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Milwaukee Uncut
Milwaukee Uncut
Featuring compelling stories from Milwaukee’s legends to up-and-coming game changers, Milwaukee Uncut, formerly The GoGedders (2016-2023), features the uncut, unfiltered, entertaining stories of those working to move Milwaukee forward. Hosted by local entrepreneur Richie Burke and produced by Story Mark Studios, located in the heart of Walkers Point--the roots in Milwaukee run strong.
Milwaukee Uncut is produced by Story Mark Studios and sponsored by Central Standard Distillery
The Milwaukee LEGEND returns to discuss an array of topics. The last episode got a lot of people calling cap on Milverine’s walking routine. Does…
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The Milwaukee LEGEND returns to discuss an array of topics. The last episode got a lot of people calling cap on Milverine’s walking routine. Does he really walk 45-55 miles per day? We do a mathematical analysis.
What is the Milverine’s love life like? Are there Milverine groupies in Milwaukee? (This part is hilarious)
Additional topics include:
What he’s seeing around the RNC
Did he ever consider running for office?
His 2024 Summerfest experience
Craziest fan interaction
Throwing the Brewer’s first pitch
Favorite summer walking route
Walking routine, sleep routine, caffeine intake
Milwaukee Uncut is produced by Story Mark Studios, in partnership with OnMilwaukee and presented by Nicolet Law and Central Standard Distillery.
Charlie Berens: From “Nope” To “Ope!” How This Midwest Comedian Made It Big (and plenty of “fan-submitted” questions & WI Trivia)
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Join us as we sit down with the legendary Wisconsin native, Charlie Berens. From a very humbling start to his career to his current status as a viral sensation, starting with the Manitowoc Minute to now selling out stages across the country on his current tour! This episode delves into Charlie’s career highlights, hilarious stories of the come up and plenty of fan submitted questions as well as a WI Trivia section at the end. Prepare to be entertained on this episode of Milwaukee Uncut.
[00:00:00] Charlie Berens: There was a lot of non success. I rolled pretzels at Annie Ann’s. Stocked milk. I think I had more money in my, uh, gas tank than in my bank account. I had one buddy, slept in his closet. You know, I had a minivan. And then I slept in that for a little bit. But you’re just doing it to try and figure out things.
[00:00:16] Richie Burke: You were working for MTV in college. Yeah. And got arrested and They shot
[00:00:22] Charlie Berens: tear gas at us, those flashbang grenades all day, you know. I mastered this move. I’d drive up to D. C., I had to work like the next morning. There’s this Holiday Inn, you sleep in the parking lot. And then you go in the hotel in the morning, free continental breakfast, and then you look around and you see if anyone left a key on the table.
[00:00:41] Charlie Berens: Sometimes they did. You use that key, get into the fitness center, take a pool shower. It was good. That’s how, that’s living right there.
[00:00:48] Richie Burke: Hey everyone, it’s your host Richie Burke, and welcome back to Milwaukee Uncut, sponsored by Central Standard Distillery, produced by Storymark Studios, and in partnership with On Milwaukee.
[00:00:58] Richie Burke: Very special episode today with comedian Charlie Behrens. We get into some fun light hearted fan submitted questions So if you’re wondering where to find a cougar in milwaukee what charlie’s top supper clubs in wisconsin are if he’d fight the milverine His favorite cities in the midwest the best wisconsin marriage proposals he’s ever seen And we dive into some Wisconsin trivia and plenty more fan submitted questions.
[00:01:21] Richie Burke: You’re not going to want to miss this. But before we get to that, we learn about Charlie’s backstory, which I didn’t know anything about. And he had quite the journey from when he started to his first viral Manitowoc Minute moment when he was at age 30, which is when most of us became familiar with him, so it’s a great episode.
[00:01:42] Richie Burke: And before we dive in, I do want to thank him for stopping on. It was when he was between appearances. He was nice enough to come down to the studio for an hour plus. And one of those appearances was for Feeding America, where he’s helping raise money to provide meals to those in need for this holiday season.
[00:01:57] Richie Burke: We just made a donation you can to every dollar donated buys for healthy meals for those in need in the area. So we’ve linked that in the show notes, if you feel up for helping others. So thanks again for listening to this episode of Milwaukee Uncut. And I hope you and your family have a great holiday season.
[00:02:15] Richie Burke: Now let’s dive into today’s episode with Charlie Barnes. I’ve got a Wisconsin legend here with
[00:02:20] Charlie Berens: us today. Oh, jeez. You know, that’s, it’s very kind. Well, definitely not a legend, you know. I think you could probably
[00:02:28] Richie Burke: already tell who he is. Host of Manitowoc Minute, The Bellied Up Podcast, The Kripes Cast, a Milwaukee area native, Marquette University High School graduate, and UW graduate.
[00:02:40] Richie Burke: And UW,
[00:02:41] Charlie Berens: yeah,
[00:02:41] Richie Burke: got the whole deal. Whole deal, um, former violin, woodworker, bicycle mechanic, um, flower picker. I did some of my homework, you did?
[00:02:52] Charlie Berens: I rolled pretzels at Annie Ann’s. Forgot
[00:02:54] Richie Burke: about that one in the intro. At Mayfair?
[00:02:57] Charlie Berens: Yeah. Stocked milk. At a grocery store. I did a lot of weird jobs. And look how
[00:03:01] Richie Burke: far he’s come.
[00:03:02] Richie Burke: Also one of 12 siblings. First off, um, so your first Man to Walk Minute video was released in 2017. Yeah. Went, went very viral, but there was a gap of eight years after you graduated from UW and since that really popped off, um, you worked for several networks. What, what was, what was that period like? From graduating to actually getting that first big break.
[00:03:28] Charlie Berens: Yeah, I mean, uh, you know, it was, uh, probably, uh, there was a lot of non success going on there. Um, I mean, I first, um, graduated, I worked on a film as, like, a PA for a little bit. You know, getting coffee and, like, starting out. Walkie talkies, you know, that kind of thing. And then I, um, after that, on my drive home from that, that was in Ann Arbor.
[00:03:53] Charlie Berens: It’s this film Cedar Rapids. I was working on, it was written by another Wisconsinite, Phil Johnston. Uh, he’s from, uh, Nina. So good guy. Good guy. Um, but anyway, on my ride home, Cedar Rapids? Yeah. With Ed Helms? Yeah. Yeah. You worked on that? Yeah. I was a pool boy, very out of focus, but I was a pool boy. You were in that movie?
[00:04:11] Charlie Berens: Yeah. I mean, I didn’t have any lines. It was out of focus. If you blinked, you would have missed me. But it’s like when Ed’s walking and he’s like, they even got a pool here! Um, wide shot of me, uh, in the deal. So, um, You
[00:04:22] Richie Burke: had to continue working after that? You didn’t get the windfall from Cedar Rapids?
[00:04:26] Charlie Berens: You know, you would think, but no, no.
[00:04:29] Charlie Berens: Okay. Yeah, and I was living with my, in my aunt, my aunt and uncle’s basement in Michigan while I was shooting that. You know, I had to work as a local, um, to try and, I don’t know, they had the tax credits thing or whatever. Um, so I was doing that, and then, uh, you make some money, but I, I, I had bills to pay, so I, I quickly needed another job, those gigs are only three months.
[00:04:52] Charlie Berens: Luckily on my way back, um, I got, um, I called to be a PA at this production company in Los Angeles that did like behind the scenes, you know? Um, and it was just a job. There weren’t a lot of jobs. I was kind of in the recession era. And, um, so I, I just, it was that, or go back to like being a bike mechanic.
[00:05:12] Charlie Berens: So I headed out to LA and I remember I got there. I think I had more money in my, uh, gas tank that in my bank account then. So I, I kind of, you know, um, I had a couple, I had one buddy, uh. Josh Burstein slept in his closet, but he had a real nice closet. It was like a big closet, you know? And he had a mattress in there, so that was good.
[00:05:33] Charlie Berens: Uh, or his couch, or, you know, I had a minivan that I accidentally shot with my dad’s shotgun, so he made me buy it. And, um, so that’s probably why I didn’t have any money. Um, but, um, and then I slept in that for a little bit. You know, it was kind of just like in Los Angeles at that time, you were just kind of working for not a lot of money and um, but you’re just doing it to try and figure out.
