Transcript of Aziz Ansari

Hello, everyone. Welcome to this episode of Good Hang. I'm very excited about my guest today. It is Aziz Ansari. So great to have Aziz here in the studio to talk about the past, the present, and the future. And we're going to talk about a lot of stuff today. We're going to talk about the fact that he skipped first grade because everyone thought he was so smart. We're going to talk about him growing up as an Indian boy in the south. We're going to talk about parks and rec, of course, and all our memories there. And we're going to talk about his cinematic directing days. Good fortune. Lots to get into. But before we do that, we want to speak to somebody who knows our guest, who has great feelings and things to say about our guest and who has a question for me to ask our guest. And we just have my wife, my beautiful, beautiful wife, Rashida Jones joining us today. Rashida, I miss you. I love you. Let's get going. Can you hear me? Rashida, can you hear me?

Uh.

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This is a disaster.

Okay, how are you guys over there?

Am I. Am I the over there?

Oh, oh, oh.

I can look at your face now.

Yay.

Oh, you couldn't see me before.

It was a side view.

Oh, no.

It's a terrible view.

No, it's great.

It was great. This is just more direct and intimate.

Bones.

Polos.

We just had a tech fiasco.

Fiasco.

We had a snafu.

I mean, it still is a miracle that you can talk to each other in live time.

Yeah.

Like, across regions. So I'm going to. I'm going to stick with that story.

I still can't believe that we have airplanes.

Exactly, exactly. So there you go. This is a miracle. Our meeting today is a miracle.

Where are we talking to you from right now?

I'm in, my friend. I know this.

Every time I talk to you, I.

Feel like I'm in my friend's sitting room.

Okay.

In London.

What Makes a sitting room. What's a sitting room?

Lots of places to sit and kind of no other functionality, like where you're just kind of sitting and staring at each other, you know, you're in London, I'm in London.

Ah, I miss you, friend.

I miss you too.

I'm talking to Aziz today, and I'm having a lot of. I'm having a lot of nostalgic feelings today.

I feel that I really miss. I really miss us as a cast.

Same. And I kind of feel like we are his aunties a little bit. We are definitely, totally you. Especially the education of Aziz.

I'm sorry, Was sort of like the alternate title for Parks and Recreation.

I know him and Plaza feel like they were babies.

Our babies.

They were our babies that we raised.

Our beautiful family, the four of us.

Before we get to Aziz, who, like you, I think, has, like, a very specific, cultured esthetic. I'm loving the color brown that you're wearing.

Thank you so much. Because this somebody told me they didn't like this color. I don't remember who it was. And I was like, I do. I don't know why. It's, like, very 70s to me.

And I was. I was wondering what you think the color of the. Of the color of fall is. I always ask Rashida these questions because she knows she's in the know.

Well, there's a. There's a palette, because, you know, like, when you have. Have you ever done your makeup test where you're, like, an autumn or spring or summer?

Yeah, I think I'm in autumn. You're in autumn. You are such an autumn.

You're summer.

I think I. I think. I think you're right. And I very. I wanted very much to be a winter. It's kind of the story.

Summer polos. But you love summer.

I do, but the colors feel a little. I don't know, not substantial, like, too playful. Yeah, they feel a little juvenile. And I want to. You know, And I remember looking at the palette and saying, I think I'm a winter. And then TikTok said, no way.

No, ma'.

Am.

They said, blondie's not allowed, but okay. So that's an autumnal color that you've got going on.

This, I would say, like an olive green. A wine, like a Merlot color is very the color of autumn, maybe even, like, a mustard as an accent.

I can't even get anywhere near those colors. They do not work for me. And with that in mind, what do you think is the fashion of the season? What should we Be wearing.

Okay.

So people should know. Yeah. So every season, Rasheeda and I and we try to, like, name how we're gonna dress, basically.

And it's steeped in either, like, a country or a vibe or like, a trend or like, an anti trend.

What have been some past ways that we have. We've named the seasons? I can think of a few. High school art teacher.

High school art teacher. Japanese winter.

Tired ballerina.

Tired ballerina. What's the last one that we just. That we kind of found from TikTok? It was, like, frugal chic.

Frugal chic. Frugal chic, Right.

Like, make your own salads. Bring them to work. Wear the same, like, gorgeous sweater every day.

Shop your closet. Shop your closet.

Closet.

What do we think is happening this fall?

Pretty much just like, a double F, like, functional fall. Or like, ooh, I was just in Paris. Which, of course, always the fashion so good in Paris and the way that, like, girls wear trousers, like, it just is. It's hard to describe why they look so much better on them than anybody else. But there's, like, always, like, a front. Or maybe it's front pleat fall.

Okay, you know what? Gen Z loves their front pleats. I know they're helpful, and I don't need any more help down there to feel full.

No more pleats in the front. Agreed?

Agreed. Okay.

How about functional? Functional, flat front.

Functional flat, front, full.

Okay, you heard it here first. Guys.

Guys.

Trending. Okay. You know, we always like to talk. Well, behind our guests back. About our guest. What do you love about Aziz? I'm sorry?

Aziz is. He's a very insatiably curious human being. He loves to absorb art, food, fashion, film, traveling. Like, he's just. He's so open to experience, and I love people who are like that.

I would say that you're like that too.

And then, of course, like, he's just so funny, and I always want his take on something that makes it. He's a pleasure to be around in that way.

Yeah. What I feel like you have. You two have probably gone and done some groovy things together.

Like, we've been in a lot of countries together.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I love being in Japan with Aziz because he'll. He'll just. He'll just bust out, like, the best accent and just order in Japanese with a full, perfect accent.

Yes, he speaks Japanese.

Yes, a little bit. But it's his accent so good that he convinces people that he's can, like, speak fluently because his accent's so good.

Whoa.

That's cool.

Yeah, very cool.

Is it weird that every time I hear about other people speaking another language, I just feel so bad that I don't like. I make it about myself.

Fire of envy. Same.

Well, people should know that you studied French for a while. A month, babe. A month more than other people, honey. Okay, so what question do you have for our guest, Aziz? What do you think I should ask Aziz? Anything you want to know.

Yeah, I was, you know, I was thinking about something that would light him up that he'd want to talk about. And again, as we mentioned, Aziz is an extremely cultured individual. And, you know, there's probably stuff that people don't really know about him. One thing is that he's an excellent chef, and also, he loves food. So, A, what's his favorite thing to cook? And B, what's his favorite thing to eat?

