-♪ (WHIMSICAL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -(CHARLIE COOING)
NATHAN FIELDER: What's his real name again?
-Charlie. -NATHAN: Charlie, Charlie right.
Hi, Charlie.
Oh, she's putting a hat on him. She's putting a hat.
We have to put on a hat,
we have to put on a hat, it's not gonna match.
Do you have a hat? Put him in the hat.
-There we go. -(CHARLIE WHIMPERS)
-Oh, it's just a... -(CHARLIE CRIES)
It's just a hat, you're okay.
NATHAN: Okay. Wait till she clears the room.
Okay, go, she's clear. Go, go, go, now, now, now.
-Now. -♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(DOOR CLOSING)
And we're out.
-Hi. (CHUCKLES) Yeah. -Okay. Oh, you are a sweetheart.
All right, thank you everyone. Great work.
♪ (MUSIC SWELLS, CONCLUDES) ♪
♪ (SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
NATHAN: Most people say that nothing can prepare you
for becoming a parent.
But most people don't have the resources
to hire dozens of child actors
to create around the clock simulation of parenthood.
To raise a child from zero to 18 over the course of two months
before deciding if you want to have one yourself.
That's the rehearsal I'm giving Angela,
a 44-year-old woman
who has chronically put off having children
because the circumstances have never been quite right.
I'd like it' to happen in-- within the right context.
Which is what?
In a marriage, with a man. (CHUCKLES)
-Okay. -Yeah.
-Yeah, that makes sense. -With the love of my life.
And is-- Do you have that person in your life
right now or...
-No, I don't. -Okay.
(CLICKS TONGUE) Yeah.
-♪ (SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -NATHAN: My challenge
was simulating the future life circumstances
she envisioned for herself if she were to become a mother.
Are you seeing anyone you like?
-(CLICKS TONGUE) No. -NATHAN: What about him?
Just a little out of shape, maybe.
NATHAN: Mm-hmm. What about him?
-His outfit, it's too serious. -NATHAN: Uh-huh.
And Angela was very particular.
I think I'll bring this air purifier too.
NATHAN: So we had to relocate her from her studio apartment
to a rented house in rural Oregon
because she didn't want to raise a kid in the city.
We'd probably have a house with a couple of acres,
with food and animals. We'd probably be online,
but we'd also have access to go off the grid
because infant skulls have not fully formed,
so they absorb wireless radiation
a lot more than we do into their brains.
-Oh, okay. -ANGELA: Yeah.
NATHAN: But her fears made sense to me.
It's scary to imagine raising a child when you always know
that a single misstep on your part
could ruin their entire life.
Angela's rehearsal began with a simulated adoption
just like she envisioned.
Where I had the baby's real mother give him away.
-ANGELA: Hi. -Yeah. This is for the best.
He's better off with you than with me, so...
Thank you.
NATHAN: Maybe you can elaborate a bit
on why you're not suited to be a mom.
Yeah, I'm in school full time and...
-ANGELA: Yeah. -...he just needs
-a complete home, so... -I can give him that.
NATHAN: I tried to make every detail of the experience
as realistic as possible.
Is this, um...
something you would normally, like, hand off or anything,
-this situation? -No-- I've never done that,
-I don't think. (CHUCKLES) -Oh, okay.
NATHAN: Angela already had a name in mind for her baby.
I think I've decided on Adam.
-(GASPS) He likes it. (CHUCKLES) -Why Adam, what...
I knew a guy named Adam and he was, you know...
It's just-- It's-- Adam is a strong name.
-Like, Adam. -Adam?
-Yeah. -Okay, yeah.
NATHAN: Each week Adam will grow three years, and for each age
multiple child actors will be needed
in order to comply with Oregon state labor laws
that limit the number of hours a child can work.
With babies capped at four hours
it requires multiple switches each day,
which I tried to make as seamless as possible
to keep the illusion of raising
a single child intact for Angela.
But just as important as her experience
was the well-being of the babies.
Ask them about aromatherapy. Like, if they're okay with...
-(BABY COOING) -ANGELA: ...lavender...
