Armando Leduc, Actor, Writer, Entrepreneur

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You know that rabbit hole that they talk about, right? Boo! And I fell down and at the bottom of it, I saw my soul explode.

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Welcome to another episode of Chewing the Fat. I am your host, Big Robb. Thank you so much for tuning in, downloading, following the podcast. I certainly do appreciate that. Thanks to John, who bought me a coffee at ChewingtheFatBR.com. I really appreciate the financial support. And thanks to the folks that wrote a review on Apple Podcasts and gave me a five-star rating on Spotify. It always helps out for more people to find the podcast. And when you find the

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to connect with this man, please welcome Armando LeDuc. Wow!

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Are you gonna add sound effects? That's it, that's it. That was it. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me, man. Dude, I'm honored that you asked me to be here. It's my pleasure to have you here. We connected probably, I guess maybe, what a couple of years ago now, probably like either. Right before the pandemic, yeah, I guess it was right before the pandemic. Right before the pandemic.

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Armando is, you grew up here in Augusta? Spent 10 years in Augusta. So 95 to 2005. I was 15 when I moved to the United States. Here's a funny story, when I moved, so I grew up in Germany and all that I knew about the United States was that it was a super violent place and that it was gonna be like, I'd have to join a gang. So I really like thought that I was

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to get there, I was going to have to join like, you know, some sort of Latin gang and I ended up at Harlem, Georgia. And it was nothing like that. Huh. Which was great. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Very happy I didn't join a gang. Yes, especially in Harlem, Georgia. Georgia. Yes. Harlem, Georgia. A different Harlem might have been a different type of gang to join, but the Harlem, Georgia gang. Valid. Yeah.

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Germany parents military. Yeah, my dad was in the military played trumpet in the army band for 22 years and met my mother in Germany. She is Portuguese and like my whole mother's side of the family lives in Germany. So I have a huge family over there still in Nuremberg and then family in Spain and Portugal and Puerto Rico. So it's an international family for sure. That's awesome. That's awesome.

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I guess that was your kind of high school-ish years, that kind of formative years. I know you got involved with the Augusta Players. I did. Was theater just always a passion of yours, or how did that happen? So you know Keith Monasko. Yeah. It was my senior year, and I had never done theater,

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I played trumpet in the marching band. And I was just confused. I didn't really have, I had a lot of energy, but I didn't like school, didn't know what I wanted to do. And Keith was like, you've got to audition for Grease. And I'm like, no, no, no, I'm not gonna do it. I'm not gonna do it. And I had remembered, I don't know what kind of surgery I had, but I was on crutches. I remember I was on crutches and he pulled me off of the bus.

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you're gonna go and you're gonna audition for this play. And he dragged me off. I ended up audition, I was, oh my God, so nervous. And ended up getting the lead role. I was Danny Zuko in Greece and that like transformed my life. I ended up singing Barbershop and was like, oh my God, I love this. Went to Augusta State for opera, vocal performance. Didn't finish.

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I'm using the training, I've got a band. So I'm singing every weekend, covers and weddings, and corporate events. So, and I'm not involved in theater now, just because of time commitment, but I love it. I still love it. I was going to be Gomez in the Adams family with the JPAS last year, but then Hurricane Ida hit,

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and the whole thing. So. Yeah, yeah. Good times. But I mean, you're still using those skills that you honed on stage as an actor, correct? 100%. So yeah, so I moved to New Orleans to pursue an acting career in television and film, mainly. That's why I wanted to, that's what I wanted to do. And I was like, I'm just gonna do a little stepping stone from New Orleans and then jump into LA

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That's what they were saying back in 2005. There was a bunch of tax credits going on and they were filming Buku projects. And I was like, well, that's where I need to go. And I ended up here, ended up loving it, got caught up in the culture and just ended up staying here for the rest of the time. Now my wife is from here, my daughter was born here, my entire family. So my mother, my father, my sister, my niece, they all moved to New Orleans.

