Aziz Ansari

Amy Poehler: This episode is brought to you by White Claw Surge.

Amy Poehler: Great podcast pick, friend. No surprises there. After all, you're all about finding the tastiest flavors out there, just like White Claw Surge. And with big, bold flavors to enjoy, like blood orange, blackberry, cranberry, and more, it's time to go all in on taste. Unleash the flavor. Unleash White Claw Surge. Please drink responsibly. Hard seltzer with flavors. 8% alcohol by volume. White Claw Seltzer Works, Chicago, Illinois.

Amy Poehler: 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. 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 debut, Good Fortune. Lots to get into.

Amy Poehler: 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.

Amy Poehler: This episode is brought to you by Palmolive. 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. Palmolive Ultra removes up to 99% of grease, leaving your dishes sparkling clean. Visit palmolive.com. Shop now.

Amy Poehler: This is a disaster. Okay. How are you guys over there?

Rashida Jones: Am I the over there?

Amy Poehler: Oh. Oh. Oh, oh, I can look at your face now. Yay.

Rashida Jones: Oh, you couldn't see me before?

Amy Poehler: It was a side view.

Rashida Jones: Oh no, it was a terrible view.

Amy Poehler: No, it was great. It was great. This is just more direct and intimate.

Rashida Jones: Bones Polos. We just had a tech fiasco.

Amy Poehler: Fiasco. We had a snafu.

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

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Rashida Jones: Like across regions. So I'm going to stick with that story.

Amy Poehler: I still can't believe that we have airplanes.

Rashida Jones: Exactly.

Amy Poehler: Exactly. So there you go. This is a miracle. Our meeting today is a miracle. Where are we talking to you from right now?

Rashida Jones: I'm in my friend's... I know this. Every time I talk to you, I feel like I'm in my friend's sitting room. Okay. In London.

Amy Poehler: Well, what makes a sitting room? What's a sitting room?

Rashida Jones: 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.

Amy Poehler: You know you're in London, I'm in London. Oh, I miss you friend.

Rashida Jones: I miss you too.

Amy Poehler: I'm talking to Aziz today and I'm having a lot of nostalgic feelings today. I really miss us as a cast.

Rashida Jones: Same. And I kind of feel like we are his aunties a little bit.

Amy Poehler: We are definitely.

Rashida Jones: Totally. You especially.

Amy Poehler: It was the education of Aziz.

Rashida Jones: I'm sorry. It was sort of like that alternate title for Parks and Recreation. I know him and Plaza feel like they were babies.

Amy Poehler: 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 a very specific cultured aesthetic. I'm loving the color brown that you're wearing.

Rashida Jones: 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.

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

Rashida Jones: Well, there's a palette. Have you ever done your makeup test where you're like an autumn or spring or summer?

Amy Poehler: Yeah, I think we talk... I'm an autumn.

Rashida Jones: You are such an autumn.

Amy Poehler: I think you're a summer.

Rashida Jones: I think you're right and I wanted very much to be a winter. It kind of the story of my life.

Amy Poehler: Why?

Rashida Jones: You love summer polos but you're a summer.

Amy Poehler: I do, but the colors feel a little... I don't know, not substantial. Too playful.

Rashida Jones: Yeah, they feel a little juvenile and I want to... I remember looking at the palette and saying I think I'm winter and then TikTok said, no way. No, ma'am. They said blondies not allowed.

Amy Poehler: But okay. So that's an autumnal color that you've got going on.

Rashida Jones: 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.

Amy Poehler: 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?

Rashida Jones: Okay, because every season Rashida and I, we try to name how we're gonna dress basically. And it's steeped in either a country or a vibe or a trend or an anti-trend.

Amy Poehler: What have been some past ways that we've named the seasons? I can think of a few.

Rashida Jones: High school art teacher.

Amy Poehler: High school art teacher, Japanese winter.

Rashida Jones: Tired ballerina.

Amy Poehler: Tired ballerina. What's the last one that we just kind of found from TikTok?

Rashida Jones: It was like frugal chic.

Amy Poehler: Frugal chic. Right. Like make your own salads, bring them to work, wear the same gorgeous sweater, shop your closet.

Rashida Jones: Shop your closet. What do we think is happening this fall? Just like a double F, like functional fall?

