“I Slept in a Tent to Make It Work” — Jarryd Goundrey: The Grit Behind the Laughs

Video Transcript

Robbie:

Do you know what we just did then? There’s a classic, um, classic bloody comedian podcast is that, uh, you just said, thanks for hosting me. And I said, welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Axon’s Unleashed.

We’re just about to go through another episode. We just did the intro the other way around.

Jarryd:

That’s it. That’s what we do.

Robbie:

Who fucking cares? Jarryd, brother. Good to have you back in here.

Jarryd:

It’s good to be back.

Robbie:

Daniel and I were just saying before, I said, when was he back in again? And you went November 23. And I’m like, righto, that’s a fucking guess. Sure enough, brought it up on the calendar. November 23.

Jarryd:

Autism, baby.

Robbie:

Very clever.

Jarryd:

Absolutely good.

Robbie:

I’d love to know, our good friend Heston Russell were in here a couple of weeks ago, getting an update from his stuff with the veteran games there. So I’d love to get an update about what you’ve been doing over the last couple of months, because that was your first Australian tour. Did I hear you say?

Jarryd:

Yeah, I was real faking it till I’m making it at that point in my career.

Robbie:

Can relate.

Jarryd:

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I, so I, when I first went on my first Australian tour, like I had some followers, but I figured out halfway through the tour that I probably didn’t have enough to be like, to gather them together, to sort of like.

Robbie:

That even sounds really good. My first Australian tour.

Jarryd:

Yeah, well, I mean, it was just successful, right? And this game’s all smoke and mirrors, right? I mean, most business games are.

And I, when I went on, I didn’t have enough money to have a residence. I was like, do the business or do the, or have somewhere to live. And I picked the business.

So I put all my stuff into storage and lived in a car.

Robbie:

I remember you saying that on the last podcast.

Jarryd:

Slept in a tent, slept in a, and that was like fun. Yeah. You know, a lot of people have said to me like, what are you doing?

And I’m like, no, this is, you don’t get it. This is exciting. This is amazing.

And it just worked enough to be like, it paid for the tour and then 50% of the next one. And then I just kind of kept going, kept going. And then it’s blown up.

Robbie:

Yeah, so good, mate.

Jarryd:

Just recently too, nine years I’ve been doing comedy and I’m an eight year overnight success to some people. They’re only just hearing about me.

Robbie:

There’s a book called From Good to Great by Jim Rowan. And he talks about the flywheel effect. And you’re just pushing on this wheel and pushing on this wheel and it’s never getting any traction. This is the first couple of years of running your own business. And eventually it just starts to move a tiny bit. And you’re like, oh fuck, we’ve got something here. Let’s push a bit harder. And you push a bit harder and push a bit harder. And eventually the, you know, the wheel that starts rolling down the hill. So the fact that you’ve blown up your business now.

Jarryd:

And it’s the push that hurts.. Have you ever heard about the Valley of Cringe? Right. It’s like all good things are on the other side of being cringy. Oh, right. So it’s like you start and then there’s this big dip and then there’s success.

Right. So if you want to, let’s say you want to fucking, let’s pick, you want to be a life coach, right? There’s like three years of being cringy until it works. You want to start like a real estate business. You’ve got to be like cringy being like, right guys, we’ve got this booking. Are you going to be shit in front of everyone?

Robbie:

I watched my first couple of videos back in 2017. Oh, I’m fucking cringe to the letter of the law. Some would say I’m slightly less cringe now, but I’m yeah. I know exactly what you’re talking about.

Jarryd:

So it’s like to get anything in life, you got to suck. You got to suck publicly. And that’s cringe. And like when I did comedy, like I was dog shit, like on stage for like years. And then I was like, right, I’m going to make, I’m going to go into the digital space. And like, I made, I’ve made 586 videos.

Right. And 70, they’ve had 75 million views. The first 42, no one watched like no one, like absolutely zero.

Robbie:

I think I might’ve watched one or two of them in the lead up to the November 23 podcast.

Jarryd:

But only after something had popped off and then people go and watch the other stuff. Right. But so there was this big Valley of cringe where I just had to be like, right. And like, you put a lot of time and effort into it and like, look at all this stuff. Right. And then you go and nothing happens. And like, if you can just go through being cringy and then get to the other side, maybe the universe will give you some crumbs.