Love that. Love that. Has he ever made anything for you?

All the time. He cooks me dinner all the time.

Everything.

My recent favorite is he makes this thing. It's like. It's an Indian dish that's specifically for children. So I love it called Chicken 65, and it's bright red because of the pepper powder, and it's delicious.

Yum.

Yeah. Ooh.

I wanna talk to him about that. And I wanna talk about kitchen gadgets in general. I just got for myself. I like to every once in a while, get myself a kitchen gadget so that I can continue to encourage myself to cook. I just got really long, thin tongs. Like, not your grabby tongs, but those long ones that you. Where you can turn a delicate. A delicate mushroom.

Wow.

I wish we were hanging out together right now. I miss you. I miss you too.

I really want to do a TikTok dance with you.

Oh, yeah. Listeners, Rashida sent me a TikTok dance and said, I wish we were learning this together. And I watched it, and I was like, I don't think I'd be able to learn it.

100% could do that. It looks so cool because they're such good dancers, but they're very simple steps.

You know, no one is a bigger fan. Could you do the TikTok dance and send it by myself?

I will. I'll send it to you. I'll send it to you. Just don't show anybody. I'll send it to you.

Do that thing where you make yourself a three piece people. You know how you can do an effect where you can look like three people?

Yes.

Let's do that. Let's.

Maybe your team after they fix your audio issues. Can help me do that.

Yeah.

We're gonna split this into three, and you're gonna be your own backup singer.

I love that. Best career.

Thank you, Bones, for doing this.

Miss you so much and love you and have fun with Aziz Zezers baby zz.

All right. Thanks, friend. Love you.

Love.

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Woohoo. God, this is. This is like peak New York right now. I know.

It's so nice to be. People don't know we're recording in New York right now in the fall.

Is this on now?

Yeah, we're on now.

Oh, Whoa. Okay, good. I'm glad I didn't drop any racial slurs, as I tend to do right away. When you see me right away, we usually. So, what's your favorite right now? And then I say my favorite, and then we start hanging out. Yeah. So, God, thank goodness we dropped that tradition.

Yeah, no, we're rolling. And all we've been talking about is New York in the fall.

That's it.

New York in the fall, baby. But when you come here, do you get, like, do you ever want to live here? Well, you still spend time here.

Yeah, I feel like I don't live anywhere. I'm always just running around. But whenever I come, like, visiting New York is fun because you come for and you get a quick hit. You do all your favorite stuff, you see all your friends, and then. But if I stay too long, it's too crazy. I'm too old now.

Yeah, I know what you mean.

Your little ZZ's all grown up.

I know. My ZZ is just. He's an old man now.

I know. If you watch. Whenever I see old Parks things, I was like, I didn't know that me and Aubrey did a show when we were little kids, like, it's really.

How old were you when you started on season one?

I was 13 in season one. And then when we finished, I just turned 18. I got my driver's license, like, in the middle of the run.

A lot of people don't know that you were 18 when you were playing Tom Haverford on Parks and Rec.

Yeah.

It is true, though. It is. You. You look like a baby. You were a baby.

I didn't know anything.

Yeah.

The first seasons, I didn't know how to act or anything. I should not have been on television. NBC should be like, we got to get. Is there any Indian guy that's done more acting that we get out play this guy.

I want to get into this, too, because it is. It feels like when we've met each other throughout in a bunch of different ways in a bunch of different places. But New York City, I will say, feels like. And I don't know if you feel this way when you come here, that you are reminded of when you were young. There is a feeling here. Like, if you were here when you were young, when you come back, you feel younger or something. You remember your younger self.

You're trying to get back that energy. You remember being outlaid and all this kind of stuff.

Because you were an NYU kid.

I went to NYU and I started doing comedy then.

Were you doing comedy, like, in high school or.

No, I grew up in South Carolina, so I. You know, there was no outlet for anything like that. You know, it was like, you know, you could dip and spit into a mountain.

You can spit into a cup, and everyone laughs.

I just drank Mountain Dew and dipped. That's all I did in high school. And.

Did you ever.

We were in four wheelers.

Were you in a play?

I was in plays when I was a kid. I remember there was some play I did, and I don't know what the play was, but I played like a cowboy, and I was doing, like, a big Southern accent. And I remember I just crushed. And kids were coming up to me afterwards, like, do it again. And it was like, one of those things. I remember.

So were you a funny kid?

Yeah, I liked to be funny in class. And, yeah, anytime there was anything that involved public speaking or something, I was always super comfortable. I remember when I did, like, something when I was, like, six years old, I had to speak in front of the whole school, and it didn't phase me at all.

I don't know why it's so funny.

Yeah. Because. Okay, so when I was in school, in South Carolina, right? This is in the 80s. So, you know, a lot of these people had never even seen Indian people before. And I skipped first grade. I did skip first grade and second grade. Like, in the middle of first grade, they call my parents and they're like, we gotta get him out of here.

He's too smart.

He already knows all this stuff. I don't know if it's this other culture you're from or what's happening, but we gotta get him the fuck out of this first grade thing. He needs to go to second now.

Get him out of my class. He's embarrassing everyone else.

Then I went there and I went to second grade. And it's just a little school. So, like, I'm like, you know. And there's like 30 kids in each class. I grew up in a town of like 8,000 people. So they're like, oh, this little brown wonder kid. And so, like, I'm on the radio and all this stuff. There's a recording somewhere. And when I was a little kid, I had, like, a Southern accent, because that's where I. And that's around. So I vaguely remember being on some radio program and I was like, my name's Aziz Ansari, and I'm a first grader at Marlboro Academy.

When you're told at 6 that you're a smart kid, then you become the smart kid. Were you the smart kid?

I think so, but I think it kind of annoyed me in a way. Like I didn't want to be painted with a certain brush. You know what I mean?

Yeah, yeah, I bet. I bet people are just projecting a lot of stuff on you.

And then I went to the school in 11th and 12th grade, which is in, like, a science and math school. And it's a public school in South Carolina called a governor's school. And there it's like, all the smartest kids from all over South Carolina. And there I was just like, this dumb kid that was, like, smoking weed and telling dumb stories.

And they were like, what happened? I thought you skipped first grade.

Yeah, 11th grade. You go back to Ted expecting.

But, yeah, they kicked you back down. Yeah, I mean, we talked a lot about it when we first met. Like, this idea of growing up in South Carolina in the 80s as a young Indian boy. One of probably the only in your.

