Professional sculptor and judge of Outrageous Pumpkins, Paul Dever, shares how his passion for sculpting began and what landed him on Outrageous Pumpkins as a contestant.
Professional sculptor and judge of Outrageous Pumpkins, Paul Dever, shares how his passion for sculpting began and what landed him on Outrageous Pumpkins as a contestant. Paul talks about what it felt like to win the show after being a fan and his thoughts on coming back as a judge. He reveals what other vegetables he practices on when pumpkins aren’t in season and how he prepared for competition. Paul shares why he prefers carving faces, where he gets his creepy inspiration and the must-have tools in his carving toolkit. He talks about the close camaraderie among the Outrageous Pumpkins crew and his tough but fair approach to judging. Paul explains why the story behind the creepy creations is imperative to success on the show and the one thing he did that made him a winner before revealing the heartwarming adoption story that happened on set this season.
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Learn More About Outrageous Pumpkins: https://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/outrageous-pumpkins
Find episode transcripts here: https://food-network-obsessed.simplecast.com/episodes/paul-dever-on-carving-ghoulish-gourds-pumpkin-patch-tips
Jaymee Sire (00:02):
Hello, hello and welcome to Food Network Obsessed. This is the podcast where we dish on all things food with your favorite chefs, food influencers, and food network stars. I'm your host Jaymee Sire, and today we have a pro pumpkin carver on the pod to talk all about his passion as a sculptor and where he gets his creepy inspiration. He is an artist sculptor winner of Outrageous Pumpkins in 2019 and now back as a judge this year. It's Paul Dever. Paul, welcome to the podcast. Happy fall. I imagine this is a busy time of year for you. What does your typical fall season look like?
Paul Dever (00:49):
My fall season, like a lot of pumpkin covers, it starts at the end of July, usually the beginning of August. And that time is spent booking your travel for gigs that people missed out on the year before. So you're playing catch up from the year before, and then as you get into fall now you're looking for those great pumpkins and that's when the, you know, the commissions and the local events start coming in. So I've been in fall mode since the middle of August, pretty much.
Jaymee Sire (01:15):
Wow. So I mean, is it fall like year round for you, or you just?
Paul Dever (01:19):
Thankfully not. I love the summer, I love the fall, but yes, there is, there's a lot of, um, touching of bases throughout the year from past clients and people that want to get ahead of the curve and, and things like that. So it's pretty, it's a, it's a good problem to have so.
Jaymee Sire (01:37):
Yeah, well, I, as you kind of alluded to, you are a celebrity in the pumpkin carving world. You won Outrageous Pumpkins back in 2019 and now you are coming back as a judge this season. So can you kind of just walk us through your career as a sculptor and how you found that passion?
Paul Dever (01:54):
Sure. That's funny. You called me a celebrity of pumpkin carvers that's hilarious.
Jaymee Sire (01:59):
Paul Dever (02:01):
No, no. We're all, we're all actually pumpkin culture. We're just all friends and we all support each other. So, but that's a very funny and cool thing to hear.
Jaymee Sire (02:50):
Paul Dever (02:55):
Uh, the pumpkin sculpting itself, I like the ephemeral of it where it's just you, you hyperfocus for 5, 6, 7 hours and then it's gone in a couple of days. Like you put every ounce of energy into it. But sculpture in general, I just like being able to use your hands and your mind to create something that comes straight from your demented brain sometimes. Like, how do I do that? How did, where did that come from? Cause a lot of times I don't like to use reference either, so that it's, it's completely off the cuff.
Jaymee Sire (03:23):
How often are you able to, you know, replicate in your sculptures exactly what's in your brain and how often does it kind of take on a life of its own as you're gone?
Paul Dever (03:34):
Yeah, well if somebody on the outside is asking, it's exactly how I wanted it to be.
Jaymee Sire (03:37):
Of course.
Paul Dever (03:39):
But no, it, it never looks exactly like you want it to. And, and a lot of times that's a happy accident because you sometimes, if you make a mistake, especially with pumpkins, cuz you can't make mistakes unless, you know, you can glue things on sometimes, but in other situations you really just have to go with the process and the flow of what your brain's telling your hands to do. But it always comes out perfect Jamie, every single time.
