Getting Hyperreal With… Joey Z

Hyperreal interviewer extrordinaire Justin Norris sat down with Joey Z, the creator, star, writer, and director of Plant Guy, to talk LA comedy, the David Lynch influence on the short film, and what could be next for everyone’s favorite plant caretaker.

Editor’s Note: This interview has been lightly condensed and edited for clarity.

Hyperreal Film Club: One of my first questions was the setting of the short. This little apartment room/apartment complex. What inspired the look of that setting? Was that all filmed in one area?

Joey Z: Yeah… Plant Guy is something I still do to this day as a day job. Taking care of wealthy people’s indoor plants and in their businesses and stuff. And that is actually a lady’s high rise in downtown Austin where I used to take care of her whole house. [The filming location] was her whole place. And yeah, I have a couple of ideas for more in this series. But like, just trying to make one, I just kept having this vision of this one there and it’d be really easy to make and I was like, “Well, if I try to do this show, I think this is the first place to try and do it.” And she’s never there so it was kind of awkward but yeah, I just asked her like, “Hey, this is weird…” She knows I do stand up and perform, “I’m making films and stuff and I had an idea for something at your place. Would it be cool if I use it sometime?” And she ended up being some type of voice actor or something in the film world and she was like, “Oh, I know how hard it is to find places to film! Go ahead, have at it!” I was like, damn, really? [chuckles]. So yeah, she was kind enough to let me use her whole high rise there. So yeah, not too much changing of location. Just all inside her one place and like this little balcony area she had.

HFC: So, there’s a quick scene during the montage where he’s drinking and smoking and kind of just doing his own thing, where Plant Guy is in that little swivel chair in some random room. That’s in the apartment as well?

JZ: Yeah, that’s also what inspired me for that whole thing because she has so much crazy knickknacks around. So, I’m like, “Oh yeah, let’s get him messing around in the old time barber chair! Oh yeah, let’s get him twirling this sword around that she has for some reason!” Yeah, there’s some other clips that didn’t make it. She had these weird little statues that he was playing with and stuff but yeah, she just has really cool stuff all around and I’m like, “Uh yeah I’m going to mess with all that!”

HFC: Did she know that you played with all these things while she was gone? Or was it heat of the moment type of thing?

JZ: It was kind of heat of the moment. I told her I wouldn’t, like, get in her bed or mess with her clothes or anything but I didn’t say anything about not twirling her swords or messing with her Bluetooth speaker thing. But yeah, I’m sure she’d be fine with it. Nothing got broken.

HFC: That’s the important thing! So, has she seen this episode herself? 

JZ: I don’t think so. I should send it to her! It’s kind of weird, I think she likes weird things [chuckles].

HFC: At least from my outsider point of view, it’s a very unique, cool-looking place so props to her and her set decoration skills! Was there any need for your crew to kind of touch up the setting or did you all take everything as it was already set? 

JZ: Yeah, there was a few things! My cinematographer, Dylan [Herin-Soule], he had some good lights and some different shading and perspective that he added on to some scenes. A lot of scenes we really just took whatever shot it was and then there would be some kind of vase plant around and we just kind of scooted them together just to frame the shots more easily. But yeah, Dylan had a good eye for that with helping with adding lighting and different textures. But for most of the stuff set design wise, yeah, it was all there.

HFC: Is Plant Guy the first short film you’ve worked on? Or do you have other works as well?

JZ: Yeah, this is my first venture into trying to make film stuff. It’s been fun to share something and have it out and have people watch it and like it. It’s fun to do! I’m anxious to try and make more of them.

HFC: Another thing I wanted to touch on with the film, one thing that caught my eye, or ear I should say, was the score! I believe Ethan Billips helped with that. I really dug the sound. I really dug the actual songs that were placed in there like the Tesla song, that was a bop! But coming back to Ethan’s contributions, how involved were you with Ethan in terms of coming up with the sound? Did you come to him saying “I’m envisioning it like this,” or did you leave him in the booth and let him come up with the sound on his own?