Robbie:

What do you reckon was your desire just to keep going? Because the Valley of cringe is not a nice place to be.

Jarryd:

Oh, it’s it sucks. It has to be there. Right. I look about it. I look, think about this in an artistic sense. Right. So being a full-time artist is amazing. If it was easy, everyone would do it.

Robbie:

True.

Jarryd:

But the cringe and the difficulty requires someone to be able to have persistence and resilience. Now, if you can push through that, you deserve what’s on the other side. And it’s that kind of like a great filter that filters out all the wannabes. Right. So if it was easy and the government gave you like a grant for $800 a week to go and pursue your artistic dreams, there’d be shit art everywhere and it would devalue the whole thing. So it kind of needs to be difficult. Business is the same way.

Robbie:

You sound like a life coach right now.

Jarryd:

Follow my link.

Robbie:

But like that’s good advice and very good insights. I love it.

Jarryd:

So you need to like, just push through for me. I don’t know. Like, I don’t know if it was half stupidity half, uh, because everything’s dumb till it works. Right. And you just don’t know where it is for me. I made video 43 and 900,000 people watch that. But the 42 before it collectively, I don’t know.

Robbie:

What was the concept? What was the subject? I mean, all your shit’s funny stuff about defense. Got it. But can you remember what was video 43 sentiment?

Jarryd:

Do you know what it was? It was 100% going. These 42 aren’t working. I need to talk about something I know. And that’s when I spoke about the military content and I went, fuck, I don’t know. Like I’ll just throw this out into the wind. And the other 42, I tried 16 times harder for, because I was like, I need to make something. And then it was almost through a point of like, I don’t know, throwing my hands in the air to be like, well, I’ll just do something easy. And the easy was what I’m trying to say. It was being authentic.

Robbie:

I totally get where you’re at. So even my mum used to say she used to still does now. She’s like, darling, you don’t need to swear on the videos all the time. You’re like, that’s me, mama.

Jarryd:

Mom, that’s me.

Robbie:

I care so much about who I am and what I’m doing. I don’t give a fuck what people think. Yeah. You know, I’m not nowhere near as crass as other people. I don’t drop the C word or all that stuff. Um, I didn’t even say yet. Then I don’t plan on doing it either. My fucking wife would bloody literally cut my nuts off if that occurred. And right, rightly so. Yeah. Daniel, the executive producer would be like, boop, boop, cut, edit, delete. Thanks for coming. But, um, you know, but there’s a lot of people that have, um, built their whole business around that, you know, evidence-based training. Yeah. Guy here, the cunny guy that, as he, as he calls himself, he’s dropped the C word more times that I’ve dropped the F word and the S word fucking 10 times over.

Jarryd:

He’s probably the best Sven diagram of like subject matter expert with personality. Right. And you put that together and then you get people to like what you are. Right. So he’s just, he’s nothing but himself. And I’m sure this isn’t like a smite on him, but I’m sure that his knowledge on the subject of fitness and health is just as good as 80% of his market, but he’s been able to overlap it with like extreme charisma and like just relatability to the, to the every person.

Robbie:

He’s very good. Yeah. Relatability, which you and I spoke about before.

Jarryd:

Yeah. I’ve got a Lamborghini.

Robbie:

Yeah. Good on him. How good is it? You being a veteran now getting up on stage and talking about veteran stuff. It’s the best. It’s the best.

Jarryd:

And I was like, little pinch moment is like that first tour that we did. Um, I was discussing this with you getting coffee is I put on one show at the comedy club, uh, hold 70 people. And it took me five weeks of promo, promo, promo to fill it up. And then, you know, this week I’m doing four of them and the first one sold out in three hours and I didn’t promote it.

Robbie:

Wow.

Jarryd:

And it’s just been so great. Like it’s, it’s honestly, it’s honestly, so I’m just so grateful, man. And I went on a forces entertainment last week. So I went over to the UK and visited the guys that were training the Ukrainian soldiers and was, you know, semi back in uniform in a way. Like, in fact, they let me, I don’t know if I should say this. They let me do some stuff that they probably shouldn’t have, you know, shooting stuff. And, uh, you know, for the first time in a long, long time, I’ve been out 12 years. I felt like I still serve it.

