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Is it top secret?
It's not.
I mean, it's a little bit top secret, but I'll let you in on the secret.
You do some pretty bonker balls, courageous stuff when you're breaking world records.
What do I do?
I'd flick it up and then catch it like a seal.
Okay.
Okay.
Welcome to Two What's and a Wow!
People Who Wow Edition!
With your host, Mindy!
And featuring today's special guest, David Rush!
Hello and welcome to two what's in a wow people who wow edition.
The getting to know you game show that separates the wows from the what's of some of the world's most interesting people.
And today's guest is no exception.
He comes to us from Idaho, is a national park enthusiast, has a knack for for guessing the prices in grocery stores, is the father of three and knows a thing or two about world records.
Please welcome the one, the only world record-breaking David Rush.
Thanks for having me.
David, we are so excited to talk to you today.
But before we get into the game where we're guessing your wows from your whats, I got to ask you have a knack for guessing grocery store prices?
So when I was a kid probably, you know kindergarten, first grade, second grade my mom would take us grocery shopping.
And what I would do is she to practice her math.
I would add up the cost of all of the groceries we were putting in the cart.
And then I would guess the tax.
And then I'd be to say, hey, today, I think it's going to be $86.17.
And oftentimes I would be within a dollar.
So back when you were a kid, back before cell phones and video games, this is how you got your kicks.
Oh, we still had video games, but no cell phones.
And yes, I would entertain myself in the store.
And how are you doing this today?
Pretty good.
I might have been better as a kid because I was more focused.
Now I'm like trying to chase three kids around while putting stuff in my cart.
So I'm sometimes a little surprised when I get to the checkout.
That's right.
You are a father of three.
What do they think of your world record breaking success?
Are they impressed by this or is this just like what dads do?
It's...
It's more what dad does.
Sometimes they're a little bit impressed when they're talking about with their friends.
Their friends might get super excited about it.
And then they'll be like, oh, yeah, my dad does this and this and this.
But if it's just me at home practicing or breaking a world record attempt, they'll often go find their video games or go play football outside, because they're around it so often.
It's not novel for them.
Wow.
All right, well, we're gonna get into all of this here in a second.
I wanna know about what you were like as a kid.
I wanna know how you got to be like this.
But before we start the game, I'm gonna explain to our viewers and our listeners how this game works.
So we're going to play three rounds of two What's in a Wow today.
And in each round, David Rush is going to give us three weird interesting, unusual facts about himself.
And we have to try to guess which one is the one true wow.
Now remember, there's only one wow.
The other two are just a couple of made up wow.
All right.
You ready to play, David?
Let's play.
And if we guess correctly, we get a point.
If we guess incorrectly, we must do a redonkulous physical challenge.
All right.
Here we go.
So, David...
First theme for this first round, we are going to do childhood memories.
So David, give us three weird interesting, unusual childhood memories and we're going to try to guess which one is the one true, wow?
Okay, which of these is a true memory from my childhood?
Is it A, performing with my choir at an outdoor theater in Colorado?
Or is it B, my brother and I running away from a cougar while at my grandparents' place?
Or is it C getting my first taste of breaking records as a teen, while riding the Tower of Terror 22 times in one day?
Hmm.
Wait, let me think here.
Hey, Reggie, can we get some thinking music here?
Thank you.
Okay, let me think.
So A performing at your choir at an outdoor theater in Colorado sounds like a pretty typical childhood memory.
Is it B?
Running away from a cougar while visiting your grandparents?
Don't know how they would let that happen.
Or c, getting a taste of your of breaking records by uh, riding the tower of terror 22 times as a teenager?
I am going to guess.
Um okay, time is up.
David rush, Is your one true, wow B?
Running away from a cougar while visiting your grandparents?
You have a true memory at that point, yes.
Is that the real one?
So let's caveat that just a little bit.
So there was a cougar at my grandparents' place.
And so my cousin, my brother and I were out whittling spears talking about how we were gonna take on this cougar with our pocket knives.
And so the three of us on the side of the hill, standing next to a big rock, carving the spears.
