Original subtitles

What's his real name again?

- Charlie. - Charlie. Charlie, right.

Hi, Charlie.

She's putting a hat on him. She's putting a hat.

We have to put on a hat.

We have to put on a hat, it's not gonna match.

Do you have a hat? Put him in the hat.

There we go.

It's just a... It's just a hat, you're okay.

Okay. Wait till she clears the room.

Okay, go, she's clear. Go, go, go, now, now, now.

Now.

And we're out.

- Hi. Yeah. - Okay. You are a sweetheart.

All right, thank you everyone. Great work.

Most people say that nothing can prepare you for becoming a parent.

But most people don't have the resources to hire dozens of child actors

to create around the clock simulation of parenthood.

To raise a child from zero to 18 over the course of two months

before deciding if you want to have one yourself.

That's the rehearsal I'm giving Angela,

a 44-year-old woman who has chronically put off having children

because the circumstances have never been quite right.

I'd like it' to happen in... Within the right context.

Which is what?

In a marriage, with a man.

- Okay. - Yeah.

- Yeah, that makes sense. - With the love of my life.

And is... Do you have that person in your life right now or...

- No, I don't. - Okay.

Yeah.

My challenge was simulating the future life circumstances

she envisioned for herself if she were to become a mother.

Are you seeing anyone you like?

- No. - What about him?

- Just a little out of shape, maybe. - What about him?

His outfit, it's too serious.

And Angela was very particular.

I think I'll bring this air purifier too.

So, we had to relocate her from her studio apartment

to a rented house in rural Oregon

because she didn't want to raise a kid in the city.

We'd probably have a house with a couple of acres,

with food and animals. We'd probably be online,

but we'd also have access to go off the grid

because infant skulls have not fully formed.

So, they absorb wireless radiation

a lot more than we do into their brains.

- Oh, okay. - Yeah.

But her fears made sense to me.

It's scary to imagine raising a child when you always know

that a single misstep on your part could ruin their entire life.

Angela's rehearsal began with a simulated adoption

just like she envisioned.

Where I had the baby's real mother give him away.

- Hi. - Yeah. This is for the best.

He's better off with you than with me, so...

Thank you.

Maybe you can elaborate a bit on why you're not suited to be a mom.

Yeah, I'm in school full time

and he just needs a complete home, so...

I can give him that.

I tried to make every detail of the experience as realistic as possible.

Is this something you would normally hand off or anything, this situation?

-No... I've never done that, -Okay.

Angela already had a name in mind for her baby.

I think I've decided on Adam.

He likes it.

Why Adam, what...

I knew a guy named Adam and he was, you know...

It's just... It's... Adam is a strong name.

- Like, Adam. - Adam?

- Yeah. - Okay, yeah.

Each week Adam will grow three years, and for each age,

multiple child actors will be needed

in order to comply with Oregon state labor laws

that limit the number of hours a child can work.

With babies capped at four hours, it required multiple switches each day,

which I tried to make as seamless as possible

to keep the illusion of raising a single child intact for Angela.

But just as important as her experience was the well-being of the babies.

Ask them about aromatherapy. Like, if they're okay with lavender...

on the soles of the feet.

Lavender on the soles of the feet?

The oil.

I had to keep track of everything she wanted to do with these kids

and get the real parents' consent.

Lavender oil on soles of feet to calm them.

- She can give it a shot if she wants. - Okay. Lavender oil okay.

But the most important element of Angela's future life

as a mother was still missing, a man by her side.

Prior to the start of her rehearsal,

I'd encouraged her to meet up with some of her dating app matches

to see if she could find someone

with the qualities she was looking for in a co-parent.

I'm not saying that all extra-biblical texts are bad

'cause definitely like the Dead Sea Scrolls or The Apocrypha.

But a lot of believers of various denominations don't really read the Bible

and they don't really know what it says.

So, that can be problematic

because then people start going by their opinions and...

- Yeah. - Yeah, because...

- Yeah, so... - Yeah.

Yeah.

For a while, it seemed like she would never find a connection.

I was just wondering, what scares you the most?

- In life. - Well...

First off, it's eels.

Until she met a guy named Robin.

Angela? Good to meet you. How's your day?

- Nice to meet you. It's going crazy. - All right. It's crazy?

No, it's good, it's fabulous.

- Oh, yeah? - Yeah.

Yeah, same here.

- Oh, really? - Absolutely blessed.

- It's a very good day. - Very blessed.

- I agree with that. - Yes.

