Good Hang with Amy Poehler - Aziz Ansari

Episode Date: October 14, 2025

Aziz Ansari is still using his flip phone, even if he gets lost sometimes. Amy hangs with her former 'Parks and Rec' costar and talks about skipping the first grade, being the first person cast on 'Parks,' and making chicken 65 for Rashida Jones.Host: Amy PoehlerGuests: Rashida Jones and Aziz AnsariExecutive Producers: Bill Simmons, Amy Poehler, and Jenna Weiss-BermanFor Paper Kite Productions: Executive producer Jenna Weiss-Berman, coordinator Sam Green, and supervising producer Joel LovellFor The Ringer: Supervising producers Juliet Litman, Sean Fennessey, and Mallory Rubin; video producers Jack Wilson, Belle Roman, and Aleya Zenieris; lighting director Caroline Jannace; audio producer Kaya McMullen; video editor Drew van Steenbergen; and booker Kat SpillaneOriginal Music: Amy MilesPalmolive removes up to 2.5X the grease**vs. leading brand non-concentrated formulaOrder Sephora on Uber Eats today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by Welch's fruit snacks. Listen up, everyone, sharpen those pencils, get out those lunch boxes, and stock up on snacks because it's back to school time. And we know, we parents know, finding the balance of snacks you trust. And snacks that your kids love is hard. And that's where Welch's fruit snacks come in. They aren't just delicious. They're made with real whole fruit and your kids need snacks so they can feed their brains for learning. Find Welch's fruit snacks in stores nationwide, go back to school with Welch's Fruit Snacks. 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 going to talk about Parks and Rec, of course, and all our memories there. And we're going to talk about his cinematic directing debut, 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-oh, she can't. This episode is brought to you by Palm Olive. Some of the best memories you'll ever make are around the dinner table. You'll never regret trying out those new recipes that may or may not go sideways or putting on a spread so big that your in-laws are still talking about it years later.

Brownie points. So when it comes to the dishes, it's nice to know there's a product that works as hard as you do, palm olive ultra removes up to 99% of grease leaving your dishes sparkling clean. Visit palmolive.com shop now. Get up. What do you say?

All I have the one who was a really good hey. This is a disaster. How are you guys over there? Am I the over there? 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 was 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 region.

And so I'm going to stick with that story. I still can't believe that we have airplanes. Exactly. Exactly. So there you can 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 stuff. Every time I talk to you, I feel like I'm in my friend's sitting room in London. Well, what makes a sitting room? What's a sitting room? Good question. Lots of places to sit. And kind of no other functionality, like we were just kind of sitting and staring at each other, you know?

You're in London. I'm in London. Oh, 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. It was the education of Aziz. I'm sorry. It 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, very specific, cultured aesthetic. I'm loving the color brown that you're wearing. Thank you so much because somebody told me they didn't like this color.

I don't remember what it was. And I was like, I do. I don't know why. It's like very 70s to me. And I was wondering what you think the color of the color of fall is. I always ask Rashida these questions because she knows. She's in the no. Well, 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 we're in autumn. You're such an autumn. I think you're a summer, I think. I think you're right. And I very, I wanted very much to be a winter. It's kind of the story of my life. You love summer polos, but you love summer.

I do, but the colors feel a little, I don't know, not substantial. Too playful. Yeah, they feel a little juvenile. And I want to, you know, and I remember looking at the palate and saying, 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 of the, of the season. What should we be wearing? Okay. So people should know. Yeah. So every season, Rashida and I, and we try to like name how we're going to 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 got we've we've we've named the seasons i can think of a few um 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 tictock it was like frugal chic frugal chic frugal chic right like make your own salads bring them the work we're the same like gorgeous sweater every day Shop your closet. Shop your closet. What do we think is happening this fall? What about just like a double F, like functional fall? Or like, I was just in Paris, which, of course, always, the fashion is 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, oh, maybe it's front pleat fall. Okay. You know what? Gen Z loves their front pleats. 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 flat front? Functional flat front. Functional flat front fall. Okay, you heard it here first, guys. Hashtag trending. Okay, you know, we always like to talk well behind our guests back about our guests. What do you love about disease?

