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Jen Ruper – AKA…Pinball Jen - Episode 9

JBS Show·podcast_episode·58m 13s·analyzed·Dec 22, 2023
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.032

TL;DR

Pinball content creator Jen Ruper discusses her TikTok rise and competitive pinball journey.

Summary

Jen Ruper, a TikTok-based pinball content creator and competitive player, discusses her journey from blogging about art to becoming one of the first pinball content creators on TikTok. The conversation covers her content creation philosophy (authenticity over production value), competitive pinball highlights, travel to major tournaments and pinball venues, and her role in promoting pinball locations and community. Jamie Birchall also discusses Houston's pinball scene, including the Wormhole arcade's upcoming museum of rare pinball machines.

Key Claims

  • Jen joined TikTok in 2020 and was one of the first people creating pinball content on the platform

    high confidence · Jen stated: 'I joined TikTok in 2020' and 'I was one of the first people on TikTok that were really making pinball content'

  • A video of Jen playing Orbiter One at the VFW got 117,000 views and was her first viral moment

    high confidence · Jen: 'the one that went viral for me was the first time I went to the VFW. I filmed myself playing over one... it got like one hundred and seventeen thousand views'

  • The VFW (Vintage Flipper World) in Ann Arbor is open twice a year and sells out every year

    high confidence · Jen: 'the Vintage Flipper World is what it's called... there's a limited amount of tickets in to get into the VFW... it does sell out every single year'

  • The Wormhole arcade in Houston has 23 machines available for play, a collection of over 200 total, and is building a museum that will hold approximately 120 machines

    high confidence · Jamie: 'We have 23 machines here. We have a collection of over 200... the building is already uh architecture plans and all these things are going into it... hold about 120 machines'

  • Jamie is the number two ranked player on Pendigo for I.O. Moon, an obscure Spanish ripoff of 2001: A Space Odyssey

    high confidence · Jamie: 'I'm number two in the entire world on pendico on io moon... I'm number one and number two. And the only one who's number one is a guy named Troy'

  • Jen has been playing competitively for about eight years and got her start through Bells and Chimes in Cleveland

    high confidence · Jen: 'About eight years, yeah' and 'Bells and Chimes is actually where I got my start at'

  • Jen was an alternate for Women's World Championship this year and chose not to play despite being the only alternate who showed up

    high confidence · Jen: 'I was an alternate for Women's World... and so if somebody didn't show up, I would have gotten to play... I didn't get to play because the majority of the women that got to play in Worlds are competitors that I play against that are friends of mine'

Notable Quotes

  • “I was one of the first people on TikTok that were really making pinball content. So there wasn't a lot out there.”

    Jen Ruper @ early conversation — Establishes Jen as an early pioneer in pinball TikTok content creation, notable for identifying an underserved niche

  • “I love teaching. I love instructing. Like, I love helping other people... reach that aha moment”

    Jen Ruper @ mid-conversation — Reveals Jen's pedagogical motivation for content creation, explaining why her educational approach resonates

  • “I've always tried to tell myself, I can't compare myself to anybody else... if four people think my video is funny, that's four people that I reached out to”

    Jen Ruper @ later conversation — Core philosophy on content success and community impact over metrics

  • “The only thing that matters is if you're creating content that you genuinely enjoy and that you yourself would watch”

    Jen Ruper @ later conversation — Distilled advice on content strategy: authenticity and genuine interest drive loyal followings

  • “I do this because it's a release and it's something that I enjoy doing”

    Jen Ruper @ later conversation — Reiterates that intrinsic motivation, not external validation, drives her content

  • “If it doesn't bring you joy, don't do it anymore.”

    Jamie Birchall @ later conversation — Encapsulates both hosts' philosophy on content creation sustainability

  • “I don't see you being the type of person that would go to expo with one of these cameras and then like get up on someone and bother them while they're playing”

    Jamie Birchall @ late conversation — Acknowledges the ethical distinction between intrusive and respectful content creation practices

  • “I would have felt guilty if somebody didn't show up on time who was a friend of mine... I got their spot because they weren't there on time”

Entities

Jen Ruper (Pinball Jen)personJamie BirchallpersonWormhole PinballcompanyVintage Flipper World (VFW)companyBells and ChimesorganizationPinball ExpoeventWomen's World Championshipevent

Signals

  • ?

    business_signal: Wormhole arcade expanding from 23-machine venue to 120-machine museum in 2025, indicating significant growth investment and community confidence

    high · Jamie: 'the museum is going to be really great... the building is already uh architecture plans... hold about 120 machines'

  • ?

    community_signal: Jen actively promotes pinball locations through content creation without paid sponsorship; VFW invited her to help promote and provide tours

    high · Jen: 'In May, they wanted to help to promote the VFW a little bit more. And I was really lucky to be able to be invited to go there and get a tour'

  • ?

    event_signal: Women's competitive pinball infrastructure solidifying with World Championship and Bells and Chimes providing structured competitive pathways

    high · Jen on Bells and Chimes: 'where I got my start at... I was very intimidated because I had never played in a competition... I didn't want to make a fool of myself'

  • ?

    community_signal: Rare Italian pinball machines (Zacharias, I.O. Moon) are significant draw for collector/enthusiast audience, with limited global player bases (I.O. Moon has only ~2-3 known players)

    high · Jamie: 'there's like four people in the world that have played this game I.O. Moon... I'm number two in the entire world'

  • ?

    community_signal: Wormhole is positioning itself as educational hub with museum dedicated to rare machines and community passion for pinball

    high · Jamie: 'the museum is going to showcase... not only their collection Tim and John's but also just our passion for pinball'