This is the Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:19 through 13 with a heartbeat monitor.

Nice.

Ask the Father, to give me everything I need every day, take care of me.

I was like standing on the corner drinking forties.

You know, smoking weed.

And, so God, like, pursued me though.

I made a few bad decisions

and ended up totaling my Scion TC at 100 miles an hour.

- Oh, wow! - Yeah.

I found myself upright.

As miracle as that is, so...

- That's a testimony. - Yeah.

- Amen. - Amen.

I was hopeful Angela would want to invite Robin to join her rehearsal.

But now, we were three days in and she still wasn't sure.

For me, more than a ten-year difference feels a little...

- And he might be younger than that. - Maybe.

You know, my goal is just for...

your rehearsal to reflect reality and I know...

...with a partner it would... That would happen for you, so...

- Well... - Yeah.

I can say, it can still be realistic because my husband could be at work.

And I started to wonder

if she was less interested in an accurate simulation of her future life

and instead just wanted a fun vacation in her dream home.

I hadn't intended for this to be easy.

Since baby actors can't work pass 7:30,

the final switch of the night was to a robot baby

that would mimic the sleep patterns of a human baby.

To do this, I hired a local man who claimed to be a night owl...

All right.

...whose job was to watch a live feed of a real baby

and manually make the robot baby cry in sync.

Unfortunately, it turned out he was not a night owl

and fell asleep within 15 minutes of the start of his shift.

And the next night, it happened again.

Robbing Angela of the experience of being woken up throughout the night

and giving her the impression that motherhood was a walk in the park.

- Hey, how's it going? - It was all right, brother.

I'd be negligent if I didn't fix this.

Didn't you describe yourself as a night owl.

Absolutely. Yes, indeed, yeah.

And once things were up and running again,

Angela seemed to be craving an extra set of hands.

Because within a day, she had set up a second date with Robin.

Are you dressed for your date?

- I think so, yeah. - You look great.

- Thank you. - Very, very...

But when I reminded her it was her responsibility

to organize childcare, things got a little tense.

I need more notice.

So, I have time to arrange a babysitter.

I mean, it's tough because I mean, technically, crew... the crew of...

Our crew can't help out with any child-raising tasks.

- So, let's reschedule. - Right.

For like a week, you know, next week or something.

Right.

I couldn't let this experience go to waste for her,

so I insisted she go on her date and just this once,

I broke my own rule and offered to babysit myself.

How are you doing?

Okay, shall we walk a little bit?

- Okay. - And I see MVP on license plates often.

- Gotcha. - Rolled in here, right as I turn in...

- On the first car... Four seventeen... - You're lying.

- MVP. - No.

Swear right hand to God.

Oh, no, are you okay? Oh, no.

It's okay, it's okay.

What's your dream, like, for your life?

My dream has always been to play in the NBA.

Oh, okay.

It's okay, it's okay.

- Hey. - Hello.

- How's it going? - Good.

- Here you go, he's sleeping. - Oh, good, thank you.

- I changed his diaper. - Thank you for watching him.

Yeah, I've never changed a diaper before.

How'd it go?

Pretty good, but that doesn't matter.

How did it go with Robin?

- It was really great. - Yeah?

Yeah, I had a good time with him.

There were a lot of amazing coincidences again in our conversations...

Like what?

Just things that he was mentioning

about numbers that have come up in his life.

You know, like, sometimes you seek signs and numbers repeating.

So he felt like those were signs that this was supposed to happen.

Okay.

So, Angela invited Robin over to the house for a third date.

Where she would propose that he joined her in raising her child.

- Hi. - Hi.

He's kind of a top candidate for to be a co-parent.

- Okay. - Yeah.

- They seem to get along well enough. - Yeah.

- No, I think you're very clean. - Come on. Don't I look clean?

There's actually a baby in the house.

- There is? - Yes, and I was wondering if...

His name is Adam.

I was wondering if you would like to meet him.

Really?

- Hi. - How are you doing?

- This is not my baby. - Okay.

It's to explore the idea of having... what it's like to raise children.

It's for a project that is going on.

But it'll progress from like babies then like toddlers, three-year-olds,

then like pre-teens, then teens.

- That's awesome. - And there is cameras all over.

- All right. - And there is also cameras in the house.

There's even a robot baby that they leave overnight

and it wakes me up, and I have to get up and feed it until it stops crying.

So I'm staying here. It's, you know, obviously not my house.

- Okay. Right. - They...

I was like, when do I move in?

So this is the thing, you know...