And as we're carving these spears, I have this vivid memory and this is clear here vivid memory of that cougar coming over the crest of the hill, coming at us.
And at this point, I absolutely panic.
The limbic system takes over.
All of the vibrato I had up taking on this cougar with the spear is completely gone.
I am frozen in my tracks, absolutely terrified.
And this memory is like one of the most vivid memories of my childhood.
And it's coming closer and closer and closer.
I'm frozen and I'm about to die.
And then my brother and my cousin start laughing.
And I'm like, why are you laughing?
We're about to die.
And then it came within 10 feet of us.
And that cougar turned into a yellow lab.
You're telling us it was a dog the whole time?
But my memory remembers a cougar half the time and then it turned into a new dog.
Yes.
Your imagination was just simply too good.
Yep.
And there was a cougar on my grandparents' property.
And so put it all together, that memory is still vivid.
Yes.
Do you think that that experience wiped out any fear you could possibly have?
Because you do some pretty bonker balls, courageous stuff when you're breaking world records.
Yeah, no, I am scared of many things.
And what I do, if I want to overcome a fear, I face that fear.
And actually the idea of riding the tower of 22 times in a row would be more scary to me as a teenager than that cougar, because I absolutely hated the feeling of weightlessness.
Really terrifying things i can imagine.
I wrote it once at a 14 year old and i did not have that experience again until i was in college, where i was weightless and and over time i've come to enjoy that feeling and now my nine-year-old.
We actually did ride, you know, a 62 mile an hour triple inversion roller coaster 14 times in a row.
Uh, just this last year.
How many times did you barf in those 14 times that you wrote it?
You know, I did get a little bit queasy.
I think on the 11th time we went on it in a row.
All right.
Round two.
Round two, David Rush, is all about challenges that you have faced in your life.
Are you ready for round two?
I am, yes.
Let's do it.
So which of these is a true wow about a challenge I faced?
Is it A, I was rejected from my dream college three times before getting in?
Is it B, I lost out on a million dollar prize three times?
Or is it C, I've broken five ribs while attempting to break different Guinness World Records titles?
Ooh, okay.
All right, let's get some thinking music up here.
So one of these is you were rejected from your dream college three times.
I wonder what you would even go to college for to become a serial record breaker.
You lost out on a million dollars more than once.
Or C, you've broken five ribs while attempting to break different world records.
I feel like you would stop if that was starting to happen.
I am going to guess...
Okay, time is up.
I'm going to guess.
The answer is A. You were rejected from your dream college three times.
That is incorrect.
I got into MIT on my very first time where I got my electrical engineering degree.
Wait, electrical engineering?
Yes.
MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology?
We talk about that all the time on Wow in the World.
I thought you were a world record breaker.
I thought that was your job.
Yeah, my full-time job is in tech.
I'm a product manager figuring out what new technology do we want to bring out into the world.
And so I visit with customers and partners in sale to figure out what to build.
And breaking world records has always been a side gig for me.
It's to show students that if you set your mind to a goal, Believe in yourself and pursue it with a passion.
You can accomplish virtually anything with no hard upper limit.
And I didn't start breaking world records until I was 30 years old.
And at that point, what changed?
It wasn't anything physically.
It was my mindset and the thought that I can do this and I will do this, and pursuing my goals with grit and a growth mindset.
So this is something that you just do for fun, breaking world records.
This is not your job.
I mean, it is not my job, and there's different types of fun.
There's fun fun, and then there's not fun in the moment, but fun that I accomplished it afterwards.
Ah.
All right.
So it's not that instant gratification, but it comes later, knowing that you have pursued something that you put your mind to.
Yeah, especially like yesterday, I did one of the top 10 workouts of my life, prepping for a record.
And I ran 16 miles carrying a 35 pound pack.
And today my legs are absolutely in pain.
It was no fun while I was doing it, but I am pushing my body to the limit because I know that when I break this world record it is going to be satisfying.
Wait, wait.
You did this because you chose to do this?
Was there a bear chasing you?
No, if there was a bear chasing me out, I'd drop the 35-pound back and run a little faster.
So you chose to do this to yourself?