-Okay. ...on the soles of the feet.
Lavender on the soles of the feet?
Mm-hmm, the oil.
NATHAN: I had to keep track of everything she wanted to do
with these kids and get the real parents' consent.
Lavender oil on soles of feet to calm them.
Sure, she can give it a shot if she wants.
NATHAN: Okay. Lavender oil okay.
But the most important element of Angela's future life
as a mother was still missing, a man by her side.
Prior to the start of her rehearsal,
I'd encouraged her to meet up
with some of her dating app matches
to see if she could find someone
with the qualities she was looking for
in a co-parent.
I mean, I'm not saying that all extra-biblical texts
are bad 'cause definitely like the Dead Sea Scrolls or...
-No. -The Apocrypha.
But a lot of believers
of various denominations don't really read the Bible
and they don't really know what it says.
-Mm-hmm. -ANGELA: So, that can be problematic
because then people start going by their opinions and...
-Yeah. -Yeah, because...
(CLICKS TONGUE)
-ANGELA: Yeah, so... -Yeah.
ANGELA: Yeah.
NATHAN: For a while it seemed like
she would never find a connection.
I was just wondering, what scares you the most?
-In life. -Well...
first off, it's eels.
NATHAN: Until,
-she met a guy named Robin. -♪ (SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Angela? Good to meet you, how's your day?
ANGELA: Nice to meet you. It's going crazy.
-ROBIN: All right. It's crazy? -(CHUCKLES)
No, it's good, it's fabulous.
-Oh, yeah? -Yeah.
Yeah, same here.
-ANGELA: Oh, really? -Absolutely blessed.
-It's a very good day. -Very blessed.
-I agree with that. -ROBIN: Yes.
This is the Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:19 through 13
with a heartbeat monitor.
-Nice. -You know, ask the Father,
to give me everything I need every day,
-take care of me. -ANGELA: Yeah.
I was like standing on the corner
drinking forties...
-ROBIN: Mm. -...you know, smoking weed.
And, um, so God like, pursued me though.
(CLICKS TONGUE) I made a few bad decisions and ended up
totaling my Scion TC at 100 miles an hour.
-Oh, wow! -ROBIN: Yeah.
I found myself upright.
-Whoa. -Uh, as miracle as that is, so...
-ANGELA: That's a testimony. -Yeah.
-ROBIN: Amen. -Amen.
(BOTH LAUGH)
NATHAN: I was hopeful Angela would want to invite Robin
to join her rehearsal. But now, we were three days in
and she still wasn't sure.
For me, more than a ten-year difference
-feels a little-- -And he might be
-younger than that. -Maybe. (CHUCKLES)
You know, my goal is just for
your rehearsal to reflect reality
-and I know... -ANGELA: Yeah.
...with a partner it would-- That would happen for you, so...
-Well... -NATHAN: Yeah.
...I can say, it can still be realistic
-because my husband could be at work. -NATHAN: Yeah.
NATHAN: And I started to wonder
if she was less interested in an accurate simulation
of her future life and instead just wanted
a fun vacation in her dream home.
I hadn't intended for this to be easy.
Since baby actors can't work pass 7:30,
the final switch of the night was to a robot baby
that would mimic the sleep patterns
of a human baby.
To do this, I hired a local man who claimed to be a night owl...
EMPLOYEE: All right. (GRUNTS)
NATHAN: ...whose job was to watch a live feed of a real baby
and manually make the robot baby cry in sync.
(ROBOT BABY CRYING)
NATHAN: Unfortunately, it turned out
he was not a night owl
and fell asleep within 15 minutes
of the start of his shift.
And the next night, it happened again.
Robbing Angela of the experience of being woken up
throughout the night and giving her the impression
that motherhood was a walk in the park.
-NATHAN: Hey, how's it going? -It was all right, brother.
NATHAN: I'd be negligent if I didn't fix this.
Didn't you describe yourself as a night owl.
Oh, absolutely. Yes, indeed, yeah.
NATHAN: And once things were up and running again...
