MatPat Eats His Last Meal
Summary
TLDRIn this engaging and heartfelt episode, MatPat of Theorists fame reflects on life, death, and the journey he's embarked on throughout his career. He shares personal stories, from overcoming fears to embracing a love for unique foods, while enjoying a specially curated meal that includes a mix of his favorites and new culinary experiences. The conversation delves into the importance of living life without regrets, the impact of online anonymity on human behavior, and MatPat's vision for the future as he transitions into a new chapter.
Takeaways
- 🎤 Matthew Patrick, aka MatPat, engages in a deep conversation about life, death, and his favorite foods in a special 'last meal' setting.
- 🍴 The meal includes a variety of dishes such as jalapeño roll, oysters, a 'fancy' Big Mac, dad's ribs, and a mystery sampler platter.
- 🌮 MatPat shares his love for Taco Bell's crunchy tacos and the history behind the crispy taco, which originated from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.
- 🎥 The discussion touches on the unique relationship between YouTube creators and their fans, highlighting the emotional connection and support fans provide.
- 🤔 MatPat reflects on his experiences with YouTube analytics and the impact of thumbnails on viewer retention, emphasizing the importance of content strategy.
- 🌟 The餐 includes a tribute to MatPat's Broadway aspirations, with a nod to his past in musical theater and his desire to perform in Beetlejuice.
- 🎂 For dessert, MatPat enjoys a Baked Alaska reminiscent of his high school home economics class, and a variety of other sweet treats.
- 👨👩👦 MatPat expresses his gratitude for his family and the importance of cherishing every moment with loved ones, especially in light of the birth of his son and the loss of his editor, Ronnie.
- 💭 The conversation delves into the concept of death and the possibility of life after death, with MatPat sharing his belief in the recycling of the universe and the continuity of existence.
- 🚀 MatPat discusses his future plans, including the launch of a fashion line and his continued presence on various channels beyond his retirement from Theorist channels.
- 🙏 The episode concludes with MatPat's parting words, 'A life well lived,' encapsulating his appreciation for the experiences and connections he's made through his YouTube journey.
Q & A
What are the two things every person has in common as mentioned by MatPat?
-Every person has to eat and eventually, everyone is going to die.
What is the significance of the jalapeño roll and oysters in MatPat's last meal?
-The jalapeño roll and oysters represent MatPat's introduction to new and diverse foods, crediting his wife Stephanie for expanding his culinary palette.
How did MatPat describe his personality and how does it relate to his views on death?
-MatPat described himself as analytically minded and having a type A personality. He wishes he could control death and have an idea of how long he has left to maximize his time.
What is MatPat's ideal way to die, as discussed in the transcript?
-MatPat's ideal way to die is from poisoning by raw oysters, in a way that he experiences it in the woods, stripped naked, and not near a toilet.
What is the climate crisis' impact on oysters mentioned in the transcript?
-The climate crisis is causing waters to warm, which is leading to diseases in oysters and an ongoing outbreak affecting their population.
What is MatPat's favorite oyster and where does it originate from?
-MatPat's favorite oyster is the Kusshi oyster, which originates from Okinawa in Japan but can also be found on the Pacific coast in Washington.
What is the 'swamp water' mentioned in the transcript and what are its components?
-The 'swamp water' is a beverage consisting of sixty percent Diet Coke, thirty percent Sprite Zero, and a float of Dr. Pepper and root beer.
What is the significance of the 'dad's ribs' in the meal and what are the components of the sauce?
-The 'dad's ribs' represent a complex and favorite family recipe. The sauce includes A1 steak sauce, cocktail sauce, barbecue sauce, and several other sauces mixed together.
What is the unique relationship between YouTube creators and their fans as described by MatPat?
-The unique relationship between YouTube creators and their fans is described as a 'best friend mentality' or a parasocial relationship, where fans feel a close connection to the creators and often seek them out for personal interaction.
How did the birth of MatPat's son and the death of his editor impact his perspective on life and death?
-The birth of MatPat's son and the death of his editor occurred close together, providing a stark contrast between life and death. This experience deepened MatPat's appreciation for the fragility of life and the importance of valuing the time he has with his loved ones.
What is MatPat's philosophy on living life without regrets?
-MatPat's philosophy on living life without regrets stems from a personal experience where he sat down during a ten-hour dance marathon he had committed to dancing through. This taught him to strive for a life without regrets and to fully commit to his goals and experiences.