Class figuring out not one of the. In, like, first and second grade. I sometimes forget this. There was this Thai girl. Her name was Tisha, which does not sound like a Thai name. And they used to always be like, what's up with you and Tisha. I'm not kidding. I remember there was a play in, like, first grade. There was, like. It was a play, and for some reason, there was Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, and it was me and Tisha. We were the stars, you know. Oh. Oh, diversity. No, no. Me and Tisha in Bennettsville in, like, 1988. Leads. Leads of this mysterious play where there was Mickey and Minnie Mouse, but there was always like, oh, you know.

Were you excited in a way to expand your horizons and go to New York?

Yeah, I always. It's so interesting. I was thinking about this. You know, the fact that my dad left. You know, my family is all from the southern tip of India up until me and my dad left India and went to, like, he first came to Jersey, and he was doing, like, you know, residency or whatever. And I. You know, really. I was thinking about this a couple weeks ago, how remarkable it was and how scary that must have been to come over there and not know anything. You know, this is before Internet FaceTime. Nothing. If you're there, you're really gone. And same with my mom as well.

Did they come over together?

My dad came first, and then my mom came later. But I was just thinking about how there was something in my dad. I asked him about this, and he was like, oh, I always wanted to go. And it's weird because I grew up in South Carolina, and I think I had a similar thing where I always wanted to go somewhere bigger with more stuff going on.

Yeah, you had that same drive to just see more of the world.

Luckily, I went to school in New York, which is the greatest place to be if you have that kind of feeling.

So when you're leaving South Carolina, you apply to nyu.

You apply.

You're like, I'm gonna go to business school.

I. Yeah. I didn't know what I wanted to do. This is how dumb I was.

Yeah. Business seems to be the major that a lot of men who don't know what they want to do pick.

Like, my uncle has a business. I was like, oh, maybe I'll start my own business and I'll major in business. That's. That's how silly I was. And then I get there, and there's all these kids that are talking about Goldman Sachs and all stuff. I don't even know what Goldman Sachs is. And I'm completely confused.

Yeah.

And I had friends that were in Tisch, the film and television. I was thinking about switching to that or maybe the Gallatin School where you make up your own major. But I never really got it together. The little combination of laziness and I also started doing standup, like the summer of my freshman year. And I distinctly remember sitting in a class in my sophomore year and just thinking, I'm just gonna do something with stand up. At the least, I'll be a comedian that does comedy clubs, and that's fine for me.

How do you go do stand up? What makes you go do stand up when you're in college?

It was one of these weird things. I was in school my freshman year and I was just sitting around and telling stories and people were laughing. Someone was like, oh, man, you should try to do standup. And then a week later, the same thing happened. And it was like one of these weird, Ooh, maybe the universe is saying something. And then I went to a comedy club. I went to the comedy solo, which I still perform at all the time, and I saw a show and I was like, I think I can do this. And I tried it and I wasn't great. I did well. But I was very comfortable with it and I really enjoyed it and I just wanted to get good at it. I just wanted to get better. I never thought about anything further about, you know, acting or any of that stuff. I just wanted to get good at this. And it really goes back to what you were saying earlier, where you get that high of like, oh, I want that feeling again. Yeah. And so I started there and then it just kind of went from there.

Well, when we met, do you remember the first time we met? I was trying to think today. I mean, I don't remember anything anymore.

I have so many friends who are like, when did we first meet? I mean, one of the first times I remember meeting you was so the UCB theater. And there was a Monday night standup show at 11, which is like a tough slot. Monday at 11 is not the prime slot, but they were doing a standup show. And Matt Besser, who was part of ucb, asked me if I would want to do the standup show. And I started doing it and I was booking, like my favorite comedians and I would host it every week. And it really took off. And I remember one week you came and I was like, whoa. Like, you just came to see it and said hi. And that's one of the first times I remember meeting.

That's what I was gonna say is I remember by seeing you on stage, that's back when we could all just sleep all day and then go to do a show at 11 o' clock on Monday night. Yeah, Then you go on and you create your own sketch show.

Yeah, we did the sketch show on MTV. Yeah.

Yeah. And that was kind of like 2007, which was such a cool time for, I think, for comedy at the time, because you had MTV and Comedy Central and all these places, like, taking big risks on Green Apples.

Yeah. And Adult Swim and all these things. Yeah.

Were you on Adult Swim?

No, but that was around and things like Tim and Eric, and it was.

Like, here's this kind of niche vibe. Let's give them a show for, you know, like, let's see what they can do for a couple of seasons.

Yeah.

And so that show was Human Giant.

Yeah.

And you wrote. And what did you learn from doing a sketch show?

Sketch show's really hard. Yeah. I mean, you know, that's one of the hardest things to do, because especially even just from a production standpoint, you know, everything is different. There's no consistency. You're always doing new costumes, it's new locations. It's really a hard thing to do. And writing sketches is really hard. But there was one sketch I did that I wrote. I think, you know, we all kind of wrote together, but it was one that I really liked, and it was one that Greg Daniels and Mike Schur saw that ended, and it was because it was on YouTube or funny or Die or whatever, and that was what got me the gig on Parks. Yeah.

And was it Shutter Books?

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

And so he has to reckon with the fact he could have just made.

Funny faces, that he's done something a little bit more extreme. And, yeah, it was a fun sketch, but that's what Greg and Mike told me they saw. And they're like, oh, shakay. Yeah.

Because a lot of people don't know. You were the first person hired for Parks.

Yeah, I met with them and. Yeah.

What was that meeting like? Do you remember it?

Well, it was so mysterious what they were up to. Yeah. I had a meeting with them and I told them I don't know what you're doing, but whatever it is, that would be a dream job. And, and, you know, this was like when the Office was on and Mike and Greg were both involved in that, and that was, you know, my favorite show like that on the air. And so I told him, whatever you're up to, let me know. And then, of course, you know, when it all came together with you and Rasheeda and everything, and, well, I'm kind of learning.

When I was talking to Plaza, when Plaza was here, she was talking about, like, her meeting with them, too.

Yeah, yeah. Very famous stories. Yeah, Yeah, I know.

And it's kind of funny. I kind of forgot the Avengers Assemble feeling of those guys going out and, and getting people and bringing them in and talking about, like, we're gonna do something very cool. I mean, it didn't even feel like there was a ton of auditioning. It was more just them picking people that they thought was funny.

Not only funny. And I feel like all of us, whenever we see each other, do interviews, kind of say this kind of stuff ad nauseam, but it's so true. But also just the best people I've ever met in my life.

