Hi, I’m Ken Jeong, and this is my last meal. Every person has exactly two things in common, we all gotta eat and we’re all gonna die. Today’s guest is a comedian who you might recognize from “The Hangover,” “Knocked Up” in “Community,” you can catch on Fox hosting the new game show, “99 to Beat,” and he once led Paige High School to two consecutive high IQ Quiz Bowl Championships, Dr. Ken Jeong, welcome to the show. Thank you. Thank you very much. And thank you for including that last credit per my assistant. Yeah. He didn’t wanna do it, but I made him. He’s also making me say this, so the 1990s had the Chicago Bowls, the 1980s, Ken, they had Grimsley High School. Now Grimsley won seven out of 10 Quiz Bowl Championships in the ’80s. How did it feel to beat them, not once, but twice? To be fair, I was only really an instrumental player, I believe in, the win my junior year, the high IQ bowl my junior year. I was not, unfortunately, in the senior year of high IQ bowl where Paige did win the championship, and deservedly so, because I had a groin injury. He sacrifices for his team. Yeah. That’s incredible. I pulled my groin. Yeah. Which is why I couldn’t do any more math because best math quiz bowl thinking comes from the groin, it’s a medical fact. Trust me, I’m a doctor-ish. He sure is. Yep. Thank you so much for joining me today. Thank you. This was incredible. Are you kidding? Thank you for having me. Of course. Have you thought about your last meal before? No, I haven’t. I’ve been fortunate to be blessed with good genes, I guess, like my dad, he’s 95 years young and kicking, and he really never talks about his last meal, you know? We never have that discussion, but, like, I just saw him last week and he is the kind of guy that will savor every, you know, it’s like there is something to be said about just kind of savoring every moment. I’m unfortunately kind of the eat and run guy, you know, I’m like that eat and go guy, probably from my days in med school and being a doctor and also just being on set. How often do you think about death in general? I do think as a kid and I think even in med school, that’s always, was always on my mind, when I was a resident, when you’re dealing, literally dealing with death and dying, when I was practicing. But, and that’s the first time anyone’s asked me that, like, since me kind of being in entertainment full-time, I really don’t. Maybe because the way show business is, and you almost, you’re almost forced to have a zen like, kind of mentality of just kind of being in the moment, because- Yeah. If you’re not in the moment, the business will kind of force you to be. Yeah. You know? So, in many ways, you know, I’m in a field right now that’s completely antithetical from the field that I was in before. And in many ways, for me, you’re literally just thinking about what you’re doing now and in many ways that’s clarifying. I love that. Yeah. Oh, you ready to eat? Yep. Absolutely. Ken, for the first course of your final meal on earth, we have the Crispy Shiitake Salad from Nobu right here, a little bit of vinegarette on the fresh spring greens. And then, of course, we have the Yellowtail with jalapeno, a classic dish invented at Nobu, a little bit of ponzu and cilantro in the middle. And then Coke, Coke Zero or Coke K? This is Coke Zero? Coke Zero. Coke Zero. That’s what- Easy mistake. A lot of people say Coke K, but it’s too close to the other thing. That makes sense, that makes sense. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes. And Coke Zero. Please dig in. Can I serve you up some salad? That would be outstanding. Thank you so much. This is a shout out to my wife Tran, who, I believe we’re at a Nobu in Hawaii in Lanai, and I believe that our waiter recommended this. Every time we get the Crispy Shiitake Mushroom Salad because this is just like bacon. Yeah. It’s just like bacon. I’ve never had this one on show. Oh my gosh. It’s amazing. bon appetit. Incredible. That’s wonderful. The first time you went to Nobu, was that before or after you’ve gotten famous? ‘Cause it’s become known as like the celebrity hotspot. I am so glad you brought that up, because we are legitimate Nobu fans from the fact that, back when the day it was in a shopping center, it is like 20 years ago near Malibu Mart, okay? Yep. So, there was no view, only sushi, you know what I mean? It was like that. So we have been, back when Tran and I, my wife Tran, we’re both practicing medicine full time, we just to reward ourselves, you know? We’d like, do we have enough money in our paychecks to go to Nobu? We worked at Kaiser, so the answer was no. But it was, but we would go there and it was just the best sushi, even before we got married, we would go- Yeah. To Nobu, so. To us, it’s more than celebrity hotspot, it’s- Yeah, yeah. It’s best sushi, you know, best sushi in town. Tell me about the Coke Zero, because there are a lot of Diet Coke diehards that end up on this show. What’s your pitch for why Coke Zero is a superior product? My pitch is, do the- Cheers. Cheers. My pitch is that this tastes just like regular Coke. It’s closer in taste to classic Coke Zero. Although, I am not, you know, averse at all to Diet Coke, if it’s on set, I’ll always ask for Coke zero. In fact, when I’m greedy, I will always ask for Cherry Coke Zero. And if there’s any truth in advertising, I have done a lot of