My Oldest Friend - Darin Craig | Tosh Show

Quick Overview

The interview between Tosh and his oldest friend, surfboard shaper Darin Craig (DC), details their 38-year relationship rooted in surfing, DC's philosophy of discouraging new surfers, his career making approximately 4,000 surfboards by hand, and Tosh's presentation of several unwanted new logo designs and a self-balancing electric unicycle that resulted in injuries.

Key Points: Tosh attributes his aggressive behavior in the water and his foundational surfing knowledge to his friend, Darin Craig (DC), whom he has known since age 12, noting DC is now 63. DC actively discourages people from surfing, teaching Tosh early on to never say the surf was good, stating, "The goal is to not get more people to surf." Darin Craig has shaped around 4,000 surfboards start to finish, always doing every aspect by hand, with current custom boards costing $650, which costs him roughly $200-$250 in materials (blank, resin, fins). Tosh recounts highly questionable childhood surf trips with DC to Costa Rica as a minor, including camping illegally near crocodiles and having his beef jerky stolen, which required his mother's later justification of trusting DC after he met with her and Tosh's father. DC suffered a severe hand injury in 1991 during the Halloween swell from a suspected blacktip shark bite, causing severed tendons, but he controlled the bleeding using a rolled-up towel under his armpit and drove himself to the hospital. Tosh gifted DC several potential new logos, which DC immediately rejected, preferring his original logo, and also gifted him a self-balancing electric unicycle (Onewheel) which resulted in both Tosh and his son getting concussed in their driveway. Both hosts agree that professional surfing is obnoxious and that surfers, in general, are a "weird bizarre group of folks" that Tosh has always distanced himself from, despite his career being surf-geared.

Context: This episode of the Tosh Show features an interview with Darin Craig (DC), a surfboard shaper from Titusville, Florida, and the host Tosh's oldest friend, having known each other for 38 years since Tosh was 12. The conversation centers on their shared history in surfing, DC's unique business philosophy focused solely on surfing rather than commerce, and anecdotal stories from their youth, including dangerous surf trips and DC's shark encounter.