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because of me. So, and my dad, he's playing in Latin bands and he plays in that band. And my mother, she works in my business. My sister, she works in my business. So it's been a family affair. New Orleans has been really good to me. So, it's kind of wild. But when, it's not as wild when you think about how I grew up and that we moved every three years. It's, for people that have stayed in one place

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They're like, oh my god, your whole family moved with you and be like, yeah, it's not a really a big deal They just they you know, they're actually itching to move now. So wow Wow. Yeah, so in your time there and That's kind of how like I'd seen Obviously I've been doing stuff with the Augusta players here myself I had heard your name around and of course knowing Keith Manasco and he talked about Armando and all the social and I'd seen some of your performances

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a video of your performance in The Producers. Oh yeah. Somewhere. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I posted that. It was a fun, oh man, that was such a fun show. Playing Franz Liebkind. Yeah. Which, you know, it got my German roots up, so. Not the Nazi stuff, just my German roots. Yeah, yeah. But I had, and Keith was like, you should reach out to Mondo, because I was trying to pursue

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an acting career, trying to do more with acting. And he was like, it's like Bondo's in it. He's doing it. He can at least point you in the right direction. And so we kind of did some, did some coaching for, for, for a while and developed a friendship. And I appreciate the lessons that you were able to teach me that definitely helped me get further on that I had been at that point. And is that what your business is now? Is that, I mean,

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know you've evolved. You've got so much stuff going on. You are you are a Renaissance man. As far as like, it's insane. So I just finished a books called content into cash. And it was it's so two years ago. I was struggling. It's 2019. You know, not struggling.

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so much as trying to figure things out, right? Like I didn't know, I didn't, you know, my acting career, if I really wanted to like jump off and push it, I was gonna have to move to New York or LA. And my wife just, you know, we weren't gonna do it at the time. You know, there was just a lot of things going on, plus DAT Band was happening. And I was just in this like really weird area because I was teaching acting, you know, which was, you know, fulfilling

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and being creative, but financially, I just wasn't pulling in what I wanted to in order to pursue my creative endeavors the way I wanted to, right? Because it was always something like, gotta go make money. Two years ago, a friend of mine from high school called me, Louis Scott, who started a business during COVID, called Eight Figure Firm, and he was teaching other attorneys how to scale their businesses.

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And one of his clients that I ended up recording some of her content for, she was at $700,000 a year, in revenue, and steady there, every year, every year, every year. She started working with Louis and me, and within six months pulled her business to 2.4 million in six months. Yeah, and I was like, and I'm seeing it happen, month after month after month. Louis, who started Eight Figure Firm in September of 2019,

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I saw him go from zero to $103,000 a month in revenue. And like he's surpassed that at this point. It's just like climbing and climbing and climbing. And he's like, Armando, you have a seven figure business on your hands. You just don't know how to get there. I'm like, yeah, okay. You know, and friends, you got that familiarity breeds contempt thing. I grew up with this guy. I went to high school with this guy and he's trying to tell me, you know, this thing,

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But I mean, I've seen, you know, he's got a $20 million law firm in Atlanta. So I see that he puts his money where his mouth is. And he's like, Armando, if you spend $2,500 a month with me, $2,500 a month, I can get you there. And I'm like, no, right? So I ignored him first month, second month, third month, right? But I started, I kept seeing them, kept seeing them like grow their business.

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started doing it with everybody else. And I just, at one point I said, look, I'm smart enough to know that I don't know everything. Right? And success leaves clues. So if this guy who's bringing in 20 million, 20 million plus a year, I'm sure he can teach me something. Right? And so I started mentoring with him. I started really honing my marketing craft

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what I was doing for them and what I was doing for myself. And I grew from, I think in 2019, we pulled in $65,000 for the year to half a million dollars. Wow. Yeah. And it would just like, and then boom, boom, it just continued to grow, right? Which, you know, now we're on like a $1.2 million run rate, you know, and then I did it for DATBAN. I did it for, you know, I did it for all these other companies. And I was like, man, what we're doing

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than a bunch of these marketing companies out there. We're not doing SEO, we're not doing ad spend. This is all organic content creation on a monthly basis. And through this process, I've been able to use my creativity, make more money. You know, I've been using, you know, I've been able to use my coaching as well, because I really do love giving back. I love teaching, I love coaching. You know, so I've been doing more of that for businesses and not necessarily for actors anymore.