Jaymee Sire (04:01):
Of course. Absolutely. I mean, you mentioned you started, you know, as an artist and, and as a sculptor, but how did the Gourds come into the picture as an artistic medium for you?
Paul Dever (04:09):
Well, it's sort of like a, uh, fairy tale of pumpkin carving for me because I used to watch Outrageous Pumpkins with my wife years ago.
Jaymee Sire (04:18):
Okay. Wow.
Paul Dever (04:19):
And I didn't know you could do that with pumpkins. So I saw Ray Villafane do it for the first time way back in the day. And I just said to my wife jokingly, Wouldn't it be funny if someday I could get to compete on that show? So I started buying pumpkins and trying to replicate what I was seeing on outrageous pumpkins. And one thing leads to another Jamie, and here we are.
Jaymee Sire (04:37):
Don't gloss over. I mean, how, how did you actually, you know, land a spot on the show after being a fan of it for, for so many years? Practicing and, and how did you get your chance?
Paul Dever (04:47):
I got my chance strangely enough just because I would post a picture or two a year on social media once I started having kids, the cute picture with the baby and a pumpkin at my house. And a friend of mine had sent it along, like shared it or whatever you do. And then I got a gig with a pumpkin carving company doing a live carving event. And shortly after got an email from representatives of one of the production companies saying, Hey, would you be interested in coming on the show? So I didn't actually have to audition, which was huge cuz I probably never would've, you know, it's like one of those things like, ah, I'll never be able to compete with those guys. So I, I was, you know, beside myself that they even reached out. So of course I'm gonna jump at the opportunity, especially after I said that to my wife
Jaymee Sire (05:39):
That's incredible. I mean, how do you practice though for something like that year round on something that's so seasonal, like pumpkins?
Paul Dever (05:47):
Well, when they're on pumpkins, what I do is I have butternut squash and kuka squashes. Okay. Cause they're butternut squash. If they could make a pumpkin size butternut squash, I'd probably never cover another pumpkin. It's the perfect medium. It's like really hard clay and it holds detail. But that's how we practice. And that's, that goes across the board for most professional pumpkin carvers. And, uh, so I've been doing it every week now for the last two, two plus years live. I carve live every single week so people can watch and ask questions.
Jaymee Sire (06:17):
Wow. What, what are some of the tools that you use that may surprise people?
Paul Dever (06:21):
That may surprise people? Mm-hmm.
Jaymee Sire (06:59):
You know, looking at your Instagram feed, it kind of seems like faces are, are, are definitely your focus. So where do you get the inspiration for these, you know, creepy ideas and creations?
Paul Dever (07:09):
Well faces being the most interesting part of Mm. It, it tells a story expression can to, can, you know, it can make you afraid. It can make a little a kid run up to it and, and just start smiling cause he loves the face. So I've always been interested in the expression that you can tell a story with faces. And my inspiration is usually just me taking silly photos of myself and zooming in on certain parts of my face so.
Jaymee Sire (07:32):
Paul Dever (07:37):
Yes, and my own worst enemy at times.
Jaymee Sire (07:39):
Paul Dever (07:55):
Well, we don't have a clock. For me. I know when I competed the clock that loon's huge. You know, you're constantly watching it. And another thing is you are there with other people that are considered the best at what they do. So that's another big, you know, that's just weighing on you. The anxiety gets crazy and you're staring at the clock. You're looking over at the other table and you're saying, Oh, well that's, that's really good. And so there's all that. I don't have any of that during the week. I'll bring on, well, you know, I have, I carved with friends and we'll bring on guests from around the world and we just have a conversation about sculpture and, and what, what, what their hangups are, what are their insecurities about it, what makes them feel better, How do you get through it? So we talk about a lot of that stuff and it helps. But if you're on a show and you see that clock, you're not getting around it. You're gonna be watching. It's it, you can hear every tick. It's crazy.
Jaymee Sire (08:45):
Leading up to the show, I mean, did you, did you practice with, you know, timed, you know, challenges and the clock like as you say, ticking down just to get ready for it? Or did you, you kind of go in and just wing it?
