October 10, 2023 • 29 mins
“Now What?” returns with actor-comedian Bowen Yang! Brooke talks with Bowen about his early days recording Saturday Night Live on VHS tapes, why he abruptly left his MCAT mid-exam, and the warning Lorne Michaels gave him before he joined the cast of "SNL." Bowen opens up about learning to embrace his queerness after his painful experience with conversion therapy and explains why "compassion" is an integral part of his comedy.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
What do you do when life doesn't go according to
plan that moment you lose a job, or a loved one,
or even a piece of yourself. I'm Brookshields and this
is now What, a podcast about pivotal moments as told
by people.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Who lived them.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Each week, I sit down with a guest to talk
about the times they were knocked off course and what
they did to move forward. Some stories are funny, others
are gut wrenching, but all are unapologetically human and remind
us that every success and every setback is accompanied by
(00:40):
a choice, and that choice answers one question.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Now, what.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Will Ferrell now technically is one of my employers, and
he's a lovely friend, and like that's bizarre. It's like
it's weird to be among them now and to have
relationships with them.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
So I've spent much time with him.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Yes, because Chris, my husband, was one of the three
people that ran ran the company and started Funnier Die.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
They just came, he and his wife and sons came
to my daughter's basketball game, you know, and I thought, Okay,
I hope everybody's cool. When Will walks into the state,
you know, to the watch the game, and so.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Everybody was like fine.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Then we started listening to the girls and the girls
were like, yeah, yeah, yeah, we know that's Will Ferrell,
but oh my god, his son is hot career. My
younger one was like, mom, all your all your friends'
kids have grown up to be like super hot and
they were. You know, there went from these skinny little
boys that were annoying to these like honky guys. Hello listeners,
(01:52):
did you miss me? I'm excited to announce that now
what is back? After an eventful September break, spent the
month performing my one woman show, previously owned by Burke Shields.
It's been a whirlwind, but I am very grateful to
have worked on something deeply meaningful, and I've loved being
back on stage making people laugh and hopefully giving them
(02:15):
a little bit of entertainment. Speaking of making people laugh,
my guest today is very funny.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Bowen Yang is a comedian.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
A writer, an actor, and the co host of the
critically acclaimed podcast Last Culturistess. He has a fascinating story
filled with the most unexpected pivots.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Case in point.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
He worked as a graphic designer until twenty eighteen, when,
after years of writing and performing comedy on the side.
He got a job at Saturday Night Live. Bowen is
one of the most thoughtful people I've interviewed, and I
was blown away by his patients and his generosity. So
without further ado, here's Bowen Yang.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Bohen Yang. So nice to know you.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
I'm doing the thing right now that I that I
always think I'm not going to do. But I feel
like I know you because I watch you and you
I laugh with you, and you're in my home and
so I'm like, oh, hi, but we don't know each other.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
So nice to meet you.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Nice to meet you. What if we're like both coming
from that same place? Though, Like, isn't do we skip
a couple of steps? I feel like we're allowed to.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
I think, you do? I think? And where you live
in New York? Correct?
Speaker 3 (03:34):
I do? I do? Where are you right now?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
I'm in New York.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
I'm born and bred raised in Manhattan Night, so I'm
a native New York Right, And where were you raised?
Speaker 3 (03:46):
I was raised in mostly an Aurora, Colorado. But before that,
so between Australia and Colorado, I was in Brisbane for
six months, so I barely so I don't remember a
single thing. But then we moved to Canada. Oh wow,
we did a lot of moving between, Like we moved
a lot within Canada, and then when we moved from
Montreal to Colorado, that was like a huge shift.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
God.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
I remember taking French in school and then I had
to like really to like really understand, like, oh okay,
I get, like English is the language you're gonna be speaking. Now.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
What were you like as a little kid.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
I mean, don't we all like as adults, like look
back on ourselves as kids and go like, I was
pretty precocious. But no, it's like we were just we
were we were we were kids when we were kids.
Does that make sense. I feel like I had to
toorialize my childhood in a way sometimes when I talk
about it, and I need to be honest with you
Brookshields about how like I was like just a pretty
(04:42):
normal kid and hammy. But that was like the way
the way into like the new schools in these new
social environments was just to be like silly and goofy,
and as soon as you ran out of your own material,
you would like go home and wat TV shows and
like I would watch SNL and Seinfeld and like the
(05:05):
Simpsons and Friends, and Matt TV and like and you
know Drew Carey Show, and like I just like consumed
all of that to like regurgitate it the next day
at school. And that was like the cycle for me.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
That was my favorite thing to do is just be
alone in my room and the complete dark watching SNL.
Oh and it's interesting that you mentioned SNL because I
was fascinated to learn that you were actually pre med
in college.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
I was, yeah, this is and this is like I
still like always think about this sort of time and
like this is this is my like now what like
this is the thing that like defines like so much
about like the way my life is gone is like
it could have gone like the sliding doors of it
could have really gone another way. And yeah, it's it
(05:56):
was it was I was pre med and then uh,
comedy was just this like hobby I was doing in college.
But I would always hang out with like the comedy kids,
like the people who were in the sketch groups, the
people who were in the improv groups, and like we
would go to each other shows, like throw each other parties.
Like it was like that was like my reality, Like
(06:16):
that was what I was going into. That was what
I was surrounded by every day. And then I don't
know if like that's what like seeped in or if
that's like something that I just like naturally gravitated towards.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Was there fear surrounding sort of pursuing acting professionally?
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Oh yeah, and like fe fear in the ways of
like I'm not being educated or trained in this, and
then fear and then and then just the baseline fear
that comes with like working in this business anyway, but
like applies to everybody.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Did your parents support support it? This is a big
shift for their son totally?
Speaker 3 (06:53):
Well, they they kind of they sort of saw it coming.
They like they would ask about how school was going,
and all I would talk about was, you know, doing
comedy festivals or something. And then they were like, okay,
but we mean, like you know, like classes and you know,
you're extracurriculars and like med school and like all this stuff.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
And I would just be like, oh, right, did they
want you to go to pre med? I mean, did
they want you to be a doctor?