Amy Poehler: Or like, I was just in Paris, which of course the fashion's so good in Paris. And the way that girls wear trousers, it just is hard to describe why they look so much better on them than anybody else. But there's always like a front, or maybe it's front pleat fall.

Rashida Jones: Okay. You know what? No. Gen Z loves their front pleats.

Amy Poehler: I know. I don't need any more help down there to feel full. I don't need any pleats. No more pleats in the front.

Rashida Jones: Agreed.

Amy Poehler: Agreed. Okay. Nevermind.

Rashida Jones: Functional.

Amy Poehler: Functional flat front.

Rashida Jones: Functional flat front fall.

Amy Poehler: Okay. You heard it here first guys. Hashtag trending.

Rashida Jones: Okay. You know we always like to talk well behind our guests back about our guests. What do you love about Aziz Ansari?

Amy Poehler: Aziz is a very insatiably curious human being. He loves to absorb art, food, fashion, film, traveling. He's just 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, he's just so funny and I always want his take on something. He's a pleasure to be around in that way.

Rashida Jones: Yeah. What, I feel like you two have probably gone and done some groovy things together.

Amy Poehler: We've been in a lot of countries together.

Rashida Jones: Yeah.

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Rashida Jones: And I love being in Japan with Aziz because he'll just bust out the best accent and just order in Japanese.

Amy Poehler: What? He speaks Japanese?

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

Amy Poehler: Whoa, that's cool.

Rashida Jones: Yeah, very cool.

Amy Poehler: 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?

Rashida Jones: Fire of envy.

Amy Poehler: Same.

Rashida Jones: Well, people should know that you studied French for a while.

Amy Poehler: A month.

Rashida Jones: Babe, a month more than other people, honey.

Amy Poehler: 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?

Rashida Jones: Yeah, I was thinking about something that would light him up that he'd want to talk about. Again, as we mentioned, Aziz is an extremely cultured individual. 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?

Amy Poehler: Love that. Love that. Has he ever made anything for you?

Rashida Jones: All the time. He cooks me dinner all the time. Everything. My recent favorite is he makes this thing. 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.

Amy Poehler: 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 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, not your grabby tongs, but those long ones where you can turn a delicate mushroom.

Rashida Jones: Wow. I wish we were hanging out together right now.

Amy Poehler: I miss you.

Rashida Jones: I miss you too. I really want to do a TikTok dance with you.

Amy Poehler: Oh yeah.

Rashida Jones: 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.

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

Rashida Jones: You know, no one is a bigger fan. Could you do the TikTok dance and send it to me?

Amy Poehler: By myself. I will. I'll send it to you. Just don't show anybody. I'll send it to you.

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

Amy Poehler: Yes.

Rashida Jones: Let's do that. Maybe your team, after they fix your audio issues, can help me do that.

Amy Poehler: Yeah. We're going to split this in three and you're going to be your own backup singer.

Rashida Jones: I'd love that. Best career.

Amy Poehler: Thank you, Bones, for doing this. Miss you, bud.

Rashida Jones: So happy to see you.

Amy Poehler: Miss you so much.

Rashida Jones: I know.

Amy Poehler: And love you and have fun with Aziz, Zeezers.

Rashida Jones: Baby Zeezy.

Amy Poehler: As I call him.

Rashida Jones: Baby Zeezy.

Amy Poehler: All right.

Rashida Jones: Thanks, friend.

Amy Poehler: Love you.

Rashida Jones: Love you too.

Amy Poehler: This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. Beauty emergencies are bound to happen. How many times have you 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 $40 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.

Amy Poehler: God, this is like beat New York right now.

Aziz Ansari: I know.

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

Aziz Ansari: Yeah.

Amy Poehler: Is this on now?

Aziz Ansari: Yeah, we're rolling.

Amy Poehler: Oh, whoa. Okay, good. I'm glad I didn't drop any racial slurs as I tend to do when I usually see you.

Aziz Ansari: Right away when you see me.

Amy Poehler: Yeah, right away. We usually say, "What's your favorite right now?" And then I say my favorite. And then we start hanging out.

Aziz Ansari: Yeah.

Amy Poehler: So, God, thank goodness we dropped that tradition.

Aziz Ansari: Yeah. No, we're rolling. And all we've been talking about is New York in the fall.

Amy Poehler: That's it. New York in the fall, baby. But when you come here, do you ever want to live here? You still spend time here.

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

Amy Poehler: Yeah, I know what you mean. Your little ZZ's all grown up.