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So that chapter has sort of closed. I still have some online courses that people want to get my knowledge on acting in particular, but for now, it's just I'm trying to really ramp up this content into cash marketing system that I've created and just really transforming businesses and lives. And I'm also working on a project called Life on Bourbon,

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which is a comedy set here in New Orleans on Bourbon Street that follows a cover band that works at one of these bars. And it's a story I feel like that needs to be told from how crazy and a circus that Bourbon Street is. And the full circle of how the evolution is, of how people get caught up in the Peter Pan syndrome

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of that world, right? You got 30, 40, 50 year olds still drinking every weekend, and they just, they don't wanna grow up. You know what I mean? That's a lot of New Orleans, you know? I mean, it's party central. It's, you know, we're going to have a party. There's always something going on. There's a festival, there's Bourbon Street, there's Frenchman Street, you know, there's music, it's movement, it's, you know, so telling that story, I think is super important.

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NCIS, New Orleans, told a really good New Orleans story and people from here were like super happy about it. But I don't think that there's a comedy set here that really tells that story that's set on Bourbon Street that hits, you know, some of the conflict of drug abuse, of mental health, of overworking and money and prostitution. And you know what I mean?

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through the lens of comedy, but there's gonna be realness there, you know what I mean? Like I've seen some crap, it's definitely comedic, but it's definitely heavy. So that's the kind of show, I don't wanna say dark comedy, but I'm theatrical, right? So I want it to be over the top and they might break out in a song.

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you know, but then there is gonna be moments in there where it's just, it's dark, you know, and heavy. So I'm really looking forward to putting that forward. That's awesome. Have you started shooting anything with that yet? Or is it still in development stage? It is, it's written. And I've had this, I had this idea, and I've pushed, I put it around it, cause I think it's a really good talk trigger.

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and putting the show on OnlyFans, right? Not because it's a porn, not because of that, but because you can subscribe to watch it so it can make money, but no other business is doing that, right? So if somebody's listening right now, I think it'd be a really cool talk trigger at first to really talk about, hey, there's a show on OnlyFans,

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Like, what is that, you know? So I think that that could add some sort of social currency to the idea and make money in the process. Yeah, no, that's awesome. I love to hear how that comes along once that process goes in, once you go into production with that. Sure. And you mentioned Dat Band several times. That's your band, right? It is.

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My partner Chad Clements, who's a drummer, we started it in 2014. And we've just, we've grown this juggernaut of a wedding and events band here in New Orleans. And it is so funny that the techniques that I learned from Lewis, doesn't matter what business you're in, right? It doesn't matter. Like we took those same elements and the same marketing method that we've been doing for everybody.

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towards the band and grew that band from, it was 200K a year to $830,000 and we're expanding into Georgia, we're expanding into Florida, Texas, and it's the same system, right? It's just like, bop, bop, bop. It's just plug and play, you know? So it's funny because a lot of the bands that have been here for years and years and years

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They're still getting business, obviously. I mean, it's abundant, you know what I mean? But like we've definitely stamped our footprint here in the New Orleans area, which is really, really fun and cool. I assume that some of those situations helped to dictate some of the stories that you would tell in Life on Bourbon as well, right? Man, man, dude. So we worked, so before the pandemic,

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working at a club called The Beach. And we were the house band there five nights a week and then we would work weekends. And it was, dude, I was talking about marathon singing and we were doing seven, eight sets a night sometimes. Just singing and singing and singing, don't stop believing, don't stop believing, don't stop believing. I don't know how many times I've said, don't stop believing in boogie shoes in my life. Oh my God. But you know.

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I feel like Don't Stop Believing is the white people back that ass up. Like you hear back that ass up, people are going to the dance floor, you hear don't don't don't don't don't don't, people are going to the dance floor. It's funny, yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. So in your career in, again you got so much stuff going on, in your career in acting, because you're still active as an actor yourself.

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I think I last saw you on, was it Disney Plus? Yeah, Ultraviolet and Black Scorpion. How were you watching it? Did you know that I was in it or you were just happen upon it? I just happened upon it. It's a good show. Well, so like, I think you had posted about doing the voiceover for the promo because I do voiceover and stuff. Well, so I was like, oh, okay, oh, there's the show. It happened to pop up one day. And I was like, let me check. And I was like, look, there he is right there.

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Ring and Elsa, you know? Because I was like, let me give some context to what this promo is, you know, because I was like, is he just doing the voice for the whole series or whatever? So as I was skimming through, and there you were in that gold jacket. Oh man, it was so cool, man. It was so cool sitting in the ring, and they just let me go. So here's the story behind that. Last year, you know, business was going great. And I told my agent, I was like, look, you know, just take me off the roster for the time being,

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I just don't have time to audition, you know? And I don't wanna piss anybody off by continuing to decline gigs. And they were like, all right, no worries. This role comes along and Liz Coulon, who's a casting director here in town, contacted my wife and is like, look, I know Armando's on some sort of sabbatical, but this is him all the way. Like, please call him, send him this, you know? So they brought me in, they sent me the script, and I was like, man, this is super easy. Like, this is me all the way, right?