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.175

0:00
Hello and welcome to the Wormhole. My name is Jamie Birchall and you are listening to and are watching our podcast called Wormhole Pinball Presents. Today I'm joined by Jennifer Rupert. Hello.
0:17
Jennifer, Jen, you are a social media creator, competitive pinball player. Welcome to the Wormhole virtually, Jen. I'm so excited to be here. You have no idea. Oh my God. Thank you so much. It's so great that you said yes, and I really, really appreciate it. I really love following you, especially on TikTok. Thank you. And that's fairly new for you, right?
0:41
So I joined TikTok in 2020. So it's been about three years. After much like, you know, everyone's like, oh, TikTok's great, TikTok's great. And I'm like, I'm never going to do it. And then, you know, 2020 hit for everybody, and I was at home. I'm like, all right, well, I might as well. And so I joined on there and, you know, have been not doing it every day ever since. But usually I'm on there pretty regularly. So you kind of do like shorts on YouTube at Pinball Jen and then maybe some tick tocks on on tick tock at J underscore group. Yeah. So I actually started doing shorts. So like my content creating story is kind of all over the place. Great. No, I don't mind. Let's go to it. Yeah, if you want me to get into that. So I actually, before I started doing pinball, I had a blog. Those are still a thing nowadays. So I had a blog like way back in the day where I blogged about my art, like stuff that I did. And it was great. Like I would, you know, make tutorials of the things that I was doing and I would post them. Like this was pre-Instagram. So it was, yeah, it was pre-Instagram. And then Instagram started kind of at the same time I was doing that. So I was posting a lot of that stuff on Instagram.
2:03
And, you know, flash forward a couple of years, I got a little out of art and started, you know, got into pinball. So I was doing pinball a lot. I was posting it on Instagram, just being like posting pictures and things like that. And then I filmed some stuff on YouTube. I started a YouTube channel when I moved to Columbus maybe like eight years ago. So I like filmed my move to Columbus, which since I have taken down because those videos are like, what was I thinking? That can happen. Yeah. I've been there. We've all been there as content creators probably.

  • Jen creates most of her TikTok content on her phone rather than using professional equipment

    high confidence · Jen: 'everything is filmed on my phone... all of the videos for the, so like the videos on my, uh, TikTok for the most part are all uh filmed on my phone'

    • Jen Ruper @ late conversation — Shows Jen's character: prioritizing friendships and community over competitive advancement

    Texas Pinball Festival (TPF)
    event
    Erin Winnickperson
    Troyperson
    Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museumcompany
    Electric Bat Arcadecompany
    Arrowhead Funcompany
    Tim and Johnperson
    Pinball Nerds Podcastmedia
  • $

    market_signal: Phone-based content creation with organic authenticity outperforming highly-produced content; challenges traditional creator investment assumptions

    high · Jen: 'I have found that those ones that I put like the least amount of effort in are usually the ones that do really well... everything is filmed on my phone'

  • ?

    community_signal: Erin Winnick expanding content reach from STEM-focused to pinball instruction via 'Learning to Flip' series

    medium · Jen: 'I didn't find her until she started doing the Learning to Flip series because... the majority of her content before that was all STEM related'