advertising over the past 13 years with specifically Coke Zero. I think I have seen an Instagram photo of you caressing a 12 pack of Coke Zero as a baby as well. Yes. Shout out to my brother-in-law, I believe, who took a photo of that at Christmas because my brother-in-law, he probably thought it was a joke gift. He just gave me half a case of Cherry Coke Zero. And I caressed it like it was a baby and I was like, I was so happy. I did not need anything else, I’m not even kidding, that’s all, that’s all I wanted. Please dig into the crudo, whatever you want, I think I’m just gonna go straight off the plate here. Shout out to Nobu. And- That’s just. From a legitimate fan, we’re not a fair weather fan. It’s kind of like saying, oh, I like Hootie and the Blowfish. No, I saw them when they’re at Tipitina’s before they got famous. It’s just flexing all over the place right now. Yeah. It’s incredible. This is like Hootie’s Nobu, right? But that’s never been said before in last meals. Certainly not. Hootie and the Blowfish and Nobu, I don’t think, I think not, but I found the connective tissue because I’m a doctor and I’m smart. Speaking of which, I feel like there’s this urban legend about your career that you were the Apatow’s family doctor and that’s what got you cast in “Knocked Up.” That’s what- Which is not close to true at all. Do you know how that happened? “Community” creator Dan Harmon thought that, and I think that’s kind of why I got the “Community” job. And I don’t think even Judd and Leslie know this, but he thought that I was the Apatow’s family physician and I was not. No. I was just a doctor who had a pipe dream to be an actor who auditioned several times for “Knocked Up.” And I got incredibly lucky and Judd blessed me in his movie and gave me a career. So, the story is way more humble than me being some sort of weird medical nepo baby of like, you know. No, but also you’ve been doing standups since the mid ’90s including like doing night shows at The Improv. Yeah. While like you weren’t doing open mics while also working as a physician during the day, you were like doing real standup comedy for a long time. You know, I got my start doing open mics when I was in med school. Yeah. In North Carolina. And then once I did my residency in New Orleans and I, and I was doing open mics there, coffee houses, just anything I could do. In New Orleans, I won a standup comedy contest that was judged by the late Brandon Tartikoff, former Paramount chairman, and also, the late Budd Friedman, founder of The Improv comedy chain. And I was very fortunate to have won that comedy competition like almost 30 years ago. Yeah. And it was crazy. And the winner got to perform in Hollywood at the Melrose, Improv here in Hollywood. And I got to do two shows and, it, in many ways that kind of kicked it off. It gave me kind of the confidence to pursue comedy and standup and acting. I’d done acting at Duke, prior to doing standup, one of the reasons I was doing standup is because I couldn’t do theater when I was in med school. I always had this itch to perform and it, I really think it just started me on this trajectory, so I owe a lot to, just to my comedy roots in New Orleans that led to me being a regular at The Improv in the Laugh Factory. And once you started booking roles, I know you said that it was just your goal to be a working character actor and you’ve certainly gotten Absolutely- A lot those roles and you’ve played the hell outta those roles. Yeah. My number one favorite comedy of all time, the one that I’m going to show my grandchildren is “Role Models.” I love you for that. My guy- Dude. Thank you. Thank you. For real. And no, specifically, so many of the choices that you make also like Joe Lo Truglio, Matt Walsh. Yes. In that movie, there’s specifically a scene in the Burger Hole that I think a thing that you do where you’re like the king of your own little fiefdom and then the server comes by, she goes, coffee. Oh, no, no, decaf, thank you, thank you. And then go, go back to on Paul Rudd immediately. Like it’s those moments that absolutely make the movie. Are there character actors that you looked at at the time and you were like, I wanna be that, that person makes the movie. I worked with a private acting coach at that time and she really helped me kind of shape that role of King Argotron. And I was so immersed in the role. I ended up just going to these live action role playing events like in Malibu, like I would just do research and I would read books, watch documentaries. Somewhere on the DVD, David Wayne said, you’d think he was De Niro just researching the role. Because I had no knowledge of LARPing. Yeah. I knew nothing of that world. And it was the first role I had gotten that wasn’t based either on ethnicity or being a physician. Yeah. Technically I think it was my first offer for a role, so I didn’t, they just thought of me for that. I just felt this obligation just to prove that I was good enough to be in the role. I just worked my ass off, just reading every bit of literature. Like I, it is the most I’ve probably have prepared for a role. Like you’re doing like reading dramaturgy. Yes. It was crazy. And they had the live action role playing like advisor. I made like good friends with her. I would talk to her all the time. It was really just trying to get, and by the time I knew so much LARP speak, I