Robbie:

Yeah. You still know that action instant fire or that sort of stuff.

Jarryd:

It comes back.

Robbie:

Yeah. It comes back.

Jarryd:

Oh, I went to the, yeah, we’ll say this. So I went to, I went to the range and I was, uh.

Robbie:

They haven’t had celebrities on the range for years. Don’t worry about it.

Jarryd:

And I was shooting and I had like 30 guys behind me, heckling me going.  And I was like,

Robbie:

Cause they know you’re the comedian guy. How did that make you feel?

Jarryd:

I’ve never concentrated on my breathing so much. Cause I was like, if I fuck this up, I will hear about it forever. And I was like, and I was like, it all came back. And then boom, boom, boom, five rounds, tight group.

Robbie:

Nice. Yeah. Yeah. Good on you, man.

I hadn’t picked that up on the, on the media as it’s coming through. So far, maybe it hasn’t been released, but yeah, I mean, you know, the whole, uh, East Timor having their buddy, um, tour de force and all that sort of stuff, you know, from back in the day. And even if it goes back to the Vietnam days, you’re now part of military folklore of getting decent people come out or half decent people come over to entertain the troops.

So that’s, that’s really cool.

Jarryd:

It is cool. And, uh, it’s full circle because the first comedian I ever saw live was on my forces entertainment in East Timor, a guy called Troy Kinney. And, um, I did a gig with him the other day and I went, bro, I’m going on forces entertainment. And that was when you were the first guy that I saw. Like, and it was like, life’s weird. Like you don’t know where it’s going to take you. I mean, you had to ask that guy, you know, in East Timor with their two beers, they let us have while we’re watching country bands and comedians. They’d have been like, that’d be you one day.

I’ll be like, life’s either gone horribly wrong or horribly right. You know what I mean? And it’s been a mixture of both.

Robbie:

So you’re responsible, like not a chance, but yeah, right. Mate, it’s been so good to see your evolution. Um, you know, boy, your own admission when you were in here, you know, not in the previous studio, you really were at the start of it. What can you remember back in, um, back then? What episode were you up to of like how many videos had you done?

Jarryd:

Probably about 150.

Robbie:

Okay. So we will pass a 43 bit, but you’re still, you know, yeah. You’re still one fifth of where you’re at now. So the momentum gains a lot over the, over time.

Jarryd:

Yeah. It’s more of a consistency thing with the, with the content game, any sort of output thing is it’s like, you’re not made off one video or two videos. In fact, people don’t actually remember the videos too much. They remember how you, you are in them because people will come to me and they’ll tell me about my videos and they’ll tell them to me wrong. You’re like, I really liked the one you did about, and then just insert something I haven’t done. And I go, yeah, yeah, cool, man.

I love that one too. And, uh, so they don’t know, they just kind of have a vibe and then, then change it in their head. So you just got to be like volume, volume, volume. And I really thank myself. Like I quit my job and took an 80% pay cut to allow to myself, to give myself the time to be like, it takes a hilariously long time to make video content. As you would know, right.

It’s not quick. It’s hours and hours and hours.

Robbie:

And I just do the front of camera stuff. I’ve got other people that are way smarter than me. He’s clicking them through stuff for right now to do it all.

Jarryd:

I’m going to get myself a slave soon.

Robbie:

That’s not the S word I was talking about.

Jarryd:

But I, uh, yeah, I just think, I mean, now that decision was amazing. Yeah. Good to, too, to be able to do that. So, I mean, it’s, it’s, it’s started to work. That makes sense.

Robbie:

I, um, saw Rodney Root a few times, probably one of my all time favorite comedians. You?

Jarryd:

Rodney.

Robbie:

Yeah. Yeah.

Jarryd:

So good.

Robbie:

He’s still kicking. Still quote him now. It’s fucking go walk around with half a semi, et cetera. So that in the office here, I know that a few people know what I’m talking about. But I used to love going to his shows and just heckle the fuck out of him. Do you get many, many hecklers?