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I auditioned, got it, and they were like, this is the shoot dates. And it was the same date that I was shooting some, a client of mine that was paying me close to $10,000 and I was like for that shoot and I was like, I said, guys, I can't do it. And they're like, what do you mean you can't? I was like, well, look, I'll tell you what, if you can get them to pay me the same rate,

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10 grand, which they were only gonna pay me the weekly. They're like, who's this guy? Yeah, no, there's no way. And I was like, sorry, take it or leave it sort of deal. And my agents were like, all right, we'll put it out there. And they did. And like Disney, they were like, yeah, we'll pay him. Please bring him in. And it was cool, man. It was like the first time in my acting career that I felt like, ugh,

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You know what I mean? Like I'm not a pawn. You know what I mean? And I was like, and they let me do my thing. Like I was like improvising and like the director was like, it has been an honor to watch you work. And I was like, man, I was floored. But it was just, you know, it was so cool to be, you know, on that set and just to be able to like be goofy

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FBI agent, the police sergeant, you know what I mean? And bringing it down and let me see it. Dude, put your hands up, you know, like that stuff. But so when I'm able to like be goofy and fun and, oh man, I was like, dude, this is it. And then they called me to do all of the promo. I was like, dude, you gotta be, like, yes. I was like a kid in a candy store. So yeah, no, for sure. My love is acting. This is the only reason I'm pushing, you know, all of these other endeavors.

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so that I can make enough money to write, act, and produce my own projects. That's it. That is the goal. You know what I mean? Like nothing else matters. You know what I mean? Like I don't care about any of that other stuff. You know, family and like creating my own projects. That's what I want to be doing with my life. You know, Adam Sandler style. That's awesome. Yeah. And you know, it sounds like you're very much well on the way to doing that with all that you've got

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on and I mean that it all started with that passion, you know, thanks Keith from Asko, you know, to that sparked something inside you that you didn't even know was there, you know? Yeah. Taking that chance, trusting that friend that's like, you need to do this. Hallelujah. Hallelujah to Keith. Dude, I talk to him every week, talk to him all the time,

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all of the people that have come into my life that have helped me along the way, especially when they knew that maybe I didn't deserve it because I was such an ass in my 20s. You know what I mean? Like I was so egotistical and prideful, especially like, man, I, I apologize, you know what I mean? Like, and I'm, I'm sorry for all the, just the assholeness that, that,

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was in my 20s, I just was such a prideful ass. I was a prideful asshole. And I thank people for seeing through it, you know what I mean? And seeing that there was something deeper and that I was kind and I was good hearted. But man, to 20s boy, it was just, oh god, Lee, boy, the things that we think we know and we're so, oh god.

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It's cringey. It's cringe-worthy when I think about that. Yeah, we're all just idiots at that time. Oh, right. And we don't realize it. It's not until much later on that you have that chance to reflect back and go, man, what the fuck was I doing? Yeah. Yeah. And speaking of Keith, during the pandemic, you guys basically wrote a whole albums worth of song, parody songs about the pandemic and stuff

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put the links in the show notes for four-year parody songs because they came at such a good time because everybody's locked in their houses, everybody's like feeling this like, this is the plague, this is it, we're all going out, this is it, this is what takes the population out. And you guys, thanks to technology like Zoom and email and being able to connect and write music

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and really bring people together in such a positive way. It was so good. I was very thankful for the time that, you know, I wouldn't have been able to do that had we not been sitting around figuring out what the hell we're gonna do with our time. And Keith, luckily Keith was like, look, let's do something creative. I was like, yeah, you know, so. Does it, you know, and that was one of the things that during that, you know, there were a lot of creative people that were, you know,

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Like what do I do? I don't have an I don't have an audience to stand on a stage in front of anymore I don't you can't go on a set because You know you you you deal with you know a hundred people if you're on a set is like I can't we can't be around people How do we do this now? and I think it's allowed a different a different gear of creativity has been invented because of that and