JZ: Yeah, I kind of let him come up with it. He did one session with me and my editor where we kind of just sat down and watched the whole thing and he already had some preset stuff and we’d play a scene on quiet and he’d play something throughout and I was like, “Oh yeah, something like this!” He makes his own solo stuff and he’s also in this group called Blank Hellscape and I love their sound! Some of their textures kind of venture into this unnerving, kind of nervous energy and I knew he’d be perfect for wanting to do something like that. When thinking about the whole thing and stuff, I just had him in mind right away and he was super down to help out. I’ve known him for a little bit and it was cool to use his sounds I like so much on the project. That’s my favorite part of the whole thing too. The sound really ties it all together. I’m happy Mike Melinoe and Skeleton let me use a couple of tracks from them to heighten some scenes, have some good punch, and some good energy in there. I’m a big fan of music and really love music and I was like, I wanted it to sound cool and sound good. So, I’m happy and I’m happy you appreciated the sound too!

HFC: Yeah, from my end you all did a really good job! Props to Ethan and props to the two musicians you reached out to. For those two songs that were in the movie, did you reach out to those two artists personally? 

JZ: Yeah! I know both of those bands personally, well one’s a band and the other is a rapper, Mike Melinoe. I forgot where I met Mike, but after I met him, we were just chatting on Instagram and then I just hit him up and was like, “Hey, I don’t know if you remember me but I’m making this movie and this one track of yours kind of fits. You [can] write up a contract if you’re cool with having that in a film like this,” and he was super down. And same with the guys in Skeleton, their label Twenty Bucks spin, I was like, “Hey, I like this sound. Cool if I throw you and the boys some bones, you can let me use it in the movie.” And they were like, “Yeah, that’s fine!” I don’t even know if they – yeah, they asked for some money, but they were like, “Yeah, just credit us at the end, it’s fine.” I was like, “Thank you so much!” So yeah, everyone was like super down. One of the guys in the band, they saw it at this one showing, and he was like – I think it looked like he thought it was cool that his song was in there so I was like, “Hell yeah!” Made me feel good!

HFC: That’s awesome. It really does sound like you did the work on your end by asking, which can be the hardest thing to do. But it’s cool to know that everyone you asked, they were down at the drop of a hat. You kind of touched on it while talking about Ethan’s score, a word you mentioned, unnerving, caught my ear. In general, with this short, I considered it a comedy more so than a horror but obviously, there’s a disembodied hand, the tension of if Plant Guy will get caught… When you were coming up with this episode, were you aiming to unnerve? Or did you want to maintain a consistent air of comedy?

JZ: Naturally, I’m a comedian but while making this I was like, “I want to do something different; I want this to be like a horror or something,” but the way it was coming together I was like, “Damn, it’s funny, isn’t it?” [chuckles].

HFC: It’s hard to turn off, right? That joking side of the brain.

JZ: But I liked that energy of it. All the other ones I have ideas for I want them to be like that where it’s funny and like, either begins really funny or like a certain tone but the Plant Guy is always there as like this vehicle for humor or like this funny physicality kind of stuff. I’m trying to have him do some more dialogue and make him more three dimensional rather than just some physical reactions as in this early one. I’m trying to definitely keep those two kinds of balances like, “This is funny but like I feel kind of weird with whatever situation he’s gotten himself into” but yeah, I’m still trying to balance that weird humor with like an uneasy tension of a thriller. 

HFC: It’s interesting because in way, and you mentioned you do this in real life, going to people’s places and helping out with their plants. And in a way, if you think about it, there is a little bit of that tension of wondering if these people that you’re going to their houses… Ideally they’re going to be normal but I’m sure it creeps up in the back of your head occasionally like, “What if they’re not this time? What if they’re a little weird? Or what if there’s a little disembodied hand?” I think in the idea of this short or in the idea of how this series would play out from how you talk about it so far, there’s that tension of anything can happen, right? So, I think it’s a really interesting idea you’re latching onto as the series progresses, so it’ll be interesting to see what you come up with!

JZ: Thanks, yeah! He’s going to show up somewhere and it seems normal and then something happens. I have those feelings of places I go and visit, yeah. And whenever I do have those feelings, I write it down. I’m like “Plant Guy stumbles into…he runs into a werewolf!” 

HFC: The new Abbott and Costello! Except it’s just one of them!

JZ: Exactly, yeah!