Aziz Ansari: I know. My ZZ is just an old man now.

Amy Poehler: 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.

Aziz Ansari: How old were you when you started on the show?

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

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

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Aziz Ansari: It is true, though. 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 him to play this guy?"

Amy Poehler: I want to get into this, too, because it feels like 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 try to get back that energy. You remember being out late and all this kind of stuff. And you were an NYU kid.

Aziz Ansari: I went to NYU and I started doing comedy then.

Amy Poehler: Were you doing comedy in high school?

Aziz Ansari: No, I grew up in South Carolina. So there was no outlet for anything like that. It was like, you could dip and spit into a mountain. You could spit into a cup and everyone laughed. I just drank Mountain Dew and did that. That's all I did in high school. I rode four wheelers.

Amy Poehler: Were you in a play?

Aziz Ansari: 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 a cowboy and I was doing 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 one of those things I remember.

Amy Poehler: So were you a funny kid?

Aziz Ansari: Yeah, I liked to be funny in class. Anytime there was anything that involved public speaking or something, I was always super comfortable. I remember when I did something where I was six years old, I had to speak in front of the whole school and it didn't faze me at all. I don't know why.

Amy Poehler: It's so funny. Yeah, because when I was in school in South Carolina, right? This is in the 80s. So 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 called 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 got to get him out of this first grade thing. He needs to go to second now. Get him out of my class. He's embarrassing everyone else."

Aziz Ansari: Then I went to second grade. And this is a little school. So 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 I'm on the radio and all this stuff.

Amy Poehler: No.

Aziz Ansari: Yeah, I was on the radio. And there's a recording somewhere. And when I was a little kid, I had a southern accent because that's where I grew up. That's where I'm around. So I vaguely remember being on some radio program and I was like, "My name is Aziz Ansari and I'm a first grader at Marlboro Academy."

Amy Poehler: When you were told at six that you were a smart kid, then you become the smart kid. Were you the smart kid?

Aziz Ansari: 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.

Amy Poehler: Yeah, yeah. I bet. I bet people were just projecting a lot of stuff on you.

Aziz Ansari: And then I went to this school in 11th and 12th grade, which is a science and math school. It's a public school in South Carolina called the Governor's School. And there it's like all the smartest kids from all over South Carolina. And there I was just this dumb kid that was smoking weed and telling dumb stories. And they were like, "What happened? I thought you skipped first grade."

Amy Poehler: Yeah, 11th grade. You need to go back to 10.

Aziz Ansari: Yeah, they kicked you back down.

Amy Poehler: Yeah, I mean, we talked a lot about it when we first met, this idea of growing up in South Carolina in the 80s as a young Indian boy, one of probably the only in your class.

Aziz Ansari: Oh, not one of the... In 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 first grade. There was Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. And it was me and Tisha. We were the stars, you know, all diversity. Me and Tisha in Bennettsville in like 1988. Leads of this mysterious play where there was Mickey and Minnie Mouse. But there was always like, "Oh, you know."

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

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

Amy Poehler: Did they come over together?

Aziz Ansari: 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.

Amy Poehler: Yeah. You had that same drive to see more of the world.

Aziz Ansari: Yeah. And luckily, I went to school in New York, which is the greatest place to be if you have that kind of feeling.

Amy Poehler: So when you're leaving South Carolina, you apply to NYU. You're like, "I'm going to go to business school."

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

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

Aziz Ansari: 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 that stuff. I don't even know what Goldman Sachs is. And I'm completely confused.

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Aziz Ansari: 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 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.

Amy Poehler: How do you go do stand-up? What makes you go do stand-up when you're in college?

Aziz Ansari: It was one of these weird things. I was in school my freshman year and I was just sitting around and telling stories and people are laughing. Someone's like, "Oh, man, you should try to do stand-up." And then a week later, the same thing happened. And it was like one of these weird maybe the universe is saying something. And then I went to a comedy club. I went to the Comedy Cellar, which I still perform at all the time. And I saw a show and I was like, "I think I can do this." And I tried it and I wasn't great. 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 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, "I want that feeling again."

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Aziz Ansari: And so I started there and then it just kind of went from there.

Amy Poehler: Well, when we met, do you remember the first time we met? I was trying to think today.