Speaker 3 (07:14):
If you ask them now, they would say no, they
did not care either way. But of course, like they
say that because it all worked out. But I think, right,
But I think. I mean, at the time, there was
there was some pressure I do I do need to
give them more credit. Now I find it sort of
convenient in my own mind to be like, oh, well,
they were hard on me and they like pressured me
(07:36):
to like go into this. But I mean, at the
end of the day, they were like any other parent
where they were just like, we just want you to
be happy. And so when I told them, and there
was a there was a moment where I was taking
my mcat the second time at one one pen Plaza,
like right next to MSG. It was during the written
section that I got to, like the written section of
the test. And then I remembered this interview that Steve
(07:58):
Carell had done out filling out his law school applications
because like comedy wasn't really working out for him in Chicago,
and he was like applying to law school and then
he got to the written section of his law school
application and said, I can't do this, like the comedy
is the only thing I can do, and then he
just didn't he just didn't finish the application. And then
I flashed back so clearly to that interview, to reading
(08:21):
that like a year or two ago, that I was like,
I can't do this, and then I nullified. I avoided
my exam. I told the proctor I was like I
need to leave, like I don't think I can finish this.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
And they were like, oh, so you got up in
the middle and just yeah, put your pencil down and
just said what a revelation in that moment and how
you had the guts to actually get up and walk out.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
But I was in this like weird day's fugue and
then like I remember just like walking down to the street,
like getting out of the building and calling my parents
and being like mom, Dad, like I just did this
thing and I think it's I think I I think
I have to do it. And they were like, and
this is the moment where I think I need to
give them some credit work because they were just like, Okay,
well if you feel that it's what you have to do,
(09:10):
then we believe you.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Did you panic after oh yeah, I think I think
I was.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Oh gosh, I'm so bad at these things and I
need to talk to my therapist about this more. But
like I can't quite identify like what.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
That's okay, I'm here.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
How much should I Billy? You? Are you in network.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
No, you know, first one's on the house.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Oh great, great, great, thank goodness. I but yeah, I
think it was like some sort of anxiety moment, an
episode of something where I was just like rocketing out
of this situation that I'd been in for four years
where it's like I'm going to be I'm on this path,
I'm on the rails to like be this doctor. And
then it just and this critical moment, I was just
(09:47):
like no, like it cannot continue.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
So you decide you're going to you make that huge pivot,
which is truly an amazing not what moment? What did
you do to break in so to speak to the business.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
Yeah, I mean I well, first of all, my parents
were like, we're gonna help you with like your rent
for another like a few months.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
And then after that, you were they living in Colorado? Still?
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Yes, yes, and they still are. They're they're they're they're
having a great time. There, lots of nature for them
to enjoy. They were like, you sort of have to
figure it out in New York and then if you
can't really hack it in a year, then you should
move back home with us. And so there were stakes
involved immediately, obviously, not that there weren't already, but at
(10:35):
that point I had been pretty aimless. I was taking
classes at this theater in the city, the Upper Citizens Brigade.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
I love UCP, Yeah, uc B, Yeah, it was I
just I've done some of their their nighttime shows.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
That's right. The yeah, I remember you did monologues for
like the Harold or the ass Cat or like yeah
those shows. Yeah, and so yeah, like it was, it
was I was trying. I was like I was like
finding people within that little coterie of like people who
were taking classes at the same time as me, and
then we started little sketch groups andprop groups and then
(11:09):
and then we were just fortunate enough that like you know,
management sort of like took notice and they would come
to shows, they would sign people, and people would get
plucked up and you know, raptured into like the sky.
And then like I I was like pounding the papent
for like a few years like they were. It was
about like five ish years of just like doing shows,
(11:31):
not knowing if anybody would come, not knowing if anybody cared,
booking people, just trying to make it work. But then
the thing that you don't realize is you developed that
is you develop reps. You like put in the hard yards.
You like you've bombed enough times that you're not scared
of bombing anymore. You have met people that you don't
realize you're gonna work with for the rest of your life.
And I mean it's all these really nice things that
(11:52):
build up with time and with like experience.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Well, you've talked about your parents and the more positive
relationship that that you had with them and the support
that they gave you over the years for your career,
but then you've also been very open about a more
fraught time in your relationship with them, which is when
you came out.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Can you talk a little bit about that.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Yeah, I mean I came out not quite on my
own terms. Mom came home one day, used the family computer,
remember those like you used the family computer computer? Yeah, yeah, yeah,
And then like you know, saw some like proof or whatever,
and like there was no there was no there was
it was irrefutable evidence, and so you know, my parents
(12:44):
were these are these two very scientific people. And then
I think I think in some ways, like scientific people
end up being a little bit more dogmatic sometimes, right,
and they feel like there are solutions to problems or
that there are like axioms that have to be like
addressed in a certain way. And they I think they
saw my sexuality, my queerness is something that had to
(13:06):
be like addressed rather than you know, understood or celebrated.
I think they I think they saw it as like
this anomalous thing. And I don't fully I don't fully
blame them. I think they were I mean, what they
were telling me was they were like, we never we
did not grow up around any people like this when
we were kids. And I kept saying, even as a teenager,
(13:28):
I was I knew. I was like, no, you did.
You just didn't ever hear about them because you were
living in this like culture that like never incentivized or
motivated people to do this or to be public about this, right,
And so they it was just a lot of I'd
seen the pain I had caused, and then at a certain
point I convinced myself, like I have to do something
(13:49):
to like solve this, like I'd seen my dad cry
once before.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
And then but what you said, the pain you caused
just by being you, Well, yeah, that's the way you
interpreted it.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
That's the way at the time. At the time, it
felt like it was my fault that my dad was
crying every single day, and so my parents, my dad
would drive me down to Colorado Springs, a home of
like the megachurches and you know, focus on the family
and all this stuff, where there's there's just like a
pretty interesting community of like conversion therapists there. I mean
(14:20):
there aren't there anymore. It's been it's been made illegal
now thankfully, but at the time very much this like
weirdly legitimized school of thought within like psychology or whatever
of like clinical psychology, and went to go see this doctor.