HFC: Talking about Plant Guy himself, did you always intend to play the character yourself? Or was that out of necessity?

JZ: Yeah, yeah. Like when I see it, I just think of me doing it. And I’m like, “I could hire out,” and like, I used to be in plays and theater stuff growing up too and I mean I’ve never really done anything short film wise. I’ve done some commercial acting stuff, but I was like, I’d wing it! I do the job and have all the outfits and stuff, but I was like, I might as well and try and make it myself rather than try to explain it to someone. I was like, “I can just do it.”

HFC: On that note, what was it like “directing” yourself? Comparing to directing yourself while making this in comparison to directing your co-stars, Paul [Weiner] and Kat [Ramzinksi], did you find challenges with that? Or did it just come naturally? What did you have to switch up when thinking about how you perform versus how your co-stars would and how involved you would be?

JZ: Yeah, it took us like a couple of takes of trying to get down what I wanted [Plant Guy] to be. He’s very sort of like myself too, like this laid back, kind of goofy guy so I didn’t really go too far out of my box of what I wanted him sort of to be like. But yeah, there was definitely times I was like, “Okay, let’s just knock out this scene really quick,” and we’d do it, and I was like, “Alright, let’s watch it back,” and I was like, totally not in it and I was like, “Oh this is crazy I got to focus a little bit and zone in.” So, yeah, it took some time and some kind of centering but it’s almost this sort of thought of like, performing, going on stage just as soon as like, they say your name and it’s your time to work. It’s like boom, like yeah, they say 3...2…1…action! It’s like you just hit your marks and do what you see in your head as this thing you want to make, which I also found was very trippy! I was like, “This is interesting.” Just making something that I’ve thought about for a while and now it’s like being made! So, like I don’t know, I think I got worse acting if I kept thinking about it more like that. Like take myself out of it. I was like, just focus and just be yourself on camera because he’s just like you. And same with Paul Weiner and Kat, they were really easy to direct. I think most of my shots with myself took most of the time because we knocked Paul’s and Kat’s out like, Paul was in more shots, but it didn’t take him too long I don’t think, and Kat was out of there very quick. They both came to me with like, “What vibe do you want this person?” and they threw me some ideas and they were each perfect and each have acted in like, various things before, and they’re like super talented people, so it didn’t take too much acting coaching from me. Yeah, they were pros.

HFC: Nice, that always helps! What, if any, pieces of art, whether its films, books, television, music, etc. did you have in mind while creating this? Were there any references you were coming back to?

JZ: Yeah, I want it to almost be like an anthology. Like he shows up at a new place every time and rarely does the story carry over from one episode to the other. But I definitely want them to be like that High Maintenance show where it’s like not necessarily sort of about him but the places he goes and these random people that he has to like, whatever situation he ends up trapped in with. It mainly more so becomes about them and we’re just like viewing it because we happen to be with Plant Guy who’s like, the vehicle for our narration or whatever. And for this first episode especially, I’m definitely like a big fan of David Lynch and Blue Velvet. I love the voyeur scenes in that movie, and I definitely wanted him to feel sort of like that, like when watching the woman and the violence between them. It’s like when Plant Guy is watching, the same peeping tom-like, “Oh I shouldn’t be here seeing this” energy. And also, I couldn’t really decide what he should find when he was in there and I was at a showing of Blue Velvet at AFS and at the beginning when he finds the ear in the grass, I was like “Oh, he’s going to find a severed body part…” I was like, “Could it be an ear? Let’s do something different, a hand could be fucking weird!” I love Lynch a lot and definitely with that one, I love the idea of like, someone being somewhere they’re not supposed and then someone, who that’s their house, comes in and occupies the space while the other person is just barely out of frame, like holding right by just as the person is just about to turn the corner but then they don’t. Something about two people occupying the same space and one person doesn’t know the other is there. I just love that whole idea and the notion that kind of fills with me. So that definitely kind of happens in the Blue Velvet movie when I watched it and I definitely kind of wanted to get that energy a little bit.

HFC: It’s funny that when you said David Lynch when you were bringing that up, I could immediately connect the imagery of the hand with the ear. In a way, I could be misremembering the way the hand looks, but even the coloring of the hand looked similar to the coloring of the ear!

JZ: Pale!

