"U Get What U Get" Restaurant

Idea: A restaurant which intentionally serves you a different meal than what you ordered. The food you receive will be in the same general category/family as what you ordered (i.e. if you order a soup, they bring you a different soup; if you order a vegan dish, they bring you a different vegan dish). The food will be high quality and will not be pre-cooked. Also: after they've served you, they'll tell you what food it actually is (you won't be left wondering what you're looking at on your plate); they may expand upon the theme by giving you wrongly-sized eating utensils, having a different waiter/waitress come to your table each time, randomizing the dinner reservation waitlist, etc.; why people who work in restaurants hate DoorDash, Uber Eats, GrubHub, and Postmates

Stu McCallister (Twitter: @StuMcCallister Podcast: LmnoPodcast)
Kevin C (Planet Ant Farm Team)
Tom Walma (Twitter: @thomaswalma)

Note: Justin Siekierka does not appear on this idea/episode due to technical issues

Eavesdrop Diner

Idea: A chain of restaurants where every table is live-streamed on the Internet to allow people watching at home to eavesdrop on their conversations, pay for their food and/or drinks, give them likes, chat/gossip with other eavesdroppers who're watching the same table, and (in some cases) send messages to interact with the people eating at the restaurant. Also: watching first dates, anniversary dinners, arguments, and break-ups; acting fake or fetishy for the camera; a coaster or tracker to allow the camera to follow you around while you do activities (like play pool) in the restaurant; an "event wheel" for eavesdroppers to spin to cause events in the restaurant (for example, to cause a waitress to spill the drinks)

Carl Sobel (Facebook: Comedy Night at River City Saloon Twitter: @carl_sobel)
Parker Hammon (Twitter: @parker_hammon)
Tom Walma (Twitter: @thomaswalma)

Build-A-Mattress Workshop

Idea: A workshop similar to Build-A-Bear but where you build a mattress. The mattress would be super-customized with different combinations of materials (feathers, springs, memory foam, etc.), different firmness settings, etc. Also: you could test it for comfort as you build it; you could make it a "smart mattress" containing electronics and software, which could get a virus and make it impossible to fall asleep or fold in half and kill you

Jack Reeves (Twitter: @jackreeeeves Podcast: NoProbcast)
Nicole Melnyk (Twitter: @mcfancyvonpants Podcast Instagram:@noprobcast)
Simon Carlson (Twitter: @its_ah_me_simon)
Tom Walma (Twitter: @thomaswalma)

Possum Pack Rental

Idea: Possums that you can rent to eat all of the ticks in your yard. Also: possums that eat ticks can absorb lyme disease without re-transmitting it; a possum's dead horse smorgasboard; sisterhood of the possum-loving local comics

Avery Sommerfeld (Facebook: @crazeecomedy, YouTube: Funny News)
Lisa Semerad (Facebook: @lisa.semerad.1)
Tom Walma (Twitter: @thomaswalma)

Podcast Studio On-The-Go

Idea: To put podcast recording gear in a van and rent out recording time to other podcasters, and to drive the van to where they want to record. Also: the creepiness factor of telling a stranger to step into your van and maybe putting a boot on the tire of the van during the recording so they trust you not to kidnap them; renting out the van for other activities; putting a cheesy logo on the van and then embarrassing your kids by driving them to school in it; the "Chris Farley dream" (to live in a van down by the river)

Nick Pizzuti (Facebook: @nick.pizzuti.73)
Chris Young (Web: chrisyoungcomic.com Comedy Special Video: Buoyant Mon)
Bryan Harrison (Podcast: @MoistDefinitelyPodcast)
Tom Walma (Twitter: @thomaswalma)

Exercise Machine Videogame Controllers

Idea: Handles for an exercise machine (such as a treadmill, bicycle, rowing machine, or even free weights) which contain a game controller for XBox/Playstation/Steam to allow you to play A-list videogames while exercising. The handles could be swapped from exercise machine to exercise machine to allow you to perform a type of exercise which doesn't interfere with your gameplay at any given moment. The actual exercise (the pedaling of a bicycle, for example) wouldn't impact the gameplay, although maybe that feature could be added later as an enhancement. Also: gyms are like medieval torture; almost falling off the back of a treadmill when preparing to jump in a videogame; playing a videogame while exercising to improve your fitness training; nerdy details on Tom's prototype treadmill videogame controller and how exercise equipment manufacturers could incorporate videogames into their devices

Tom Walma (Twitter: @thomaswalma)
Shallis M
Gus

Uber Ambulance

Idea: An Uber-like transportation service where the drivers use normal vehicles (i.e. not ambulances) to recklessly speed you to the hospital, for much less cost than a traditional ambulance. Also: a cheaper alternative for less life-threatening injuries; strapping the injured person to the hood so the cops know why you're speeding; euthanasia via Miata