I'm sorry. disease 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 to want his take on something, that makes it, he's a pleasure to be around in that way. Yeah. 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 his ease because he'll, he'll just bust out like the best accent and just order.

in Japanese, like a full, perfect accent. Yes. He speaks Japanese? Yes, a little bit, but his accent's so good that he convinces people that he 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 in other 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, today? 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 is he's 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 him. 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, like, the pepper powder, and it's delicious. Yum. Yeah. Ooh. I want to talk to him about that, and I want to talk about kitchen gadgets in

general. I just got for myself, I liked 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, not your grabby tongs, but those long ones 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 it's 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.

Just don't show anybody. I'll send it to you. Do that thing where you make yourself three people. You know how you can do an effect where you can look like three people? Yes. Let's do that.

Maybe your team, after they fix your audio issues, can help me do that. Yeah. We're going to split this in a three. And you're going to be your own backup singer. I'd love that. Best career. Thank you, Bones, for doing this. I'm so happy to see you. Miss you so much and love you and have fun with Aziz, Zeezers. Baby Zizi. All right. Thanks, friend. Love you. Love you too.

This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. Beauty emergencies are bound to happen. How many times have you, oh, I don't know, dug around in your purse. and pulled out mascara and thought it was lipstick. And then all of a sudden you got mascara on your lips and you're like, this is not the kind of look I want to bring to the very fancy dinner party that I'm about to have. So now that Sephora is on Uber Eats,

you can get all your beauty essentials delivered for the same price as in store. Plus, treat yourself to $10 off when you spend $50 or more on your first Sephora order on the Uber Eats app. Order Sephora on Uber Eats today. Offer ends October 30th, one order per customer, additional terms apply. See app for availability, delivery fees may apply.

God, this is like beat 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. Yeah, 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 when I usually see you. Right away, we usually. So what's your favorite right now? And then I say my favorite, and then we started hanging out. Yeah. So, God, thank goodness. We dropped that position. 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 it and you get a quick hit.

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, too old now. Yeah, I know what you mean. It's, it is, it is. Your little Zizi's all grown up. I know. My Zizi is just, he's an old man now.

I know. If you watch, whatever I see old parks things, I was like, I didn't know that me and Aubrey did a show and we were little kids. Like, it's really. How old were you when you started on the show? 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 Havreford on Parks and Rec. Yeah. It is true, though. It is, you look like a baby. You were a baby. I didn't know anything. The first seasons, I didn't know how to act or anything. I should not have been on television. NBC should have been like, we got to get, is there any Indian guy that's done more acting?

Can we get out play this guy? I want to get into this, too, because it is, it feels like when we, We've met each other throughout, like, we've, 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 you remember being outlaid and all this kind of stuff.

Yeah. 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. Yeah. It was like, you know, you could dip and spit into a mountain.

You can spit into a cup and everyone laughed. I just drank Mountain Dew and did. That's all I did in high school. And did you ever? 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 like 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 where I was like six years old. I had to like speak in front of the whole school. And I didn't like base 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? Yeah. 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 got to 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've got to get him the fuck out of this first grade day. 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 a little school. So I'm like, you know, and there's like 30 kids in each class. I grew up in a town 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. No.

Yeah, it's on the radio. And there's a recording somewhere. And when I was a little kid, I had like a southern accent because that's where I grew up and that's where I'm around. So I vaguely remember being on some radio program. And I was like, my name's a easy. I'm sorry. And I'm a first grader at Marlborough 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. He didn't go back to 10.

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. Oh, Dev, not one of the, there were 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 tie 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 Bennettville 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 because it was 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, you know, bigger with more stuff going on. Yeah, you had that same, like, drive to see more of the world, basically. 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 going to go to business school. Yeah, I didn't know what I wanted to do.

This is how dumb I was. Yeah. Business seems to be the main. 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 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. And I had friends that were in Tisch, the film and television school. I was thinking about switching to that or maybe the Gallatin School where you make up your own major. But I never really got it together, the little combination of laziness. And I also started doing stand-up, like the summer of my freshman year,

and I distinctly remember sitting in a class in my sophomore year and just thinking, I'm just going to do something with stand-up. At the least, I'll be a comedian that does comedy clubs, and that's fine for me. 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 in my freshman year, and I was just sitting around and telling stories and people are laughing.

