Mental Floss is partnering with FilmNation and iHeartPodcasts to bring you the transcripts forGreatest Escapes , a podcast hosted by Arturo Castro about some of the wildest escape stories across history . In this installment , Billy Magnussen ( Game Night , The Franchise)takes some clip for a leisurely trip-up with Arturo to the other 1900s , where they discover the narration of Gunther Plüschow , one of the most infamous escapees from World War I. Read all the transcriptshere .
Arturo Castro : This isGreatest Escapes , a show bringing you the fantastic honest escape floor of all time . I ’m Arturo Castro and I ’m here with the incredibly gifted player with the voice of an absolute holy person , Billy Magnussen .
Guys , what a kickshaw we have for you today . We have the one , the only : Billy Magnussen .
Billy Magnussen : What ’s up , dude?Bienvenidos !
Arturo : Gracias .
Billy : Todos bien , mi amigo , mi amores .
Arturo : Te amo ! So , sidekick , uh , thank you so much for doing this . I really take account it . I fuck you ’re in Georgia powerful now , building a house from , from — from the flat coat up by yourself !
Billy : No renovating . Renovating .
Arturo : No , no , no . You ’re building a house by yourself cause you ’re impressive . Just f***ing — just let in it .
Billy : With my brother . Actually — it ’s actually with my sidekick and my dad , you have it away , farm up in a carpentry shop , so –
Arturo : Are you — are you renovating a theatre you grow up in or a house you make in Georgia ?
Billy : No , a theater I beget in Georgia , it ’s like close to my parent ’ position . So …
Arturo : Oh , dainty .
Billy : You know , when I’m — when I ’m not , uh , photograph a movie with you , co - starring next to you , uh , you know , I ’m building business firm , working building .
Arturo : That ’s how you — you’re doing a movie or you ’re build a house . That ’s what Billy does , a’right ?
Billy : That ’s it . What else is there to do ?
Billy’s Escape
Arturo : Do you have something that you consider to be your keen evasion , crony ?
Billy : My biggest real escape was like likely getting aside from a life I did n’t wanna live .
Arturo : Oh , wow .
Billy : I would say , like , emotionally and mysterious . We came from the coevals a piffling moment before societal media and sht like that , and that — that comparison affair that it causes , or at least it stimulate me to do , f*ing suppress me . It crushed me . And , like , to detox from that and not do that sht has been so helpful .
Arturo : Try — try have the only other well eff Guatemalan actor be Oscar Isaac . I mean , every time , every time I did something even semi - cool , my friends would institutionalise me like the cover of aGQwith f***ing Oscar Isaac on it . And I was like , “ yep , catch it , got it , got it . ”
Billy : I — there was something about my own trust and like caring for myself that I stopped doing , um , and to care move on — move past that , and escape that inglorious hole of it , that ’s been the best escape of my sprightliness , to enjoy lifespan again .
Arturo : give thanks you for — for being so open with us , man . Um , Did you ever get faced with the like — like , unverbalized , “ What do you have to kick about ? ” Not from your folk , but from other multitude ?
Billy : Yeah . No , no . Definitely from my family . My — again , I total from most of the majority of dudes that like — you know , it ’s my mom and then like four guys , and , uh , that sounds uncanny . It ’s me and my brothers . You know , it ’s a clump of dudes .
Arturo : We just get some guys that I just , uh , build some houses with , a’right ?
Billy : Yeah . But you know , they — they would always just : “ get your head outta your Eastern Samoa and , and pick yourself up . ” Like , “ what do you got ? Look , it ’s f***ing beautiful today . Why do n’t you get outside ? ” It was problematical love .
Arturo : OK .
Billy : The escape was just , yeah , saying goodbye to that — that life that was n’t working anymore . Or that mentality .
Arturo : Mm . Well , brother , mind , thank you so much for , uh , uh , open up about that . Uh , are you ready for me to tell you , uh , an insane leakage , brother ?
Billy : Yeah .
Arturo : allow ’s stone and axial rotation .
CHAPTER 1: Bullsh*t Nosedive
Arturo : So our story begins with a man name Gunther Plüschow , right ? He was this German naval military officer in the early 1900s , and honestly , his life was like a whole serial of buck barbaric escapes . finally he would even become one of the most famous prisoners of World War I. We ’re gon na bulge out in the twelvemonth before the war started , when Gunther was assigned to a firebrand new wing of the German military , the Air Force .
So of course , this was when they were first go to experiment with flight , and it turns out that Gunther was an absolute prodigy . So at the beginning of 1914 , Gunther ’s story really take off because as hard it is , it is — as it is to conceive , Gunther say it only carry him three days to memorise how to fly . He was like , “ ya , I do n’t know . I just went up in the gentle wind and I stay there like , boom , amount down . It ’s very simple . ”
Billy : I actually finger like flying is probably very like second nature , like riding a bike , weirdly . I recollect doing , um , hang - gliding thing and it was like , “ this take in so much … ” — it , like , the machinist of it really actually work in my head . It’s — and you ’re in this , this nothing kind of contraption , you know , it ’s just off the , the wind .
Arturo : Right .
Billy : And it was just like , “ this seems so wide-eyed , ” like it ’s just –
Arturo : And you’re — simple in what way of life ? You ’re just feeling what the aura require to do and you ’re just kinda like , “ oh , this is how I can manipulate it . ” Right ?
Billy : Yeah , you just — it ’s like surfboarding or something , you sleep with , like where you have to — or snowboarding or skiing . You could just experience where the momentum want to take you . It ’s like , you experience , little dancing in the zephyr . It makes sentience to me .
Arturo : So mind , so the German planes , at that time , they were called “ peacenik , ” and they were f***ing janky as hell , good ? And they required the pilot to do a lot of pulling on wires and levers to make the offstage flex . But Gunther says that not only could he do it after just three days , but he actually expire his flying exam on Clarence Shepard Day Jr. five .
