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Clips from Nathan for You - Smokers Allowed (S03E03)

"- We lost a lot of our customers."
Nathan for You
"Our business went down by half."
Nathan for You
"- As a smoker herself, she's not happy."
Nathan for You
"smokers shouldn't be treated like second-class citizens."
Nathan for You
"- If anything, they should be treated better"
Nathan for You
"than the rest of us because they're gonna die so young."
Nathan for You
"- Or at least as well as the rest of them."
Nathan for You
"- Right, so you think people should be allowed"
Nathan for You
"to smoke in here? - Yeah."
Nathan for You
"- Okay."
Nathan for You
"- Right now, California state law"
Nathan for You
"prohibits smoking in a business unless it happens to be"
Nathan for You
"So if Ellen added a small audience section to her bar"
Nathan for You
"and then classified every patron"
Nathan for You
"the 1881 Club would become the only drinking hole in town"
Nathan for You
"- That could be possible."
Nathan for You
"I never thought about turning it around that way."
Nathan for You
"- Yeah, so who's to say a bar filled with smokers"
Nathan for You
"It's definitely an idea."
Nathan for You
"of bringing smokers back to her bar, so the next day,"
Nathan for You
"and then threw up a curtain to complete"
Nathan for You
"I also chose a title for the play,"
Nathan for You
""Smokers Allowed" that would conveniently double"
Nathan for You
"they're legally agreeing to be actors"
Nathan for You
"in a theatrical production."
Nathan for You
"I headed to some other bars in the area to get word spreading"
Nathan for You
"You got to smoke outside here, huh?"
Nathan for You
"Yeah, have you been to 1881 Club?"
Nathan for You
"- They allow you to smoke there."
Nathan for You
"- Yeah, a loophole."
Nathan for You
"- My promotional efforts seemed to be working..."
Nathan for You
"Because, within minutes, customers began arriving"
Nathan for You
"who were interested in seeing an exciting new play."
Nathan for You
"- Okay, you're in luck."
Nathan for You
"We have two front-row seats still available."
Nathan for You
"- Very cool."
Nathan for You
"- I knew an audience would be the final piece"
Nathan for You
"So with the women in their seats,"
Nathan for You
"it was time to begin the show."
Nathan for You
"I don't want to say too much"
Nathan for You
"'cause I don't want to spoil anything, but all I'll say is,"
Nathan for You
"I hope you enjoy this as much as we enjoyed making it."
Nathan for You
"So without further ado, "Smokers Allowed.""
Nathan for You
"Best of all, I had never seen Ellen look happier."
Nathan for You
"So after an hour and 20 minutes"
Nathan for You
"All right, so that's it."
Nathan for You
"I hope you enjoyed "Smokers Allowed.""
Nathan for You
"[applause]"
Nathan for You
"It was a successful evening,"
Nathan for You
"- It's so funny 'cause it's, like,"
Nathan for You
"so nothing in a way but incredibly profound."
Nathan for You
"It reminded me of Sam Shepard."
Nathan for You
"of the theater department at Glendale Community College"
Nathan for You
"with my play, "Smokers Allowed.""
Nathan for You
"because he looks lonely."
Nathan for You
"- Uh-huh."
Nathan for You
"- And I think that curiosity"
Nathan for You
"is what makes me want to continue to watch."
Nathan for You
"- Do you think this has theatrical merit?"
Nathan for You
"- Yeah, you know, this is "slice of life" theater,"
Nathan for You
"and for that aspect, I think it's important."
Nathan for You
"- Wow."
Nathan for You
"- It's reminiscent of playwrights"
Nathan for You
"- And even compared it to the work of who I assumed"
Nathan for You
"were famous playwrights."
Nathan for You
"So the next day, I returned to the 1881 Club"
Nathan for You
"to see if Ellen was interested in adjusting our approach."
Nathan for You
"I don't know what it was,"
Nathan for You
"but people really responded to this thing."
Nathan for You
"- I didn't get to pay much attention."
Nathan for You
"having people smoke in here."
Nathan for You
"- Right."
Nathan for You
"- But you could make millions with a hit play."
Nathan for You
"it's hard to know if the play would actually be a success,"
Nathan for You
"but I think we'd be idiots not to give it a shot."
Nathan for You
"- I was happy to have Ellen on board with my new plan,"
Nathan for You
"going over the footage from that night,"
Nathan for You
"so interesting."
Nathan for You
"At one table, there was a couple that shared a kiss,"
Nathan for You
"so I knew there was a romantic story line."
Nathan for You
"There was also a moment"
Nathan for You
"the perfect climactic action scene."
Nathan for You
"to re-create every moment exactly as it happened."
Nathan for You
"So I spent the afternoon compiling all the audio"
Nathan for You
"and then hired a team of professional transcribers"
Nathan for You
"was as comfortable as possible."
Nathan for You
"Want some apple juice?"
Nathan for You
"- No."
Nathan for You
"- Do you want some apple juice?"
Nathan for You
"- I'm fine, thank you. - Okay, sure."
Nathan for You
"and then blew up images from our footage,"
Nathan for You
"that they were able to embody the exact essence"
Nathan for You
"of the original person,"
Nathan for You
"I set up auditions with my top picks for later that week."
Nathan for You
"I thought it would be simplest if she could just play herself,"
Nathan for You
"so I paid her a visit to see if she was right for the part."
Nathan for You
"So you're reading for the role of female bar owner."
Nathan for You
"Do you want to just slate with your name first?"
Nathan for You
"- My name's Ellen."
Nathan for You
"- You did not just say that."
Nathan for You
"- Yes, he did."
Nathan for You
"- All right, here you go."
Nathan for You
"- Thank you."
Nathan for You
"I thought Ellen did a pretty good job,"
Nathan for You
"- Mm-hmm."
Nathan for You
"- All right, so whenever you're ready."
Nathan for You
"- Bud Light, please."
Nathan for You
"- That's great. You got the part."
Nathan for You
"- As more and more actors came in,"
Nathan for You
"the roles were filling up nicely,"
Nathan for You
"and I was especially blown away"
Nathan for You
"- You did not just say that."
Nathan for You
"- All right, here you go."
Nathan for You
"With every role now cast, I gave all my actors a week"
Nathan for You
"to familiarize themselves with the script"
Nathan for You
"for three days of intense group rehearsal"
Nathan for You
"over a holiday weekend."
Nathan for You
"[indistinct chatter]"
Nathan for You
"- It seemed like most of my actors"
Nathan for You
"I kept the pair behind to work with them one on one."
Nathan for You
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