Big Time’s crew opens up about how their Donut-era friendships turned into a full-on car-content business—plus the chaos, setbacks, and big plans behind it. The conversation covers their warehouse “car district” buildout, a $500 VK/“VK” drag project, and a wild story about a stolen Monte Carlo and how a Discord “tagging” culture may have led to it. They also dig into running YouTube like a business: sponsorships, weekly production pressure, managing people, and why the community matters more than channel “beef.”
This week, Joe sits down with Zach, Jeremiah and a few homies from the Big Time YouTube channel to chat about the challenges of starting a channel with a bunch of friends. From builds gone wrong to stolen cars to managing people you're closest with, no stone is left unturned in this riveting conversation.
Thanks to BlueChew for sponsoring this episode! Get 10% off your first month of BlueChew Gold with code TALKTALK.
"Yeah, and they don't know it's coming at them because the Dungeon Masters like giving them wild cards."
In D&D, the Dungeon Master is the person who runs the game and decides what happens next. They can surprise everyone with unexpected twists.
In Dungeons and Dragons, the Dungeon Master (DM) is the game’s referee and storyteller who controls the world, non-player characters, and outcomes. The segment uses “Dungeon Masters” to describe how they introduce unexpected “wild cards” into the game.
"One day what if we started a larping thing donut and big time we could do live live-action role play in Madison Square Garden"
LARP is when people dress up and act out a story in real life, like a pretend adventure. Instead of rolling dice at a table, you’re acting and interacting with other people.
Live-action role play (LARP) is an activity where people physically act out characters and scenarios, often with costumes and improvisation. It’s similar in spirit to tabletop role-playing games, but the “game” happens in real space with live interaction.
"No, we did have we did have a Dungeons and Dragons thing that we're spoiling up with if he if you remember"
Dungeons and Dragons is a game where you make a character and go on adventures with friends. One person (the Dungeon Master) helps run the story and surprises the players.
Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is a tabletop role-playing game where players create characters and follow a story guided by a Dungeon Master. In the segment, it’s referenced as a theme for a live event and as inspiration for “wild cards” and character-based scenarios.
"...'re building, but but yeah What's that in like a Nissan Titan? A Titan. Yeah, the Armada QX56. Yeah, just a bu..."
The Nissan Titan Crew Cab is a large pickup truck with four doors. The podcast groups it with other trucks/SUVs by talking about the truck-style engine. It comes up because that engine type is a big part of how these vehicles work and are maintained.
The Nissan Titan Crew Cab is a full-size pickup truck with a four-door layout designed for carrying passengers and cargo. The podcast mentions it alongside the Armada/QX56 idea, describing the shared “truck engine” concept, which matters because it influences maintenance and how the vehicle is built. It’s discussed as part of a conversation about what kind of engine and platform you’re dealing with in these larger vehicles.
"[501.0s] No, we're trying to drag race. Yeah, we're gonna figure that out pretty quick.
[504.8s] They're really so I saw a video probably like a year and a half ago of a guy"
Drag racing is racing in a straight line to see which car is quickest over a short distance. It usually requires the car to put power down hard and quickly.
A drag race is a straight-line competition where cars accelerate over a short distance (often a quarter-mile) to determine the fastest elapsed time. It strongly influences build choices like turbo sizing, fuel system capacity, and traction strategy.
"[516.4s] was I think was in an S chassis and he was like, oh, it's a VK. It's
[522.6s] Stock crank stock block. He does pistons rods and a big fat turbo and some off-the-shelf cams"
“Stock crank stock block” means the engine’s crankshaft and engine block are kept from the factory rather than replaced with aftermarket forged parts. This is a common strategy to control cost while still upgrading key components (like turbocharging and supporting mods) to make big power.
"And he was making 1900 horsepower to the wheel and I was like, holy shit. I go that's crazy"
It’s how much power actually reaches the tires. Because some power is lost inside the car, wheel horsepower is usually less than the engine’s advertised number.
“Horsepower to the wheel” means the power measured at the drivetrain output (after losses from the engine, transmission, and drivetrain). It’s usually lower than advertised crankshaft horsepower, but it’s a more realistic number for drag racing performance.
"Yep, which is a big drag racing event in Pennsylvania on May 2nd"
Drag racing is racing in a straight line to see which car accelerates fastest. People build cars for it by focusing on making strong power and keeping the engine alive under hard launches.