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very much a beneficiary and a leader in that creation of that gear of creativity in the pandemic. Oh, thank you very much. You had a good time. Yeah, and like you said, you've turned it into a job, being able to help people be creative, be content creators. Yeah, yeah. Look, I think that the pandemic, there was a lot of bad stuff that happened,

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was a lot of good stuff that happened. A lot of reflection, a lot of people rethinking their lives, people rethinking of what exactly is it that I am doing, and maybe force some people to face their mortality a little bit, and that's a good thing. That is a great thing for people to have that wake up call. Everybody needs that wake up call. I got that wake up call when a friend of mine,

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passed away years ago, I think I was 27, 28 at the time, was an orthopedic surgeon, you know, was so smart, went to Harvard and was on a run and died. And like that incident turned something on inside me that had never been,

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me getting married and having my daughter, that really sparks something inside me that goes, hey man, you don't have time. Like you don't have time. Like your friend here has passed away. You don't have time. And then I get reminded of it. A couple years ago when a friend of mine, drummer, healthy as can be, gets stage four brain cancer, and that takes him.

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And I'm like, you don't have time. You don't have time. Do not waste your time. Do not waste your time doing things that you don't wanna be doing. Do not waste time spending time with your family and enjoying these moments and really being cognizant of how I'm spending my time, what I'm doing, what is my impact on this world? How am I giving back? How do I wanna be remembered? How, you know what I mean?

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just is super right here in front of my brain every single day. Like I'm just like looking at the clock seeing, you know, the hourglass just pouring. And I'm like, oh, I need to do this before I die. You know what I mean? It's just like that. That's my fuel.

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Alright, Armando, this is the second segment of the show. This is where we dive a little bit more into mental health. I'm a firm believer that everybody deals with those days of anxiety or depression, whether it's clinically diagnosed or not. Sometimes you just get in the shower and you let the water hit you, and you're like, why? What is going on? And I think everybody has those times. And the more we can talk about it, the more that we can show that you're not alone in that, I think it's better for everyone.

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the darkness at bay.

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It's...

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Funny that you're bringing this up now because for the last three weeks, I've had the worst anxiety that I've ever had in my life. Don't know where it's coming from. Today's a good day. To the point where I feel like I'm going to die. You know what I mean?

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that I'm gonna die, I don't know, I don't, you know, went to the doctor and they were like, you know, maybe Zoloft, Lexapro, Xanax and stuff, and I'm like, I don't wanna be living my life that way, you know what I mean? But I also don't wanna be like just every day, just anxious for no reason, like I'll just sit, and then all of a sudden, like my whole body starts tingling and I'm like, what is happening? You know, went to the doctor, they should check my heart and everything, and it's so funny because like,

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For me, it was manifesting itself in my chest and my stomach, right? And I was like, okay, I'm gonna have a heart attack, something's wrong, ba ba ba ba ba. Went there, right? She checked me and she was like, you're good. And I was like, boom, immediately the anxiety went away. Right? And I was like, interesting. Like, it was like a new lease on life. I'm like, hallelujah, there's nothing wrong with me, you know?

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all of a sudden, like the anxiety starts going to my head, right? Like the back of my head, the sides, and I'm like, oh, it's brain cancer here to me. I'm like, what the hell, you know, is the deal? You know, and I'm like sitting there, you know, at dinner and I'm just like within just like feeling like I want to like jump out of my body. And I'm like, I started looking at,

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I'm 42, so I gotta, you know, I know there's nothing wrong with me. That's number one. I was like, I was like, Armando, this is in your head. You went to the doctor, there's nothing wrong with you. You just gotta like stop saying that story over and over again that there's something wrong with you. And I think that that's what people do. They get caught in a story that they tell themselves, and then that becomes a narrative. And I'm like, dude, you cannot just continue to sit here

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and that you're gonna die, blah, blah, blah. Like you've got to get it under control, right? And then what are some things that I can be doing that are healthy, that are gonna make me feel better? And so, you know, sleeping, making sure that I'm sleeping enough, right? That's number one. I was not writing. In the last three weeks, I hadn't written. Like I do a stream of consciousness. And today I wrote, right? I spent two, you know,

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of just like writing it out and just like, Armando, there's nothing wrong with you. It's all in your head. Maybe there's some subconscious stuff happening, but it was good to get everything out on paper and that was really a release. And I got on the spin bike and I did some exercise and then that really just helped me. And then food, I'm like, all right, let me, I'm not gonna be eating candy. I'm not gonna be eating fried foods. I'm not gonna be eating any of that crap. You know what I mean?

