<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5daa122e4af9090eb061e077-1147/screen shot 2019-10-18 at 31547 pm.png" border="0" alt="caroline hirsch" data-mce-source="Provided by 5W Public Relations" data-mce-caption="Caroline Hirsch with comedian Jim Gaffigan and &amp;quotLast Week Tonight&quot; host John Oliver." /></div></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>The 16th annual New York Comedy Festival begins next week.</li><li>Caroline Hirsch, the festival's founder and owner of the comedy club Carolines on Broadway, talked to Business Insider about Netflix's explosion into comedy and whether it's good for the industry.</li><li>She discussed "Joker" director Todd Phillips' recent comments about "woke culture" destroying comedy. She didn't agree.</li><li>Hirsch also spoke about comedian Louis C.K., who was accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct in a New York Times report in 2017, which he later said was "true."</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>Some of the biggest names in comedy, including "The Late Show" host Stephen Colbert and "The Daily Show" host Trevor Noah, will perform in New York City next week for the 16th annual <a href="http://nycomedyfestival.com/">New York Comedy Festival</a>. The festival includes over 100 shows throughout the city at venues like Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, and Carolines on Broadway.</p><p>And behind the curtain is a lesser-known name, though one that's been a major force in the comedy business for decades: the festival's founder, Caroline Hirsch.</p><p>Hirsch is also the owner of the Carolines on Broadway comedy club, which she founded in 1982, so her roots in the industry stretch back decades. Carolines helped launch the careers of comedians like Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno.</p><p>"I knew there was something in the wind," Hirsch told Business Insider of why she started the club. "Every generation [since] we've had more comedians coming through."</p><p>There are more comedians than ever before, but there also those who complain that the art form is dying. Most recently, "Joker" director Todd Phillips, who had been known for R-rated comedies like "The Hangover" trilogy, said that he <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/joker-director-says-he-cant-make-comedies-because-woke-culture-2019-10">stopped making comedies because of "woke culture."</a></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5db79927dee0197c524695f6-1430/todd phillips jamie mccarthy getty.jpg" border="0" alt="Todd Phillips Jamie McCarthy Getty" data-mce-source="Jamie McCarthy/Getty" /></div></div></div></p><p>"Go try to be funny nowadays with this woke culture," Phillips told Vanity Fair earlier this month. "There were articles written about why comedies don't work anymore - I'll tell you why, because all the f---ing funny guys are like, 'F--- this shit, because I don't want to offend you.' It's hard to argue with 30 million people on Twitter."</p><p>Hirsch doesn't agree. She said that there are respectful comedians, like Jim Gaffigan, who "don't offend anybody." But there are also the ones who know how to walk that "fine line" and strike a nerve in a funny way. She noted Bill Burr, Norm Macdonald, and Noah as examples, the latter two of whom will be performing at this year's festival.</p><p>"When comedy is really smart it can dangle on that line," Hirsch said. "People don't possess it early in their careers, but then it comes naturally."</p><p>But with the growth of comedy through various platforms, especially streaming, there are plenty of comedians who aren't ready for the spotlight, according to Hirsh.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5ab502773a2e781d008b463b-1600/968e480bd1c192e28957572c799554ba62a7841b.jpg" border="0" alt="jerry Seinfeld" data-mce-source="Netflix" data-mce-caption="&amp;quotJerry Before Seinfeld.&quot;" /></div></div></div></p><h2>'All the power to Netflix'</h2><p>Netflix has broken through in the comedy scene in a major way.</p><p>While it's <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-15/netflix-cuts-back-on-standup-shows-in-retooling-of-comedy-budget">been cutting back on stand-up specials</a> this year, the streaming giant released over 50 by October of last year, according to Bloomberg. It <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/comedians-netflix-paid-millions-ricky-gervais-new-special-2018-3">has reportedly paid comedians</a> anywhere from $13 million (Amy Schumer) to $100 million (Seinfeld) in groundbreaking deals that have included specials, TV shows, and movies.</p><p>Hirsch said that Netflix is "helpful to the performer" in building a comedian's brand.</p><p>"Netflix is paying $20 million for a special," Hirsch said. "Comedians came a long way from making $20 for a stand-up set. That's progress."</p><p>But it's not all great, according to Hirsch.</p><p>"All the power to Netflix, they really get behind comedians," she said. "But there's a lot of junk, too."</p><p>"Some people aren't ready for an hour special," she continued. "It's boring. I find more and more of that lately because they [Netflix] need all of this content and a lot of people aren't ready for it. Great comedy is when you're glued to the device. I think they are plucking people way before they are ready for it." </p><p>So how does Hirsch know when someone is ready? She has an eye for talent, but said it's difficult to pinpoint what exactly the "it" factor is for a comedian. But they do have to have a unique, distinct voice to make them stand out in the crowd, she said.</p><p>"When you see that person on stage, you just know," she said. "They command it."</p><h2>'How long can he pay for it?'</h2><p>Hirsch's decades in the business has given her a front-row seat to the rise of those comedians who command the stage. The comedy festival, she said, was even born out of a Carolines on Broadway 20th anniversary reunion. She's met and befriended most, if not all, of the prominent names in the industry. </p><p>That also means she's had to confront some of their controversies.</p><p>In November 2017, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/09/arts/television/louis-ck-sexual-misconduct.html?module=inline">The New York Times</a> reported that multiple women accused comedian Louis C.K. of exposing himself and masturbating in front of them in the early 2000s. C.K. issued a statement the day after the report was published, saying "these stories are true."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56d4ba6f2e52651a008ba5ef-1200/louisck.jpg" border="0" alt="louis ck" data-mce-source="Getty" /></div></div></div></p><p>C.K. has been largely out of the public eye since then, save for some low-key standup performances. The FX television network, where his series "Louie" ran for five seasons from 2010 to 2015, cut ties with the comedian. And his movie, "I Love You, Daddy," was shelved.</p><p>Hirsch, who said she's known C.K. since he was a teenager, questioned how long C.K. should have to "pay." </p><p>"It's almost two years ago with him being banished," Hirsch said. "If this were a crime, he would have gone to court and he'd have a sentence and gone to jail. So is two years enough for him to be in jail? How long can he pay for it? I don't know. He lost his income, his shows. I think he was punished severely for what he did." </p><p>"I do not condone anything he did, but there's a time," she added. "Louis was in his 30s and he made a stupid mistake."</p><p>After Hirsch spoke to Business Insider, C.K. announced over the weekend that he would be embarking on an <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/louis-ck-is-going-on-a-big-comeback-tour-he-hasnt-earned-his-forgiveness">international stand-up tour starting next week</a> and running through January.</p><h2>What to expect at this year's festival</h2><p>Aside from the star-studded lineup - which also includes Jenny Slate, Kevin Smith, and "Big Mouth" cocreator Nick Kroll - charity events will take place during the New York Comedy Festival.</p><ul><li>The 13th annual <a href="http://sufh.bobwoodrufffoundation.org/">Stand Up for Heroes</a> event, a tribute to veterans, will be held Monday at 8 p.m. at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden. Jon Stewart, John Oliver, Bruce Springsteen, and others will take the stage as money is raised for the Bob Woodruff Foundation.</li><li>A new event, called <a href="https://gifts.gmhc.org/event/hungry-for-laughs/e252639">Hungry for Laughs</a>, will be held at the Helen Mills Theater on Tuesday and raise money for GMHC, a non-profit fighting AIDS.</li></ul><p>The New York Comedy Festival takes place November 4 to November 10. The complete lineup of performers for the festival is <a href="http://nycomedyfestival.com/line-up/">here</a>.</p><p class="tagline"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/top-10-trends-in-digital-media?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;itm_content=netflix&amp;itm_campaign=top-10-trends-in-digital-media"><img src="https://static.businessinsider.com/image/5c3dfe69d4beaf36ab26e737" alt="Exclusive FREE Slide Deck: Top 10 Trends in Digital Media by Business Insider Intelligence" border="0" style="margin: 0 auto !important; width: 100% !important; min-width: 280px !important; max-width: 640px !important" /></a></p>

New York Comedy Festival founder on the pros and cons of Netflix, Louis C.K. being 'banished,' and the state of comedy in 2019