Well, I mean, I was exploring the idea of, I was wondering how you would feel

about participating, like co-participating in something like this.

- Really? - Yeah.

I think that that would definitely be something that would entice me.

Okay.

Does he seem like the type of guy

you'd be comfortable having around your baby?

Yeah, he seems like nice and friendly and stuff, I mean...

I was wondering, you know, 'cause we're both believers.

What are your convictions about purity, like, in dating?

As far as, like, sexual?

I...

I definitely do...

have sexual relations.

- You do. - Yeah.

Okay. You know, I'm not giving this for nobody, except my husband.

So, if there's, like, a temptation issue that would definitely come up if...

you know, you were to participate in this project.

Okay, like, I don't understand 'cause, like, I know I'm a very attractive person.

- You know. - Maybe.

- Yeah, I... - Kinda. And...

- Yeah, you are. - Yeah.

Thank you.

- You're beautiful. - Thank you.

- All right. - Bye.

All right.

Hey, man. Robin? I'm Nathan.

- Hi. - Hey.

- Good to meet you. - I'm just wondering are you...

Do you think you're interested in joining Angela in this project or...

It sounds like something that I'm definitely interested in without a doubt.

Would you want to try it out for tonight and then we can...

Sure. 'Cause actually even where I'm living now...

my roommate doesn't believe in Jesus.

- And she has clearly stated that. And... - Is that a problem?

Yeah, it's a problem for me. Yeah, definitely.

Robin said he needed to drive home to get some stuff for the night,

so I tagged along to do my due diligence on behalf of the parents.

Do you want me to hold your phone, so you don't have to look down?

You mean, like, hold it up?

- Yeah. - Okay. Yeah.

Or is it a little... just dangerous maybe to have it on your lap.

Is that helpful?

- I mean, I do that all the time. - Like this?

- Like have it on your lap? - Yeah.

Just the roads are... Watch out for that.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

Thirty-three miles till empty.

Jesus Christ was crucified at 33.

- Fifty-five on the mileage. - Okay.

Big change transformation.

Thank grace, 22.

Turning all dreams and desires into reality.

All right. Can I fill regular?

It just said 88.

- What's that? - I looked at it when it said 88.

The miles going up, you mean?

They're going up. I looked at it at 88. Eighty-eight, new beginnings.

And it's approaching 644

and what's a trip is after I totaled my Scion TC

last April second at 100 miles an hour.

I had a Focus just like that that I got blessed with for 200 dollars.

- Nice place. - Thank you.

Do you have kinda, like, three mattresses in here?

Yeah, I need to get rid of 'em. But...

Remaining celibate.

I don't know, I just...

You know? I feel like...

it might... that might change.

You think you're gonna have sex with her tonight?

Who knows? The door is open, I guess. I don't know.

Do you use condoms?

Not really.

- In there... - Is that a... What is this?

This?

The bong.

You know how to hit a bong, right?

I noticed as I was gonna make a sandwich, we don't have mayonnaise.

- No? - I was like, "What?"

- Yeah, buy some. - Yeah.

'Cause I don't use mayo too much.

I saw 44 on a plate, and there was a car with the Baby on Board Carlo sticker,

just like the one that was on my Scion TC that I crashed at 100 miles an hour...

All right, man, I gotta... Hey,

I have a hard time seeing the coincidences in just two numbers though.

It's just so crazy, I've seen 88, like, the water that she offered me, 88 on it.

- Like again... - The kid's name is Adam.

Why you think so much more about numbers than you do, like,

the real-life experiences of, like, you know, this is...

I met this person, and she might be the person for me. You know what I mean?

Like I would focus on that.

Thank you for your input.

- What are you stepping to? - Squash it.

- What are you stepping to? - Squash it.

- What are you stepping to, bruh? - Squash it!

- What are you stepping to? - What the fuck does that mean?

- What's up? - What's up?

- You're stepping to me, bro. - Hey, what's up?

- What's up? - I'm right here.

Cross the fucking line then, why you keep tripping on me?

- Quit fucking tripping on me, bro. - God bless you, bruh.

- Good then. - What was that about?

I was just telling him the truth and his demon doesn't like the truth.

Do you want me to drive?

Because you kinda, like, took a little bit of weed or...

No, I can drive.

- Are you sure? - Oh, yeah.

- Okay. - Yeah.

Just in case.

I smoke and drive all the time.

- You don't have a license plate? - No, it's okay.

But don't you need a license plate to drive?

No.

You don't need a license plate to drive?

No.