    • 2:38
    And I kind of like researched the, you know, my YouTube a little bit by posting again some more like DIY stuff. Because that's just that's my background, what I really have done for a long time. that's like arts and crafts. And then in, you know, end of 2019, I got an idea because that's when I really started to like get into pinball was like, Oh, it'd be really great if I, you know, start to document my pinball travel. So I was going to do like a little bit longer form content, you know, 1520 minute videos of all the places that I went to, because I traveled a lot for work, I traveled a lot, not at that time for pinball, but like, you know, let me show my local places and whatnot, kind of similar to what like a moto did, but more like local.
    3:28
    And I was traveling to Michigan for work. I went to, if you've heard of it, Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum. I've heard of it. Yeah, it's really great spot. Yeah. I filmed all of my content there. I was, you know, I got home from work. I was editing it. And then like literally the next week after I posted it, the world shut down. So I was like, well, all right, well, that's going to have to make me pivot what I wanted to do. So then I ended up pivoting to doing similar to this, like interviewing players, interviewing like homebrewers, like interviewing a lot of the people that I knew or like recommendations from people in the community. And that was really fun. It really wasn't like what I wanted to do. and so that's when I joined around that time after I had finished my first season was when I joined TikTok and I really enjoyed doing the short form content so like you know 10 to 1 minute videos of just like here's like a pinball tip or here's like a funny thing that you know we all see within the community that like I you know we know what happens but you know let's just make fun of it instead of like complain about it. And so I started doing those while also doing kind of like other things. Like I was really, for a lack of better terms, trying to find my TikTok voice, which I'm still doing because I don't really know what I'm doing on it. And once I started sticking to more just the pinball content was when, you know, I started to, I saw my audience really grow. So I really stuck to that for, you know, a long time. And by all means, I'm not like the biggest creator in the world. But, you know, I hate saying this, but I'm going to say it. I was one of the original, you know, I was not the original, but I was one of the first people on TikTok that were really making pinball content. So there wasn't a lot out there. So that's why I really liked doing things. And, you know, we before we started this, you talked about what you, you know, you did the for a living. I'm a facilitator for a living. So like, I love teaching. I love instructing. Like, I love helping other people, you know, reach what I like to call that aha moment of, oh, my gosh, like I never, you know, knew that or I never thought of it that way. And so, like, I, you know, I enjoyed making those videos to or making these videos to help people either enjoy the hobby more or become better players. And so that kind of translated into, you know, once with the whole thing of like, you know, after TikTok started taking off, Instagram did Reels. So I mainly posted on TikTok and then would just post my Reels on Instagram and not really create the Reels on Instagram. So they kind of like crossover, you know, everything. We're doing like the opposite. Okay. Because Donovan, my boy Donovan, who is my co-host on the streams, he really loves those. And he's a video crazy guy. So he has been posting more on the reels and then just posting them on TikTok. So we haven't really made a lot of presence on TikTok. And can you pinpoint a post on TikTok that kind of blew up? So the one I do remember, the one that if you want to call it going viral, the one that I was not many of us. Right. So, yeah, I would say the one that yeah, the one that went viral for me was the first time I went to the VFW. I filmed myself playing over one and I framed it as this is the only like in the video. I was like, this is the only pinball that you can do like a reverse flip on because of the way that Playfield Orbiter One was on. And then I talked about like why that happens on Orbiter One. It's maybe again like a 60 second video. And I think it got like one hundred and seventeen thousand views. So that was the first time I'd ever been like, you know, I posted the video and I woke up in the morning and I'm like.
    7:39
    What's going on? Yeah, that's so cool. Remind me later to talk about these places because I really want to talk about them. Yeah. Oh, yeah. That's what I love showcasing, too, whenever I make videos is I love showcasing places that I've been to because you, you know, may not have ever heard of them or didn't know they were there. And I love, you know, promoting, like, hey, this place is really awesome. Like, go here. And, you know, not because I was paid to do that because I went there and had a really great time. Let's talk about it. you know, VFW, how many times a year is it open? Like three or four times a year? Two. I think they're open twice a year. Yeah. So that's got to be on my list. So 2024 and 2025 are turning up to be a lot of money I'm spending on pinball. Because I've already committed, my wife's like, didn't you just commit to going to Germany and hanging out with JDL pinball, Jim and Dina? I heard that too. Oh, yeah, and now I'm going to Germany and apparently going to the Expo in Chicago. Expo's a good one. I have TPF, which we actually, the Wormhole actually streams TPF. Okay. Stream the tournaments, Wizards, Classics, and Bells, the Women's Championship. So I'm always going to be at TPF as long as they keep inviting me back. And that's kind of, like, as a Midwesterner, that's kind of in your back door. Like, I still know it's like a six-hour drive, but like, yeah. I moved back from the city. I was down south in Houston, so I moved back to the city. And, yeah, it's four and a half hours. I can live. Yeah. It's not a big deal. Yeah. But, you know, I really, I keep committing myself. But, boy, that VFW, when that's open one day, I would love to go there, huh? Yeah. And, you know, I'm really lucky because I'm three hours away from the VFW. And I do, you know, I, when they were. So in May, they wanted to help to promote the VFW a little bit more. And I was really lucky to be able to be invited to go there and get a tour of all of the machines that they had and help to kind of promote like, hey, we want more people to come out and hang out. Because it is something that does sell out every single year because there are a limited amount of tickets in to get into the VFW. and there's also recently and I haven't had the opportunity to go they've actually started having tournaments at their either before the show or right after oh that's brilliant right which is really great yeah and again it's a limited number of people as most pinball tournaments are but you know to help them you know be able to get more awareness to it they did invite me out there and I felt very lucky and very grateful. And where is that located just so that people will know? Yeah, the VFW is in Ann Arbor. So it is the Vintage Flipper World is what it's called. And it's located a little bit outside of Ann Arbor, not like, you know, right in downtown where like Pinball Pizza is. But like still, again, from, you know, Detroit metropolitan area. Okay. If you're thinking about it that way. So, yeah. So where else are you traveling in 2024?
    11:01
    Oh, absolutely, for sure. So actually, San Antonio, I am signed up for the San Antonio tournament. I'm hoping to get down there. Unfortunately, with work, I might have a conflict with that in February. So I haven't booked all of my accommodations for that yet. So that is the San Antonio tournament. Are you going to What's Brewing? uh so there it's the women's tournament that i believe lauren and and i'm really sorry somebody else is organizing so um that i think isn't i actually think it's in it's somewhere in downtown it might be at the convention center um i haven't been to what's brewing yet well that's on my list too so i've already connected that apparently i'm going yeah what's brewing's on my list to go to I've already told Hope, Love, and them that I'm going, so I have to. I've heard great things about Westbury. I've heard wonderful things about it, yeah. That was one that I haven't, in Texas, I haven't been able to go to yet. But for pinball travels, so San Antonio is a maybe.