Yeah.

Like, really, I cannot believe it. Cause we've all done other stuff. And, you know, not everybody's, you know, look, we've all done other stuff. I don't talk about everything the way I talk about Parks. You know, you do something. Some people, it's a different energy. Not necessarily mean or bad, but just something like we all just clicked, and there was a vibe that worked with all of us, and, and, and just to pay respect to you and Mike, you know, when I did Master Nun with Alan, and as I become a director, I. You know, what I learned from you and Mike in terms of how to lead, I mean, I can't thank you enough. It was the best role model I could have ever had. Cease.

Cece.

You know, I, I. When I, I started watching your podcast, and so then Parks clips started coming on YouTube, and when I watch it, sometimes I, I just think about us making it same. And, and the. It's funnier for me to watch the bloopers because that feels more like my experience. And, and, oh, gosh, some of those things that came up I hadn't thought about in so long, and they were cracking me up. I saw this clip. It was, it was, it was. I don't remember the context of the episode or whatever, but it's. We're in Ron's office, and me and Donna, there's something Called Bloosh. And. And. And Ron has decided bronze and blush. So me and Retta start just going, bronze and blush, bronze and blue. And then I jump on the table. Bronze and blush. And me and Rena's dancing is getting crazier and crazier, and we're just doing. Just dancing. Dancing all over offer but doing all the crazy stuff. And they showed that that was what we shot. And then they showed the scene as it aired. It was just like, runs in blue. And they cut. That's also my favorite thing.

It's like, I mean, I love trying to. If I could try to get someone to break, like, you're pretty good. I don't. You know. Yeah. Peppermint is pretty high up on that. Agree.

He never cracked up.

And. Oh, man, I. There was a couple of times where I almost. Where I got like. I think he didn't laugh, but I think his mustache went up a little bit. And I remember one thing that you wrote. It was an episode you wrote. I was doing that puppy boys, and then the puppy started looking his mustache, and I was like, hi, Mr. Funson. I like your mustache. And, yes, a little bit. And I think it almost got It.

It almost got. You're so right. I mean, the setup there was like, you had. You had a chance to play around. Like, you got to try your stuff. I mean, the fact that treat yourself is used on, you know, cocktail napkins and in Kmart and, like, it's everywhere.

And I went to some ice cream place one time, and they're like, treat yourself to a sample. I was like, can I have a sample? I was like, don't. Please don't connect this. Luckily, the person did, but didn't put them together. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, I. I. That's become part of the lexicon. And I can remember that moment, which, by the way, it's so funny in that moment, Treat yourself. Because you guys say, treat yourself 2011. And I'm like, oh, my God, 2011. Remember that?

And then there was one in the future that was like, treat yourself 2014. It's like, it's 2025. What's happening?

But I remember that episode de. Because it felt like it was a great example of the writers and the producers realizing, like, what made you laugh? What made Aziz laugh? Like, what would be like, a. What would be fun for us? Like, that's what they started doing so well.

Yes. I think they just. The more they got to know us, it was such a good group that you could just be like, oh, well, what Happens when we put these two together. And then, of course, we had, like, the greatest people coming in and doing bit parts that were all just so funny. And the characters. Another clip I watched, and I think talking about breaking this is the hardest scene I've ever had to film in my entire acting career. And it was. And it's on YouTube, the blooper of this. And it's me. And do you remember the scene? It's me and Adam Scott, and we're having lunch with Joan Calamezzo.

Yes. The great Mo Collins.

Mo Collins, who. Who always is just so funny. And she said, we're ahead of lunch. And she says, I'm gonna go powder my nose, amongst other things. And then she walks away. And then Adam comes to me and goes. And then Ben is supposed to say, dude, is she gonna go powder her vagina? And we couldn't do it. And this is the only time, I think this ever happened on parks or anything where me and Adam were like, just, let's just film the rest of this stuff and we'll come back to that. We'll just come back because. Because we couldn't do it. And then because. Because it's just the most absurd task. Cuz you'd be like, okay, no, no, we got it this time. Okay. All right. All right, guys. Ready? Okay. Amongst other things. Is she. You know, he could have said, dude, she had to go powder vagina. We couldn't get through it.

And Mo was so funny doing it. How she was, like, stumbling out of the table. Yeah.

And then she'd add some other thing, and you're like, you can't do that. I. I just steeled myself. And now you just did this other funny thing. That's not fair.

Oh, wait, I love a blooper. I love bloopers in general. I love a blooper.

Yeah. But watching these park bloopers was. After I watched your thing, it put me on the algorithm. It was so fun.

Oh, and you know what? I also wanted to say, when we're in the parks and recreation world for a second, my kids loved Aziz. They're in their late teens, and when they see you on tv, they go, oh, is turkey sandwich in this?

So, yes.

My kids were little when they. When I was shooting that show, and they would come and visit and, Aziz, you're really good with kids, and you do a thing that they love, which is you kind of like, I don't know. It's funny. You realize sometimes with kids, with people and kids, either people, like, come on too strong and just, like, want to interact, and kids are like. Or they just, you know, they don't know. Or they're like, hello, young person. But Aziz would basically do these bits with them that would make them laugh so much. One of them is, you would walk by my oldest and pretend to be on the phone with his best friend.

What was his name?

Watson.

Watson, that's right. Hey, Watson, what's going on? No, I'm just on set. Yeah.

And my oldest would just kind of listen and be like, wait, he's talking to my friend. Like, he was like, 5 years old. And the other day, as you were just, like, doing funny bits with them, and one day you were holding or eating a turkey sandwich, and they started laughing and pointing at you and saying, turkey sandwich. Turkey sandwich, whatever. And you loved that. I just remember you thinking it was so funny. And the other thing I just wanted. You mentioned your algorithm and your phone taking you to Parks clips. I did want to talk to you today about your relationship to your phone. What is your relationship to your phone now?

I. I try to stay off everything as much as I can.

How do you do that? Teach me your ways.

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

Incredible.

Yeah. But I have. I have an assistant.

Okay. All right. But still.

And there's also, like. Like, you know, like, I have a flip phone, and if I get really lost, I gotta either ask people or just call my wife and be like, hey, I don't know where. I've had to do that before. Like, call my wife and be like. And to the point where she's, like, kind of used to it, but. And if, you know, I hail taxis, and if there's not a taxi, sometimes I'll call and be like, there's no one around.

So you don't use, like, an Uber app usually.

In London, there's taxis all the time. You can hail them. And here, too. New York. Yeah.

