Drinks with Jack* (Featuring Rebecca Hinsdale and Jody Dankberg) - Ep 8 Imoto Harney & Tim Sexton

Stern Pinball·video·7m 2s·analyzed·Nov 4, 2022

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.020

TL;DR

Stern Heads Up Pinball Invitational creators discuss tournament format, production, and upcoming Marvel competition.

Summary

Jack Danger hosts a 'Drinks with Jack' episode featuring Rebecca Hinsdale, Imoto Harney, Tim Sexton, and Jody Dankberg discussing the Stern Heads Up Pinball Invitational (colloquially called 'Shippies'), a head-to-head competitive tournament format they created during the pandemic. The segment covers the tournament's origins, format, production approach inspired by shows like Dodgeball and Chopped, and upcoming Marvel-themed competition, while highlighting Rebecca's transition from competitor to commentator.

Key Claims

The Stern Heads Up Pinball Invitational was created during COVID as a remote online competition to engage the community during lockdown.
high confidence · Imoto Harney describes first event being shot remotely at eight locations across the U.S. with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Zoom.
Rebecca Hinsdale won an Elvira machine at a Stern Heads Up Pinball Invitational before joining Stern as a commentator.
high confidence · Rebecca states: 'when I was asked back again—like, "Hey, we want you back to play on Elvira"—I'm like, "Well, sure, of course." Hey guys, I'm Rebecca Hinsdale, and I'm back. And then I won it.'
The tournament format involves two players competing on the same machine to achieve pinball objectives the fastest with random challenges.
high confidence · Tim Sexton explains: 'two players competing on the same machine to see who can achieve a pinball objective the fastest. They get random challenges, they play each other, the fastest person moves on.'
The next Stern Heads Up Pinball Invitational will have a Marvel theme.
high confidence · Imoto Harney states: 'the next one we're gonna do is going to be a Marvel one.'
Rebecca Hinsdale's first Shippy was on Avengers Infinity Quest and she did not win that competition.
high confidence · Rebecca: 'My first Shippy was on Avengers Infinity Quest in the bucket... I practiced a lot. I did not win.'
Jack Danger is one of the hosts and a major part of the Shippy production team.
high confidence · Jody Dankberg: 'Jack is one of our hosts and he's actually a huge part of what we do.'
The production was inspired by TV shows like Dodgeball and Chopped to create a studio-like feel on a budget.
high confidence · Imoto Harney: 'Dodgeball was my favorite inspiration' and 'Chopped was a big influence, right?'

Notable Quotes

“This is something that A Moto and I started during the pandemic. The Shippy is the Stern Heads Up Pinball Invitational.”
Imoto Harney @ early in segment — Establishes the origin and informal naming of the tournament series.
“It's a really quick competition. In the end, someone wins a brand new pinball machine.”
Tim Sexton @ tournament format explanation — Describes the stakes and appeal of the tournament format.
“Now your house will suck less with my pinball machine in it. Congratulations!”
Jack Danger @ congratulating Rebecca — Humorous acknowledgment of Rebecca's Elvira victory prize.
“It's a much more approachable way of playing. Like, even if you are, you know, just starting to get into the hobby and you like playing pinball but you may not know all the rules, you can watch this and you can see how players structure their play.”
Imoto Harney @ discussing appeal of format — Explains the tournament's accessibility and educational value for newcomers to pinball.
“You don't often get that in any other pinball tournament format. So we get interviews with the players, they react to who they're playing—because it's happening to them live and they get to see it.”
Rebecca Hinsdale @ discussing unique aspects — Highlights what differentiates the Shippy format from traditional tournament coverage.
“My favorite part is just hanging out with you guys, actually. We have a really fun team.”
Jody Dankberg @ favorite part of process — Emphasizes the collaborative, team-based nature of the production.

Entities

Stern Heads Up Pinball Invitationalevent Imoto Harneyperson Tim Sextonperson Rebecca Hinsdaleperson Jody Dankbergperson Jack Dangerperson Chuck

Signals

?
community_signal: Stern implementing accessible tournament format with interviews, live player reactions, and fast-paced editing to attract and educate broader audience.
high · Discussion of format differences: 'You don't often get that in any other pinball tournament format. So we get interviews with the players, they react to who they're playing—because it's happening to them live.'
?
event_signal: Stern Heads Up Pinball Invitational established as ongoing competitive tournament series with regular releases and community participation; next event featuring Marvel theme.
high · Multiple hosts confirm continuation with next Marvel-themed event; explicit call for participant registration through IFPA.
?
community_signal: SHUI production emphasizes accessibility and education for pinball newcomers; designed to make competitive pinball more approachable than traditional tournament formats.
high · Imoto Harney: 'It's a much more approachable way of playing... even if you are just starting to get into the hobby... you can see how players structure their play.'
?
event_signal: SHUI originated during COVID pandemic as remote-first tournament concept, now established as ongoing Stern-branded competitive series with planned expansions.
high · Imoto: 'we started during the pandemic... we did the first one all remote... with a new launch of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, we ended up shooting remotely in eight different locations across the U.S.'
?
community_signal: Rebecca Hinsdale transition from SHUI competitor to Stern Pinball staff commentator, representing internal talent development and community integration.

