Viceland’s Houston ‘Payday’ follows edgy cast of characters
Credit Viceland with this: The network doesn’t do boring when it comes to “Payday,” the minidocumentary series that focuses on people in their 20s making ends meet with varying degrees of success during a single pay period.
After visiting Baltimore, Salt Lake City, Memphis and Reno, “Payday” came to Houston for Friday’s episode.
They found four fascinating Houstonians in four very different lines of work with four very different outlooks for the future.
JimmyBoi is the closest of the four to well-known, a Sharpstown-based jeweler who wears a $120,000 ring and manages to make at least $60,000 during the show’s brief vignette.
A walk-in buys a $12,000 chain, and JimmyBoi crafts a $50,000 solid gold winged figure for rapper Killer Mike.
His story involves a pretty big turnaround. The son of Vietnamese immigrants, JimmyBoi informs his nickname was “Pill Gates” back when he was a dealer, work that landed him in prison.
Working with metal and stones has proved more lucrative than license plates: JimmyBoi says he did $1.4 million in sales last year.
Sean Lindley’s business, Texas Machine Gun and Ordnance, is on shakier ground on “Payday.” An Iraq War vet, Lindley came home with six-figure savings he put into a weapons shop.
“I was bored with the gun market,” he said. So he offers more than just firearms. Pipe bombs and flamethrowers are also on the menu. Yes, flamethrowers.
Lindley demonstrates their ability to turn green cacti black. “TXMGO is a stocking dealer for the Throwflame X-15 Flamethrowers,” his site says, not referring to Christmas.
Also, did you know this? “In addition to firearms, Texas law permits the use of explosives and explosive Destructive Devices such as Claymorestyle devices, to eliminate wild pigs.” So there’s that service, too.
Lindley’s venture on the show is tensionfilled; he remains in the Reserves and could get called into military service at any time, which would leave his business — his life’s savings — untended.
Tredante Bias was born without lower arms and with only one leg, none of which stopped him from playing drums. He wants to go to Los Angeles and become a star, building on regional renown generated by viral videos, one of which has topped 750,000 views on YouTube. He needs $1,000 to get settled in L.A., a modest ask, but a struggle.
After graduating from Houston Baptist University, Sam Hernandez pursued a calling rather than a career. With Elijah Rising, she offers assistance to women and girls caught in the trafficking that leads to the porn and sex trade, where Houston is a hub.
The Houston episode of “Payday” airs on Viceland at 8 p.m. Friday.