Well, why do you. Why do you have that kind of relationship with your phone?

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

It does feel like the eventual next step will be just. That will be people breaking up with their phones in that way.

It's pretty consuming and. Yeah, but that's just me. I don't know.

No, I relate. And I'm Genuinely asking because. Because I feel like my relationship with my phone has just gotten deeper and more deeper.

One time on Parks, you told me something about how your phone fell in the pool or something and you didn't have for a couple days and you're like, this is the greatest thing ever.

Yeah, it definitely feels like something that has taken over. It's gonna be really interesting. This generation, like Gen Z and Gen Alpha, who have grown up with a phone in their hand.

I saw a Gen Alpha kid one time at the airport and they had a flip phone. I guess it was like. Cause some parents get their kid a flip phone. I don't get you a flip phone.

Sure.

So I saw that and then I had mine and I saw the kid and I went like this and dapped her flip phone and she was completely confused.

Can I see your flip phone?

God, this thing doesn't even work that well. But another thing is, I. One time I was eating in a restaurant in London and I heard my phone going off and I checked and nothing was going on. But it was another dude that had a flip. And then we just started talking and he. We were talking about all this and just joking about how like, oh, what do you do when you get lost? And all this kind of stuff and you know, classic flip phone guy combo. And. And then he said, you know, the thing I think you gotta avoid now is. Is the chatbot. And I was like, oh, 100%.

Okay, let's talk about that.

The AI. Not the AI, but chatbot. Chatbot. Or I. I think I'm not even calling it right, but the thing where you.

Chatgpt.

Chatgpt. I call it Chatbot. Yeah, but it's Chat GPT. See, I don't even know the name.

I totally agree.

I think this is like, you know, it's outsourcing, critical thinking. It's making everyone's opinions kind of same. This is my feeling, you know, And I think people using it instead of Google, most of the time it's wrong. And it's just kind of like telling you what you want to hear so you can keep asking you questions. And, you know, someone showed me some commercial where it's like someone said, like, how do I make a dinner for this girl that makes. And I'm like, well, I would rather someone call someone and ask someone and maybe have some sort of conversation, a human thing. Like, it just seems like it's like outsourcing, thinking and it's like killing some bit of humanity. And I don't know, it kind of Makes you. I was reading some article where it said, like, it's making everyone a little more basic. Ooh.

Yeah, that's real. I think that's real. I've always found you, Aziz, to be a very curious person who's kind of interested in why we do things. Like, you're very interested in the why of why people make choices. And I feel like definitely the last few standup specials that I've seen you do definitely have that feeling. And what is it? Are you doing stand up right now? Are you out doing it at all?

I've just been promoting the movie now, but I think I'm gonna go out after the movie in, like, October, November and do new.

All new material or do.

I've been doing stuff about, like, being married and, you know, we're trying to, like, have a kid and talking about all that stuff.

So what's it like being married? Is it fun being married?

No. I love my wife very, very much. She's great. She's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. Yeah, you met her a handful of times, and, yeah, she's great.

How did you meet?

We met in London, and, you know, we did long distance for a while, and, yeah, I was like, all right.

How has being married changed you?

I just feel like all the other stuff doesn't really matter to me anymore. You know, I'm just like, oh, wow, this. This person is everything to me. And just to. To have that person to come home to and told that that. That's. It kind of makes everything else seem like it's less important.

I mean.

Sorry.

I love it. Z. I'm so happy for you. I'm excited to hear what you say on stage about marriage and relationship, because I've always known you to be a person who has a lot of love to give.

Oh, thank you.

Yeah, get those tears going, Aziz. Let's get those tears going. Chop, chop. Before we talk about good fortune, your new film, which looks amazing, and holy shit, the cast is great, and you wrote and directed it.

It's.

So when you were doing Master of None, Master of None feels like a show with Alan Yang that you created. It feels like when I was looking up and going over your stuff and being reminded of it almost feels like a different time in television that it was pre Covid.

Yeah. I mean, it's like a time capsule in New York now. That show, it's about 10 years old now when we were making it, and that was when Netflix first came out, and this was a time when Netflix was Like, you remember, people would be like, oh, there's a new Netflix show. You know, they had so few, and so every show got their shine. And, you know, when Alan and I made that show, the idea of, like, whoa, this guy that's got the brown face is starring in the show, like, that was, like, not really happening, you know, And. Yeah, and they let us kind of really do what we wanted. Like, you know, when people talk about, oh, you know, getting notes, they hadn't even hired people to give notes yet. You know what I mean? And then the first season did really well. So the second season, like, yeah, just keep doing your. And it was just a radically different time. And now streaming and making shows and all these things have become much, much different.

Yeah, the whole industry is so different. And I remember you guys feeling excited about doing that. What was it like to leave an ensemble and then be, like, the lead of a show?

Well, that's the other thing about Parks is Parks is not only you're on this great show, but everything's taken care of. Like, you just show up and you're like, treat yourself. Good night. See you, Z. Thanks so much. Great day at work. And that is not what you do on Masternaunt. Not what I did on Good Fortune. You have to pick, you know, people. I think sometimes they're like, what is directing? You don't really. It's kind of a vague thing, and it's really. You're just deciding everything. You know, you're like, okay, well, okay, where does the scene take place? Okay, a restaurant. Okay, let's go drive around and look at how many, many restaurants. Gotta pick the restaurant. What are the people wearing? You're making so many decisions. You're crafting everything, and you're there and then. And you have to. You know, I'm writing everything, too, so you have to write it, and then you have to figure out how everything's gonna look and make all these decisions, and then you have to edit it, and you have to make sure it all works, and it's a much more involved process. And just acting is a much different, you know, simpler gig.

What part of directing surprises you that you like so much?

I just love these moments where you've written something and you have your actors and, you know, you had it in your head a certain way, and then someone does something a little surprising or it just goes to another level. And, you know, when I was looking at some behind the stuff scenes from Good Fortune, and I really enjoyed the stuff where I wasn't acting, and I was just over the side and, like, you know, it was like Keanu and Seth, and they were doing something that was cracking me up, and I was just, you know, laughing and, you know, trying not to. Yeah. Mess up the scene. And those moments are super fun. I mean, there's another. There's a scene where they're, like, riding in a car, and. And they were like, okay, do you want to follow them in the van, be on the radio? I was like, oh, those radios always cut out. I'm just gonna hide in the back seat. So I was, like, held up like this, and I was just, like, yelling jokes. And, you know, Seth and Kiana are so iconic, and, like, hearing them say the jokes, like, the way you have it in your head, but also a little funnier when it really feels like you're a little kid playing.