Someone's like, oh, man, you should try to do stand-up. And then a week later, the same thing happened. And it was like one of these weird, ooh, maybe the universe is saying something. And then I went to a comedy club. I went to the comedy cellar, which I still perform it 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, you know, 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 I'm like, when are we first meet? I mean, one of the first times I remember meeting you was, so the UCB Theater, and there was a Monday night stand-up show at 11, which is like a tough slot. Monday at 11 is not the prime slot.

But they were doing a stand-up show, and Matt Besser, who was part of UCB, asked me if I would want to do the stand-up show. And I started doing it, and I was booking, like, my favorite comedians, and I would host it every week. 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 you. That's what I was going to say is I remember meeting you by seeing you on stage. That's back when we could all just, you know, sleep all day and then go to do a show at 11 o'clock on Monday night. Yeah.

Then you go on and you do, you create your own sketch show. Yeah, we did the sketch on MTV, yeah. Yeah, and that was kind of like 2007, which was such a cool time for, I think, for comedy at the time because you had MTV and Comedy Central and all these places like taking big risks on green apples. Yeah, and adult swim and all these things. Were you on Adult Swim? No, but that was around and things like Tim and Eric and, you know. And it was like, here's this kind of niche vibe. Let's give them a show for, you know, like let's see what they can do for a couple of seasons.

Yeah. And so that show was Human Giant. Yeah. And you wrote. And what did you learn from doing a sketch show? Sketch show is really hard. Yeah. I mean, you know, that's one of the hardest things to do because especially even just from a production standpoint, you know, everything is different.

There's no consistency. 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 Scher 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 this. It was called viral videos and the premise was me and Rob Heubel and we were on a talk show that Paul was hosting and Huble had just made a viral video uh because he he did a video where he cut his penis off

and it went viral and he was like so excited i got you know two million views and then he's like oh we have this other guy's name's you know Kevin Kreisler uh he has a viral video too and it's me and 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 has to come. He could have just made funny faces that he's done something a little bit more extreme. And, yeah, it was a fun sketch. But that's what Greg and Mike told me they saw, and they're like, oh, we should get. Yeah, because a lot of people don't know you were the first person hired for parks.

Yeah, I met with them. Yeah, what was that meeting? Like, do you remember it? Well, it was so mysterious what they were up to. 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, you know, this was like when the office was on, and Mike and Greg were both involved in that, and that was, you know, my favorite show like that on the air. And so I told them, whatever you're up to, let me know. And then, of course, you know, when it all came together with you and Rashida and everything. Well, I'm kind of learning. 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 getting people and bringing them in and talking about like, we're going to do something very cool. I mean, it didn't even feel like there was a ton of auditioning. It was more just them picking people that they thought was funny.

Not only funny. And I feel like all of us, whenever we see each other, do interviews, kind of say this kind of stuff, ad nauseum, but it's so true. But also just the best people I've ever met in my life. Yeah. Like, really, I cannot believe it because we've all done other stuff and, you know, not everybody's, you know, look, we've all done other stuff. I don't talk about everything the way I talk about parks. You know, you do something.

Some people, it's just for an 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 just to pay respect to you and Mike, you know, when I did master none with Alan and as I become a director, I, you know, 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 ever have. C's. C's. You know, I, when I started watching your podcast,

and so then Parks Clips started coming on YouTube. And when I watch it, sometimes I just think about us making it. Same. And it's funnier for me to watch the bloopers, because that feels more like my experience. and oh 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 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 bluish and Ron has decided bronze and bluish so me and Redda started just going Ron's in bluish

Ron's in bluish and then I jump on the table and Barnes and Bluish and me and Reda us dancing is getting crazier and crazier and we're just doing just dancing all over Offerman doing all the crazy stuff and they showed that

that was what we shot and then they showed the scene as it aired and it was just like runs in bluish 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

Perman's pretty high up on that agree he never cracked up And, oh, man, I love, 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 at his mustache. And I was like, hmm, I'm up to Ponson. I like your mustache. I'm just a little puppy.

And it all, I think it almost got it. It almost got. You're so right. I mean, the setup there was like you had a chance to play around. Like, you got to try your stuff. I mean, the fact that treat yourself is used on, you know, cocktail napkins and in Kmart, and like, it's everywhere. I went to some ice cream place one time, and they were like, treat yourself to a sample. I was like, can't have a sample?