Basically it was eight weeks of this. It was getting
(14:42):
pathologized on like my desire, which like you know, I've
like since then spend a lot of time like sort
of healing from. And but I will say, like the
the now, what of that really has Like it's put
me in a position now where I like I never
second guess, I never questioned anything about myself. Now it's
like if like, especially when it comes to like my
(15:06):
my queerness, I'm just like no, Like this is like
it's been I've I've been at war with myself, you know,
and like I want.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Do you remember the tipping point when you when you
decided to tell your parents this is who I am
and I won't.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Change it was it was end of college because basically
this this all happened senior year of high school and
they gave me this ultimate and they were like, you're
gonna go and then you're gonna go to New York
where your sister is, and like she had this very
unenviable job of being like the intermediary between my parents
(15:42):
and me, and she was put in a really tough position.
But then she left and then I came back out
again in college to everybody, and then by senior year,
I was just like this is there's no like I
can't hide this. It just it really was like a
daily exercise of a daily strain of being like, all right,
what am I going to say to my parents about this?
(16:03):
And you know what am I going to say when
they ask me about that? And it just became this
like wait and it just it just at a certain time,
it's a little too much to bear.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Literally, does your relationship readily heal?
Speaker 3 (16:17):
No, certainly not. It took a while, but then but
then it was like and like my parents had like
never asked me about anyone I was dating, even before
I was out of the closet. They like they were
not interested in that at all. And then like I
think it was two summers ago, I just went to
the grocery store with my mom and Atlanta. My sister
lives in Atlanta now she's got three kids. Just like
(16:39):
everyone's doing great. But yeah, we went to my mom
and I went to the grocery store and then she
just asked out an nowhere. She was like, are you
seeing anybody? Are you have a boyfriend? I was like no,
But there was something so like there was just something
so emotionally impactful about that about her just being curious
about her asking me unprompted, like, you know, what's your life? Like,
(17:00):
that's incredible that it was nice.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
I'd love to talk to you about SNL because it's yeah,
dream come true for so many people.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
How did that come about? So?
Speaker 3 (17:09):
I was in this sketch group in New York for
a while and then one of our members sent in
a packet to submit herself as a writer. Her named
Sudie Green. She worked there for six years. She was
a writing supervisor, very prolific person in her time there.
But she was the first person we were like twenty three.
She was the first person to get sort of like
I'm going to use this sword again, like raptured up
(17:30):
into the spaceship that was like SNL. We were like,
oh my god, like someone's made it. Like it was
such a moment, you know, we were like, is this
like a rising tide sort of thing, like you know,
are we all gonna like come up with her or whatever?
And it seemed for a second like we just needed
to give her time to like develop, because I mean,
her first year at SNL was really tough, and it
(17:51):
always is for everybody, but especially for her. I think
like she was entering the show at a time when
it was super competitive within the show, like this is
right way, and like Kate McKinnon was doing Hillary, and
like you know, there were so many eyes on it.
So I didn't ever consider being on the show or
being involved in any way. As someone who grew up
loving it, obsessed with it. I would bring vhs is
(18:13):
to school the next day, not of like the best ofs,
but I would just I would just record the night
before or that or that weekend's SNL and bring it
to school. For like certain teachers, that's illegal. It's illegal, No,
I was I wasn't.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Distributing criminal Oh okay, you were distributing all right.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Good, yeah, there you go. I was just like, I
was just like prass, like did you see this? I
brought a tape like so so corny. But anyway, my
manager at the time was like, you know, SNL is
looking at cast members if you want to send in
a five minute tape of stuff. I was like, they're
never gonna hire an effeminate Asian man. What do I
(18:52):
have to lose? I should just like challenge myself to
make five minutes of stuff of like impressions, characters, whatever.
Let me just try it as an exercise. And I did.
I did not do it. I did not make it
with the intention of it being seen by anybody of
it like getting me anywhere. And I think that's sort
of what was like nice about it was because I
(19:14):
was the stakes were completely off and I was like,
let me do what I think is funny.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Do you remember what you did?
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Yeah? I did. I did. I did this trade minister
character that I did on the show that I ended
up doing on the show. I did the soul cycle
instructor that I ended up doing on the show. I
did the model for like those choking posters that ended
up being on the show. I did like a George
Taque impression. I had like a very limited set of
things to work with, like they wanted impressions and I
(19:42):
was like, there are only a handful of Asian public
figures that I can like mimic here.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
And what was the process like that? What do they
call you right after that? Or do you have to
go in in person.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
After this submission? Like I hear back a couple of
weeks later, they're my manager's like, okay, well they're they
liked your tape. They want you to perform at this
live show case where the producers come and watch you.
And I was like really, And then I was like this,
this isn't going to go over that great. I go
it goes well, and then the next week they're like
they want you to come in for a screen test,
(20:13):
and I was like I kept clearing each stage gate
in a way that I was like, this wasn't supposed
to happen, Like so this literally was not what I
meant to happen at all. And then I went in
for the screen test. Did that I remember coming out
of my screen test, like I was doing my George
to k impression, but it was him like fusing with
(20:33):
Facebook to become like the Singularity. It was like really
stupid high concept. But I was in this like silver
one piece suit, the silver onesie, and I remember walking
out like with my bag of props, and then Kate
was there, Kate Mini Kinnon was watching like no one
else was there, but it was just Kate watching in
her like little hoodie, and she just gave me this
hug like I'd never met her before. She was like
(20:56):
that was brilliant, and I was like that that's all
that mattered. I was able to make her laugh. I
impressed her. I left. They did not hire anybody that year.
They hired like two people on CAST. I was not
one of them, but I had met with Lauren. It
didn't really go great, I think. I think the first
thing I said when I went into that office was like, yeah,
(21:16):
I grew up in Quebec and I speak French, and
like I was so I was so like I was
so brown, nosy about like wanting him to know that
I was Canadian too. That like it didn't work. He
saw right through it.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
So then how do you finally, how do you eventually
get on the show.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
So I put that to rest, and then a year
later they were like, they want you to come back in,
and so I came back in with like five minutes
of new stuff. They called me back for another five minutes,
and then I did it with my best friend Matt Rogers.