[00:05:58] Charlie Berens: So I would, uh, and I think it was good I wasn’t making a lot of money because then I, I was, I would stay late. I, I, cause I had the minivan, I was able to take the lights and the cameras and stuff to different shoots. And then I would bring them back to the office. And then I would, uh, set them up and shoot a reel, which was kind of like a comedy news type thing.
[00:06:21] Charlie Berens: You know, I was very inspired by Jon Stewart back in that day. And I wanted to do kind of, I went to school for journalism. So I wanted to do a mix of comedy and news. They had hosting positions. Got this job in South Carolina called One Minute News, which was this YouTube news organization. And so I started working for them.
[00:06:39] Charlie Berens: Uh, and then three months later, uh, you know, my salary got cut in half because we just ran out of money. It’s just weird economics.
[00:06:49] Richie Burke: So you could live off of your salary for about three months? About three
[00:06:53] Charlie Berens: months. Yeah, and then I got another job. Um, and then I was kind of working in D. C. and, uh, South Carolina at that point.
[00:07:02] Charlie Berens: And I mastered this move, dude. Where, uh, you know, I’d drive up to D. C. I had to work like the next morning. But I had to work the other day. So I like, there’s this holiday inn. You sleep in the parking lot. And then you go in the hotel in the morning, free continental breakfast. And then you look around, you see if anyone left a key on the table.
[00:07:23] Charlie Berens: Sometimes they did, you use that key. Get into the fitness center, take a pool shower. It was good. That’s how you, that’s living right there, you know? How
[00:07:32] Richie Burke: old are you at that point?
[00:07:33] Charlie Berens: Old enough to afford something else, but uh, No, I don’t know, I was 25, 24, something like that. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:07:41] Richie Burke: And then the Mantuak Minute, you were back in L.
[00:07:44] Richie Burke: A. when that happened. How did that come about?
[00:07:47] Charlie Berens: Well, after, uh, South Carolina slash D. C., I went to Dallas and worked at a, kind of in traditional news. And then I just, that gig did not really go that great toward the end. And so I moved out to L. A. Um, they just, the news organization went in a different direction where they weren’t having anchors at all.
[00:08:08] Charlie Berens: Um, so I moved out to L. A. and then I just, uh, cause I knew people out there and I wanted to do something and I didn’t know where else to go. So I went there and, uh, I got a job eventually doing a few different news gigs. Um, doing some red carpet reporting, which I, I hated. I did not care. I, I, I didn’t know who anyone I was talking to was.
[00:08:34] Richie Burke: You talked to some big names. Yeah. I like went back in your old YouTube like Selena Gomez and some of those
[00:08:42] Charlie Berens: people. Yeah. Talked to Selena Gomez, Fifth Harmony, um, who else? Uh, Johnny Depp, I think.
[00:08:49] Richie Burke: You didn’t really enjoy doing that though.
[00:08:51] Charlie Berens: Well, it’s not that I didn’t enjoy it, but a red carpet, it’s like, um, Um, it’s one of those things where like the celebrities don’t really want to be there.
[00:09:00] Charlie Berens: They’re doing the promotion, you know, and, and I, if I’m being honest, didn’t want to be there because I don’t really care that much about what any, you know, what a lot of, I don’t care about their latest film, you know, especially if I just didn’t, I didn’t have the passion, you know, and I think that’s why I was realizing.
[00:09:18] Charlie Berens: And again, that’s, I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with them or anything wrong with their. I mean, they make great stuff, but I just didn’t want to spend my life spending a lot of time researching, um, things that I wasn’t passionate about. You know, I do a podcast now and I’m always, I’m passionate about like the topics or the people.
[00:09:40] Charlie Berens: And I enjoy that, but I was just doing things. I just need money, you know? And so to kind of keep my sanity, I started doing stand up at night. And I, I was doing this other producer gig at the time and I was like, I’m going to start making a video a week until something pops off. And so I was doing, um, videos.
[00:09:58] Charlie Berens: I did this, uh, this, uh, if Jack Dawson was really from Wisconsin where I changed the voice and that video did well, but people didn’t like follow me from it cause it was just like a voice. It wasn’t really my face. So I was trying to figure out, you know, how do I do something that people will care enough to follow me?
[00:10:16] Charlie Berens: Cause if I could get people to follow me, And then I could get people to come see me do stand up, you know, and I was doing stand up at night and there was this bit that I had about, um, you know, my time in local news where, you know, I had two jobs where, you know, I got, uh, maybe more than that, but my Wisconsin accent always came out and it was always kind of an issue.
[00:10:38] Charlie Berens: I would say some words wrong or get made fun of for it, you know, uh, and so I developed this character based off my time in local news, you know, where instead of. Doing everything people say I was doing wrong and changing it. I just doubled down on it and that was the basis for the man to walk minute And so, uh, yeah, there was this one show I did at the comedy store, uh, where it just murdered.
[00:10:59] Charlie Berens: It did really good. And I was like, oh, that felt so great. But I remember going to bed that night thinking, man, only 50 people saw that. You know, like how, and, and I was working at the comedy store. I was like, um, I was doing the DJ thing. Like I was basically playing the walk up music for. everybody just to get like five minutes, 10 minutes on stage.
[00:11:22] Charlie Berens: Or I was doing these bringer shows where you basically, you, you would make your friends pay to come, you know? Um, and I, I always bought the tickets and gave them away to them to make it easier. But then, you know, a lot of times they still didn’t come, you know, cause If you got to go to Hollywood in the, uh, you know, on a Wednesday night or some traffic sucks and you got paid for parking, it’s still a pain.
[00:11:41] Charlie Berens: So anyway, I was doing that and when that murdered, I was like, cool. But then I’m thinking like my next show is like a week and a half out, you know, I wish I could do something in the meantime. So I made that first man to walk minute and then that took off. And that’s when things really changed.
[00:11:58] Richie Burke: You had a guy in the audience from Manitowoc during
[00:12:02] Charlie Berens: that one, right?
[00:12:02] Charlie Berens: Yeah, I said, is anyone from the Midwest? Bunch of people raised their hands. I says, anyone from Wisconsin? This one guy’s got his hand up. He’s from Manitowoc. So he’s who I named the Manitowoc minute after.
[00:12:12] Richie Burke: What was it like? Did it just fire off right after you posted it? Yeah. And did you, were you like, holy shit, this is actually.
[00:12:21] Charlie Berens: Yeah, I was for it. I almost didn’t put it out initially because I thought people would think, you know, I was making fun of them, which I was, but I was making fun of me, you know, I mean, I was literally making fun of myself. So I figured, yeah, if anyone’s got an issue, like, you know, I’ve lost enough jobs from this thing, you know, so, but it was really truly behind that just embracing, you know, and that’s the thing about, that’s a great thing about comedy is We’ve all got these imperfections and most of our lives we spend hiding them.
[00:12:53] Charlie Berens: But, um, comedy is a thing where you can double down on your imperfections and, you know, kind of reveal the humanity in it. And, um, and that’s what I like about that art form.
[00:13:04] Richie Burke: Yeah. So you’re, you’re like 30 at this point, right? 30, yeah. Were you close to throwing in the towel on comedy or just trying to get into that industry?
[00:13:15] Richie Burke: Or where, where were you in life? Cause you’re still just. Struggling along. Yeah, trying to get your front paying for tickets to try and get your friends to show up scraping by Yeah,
[00:13:25] Charlie Berens: yeah, and at that point I had had a decent producer job So okay, but I was still kidding myself into thinking I was doing what I wanted to do You know, I was always working.
[00:13:34] Charlie Berens: You know what I was always working on Something else I was working on scripts. I was working on something In my free time, you know, I just I’ve been a workaholic since I was a kid. So I just kept going and Yeah, it, it, it took off and I knew cause I put up enough videos that I spent hours and hours editing that did not take off.
[00:13:58] Charlie Berens: I think I needed to do that. So I knew the opportunity I had when this one did take off, you know,
[00:14:04] Richie Burke: And then you just kept it going week after week
[00:14:06] Charlie Berens: after week. Yep. Yep. And so that was the man to walk minute. And then eventually you, you see numbers go up. And then they plateau. Like, people have seen it. They get it.
[00:14:16] Charlie Berens: So then you gotta find something else. And it’s always that series of things go up, they plateau. You, you gotta find something else. You gotta dig deeper. Find something people haven’t seen. Surprise people. You know, inspire yourself creatively,
[00:14:31] Richie Burke: too. Was it, um Is it weird at all or what did it feel like all of a sudden you kind of just working trying to get by and make it in LA and then you become, ironically, become like a Wisconsin folk hero where you’re from and you’re doing roll out the barrel at the Packard games and all this, all this stuff, which is probably like a dream for you as a kid, I would think.