Aziz Ansari: I mean, I don't remember anything. I have so many friends where I'm like, "When did we first meet?" One of the first times I remember meeting you was at the UCB Theater. There was a Monday night stand-up show at 11 which is 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 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.

Amy Poehler: 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 sleep all day and then go do a show at 11 o'clock on Monday night.

Aziz Ansari: Yeah.

Amy Poehler: Then you go on and you create your own sketch show.

Aziz Ansari: Yeah, we did the sketch on MTV.

Amy Poehler: Yeah. And that was kind of like 2007, which was such a cool time for comedy at the time because you had MTV and Comedy Central and all these places taking big risks on green apples.

Aziz Ansari: Yeah.

Amy Poehler: And Adult Swim and all these things.

Aziz Ansari: Were you on Adult Swim?

Amy Poehler: No, but that was around and things like Tim and Eric.

Aziz Ansari: Yeah, and it was like, "Here's this kind of niche vibe. Let's give them a show for a couple of seasons."

Amy Poehler: Yeah. And that show was Human Giant.

Aziz Ansari: Yeah.

Amy Poehler: And you wrote. What did you learn from doing a sketch show?

Aziz Ansari: Sketch shows are really hard.

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Aziz Ansari: I mean, that's one of the hardest things to do because even just from a production standpoint, 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 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. And it was because it was on YouTube or Funny or Die or whatever. And that was what got me the gig on Parks.

Amy Poehler: Yeah, and was it Shutterbugs?

Aziz Ansari: No. What was the sketch? 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 so excited. "I got 2 million views." And then he's like, "Oh, we have this other guy, his name's Kevin Kriesler. 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 so he has to reckon with the fact that he could have just made funny faces and he 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, yeah."

Amy Poehler: Because a lot of people don't know you were the first person hired for Parks.

Aziz Ansari: Yeah, I met with them.

Amy Poehler: And what was that meeting like? Do you remember it?

Aziz Ansari: Well, it was so mysterious what they're up to.

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Aziz Ansari: 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 this was like when The Office was on and Mike and Greg were both involved in that. And that was 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, when it all came together with you and Rashida and everything.

Amy Poehler: Well, I'm kind of learning. When I was talking to Plaza, when Plaza was here, she was talking about her meeting with them, too.

Aziz Ansari: Yeah, yeah. Very famous stories.

Amy Poehler: 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." It didn't even feel like there was a ton of auditioning. It was more just them picking people that they thought was funny.

Aziz Ansari: 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.

Amy Poehler: Yeah, really.

Aziz Ansari: I cannot believe it because we've all done other stuff and not everybody's... look, we've all done other stuff. I don't talk about everything the way I talk about Parks. You do something, some people it's just your 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, when I did Master of None with Alan and as I become a director, what I learned from you and Mike in terms of how to lead... I can't thank you enough. It was the best role model I could ever have.

Amy Poehler: See? See? See? 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.

Aziz Ansari: Same.

Amy Poehler: 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. I don't remember the context of the episode or whatever, but we're in Ron's office, and me and Donna, there's something called Blush, and Ron has decided Ron's in Blush. So me and Retta start just going, "Ron's in Blush, Ron's in Blush." And then I jump on the table. And me and Retta's dancing is getting crazier and crazier. And we're just dancing all over the office, doing all the crazy stuff. And they showed that. That was what we shot. And then they showed the scene as it aired. And it was just like, "Ron's in Blush." And they cut.

Aziz Ansari: That's also my favorite thing. I love trying to get someone to break. You're pretty good.

Amy Poehler: I don't know, the government's pretty high up on that.

Aziz Ansari: Agree. He never cracked up. And oh, man, there was a couple of times where I almost got him. I think he didn't laugh, but I think his mustache went up a little bit. And I remember one thing that you wrote, it was an episode you wrote. I was doing that puppy voice, and then the puppy started looking at his mustache. And I was like, "Hi, Mr. Ponson. I like your mustache. I'm just a little puppy." And it all, I think it almost got it. It almost got it.

Amy Poehler: You're so right. I mean, the setup there was like, you had a chance to play around. You got to try your stuff. I mean, the fact that "Treat Yourself" is used on cocktail napkins and in Kmart and it's everywhere. I went to some ice cream place one time and they're like, "Treat yourself to a sample." I was like, "Can I have a sample?" I was like, "Please don't connect this." Luckily, the person didn't put them together.

Aziz Ansari: Yeah.