Jimmy Slims (Instagram: @jimmyslimscomedy Twitter: @jimmy_slims)
Bart Dangus (Twitter: @bartdangus Podcast: Big Time Garbage)
Tom Walma (Web: creativitywasted.com Twitter: @thomaswalma)

Good Netflix

Idea: A redesign of Netflix which is actually good. It'll be good because a) the shows are better (obviously), and because b) it'll offer a much more immersive experience. It'll support immersion into a particular movie or TV show by including commentaries, Arsenio Hall talk show promotional segments, bloopers, and other bonus content related to the movie or TV show. It'll also support immersion into the time period of the movie or TV show by showing TV commercials from the time period (and allowing you to buy the old-timey products in the commercials), by enabling censorship rules from the time period, by simulating audio/video quality problems of the time period (such as tracking issues), and by simulating other inconveniences from the time period (such as stopping the video stream at 1:00 AM to simulate the local TV broadcast tower shutting down for the night)

Matt Harper (Twitter: @MattHarperJokes Podcast: Another Episode Twitch: @mattopoly83)
Brett Mercer (Twitter: @brettmercer_ Podcast: Big Time Garbage Twitch and Web: @Brettmercer)
Johnny Mocny (Twitter: @JohnnyMocny Podcast and Web: @wearemoviespod)
Tom Walma (Twitter: @thomaswalma)

Covid-Era Wedding DJ In A Box

Idea: A DJ-in-a-box for a Covid-era wedding (or other social event). It'd be extremely cheap because the socially-distanced event would only have around 10 people in attendance and therefore wouldn't justify the cost of a normal human DJ. It'd consist of an oscillating fan with some laser pointers taped to it, a pack of three "smart light bulbs" to put around the venue, and a Spotify playlist which you say is customized but is actually the same playlist for every wedding. Also: a self-hating DJ; optional add-ons like a holographic DJ, a celebrity Cameo for a wedding toast, and an entire wedding-in-a-box; a sad single person ordering a DJ-in-a-box to use alone in his apartment

Matt Harper (Twitter: @MattHarperJokes Podcast: Another Episode Twitch: @mattopoly83)
Brett Mercer (Twitter: @brettmercer_ Podcast: Big Time Garbage Twitch and Web: @Brettmercer)
Johnny Mocny (Twitter: @JohnnyMocny Podcast and Web: @wearemoviespod)
Tom Walma (Twitter: @thomaswalma)

Food Circus

Idea: Traveling "food circuses"which are each based on a specific genre of food (Ethiopian, Vietnamese, Greek, etc.). Cooks and market vendors from that country would serve/sell food of every class of that food genre (markets, street food, normal everyday restaurants, fancy 4-star restaurants). The food circus would have scheduled activities, like speeches from famous chefs or cooking lessons. It would be designed to allow walking around, but also designed to enable quick entry and exit so people can go during their lunch hour at work

Originally from Creativity Wasted episode 57

Melanie Gresham (Twitter: @mel_gresham)
Adam West (Facebook: @adam.west.73307)
Tom Walma (Twitter: @thomaswalma)
Recorded at Podcast Detroit

Drone Charging Network

Idea: A kit for toy drone enthusiasts to convert an attic vent to a "drone doggy-door" and put a grid of wireless drone charging stations in their attic. They could then register their house as a "drone charging station" to create a nationwide "drone charging network", thus allowing people to gradually fly toy drones (which are connected to the cell phone network) across the country

Originally from Creativity Wasted episode 57

Melanie Gresham (Twitter: @mel_gresham)
Adam West (Facebook: @adam.west.73307)
Tom Walma (Twitter: @thomaswalma)
Recorded at Podcast Detroit

Drone Sightseeing Tours

Idea: An hourly drone rental service for sightseeing at the Grand Canyon (or some other vacation destination), where you'd control the drone remotely from your computer, tablet, or VR headset. Afterwards, it would send you 4k video recorded by the drone. Also: why sightseeing vacations don't make sense; social drones which have a screen that shows your face

Originally from Creativity Wasted episode 57

Melanie Gresham (Twitter: @mel_gresham)
Adam West (Facebook: @adam.west.73307)
Tom Walma (Twitter: @thomaswalma)
Recorded at Podcast Detroit

Small Talk Bouncer

Idea: To use Amanda's chore bartering app to hire someone do "small talk" for you, like a "small talk bouncer" or a "Jacqui replacement" who is wearing a Jacqui mask (Tom's idea). Or maybe, instead of doing small talk for you, they'd help guide you through the small talk, like a "small talk coach". Also: a velvet rope for your body

Originally from Creativity Wasted episode 56

Jacqui Marpa (Twitter: @JacquiMarpa)
Amanda Brewington (Facebook: @amanda.brewington)
Tom Walma (Twitter: @thomaswalma)
Recorded at Podcast Detroit