I was like, please don't connect this. Luckily, the person did put... Didn't put them together. Yeah. I mean, that's become part of the lexicon. And I can remember that moment, which, by the way, it's so funny in that moment, treat yourself because you guys say, treat yourself 2011. And I'm like, oh my gosh, 2011.

Remember that. And then there was one in the future that was like, treat you sell, 2014. It's like, it's 2025. What's happening? But I remember that episode deeply because... It felt like it was a great example of the writers and the producers realizing, like, what made you laugh? What made Aziz laugh? Like, what would be, like, what would be fun for us?

Like, that's what they started doing so well. Yes. I think they just, the more they got to know us, and it was such a good group that you could just be like, well, what happens we put these two together? And then, of course, we had, like, the greatest people coming in and doing bit parts. and they were all just so funny and the characters another clip I watched

that I think you know talking about breaking this was is the hardest scene I've ever had to film in my entire acting career and it was and if it's on YouTube

the blooper of this and it's me and you remember the scene is me and Adam Scott and we're having lunch with Joan Kalamazza yes the great Mo Collins Mo Collins who always

is just so funny and she said we're ahead of lunch and she says I'm going to go powder my nose amongst other things and then she walks away and then Adam comes to me

and goes and the bed is supposed to say dude is she going to go powder her vagina and we couldn't do it and this is the only time I think this ever happened

on parks or anything where me and Adam were like let's just film the rest of the stuff and we'll come back to that we'll just come back to the Because we couldn't do it. And then, because it's just the most absurd task.

Because 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, oh. You know, he could have to say, dude. She had to go part of her vagina.

We couldn't get through it. And Moe was so funny doing it, how she was, like, stumbling out of the table. Yeah, yeah. And then she'd add some other thing. And you're like, you can't do that. I just steeled myself. And now you just did this other funny thing. That's not fair.

Oh, wait, I love a blooper. I love bloopers in general. I love a blooper. Yeah. But watching these parks bloopers was, after I watched your thing, it put me on the algorithm. It was, it was so fun. Oh, and you know what I also wanted to just say when we're in the parks and recreation world for a second? My kids loved Aziz.

They're in their late teens, and when they see you on TV, they go, oh, is turkey sandwich in this? So, yes. My kids were little when they, when I was. 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 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 the name? Watson. That's right.

Hey, Watson. What's going on? No, I'm just on set. Yeah, my oldest would just kind of listen and be like, wait, he's talking to my friend? Like, he was like five years old. And the other day, and 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 like your algorithm and your phone taking you to Parks Clips. I did want to talk to you today about your relationship to your phone. What is your relationship to your phone now? I try to stay off. everything as much as I can. How do you do that? Teach me your ways. I have, I don't have email. I haven't had email for like 10 years. Incredible. Yeah. I have an assistant.

Okay. All right, but still, that means that. And there's also stuff like, you know, like I have a flip phone and if I get really lost, I got to either ask people or just call my wife and be like, I am. I don't know where I am. I've had to do that before. Like, call my wife and to the point where she's, like, kind of used to it. But, but.

And, you know, I hail taxis. And if there's not taxi, sometimes I'll call them to, you know, there's not one around. So you don't use, like, an Uber app? I, I, I, usually, in London, there's taxis all the time. Yeah. You can hail them. And here, too. Yeah, yeah.

Well, why do you have that kind of relationship with your phone? He 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 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 like breaking up with their phones in that way. It's pretty consuming and yeah, but that's just me. I don't know. No, I relate and I'm genuinely asking because I feel like

my relationship with my phone has just gotten deeper and more intense. I remember one time on Parks you told me something about how your phone fell in the pool or something and you didn't have for a couple days, you're like, this is the greatest thing ever. Yeah, it definitely feels like something that has taken over. It's going to be really interesting this generation, like Gen Z and Gen Alpha, who have grown up with a phone in their hand. I saw a Gen Alpha kid one time at the airport, and they had a flip phone. I guess it was like, because some parents get their kid a flip on, I don't get you flip phone. Sure. So I saw that, and then I had, 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. Wow. 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 started talking and we were talking about all this and just joking about how like, oh, what do you do when you get lost and all this kind of stuff? And, you know, classic flip phone guy combo. And then he said, you know, he said, you know.