[00:14:52] Richie Burke: Yeah.
[00:14:53] Charlie Berens: I mean, it was something I could have never imagined as a kid. I mean, the, the system at play. Did not really exist until social media, um, became a leveling playing field for if you wanted to make it, um, you, you can do it on your own. You can do what you’re doing. You do your own thing, you know? And, um, that was so cool.
[00:15:19] Charlie Berens: That was so cool. And I, and so I just, yeah, I was in a place where, you know, every birthday you have, you’re like, ah, I’m this old and I haven’t done. That kind of went away of caring how old I was and caring how much I had accomplished Once I got to a place where I felt like I’m doing what I love, you know And things just changed, um, in my life, you know But Um, you know, you still go through things with that where you, you find yourself too many days, you’re doing things you don’t necessarily want to do or enjoy, and you kind of always have to keep yourself in check and keep saying, do I want to be doing X, Y, and Z and what is the reason I’m doing it for, you know, I could never imagined it, but I’m super happy and thankful that it, that it happened.
[00:16:11] Charlie Berens: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:16:12] Richie Burke: Very cool. All right. We’ll, we’ll move on to some more lighthearted. Yeah. Whatever. I mean, congrats on all you’ve done. It’s been cool to watch too as a fan and appreciate you coming down today.
[00:16:21] Charlie Berens: Thank you. Thank you. No, I really appreciate that. And honestly, like I couldn’t do any of this without the humor of Wisconsin.
[00:16:29] Charlie Berens: You know, like a lot of the stuff I’m doing is taking things that is just observing the way people act and whatever. And honestly, I’ve based a lot of it off my grandpa, you know, and then you realize other people will have that same observation. Um, I couldn’t do it without, you know, the people, uh, watching by a long shot.
[00:16:48] Charlie Berens: So, yeah, thanks to everybody out there, you know,
[00:16:51] Richie Burke: yeah, one, uh, one, one thing we glossed over. So, um, you were working for MTV in college and got arrested in, in Minneapolis. I thought that was interesting. Uh, Yeah. Welcome. Welcome to journalism.
[00:17:05] Charlie Berens: Yeah. I know. Freedom of the press. Um, what happened? What? Well, I was covering the Republican National Convention, Minneapolis, uh, 2008.
[00:17:16] Charlie Berens: And um, yeah, I mean, you know, it was protests. This was before a lot of the protests that a lot of people remember, but this was, um, this was before the Occupy Wall Street movement, but you saw sort of the beginnings of that. Um, and then it was just a bunch of people, a bunch of different causes. People protest every, uh, Republican and Democrat convention.
[00:17:37] Charlie Berens: It’s just part of what happens. But on this particular day, my job was to cover the protests. So I was out there doing it. Um, I was actually supposed to be on the convention floor that night. Cause, uh, or, you know, in there reporting, cause Sarah Palin, I think was doing a speech that night. And, uh, but I was still covering the protests, but then eventually, um.
[00:17:57] Charlie Berens: I remember there were police surrounding us or they were blocking off this one bridge and I was with this reporter from the Boston Globe and uh, I turned around and I’m like alright, enough’s enough, you know, like we’ve been I They shot tear gas at us. Those flash bang grenades all day, you know, uh, this horse, uh, police on a horse accidentally run over someone, you know, uh, I think they were fine.
[00:18:23] Charlie Berens: I don’t know. Um, but it was just an, it was a pain in the ass, you know, and people were. Lighting cars on fire, and all this and that. And it had been days of this. Days of covering protests and stuff. So you’re kind of like, alright, I get what’s going on here. But then as we turned to leave, there was a line of, uh, cops standing there.
[00:18:42] Charlie Berens: And, uh, you know, and I was like, what do we do now? He’s like, well, we get arrested now. So everyone sat down, um, uh, and the police came over. And, uh, And, you know, they looked at our credentials and people were making fake credentials. So they just arrested everyone. They arrested a taxi driver who was just stuck in traffic, you know.
[00:19:05] Charlie Berens: But that taxi driver, I tell you what, he’s a good guy because I trade him half my peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the slammer and he gave me a ride back to Dinkytown after.
[00:19:13] Richie Burke: They cuff you and take you
[00:19:14] Charlie Berens: in? Yeah. Yeah. They cuffed you, put you in a bus. The whole deal. Not real cuffs though. Uh, zip ties.
[00:19:21] Charlie Berens: Zip ties? Yeah. How scary was that? I wasn’t, I was, I was fine. I didn’t care. Um, it wasn’t. Um, scary. I don’t remember that being scary. I was just like, Oh, how am I gonna pay for this? You know, that’s what I was thinking. Um, and, uh, yeah. And then, you know, and then you’re looking, I remember seeing the big jumbotron, uh, Sarah Palin speaking on the thing.
[00:19:47] Charlie Berens: I’m like, all right, well, I’m not gonna make that whole deal. Um, but yeah, and then we went to jail for a little bit. Uh, hung out there, got my fingerprint taken, my picture, and um, Yeah, made some friends with the taxi driver. Went, went to Dinkytown later that morning, had some breakfast. Not the worst thing in
[00:20:07] Richie Burke: the world.
[00:20:08] Richie Burke: So you got to say you were arrested.
[00:20:11] Charlie Berens: Yeah, sure, we can look at it like that. Kind of, kind of.
[00:20:13] Richie Burke: Yeah, yeah. All right, let’s um, so we usually do a segment called the Standard Five, which is five, five ish quick questions sponsored by Central Standard, but we have like 20, maybe 30, if you include uh, if you include trivia.
[00:20:29] Richie Burke: Yeah, shout out
[00:20:30] Charlie Berens: to uh, Evan and Pat over at Central Standard, good guys, you know.
[00:20:33] Richie Burke: Very good guys. You’re drinking in old fashioned right now. How is that? Bree, Bree made it. Um
[00:20:40] Charlie Berens: Bree, thank you. You did a wonderful job on this Brandy Old Fashioned. It’s delicious. Thank you. I don’t know if you’re just saying that to make me feel good.
[00:20:47] Charlie Berens: No, I’m not. I would never just say that. What would you rate it? What’s that? What would you rate it? I’d rate this, um, Uh, I’ll give it a 9 out of 10. Wow. 9 out of 10. Cause I can’t give you a full 10. Then you’ll know I’m just, you know, full of it. But no, it’s a 9 of 10. Yeah. You did this professionally for a while.
[00:21:06] Charlie Berens: You did muddle it? Yeah. I can taste that. And you didn’t muddle the rind, which is fantastic. We,
[00:21:12] Richie Burke: um, I don’t know if we want to admit this. We did watch your video, instructional. We want, we wanted to make a good one for you. We got, we got some blackberry brandy from central standard.
[00:21:23] Charlie Berens: That’s awesome. That’s good stuff, man.
[00:21:25] Charlie Berens: Cause yeah. Really good. We did not know what we were doing. I love it. You did
[00:21:29] Richie Burke: a heck of a job. And I’m drinking the, uh, the ready pour, um, cherry mule. There you go.
[00:21:35] Charlie Berens: Well,
[00:21:36] Richie Burke: very good. You’re going very good. Oh yeah. All right, let’s dive in. Um, Sorry, I’ve been a little under the weather. Um, and I’m sure this chair and meals helping me on the, on the bellied up podcast recently, uh, you somehow ended up in a committed relationship with a Canadian woman who, who was looking for a quote unquote, nice log and you just voluntarily threw yourself right in there.
[00:22:01] Richie Burke: Miles really set you up as a, as a fan of the show. I just wanted to, uh, Close the loop what whatever happened with the canadian woman who I believe. Um It was recently single. She was on a date to a canadian sex show and got left Got stood up there and then I kind of fell right into your lap. Yeah, if you it seems like a great catch Are you you know, are you there?
[00:22:27] Richie Burke: Are you single right now? I think we can dive right in we
[00:22:30] Charlie Berens: never got there We never got there She and I you know, so that’s just kind of how it goes, you know Unfortunately, yeah miles did really throw me under the bus there, didn’t he? I thought he was helping you out. No, he’s
[00:22:44] Richie Burke: just, he’s a jackass. She seemed like she could have been a good time.
