Aziz Ansari

20:52I don't even know what Goldman Sachs is. And I'm completely confused. Yeah. And I had friends that were in Tisch, the film and television school. I was thinking about switching to that or maybe the Gallatin school where you make up your own major. But I never really got it together, the little combination of laziness. And I also started doing stand-up like the summer of my freshman year. And I distinctly remember sitting in a class in my sophomore year and just saying, I'm just going to do something with stand-up. At the least, I'll be a comedian that does comedy clubs and that's fine for me.

21:20Aziz Ansari:How do you go do stand-up? You're not like what makes you go do stand up when you're when you're in college? It was one of these weird things. I was in school my freshman year and I was just sitting around and telling stories and people are laughing. Someone's like, oh, man, you should try to do stand up. And then a week later, the same thing happened. And it was like one of these weird maybe the universe is saying something. And then I went to a comedy club. I went to the comedy cellar, which I still perform at all the time. And I saw a show and I was like, I think I can do this. And I tried it and I wasn't great.

21:49I did well, but I was very comfortable with it and I really enjoyed it. And I just wanted to get good at it. I just wanted to get better. I never thought about anything further about, you know, acting or any of that stuff. I just wanted to get good at this. And it really goes back to what you were saying earlier, where you get that high of like, you know, I want that feeling again.

22:08Aziz Ansari:Yeah. And so I started there and then it just kind of went from there. Well, when we met, do you remember the first time we met? I was trying to think today. I mean, I don't remember anything. I have so many friends who are like, when did we first meet? I mean, one of the first times I remember meeting you was, so the UCB theater, and there was a Monday night stand-up show at 11, which is like a tough slot. Monday at 11 is not the prime slot. But they were doing a stand-up show, and Matt Besser, who was part of UCB, asked me if I would want to do the stand-up show. And I started doing it, and I was booking, like, my favorite comedians, and I would host it every week.

22:46and it really took off. And I remember one week you came and I was like, whoa, like you just came to see it and said hi. And that's one of the first times I remember meeting you.

22:57Aziz Ansari:That's what I was going to say is I remember meeting you by seeing you on stage. That's back when we could all just, you know, sleep all day and then go to do a show at 11 o 'clock on Monday night. Yeah. Then you go on and you do, you create your own sketch show. Yeah, we did the sketch show on MTV, yeah. Yeah, and that was kind of like 2007, Which was such a cool time for, I think, for comedy at the time because you had MTV and Comedy Central and all these places like taking big risks on green apples. Yeah. And Adult Swim and all these things. Were you on Adult Swim? No. But that was around and things like Tim and Eric.

23:35Yeah.

23:35Aziz Ansari:And it was like, here's this kind of niche vibe. Let's give them a show for, you know, like let's see what they can do for a couple of seasons. Yeah. And so that show was Human Giant. Yeah. And you wrote, and what did you learn from doing a sketch show? Sketch show is really hard. Yeah. I mean, you know, that's one of the hardest things to do because especially even just from a production standpoint, you know, everything is different. There's no consistency. You're always doing new costumes. It's new locations. It's really a hard thing to do. And writing sketches is really hard. But there was one sketch I did that I wrote.

24:11I think we all kind of wrote it together, but it was one that I really liked, and it was one that Greg Daniels and Mike Schur saw. And it was because it was on YouTube or Funny or Die or whatever, and that was what got me the gig on Parks.

24:25Aziz Ansari:Yeah, and was it Shutterbugs? No. What was the sketch? It was called Viral Videos, and the premise was me and Rob Hubel, and we were on a talk show that Paul was hosting. and Hubel had just made a viral video because he did a video where he cut his penis off and it went viral. And he was like so excited. I got, you know, 2 million views. And then he's like, oh, we have this other guy. His name's, you know, Kevin Kreisler. He has a viral video too and it's me. And I got like 40 million followers and all I did was just make funny faces.

24:59Aziz Ansari:And so he has to reckon with the fact. He could have just made funny faces that he's done something a little bit more extreme. And yeah, it was a fun sketch. But that's what Greg and Mike told me they saw. And they're like, oh, we should get the idea. Yeah, because a lot of people don't know you were the first person hired for Parks. Yeah, I met with them. Yeah, what was that meeting like? Do you remember it? Well, it was so mysterious what they were up to. I had a meeting with them. And I told them, I don't know what you're doing, but whatever it is, that would be a dream job. and, you know, this was like when The Office was on and Mike and Greg were both involved in that and that was, you know, my favorite show like that on the air and so I told them, whatever you're up to, let me know and then, of course, you know, when it all came together with you and Rashida and everything Well, I'm kind of learning.