-(ROBOT BABY CRYING) -...Angela seems to be craving
an extra set of hands.
Because within a day, she had set up
a second date with Robin.
Are you dressed for your date?
-I think so, yeah. -NATHAN: You look great.
-Thank you. -Very, very...
-Yay! -(NATHAN CHUCKLES)
NATHAN: But when I reminded her it was her responsibility
to organize childcare, things got a little tense.
I need more notice.
So I have time to arrange a babysitter.
I mean, it's tough because I mean, technically,
-crew-- The crew of... -Right.
Our crew can't help out with any child-raising tasks.
-So, let's reschedule... -NATHAN: Right.
...for like a week, you know, next week or something.
-Right. -NATHAN: I couldn't let
this experience go to waste for her,
so I insisted she go on her date and just this once,
I broke my own rule and offered to babysit myself.
-♪ (SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -How are you doing?
Okay, shall we walk a little bit?
Whoo! Whoo! Whoo!
ROBIN:
-ANGELA: Okay. -ROBIN:
ANGELA: Gotcha.
-ROBIN: -ANGELA: Mm-hmm.
-ROBIN: -ANGELA: You're lying.
-ROBIN: -ANGELA: No.
ROBIN:
-(BABY COOING) -(NATHAN MIMICS COOING)
-(WHIMPERS) -Oh, no, are you okay? Oh, no.
(CRIES)
It's okay, it's okay.
-(CRIES) -Aw.
ANGELA: What's your dream, like, for your life?
ROBIN:
ANGELA: Oh, okay.
-(CRIES) -(SHUSHES) It's okay, it's okay.
(DOOR OPENING)
-NATHAN: Hey. -ANGELA: Hello.
-How's it going? -ANGELA: Good.
-Here you go, he's sleeping. -Oh, good, thank you.
-NATHAN: I changed his diaper. -Thank you for watching him.
Yeah, I've never changed a diaper before.
ANGELA: How'd it go?
Pretty good, but that doesn't matter.
-How did it go with Robin? -(ANGELA CHUCKLES)
-It was really great. -Yeah?
Yeah, I had a good time with him.
And there were a lot of amazing coincidences again
-in our conversations, so... -Like what?
Just things that he was mentioning
about numbers that have come up in his life,
you know, like, sometimes you seek signs
and numbers repeating.
So he felt like those were signs
that this was supposed to happen.
-Okay. -♪ (SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
NATHAN: So, Angela invited Robin over to the house
for a third date.
Where she would propose that he joined her
in raising her child.
ANGELA:
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
-ANGELA: Hi. -ROBIN: Hi.
NATHAN: He's kind of a top candidate
-for-- to be a co-parent. -CHARLIE'S MOM: Oh. To be a co-parent?
-Okay. -NATHAN: Yeah.
Well, they seem to get along well enough.
-Yeah. -Hmm.
(BOTH LAUGH)
-No, I think you're very clean. -Come on. Don't I look clean?
There's actually a baby in the house.
-ROBIN: There is? -Yes, and I was wondering if--
-Oh, wow. -His name is Adam.
I was wondering if you would like to meet him.
Really?
-Hi. -How are you doing?
-This is not my baby. -Okay.
(BOTH CHUCKLE)
It's to explore the idea of having--
what it's like to raise children.
-Mm-hmm. -ANGELA: Uh, it's for a project
that is going on.
But it'll progress from like babies
then like toddlers, three-year-olds,
then like pre-teens, then teens,
-um... -That's awesome.
...and there is cameras all over.
-All right. -ANGELA: And there is also
cameras in the house.
-There's even a robot baby... -ROBIN: Really.
...that they leave overnight
and it wakes me up, and I have to get up
and feed it until it stops crying.
(BOTH LAUGH)
ANGELA: So I'm staying here.
It's, you know, obviously not my house.
Okay.
-Right. -They...
I was like, when do I move in?
(BOTH CHUCKLE)
ANGELA: So this is the thing, you know...
Well, I mean, I was exploring the idea
of, I was wondering what-- how you would feel
about participating, like co-participating
in something like this.