[00:22:47] Richie Burke: She was,
[00:22:48] Charlie Berens: uh, she was a good time, man. I forget her name, but no, we never connected after that. It’s a gosh darn
[00:22:54] Richie Burke: shame. He was probably high on the, uh, the Hot Crazy Matrix graph. Oh yeah. Maybe in the fun zone or the danger zone. If you had to choose a Mount Rushmore of your favorite Wisconsinites, who would it be?
[00:23:10] Charlie Berens: Um, oh my gosh.
[00:23:12] Richie Burke: Is the four on Mount
[00:23:14] Charlie Berens: Rushmore? Wow. Yeah. So, um, that’s very interesting. Uh, I think he, Bob Bucher just came to mind. Vince Lombardi, um, just came to mind. Oh my gosh. There’s so many great Wisconsinites. We got Liberace here, you know? Um, we, we got, uh, We got Les Paul invented the electric guitar.
[00:23:36] Charlie Berens: I mean, we don’t need, uh, we need several mounts, uh, for the Rushmores, you know, I mean, I just named four there, but there’s way more. Um,
[00:23:46] Richie Burke: top three supper clubs in Wisconsin. Oh, boy. If you want to build two mounts, you can go with six.
[00:23:52] Charlie Berens: Ah, ha, ha. Uh, there’s Wentz’s, uh, uh, Wentz’s Supper Club up there on Lake Winnebago on the, um, on the, jeez.
[00:24:05] Charlie Berens: On the west side of the lake is a great great perch fry there. Uh, old town in Westby. Uh, that’s a fantastic spot. I’ve had dinner there. Were you just there on your stop? I did stop and I was there the last time I went to. I made some old fashions over there. Um, um, let’s see here. Um, Schultz’s over there in Dickeyville, you know, um, that’s not.
[00:24:30] Charlie Berens: Not a bad place. Have you been
[00:24:32] Richie Burke: to Jake’s on Lake Tainter? No, should I?
[00:24:36] Charlie Berens: That’s a good one. Jake’s on Lake Tainter. Here we are talking about Tainter again. That’s a fantastic lake. It’s a great lake. We grew up on that lake. Lake Tainter, huh? Tainter Lake. What was the best Tainter Lake joke you heard? Nobody was joking about that?
[00:24:54] Charlie Berens: Come on. I guess you say it enough. Yeah, Tainter Lake.
[00:25:00] Richie Burke: Hey everyone, thanks again for tuning into Milwaukee Uncut. Before we get to more questions with Charlie, I just wanted to take a second to thank our sponsor, Central Standard Distillery. Charlie and I definitely enjoyed their product during this recording, so if you are looking for some amazing cocktails during this holiday season, make sure to go with Central Standard.
[00:25:17] Richie Burke: One more quick announcement, a couple weeks ago I got roped into a charity donut eating contest with my partner Joe Stanton from Three Leaf Partners to raise money. For the United Way of Milwaukee and Waukesha, and we’re auctioning off some good items, one including being part of the live audience on this Connaughton comes back on, we’re also giving away a Bucks VIP package, I’m giving away some rounds to Blue Mound Country Club, and we’ve got a calves and abs workout led by Matthew Holbrook for you and your friends if you’re looking to get shredded for Spring Break 24, so a lot of good items.
[00:25:53] Richie Burke: That is linked in the show notes if you want to bid on any. Okay, that’s all I’ve got for right now. Thanks again for tuning in. Let’s get back to the show with Charlie Dance. Alright, we got a good next question from Katie Line in Kugel.
[00:26:07] Charlie Berens: Aw, Katie,
[00:26:08] Richie Burke: she’s great. She is great. We’re about to find out how great she is.
[00:26:11] Richie Burke: She asked, Favorite line in Kugel? Human, not
[00:26:15] Charlie Berens: beer. Oh, okay. Um, you know, God. Katie. Katie’s it. There you have it. And that’s going to be really bad news with her sister. It’s going to be bad news with, uh, Dick, you know. But, uh, she asked the question, so I’m going to give it to her. I can’t play that one politically.
[00:26:34] Charlie Berens: By the way, that whole family is a blast, man. I did a show up in Eagle River, and they have a place there, and we had a fish fry before one of the shows. Um, a lot of lineys there, uh, it might have been a little loose on the tongue during that show, because they insisted on, uh, knocking a couple back. Yeah, they’re
[00:26:52] Richie Burke: professionals.
[00:26:53] Richie Burke: They are. You, you drink with them, you’re, it, it’s hard to Keep up. You can’t.
[00:26:58] Charlie Berens: Yeah, I can’t even hang. It’s just in their
[00:27:00] Richie Burke: blood. Can’t even hang. We’ll give an honorable mention to, uh, to Tony and Dick, Tony,
[00:27:05] Charlie Berens: John, Dick, the whole deal. Yeah. I, I, I
[00:27:08] Richie Burke: might push back. I think if you’re looking for a favorite leinenkugel in like a, a, a quick sprint, maybe not the whole day, but just, you know, an hour kind of.
[00:27:17] Richie Burke: I’d probably have to go with John Lyon and Kugel. The guy’s just an absolute
[00:27:22] Charlie Berens: machine of a human being. He is. He’s so, he’s a fun, he was in
[00:27:26] Richie Burke: one of our videos. He’s a fun dude. Okay, um, this, this one. This is a good, this is a good question. So, um, this one’s from, uh, P. Fett, Stephanie Fett and Michael Shepard.
[00:27:38] Richie Burke: Who is known as Sim God because he put a very expensive golf simulator in his house. Okay. Okay. They’re hosting a Packers pot roast and we’re wondering how to throw the best Packers party possible. Um, I’ll just add a little more context. So, I mean, this guy’s gone all out. He has like a putting green in the back, hot tub, balcony, projector screen.
[00:28:01] Richie Burke: And Bree and I were at their Cinco de Drinco party and they had a pinata. And they had some kids around and SimGod picked me up and spun me around, um, he played, he had a stint with the, uh, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and didn’t quite make it and then played for the Omaha Beef for a while in the AFL, but SimGod spun me around and I knocked the pinata over and there were some kids around and candy poured out, some condoms, some Jack Daniels shots, so I mean, I don’t know if they bought the wrong pinata, but then I got cracked in the head with an, uh, Egg by this guy named joe joe vilmo and he said it was good luck in mexico, even though he’s not mexican and so, um, that that’s Just to add some context.
[00:28:44] Richie Burke: So we’re dealing with uh, p fat and sim god throwing a packer’s pot roast and maybe maybe some advice That’s contextual to them and then for maybe the average human being just looking to have some people over for a low key. Oh, yeah. What
[00:28:58] Charlie Berens: are some necessities? Well, I mean, you got to have enough food for everyone, even though everyone’s going to call you and insist they bring something, you’re going to say, Oh no, just bring yourself, you know.
[00:29:08] Charlie Berens: And usually, uh, they’ll bring excess food, so you gotta have enough, uh, you know, Cool Whip containers to bring leftovers, you know, and, um, the Ziploc bags, you know, uh, that you got going there, those can be reused, by the way. So you just wash them out, and then you can send someone home with leftovers. So start stocking up on those now.
[00:29:28] Charlie Berens: And, uh, Yeah, you know, also be prepared for a lot of Midwest goodbyes. You know, if you want people out of your house at a certain time, yeah, know where your fire alarm is and set that sucker off. That’s, uh, that’s going to be the only way you’ll get people, uh, without staying over there. Um, let’s see here beyond that.
[00:29:47] Charlie Berens: Um. Yeah, if you want to get rid of any, uh, meats you got in your chest freezer, you know, make sure you insist they take them home with you, like meet them in the driveway, you know, kind of get into their door when it’s window down, uh, have them roll the window down, then lean in there and hand them the stuff.
[00:30:04] Charlie Berens: And so it’s super awkward for them. To not take it, you know, that’s a good way to unload some, maybe, uh, older moose you have in your chest freezer. So, there’s a lot of different, uh, I, I could go on and on with that one,
[00:30:17] Richie Burke: man. Yeah, I don’t know if SimGod’s got any moose over there,
[00:30:20] Charlie Berens: but Well, you know, yeah, I mean, maybe don’t pick people up at your, uh, deal, uh, cause some might get cracked in the head, you know?
[00:30:28] Charlie Berens: Don’t put condoms in your, uh, pinata when there are kids there. You know, there’s some simple ones from that standpoint, too. You
[00:30:36] Richie Burke: would think. Just kind of a wild card. Yeah. And an athlete. I’m 200 pounds. He just I mean,
[00:30:42] Charlie Berens: that’s impressive. With
[00:30:43] Richie Burke: ease. With ease. Speaking of Midwest Goodbye, what is, what is the best way to just get out of an Get out of an event, just kind of avoid the Midwest goodbye.