started improvising in it. Like there was, I do remember when I think I made him, I think that was like an improv where to make him kiss the ring or something. And then the finger went up his nose and a shout out to the editors, ’cause we all cracked up after that, we didn’t know what we were doing. And then, so from the cutout right after, just, I was thinking to myself, there’s no way, we’ll, that take is salvageable. And we only did it once, and there it is, you know, like cinematic magic. Do you remember any scenes that hit the cutting room floor from that? ‘Cause I think I’ve seen at least one outtake where you’re in the Burger Hole and you just look at a nice family and you just go shut the up and then immediately go right back. Man, I so aggressive with my adlibs back then, it was, I think I’m improvising at that time, but just all outta sheer anxiety. Yeah. Just trying to get a laugh. Just doing everything I can, just to fight my imposter syndrome. But I do remember there was an elderly lady that it probably coughed, it was probably something that was completely like benign. I barely heard it. And I just like, just like, like a mountain lion just roared all over, shut the up, oh my God! And then I just in character. But people would be surprised when director yells cut, like I am the type of person that like, like to that lady or whatever, you know, I will go, oh my God, are you okay? Like, it’s almost like- Yeah. There’s a duality. It’s exactly like the “Role Model” thing where I’m like, you know, oh, I’m so sorry. There is some reality to that. You’ve lived so many lives career-wise from being a doctor standup, being on your own sitcom that you EPed, movie star. What is it that’s creatively fulfilling about hosting now on Fox and what are you excited for with “99 to Beat?” These are a hundred people. They are pitted against each other in a series of challenges where the only mantra is just don’t finish last. And you wanna survive every challenge until it get whittled down to one, and the grand prize is $1 million. To me it was survivor, you know, kind of in a sound stage full of challenges and games, and the 100 contestants. And none of them knew it was gonna be for a million dollars. Originally, it was supposed to be for a hundred thousand. No way. So we’re all on set. The very first thing we say in this a hundred people around, they’re just happy to be, you know, on television, this will be seen, and by the way, shout out to Erin Andrews, my co-host, who really gets me through it. ‘Cause she, you really need like a broadcaster of intense competitions like the NFL and who better than Erin Andrews, you know, the best NFL sideline reporter in the business. Easily the most talented person I’ve ever worked with on Fox. Right, Joel McHale? Right, Joel McHale? Right, Joel McHale? We have no beef with Joel, this is, if you want to come on, but he might have ruined it for you. And Erin is just so great. She’s- Oh my gosh, she seems wonderful. She’s so wonderful. Yeah. Just easy to work with. She’s great. You know, Joel played football. Yeah, as a walk-on. As a walk-on. He’s like not a scholarship guy. That makes sense. Yeah. Oh my God. Get him on the show. Just work when I got scholar, you are a walk-on. You walked onto a field. I walked onto a field. Big whoop. Oh my God. I thought we could do a podcast or a show without talking about Joel McHale. Ready to go into course number two? Yeah. It’ll be great, oh my God. Ken, for course number two, we have the Galbee Jumulluk from Chosun Galbee over here with all of the Banchan. And, of course, a large mountain of kimchi cooked fresh at the table by your chef. And then we have the Dolsot Bibimbap with the fresh crack egg on it, the bulgogi, all of the vegetables. And then, of course, the Miller mie- It’s not mie, it’s not mie lite, it’s Miller Lite. It’s, it’s apparently, for strong men only ’cause I can’t open it. Ah, got it. Yeah. There we go. Oh, yeah. You want some help, Ken? Yeah, I need a real man to open it, Josh. Thanks, thank you. That’s all right, you know? White collar hands, white collar hands. You know, a little bit of hammer throwing hands over here. Oh my God. Graduated in bragging at UCLA? Okay. Dropped out. Dropped out? In bragging. Dropped out a humility. And just moved to bragging. Okay. Dude- Cheers. Cheers, my friend. Korean barbecue and nice cool beer. I know. What an combo. Excellent pronunciation too. Excellent. I tried, we were actually waiting to see how you pronounced everything so then I could combo. Yeah, watch me pronounce it all wrong. I’m actually- It’s Dolsot Bibimbap, and Galbee Jumulluk, and kimchi. Yeah. Should I start cooking up this, the galbee? Please. All right. A little bit of oil going in here. What was it like the first time you went to Chosun Galbee? Because I imagine, Greensboro, North Carolina did not have the Korean barbecue scene that Los Angeles does. No, it did not. But shout out to my parents. My mom made the best galbee ever, you know, but it did blow my mind moving out to LA, going into Koreatown. And much like Nobu, Chosun Galbee, it was in another location, previous to its current location. I was there, you know, back then when it was like a very, very small restaurant. And I believe in, on the week of our wedding, where we had like, I’m Korean, my wife’s Vietnamese. But during that week we had like