The other thing I think you've got to avoid now is the chatbot. And I was like, oh, 100%. Okay, let's talk about that, the AI. Not the AI, but just like, chatbot. Chatbot, or I think I'm not even calling it right, but the thing where you type to chat, GBT, GBT. I call it chat bot. Yeah, but it's Chad GPT. See, I don't even know the name.

I completely agree. I think this is like, you know, it's outsourcing critical thinking. It's making everyone's opinions kind of saying, this is my feeling, you know. 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 your questions. And, you know, someone showed me some commercial where it's like someone said like, oh, how do I make a dinner for this girl that makes them? And I'm like, well, I would rather someone call someone and ask someone or maybe have some sort of conversation, a human thing.

Like it just seems like it's like outsourcing thinking and it's like killing some bit of humanity. Yes. 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. You know? I have always found you, Aziz, to be a very curious person who's kind of interested in why we do things.

Like, you're very interested in the why of, like, why people make choices. And I feel like definitely the last few stand-up specials that I've seen you do, definitely have that feeling. And what is it? Are you doing stand-up right now? Are you out doing it? I'm just been promoting the movie now, but I think I'm going to go out after the movie in, like, October of November. And do all new material or do some... I've been doing stuff about, like, being married and, you know, we're trying to, like, have a kid and talking about that stuff.

So what's it like being married? Is it fun being married? No, I love my wife very, very much. She's a great thing that's ever happened to me. Yeah, you've met her a handful of times, and, yeah, she's great. How did you meet? We met in London and, you know, we did long distance for a while. And yeah, I was like, all right.

How is 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 person is everything to me. And just to have that person to come home to and to hold that it kind of makes everything else seem like it's less important. I mean, sorry. I love it, Aziz. I'm so happy for you. I'm excited to hear what you say on stage about marriage and relationship because I've always known you to be a person who has a lot of love to give.

Oh, thank you. Let's get those tears going, Aziz. Let's get those tears going, chop, chop. With Amex Platinum, access to exclusive Amex pre-sale tickets can score you a spot trackside. So being a fan for life turns into the trip of a lifetime. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Presale tickets for future events subject to availability and varied by race. Turns and conditions apply.

Learn more at amex.ca. slash Y Annex. Before we talk about Good Fortune, your new film, which looks amazing and holy shit, the cast is great and you wrote and directed it. It's so good. When you were doing Master of Nunn, Master of Nunn 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. You know, 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, there's a new Netflix show. You know, they had so few. Yeah. And so every show got their shine.

And, you know, when Alan and I made that show, the idea of like, whoa, this guy that's got the brown face is stern and 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 talking about, oh, you know, getting notes, they hadn't even hired people to give notes yet, you know what I need? And then the first season did really well. So the second season, like, yeah, just keep doing your thing.

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, drink yourself. Good night. See you, Z's.

Thanks so much. Great day at work. And that is not what you do on Master and on, not what I do on Good Fortune. You have to pick, you know, people I think sometimes, you know, they're like, what is directing? You don't really, it's kind of a vague thing. And it's really, you're just deciding everything. You know, you're like, okay, well, okay, where does a scene take place? Okay, a restaurant.

Okay, let's go drive around and look at how many, ever many restaurants. I've got to pick the restaurant. What are the people wearing? You're making so many decisions. You're crafting everything and you're there. And then you have to, you know, I'm writing everything too. So you have to write it. And then you have to figure out how everything's going to look and make all these decisions.

And then you have to edit it and you have to make sure it all works. And it's a much more involved process. Yeah. And just acting is a much different, you know, simpler gig. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 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 certain way and then someone does something a little surprising or it just goes to another level and and you know when I was looking at some behind the stuff scenes for good fortune and this I really enjoyed the stuff where I wasn't acting and I was just over the side and like you know it was like Hianu and Seth and there was 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 going to hide in the back seat. So I was, like, curled up like this. And I was just, like, yelling jokes. And, you know, Seth and Keanu are so iconic and, like, hear them say the jokes, like the way you have it in your head, but also a little funnier. Yeah.

When it really feels like you're a little kid playing, those are the best parts. Yes, totally. And also to allow yourself to still do that. Because sometimes I think, you know, when you're working on anything that you create, no matter. It doesn't have to be a film. It can be anything that you made and you like hand it over and people then start to work on it. It's hard to not be too rigid about it. Like you have an idea of how it's going to go and it's supposed to go that way. And the reason why we work with other people is to collaborate. Yeah, yeah. And to play like that and to see what they have to say. And I love collaborating with actors, which is something I learned from our experience on Parks. 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. Yeah. 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 like the coolest guy in the world. Like, he kind of balances both things. Like, you know, we'll do, like, rehearsals at my house or whatever, and Keanu will show up, like, on a motorcycle.

