223. JOHN EARLY + RUBY McCOLLISTER ~ Becoming Maddie/John.

Perfume Room

In this episode of the Perfume Room, hosts welcome John Early and Ruby McAllister to discuss the launch of the 'Maddie's Secret' EDP. The co

Key takeaways

• The 'Maddie's Secret' EDP features a unique gourmand profile including chocolate milk, saffron, Sichuan pepper, and toasted rice.
• John Early recounts how a rare Tom Ford tester called 'Cigarette After Love' served as his gateway into the world of perfumery.

Main topics

• Maddie's Secret EDP development
• The film Maddie's Secret

Notable quotes

It feels like the month of September. A little edgy, a little collegiate, and this exciting electric feeling of change in the air.

Conclusion

A nostalgic and sensory exploration of how cinematic storytelling and

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) you Speaker 2 (0:11) Welcome to the Perfume Room. My scent of the day today is Maddie's Secret by Radish, created by Marissa Zappas and developed by Ruby McAllister with input and approval from John Early. And sorry to ruin my own surprise because you will hear me live smell the scent at the end of this episode, but I love it. It's easily a new favorite. I just adore it. And now that it's officially my scent of the day, I've taken some time to unpack why. Remember how like a year ago, every millennial ever was all of a sudden universally nostalgic for 2016? It's not that I necessarily have a personal scent memory attached to this smell, but for whatever reason, this perfume evokes that same sort of longingness for me. If you told me that this was the scent of the sepia filter from the old version of Instagram, I'd be like, yeah. When I smell this, I'm suddenly flooded with nostalgia for my own foray into perfumery, including first discovering Marissa Zappas' perfumes. And maybe that's because Maddie's Secret makes me think of some of her earlier creations. I think of Flaming Creature, for example, for its shared night-blooming jasmine note, and of Annabelle's Birthday Cake for that similar subversive yet obviously gourmand feel. And Maddie's Secret sits right in the middle of the two. It's got pieces of that macabre sort of punk feel of Flaming Creature and also the unbridled youthful joy of Annabelle's birthday cake. It feels like the month of September. A little edgy, a little collegiate, and this exciting electric feeling of change in the air. Imagine a hazy musk, one that's softly vegetal. maybe via Ambret or Angelica if I were to guess. It's a bit ozonic, like a sort of like fog feeling, and then covered in a kind of papery, billowy film of ash. Add a sensual night-blooming jasmine, a zesty fresh pepper, a little savory suede-like saffron, a warm, nutty, sticky rice in the not-so-far distance, and dust it all off with some semi-sweet cocoa powder. This may sound overly decadent, but it's not. And that's because Marissa is just so good at sort of like shearing out notes. It almost feels like a watercolor of all of the notes that I just described. Yes, it's gourmand, but less Paula Deen, more Claire Saffitz, like millennial gourmand, which is kind of the whole point. You nailed this, Marissa, Ruby, John. It's perfect. It's a beautiful scent. Totally fits the brief. And I find it incredibly singular. That said, if I were to compare it to one perfume as a reference point, I think I would pick Paris Monte Carlo Cacao Aztec. And interestingly enough, it shares a lot of the same notes, but again, while still feeling harmonious and like you can smell each of its parts, this one just feels a little bit more hazy and sheer comparatively. You are brilliant, Marissa. I love it. Speaker 2 (3:20) Today, I'm talking perfume with two generational artists, John Early and Ruby McAllister. You likely already know them both. John is a comedian and actor, and maybe you remember him from Search Party or Wet Hot American Summer, The Comeback, Other People, perhaps either of his sketch specials, one on Peacock and one on Netflix, or maybe you've even watched his HBO stand-up special. And of course, most recently, he wrote, directed, and starred in Maddie's Secret, a new indie film that premiered last year at TFF