Piece image

The Tobolowsky Files Ep. 22 - The Dangerous Animals Club

Series: The Tobolowsky Files
From: David Chen
Length: 00:49:13

Stephen describes the secret world that children live in when their parents aren't looking. Read the full description.

Tobolowskyart_small Stephen describes the secret world that children live in when their parents aren't looking.

To hear the full audio, sign up for a free PRX account or log in.

Also in the The Tobolowsky Files series

Piece image

The Tobolowsky Files - Memories of Groundhog Day (00:52:05)
From: David Chen

Actor Stephen Tobolowsky discusses "Groundhog Day," and reveals the story behind the story behind the story.
Piece image

The Tobolowsky Files Ep. 52 - The Rubicon (00:52:00)
From: David Chen

Crossing the Rubicon. In history or literature it was the act that couldn’t be undone. I just couldn’t remember if it was at the beginning of the story or the end.
Piece image

The Tobolowsky Files Ep. 51 - The Light of the First Day (00:53:00)
From: David Chen

Creativity is risky. But it can save your life.
Piece image

The Tobolowsky Files Ep. 50 - The Primary Source (00:51:38)
From: David Chen

It all started when I played in a band with Stevie Ray Vaughn. Sometimes the truth is a funny thing. Sometimes it just rocks your world. A rock and roll story almost twenty ...
Piece image

The Tobolowsky Files Ep. 49 - A View from the Mountain (00:53:14)
From: David Chen

An adventure in Norway in Part 2 of the Zen Story. Director Stein Winge takes Stephen on a journey to the edge of the world and makes a surprising prediction about the future.
Piece image

The Tobolowsky Files Ep. 46 - The Time Machine Deconstructed (00:51:30)
From: David Chen

Some scientists say that time travel actually exists. But it’s risky. If you take the ride you have no control over what you’ll find or how you’ll be changed.
Piece image

The Tobolowsky Files Ep. 48 - The Zen Story (00:50:03)
From: David Chen

In times of trouble be careful of turning to the parables of Zen for advice – the story keeps changing before your very eyes.
Piece image

The Tobolowsky Files Ep. 47 - The Metamorphic Man (00:50:55)
From: David Chen

Everyone says change may be the key to the future. Is it possible that it is also the key to the past?
Piece image

The Tobolowsky Files Ep. 45 - The Things I Never Learned in School (00:51:00)
From: David Chen

Real world tips on being a professional actor. The difference between acting school and the real world is the difference between reading and reading between the lines.
Piece image

The Tobolowsky Files Ep. 44 - The Voice From Another Room (00:51:00)
From: David Chen

Some true stories about the creation of the movie "True Stories". Sometimes the truth is almost impossible to believe.

Piece Description

Timing and Cues

00:00:00 - “Prelude No. 1 in C Major, 'The Well-Tempered Clavier'” by Johann Sebastian Bach
00:00:41 – Intro by David Chen. Introduces Stephen by referencing his role as James Bloom in the television series “The Closer”.
00:01:42 – Stephen references the television series “Law and Order”
00:01:47 – Stephen mentions, “...you wanted to come downstairs to the kitchen and get a beer […] to come down from your bedroom and get a beer...”
00:04:49 – Stephen references the film “Groundhog Day”
00:05:32 – Story 1 in-cue: “But one of the standard questions I'm always asked by people that I meet casually is, 'Hey and how are the kids?'”
00:08:28 – Stephen mentions, “...Davy Crockett was at the Alamo and we could get killed by Mexicans.”
00:11:11 – Stephen mentions, “...if we told anybody about the club we would be put to death.”
00:11:21 – Stephen mentions, “...it had to be a blood pact and punishment for telling was going to be death.”
00:11:27 – Stephen mentions, “...but I was opposed to any kind of bleeding or cutting that happened on purpose.”
00:17:26 – Story 1 out-cue: “I smiled, secure in the knowledge that I was as safe as I could be in an unsafe world.” Music comes up, “Wild Thing” by The Troggs
00:17:53 – Story 2 in-cue, music fades down: “Billy Hart and I had a cooling off period of about three days waiting for some sign...”
00:24:27 – Stephen mentions, “...this scorpion had lived for days in an environment of pure alcohol, much like me in the 1980's.”
00:27:03 – Stephen mentions, “They eat the feces and keep the tank clean.”
00:28:30 – Stephen mentions, “I was sitting at our kitchen table drinking a glass of wine...”
00:29:18 – Story 2 out-cue: “I ran with William into the mountains at dusk, honored that I had been invited momentarily into a secret world and proud that yet another member of the Dangerous Animals Club had stepped forward to do the job so few are willing to do.” Music fades up, “Prelude No. 1 in C Major, 'The Well-Tempered Clavier'” by Johann Sebastian Bach
00:29:30 – Outro with David Chen, “That was, 'The Dangerous Animals Club'...”
00:30:00 – Stephen references the film “Stephen Tobolowsky's Birthday Party”
00:31:03 – Stephen tells a story about a childhood friend e-mailing him to add to the story of the Dangerous Animals Club and times in France.
00:33:46 – Stephen mentions, “...his friends wanted to show him the Pass Out Game, where kids press of their buddies carotid artery until they faint or die.”
00:38:32 – Stephen references the television series “America's Funniest Home Videos”
00:41:58 – Stephen mentions, “They come down to have sex in the pool.”
00:46:41 – Stephen mentions, “Some heavy-set nudists were sunbathing.”
00:47:38 – David references the television series “The Twilight Zone”
00:48:14 – Music fades up, “Wild Thing” by The Troggs
00:49:13 – End.

Musical Works

Title Artist Album Label Year Length
Prelude No. 1 in C Major, "The Well-Tempered Clavier" Johann Sebastian Bach 00:00
Wild Thing The Troggs The Best of the Troggs 20th Century Masters. Island Mercury 2004 02:34