Outlines
🍽️ Introduction and Last Meal Setup
The script begins with MatPat, aka Matthew Patrick, discussing the universal experiences of eating and death, leading into the concept of a 'last meal.' He introduces himself and the various channels he's known for, such as Game Theory, Film Theory, and others. MatPat expresses regret for not having the channels introduced with a specific mention of his last meal. He humorously discusses his growl and Broadway training, and the analytical nature of his personality. The conversation shifts to a discussion about YouTube analytics and the strategic withholding of information to increase viewer retention. The introduction of the meal's first course, a jalapeño roll and a dozen oysters with various condiments, leads to a reflection on MatPat's food preferences and experiences, including his initial fear of food and his wife Stephanie's influence on his culinary adventures.
🎭 Retirement and Personal Reflections
In this paragraph, MatPat and the interviewer discuss his retirement from the main host role of Theorists channels. They delve into MatPat's aspirations in musical theater and his experiences with auditions, including a mention of his Hairspray audition. The conversation touches on the theme of time and the impact of having limited time on how MatPat approaches life and his work. He emphasizes the importance of optimizing every moment and taking advantage of opportunities. The discussion continues with the presentation of the second course, a 'fancy Big Mac' with unique twists, and 'swamp water,' a creative beverage mix. MatPat expresses his excitement about the collaboration and the unique experience of the show.
🍔 The Evolution of Content and Analytics
The paragraph focuses on the impact of MatPat's retirement on his life and the broader implications for content creation. He discusses the origins of Game Theory in his natural curiosity and desire to share information. MatPat reflects on his identity and how it has remained consistent through the highs and lows of his YouTube career. The conversation also covers the emotional connection between YouTube creators and their audience, and the unique challenges of maintaining that relationship. The discussion includes the presentation of a complex dish, 'dad's ribs,' which is a mix of several sauces. MatPat talks about the importance of being genuine and confident in one's interests and shares his thoughts on the unique experience of online influence and the emotional connections it fosters.
🌮 Taco History and Cultural Insights
This section is a deep dive into the history and regional variations of tacos, which MatPat loves. The mystery course is revealed to be a sampler platter of different types of tacos from various regions in Mexico, highlighting the origins of the crispy taco and its evolution into the fast-food staple. MatPat expresses excitement about learning new information and being surprised by the dishes. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of regional food authenticity and the joy of discovering culinary history. The variety of tacos presented includes Mariscos Jalisco's fried crispy shrimp taco, a fish taco from Mazatlan, Sinaloa, and birria de Reis, a Tijuana-style beef dish. MatPat appreciates the educational aspect of the meal and the opportunity to experience a taste of history.
🚀 Personal Anecdotes and Life Perspectives
MatPat shares personal stories and life perspectives in this paragraph. He talks about his go-to order at Moe's Southwest Grill and the excitement of discovering the original birria at the source. The conversation turns introspective as MatPat contemplates his experiences with death and life, particularly around the birth of his son Ollie and the tragic loss of his editor, Ronnie. He discusses the impact of these events on his outlook and the importance of empathy and understanding in online interactions. MatPat expresses his dislike for negativity online and ponders the reasons behind people's choice to be cruel without reason. The paragraph concludes with a reflection on the cycle of negativity and its perpetuation on social media platforms.
🍰 Dessert and Family Recipes
The final paragraph of the script centers around dessert and family recipes. MatPat reminisces about making a baked Alaska in a high school home economics class and expresses delight at tasting a similar dessert again. The conversation includes various sweet treats like Handel's ice cream, Max Brenner's hot chocolate, and a family recipe for 'gobs' that MatPat and his wife Stephanie tried to replicate. There's a humorous exchange about his grandmother withholding the real recipe, leading to a year of experimentation to achieve the desired taste. The paragraph concludes with MatPat's reflections on family traditions, the sharing of recipes, and the joy of uncovering culinary secrets.
🌟 Final Thoughts and Goodbyes
In the conclusion of the script, MatPat engages in a lightning round of questions, sharing his desires to share a last meal with his wife, Stephanie, and his wish to play the role of Beetlejuice on Broadway. He selects 'Chasing Cars' to be played at his funeral, a song with personal significance from his wedding and proposal videos. MatPat expresses his lack of regrets, except for a high school dance marathon where he sat down, vowing to live without regrets since then. He affirms his happiness and shares his last words, reflecting on a life well lived. The host thanks MatPat for his contributions to the internet and announces upcoming projects, including Creators in Fashion. The script ends with a farewell and a plug for the Last Meals merchandise available at mythical.com.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Last Meal
💡Retirement
💡Personal Growth
💡Legacy
💡Community
💡Food and Culture
💡Fear and Overcoming
💡Analytical Mindset
💡Time and Optimization
💡Content Creation
💡Emotional Connection
Highlights
Matthew Patrick, aka MatPat, discusses his approach to life and death with humor and reflection.