    12:05
    I always get to Expo because I love Chicago. I love Expo. I've been going since 19. Always look forward to that one. Cincinnati is always one that I look forward to.
    12:17
    And TPF, I would like to get back to because I really did enjoy TPF. I had a really great time. It was really fun there, especially the fact that it's not, like, in the summertime because I don't do well in the heat. So it was like April is, like, a real good time to go there. I'm really excited because I happen to have a trip to Phoenix in March where I get to go to Electric Bat Arcade for the first time. as much as I have been trying to get there over the past two years, so three years for that matter. So I'm going there. But really a lot of the times I try and just plan it month by month unless I know it's a bigger travel because being in the Midwest, a lot of the places that I can go to, I usually just end up being like, oh, I'll just drive.
    13:07
    We've got to get you to Houston, obviously. I'm a little bit of an ambassador for the city of pinball. Not really. I'm not a paid spokesman, but what I will tell you is not only do we have great barcades throughout Houston between Einstein's and Poison Girl and even Little Dippers now. We have really great, the wormhole. I mean, we have the wormhole. And so we have 23 machines here. We have a collection of over 200, if for anyone's new that's listening. And we do tournaments here. So these machines get banged on. And our techs are coming tonight. They're waiting outside so I can do this interview. Not literally. I'm sorry to hold you up. They're told not to come in until Jamie is done.
    13:54
    But we have the state championships here at the end of January. So they have to be perfect. And, you know, when Robert Byers comes in, we don't want any worries about the machines. He just, you know, play hard. and so um anyway uh and then uh we are building a museum nice that's exciting it is super exciting it'll be built in 2025 the building is already uh architecture plans and all these things are going into it that so cool that hold about 120 machines and they be rare they won be all you know newer machines i i would say at least 100 of them will be rare some of them Italian Oh like the Zacharias Yeah, some really cool Zacharias. Yeah. We just unboxed a Sonic. What was it called?
    14:47
    It's like a getaway game. Okay. That I've never seen before. I don't even know. It's like a chase scene. Who knows? And that might come to the wormhole for a little bit And then we just put Andromeda here Yep And then this is Cosmic Princess which is really pretty And that's a beautiful old That's actually A stern Australian game Which is pretty rare Oh Cosmic Princess is beautiful And then there's a bunch down here And then we have a labyrinth The 26th labyrinth Nice I still haven't gotten to play that one yet Oh you're going to love it And I'm not a paid spokesman for that either And they're based out of Houston Yes And so I know Not all the people that work for Arrows of Fun And they're amazing So again not paid spokesman No but the museum is going to be really great I think it's going to showcase Not only their collection Tim and John's but also just our passion for pinball and what we're trying yeah yeah and that's why i like the vfw if anybody has an opportunity to get to go up there because again it's just games that you don't you don't see you know they've i don't even know however how many games but there's a huge selection of like the zacharias the wedge heads old ems like things that you just don't see and like those are those are the ones like especially if i'm traveling like i want to see that like i i can go down to my barcade and you know play a godzilla any day of the week but like you know like you said to see what the the princess i i've never heard of that i've never seen it like those are that's what draws me to locations when i'm looking to go somewhere different just you know i like to check out the local scene but if i'm like oh there's a labyrinth there yeah i'm gonna go there because you don't see that you know absolutely you know we're open three days a month and it's for tournaments okay and we are available to rent but we are uh a club that's open three days a month for tournaments and then you can come here and you can play this trailer which is incredible game by the way it is so stupid and the the play field is the uh the trucker's arm and the tattoo has dots on it and it's Spanish right and yeah it's just it's crazy some of the games that there's an I.O. Moon coming I that's I shouldn't be telling you okay because there's like four people in the world that have played this game I.O. Moon and is a total ripoff of 2001 A Space Odyssey okay Spanish ripoff of this movie and they play the music and everything but it's a little beat up so we've got a lot of work to do so we'll that but that'll be eventually coming to the wormhole and i think i'm number two in the entire world on pendico on io moon so uh my one of my favorite things to do is to play these rare games when they come in from italy tim has a distributor that he and a company that works with italy that come in and when they go to his house and john's house i play them and then i put it in pendigo and i'm like the third person in the world that's ever played this game. And I geek out on it. Yeah. I'm number one and number two. And the only one who's number one is a guy named Troy who got to play it in the shed before I did. So anyway. Okay.
    18:23
    He's an American. You gotta step up your game. You gotta step up your game, Jamie. It's a hard pinball. It's goofy. But it's a total ripoff. I love a goofy game, though. That's like, I think there's like a really goofy like Con Air spin, like, ripoff that I don't remember. Like, I played it at Cincinnati last year, and I remember talking to my friends, and I was like, is this supposed to be Con Air? And they're like, yes. And I don't remember what the name of the game is. But I remember it being, like, a real wacky, like, interesting play field. And I love those. Yeah, I like them. They make me laugh. They don't, you know, even when Gottlieb went a little crazy towards the end of their run with some of their spring break games or whoever made that and some of the things that look i love pinball it's funny what do we we all do and i think the museum is going to be really cool it's going to showcase some of these really rare ones so that'll be really fun so yeah um let's talk equipment because i geek out on equipment yeah you have to buy like special cameras when you started this did you buy any uh what'd you get uh yeah so i uh i dabbled in like whether or not i wanted to stream on Twitch. So I did buy like cameras and, and, and stands and things to do like that. But, uh, you're going to be so disappointed because everything is filmed on my phone. It's not disappointed. It's complete and utter jealousy, Jen. Yeah, literally all. So all of the videos for the, so like the videos on my, uh, TikTok for the most part are all uh filmed on my phone um if you go to my youtube um where i post like again a little bit more longer form content i do have a vlogging camera that i use okay um but it's a combination of the footage for that i take on my phone and the footage that i take on my vlogging camera because i still have a little bit of like you know content creator shyness where i feel really weird if i'm in public with my camera but like all right i'll film with my phone all day and like it takes pretty much like the same quality so it's a combination of the both of those and sometimes if i'm feeling a little ambitious i'll you know take one of my youtube videos and like edit it on my computer down to post on my tiktok but for the most part everything is i usually will film and edit within the tiktok app and you know be on its merry way yeah my head shaking here is complete and utter jealousy. As a pinball competitive streamer, the amount of crap we have to get and to make sure that mine is getting to the level, because we joking, my first few were terrible. I had terrible, it just wasn't good enough, right? And so now we're three years in and we're just getting better and better at it. Yeah. There's really good ones out there. I mean, Fox Cities and IE. Yeah. I love the guys at JDL. They're my faves. Yeah. So they have just upped their game so much that I just try to copy everything that they're trying to do. Well, and, like, I can understand that from, you know, I understand that because I feel the same way, too. Like, when I do and I do see videos, like, I know you've had Erin win it on your, you know, on your show before, too. And I absolutely adore her. Like, I didn't find her until she started doing the Learning to Flip series because, you know, the majority of her content before that was all STEM related. That's right. And so I found her and, again, jealous that she's in your area because, like, I can't wait. You know, I want to meet her. So we're both going to be, you know, here's Erin. She is on a ship right now. I knew that. Yep, for two months, I believe. We are on January 6th. Here's a plug for our January 6th stream.