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Vegetables and more fruits and let me stay hydrated and today has been like a really like I haven't felt anxious today and I'm just you know, and I'm just accepting

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I'm also accepting the fact that I could die. And that's okay, right? Like I'm like fighting it, I'm like fighting it and fighting it. I'm like, ah, you know, it reminds me of a story of a time I took mushrooms. You ever taken mushrooms? No. Okay, let me tell you this story real quick, cause it's fucking wild. Me and my friends, we went tubing in Franklinton, and it's over here in New Orleans.

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tubing trip, but nice tubing. Like you get in a raft and it floats you down the river. Not super fast. And so we get out there and a friend of mine's like, oh, here's some mushrooms. And man, talk about a life-changing event. I took it, I was feeling fun. Everything was cool, right? Till it wasn't. Then I went down that rabbit hole that they talk about.

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And I fell down and at the bottom of it. I saw my soul explode, right? Right and before that I was just like, oh my god. Oh, there's no hospital here. Nobody's here It was hiding hiding hiding hiding and the and this and the the the ego exploded right the soul exploded Mm-hmm, and I swear from then on like I was the water. I was nature. I was I accepted my fate so much that I

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I was at total peace. I was at complete, complete peace. I'd never felt a peace like that ever. Cause I'm like always in control, always like, you know, trying to drive, trying to go, go, go, go, go. You know, and it was at that moment, I was like, man, dude, relax, turn the brain off. You know, like if you're gonna die, fuck it, you're gonna die here, whatever, so what?

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bliss, right? And I thought about that time yesterday when I was just like, you know what? Accept it, man. Like, why are you fighting it? If there is something wrong with you, there's nothing you can do about it, right? But you working yourself up to think that is not doing you any favors. So let's let's do what we can do. What are the things that we can do? We can be healthy, right? We can control what's going in our face. We can control if we move our body,

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We can troll if we can get off the damn computer, right? And the phone, right? And just like be present, you know, go outside, get some vitamin D, you know? So today I was like in the pool with my daughter and you know, and I was, you getting vitamin D? And you know, I was like getting the sun and I was, I closed my eyes and you know, I was like, man, what, you know, I'm so on the go, so moving, moving, moving, moving, moving. And as I'm talking to you about this, I'm realizing the whole,

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Right? That, you know, I feel like I'm gonna die, therefore I need to keep pushing, but that pushing is creating the anxiety. Right? So maybe I need to step off that. Not maybe, I have to. Right? Like I have to start, you know, taking a step back and understanding that, no, I don't have to accomplish everything. You know? And let's be a little bit more intentional about what it is that we're doing.

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Right? And, you know, and start letting go of some of the stuff that, you know, isn't necessarily pushing the needle forward. And that you don't have to feel guilty about taking a day off. That was my, that's my big thing, is that I would be sitting there and I'm like, this is time you could be spending writing, this is time you could be spending creating, you know, instead just, dude, just chill. You know, so those are the demons that I'm fighting

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on a daily basis is that balance of turn off, relax, you do have time, you're not gonna die, take a deep breath, meditate, write, be healthy, mental health days are appropriate, talk, talk about it, be vocal. I think people, especially men, they're not vocal. They keep it all inside and that is a killer.

38:05
that'll kill them. So at least I'm vocal about it. I'm like, I don't have no qualms. I'm on this podcast talking about it. I don't really care what people think, whether they think I'm weak as a result. It doesn't, whatever. I'm so far past what people think. It's not even funny. So, but yeah, mental health is most definitely important. And I think talking about it is huge and doing healthy things for yourself.

38:35
for me I can't do anymore. I can't even drink anymore, because it's not serving, it doesn't help me. Even when I'm drinking, it's not even fun. Like it used to be, you'd have a drink and you'd have a good time, but now it's not even, I don't even have a good time with that, which is unfortunate, because I did like drinking, but whatever. It's not healthy anyway, so whatever. Right, right. So Armando, with that discovery that you've made, what is bringing you joy right now?

