2 Old 4 TikTok

Davis Burleson, Fashion and Beauty TikTok

Davis Burleson (@davisburleson2) joins 2Old4TikTok this week! Dena and Melissa start the show talking about New Year's resolutions. They get excited discussing how Cheerios (@cheerios) is on TikTok recreating one of their classic 1990’s commercials thanks to a TikTok creator’s (@corispruiell) idea. 

Davis Burleson Interview ~7:40

Davis tells us how he first got into TikTok earlier this year and how he’s grown his following to over 270k. We hear more about his Jeffree Star impression and his first year in college during the pandemic. Melissa gets riled up about bagels. We all bond over living in New York City during college, Trader Joes, Bagel Bob’s, and Newsbar Cafe. David tells us how he became real life friends with TikTok stars Audrey Peters (@theaudreypeters) and Serena Shahidi (@glamdemon2004). We hear about his experience as one of the TikTok creators invited to tour the Empire State Building. He tells us why his profile picture is of Jamie Lee Curtis and what type of content is on his For You Page. 

Fashion and Beauty TikTok ~34:30

We get into Fashion and Beauty TikTok, discussing some of our favorite accounts like Nabela Noor (@nabela), Brittany Xavier (@brittany.xavier), and Kate Bartlett (@kateebartlett). Melissa asks Davis to explain some Youtubers she doesn’t know: Tana Mongeau (@tanamongeaulol), Tati Westbrook, Jeffree Star, Emma Chamberlain (@emmachamberlain). He explains what happened with James Charles (@jamescharles), Tati Westbrook, Shane Dawson (@shanedawson), and Jeffree Star at Coachella. Davis tells us more of his favorite TikTok creators like Noah Miller (@nmillz1). 

Lightning Round: New Years Eve Edition ~50:10

We ask Davis for his NYE resolution, fashion predictions for 2021, hype house picks, thrift store advice, favorite TikTok trends, worst TikTok songs, and more. 

Find TikTok videos from all the creators we mention on our blog (2Old4TikTok.com) and Instagram (@2old4tiktokpod).

Bonus Episode: Rosie O’Donnell and Frankie Jonas on TikTok

Dena and Melissa couldn’t wait to do another round-up of the latest celebrities on TikTok. We pay special attention to Rosie O’Donnell (@rosie) and Frankie Jonas (@iamfrankiejonas). They both have taken to TikTok in a totally authentic way—responding to fans, talking directly to the camera, and testing out the TikTok waters with trends and editing features. We showcase Rosie’s TikTok journey so far, and compare it with our own, and humbly ask that she join the podcast one of these days. (Share this episode and help us get the message to her!) 

Frankie Jonas ~10:30

We describe Frankie’s content and fangirl over how funny he is. We share Haim’s song about the Bonus Jonas and explain the funny TikTok Frankie made to accompany it. He also parodies some audio from Kevin Jonas’ old reality TV show. Dena wants to try to meet him in New York City. We both want him on the podcast so we can get his recommendations on TikTok creators and find out what’s on his For You Page. 

Paul McCartney ~21:00

Paul McCartney recently joined TikTok too. His account is more likely owned by his team, promoting his new album. Rather than the Rosie and Frankie vibe, it’s more polished and meant for expanding his work into a new medium. Melissa shares her experience seeing Paul McCartney perform at Saturday Night Live. Dena brings up the Grammy performance from Kanye West, Rihanna, and Paul McCartney of 'FourFiveSeconds' where younger people apparently didn’t know who Paul was. So it comes full circle that he’s branching out to TikTok now. 

TikTok Trends: Parodying Facebook Moms, Weird Celebrity Moments, Stitch Questions, Snowman song ~ 28:00

Melissa speaks about the trend all over her FYP with creators parodying moms on Facebook. Dena talks about her latest FYP trends like asking people to tell us about their weirdest celebrity encounter or weirdest celebrity talk show moment. She brings up another Stitch trend asking what’s something wrong with your body that you haven’t fixed. And the Snowman song (by Sia) in one breath singing challenge. 

Find TikTok videos from all the creators we mention on our blog (2Old4TikTok.com) and Instagram (@2old4tiktokpod). 

