Mary Steenburgen On Set at The Dink Movie: Improv with Jake Johnson, Her Point on Anna Leigh Waters, and the Psychic Who Predicted Ted Danson
Dinks On Tap: The Happy Hour Pickleball PodcastShow Notes
Have you ever made it to the front of the paddle line at pickleball open play, only to have your partner dis you because she didn't want to play with "a beginner"?
Yeah, that happened to today's guest, Academy Award winner Mary Steenburgen, one of the celebrities who play pickleball when no one's filming.
After sharing drinks with Mary and her husband, Ted Danson, we knew we had to have her on the pod to talk all things pickleball community, how to keep growing at any age, and the weird "gift" she was given after what was supposed to be a routine surgery (that's the Mary Steenburgen music story).
She's spilling the tea on who got her into the game, how she won her first sports ribbon at 40 by a complete fluke, and how she and Jake Johnson became friends through improv on the set of The Dink movie. We also get into what beginner pickleball is like when strangers expect a movie star to be good, and her take on pickleball for seniors, court shoes included.
We talk about:
How Mary scored most of her team's 6 points alongside the partner who called her "a beginner," back before The Dink Movie came out
The crash course in pickleball open play etiquette she needed first, starting with how the paddle line works
Who got Mary to pick up a paddle, and the support that kept her enthusiasm going
The word Mary makes her 5 grandchildren add to the sentence "I can't do this"
The night of pickleball with the crew of The Dink that Mary will never forget
Why pickleball people are the best, and how the sport spans generations
The "gift" Mary got after a bit of anesthesia, which she didn't see as a gift and which turned into a whole other career
Why aging by accomplishment, over aging by diminishment, is Mary's case for pickleball for older adults
We also serve up Mary's take on why pickleball friends are some of the best friends you'll make. And if you've ever Googled "is pickleball good for seniors," her love letter to the game at the end is your answer.
Pour something cold and press play.Cheers,Casie and LaurenDinks on Tap
Let’s keep the conversation going! Connect with us:
Instagram: @dinksontap
Facebook: @DinksonTapWebsite: dinksontap.com
Connect with Mary:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mary_steenburgen
Drew Brees Celebrity Pickleball Tournament: https://delmar.wine/event/drew-brees-celebrity-pickleball-tournament/ (Promo Code: DINKSONTAP20 — 20% off Pickleball spectator tickets only)
Del Mar Food & Wine Festival: https://delmar.wine/ (Promo Code: DINKSONTAP15 — 15% off all Grand Tasting ticket tiers.)
More from Dinks On Tap: The Happy Hour Pickleball Podcast
How did a game three grown men made up on a badminton court, because a 13-year-old was bored, turn into the thing your group text runs on? We found the kid who complained, and he still can’t believe it either. In this episode, we get into our summer vault, full of conversations, stories, and a little pickleball drama we never got around to airing. We sat down with Frank Pritchard, the bored kid himself, who can answer “When was pickleball invented?” because he was there when his dad, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum made up the game on Bainbridge Island. We also cover Picklr’s Chapter 11 filing and the “is pickleball dying” headlines that followed, Genie Bouchard’s paddle-tap walkout and what it says about pickleball etiquette, and why the drinks after play keep the pickleball community together. You’ll learn: Why it's called pickleball, and the Pritchard family member who came up with the name A firsthand account of who invented pickleball, from the teenager whose complaining started it What the original pickleball paddle was made of, and which founder designed it The pickleball history most players don’t know, including how scoring and serving used to work Why Frank took a 30-year break from the game, and what brought him back What Picklr’s Chapter 11 filing means for your local club, according to the general manager of the Picklr in DFW How the pickleball business can struggle while the number of people playing keeps growing Why Genie Bouchard skipped the paddle tap, and whether we think she was justified How we won a tournament this summer by giving a screaming team a taste of its own medicine
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