25:49Aziz Ansari:When I was talking to Plaza, when Plaza was here she was talking about, like, her meeting with them too Yeah, yeah, very famous stories I know, and it's kind of funny, I kind of forgot the Avengers assemble feeling of those guys going out and getting people and bringing them in and talking about like, we're going to do something very cool. I mean, it didn't even feel like there was a ton of auditioning. It was more just them picking people that they thought was funny. Not only funny, and I feel like all of us, whenever we see each other, do interviews, kind of say this kind of stuff ad nauseum, but it's so true.

26:25But also just the best people I've ever met in my life yeah like really I cannot believe it because we've all done other stuff and you know not everybody's you know look we've all done other stuff I don't talk about everything the way I talk about parks you know you do something some people it's different energy not necessarily mean or bad but just something like we all just clicked and there was a vibe that worked with all of us and and and and just to pay respect to you and Mike you know when I I did Master of None with Alan. And as I become a director, what I learned from you and Mike in terms of how to lead, I mean, I can't thank you enough.

27:04It was the best role model I could have ever had.

27:07Aziz Ansari:Ziz. Ziz. You know, when I started watching your podcast, and so then Park's clips started coming on YouTube. And when I watch it, sometimes I just think about us making it. Same. And it's funnier for me to watch the bloopers because that feels more like my experience. And, oh, God, some of those things that came up, I hadn't thought about in so long. And they were cracking me up. I saw this clip. It was, it was, it was, I don't remember the context of the episode or whatever. But it's, we're in Ron's office. And me and Donna, there's something called bloosh. And, and, and Ron has decided Ron's in bloosh.

27:47So me and Retta started going, Ron's in bloosh. Ron's in Blush and then I jump on the table Ron's in Blush and me and Reda's dancing is getting crazier and crazier and we're just doing just dancing dancing all over Offerbett doing all the crazy stuff and they showed that that was what we shot and then they showed the scene as it aired and it was just like Ron's in Blush and they cut

28:14that's also my favorite thing it's like I mean I love trying if I could try to get someone to break like you're pretty good I don't, you know. Peppermint's pretty high up on that. Agree. He never cracked up. And, oh, man, there was a couple of times where I almost, where I got, like, I think he didn't laugh, but I think his mustache went up a little bit. And I remember one thing that you wrote. It was an episode you wrote. I was doing that puppy voice. And then the puppy started looking at his mustache. And I was like, hmm, hi, Mr. Ponson. I like your mustache. I'm just a little puppy. and it all, I think it almost got it.

28:53Aziz Ansari:It almost got it. You're so right. I mean, the setup there was like you had a chance to play around. Like you got to try your stuff. I mean, the fact that Treat Yourself is used on, you know, cocktail napkins and in Kmart and like it's everywhere. And I went to some ice cream place one time and they're like, treat yourself to a sample. I was like can I have a sample I was like please don't please don't connect this luckily the person did put didn't put them together I mean that's become part of the lexicon and I can remember that moment which by the way it's so funny in that moment treat yourself because you guys say treat yourself 2011 and I'm like oh my gosh 2011 remember that and then there was one in the future that was like treat yourself 2014 14.

29:47Aziz Ansari:It's 2025. What's happening? But I remember that episode deeply because it felt like it was a great example of the writers and the producers realizing like what made you laugh? What made Aziz laugh? Like what would be like what would be fun for us? Like that's what they started doing so well. Yes. I think the more they got to know us it was such a good group that you could just be like what happens when we put these two together and then of course we had like the greatest people coming in and doing bit parts and they were all just so funny and the characters another clip I watched that and I think you know talking about breaking this is the hardest scene I've ever had to film in my entire acting career and it was and it's on YouTube, the blooper of this, and it's me and, do you remember this?

30:44It's me and Adam Scott, and we're having lunch with Joan Kalamazov.

30:48Aziz Ansari:Yes, the great Mo Collins. Mo Collins, who always is just so funny, and she said, we're ahead of lunch, and she says, I'm going to go powder my nose, amongst other things, and then she walks away, and then Adam comes to me and goes, and then Ben is supposed to say, dude, is she going to go powder her vagina? and we couldn't do it. And this is the only time I think this ever happened on Parks or anything where me and Adam were like, let's just film the rest of the stuff, and we'll come back to that. We'll come back. We'll just come back because we couldn't do it. Because it's just the most absurd task because you'd be like, okay, no, no, we got it this time.

31:28Okay. All right. All right, guys, ready? Okay. Amongst other things, is she? You know, we could have said, dude, she had to go powder her vagina. We couldn't get through it.

31:39Aziz Ansari:And Mo was so funny doing it, how she was like stumbling out of the table. Yeah, and then she'd add some other thing. And you're like, you can't do that. I just steeled myself. And now you just did this other funny thing. That's not fair. I love a blooper. I love bloopers in general. I love a blooper. Yeah. But watching these parks bloopers was, after I watched your thing, it put me on the algorithm. It was so fun. Oh, and you know what I also want to just say when we're in the parks and recreation world for a second? my kids loved Aziz. They're in their late teens. And when they see you on TV, they go, oh, is turkey sandwich in this?