HFC: Yeah, and I don’t know if that was intentional or operating subconsciously –

JZ: It was a synchronicity!

HFC: It’s crazy you mention that because I see it now! 

JZ: Pale-blueish hand. Yeah, props to the prop master, that was a friend of my producer who we reached out to. He knocked it out of the park with that hand! And now I just have it! [Chuckles]. It’s like in a box in my closet!

HFC: Full circle!

JZ: I’m just like, I don’t know if anyone is doing a movie and wants a fake hand, I have one. It’s just chilling here [Chuckles].

HFC: You kind of mention that the hand was inspired after you saw Blue Velvet with the ear. Prior to that, or even after, were you kicking around any ideas of any other appendages besides a hand that Plant Guy would find?

JZ: I feel like hand was the immediate go-to. Like immediately red painted nails, like a lady’s hand. Like, get the whole other story of like, “Whose hand is that?” So yeah, I think hand was the first I went to. I thought maybe like an ear but didn’t want to be too on the nose with it.

HFC: Or on the ear with it, in this case!

JZ: Yeah [chuckles].

HFC: So, you kind of touched on it but just to delve a little more into it. In regard to the future of Plant Guy, you’re kind of envisioning it as a series, as an anthology. I know it’s super early for you maybe, but do you see a clear beginning, middle, and end for this series? I know it’s already loosely structured in a way but is there a clear view of where it ends or where it may go?

JZ: I don’t have too clear an ending. There’s a whole bunch of other ideas I have, you know… he gets involved in a bank heist… a drug deal gone wrong… shapeshifting monsters… interdimensional beings… meeting a mutant rat or rodent, yeah…there’s serial killers. I’m trying to make it touch on reality but still have some mystical connotations here and there – oh, I have a satanic cult one! That’s a good one, that one might be number two, the second one I make because I keep thinking about that one. I think I have an idea too for what I think could be a feature. Yeah, I have so many ideas and places for him to go and weird things for him to stumble onto. Yeah, I definitely don’t have an end, but I have a lot in the middle! As a creative person, it’s like a lot of ideas to make [chuckles].

HFC: It’s a good problem to have! That’s the good thing about an anthology series, each episode is its own story with its own beginning, middle, and end.

JZ: Yeah, keep it going!

HFC: Going back to the inception of Plant Guy, you mention it’s a bit based on a true story with your real-life occupation. Was it always going to be a guy who comes and waters plants? Or was there any other occupation you were kicking around?

JZ: No, I think it was always Plant Guy because yeah that was my day job! Now it’s like very part-time but back then it was what I was doing a lot so it kept happening, so I just made like, a Plant Guy folder in my phone and then I was like, “Maybe, whatever…” and then it just got so much ideas in there and I was like, “I got to make one of these!” And I don’t feel like there’s too many other shows about a plant watering guy.

HFC: I was going to say! While watching this, I was like “a person who comes in and waters people’s plants?” Saying it out loud, I’m like, there’s no way! But thinking about it, yeah, it makes sense people would pay other people to do this!

JZ: Of course rich people have that!

HFC: Yeah, there’s services for anything!

JZ: I had another idea for another one because my partner and I went to go see Claudio Simonetti do the live score of Suspiria at Paramount. I mean I’ve watched that movie a bunch, I never really noticed it before, but after the storm part when she goes back to the house for the first morning and all the girls are running around in the lobby, there’s a guy watering the plants of all like, the witch dance people. I was like, man that would be a great Plant Guy episode! Just like –

HFC: Remake Suspiria!

JZ: Yeah, literally, remake Suspiria but all the dialogue is the same, how the people move is the same except it’s just through the perspective of Plant Guy, and he comes like every Tuesday for like a month and the house just gets progressively more and more fucked up! And he’s just like, “What the hell is going on!”

HFC: I like that take! That’s a good take! I’d actually like to see that. I think even Dario Argento would be down with that!

JZ: He can score it! He can score the Plant Guy remake of Suspiria! Get him and Ethan to do a back-to-back on it, that’d be sick [chuckles]. Let’s hit him up, between us and Hyperreal, see if he’d be down!

HFC: In regard to this episode, what was the one lesson you took away while directing, writing, acting? What was the one big thing kind of learned? Or maybe it was multiple things?