At the time. I got a writing job, he didn't,
and so they were like, we're not sure. So basically
that was the whole thing. And then they told me,
(21:54):
Lauren's not sure if he wants to put you on
the cast, but like, would you want to write for
the show, And it was like yes, absolutely. It was
just like my ticket into like this world that I
like didn't realize I wanted to be in for so long,
but now that it was like within reach, I was like,
please let me do I'll do anything.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Now you mentioned being an Asian American and being the
first was was that a conversation that ever happened?
Speaker 3 (22:29):
It was pure, There wasn't the well. The only thing
that like was ever acknowledged was I had written their
first season. I had done an okay job, like I
didn't like, you know, get anybody killed, and so like
I did well, And so it's a good standard. That's
a good standard. Yeah, yeah, it's safe, right, I agree.
(22:51):
And then I I was working on a show that
summer after my first year, and then Lauren called and
was like, well, you know, I'm moving you to the cast.
I was like, oh okay. And then he had said
this was the plan all along, to like make sure
you wrote for a season, because I wanted you to
know how the ropes worked and how everything got made.
(23:11):
And then he was like and also he said, you're
gonna be looked at, You're gonna be scrutinized a little
bit differently than than other cast members, and so I
needed to make sure you weren't. I wasn't throwing you
out there completely overwhelmed that like you had some sense
of like what resources were available to you as a
cast member, and like, you know, I wanted to make
(23:33):
sure you could write for yourself because it's gonna be
hard for people to like figure out what to do
with you.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Was he right?
Speaker 3 (23:40):
I think I think on some level, I think like
everybody's everybody's on their own journey at SNL, like for
the for as long as the show's been on, and like,
I think part of mine has just been about like
showing people that, like I can do things besides the
expected things you might think of me to do, you know,
like I like being sort of a peripheral supporting player.
(24:03):
I like being someone who can just like straight man
as in like be like the straight person in a
sketch and let someone else be the communic focus. Like
I like that part of it just as much. And
it's been about like making sure I can like round
that out to people.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
What is amazing to me is when I look at
your history and one of the reasons I was so
happy to have you in the show is the fact
that you have created opportunities for yourself. You know, you
built a full brand and with the following of Las Culturistas, yes,
and you know, and that talk to me about what
(24:41):
drives you to be able to do that.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
I mean, I.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Feel like I've come from this place of using what
you have in front of you, Like that comes from
like moving around a lot, that comes from like those
those times when you're alone and you're like, well what
do I do? And like, like I like the I
wish those times too, and I'm like, well, all I
have is me, and like what I can what things
(25:07):
can avail themselves to me, and then I like try
to make something out of that, and like I feel
like that's it's just like something that's like wired in
you at an early age. And I kind of feel
myself like getting further away from that, and like now,
right now, I'm just about I need to go back
to that place of like pure like creativity and pure
(25:30):
like of like making opportunities for myself because I feel
at this point, I'm like it's getting a little fallow,
it's getting a little stale, and that's okay, And I
think this is just gonna like motivating me to like
go into like the next thing with like a new vigor.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
What is the next thing for you?
Speaker 3 (25:44):
I feel like I've done a good job of like
not pulling up the ladder. I've gotten to help out
on like my friends projects as they've come up, and
like now they're like on a rocket ship to space
and it's like really incredible. And the next thing has
to be like something that I get to I get
to like create for myself while also like creating something
for other people. Like I know I'm talking, I'm speaking
(26:04):
in such vague terms, but I feel like that's what
I'm working with now is just to like start from
like this unformed, idealistic place almost and then see where
it goes from there.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
I mean, I think that that's the healthiest way to
approach all of it. I'm in awe of your excitement
for what you do to continually creates. It's impassioned, but
I think it's it is an inspiration. And if you
were to look at your life up until now, what
(26:36):
would you say your through line is?
Speaker 3 (26:39):
Oh, oh my god, what a question, Brooke. And for
you to say all that, I mean, if anyone's inspiring anybody,
it's like, I mean, you, you've like you've dealt with
like this, this scale of people attaching things on you
that like you don't want anything to do with, and like,
I mean, I think about you and I'm just likely
(27:01):
awe struck. And I mean to hear you say that
is really wild. So thank you. That's very nice. I mean,
I think the world of you. Thank you truly.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
But what is your through line?
Speaker 3 (27:10):
Do you think my through line is just just a compassion?
Speaker 1 (27:16):
You know?
Speaker 3 (27:16):
I feel like in several moments of my life it's
there are moments where where I've been like in situations
where there's a clear like person or thing or concept
to direct like your frustration, your anger, your hatred towards,
and it's just it never it never really is worthwhile
(27:36):
to like choose that to like fall in that trap,
and it's it's to always like like there's a world
in which I like never forgave my parents, or there's
a world in which, like I there's a there's a
world in which I like blame any any given person
for any given problem that I've come up against. And
it's just it's just so the through line for me,
the thing that's gotten me opportunity, the thing that's like
(27:59):
open doors for me, is just to be like, you
know what, I'm gonna give this person the benefit of
the benefit of the doubt. I'm sure they didn't like
come with this like weird like oblique intention, Like I
think it's fine if I just like if I can
like put something compassionate out there. I think that's what
lost culturistics is about. I think it's about like everybody
(28:22):
like coming together and just like I don't know, having
a good time. It's not like super mushy either. It's
like pretty, it's it's fun, it's biting, it's it's it's
all of that, but it's it's patient and it's kind
and like I think that is that is the thing
that's like been my engine.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
That was Boeing Yang.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
If you want to hear more from him, go listen
to his hilarious podcast Last Culturist Does on the iHeartRadio
app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
That is it for us today. Thanks for listening. Now.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
What with Burke Shields is a production of iHeartRadio. Our
lead producer and wonderful showrunner is Julia Weaver. Additional research
and editing by Darby Masters and Abu Zafar. Our executive
producer is Christina Everett. The show is mixed by Bahied Fraser.