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/57aca96dce38f298008b625c-1200/sausage%20party%20sony.jpg" alt="sausage party sony" data-mce-source="Sony"><p class="source"><span>Sony</span></p><p class="caption">"Sausage Party."</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>The vulgarity of "Sausage Party" does not end with the title, but what do you expect from the minds of Seth Rogen and his producing partner Evan Goldberg, who gave&#xa0;us "Superbad," "This Is the End," and the "Neighbors" movies?<p>The two have a talent for offering&#xa0;more than laughs, however. Would you believe it if I told you religion, including the issues between Israel and Palestine, is a major theme in "Sausage Party?"</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/seth-rogen-got-high-to-come-up-with-sausage-party-2016-8">Ten years</a> in the making, this animated comedy is filled with incredible talent and an enormous amounts of laughs, but the cleverness of the story stands out most.</p><p>We are in a world where food products are living things and inside a grocery story, the stock wakes every day hoping to be plucked by the "Gods" (humans) and taken outside to&#xa0;the great beyond where everything is magical. Or so they think.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/57acab38db5ce951008b6199-2400/sausage-party-dom-spfp-101_rgb.jpg" alt="sausage party dom SPFP 101_rgb" data-mce-source="Sony"><p class="source"><span>Sony</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>Rogen voices Frank, a sausage whose only goal in life, outside of leaving the grocery store, is to get inside Brenda (Kristen Wiig), a bun. But life gets interesting when Frank, and his other sausage friends Barry (Michael Cera) and Carl (Jonah Hill), start to question their beliefs when a honey mustard jar (Danny McBride) miraculously returns from the great beyond and reports the horrific truth: the Gods eat them.<p>This begins a journey through the aisles by Frank, Brenda, Lavash (David Krumholtz), and Sammy Bagel Jr. (Edward Norton) to find some answers.</p><p>The laughs keep up&#xa0;with absurd moments, including a sequence in which food being dropped from a shopping cart is made to look almost shot-for-shot like a scene from "Saving Private Ryan." Or the clever feud between Lavash flatbread and Sammy Bagel because the&#xa0;Middle Eastern food aisle is next to the kosher&#xa0;section.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/57acaaf4db5ce91d008b6241-2400/sausage-party-dom-spfp-105_rgb.jpg" alt="sausage party dom SPFP 105_rgb" data-mce-source="Sony"><p class="source"><span>Sony</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>Then there's the villain of the movie (Nick Kroll in his best Jersey Shore accent) who wants to pummel Frank for ruining his dream of getting outside.<p>Meanwhile, Barry makes it outside, where he sees&#xa0;firsthand his friends getting slaughtered when a woman cooks a stew.</p><p>But nothing will prepare you for the ending of this movie. Don't worry, I won't spoil it, but what I will say is if you are a Rogen/Goldberg fan, you're going to love it. (And figuring out which stars are voicing which characters is also part of the fun.)</p><p>"Sausage Party" will lure people in with the raunchy humor of the Judd Apatow clan, but they'll discover a respectful&#xa0;commentary on theology. And by that I mean directors Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon make sure to pick on almost every religion and ethnicity known to mankind.</p><p>And that's a good thing.</p><p><em>"Sausage Party" opens in theaters on Friday.</em></p><p><div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/9VoNgLnjzVg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nerve-movie-directors-filmmakers-film-school-2016-7">The directors of 'Catfish' and 'Nerve' reveal how to make it in Hollywood without going to film school</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="RreXN5NDE68YaL0hM_NBa5XqoaEnUsBi" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'RreXN5NDE68YaL0hM_NBa5XqoaEnUsBi',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

Seth Rogen's 'Sausage Party' is vulgar and hilarious, but also about something deep

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The documentary "Have a Good Trip" on <keyword id="128682" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Netflix">Netflix</keyword> discusses psychedelic drug research and what it's like to trip on <keyword id="87213" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="LSD">LSD</keyword>, "magic" mushrooms, peyote, and other substances.</li><li>The film is infused with celebrities' anecdotes from their own psychedelic experiences. Anthony Bourdain, Sting, Sarah Silverman, and others share tales on camera.</li></ul><p>Netflix's new documentary <a href="https://www.insider.com/ben-stiller-carrie-fisher-psychedelic-drug-trips-netflix-show-2020-5">"Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics"</a> delves into research on psychedelic <keyword id="14721" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Drugs">drugs</keyword> like LSD and "magic" mushrooms and how these largely illegal substances could <a href="https://www.insider.com/magic-mushrooms-left-cancer-patients-less-anxious-5-years-later-2020-1">help treat anxiety and depression</a>.</p><p>But the film's most entertaining moments come from celebrities like Anthony Bourdain, Ben Stiller, Sarah Silverman, and A$AP Rocky, who all recount the wildest psychedelic drug trips they've experienced.</p><p>In the documentary, which premiered on May 11, rapper A$AP Rocky told viewers a rainbow shot out of his penis after he took LSD. When Sting did <keyword id="2874738" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Psychedelics">psychedelics</keyword>, the grass started talking to him. And for Rosie Perez, her psychedelic trip made it feel like her body became one with her mattress.</p><p>The detailed anecdotes reveal just how many famous folks have had otherworldly experiences and hallucinations, and offer insight (or just plain old <keyword id="4578" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="entertainment">entertainment</keyword>) into what it could be like for a psychedelics newbie to trip for the first time.</p><h2>Sting was on peyote when he helped a cow give birth</h2><p><div type="image" title="sting" height="2790" width="3720" msid="76093467" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Sting said he viewed his his many psychedelic trips as a "valuable experience." The 68-year-old singer said he's had bad trips, but they've always taught him something and put his ego into check.</p><p>He recalled on particular trip in which his friend John gave him peyote, a psychedelic naturally found in a type of cactus plant, which he'd never taken up until that point.</p><p>Sting said he took the peyote at 11 AM while living on a farm, and after an undisclosed amount of time, "the grass starts talking to me, and very quickly, I enter this psychedelic realm."</p><p>"The trees are waving kind of musically at me," he continued. </p><p>Then John approached him and asked Sting to help him assist a cow on the farm who was about to give birth.</p><p>"What the experience does is it presents you with the idea of mortality right there," Sting said, pointing at his forehead. "It's your own mortality, the mortality of the planet...that is the central issue of consciousness," when tripping on a psychedelic drug, he said.</p><p>He and John successfully helped the cow give birth, and during the 20 minutes it took, he became increasingly high. "For me, the meaning of the universe cracked open," he said.</p><h2>Sarah Silverman went to a park and touched homeless people's faces</h2><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FmQygtqDLHs" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>Silverman, a comedian, said "not a lot of thought went into" her first psychedelic trip, which took place in New York City where she was working at the time.</p><p>She was hanging out at a go-to restaurant with her comedian friends, when she saw a "hippie" walk into the venue.</p><p>"He had these pretty substantial white pieces of paper...boop, boop," Silverman said to signify she and her friend took them from the man when he offered, and put them on their tongues. It was LSD, or "acid."</p><p>She said they started tripping 45 minutes later.</p><p>"And the hot chocolate came, and the foam or the whipped cream was, like, breathing, and it was too alive to drink," she said.</p><p>"We floated to Washington Square Park with a gaggle of people we had never met before. Semi-homeless, maybe-ish people. We found ourselves feeling each other's faces and laughing and crying and realizing huge things," Silverman said.</p><p>Then, she and her friend got into his car, and they drove up to a red light. When the light turned green, her friend froze, and that's when Silverman realized he'd forgotten how to drive.</p><p>"He doesn't know what he's doing, how cars work," she said.</p><h2>Anthony Bourdain thought he'd killed someone after taking various drugs at once</h2><p><div type="image" title="anthony bourdain 2016 pic" height="1368" width="1824" msid="76093471" hostid="261"></div></p><p>The late Bourdain, whose interview was conducted before he died in 2018, said he took a lot of LSD growing up.</p><p>"You know, I became a teenager just as the 60s were ending, and you know, and I was cruelly disappointed I missed out on the entire hippie era," he said.</p><p>One weekend, Bourdain and his friends each said they were staying at another friend's house.</p><p>Instead, they bought and took acid, weed, and Lebanese hash, a drug derived from the resin of the cannabis plant, and Quaalude's, a synthetic depressive drug, and then drove to the Catskill mountains in upstate New York.</p><p>They picked up two women hitchhikers who worked as dancers on the way. "We immediately let it slip as well that we were fully loaded with a pretty dizzying array of controlled substances, " Bourdain said. The women ended taking them too, and they all went back to one of the women's homes.</p><p>Once one of the women took a Quaalude as Bourdain and his friend hit their peak high, and that's when things started to go downhill.</p><p>"Panama [one of the women] starts modeling her outfits from her earlier years in Vegas. Suddenly, Panama, mid-stride, her eyes roll up in her head, and she keels over stone dead on the f-----g floor," Bourdain said.</p><p>At that moment, Bourdain and his friend started to form a plan for how to escape the crime scene. Then, Panama woke up, and they continued to drink and do other drugs like cocaine.</p><p>"I remember at one point excusing myself to go to the bathroom and looking in the mirror and seeing an Indian chief in full war-paint in the mirror looking up," he said.</p><h2>Carrie Fisher accidentally flashed tourists while on acid</h2><p><div type="image" title="carrie fisher" height="1503" width="2004" msid="76093473" hostid="261"></div></p><p>"I think I maybe heard of acid from John Belushi, " Fisher, whose interview was recorded before she died in 2016, said.</p><p>She said whenever she took acid, she would plan the experience around her world travels and do psychedelics in various destinations.</p><p>"I would do these things and forget I looked like someone named Princess Leia, or whatever I was for people then, and so it's not a brilliant idea to then take acid and go running around," she said.</p><p>Once, while in the Seychelles, Fisher took acid on the beach with a friend. She said she was topless on the beach and when she turned around, "there are a busload of Japanese folk that have just arrived, and it turns out where we are, it's where they bring the tourists to have lunch from all the hotels."</p><h2>Nick Kroll's friends covered his body in sea kelp while tripping on mushrooms</h2><p><div type="image" title="nick kroll" height="1473" width="1964" msid="76093476" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Kroll, a comedian and actor, said he brought a bunch of "magic" mushrooms to his friend's bachelor party in Malibu, where they'd rented a house for the weekend.</p><p>While hanging out on a private beach, Kroll and his friends took the 'shrooms, and Kroll said he took a bit more than everyone else, "just to be like, 'Yeah, it's cool, these are good.'"</p><p>After hanging out in the ocean while tripping, Kroll said he went back to the sand and started to hit his peak high.</p><p>"I see my buddies, and they are starting to gather a bunch of sea kelp. I see this and I'm like, 'I understand what's going to happen now,'" Kroll said. "They're emerging with 40 to 50 pounds [of sea kelp] and I just see them lift it, and just put all of this sea kelp on my body," which he continued to leave there for 45 minutes.</p><p>The sea kelp felt like it was moving while on his body, and Kroll said he loved it and dubbed himself the Kelp Monster.</p><p>"I couldn't even fathom wanting to remove this f-----g detritus from the sea. The next day I woke up covered in red welts," he said.</p><h2>Comedian Paul Scheer thought he was inside a Van Gogh painting after taking mushrooms in Amsterdam</h2><p><div type="image" title="Getty Images June Diane Raphael and Paul Scheer" height="900" width="1200" msid="76093479" hostid="261"></div></p><p>During a tour in Amsterdam, Scheer, a comedian and actor in "The League," took mushrooms in the Van Gogh museum with friends.</p><p>He said he didn't feel any effects after an hour, so he ate more.</p><p>"I look up at one of the paintings, which is crows over the cornfield and it really, like, grabs me for some reason...All of a sudden I feel like these birds are coming out at me and I'm in the middle of this cornfield," he said, adding that he was standing about four inches from the painting while other visitors watched him.</p><p>Scheer started to feel overheated, so he left the museum and went back to his hotel with friends and they proceeded to order McDonald's "because we were in a foreign country and needed to ground ourselves with something American."</p><p>He said after eating the burgers, he and his friends came down from their high.</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li><strong>Read more:</strong></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/woman-who-overdosed-on-lsd-said-it-cured-lyme-disease-2020-2">A woman who tripped for 34 hours on LSD after taking 550 times the normal dose said the drug cured her pain from chronic Lyme disease</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/magic-mushrooms-psilocybin-mental-physical-effects-2019-5">Denver just became the first city in the US to decriminalize magic mushrooms. Here's what they do to your body and mind.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/michael-pollan-on-trying-lsd-mushrooms-2018-5">A best-selling author tried LSD, 'shrooms, and DMT — and wrote about all 3 psychedelic trips</a></li></ul>Read the original article on <a href="https://www.insider.com/celebrities-share-their-wildest-psychedelic-drug-trips-2020-5">Insider</a>