Do you have any prodigy level skills , Billy ? Were you immediately proficient at that , uh — what ’s it called ? The goat carcase thrust subspecies ?
Billy : Oh , kok boru ? Kok boru ?
Arturo : Kok boru , yeah .
Billy : No , definitely not , decidedly not . That — that was like showing up — that was like we were the Jamaican bobsled team showing up to wish , you recognize , play kok boru . Kok boru is a biz , basically , during the World Nomad Games . It ’s like one of the biggest , uh , sports in the -stans , and I was part of the first ever American kok boru team , which is basically ice hockey , like the same rules of ice hockey , but you ’re on hogback and the ball ’s a all in stooge carcass and you have to lean off the horse to the terra firma , pluck up the dead goat carcase , and throw it in the other team ’s goal . And it was the most belligerent thing I ’ve ever done in my life story .
Arturo : Oh my God . Is it — uh , is it shaped as a ball ? Or is it just like –
Billy : No , no . aright before , right before the game , rationalise off the question and cut off at the elbows and knees , and there ’s sh*t and profligate everywhere , dude .
Arturo : Oh my God , no . Oh my God .
Billy : But then the winner gets to use up it .
Arturo : Wow . That ’s f***ing insane .
Billy : That is insane .
Arturo : The German Air Force was so impressed with Gunther ’s prodigious acquirement that they desire to immediately ship him off to the far reaches of the imperium . But Gunther must have felt that he was n’t in reality ready , so he made a asking before they sent him off : He asked for one more tenacious training flight across Germany , but this time bring together by a military observer .
Arturo : If you’re — Billy , if you ’re the observer guy , are you gon na take this f***ing trajectory with a red-hot pellet young pilot ? I ’ll be like , “ F * * * no man . I ’m meddling avoid syphilis , man . I do n’t wanna die . ” I ’m like , you know — it ’s like 1900 , man .
Billy : I just need my Wiener schnitzel and some beer .
Arturo : Yeah . “ I get polio , dude . I ca n’t do that . ”
Billy : I guess I would do it , though . I’m — I’m that variety of guy , though .
Arturo : You would , you would definitely do it .
Billy : I feel like thing in my animation always show up . Like if it show up in front of me , I ’m like , “ oh , this is the moment I ’m doing that now . ” You make out , it ’s –
Arturo : Yeah . Yeah .
Billy : It ’s like eating bugs for the first time in , like , Thailand . It just , like , shows up to you and you ’re like , “ eh , I guess I ’m doing this here . ”
Arturo:“I’m a bug feeder now . ” You cognize , I,—I rule that with like unearthly phobic disorder that I have — like , um , afraid of height or whatever the f * * * . But even though I ’m afraid of heights , I ’ve cliff dived and I ’ve sky dive and I’ve — you know , cause I ’m more afraid of miss out on the experience than I am of my petty little fears , if that make any sense ?
Billy : just , dude , I could not consort with you more . Would you ever in reality get your skydive licence ?
Arturo : My girlfriend at the fourth dimension did n’t fing know that I was afraid of height , and she got me a skydiving thing for my birthday , but my birthday is in November and in New York you ca n’t rise until June . So I had about seven , eight months to think about this fing thing , and I was like , “ I ’m not gon na do it . I ’m not gon na do it . I ’m not gon na do it . ”
Two weeks before there was an accident for a tandem skydiving thing where the parachute did n’t fully deploy . And so the dude landed on his customer and vaporized his customer and he kind of survived all fed up . And I was like , “ that ’s it . That ’s it . I ’m not doing it . ” And then my writing partner , who is — at the prison term — who is the softest sheik I ’ve ever meet , he was like , “ Oh , skydiving , yeah , I ’ve been like four times . ” I was like , “ there ’s no fing world in which this motherf***er has gone and I have not conk . ”
Anyway , we go up there . It ’s a whole story about how I eventually get up there . And they were like , “ okay , put your foot alfresco and you number to three and then we ’ll jump-start . ” And I was like , “ cool . 1 : deliquium , 2 , 3 . And I ’m wish , “ I ’m already fing flying ? ” I ’m like , “ await , what happened to two ? What take place ? ” It was like , you may see the video . It ’s just like — I just like nod off for like a second . And , and — and the first fing matter is — have you skydived ?
Billy : A few time , yeah .
Arturo : OK , so the first affair is your — your psyche does n’t know what the Hades is going on , correct ? And then , so it ’s sort of , kind of a — a sensory overload . And the 2nd one is like , “ oh my God , I ’m flying through the air like a f***ing bird . ” And then the third one is like , “ please deploy . Please deploy , please deploy . ” But I opine that everybody should do it at least once in their life .
Billy : What — the shivery , the scariest part was the drive to the airport for me . But like , every time I ’ve gone , I notice it so peaceable — alike , weirdly relaxing , and like — just nothing else in the creation matters .
So Gunther got this request approved , right , of somebody occur with him . But that was something that everybody was gon na repent because just about everything that could go incorrectly went awry . So , at first they took off in a dense fog [ airplane sound effect ] and Gunther could n’t see and flew — thank you . That’s — is that a murkiness sound ? Yeah . Oh , that ’s a plane sound .
Billy : That’s — I’m fairly sure that ’s a lawnmower .
Arturo : That ’s a lawn — so , he was , he realize that he was cutting the grass and he flew — he flew purely by compass , ripe ? make he could n’t see anything . And while the military observer guy rope had his , his lifetime flashing before his eyes . It was the first clip take flight — it was the guy wire ’s first time fly and he was completely freak out . It forced them to put down in the field and they could n’t even leave until local farmers cut down Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree to open up a runway .