32:18Aziz Ansari:So yes, my kids were little when they, when I was shooting that show and they would come and visit and Aziz, you're really good with kids. And you do a thing that they love, which is you kind of like, I don't know. It's funny. you realize sometimes with kids with with people and kids either people like come on too strong and just like want to want want to interact and kids are like or they just you know they don't know or they're like hello young person but aziz would basically do these bits with them that would make them laugh so much one of them is you would walk by my oldest and pretend to be on the phone with his best friend what was his name watson that's right oh hey watson what's going on no i'm just on set yeah my oldest would just kind of listen and be like wait he's talking to my friend like he was like five years old and the other day is as you were just like doing funny bits with them and one day you were you were holding or eating a turkey sandwich and they started laughing and pointing at you and saying, turkey sandwich, turkey sandwich, whatever.

33:29Aziz Ansari:And you loved that. I just remember you thinking it was so funny. And the other thing I just wanted, you mentioned like your algorithm and your phone taking you to Parks Clips. I did want to talk to you today about your relationship to your phone. What is your relationship to your phone now? I try to stay off everything as much as I can. How do you do that? Teach me your ways.

33:59I have, I don't have email. I haven't had email for like 10 years.

34:04Aziz Ansari:Incredible. Yeah. But I have an assistant. Okay. All right. But still, that means that. And there's also stuff like, you know, like I have a flip phone and if I get really lost, I got to either ask people or just call my wife and be like, hey, I'm. I've had to do that before. Like call my wife. to the point where she's kind of used to it. And I hail taxis, and if there's not a taxi, sometimes I'll call and be like, there's no one around. So you don't use an Uber app? Usually in London, there's taxis all the time. You can hail them, and here too. Yeah, yeah. In New York, yeah. Well, why do you have that kind of relationship with your phone?

34:44It just gives me more space to think. I mean, I heard something about like, Tarantino doesn't even have a phone, Chris Nolan doesn't have a phone. I was like, whoa, those guys are able to get a lot of stuff done. Maybe there's something to it.

34:53Aziz Ansari:It does feel like the eventual next step will be just that, will be people like breaking up with their phones in that way. It's pretty consuming. And yeah, but that's just me. I don't know. No, I relate. And I'm genuinely asking because I feel like my relationship with my phone has just gotten deeper and more intense. I remember one time on Parks you told me something about how your phone fell in the pool or something and you didn't have for a couple of days. You're like, this is the greatest thing ever. Yeah. It definitely feels like something that has taken over. It's going to be really interesting this generation, like Gen Z and Gen Alpha, who have grown up with a phone in their hand.

35:33I saw a Gen Alpha kid one time at the airport, and they had a flip phone. I guess it was like, because some parents get their kid a flip phone. I'm going to get you a flip phone. Sure. So I saw that, and then I had mine, and I saw the kid, and I went like this and dapped her flip phone, and she was completely confused.

35:50Can I see your flip phone? phone? God, this thing doesn't even work that well. Wow. But another thing is, one time I was eating in a restaurant in London, and I heard my phone going off, and I checked, and nothing was going on. But it was another dude that had a flip, and then we started talking, and we were talking about all this and just joking about how, like, oh, what do you do when you get lost, and all this kind of stuff. And, yeah, classic flip phone guy combo. And then he said, you know the thing I think you got to avoid now is the chatbot. And I was like, oh, 100%. Okay, let's talk about that.

36:26The AI? Not the AI, but just like... Wait, what's chatbot? Chatbot, or I think I'm not even calling it right, but the thing where you type the chat GPT. I call it chatbot. A chatbot. Yeah, but it's chat GPT. See, I don't even know the name. I completely agree. I think this is like, you know, it's outsourcing critical thinking. It's making everyone's opinions kind of saying, this is my feeling, you know? Yes, yes. And I think people using it instead of Google, most of the time it's wrong. And it's just kind of like telling you what you want to hear so you can keep asking you questions. And, you know, someone showed me some commercial where it's like someone said like, how do I make a dinner for this girl that makes her...

37:02And I'm like, well, I would rather someone call someone and ask someone or maybe have some sort of conversation, a human thing. Like it just seems like it's like outsourcing thinking and it's like killing some bit of humanity. And I don't know, it kind of makes you, I was reading some article where it said like, it's making everyone a little more basic.

37:24Aziz Ansari:Ooh, yeah, that's real. I think that's real. You know? I have always found you, Aziz, to be a very curious person who's kind of interested in why we do things. Like you're very interested in the why of like why people make choices. And I feel like definitely the last few stand-up specials that I've seen you do definitely have that feeling. And what is it? Are you doing stand-up right now? Are you out doing it at all? I'm just been promoting the movie now, but I think I'm going to go out after the movie in like October, November. And do all new material? I've been doing stuff about like being married and, you know, we're trying to like have a kid and talking about all that stuff.