Drag racing is a straight-line motorsport where cars compete over a short distance (typically a quarter-mile). Builds aimed at drag racing often prioritize traction, engine durability, and power delivery rather than road-course handling.
"We just took the engine apart a week or two ago got it cleaned up at a machine shop and About ready to put it back together."
A machine shop is a specialized shop that works on engine parts with precision tools. They can clean and measure components so the engine can be rebuilt correctly.
A machine shop performs precision machining and inspection work on engine components. When an engine is “cleaned up” there, it often involves processes like hot tanking, measuring tolerances, and preparing parts for reassembly.
"But once so they hot tanked it for us and got it all cleaned up and it looks pretty good"
Hot tanking is a deep cleaning process for engine parts. It helps strip off built-up gunk so you can inspect everything properly before rebuilding.
“Hot tanking” is an industrial cleaning process that uses heated cleaning solution to remove heavy grime, oil, and carbon deposits from engine parts. It’s commonly used before measuring components and reassembling an engine.
"I mean, you know classic like drag racing chassis and we're gonna stick a Japanese v8 in it and see what happens
Dude, that's crazy."
This is describing an engine swap: taking a classic chassis (here, a drag-racing-style setup) and installing a different engine—in this case, a Japanese V8. The point is to combine old-school car culture with modern performance and reliability potential from a different manufacturer’s powerplant.
"Why is it? It just has like good insulation. Why is it so special? It's ceramic. Yeah oven and it can get up to like 800 degrees"
Ceramic is a heat-retaining material. It helps the cooker stay at the same temperature so your food cooks more evenly.
“Ceramic” here refers to ceramic insulation or ceramic-lined cooking surfaces that help hold heat. That’s why the temperature can stay stable for long periods.
"Yeah, or it can get down to like 120 degrees and you slow cook. Yeah smoker"
A smoker is a grill/oven setup that cooks with steady heat over a long time. It’s meant to keep the temperature from swinging too much.
A “smoker” is a cooking setup designed to hold low, steady temperatures for long cooking times. In this context, it’s being compared to an oven for temperature control.
"So there's other things going on besides watching us take turns going around the nirburgring"
The Nürburgring is a well-known race track in Germany. People talk about it a lot because it’s challenging and iconic in car culture.
The Nürburgring is a famous German motorsport circuit, often associated with high-performance driving and endurance racing. Mentioning it signals the episode’s motorsport theme even though the segment is about cooking.
"So that's why I mentioned that I seared it on the kamado joe and that was the first thing I ever made on"
Kamado Joe is a brand of “kamado” ceramic charcoal grills that are known for excellent heat retention and temperature control. That makes them popular for searing and then holding steady cooking temps.
"Well, they didn't realize that okay a big thing about the beef wellington is you need to sear the beef"
Searing is cooking the outside fast at high heat to brown it. It helps the food taste better and keeps the outside from getting too wet.
To “sear” means quickly browning the surface at high heat to develop flavor and color. For beef wellington, searing also helps manage moisture so the pastry doesn’t get soggy.
"F*** rips dude. It's really it's our favorite car. Can you do a wheelie in it?
[922.2s] Yeah, I bet you we can put all the boys in the back."
A wheelie is when the front wheels come up off the ground while you’re driving. They’re talking about how fun their Jeep is because it can do that.
A wheelie is when a vehicle lifts its front wheels off the ground, usually by applying enough torque and traction. In the context of the CJ-2A, they’re emphasizing how the car’s power/weight balance makes it entertaining and capable of stunt-like driving.
"Yeah, it's so fun to putt around the town and we use it as like a shop truck in here pull stuff around move stuff
[936.2s] It's great. It's awesome."
A “shop truck” is a vehicle used primarily for moving parts, tools, and other cars around the facility rather than for daily commuting. They mention using the CJ-2A in this role—pulling stuff around and moving items—showing how project shops repurpose vehicles for logistics.
"Yeah, but we did have a pass from the dmv that yeah the dmv allowed me to drive that legally on the street
[955.8s] As well as the shell of the 86 as well"
The DMV is the government office that handles vehicle paperwork and driving legality. They’re saying the DMV gave them permission so their race car could be driven on public roads.
The DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) is the government agency that handles vehicle registration and licensing. Here, they mention getting a “pass” from the DMV that allowed a race car to be driven legally on the street, and later the DMV allowing street shutdowns for burnouts.