    22:10
    Erin is going to be live streaming with me from the ship, and I'm zooming her into OBS. and it's going to be awesome and she's going to commentate side by side with me on it. Oh, that's awesome. I love that. I have technical people much brighter than me working on this situation to work on that. But we're all going to be like, we knew Erin when, right? Yeah, exactly. Well, I mean, you all did. I didn't.
    22:41
    She is so – wow, she's amazing, her husband. Yeah, she's great. and uh uh would become very close with them and uh yeah they're fantastic so uh yeah and anyway so what i was saying is like you know i see i see creators like erin who you know they have absolutely amazing videos and what i have found is if i spend a lot of time and effort into making a video it never does well but like the ones where i'm like sitting on my and like erin is so well organize with all of her content creation. Whereas me, I'm just like sitting on my couch. I'm like, Oh, I'm going to make this video. And I go in and make it, I post it. And like, I have found that those ones that I put like the least amount of effort in are usually the ones that do really well. And so I go through this kind of like existential crisis of like, do I really want to like, you know, plan out my week of this, this is all the content I'm going to film or do what I know has been doing really well. And I'm like, well, here it is. And then just post it. Um, and I think you said earlier that you were trying to find your voice, right? Right. And in sales and in recruiting, that's what I do for a living. Yeah. I'm teaching people consistently how to find their voice. And so you have found your, your content creation voice and it's awesome. It's great. Yeah. And I think that's, you know, one thing that I never try and lose when I create content is that I've never been any more than just myself in anything. like if you I will I've always said like if you meet me in person as outgoing as I am in my videos I'm very shy if I have never met you before but like once you get to know me it's this it's the same um and so it tends to be you know somewhat difficult because not that I'm saying like especially with like the micro you know section of like us of those who are just purely pinball content creators, especially on TikTok, we don't try and be better than anybody else. It's like such a small community that we all try and support as much as we can. And I will be the first person to say I am not the best at it because I, you know, definitely will go on sprees where I'm like, I'm not going on TikTok for like three weeks and I don't go on. Whereas all my fellow creators are posting stuff and then I have to like catch up with other stuff and I try and, you know, like it as much as I can, but I've never been able to stick to like a strict schedule when it comes to, you know, posting content because, you know, the inspiration for me content creator wise always just become always comes like at the spur of the moment. I'm like, Oh, I have this video I want to do or Oh, I hear a sound. I'm like, Oh, I could turn that into this. And, you know, yeah, I have some things that I'll post like I just posted my gauntlet run from the from Cincinnati. And that's something I do every year. So like, I always know I'm going to post about that. But I, for the most part has just always been when anybody asked me like, what's the secret of TikTok? You're doing really well. I'm like, I don't know. I just do stuff. And so I guess my secret has always been just be yourself. Like, it doesn't matter what equipment you're using. It doesn't matter how much effort you put into it. It the only thing that matters is if you're creating content, that you genuinely enjoy and that you yourself would watch, you're going to build a community that's going to be a lot stronger than having one viral video that gets you like 10,000 subscribers because you're going to have a much more loyal fan base than people who saw one video and liked you from it and may not come back because of it. I think you do it until it brings you joy. Exactly. If it doesn't bring you joy, don't do it anymore. Exactly. I'm the exact opposite of you. I just want to, I like doing this. What I mean by that is I like, I'm the same person. Yeah. So when people come up to me, I'm geeking that they're even coming up to me. I'm laughing. Yes. Why do you even want to talk to me? I mean, I think the same thing too.
    26:59
    Like if you want a picture of me, that's ridiculous. It's just, it's ridiculous. I'll take it, but why would you want that? I mean, come on. Let's just have fun. Let's just have a conversation.
    27:09
    But, you know, I love doing this. I wanted to be on the radio when I was a kid and went to college to do it. And it just didn't work out for me. I never went down that path. And then I did this soccer podcast for this shirt that I'm wearing right now called Seltzer. And we got like 10,000 to 20,000 downloads a week when we did this podcast. Yeah. And then it just faded away like things do. And life got in the way and have kids. And, you know, you go to lacrosse games. And then when we started doing this during COVID in 2000, right before 2020 is when we started the wormhole. Tim was like, because he used to like my soccer podcast. He goes, dude, just do this. Yeah. Good at it. Just do it. And that was it. And little by little, a little acorn is growing, and we're doing something great. I mean, you've got, like, 8,000 subscribers on YouTube, so you're doing something right. Well, yeah, that might have been a little bit with a labyrinth reveal with Aaron Winnick. That might have helped us a little bit.
    28:17
    But still, like, still, you know, I've been doing YouTube for, you know, five, six-plus years now, and I'm only at, like, 470 people. So, like, no, great, I've been here. So exactly. And so like, that's where, and I think that's where like, as a content creator, a lot of people can fall into this hole and get really defeated because they see the success of everybody else. And they're like, well, I'm doing the same thing. Why can't I like, you know, do well. And I've always tried to tell myself, I can't compare myself to anybody else. And like you said earlier, I don't do this to get the followers, to get the, you know, views, to do whatever. I do this because it's a release and it's something that I enjoy doing. So if four people think my video about you know people who add more than one player when you at a pinball show and they the only person and there a whole long line waiting behind you to play this game, thinks that it's funny, then that's for people that, you know, I reached out to. And it's, for me, it's more about like, you know, I've had people say, hey, if it wasn't for your videos, like I wouldn't be the player that I am today. And I'm like, that's great. Cause I'm not a great, I'm like, I'm not a great player either, but I'm really glad you that you, yeah. Thank you. Like that. Thank you. That was important to hear from me. That was good feedback. Yeah, exactly. And so I don't see you being the type of person that would go to expo with one of these cameras and then like get up on someone and bother them while they're playing and getting in their view or doing crap like that. No, cause unfortunately expo is expo is where I volunteer. and I literally spend most of my time in the tournament area between playing and volunteering. So I actually pretty much just work at Expo. Let's talk about it because talk to me about competitive. You've been playing competitively for a little while, right? About eight years, yeah. What's your favorite highlight there?
    30:15