-Really? -Yeah.
(CHUCKLES) I think that that would definitely
be something that would entice me.
-ANGELA: Okay. -♪ (SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
NATHAN: Does he seem like the type of guy
you'd be comfortable having around your baby?
Yeah, he seems like nice and friendly and stuff, I mean...
I was wondering, you know, 'cause we're both believers.
-Yes. -What are your convictions
about purity, like, in dating?
-As far as, like, sexual? -ANGELA: Mm-hmm.
I...
I definitely do...
have sexual relations.
-You do. -Yeah.
Okay. You know,
I'm not giving this for nobody, except my husband.
So if there's, like, a temptation issue
that would definitely come up if...
you know, you were to participate in this project.
Okay, like, I don't understand 'cause, like,
I know I'm a very attractive person.
-You know. -Maybe.
-(CHUCKLES) -Yeah, I...
Kinda. (CHUCKLES) And...
-Oh, yeah, you are. -Yeah.
Thank you.
-You're beautiful. -Thank you.
-All right. -ANGELA: Bye.
NATHAN: All right.
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
NATHAN: Hey, man. Robin? I'm Nathan.
-Hi. -NATHAN: Hey.
Good to meet you.
NATHAN: I'm just wondering are you...
Do you think you're interested in joining Angela in this, uh...
project or...
It sounds like something
that I'm definitely interested in without a doubt.
Well, would you want to try it out for tonight
-and then we can... -ROBIN: Sure.
'Cause actually even where I'm living now...
(CLICKS TONGUE) ...my roommate doesn't believe in Jesus...
-Okay. -ROBIN: And she has clearly
-stated that. And-- -Is that a problem?
-Yeah, it's a problem for me. -Okay.
ROBIN: Yeah, definitely.
NATHAN: Robin said he needed to drive home
to get some stuff for the night,
so I tagged along to do my due diligence
on behalf of the parents.
-(CELLPHONE CHIMES) -ROBIN: Wow.
♪ (UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Do you want me to hold your phone,
so you don't have to look down?
ROBIN: You mean, like, hold it up?
-NATHAN: Yeah. -ROBIN: Okay. Yeah.
Or is it little-- just dangerous maybe to have it on your lap.
Is that helpful?
-I mean, I do that all the time. -Like this?
-Oh, like have it on your lap? -ROBIN: Yeah.
NATHAN: Just the roads are-- Watch out for that.
-ROBIN: Yeah. -NATHAN: Yeah.
ROBIN: Thirty-three miles 'til empty.
Jesus Christ was crucified at 33.
-Fifty-five on the mileage. -NATHAN: Oh, okay.
ROBIN: Big change transformation.
Thank grace. Oh, 22.
Turning all dreams and desires into reality.
All right. Can I fill regular?
Oh, wow, it just said 88.
-NATHAN: What's that? -I looked at it when it said 88.
NATHAN: The miles going up, you mean?
They are going up. I looked at it
at 88. Eighty-eight, New Beginnings.
(CHUCKLES) And it's approaching 644
and what's a trip is after I totaled my Scion TC
last April 2nd at 100 miles an hour...
I had a focus just like that
that I got blessed with for 200 dollars.
♪ (RAP MUSIC PLAYING ON RADIO) ♪
-NATHAN: Nice place. -ROBIN: Thank you.
Do you have kinda, like, three mattresses in here?
ROBIN: Yeah, I need to get rid of 'em.
But...
(PILLS RATTLING)
Remaining celibate...
I don't know, I just...
You know? I feel like...
it might-- that might change.
-You think you're gonna have sex with her tonight? -Who knows?
The door is open, I guess. I don't know.
NATHAN: Do you use condoms?
-Not really. -NATHAN: Oh.
-ROBIN: In there... -Is that a-- What is this?
ROBIN: This?
-Oh. -ROBIN: The bong.
You know how to hit a bong, right?
I noticed as I was gonna make a sandwich,
we don't have mayonnaise.
-ROOMMATE: No? -ROBIN: I was like, "What?"