Those are the best parts. You know what I mean?

Totally.

And. And.

And also to be. Allow yourself to still do that, because sometimes I think, you know, when you're working on anything that you created, no matter, it doesn't have to be a film. It can be anything that you made, and you, like, hand it over and. And people then start to work on it. It's hard to not. To not be too rigid about it. Like you want. You have an idea of how it's gonna go, and it's supposed to go that way.

And.

And the reason why we work with other people is to collaborate.

Yeah. Yeah. And to play like that and to see what they have to say. And I love collaborating with actors, which is something I learned from our experience on parks. You know, Mike and all the writers, they would take all these little things like, oh, Offerman's into woodworking. Maybe that. Oh, he plays a saxophone, maybe, you know, And I've always spent a lot of time trying to get to know the people that I work with and try to figure out how to put more of them into it and try to understand who they are to help write the character better, make it feel more like them.

Let's talk about good fortune, because that cast is. Okay, so first of all, is Keanu, as nice as he seems?

He's the best.

He seems incredible.

Yeah, he's the best, and he's, like, the sweetest guy, but he's also the coolest guy in the world. He kind of balances both things. We'll do rehearsals at my house or whatever, and Keanu will show up on a motorcycle. He looks like he drove from an anime movie straight into reality. And he gets out. He's wearing like, all black. He's got, like, a backpack from the future. He takes it off. He's got boots on, and he's just the coolest. And me and Seth are just like.

I mean, I don't know. I don't like that Keanu is still driving a motorcycle. I want him off that motorcycle for.

Insurance purposes, riding that motorcycle. I'm like, I want him right. No, no, he loves his motorcycle. Yeah.

And Seth and Kiki, you've worked with before.

You gotta meet Keke. Keke is one of my favorite people ever.

I have met Keke.

You have?

I got the privilege of doing her podcast.

Oh, you did? We did her podcast too. It was so fun.

So fun. Keke and I have had dinner, not to brag by ourselves, just the two of us.

Whoa. She's, like, in Australia now, we rarely get to see each other.

She works all the time. She's so. She is so naturally funny. I've described Kiki.

She.

She is a movie star. Hilarious.

She once told me her aunt died in a way that was really funny. And I was like, how did you do that? I'm laughing. And you just told me. Told me your aunt died.

She is so quick. She's so sharp. She's so talented. I mean, she's just as good a singer and performer as she is an actress.

We had this scene where me and Keke are dancing, and I was working with some choreographer, and then Kiki's just like, oh, yeah. Then just does all this crazy stuff. And. And I'm like, oh, yeah, she is.

She's so talented. And I mean, the cast is really awesome. How did you. I guess, like, how did you let everybody play and experiment on the. Like, was. Was it a. Was it that kind of set? Like, did you.

Yeah, I mean, I think, look, if you cast the right people, it's all gonna come together in a gel in a nice way. And, you know, I spent a lot of time rehearsing with everybody, so we.

Kind of go, okay, so you like to rehearse?

I like to spend a lot of time. So we. Cause, you know, when you're actually on set, the most precious time when the camera's rolling to get to that moment, it's so precious. And you're always. Don't have enough time, blah, blah. So the more time I can spend with these people beforehand and rehearse and kind of make sure everything sounds right beforehand and, you know, rewrite things to make it really sound like them, then when we get on set, there's just less we're already kind of almost there. Yeah. But of course, once you're there in the place with the clothes and everything else, you come up with new ideas. But, you know, all those people, they're so. You know, Kiki and Seth are really comfortable with improvising. And Keanu. You know, Keanu. At first, I think Keanu was a little intimidated, I think, because, you know, he. He's not. He's not as a comedy guy as much as me and Seth, but he. He got into it, and he. He would improvise and stuff a little bit. And I. I told Seth, I was like, could you imagine if, like, we did an action movie?

How awkward. We'd be like, keanu. What? I'm gonna.

I'm gonna push back on that because I feel like we would be great in an action movie.

I.

Cause I. I want us to be able to do more action.

Really?

Don't you wish you could do a film where you get to just say one line a day?

Oh, yeah. Keanu barely speaks in those wisdom.

That's what I mean.

You know, when I was a kid, my favorite movies were all action movies. My favorite movies were, like, Terminator 2 and Die Hard. And, I mean, I still love those movies. Those are some of my favorite movies. But I loved action movies as a kid. When I was a little kid, I had that. You know, it's. I was. I mean, I like comedy and all the stuff, but I feel like once.

You start talking, it's diminishing returns. Like, once you actually start talking in film, everyone's like, oh, that's how they talk. Oh, they're saying that. But if you never talk, like, which.

Are you trying to be? Like, in a Fast and the Furious movie, what's the action movie?

I would like more of, like, a Bourne Identity.

Oh, whoa.

Just walking through the streets of a European city. I like that leather jacket. But I feel like everyone would get, like, if I did that. Everyone would go like, ha.

When I came on the screen. Well, that's a. Sometimes. Sometimes people send me stuff that's more serious. I'm like, they're just gonna think I'm too silly to be this guy, and it's gonna hurt the movie. I can't do it for you.

I know what you mean. I can't show up as the villain.

And people aren't gonna be like, she's too nice. She's gonna change her mind.

I do think it's amazing when people, like, decide to do a 180 as an actor and then they play Someone really horrible, and you're just like, oh, no, we love that person. And now they're playing.

Some people can do it. You know, even when Keanu and I one stuff together, and there was, like, a room that I was waiting in in between, and it happened to be, like, John Wick weekend. And, like, I was watching some of the Wick stuff, I was like, wow, I can't believe he did this and then plays this very silly guy in my movie. And it's the same guy. It's really impressive.

He just also has a great reputation for being a wonderful person. Keanu, like, it just seems like, you know, those kind of things just get out into the world. And he just seems like he's handled his giant fame and his, like, very.

Yeah, he's been in a long, long time. Yeah. I mean, when I was about to meet him, I did, like, a little film festival, and I was rewatching, like, Parenthood and Parenthood.

I just rewatched Parenthood on the plane. It's so good.

It's incredible.

It is.

It's so good. During that weekend with the John Wick weekend, they showed Parenthood, too. And I was watching it in between, and I was just very different.

John Wicken, paranoid.

Yeah, I know.