Ester Steinberg, Mom TikTok

Ester Steinberg joins 2Old4TikTok this week! Dena and Melissa start the show wishing everyone a Merry Christmas from their favorite Jewish women. Dena, Melissa, and Ester all met back at NYU in the AEPhi sorority, so a Christmas episode seems fitting.  

Ester Steinberg Interview ~ 1:30 

As a comedian and new mom, Ester tells us how she’s been using social media during the pandemic and why TikTok scares her. She’s the poster child for millennial fear and confusion of TikTok, but by the end of this episode, we convince her to give it more of a try. We get her thoughts on putting kids on social media. She tells us how she got involved with Facebook communities for Jewish moms. And we gush over how much we love her realistic take on being a mom with her new podcast, “Stand Up Mom,” and new late night show on Hulu “Up Early Tonight.”

Mom TikTok ~ 28:00 

We discuss the Mom side of TikTok, highlighting accounts like @greyandmama and @sulheejessica. And trends like kids criticizing their mom’s food and listing your favorite baby names. Ester gives us her thoughts and spins up some ideas of her own for mom and baby content. 

Lightning Round: New Mom Edition ~ 60:00

We wrap up picking Ester’s brain on new mom life, with questions like: What’s the most difficult thing about being a new mom? What’s been the most surprising thing about having a baby? What do you know now that you wish you knew before having a baby? What’s the best part about having a baby during a pandemic? 

Find TikTok videos from all the creators we mention on our blog (2Old4TikTok.com) and Instagram (@2old4tiktokpod). 

Justin Bartels (@peach_club), Fitness TikTok

Description: Justin Bartels (@peach_club) joins 2Old4TikTok this week! Dena and Melissa start the show talking about Perez Hilton’s TikTok ban and his plea to the D’Amelio family. At 11:40 we begin our interview with Justin Bartels of @peach_club. We first hear how he got onto the app as the typical millennial during quarantine, but he soon realized the potential of creating a niche fitness account and growing a following. He tells us how the name Peach Club came about, the importance of strengthening the glutes, and how his background in marketing helps to shape his content. Justin explains how he’s built an engaged community, with the help of the book Superfans by Pat Flynn. Justin and Dena discuss Elite TikTok, Fit Tok, and the misinformation out there about health and fitness. Melissa talks to Justin about his experience with improv comedy. At 43:00 we get into Fitness TikTok, discussing some of our favorite nutritionists: @leanne_ward_nutrition, @happystronghealthy.rd, @chicago.dietitian. Dena brings up a pole workout she saw from Quan Bui (@quan.buii) on PopSugar Fitness. And Melissa points out one of her favorite dance instructors on TikTok @chronicdancer. Justin’s favorites include: Tim Thebodeau (@timmytimmadome), Petey (@peteyusa), Ben Palmer (@palmertrolls). The Lightning Round starts at 53:40, where we ask Justin fitness, TikTok, and mask workout advice. Find TikTok videos from all the creators we mention on our blog (2Old4TikTok.com) and Instagram (@2old4tiktokpod). 

TikTok Trends Wrap Up

Dena and Melissa start the show chatting about Dena’s new viral videos: 2020 TikTok highlights and the Kardashians compared to characters in The Crown. Dena tries to convince Melissa to watch The Crown, but she prefers The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. They discuss if Brooks Marks has a TikTok and creating one for “hospital smell.” Dena is sending Melissa a 2 Old 4 TikTok shirt, but neither of them know how to ship things. They once again rip apart the D’Amelios off-putting YouTube series and a video called “Coke & Mentos With Salem Ilese,” and discuss Dixie’s new song, “One Whole Day” featuring Wiz Khalifa. With Straight TikTok grievances out of the way, they move on to explain the latest TikTok trends: Grace Groski’s (@theofficialgracegroski) rendition of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” set to people sharing traumatic stories that just get worse and worse, Megan Thee Stallion’s “Girl’s in the Hood” as the background to women doing mundane things with #HotGirlShit, and Championxiii’s “Boo!” #ImAGhost dance trend using the Out of Body effect. Dena mentions one of her favorite creators Leenda Dong (@yoleendadong) doing a funny version of the trend. They discuss the #ThisOrThatChallenge and how celebrities like Gordon Ramsay (@gordonramsayofficial) and Bon Jovi (his son’s account is @hamptonwater) have gotten in on the trend with their kids. We explore even more celebrities coming to TikTok like Laura Dern and Rosie O’Donnell, we reminisce on her talk show days, noting how our For You pages are mostly clips from Tyra Banks’ and Wendy Williams’ talk shows. Melissa brings up one of her favorite jokes on TikTok lately, this idea of the “friend chatting with the uber driver while everyone else is drunk.” We showcase videos from @davisburleson2 and @realstephenhart. Special shout out to one of our favorite creators this week: CEO of guessing people’s heights on TikTok Kentai Haven (@kentai.haven). 