6 celebrities on their wildest psychedelic experiences, from Carrie Fisher flashing tourists to Sting helping a cow give birth

<p><div class="image-container float_right" style="width:401px"><div class="image"><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/518cfbfbeab8ead23f000022-657-492/randy-jackson-american-idol-funny-face.png?maxX=401&amp;maxY=300" border="0" alt="Randy Jackson American Idol funny face" width="401" height="300" /></div><p class="source">Frederick M. Brown/Getty</p></div></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">“Yo! Yo! Yo! To put all of the speculation to rest, </span><a href="http://www.gossipcop.com/randy-jackson-leaving-american-idol-confirmed-official-statement-quitting-season-12-ends/" target="_blank">after 12 years of judging on 'American Idol' I have decided it is time to leave after this season</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">,”</span><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;"> <keyword id="191450" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Randy-Jackson">Randy Jackson</keyword></strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> said in a statement Thursday.</span><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The news comes after co-star <strong>Mariah Carey </strong><a href="http://www.eonline.com/news/416671/mariah-carey-drops-fellow-american-idol-judge-randy-jackson-as-manager" target="_blank">fired Jackson as her manager</a> this week. It’s also been rumored that “American Idol” plans to clean house at the end of Season 12 and also replace<strong> Carey</strong>, <strong><span class="skimwords-potential">Nicki Minaj</span></strong>, and <strong>Keith Urban.</strong></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.5em;">Following her split from husband </span><strong style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.5em;">Will Arnett</strong><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.5em;">, </span><a href="http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/amy-poehler-dating-nick-kroll-after-will-arnett-split-201395" target="_blank"><strong>Amy Poehler</strong> is now dating <strong>Nick Kroll</strong></a><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.5em;">, creator and star of Comedy Central's "</span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.5em;">Kroll Show</span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.5em;">!" Apparently, </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"She wanted a comedian who 'gets' her."</span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.vulture.com/2013/05/whitney-canceled.html" target="_blank">NBC cancels</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;"> "Whitney," "Up All Night," "1600 Penn" and "Guys with Kids." Yikes! But </span><a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/cw-renews-carrie-diaries-nikita-520235" target="_blank">the CW renewed</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;"> "Nikita" and "The Carrie Diaries."</span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.deadline.com/2013/05/24-eyes-return-as-limited-series-on-fox-kiefer-sutherland-in-talks/" target="_blank">"24" may return to Fox for a limited run</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;">. </span><strong style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;">Kiefer Sutherland</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;"> is in talks to reprise his Emmy-winning role as Agent Jack Bauer. No deals are in place, but Fox is eying "24"</span><em style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;"> a</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;">s part of its recent push in limited event series.</span></li>
<li><strong style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;">Jennifer Lopez</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;"> </span><a href="http://www.eonline.com/news/417190/jennifer-lopez-s-3-d-concert-movie-dance-again-will-include-marc-anthony-divorce" target="_blank">will feature her divorce from <strong>Marc Anthony</strong> in her upcoming 3-D concert movie</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;"> "Dance Again." "I'd been through a big change in my life with the divorce and everything, and as crazy as we are, we thought, 'Let's put that on camera!'"</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;">Check out a photo of <strong>James McAvoy</strong> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/BryanSinger/status/332604663545344000/photo/1" target="_blank">on set of "X-Men: Days of Future Past"</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;"> as a young <strong>Professor Xavier</strong> in a wheelchair.</span></li>
<li><strong style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;">Amanda Bynes</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;"> is </span><a href="http://www.gossipcop.com/amanda-bynes-pled-no-contest-plea-suspended-license-probation-fined/" target="_blank">on</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;"><a href="http://www.gossipcop.com/amanda-bynes-pled-no-contest-plea-suspended-license-probation-fined/" target="_blank"> three years probation</a> after she pled no contest on Thursday to driving on a suspended license.</span></li>
<li><strong style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;">Ke$ha</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;"> ... </span><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2322290/Ke-ha-puts-wacky-twist-geek-chic-sports-gold-spectacles-colourful-braids-shoot-music-video.html" target="_blank">with cornrows ... on the set of </a><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;"><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2322290/Ke-ha-puts-wacky-twist-geek-chic-sports-gold-spectacles-colourful-braids-shoot-music-video.html" target="_blank">her new music video</a> for "Crazy Kids</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;">."</span></li>
</ul>

Randy Jackson Quits 'American Idol' Amid Turmoil After 12 Years As Judge - Here's Today's Buzz