Yes, because I'm training to break this Guinness World Records title.
Can you tell us what the title is that you're trying to break with this one?
The one I'm trying to break right now.
Is it Top Secret?
It's not.
I mean, it's a little bit Top Secret, but I'll let you in on the secret here.
The record is for the most t-shirts worn for a marathon.
And there is an existing record.
It currently stands at 100 t-shirts and you have to put them on before the marathon starts.
Keep all 100 of them on for the entire marathon and finish in under six hours.
Well, I got that answer incorrect, so that means I must do a redonkulous physical challenge.
Can we get the challenge wheel up here?
What's it gonna be?
What's it gonna be?
Repair a broken printer, eat pocket sand, give a firm handshake, take a ride on Reggie.
All right, I must balance a cashew on my nose and then catch it in my mouth.
Any advice?
Have you ever done something like this?
I have, yeah.
I've gotten balancing records and nut records.
Oh, is there anything I should do with this little cashew nut?
Do you have any other suggestions?
I would put the loop this way across the nose so it balances without actually having to balance balance.
What?
Okay.
All right.
Okay, here we go.
Okay, like this?
Yeah, right at the top.
All right, I got it on there.
Okay, now I got to try to get it in my mouth.
What do I do?
I'd flick it up and then catch it like a seal.
Okay.
Okay.
I was like, did you catch her?
Did it fall?
I couldn't tell.
One more time.
One more time.
Okay.
Flick it up.
Oh, okay.
Okay.
One more time.
Got the cashew on the bridge of my nose.
And... All right.
That's going to take a little bit of work.
All right.
Which one is the one true wow?
I have lost out on a million dollar prize three times.
The answer is B?
Yes.
You've lost out on a million dollars more than three times?
Not more than three times, exactly three times.
Or three times.
Tell us what happened.
So I was on America's Got Talent twice as a contestant.
And if you win America's Got Talent, it comes with a million dollar prize.
Yeah.
And I got yeses from Simon.
I got yes from Howie.
Unfortunately, Sofia Vergara was not impressed with what my next act was going to be.
And so I got voted off that time. and I lost out on the million dollar prize.
They brought me back a couple years later, didn't get through on that one either, and so I lost out on the million dollars.
And then the third time was actually where I was the favorite.
It was on a Fox game show called 99 to Beat and Ken Jeong called me the upset of the season when I went out in episode seven.
But I went out on a surprise challenge and lost out on the million dollar prize.
Okay, so what was that final challenge?
The final challenge was bouncing a pencil into a cup.
And I break world records of bouncing stuff into cups and you have to bounce it off the eraser.
But the trick was they had a TV rule in there where the pencil must rotate a minimum of 180 degrees before landing in the cup.
And when that happens, my mind goes, okay, cup here, pencil here.
You have to rotate the tip away to bounce it in.
That makes it a hundred times harder.
But if Guinness has a rule like that, you have to follow that rule.
Otherwise it's disqualified.
Unfortunately, following that rule made it a hundred times harder.
And I know this because after I got eliminated, lost out on the million dollars, I went back and I broke the Guinness World Records title for the fastest time to bounce 10 pencils into 10 cups.
And I can do it in under seven seconds now, which would mean I could bounce a pencil into every single cup.
Before anybody bounced a single pencil into one cup.
And you do it for free.
Yes.
For a Guinness World Records title.
Are you going to go back?
Are you going to try to go for that million dollars?
Are you giving up?
I would love to if they want to invite me back on the show.
You know what, David Rush?
Maybe you could win a Guinness World Record for the most times of losing out on a million dollars.
That's possible.
Definitely don't want to go after that record.
Two What's in a While will be right back after this ad break.
That's it, now back to the show.
All right.
All right.
Round three.
David Rush.
Round three.
Our final round is all about world records.
Give us three weird interesting, unusual facts about yourself involving world records and we are going to try to guess your one.
True, wow?
Which of these four is not a true world record I've broken?
Is it A, I landed on the smallest target ever while base jumping?
Or is it B, I had the longest time balancing a running chainsaw on my chin?