38:06Aziz Ansari:So what's it like being married? Is it fun being married? No, I love my wife very, very much. She's great. She's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. Yeah, you've met her a handful of times, and yeah, she's great. How did you meet? We met in London, and, you know, we did long distance for a while. And yeah, I was like, all right. How has being married changed you? I just feel like all the other stuff doesn't really matter to me anymore. You know? That's nice. I'm just like, oh, wow, this person is everything to me. and just to have that person to come home to and told, it kind of makes everything else seem like it's less important.

38:46Aziz Ansari:I mean, I love it, Aziz. I'm so happy for you. I'm excited to hear what you say on stage about marriage and relationship because I've always known you to be a person who has a lot of love to give. Oh. Oh, thank you. Yeah. Let's get those tears going, Aziz. Let's get those tears going. Chop, chop.

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41:15Aziz Ansari:Before we talk about Good Fortune, your new film, which looks amazing and holy shit, the cast is great and you wrote and directed it. It's so good. When you were doing Master of None, Master of None feels like a show with Alan Yang that you created. Yeah. it feels like when I was looking up and going over your stuff and being reminded of it, it almost feels like a different time in television that it was pre-COVID. Yeah. I mean, it's like a time capsule in New York now, that show. You know, it's about 10 years old now. We were making it. And that was when Netflix first came out. And this was a time when Netflix was like, you remember, people would be like, oh, there's a new Netflix show.

41:54Yeah. You know, they had so few. Yeah. And so every show got their shine. And, you know, when Alan and I made that show, the idea of like, whoa, this guy that's got the brown face is starring in the show. Like that was like not really happening, you know. And, yeah, and they let us kind of really do what we wanted. Like, you know, when people talk about, oh, you know, getting notes, they hadn't even hired people to give notes yet. You know what I mean? And then the first season did really well. So the second season was like, yeah, just keep doing your thing. And it was just a radically different time.

42:25and now streaming and making shows and all these things have become much, much different.

42:30Aziz Ansari:Yeah, the whole industry is so different. And I remember you guys feeling excited about doing that. What was it like to leave an ensemble and then be like the lead of a show? Well, that's the other thing about Parks is Parks is not only you're on this great show, but everything's taken care of. Like you just show up and you're like, treat yourself. Good night. See you, Zs. Thanks so much. Great day at work. And that is not what you do on Masternunt, not what I did on Good Fortune. Yeah. You have to pick, you know, people I think sometimes, you know, they're like, what is directing? You don't really, it's kind of a vague thing.

43:09And it's really, you're just deciding everything. Right. You know, you're like, okay, well, okay, where does a scene take place? Okay, a restaurant. Okay, let's go drive around and look at how many restaurants, I've got to pick the restaurant. What are the people wearing? You're making so many decisions. You're crafting everything and you're there and then and you have to, you know, I'm writing everything, too. So you have to write it and then you have to figure out how everything's going to look and make all these decisions. And then you have to edit it and you have to make sure it all works.

43:34And it's a much more involved process. Yeah. And just acting is a much different, you know, simpler gig.

43:42Aziz Ansari:What part of directing surprises you that you like so much? I just love these moments where you've written something and you have your actors and, you know, you had in your head a certain way. and then someone does something a little surprising or it just goes to another level. And, you know, when I was looking at some behind the stuff scenes from Good Fortune and I really enjoyed the stuff where I wasn't acting and I was just over the side and like, you know, it was like Keanu and Seth and they were doing something that was cracking me up and I was just, you know, laughing and, you know, trying not to mess up the scene.

44:13And those moments are super fun. I mean, there's another, there's a scene where they're like riding in a car and they were like, okay, do you want to follow them in the van, be on the radio? I was like, oh, those radios always cut out. I'm just going to hide in the back seat. So I was like curled up like this. And I was just like yelling jokes. And, you know, Seth and Keanu are so iconic. And like hearing them say the jokes, like the way you have it in your head, but also a little funnier. When it really feels like you're a little kid playing, those are the best parts.

44:38Aziz Ansari:Yes, totally. And also to allow yourself to still do that. Because sometimes I think, you know, when you're working on anything that you created, no matter, it doesn't have to be a film. It could be anything that you made and you like hand it over and people then start to work on it. It's hard to not be too rigid about it. Like you have an idea of how it's going to go and it's supposed to go that way. And the reason why we work with other people is to collaborate. Yeah, yeah. And to play like that and to see what they have to say. And I love collaborating with actors, which is something I learned from our experience on Parks.

45:15You know, Mike and all the writers, they would take all these little things. He's like, oh, Offerman's into woodworking. Maybe that, oh, he plays a saxophone. Maybe, you know. And I've always spent a lot of time trying to get to know the people that I work with and try to figure out how to put more of them into it and try to understand who they are to help write the character better and make it feel more like them.