What do you do when life doesn't go according to
plan that moment you lose a job, or a loved one,
or even a piece of yourself. I'm Brookshields and this
is now What, a podcast about pivotal moments as told
by people.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Who lived them.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Each week, I sit down with a guest to talk
about the times they were knocked off course and what
they did to move forward. Some stories are funny, others
are gut wrenching, but all are unapologetically human and remind
us that every success and every setback is accompanied by
(00:40):
a choice, and that choice answers one question.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Now, what.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Will Ferrell now technically is one of my employers, and
he's a lovely friend, and like that's bizarre. It's like
it's weird to be among them now and to have
relationships with them.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
So I've spent much time with him.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Yes, because Chris, my husband, was one of the three
people that ran ran the company and started Funnier Die.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
They just came, he and his wife and sons came
to my daughter's basketball game, you know, and I thought, Okay,
I hope everybody's cool. When Will walks into the state,
you know, to the watch the game, and so.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Everybody was like fine.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Then we started listening to the girls and the girls
were like, yeah, yeah, yeah, we know that's Will Ferrell,
but oh my god, his son is hot career. My
younger one was like, mom, all your all your friends'
kids have grown up to be like super hot and
they were. You know, there went from these skinny little
boys that were annoying to these like honky guys. Hello listeners,
(01:52):
did you miss me? I'm excited to announce that now
what is back? After an eventful September break, spent the
month performing my one woman show, previously owned by Burke Shields.
It's been a whirlwind, but I am very grateful to
have worked on something deeply meaningful, and I've loved being
back on stage making people laugh and hopefully giving them
(02:15):
a little bit of entertainment. Speaking of making people laugh,
my guest today is very funny.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Bowen Yang is a comedian.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
A writer, an actor, and the co host of the
critically acclaimed podcast Last Culturistess. He has a fascinating story
filled with the most unexpected pivots.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Case in point.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
He worked as a graphic designer until twenty eighteen, when,
after years of writing and performing comedy on the side.
He got a job at Saturday Night Live. Bowen is
one of the most thoughtful people I've interviewed, and I
was blown away by his patients and his generosity. So
without further ado, here's Bowen Yang.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Bohen Yang. So nice to know you.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
I'm doing the thing right now that I that I
always think I'm not going to do. But I feel
like I know you because I watch you and you
I laugh with you, and you're in my home and
so I'm like, oh, hi, but we don't know each other.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
So nice to meet you.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Nice to meet you. What if we're like both coming
from that same place? Though, Like, isn't do we skip
a couple of steps? I feel like we're allowed to.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
I think, you do? I think? And where you live
in New York? Correct?
Speaker 3 (03:34):
I do? I do? Where are you right now?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
I'm in New York.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
I'm born and bred raised in Manhattan Night, so I'm
a native New York Right, And where were you raised?
Speaker 3 (03:46):
I was raised in mostly an Aurora, Colorado. But before that,
so between Australia and Colorado, I was in Brisbane for
six months, so I barely so I don't remember a
single thing. But then we moved to Canada. Oh wow,
we did a lot of moving between, Like we moved
a lot within Canada, and then when we moved from
Montreal to Colorado, that was like a huge shift.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
God.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
I remember taking French in school and then I had
to like really to like really understand, like, oh okay,
I get, like English is the language you're gonna be speaking. Now.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
What were you like as a little kid.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
I mean, don't we all like as adults, like look
back on ourselves as kids and go like, I was
pretty precocious. But no, it's like we were just we
were we were we were kids when we were kids.
Does that make sense. I feel like I had to
toorialize my childhood in a way sometimes when I talk
about it, and I need to be honest with you
Brookshields about how like I was like just a pretty
(04:42):
normal kid and hammy. But that was like the way
the way into like the new schools in these new
social environments was just to be like silly and goofy,
and as soon as you ran out of your own material,
you would like go home and wat TV shows and
like I would watch SNL and Seinfeld and like the
(05:05):
Simpsons and Friends, and Matt TV and like and you
know Drew Carey Show, and like I just like consumed
all of that to like regurgitate it the next day
at school. And that was like the cycle for me.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
That was my favorite thing to do is just be
alone in my room and the complete dark watching SNL.
Oh and it's interesting that you mentioned SNL because I
was fascinated to learn that you were actually pre med
in college.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
I was, yeah, this is and this is like I
still like always think about this sort of time and
like this is this is my like now what like
this is the thing that like defines like so much
about like the way my life is gone is like
it could have gone like the sliding doors of it
could have really gone another way. And yeah, it's it
(05:56):
was it was I was pre med and then uh,
comedy was just this like hobby I was doing in college.
But I would always hang out with like the comedy kids,
like the people who were in the sketch groups, the
people who were in the improv groups, and like we
would go to each other shows, like throw each other parties.
Like it was like that was like my reality, Like
(06:16):
that was what I was going into. That was what
I was surrounded by every day. And then I don't
know if like that's what like seeped in or if
that's like something that I just like naturally gravitated towards.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Was there fear surrounding sort of pursuing acting professionally?
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Oh yeah, and like fe fear in the ways of
like I'm not being educated or trained in this, and
then fear and then and then just the baseline fear
that comes with like working in this business anyway, but
like applies to everybody.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Did your parents support support it? This is a big
shift for their son totally?
Speaker 3 (06:53):
Well, they they kind of they sort of saw it coming.
They like they would ask about how school was going,
and all I would talk about was, you know, doing
comedy festivals or something. And then they were like, okay,
but we mean, like you know, like classes and you know,
you're extracurriculars and like med school and like all this stuff.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
And I would just be like, oh, right, did they
want you to go to pre med? I mean, did
they want you to be a doctor?