Paul Dever (08:56):
Well, a little bit of both because I'm just, I'm a d d head when it comes to like being super structured for that. Plus it takes, you know, your creativity away. But I did time myself a lot leading up to when I competed, just to make sure I could get things inside of certain windows. Cuz you'd always watch the show, like to give them two hours for this and they'll give em three hours for that. So I would practice certain things over and over again and try and get faster at him. But then once I saw the clock, it basically just took all my practice and threw it out the window. I was, I was a puddle.
Jaymee Sire (09:23):
What surprised you the most about being on the show? Just in terms of, I mean it can be anything from the actual TV production to the, the competition itself.
Paul Dever (09:32):
The thing that surprised me, the mold was just how genuinely nice and helpful everyone was. Cuz some of these shows you'll see everybody's backstabbing each other and this all this drama and blah blah blah. So I was kind of going in with a little chip on my shoulder saying nobody, you know, nobody's messing with me. And then I get there and I'm like, You people are so nice, I can't trust you now. Like, which is it?
Jaymee Sire (10:21):
I love hearing that. Um, it seems like, uh, you know, a really good camaraderie when you, when you watch it from, you know, from home. But it's, it's, it's good to hear that that's exactly how it is on the show. Since, you know, competing, what's your life been like? What, what opportunities have you had since being on the show?
Paul Dever (10:38):
Well you mean other than being the new judge of Outrageous Punks?
Jaymee Sire (10:41):
I know. Well we're going that Yeah.
Paul Dever (10:50):
Yeah, no, sure. So I, I got a lot more opportunity to travel. Last couple of years I've done Chicago and that as recent as last year I went to New Mexico to carve and that was kind of all based on notoriety from the show. A lot of high profile commissions like the Wing England Patriots flew me home from Chicago to do a couple foot bills, 300th win. So yeah, those things are pretty cool, especially, you know, being from the Northeast, it's, um, yeah, it's been busy. Let's say that.
Jaymee Sire (11:16):
That's awesome. I mean the travel sounds incredible. Like what, what is, what kind of events are are you getting hired to, you know, come and carve at?
Paul Dever (11:24):
A lot of them are, um, pumpkin style walkthrough events where they'll have, you know, a thousand jacklin and set up and then they'll bring in live carvers from around the country to do these live demos. Cuz you really don't get to see the style of carving that we do the sculpting. You never see that. You see Jack lands on people's porches or if you go to an event, it's the really cool, the etched ones, you know, that's really artistic, but you don't see somebody slapping a face or making a giant zombie on a pumpkin. So that's usually what I get brought into these like fall festivals and these haunted attractions to do. I just hang out under tent and answer questions and have fun carving. It's the coolest thing ever.
Jaymee Sire (12:01):
That sounds like a pretty sweet gig. What, what's the feedback, uh, you know, when you get to interact with some of these people who get to kind of see this, you know, come to life in person?
Paul Dever (12:09):
They love it. Well, the adults first have a million questions about the tools. And how do you do that as a fun one? Because it's like, you're watching me, like I've drawn back the curtain and watch, I'm gonna move my hand and scrape, but it's a lot of scraping. I love when the kids like, between like eight and maybe, you know, young teenagers, you can see their eyes light up like, this is what I'm going to do this. Like, and then the mother will say, Where, where can I buy these tools? Where can I do this? And it's, here you go, here's the links to everything. I wanna see this kid working next year. So I, when I go to these things, the feedback, if I can get a couple of kids next year to get into it, that's the next generation of people that are gonna love Halloween and they're gonna love the pumpkin culture of it all and just be artistic. Have fun.
Jaymee Sire (12:50):
Yeah.
Paul Dever (12:51):
Don't need to sit in your basement on a video game. You can get out there and make stuff.
Jaymee Sire (12:54):
Yeah. Do some stuff with your hands for sure. Right. Uh, well as you mentioned you are, uh, one of the judges of this brand new season. What did it feel like when you got the call or you know, the, the notification that they wanted you to, to be a judge?