Amy Poehler: I mean, that's become part of the lexicon. And I can remember that moment. It's so funny in that moment, "Treat Yourself," because you guys say, "Treat Yourself, 2011." And I'm like, "Oh my gosh, 2011. Remember that." And then there was one in the future that was like, "Treat Yourself, 2014." 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 what made you laugh, what made Aziz laugh, what would be fun for us. That's what they started doing so well.

Aziz Ansari: Yes. I think they just the more they got to know us it was such a good group that you could just be like, "Well, what happens if we put these two together?" And then, of course, we had the greatest people coming in and doing bit parts. They were all just so funny. And the characters... Another clip I watched that... And I think, talking about breaking, this is the hardest scene I've ever had to film in my entire acting career. And it's on YouTube, the blooper of this. Do you remember this?

Aziz Ansari: It's me and Adam Scott, and we're having lunch with Joan Kalamets.

Amy Poehler: Yes, the great Mo Collins.

Aziz Ansari: 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, Ben is supposed to say, "Dude, is she going to go powder her vagina?" And we couldn't do it. And this is the only time I think this ever happened on Parks or anything where me and Adam were like, let's just film the rest of the stuff and we'll come back to that. We'll just come back because we couldn't do it. Because it's just the most absurd task because you're like, OK, no, no, we got it this time. OK. All right. All right, guys. Ready? OK. "Amongst other things, is she?" You know, he could say, "Dude, you 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, yeah. And then she'd add some other thing. And you're like, hey, you can't do that. I just steeled myself. And now you just did this other funny thing. That's not fair.

Amy Poehler: Oh, I love a blooper. I love bloopers in general. I love a blooper. Yeah. But watching these Parks bloopers was, after I watched your thing, it put me on the algorithm. It was so fun. Oh, and you know what I also want to just say when we're in the Parks and Recreation world for a second? My kids loved Aziz. They're in their late teens, and when they see you on TV, they go, "Oh, is Turkey Sandwich in this?" So yes. My kids were little when I was shooting that show, and they would come and visit. And Aziz, you're really good with kids. Oh, and you do a thing that they love, which is you kind of... It's funny, you realize sometimes with kids, people either come on too strong and just want to interact and kids are like, "Ugh," or they just 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?

Aziz Ansari: Watson.

Amy Poehler: 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 five years old. And the other day, you were just 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!" And you loved that. I just remember you thinking it was so funny. And the other thing I just wanted to... 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.

Aziz Ansari: Ugh.

Amy Poehler: What is your relationship to your phone now?

Aziz Ansari: I try to stay off everything as much as I can.

Amy Poehler: How do you do that? Teach me your ways.

Aziz Ansari: I don't have email. I haven't had email for like 10 years.

Amy Poehler: Incredible.

Aziz Ansari: Yeah. But I have an assistant.

Amy Poehler: Okay. All right. But still, that means that...

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

Amy Poehler: So you don't use like an Uber app?

Aziz Ansari: No apps. Usually, in London, there's taxis all the time, and you can hail them. And here too, in New York, yeah.

Amy Poehler: Well, why do you have that kind of relationship with your phone?

Aziz Ansari: It just gives me more space to think. I heard something about Tarantino doesn't even have a phone. Chris Nolan doesn't have a phone. I was like, well, 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. But that's just me. I don't know.

Amy Poehler: 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 it for a couple of days. You were like, "This is the greatest thing ever."

Aziz Ansari: 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's because some parents get their kid a flip phone. I don't want to get you a flip phone. Sure. So I saw that. And then I had mine. And I saw the kid. And I went like this and dapped her flip phone. And she was completely confused. "Can I see your flip phone? God, this thing doesn't even work that well." Wow. But another thing is one time I was eating in a restaurant in London. And I heard my phone going off. And I checked and nothing was going on. But it was another dude that had a flip. And then we started talking. And we were talking about all this and just joking about how like, "Oh, what do you do when you get lost?" and all this kind of stuff. Classic flip phone guy combo. And then he said, "You know, the thing I think you got to avoid now is the chat bot." And I was like, "Oh, 100%."

Amy Poehler: Okay, let's talk about that. The AI. Not the AI. Wait, what's chat bot?

Aziz Ansari: Chat bot, or I think I'm not even calling it right. But the thing where you type the Chat GPT. I call it chat bot.

Amy Poehler: Chat bot. Yeah, but it's Chat GPT. See, I don't even know the name.