And if so, how do you deal with them? And do you like them?

Jarryd:

Um, I, I don’t want to say I like them because then anyone who’s listening will come and do it.

Robbie:

True.

Jarryd:

Sorry. I like it. Yeah. It can, it can make a show. Yeah. There’s good hecklers and there’s bad hecklers. Right. So the, the most, the internet’s kind of skewed heckling where they think it’s where people go, your shit where like, that doesn’t really happen. Nah, I agree.

Most heckling is someone gets too excited and they just say random stuff. And it’s like 45 year old women on the white wines. Is that right? Yeah. My son’s called Jared too. Like, what are you talking about? That inside thought just flew out with no filter. And, um, then someone will say something random and then you’ll talk to them. And then they won’t say anything back like people.

And those people aren’t bad. They’re just in the moment and they’ve got caught up in it. And they’re like a really good heckler. So there’s two ways you can deal with a heckle. One, you can be like rip their soul apart and destroy them, which is the your shit guy. But the nice lady who’s like, my son’s called Jared too. She doesn’t deserve that. She just needs to be quietly reminded that this isn’t Gogglebox. And I can hear her yelling at the TV. And I spent like an exorbitant amount of time trying to write this story with all the beats and you’re fucking ruining it. Yeah. But then sometimes that’s, that’s just the magic.

You know what I mean?

Robbie:

I was just about to ask you, you’ve got like a story arc that you probably take people on. How long are your shows generally?

Jarryd:

52 minutes.

Robbie:

50, right. I was going to say between 45 and an hour, but now it’s 52. Roger that. Pending heckler injections. And there, does it, do you find a little bit destructive sometimes? And is your story similar? Cause if you’ve got four shows coming up soon, they can’t be all the same show, right? They’re never same.

Jarryd:

And so I do crowd work too. So I will talk to the audience and sometimes I need…

Robbie:

Feed off their energy and get a bit of a vibe and go down a rabbit hole and come back again.

Jarryd:

If to put it in the analogy of boxing, sometimes you’re jabbing. So you’re just finding what’s good.

Robbie:

Yeah.

Jarryd:

And then like you can find the characters in the room and I’m trying to set up some characters for my later stories.

Robbie:

Great.

Jarryd:

So you find out who’s who in the zoo, but then sometimes you throw out a jab and you’re like, this is actually the main event. Last night was a guy. What do you do for work? He’s like, Oh, I make the, I make the algorithm in the pokey machines. And we’re like, you’re evil. Like, you know, for 10 minutes, we just discussed how he ruins everyone’s life.

Robbie:

And my grandma’s been bloody playing your machine.

Jarryd:

Yeah, exactly. Right. And you know, in the moment that had to happen, it was just so great. And like, I just throw aside to throw 10 minutes of material out because this was too good.

Robbie:

How do you manage time? Have you a little timer down the bottom there?

Jarryd:

Um, just straight on the watch. Yeah. Okay. But it’s a lot of people, a lot of people think it’s, you’ve got to think quick. You actually need to think not at all.

Robbie:

Just be in flow state.

Jarryd:

A hundred percent. It took a long time to, to, uh, give myself to the wit and just go, this is happening. So you just don’t think at all. And you go, I’m going to say this. Now that works 99% of the time. Yeah. 1% of the time train wreck, but you’ve got to give yourself to that. And, um, very little times in life. I’m not sure how this, what this like feels like for you, but when I do stand up comedy, usually I’m either thinking about the past or I’m thinking about the future. I’m going to do X, Y, and Z or like, damn, I shouldn’t have said that to that girl in year 11. Like just reminiscing when I do stand up comedy, I’m completely present. Yeah. Just like, it’s quiet. Everything’s quiet. And you can almost, um, cause it’s funny being me like I’m it it’s, it’s out of my point of view and everyone’s looking at me and it’s, uh, it’s part exhilarating, but also God, I just, every show I’m terrified.

Robbie:

Yeah. I was just about to ask how do you get, well, what do you, how are you feeling in the first in the preceding minutes before coming on

Jarryd:

Questioning all life choices?

Robbie:

Yeah.

Jarryd:

And I mean, that’s the, that’s the thrill.