and to our delight, has recently hit multiple streaming platforms. Ruby is also a comedian and actress with a long and ever-growing entrepreneurial resume reflecting the true depth of her range. Perhaps originally and most belovedly known for her comedy web series, Gigi, which premiered over a decade ago and is still the reference. Also, deep fans listening, the Gigi Girls also make a fun cameo in Maddie's Secret. Ruby has also created and performed one-woman shows, acted in several films, and most recently co-launched Surrender Dorothy, a magically curated vintage shop in Lower Manhattan. Ruby is also Perfume Room LM. She was first on the podcast back in 2023 with Marissa to discuss their collaboration on their perfume, Tragedy Oil. Ruby and John. met several years ago while filming a short together, and their universes have been intertwined ever since. So cut to today, our holy trinity, the other redhead blonde ember net has aligned to create perfume merch, which you already know because it is my scent of the day. Today, we chat about everything from Coca-Cola's 19th century medicinal roots to John's personal semi-new perfume journey and what it was like for Ruby, a longtime perfume head, to witness it. John talks about the scent that changed it all and Ruby shares personal stories about her friendship with Marissa and her mother. John takes us into his head, sharing how the character Maddie even came to be and why the perfume needed to smell like it did. And of course, we smell the perfume. Such a fun episode. There's video two. I will probably release it later this week on Substack. In the meantime, here are John and Ruby. Speaker 2 (5:43) John, Ruby, welcome Speaker 3 (5:44) back. Welcome first. What? Yes. What did you do? Because I talked about my Speaker 2 (5:49) perfume I made with Marissa called Tragedy. Speaker 1 (5:51) Oh, wow. I love Tragedy. And you Speaker 2 (5:54) passed the mic back and forth because I only have a two mic setup. And it was like a... And here we are in a video studio. Yeah, the upgrade of perfume room since we last... You Speaker 3 (6:04) have an amazing apartment though. Speaker 2 (6:05) Thank you. Are you still there? I am. Okay. Yeah. It's Speaker 3 (6:08) historic. Speaker 2 (6:09) I'm not going to dox you, but. Thank you. Yes. Appreciate that. Speaker 3 (6:12) Totally. But yeah, I'm obsessed. Wow. But Speaker 2 (6:16) here Speaker 3 (6:16) we are also Speaker 2 (6:17) in a different place. In a different place. And welcome to the perfume room. Thank you. I'm so, I'm so happy to meet you, John. Big fan. Ruby, longtime fan and you know it. John, longtime fan and you didn't know it. What are you both wearing today? I'm wearing Patchouli Palace by Mondo Speaker 3 (6:35) Mondo. It's a really light patchouli. It almost… And it just has some like Indian spices up top apparently. But I think it has a cola effect. And I'm very fascinated by cola. Speaker 1 (6:48) Me too. Yes. Speaker 3 (6:50) The bizarre sort of… I Speaker 1 (6:53) love cola. I Speaker 3 (6:54) love cola. Speaker 2 (6:55) In it to drink or in a… I love cola to drink. Speaker 1 (6:57) Well, I wouldn't know anything about it. We'll get there. But I love it to drink. And I love, as I've told you, cola. Speaker 1 (7:07) Like slushies. Speaker 3 (7:08) To me, that's like, Speaker 1 (7:10) there's nothing better than a cola slushie from 7-Eleven. Speaker 3 (7:16) 100%. And you know, a cola, not to be the, this is the longest answer on earth, but it was a wine medicine. It was considered a wine medicine in the mid-1800s. Yeah, what? Oh, okay. So wine medicines in the 1800s in America were this type of medicine. That was like invented in America where it's just, you basically like have a, it's like an elixir that you would cut with alcohol. And it was a way of like women and literally like ailing Civil War veterans to like be drunk all day and not, they're like, I'm having my wine. Functional. Functional. Alcoholism. Yeah. Because it was like, it was like being delivered with like herbs and sort of like. Wild elixir. So cola was invented during that time. The flavor was invented during this very specific time in American history when it was the same