"The dmv is surprisingly nice to me lately. They let us shut the street down the other day and have eddie do burnouts
[969.2s] Which was cool"
Burnouts are when you spin the tires so they smoke and heat up. They’re saying the DMV allowed them to do it on the street during their event.
Burnouts are a driving technique where the tires are spun to generate smoke and heat, often used for show or to warm tires. The hosts mention the DMV letting them shut the street down so they could do burnouts, which highlights how legality and permits can affect what a shop can do publicly.
"[1034.5s] Oh, that's cool. I like that because well, it's funny because people now say crash out like oh, he crashed out or whatever
[1060.1s] You can't back out now our next podcast crashed out"
“Crash out” is a racing way of saying someone crashed so badly they couldn’t keep going. It’s also the kind of phrase that can sound weird if you don’t know the racing context.
“Crash out” is racing slang meaning a crash that ends a rider’s or driver’s run—often used in motorsports communities. In the transcript, it’s also discussed as a phrase that can sound funny or confusing when taken out of context.
"[1034.5s] Oh, that's cool. I like that because well, it's funny because people now say crash out like oh, he crashed out or whatever
[1041.0s] But in moto gp. Uh-huh. What do they say when they crash?"
MotoGP is the top level of motorcycle racing. If a rider crashes and can’t continue, people might say they “crashed out.”
MotoGP is the premier motorcycle road-racing series run by Dorna Sports. When riders crash, the show and fans often use slang like “crashed out” to describe a rider being forced out of the race due to a crash.
"you know like the youtube money only pays so much. You have to go get sponsorships"
A sponsorship is when a brand pays you (or gives you support) to feature them in your videos. It helps you make content without relying only on ad income.
Sponsorships are brand-paid partnerships where a company funds content in exchange for marketing exposure. For creators, they can stabilize income beyond ad revenue and help cover production costs.
"you know like you're also like hosting red bull videos and stuff like that
Yeah, yeah, and that's like a larger play like trying to build the brand"
Red Bull is a major energy drink brand that also invests heavily in sports and lifestyle media. In creator partnerships, it often funds or co-produces content to build brand visibility and association with high-energy activities.
"a lot of the meetings we have and a lot of the means I take are always about like
Hey, how do we get the stuff that we already worked really hard on and get it out to like different places?"
Instead of posting only on one website, you share your videos on several apps. That way, you’re less dependent on any single platform and you can find more viewers.
Multi-platform distribution means publishing content across multiple channels (not just one platform) to reduce risk and reach different audiences. The speaker lists several platforms, emphasizing that growth depends on getting content in front of viewers wherever they watch.
"Car got stolen outside of right true. Yeah, that is true and out of it I mean, I don't know if there's any sort of relationship between it being outside of my house"
They’re saying their car was stolen. That’s a big deal for any car owner, and it usually means you need better parking/security to prevent it.
The speaker mentions their car being stolen, which is a real ownership risk and can strongly influence where and how you store a vehicle. It also highlights the importance of security measures like alarms, tracking, and secure parking.
"No one's no reveal. I yeah, I bought it one because I I got a crazy good deal on it and I was like, I'll probably flip this and make some money I'll try it for a couple months"
“Flipping” a car means buying it with the intention to resell it later for profit, often after a short ownership period. This usually depends on getting a strong purchase price and minimizing costs like repairs, storage, and time.
"Like they have a discord channel and on the discord channel
[1600.5s] If you tag a car that people are looking to steal, they pay you money
[1604.5s] So like kids just go around and be like, oh, here's a Corvette here. Here's a Camaro here"
They’re saying there’s a Discord group where people point out which cars are good targets. If a thief steals one of the tagged cars, the tagger gets money.
The speaker describes a scheme where people use a Discord channel to “tag” cars that thieves are looking for, effectively sharing leads. If a tagged car gets stolen, the person who tagged it gets paid, turning social media into a marketplace for theft targeting.
"So like kids just go around and be like, oh, here's a Corvette here. Here's a Camaro here
[1608.8s] Here's a hellcat here, blah, blah, blah"
A Camaro is a performance car from Chevrolet. Cars that lots of people want—like this—can be stolen more often.
“Camaro” is Chevrolet’s muscle-car/sports-car model. Like other popular performance cars, it can be targeted by thieves because it’s recognizable and has a strong enthusiast market.