Are there films that you go back to that are, like, your comfort watches? Like, if you're. If you're. If it's a rainy and you're like, I'm gonna put on a movie. Do you like to watch films?

I love watching films. And there's definitely, like, a film nerd element to my wife, to my life. And, yeah, the movies I go back to a lot. I love, you know, working on this. And all the time when I'm writing, I revisit a. I revisit, like, being John Malkovich a lot. I love that. I love Eternal Sunshine.

Spotless love, Eternal Sunshine.

Those two. I visited it a lot. I love those. And I love watching just older movies, too.

Me, too. I mean, I. I. I feel like the. The joy of getting older is like, looking back and realizing, oh, there's a lot of stuff I still haven't seen, you know?

Oh, yeah. It never ends.

I know.

I know. And that's the thing that got me into being more diligent about watching film was, you know, I realized, oh, all these directors that I love, whether it's, like, Scorsese or Paul Thomas Anders, whatever, they've seen every movie. And I was like, that can't be a coincidence.

I mean, I gotta be honest, sometimes it's overwhelming, like, the way make films, talk about films definitely makes me feel, like, stressed.

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

It's like, I don't know. I don't know it. I know.

It's just.

And it definitely feels like that feeling like when you have an oral exam in school.

Like, I was watching Parks and Recreation, and, you know, any Polish kid's called as he's Ansari turkey sandwich. How do you remember all this?

I know it's intense. Okay. Speaking of food, though, turkey sandwich and food. I want to talk to you about food.

Sure. Okay.

Before we wrap, because I feel like the food. Your relationship to food is tied to. Ties in, into the bigger idea of you, like, trying to open yourself up to a lot of stuff in life, like, being curious.

Sure.

You growing up, what was the food you were eating growing up?

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

Okay. And then when did you become. When did you start realizing, like, I actually care very much about what I eat, and I want to learn how to cook and be a good cook.

It's interesting you ask, because I think people think of me as, like, oh, Aziz. And that was all the restaurants. It's like, no, I actually, like, just cook at home all the time now. I love to cook. And that. I think it happened a lot of. It was during COVID I started cooking more and more, and it was kind of what our day was based around. It's like, oh, we're gonna cook. Cause I was in London during COVID and the farmer's markets and stuff didn't close, and you kind of walk around, and so food. It became a way to kind of structure your day a little bit. Yeah. But during COVID I wanted to learn all my mom's recipes, and so I asked my mom to help me. Cause Indian food's very intimidating.

Oh, big time.

But it's not as good. Wait, do I ever send you those cookbooks? I make. I make these cookbooks for friends. I gotta send you one. It's all right.

No.

I'll send you all of them.

Wait, wait, so you transcribed your mom's recipes?

Not all of them, but every year during Christmas time, I make this. I'm so sorry I haven't sent it to you. I'll send it to you. No wor. But, yeah, I just. Whatever. I've been cooking that year, and I started during COVID and then I just kind of kept it going.

Oh, that's awesome.

But Indian food's what I really love to cook.

What makes Indian food, like, for a person just cooking, like, hard to cook?

It's nothing hard. It's just, you know, I would ask my mom, like, oh, how much of that coriander powder did you put in? It's like, I don't know. I didn't. You know. And you're like, wait, but. But. And you're scared that you're gonna mess it up. But it's not like baking, you know, where, like, oh, if you put, like, a teaspoon too much, it's not really gonna screw it up too much. And the other thing that's Super Helpful is YouTube, if you can watch. There's all these people, like, you know, aunties and stuff in India that have YouTube channels, and they show you how to cook everything. And seeing it visually makes it a little less intimidating. Yes. And you just gotta do that first trip to the Indian store and get. I always think that term's kind of funny. That's what everybody calls, like, the Indian grocery store. They call it the Indian store, but that sounds like you're going and buying Indian people, which is not.

No, you're not.

No, it's just ingredients.

Ingredients.

But you just got. Get all the stuff, and they keep it in the pantry, and then it's like, oh, yeah. Everything's like, oh, yeah. Slice some onions and some little ginger, garlic, and then some spices, and then maybe a tomato. And then you put the chicken in, stir it around 20 minutes, and it's done.

Yeah, you're right.

Can I tell you. So I cooked for Rasheeda like, a week ago. She lives really close to me, and her family came over, and she brought her little kid, and she was like. I was like, cooking Indian food, and she's like, can you make something for him? Something not too intense? I was like, oh, I got it. I gotta make him chicken 65. That's like, it's like chick, like Indian chicken nuggets almost. They're like little pieces of chicken. Little kids love it. Every little. And every kid loves it. And so I made him chicks in 65. And he ate it. And then he started going crazy. He just, like, had so much energy. And then I realized it's because the chicken 65, they put red food coloring in it to make it bright red. And the red food coloring has that dye. It makes the kids go crazy. Go crazy.

It got him pumped up.

Yeah. So now whenever they come over, I just make a bunch of chicken 65 and he goes nuts.

Well, it is so funny they say that because we do a thing here on the podcast where we like to talk to somebody before the podcast. We talk well behind their back. And I get a question. And I just talked to Rasheeda, lol. And Rasheeda just told us that you made her chicken 65.

She loves it. She's like. She was like, let's come for dairy again. I was like, what are you watching? Chicken 65.

She loves it. And, you know, in many ways, we both, Rashida and I feel like we were your auntie at times on that chip. I know Rasheeda and you guys, like. And she was talking about, like, how, you know, what we were talking about earlier that you are like, what she really respects about you is the way that you're a curious person, always trying to learn more about yourself and the world. And her question was. And she was, you know, saying you're a very, very good chef. Chef or cook? What would you say? Chef, cook?

Probably cook. Cook a little more. Yeah. A little low key. I'm not that.

If you get the right hat, you become a chef, you just put it on. But as a cook, she wanted me to ask you, what is your favorite thing to cook?

I love to cook Indian food, and I love cooking stuff. I think there's something special about the food you ate growing up and the food your family made. And I think there's something. One time I went to India and I stayed for a little extra time. And I asked my family, I was like, oh, who's really the mean cooks? Who can I learn from? Stayed for a couple days with some people that were a little bit distant relatives, like my aunt, sister or something like that. And they showed me so much stuff.

They were cooking in their home and showed you.

Yeah. And just learning home food that comes from your family, I think there's something special about it. Cause I think that's something important to pass down and with my own parents. They're all healthy and everything, but you start thinking about their time and just like, oh, wow. I. It's a piece of your family history that I think is cool to try to preserve.