Or is it C, I sliced the most kiwis with a samurai sword while standing on a Swiss exercise ball?
Or is it D, I took the most selfies in three minutes with different people?
Okay, that is four.
So three of these are what?
One of them is a wow?
Three of these are wows.
One of them is one I did not do.
One of them is a what?
Oh, gosh.
Okay.
One of these is one you did not do.
I am going to guess that the... All right.
Thinking music.
Thank you very much.
Thinking music.
Okay.
Number one, you landed on the smallest target ever while base jumping.
Okay.
Number two, you had the longest time balancing a chainsaw on your chin.
Who would do a thing like that?
And number three, I sliced the most kiwis with a samurai sword on a Swiss ball and taking the most selfies in three minutes.
I think that...
That's the one you did not do.
That is incorrect.
What?
I have broken that one multiple times.
How many selfies in three minutes?
What's your current record?
So I did it.
The first time I was successful was at my MIT 10-year reunion.
I think I got 172 selfies in three minutes.
And I currently have one under review at over 200 selfies with different people in three minutes.
Oh, your classmates must have loved you.
So you're the guy at your own reunion just taking selfies of yourself.
Were other people in them?
Oh, yes.
They've got to be with different people.
Yeah, so it was all my different classmates that I had to take those pictures with.
That's a lot of selfies.
Okay, so that... Okay, then I'm going to guess that the one that's not true is...
B, the longest time balancing a chainsaw on your chin.
That one is- That seems dangerous.
Also a record I currently hold.
Both with the non-running and the running chainsaw.
Okay, then I'm going to guess that... C?
Is C the one you did not do?
Slicing the most kiwis with a samurai knife while standing on a Swiss ball?
That one I have also done multiple times.
What?
Tell us more.
So what is this?
A Swiss exercise balls.
Those big exercise balls are like, you know, 36 inches.
I stand atop that.
Yeah.
So balancing on that thing, that's the first hardest risk.
So I'm just, I got to practice that, get stable on it.
I can't even sit And then I get a samurai sword that has to be razor sharp.
And then someone has to toss me kiwis.
And I slice those kiwis with the samurai sword while standing atop that Swiss exercise ball.
That's nice.
Okay.
So that means the one you did not do was land on the smallest target ever while base jumping.
And that is because I consider that risky.
All right.
Well, I got that wrong three out of the four times.
So I am going to have to do a redonkulous physical challenge now.
Let's see here.
Could we get our challenge board up here?
Our challenge wheel?
What's it going to be?
Give a firm handshake.
Eat a single grape.
Perform a kazoo solo, repair a broken printer.
Eat pocket sand.
Take a confetti shower.
Huh?
I have to go meet with my chainsaw.
I'll be right back.
Hang on a second.
I'll be right back.
Just bear with me here.
I'll be just a second.
I'm just going to just rub it on my chainsaw here.
And I'm just going to not go near it.
I'm just going to look at it.
And that's it.
I'm back.
Redonkulous physical challenge achieved.
I did not do anything with that chainsaw because that would be dangerous.
All right.
So that's it for our three rounds of two what's in a wow.
And we are going to end with one quick lightning round here.
Okay, so the way this works is i am just going to ask you a couple of would you rather questions, and all you have to do is answer the first thing that comes to mind.
These are would you rather questions regarding what you would do for a world record.
Are you ready?
Got it david rush, here we go.
Would you rather break a world record?
Building something or breaking something?
Breaking something, balancing or juggling, juggling.
Eating contest or throwing contest?
Throwing, throwing.
Going for speed or going for distance?
Speed.
All right.
Building glass towers or deck of card towers?
Deck of card.
Drinking orange juice or drinking lemon juice?
Orange juice.
Being able to see or being able to hear.
See.
Throwing chopsticks or throwing Nerf balls.
Chopsticks.
Making paper airplanes or paper animals.
Paper airplanes.
Breaking a world record alone or with a team.
With a team.
All right.
Tell us about that.
Tell me about a record that you broke with a team.
Have you ever broken one with your whole family before?
We have one under review right now, which is the fastest time to clear a Hungry, Hungry Hippos board team of four.