Like, he looks like he drove from an anime movie straight into reality. And he gets out. He's wearing, like, all black. He's got, like, a backpack from the future. He takes it off. He's got boots on. And he's just the coolest. Me and Seth are just sitting there like, oh.

I mean, I don't know. I don't like that Keanu is still driving a motorcycle. I want him off that motorcycle for insurance purposes. Oh, he's always riding that motorcycle. I'm like, oh, all right, man. Yeah, no, no. He loves his motorcycle, yeah. And Seth and Kiki you've worked with before.

Kiki is the best. You got to meet Kiki. Kiki is one of my favorite people ever. I have met Kiki. You have? I got the privilege of doing her podcast. Oh, you did? We did her podcast, too.

It was so fun. So fun. Kiki and I've had dinner, not to brag, by ourselves, just the two of us. She's like in Australia now. We rarely get to see each other. She works all the time. She's so, she is so. She is so naturally funny.

I've described Kiki. She is a movie star, hilarious. She what's told me your aunt died in a way that was really funny. And I was like, how did you do that? I'm laughing. And you just told me your aunt died. She is so quick. She's so sharp.

She's so talented. I mean, she's just as good a singer and performer as she's an actress. We had to see where me and Kiki are dancing. And I was like, work with some choreographer. And then Kiki's just like, oh, yeah. And it just does all this crazy stuff. up 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 an experiment on the, like, was it, was it that

kind of set? Like, did you? Yeah. I mean, I think, look, if you cast the right people, it's all going to come together in a, and gel in a nice way. And, 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 spent a lot of time so we because you know when you're actually on set that is the most precious time when the camera's rolling to get to that moment it's so precious and you'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 and you know rewrite things to make it really sound like them then 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 um you know all those people they're so you know kiki and sat they're really comfortable with improvising and Keanu you know Keanu at first I think Keanu was a little intimidated I think because you know he's not 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 told Seth I was like could you imagine if like we did an action movie how awkward we'd be like I'm gonna I'm gonna push back on that because I feel like we would be great in an action movie i because i want uh 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 wicks that's what you mean you know when i was a kid my favorite movies were all action movies my favorite movies were like terminator two 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 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 you're going to? I would like more of, like, a born identity. Oh, whoa.

Just walking through the streets of a European city. I like that. I like that. I feel like everyone would go, like, if I did that, everyone would go like, ha! I came on the street. Well, that's a sometimes. Sometimes people send me stuff that it's more serious.

I'm like, they're just going to think it's too silly to be this guy. I'm going to 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 going to be like, ooh. She's too nice. She's going to change her mind. I do think it's amazing when people like decide to do it 180 as an actor and then they play someone really horrible.

And you're just like, oh, no, we love that person. And now they're playing. Some people can do it. Even when Kianu and I one day we were doing some press stuff together and there was like a room that I was waiting in between and it happened to be like, John Wick weekend. And like I was watching some of the Wicks 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, Kianu. 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 long relationship. Yeah, he's been in the game for a long, long time.

Yeah. I mean, when I was about to meet him, I did like a little film festival when I was rewatching, like, Parenthood and... Parenthood. I just saw 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 like, wow. I love that scene here. Yeah, I know. Are there films that you go back to that are like your comfort watches?

Like, if it's a rainy day and you're like, I'm going to put on a movie. Do you like to watch films? I love watching films. And there's definitely like a film nerd element to my life. And, yeah, the movies I go back to a lot. I love, you know, working on this. And all the time when I'm writing, I revisit it like being John Malkovich a lot. I love that.

I love Eternal Sunshine, Spotless Mind. Those two I visit a lot. I love those. And I love watching just older movies too. Me too. I mean, I feel like the joy of getting older is like looking back and realizing, oh, there's a lot of stuff I still haven't seen, you know? Oh, yeah. It never ends.