    At Expo or just in general? No, no, just competitive pinball. Let's switch topics to competitive pinball. So give me a good highlight that you go back and it's a fond memory. So I think – It doesn't have to be winning either. No, I understand that. So I think one of my highlights is actually this year. I was an alternate for Women's World, and I was the only alternate that showed up. And so if somebody didn't show up, I would have gotten to play. And I don't want to say unfortunately. I didn't get to play because the majority of the women that got to play in Worlds are competitors that I play against that are friends of mine. And so it was one of those things where, like, I would have felt guilty if somebody didn't show up on time who was a friend of mine. And I'm like, oh, I really wanted you to compete.
    31:09
    And I got their spot because they weren't there on time. so I just I was just enjoying the experience of being able to go to the women's world championship that's great and just even though I didn't play I got to hang out I you know made some new friends got to piddle around Chicago like it it was a lot so like that that was probably one of one of my favorite highlights uh of pinball in general is being able to have the opportunity to do that And it was just a lot of fun. And I would recommend it. I'd recommend it to anybody. Talk to me about Bells and Chimes because we're huge supporters of the Houston Bells and Chimes and Elizabeth Dronay. And she runs it here and with Raleigh Palace and so many more women. I don't want to leave them out. But what do you love about Bells and Chimes? Yeah. So Bells and Chimes is actually where I got my start at. So when I first started going into the competitive scene again like eight years ago, I was very intimidated because I had never played in a competition or never played in a league, done anything before. All I had done is just very casual location playing. And I wanted to play competitively, but I didn't know where to start. And I didn't want to make a fool of myself because I don't know what I'm doing. And so I reached out to Bells and Chimes in Cleveland, which is where I was living at the time. And I was like, hey, I'm new. Like, you know, what's what is this about? What do I need to do? And they actually were just starting, I think, their third season.
    32:47
    And I came. Yeah, it was it was like it was like it was like all the stars aligned or, you know, and I came to their first league and again, didn't know anybody. and they were just so welcoming cheering each other on even though they were competing against each other i'm like what's this world that i like just walked into right i after league was over like we all walked to one of the because at the time the place that we played at didn't serve alcohol we walked to like a local bar after and like all sat and like chat together and And, you know, again, I was in Cleveland, so I had a little bit of a drive from where I lived at. But I'm like, wow, like this is this is nothing like I had ever experienced before. And so I think that's what I really like about not just Bells and Chimes, because there's a lot of women's leagues out there that are not associated or, you know, not I don't want to say aligned, but they're not like they're still women's leagues. yeah they're still women's leagues but they're not necessarily a bells and chimes chapter okay yeah so there's a lot of women's leagues out there that you know support or just have this it's different and even my boyfriend has been like you know because he's gone to women's only tournaments with me he's gone to he played he plays pinball too um he's not quite as competitive as I am, but he plays as well. And so he's gone to open tournaments. He's gone to women's tournaments with me. And every single time we leave a women's tournament, he's like, it's such a different vibe. And I'm like, it's a way different vibe than playing in an open. Like, yeah, when you get to, you know, some of the bigger tournaments, there's still a lot of competitiveness. But like the support, I think that is so different from an open. I still try and be as supportive as I can when I'm playing in an open tournament. If anybody who played with me at the Sanctum last year and was in the last group in every single round from midnight until it ended, I am the number one cheerleader for everybody because, you know what, somebody's got to get last. If it was me, don't care. Still going to cheer everybody on.
    35:04
    And so I think it's just like it's such a different vibe because there – and, again, I don't want to say there isn't cheering and supportiveness. There's still 100% is. It feels different, right? It feels different. That's nice. It's great. It's awesome. And I try and bring that energy to every tournament that I play in, not just in a Bells of Time tournament. As a streamer, as a pinball streamer, I think we need more women's tournament streams. And that's just me because a few weeks ago when I interviewed Jim and Dina, they had a filter that they would put up on a camera if someone did not be filmed okay we're fooling with that here because what i don't want is a bells and chimes or a women's event here where that woman does not feel or non-binary does not feel comfortable yep having uh their face on the camera so we're going to do something like that here in houston because i i don't that's the last thing i want right when you come to normal you're streamed and we announced that Yeah. During, you know, the the announcements of the tournament. But if you don't feel comfortable, I want them to come to me anyway and just say, Jamie, is there something can you what can you do? Can you do a wide view? Can you do an overhead view and not do my face? I don't feel comfortable with this. And and we're going to work on that because I want them to feel I want everyone coming in here feeling comfortable. Yeah. And that's usually if I'm running a tournament and I know it is being streamed. Like, I always do make a point to make an announcement that, like, hey, this tournament is going to be streamed. If you don't feel comfortable, please come to me. Like, you don't have to say it to everybody else. You can say it to me personally, and we'll make sure to make sure we accommodate that. I love it. And there are ways to, like, even if you don't have the filter on the camera, if you're using OBS, you can just turn that off. Yeah, I can turn it off with OBS. One of the cool things is that we have this hanging monkey, and we call it Monkey Camp. And I'll just put monkey cam on and it'll show the room, right? Or I'll just do whatever I have to do to make someone feel good. We're going to do it. So big tournaments in 2024. Do you have some in mind?
    37:23
    No, you know, so I've been thinking a lot about it because I always do it, you know, at the beginning of the year, I always try and set my pinball goals. Like what are my, I always do like five pinball goals. And unfortunately, with 2023, I didn't set them this year. And I don't know why. I remember being like, oh, I'm going to make a video about it. And then I'm looking at my cork board and I'm like, huh, those are still the 2022 goals. So I guess I didn't set 2023 goals for myself.
    37:52
    And so I think this year, one of my big goals is that I want to chase the fun tournaments. So like, I want to go to tournaments where I think I'm going to have the most fun at. Not necessarily, you know, defining that, you know, oh, if I don't go to this one, it's not going to be fun. But I'm like, where can I go that I know I'm going to have a really great time? Because of, one, it's a place I've never been to before. Two, it's maybe a place I haven't been to in a while. That format looks really interesting.
    38:26
    And so I know that one thing this year that I'm really trying to do and I'm really looking forward to hopefully doing is I want to do the Pinball Olympics. I have heard great things I've heard really great things yeah I've heard for years all the years going to Expo again since 2019 and I've heard so much good stuff about the pinball Olympics that I'm like this is the year that I'm going to do it and I got to experience one of the machines that was at the pinball Olympics when I was in Chicago about two weeks ago and after experiencing just that one machine I was like I gotta go like I have to go because this is absolutely amazing. So I'm looking forward to that one this year.
    39:09