Paul Dever (13:10):
It was surreal. It's, it's kind of hard to explain, especially because like I said, the reason I carve pumpkins is because of Outrageous Pumpkins. So, you know, the season that I was on, I, I had the, the triple threat. I had Terry, Mark, Evan and Rayville of ha like three of my favorite artists on the show. So to step, to be asked to step into that role that has been held by, you know, a couple of my artistic idols was laughable to me. Like, why, who, who am I to be stepping into those shoes?
Jaymee Sire (13:40):
Paul Dever (13:40):
So it, it's a complete honor. I'm I'm totally jazzed about it. I still can't believe it. I can't wait to see it.
Jaymee Sire (13:45):
So what is your judging strategy like, especially, you know, having been on the other side and been in those competitor's shoes?
Paul Dever (13:52):
Yeah, that's a good question. I I, I think about this a lot. Like when somebody asks me how, how are you gonna judge it? Well I wanna be fair and you wanna have constructive criticism. I don't wanna call criticism cause I don't wanna dump on them. Like they're, I've been there, I've been in their shoes. I know how hard it is in the timeframe to do your best work. So I think my judging style is more, this is what you're doing, right? And then here comes the tough love because if you don't listen, you're gonna be in big trouble. I'm trying to give you a little bit of an answer to a test, you know, cuz at the end of the day it was Terry and I making all these decisions.
Jaymee Sire (14:25):
mm-hmm.
Paul Dever (14:25):
So, you know, I I tell them what I really like about it and then I'd kind of ease into what you could change to make this a little bit better. Cuz if you don't, you're gonna be packing your suitcase. So tough, tough but fair I guess is the way I judge.
Jaymee Sire (14:41):
Uh, well speaking of Terry, uh, Disney imaginary, your, your co judge and also host Sunny Anderson, what was it like working with the two of them?
Paul Dever (14:50):
Well, well Terry's a legend. Um, since 2019 I've stayed in touch with Terry. She's been one of my biggest supporters. So to get to actually work alongside her was pretty, it was unbelievable. I, I mean from 2019 till now, I would, I would text her like, Hey, tell me that story. Or I'd have her to when I do live cards. But tell me that story about Ghost bars. So tell me about working with Jim Henson, like, she's one of my favorite people in the world. She's, her personalities infectious, she can't help up be and you can't have a not have a good time when she's around.
Jaymee Sire (15:18):
Paul Dever (15:27):
Um, I think cuz I was the newbie, I wasn't, I wanted to watch them the whole time and okay. And they did want some separation so that the contestants didn't feel all the pressure. And I was like, well, everybody watched me the whole time, so they're gonna feel the pressure of me
Jaymee Sire (16:02):
Ah, well that's, I mean, that's a great feel good, uh, series to be watching on your downtime for sure. I mean, how often are you, are you watching these carvers and you're just like, thinking about what you would be doing differently?
Paul Dever (16:17):
Felt the whole time
Jaymee Sire (16:59):
Paul Dever (17:08):
Yeah, you know, there's, there's going forwards, there's moving lateral, and then there's going backwards. I don't know, you can go out on top
Jaymee Sire (17:35):
May, maybe an all star edition or something they can bring, um, you know, some people back and then that might be kind of fun.
Paul Dever (17:41):
Yeah. As long as I get to build a team.
Jaymee Sire (17:43):
Paul Dever (17:56):
It's huge because every, every round has a strict set of rules you have to adhere to, right? So if you really read through some of this, if you don't have good storytelling, you're, again, you might be packing your bags because that's half the challenge is telling the story. Like if we can walk up and look at somebody's piece and say, Well it's obvious what this is. You nailed the challenge, you're in good position. But if you walk up and say, I have no idea what I'm looking at right now, you know, you have to be able to tell a story. And I think that helped me the year that I won was storytelling. But it also helped that I listened to the judges. I could hear them
Jaymee Sire (19:00):
I, is that why you think you were so successful? Is that, that you listened and you kind of took those suggestions and criticisms and and applied it to the next challenge?
Paul Dever (19:07):
100%. 100%. Because if I didn't, if I thought I knew more than those three legends that were judging me, then I don't deserve to be there anyway. You should constantly be trying to take criticism the right way. So if, if these three are in agreement that what I'm doing isn't the right thing, who am I to tell them that they're wrong? So listening is, it's so valuable. You can't even put like the right amount of words to it. Just listen.