[00:30:53] Charlie Berens: Oh, Irish goodbye is the best way to do it. Just leave. You know, that takes a lot though. You’re going to feel guilty. Just power through the guilt and soon enough, you’ll forget you felt guilty. And then that’ll be the only move you ever do. I like
[00:31:06] Richie Burke: that. Oh, this is interesting. Uh, Jordan Kearns. What’s the most Wisconsin marriage proposal you have ever heard of?
[00:31:16] Charlie Berens: Oh, there’s a few. Um, I was actually at this bar in, was it Menomonee? Could have been Menomonee. Um, somewhere up at Chippewa Falls. It was in Chippewa Falls. And I was just sitting there at the bar talking with some buddies and I see this guy get down on his knees, spills popcorn on himself as he’s doing.
[00:31:35] Charlie Berens: And, um, And then just proposes right there, you know, and she, she didn’t even get up. She was like, Oh my gosh, yes. You know, and then he sat back down and I was like, all right, I’ll buy them a drink. You know,
[00:31:50] Richie Burke: did the bar go crazy or was it just a guy selling his popcorn? And the girl was like. Okay, okay, let’s do this.
[00:31:56] Charlie Berens: Basically, no one noticed. Yeah, it was like, the bar was just, I just, I was like, I think I just witnessed a, uh, proposal, you know? Although some people I hear, some people do that as a joke, and then they get some free drinks. That’s
[00:32:13] Richie Burke: kind of low, although just, yeah, no, but a little. I’m not
[00:32:18] Charlie Berens: a little unethical.
[00:32:19] Charlie Berens: I’m not bringing it up that it’s a good thing to do. I’m thinking maybe that’s what they did, but nobody noticed. So it’s a bummers up
[00:32:26] Richie Burke: to you apparently. Any other, any other good ones?
[00:32:28] Charlie Berens: Uh, quick trips is solid place to get engaged. Fleet Farm is not a bad way to do it. You know, you get yourself over there in the, uh, bolt aisle, you know, and then you get down on a hand in the end.
[00:32:39] Charlie Berens: You, you, you. You bring a few different bolts with you and then you say, will you marry me? You know, she says yes. And then you put the bolt on her finger, you know, and if that doesn’t fit, you use a different bolt and then, you know, you finally get the right bolt and it’s like, okay, there you go. You want that in a tungsten or you want it in a.
[00:32:58] Charlie Berens: You know, just stainless steel or should we go copper fitting? I don’t recommend that if you’re actually trying to spend the rest of your life with that person But
[00:33:07] Richie Burke: probably not but it can it can work in wisconsin in certain places. It could it could apparently. Um, Nate, nate moody. Um Currently finishing up his he’s at marquette high grad.
[00:33:20] Richie Burke: Um, currently finishing up his last semester at marquette and his I think bartending or bouncing at deer camp down in the on third street nate moody I was wondering about your Marquette High experience.
[00:33:33] Charlie Berens: Oh yeah, was he? Uh, yeah, I mean, first of all, I was very lucky to go to that school. It was, it’s a very good school.
[00:33:44] Charlie Berens: Um, what was my experience like? Honestly, I was just trying to play music at that time. So I, I was proud, I wasn’t very focused. I wasn’t a guy who really, uh, you know, fell in love with that school and did all the, um, all the things. You know, I was kind of like a bit of an outsider, I think, there. I was just trying to write and do music and stuff.
[00:34:05] Charlie Berens: That’s kind of how I spent my time, but I don’t have any, um, I did the newspaper there. I did that. I was actually the editor in chief of that, believe it or not. Um, and then, you know, there’s this great teacher there when I was there, a great guy, uh, Jim Carney, and actually he really, um, put in me, um, a really good sense of how to tell a story.
[00:34:27] Charlie Berens: He had this class called American Hero, and his book, Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell. It’s all about the cosmogonic cycle and the, the hero cycle, you know? So, um, all Western storytelling kind of is based on that. Star Wars, um, George Lucas basically read Joseph Campbell and made a book to the T to, What that book talks about in the hero’s journey, you know, so I think that’s probably one of the most influential things that happened to me.
[00:34:56] Charlie Berens: Um, they’re
[00:34:57] Richie Burke: very cool. I think Nate could probably use some advice on how to finish up strong on his last semester of college. I think he’s currently single working down on third street. Any. Any advice to Nate? Oh go out strong. I think that’s what he was really.
[00:35:12] Charlie Berens: Oh, you’re talking about Marquette University He went to
[00:35:15] Richie Burke: Marquette High now.
[00:35:16] Richie Burke: He’s at Marquette University. I see you answered the first question, right? I just want to throw in this extra extra part for the
[00:35:23] Charlie Berens: guy, you know, I mean, hey just enjoy it I think cuz you know, everyone’s trying to cram so much in and It’s tough and you know you’re kind of sad that you’re leaving school sometimes, but there’s a lot of great things I had and just take it one beer at a time.
[00:35:39] Charlie Berens: You know And try to
[00:35:41] Richie Burke: pass. Yeah, I feel like you need to have your bases covered. Yeah. Pass your classes, um, maybe take care of yourself a little bit, but other than that, just really enjoy it and soak it in. Yeah, exactly. Alright, Nate Moody, um, Devin Granger, who does all the, uh, content for Pat Connaughton, shout out to Devin.
[00:36:04] Charlie Berens: done and why? Uh, I mean it’s tough to pick, um. You do, you work with a lot of good ones. I do. I mean, Quick Trip, uh, you know, Fleet Farm, um, there’s a lot of stuff that I just use in general. But I think probably my favorite has been, you know, uh, working with the Packers, um, you know, and.
[00:36:24] Charlie Berens: We did this one during COVID, which was called Missing Lambeau and it was no one could go there obviously with COVID. So we did this video called Missing Lambeau, which is probably one of my favorite ones we made. Um, you know, it’s the sadness of not being able to go in the stadium. I’m not gonna describe it very well, but that was a very fun video.
[00:36:42] Richie Burke: Very cool. Joe Arado, um, from the Locations Unknown podcast, which has really taken off. He was wondering, Would you agree to an MMA match against Milverine,
[00:36:55] Charlie Berens: huh? No, that dude’s ripped man. No, not at all Does he do
[00:36:59] Richie Burke: pretty good? I see I see I see some roadmaps over there.
[00:37:02] Charlie Berens: Thank you. No, I Look, I know how to fight I’ve done some of that in my past, but I’m not I wouldn’t say like if somebody really knows how to fight They’re gonna kick my ass, you know but if we’re like if I’m walking in the street with somebody else or something and somebody like You know, jumps or whatever.
[00:37:21] Charlie Berens: I would be able to fight long enough for that other person to get away. That’s about how good I am at that, which is not very good. But, um, you know, I’ve, I’ve, yeah. I’m not gonna win that fight, especially if he knows how to fight.
[00:37:36] Richie Burke: Yeah, Milvarent, just on intimidation alone. I
[00:37:39] Charlie Berens: mean, the guy’s, yeah, the guy’s jacked and, yeah, he looks like a guy who knows how to do, do more than I do.
[00:37:46] Richie Burke: Favorite city or town to visit in the Midwest? Let’s do one in Wisconsin and one outside of
[00:37:52] Charlie Berens: Wisconsin. Yeah, um, I always like, uh, I like going to Fond du Lac, uh, that’s where my grandma’s zoo is, you know, so I, I enjoy going there and hanging out, um, and, uh, Fondy, Fondy. Yeah, that’s good. And then, um, outside of the Midwest, um, side of Wisconsin or outside of Wisconsin.
[00:38:13] Charlie Berens: Uh, let’s see here. Oh, the U P man. They got some, they got some great stuff going up there. City wise. Um, geez, you know, let’s see here. Oh, uh, Iron, Iron River is pretty cool, you know. Um, they’ve also got some, they’ve got some good white water rafting, um, up there, believe it or not. Um, yeah, I’m trying to think of the city that’s in.
[00:38:46] Charlie Berens: Dang. I forget.
[00:38:47] Richie Burke: I have a bad memory. The city of the UP. Um,
[00:38:50] Charlie Berens: Well, I mean, you know, I’m trying to think of the city in the UP where we stopped and we did that, but I’m not gonna think about it. But there’s a lot of great cities up there, man. Um, yeah. Jeez. Minneapolis is fun. You know, it’s a good, it’s a fun city, but that’s not a small town.