I know. I know. The thing that got me into being more diligent in my watching film was, you know, I realized, oh, all these directors that I love, whether it's like Scorsese or Paul Thomas Sam. or whatever. They've seen every movie. And I was like, that can't be a coincidence. I mean, I got to be honest, sometimes is overwhelming. Like, the way people who 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 everybody loved. And Greta Garbo didn't like them. So for her, he would do it with turkey.

And you're, how, I don't know, it's like, I don't know it. I know. It's just, and it definitely feels like that feeling like when you have an oral exam in school. I was watching Parks and Recreation. And you know, any Polish kids called Aziz Ansari, Turkey Sandwich. How do you remember all this? I know, it's intense. Okay, speaking of food, though, turkey sandwich and food, I want to talk to you about food.

Sure. Okay, before we wrap, because I feel like the food. your relationship to food is ties in to the bigger idea of you like trying to open yourself up to a lot of stuff in life, like being curious. 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. Bula 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, it's easy and that was all the restaurants.

It's like, 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 going to cook because I was in London during COVID and the farmer's markets and stuff didn't close and you kind of walk around. And so food became a way to kind of structure your day a little bit.

Yeah. But during COVID, I wanted to learn all my mom's recipes. And so I asked my mom to help me because Indian food is very intimidating. Oh, big time. But it's not as scary. Wait, do I ever send you those cookbooks I make? I make these cookbooks for friends. I got to send you one.

It's all right. No. I'll send you all of them. Wait, so you, like, transcribed your mom's recipes? Not all of them, but, like, every year, like, during Christmas time, I make this. I'm so sorry, I haven't sent it to you. I'll send it to you. No worries.

But, yeah, I just, whatever I've been cooking that year. Oh, that's great. I started during COVID, and then I just kind of kept it going. Oh, that's awesome. But Indian food is 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 me, I'm like, oh, how much of that coriander powder you put in?

It's like, I don't know. I didn't imagine, you know, and you're like, and you're scared that you're going to mess it up. But it's not like baking, you know, where like, oh, if you put like a teaspoon too much, it's not really going to screw it up too much. And the other thing that's super helpful is YouTube. Because you can watch, there's all these people in, 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.

And you just got to 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're called the Indian store, but that sounds like you're going and buying Indian people. No, you're not. It's just ingredients. But you just got to get all the stuff and they keep in the pantry. And then it's like, oh, yeah, everything's like, oh, yeah, a slice of onions and some little ginger garlic and then some spices and then maybe a tomato. And then you put the chicken in, stir it around 20 minutes, and it's done.

Yeah. Wait, can I tell you? So I cook for Rashida 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 didn't make him chicken 65. That's like, it's like Indian chicken nuggets almost. They're like little piece of chicken, little kids love it. So every little, and every kid loves it. And so I made him chicks to 65 and he ate it. And then he started going crazy. He just like had so much energy.

And then I realized it's because the chicken 65, they put red food coloring in it to make it bright red. And the red food coloring has that dye. That makes the kids go crazy. Go crazy. It got them pumped up. Yeah. So now whenever they come over, I just make a bunch of chicken 65 and he goes nuts.

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

She's like, she was like, let's come for Dere again. I was like, what do you watch? 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 show. Oh, of course. And I know Rashida and you guys, like, and she was talking about like how, you know, what

we were talking about earlier that you are, like what she really respects about you is the way that you're a curious person, always trying to learn more about yourself and the world. and her question was, and she was, you know, saying you're a very, very good chef. Oh. Chef or cook? What would you say? Chef?

Cook, cook. Cook, right? Chef seems like someone else says to call you a chef. I'm not that good. Yes. I'm not that great. If you get the right hat, you become a chef. 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 food your family made. And I think there's something. You know, one time I went to India and I stayed for a little extra time and I asked my family, I was like, oh, who's like really like kind of the mean cooks? Like, who can I learn from? And I stayed for a couple days with some people that were a little bit disarranted relatives, like my aunt's 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 like home food. that comes from your family. I think there's something special about it. And, you know, because I think that's something important to pass down. And, you know, with my own parents, you know, they're all healthy and everything. But, you know, you start thinking about their time and just like, oh, wow, like it's a piece

of your family history that I think is cool to try to preserve. I feel like you also took cooking lessons somewhere else, too. Did you go to Italy or? In season two, a master none. That's right. That also gave me a big help to be comfortable in the case. kitchen so it made it less intimidating but uh season two took place in italy so before we filmed it i went and lived in this town in italy and i i learned italian a little bit and and i worked in