Speaker 3 (07:14):
If you ask them now, they would say no, they
did not care either way. But of course, like they
say that because it all worked out. But I think, right,
But I think. I mean, at the time, there was
there was some pressure I do I do need to
give them more credit. Now I find it sort of
convenient in my own mind to be like, oh, well,
they were hard on me and they like pressured me
(07:36):
to like go into this. But I mean, at the
end of the day, they were like any other parent
where they were just like, we just want you to
be happy. And so when I told them, and there
was a there was a moment where I was taking
my mcat the second time at one one pen Plaza,
like right next to MSG. It was during the written
section that I got to, like the written section of
the test. And then I remembered this interview that Steve
(07:58):
Carell had done out filling out his law school applications
because like comedy wasn't really working out for him in Chicago,
and he was like applying to law school and then
he got to the written section of his law school
application and said, I can't do this, like the comedy
is the only thing I can do, and then he
just didn't he just didn't finish the application. And then
I flashed back so clearly to that interview, to reading
(08:21):
that like a year or two ago, that I was like,
I can't do this, and then I nullified. I avoided
my exam. I told the proctor I was like I
need to leave, like I don't think I can finish this.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
And they were like, oh, so you got up in
the middle and just yeah, put your pencil down and
just said what a revelation in that moment and how
you had the guts to actually get up and walk out.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
But I was in this like weird day's fugue and
then like I remember just like walking down to the street,
like getting out of the building and calling my parents
and being like mom, Dad, like I just did this
thing and I think it's I think I I think
I have to do it. And they were like, and
this is the moment where I think I need to
give them some credit work because they were just like, Okay,
well if you feel that it's what you have to do,
(09:10):
then we believe you.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Did you panic after oh yeah, I think I think
I was.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Oh gosh, I'm so bad at these things and I
need to talk to my therapist about this more. But
like I can't quite identify like what.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
That's okay, I'm here.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
How much should I Billy? You? Are you in network.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
No, you know, first one's on the house.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Oh great, great, great, thank goodness. I but yeah, I
think it was like some sort of anxiety moment, an
episode of something where I was just like rocketing out
of this situation that I'd been in for four years
where it's like I'm going to be I'm on this path,
I'm on the rails to like be this doctor. And
then it just and this critical moment, I was just
(09:47):
like no, like it cannot continue.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
So you decide you're going to you make that huge pivot,
which is truly an amazing not what moment? What did
you do to break in so to speak to the business.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
Yeah, I mean I well, first of all, my parents
were like, we're gonna help you with like your rent
for another like a few months.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
And then after that, you were they living in Colorado? Still?
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Yes, yes, and they still are. They're they're they're they're
having a great time. There, lots of nature for them
to enjoy. They were like, you sort of have to
figure it out in New York and then if you
can't really hack it in a year, then you should
move back home with us. And so there were stakes
involved immediately, obviously, not that there weren't already, but at
(10:35):
that point I had been pretty aimless. I was taking
classes at this theater in the city, the Upper Citizens Brigade.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
I love UCP, Yeah, uc B, Yeah, it was I
just I've done some of their their nighttime shows.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
That's right. The yeah, I remember you did monologues for
like the Harold or the ass Cat or like yeah
those shows. Yeah, and so yeah, like it was, it
was I was trying. I was like I was like
finding people within that little coterie of like people who
were taking classes at the same time as me, and
then we started little sketch groups andprop groups and then
(11:09):
and then we were just fortunate enough that like you know,
management sort of like took notice and they would come
to shows, they would sign people, and people would get
plucked up and you know, raptured into like the sky.
And then like I I was like pounding the papent
for like a few years like they were. It was
about like five ish years of just like doing shows,
(11:31):
not knowing if anybody would come, not knowing if anybody cared,
booking people, just trying to make it work. But then
the thing that you don't realize is you developed that
is you develop reps. You like put in the hard yards.
You like you've bombed enough times that you're not scared
of bombing anymore. You have met people that you don't
realize you're gonna work with for the rest of your life.
And I mean it's all these really nice things that
(11:52):
build up with time and with like experience.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Well, you've talked about your parents and the more positive
relationship that that you had with them and the support
that they gave you over the years for your career,
but then you've also been very open about a more
fraught time in your relationship with them, which is when
you came out.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Can you talk a little bit about that.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Yeah, I mean I came out not quite on my
own terms. Mom came home one day, used the family computer,
remember those like you used the family computer computer? Yeah, yeah, yeah,
And then like you know, saw some like proof or whatever,
and like there was no there was no there was
it was irrefutable evidence, and so you know, my parents
(12:44):
were these are these two very scientific people. And then
I think I think in some ways, like scientific people
end up being a little bit more dogmatic sometimes, right,
and they feel like there are solutions to problems or
that there are like axioms that have to be like
addressed in a certain way. And they I think they
saw my sexuality, my queerness is something that had to
(13:06):
be like addressed rather than you know, understood or celebrated.
I think they I think they saw it as like
this anomalous thing. And I don't fully I don't fully
blame them. I think they were I mean, what they
were telling me was they were like, we never we
did not grow up around any people like this when
we were kids. And I kept saying, even as a teenager,
(13:28):
I was I knew. I was like, no, you did.
You just didn't ever hear about them because you were
living in this like culture that like never incentivized or
motivated people to do this or to be public about this, right,
And so they it was just a lot of I'd
seen the pain I had caused, and then at a certain
point I convinced myself, like I have to do something
(13:49):
to like solve this, like I'd seen my dad cry
once before.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
And then but what you said, the pain you caused
just by being you, Well, yeah, that's the way you
interpreted it.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
That's the way at the time. At the time, it
felt like it was my fault that my dad was
crying every single day, and so my parents, my dad
would drive me down to Colorado Springs, a home of
like the megachurches and you know, focus on the family
and all this stuff, where there's there's just like a
pretty interesting community of like conversion therapists there. I mean
(14:20):
there aren't there anymore. It's been it's been made illegal
now thankfully, but at the time very much this like
weirdly legitimized school of thought within like psychology or whatever
of like clinical psychology, and went to go see this doctor.