39:05
You know, my family brings me joy. My baby brings me joy. You know, like watching her grow and discover and teaching her things and like, you know, I'll bring the congas out and we'll play. You know what I mean? Like I'll bring my trumpet out and we'll play and we'll sing songs and you know what I mean? And like teaching her things and kicking the ball and you know, and when she's, look what I can do. You look what I can do. So that is just, you know,

39:35
You know and then spending time with my wife and you know listening to some good music and really absorbing some of that stuff is is I think also bringing me joy

39:51
All right Armando, this is the third segment of the show. It's time now for the Fast Five. The Fast Five is time now for the Fast Five. Fast Five. Love it. Sorry, I'm still working on a theme song there. I'm a music guy working on some stuff. Maybe I get you to do a little trumpet part. Sure, sure. Let's do it. That'd be great. Fast Five is powered by Poddex. It's an app created by my friend Travis Brown. It's great for podcasters. So you always have like interview questions, ice breakers.

40:21
on any of your app stores, but also there are physical decks too that are great to just kind of keep a few cards on you. So if you ever have to, you know, just need to break the ice or ask some questions to some folks next time you're in line at Publix or something, there you go. Just start a conversation with Pod decks. As a matter of fact, if you go to chewingfatbr.com slash pod decks, use the promo code CHU, you get 10% off your physical decks. But I'm gonna use the app. And first thing comes to the top of your head, no wrong answers. You ready? Here we go.

40:53
What gives you the creeps? When I'm downstairs and my wife has already gone up to go to sleep and I'm watching a movie, right? And I turn everything off and then I envision it, the clown and I'm like, the clown's in my house. The clown's in my house and I'm like, no, just look over. But I do like that feeling of creepiness, right?

41:23
Like when the hair stands up and you can feel it, oh, like that, I do like that feeling. That's a fun feeling. Oh, wow, wow. See, I was one of those kids that like, when I was young, you turn the light off in your bedroom and you try to run and get in the bed before the light goes completely dim, you know? That was me. I was like, this is gonna get me! And you're like flying off the roof. That's awesome. All right, question number two.

41:56
Is there any local dish or food product from where you grew up that you miss? Yeah, well in Germany there's a dish called Schweine Braten mit Kloofs, right? And it's a pork chop with gravy and then like potato dumplings that are filled with croutons and I mean they're like, fat. They're like softball sized. And with some like red cabbage that's cooked.

42:26
That meal is just amazing. I love it. I love it. I miss it. And no German restaurants around that they can match that. Unless they're a Bavarian style restaurant. And it's gotta be like, there's German style. There's German restaurants, but German food is different in Berlin than it is in, you know, in Nuremberg and Munich. And in my opinion, Southern German food, just like Southern American food.

42:56
is much better than Northern food, in my opinion. That's awesome. All right, question number three.

43:06
Which do you think is prettier, a sunrise or a sunset? I love a sunrise. I like waking up before everybody else does. It's the only time of day that I'm not getting pulled into meetings, phone calls, text messages, and that's just that silence. And I'm just a morning guy anyway, I just like that morning feeling. So yeah, sunrise for me is just,

43:36
It's the day. The day is beginning. Yeah, that's awesome. I think I appreciate sunrises more because I don't necessarily see them as often. I'm not an early riser so I don't see them as often. So when I do, I think I take it in more. I do love a good sunset. Especially if it's raining in the day and there's all those clouds and you get all that fluffy cool stuff going on. Oh yeah, for sure.

44:06
rise when I do get a chance to see it. All right, question number four.

44:13
Is cereal soup? Why or why not? No, 100% not. Soup's hot. I know there's cold soup. I know there's cold soup. But soup for me has gotta be salty and it's gotta be hot. Gotcha. Yeah, how about you? You think? Oh, I mean, it's, you know, there's like, I've been on a cruise where they've had like a strawberry bisque, which in theory, that's, you know,

44:43
and it's cold and it's you know a soup but yeah I think I think I think cereal is cereal it's its own yeah cereal you know throw the milk in there who's calling it soup who does well it's just it's just calling all right I just want to know who these people are like the same people that same yeah that put pineapple on pizza well I was gonna say that say that hot dog is a sandwich see that's it's not a it's not a sandwich definitely not a sandwich but I could

45:13
Because like it's meat inside bread so it's a sandwich right? It's true. My thing is I think a hot dog is not a sandwich I think a hot dog is a taco Because the bread's connected. Yeah, you know, so it's stuff. It's stuff inside of a you know a Wheat or corn based shell. So a hot dogs a taco in my opinion Yeah. All right. I could take 100% I love it

45:43
Alright, and question number five.

