, and basically, we hang a bunch of camouflage tarps from the ceiling, and we put another tarp on the ground.
Jon: Over the course of about an hour, we basically build the laboratory in my backyard. So, we're outside, kind of in a contained environment.
*pleasant 1950s'-esque music plays*
I'm in front of the "Jurassic Park" ride at Universal Studios now, and one of the questions I get a lot is: "When do you guys film?"
Well, we don't film twice a week, that's for sure! What we usually do is we film an entire season in one evening, and then what I'll do is I'll edit them twice a week, so it looks like Jory's in there every Monday and every Friday getting the black lung.
Wow! That looks like a lotta fun! Let's go give it a try, shall we?
*"Jurassic Park" theme song plays*
Jon: (along with ride announcer) Welcome to Jurassic Park!
Jon: Alright, we're on board the "Jurassic Park" ride right now.
Ezra: Oh, those poor people! Oh, no!
Jon: AAHHH! So, one of the questions I get a lot is: "Is the show scripted?" With the exception of the dynamite episode where we had to plan everything out... Because of the nature of the experiment, we couldn't do it a second time.
Jon: Every now and then, Jory and I will script out the introduction segments in case we screw up a line. But mostly, all the stuff you hear on the show is stuff we come up with off the cuff, the spur of the moment.
We're just that naturally funny almost all the time!
Excuse me for a minute... WOO-HOO!
So, what I was saying is, every now and then, we'll have to script things for the introduction, but for the most part, the show is pretty much on the seat of our pants the whole time!
I'm standing next to my favorite "Apollo 13" astronauts, Bill Paxton, Tom Hanks and Kevin Bacon to answer your next question: "Are you Jory Caron?"
Jon: Well, obviously, I'm not Jory Caron. But I am the guy who controls the YouTube account, hosts the videos, edits them, and answers all of your comments.
"Do you make money off of this?"
Yes, we do! And I'm standing right here in front of the Hollywood sign, because it's a golden place for opportunity.
Jon: And the Internet is MY golden place for opportunity, 'cause, thanks to YouTube's Partner Program, the JPizzle channel has been generating an income through advertisement revenue since February 2008.
Jon: The monthly check that Google pays us varies depending on views, but generally, we earn a couple thousand dollars each month. And it's all thanks to your help.
And your support is what pays for our budget pretty much, so thanks!
Another question we get is: "Can I mail you something?" Well, if you really have an interesting item, we would love to microwave it. But I don't wanna give my address out here.
Jon: So, what we'll do is, if you send me a private message, let me know what you want us to microwave. If it's good enough, then I'll give my address to you.
So, feel free to help us out! Send me a message, and I'll give you the address.
"And what do you edit your videos on?" Well, that's a great question. Thanks for asking! I edit all of my videos on a state-of-the-art high-end computer, a PC.
Jon: Using that PC, I edit all of my videos using Adobe Premier Pro CS3, cutting together the different video angles, sweetening audio levels, and creating custom titles for each episode.
Jon: The show is filmed with three cameras. The first is my Panasonic DVX 100B. Handheld by me the entire show, it serves as our primary angle for all of the action.
Jon: The second camera is a Canon Elura 100, which films the close-up angle of what's inside the microwave.
Jon: Finally, our third camera is a Canon S3-IS. This is used to take all of our behind-the-scenes digital photos, and it also doubles as Riley's sidekick cam.
Jon: Between all three cameras, we record an average of 30 minutes per episode, which gets edited down to the five minutes you see here on the Internet.
One of the most frequently asked questions we get asked here on the show is: "Can you guys microwave a fill-in-the-blank?"
I'm in front of the Warner Bros. water tower right now to answer that question, which is, chances are, we already HAVE microwaved your suggestion!
Check through the other seasons to make sure we haven't, and if we haven't actually done it yet, send me a private message or comment or e-mail, and we'll get around to it next time we film, which, keep in mind, might not be for a couple of months.
Thanks for watching the 2009 remix edition of the behind-the-scenes special. I guess it's time I get back to editing, however.
So, for Jory Caron, Riley McIlwain, and the rest of the cast and crew of "Is it a Good Idea to Microwave This?", I'm Jonathan Paula. Goodnight, I'll see you later!
*end credits play*
Jon: So, uh, Jory is...
Jory: Trying to align the nail holes!
He's tryin' to align the NAIL HOLES, if you know what I mean!
Riley: That's the microwave dog!
I didn't talk about that thing, did I? Let's do that again!