Aziz Ansari: I agree. I think this is like, you know, it's outsourcing critical thinking. It's making everyone's opinions kind of the same. This is my feeling, you know.

Amy Poehler: Yes.

Aziz Ansari: 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.

Amy Poehler: Yes. So you can keep asking it questions.

Aziz Ansari: And, you know, someone showed me some commercial where it's like someone said, "How do I make a dinner for this girl that makes a..." And I'm like, well, I would rather someone call someone and ask someone or maybe have some sort of conversation, a human thing. It just seems like it's outsourcing thinking and it's killing some bit of humanity.

Amy Poehler: Yes. I don't know. It kind of makes you... I was reading some article where it said it's making everyone a little more basic.

Aziz Ansari: Ooh, yeah, that's real.

Amy Poehler: 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. You're very interested in the why of why people make choices. And I feel like definitely the last few stand-up specials that I've seen you do definitely have that feeling. And what is it? Are you doing stand-up right now? Are you out doing it at all?

Aziz Ansari: I've just been promoting the movie now, but I think I'm going to go out after the movie in like October, November.

Amy Poehler: And do all new material?

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

Amy Poehler: So what's it like being married? Is it fun being married?

Aziz Ansari: No, I love my wife very, very much. She's great. That's the best thing that's ever happened to me.

Amy Poehler: Yeah. You've met her a handful of times.

Aziz Ansari: And yeah, she's great.

Amy Poehler: How did you meet?

Aziz Ansari: We met in London. And we did long distance for a while. And then I was like, all right.

Amy Poehler: How has being married changed you?

Aziz Ansari: I just feel like all the other stuff doesn't really matter to me anymore. 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 kind of makes everything else seem like it's less important.

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

Aziz Ansari: Oh, thank you.

Amy Poehler: Let's get those tears going, Aziz. Let's get those tears going. Chop, chop.

[Ad break]

Amy Poehler: Before we talk about Good Fortune, your new film, which looks amazing and holy shit, the cast is great and you wrote and directed it. It's so good. When you were doing Master of None, Master of None feels like a show with Alan Yang that you created. It feels like when I was looking up and going over your stuff and being reminded of it, it almost feels like a different time in television that it was pre-COVID.

Aziz Ansari: 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." They had so few. And so every show got their shine. And 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, that was not really happening. And they let us kind of really do what we wanted. When people talk about getting notes, they hadn't even hired people to give notes yet. And then the first season did really well. So the second season was like, yeah, just keep doing your thing. And it was just a radically different time. And now streaming and making shows and all these things have become much, much different.

Amy Poehler: 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 the lead of a show?

Aziz Ansari: Well, the other thing about Parks is Parks is not only you on this great show but everything taken care of. You just show up and you're like, drink yourself. Good night. See you, Z. Thanks so much. Great day at work. And that is not what you do on Master of None or what I do on Good Fortune. You have to pick... I think sometimes people are like, "What is directing? It's kind of a vague thing." And it's really just deciding everything. You're like, okay, where does the scene take place? Okay, a restaurant. Okay, let's go drive around and look at how many restaurants, got to pick the restaurant. What are the people wearing? You're making so many decisions. You're crafting everything. And then you have to, 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.

Amy Poehler: Yeah. And just acting is a much different, simpler gig. What part of directing surprises you that you like so much?

Aziz Ansari: I just love these moments where you've written something and you have your actors and you had it in your head a certain way. And then someone does something a little surprising or it just goes to another level. When I was looking at some behind-the-scenes stuff for Good Fortune, I really enjoyed the stuff where I wasn't acting and I was just over the side and Keanu and Seth were doing something that was cracking me up and I was just laughing and trying not to mess up the scene. Those moments are super fun. There's a scene where they're riding in a car and they were like, "Okay, do you want to follow them in the van, be on the radio?" I was like, "Oh, those radios always cut out. I'm just going to hide in the back seat." So I was curled up like this and I was just yelling jokes. And Seth and Keanu are so iconic. And hearing them say the jokes, the way you have it in your head, but also a little funnier.

Amy Poehler: Yeah. When it really feels like you're a little kid playing. Those are the best parts.

Aziz Ansari: Yes.

Amy Poehler: You know what I mean? Totally. And also to allow yourself to still do that. Because sometimes I think when you're working on anything that you created, no matter what it is, it doesn't have to be a film. It can be anything that you made and you hand it over and people then start to work on it. It's hard to not be too rigid about it. 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.