-Yeah, buy some. -ROBIN: Yeah.
(CHUCKLES) 'Cause I don't use mayo too much.
I saw 44 on a plate, and there was a car
with the Baby on Board, Carlo sticker
just like the one that was on my Scion TC
that I crashed at 100 miles an hour--
ROOMMATE: All right, man, I gotta-- Hey,
I have a hard time seeing the coincidences
in just, like, two numbers though.
It's just so crazy, I've seen 88, like,
the water that she offered me, 88 on it.
-ROOMMATE: Like again-- -The kid's name is Adam.
Why you think so much more about numbers than you do, like,
the real-life experiences of, like, you know, this is--
I met this person, and she might be
the person for me.
-You know what I mean? -ROBIN: Hmm.
ROOMMATE: Like I would focus on that.
Thank you for your input.
-What are you stepping to? -ROOMMATE: Squash it.
-ROBIN: What are you stepping to? -ROOMMATE: Squash it.
What are you stepping to, bruh?
-ROOMMATE: Squash it! -What are you stepping to?
ROOMMATE: What the fuck does that mean?
-What's up? -What's up?
-You're stepping to me, bro. -Hey, what's up?
-What's up? -I'm right here.
Cross the fucking line then, why you keep tripping on me?
-(CHUCKLES) -Quit fucking tripping
-on me, bro. -God bless you, bruh.
-Good then. -NATHAN: What was that about?
Oh, I was just telling him the truth
and his demon doesn't like the truth.
Do you want me to drive?
Because you kinda, like, took a little bit of weed or...
Oh, no, I can drive.
-Are you sure? -Oh, yeah.
-Okay. -Yeah.
Just in case.
-I smoke and drive all the time. -Oh.
-You don't have a license plate? -No, it's okay.
But don't you need a license plate to drive?
No.
NATHAN: You don't need a license plate to drive?
No.
Seventy-seven, this one's always here.
Oh, yeah.
Seventy-seven and there's a cross
-right behind 33. -NATHAN: Uh-huh.
ROBIN: Carne Asada tater tots, no sour cream, no cheese.
Eighty-eight.
-♪ (SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -Hi.
-Hello. -Welcome back.
-If you hear the baby crying... -No, no, no.
...it is your turn to go in and feed the baby the bottle.
ROBIN: Okay.
ANGELA: My Christian friends gonna be like,
"Oh, my gosh, you spent the night alone
in the house with a man
-who's not your husband?" -(ROBIN CHUCKLES)
EMPLOYEE: I know that the government has
sasquatch liaisons.
People that actually can communicate
with these creatures, and, you know?
I've heard a lot of different whistleblowers come up online
and, you know, through different
-radio shows and-- -Crying.
-(BABY CRYING) -NATHAN: That's a loud one.
(ROBOT BABY CRYING)
♪ (SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
NATHAN: It can be scary to let a new person
into your life.
-(BABY CRYING) -Press it again.
(ROBOT BABY CRYING)
NATHAN: You have to open up your heart to them.
But you can never be fully sure what their motives are.
-NATHAN: Heavy cry. -(BABY CRYING)
-Heavy cry. -NATHAN: Heavy cry.
(ROBOT BABY CRYING)
-Keep him crying don't let up. -Okay.
NATHAN: And even if you wish for the best,
they often end up disappointing you.
ROBIN:
-ANGELA: -ROBIN:
ANGELA:
ROBIN:
-He's bailing. -What?
He's bailing, he's leaving.
Wasn't cut out for it, I guess. Not everybody is.
NATHAN: Sometimes I'm not sure why I make the choices I do.
I transported a fake bar across the country
from New York to Oregon
just because I didn't want to throw it away.
But I had no use for it here and it didn't even fit
in the building they put it in.
I guess it's nice to have something familiar around.
And especially because I was gonna be out here for a while.
I was put up in a corporate suite
which was apparently their model unit,
so it had some nice amenities.
And I was allowed to bring my cats with me
which made it a little less lonely.
Maybe when everything around you is so temporary,
you start longing for something more permanent.