Basically it was eight weeks of this. It was getting
(14:42):
pathologized on like my desire, which like you know, I've
like since then spend a lot of time like sort
of healing from. And but I will say, like the
the now, what of that really has Like it's put
me in a position now where I like I never
second guess, I never questioned anything about myself. Now it's
like if like, especially when it comes to like my
(15:06):
my queerness, I'm just like no, Like this is like
it's been I've I've been at war with myself, you know,
and like I want.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Do you remember the tipping point when you when you
decided to tell your parents this is who I am
and I won't.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Change it was it was end of college because basically
this this all happened senior year of high school and
they gave me this ultimate and they were like, you're
gonna go and then you're gonna go to New York
where your sister is, and like she had this very
unenviable job of being like the intermediary between my parents
(15:42):
and me, and she was put in a really tough position.
But then she left and then I came back out
again in college to everybody, and then by senior year,
I was just like this is there's no like I
can't hide this. It just it really was like a
daily exercise of a daily strain of being like, all right,
what am I going to say to my parents about this?
(16:03):
And you know what am I going to say when
they ask me about that? And it just became this
like wait and it just it just at a certain time,
it's a little too much to bear.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Literally, does your relationship readily heal?
Speaker 3 (16:17):
No, certainly not. It took a while, but then but
then it was like and like my parents had like
never asked me about anyone I was dating, even before
I was out of the closet. They like they were
not interested in that at all. And then like I
think it was two summers ago, I just went to
the grocery store with my mom and Atlanta. My sister
lives in Atlanta now she's got three kids. Just like
(16:39):
everyone's doing great. But yeah, we went to my mom
and I went to the grocery store and then she
just asked out an nowhere. She was like, are you
seeing anybody? Are you have a boyfriend? I was like no,
But there was something so like there was just something
so emotionally impactful about that about her just being curious
about her asking me unprompted, like, you know, what's your life? Like,
(17:00):
that's incredible that it was nice.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
I'd love to talk to you about SNL because it's yeah,
dream come true for so many people.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
How did that come about? So?
Speaker 3 (17:09):
I was in this sketch group in New York for
a while and then one of our members sent in
a packet to submit herself as a writer. Her named
Sudie Green. She worked there for six years. She was
a writing supervisor, very prolific person in her time there.
But she was the first person we were like twenty three.
She was the first person to get sort of like
I'm going to use this sword again, like raptured up
(17:30):
into the spaceship that was like SNL. We were like,
oh my god, like someone's made it. Like it was
such a moment, you know, we were like, is this
like a rising tide sort of thing, like you know,
are we all gonna like come up with her or whatever?
And it seemed for a second like we just needed
to give her time to like develop, because I mean,
her first year at SNL was really tough, and it
(17:51):
always is for everybody, but especially for her. I think
like she was entering the show at a time when
it was super competitive within the show, like this is
right way, and like Kate McKinnon was doing Hillary, and
like you know, there were so many eyes on it.
So I didn't ever consider being on the show or
being involved in any way. As someone who grew up
loving it, obsessed with it. I would bring vhs is
(18:13):
to school the next day, not of like the best ofs,
but I would just I would just record the night
before or that or that weekend's SNL and bring it
to school. For like certain teachers, that's illegal. It's illegal, No,
I was I wasn't.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Distributing criminal Oh okay, you were distributing all right.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Good, yeah, there you go. I was just like, I
was just like prass, like did you see this? I
brought a tape like so so corny. But anyway, my
manager at the time was like, you know, SNL is
looking at cast members if you want to send in
a five minute tape of stuff. I was like, they're
never gonna hire an effeminate Asian man. What do I
(18:52):
have to lose? I should just like challenge myself to
make five minutes of stuff of like impressions, characters, whatever.
Let me just try it as an exercise. And I did.
I did not do it. I did not make it
with the intention of it being seen by anybody of
it like getting me anywhere. And I think that's sort
of what was like nice about it was because I
(19:14):
was the stakes were completely off and I was like,
let me do what I think is funny.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Do you remember what you did?
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Yeah? I did. I did. I did this trade minister
character that I did on the show that I ended
up doing on the show. I did the soul cycle
instructor that I ended up doing on the show. I
did the model for like those choking posters that ended
up being on the show. I did like a George
Taque impression. I had like a very limited set of
things to work with, like they wanted impressions and I
(19:42):
was like, there are only a handful of Asian public
figures that I can like mimic here.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
And what was the process like that? What do they
call you right after that? Or do you have to
go in in person.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
After this submission? Like I hear back a couple of
weeks later, they're my manager's like, okay, well they're they
liked your tape. They want you to perform at this
live show case where the producers come and watch you.
And I was like really, And then I was like this,
this isn't going to go over that great. I go
it goes well, and then the next week they're like
they want you to come in for a screen test,
(20:13):
and I was like I kept clearing each stage gate
in a way that I was like, this wasn't supposed
to happen, Like so this literally was not what I
meant to happen at all. And then I went in
for the screen test. Did that I remember coming out
of my screen test, like I was doing my George
to k impression, but it was him like fusing with
(20:33):
Facebook to become like the Singularity. It was like really
stupid high concept. But I was in this like silver
one piece suit, the silver onesie, and I remember walking
out like with my bag of props, and then Kate
was there, Kate Mini Kinnon was watching like no one
else was there, but it was just Kate watching in
her like little hoodie, and she just gave me this
hug like I'd never met her before. She was like
(20:56):
that was brilliant, and I was like that that's all
that mattered. I was able to make her laugh. I
impressed her. I left. They did not hire anybody that year.
They hired like two people on CAST. I was not
one of them, but I had met with Lauren. It
didn't really go great, I think. I think the first
thing I said when I went into that office was like, yeah,
(21:16):
I grew up in Quebec and I speak French, and
like I was so I was so like I was
so brown, nosy about like wanting him to know that
I was Canadian too. That like it didn't work. He
saw right through it.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
So then how do you finally, how do you eventually
get on the show.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
So I put that to rest, and then a year
later they were like, they want you to come back in,
and so I came back in with like five minutes
of new stuff. They called me back for another five minutes,
and then I did it with my best friend Matt Rogers.