JZ: Oh yeah! Definitely learned a lot because it was definitely my first kind of thing into film stuff, and it was mostly done with a bunch of friends’ help and homie hookups. Yeah, it made me realize I know a lot of creative people and a lot of really talented people who could like, make this stupid weird vision thing come to life! And not just make it come to life but make it look good! And now all those people, same as like myself, as an artist have grown and advanced and I just know that the next one we make, we did want to be like just double as, I don’t want to say better but – yeah, it made me realize that I know a lot of really talented people who I’m fortunate enough to have as friends who want to help me make something! And I also learned it’s very expensive to make film stuff and it like, took a lot out of me and my film crew and the editors and all the people that worked on it and it’s like a big, big time-consuming kind of project even for something that’s a less than 10-minute thing. It’s like this month-ish long process between a bunch of people. Yeah, I learned that film stuff is expensive and that I have talented friends. And fun! It was a lot of fun! I also learned that it was very – because I was like “ I don’t know if people will even like this,” and I’ve made it and people – I bet some people might not like it but people have said they’ve liked it to me and like, that’s cool to put something out there like, “I don’t know!” and people be like, “Oh this is great!” and as an artist, you know, you like to hear that and it makes you feel more comfortable about putting more work out and gets you excited like, “Oh, I want to make the next one for everybody!” So, it was very creatively enriching and it felt really good.

HFC: Good to hear! And I wish I could’ve caught this when Hyperreal screened it but I’m sure it’s just one of those works that accomplishes what any film, short or not, should try to do in that it keeps your attention. I think it has enough moments in there that is involving in one form or another, whether it’s funny or like you said, a little unnerving – 

JZ: Yeah, screen size small or large! As long as you can watch it with maybe good headphones cause yeah, the sound – like, yeah, I was just watching it through the laptop speakers and I was like. “Oh, I got to put my headphones on!” – 

HFC: [Chuckles] The IMAX! You got to see it in IMAX to get the whole –

JZ: Yeah, you got to see Plant Guy in IMAX [laughs]. That’s the next vision.

HFC: Keeping in touch with what you learned while filming. Was there anything in particular that was challenging that you ran into while creating this episode? I know you mentioned the time consumption but was there anything else?

JZ: I feel like the main challenges were, yeah, time, but my producer, it’s not his first film project, but as my first film, trying to organize everything in that location that has all windows and that whole room… we know we had to like – only have that room available for certain times of the day to like, make the shots line up time wise linearly. So yeah, Paul had to enter in the set late and like all Plant Guy’s stuff, while he’s there in the day, we had to get that all done and make sure no light was going down as he was doing something that was supposed to be after the next thing. So, I think the biggest thing that we tried to crunch with, and there was a couple of times where we were like, “Let’s keep going and do something quick!” and it’s like one take and I’m like, “How did that look?” and like, “Good. Alright, let’s go, next scene.” And it’s like, some scenes I wish I could’ve had a couple other takes on but like it looks fine. But yeah, the main issue was just like the timing of trying to get the location and the sun right between that whole room that was just filled with glass. But again, Dylan did a great job with balancing a lot of light and if some room looked like it wasn’t the right time of day or matching up, he’d fix it and make it look good, so I didn’t have too much to worry about when I had like a bunch of people who are really competent and know what they’re doing.

HFC: Always a good thing to have a good squad. You kind of touched on this a little bit when talking about people’s reactions to this work. For you, as this is your baby, when you’re creating the humor for Plant Guy, or just any scene, whether its comedic or tense or unnerving, when you’re gauging its effectiveness, are you keeping an audience in mind or do you kind of just say, “This works for me?”

JZ: Yeah, I’m definitely kind of really writing it for myself. I just kind of, yeah, mainly get Plant Guy in whatever the situation is and then I almost, I sometimes try to like close my eyes and watch the movie in my head and see like where he goes or what happens and almost try to write it off that, just like whatever I get inspired by for wherever he should go. It’s definitely some things where I’m writing for some effect stuff, like in the montage, and the funny scenes like that, I’m like, oh, that’s all humor you can just kind of go nuts. I feel like yeah, I feel like I had an idea for just a few shots of that short when I was working at that place and then every time I went there the movie just kept forming and forming itself. So, I was like, “Well, I have to make it now”. It’s just like the whole thing is done in my head. I felt like it just came to me, and I didn’t have to worry too much about what should go wherever because I’m just like, that’s the way it goes because that’s the way it came to my head.

