Mercer: I’ve been at the tables growing up with, like, you know, the… the… and I use the term respectfully, toolbag players, that
Mercer, in a skeezy, macho tone: wanna roll to see how long they laaaaast. And like, Oh man, make a cons-
Mercer, in his normal voice: Like Travis said, “a constitution save?” And I was like, “Ehhhhhh.” You’re joking about that because you haven’t really had to do that in a game before, I’ve been in a game where players have wanted to do that, and it’s really uncomfortable for everyone at the table.
Brian: No, that just means they’re not getting enough action off-table.
Mercer: That’s kinda the thing, because to me, it’s an indicator of, once again, an extended fantasy. [chuckles] You know, like, “Oh man I wanna see how well I do in bed,” and it’s like, [pitying] “Ohh buddy. I guess this is.. where you have to.. play out those fantasies.”
One thing I told myself the last few months was to keep posting more on Tumblr because I love all my fancy diamonds on here (you). So here goes with some behind the scenes/Between The Sheets stuff. First up, here’s more photos by our wonderful Chris Lockey from the filming of Liam’s episode.
Liam went to all the places with me, and he didn’t have to.
I’ve told everyone the same thing before we film each episode: We’re gonna talk about a lot of stuff, if you don’t want to talk about something, tell me, if we talk about something and you realize after the fact you’d rather not share that…tell me. It’s part of why we don’t do these live. Live streams add a lot of anxiety and impatience and expectations and logistics. We’ve gone to some deeper places on Talks before, but the live element and time restraints prevent us from going to the places we are going to with this show.
I wanted everyone to be as comfortable as possible. So we pre-tape them and I can edit stuff out if needed. It should be noted that we haven’t cut out anything shared from any episodes so far. We edit the transitions and we also have to occasionally pause for a helicopter or dump truck outside. I will also take pauses before or after a heavier subject to give my guest some time to breathe and process, and to check in with them, then we get back to it when they’re ready.
We film one episode per week (on Thursday afternoons. Yes, right before Critical Role). I spend the rest of the week and weekend working with our editor on all the other episodes we’ve filmed already. So while Liam’s episode was set to air Monday, I was in my hotel at 4am in New York this weekend making notes and changes on Liam’s, Sam’s, and Marisha’s episodes. We usually have 3 episodes being worked on at a time, and it’s a massive effort by our whole team.
Once a day of filming arrives, we hang out and talk for a while before. We eat lunch and our wonderful Diana does our hair and makeup, and she’s always playing good music like Nick Cave in the makeup room, which gets me in a great place. When we get to the set, Marisha and Max are there to guide the production process smoothly and also make everyone feel at home, and they do a killer job.
Once it’s time to go, we have our drinks and we turn all the lights off so it’s just us. You forget about the camera person, sound, Max, Marisha, everything after a few minutes, and it’s just two people having a drink at a bar and talking at that point.
You see what happens next.
After we wrap, there’s a lot of hugging, some tears, tons of laughter, and a sense of hope. It’s strange, spilling your inner thoughts and feelings on a variety of experiences—knowing it will live on the internet forever. It’s this uncanny dump and recharge of emotions…then they sit at the table and do CR for 4 hours after. I’ve paid attention to every episode of CR and to the corresponding cast member who filmed their BTS episode that day, and I can see the joy and the light and the passion and love in them sometimes an hour after talking about and reminiscing over what this game has meant to them. If this silly little show could give anything back to this cast, I hope it’s that gentle reminder of how this came to be, the lives it touches, the impact it’s had, the inside jokes and the community it has spawned. I hope it has reminded them of why they do what they do.
To be honest, I am overjoyed at the response to this show. For this season, I told Marisha “I need everyone to see a side of each of you they may not have seen before, the side we all know”. I’ve tried my best to structure the interviews not based on a career trajectory, but on what was happening with them as real people while this career stuff was going on. Folks out there are not going to relate to the IMDB pages of the cast of Critical Role. But the human and everyday life experiences they’ve gone through while also happening to be these amazing talented and successful people are in some way relatable to us all. We’ve lost a parent, we’ve lost a job, we’ve experienced tragedy, triumph, praise and criticism. We’ve been the victims and the perpetrators of tragedy, all while moving through the human experience and hitting milestones in our lives like a promotion or starting a family.
It’s easy these days, with the fabled concept of “celebrity”, to disconnect a person you watch for entertainment from the struggle and the hustle and the heartache of life. I’m hoping this show grounds these people for you and connects the tissue from them to you as fellow travelers on the journey. Because my beloved, that’s all we are, fellow travelers.
This little window into our people and our world is already having such a profound response, I can’t help but feel gratitude.
A friend of mine used to say “Asking questions is a great way to find the part of life you’re missing”, and this show has shown me that tenfold already.
Thank you for your love and support. You are and always will be the wind in our sails.
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