Jaymee Sire (19:34):
Uhhuh
Paul Dever (19:37):
Whoa, whoa, whoa. A hundred percent.
Jaymee Sire (19:38):
Paul Dever (19:44):
That's a good one. This is a, a think or two. I personally love on Outrageous Pumpkins or, or any, any kind of competition show where I see the contestants genuinely surprised by what happened. So I would love to incorporate some sort of situation where it's a random draw of the subject mm-hmm
Jaymee Sire (20:41):
I mean I think it'd be great tv. It might not be the safest challenge, but yeah.
Paul Dever (20:44):
Just as long as nobody's down range, it's all good.
Jaymee Sire (20:47):
It's all good. Do you have a favorite challenge from this season?
Paul Dever (20:51):
I do, I do. There's one challenge specific where they had to build architecture out of pumpkins, which are round objects. So immediately I was impressed with everything right off the bat and the amount of material that they had to use to get straight shapes, you know, you gotta cut 'em into pieces and, and reshape 'em to create these monstrous structures. That was crazy. It was so impressive. That's when I'm so glad I wasn't competing cuz I don't wanna do that.
Jaymee Sire (21:19):
Paul Dever (21:19):
That's not for me.
Jaymee Sire (21:24):
Coming up next Paul gives us the inside scoop on this season of Outrageous Pumpkins. Uh, well it sounds like an amazing season. What do you think fans can look forward to the most? Any any surprises in store?
Paul Dever (21:42):
There's a lot of surprises.
Jaymee Sire (21:42):
Without spoilers.
Paul Dever (21:43):
Oh, no spoilers. But there are a lot of surprises to the point that I was surprised and I thought I knew everything, but I was even surprised. So they did a great job this year of, of kicking it up another notch and they brought in some great artists from across the country that are just doing things with a lot of power tools these days. We didn't use a lot of power tools back in 19, but yeah, just bigger and better this year. The challenges are crazy and there's a lot more vibrant color involved and just things you don't normally see, which is, it's from me coming from the pumpkin culture. I'm so excited to see where the show's headed. It's amazing.
Jaymee Sire (22:19):
Yeah. Yeah. Well we are excited to watch it. It's always a fall favorite for everybody on Food Network, so looking forward to it and seeing your, your judging debut as well. Uh, we are gonna finish things off with some rapid fire questions and then we have one final question that we ask everybody on the podcast. So, rapid fire, weirdest thing you've ever carved?
Paul Dever (22:38):
An advent calendar out of cheddar cheese. The largest one in the world I’m told.
Jaymee Sire (22:42):
Whoa. Yes. Oh my goodness. I need to look that one up. Uh, your favorite Halloween candy?
Paul Dever (22:48):
Reese's peanut butter cup.
Jaymee Sire (22:49):
Oh, same. Uh, especially the super fresh ones like the, the pumpkin shaped ones.
Paul Dever (22:54):
Yes. Those are the ones.
Jaymee Sire (22:55):
Those are the best. They're amazing. Are you a pumpkin spice person?
Paul Dever (22:59):
Not to the extent of crazy person, but I'll, Okay. I enjoy a muffin from now, now and then.
Jaymee Sire (23:05):
Paul Dever (23:09):
Any of my raked ribbon ribbon loops. So we got the tools with rakes on the side so you can scratch at it. If I didn't have those I’d be lost.
Jaymee Sire (23:17):
Key to choosing a good pumpkin at the pumpkin patch?
Paul Dever (23:20):
Weight, first of all, and then shape. It has to inspire you.
Jaymee Sire (23:24):
Okay. The weight. Like you, you look for like a heavy one or?
Paul Dever (23:27):
The heaviest you can find if you pick it up and it feels like a cinder block that's the one.
Jaymee Sire (23:31):
That's the one. Okay. Favorite fall activity?
Paul Dever (23:34):
Pumpkin carving maybe.