And so it was my wife and I and our two boys, and we had to clear the 20 balls off that Hungry, Hungry Hippos board in sub eight seconds.
And I think we got it in under three seconds.
How many Hungry Hungry Hippos boards did you break smashing them in this process?
We have two boards at home because one of them did break, yes.
All right.
Well David, before we go, I wanted you to give our listeners, give our viewers, a little getting to know you challenge that they could maybe do with some friends to get to know them a little bit better.
We've had so much fun getting to know you today.
Yes, well, thank you.
And I'm a true believer that if you set your mind to goal, believe in yourself and pursue it with a passion, you can become better at anything, whether it become better at math, better at engineering, better at being a better friend, a better listener, or breaking your own world record.
And so what I want to challenge you kids to do is go out and find a record you can break yourself.
And there's ones you can do with your friends as well.
And Guinness recently created a category called the under 16 category.
So if you're daunted by Hey, I don't want to go against David record breaker rush, find a record in the under 16 category, grab a friend, practice it and try to break it yourself.
David, thank you so much for joining us for two What's in a Wow People Who Wow edition.
We're going to let you get back to your record-breaking ways.
And did you know that our podcast Wow in the World is attempting to be the record title holder for the most submissions to a fact hotline?
That's true.
Over the last nine years, our fans have called in to share wow facts with us.
And so far, we have over 13,000 kids who have called in.
So if you want to be a part of this record-breaking attempt, all you've got to do is call us at 1-888-7-WOW-WOW with a fact that wows you.
That's all the time we have for today.
A big, big thanks to all of you for playing and listening and for our very special guest, David Rush, for joining us.
David, until next time, keep on wowing.
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This helps us to deliver more wows to you, and it helps other curious kids and their grown-ups to find us too.
Before we get into the credits for today's episode, we want to give some special shout outs and say a huge thank you to some of the Wowzers whose families are powering the Wow this year.
We broke the names up into two batches and here is our second batch of names.
We are so grateful for your support.
Dekayla from California, Avani and Avir also from California, Martin and Matias from Utah, Penny James and Anna Louise from North Carolina, Lennox and Langston from Arkansas.
Fiona, Bram and Callum from Wisconsin.
Samuel and Victoria from Louisiana.
Aaron and Eden from California.
Milos from California.
Jonah and Elijah from New Jersey.
Naya, Nuran, Sumitra, and Bivas from New York.
Noah, Hudson, and Ella from Pennsylvania.
Evan and Emma from North Carolina.
Wesley from Virginia.
Ashkan and Kayvon from New Mexico.
Lily and James from Georgia.
Beckett, Harper, Tim and Annie from Texas.
Josiah, Elijah and Dad from Texas.
Ellie and Daniel from Michigan.
Alex and Eli from Colorado.
Ethan and Eli from Wisconsin, Kira and Corinne from Illinois, Jack and Nick from Florida Odin, Lyra and Newton from California, Stella and Molly from Illinois.
Carolyn and Theo from Missouri.
Owen and Riley from Canada.
Clark and Finley from Virginia.
Ani and Mia from Massachusetts.
Orly and Beckon from California.
Theo and Mira from Virginia.
Sebastian and Oliver from Michigan.
Charlotte and Dean from New York.
Campbell from Massachusetts.
Nate and Sophie from Hawaii.
Webby and a belated happy birthday to Sanderling from Gilly and Ranger.
From the bottom of our hearts.
And the tops of our brains.
Thank you.
Thanks for watching full video.
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Two.
What's in a Wow People Who Wow Edition was created by Meredith Halpern-Ranzer, Guy Raz and me, Mindy Thomas, and is executive produced by Steph Sosa.
Video editing is by Thomas Van Kalken, with sound production and design by Jed Anderson, Tyler Thull and Henry Moskal.
Special thanks to more people who wow, including Anna Zagorski, Marianne Fernsler, Kristen Yang Twee, Mack Allie Paxima, Linda Rothenberg and all of the other Tinkerers at Tinkercast HQ.
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Meet us back here every Friday for more episodes of two What's in a Wow People Who Wow edition.
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