Seena Ghaznavi, Fraudster TikTok

Description: Seena Ghaznavi (@seenanow) joins 2Old4TikTok this week! Dena and Seena met through a mutual friend and instantly bonded over their love of TikTok. As co-host of his own podcast, Fraudsters (@fraudsterslpn) on the Last Podcast Network (@lastpodnetwork), Seena shares his perspective on TikTok as a new medium and its impact on the world at large. With a background in both comedy and law, we pick his brain to discuss what kind of comedy works on TikTok and what constitutes fraud on the app. We talk about Cookie Kawaii (@cookieekawaii) not getting credit for her song “Vibe,” how Julia Keith’s (@julia_keith_) mocking of Trump’s dance was taken out of context, Oprah’s fake TikTok account, the feud between John Robert Bell (@jorobe) and Miss Kadie aka That Vegan Teacher (@thatveganteacher), and of course the ultimate TikTok fraud, Trisha Paytas (@trishlikefish88). We come out of the bleak side of TikTok and back into the light with Seena telling us some of his favorite creators: @apoliticalteen, @tooturnttony, @nardwuar, @youngyosa, @itsalanr, @nankles, and @thejonathanmoss. We wrap up with a lightning round asking Seena about his favorite fraudsters, the worst thing people have said to him about TikTok, and his advice for podcasters. Find TikTok videos from all the creators we mention on this episode on our blog (2Old4TikTok.com) and Instagram (@2old4tiktokpod). 

Bonus Episode: Dinner With The D'Amelios

In this Emmy Award-worthy episode, Dena and Melissa pull out their NYU degrees and production experience to absolutely obliterate the controversial YouTube series, “Dinner With The D'Amelios.” After the episode with mystery guest James Charles went viral, the 2 Old 4 TikTokers got curious. They watched all 16 minutes of the episode, so you don’t have to. And they have a lot to say. The news stories covered how rude Dixie and Charli D'Amelio acted towards their personal chef, and how Charli seemed ungrateful for her almost 100 million TikTok followers. But anyone older than Gen Z shouldn’t be phased by this. We were all bratty teenagers too. What is unforgiveable is the fact that a professional production crew developed and produced this show. This is the most awkward, hard-to-watch 16 minutes of content ever made. All four members of the D'Amelio family do the opposite of pop on camera. The conversation is stilted and uninteresting. James Charles CARRIES this entire episode (which honestly, is not saying much). He has charisma, a sense of humor, and a basic understanding of how to act on camera. We brief you on the Trisha Paytas (@trishlikefish88) drama and listen to the TikTok response from James (@jamescharles). Dena points out the dancing selfies and tongue-out trends on TikTok just DO NOT translate to actual episodic content. We compare “Dinner With The D'Amelios” to other reality TV shows like “The Real Housewives of Potomac” and “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.” We get all philosophical about the state of young female celebrities and reality TV, noting the impact of Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, and the Kardashians. Dena brings up The New York Times article By Taylor Lorenz, Peter Eavis and Matt Phillips, “TikTok Mansions Are Publicly Traded Now.” And we hear a breakdown from @esqthetic on TikTok. We also cite the Bloomberg article by Katharine Gemmell, “Woman Bathing In Milk Underscores Appeal of ‘TikTok Houses.’” We usually stay far away from Straight TikTok, but no one could escape the D'Amelio drama this week. We had to bring the 2 Old 4 TikTok perspective to the conversation. What’s your take? DM us on Instagram at 2Old4TikTokPod or add your comments to our blog 2Old4TikTok.com. 