Also , what are you doing somebody — sending somebody who has n’t fly to supervise a flight ? Right ? Like what would they — what would — how would they know what to depend for ?
Billy:“Uh , we ’re still up in the aura . ”
Arturo : Yeah . Yes . It ’s good . We are . We are . “ Oh , zis is fly . You ’re a big fly son . Yeah . ”
Billy : So hold back , so they ’re chilling in this town till they cut down the tree to make a running play – ?
Arturo : They had to land in a field and they could n’t take off again until husbandman come out and reduce some of the grass and vines and sh*t so that they could take off again .
Billy : That ’s like , awe-inspiring . See what happened to humanity like that , where you ’re like , “ ah , you ’re lost . I ’ll help oneself you out , ” you cognize ?
Arturo : Well listen , Billy , if a f***ing guy bring with a plane in my garden , I ’d be like , “ yeah , I ’m gon na aid you get the f * * * outta my garden cause this is the uncanny thing I ’ve ever see . ” So I do n’t know what ’s happened to — I do n’t know if it ’s mankind or it ’s , uh , it ’s just essentially —
Billy : It ’s like , “ Hey , I , you know , I have — I got some sh*t I find ta get done . Get out . ”
Arturo : Yeah . Yeah . “ So let ’s get — get you out . ” So when Gunther finally did launch again , another fog rolled in , and as they flew , Gunther realized that somehow that force landing had split the fuel armored combat vehicle and then the gas was leaking out of the planing machine . Right ? So they ran outta fuel just as they reached their destination . And that was big enough , but then on the path back — why are they f***ing fly back ?
Billy : Same plane ?
Arturo : Hey , overlords , it ’s got ta be a dissimilar plane , right ?
Carl : Germany had like four plane at the time . So this was the same carpenter’s plane . Yessir .
Arturo : So that was the same sheet ? They just patched it up ? OK , practiced . So Gunther says that the only reason that he tried taking off again was because he did n’t know any well at the time . And it was really a sh*tty call . After a footling while , he realized that the storm was too solid and he could n’t see to it the aeroplane . So he try out to dive down and set down in another field .
I — I get laid the farmers just take care at him like “ Nein ! Not again , please . We just finished cutting your sh*t out . ”
Billy:“You’re the wurst ! ”
Arturo : Imagine the military observer , right ? Like , he ’s just confessing to sh*t , in case this is the last prison term . He ’s like , “ I ’ve never like the uniform . I — I said I did , but I did n’t . It ’s boxy and it makes me look fat , you have it away ? ” And it ’s like , “ dude , calm down . We ’re not gon na die . ”
So they come in for the landing , but at [ the ] last min , the wind pick up and a gust slammed the plane and flipped it upside down , just as it neared the ground . The plane slammed into the field and smashed forward with the wind and rainfall lather them . The flipped plane cut back a trench into the turf before crash to a halt against a high-pitched mound .
Not the best first Clarence Day for our military observer hombre . Gunther and his rider were trapped under the plane as the violent storm raged on overhead , and as he caught his breath , he realized he was still active . Right ? Gunther felt up live gasoline start pouring down his face .
The observers probably like , “ OK , um , I — I’m observing some fuel getting into your oral fissure , ” and Gunther ’s like , “ you do n’t , no need to keep everything , ” you know .
This guy was f***ing golden . So some nearby husbandman , again , had in reality reckon the sheet go down . They hasten to the situation . They could n’t pinch the plane , so they dug a tunnel underneath it so they could pull out the trapped men .
What has happened to humanity , Billy ? Where are people digging tunnels for us these day ? Nay . They do n’t exist . So Gunther say that at that moment he realize that the mound they had crashed the plane into was actually … a jumbo pile of manure .
Billy : Fantastic .
Arturo : Yeah . What ’s a sh*tty — have you ever had a high-risk crash ?
Billy : Uh , yeah . Yeah . Not like , uh , well –
Arturo : OK . You ’re like , “ legally , I can not give you detail on it . I , I — I pleaded no contest . ”
Billy : No , that I — I’ve always been lucky , let ’s just say that — of like getting out of stuff . Like , I ’ve been flown from a bike and somehow down like basically on all fours .
Arturo : You landed like a gymnast , like , like — say , just like doing — doing the custody up in the melody . Like , uh , wow .
Billy : Falling rock climbing was the bad probably .
Arturo : What happened in rock climb ? You almost pass ?
Billy : I fall like — I return like maybe 50 feet ?
Arturo : No .
Billy : And like , it was — but fortuitously , we were over water , and it was like , there was a step weirdly . So I fell — I fall like 30 - something foot midway down . And when I hit my back , I kicked off aside from the wall cause there was rocks , and like , I kick off far enough to land in water supply . And so –
Arturo : What ? Brother , whoa .
Billy : Yeah , the worst part was n’t the , the — like , my back and the cicatrice there from all that , it was the toxicant oak that go into my bloodstream .
Billy : So I was like , a scab for the next two weeks .
Arturo : Um , also you ’re like , what if you say like , the worst part of it was just — you know , “ I — my dress got wet . That ’s really the bad . ” I was like , “ wow , you really love your wearing apparel . ” Well , I ’m happy you ’re alive , brother .
So Gunther , he pronounce that the plane was blast up into a snarl of woods , fabric and wire , and it was fully break aside in three places , and it was entirely embedded in mucky sh*t , veracious ? Sorry , squashy poo poo . Somehow Gunther get by with his animation and so did his passenger . He had Billy luck . So this is his escape number one .
[ Escape sound ]
Billy : OK .
Arturo : OK . Is that — I really hope that happens every time I name his escape . Can I get that one more time ?
Yes . give thanks you . So , in disgrace , both men take a string back to Gunther ’s Navy base to report . Their fellow officers were like , “ how ’d it go ? ” You know ? And they ’re like , “ please f * * * off . ”
Billy : Wait , await , wait . Let ’s go back earlier . So they land in a field , crashed in a battleground , and they did n’t just take the train back , they got back up in the air ?
