Weird Kids

Welcome to the world of Weird Kids! Join Ashley Johnson and Taliesin Jaffe as they discuss growing up as child actors in Hollywood, and how they learned to re-discover a passion for storytelling as adults. They'll also take a walk down memory lane and show you all some of the comical commercials they starred in as children!

From Care Bears to Polly Pocket; Ashley Johnson and Taliesin Jaffe talk toys that hit every Millennial’s nostalgia nerve. Of course this is through the lens of Hollywood Christmas parties where one could win entire toy runs in carnival games or get gifted all of the sci-fi Japanese toys bought for your character's space station bedroom.

Ashley Johnson and Taliesin Jaffe entone about embalming, epitaphs, and unearthly things in this episode about death. To lighten the mood, they “touch grass"" by taking a field trip to “Vulture Culture Oddities,” a macabre shop in Burbank for taxidermy and other memento mori owned by a friend of Taliesin.

Come get cozy with Taliesin Jaffe and Ashley Johnson as they discuss everything from comfy socks to not sleeping because of persistent thoughts. Of course a sleepover show wouldn’t be complete without reading fortunes on Taliesin’s over-the-top “Ouija like” Ka Bala séance game.

It’s a timewarp of an episode here at Weird Kids as Ashley Johnson and Taliesin Jaffe catch up after the holidays. These proud maximalists celebrate their love of meaningful possessions as Taliesin discusses his treasured great-grandmother's portrait (that was once fished out of the Thames river) and Ashley has a ""share and tell"" featuring her swag bag from the grand opening of Disneyland's Indiana Jones ride.

Taliesin Jaffe and Ashley Johnson stay in their PJs and return to simpler times with this ode to Saturday morning cartoons. Name drops abound when these shows aren't just what you woke up to, but where you worked.

Taliesin Jaffe takes a look back with Ashley Johnson to reminisce about the Punk and Goth scenes of Los Angeles in the 80’s and 90’s. From dead clowns on display and shoelace codes to noise rooms and stompy boot music, join the Weird Kids as they dive into the lost privacy of counterculture youthhood.

Ashley Johnson and Taliesin Jaffe love trains! They love miniature toy train sets that turn an entire room into a model town. They love large rideable trains, like the ones at the “Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad Museum” that they frequent. They love full-size trains and the trips they’ve taken in them in Scotland and Machu Picchu.

Ashley Johnson and Taliesin Jaffe share old mementos and show new toys. Taliesin brings to the table the string toys he played with back before the dawn of time; while Ashley reminisces about her filming history at Pinewood Studios.

Ashley Johnson and Taliesin Jaffe remember the world before the world wide web and then login to the early days of the future. Taliesin, our resident ancient one, of course was an early adopter; using Bulletin Board Systems and Newsgroups to find raves. Ashley, on the other hand, discovered the internet through AOL CDs and proceeded to do what we all did: catfish via chatroom.

Ashley Johnson and Taliesin Jaffe are all over the place, both literally and figuratively, talking about their recent trips and expounding on a litany of topics. Taliesin reminisces on lost friends, death museums and his hometown: Disneyland. Ashley shows a tape from her childhood where she competed on the game show “Star Kid Challenge” at Universal Studios.

Ashley Johnson and Taliesin Jaffe are off to take a field trip to The Museum of Jurassic Technology in Culver City, California. In alignment with our Weird Kids modus operandi, this collection is one part “museum”, two parts “banal whimsy”, and three parts “no cameras allowed”; a gallery that you have to see for yourself. This perfect place to inspire conversations about art and creativity is everything our hosts need to reminisce about all of their wonderfully weird histories.