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56d48f0c2e5265bc008ba3f1-1200-545/thomas_lennon_knick_of_cups_final%20skitch.jpg" alt="thomas_lennon_knick_of_cups_final skitch" data-mce-source="Broad Green Pictures"><p class="source"><span>Broad Green Pictures</span></p><p class="caption">Thomas Lennon in Terrence Malick's "Knight of Cups."</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>For over 40 years, director <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000517/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">Terrence Malick</a> has been one of the most genius and elusive talents in the movie business.<p>His films can best be described as esoteric fever dreams portraying a person's exploration of life,&#xa0;from&#xa0;<span>adolescence in "Tree of Life" to enduring the madness of war in "The Thin Red Line."</span></p><p>What makes him and his work even more mysterious is that he refuses to do interviews and shies away from public events. In fact, when he's been nominated for Oscars, he hasn't shown up to the ceremony. When asked, the publicist for his latest film,<span>"</span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2101383/?ref_=nm_flmg_wr_3" target="_blank">Knight of Cups</a><span>" (out Friday),</span> told Business Insider there's no photo of the filmmaker available for this story.</p><p>Given Malick's enigmatic persona, it would be fascinating to know if his filmmaking method is as&#xa0;unorthodox as his finished product.</p><p>As it turns out, Malick's process is even stranger than his movies.</p><p>We found out when we talked to actor&#xa0;<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0502073/?ref_=tt_cl_t2" target="_blank">Thomas Lennon</a>, who has a brief cameo in Malick's "Knight of Cups" playing a friend of the main character&#xa0;(Christian Bale) as they walk around a Hollywood party. (Others in the scene include&#xa0;Antonio Banderas, Jason Clarke, Ryan O'Neal, Nick Kroll, and Joe Manganiello.)</p><h2><span>'No one knows anything about the movie'</span></h2><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56d4907e6e97c660008ba686-1200-1978/thomas%20lennon%20kevin%20winter%20getty%20final.jpg" alt="Thomas Lennon Kevin Winter Getty final" data-mce-source="Kevin Winter/Getty"><p class="source"><span>Kevin Winter/Getty</span></p><p class="caption">Thomas Lennon as his Jim Dangle character in "Reno 911."</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>Lennon is known for his comedic work, like&#xa0;"Reno 911!," CBS' "The Odd Couple," or his scene-stealing in movies like&#xa0;"How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," "Balls of Fury," and "I Love You, Man."<p>So he's not exactly the kind of actor you'd expect in a Malick film. In fact,&#xa0;the actor told Business Insider he had never seen a Malick film when he got the offer to be in "Kight of Cups" in April of 2012 (the movie has spent two-plus years in post-production, not uncommon for a Malick film).</p><p>"I got a call from my agent and he said, 'Do you know Terrence Malick?' And I decided I would try to be a smarty-pants and I said, 'Of course,' but I had never seen any of his films," Lennon told BI. "I was aware of his name like you're aware of names like Atom Egoyan or Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, artsy-fartsy films unlike the things I'm in or write."</p><p>But Lennon agreed to the role, without being given any details about who he was playing or what the movie was about.&#xa0;And six weeks before the scheduled shoot, Lennon still hadn't received anything and was starting to get anxious.</p><p>"I started making phone calls to people - 'Could you please find out what role I'm playing? Is there a wardrobe fitting?' And the answer I would get back from everyone is, 'No one knows anything about the movie,'" Lennon said.</p><p>Three&#xa0;days before the shoot, Lennon was finally told some information: The scene is at a Hollywood party, so he should be dressed as if he were going to a party in the Hollywood Hills.</p><p>"That's all I was told," Lennon said.</p><h2>No script, just a card with an inspirational phrase</h2><p>Lennon arrived to the set, a mansion in swanky Bel Air. By this point, he'd Googled Malick's picture.&#xa0;Lennon worked his way through the estate and found Christian&#xa0;Bale sitting with Malick by the pool.</p><p>"I could only assume it was Terrence Malick because he was the most eccentric-looking person there," Lennon said. "He's in this sort of straw hat, slightly dirty khaki pants, and a real loose, floppy shirt."</p><p>They exchanged pleasantries, and then Lennon's good friend, actor <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0516266/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">Joe Lo Truglio</a>, showed&#xa0;up to also be in the scene.</p><p>"We're all standing there and Malick hands out these pieces of paper to all of us," Lennon said. "And the one he gave me said, 'There's no such thing as a fireproof wall.' And I ask, 'Is this something I'm supposed to say in the scene?' and he said, 'I don't know.'"</p><p>Lennon learned, after talking to the director, that there was no script, just a phrase that might inspire him when cameras started rolling.</p><p>"And then Malick goes, 'Would you like some more? Because I have a whole stack of these.' And I was like, 'I think I'm good,'" Lennon said.</p><p>Lennon later asked Bale while Malick was away:</p><p><strong>Lennon:</strong> "Is this how it goes?</p><p><strong>Bale:</strong> "Yeah."</p><p><strong>Lennon:</strong> "Every day?"</p><p><strong>Bale:</strong> "Yeah."</p><p><strong>Lennon:</strong> "How long have you been doing this?"</p><p><strong>Bale:</strong> "This is, like, day 25."</p><h2>11 hours of shooting for 1 minute of screen time</h2><p>When Malick came back, Lennon asked him what the scene was about. Malick started off by saying that in the movie,&#xa0;Bale plays a Hollywood screenwriter, and Lennon didn't need to hear anything else - he suddenly knew why he was there.</p><p>"I was cast as Christian [Bale]'s douchey Hollywood Hills friend. I realized if his character was a shallow Hollywood screenwriter, two of his really good friends probably would be Joe Lo Truglio and me," Lennon said.&#xa0;"Terrence Malick actually is a genius."</p><p>But it would take time for Lennon to grasp what the director wanted.&#xa0;He, Truglio, and Bale began walking around the mansion, improvising their lines. For 11 full&#xa0;hours. Keep in mind the party scene, in the finished film, lasts about five minutes, and Lennon has at most a minute of screen time.</p><p>"Sometimes we would go outside, where the party was growing with more people," Lennon said. "Sometimes Malick would stop and introduce a new cinematographer: 'Guys, this is Marta, she's an up-and-coming DP from Mexico City and she's going to film the scene for a while.' And sometimes Christian would take a GoPro and shoot something."</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56d4911d6e97c630008ba51b-5120-3840/thomas%20lennon%20broad%20green%20pictures.jpg" alt="Thomas Lennon Broad Green Pictures" data-mce-source="Broad Green Pictures"><p class="source"><span>Broad Green Pictures</span></p><p class="caption">Thomas Lennon in "Knight of Cups."</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>The actors were&#xa0;also strictly instructed, according to Lennon, to make it as difficult as possible for the camera operator to shoot them, never standing in a way that they were squared up with the camera.<p>At one point, Lennon says, Malick halted the scene and brought in a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon to star alongside them.</p><p>Lennon admits that for the first few hours, he was "unbelievably distressed."</p><p>"I would ask, 'Like that Terrence?' and he would be like, 'Great, it's all great.'"</p><h2>Filming Lennon's very real fight with his wife</h2><p>Then things got even weirder.</p><p>During a lunch break, Lennon was speaking to his wife over the phone offset. Since the shoot would likely last a full day, Lennon had to change plans with his family. He and his wife got into an argument over the phone.</p><p>"We were basically yelling at each other," Lennon said. "And at that point Malick himself came up to me with a camera with a stubby lens and got, I'm not kidding, eight inches away from my face, filming me having this totally real fight with my wife. At first I felt it was kind of an invasion of privacy and then I was like, 'F--- it, this is the realest thing that has happened all day.'"</p><h2>'An absolutely bats--- crazy day'</h2><p>Eventually Lennon finally got comfortable with the whole shoot, and it turned out to be, he said, "The single most fun day I've ever had on a movie set ever.</p><p>"What I realized was, Malick loves to be on his feet and just making movies," Lennon said. "I don't mean the editing, just the location, shooting a scene, and letting things happen. I mean, it was honestly an absolutely bats--- crazy day. But I would have instantly come back and done it another day if the opportunity came up."</p><p>Lennon said he got a big hug from Malick when the day wrapped.&#xa0;He still has no idea exactly why he was called for the part or if Malick has even seen his own work. Three years after shooting, he'll finally see himself in "Knight of Cups" when it's out this week.</p><p>"I'll be honest, until they asked me to do some press, I had no idea I was in the film at all," Lennon said with a laugh.</p><p><div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/bC-3rnv_b3o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jimmy-fallon-bernie-sanders-impression-tonight-show-2016-2">Watch Jimmy Fallon do a spot-on impersonation of Bernie Sanders on 'The Tonight Show' </a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="NqMjV1MDE6CLKTl_ZnJRyJXOAcB8ks6V" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'NqMjV1MDE6CLKTl_ZnJRyJXOAcB8ks6V',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