Michael Burke, Gay TikTok

Michael Burke (@dmichaelburke) joins the show this week! Dena shares her emotional week on TikTok as one of her favorite grandmas, Virginia Rose Tashjian (account run by her grandson @eddiepdoyle), passed away. We discuss the firing from Sherman Williams of famous TikTok paint mixer Tony Piloseno (@tonesterpaints). Then, we get to our hilarious interview with comedian Michael Burke. We find out how long he’s been doing improv and sketch comedy, how Nick Kroll inspired him to perform, and why he can do a New York accent so well. We all agree Gay TikTok is the best side of TikTok. Some of our favorite accounts are: Chris Olsen (@olsennchris), Ian Paget (@ianpaget_), The Coyle Twins (@coyletwins), Jimmy Fowlie (@jimmyfowlie), Minnie and Tink (@MinnieAndTink), and Pierre Boo (@itspierreboo). We also discuss the New York Times article by Alex Hawgood, “Everyone is Gay on TikTok.” Like Dena, Michael is also into Grandma TikTok. Some of their favorite TikTok grandmas are: Grandma Droniak (@grandma_droniak) and Nonna Piaa (@nonnapiaa). We shout out two of Michael’s TikTok friends and fellow comedians Karen Cassady (@karencassssss) and Erika Priscilla (@erikaxpriscilla). We end with a lightning round of Michael’s holiday faves, like ranking Christmas songs from Ariana Grande, Mariah Carey, and NSYNC. Including a special mention of Harry Styles and Shia LaBeouf.

Mrs. Space Cadet, Running TikTok

Erin Azar, AKA Mrs. Space Cadet (@mrs.space.cadet), joins the show this week! Dena and Melissa start the show chatting about TikTok's Ratatouille Musical, featuring the work of @e_jaccs, @danieljmertzlufft, and so many more. Dena asks the pressing question on every TikTokers mind: Have you ever seen two pretty best friends? Featuring our favorite videos from @alxzhg and @debraandhilda1952. Then, we get to our interview with Mrs. Space Cadet and find out how she got started on TikTok, what motivated her to train for a marathon, and where the name “Mrs. Space Cadet” comes from. She tells us about her catch phrases like “tree tunnel vibes” and “frick yeah!” Then we move on to Running TikTok. Erin reveals some of her favorite fitness accounts and runners on TikTok like @whatrunsyou, @dana_giordano, @teamusa, @jordanmcmeans, @lotsamiles, @theslowrunningclub, @crazymotherrunner, @thehealthcurator. Outside of running content, Erin indulges in some classic TikTok content like people farting and hurting themselves. Her favorite accounts are @mrhamilton, @tooturnttony, @what_about_bunny, @averagefashionblogger, @christines_snaps, @dope_kitchen, @georgia_beth_fitness, @brittany_broski, @hankgreen1, @drleslie, @balancedanesthesia. Check out our blog (2old4tiktok.com) to view videos from all these creators! 

Cathy Pedrayes, Safety TikTok

Cathy Pedrayes (@cathypedrayes) joins the show this week! Dena and Melissa start the show chatting about TikTok's reaction to the Four Seasons Total Landscaping incident and KellyAnne Conway’s old standup routine. Then, we get to our interview with Cathy and find out how she got started on TikTok. We find out she’s studied journalism, science, cooking, and tested out each niche before settling on her current TikTok content. She researches every single tip and piece of advice before releasing new content. For the Safety side of TikTok, we discuss @budget_jasonstatham’s audio of a fake phone call with your dad for when you feel uncomfortable in a car. And @sxgebender teaches self-defense with jiu jitsu. @Dutchintheusa is one of our favorites for more intense safety tips, like getting yourself out of zipties. Cathy tells us about some of her favorite creators, like Lauren Ferree (@relauren) who focuses on sustainability TikToks, and Lucy Hamilton’s (@lucyhamilton_athome) mesmerizing design and decor content. We end with a lightning round of safety tips, including specifics for Gen Z and millennials.