HFC: On that note, and this is touching a bit outside of the film, touching on your approach to standup and your humor in general when talking to the audience. In your opinion, what is the key to getting an audience to laugh? What is the golden goose of getting a laugh from someone?

JZ: Oh man, just maybe being, just 100% genuine. Yeah, just being your normal, goofy self. The best laughs come from when you’re just not even like really trying to be a comedian, you’re just like saying something and the reason it’s only funny is because it’s just you saying it. I don’t know really how to describe it but yeah. It’s like a moment of like, whatever you’re doing is like you’re having fun saying it or talking about it too. It’s like if you’re having fun in it and they’re having fun in it, then it creates like a shared space energy where you don’t even have to rely on like, yeah, being funny or hitting the punches just cause you’re both mutually invested in the same idea you both want to happen. Same with this film stuff, as long as I keep it genuine and what I like, want to see to form happen in my head like, yeah, the audience on the other end has that same interpretation in their head or they’re with that same idea. It’s been, yeah – I’ve been adding music stuff into my own personal comedy stuff for like my larger acts and stuff. The larger act is really developing right now and it’s been fun to like branch out and do film, something new, and do this, something new, but as long as I feel like its 100% genuine, it’s like, yeah, the same vibe.

HFC: I agree on that atmosphere of genuineness and just like, fun, like you mentioned. For me, if it feels like the people are having fun while making these films, and I talked about this in another Hyperreal interview with some filmmakers, and I told them the same thing. I was like, “It felt like you guys were having fun just while watching the film, even taking out the story and everything presented, looking at everybody on it, it just looked like everybody was happy to be there.” And that bleeds through! It really does, like you say, that synchronicity between the fun onscreen and off, and I felt that here with Plant Guy!

JZ: Hell yeah!

HFC: It’s got this weird idea that a bunch of people latched onto, committed to. Like you said, with that genuineness and that’s hard to pull off! I think people can think that can be easy to fake but it’s hard to pull off actual fun onscreen.

JZ: Definitely yeah. I hope that resonates! Because yeah, it was a lot of fun to make and was a really fun idea and yeah, I tried to make that come across the – reach through the screen to the audience to make them feel the same thing. I’m a big fan of that! Same when I’m viewing shows or concerts and stuff like yeah, the bands having fun, I’m having fun, like the whole space is like a mutual, good, shared experience. Ooh that’s where it’s at!

HFC: 100% right! But kind of going back to your comedy, whether that’s with the standup or how it comes into your shorts, who would you say are some inspirations for your brand of comedy?

JZ: I like Reggie Watts a lot. He’s super – very weird, funny, music dude. Yeah, I’m trying to like kind of tap into some of his same territory. I love Tim Heidecker a lot, like Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job, and like, he’s an actor. I know he’s been in a bunch of stuff I feel like the last thing I really remember him in was Us; he played like the friend’s dad, like the white family. And his own music stuff too. Definitely people like that. I like Eric Andre a lot, just for like his insanity. I’m trying to think of film comedians I like a lot…but those people, as far as stage performance goes are definitely some of my absolute favorites. I definitely try to replicate Mr. Bean a little bit with Plant Guy because I think Mr. Bean, like his physical humor is like some of the best, it’s so fucking funny! I was like I want him to be, I tried to make Plant Guy like a cross between Shaggy from Scooby Doo and Mr. Bean [chuckle]. Like a goofy, aloof, stoner guy who’s mainly like a lot of physical comedy stuff but yeah definitely trying to do more dialogue stuff in the next one but this first one was definitely like a Mr. Bean/Scooby Doo like “goofster” guy. But definitely stage wise, Reggie Watts and Tim Heidecker and Eric Andre are some of my favorite people. 

HFC: Got it. Going down that line, you get to bring one comedian and one filmmaker to dinner, who are you inviting and why?