MatPat talks about the analytical mindset he brings to his life and how it affects his fear of death.
The conversation touches on the impact of climate change on oysters and the seafood industry.
MatPat shares his love for oysters, a food he was introduced to by his wife, Stephanie.
The discussion includes thoughts on optimizing life and the importance of saying yes to opportunities.
MatPat talks about his journey from being scared of food to embracing diverse culinary experiences.
The concept of a 'last meal' is explored, with MatPat sharing his ideal final dining experience.
MatPat reflects on his YouTube career, the evolution of his channels, and his upcoming retirement from the main host role.
The unique relationship between YouTube creators and their fans is examined, with MatPat sharing his insights.
MatPat discusses the importance of experiences with loved ones and the impact of his son's birth on his perspective.
The conversation delves into the topic of online negativity and the challenges of maintaining a positive online presence.
MatPat talks about his passion for educational content and the role it plays in his work.
The interview concludes with MatPat sharing his thoughts on life, death, and the connections we make.
MatPat expresses his gratitude for the experiences and opportunities provided by his online community.
The significance of family recipes and the process of uncovering them is discussed, with MatPat sharing his personal story.
MatPat's final words to the camera encapsulate his philosophy on life and the importance of living without regrets.
The interview ends with MatPat promoting his upcoming projects and expressing excitement for the next chapter of his career.
Transcripts
I'm Matthew Patrick, aka MatPat, and this
is my last meal.
Every person has exactly two things in common.
We all gotta eat and we're all gonna die.
You might recognize today's guest from Game Theory,
or perhaps Film Theory, or perhaps Style Theory,
or perhaps Food Theory.
Or perhaps
from your local retirement home.
Hello, internet,
welcome to MatPat's last meal.
MatPat, welcome.
Well, thank you very much,
and I'm sorry that we didn't have this meeting beforehand,
otherwise I could've given the channels to you
with that intro like that.
You got the growl in there.
Hello, internet, it was great.
I practiced that about six times until I realized that the seventh might make my
throat bleed.
Yeah.
Is that the Broadway training that kept it so fresh?
That is a great question.
I just have found a comfortable way to do it,
and I could do it all day, all hours.
It's not a problem for me at this point.
We've been watching way too many videos of you talking about YouTube analytics,
and this is absolutely true.
Y'all just saw a new intro where we didn't tell you what his last meal was
because we were worried about retention drop off if we told you the entire last
meal.
So, you have already fundamentally changed,
MatPat,
The face of this show.
I noticed that, like,
I was not given the roster of things that I'm going to be eating,
which I'm like, that's weird.
I wonder if they filmed that after the fact,
but
maybe this is a new structure that they're doing.
Even through retirement, you are still MatPat,
impacting.
I live on.
Yeah, it's my lingering spirit, I guess.
You are a very analytically minded person.
I am.
Too much so, it's terrible.
Does that increase your fear of death or decrease it?
The analyticalness of it
doesn't really weigh in.
I'd say my type A personality really factors in where it's like,
oh, no,
I wish I could control this and have an idea of how long I have left and how I can
maximize my time.
I used to be that obnoxious kid that went around college being like,
oh, well,
if your personality were represented by a muffin flavor,
what muffin flavor would you be?
And so
my friends knew to expect these off the wall questions,
and one of them was like, hey,
if you were on death row and you could choose any way you could die,
what would it be?
But also,
if you're talking about optimizing your life,
you now have the ability to make that happen.
Right, exactly.
It sounds like a Mister Beast video.
If that's really taking it
to the extreme.
We're going to some dark places today.
Oh, it's going to happen.
We literally just started.
We don't know what I'm eating, and we're talking about,
like, the optimized way to die.
This is pretty intense.
MatPat, for your first course of your final meal,
we have the jalapeño roll,
and then we have a dozen oysters with all the condiments.
We got prepared horseradish.
We got a scratch made mignonette.
We got the cocktail sauce, also made from scratch.
The tiny little bottles of Tabasco.
They're so cute.
They're adorable.
And some fresh lemons.
A little chibi Tabasco.
This looks incredible.
I've watched your show so many times that I don't know how people make it through
the whole meal,
because every course looks fantastic.
You gotta hoover it.
You gotta just open the mouth, open the throat.