"I'm really just driving through like with swat in this piece of shit meata with the top down
And then he just chucks a malt health cocktail"
SWAT is a special police team that handles really dangerous situations. Here, it’s mentioned to show how intense and serious the moment was.
SWAT stands for “Special Weapons and Tactics,” a specialized police unit used for high-risk situations. In the context of the story, it signals that the scene was treated as dangerous or urgent.
"...like that's why I like doing the track day stuff because like tracks are dying
[2432.2s] And it's something that I think is like super like you meet I you meet so so many good people..."
A track day is when people take their cars to a race track for fun practice. You get to drive harder than normal, learn the car, and meet other car enthusiasts.
A track day is an organized event where regular drivers bring their cars to a racetrack for timed or open-lapping sessions. It’s a way to learn car control and build community without the pressure of racing competition.
"No one really understands I think and then like it's weird because we always had a stance at donut... There are always comments where they say some stuff about donut and and you know, like we don't..."
Donut is a popular car channel on YouTube. The hosts talk about how being part of that community helped them build their audience and careers.
“Donut” is a major automotive YouTube channel/brand known for car culture content, builds, and commentary. In the episode, it’s referenced as a shared platform the speakers worked around for years and that helped grow their careers.
"But I think I got along with everyone enough. I I had brought in I bought a um
[3640.6s] A radar gun for my baseball league."
A radar gun is a gadget that measures how fast something is moving. In baseball, it’s often used to measure how fast a pitch is coming toward the batter.
A radar gun is a device that measures the speed of a moving object—most commonly used in baseball to estimate pitch velocity. It uses radar waves to calculate speed and is a common tool for coaches and leagues.
Select text to request an explanation
Welcome back to Talk Talk Nation. I'm your host Joe Weber, and I am in a very special
warehouse right now with my good friends at Big Time. Guys, thank you so much for having
me here. Joe, thanks for coming, dude.
Thank you for coming here, Joe. It's a long-distance dap.
It's good to...
Dap, dap, dap. I love your space, by the way.
Thank you.
I love the neighborhood. This is Arts District adjacent.
Yeah, we're calling it the car district.
It's called the car district.
We're next to a bunch of cool car people.
Lean customs.
Automotive school.
Yeah.
Accelerate automotive.
Magnus is kind of in your neighborhood a little bit.
Yeah, he's right across the bridge.
Art of attack.
Art of attack.
Rap legends.
Rap legends.
And then Big Time.
Yeah.
So for the audio listeners out there, if somehow you grew up under a rock or something, sitting
with me right now is Jeremiah Burton, Zachary Jobe, and Andy Paz. And at one point,
you guys all worked at Donut.
That's right.
I think everyone knows that.
That's where we all met.
That's where we formed our lifelong friendship.
Our bonds.
I'd say. We met each other probably the same year, 2019, right?
Yeah.
You started as a host around the same time Jobe did.
Yeah.
Jobe flew in from Ohio.
That's right.
Yeah, we just passed the seven-year mark of that, actually.
Wow.
A couple weeks ago, I think.
Seven-year.
And now you got your homie, Mike Day, in the background.
Yeah.
We'll drop in half in the chat for the seven-year mark.
Seven-year mark.
It's a big one.
It's a big one.
Seven-year anniversary.
But we had actually been interns at a comedy theater together before that.
Yeah.
We didn't know each other.
Yeah.
I was thinking about that the other night.
I was thinking, I saw Lou Wilson on.
He's on Jimmy Kimmel.
He's on Jimmy Kimmel.
And I saw him.
What was that?
UCB or something?
Yeah.
So Lou is a buddy of ours and he was an intern at UCB.
So we would clean toilets together.
And now he.
That's really what the interns do there.
He's like the bottle camera.
Off-camera like Ed McMahon. Yeah, Jimmy Kim. Yeah, he's the I call him like the voice
It's the guy who announces, you know, and then but he also is on a show where he does
Dungeons and Dragons. Yeah, d20. Yeah d20. Yeah
A bunch of our homies on that and they like sell out stadiums. They sold out crazy Madison Square Gardens
They sold out Hollywood Bowl playing Dungeons and Dragons. What am I told you guys this?
We need to get into something like this. They sold out the Hollywood Bowl and MSG by doing live
For people to watch them play Dungeons and Dragons, that's why.
Is there any sort of like other aspect to it or is it just game play?