JZ: Of course, I got to, I’ll take Lynch. Just to like hangout. I don’t even have to talk about anything crazy with him just be like, just to talk about coffee with him would be insane. And comedian… [laughs] Joe Rogan! 

HFC: Joe Rogan and David Lynch!

JZ: Just kidding, no, I’m just kidding [laughs]!

HFC: I mean there’s something there. Bring a camera for sure because there may some new facets of life discussed with those two! 

JZ: I don’t even know if he’s a comedian honestly! [laughs].

HFC: Maybe unintentional.

JZ: Yeah, right? [chuckles]. I mean, Reggie Watts. If I had a conversation with him and like, man, if I had one more person, it’d be like that meme, that “dream blunt rotation.” But yeah, a conversation with both of them would be good! When I go to LA, I work with Reggie, so I know him like a little bit but like we’ve hung out like a couple of times. But yeah, I’d love to be at uh, much more uh-

HFC: Dinner level?

JZ: Yeah! [chuckles]. Dinner level, that’d be sick! But yeah, a dinner with him and Lynch would be like really fucking cool. It’d be crazy. I’d almost just listen to them talk and I’d just like shut up.

HFC: Like “do you guys want some more water? I can get you some water!”

JZ: Act as the waiter, “Do you guys want more bread?” [chuckles].

HFC: Those are good choices right there though! Sounds simultaneously pleasant but like it could easily turn unsettling.

JZ: Yeah.

HFC: So, to make it more recent, I try to ask everyone this when I get the chance to interview them, and I know you’ve been busy this year so I don’t blame you if you don’t have like a clear answer, but what is the best form of art you’ve come across this year? Could be a tv show, movie, book, piece of art, music, etc..

JZ: My favorite media that has come out? Let’s see…I’ve been…let’s see musically, this joint album between Panda Bear and Sonic Boom came out, it’s called Reset. It sounds like Beach Boys on electronic acid.

HFC: I’ve heard of Panda Bear but haven’t heard of Sonic Boom!

JZ: He was in uhh, what was his band? Spaceman 500? 3000? Spacemen 3000? But yeah, he’s like produced a couple of stuff on some Panda Bear tracks before. But yeah, that album, like yeah, music, that might be my favorite album of the year. I’m a big Panda Bear/Animal Collective adjacent fan. I really liked that Barbarian movie. That movie was really good.

HFC: A comedy guy too. I think it’s Zach Cregger from The Whitest Kids U Know, that’s kind of where he cut his teeth.

JZ: Ohh! He was in that?

HFC: Yeah, he was a part of that little sketch group!

JZ: Really?

HFC: I know him from Wrecked, that TBS sitcom, he was in that. But I know he’s like known for being in that group.

JZ: Yeah, I know of that sketch group! That’s crazy, I didn’t even put that together!

HFC: That comedy sketch guy pipeline to great horror movies is wide open. So, you’re up next Joey! It’s lining up.

JZ: I hope! Thanks, that’d be sick [chuckles]. I think Nope came out this year too, right. Yeah, what came out recently that I watched recently? The Fenty Fashion Show #3, the one where Johnny Depp comes on.

HFC: Oh!

JZ: Have you heard of that? 

HFC: I’ve heard of that. I’ve also heard he was at the MTV Awards as a spaceman or something. They like holographed his face onto one of them, just randomly, I was like “What does that have to do with anything?” [laughs]. But yeah, he’s been getting around it seems!

JZ: But yeah, Fenty Fashion was also sick! Man, I feel like there’s a really sick movie that I’m not…I did like parts of…eh no, I did like Barbarian more. I was going to say that Smile movie. 

HFC: I haven’t seen that one yet but I have heard some solid things about it.

JZ: It was cool. There was like, yeah, some things. That one did a very good job I’d say of like, I love when the horror movie is about like a monster, or a creature thing and they don’t give you too much of it at the beginning. And then like at the end of it, you either get the creature reveal or you see it for like a little bit. It did like a good job of just like giving you enough…

HFC: The Jaws treatment.

JZ: Yeah! Exactly!

HFC: I don’t know if you ever clarified, but favorite David Lynch film?

JZ: My favorite…

HFC: If you can pick any, I know it’s probably tough.