[00:39:06] Charlie Berens: That’s
[00:39:07] Richie Burke: all right.
[00:39:08] Charlie Berens: Um, oh, um, Bemidji, Minnesota is pretty cool. They got a great state park there. I know someone who’s from there. Yeah, it’s great. It’s beautiful. I went there in winter. It’s
[00:39:19] Richie Burke: just straight north of Minneapolis,
[00:39:20] Charlie Berens: right? Yeah, pretty much. Okay. Maybe a little, a little west of that. I don’t know.
[00:39:26] Charlie Berens: I’d have to look at a
[00:39:26] Richie Burke: map. Okay. Um, Jack from Tosa. Mm hmm wondering any advice on meeting a cougar in Milwaukee.
[00:39:35] Charlie Berens: Oh boy. Well, yeah. I mean, what’s that one? victors, isn’t that Our victors, that’s a quick time. Yeah, I know There’s another one I, I, you know what? I don’t know that I even get out enough to any
[00:39:51] Richie Burke: overarching advice for Jack, maybe from back in, back in the day when you used to go out
[00:39:56] Charlie Berens: for cougars.
[00:39:58] Charlie Berens: I, you know, I, I don’t come, you know, uh, come to one of my shows, you know, uh, we got a lot of, uh, a lot of, uh, good looking gals there. Nice plug. Yeah, come to one of my shows. Tickets at charliebarrons. com. No, I’m just kidding. Um, where to go? I don’t know, man. I don’t know. Where do you go?
[00:40:18] Richie Burke: I don’t know. Maybe a nice hotel bar?
[00:40:20] Richie Burke: Yeah,
[00:40:20] Charlie Berens: that’s true. Good point. Yeah, go up to the Fister.
[00:40:23] Richie Burke: Convention season’s in the fall? Yeah. For Jack?
[00:40:27] Charlie Berens: Yeah, go to the Fister. What’s the name of that rooftop bar? Blue. That’s it. Blue at
[00:40:33] Richie Burke: the Fister. Um, the trade just went in. Maybe that’s a good one. Um,
[00:40:41] Charlie Berens: the lobby of Northwestern Mutual. I don’t know. Oh,
[00:40:43] Richie Burke: I like that.
[00:40:44] Richie Burke: Yeah. That’s not a bad idea. Just stay, stand there with a sign. I don’t, I
[00:40:48] Charlie Berens: don’t know. Yeah. Lifetime fitness probably, you know, in Brookfield, uh, that’s not a bar, but it’s
[00:40:55] Richie Burke: funny you bring that up. A lot of people have, have said that. Yeah. I think that’s where you get solid talent at lifetime fitness for Jack and Tosa.
[00:41:03] Richie Burke: Yeah. Victims. Um, I hadn’t been there. I’ve not been there in a long time. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Alex Main, former employee here. Good guy. Great man bun. Favorite skit you’ve ever done?
[00:41:17] Charlie Berens: Um, that’s always such a tough one. Um, yeah, I don’t know. Uh, there, the one that’s coming to mind right now is when I played a cow and Miles played a deer.
[00:41:26] Charlie Berens: Um, that was just one of those weird ones where we’re just very random last minute. We improvised a lot of it, but it was just cow meets deer, you know, and we dressed up as a cow and a deer and just. Whatever it was super hot and I was an inflatable cow and miles was in this big old deer thing We were both just sweating terribly.
[00:41:46] Charlie Berens: Yeah. Yeah. I don’t know. That’s one that comes to mind
[00:41:49] Richie Burke: boston, john um would love a quest this isn’t really a question, but he Messaged in would love a Boston question as he has been elevating Billy Deuce Ah from Boston on his comedy tours and
[00:42:03] Charlie Berens: videos. Nice. I love that. Yeah. So what what is his question?
[00:42:06] Richie Burke: He didn’t have one. He loves that you’re doing it any comments on on Billy Deuce or just the city of Boston in
[00:42:12] Charlie Berens: general Bill is a great guy. That’s at Billy Deuce 86 on the social medias. Make sure you follow him He’s been in a lot of my videos. He’s a very very funny fella Yeah, definitely check him out.
[00:42:22] Charlie Berens: He’s got a He’s does a lot of music too. He’s going to have some more parody stuff coming
[00:42:27] Richie Burke: out. Yeah. Boston, John, just a good guy. Um, a couple of weeks ago, took down probably 10, 12 IPAs. It didn’t even feel, feel a
[00:42:37] Charlie Berens: thing. Just, you know, they, they, they know how to drink out there too. That’s for sure. They’re, they’re a bit of a different breed, you know, it’s a lot of similarities, but a lot of differences.
[00:42:48] Charlie Berens: It’s just
[00:42:49] Richie Burke: a very jolly mass hole. You’ve got to be around, but you know, mass hole comes out. Yeah. All right, you ready for some Wisconsin trivia? Yeah, yeah, let’s hit it. Okay, I got 10 questions for you. Um, what is the official state beverage of Wisconsin? Uh, brandy. Brandy old fashioned. According to Google, it’s milk, but I’ll accept that answer.
[00:43:10] Richie Burke: Um, official dance of Wisconsin. Polka. Correct. True or false, Wisconsin is home to the world’s largest six pack of beer.
[00:43:18] Charlie Berens: Uh, true. If you need a beer, go here. It’s in La Crosse, isn’t it? That is
[00:43:22] Richie Burke: correct. Yeah What city is known as the bratwurst capital of
[00:43:27] Charlie Berens: the world? Um Sheboygan correct
[00:43:31] Richie Burke: if wisconsin were its own country Where would it rank in cheese production?
[00:43:36] Richie Burke: Number one.
[00:43:39] Charlie Berens: Number four. That’s bullshit. False. According to Who? According to who? According
[00:43:45] Richie Burke: to the internet.
[00:43:47] Charlie Berens: No, it’s probably true. But that’s still pretty impressive,
[00:43:50] Richie Burke: man. It is behind the rest of the United States, which would be one. That’s hilarious. Then Germany and France. Wow. Produce more cheese than Wisconsin, according to the internet.
[00:44:01] Richie Burke: Okay. Allegedly. Okay. Who’s the leading scorer in Packers history? Mason Crosby. Correct. Interception leader in Packers history.
[00:44:11] Charlie Berens: Um, I want to say Leroy Butler.
[00:44:14] Richie Burke: No, who is it? Similar era. Maybe right after Leroy.
[00:44:20] Charlie Berens: Oh, Charles Woodson?
[00:44:21] Richie Burke: Correct. Got it. Charles Woodson. All right. It’s a big one. Who was the one quarterback or I think it was the one quarterback.
[00:44:29] Richie Burke: Anyway, one of the quarterbacks. May have only been one who shared the quarterback room with Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers during the overlap year. Some hints, he’s from Louisiana, he has career stats of 5 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, and a 123 passer rating. God, I
[00:44:48] Charlie Berens: don’t even know. No, no clue. Craig Nall. Oh, see, I still wouldn’t have gotten it, but I, if I had multiple choice.
[00:44:57] Charlie Berens: Have you
[00:44:57] Richie Burke: know who Craig Nall is? Yeah. I played golf with Craig Nall once. Did ya? In an outing. And we got into a playoff to win the outing. And Craig was probably 10 Miller Lights and 5 vodka shots deep on a Monday for it. Good for him. And he goes back in and grabs 2 Miller Lights for the one hole playoff.
[00:45:19] Richie Burke: Uh huh. And I was like, Craig, you’re grabbing 2 beers for one hole. Ha! And he looked at me like I was just an absolute idiot. Yeah. He said, Yeah, one’s for drinking, one’s for sipping and then just drove off. So I’m a huge Craig Nall fan and wanted to work Craig Nall into the podcast. I love that. I love that.
[00:45:40] Richie Burke: Shout out to Craig. I think he’s in Dallas right now and hopefully. Doing great. Nice. Um, last question on trivia, how fast can a red breasted merganser fly? I’m
[00:45:52] Charlie Berens: glad you asked. I know it’s very fast shit. I wish I, I want to say it’s something like 40 or either 45 or 65 miles an hour. 75, a hundred miles an hour, 81, 81.
[00:46:06] Charlie Berens: Shoot. I should have known that. I do. Thank you for that fact. Cause I go for a breast and Merganser’s. I should have known that I’m embarrassed. Embarrassed.