Cause we're not leaving until all these oysters are gone.
Oh, wow.
Okay.
I look at this, and
my wife and partner, Stephanie,
would be so jealous because she's the person who got me into
both of these, both sushi as well as oysters.
But no, I grew up very scared of food.
You know, in mill of Ohio,
our home cooking was really a rotation of fast food.
My family wasn't really adventurous eaters,
and so it wasn't until college
that I had
my first bean, like, an actual bean dish.
I was scared of beans.
And so
my wife Steph, who was just my friend at the time,
introduced me.
She's like, hey,
there's this cool Mexican restaurant.
Do you want to take a little scoop of this bean dip?
And I'm like, oh, I'm scared of beans.
But I tried it, and I'm like,
it's like, literally,
like, the grain of rice sized bean.
I'm like, I thought this girl was cute,
and I'm like, I'm gonna impress her by eating a bean.
It worked, baby!
Yeah, it worked.
Got them.
So,
pro tip.
To anyone out there looking for love,
try a bean.
The magical food.
Cheers.
I know, right?
I'm talking this entire time, I've completely butchered my sushi roll.
Please don't judge me.
I know the internet's gonna rake me over the coals for this.
Well, fix it in post.
Thank you.
Something I yell all the time, and nobody does it.
So,
and then probably the most extreme food that Stephanie has gotten me to fall in
love with is this guy right here.
These are tough for a lot of people who have food sensitivities and whatever.
Did you eat one yet?
I have not.
I haven't dug in yet.
These are Kusshi Oysters.
These are probably my favorite oysters, they're a lot smaller,
but they tend to be, like,
a lot sweeter.
Where do they come from?
I believe Kusshi is off of Okinawa in Japan.
Oh, wow.
But I think sometimes they find them in
the
Pacific coast, in Washington as well.
Wow, that's incredible.
My favorite fun fact about oysters is that because of the climate crisis,
that waters are warming,
which is actually causing a lot of disease in oysters.
There's currently an outbreak
going on.
It's only caught a couple bodies,
but I think we're probably good.
So what's your ideal way to die?
Cause mine truly,
truly is getting poisoned by a bunch of raw oysters.
Do you really want to go out, like,
hovering over a toilet?
There's gonna be no toilet.
I'm just going out to the woods,
lay down some leaves, strip me naked.
Let me do what I'm gonna do.
He died the way he lived,
stripped naked in the woods, vomiting his guts out.
That was you there Saturday night?
Okay, that makes sense.
I watched as long as I could, and then I had to turn away,
cause I was starting to lose my lunch.
Oh, my gosh.
I wanna talk about your retirement.
Wait,
don't pivot away.
You asked me a question, and now you're pivoting away.
It's all right.
I'm here to double up with you.
Well, we'll run it back,
but then we have to both
do, like a fly in laughing intro.
Okay.
So, it's like a.
How do you want to die?
So, how do I want to die?
You know, it's not very exciting.
It's just, like,
quietly in my sleep, laying next to Steph.
When?
You know, cuddling.
When?
Are you talking about hour of the day or age of life?
Cause, like,
listen, my grandma died at a hundred and one.
She wishes she died at eighty-seven.
You know what I mean?
And she told me that.
That's not, like, editorializing.
The last fourteen years or so going, all my friends are dying,
and food doesn't taste anymore.
Yeah.
You know?
I'm a musical theater guy.
Like, that's,
that's where I got my start in a lot of ways,
or that's kind of what I aspired to do for a long time.
I thought your audition for Hairspray was great.
Thank you.
I appreciate that.
Thank you very much.
I thought it was pretty good.
My hair was a hot mess, but,
yeah, there it is.
It was of its era.
Yeah, it was of its era, for sure.
And it was also of my pocketbook at the time because I had to keep my hair long
because I couldn't afford a haircut in New York.
Sport Clips does good work.
It's one of those things where in Hamilton,
the whole theme of Hamilton is like, he's constantly writing,
like he's running out of time.
Right?
That's kind of like the repeated refrain of the show.
And when you look at life, you have two limited resources.
You have money and you have time.
You might have a lot of money, might have a little money,
but time, you don't know how much you have.
And that is the one thing that you cannot get more of.
Yeah.
And so
for me, so much of my work,
so much of my beliefs, and how I live my life
is trying to live my life like I'm running out of time and trying to optimize
every moment and take advantage of every opportunity and say yes to as many things
as come my way,
and because I was so fortunate to
have wonderful parents and wonderful teachers that inspired me to be curious
about the world around me,
because
I was so fortunate to have
a groundswell of people support me
in nerding out about video games and stuff like that.