45:48
Alright, here's a good one for you. If someone made a movie about your life, who would play you? I would put it in two parts. Who would you want to play you? And then who do you think would actually get the gig? You know that guy that was on Dexter? Did you watch Dexter? Yeah, yeah. The Batista? So I think that he would have to play it.

46:17
You know, Lin-Manuel Miranda, I think, could do a good job. Nice. I think that he could do a good job for sure. Yeah, yeah, I could see that. I could definitely see that. Yeah, right? Shave his head. Yeah, I mean, I don't know if he's got a good shape head. You got a good shape head. I don't know if he's got a good shape head, so, you know. I appreciate it. Well, you know, I did have hair at one point. Yeah, yeah, but you luckily still have a good shape head. It looks good bald, so.

46:47
I appreciate that. I appreciate it. I got a question for you. If you, if there was a biopic, right, who would you like wanna be and tell their story? Oh wow. I mean, if it could be anybody, because I mean, you know, I don't fit a whole lot of particular role molds, but I mean, I think I would love to do like a Robin Williams biopic.

47:17
Yeah, well, see that's if you're talking about roles you look for yeah, I get Chris Farley a lot But I'm saying like I feel like you could you know You know that guy there was a guy that like redid a Robin Williams like scene He got blasted for it, but it was so good. It was like him when it was like more Oh, yeah, whatever. Did you see it? It was like in a trailer or something. Yeah. Yeah before he went out for more commit Yeah, oh man. So good like I was like dude I don't know why he got so much flack for it

47:47
but I thought it was great. I feel like something like dude you could they should totally do a Chris Farley remake or not a remake but like his bio picked the story you know. I nobody really talks about like how many comedians really get movies made after them. They man on the moon you know Andy what was his last name? Kauffman. Kauffman yeah so they did Andy Kauffman but I don't really

48:17
whose story has been told, has there? Not a whole lot. Not a whole lot that I can think of, yeah. I think it'd be cool, man. Look into it. A friend of mine, he looks like Oscar De La Hoya. I'm like, dude, and he's an actor. Like, dude, you should do that. There you go. I would love to play Pavarotti. Oh yeah, well you got the pipes. They wouldn't have to dub you like they did in the, what was it, Elvis, the latest, Bas Lerman? Yeah.

48:47
That guy looked straight up just like that dude. Just like Elvis. Yeah. No. Austin Butler, yeah. He did a good job. Real good job. All right, Armando, that's it. That's our Fast Five and that's the show. Thank you so much for being here, man. Oh man, thank you. Thank you for having me. That was fantastic. If folks wanna keep up with you, what's the best way they can find you? They can find me on the gram at ArmandoLeduc. Armando.

49:17
That's you know because some people spell it with a oh, but it's A-R-M-A-N-D-O Armando Leduc like the Duke with an le. L-E-D-U-C So they can find me and on Instagram and Facebook and tik-tok and but it's all at Armando Leduc So what's the name of the book you've got coming out? Content into Cash. Content into Cash when we see that? Well, it's an e-book that's it's an e-book that they can download

49:47
straight on my website at Leducentertainment.com. So you'll be able to, yeah, so they'll be able to download it. I'm expanding it so that I can put it on Amazon as like a, you know, this one's just like a, it's a 30 pager, but you know, the other one's gonna be a little bit more thicker and into more detail about the whole process. Awesome, I look forward to that. Thank you again, Armando, for being here. I really, really appreciate it. Thank you, man, for inviting me, brother. I've been waiting.

50:17
And so we're going to do this again, except you're going to be in the other seat for my show. That's right, Spaghetti on the Wall! Because you're yeah. Let's not forget to mention your podcast as well. Spaghetti on the Wall. Spaghetti on the Wall. Yes. Yeah, it's definitely put the link in for that in the show notes as well. I appreciate it. Yeah. So we'll you know, I'm gonna get you on the show that way you can can do the you'll be in the hot seat. Sounds good, man. Thank you again. All right, Robb. We'll talk soon, brother.

50:47
All right. And if you would like to support this podcast, I'd appreciate it if you bought me a coffee at ChewingTheFatBR.com. But until next time, I look forward to when we have a chance to sit a spell and chew the fat.