45:33Aziz Ansari:Let's talk about Good Fortune because that cast is, okay, so first of all, is Keanu as nice as he seems? He's the best. He seems incredible. Yeah, he's the best. And he's also, he's like the sweetest guy, but he's also like the coolest guy in the world. Like he kind of balances both things. Like, you know, we'll do like rehearsals at my house or whatever. And Keanu will show up like on a motorcycle. Like he looks like he drove from an anime movie straight into reality. And he gets out. He's wearing like all black. He's got like a backpack from the future. He takes it off. He's got boots on. And he's just the coolest.

46:03And me and Seth are just like, oh.

46:06Aziz Ansari:I mean, I don't know. I don't like that Keanu is still driving a motorcycle. I want him off that motorcycle for insurance purposes. Oh, he's always riding that motorcycle. And I'm like, oh. I want him off that motorcycle. Yeah. No, no. He loves his motorcycle. Yeah. And Seth and Kiki, you've worked with before. And Kiki is the best. You got to meet Kiki. Kiki is one of my favorite people ever. I have met Kiki. You have? I got the privilege of doing her podcast. Oh, you did? We did a podcast too. It was so fun. So fun. Kiki and I have had dinner, not to brag, by ourselves, just the two of us. She's like in Australia now.

46:42We rarely get to see each other.

46:44Aziz Ansari:She works all the time. She's so naturally funny. I've described Kiki she is a movie star hilarious she once told me her aunt died in a way that was really funny and I was like how did you do that I'm laughing and you just told me your aunt died she is so quick she's so sharp she's so talented she's just as good a singer and performer as she is an actress we had this scene where me and Kiki are dancing and I was like working with some choreographer and then Kiki is just like oh yeah and just does all this crazy stuff and I'm like, oh. Yeah, she is. She's so talented. And I mean, the cast is really awesome.

47:21Aziz Ansari:How did you, I guess, like how did you let everybody play and experiment on that? Like was it that kind of set? Like did you? Yeah, I mean, I think, look, if you cast the right people, it's all going to come together and gel in a nice way. And, you know, I spent a lot of time rehearsing with everybody. So we kind of go. Okay, so you like to rehearse. I like to spend a lot of time. Because, you know, when you're actually on set, that is the most precious time. When the camera's rolling, to get to that moment, it's so precious. And you always don't have enough time, blah, blah, blah. So the more time I can spend with these people beforehand and rehearse and kind of make sure everything sounds right beforehand and, you know, rewrite things to make it really sound like them.

48:01Then when we get on set, there's just less. We're already kind of almost there. But, of course, once you're there in the place with the clothes and everything else, you come up with new ideas. But, you know, all those people, they're so, you know, Kiki and Seth are really comfortable with improvising. And Keanu, you know, Keanu at first, I think, Keanu was a little intimidated, I think, because, you know, he's not as a comedy guy as much as me and Seth. But he got into it and he would improvise and stuff a little bit. And I told Seth, I was like, could you imagine if like we did an action movie?

48:32How awkward would we be like, Keanu, what?

48:35Aziz Ansari:I'm going to push back on that because I feel like we would be great in an action movie. Because I want us to be able to do more action. Really? Don't you wish you could do a film where you get to just say one line a day? Oh, yeah. Keanu barely speaks in those movies. That's what I mean. You know, when I was a kid, my favorite movies were all action movies. My favorite movies were like Terminator 2 and Die Hard. I mean, I still love those movies. Those are some of my favorite movies. But I loved action movies as a kid. When I was a little kid, I had that, you know, I was, I mean, I liked comedy and all this stuff.

49:12Aziz Ansari:But I feel like once you start talking, it's diminishing returns. Like once you actually start talking in film, everyone's like, oh, that's how they talk. Oh, they're saying that. But if you never talk. Like which, are you trying to be like in a Fast and the Furious movie? What's the action movie? I would like more of like a Bourne identity. Oh, whoa. Just walking through the streets of a European city. I like that. Leather jacket. it. I feel like everyone would like if I did that, everyone would go like ha ha ha. I came on the screen. Well, that's sometimes sometimes people send me stuff that's more serious.

49:43I'm like, they're just going to think I'm too silly to be this guy. It's going to hurt the movie. I can't do it for you.

49:49Aziz Ansari:I know what you mean. I can't show up as the villain and people aren't going to be like, she's too nice. She's going to change her mind. I do think it's amazing when people like decide to do it 180 as an actor and then they play someone really horrible and you're just like oh no we love that person and now they're some people can do it you know even when Keanu and I one day we were doing some press stuff together and and there was like a room that I was waiting in in between and it would happen to be like John Wick weekend and like I was watching some of the Wicks stuff I'm like wow I can't believe he did this and then plays this very silly guy by a movie and it's the same guy yeah it's really impressive he just also has um a great reputation for being a wonderful person Keanu like it just seems like you know those kind of things um just get out into the world and he just seems like he's handled his giant fame and his like very long um yeah he's been in the game for a long long time yeah I mean when I was about to meet him I did like a little film festival and I was re-watching like Parenthood and and Parenthood I just saw re-watch Parenthood on the plane.