JZ: Yeah, and it also changes. It’s like…umm…man, yeah like I think I just want to say Mulholland Dr. at the moment because like that was the most recent one I watched and like I feel like anything I watch by him I’m like obsessed by it and I keep watching it. Like my favorite thing by him is Twin Peaks but film yeah, I think Mulholland Dr. might be my favorite.

HFC: I’m a big fan of that one too.

JZ: Have you seen that Claymation thing? With the rabbits?

HFC: Isn’t that like…I haven’t seen it, but I think I’ve heard of it. Isn’t there like scenes of that in like that one movie with Laura Dern? Inland Empire?

JZ: I’m not sure…

HFC: I may be misremembering…but I’ve seen pictures of those rabbits by David lynch!

JZ: I almost felt like just being weird saying “That’s my favorite Lynch work!” [laughs]. But it’s not my favorite; it’s certainly bizarre.

HFC: The Lynchheads out there are going to appreciate that one when they see it in the transcript! I’ll make sure to bold it.

JZ: Second favorite he says is Rabbit [chuckles].

HFC: Alright, speed round. Going back to Plant Guy, of all the plants out there in the world, what plant would you describe yourself as?

JZ: Myself? I’ve never thought of this before! I feel like I would be…[chuckles] maybe a…a nice long vine. A nice bushy long vine. Because I don’t know, they look good just hanging out, and I like to hang out [laughs].

HFC: And they grow, despite whatever’s in their way. House, tree, they’re like, screw it we’re growing!

JZ: Resilient, yeah!

HFC: On that note, what is your favorite plant?

JZ: I have a couple. A fuchsia blooming bush is like one of my favorite looking plants. It has a very interesting, like, looks like a Dr. Seuss looking bloom that like comes off, that like looks like a balloon. Some of those are my favorites but like orchids are always really pretty and come in very interesting colors. Same with cacti, I love cacti, if you just like zoom in on all their needles and stuff, just like the small geometric like repeated pattern things of how they all just look. Same with succulents. Like a echeverias succulent to have like the cool geometric thing I’d say an echeverias succulent are the coolest. They’re very hypnotic looking.

HFC: If you ever want to do a multimedia for this Plant Guy series, you could always do a Keeping up with Plant Guy. You know, start a YouTube channel as he just waters random plants for a video or something.

JZ: And does like an intro on one every time? That could be a good idea. I might keep tabs on that.

HFC: Would you let plant guy come work on your plants? Would you hire him?

JZ: [laughs]. I would because I feel like I’d come home and he’d still be there and be like, “Oh you want to hang out? You look cool.” And I feel like we’d get along fine. But yeah, someone who might just want a stoner casually hanging around their house as they come home late from work might not want him there. But I would hang out with him!

HFC: Final question. You mentioned High Maintenance…if Plant Guy got in a fight with the guy from High Maintenance, who would win? Who do you got?

JZ: [laughs]. Man. That guy does have a bicycle and a helmet. I’m going to say Plant Guy. Only because…

HFC: He’s sneaky! He can sneak around it looks like.

JZ: He is sneaky! And it sounds like, I don’t know what brought this together, but it looks like it’s going down and it’s going to get kind of ugly. And Plant Guy, he’s got the scissors on them, a little knife, a little plant sculpture thing. I feel like if he put his mind to it, a test of man versus man, he might be able to kill the High Maintenance guy [laughs].

HFC: Then again in reality I’m sure they would just hang out.

JZ: They’d smoke it out. And they’d be like - He’s like, “I’m delivering this, plants for plants!”

HFC: That’s the true Batman vs. Superman right there. 

JZ: “I’ll give you this little plant, you give me a little weed,” and they both go on their way!

HFC: Well Joey that was all I got for you! Thank you for your time, obviously! Do you want to plug anything before you go?

JZ: Yeah, it was nice chatting with you! But yeah, just uh go see Plant Guy! Type in Plant Guy and watch it. If you ever want to see me live, come seek Joey Z out! I also tour this event around called Glow Show, it’s like this psychedelic variety show, drag, stand up. I’ve had rapper Danny Brown do like a Q&A on it before and when I take that to LA, Reggie performs on that all the time! So, tell people to, for a weird time, seek out Glow Show for an evening of entertainment or just watch Plant Guy!