I mean, it's comedic. Like you have comedians who are it's like a perfect
It's the perfect like place to let a yes to let a comedian shine because they each have like a character
Yeah, and they don't know it's coming at them because the Dungeon Masters like giving them wild cards. Exactly.
I love my friends. I went to the Hollywood Bowl one and I could not hang
People were dressed up as the characters because it's like an ongoing thing
Mm-hmm, and then they do something like turn to the audience and be like and then I grabbed my apple and everyone's like, huh
That's so funny
Inside joke of my ten episodes ago
I've always wanted to be in on the inside of an inside joke. Maybe one day
One day what if we started a larping thing donut and big time we could do live live-action role play in Madison Square Garden
What what will we do live-action role like what fight each other? Oh, okay?
Okay, I thought we could like build cars live. Yeah. No, no, no, no, no
No, we did have we did have a Dungeons and Dragons thing that we're spoiling up with if he if you remember
I remember if he was like
Like every character was a different car
And we tried we like piloted it and I don't think it really worked, but yeah, anyways
We did a Dungeons and Dragons ad one time. That's as close as ever. Yeah. Oh, yeah
You made a what a Starcraft car. Oh, well, we this was on donut. We did it was an ad for Hyundai or yeah
I think so. I think it's on days. It was a manufacturer. I think it was on day and where we shot
Uh, we were Dungeons and track me James and Job, and I think no one. Yeah, Nolan or Justin
I can't remember but it was uh, yeah long-winded way of saying like we know each other. Yeah
Toilets UCB many many years. We're actually in the same room. I don't think so. So what happened
All back then or no, so what happened is like, okay
So if you wanted to be like part of the cult that was UCB you had to intern there and you got one class
Eight yeah, and work shifts you got a free class, but it really wasn't so much about the free class
It was about like networking and getting to know people and so your penance for that was to was to clean the toilet
That was like one of my responsibilities
You had to take tickets and seat people and do all this stuff. It felt special at the time. Yeah
Yeah, yeah, I mean you're in the cult you're like, you know, and it's like I mean
That's what you're you've been looking and trying to do for so long. Yeah, I'll clean it. I'll clean it
Yeah, pretty good clean toilets. I didn't know that and I just found this out and this is all I've only heard this that
UCB has like sort of a MLM vibe a little bit
MLM. Yeah, like multi-level marketing. Yeah, sign up for Improp 201
I'm gonna do it like if you sign up under me you get me paid or whatever
I think the culture of it was just I don't know how it is now. I'm so far removed from it
But like it was very, you know, like it was like this was the ticket to start up
Yeah, and if you played by the rules and played the politics well, then you could make it on a house team
Which, you know, Aubrey Plaza was on a house team before she got Parks and Rec
And yeah at the time a lot of people from UCB were making it onto TV
Yeah, and so that's what they were using to market. It seemed like back in the day
You know how like you went on like if stand-ups got on the tonight show
I got like, you know, like approved by Johnny Carson or something like that was a version of what we went through
Like if you got on a house team a smaller version of SNL, right? Yeah, pretty much
Yeah, and a lot of people went on to go be yeah
SNL from that
But so like because we were both interns if you had to have someone cover your shift you basically had to email
Everyone but you couldn't blast email you had to individually email it and there's like probably 150 interns
Yeah, so I would go like if I was out of town or something
I can't make it like I would just go through the list and do email everyone and I believe I hit up Joe
Probably a few times. Yeah, I think I hit up you once in a while. Yeah. Yeah, but I was like when you started at doughnut
I was like, you're my burden
Dude, why do I know any toilets for me?
Yeah, I was cleaning the toilets. Just for you though. Joe would go in there and take a shit and be like, not working today, mother f*****g!
What happened to the UCB that like the big one it closed down they I think they foreclosed or they built it
Well, they had a 32 million dollar mortgage going into the pandemic. Oh my god. Yeah, cut it. Who founded UCB?
It was Amy Poehler, Matt, Besser, Ian, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh, Matt Walsh
Oh, for some reason he's like Steve Colbert or something. No, he was he was second city in Chicago. Oh, yeah
Anyways
Hey, this car podcast is all about improv of the late 2000s
Dude, honestly, I had we had to cut so much out of the Ralph Barbosa interview because I was like, so how do you write jokes?
Yeah, we like got into premise talking and stuff like that, but this is the main audience of this podcast
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