50:58Aziz Ansari:It's so good. It's incredible. It is. It's so good. During that weekend, with the John Wick weekend, they showed Parenthood too and I was watching it in between and I was just like, wow. Very different. John Wick and Parenthood. Are there films that you go back to that are like your comfort watches? If it's a rainy day and you're like, I'm going to put on a movie. Do you like to watch films? I love watching films and there's definitely like a film nerd element to my life And, yeah, the movies I go back to a lot. I love, you know, working on this and all the time when I'm writing, I revisit like Being John Malkovich a lot.

51:38Yes. I love that. I love Eternal Sunshine. I love Eternal Sunshine. Those two I visit a lot. I love those. And I love watching just older movies too.

51:47Aziz Ansari:Me too. I mean, I feel like the joy of getting older is like looking back and realizing, oh, there's a lot of stuff I still haven't seen, you know? Oh, yeah. It never ends. I know. I know. The thing that got me into being more diligent about watching film was, you know, I realized, oh, all these directors that I love, whether it's like Scorsese or Paul Thomas Sanders, whatever, they've seen every movie. And I was like, that can't be a coincidence. I mean, I got to be honest. Sometimes it's overwhelming. Like the way people who make films talk about films definitely makes me feel like stressed.

52:20Oh, I had to go on like TCM or whatever. And I was like, hey, man, I might get some things wrong here because like Scorsese will be like. And the person that did the craft services here, you know, he was making these ham sandwiches that had this special kind of cheese that everybody loved. And Greta Garbo didn't like them. So for her, he would do it with turkey.

52:41Aziz Ansari:I don't know. I don't know. I don't know it. I know. It's just, and it definitely feels like that feeling like when you have an oral exam in school. I was watching Parks and Recreation and, you know, any Polish kids call Aziz Ansari turkey sandwich. How do you remember all this? I know. It's intense. Okay. Speaking of food, though, turkey sandwich and food, I want to talk to you about food. Sure. Okay. Before we wrap, because I feel like the food, your relationship to food ties in to the bigger idea of you like trying to open yourself up to a lot of stuff in life, like being curious. Sure. You growing up, what was the food you were eating growing up?

53:23My mom would cook Indian food and there was a woman that took care of us. Her name was Miss Beulah and she cooked Southern food. So there would be, you know, Indian food like biryani or whatever. And then there'd be like chicken and dumplings. Incredible. Weirdly, I think would eat a little bit of both. So I grew up on Southern food and Indian food.

53:41Aziz Ansari:Okay. And then when did you become, when did you start realizing like, I actually care very much about what I eat and I want to learn how to cook and be a good cook? It's interesting you ask because I think people think of me as like, oh, it's easy. And that was all the restaurants. It's like, I know I actually like just cook at home all the time now. I love to cook. And that, um, uh, I think it happened in a lot of it was during COVID. I started cooking more and more and it was kind of what our day was based around. It's like, oh, we're going to cook because I was in London during COVID and the farmer's markets and stuff didn't close and you kind of walk around and so food became a way to kind of structure your day a little bit.

54:18Aziz Ansari:Yeah. But during COVID, I wanted to learn all my mom's recipes. And so I asked my mom to help because Indian food is very intimidating. Oh, big time. But it's not as good. Wait, do I ever send you those cookbooks I make? I make these cookbooks for friends. I got to send you one. Sorry. No. I'll send you all of them. No way. So you like transcribed your mom's recipes? Not all of them, but like every year, like during Christmas time, I make this. I'm so sorry I haven't sent it to you. I'll send it to you. No worries. But yeah, I just, whatever I've been cooking that year. Oh, that's great. I started during COVID and then I just kind of kept it going.

54:55Oh, that's awesome. But Indian food is what I really love to cook.

54:58Aziz Ansari:What makes Indian food, like for a person just cooking, like hard to cook? It's nothing hard. It's just, you know, I would ask when I'm like, oh, how much of that coriander powder did you put in? It's like, I don't know. I didn't measure, you know. And you're scared that you're going to mess it up. But it's not like baking, you know, where like, oh, if you put like a teaspoon too much, it's not really going to screw it up too much. And the other thing that's super helpful is YouTube. Because you can watch. There's all these people like, you know, aunties and stuff in India that have YouTube channels.

55:25And they show you how to cook everything. And seeing it visually makes it a little less intimidating. And you just got to do that first trip to the Indian store and get. I always think that term is kind of funny. That's what everybody calls like the Indian grocery store. They call it the Indian store. But that sounds like you're going and buying Indian people.