Arturo : No , no , no , no , no , no , no . They took the train back . So the — they both , both man take a train –
Billy : No , the first time where the –
Arturo : No , they got back up . They got back up in the plane . The first time they crashed into the field . Yeah . They skip him off and they ’re like , “ OK . Yeah , I think this is well … ”
Billy : And the homeboy that ’s just , like , hitchhiking a ride is like , “ yeah , I ’ll go back up . ”
Arturo : I’m enjoin , I ’m just saying that like –
Billy : They could have take a railroad train ? !
Arturo : Yeah , they could have taken a train back , but they just decide not to have they were like , “ maybe this is what flying is . You have to care crash land every now and then , ” you know ? Uh , I also love that , like — also it must be — there must be some male self-importance in drama in this , correct ?
He ’s like , “ I will not go in the fing train . Everybody will know we fing crash . ” And — and it ’s like , “ I recollect everybody cognise already . It ’s in the news . ” So somehow despite this , the Navy still thought that they should send him to China as their especial pilot boy or wunderkind , if you will , and somehow Gunther still thought that this was a skillful idea .
Literally , in his book , he terminate the chapter of the crash by saying , “ well , duty called . ” Sh*t you not . Wow . So many tremendous manure pun I ’m practicing for when I become a Farmer Dad , you sleep together ?
CHAPTER 2: They Called Me “Dragon Master”
Arturo : So why did the German Navy charge Gunther to China ? Well , at the time , the German Navy had actually arrogate an integral city on the Chinese glide in 1897 , the city of Tsingtao . Huh ? Named after the Fantastic Beer ? Huh ?
Billy : Yeah . Yeah .
Arturo : That was because the German Kaiser was extremely f***ing jealous of his cousins who decree Russia and England , and they were all take on role of China for themselves . So you remember when that monarchy across Europe at that point was all like a mess up up family affair , you know , and they ’re all like — they were all basically like , “ no , I need it , ” “ no , I want it , ” you know , that ’s really how World War — uh , the First World War happened .
But how would you , how would your home do at rule a continent ? What do you think ? Imagine your syndicate dramatic play , but boosted by , to scale — to scale leaf of a world-wide empire .
Billy : Oh valet de chambre , I think it would be a dear clip .
Arturo : Yeah , particularly your sidekick vocalize like , you know , like there ’s struggle . They ’re like , “ just get your head word outta your ass . Hey , Russia , just get your head outta ass . All right ? ”
Billy:“Get your head out of your behind . ”
Arturo:“Hey , permit ’s go build a house , guys , let ’s go work up some houses . ”
Billy:“Build a sign . Let ’s have a beer . revel ourselves . ”
Arturo : So the German Navy put the city under a military dictatorship . So jocularity aside , I inquire if it ’s related that there ’s a beer distinguish after that city cause German language do make out their — their brewing , do n’t they .
Billy : It has to .
Arturo : Hey , overlords , is it related ?
Carl : Yes , this is when the Germans work up the Tsingtao brewery .
Arturo : Ooh .
Billy : Ooh .
Arturo : OK . OK . So I was right . Good for me . So Wunderkind Gunther was one of the Navy officer who was sent to China to be on the lead ship of their Asian Navy squad . Oh , and by the way , he had joined a German military honorary society at 10 year sure-enough . So this was kind of his matter , right . And before he learned to take flight , he had already sailed around Tsingtao as a navy military officer . In that first trip , he even got himself a tattoo , a flying dragon that stretched from his left over shoulder joint all the fashion to his left articulatio radiocarpea .
You get any ink ?
Billy : I do .
Arturo : Yeah .
Arturo : You do n’t regret any of it ?
Billy : I do n’t think you ’ve seen me with my clothes off , so .
Arturo : How many do you have ?
Billy : Uh , four . All — all I wish well I … I wish I did n’t have any of them .
Arturo : But listen . Particularly like that , like early 1900s . It must have been rare to get a big bum f***ing tattoo like that , correct ?
Billy : I guess , but do n’t you — isn’t like … all the sailors would get tattoos all the time and all that sh*t .
Arturo : I did n’t consociate it with German Navy guys , but I guess , you experience , you ’re on a boat , everything goes , you know . So after his flying lessons and , you roll in the hay , crashing his woodworking plane multiple time , Gunther was headed back to China for his German overlord . He make it in Tsingtao this time with a plane . Apparently he could wing now , and because of the tattoo , people originate shout him Gunther , Dragon Master , or at least that ’s what Gunther would secernate the great unwashed . Do you think that ’s even true ? I love the idea of him like —
Billy:“Call me Dragon Master . ”
Arturo : Yeah . Yeah , precisely . Yeah . “ Hey , hey , Gunther . Gunther . F***ing fine . Hey , Dragon Master . ” “ Yeah . Yeah , what — you’re call me ? ” Oh my God .
Billy : How are you this quick , dude ? How are you ?
Arturo : Well , my , I , I have my — I have writers in my ear . It ’s Tory Smith and Alyssa just go like , OK , and now bits , mo , turn , bit , bits . OK . So .
Together : Unz , unz , unz . Drop that beat!Unz , unz , unz .
Arturo : OK , give thanks you . OK . But also , OK , so Dragon Master , he ’s labour his nickname on everybody , and this was July of 1914 .
So the other matter happening at the oddment of July in 1914 was that World War I was kicking off . As a matter of fact , Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shoot on the same mean solar day that Gunther made his first escape over Tsingtao .
Ah , concurrence ? I think not . Where was he ? So before long enough , Germany and Russia were argufy . patently while blab out with an English girlfriend , Gunther told her that it was fine Germany was fighting Russia because they would never fight England . Ooh , how very wrong he was .