Robbie:

How do you prepare? Are you someone that has a beer beforehand?

Jarryd:

Nup.

Robbie:

No? Not at all?

Jarryd:

Don’t drink, anymore.

Robbie:

Great man.

Jarryd:

Um, but, uh, breath work.

Robbie:

Yep.

Jarryd:

Could not be more thankful of breath work.

Robbie:

So good.

Jarryd:

Really good. Just a couple of little exercises of that sort of thing.

Robbie:

Where’d you get that into your life? How’d you get that into your life?

Jarryd:

YouTube man. You don’t learn anything you want on YouTube.

Robbie:

Well, there’s probably some veterans out there that know how to do it as well. Oh, actually there’s some breath work experts coming out of the veteran game soon. We’ll talk about that.

Jarryd:

I actually, uh, had a quick stint with, um, veterans mindfulness, Australia.

Robbie:

Yeah.

Jarryd:

Phone service, um, made a mindset. Oh man. He’s a real tough guy. And he’s like, Oh man, I bloody run out of  breath. And I was like, Oh yeah, cool. Like if you can breathe, it was good for you. You’re an idiot. So if it’s, if it’s good for you, it’s good for anyone. Um, yeah. Shout out to them. They were amazing free service. I’m not sure how, I’m not sure how they get paid, but probably by the government. And, um, that was really good.

And then the other thing is just like, uh, the two hours before is it’s, it’s almost like sport. Whereas I know that I’m doing what I like, but every day the doubt kicks in and I’m just like, here’s the imposter. Here’s the doubt. Here’s the, Oh my God. Like 75 people have paid their money. More importantly, they’ve spent their time to now come out babysitter.

They’re going out for dinner beforehand. They’re having drinks. Like it’s not a small deal to come out and do any activity these days. Right. And they’re all coming to see me. So I just spiral into like a imposter syndrome and then the doubt. So it’s all just doubt management, self-belief. Um, and I just got to talk in a mirror and sometimes it gets really weird and I just got to have a shower and just be like, we’re doing this, man. Like this is it. And then it’s just a big hype up until the event. And then you just go out and fucking rip it.

Robbie:

Yeah. Yeah. Just get in the flow. So I’ve, I’ve got my first lot of, uh, panic attacks happened when I was, got back from SATG one in my third year at Duntroon. I was talking to some cadets standing up in front of them. Um, said this before, I think probably like 200 cadets. And it just fucking hit me like a wave. And I was like, I just had to ask the other instructor to come and take over. I had to go on the tour and I’m like, I fucking can’t get my words out anymore. So I had a real panic attack. And I’ve had lots and lots and lots and lots of them over the years.

Even when we had to stop filming in here a couple of years ago, you know, I just couldn’t bloody talk that day. From your service, any panic attack stuff or if it has come through, how do you manage it?

Jarryd:

Definitely panic attacks. I mean, I definitely get them. I mean, I haven’t pinpointed where they come from because I’ve done so much hectic shit.

That dude, fuck, I’ll tell you something. Like I, so I, in the last podcast, I mentioned how I was a fine dining chef after my infantry service. Indeed.

And then, uh, I don’t know if you’ve ever watched the bear.

Robbie:

No, it doesn’t spring to mind.

Jarryd:

You’ve seen it? Yeah. It’s hectic, right?

And, uh, after a gig one night, I was like, uh, you know, my partner at the time, she’s like, well, let’s just sit down and, uh, we’ll just watch a nice episode at nighttime. And it was like a, an episode how they were just, the kitchen was crazy. And I fucking wigged out.

Robbie:

I’ll bet.

Jarryd:

I was like, I was on mate. I was like, I’m going to get in there and solve this problem. Um, yeah, it’s a thing. And it’s not a lot of veterans talk about it too, because it is so like, especially with panic attacks, it’s such a small isolated incident. I think it feel like each one feels like it’s the last once it’s done that guys don’t want to talk about it in the same way they probably do with depression, which is more of a lingering feeling.

Um, but yeah, I totally, and that’s, you just, you got to look after yourself and you got to, and it’s fucking okay.

Robbie:

Yeah.

Jarryd:

It’s okay to stress man.