55:40Aziz Ansari:No, you're not. It's just ingredients. Ingredients. But you just got to get all the stuff and then keep it in the pantry. And then it's like, oh, yeah, everything's like, oh, yeah, slice of onions and some little ginger garlic and then some spices and then maybe a tomato. And then you put the chicken in, stir it around 20 minutes, and it's done. Yeah. Wait, can I tell you? So I cooked for Rashida like a week ago. She lives really close to me. And her family came over and she brought her a little kid. and she was like, I was like cooking Indian food and she's like, can you make something for him?

56:10Something not too intense. I was like, oh, I got it. I'm gonna make him chicken 65. That's like, it's like Indian chicken nuggets almost. They're like little pieces of chicken, little kids love it. So every little, and then every kid loves it. And so I made him chicken 65 and he ate it and then he started going crazy. He just like had so much energy. And then I realized it's because the chicken 65, they put red food coloring in it to make it bright red and the red food coloring has that dye. That makes the kids go crazy. Go crazy.

56:38Aziz Ansari:It got them pumped up. Yeah. So now whenever they come over, I just make a bunch of chicken 65 and he goes nuts. Well, it is so funny they say that because we do a thing here on the podcast where we like to talk to somebody before the podcast. We talk well behind their back. Okay. And I get a question and I just talked to Rashida. Oh, wow. And Rashida just told us that you made her chicken 65. She loves it. She was like, let's comfort her again. I was like, what do you want? Chicken 65. She loves it. And, and, you know, in many ways, we both, Rashida and I feel like we were your auntie at times on that show.

57:16Aziz Ansari:And I know Rashida and you guys like, and she was talking about like how, you know, what we were talking about earlier that you are like what she really respects about you is the way that you're a curious person, always trying to learn more about yourself and the world. and her question was, and she was saying you're a very, very good chef. Chef or cook? What would you say? Chef? Cook? Probably cook. Cook a little more, yeah, a little low key. Chef seems like someone else has to call you a chef. I'm not that good. Yes. I'm not that great. If you get the right hat, you become a chef. Yeah. You just put it on.

57:53Aziz Ansari:But as a cook, she wanted me to ask you, what is your favorite thing to cook? I love to cook Indian food and I love cooking stuff I think there's something special about the food you ate growing up and the food your family made. And I think there's something, you know, one time I went to India and I stayed for a little extra time. And I asked my family, I was like, oh, who's like really like kind of the mean cooks? Like, who can I learn from? And I stayed for a couple of days with some people that were a little bit distant relatives, like my aunt, sister, something like that. And they showed me so much stuff.

58:30Aziz Ansari:They were cooking in their home and showed you? Yeah. Yeah, and just learning like home food that comes from your family. I think there's something special about it. And, you know, because I think that's something important to pass down. And, you know, my own parents, you know, they're all healthy and everything. But, you know, you start thinking about their time and just like, oh, wow. Like it's a piece of your family history that I think is cool to try to preserve. I feel like you also took cooking lessons somewhere else too. Did you go to Italy or? In season two of Master of None. That's right.

59:00That also gave me a big help to be comfortable in the kitchen. So it made it less intimidating. But season two took place in Italy. So before we filmed it, I went and lived in this town in Italy, and I learned Italian a little bit. And I worked in these kitchens and these places, and these people did not really know who I was. And I was like, yeah, I'm working on a TV show. And they're like, oh, okay. But they let me work in the kitchens, and I learned a lot from these people that were there, and they were so nice. And it kind of gave me some confidence to kind of start with the Italian food. And then there was a couple of Indian things I could make.

59:37But then during COVID, I really started. I had more time. I had nothing to do. So I was just like, OK, I'm going to keep pushing this. I always say this.

59:43Aziz Ansari:I did not grow up cooking at all. And I had a busy working mom who, you know, I grew up in the 70s and early 80s. So I didn't have a ton of, you know, we didn't have like a cooking family. And I always say it's never too late to start trying because it is very like low risk, high reward. Like try a dish. And if it doesn't work, you just nobody knows. You can just throw it away like you can just. And when it does work, you feel like incredible. Repetition is the father of learning. Yes. Lil Wayne said that. He did. He did? Yeah. Amazing. I mean, I don't know if he was quoting someone else. Maybe.

1:00:26Maybe. Maybe.

1:00:27Aziz Ansari:We'll see. We'll look it up. What are you laughing at these days? What are you watching, reading? I know you're not addicted to your phone. You have a flip phone. But what do you do to laugh? Where do you go? For laugh? I know. What did I watch to laugh recently? I know because it's kind of hard when comedy is your job. You don't watch as much comedy sometimes. And, you know, when you come from the stand-up world, we all know that the way stand-ups laugh is they just watch each other and go, nice. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a different thing. They go, yeah, that was funny. What was I laughing at recently?

1:01:01I know.