(DOOR OPENING)
-NATHAN: Hey, hi. -Hello.
Sorry about everything that happened with Robin.
Oh, it's okay.
(CHUCKLES) Sometimes things have to unfold
and you have to learn things as you go, so...
Yeah, I've been thinking a little bit
-about just like life and-- -Hmm.
I mean, I don't have kids myself.
-ANGELA: Mm-hmm. -I'm 38 and...
You know, I think I could be a good dad maybe, but...
(CHUCKLES) ...I'm not sure.
-Yeah, it's hard to know. -Yeah.
And I was thinking, I don't know, maybe...
maybe it would be good for you to--
to go through this experience with someone who could benefit
-from it as well. -ANGELA: Mm-hmm.
Someone like me.
Obviously, it would just be about co-parenting
the child, not-- It wouldn't be romantic
in any way.
Yeah, I think during this process
I wanted to have more communication
-ahead of-- -NATHAN: With me?
-Yeah, ahead of time. -NATHAN: Okay.
ANGELA: Is that a big yawn? I know.
There you go. Good girl. It's all right.
Yeah.
Yeah, so I think just making sure
-that we communicate. -Yeah.
Making sure everyone's on the same page.
I think that's gonna be a good thing to focus on.
It's definitely something
that I'm always trying to work on.
ANGELA: Cool, thank you.
(CLICKS TONGUE) I like to pray about things.
Oh, okay.
And kind of see if I have a peace about something.
Yeah, so I haven't really had time to do that, so...
Obviously though, I don't want...
I know I'm in a position of power
when I say this to you,
-so I don't want that to influence... -Mm-hmm.
-...your willingness to decide. -ANGELA: Oh.
-I want you to... -Sure.
...be honest with me and tell me if you--
If it's something you don't want to do, definitely,
I don't want there to be the, you know, the bias or...
-ANGELA: Right. -Yeah.
You know, just off the top of my head, I would say,
"Sure, let's go with it."
-Why not? -Okay. Yeah, okay.
Why not?
Cool. This is gonna be fun.
(CLICKS TONGUE) It will be, it's gonna be great.
♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
NATHAN: Hi, Craig, this is Nathan Fielder
-from The Rehearsal. -CRAIG: How are you, sir?
-Good, how are you? -CRAIG: I'm fantastic.
I just wanted to let you know
that I'm going to be joining the rehearsal,
which means I'll be moving into the house to perform
co-parenting duties
along with the current participant, Angela.
CRAIG: Okay.
NATHAN: As promised, we would get your approval
for any changes to the plan,
so I'm just calling to get your verbal consent
that allows me to participate and interact with Perry
in the capacity of father.
Is that something I can get you to agree to today?
CRAIG: Yeah, I believe that would be amicable.
NATHAN: It's actually great news for you 'cause now, there'll be
two people looking after Charlie instead of one.
Isn't that exciting?
CHARLIE'S MOM: Yeah, that's great.
I'm not sure if I sense any hesitancy in your voice,
but if so, it's completely understandable. (CHUCKLES)
It's a strange experience and I know this
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is not for everyone.
So if you're feeling even a slightest bit uncomfortable,
I would like to opt out,
-that's a no problem at all. -(CHARLIE CRYING)
CHARLIE'S MOM: Oh, I appreciate that.
But no, I don't feel funny.
NATHAN: Well, excellent we're thrilled to have
your continued commitment to this groundbreaking project.
CRAIG: Awesome, thank you for letting us be part of it.
NATHAN: And I'm excited to see you very soon.
CRAIG: All right, I'll see you soon.
NATHAN: And I'm excited to see Charlie.
Excited to see Tracy.
I'm excited to see Sawyer.
...to see Nicholas soon.
I'm excited to see Austin soon.
CHARLIE'S MOM: Okay, thank you, Nathan.
-NATHAN: Okay, bye. -CHARLIE'S MOM: Bye. Bye-bye.
♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC FADES) ♪
(CAT MEOWS)
♪ (SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
♪ (SOFT MUSIC FADES) ♪