"U Do It" Chore Bartering App

Idea: An app for bartering/swapping house chores with strangers in your neighborhood, with a Tinder-style approval process for bartering partners, so you don't end up with a creep who might do weird things with your dirty laundry. Also: How the NextDoor app devolves into gossip and negativity

Originally from Creativity Wasted episode 56

Jacqui Marpa (Twitter: @JacquiMarpa)
Amanda Brewington (Facebook: @amanda.brewington)
Tom Walma (Twitter: @thomaswalma)
Recorded at Podcast Detroit

Hi-Tech Japanese Toilets for America

Idea: To sell hi-tech Japanese toilets in America. Also: to help Americanize them, they should come with audio of a physical trainer telling you to "push it", and should be sturdier, so the toilet seats don't crack when fat Americans sit on them

Originally from Creativity Wasted episode 54

Gwen Hope (Twitter: @gwenhopecomedy)
Ron Rigby (Twitter: @RonRigby)
Joe Williams (Twitter: @JoeDoubleYou)
Seiko Yomogita (Instagram: @best_japanese_comedian)
Tom Walma (Twitter: @thomaswalma)
Recorded at Podcast Detroit

Boozr

Idea: An app for buying and delivering booze and other items from a local liquor store to your house (or the nearest corner if you're homeless). Or it could be like an ice cream truck for adults, in which case grown men holding dollar bills would be drunkenly chasing the booze truck through the neighborhood in a zig-zag line. Also: A liquor-shaped vehicle similar to the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile

Originally from Creativity Wasted episode 51

Gimmy Cipriano (Twitter: @theRealGimmyC, @aBitTooMuch1)
Ricarlo Winston (Twitter: @thewolfspider23)
Markus Olind (Twitter: @BeardVonMarkus)
Tom Walma (Twitter: @thomaswalma)
Recorded at Podcast Detroit

Clothing "Photo Fit" App

Idea: A shopping app that uses photo(s) of you (in your underwear) to calculate and show you what the clothes would look like on your body. Also: hackers stealing semi-nude photos from the app; helping the app determine your body dimensions by standing next to a celebrity mannequin (for example, Seth Rogan) in your photos; having to explain to other people why you have a mannequin of Seth Rogan in his tighty-whities in your house

Originally from Creativity Wasted episode 51

Gimmy Cipriano (Twitter: @theRealGimmyC, @aBitTooMuch1)
Ricarlo Williams-Winston (Twitter: @thewolfspider23)
Markus Olind (Twitter: @BeardVonMarkus)
Tom Walma (Twitter: @thomaswalma)
Recorded at Podcast Detroit

Frankenburger

Idea: A healthy fast food restaurant which proudly proclaims that its food is not natural and that its veggie and/or lab-grown meat doesn't taste as good as real meat. But it's the same price, is humane to animals, is half the calories, and (unlike normal fast food) is reheatable. And the taste is constantly improving (multiple times per year), which encourages people to come back and try it again. Also: encouraging people to cook their own food is a poor design for society; health food snobs contribute to the obesity crisis by refusing to eat healthy food at fast food restaurants

Originally from Creativity Wasted episode 49

Seth Addison (Instagram: @sexaddictson)
Pat Sievert (Twitter: @patsievert)
Josh Courtnay (Twitter: @JoshCourtnay)
Tom Walma (Twitter: @thomaswalma)
Recorded at Podcast Detroit

Generic Gig App With Job Training

Idea: Most education and job training is completely unnecessary. You could train almost anybody to do almost any job, like surgery, in under 30 days. So we should reduce training for most jobs by like 90% to allow people to do them as "gigs" using an Uber-like app, with job training built into the app. Also: the "gig economy" might kill drug dealing because now you can do a couple small gigs and spend the rest of the day on the couch playing videogames without the risk of being murdered or sent to prison

Originally from Creativity Wasted episode 46

David Shank (Broken Knuckle Podcast Recording Studio Sitting Down WIth Standups Podcast)
Jason Spitsbergen (Twitter: @JSpitsbergen)
Josh Bowab
Tom Walma (Twitter: @thomaswalma)
Recorded at Podcast Detroit (Podcast Detroit)

Rapid-Response Meme Ad Agency

Idea: An ad agency that quickly detects Internet memes and shoots TV commercials using that meme within a couple hours to be aired on TV that same day. Also: An external company could detect these Internet memes and sell that info to ad agencies and other companies; TV commercials based on memes that failed because they didn't air until months after the meme was stale

Originally from Creativity Wasted episode 45

Ondrej Balas (Twitter: @ondrejbalas)
Ron Rigby (Twitter: @RonRigby)
Bryan Harrison (Podcast: Moist Definitely)
Tom Walma (Twitter: @thomaswalma)
Recorded at Podcast Detroit (Podcast Detroit)