    Serious, serious question here. Yeah. Headphones or no headphones when you're playing? I am a headphones person. You're a headphoner. I am a headphoner. Are you a glover? Do you wear gloves? I'm not a glover. No, I'm not a glover yet. Listen, ladies and gentlemen. Danny Glover and I are not related. I'm not disparaging the glovers, okay? Wesley Johnson is a glover, okay? Yeah. These are guys in Houston that are glovers, and they swear by it. Oh, yeah. Yep. I have a couple of friends that also – I have a couple of friends who are glovers. I have a couple of friends who are headlighters. Headlighters. We have a headlighter here. They're headlampers, too, who also swear by it. What about pin shaders? Pin shades? I have not yet met anybody who uses a pin shader. I think they have special glasses. Yeah. This is my own rank 2200 in the world. I don't wear headphones and I don't have gloves.
    40:05
    Oh, no. Well, I couldn't do pin shades. Like, they would have to fit over. Oh, I know. Yeah. Like, you know the struggle. Like, I have to. Yeah, I know the struggle. And that's when everybody jokes, like, when they're like, oh, let's make it a challenge. Play with one hand behind your back. I'm like, I'll just take my glasses off because I'm blind. Like, that's going to, you know, make me. What are you listening to? Can I guess? You can. You can guess. so Aaron's a metal girl um I'm gonna go like classic rock I'm gonna say Led Zeppelin I think you're listening to Led Zeppelin yeah that that's that's a good guess um I am that's actually one of the areas where Aaron and I bonded because Aaron and I listened to similar music when we were playing as well so I started off for the longest time listening to Lindsey Stirling who is a hip-hop violinist because it had no words to it like I didn't want to listen to something that I knew because I, or like that had words that I could follow because I felt like I would be distracted by the words that were on there. So I was listening to her for the longest time. And then if I got to a point, because everybody gets to a point either in a tournament or in the night where you're like, I don't care, I'm giving up. I switched to Tech N9ne, which is like what I would like to call like chopper rap. I believe that's the definition for it. So I listen to Tech N9ne. And then I recently, within the last year, tried to, you know, go, you know, I listened to Ice Time Kills. I got really into them. And I switched to listening to them when I was playing. And I was like, ooh, I really like this. So that's who I listen to. I have a pinball playlist that I specifically listen to while I'm playing. I can't decide. I've tried it, and I just can't listen to music when I'm playing. And you know what I do, which drives people? I think no one will tell me because they're too sweet, but I commentate on my own playing. Okay, yeah. Because that's what I do, right? I commentate on pinball. So I'll be playing down then, and I'm like, are you going to hit this phone or what? Like I'll strap up. Yeah. But I'm not being like, I'm not hammering myself. I'm just like, all right, come on. Yeah. Let's hit this. Yeah. And I can hear people laughing, but I don't care. It's just it, you know, I still think I'm new at pinball and I started in 2019. So I still like the new moniker of competitive pinball. Yeah. My biggest issue. Let's talk about this. Like when, what are you working on game wise for a competitive pinball player and pinball players alone that are listening to this i am working on dead bouncing unbelievably i have a mandalorian in my house right now to dead bounce i need a stern dead bounce what are you working on in your game yeah um so the one skill that i have yet to master is the the live catch or the drop cash. That is one that I... It's a toughie. Really, it is a toughie and the only one that the only game where I can successfully and consistently do it at is Stern Star Wars. The new one.
    43:31
    And so, that is one skill that is very difficult to do and is the number one requested video on my TikTok Everybody wants a tutorial on how to do the live catch How do you drop catch? Yeah, how do you drop catch? How do you live catch? And I'm like 99% of the time when I do it, it is 100% accidental.
    43:58
    And I don't know what I did to be able to do that. So that's one of the skills that I've been trying to do and learn how to do consistently that has been taking a very long time to do that. Absolutely. I'm going to give a shout out to Carpool Pinball. They're new streaming. And Garrett Shahan there is one of the top players in Texas, top three. And he is phenomenal at this. And if you ever want to go watch him, you can check him out on Twitch. at Carpool Pinball. I get so jealous of the people that do it so effortlessly. They make it look so easy. I'm blown away at it. I'm also blown away. So that is my second thing that I want to work on is live cast. My third is nudging. I'm really good at nudging on the sides. Unless it's Star Trek Next Gen and when it goes to the right, you're done. Yeah, well, what are you going to do? Nothing. You're just going to laugh. Exactly. You're just going to move on. uh so i'm but if you watch these really really great players so you're talking top 100 in the world yep anything that touches the side they're moving to the middle they don't want anything they want it in the middle so they can control it yep and they're amazing at that so i i would say that my game got good i was in the below 2000 and then i'm in this transition in 2023 where i'm like I have got to work on these three things if I want to get 1,500. Yep. I'm not going to learn every rule set like they do, okay? I just don't have the time. And I'm married and I love her. And I want to stay with her.
    45:42
    I just do. I've already spent too much time doing this stuff. Like I can't be a great pinball player, right? This is not going to happen. But I love competing. and I just want to get better for myself. So, you know, anyway, sorry. I just, I'm curious with players like ourselves, like how do we take that next step? And I think you're totally right. I think it's those three things. Yeah, and that's like a lot of the, again, the core videos that I think when my channel started to pick up a lot was doing those tutorial videos of how do you post pass? How do you dead bounce? you can you can't do it just going back that's no problem dead flip big one yeah were you dead bounce or shatzing is the other one that I'm not really good at shatzing is and so but the thing of it is it's just like any that's what a lot of people say a lot of people that comment So like when I can eventually get there. Exactly. And it's all about practice. It is a journey. And it's not something that's going to happen overnight. And I think that's something that's really hard for me is that I love that instant gratification of like, I can do this. But when I can't do it, I get very frustrated. And so, you know, pinball is a game of skill. We all know that. And there is a little bit of luck that happens to be thrown in there, but if anything, it's a game of skill. It's not a coincidence that the same top five people at your local tournament are at the end almost every time. It's not a coincidence, ladies and gentlemen. Right. And just like anything where you want to build up skill, how do you do that?
    47:39
    You practice. You have to practice. And there's going to be a learning curve, and you're going to get frustrated, and you're going to do really well, and then you're going to do really bad and then you're going to be frustrated again. And so it's one of those things just like, again, if any hobby, you got to practice it. And like, you're not going to be the best at it at first, but the more you do it, the better you're going to get at it. Yeah. You know, one of the problems, my particular last problem for me, I spent so much time here that I'm really good at these games. Right. That when I go and play somewhere else and, you know, let's say they have whatever. doesn't matter a whirlwind that i haven't played in a while i'll be like yeah i know whirlwind but i haven't put this whirlwind let me see what i can do i know it really well but it's just my the level of knowledge that these top game players have not only can they move the ball all these things they know everything they do on earthshaker they know it and how can i compete with that Because I just don't know that if I hit this thing that it's going to be 10 times bonus and all this. And they're looking at me going, you don't know. Well, and so I can very much relate to exactly what you said. And this is what I came, like this is what at least I told myself. When you say, how can I compete with these people? And the answer to that question, at least for me, is I can't. So what am I going to do? I'm just going to have fun. that's i'm gonna learn something epiphany yeah i said i'm never gonna be able to compete i'm never gonna be top 10 top 100 probably even top thousand in the world right and what do i do instead i learn from these players like when so when i was at expo um this year i was gonna say last year because we're you know slowly we're almost yeah when i was at expo this year um Colin was playing in a game when I was doing my qualifying for the women's tournament, and Venom was in there. I had no idea how to play Venom. I just watched him put up $700,000 on Venom, and so I was like, Colin, what do I do? How do I play this game? And he gives me a couple of tips, and yeah, it helped me. So I'm like, you know what? I'm just going to learn from them. I'm just going to...