Robbie:

Yeah.

Jarryd:

And especially if you’re like someone like yourself or someone like me, like we’ve picked a harder life because we didn’t want to sit around and do nothing.

Robbie:

Yeah.

We wanted to be, you know, we wanted to live an extraordinary existence, which meant we have to abandon being ordinary.

Robbie:

Yeah.

Jarryd:

And that’s tough and it’s confronting. And yeah, I just, man, the wheels come off all the time for me.

Robbie:

Yeah.

Jarryd:

All the time. Yeah.

Robbie:

The wheels come off. Yeah.

Jarryd:

Once every six weeks.

Robbie:

Yeah. Okay. The other wheels come off once every six weeks. You got to gather up yourself again.

Jarryd:

Oh dude. I, sometimes it wipes out half a day. Yeah.

Robbie:

Right.

Jarryd:

And I just got to be like you, the pressure, you know, I’m not used to people knowing who I am as well is a thing. Um, people always, they, they think of me differently now that they assume that you are someone because people watch what you do.

Robbie:

But it’s interesting. You’re trying to be as genuine, authentic as possible. You’re showing people the real you.

Jarryd:

I’m just a guy.

Robbie:

Yeah. Yeah. Just a guy who’s willing to stand up and draw off about stuff.

Jarryd:

Yeah. And people, uh, like people will send me messages and they’ll tell me where they’ve seen me. They’ll be like, saw you at the shops today. And I’m like, I got a photo the other day and I’m in a cafe eating brekky and I’m like hunched over like, like just doing my own thing, reading the news. And someone’s like,

Robbie:

Oh my God.

Jarryd:
Yeah. And they’re like, so yeah. And I’m like, can you just like, I’m just a guy. And also that photo sucks. Could you, is that what I look like in the world? And, um, that’s it. I’d tell a good story about getting some followers is I’ve got my first official stalker.

Robbie:

Right. Yeah. You’ve actually got a stalker.

Jarryd:

Dude, guy, guy from the Navy, guy from the Navy. And I’m still, I’m still at the point in my sort of like social media journey. Whereas like if someone wants to message me, I still get it.

Robbie:

Yes. Right.

Jarryd:

Like I might get 150 messages a day, but they all come to me. You messaged The Rock. Someone else has probably.

Robbie:

For sure.

Jarryd:

I’m not him.

Robbie:

Dwayne’s busy.

Jarryd:

Dwayne’s busy. He’s working out. Right.

So this guy, Navy dude, um, he messages me like, Hey man, love your stuff. And I’m like, love that. Boom. Dick pic.

Robbie:

You did.

Jarryd:

He sent the dick pic to me, right?

Boom. Dick pic.

Robbie:

I thought you replied with a dick pic.

Jarryd:

Oh, no, no, no. Wait, get in first. Strike first, strike hard.

Robbie:

And we don’t fucking strike anything here.

Jarryd:

So first of all, like I was in the infantry. So I’m like, this doesn’t faze me at all. Just like, just like a regular dick pic. I’m like, you got to put some coins in that.

Robbie:

There’s another one. You know, put some coins in it.

Jarryd:

So I said, I laugh emoji the picture. And then I said, Hey bro, look, got to block. Yeah. Like, you know, love the hustle, but like, you know, just whatever. Boom. Got rid of him or whatever. And now he keeps making new accounts.

Robbie:

What?

Jarryd:

With just the sole purpose of just being like, send me a message, be like, Hey man, like when’s your tickets to your Newcastle show?

And I’m like, Hey, here’s the link. And then he’s like, Oh, here’s a dick pic. And it’s happened like 25 times.

Robbie:

Whoa. Do you still recognize the dick by now?

Jarryd:

The only reason I know it’s him is because I recognize his dick. So I, I don’t know. And I don’t know who he is. He’s probably been to a show.

Robbie:

Yeah, probably.

Jarryd:

So I don’t know if I need to like get everyone’s dicks out at shows.

Robbie:

Yeah. Yeah.

Jarryd:

Yes. Yes. No, that’s him. Get him.