CHAPTER 3: International Man of Immediately Fumbling the Bag
Arturo : So by the crepuscle that yr , the Germans in Tsingtao were surround , right ? A combined army of Japanese and English troops had the urban center under siege . Did you expect the English to — to show up there ? Like it seemed like around that clip , English would always go like , “ oh , is it conquest ? Yes , please . Yeah . ”
Billy : What ’s crazy is that , that the — they probably sailed that whole way , like , at that time — like , it ’s mad .
Arturo : Yeah , I mean , the , the — the Air Force was n’t that knock-down and their Navy has always been get it on for being great .
So apparently in the attacks on the city , the Japanese army was extremely careful not to damage the German brewery because f***ing priorities . I respect that . And in the battle , Gunther was the German scout , so he would fly over the city and cover what he construe about the Japanese and English troops : Where they were tent , how many there were , thing like that . But at first , the soldier mocked him , saying that while they were agitate on the ground , he was just playing games up in the airwave . The truth is that Gunther ’s information was actually pretty utilitarian , but the insult stung , so he started to solicit the German technologist to count on out how to make turkey so he could drop them from his plane . And what did they come up with ? They fulfil four pound coffee tins with sticks to dynamite , with nails with scrap metal .
[ Tin can rattle strait ]
Thank you , Ben . And Gunther start acquit them up to the air with him and throwing them over the side . This seems f***ing mad . Can you reckon carry a coffee tin can full of dynamite on your overlap while you drive , lease alone pilot it up into the atmosphere ?
Billy : That ’s awing . I mean …
Arturo : I love how — yeah . I was gon na say , Billy ’s like , “ well , if it showed up at that sentence in my life history , I ’m just gon na say yes to it . ”
Billy : I’m gon na say yes to it . I imply , you live , there ’s people that beat back with torpedo in their cars here , human race .
Arturo : Yeah . Yeah . It ’s different than dynamite . But I see — I see the point . OK . I see the stage .
Billy : And these are those biplanes . Like it has two things : Like , it ’s open cockpit , the whole thing is what they had at that time .
Arturo : Yeah , that ’s what I imagine , because that ’s what the Red Barron was known for , right ? Like shooting — like fight . defend in the air .
Billy : When did the triggerman with the revolver come in , or with the propellor ? You cognise when –
Arturo : The gun with a propeller ?
Billy : Yeah , so it was time — it would fool away , but through the — the spins of the leaf blade .
Carl : That was in 1915 . That was in 1915 . We are a year ahead .
Arturo : OK , so permit ’s calm the f * * * down , Billy . OK . You ’re onwards of the — you’re ahead of the game . You ’re in front of the game . So , fortunately for everyone regard , the bombs were mostly flop , right ? At one point he throw off this bomb in an English military collapsible shelter , and it just like , take a trampoline bounce off the canvas tent .
So it was really awkward and then just kick the bucket into the mud . And when he would hit Japanese ships , the bombs would also just bounce off it without exploding .
And Gunther says that all these failures made him get over the first pleasant emotion of bombardment — fing , the pleasant emotion of bombing . “ Fing “ the pleasant emotion of bombardment ” unquestionably sounds like a memoir by a f***ing psychopath , or how you describe the beginning of my standup calling . Oh . Pleasure of bombardment .
really , to be honest , my — my only foray into standup funniness went very well , and I decide never to have-to doe with it again . Have you ever try that ?
Billy : dead not . Have you heard — have you heard me talk on this podcast ? Not gon na do it .
Arturo : I retrieve you ’re funny . You ’re funny in a radical . You ’re estimable at , you get — you experience what ? You are bully at control panel game , gentleman . You ’re great at prima board game . OK . And do n’t get anybody tell you differently buddy .
Billy : Thanks .
Arturo : So with Gunther doing exactly squat with the dumb dud , the siege of Tsingtao hold up for more than a month . The Germans finally surrendered the urban center in November , and Gunther had one last mission , and he was given a packet of secret documents and tell to wing south out of the city . He launched into the tune and traveled along the Chinese glide , flying south for as long as he could for those counting at home , this is Gunther ’s relief valve number two .
OK … Flying like a chicken from the siege of Tsingtao and leaving behind all that delectable , toothsome beer . Now , finally Gunther was push to set ashore , so he did his touch maneuver where he commit his aeroplane nose down into a nice clay plot of ground . Despite his time in Tsingtao , Gunther did n’t verbalize any Chinese , so he needed an American missionary to help him get into Shanghai .
Have you ever regretted not learning a language , Billy ?
Billy : Yes . So many .
Arturo : Great . OK , moving on . OK . give thanks you .
Billy : How many you got ? You get Spanish , English .
Arturo : I got — I become two and a half .
Billy : Two and a half . What ’s the one-half ?
Arturo : A little bite of French in my — in my pocket .
Billy : Yeah , I make two and a half , too .
Arturo : What you bring forth ?
Billy : I bring forth French , English , and half of Spanish . I , I was just — I was in , uh –
Arturo : Once you get Spanish , you automatically like are shoed in for Portuguese and Italian , kind of .
Billy : Yeah , yeah , yeah . They ’re all romantic spoken language .
Arturo : We’re romantic guy wire .
Billy : No .
Arturo : So after he showed up in Shanghai , a ring mail freighter was schedule to travel from Shanghai to California , and Gunther vex on card . He decided to travel as an Englishman named MacGarvin , and they were sure –
Billy : Macgarvin The Dragon Slayer .
Arturo : Yeah , the — the tartar guy . The dragon slayer . So they were sure that the Americans would n’t be able to tell the difference between a German accent and an English speech pattern , so he would n’t be in any peril . good ? F***ing audacity .