If I can
pay it forward
to other people and
work my butt off to make sure that they're entertained and that they're
inspired and that they're learning along the way,
and that I'm sharing that enthusiasm for the world with them,
that's the best thing that I can do.
That's the way to give it back.
And so
that's me.
I'm trying to live my life like I'm running out of time.
MatPat, for course number two,
we have a fancy
Big Mac.
Now,
you said that fast food was always a big part of your diet.
You still love it, but we classed this up.
We actually did a cranberry thousand island,
some pickled, dried,
rehydrated cranberries and cherry vinegar.
We had some shredded frisee.
We actually mixed goat cheese with American and then reformed it to make like
a chev-merican cheese.
We have a ground
wagyu beef patty
served Big Mac style
with some pickles.
And then we have the swamp water.
Now, I believe the ratios are,
sixty percent Diet Coke, roughly thirty percent Sprite Zero,
and then a float of Doctor Pepper and root beer.
And then finally dad's ribs,
which is somehow the most complicated recipe
in all of this because there are about seven different sauces mixed together.
You got A1 steak sauce, cocktail sauce,
barbecue sauce,
and several others slathered on some baby back ribs.
This is my favorite show.
Can I say that this is, like,
the best collaboration I've ever done.
Let's go, Matt.
I'm so stoked, man.
No offense to Wired autocomplete interview,
that I filmed earlier today.
Great.
You are wonderful people.
I had a great time talking way too much about myself.
But
next time, serve up my dad's ribs.
This is incredible.
Guys,
we gotta delete the complete the sentence questions that we have for the
next round.
We're not going back there.
Do I get to hold a board and reveal?
That would be amazing.
I wanted to make my own soda for a while,
so if anyone from Coke wants to partner up with me
to create this
amazing beverage,
slap my face on it.
We'll make millions, my friends.
I'll invest fifty bucks right now.
Fifty bucks!
I will Venmo you.
That's it.
We got the first.
Ten percent equity, that's a deal.
Ten percent equity?
Pull out the phone, Venmo me.
I'm yes, anding you right now.
I'm going to Venmo you.
Right.
He's committed to this.
I'm covered in mayonnaise.
What's your Venmo?
What is my Venmo?
I don't know.
Let's see.
Oh, I have a Cash App.
That's what I'm thinking.
I don't have Venmo.
That's okay.
You want Zelle?
Oh, Ian Hecox.
We can send Ian Hecox fifty bucks.
We can just send Ian from Smosh fifty bucks.
Do it, do it, do it.
I'll say this is from MatPat.
Okay, what's this for?
Ten percent equity.
Just say ten percent equity.
He'll know what it means.
Okay, MatPat
for.
Should I request it or pay it?
Oh, pay it.
Sent.
All right.
Passive income.
There you go.
Look at that.
Did you expect that this would actually be a three way collaboration today between
you,
me, and Ian Hecox of Smosh fame?
We're gonna A B test him in the thumb and then him out of the thumb
and then see what works.
It should work less well.
And that's no offense to Ian Hecox.
That is just
from my experience doing
over a decade of analytics testing
on the website.
If you have too many faces in the thumbnail,
it becomes white noise to the audience and they go click.
Yeah.
It's not additive.
It's actually a subtractive effect.
Let's take a bite of a hamburger, shall we?
That's something.
Oh, that's a win.
Oh, my gosh.
I love that you recreated
the shape of the cheese with such a better cheese
With you, you know,
retiring,
stepping away from being the main host of the Theorists channels.
Yep.
How do you think that is going to materially affect your life?
The fundamental concept of Game Theory
was born out of just like,
my natural curiosity and my desire to find cool information and share it out
with people.
I mean,
you look at videos of me when I was in college,
right?
And I was that kid
who was standing at the bus stop
in the middle of the college quad
with my bright lime green suit and my pink polka dot tie,
listening to, like,
Never Gonna Give You Up, right?
Shameless.
Cause I, I don't know,
cause I have a very solid sense of who I am through all of this,
you know, through the highs and lows and
growth of the channel and this and that.
I don't think it's ever truly shaken the core
of who I am, you know?
And I think that's one of the reasons why
people have really rallied around the format,
right, and find comfort in what we do,
especially the people who were watching the show for me,
as a host.
Every Youtuber I've ever talked to has had a lot of very intense experiences with
members of their community at,
say,
meet and greets that all somehow end up in,
you saved my life.