Topics

Stern Heads Up Pinball Invitational (SHUI) tournament format and historyprimaryRebecca Hinsdale's transition from competitor to commentatorprimaryProduction and streaming best practices for pinball tournamentsprimaryCommunity engagement and accessibility in competitive pinballsecondaryTournament prize structure (new pinball machines as awards)secondaryUpcoming Marvel-themed SHUI eventsecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.92)— Hosts and guests express enthusiasm about the tournament format, celebrate achievements, emphasize fun and collaboration, and promote community participation. No criticism or negative sentiment expressed.

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

a moto this is for you oh it's wonderful thanks for being here thank you thanks for being here and this is an interesting segment because we are all part of the Stern Heads Up Invitational crew this is something that a moto and I started during the pandemic the Stern Heads Up Invitational is the Stern Pinball Heads Up Invitational right Tim it has all those words in it yeah Tim tell us what it entails it entails two players competing on the same machine to see who can achieve a pinball objective the fastest they get random challenges they play each other the fastest person moves on it's a really quick competition in the end someone wins a brand new pinball machine where did this idea come from I hit a moto up and I said hey why don't we figure out a way to do an online pinball competition head to head and um we got together and we actually did the first one all remote well it was during COVID and we still wanted to engage in the community right so with a new launch of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles we ended up shooting remotely in eight different locations across the U.S some at arcades some in people's basements and we recorded everybody on Zoom they had a stream set up Tim that was your first time doing kind of commentary on a video scale what was that like over the years I've played a lot of competitive pinball I've learned the rules on all these games studied them and sometimes people set up a camera and they stream it live but bringing it to like a show format where we're you know putting something together that's quick and so fast you really have to pay attention you know we did a couple takes sometimes with just like you know two players playing at the same time how do you track both players what they're doing and I just started trying to watch it enough times you know doing commentary where I could navigate other people to where they should look and that was my goal in the commentary Rebecca you are now a current Stern Heads Up Pinball Invitational commentator but you are also a former Stern Heads Up Pinball Invitational Champion so my my first Stern Heads Up Pinball Invitational was on Avengers Infinity Quest in the bucket um it was still kind of pandemic era and I learned so much about how to play that game in such a short period of time I practiced a lot I did not win you guys made it a really fun process to do so that when I was asked back again like hey we want you back to play on Elvira I'm like well sure of course hey guys I'm Rebecca Hinsdale and I'm back uh and then I won it now your house will suck less with my pinball machine in it congratulations well deserved too and I was lucky enough to be able to uh jump to the other side where I went from being a competitor to now being uh next to Tim and doing the last commentary where I had to wear a wig because I have green hair and it's on a green screen I had a great time so if you'll have me back I'll do it again yeah you'll definitely have you back absolutely no a moto you do you kind of created the whole look and feel of the Stern Heads Up Pinball Invitational and how how it runs and the challenge generator what were your inspirations and how did you approach it honestly these are parameters we can't be around anywhere but we want this to look really cool and feel like you're in a studio playing how can we do this within our budget within our time frame dodgeball was my favorite inspiration yes like all that quick cutting and the the corpy things that the hosts say and everything like chopped chopped was a big influence right and then you know we're shooting either on location somewhere and not maybe the prettiest setting so dropping in a green screen and making a complete virtual Stern studio um was it was fun Jody what's your favorite part about the whole Stern Heads Up Pinball Invitational process my favorite part is just hanging out with you guys actually um we have a really fun team Chuck actually over there who's filming us right now he's a big part of what we do and it's a major part of behind the scenes Jack Danger believe it or not Jack is one of our hosts and he's actually a huge part about what we do and we have a really cool team and so my favorite part is just being around you guys creating something from scratch having a lot of fun with it and when we get cool responses back when people watch it and they say oh this is a really neat way to watch pinball it is an approachable way of watching pinball like even if you are you know just starting to get into the hobby and you like playing pinball but you may not know all the rules you can watch this and you can you can see how players structure their play and also it dials down the games into specific objectives so that you can so it's a much more approachable way of playing I like that you get to go into detail on players too you don't often get that in any other pinball tournament format so we get interviews with the players they react to who they're playing because it's happening to them live and they get to see it uh so what's next will there be another Stern Heads Up Pinball Invitational there will be many more and um I think the next one we're gonna do is going to be a Marvel one so uh watch out and if you're interested in uh playing uh reach out to Tim you know Tim's reach out to me Sam is in charge of registrations or you can check out the IFPA I'll put my phone number up here just just call me text me when you go on the IFPA website and submit a video you can see it scrolling below us right now the IFPA website you click right here and I made a video why you should be in the Stern Heads Up Pinball Invitational and we would love to have you yeah but yeah so keep watching and if you haven't seen it uh go on our YouTube channel sternpinball.com go check out the past ones and you can see all these guys in action thank you and again once once again the room brought to you by Logan Arcade Goose Island beer Snickers and we we cheers