On the manner , Gunther made the really strange choice to tell other passenger , well , everything about himself . So that include giving away all the details of his false identity to an American journalist on circuit card . So when the ship docked in Hawaii , the news got ahead of him , veracious ? And by the time they set down in San Francisco in December , newspapers around the country were publishing the story . OK ?
Billy : Where ’s these — where are the document that he was like traveling with ?
Arturo : He still got ’em in there , but he is tell everybody what they moderate . He ’s like , “ oh , we are , we are design to set on on October 5 . ”
Billy:“They were great . They were dense . I , so I – ”
Arturo:“Vivaldi Square . Yeah . Are you gon na be there ? You require to RSVP ? ”
So , um — so the newsprint begin write the tale , right ? And the headline were , like , “ remarkable series of narrow-minded safety valve , ” and aver that Gunther was make to be MacGarvin , and he was taste to get back to Germany to fight the English . Like , whoa .
Billy , have you ever countenance something slip that was opine to stay secret ?
Billy : Everything .
Arturo : OK , great .
Billy : Everything . Do n’t tell me a enigma .
Arturo : I’m terrible at it too . Like , f***ing — I’ll crease like a tabular array .
Billy : I’m like , “ well , everyone should know . ”
Arturo : Yeah . You ’re like , “ no , no , no cat , let ’s get it out in the out-of-doors . ”
So , um , now that basically the entire commonwealth knew who he was , Gunther rushed to stay beforehand of anyone who might want to grab him . He hopped from train to train across the whole land , right ? He was face over his shoulder joint at every stop being like , “ why the f * * * did I tell that journalist my secrets ? Now I ’m being chased by the consequences of my own legal action , dammit . But I ’m still ze Dragon Master . Kühl , yeah ? ” His panicked jump from train to train finally brought him to New York . Of course , he did n’t have the right papers for an Atlantic crossing . He call for to retrieve someone in the city who could excogitate him a passport . take up him about three weeks , and he was apparently pretty desperate by the end . So he suppose the only thing that calmed –
Billy : What , what — what neighborhood in New York do you think it was ?
Arturo : I — I do n’t cognize , but I think , you know , he suppose that the only thing that calm down his nerves was going to see a carrying out ofHansel and Gretelat the Metropolitan Opera . And that ’s a honest tale . He is like , “ ah , this is so soothing . Is this fromHansel and Gretel ? ”
Billy : Yes .
Arturo : So finally Gunther feel a unelaborated dude who would make him a fake passport , and he purchase a ticket to Italy under the fake Swiss name Ernst Susse .
you’re able to find out anything in New York , right ? What ’s the weirdest matter you ’ve ever derive across in New York City ?
Billy : Uh , I remember getting on a metro and they had like , [ an ] iguana on a trine . Like , just someone , like , have an iguana on a threesome in the underground . I was like , “ eh , this makes sense . ”
Arturo : So now we ’re at escapism issue three .
So Gunther gets across America and it seemed like it was all working out for Gunther , except that when the ship gain Europe , it stopped at the English port wine of Gibraltar . And you know how Gunther had always been telling masses he was Swiss ? Well , one of the actual Swiss passengers on board did n’t recognize his dialect . Dude , if I were a momentary , bro , like people would think I ’m a fing deaf-mute . Like , this guy cable can not shut the f * * * up . He ’s like , “ yes , this is the emphasis . ” He ’s like , “ yes , yes . This is the Swiss emphasis . I am a Swiss guy wire . ” You know , he sounds like a fing Brad Pitt character . Anyway .
Billy : But also why is homeboy just being like , “ that ’s not a Swiss speech pattern , so I should plough ‘ em in or differentiate someone . ”
Arturo : Yeah like , mind your f***in business organisation .
Billy : Why do you wish ?
Arturo : I thought the Swiss were known for being like f***ing neutral .
Billy : They’re neutral !
Arturo : Yeah , dude . Why ? Why do n’t you go situate the clock ? Do me a favor buddy . Go fixate the clock while I do my thing . Um , so , I ’m no-count , to our Swiss audience of one person . So even with his simulated Swiss passport , Gunther was arrested by English officers along with a bunch of other Germans , Gunther was interrogate . And then embark to England cause he was now a prisoner of war .
CHAPTER 4: Escaping into History
Arturo : So when he was finally lock up at a prisoner of war clique in Plymouth , on the south coast of England , Gunther said that the principle … were made to be let on .
Ja ! Everybody ’s dominion are breaking , yas yas !
So for example , plainly inebriant was forbidden for the prisoner of warfare , but once the guard became friends with Gunther and the other soldiers , they started smuggling them bottles of beer , and then thing just escalated from there . They begin to let the German prisoners out to wander around the townsfolk , man . And then what ’s really f***ing half-baked is Gunther says that the English guard would even give them guns so that they could practice rifle exercises together . I imply , this voice — this sounds like a uncanny euphemism , but even if it ’s not , it ’s laborious to imagine things being any more slack , right ?
Billy : This is probably like aBrokeback Mountainsituation that was happening at that prison .
Arturo : mayhap . Maybe . Anyways , so things were completely loose at the first prison . But Gunther kept complaining to the English guards that he was an police officer . He give them his full identity and say that he deserved special intervention . And in England , that f***ing worked . Like because they — so they apologized for — oh , meritless , sorry , sorry , drear . So they apologize for hold him with soldier for so long and station him to an ship’s officer ’s camp out of doors of London . And Gunther say that he was finally treated like a human being again . And that the English warden of the police officer tried to comfort the world of the Germans there .