    50:09
    Absolutely. How could I make this be more fun for me? Because I know I'm never going to compete on that level. I love that attitude. Yeah. Because at the end of the day, I started playing pinball because I wanted to have fun. It's a release after work for me, and it's something that I enjoy doing. And the minute that it doesn't become fun anymore is the minute that I know I'm done. Because it always should be about having fun. For those that are listening that are not competitive pinball players, let me just pitch it to you this way as well.
    50:44
    This is one of the most accepting groups that you're ever going to meet. Pinballers, when you walk through that door, when you walk through the door at the wormhole, the first person you're going to meet is me or John Spades, and we want to know how you got here. How did you find us, right? We have 35 people here on a Monday for a 3X. All right? That's just going to get bigger and bigger and bigger. And we are so happy you're here. Just have fun. There's no banging machines here. That's a rule. We have a strict no-jerk policy. You don't bang machines. You can tilt, but if you rage tilt, you're probably gone. Yeah. Right? We'll give you one more.
    51:27
    Because these aren't our machines. These are Tim and John's machines. Yeah. And this is a gift. We charge $15 on a Monday for you to come in, and it's mostly for the prize pool.
    51:40
    Wait, which I have something I want to ask you. Yeah. After you go ahead. Okay, no worries. I'm just saying, play competitive.
    51:49
    There will be one person in this group, I guarantee you, that will go, here, let me show you how to download nextstopmatchplay.com. Let me show you what to do. Stand here so nobody does this. Let me show. And they'll walk you through it, and then you'll be hooked. Talk to Aaron's husband, Alex Anthony. The man is absolutely hooked. He's playing now, and his hockey game has taken a dive for him. Oh, no. He loves it. It's great. It is what it is, Jen. So go ahead. Question for me. So one thing, it wasn't until 21. 21 was the first time that I had ever gone to play pinball in Texas. and being being again from i i'm i'm in ohio okay um it was a huge shock to me the first so the first place i went to go play pinball when i was in texas was i was in the dallas area and i went to free play um and i remember walking in and asking you know i paid my admission in and i was like where's your change machine at or like what do you mean and i was like well i need to pay my coin drop and they're like no all the games are on free play i'm like i paid ten dollars how long does that get me and they're like well as long as you're here i'm like ten ten dollars and everything's on free play that's forever long for them isn't that yeah well that wasn't the only one that i went to like i went to multiple different like even not even because i know free play has a couple of them side arcade has a couple but then i went to a place in austin that had the same thing and and i believe uh pinballs is the same way i haven't been to pinballs but i think it's like hey you just pay this like admission to get in and everything's on free play pinballs i don't remember yeah and uh i thought it was such a weird concept that every single arcade that i went to in texas was you just pay to get in and everything's on free play even the pinball like the arcade is around here i pay like there's no admission but like the cabinet games are on free play but pinball is still coin drop and from what i was told is i guess that the gambling laws in texas are different and like technically with pinball it's gambling because you could win a free game right at the end of the machine so the the like laws behind that or this i love it here but we could be completely wrong it's probably true who the heck knows Jen yeah three things in Texas what goofy yeah and so I just as a New Yorker there's some goofy stuff here but I I really enjoyed that though like I liked being able to pay like hey here's my ten dollars to get in and I don't have to worry about having like quarters with me yeah um and like I realize as somebody who does play a pinball lot, you know, $10 to be there for five hours, I'm going to get my $10 worth. So, like, I wouldn't even mind if they were like, after two hours, hey, you got to pay another $10. I'm like, perfect, take it, that's fine. Because I would have spent way more anyway on coin drop than I usually do whenever I go to, like, the arcades that are around me. So I just, I really like that model of, hey, you just pay to get in, and then all the machines are set. Yeah, we pay $25 on a Saturday 4X, $20 on a Monday. We have a max match playing a 3X. And come in and, you know, when you're knocked out, keep playing. Just don't play heist while they're playing it in a tournament. That's all we ask. I still haven't played Final Resistance yet. Oh, Final Resistance. Yeah, I haven't had a chance to play that yet. We're thinking about getting it and putting that as a tournament game instead of Heist. Because the crane has given us some issues. But Heist is a fun game, though. Like, I like Heist. It's fun. I like it. I mean, I also like Barnyard. Barnyard is a great after-the-tournament-it's-done game. No. The only game that you play after the tournament is Dungeon Door Defender. Oh, but that's... It's a one-player, and that's all you do. You just Dungeon Door Defender it. That's my favorite game in the game. That's why I like barnyard is you just, you know, it doesn't matter. Just run over. It is. It's barnyard. It's fun. It is fun. All right, Jen. Thank you so much. I had a really a lot of fun. This is just a great conversation and that's what my podcasts are. So I really appreciate it. Thank you so much. Please follow Jen Rupert on Tik TOK and YouTube and Instagram. And I have it written down up here. I mean, you can literally just search pinball Jen on any of those platforms and you will pull me up. Look at you did it for me. Follow Wormhole on Twitch at Wormhole Pinball and all of the socials. This podcast is going to be up in a few days, actually, whenever you can download podcast media. I just put one up yesterday of Don's pinball podcast, Don Garrison. So I'm going to give it a couple of days. So I think we'll do Thursday, if that's okay with you. Tomorrow? Yeah, post this up tomorrow. Well, also, the holidays are coming up. So, like, don't feel rushed to, like, it's your, I know it's your platform. You can do whatever you want. What do you think, Friday? Put it up Saturday? Put it up tomorrow. what do you think it's your call you decide it's not my call it's not my content don't don't take i don't know what i'm doing on content creation i don't know what the hell i'm doing i'm not making any money are you making any money oh heck no no way i can guarantee you there's only one person in pinball that's making any money and it's not the two of us so i i can assure you of that jen thank you so much for taking the time uh to meet with the wormhole virtually. I really, really have enjoyed this. And you have to come to Houston. We are going to be a destination. And you'll love this place. The minute you walk in, you'll just be blown away, I'm telling you. I'm excited. So I guess if I make the trip down to San Antonio, then I might as well just go to Houston while I'm there, too. Now you have my contact information. We'll open this up for you. But thank you so much for having me again. I was super excited to be here, Jamie. I really, really appreciate it love all the content that you post as well so just keep at it you too you too you too thank you so so much you take care bye