This is the most bizarre movie-set story ever - from an actor in mysterious director Terrence Malick's new 'Knight of Cups'

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55ba7e06371d2254008bb5b6-3320-2490/rtr2ld2r.jpg" alt="soulcycle spin class bicycling" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton" data-mce-caption="The wheels of an indoor bicycle are seen spinning at a SoulCycle class at their Union Square location in New York April 13, 2011."><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton</span></p><p class="caption">The wheels of an indoor bicycle seen at a SoulCycle class at the company's Union Square location in New York on April 13, 2011.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>SoulCycle - an <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/expensive-fitness-classes-2015-6" target="_blank">expensive fitness</a> studio <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-people-pay-34-for-soulcycle-2014-9" target="_blank">popular</a> among&#xa0;metropolitan&#xa0;women - recently announced some big news: its founders have <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/soulcycles-founders-are-resigning-2016-4" target="_blank">resigned </a>from their positions as co-chief creative officers of the brand.<p>And it had&#xa0;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cringeworthy-soulcycle-ipo-filing-2015-7" target="_blank">filed to go public</a>&#xa0;in July.</p><p>This verifies that the boutique indoor cycling classes are not only taking over America, but are also potentially going to be in the midst of a&#xa0;crucial transition.</p><p>So&#xa0;it's worth noting that&#xa0;like many fitness fads, it's not all it's cracked up to be.</p><p>I can confirm this firsthand.</p><p>I had a momentary obsession with SoulCycle. Stuck in a fitness rut and feeling the effects of my desk job on my waistline, I wanted a workout that would force me to break a sweat.</p><p>A shiny new, grapefruit-smelling SoulCycle studio had opened close to my neighborhood, and as an avid fan of indoor cycling, I found that sometimes regular cycling&#xa0;classes left me unsweaty and unsatisfied. I had tried high-intensity interval videos on YouTube in my living room, much to the chagrin of my neighbors, and that didn't work, either. The idea of a class was alluring; I would be required to show up, and at $34 a class, I would have to push myself, or else it wouldn't be worth it.</p><p>Plus, I had heard so much about the community of SoulCycle. Celebrities cycled there. Reportedly, the teachers were like gurus, and you would leave with your metaphorical demons cast out from your day!</p><p>But I was nervous, because in November I had passed my certification to be a Mad Dogg spinning instructor, and Mad Dogg master instructors vilify SoulCycle. I felt slightly like a traitor, but I was still excited about the new experience. Plus, a first class was a comparatively cheaper $20, and the new studio near my apartment even offered a one-time complimentary class. I promised myself I would go only those two times, but that turned into many, many more.</p><p>But then I realized there are many things wrong with SoulCycle. My wallet is now thanking me.</p><h3><strong>1. It's not a good workout, according to some experts. </strong></h3><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/542f051369beddbc6489a608-4767-2383/soulcycle-2.jpg" alt="SoulCycle" data-mce-source="Getty/Michael Buckner"><p class="source"><span>Getty/Michael Buckner</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p>Because SoulCycle focuses on combining dance moves (that have not been scientifically proved to do anything for you) with riding the bike, I found it hard to actually get an optimal cardiovascular workout and a toning workout.</p><p>In 2011, James S. Fell wrote in the <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2011/nov/28/health/la-he-fitness-soulcycle-20111128" target="_blank">Los Angeles Times</a> that he gave SoulCycle "a failing grade for exercise physiology and biomechanics."</p><p>"The whole idea of working one's upper body while pedaling a stationary bike is not only counterproductive," he wrote, "it can be physically detrimental over time, according to several experts I talked to."</p><p>He wrote that neither of SoulCycle's cofounders, Julie Rice and Elizabeth Cutler, had a background in exercise <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="science">science</keyword> or any indoor cycling certifications. (Rice told Fell the two worked with an exercise physiologist to come up with the routines.)</p><p>Further, some experts believe that the workout is bunk&#xa0;and that by combining weights and cycling, you actually lose efficiency, one expert told Fell.</p><p>"<span>You're probably going to burn less calories because your power output is going to drop," Jennifer Sage, a master-spinning instructor with a degree in exercise science who wrote the emphatic "<a href="http://www.indoorcyclingassociation.com/blog/id-rather-sell-my-soul-than-soul-cycle/" target="_blank">I'd Rather Sell My Soul Than SoulCycle</a>," told Fell.</span></p><p>Separately, Sage wrote that the popular move of doing push-ups on the bike&#xa0;was&#xa0;useless. "<span>Because of this vigorous action, there is momentum to his movement, reducing even more the potential of any strength gain," <a href="http://www.indoorcyclingassociation.com/blog/pushups-while-spinning-high-points-on-the-silly-scale/" target="_blank">she wrote</a>.</span></p><p><span>"<span>There is an illusion that they are working out harder because high repetitions can cause a burning sensation, but it doesn't accomplish anything," Martha Heaner, an indoor cycling instructor with over 15 year of experience&#xa0;who has&#xa0;a doctorate degree in nutrition and physical activity, told Fell in the same <a href="http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-fitness-soulcycle-20111128-story.html#tugs_story_display&amp;page=1" target="_blank">Los Angeles Times</a>&#xa0;article.&#xa0;</span></span></p><h3><strong>2. You can hurt yourself.</strong></h3><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/542ae8bf69bedd7478d146a0-7360-3680/soul-cycle-studio-class-1.jpg" alt="soul cycle studio class" data-mce-source="Courtesy of SoulCycle" data-link="https://www.soul-cycle.com/"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.soul-cycle.com/">Courtesy of SoulCycle</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p>When I got certified to teach indoor cycling, one of the most important things I learned was that proper alignment is crucial to avoiding back injuries. While some SoulCycle instructors do make concerted&#xa0;efforts to go around and help participants find proper form before the class begins, others didn't do that in some of the classes I took.</p><p>That leaves&#xa0;room for injuries - and in an already intimidating (and at times, snobby) environment, it can be tough to ask for help, let alone grab the attention of your instructor or one of the attendants.</p><p>There's also more of an effort on "following the dance moves" than following the instructor. (You can see a hilarious&#xa0;<a href="http://gawker.com/5978735/we-came-we-spun-we-dubstepped-gawker-does-soulcycle" target="_blank">Gawker</a>&#xa0;review of the class in which Rich Juzwiak, Caity Weaver, and Leah Beckmann attempt to follow along to prove just how confusing these dance moves can be.)</p><p>But this shouldn't come as too much of&#xa0;a surprise, as SoulCycle openly discloses that most of its instructors, as is the case with&#xa0;its founders, do not have fitness backgrounds. "<span>SoulCycle is open about the fact that the company recruits performers as much as, if not more than, people with a fitness background," <a href="http://nymag.com/thecut/2013/01/evolution-of-soulcycle.html" target="_blank">New York Magazine</a> reported in 2013. </span></p><p><span>Master trainer Janet Fitzgerald confirmed to&#xa0;the magazine that she "<span>would rather not take an outdoor triathlete" as opposed to a dancer or SoulCycle enthusiast. This&#xa0;alone&#xa0;is yet another problem with the fitness regimen.</span></span></p><p><span><span>Even when doing the exercise routine properly, there are plenty of opportunities to injure yourself. Sage told the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-fitness-soulcycle-20111128-story.html#tugs_story_display&amp;page=1" target="_blank">Los Angeles Times</a>&#xa0;that "w<span>hen you start bobbing and weaving and doing push-ups on a bike while your legs are spinning, you risk hurting your low back." In that same article, other fitness experts disapproved of not only the validity, but the safety of the workout.</span></span></span></p><p><a href="http://www.indoorcyclingassociation.com/blog/id-rather-sell-my-soul-than-soul-cycle/" target="_blank">Sage has&#xa0;specifically&#xa0;criticized</a> the popular "tap-back" move for its ability to cause injuries - it's what spin instructors call a "contraindicated move." "<span>They are about as contraindicated as one can get because of the deceleration required by the back muscles," she wrote. "Otherwise you'd slam down hard into the saddle. There is zero benefit to doing these, and they are potentially harmful to joints and the musculature of the back."