Reminiscent of The Jerky Boys, the audio vérité recordings of two argumentative and violent alcoholics known as Old Men Arguing or Shut Up Little Man! became a massive hit among tape traders in the early 90s. In 1992 the tapes got commercial release and spawned everything from puppet sketches, an independent film and now a .

The recordings were made by “Eddie Lee Sausage” and “Mitchell D.,” who lived in a bright pink apartment building in San Francisco. Eddie Lee and Mitchell moved into the apartment in 1987 and discovered that their neighbors, Peter and Raymond, argued nearly constantly, with Peter often shouting “shut up, little man!” at Ray. Eddie and Mitchell began tape recording the arguments, and the rest is history.