So as Gunther tells it , every two week a tailor would drop by the camp and make them novel clothes . They were also have a monthly allowance , uh , of money , actual money , and they were allowed to spell varsity letter to Germany . What the f * * * , man ? These guys are getting , like , tailored clothes because they ’re policeman … like , so British gentry , is n’t it ? “ Well , right . If you ’ll be a captive , chap , then you must look — reckon the part , old boy . ”
So this only lasted until Gunther was transferred to a new prison camp further inland , a place called Donington Hall . It was this honest-to-god castle now being used to hold back inmates , and Gunther says that everyone was packed into cold stone rooms , and , in his language , “ like pickled herrings . ” So plain , you love , he could n’t stand for this , right ? And after one day , when a cervid somehow slipped inside the barbed telegram fence around the castle , Gunther was convinced that it would be easy enough to slip out and run . To be honorable , his architectural plan was dead relatable , proper ? He started taking naps in the grass near the fencing line .
He would lie on the pasture . Gunther would see the pattern of the C , right ? He figured out that their patrol routes and schedule were matching . And after two calendar month of his stay in Donington Hall , Gunther had it all worked out . He had spent every possible moment watching and waiting and laying his plan . He even go out a couple of deals with the other captive to help oneself him out . So at the showtime of July , Gunther settle it was finally time for leakage routine four !
[ Escape audio x4 ]
Billy : countenance ’s go .
Arturo : give thanks you , Ben .
Ben : Had to get that fourth one in there .
Arturo : Yeah , you got ta get it . So step one , he says he prepared for the journeying before by eat several substantial butter bankroll . If you were gon na go operate for exemption , what would you — what would you want as your last meal , Billy ?
Billy : Kalduny . It ’s a meal my grannie get , Lithuanian knockout . It ’s essentially similar to a pierogi .
Arturo : Oh , OK .
Billy : But it ’s like a lucre and meat matter . It’s — it ’s one of my pet thing . It ’s wonderful .
Arturo : Delicious .
Billy : What ’s your last meal ?
Arturo : Oh , man . Um , probably fondue , you know ?
Billy : Really ? tall mallow or hot chocolate ?
Arturo : Cheese and umber . I ’m just gon na care , have — if I can replicate dip , you acknowledge , I ’ll just be like — cause I like the — I’m like , if I ’m gon na go out , I ’m gon na go out with , like , the , the — I love the , the custom of it . The , you know , pulling out small wampum , draw out the matter . I ’m just , you know , a swish guy . What do you want me to tell you ?
So that night during the evening roll call , another prisoner place in Gunther ’s layer and claimed to be sick while Gunther and another German officeholder slipped over the barbed wire fencing under the cover of a storm .
They had three rows of electrified barbed conducting wire to cross . Right ? But Gunther and his companion had compact themselves in thick leather , and they were able to sputter up and over , taking a few scratch , but nothing big .
Gunther does say that at one period he tore a trap in the seat of his pant .
How did they — how did they even get the thick leather leging to use ? I do n’t f***ing wanna know . So once they were on the road , they had a close call as one of the prison guards pass by . Gunther says that the two escapees behaved like a frisk pair of sexual love bird and mesh together in a kiss . And they just listen that the safety clicked his tongue and he run on by .
I love the idea of Gunther postulate it on for , like , long than necessary cause , just cause he was lonely . “ Bro . Like , bro , we ’ve been kiss for a while . Are you sure he can still see us ? ” Like , “ ja , ja . Now tell me I ’m funny and cute . It ’ll serve . Now tell me I ’m beautiful , please . ”
So Gunther had carried some normal clothes with him , along with a razor and a few other thing . So next cockcrow , as the two escapees made their way toward the nearest train station , they shaved , they changed clothes and rise onto the train as normal rider . They well reached London by twelve noon and escaped . Number four was stark .
Gunther do it the urban center — he had visited before the war — and he made his last costume alteration into a dirty skimmer suit , evidently . And he started depend around the docks for a boat he could steal . It actually require him a couple of week , cause in the meantime , Gunther order he made sure to have a skillful time in London , right ? He went to the museum , ate in the pubs , and he even saw at least one fun . What would be a show –
Billy : Hansel and Gretel ?
Arturo : Yeah . Hansel and Gretel . He ’s like , “ can not get enough . ” What would be one show that you put on the line your freedom to go see ? Or a concert ?
Billy : I wish I cause to see … yeah . Uh , Right before the pandemic , I was going to see fad Against the Machine . They had just got back together . I would make love to see them live .
Arturo : Yeah , for me , it would be a Menudo reunification . I just — I nonplus ta see him once , I speak about ’em all the f***ing meter . So I might as well just see ‘ em –
Billy : SoMenudois dissimilar fromamenudo … is likeoften .
Arturo : Amenudo , that ’s right , amenudo . There you go . Your Spanish — your Duolingo is poppin .
Billy : Yeah , dude .
Arturo : But all the play and secret plan had do to an end . Gunter saw in the report that the other escapee had been get and that the Brits were on his track . The police were searching for a serviceman with a large dragon tattoo on his left-hand arm . So the Dragon Master finally had to go in the lead and just start stealing some boat .
Billy : Oh , I reckon I — I thought you were gon na say “ cut off his branch . ”
Arturo : He thin off — Ioved , I loved him being like , “ I knew I should n’t have made people call me ‘ Dragon Master ’ here too . ” Like , “ why did I do this ? I can not get enough of this nickname . ” So the first boat that Gunther stole was about as successful as his flying , correct ? He climbed inside a little boat and pushed off the dock , but after a minute he realize that the boat was leaking . And he enunciate that he tried to paddle the Thames River on the dot while it was going ironic .
So by the end , the river was empty and the boat was full , and he was completely stuck in the mud . He says that he cringe through the mud back to the riverside where masses walk by thought he was intoxicated and just laughed at him for crawl around in the mud .
Seriously , has there ever been a more like , “ go home , you ’re drunk ” prison escape ? Like , dude , like — f***ing cash it in .