the best dinner ever at Chosun Galbee with, you know, both families. And so whenever I think of Chosun Galbee, I think of that dinner that we had. And with the Dolsot Bibimbap, this is a staple of my childhood. This is just a Korean mixed dish with rice, vegetables, protein, and this is, I think it’s bulgogi, and, you know, topped it off in a stone pot, you know, with this egg. If you had to ask me of all these meals, which would be the last meal, you know, on a personal level, this would be, this, this would be the last meal of last meal. Every time I eat it, it just brings me back to childhood, man. Yeah. It just, you know, just my favorite times ever. You executive produced a movie called “KTown Cowboys.” It’s about a crazy night out in Koreatown. Have you had any crazy nights out in Koreatown that, well, I guess you wouldn’t exactly remember it, but that stand out in your life? Well, I’ve had some karaoke nights where it gets, it gets pretty wild. ‘Cause I, if I go to, K-Town is really about the nutty bong or even just doing karaoke, especially back in the day. But I gotta give a shout out to “Ktown Cowboys” because Danny Cho, who created it, was a web series, started to, it was like 15 years ago before there was a web series. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And my wife and I were just huge fans of this web series. And then when he decided to adapt this into a full length feature film, you know, I was like, I will, if you need any help, you know, just put my name on as an EP. I just was a fan of what they did in their, and it wasn’t just me, it was also Daniel Dae Kim, where both, I believe, executive producers on it. So, you know, in many ways that show was a precursor of what’s to come, like, like “Beef” and some of these amazing shows. Yeah. You know, Korean American based shows. So I think “Ktown Cowboys” was one of the first. And if anyone, I believe it’s still on YouTube. You know, if you don’t a movie, watch the series on YouTube, it’s just outstanding, it just takes you there. There’s a lot of this and there’s a lot of that. It really is amazing. What has it been like to see the rise in so much Korean culture over, let’s say the last 20 years. ‘Cause even you have the big K-pop boom, then even for me, it was like Roy Choi with the Kogi truck in 2008 was such a massive moment. “Ktown Cowboys,” when you’re talking about even like “K-pop demon hunters” right now is just- Number one movie of all time on Netflix? Number one movie of all time on Netflix. To me, there’s something distinct about, I think Korean culture, Korean American culture that is inherently emotional moving and passionate. And I think that movies like, I mean, shows like “Beef,” it’s a very emotional show. Yep. And I think that to me lends itself to great art. And I think there is a commonality of wearing your emotions at your sleeve into your art. And I think, to me, I’m not surprised. Yeah. At all. And I don’t, I think it’s here to stay. Oh man, I love cut meat. It’s just, just the right amount of chew that fattiness just, ah. Doc, geez. I’ve heard you say in your words that you got Korean out of pursuing acting maybe by your dad, but maybe by yourself. What exactly does that mean? It was a bit of both. I mean, keep in mind, like I was in college late ’80s, you know? And there was no one that looked like me, you know? In the business, maybe except for Pat Morita. And I took my first acting class at Duke sophomore year, spring semester, fell in love with it hadn’t not done any acting prior to. There was like this mock male beauty pageant that I’ve talked about in high school that was kind of a popular nerd. And I had my Napoleon dynamite moment. I like did some improv and I played some music. And needless to say, it was just like this kind of like, wow, maybe I could perform. And so that informed me for my first acting class, I just, really, in many ways, my only act, formal acting class just fell in love with it. I just leaned into that and I got accepted into the Duke Drama School, actually auditioned for it, their theater department, and I got in. But the catch was, you know, I was pre-med at the time and my A in organic chemistry went to a C minus. And so, I had to make a choice. It still was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make, you know, at that point, to stay in medicine wasn’t just, I think I say it for a soundbite like yeah, my dad was like, Korean me into staying medicine, but I was Koreaning myself. Yeah. You know, in many ways because firstborn son, wasn’t there on scholarship, not wealthy by any means. I was like, there is an obligation of, for me and my own path to finish what I started, but was really hard. And it was really difficult. And I remember like to give up doing drama and to tell them, you know, almost tearfully, like, I can’t, can’t do this, was, it broke my heart in so many ways. And I still, it’s so funny, even to this day, I still feel that. And honestly, and I say this not only to my own kids, but just kids in general. I never want any student or any kid to feel obligated in life. Yeah. I, if, and, I do work with Duke Arts and I will talk to students who are into the arts, but they’re double majoring, you know, comp sci, and biomedical engineering. And I’m just saying, you know, if they really wanna do something in art, well, find art in whatever you’re