time that circuses started. And like, Speaker 1 (8:12) you Speaker 3 (8:13) know, like Barnum and Bailey's circus started. Speaker 1 (8:16) It's so fragrant. It is. So cola Speaker 3 (8:18) started there. So it's like a bizarre flavor of like. A little bit, like a little pinch of this, a little bit Speaker 1 (8:25) of that. Speaker 3 (8:25) It's like a nutmeg. It's like a murder. Yes, it has like cumin, cinnamon, orange. Like it's like this bizarre, like fragrant potion. Which is what I love about it. Well, Speaker 2 (8:38) and you know, there's Speaker 1 (8:38) such a history. Speaker 2 (8:40) Yes. Of Speaker 1 (8:40) red wine and cola together. Speaker 2 (8:43) Which I haven't tried. Speaker 1 (8:44) Oh, it's so good. Really? In Spain. I just was in Spain Speaker 2 (8:47) and I had red wine and Fanta. The, what is it? The tart. I can't. Vino di. Hi, me in post. Okay, what I was thinking of here was Tinto di Verano. Speaker 3 (9:00) You tell me. Make it up. Speaker 1 (9:01) I've never had that. I've never had it. I've never been to Spain. I've never even Speaker 2 (9:03) heard. I've never been to Spain. Speaker 1 (9:04) I've never been to Spain. Went to Speaker 2 (9:05) Spain once and had the one drink. Speaker 1 (9:07) That's Sunkist and or Fanta. Fanta. Speaker 2 (9:11) And Speaker 1 (9:11) wine. Speaker 2 (9:12) That's beautiful. Wow. Like what type of wine? It tastes like sangria. Is it white wine with Fanta? Red. Interesting. It's basically like the budget drink. It's like, oh, you have a shitty red wine. How can you up? You wouldn't think that Fanta would elevate bad red wine. But in some ways, it just kind of gives, you're like, let's just lean into this and just make it like a. But Speaker 3 (9:31) this is what I'm saying too. Okay. We have to, as a culture, write these tricks down more. Because we're going to need them. Speaker 2 (9:41) Well, that's what this podcast is for. We're documenting basically elixirs. John, what are you wearing today? Speaker 1 (9:48) I'm not wearing anything. I just, as you can see, I went to the gym. Speaker 3 (9:57) I wasn't wearing anything Speaker 1 (9:58) before. Thank you. I wasn't wearing anything before that, but I just, you know, I'm very new to scents and the only scent I wear is Maddie's secret because it's all I have. And because I passionately love it, but like, so, so I didn't, I don't like have a little something in my bag. So I don't know. I went to the gym and then I showered there. I hope you're imagining. Yes. Speaker 2 (10:22) Close your eyes. That's like very 1970s. It took me so long to do. Oh, Speaker 1 (10:29) yeah. No, I know. It's so erotic and crazy. I've never showered at the Speaker 3 (10:32) gym. You've Speaker 1 (10:32) never Speaker 3 (10:33) showered at the gym? I've never shoutered. Shoutered. Speaker 1 (10:36) Shoutered. Speaker 3 (10:37) I've never shoutered. Speaker 1 (10:39) Oh, it's amazing. I have to say. You've got to do it. Speaker 3 (10:42) What gym do you go to? I'm not going to say. Don't name it. Speaker 1 (10:46) But I... So I guess what I could say is I'm wearing the Malanin Goats Speaker 3 (10:52) body Speaker 1 (10:53) wash that I used, which I think was like a cilantro something. But actually, that could also be the conditioner. But I don't remember what, which I didn't use. And I'm also wearing a little hair product that I got. I got a haircut the other day, and the guy gave me some, like, matte paste, and that has a nice smell. What do you feel Speaker 2 (11:15) like it smells like? Couldn't Speaker 1 (11:16) tell you. Speaker 2 (11:16) Yeah. Should we smell? I'm just kidding. Speaker 1 (11:18) Oh, no. So I'm not wearing anything. Speaker 2 (11:21) Okay. But the point of this all is… So I actually… I know a little background that you got into fragrance or you're getting into fragrance via Ruby. Yeah. Speaker 1 (11:30) So Speaker 2 (11:30) how did… First off, let's go back. How did the two of you first meet? Speaker 1 (11:34) Oh my God. I don't even really Speaker 2 (11:36) know. Speaker 1 (11:36) I don't even really Speaker 2 (11:37) know. I think the first Speaker 3 (11:39) time I met you was when we shot… Oscar. Yeah. Oscar award nominated