these kitchens and these places and these people did not really know who i was and i was like yeah i'm working on a tv show and they're like oh okay and then but they they let me work in the kitchens and i i learned a lot from these these people that were there and they were so nice and um it 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 during COVID, I really started, I had more time. I had nothing to do. So I was just like, okay, I'm going to 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, I grew up in the 70s and early 80s. So I didn't have a ton of, you know, we didn't have like a cooking family. And I always say it's never too late to start trying because it is very like low risk, high reward. Like, try a dish, and if it doesn't work, you just, nobody knows. You can just throw it away. Like, you can just, and when it does work, you feel, like, incredible.

Repetition is the father of learning. Yes. Louis-Wain 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. And, you know, when you come from the stand-up world, we all know that the way stand-ups laugh is they just watch each other and go, nice. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a different thing. They go, yeah, that was funny. What was I laughing at recently? I know. Anything that you do when you're trying to? I just, you know, every now and then my wife will show me some silly internet thing. She showed me something. It was like, it was like a meme of like a dolphin.

It was like looking happy. And it was like me letting the flight attendant know I'm ready for a snack. And it was a dolphin. It's like, like just stupid stuff like that. Okay, let's look up that dolphin. I think it's a dolphin. I love a meme. Yeah, those kind of things.

Movies and stuff. I know, I mean, smiling dolls. I love some of those old movies like The Apartment. Like just those things just make me laugh so hard. You don't go on TikTok or anything like that, right? No, I never really been on TikTok. Oh, bro. I mean, I've seen videos.

I've seen some of the stuff. Some of that stuff has made me laugh. But sometimes I see the stuff I don't understand. It's not him. It's not him. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I like a cookie. close, but the one my wife sent me, the dolphin had a better smile. I got to find it. I got to send it to you later. Do you watch anything? Are you watching any shows right now that like is, you know, I mean, it's an interesting time right now for comedy. I mean, Good Fortune is a great example of like there's not a lot of just straight comedies out there in the world right now. 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.

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, Fordio version, all these movies and just being in like a pack 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. Because 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 stand-up tour, there's so many people there, and you don't realize how much the other people that experience is part of it.

Like, if you come see me do stand-up at a theater, it's, oh, man, we're having a great time. But I just came to your house and just started doing stand-ups and you're sitting by yourself. I'd be like, how did you get into my house? This is not a good experience. But that to me is like, you know,

streaming a movie and being on your phone at the same time, it's like, well, 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 in your phone. I love going to the movie theater. It's so fun.

I'm so happy that you came, Z's. I got to tell you. Whenever I was like, okay, we got to do this press tour for the movie. I was like, oh, well, I know one thing I'll be looking forward to very much. And that was this and spend time with you. Same. It's always a pleasure when we get to see each other. And thank you for having me.

Turkey sandwich. I'm so happy that you came. Hold on one second. Hey, Watson. Yeah, yeah. I'm just finishing up the pod. Okay. I'll see you there.

What? How does he know what? No, I haven't seen Archie and Abel in a long time. What? I don't know. I think they're in their 20s. All right. Take care of 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 a polar plunge. And today's polar plunge is presented by BMW certified. In a world full of uncertainty, BMW certified pre-owned vehicles are the real deal. They come with a BMW certified warranty, genuine BMW parts, and an additional three years of 24-7 roadside assistance. Visit BMWUSA.com slash certified dash pre-owned to learn more.

So for this polar plunge, I just want to stick up for my phone a little bit. I feel like we've been pretty hard on the phone in this episode and we've talked about how bad it is for us. 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, oh, I see that you're at the airport. Have a good flight. My phone lets me buy things by just going beep, just swing. 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 me, help me get away from it. Please help. So today's polar plunge was presented by BMW certified

as a BMW certified owner, you receive the performance you expect, plus the warranty and assistance you deserve. Learn more at BMWUSA.com slash certified dash pre-owned. Thank you, Aziz. Thank you for everyone listening, Good Hang, and we'll see you again. Bye. You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss-Berman, and me, Amy Poehler. The show is produced by The Ringer and Paper Kite. For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Katz-Belaine, Kaya McMullen, and Alea Zanaris. For Paper Kite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss Berman. Original music by Amy Miles.