</span></p><p>Additionally, riding with little to no resistance can result in injuries.&#xa0;In a separate post detailing an unsafe spin class, <a href="http://www.indoorcyclingassociation.com/blog/this-could-be-one-the-craziest-and-most-dangerous-classes-ive-seen/" target="_blank">Sage wrote</a>,&#xa0;"<span>by not having resistance, rider's hips and spine are unsupported at such a high cadence, potentially injuring the low back." Of course, riding in any indoor cycling&#xa0;class with little resistance could lead to injuries like this.&#xa0;</span></p><h3><strong>3. SoulCycle fools&#xa0;you into thinking you're working harder than you actually are.</strong></h3><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55ba76632acae7c7018bb861-1217-609/screen%20shot%202013-07-18%20at%2010.18.09%20am.png" alt="soul cycle" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p>If you've ever walked out of a SoulCycle class drenched in sweat, it's probably because the studios don't cool the rooms down; it's warm in there. The rooms are notoriously steamy. The first time I experienced this, I foolishly attributed my soaked attire&#xa0;to an intense workout. I must have burned a billion calories!</p><p>Not quite. Many people buy into the fact that they're eviscerating calories from their bodies, but it's just&#xa0;part of SoulCycle's pseudo-yogi schtick.</p><h3><strong>4. SoulCycle charges&#xa0;you for water and shoes.</strong></h3><p>SoulCycle requires riders to don shoes that are&#xa0;able to clip on to the pedals, which isn't unusual for an indoor cycling class. It's $3, however, to rent shoes previously worn by someone else. Additionally, Smart Water is $2.&#xa0;</p><p>Purchasing bottled water isn't a unique experience at an upscale fitness studio, but it does seem a bit excessive when you learn that SoulCycle's biggest competitor, Flywheel, grants you water and shoe rentals free.</p><p>These expenses add up on top of the already-steep fees.&#xa0;</p><h3><strong>5. You get shoved to the&#xa0;back, where you may&#xa0;not be able to see the instructor.</strong></h3><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55ba82c92acae72d5f8bb1af-1902-951/screen%20shot%202015-03-09%20at%2012.07.23%20pm.png" alt="Kroll Kimmy" data-mce-source="Netflix"><p class="source"><span>Netflix</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p>If you've watched "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," you've seen an excellent parody of this phenomenon, with Nick Kroll as a hack indoor&#xa0;cycling&#xa0;instructor.</p><p>New riders are encouraged to stay away from the front, which can make following the instructor near to impossible. (Usually, the rear end of a fellow rider is in your face instead.) As mentioned previously, it's problematic to not be able to follow along with the instructor.</p><p>This practice also gives the experience a cliquey feel. You have to work your way to be good enough for the front row - and by good enough, it doesn't mean in shape enough. It means that you've mastered the "dance" moves on the bike. This is plausibly another strategy to get people to&#xa0;keep coming back; riders want to get coordinated enough to get bumped up to the front. I made it to the front once ... but it was a day when the front row was empty.</p><h3><strong>6.&#xa0;It's expensive, and there aren't memberships available for loyal, frequent riders.</strong></h3><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/542af6616bb3f7f654f899d2-2715-1357/soul-cycle-studio.jpg" alt="soul cycle studio" data-mce-source="Courtesy of SoulCycle" data-link="https://www.soul-cycle.com/"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.soul-cycle.com/">Courtesy of SoulCycle</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>It's a no-brainer that SoulCycle is a very easy&#xa0;way to throw your money into the wind, but the cost is even harder to take when you realize other cycling studios offer memberships - or participate in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/classpass-worth-it-2015-6" target="_blank">ClassPass</a>, a&#xa0;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/classpass-400-million-valuation-2015-5" target="_blank">hot startup</a> that despite its demerits, allows fitness enthusiasts to sample many boutique fitness studios for what was a cool $99 a month (it's now $125&#xa0;a&#xa0;month in New York, after <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/classpass-raising-prices-in-new-york-city-2015-7" target="_blank">a recent price hike</a>).&#xa0;<p>SoulCycle's top competitor, FlyWheel, offers <a href="https://www.flywheelsports.com/buy/new-york" target="_blank">memberships</a> at specific studios in New York City for $375 a month. That is expensive, but classes are unlimited; it's a deal if you go every single day. In other cities, FlyWheel memberships are even cheaper. SoulCycle offers no such options. <a href="https://www.soul-cycle.com/series/" target="_blank">Classes</a> are available to purchase as singles or by the package, which reduces the price tag per class only slightly. A SuperSoul package exists for $3,500; it's 50 classes, and it goes so far to hike up the prices to 70 classes, with the "benefit" of securing the ability to register for coveted classes earlier and a concierge service.</p><p>And a new cycling&#xa0;studio with significantly more affordable prices, CycleBar, has been&#xa0;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cyclebars-cheaper-spinning-classes-2015-7" target="_blank">opening up franchises like crazy across America</a>.</p><p>Even <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/equinox-growth-plan-and-strategy-2015-4" target="_blank">Equinox</a>, which is often criticized for its sky-high price,&#xa0;seems affordable in comparison with&#xa0;SoulCycle.</p><h3><strong>7. It&#xa0;owns its elitism and exclusivity.</strong></h3><p>By not joining ClassPass and by not offering memberships, SoulCycle owns the fact that it is for the upper echelon of society. So it's no surprise that going to SoulCycle feels more like going to a debutante ball than going to the gym.&#xa0;</p><p>It's also hard to get into SoulCycle classes;&#xa0;sign-ups are at noon on Mondays, and unsurprisingly, the popular classes fill up rapidly, leaving many die-hard riders without their preferred classes. "<span>The withholding creates that rare thing among the well-heeled - unfulfilled material desire," Vanessa Grigoriadis wrote in <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2012/09/soul-cycle-celebrity-cult-following" target="_blank">Vanity Fair</a> in 2012.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>This supposedly community-based workout thrives on keeping people out.</span></p><h3><strong>8. It doesn't make you feel good about yourself, but it promises that it will.</strong></h3><p><strong><div><iframe src="//instagram.com/p/47a6b9H5-q/embed/" width="658" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowtransparency="true"></iframe></div></strong></p><p class="embed-spacer">While this may not be true for all of the clientele, there's something about being shoved to the back of a room amid a sea of perfectly sculpted and tanned women with massive diamond rings, clad in SoulCycle's signature apparel, that doesn't make you feel great. Yet SoulCycle's marketing promises to help you be the best you, if you keep coming back (and buying the company's&#xa0;very expensive apparel with the word "SoulCycle" stamped&#xa0;across it!)</p><p class="embed-spacer">On its <a href="https://www.soul-cycle.com/info/find-your-soul/" target="_blank">website,</a> SoulCycle makes some&#xa0;lofty promises about how it will alter riders' universes: "f<span>orty-five minutes is all it takes to transform the way you look and feel," and more grandiose, "<span>SoulCycle doesn't just change bodies, it changes lives."&#xa0;</span></span></p><h3><strong>9. The wording in its&#xa0;IPO filing was ludicrous.</strong></h3><p>You can&#xa0;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cringeworthy-soulcycle-ipo-filing-2015-7" target="_blank">click here</a> to read it, but be warned that it&#xa0;contains the words "tribal" and "primal."</p><p>That said, there&#xa0;are&#xa0;undeniably a few&#xa0;good things about SoulCycle. Some instructors really do say the right platitudes that keep you coming back (I know I have a few favorites still whom I would ride with again on occasion). Some instructors also offer classes that are structured more like traditional interval classes, and they shy away from the distracting dancing hi-jinks - but you have to go through many classes and instructors (and paychecks) to get there. And at the end of the day, anything that gets people off of the couch and exercising can't be entirely lambasted.&#xa0;</p><p>SoulCycle had declined to comment on this story.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/slacking-red-bull-backflip-sport-baylines-2015-6">People doing backflips on a two-inch wide strap is a real sport called slacklining</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="J1cDZvdToyxik-Ww0y-RX8k6QQqJs9ZD" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'J1cDZvdToyxik-Ww0y-RX8k6QQqJs9ZD',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