1:01:01Aziz Ansari:Anything that you do when you're training. I just, you know, every now and then my wife will show me some silly internet thing. And she showed me something that was like a meme of like a dolphin. It was like looking happy. And it was like me letting the flight attendant know I'm ready for a snack. And it was a dolphin. It's like just stupid stuff like that. Okay, let's look up that dolphin. I think it's a dolphin. I love a meme. Yeah, those kind of things. Movies and stuff. I know. I mean, smiling dolphin memes. I love some of those old movies like The Apartment. Like just those things just make me laugh so hard.

1:01:42Aziz Ansari:You don't go on TikTok or anything like that, right? No, I've never really been on TikTok. I mean, I've seen videos. I'm not like a, you know, I've seen some of the stuff. Some of that stuff has made me laugh. But sometimes I see the stuff I don't understand. It's not him. It's not him. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm like a cookie. That's pretty close. But the one my wife sent me, the dolphin had a better smile. I got to find it. I got to send it to you later. Do you watch anything? Are you watching any shows right now that like is, you know, I mean, it's an interesting time right now for comedy. I mean, Good Fortune is a great example of like there's not a lot of just straight comedies out there in the world right now.

1:02:23To be like an original idea that's a comedy that's in theaters, like to have even one of those three now. Yes. Is wild. It is. And I, you know, Seth and I were always talking about this, of how we wanted the movie to be theatrical when how, you know, I remember going in New York when I was in school, going to see like Anchorman and, you know, 40 Oversion, all these movies and just being in like a packed theater and just dying. And I think that's that's something I miss. And I hope I hope it comes back and I hope more people get to make comedies and that we get that back. Because it's so much better to be in a group and laugh.

1:02:57You know, if you go to a live show, you know, if you go to a live show like a UCB or a stand up tour, There's so many people there and you don't realize how much the other people that experience is part of it. Like you come see me do stand up at a theater. It's oh, man, we're having a great time. But I just came to your house and just started doing stand up and you're sitting by yourself. Yeah. I'd be like, how did you get into my house? This is not a good experience. But that to me is like the, you know, streaming a movie and being on your phone at the same time. It's like, well, not the same thing.

1:03:25Aziz Ansari:I know. It's back to the phone. It's back to the phone. And the theater is still the only place where you're not allowed to be on your phone. I love going to the movie theater. It's so fun. I'm so happy that you came, Aziz. Oh, I got to tell you, you know, whenever I was like, okay, we got to do this press tour for the movie. I was like, oh, well, I know one thing I'll be looking forward to very much. And that was this. And spend time with you. Same. It's always a pleasure when we get to see each other. And thank you for having me. Turkey sandwich. I'm so happy that you came. Hold on one second.

1:03:58Hey, Watson. Yeah, yeah. I'm just finishing up the pod. Okay. I'll see you there. What? How does he know what? No, I haven't seen Archie and Abel in a long time. What? I don't know. I think they're in their 20s. All right. Take care, Watson. Bye.

1:04:18Aziz Ansari:Thank you, Aziz Ansari, for coming by and hanging. It was so great to see you and to go down memory lane and talk about all the good things ahead. And now it is time for our Polar Plunge. And today's Polar Plunge is presented by BMW Certified. In a world full of uncertainty, BMW certified pre-owned vehicles are the real deal. They come with a BMW certified warranty, genuine BMW parts, and an additional three years of 24-7 roadside assistance. Visit bmwusa.com slash certified dash pre-owned to learn more. So for this Polar Plunge, I just want to stick up for my phone a little bit. I feel like we've been pretty hard on the phone in this episode, and we've talked about how bad it is for us.

1:05:04Aziz Ansari:And look, I agree. But my best friend gives me a lot of things. It helps me track my other friends and send them creepy texts like, I see that you're at the airport. Have a good flight. My phone lets me buy things by just going beep, just swiping it across a thing. And you don't even know. You don't even have to take out your credit card. My phone, it just tells me about all the awful news that's happening minute by minute all over the world. And if I missed it, it pops up to remind me. So just take it easy on my phone, okay? It's my best friend. And it's never let me down. But seriously, help.

1:05:48Aziz Ansari:Help me. Help me. get away from it. Please help. So today's Polar Plunge was presented by BMW Certified. As a BMW Certified owner, you receive the performance you expect, plus the warranty and assistance you deserve. Learn more at bmwusa.com slash certified dash pre-owned. Thank you, Aziz. Thank you for everyone listening. Good hang, and we'll see you again. Bye. You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss-Berman, and me, Amy Poehler. The show is produced by The Ringer and Paper Kite. For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaya McMullin, and Alea Zanaris.

1:06:26For Paper Kite, production by Sam

1:06:29Aziz Ansari:Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss-Berman. Original music by Amy Miles.

1:06:39Aziz Ansari:Turn it up! Storm has zero sugar and 200 milligrams of caffeine, so you can turn that workout up a notch. Good energy in, good energy out. Energy for life.