- Seventy-seven, this one's always here. - Oh, yeah.

Seventy-seven and there's a cross right behind 33.

Carne A sad a tater tots, no sour cream, no cheese.

Eighty-eight.

Hi.

- Hello. - Welcome back.

If you hear the baby crying,

it is your turn to go in and feed the baby the bottle.

Okay.

My Christian friends gonna be like, "Oh, my gosh, you spent the night alone

"in the house with a man who's not your husband?"

I know that the government has sasquatch liaisons.

People that actually can communicate with these creatures, and, you know?

I've heard a lot of different whistleblowers come up online

and, you know, through different radio shows and...

Crying.

That's a loud one.

It can be scary to let a new person into your life.

Press it again.

You have to open up your heart to them.

But you can never be fully sure what their motives are.

Heavy cry.

- Heavy cry. - Heavy cry.

- Keep him crying, don't let up. - Okay.

And even if you wish for the best, they often end up disappointing you.

- He's bailing. - What?

He's bailing, he's leaving.

Wasn't cut out for it, I guess. Not everybody is.

Sometimes I'm not sure why I make the choices I do.

I transported a fake bar across the country from New York to Oregon

just because I didn't want to throw it away.

But I had no use for it here

and it didn't even fit in the building they put it in.

I guess it's nice to have something familiar around.

Especially because I was gonna be out here for a while.

I was put up in a corporate suite which was apparently their model unit,

so it had some nice amenities.

And I was allowed to bring my cats with me which made it a little less lonely.

Maybe when everything around you is so temporary,

you start longing for something more permanent.

- Hey, hi. - Hello.

Sorry about everything that happened with Robin.

It's okay.

Sometimes things have to unfold

and you have to learn things as you go, so...

Yeah, I've been thinking a little bit about just like life and...

I mean, I don't have kids myself. I'm 38 and...

You know, I think I could be a good dad maybe, but...

I'm not sure.

- Yeah, it's hard to know. - Yeah.

And I was thinking, I don't know, maybe...

maybe it would be good for you to go through this experience with someone

who could benefit from it as well.

Someone like me.

Obviously, it would just be about co-parenting the child, not...

It wouldn't be romantic in any way.

Yeah, I think during this process

I wanted to have more communication ahead of...

- With me? - Yeah, ahead of time.

Is that a big yawn? I know.

There you go. Good girl. It's all right.

Yeah.

Yeah, so I think just making sure that we communicate.

Making sure everyone's on the same page.

I think that's gonna be a good thing to focus on.

It's definitely something that I'm always trying to work on.

Cool, thank you.

I like to pray about things.

Okay.

And kind of see if I have a peace about something.

Yeah, so I haven't really had time to do that, so...

Obviously though, I don't want...

I know I'm in a position of power when I say this to you,

so I don't want that to influence your willingness to decide.

I want you to be honest with me and tell me if you...

If it's something you don't want to do, definitely,

I don't want there to be the, you know, the bias or...

- Right. - Yeah.

Just off the top of my head, I would say, "Sure, let's go with it."

- Why not? - Okay. Yeah, okay.

Why not?

- Cool. This is gonna be fun. - It will be. It's gonna be great.

Hi, Craig, this is Nathan Fielder from The Rehearsal.

How are you, sir?

- Good, how are you? - I'm fantastic.

I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to be joining the rehearsal,

which means I'll be moving into the house

to perform co-parenting duties along with the current participant, Angela.

Okay.

As promised, we would get your approval for any changes to the plan,

so I'm just calling to get your verbal consent

that allows me to participate and interact with Perry in the capacity of father.

Is that something I can get you to agree to today?

Yeah, I believe that would be amicable.

It's actually great news for you

'cause now, there'll be two people looking after Charlie instead of one.

- Isn't that exciting? - Yeah, that's great.

I'm not sure if I sense any hesitancy in your voice,

but if so, it's completely understandable.

It's a strange experience

and I know this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is not for everyone.

So if you're feeling even a slightest bit uncomfortable

and would like to opt out, that's no problem at all.

I appreciate that. But, no, I don't feel funny.

Well, excellent, we're thrilled to have your continued commitment

to this groundbreaking project.

Awesome, thank you for letting us be part of it.

- And I'm excited to see you very soon. - All right, I'll see you soon.

And I'm excited to see Charlie. Excited to see Tracy.

I'm excited to see Sawyer. To see Nicholas soon.

- I'm excited to see Austin soon. - Okay, thank you, Nathan.

- Okay, bye. - Bye. Bye-bye.

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