writer, director, mainly writer. She was nominated for writing. Sammy Burch's. And Speaker 1 (11:53) Alex McCann. And Speaker 3 (11:54) Alex McCann. They were both nominated for an Oscar. Let me emphasize nominated for an Oscar. They were nominated for an Oscar. For May, Speaker 1 (12:01) December. For May, Speaker 3 (12:02) December. Speaker 1 (12:03) Incredible movie. Speaker 3 (12:04) Incredible. You saw it. No. Speaker 1 (12:06) Oh, get you to Netflix. Todd Haynes, Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman. Speaker 3 (12:11) It's major. Based Speaker 1 (12:12) loosely on Mary-Kay Letourneau. It's really special. I know what I'm watching tonight. Very special movie. Speaker 3 (12:17) And Sammy and Alex were making a short, and John was in it, and I was in it. And it was a beauty pageant scene, and John played the host, and I played one of the contestants. Speaker 1 (12:29) Yes. And Speaker 3 (12:30) I was sort of... Speaker 1 (12:34) We really played it out. We really filmed it. There were scripted things, but we actually did do a competition with a live audience. And every girl had a talent. And you did a monologue. Speaker 3 (12:44) From M. From the movie M. Speaker 1 (12:46) Your Fritz Lang. Yeah, Speaker 3 (12:48) Fritz Lang. It was assigned. I did not pick that. Sammy assigned that. Wow. Speaker 1 (12:53) That's amazing. And Speaker 3 (12:54) I won the package. Yes, Speaker 1 (12:57) that's right. And Speaker 3 (12:57) I won. The Speaker 1 (12:58) star power was undeniable. And my friend, Kate Berlant. You guys went to the same school at some point, right? She Speaker 3 (13:05) was my scene. She was my like older cool girlfriend at girl's school in Los Angeles. Yeah. And she like, my mom would call Kate and Kimmy like my babysitters because they would just like, they would just take me to their house and like dress me up and like. Show me old movies and stuff. Speaker 1 (13:26) No. And Kimmy Oberg is the costume designer of Maddie's Secret. Speaker 3 (13:29) Maddie's Speaker 1 (13:29) Secret movie. So it's a very strong. It's a rich Speaker 3 (13:32) history of just like woven endless intersection and blah, blah, blah. But I Speaker 1 (13:38) would say that I really got to know you when I did my special. For Speaker 3 (13:46) HBO. Speaker 1 (13:48) I wasn't going to say it. Emmy Speaker 3 (13:49) nominated. Thank you. Speaker 2 (13:51) Thank Speaker 1 (13:51) you. If I were alone, I wouldn't have said any of this. No, no. And Ruby's friends and collaborators, Leah Hennessy and Emily Allen, who are all in Maddie's Secret with Ruby. Two as Speaker 3 (14:03) well. Speaker 1 (14:04) They directed that special. And I know them through my ex-boyfriend, who was a production designer in Maddie's Secret. It's a web of... Everyone Speaker 3 (14:11) knows everyone all the time. Not to be. But Speaker 1 (14:14) that's when it really, we kind of sealed the deal on a friendship level. And I don't remember why you brought me over to Marissa's studio. Speaker 3 (14:23) I Speaker 2 (14:23) don't remember either. Was it just for fun? Speaker 1 (14:25) I Speaker 2 (14:25) think it was just for fun. So for people listening, if you haven't listened to the episode that I did with Ruby a few years ago, Marissa and Ruby are longtime friends and collaborators and co-released Tragedy Oil Speaker 3 (14:36) together. Speaker 2 (14:37) So you are in the perfume world. Yes. Tight with Marissa. Yes. Creative directing fragrances. So you brought John to Marissa's studio. Speaker 1 (14:46) Yes. And it was so thrilling. You know, it's not a thing I don't think about perfume. Speaker 3 (14:53) And Speaker 1 (14:54) I don't think about the composition of perfumes. And I just don't. It's not something I think about. Speaker 2 (15:01) Why am Speaker 3 (15:02) I upset? Speaker 2 (15:02) You know, Speaker 1 (15:03) I Speaker 2 (15:03) just listened to you on… Smell you later and miss candy. Love them. Oh my God. We Speaker 1 (15:08) are Speaker 2 (15:08) all part of the fragrance podcast. But I was listening to you and both of them being like, I don't know. But then like hearing you speak about perfume, you were like waxing poetic, having all these great,