Something Different

I have something I'd like to share with you today.

If you're ever unlucky enough to be in the position of consuming a great deal of Theo Von's podcast, you might notice that in the last few years he's developed a penchant for exclaiming "BLM!" whenever something excites him. Sometimes the context vaguely involves Black people, like when he and a carny are talking about a stuffed banana toy with dreadlocks, but more often it doesn't seem to have anything to do with Black people as all, like when he's talking about an ASU fraternity brother or gawking at pictures of women. A few instances occur in a space of indeterminate reference, like the time he and Christian "the Rizzler" Joseph put on black latex gloves and Von remarked: "BLM, homie." Whatever the case: he keeps doing it, and it's really weird.

I recently turned in my master's thesis and found myself with a bit of time on my hands, so naturally I went and made a supercut of Von's strange new habit. (Well, not that new: these clips go as far back as 2024.) Here it is:

You may be wondering in light of these videos if Von is a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement. Well, no. In a 2021 episode with our friend Mark Normand, he complained that the movement was unfair to good white people:

Von: Some of the BLM stuff to me almost felt like supremacy. It wasn't about everybody anymore. And it wasn't even just about black people. It was just like people wanted to exercise like—

Normand: Victimhood?

Von: Maybe some victimhood, but it was just like, I don't know, everything started really fragmenting then. For me, I thought, oh, we're all on the same team. And then it was now like, oh, well it's just about this group and this group. And for me, I think maybe for some people it had never been that Black lives mattered or that. But for me, I think it always had been. And in some points, and this is just me as a white person, right? It almost felt like, not an attack on me, but it felt like—it didn't feel like there was a safe place for you to go if you were somebody who's like, "Well, I've always respected everybody." Why do I have to behave any—why do I have to be a certain way now or something?

Normand: I get what you're saying. We grew up in Louisiana. It was mixed. Everywhere was mixed and it never came across my mind that Black people didn't matter. So when everybody's like, "They matter," you're like, "Yeah, I know. " And then they get mad at you for not doing a bunch of shit. You're like, "But I've been a good guy the whole time."

Von: That was a thing. There was no card to show that you've been a good guy and there was nobody that seemed like they wanted to believe that you'd been a good guy the whole time. [Ed. note: in 2000 Von told the newspaper he was against interracial dating.]

Normand: Yes, yes. I think that's a human nature thing. They get to yell at you so they feel better. This white lady's like, "Hey, you're not doing enough and where's your black square?" And you're like, "I'm banging a black chick." I don't know. It's never enough.

A few minutes later, reminiscing about Black people they knew growing up, this happens:

Normand: This Black kid would come over and play our Nintendo. He was unbelievable. It was like something I'd never seen. And me and my brother were in awe of this kid. He would just go to town on that Nintendo with Mario. He could jump up. Remember when you had to jump on the flagpole at the end of Mario and slide? He could get to the top. Killed it.

Von: Oh, wow. Yeah, that's a lot. I think they have extra muscles in their fingers.

Normand: I think so.

Von: That's what I heard anyway. Did you hear that growing up in Louisiana, that Black people have extra muscles in their body?

Normand: "Quick twitch," they would always say. They got the quick twitch.

Von: Yeah.

Normand: And yeah, it was true. I mean, you try to play soccer with this one guy in my neighborhood. I think he was Haitian or something. So he was Black and Haitian. So that's already two levels—

Von: Double entendre.

Normand: Yeah. I think that was his name, Entendre.

Von's new movie Busboys, which he wrote and financed with David Spade, is in theaters today.