doing. I’m not saying you have to quit your job or quit your major or disappoint your parents or anything like that, but find art in whatever you’re doing. I believe your wife, Tran, once told you that she knew she married someone with the soul of a comedian and an actor, not the soul of a doctor. Did you see that same thing in yourself or did it take her to point that out to you? I recognized it myself, but she was the first one, she was the first one to recognize that in me, outside of myself. On our first date, she saw me perform at the Ice House in Pasadena. On your first date? It wasn’t really a date, but I kind of manipulated it into kind of being a date. Like, I invited a group of doctor friends that I knew would flake out, that would come to the show at the Ice House I was performing at. So it just invariably ended up being me and Tran and knowing that kind of ahead of time, I was like, oh, hey, you know, I hear, maybe we can go and get some sushi. And then hanging out just becomes like a date, you know, kind just de facto date. And then all of a sudden I’m performing in the Ice House where I knew I would kill because it was a good crowd, it was a Tuesday night. And I remember doing really well. And now I would like ask one of my friends who was there, I, was Tran laughing? Was Tran laughing? You know, I’m like that guy. And my friend’s like, yeah, of course. No, was she really laughing, bro? You know, like I was that insecure about it. And then… And Tran just had the best sense of humor. She got on my jokes. If anything, I think what drew us was our, this love of comedy, we both liked to laugh. And I think she was the first person that made me laugh all the time. And that exists to this day. I mean, it’s just about having a sense of humor about life and whatever I’ve done, whatever phase I’ve been, whether as a doctor, whether as a comedian, actor, you know, to be able to have a perspective, have a partner that can make you laugh in the middle of all the highs and lows. Yeah. Is priceless. And so, I think that yeah, she was the first to recognize, you know, a comedian heart about, to this day we just, we just love to laugh. Absolutely. I remember going to a Will Ferrell movie, just a premiere, and I wasn’t in it. And we were watching and me and Tran laughed so hard, and I remember the studio executive came back to us, can you come to all of Will’s movies? ‘Cause we’re just, we just, it was like a date. We just wanted to- Yeah. Just watch a movie. And we could not stop laughing. They’re like, you’re amazing, like you, and pointing to both of, you are amazing, I’ma invite you to all the premieres. So we’re really good laughers, so- Incredible. Absolutely. Ready to go on to course number three? Yes, yes. Let’s do it. Ken, for course number three, we have the Garlic Noodles from Crustacean in Beverly Hills. And then we have the Corn Tempura from Yume Sushi Bar. Can I serve you up some noodles? Please do. This is a shout out to our dear family friend Chef Helene An who invented garlic noodles. Like when Tran and I were starting to date, that was like the first restaurant that we went to, you know, together, it was Crustacean in Beverly Hills. No way. And for the An family to treat, to kind of have me in their fold, you know, and this was way before “The Hangover,” this was over 20 years ago. No way. They were just, it was funny as my career was rising, they could, I mean, I just remember they were like the Vietnamese family that knew everybody in town, they know everybody. And for them to, you know, as my career has gone and evolved, they’re just so supportive, they’re like extended family members, you know? I’m legitimately geeked out that you just name dropped Helene An. Yeah. Because yeah, it’s, I think San Francisco, 1974, this dish was invented. Boom, boom! Restaurant was called Thanh Long at the time. See I ain’t lying. No, that was- You thought I was an idiot. Probably, you guys watching you do, we dunno what you’re talking. I do Joel McHale. I know what I’m talking about. I’m not dumb. I’ve been calling him Joe McHale the whole time, it’s Joel? It doesn’t matter what you call him because only relevant people need to have the L in their first name pronounced. But again, noodles, can’t believe we had to mention Joel McHale again. So good, so good, and the fact that you know, I didn’t mean to interrupt, the fact that- No, no. You know the history of garlic noo, I mean, I, I want the An family to see this. This is right here. I’m just glad there’s finally some Vietnamese representation on this table. You’ve been talking about Tran. You put a lot of Vietnamese inside jokes into “The Hangover,” why did you decide to do that? You know, there is a story behind that, that Tran was diagnosed with breast cancer at time, going through chemo and still cancer free right now, after I believe 17 years still cancer free. And I believe, I turned down the part of Mr. Chow wasn’t, I was really wrestling whether to do it or not. And it was a shout out to Tran and, and also her mother. They were like, you know, it’s only a couple of days. It was really, I was only on set like maybe two or three days in Vegas. And she was responding to the chemotherapy. Her tumor markers had normalized. I remember asking Tran, I think before I left was, you know, going over the lines of dialogue. I was just say, what if I just speak