At the time. I got a writing job, he didn't,
and so they were like, we're not sure. So basically
that was the whole thing. And then they told me,
(21:54):
Lauren's not sure if he wants to put you on
the cast, but like, would you want to write for
the show, And it was like yes, absolutely. It was
just like my ticket into like this world that I
like didn't realize I wanted to be in for so long,
but now that it was like within reach, I was like,
please let me do I'll do anything.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Now you mentioned being an Asian American and being the
first was was that a conversation that ever happened?
Speaker 3 (22:29):
It was pure, There wasn't the well. The only thing
that like was ever acknowledged was I had written their
first season. I had done an okay job, like I
didn't like, you know, get anybody killed, and so like
I did well, And so it's a good standard. That's
a good standard. Yeah, yeah, it's safe, right, I agree.
(22:51):
And then I I was working on a show that
summer after my first year, and then Lauren called and
was like, well, you know, I'm moving you to the cast.
I was like, oh okay. And then he had said
this was the plan all along, to like make sure
you wrote for a season, because I wanted you to
know how the ropes worked and how everything got made.
(23:11):
And then he was like and also he said, you're
gonna be looked at, You're gonna be scrutinized a little
bit differently than than other cast members, and so I
needed to make sure you weren't. I wasn't throwing you
out there completely overwhelmed that like you had some sense
of like what resources were available to you as a
cast member, and like, you know, I wanted to make
(23:33):
sure you could write for yourself because it's gonna be
hard for people to like figure out what to do
with you.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Was he right?
Speaker 3 (23:40):
I think I think on some level, I think like
everybody's everybody's on their own journey at SNL, like for
the for as long as the show's been on, and like,
I think part of mine has just been about like
showing people that, like I can do things besides the
expected things you might think of me to do, you know,
like I like being sort of a peripheral supporting player.
(24:03):
I like being someone who can just like straight man
as in like be like the straight person in a
sketch and let someone else be the communic focus. Like
I like that part of it just as much. And
it's been about like making sure I can like round
that out to people.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
What is amazing to me is when I look at
your history and one of the reasons I was so
happy to have you in the show is the fact
that you have created opportunities for yourself. You know, you
built a full brand and with the following of Las Culturistas, yes,
and you know, and that talk to me about what
(24:41):
drives you to be able to do that.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
I mean, I.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Feel like I've come from this place of using what
you have in front of you, Like that comes from
like moving around a lot, that comes from like those
those times when you're alone and you're like, well what
do I do? And like, like I like the I
wish those times too, and I'm like, well, all I
have is me, and like what I can what things
(25:07):
can avail themselves to me, and then I like try
to make something out of that, and like I feel
like that's it's just like something that's like wired in
you at an early age. And I kind of feel
myself like getting further away from that, and like now,
right now, I'm just about I need to go back
to that place of like pure like creativity and pure
(25:30):
like of like making opportunities for myself because I feel
at this point, I'm like it's getting a little fallow,
it's getting a little stale, and that's okay, And I
think this is just gonna like motivating me to like
go into like the next thing with like a new vigor.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
What is the next thing for you?
Speaker 3 (25:44):
I feel like I've done a good job of like
not pulling up the ladder. I've gotten to help out
on like my friends projects as they've come up, and
like now they're like on a rocket ship to space
and it's like really incredible. And the next thing has
to be like something that I get to I get
to like create for myself while also like creating something
for other people. Like I know I'm talking, I'm speaking
(26:04):
in such vague terms, but I feel like that's what
I'm working with now is just to like start from
like this unformed, idealistic place almost and then see where
it goes from there.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
I mean, I think that that's the healthiest way to
approach all of it. I'm in awe of your excitement
for what you do to continually creates. It's impassioned, but
I think it's it is an inspiration. And if you
were to look at your life up until now, what
(26:36):
would you say your through line is?
Speaker 3 (26:39):
Oh, oh my god, what a question, Brooke. And for
you to say all that, I mean, if anyone's inspiring anybody,
it's like, I mean, you, you've like you've dealt with
like this, this scale of people attaching things on you
that like you don't want anything to do with, and like,
I mean, I think about you and I'm just likely
(27:01):
awe struck. And I mean to hear you say that
is really wild. So thank you. That's very nice. I mean,
I think the world of you. Thank you truly.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
But what is your through line?
Speaker 3 (27:10):
Do you think my through line is just just a compassion?
Speaker 1 (27:16):
You know?
Speaker 3 (27:16):
I feel like in several moments of my life it's
there are moments where where I've been like in situations
where there's a clear like person or thing or concept
to direct like your frustration, your anger, your hatred towards,
and it's just it never it never really is worthwhile
(27:36):
to like choose that to like fall in that trap,
and it's it's to always like like there's a world
in which I like never forgave my parents, or there's
a world in which, like I there's a there's a
world in which I like blame any any given person
for any given problem that I've come up against. And
it's just it's just so the through line for me,
the thing that's gotten me opportunity, the thing that's like
(27:59):
open doors for me, is just to be like, you
know what, I'm gonna give this person the benefit of
the benefit of the doubt. I'm sure they didn't like
come with this like weird like oblique intention, Like I
think it's fine if I just like if I can
like put something compassionate out there. I think that's what
lost culturistics is about. I think it's about like everybody
(28:22):
like coming together and just like I don't know, having
a good time. It's not like super mushy either. It's
like pretty, it's it's fun, it's biting, it's it's it's
all of that, but it's it's patient and it's kind
and like I think that is that is the thing
that's like been my engine.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
That was Boeing Yang.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
If you want to hear more from him, go listen
to his hilarious podcast Last Culturist Does on the iHeartRadio
app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
That is it for us today. Thanks for listening. Now.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
What with Burke Shields is a production of iHeartRadio. Our
lead producer and wonderful showrunner is Julia Weaver. Additional research
and editing by Darby Masters and Abu Zafar. Our executive
producer is Christina Everett. The show is mixed by Bahied Fraser.
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