[00:46:13] Richie Burke: I think you got seven out of 10. Hell
[00:46:15] Charlie Berens: yeah. It’s a good rock and roll. Yeah, I see. It’s a pass. There were some
[00:46:19] Richie Burke: tough ones on there. All right. Uh, final question I have, why, why do you choose to live in Milwaukee and did you always want to come back
[00:46:26] Charlie Berens: here?
[00:46:26] Charlie Berens: I love Milwaukee. No, I mean, I’ve lived all over the country and I just, I mean, you know, I, I just like that we have fresh water here. That’s a big win for starters, but also the, I love Wisconsin. There’s great fishing. There’s, um, great hunting, great hiking, camping, all that stuff we got right here. And, you know, good bars, you know, and, um, yeah, my family’s close too.
[00:46:47] Charlie Berens: They’re like family. I shouldn’t have made them like 20th on that list I just put there. But no, I love Milwaukee, man. I wouldn’t live anywhere
[00:46:53] Richie Burke: else. It seems like you got a good family. I watched some of the sisters Cripe cast. Yeah,
[00:46:57] Charlie Berens: yeah. They’re a bunch of BS ers, man. Yeah. Yeah. You can’t take anything they say serious.
[00:47:02] Richie Burke: Oh, all right. Well, it was great seeing you today. Thanks for coming on. Thank you for having me, man. I appreciate you. Thank you for tuning into this episode of Milwaukee Uncut with Charlie Behrens produced by Storymark Studios, sponsored by Central Standard and in partnership with On Milwaukee. If you are not already subscribed, make sure to do so.
[00:47:19] Richie Burke: We’ve got a lot of great episodes coming up, including the Milverine, Dating Advice to Milwaukee Men with a Plethora of People, and then we got world renowned Dr. Raymond Pryor, who works with some of the top performers in the world, coming on for a series in early January, when everyone’s in self improvement mode.[00:47:38]
Richie Burke: You’re not going to want to miss those episodes, and a lot more good ones, so make sure to subscribe if you’re not already, and please share the show. To family and friends who you think would enjoy this episode with Charlie. We really appreciate any support whether it’s sharing writing or review subscribing, means a lot to us.
Joined by Harrison Ott, Stephen Watson and Paul Seifert (Wisco Golf Addict), if you enjoy playing golf or are a fan of golf this episode…
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Joined by Harrison Ott, Stephen Watson and Paul Seifert (Wisco Golf Addict), if you enjoy playing golf or are a fan of golf this episode is for you:
Topics Covered in order:
Catch up with Harrison Ott who is in his third season as a pro after a storied amateur career playing at Vanderbilt University, Winning 2 WI State Opens and One State Am
Biggest adjustment going from amateur golf to pro
Craziest stories from mini-tour life
What he's focusing on right now
How to get on (and stay on) a heater
State of Professional Golf
Reaction to the US Open and looking ahead to the British
Supper Clubs, Hidden Gem Restaurants, Desserts, Bloody Marys, and more, we cover it all with MKEeeeat’s Judy Hannon. Judy has highlighted 1,000 restaurants on her…
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Supper Clubs, Hidden Gem Restaurants, Desserts, Bloody Marys, and more, we cover it all with MKEeeeat’s Judy Hannon.
Judy has highlighted 1,000 restaurants on her very popular Instagram account @MKEeeeeEats to her over 72,000 followers. Needless to say she knows what she’s talking about.
If you are wondering where to go in Milwaukee this episode is for you!
How does a Milwaukee girl find herself on a reality TV show that takes place on a farm???? For those of you that don't know,…
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How does a Milwaukee girl find herself on a reality TV show that takes place on a farm????
For those of you that don't know, Grace was on the dating show 'Farmer Wants A Wife'. A FOX original, this reality show is like the Bachelor – if only they wore cowboy boots, donned cowboy hats, and understood how to operate heavy-duty agricultural equipment.
Grace jokes that she applied 'for the plot' after her (reality-tv show obsessed) aunt mentioned the show was looking for applicants following their first season. Despite not knowing the first thing about farms, she decided to go for it: “I live in the middle of farmland so it's kind of wild to me that I had never been on a farm before.”
Following a rigorous interview process, Grace would go on to become a contestant and finalist on the show.
As reality dating TV connoisseurs, we naturally had a lot of questions for her. Joined by my partner and co-host for this episode, Bre, we got the inside scoop from Grace on what it's really like behind the scenes of a reality TV show. We hit her with questions like:
– What was it like creating an on-screen romance?
– How did you handle living with (and dating against) multiple women?
– Was the drama scripted or organic?
– Who's still together?
This is an entertaining episode full of secrets, drama, and the realities of what it was like on 'Farmer Wants A Wife'. From the prep leading up to the show (impromptu tractor lessons) to how her life has changed since, Grace tells all in the latest Milwaukee Uncut episode.
In this episode, couple Michael Sampson and Kristin Brey join us to talk all things Milwaukee and Wisconsin. Michael is the founder of Swarmm Events,…
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In this episode, couple Michael Sampson and Kristin Brey join us to talk all things Milwaukee and Wisconsin. Michael is the founder of Swarmm Events, a Milwaukee-based event planning company putting on legendary events like the Shamrock Shuffle and Storm the Bastille. Kristin is the founder of ‘As Goes Wisconsin’ and a content creator shining a (humourous) spotlight on Wisconsin-based politics. We cover their back story, including how they met (Hinge) to where they are now in their careers. We then dive into our Milwaukee/Wisconsin based questions to get their input on best breweries, summer restaurants, Wisconsin getaway spots and more.
This is an entertaining episode full of great recommendations that’ll make the perfect listen as you get ready to start your Memorial Day weekend.
Milwaukee Uncut is produced by Story Mark Studios, in partnership with OnMilwaukee and presented by Nicolet Law and Central Standard Distillery.
From a giant Crayola Crayon box to a scene out of Spongebob, he’s using his passion for woodworking to inspire creativity and a sense of…
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From a giant Crayola Crayon box to a scene out of Spongebob, he’s using his passion for woodworking to inspire creativity and a sense of community in his followers.
In this episode, we dive into his journey that got him to where he is today, including his struggles with mental health and potential brand collaborations on the horizon.
From a young age, Ike had an entrepreneurial spirit. He started a rock band with his friends when he was in high school – even playing at the Rave on school nights. After graduating and realizing college wasn’t what they wanted to pursue, they left to play shows across the country. Nine years later when the band split up, Ike and his brother started their next gig, a junk removal business.
“We started it the day after. I had zero gap between music and our business. It was like a 12 hour period that I slept.”
In the first year, their business exceeded expectations, allowing them to repay the loan lent to them by their parents.
On the side, Ike started building coffee tables out of discarded pallets. After posting them on Facebook, people started reaching out asking him to make tables for them.
From there, Ike’s passion for woodworking took off, but challenges with his mental health created ebbs and flows in his ability to produce art; “I couldn’t even walk into my studio.”
Around 2021, he completely uprooted his life – leaving his studio and MIlwaukee – to move across the country to California where he would go to work for the Dream Machine Foundation.
We talk through the last few years of his life and what it means for him to be back in Milwaukee creating art again. The city has embraced him with open arms, and a recent collaboration for 414 Day sparked new recognition for his work in the city he calls home.
Living a full life, beginnings of Trek Bicycle, 10k steps a day at age 91 and more.
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In celebration of Mother’s Day I got to have my 91 year old grandmother Lainey Burke on this weeks episode.
In this quick episode we covered the following topics:
Growing up in Madison
Attending Marquette University as one of twelve women in the business school
The beginnings of Trek Bicycle
Flower arranging & a show coming to Milwaukee
Living a full life
Milwaukee Uncut is produced by Story Mark Studios, in partnership with OnMilwaukee and presented by Nicolet Law and Central Standard Distillery.
Transcript
Lainey Burke: He came home all excited because on the plane he talked to the guy sitting next to him and this guy was in the bicycle business and he needed money and I said, Oh, here we go again.
Richie Burke: Hey everyone, welcome back to Milwaukee Uncut produced right in the heart of Walker’s Point by Story Mark Studios in partnership with On Milwaukee and presented by Nicolet Law, the Midwest law firm in central Standard distillery.
Speaking of Graham Mulaney and I had a nice brandy, old fashion, a canned brandy, old fashion that central standard didn’t collaboration with wine and Kugel’s. I know I’ve talked about those on the show before those are good. And I saw that they just released their bomb pop ready pour. So make sure to check that out.