Vietnamese? Like they won’t know, you know, it was like, I’ll just speak Vietnamese. And it was never really established a nationality Chow was, so we’re just having fun with it. There were so many comedy movies coming out. It was a golden age of R-rated comedy movies. We did not know “The Hangover” will be “The Hangover.” I think my favorite moment was, I think when we’re releasing Mike Epps who played Black Dog, it was like, I think my character just, none of this in the script, I’m like, you know? And it doesn’t it. You had the cadence of like release the prisoner or whatever, but in Vietnamese it means chicken die. I don’t know why it came up with that. And Tran would like, give me just a few like Vietnamese words. Yeah. And it would just be some, it was really just to make her laugh. It was really just, it would just inside jokes to make her laugh. And I would say it over, I would repeat a lot of the Vietnamese were over and over. I was really determined without telling anyone to try and have some of these words make it in the edit. But the makes me laugh every single time I see “The Hangover” and that scene. In many ways that movie was kind of complicated because it was an emotional time and it was a cathartic time. It reminds me is that, you know, life is short, you gotta go for it. There’s an outtake on the Blu-ray DVD where it’s just 10 minutes just improvising in the desert. It wasn’t great classically trained improv, it wasn’t great like, you know, it wasn’t fluid, it wasn’t, it was just guttural, it was like punk rock improv, for lack of a better word. And I was just angry, it was angry improv. I was just, in many ways, as Chow just kind of screaming, you know, at the gods who had, or the demons who had cursed, you know, Tran with cancer. So to me it was really just kind of getting that all out. And then there was, it was like a 10 minute rant. And then, and then you see in true to form the moment Todd yells cut, I’m like, was that okay? Was that okay? Like it was really, a lot of people will say, you know, I say it all the time, I wouldn’t be here without “The Hangover,” but I don’t think we would have our family happiness and the livelihood that we living in kind of the, even behind the scenes, just the life that we have in many ways. Yeah. For “The Hangover.” It’s incredible. Yeah. Can I offer you some corn tempura? I, this is… What a segue. We’ll be back with KOS, the king of segues after this. This is just a new meal I discovered. I love corn tempura so much. Like I had this two days ago. And you may- I’ve never had this man. Please- Oh my God. Dig in. This is new for me. Dude, it’s so good. It kinda looks like something I used to eat at the Sizzler Buffet though. Does anyone anyone remember the corn fritters at the Sizzler Buffet? It’s a fritter, it’s a fritter. It’s, yeah. It’s a fancy fritter, it’s a fancy fritter, you know? You know, it’s so relatable, it’s universal, you know. Well, kicking them segues back at it again. Yeah, for real, for all, I believe the cancer that Tran had was triple negative stage three, right? Yes. Which I think you said it was a 23% chance of survival. Yep. Do you think that both of you being doctors, did that make the numbers heavier or lighter? And do you have any advice for people who are like going through cancer right now, whether it’s them or a family member? Knowledge is power. Yeah. Knowledge is power. The more you know, the less excessively emotional you have the potential to. You know? I think knowing what we knew, and we had a great oncologist, who coincidentally, I don’t think I’ve ever said this before, coincidentally, his name was Dr. Chou, and, C-H-O-U. So yes, knowledge is power, but having, I remember our oncologist who was Chinese, he had the first dose of chemo on, eight’s a lucky number. So it was on August 8th, it was August 8th, 2008. So it was like, that was the dose of the chemo. So a little bit of everything, I suppose. Yeah. Yeah. That’s beautiful. There’s a moment at the MTV movie awards where we give a really beautiful speech that starts with me and my penis would like to thank MTV, and then my wife is two years cancer free, and I’ve learned that life is short. First time that’s ever been said- I guess I’m the king of segues now. I mean, I mean- I learned from the best. You learn from the best. Yeah. No, truly, like what is, I mean your wife’s strength, I mean, how much did that take to tell you to leave and go do “The Hangover” because you were suffering from burnout. I mean, how much do you draw that back her- Well, I wouldn’t have done it if she- Yeah. If, if. And a shout out to Tran’s mom as well, they were, it was a, both of them were urging me. And literally, I wasn’t on set on the first movie if anything at all. So by the, it’s funny, by the second and third movies, I remember Tran came with me to Thailand. For me it was joyous because I got to, I was able to spend time with Tran on a “Hangover” movie. We just toured all of Thailand and just had a blast for a month, so. It’s funny, whenever I think about “The Hangover,” I think equally of those moments, you know? And with Tran specifically, and so it’s, I always say like, the first “Hangover” is like the weirdest love letter you could send. And not many people knew about it at that time. And then until I got the MTV award, I don’t think Ed, I think I was doing a sketch with