Jaymee Sire (23:36):
Paul Dever (23:37):
Jaymee Sire (23:41):
It every Okay. That's always a good time. Uh, food network face that you would like to carve into a pumpkin.
Paul Dever (23:47):
That's a good one. I'm not, I'm not really a portrait guy. Just for the sake of not offending anybody but
Jaymee Sire (23:54):
Paul Dever (23:55):
I do think there's so two na two faces pop into my head, which would be one would be Carl Halls who got a beautiful long face insurance, has the cool glasses. That would be fun. And then guy here.
Jaymee Sire (24:06):
Yeah, I mean that's,
Paul Dever (24:07):
He just gotta, he's just gotta look that you could pull off sort of a character of would be nice.
Jaymee Sire (24:11):
Yeah. Classic silhouette that everybody knows for sure. Uh, alright, last question for you. This is not rapid fire, so you can take as long as you want on this one. Uh, we just wanna know what would be on the menu for your perfect food day. So, breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert. You can kind of just take us through the progression of the day. There are absolutely no rules so you can travel time, travel spend, absurd amounts of money, whatever you want. Uh, we just wanna hear what you're eating for all those meals on your ideal day.
Paul Dever (24:39):
Hmm. Good one. Well, I'm a simple guy. I don't think I'd have to travel back in time on raise anybody from the dead to do it.
Jaymee Sire (24:45):
Paul Dever (24:46):
I think for me the perfect breakfast would be an omelet. And I love watching Bobby Fla talk about his southwestern style of cooking with all the peppers. So Bobby could make me an omelet. Okay. That he's maybe delicious. Love
Jaymee Sire (24:57):
That.
Paul Dever (24:57):
Uh, I'm gonna go, I'm a simple guy so I'm gonna go with what I know. And for lunch I would have my own wife's Turkey chili because it's my favorite thing on the planet.
Jaymee Sire (25:06):
So also a good fall dish too.
Paul Dever (25:08):
Yes, it's perfect. It's, it's amazing. And I'm never like making my own lunch this time of year cause I'm always covering so she will deliver it to me, which is even more important and for dinner. All right. So again, I'm a meat and potatoes kind of guy, but I'll, I'll, I'll up it for you Jamie. I'm gonna say, I'll say a surf and turf lobsters American cheese and a filet with some garlic mashed potatoes. And I'm gonna have sunny cook it for me.
Jaymee Sire (25:33):
Ooh. Okay. I like that. Like
Paul Dever (25:35):
That. She's got the nice farm. I'll go over to her place and we can have dinner on the back porch with the dog that she adopted on the set of Outrageous Pumpkins.
Jaymee Sire (25:42):
Oh really?
Paul Dever (25:43):
Part of Gold Woman. She's amazing.
Jaymee Sire (25:46):
She what? It was just like a stray dog. Like around the set or, I
Paul Dever (25:50):
Don't wanna tell the whole story cuz it's such a good story that if I stole it from her, she'd kill me. Okay. But yeah, a do a dog wandered onto the set needed some help and she said, you know what, this dog's not leaving the set. This is my dog now. And wow. She hooked up the dog and she just sent me pictures a couple weeks ago cuz you know, I was, I was wanted to see how the dog was doing and he's twice the size. The dog looks so healthy, it says the best life. He, he hit the dog lottery that day.
Jaymee Sire (26:13):
All right. So you and Sonny and the dog are hanging out on the back porch, uh, with some surf and turf. Are you having dessert?
Paul Dever (26:20):
Dessert would be Terra Masu. I don't know how you go wrong with Terra Masu. I don't care who makes it, as long as it's not coming from like the local supermarket.
Jaymee Sire (26:29):
Uh, I, I, I'm a tear Masu fan as well. Sounds like a perfect day. I'm sure there'll, there'll be some pumpkin carving, you know, mixed in as well. But, uh, Sounds delicious. And we are so looking forward to the brand new season of Outrageous Pumpkins and seeing you, uh, on the judge's panel.
Paul Dever (26:46):
Me too. Thanks for having me. This was great.
Jaymee Sire (26:48):
Thank you so much. All right. I am definitely in the Halloween spirit now. Uh, I wonder if there's any pumpkin patches in Brooklyn