I used to be obsessed with SoulCycle -&#160;until I realized how much is wrong with the class

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55ba7e06371d2254008bb5b6-3320-2490/rtr2ld2r.jpg" alt="soulcycle spin class bicycling" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton" data-mce-caption="The wheels of an indoor bicycle are seen spinning at a SoulCycle class at their Union Square location in New York April 13, 2011."><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton</span></p><p class="caption">The wheels of an indoor bicycle are seen spinning at a SoulCycle class at their Union Square location in New York April 13, 2011.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>SoulCycle - an <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/expensive-fitness-classes-2015-6" target="_blank">expensive fitness</a>&#xa0;studio&#xa0;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-people-pay-34-for-soulcycle-2014-9" target="_blank">popular</a> among urban&#xa0;women - <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cringeworthy-soulcycle-ipo-filing-2015-7" target="_blank">filed to go&#xa0;public</a>&#xa0;on Thursday.<p>This verifies that the boutique indoor cycling classes are, in fact, taking over America.</p><p>But, as with many fitness fads, it's not all it's cracked up to be.</p><p>I can confirm this firsthand.</p><p>I had a momentary obsession with SoulCycle. Stuck in a fitness rut and feeling the effects&#xa0;of my desk job on&#xa0;my waistline, I wanted a workout that would force me to break a sweat.</p><p>A shiny new, grapefruit-smelling SoulCycle studio had opened close to my neighborhood, and as an avid spinner, I found that sometimes regular spin classes left me unsweaty and unsatisfied. I had tried&#xa0;high-intensity interval videos on YouTube in my living room, much to the chagrin my neighbors, and that didn't work, either. The idea of a class was alluring; I would be required to show up, and at $34 a class, I would have to push myself, or else it wouldn't be worth it.</p><p>Plus, I had heard so much about the community of SoulCycle. Celebrities cycled there. Reportedly, the&#xa0;teachers were like gurus, and you would come out with your metaphorical demons cast out&#xa0;from your day!</p><p>But I&#xa0;was nervous, because in November I had passed&#xa0;my certification to be a Mad Dog spinning instructor, and Mad Dog&#xa0;master instructors vilify SoulCycle. I felt slightly like a traitor, but I was still excited about the new experience. Plus, a first class was a comparatively cheaper $20, and the new studio near my apartment even offered a one-time complimentary class. I promised myself I would only go those two times, but that turned into many, many more.&#xa0;</p><p>But&#xa0;then, I realized there many things wrong with SoulCycle. My wallet is now thanking me.</p><h3><strong>1.&#xa0;It's not a good workout, according to some experts.&#xa0;</strong></h3><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/542f051369beddbc6489a608-4767-2383/soulcycle-2.jpg" alt="SoulCycle" data-mce-source="Getty/Michael Buckner"><p class="source"><span>Getty/Michael Buckner</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p>Since SoulCycle focuses on combining dance moves (that are not scientifically proven to do anything for you) with riding the bike, I found it hard to actually get an optimal cardiovascular workout&#xa0;and a toning workout.</p><p>In 2011, James S. Fell wrote in the <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2011/nov/28/health/la-he-fitness-soulcycle-20111128" target="_blank">Los Angeles Times</a> that he "[gave]&#xa0;this company a failing grade for exercise physiology and biomechanics. The whole idea of working one's upper body while pedaling a stationary bike is not only counterproductive, it can be physically detrimental over time, according to several experts I talked to."</p><p>He wrote that neither of the two co-founders,&#xa0;Julie Rice and Elizabeth Cutler, had a background in exercise science or any indoor cycling certifications. (Rice told Fell that they worked with an exercise physiologist to come up with the routines.)</p><p>Further, some experts believe&#xa0;workout is bunk. And by combining weights and cycling, you actually lose efficiency, one expert told Fell.</p><p>"<span>You're probably going to burn less calories because your power output is going to drop," Jennifer Sage, a master spinning instructor with a degree in exercise science who wrote the emphatic "<a href="http://www.indoorcyclingassociation.com/blog/id-rather-sell-my-soul-than-soul-cycle/" target="_blank">I'd Rather Sell My Soul Than SoulCycle</a>," told Fell.</span></p><p>Separately, Sage wrote that the popular move of doing push-ups on the bike, are useless. "<span>Because of this vigorous action, there is momentum to his movement, reducing even more the potential of any strength gain," <a href="http://www.indoorcyclingassociation.com/blog/pushups-while-spinning-high-points-on-the-silly-scale/" target="_blank">she wrote</a>.</span></p><p><span>"<span>There is an illusion that they are working out harder because high repetitions can cause a burning sensation, but it doesn't accomplish anything," Martha Heaner, an indoor cycling instructor with over 15 year of experience, and a doctorate degree in nutrition and physical activity, told Fell in the same <a href="http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-fitness-soulcycle-20111128-story.html#tugs_story_display&amp;page=1" target="_blank">Los Angeles Times</a>&#xa0;article.&#xa0;</span></span></p><h3><strong>2. You can hurt yourself.</strong></h3><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/542ae8bf69bedd7478d146a0-7360-3680/soul-cycle-studio-class-1.jpg" alt="soul cycle studio class" data-mce-source="Courtesy of SoulCycle" data-link="https://www.soul-cycle.com/"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.soul-cycle.com/">Courtesy of SoulCycle</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p>When I got certified to teach spin, one of the most important things I learned was that proper alignment is crucial to avoiding back injuries. While some SoulCycle instructors do make concerted&#xa0;efforts to go around and help participants find proper form before the class begins, others didn't do that in some of the classes I took.</p><p>That leaves&#xa0;room for injuries - and in an already intimidating (and at times, snobby) environment, it can be tough to ask for help, let alone grab the attention of your instructor or one of the attendants.</p><p>There's also more of an effort on "following the dance moves" than following the instructor. (You can see a hilarious&#xa0;<a href="http://gawker.com/5978735/we-came-we-spun-we-dubstepped-gawker-does-soulcycle" target="_blank">Gawker </a>review of the class in which Rich Juzwiak, Caity Weaver, and Leah Beckmann attempt to follow along to prove just how confusing these dance moves can be.)</p><p>But this shouldn't come as too much of&#xa0;a surprise, as SoulCycle openly discloses that most of its instructors, like its founders, do not have fitness backgrounds. "<span>SoulCycle is open about the fact that the company recruits performers as much as, if not more than, people with a fitness background," <a href="http://nymag.com/thecut/2013/01/evolution-of-soulcycle.html" target="_blank">New York Magazine</a> reported in 2013. </span></p><p><span>Master trainer Janet Fitzgerald confirmed to&#xa0;the magazine that she "<span>would rather not take an outdoor triathlete" as opposed to a dancer or SoulCycle enthusiast. This, in of itself, is yet another problem with the fitness regime.</span></span></p><p><span><span>Even when doing the exercise routine properly, there are plenty of opportunities to injure yourself. Sage told the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-fitness-soulcycle-20111128-story.html#tugs_story_display&amp;page=1" target="_blank">Los Angeles Times</a>&#xa0;that "w<span>hen you start bobbing and weaving and doing push-ups on a bike while your legs are spinning, you risk hurting your low back." In that same article, other fitness experts disapproved of not only the validity, but the safety of the workout.</span></span></span></p><p><a href="http://www.indoorcyclingassociation.com/blog/id-rather-sell-my-soul-than-soul-cycle/" target="_blank">Sage has&#xa0;specifically&#xa0;criticized</a> the popular "tap-back" move for its ability to cause injuries - it's what spin instructors call a "contraindicated move." "<span>They are about as contraindicated as one can get because of the deceleration required by the back muscles, otherwise you'd slam down hard into the saddle. There is zero benefit to doing these and they are potentially harmful to joints and the musculature of the back,"&#xa0;she wrote.</span></p><p>Additionally, riding with little to no resistance can result in injuries.&#xa0;In a separate post detailing an unsafe spin class, <a href="http://www.indoorcyclingassociation.com/blog/this-could-be-one-the-craziest-and-most-dangerous-classes-ive-seen/" target="_blank">Sage wrote</a>,&#xa0;"<span>by not having resistance, rider's hips and spine are unsupported at such a high cadence, potentially injuring the low back." Of course, riding in any spin class with little resistance could lead to injuries like this.&#xa0;</span></p><h3><strong>3. SoulCycle fools&#xa0;you into thinking you're working harder than you actually are.</strong></h3><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55ba76632acae7c7018bb861-1217-609/screen%20shot%202013-07-18%20at%2010.18.09%20am.png" alt="soul cycle" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p>If you've ever walked out of a SoulCycle class drenched in sweat, it's probably because the studios don't cool the rooms down; it's warm in there. The rooms are notoriously steamy. The first time I experienced this, I foolishly attributed my soaked attire&#xa0;to an intense workout. I must have burned a billion calories!</p><p>Not quite. Many people buy into the fact that they're eviscerating calories from their bodies, but it's just&#xa0;part of SoulCycle's pseudo-yogi schtick.</p><h3><strong>4. SoulCycle charges&#xa0;you for water and shoes.</strong></h3><p>SoulCycle requires riders to don shoes to clip-in, which isn't unusual for an indoor cycling class. However, it's $3 to rent shoes previously worn by someone else. Additionally, Smart Water is $2.&#xa0;</p><p>Purchasing bottled water isn't a unique experience at an upscale fitness studio, but it does seem a bit excessive when you learn that SoulCycle's biggest competitor, Flywheel, grants you water and shoe rentals for free.</p><p>These expenses add up on top of the already-steep fees.&#xa0;</p><h3><strong>5. You get shoved to the&#xa0;back, where you might not be able to see the instructor.</strong></h3><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55ba82c92acae72d5f8bb1af-1902-951/screen%20shot%202015-03-09%20at%2012.07.23%20pm.png" alt="Kroll Kimmy" data-mce-source="Netflix"><p class="source"><span>Netflix</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p>If you've watched "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," you've seen an excellent parody of this phenomenon, with Nick Kroll as a hack spinning instructor.</p><p>New riders are encouraged to stay away from the front, which can make following the instructor near to impossible. (Usually, the rear end of a fellow rider is in your face instead.) As mentioned previously, it's problematic to not be able to follow along with the instructor.</p><p>This practice also gives the experience a cliquey feel. You have to work your way to be good enough for the front row - and by good enough, it doesn't mean in shape enough. It means that you've mastered the "dance" moves on the bike. This is plausibly another strategy to get people to&#xa0;keep coming back; riders want to get coordinated enough to get bumped up to the front. I made it to the front once ... but it was a day when the front row was empty.</p><h3><strong>6.&#xa0;It's expensive, and there aren't memberships available for loyal, frequent riders.</strong></h3><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/542af6616bb3f7f654f899d2-2715-1357/soul-cycle-studio.jpg" alt="soul cycle studio" data-mce-source="Courtesy of SoulCycle" data-link="https://www.soul-cycle.com/"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.soul-cycle.com/">Courtesy of SoulCycle</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>It's a no-brainer that SoulCycle is a very easy&#xa0;way to throw your money into the wind, but when you realize other cycling studios offer memberships - or participate in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/classpass-worth-it-2015-6" target="_blank">ClassPass</a>, a<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/classpass-400-million-valuation-2015-5" target="_blank"> hot startup</a> that despite its demerits, allows fitness enthusiasts to sample many boutique fitness studios for what was a cool $99 a month (it's now $125/month in New York, after <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/classpass-raising-prices-in-new-york-city-2015-7" target="_blank">a recent price hike</a>).&#xa0;<p>SoulCycle's top competitor, FlyWheel, offers <a href="https://www.flywheelsports.com/buy/new-york" target="_blank">memberships</a> at specific studios in New York City for $375 a month - which is a lot, but classes are unlimited; it's a deal if you go every single day. In other cities, FlyWheel memberships are even cheaper. SoulCycle offers no such options. <a href="https://www.soul-cycle.com/series/" target="_blank">Classes</a> are are available to purchase as singles or by the package, which reduces the price tag per class only slightly. A SuperSoul package exists for $3500; it's 50 classes, and it goes so far to hike up the prices to 70 class, with the "benefit" of securing the ability to register for coveted classes earlier and a concierge service.</p><p>And a new spin studio with significantly more affordable prices, CycleBar, has been<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cyclebars-cheaper-spinning-classes-2015-7" target="_blank"> opening up franchises like crazy across America</a>.</p><p>Even <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/equinox-growth-plan-and-strategy-2015-4" target="_blank">Equinox</a>, which is often criticized for its sky-high price,&#xa0;seems affordable in comparison to SoulCycle.</p><h3><strong>7. It&#xa0;owns its elitism and exclusivity.</strong></h3><p>By not joining ClassPass and by not offering memberships, SoulCycle owns the fact that it is for the upper echelon of society. So it's no surprise that going to SoulCycle feels more like going to a debutante ball than going to the gym.&#xa0;</p><p>It's also hard to get into SoulCycle classes;&#xa0;sign-ups are famously at noon on Mondays, and unsurprisingly, the popular classes fill up rapidly, leaving many die-hard riders without their preferred classes. "<span>The withholding creates that rare thing among the well-heeled-unfulfilled material desire," Vanessa Grigoriadis wrote in <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2012/09/soul-cycle-celebrity-cult-following" target="_blank">Vanity Fair</a> in 2012.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>This supposedly community-based workout thrives on keeping people out.</span></p><h3><strong>8. It doesn't make you feel good about yourself, but it promises that it will.</strong></h3><p><strong><div><iframe src="//instagram.com/p/47a6b9H5-q/embed/" width="658" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowtransparency="true"></iframe></div></strong></p><p class="embed-spacer">While this may not be true for all of the clientele, there's something about being shoved to the back of a room amid a sea of perfectly sculpted and tanned women with massive diamond rings, clad in SoulCycle's signature apparel, that doesn't make you feel great. Yet SoulCycle's marketing promises to help you be the best you, if you keep coming back (and buying their very expensive apparel with the word "SoulCycle" stamped&#xa0;across it!)</p><p class="embed-spacer">On its <a href="https://www.soul-cycle.com/info/find-your-soul/" target="_blank">website,</a> SoulCycle makes some&#xa0;lofty promises about how it will alter riders' universes: "f<span>orty-five minutes is all it takes to transform the way you look and feel," and more grandiose, "<span>SoulCycle doesn't just change bodies, it changes lives."&#xa0;</span></span></p><h3><strong>9. The wording in its&#xa0;IPO filing was ludicrous.</strong></h3><p>You can&#xa0;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cringeworthy-soulcycle-ipo-filing-2015-7" target="_blank">click here</a> to read it, but be warned that it&#xa0;contains the words "tribal" and "primal."</p><p>That said, there&#xa0;are&#xa0;undeniably a few&#xa0;good things about SoulCycle. Some instructors really do say the right platitudes that keep you coming back (I know I have a few favorites still who I would ride with again on occasion). Some instructors also offer classes that are structured more like traditional interval classes, and they shy away from the distracting dancing hi-jinks - but you have to go through many classes and instructors (and paychecks) to get there. And at the end of the day, anything that gets people off of the couch and exercising can't be entirely lambasted.&#xa0;</p><p>We reached out to Soul Cycle, and the company declined to comment, citing the quiet period before filing for an IPO.&#xa0;</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/slacking-red-bull-backflip-sport-baylines-2015-6">People doing backflips on a two-inch wide strap is a real sport called slacklining</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="J1cDZvdToyxik-Ww0y-RX8k6QQqJs9ZD" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'J1cDZvdToyxik-Ww0y-RX8k6QQqJs9ZD',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