Ed Helms on that award show. I don’t think even Ed knew. So I, I really, I think only Bradley knew and Todd knew. And so, with Bradley, I was, had done a movie with prior to, and, in fact, Bradley drove me from Vegas to Calabasas to see Tran, you know, the final day of filming. So there was, there was a lot of support and then, but yeah, but I just remember, yeah, I don’t think I’ve even said this, but yeah, but I remember like Ed just giving me the biggest hug for like silent over like the longest time, so, yeah. That’s incredible. I don’t think I’ve even thought about it since then. Yeah, but it was very, very magical on so many levels, you know, onscreen and off. Yeah. Yeah. So. Ready to go on a dessert? Yes, absolutely. Ken, for the final course, the final meal on earth, we have the whole red velvet cake from Susie Cakes. Can I cut you a piece? Yes, please. Thank you. I’m giving you a big piece, man. That’s fine. I’ll take it. It’s my favorite cake. There’s no rhyme or reason behind this, it’s just, like ever since I’ve been with Tran, like all my birthday cakes were red velvet and I was like, this is great. And she goes, you you want red velvet again? Yes. And it was like as simple as that. I’ve never said no to a red velvet cake. And that’s really- Why would you? And why would I, you know? I’m a simple man with simple taste. I wanna ask, how’d you kept comedy as your hobby? I know you said you used to do open mics to like relieve stress during med school. Do you think that was only because that comedy was a hobby at the time and it wasn’t your biggest stressor? Do you think had you left comedy as just a hobby and continue as a medical doctor, you’d be anywhere close to as happy as you are now? You know, there is a world. I think about that a lot. I, honestly, I would just still do standup on the side. I literally thought, okay, if this doesn’t take, I can still do the laugh act, I can still do the improv. I had connections there, even as a physician, I can do that the rest of my life because I do, at the end of the day, love, love comedy and, you know, and putting a button on this, I was hanging out with Joel McHale. Joe, Joe, Joe McHale. And I was doing a scene with him on “Animal Control,” one of his many shows on Fox, although I have many shows on Fox. I mean, I watched Ken’s- “99 to Beat.” You know? Ken’s days. But I was with him on “Animal Control” and, but you’re not gonna put this on camera, right? You’re not gonna put it on camera? No, these aren’t even on. No, good, good. We’re best friends and I love him dearly like a brother. The past episode we did, it reminded me of “Community” days. It was like, I was playing my character so close to Senior Chang and I just had this flashback of just so much fun. And he was almost like Jeff Winger again, I was Senior Chang. We’re just kind of going off script, just having fun, we’re performing for ourselves. Yeah. And we hung in afterwards and I was like, I need more of this in my life. He’s like, what? It’s like just the joy of just comedy, just doing it. It doesn’t matter if people see this or if no one sees it. Oh, it seems like you genuinely find like a deeper spiritual meaning in that connection- Yes. Over laughter. Yes. Which I think is very reasonable. Yes. Right? I mean, do you think that is maybe the key or purpose to life? Have you figured that part out yet? If my goal is to laugh more than I frown, then I am an unqualified success because at the end of the day, no amount of money and fame, it can’t necessarily make you laugh more than you’re frown, you know? It is just, I’m very blessed to have someone like Tran that can see the lighter side of things. I think that helps me as a comedian ’cause comedians are, you know, we, myself included, we can, you know, off stage, we can be really dark and not laugh at all, you know? And so- Oh, the saddest people I’ve known are comedian. It’s incredible. Exactly. Exactly. And I think because of Tran I’ve avoided those trappings. And then red velvet, yes! I’m gonna bring it back to one more thing because I heard you say about dealing with patients that to cure is rare, to heal is seldom, but to comfort is all is. Yeah. And I mean, you kind of went from the comfort business to the comfort business in a certain way. ‘Cause “Role Models,” for instance, that’s my sick movie, that’s my sad movie, that’s my, like for real- Yeah. You know? Is there something actually like scientific to that idea that, you know, laughter is something that is healing? Is that something you take very seriously? It is funny, when I was in med school, I actually looked up in, I was, med school library looking up like, you know, is there some sort of medical connection to laughter and just health? And the answer is no. But my point is- It’s fiber and cardio. It’s more of a psychology, you know, than it is I think physiologically. So, and if you’re looking from a psychology or a psychiatric standpoint, yeah, you could talk about neurotransmitters, you can talk about serotonin reuptake inhibitors. But wherever you are in your life, whether, you know, I’m blessed right here talking to you and, or if I was, you know, if “The Hangover” had never happened and I was just doing, you know, just stand up right now, you know, the neurotransmitter level would probably be at the same level, you know? Yeah. No matter where you land, you know? Try