I have not tried it yet, but it looks delicious central standard and also a shout out to Nicolet Law. Bre and I were coming back from Minneapolis. This week and stopped in Hudson, Wisconsin, where Nikola is headquartered out of had a nice beer, actually. I had two beers at the smiling moose in Hudson with Cassie at Nikola.
And then we bombarded Russell who was working late in his office. The guy is more than just a pretty cartoon on a billboard. Russell was working, working late over at Nikola law. So thanks to central standard Nikola law for their support. This is a very special episode to me. Got to have. My favorite person in the world.
My 91 year old grandmother, Elaine Burke on the podcast. She is a mother of five children. She’s the matriarch of Trek bicycle. She was there right at the beginning. She’s one of the early women to graduate from the Marquette business school. She’s had a career hole in one. That’s one more than me, very philanthropic.
I mean, one of my favorite things selfishly about her is she responds to all of our company newsletters. Like it’s a personal email to her and I get a nice encouraging response. So she’s, she’s a, she’s a fan and I, I really appreciate that. And just a, an amazing human being who’s lived a very full life.
And it was in honor to have her drop down in the studio and highlight her story. Today so happy mother’s day to everyone. I hope you enjoy this. You have an amazing life story. You grew up in in madison you know, quite a long time ago. Can you talk about what it, what it was like growing up in, in Madison?
Lainey Burke: Well, I thought of Madison as a great city to grow up in. Lots of good, interesting places and so forth. And I got, I got a fascinating job there. And all was well.
Richie Burke: It was kind of a strict household, right?
Lainey Burke: Out of a strict household, right. Huh.
Richie Burke: I know when we did the documentary on you, I believe your, your dad told you that women don’t go to college.
They work in, in offices, but you, you took a different path.
Lainey Burke: Well, he did say that and so I went to Marquette and then I graduated and worked in an office.
Richie Burke: What was it like going to Marquette in the 50s?
Lainey Burke: It was a great, I was in a biz ad class, and there were out of 200 students in biz ad at that point. There are only 12 women. And so it was a great time.
Richie Burke: Then you met your future husband, Dick Burke, the big guy. Yes.
Lainey Burke: We had a good time. Good college.
Richie Burke: I heard when he was dating you, he actually started showing up to the library. That was probably good for him because he didn’t pass by much.
Lainey Burke: He was, he’s just not doing very well academically until he spent more time in the library. Let’s put it that way.
Richie Burke: So you got, you got, you basically got him through, through college.
Lainey Burke: I don’t know as I got him through, he would never have agreed about that.
Richie Burke: After you both graduated, I believe you got married right away.
Lainey Burke: And we got married right away, but then we lived in Peoria, Illinois, and we just stayed there for a year.
And then we moved to, he went to, he was employed by Mott’s paint in Madison. And so we moved back to Madison very happily. Happily, of course, in my mind. And I worked at Oscar Meyer and had a great time there. And so I had some babies and all was well.
Richie Burke: And then did you move to Tosa when you had kids?
Lainey Burke: Yes, huh. Yes, we lived in Tosa until we moved out to, to a house on the lake because Dick couldn’t take any vacation, he felt, and so that was his way of celebrating with family.
Richie Burke: And you moved out to Beaver Lake. Yes, you had one of the nicer houses on beaver lake and now you have the least expensive house on beaver lake.
Lainey Burke: It was a we we we took a cottage and made it into a full time house on beaver lake.
Richie Burke: When grandpa was so he was working at at roth And then roth distributing and then the president passed away and The employees chose to buy into the company, correct? And you had to take a loan from both of your parents in order to do that, which was risky at the time.
Lainey Burke: Yes, yes. We did that. And every month I diligently paid off the loan until it was for, until it was all paid off.
Richie Burke: So I remember you, you finally paid the loan off after five or six years and then he Got back from a trip and wanted to get into the bicycle business and put more money into it.
Lainey Burke: Yeah.
Yes. So my attitude when he he Dick when it was traveling and he came home all excited. Why was he excited? Because on the plane, he, he talked to the guy sitting next to him. And this guy was in the. business. He owned a bicycle company and, and he needed money. And I said, Oh, here we go again. I could just, we had paid off our loan originally.
And so yes, here we went again. And have, and got in the bicycle business and I paid it off every month.
Richie Burke: Who would you say was the best behaved out of the older kids? Kathy, Mary, or JB? Ha, ha, ha,
Lainey Burke: ha. Now, I know what I’m supposed to say here. You’re supposed to tell the truth on the podcast. Ha, ha, ha, ha.
They each had their enduring qualities.
Richie Burke: Is it true that, or do you believe that I mean, Mary filed a complaint on the video we did that when you left money, when you went out of town for them to get food, JB just took it and spent it on beer. Ha ha
Lainey Burke: ha. That could have been. Ha ha ha.
Richie Burke: I heard they were a big fan of your cooking.
Lainey Burke: Really? Now that surprises me. Ha, ha, ha, ha. I never considered myself in that direction. Ha,
Richie Burke: ha, ha. J. V. said when you were eating on the, on the back patio in the summer that, ha, ha.
Lainey Burke: I do remember that.
Richie Burke: That when you went inside, they’d toss it off the deck.
Lainey Burke: I do remember that.
And, and I didn’t catch on to it either. No, no, you did not, did not catch on. Totally naive. What
Richie Burke: were your views on JB’s parenting? Style growing up when I was growing up, you know, he
Lainey Burke: When he was growing up or you were growing up
Richie Burke: when I when I was growing up Great guy got a little fired up at times. I think he had two technical fouls in the middle school basketball league Put me through the quote unquote bobby knight school of driving Were those recommendations from you?
I probably
Lainey Burke: no I was gonna say You’re teaching me things right now that I can smile and enjoy.
Richie Burke: You’re enjoying that? I had to go through the Bobby Knight school of driving?
Lainey Burke: No, no. With him. No, no.
Richie Burke: We have had a lot of good times together. Just wanted to get your thoughts on that. Can you talk about your gardening?
Accolades. How did you get into it? You’ve been all over the world. You’ve judged competitions.
Lainey Burke: Well, it’s not so much gardening as it is flower arranging. Excuse me. It’s plant. So I, I’m a flower arranging judge. And yes, I have traveled around the world, both to see flower shows and participate in some. And I was at a That’s what I was doing today, was going to a meeting regarding a big flower show.
We’re going to have a worldwide flower show here in Milwaukee on September, September 9th people will be coming from all over to do flower arrangements and show their horticulture. all these things and to view these things. And so it’s open to the public. And we have speakers coming from all over.
And it’s just really. Good big event for Milwaukee.
Richie Burke: Where is it?
Lainey Burke: It’s at this, this is going to be at St. John’s, which is a senior center. And it has two big halls for speakers and for social events, dinners, and it has wide halls and lots of viewing spaces, which is. Just gorgeous. We’ve had it at places like at Harley and lots of other places in town.
We think this will be really special and nice.
Richie Burke: You’re a proud St. John’s part time resident. Yes. Did you make this happen there?
Lainey Burke: Yes. So I am on the committee.
Richie Burke: What what’s your favorite kind of flower?
Lainey Burke: Oh, I can’t even say anything that’s blooming beautifully or has a good shape to it.
Richie Burke: What a great outlook on life, and I would like to talk about your fitness.
Did you do some Pilates this morning?
Lainey Burke: Yes, I did Pilates this morning.
Richie Burke: How many steps are we up to?
Lainey Burke: Well, my, I like to do 10, 000 steps, but that’s in the summer when it’s nice outside and I can see and so forth. So during the winter, I don’t do quite as many.
Richie Burke: Just the inspiration over there.
Lainey Burke: All right.
Whatever you call it.
Richie Burke: You’ve lived such an amazing life. Any, any advice to others who would like to live a,
Lainey Burke: I don’t know if I could impart anything, but I just have been very blessed in so many ways. And I, I enjoy it. I’m very blessed, very lucky.
Richie Burke: I think your voicemail tells people to enjoy their day. Do you want to speak on that at all?
Lainey Burke: That says it all. And I’ve been very blessed with my family and so many good things.
Richie Burke: Thanks for tuning into Milwaukee Uncut. If you would like to support the show, please subscribe. If you have not already, write a review and share with your friends that all helps us get more ears on this content. And just a reminder that Milwaukee Uncut is produced in the heart of Walker’s Point by Story Mark Studios in partnership with OnMilwaukee and presented by Nicolet Law and Central Standard Distillery.
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