You Searched For "nick kroll" and got 7 results

New York Comedy Festival founder on the pros and cons of Netflix, Louis C.K. being 'banished,' and the state of comedy in 2019

Travis Clark

Seth Rogen's 'Sausage Party' is vulgar and hilarious, but also about something deep

Jason Guerrasio

6 celebrities on their wildest psychedelic experiences, from Carrie Fisher flashing tourists to Sting helping a cow give birth

Julia Naftulin

Randy Jackson Quits 'American Idol' Amid Turmoil After 12 Years As Judge - Here's Today's Buzz

Aly Weisman

This is the most bizarre movie-set story ever - from an actor in mysterious director Terrence Malick's new 'Knight of Cups'

Jason Guerrasio

I used to be obsessed with SoulCycle - until I realized how much is wrong with the class

Mallory Schlossberg

I used to be obsessed with SoulCycle - until I realized how much is wrong with the class

Mallory Schlossberg

You Searched For "nick kroll" and got 7 results

New York Comedy Festival founder on the pros and cons of Netflix, Louis C.K. being 'banished,' and the state of comedy in 2019

Travis Clark

Seth Rogen's 'Sausage Party' is vulgar and hilarious, but also about something deep

Jason Guerrasio

6 celebrities on their wildest psychedelic experiences, from Carrie Fisher flashing tourists to Sting helping a cow give birth

Julia Naftulin

Randy Jackson Quits 'American Idol' Amid Turmoil After 12 Years As Judge - Here's Today's Buzz

Aly Weisman

This is the most bizarre movie-set story ever - from an actor in mysterious director Terrence Malick's new 'Knight of Cups'

Jason Guerrasio

I used to be obsessed with SoulCycle -&#160;until I realized how much is wrong with the class

Mallory Schlossberg

I used to be obsessed with SoulCycle -&#160;until I realized how much is wrong with the class

Mallory Schlossberg

I used to be obsessed with SoulCycle - until I realized how much is wrong with the class

I used to be obsessed with SoulCycle - until I realized how much is wrong with the class