to keep that level up, you know? Yeah. If you do that, I think that, I think that is important. And it’s funny, I think Tran and I, we’ve been talking about that the other day. It’s just, we’re watching I think a Marvel movie and she was just like, just out of the blue was like, you know, this is the nicest timeline, you know, we’re watching like, yeah, it might’ve been a “Community” episode where they’re talking about the darkest timeline, but it was like, oh, this is the nicest timeline. You know, this is the ideal timeline. She’s a saint, man. How’d you convince her? A lot of luck, a lot of begging. Despite all this praise, she’ll never appear on camera on this show though. I mean, Tran open invitation to come in, if you wanna- Come in, you wanna come in, Tran? Tran, so when you ate the wing, when you ate the wing of death on “Hot Ones” behind the scenes, did you handle it better than he did? I’ve been made to ask her the question about “Hot Ones.” For sure, for sure. Ken’s a baby. Yeah. Is this show, I thought, is this the Tran Ho show? I mean, I thought. Is this “Last Meal with Tran Ho?” No. Look at the marquee, it’s a hot dog fighting a sandwich, that’s Ken Jeong material. We’re actually gonna A/B test. Aw. Aw. I- Yeah. Here we are. Thanks so much- All right. All right. Guys you can take this whole cake out. Oh, wow. Wow, to the editor. This is the bookmark. What do you think happens when you die? I tend to take the zen approach of death is a part of life. Yeah. I really do. And I, I don’t know exactly what happens when you die, but I know what’s happening while I live. You just gotta live your life to the fullest. And if you do that, does it really matter if you know what happens after you die? Ken, you ready get to the lightning rounds? Yes. Yes. Who’s the one person dead or alive, you’d want to share your actual last meal with? My wife, Tran. What song do you want to be played at your funeral? “Creep” by Radiohead. Name one Medicine that’s worse than laughter. Oh, temazepam. Yeah. Yeah. It is a sleeping pill that has a very long latency period that you can get quite hung over with, so. Yeah, I bet you are for the short sleep period. Temazepam. Who’s your dream eulogize at your funeral? I would have to say Joel McHale. You do a great job. Who’s been the most shocking masked singer reveal? A dear friend, Margaret Cho. All the clues were designed for me to figure out, from the Bay Area, she could sing, she knows Ken. Like all these things, like literally. When she takes off her mask, she, usually when, you’re kind of happy or like a joy like, oh, and she just, she like looks at me, I can’t believe you didn’t figure me out. What’s your all time Duke starting five? Great question. Thank you. Okay. Laettner, Christian Laettner, Grant Hill, but see, I can’t name everybody from the ’92 team. Okay, shout out to JJ Redick. Putting Zion pre-shoe? Okay, I’m gonna qualify myself just saying as an old Duke- Pre millennium. Pre millennium, possibly. So I would say Christian Laettner, Grant Hill, JJ Redick. I say Elton Brand, you know? I’m talking about people are gonna hate me, it is gonna have to be a three-way tie between Bobby Hurley, Jay Williams and Shane Battier. I just had to, I just had to- Oh, we had to give you this parting gift. It’s a new, a new joke notebook with- Yes. Christian Laettner on it. Yes! Look at this! Big fan of your work in the documentary. ‘Cause I also hate Christian Laettner and almost every single Duke player. That’s fine. I cannot even stand it. We’ll take it. Feel a little bit sick looking at this image right now. We’ll allow it. This is a question from super fan Howard, “Was Senior Chang the ‘Ass Crack Bandit?’” Oh. The “Ass Crack Bandit” was one of my favorite episodes. It was shot as an homage to David Fincher’s “Seven.” Someone at Greendale Community College that would terrorize students anytime you’d bend over to pick up something, they would put like a quarter down their ass crack. And it became kind of legend as to who the ass crack bandit was. If you watch the series finale of “Community,” there is a possible reveal of Alison Brie’s character, Annie, possibly being the ass crack bandit because she kept saying over and over again, “We never find out who the ass crack bandit was. We’ll never know. I guess we’ll never know.” And I think Chang is too stupid and dumb to be an ass crack bandit. Finally, Ken, are you happy? Yes. Seem very happy. Well, now I am. It kinda looks like Joel McHale. Ken, you’re gonna deliver your last words to that camera right there. Toodaloo, mother! God damn right. Those were his last words. Ken, you the absolute man. Everyone, check out “99 to Beat” on Fox. It’s the family show. They don’t say the F word. Good mythical evening is blasting off on October 23rd at 10:00 PM Eastern, 7:00 PM Pacific. So get your tickets now at goodmythicalevening.com. The world is in danger, an asteroid is heading directly towards us. And there’s only one chance of hope, these guys. Don’t worry, Earth- We got you. Oh, I got yours, I got your helmet. How did that happened? I don’t know. Oh. No, you don’t have to put it on me. I want to put it on you. No. Put mine on me. Just hand it to me. Yeah. You don’t have to put it on me, just hand it to me. Well, now I can’t see you. Is that it? Is that your head? Don’t these things have visors on them? We need that, right?