I feel like you also took cooking lessons somewhere else, too. Did you go to Italy or.

In season two of Master Nun. That also gave me a big help to be comfortable in the kitchen, so it made it less intimidating. But season two took place in Italy, so before we filmed it, I went and lived in this town in Italy, and I learned Italian a little bit, and I worked in these kitchens in these places, and these people did not really know who I was, and I was like, yeah, I'm working on a TV show. And they're like, okay. And then. But they. They let me work in the kitchens, and I learned a lot from these. These people that were there, and they were so nice. And it kind of gave me some confidence to kind of start with the Italian food. And then there was a couple of Indian things I could make. But then when during COVID I really started, I had more time. I had nothing to do, so I was just like, okay, I'm gonna keep pushing this.

I always say this. I did not grow up cooking at all, and I had a busy working mom who, you know, in. I grew up in the 70s and early 80s, so I didn't have a ton of, you know, we. We didn't have, like, a cooking family. And I always say it's never too late to start trying because it is very, like, low risk, high reward. Like, try a dish, and if it doesn't work, you just. Nobody knows. You can just throw it away. Like, you can just. And when it does work, you feel like incredible.

Repetition is a fox father learning.

Yes.

Lil Wayne said that. He did. He did, yeah.

Amazing.

I mean, I don't know if he was quoting someone else.

Maybe, maybe, maybe. We'll see. We'll look it up. What are you laughing at these days? What are you watching? Reading. I know you're not addicted to your phone. You have a flip phone, but what are you. What do you do to laugh?

Where do you go for laugh? I know. What did I watch to laugh recently?

I know, because it's kind of hard when comedy is your job.

Yeah. You don't watch as much comedy sometimes.

You don't.

You. And.

And, you know, when you. When you. When you come from the standup world, we all know that the way standups laugh is they just watch each other and go, nice.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's A different thing.

They go, yeah, that was funny.

What was I laughing at recently?

I know anything that you do when you're trying.

I just, you know, every now and then my wife will show me some silly interview Internet thing. She showed me something. It was like. It was like a meme of, like, a dolphin. Look. It was like, looking happy. And it was like me letting the flight attendant know I'm ready for a snack. And it was a dolphin. Psych. Like, just stupid stuff like that.

Let's look up that dolphin.

I think it's a dolphin.

I love a meme.

Yeah, those kind of things. Movies and stuff. I know.

I mean, smiling dogs.

I love some of those old movies, like the Apartment. Like, just those things just make me laugh so, so hard.

You don't. You don't go on TikTok or anything like that, right?

No, I never really been on TikTok. I mean, I've seen videos. I'm not like a. You know, I've seen some of the stuff. Some of that stuff is maybe lacking, but sometimes I see the stuff I don't understand. It's not him.

It's not him.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Well, it's like a cookie.

That's pretty close. But the one my wife sent me, the dolphin had a better smile. I gotta find it. I gotta send it to you later.

Do you watch anything? Are you watching any shows right now that, like, is, you know, I mean, it's an interesting time right now for comedy. I mean, Good Fortune is a great example of, like, there's not a lot of just straight comedies out there in the world right now.

To be, like, an original idea that's a comedy that's in theaters. Like, to have even one of those three now is wild.

It is.

And I. You know, Seth and I were always talking about this, of how we wanted the movie to be theatrical and how, you know, I remember going in New York when I was in school, going to see, like, Anchorman and, you know, 40 o'version and all these movies, and just being in, like, a packed theater and just dying. And I think that's something I miss. And I hope it comes back. And I hope more people get to make comedies and that we get that back. Cause it's so much better to be in a group and laugh. You know, if you go to a live show, you know, if you go to a live show at, like a UCB or a standup tour, there's so many people there, and you don't realize how much the other people that experience Is part of it, like, you come see me do stand up at a theater. It's, oh, man, we're having a great time. But I just came to your house and. And just started doing stand ups and you're sitting by yourself.

I'd be like, how did you get into my house?

This is not a good experience. This is what that to me is like. The, you know, streaming a movie and being on your phone at the same time is like, not the same thing.

I know. It's back to the phone. It's back to the phone. And the theater is still the only place where you're not allowed to be on your phone.

I love going to the movie theater. It's so fun.

I'm so happy that you came.

Aziz, I gotta tell you, I, you know, whenever I was like, okay, we gotta do this press tour for the movie, I was like, oh, well, I know one thing I'll be looking forward to very much, and that was this. And spend time with you.

Same.

It's always a pleasure when we get to see each other. And thank you for having me.

Turkey sandwich. I'm so happy that you came.

Hold on one second. Hey, Watson. Yeah, yeah, I'm just finishing up the pod. Okay, I'll see you there. What? How does he know Watson? No, I haven't seen Archie and Abel in a long time.

What?

I don't know. I think they're in the their 20s. All right, take care, Watson. Bye.

Thank you, Aziz Ansari, for coming by and hanging. It was so great to see you and to go down memory lane and talk about all the good things ahead. And now it is time for our polar plunge. And today's polar plunge is presented by BMW certified. In a world full of uncertainty, BMW certified pre owned vehicles are the real deal. They come with a BMW certified warranty, genuine BMW parts, and an additional three years of 24. 7 roadside assistance. Visit BMW USA.com certified preowned to learn more. So for this polar plunge, I just want to stick up for my phone a little bit. I feel like we've been pretty hard on the phone in this episode and we've talked about how bad it is for us. And look, I agree, but my best friend gives me a lot of things. It helps me track my other friends and send them creepy texts like, I see that you're at the airport. Have a good flight. My phone lets me buy things by just going, beep. Just swiping it across the thing and you don't even know. You don't even have to take out your credit card.

My phone. It just tells me about all the awful news that's happening minute by minute all over the world. And if I missed it, it pops up to remind me. So just take it easy on my phone, okay? It's my best friend, and it's never let me down. But seriously, help. Help me. Help me get away from it. Please help. So today's Polar Plunge was presented by BMW certified. As a BMW certified owner, you receive the performance you expect, plus the warranty and assistance you deserve. Learn more@BMW USA.com certified-preowned Thank you, Aziz. Thank you for everyone listening. Good Hang and we'll see you again. Bye. You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss Berman and me, Amy Poehler. The show is produced by the Ringer and Paper Kite. For the Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, cat Spillane, Kaia McMullen and Alaya Zaneris. For Paper Kite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell and Jenna Weiss Berman. Original music by Amy Miller.