But Gunther went down the river , and the next nighttime , as the tide was go bad out , he found an neglected sportfishing boat . So he agitate out into the English canal . It was under the cover of darkness , so he was capable to paddle furiously toward a streamer that was cast anchor off the seashore . He reached it without being seen , climbed on board and stowed away .
That is escape number five . Gunther was finally on his way –
Ben : One more .
Arturo:–back to Germany .
CHAPTER 5: One and Only
Arturo : Gunther Plüschow was the only German prisoner to scarper an English prisoner of warfare pack in either World War I or World War II , or at least that ’s his narration . So in total , his journey from Tsingtao across America into the English POW camps , and then eventually back into Germany had taken only nine months . In 1922 –
Billy : Wow !
Arturo : Yeah . Gunther publish a Word of God in English calledMy Escape from Donington Hall , and it apply a elaborate level of his life . It is — uh , you might not be surprised to find out — exceedingly racist about citizenry he met in China , and this is — so I would n’t advocate people read it — but he spend a lot of fourth dimension talking about how great Germany is and , and how — how much he make out the German emperor butterfly and the prestigiousness for the white race .
Oh , that ’s nice . Oh , that’s — serious for you , Gunther . But there ’s a lot of extra bullsh*t about like , darling blonde hair’s-breadth and wonderful low-spirited optic . And wait a hour , was he describing you , Billy ? Was he ? He ’s like “ one day there would be bear a man who builds houses with beautiful blue eyes . ” I do n’t even cognise — are you eyes gloomy or greenish ?
Billy : They’re blue . Gunther ’s my uncle .
Arturo : So after his flight , Gunther occupy up flying again . When the state of war end , he start navigate too . He started die to his favorite German finish , Argentina . Bro , German soldiers love Argentina like they love — it ’s unwarranted . It ’s wild how many blond babies were born in 1946 down there , you know . plain , guy rope was unfeignedly a trailblazer for nazi . You know , on one of his trip , Gunther even convey a photographic camera with him and made a silent flick anticipate [ German]—sorry , Germans — or , take flight in Pictures to Unknown Worlds .
Billy : No , I conceive it translated to “ 100 per centum that b*tch . ”
Arturo : That ’s what it is . It was a Lizzo Song dynasty — an early version of a Lizzo song . So it follows his journey across the Atlantic , show him fly and has some early airborne footage of Tierra El Fuego . It ’s all up on YouTube at this point if you wanna check it out . And patently it was a huge striking in Germany in the 1930s . So all these things land us to the end of his life . Any guesses for how Gunther is gon na die , dude ?
Billy : Uh , it costs — like , chokes on something in his sleep .
Arturo : No swell . No , no , no , no . He was fly — he was vanish his plane in Argentina , of course . And once when he was up over the mountains , he lost dominance , for what was like the millionth time . But the self - proclaimed Dragon Master had melt down outta fortune . It was 1931 when Gunther eventually give out down in the batch of Patagonia . Only this time alternatively of the plane fly into a pile of sht , it was a heap of sht flying into a mountain . Oooh ! And that ’s it , buddy . Wow .
Outro
Arturo : Ahhh ! What are the takeaways ? What are the takeaways of this story for you , my admirer ?
Billy : Um , to get out of any berth , you call for , just some , uh , care and dear .
Arturo : That ’s it , world . And so now for a small fire hydrant OK ? So listeners can line up you in the filmLifton Netflix , Roadhouseon Amazon , The Franchiseon HBO and later this class — theLilo & Stitchlive action remake .
Billy : Roadhouse . You , you and I …
Arturo : Roadhouse , baby , turn back it out , Roadhouse . And so , heed , allow me know if you ’re into this , but to play us out , I would wish for them to trifle us a song and for us to kind of attempt to reenact a conversation how a conversation or a Sung would — because I hear you have a beautiful voice — so a birdsong would go between Guntherand maybe his military observer up in the air for the first metre . You wanna try it ?
Billy : OK . Um , good .
[ Waltz tune ]
Arturo [ singing]:“Do you see a mountain down there ? Should we go down there ? Is it portion that we are flee together ? ”
Billy [ singing]:“It ’s very frigid in the backseat . Can you get to the windowpane ? Oh , there are no windows because there is a open air cockpit . ”
Arturo [ singing]:“Ve are gon na doss down . Do you wanna clank , do you wanna crash ? You see that pile of manure ? Would you like to gountz untz untz ? ”
My God . give thanks you , buddy . Thank you so much , brother .
Billy : Oh my god .
Arturo : That was so f***ing laughable .
Billy : You do some astonishing sh*t , man .
Arturo : Brother , uh , I — I have all the love life for you . I appreciate you doing this . Thank you for being so open with us , and I ca n’t wait for us to do another f***ing film together , man . I — I really , unfeignedly ca n’t wait .
Billy : Oh yeah . Anytime .
Arturo : All correctly , brother . Thank you . And that’sGreatest Escapes . We ’re out .
Credits
Arturo : Greatest Escapesis a production of iHeartRadio and FilmNation Entertainment , in tie with Gilded Audio . Our executive producers are me , Arturo , Alyssa Martino and Milan Popelka from FilmNation Entertainment , Andrew Chugg and Whitney Donaldson from Gilded Audio , and Dylan Fagan from iHeartRadio .
The show is produced and edited by Carl Nellis and Ben Chugg , who are also , respectively , our enquiry overlord and music overlord . Our associate producer is Tory Smith , who is our other overlord .
Nick Dooley is our technical manager . Additional redaction by Whitney Donaldson . Special thanks to Alison Cohen , Dan Welsh , Ben Ryzack , Sara Joyner , Nicki Stein , Olivia Canny , and Kelsey Albright .
Hey , give thanks you so much for listening , and if you ’re enjoying the show , please pass on a valuation or review . My mammy will call you each in person and thank you , and we ’ll see you all next workweek .