Robbie:

Mate, it comes with the territory, man. As you grow, as that flywheel continues to get more and more, especially when you’re in such a niche market, like we’re the same, right? My business coach in 2018, he’s like, just turn your back on 20 million adult Australians and just focus on serving the defence community. You know, and you and I were talking about it.

Jarryd:

They’re a good community.

Robbie:

You fuck one goat. And even if you were drunk, you didn’t mean to do it. You’ll never do it again.

No one saw you do it.

Jarryd:

You fuck one goat. That’s the, that’s the, that’s the tile.

Robbie:

You are a goat fucker forever. So, you know, but if someone comes along to your show and they have a poor experience based on whatever, they’re going to tell their mates about it and you ain’t selling out four shows. So you and I both know that.

Jarryd:

Hence the panic attacks.

Robbie:

Hence the panic attacks and the pressure that comes with it, right?

Jarryd:

Yeah. Yeah.

Robbie:

It’s the pleasure and the pressure that comes with it. But this is the life we’ve chosen.

Jarryd:

It’s nice. I like being a part of the community. I did a show in Canberra like a couple of days ago and I just had this little moment after the show. At the show, there were people, veterans who were out. There was a Colonel that was there. There was Mark Donaldson.

Robbie:

Yeah, great.

Jarryd:

And his wife. There were officer cadets. There were enlisted people and there were kids that wanted to join.

Robbie:

Awesome.

Jarryd:

All in this audience. And after the show, everyone sat down and had a beer and I just thought it was magical because no one cared. The Colonel was there. The people were like, Oh my God, Mark Donaldson’s here. Like getting photos with the VC winner. He comes up to me and he says, mate, takes a lot of guts doing what you do. I was like, give me your fucking medal then. But like just it was a very special moment. Like I didn’t, when I first, at Video 43, I didn’t think this was going to be the result.

Robbie:

Yeah.

Jarryd:

And now that it’s the way it is, it’s cool. I’m honoured for that.

Robbie:

Yeah.

Jarryd:

They are my audience for better or worse. And you know, I hope that I can just continue to make them happy.

Robbie:

But let me tell you though, it’s those Colonels are just normal people as well. Young cadets I put through Duntroon are all COs now. God bless the lot of you doing an amazing job. And the, you know, the other young full tracks that I was at Kapuka with as a recruit instructor, they’re all now RSMs and some beyond. They’re just fucking normal dudes as well. So they’re just coming along like I’ve been out long enough as you have as well. What someone’s rank was in the military is completely irrelevant when you’re a veteran.

Jarryd:

Oh totally.

Robbie:

Just fucking good on you that you were kicking, you were kicking ass and taking names when you don’t have a uniform on anymore. You’re just a fucking normal dude.

Jarryd:

We were discussing this. It’s like, and some vets, I always, I like to think that I am a highlight of someone that can reinvent themselves. And it’s like, you are not your rank. You are not your job. You are not your thing when you’re in anymore. One of the most successful videos, a couple of million views I made was a video discussing about people when they’re in the military. They’re like, I hate that guy in that unit. You’re like, why? It’s because he wears a different coloured shirt. Like everyone’s the same. Let it go.

Robbie:

A spirit of core, which is so valuable to fighting spirit in your particular units. Now that you’re a veteran, ladies and gents, just let it go. Let it go. I shouldn’t fucking make a song about that. It doesn’t matter. Hey, the veteran community is the veteran community. So yeah, we can all sort of be proud of who we are and what we did. But once you become a veteran, because here’s the thing, everyone will be a veteran longer than what the time did that you served. Even if you do 30 years in, I’ll bet if you live long enough, you’ll still be a veteran longer than longer than 30 years. So that’s certainly the runway perspective that I’ve got on things here, mate.

Jarryd:

So, Jarrad, thanks for joining us. Well done on the bloody being so successful, mate. I’m loving seeing your journey. Hopefully I get so successful that I can then have a house and that I can come to you guys and be like, I’m in the property market, baby. So that’s the goal.

Robbie:

We’re not going anywhere. We’re in our ninth year now. So whether you come to us next year or in five years time, it matters not to me, but our door will always be open for you, mate.

Keep doing great things. Jarrad Gehringer, ladies and gentlemen. Hope you have a fantastic time.

Go and see him soon.