Aziz Ansari: 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. 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. 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.

Amy Poehler: Let's talk about Good Fortune because that cast is... Okay, so first of all, is Keanu as nice as he seems?

Aziz Ansari: He's the best.

Amy Poehler: He seems incredible.

Aziz Ansari: Yeah, he's the best and he's also 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. Then he gets out, he's wearing all black. He's got 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, oh.

Amy Poehler: 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.

Aziz Ansari: He's riding that motorcycle. I'm like, oh.

Amy Poehler: I want him off that motorcycle.

Aziz Ansari: Yeah. No, no. He loves his motorcycle.

Amy Poehler: Yeah. And Seth and Kiki you've worked with before.

Aziz Ansari: Oh, Kiki is the best. You got to meet Kiki. Kiki is one of my favorite people ever.

Amy Poehler: I have met Kiki.

Aziz Ansari: You have?

Amy Poehler: I got the privilege of doing her podcast.

Aziz Ansari: Oh, you did? We did a podcast, too. It was so fun.

Amy Poehler: So fun. Kiki and I have had dinner, not to brag, by ourselves, just the two of us. She's in Australia now. We rarely get to see each other. She works all the time. She is so naturally funny. I've described Kiki. She is a movie star, hilarious. She once told me her aunt died in a way that was really funny. And I was like, "How did you do that? I'm laughing. And you just told me your aunt died." She is so quick. She's so sharp. She's so talented. I mean, she's just as good a singer and performer as she is an actress.

Aziz Ansari: We had this scene where me and Kiki are dancing. And I was working with some choreographer. And then Kiki's just like, "Oh, yeah." And just does all this crazy stuff. And I'm like, oh. Yeah, she is. She's so talented. And the cast is really awesome.

Amy Poehler: How did you let everybody play and experiment on the set? Was it that kind of set?

Aziz Ansari: Yeah, I mean, look, if you cast the right people, it all comes together and gels in a nice way. And I spend a lot of time rehearsing with everybody.

Amy Poehler: Okay, so you like to rehearse.

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

Amy Poehler: I'm going to push back on that because I feel like we would be great in an action movie. Because I want us to be able to do more action.

Aziz Ansari: Really?

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

Aziz Ansari: Oh, yeah. Keanu barely speaks in those movies. That's what I mean. When I was a kid, my favorite movies were all action movies. My favorite movies were Terminator 2 and Die Hard. I still love those movies. Those are some of my favorite movies. But I loved action movies as a kid. I liked comedy and all this stuff. I feel like once you start talking, it's diminishing returns. 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...

Amy Poehler: Which, are you trying to be like in a Fast and the Furious movie? What's the action movie?

Aziz Ansari: I would like more of like a boring identity.

Amy Poehler: Oh, whoa.

Aziz Ansari: Just walking through the streets of a European city. Leather jacket.

Amy Poehler: I like that.

Aziz Ansari: I feel like if I did that, everyone would go like, "Ha, ha, ha." I came on the screen.

Amy Poehler: Well, that's sometimes. People send me stuff that's more serious. I'm like, they're just going to think I'm too silly to be this guy. It's going to hurt the movie. I can't do it for you. 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 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 this." Some people can do it.

Aziz Ansari: Even when Keanu and I, one day we were doing some press stuff together and there was a room that I was waiting in in between. And it happened to be John Wick weekend. And I was watching some of the Wick stuff. I'm 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.

Amy Poehler: Yeah. It's really impressive. He just also has a great reputation for being a wonderful person, Keanu. It just seems like those kind of things just get out into the world. And he just seems like he's handled his giant fame and his long relationship.

Aziz Ansari: Yeah, he's been in the game for a long, long time. When I was about to meet him, I did a little film festival and I was re-watching Parenthood and—

Amy Poehler: Parenthood. I just re-watched Parenthood on the plane. It's so good.

Aziz Ansari: It's incredible. It is. It's so good. During that weekend, the John Wick weekend, they showed Parenthood too, and I was watching in between, and I was just like, wow. Very different, John Wick and Parenthood.

Amy Poehler: 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?

Aziz Ansari: I love watching films and there's definitely a film nerd element to my life. And the movies I go back to a lot. I love working on this and all the time when I'm writing, I revisit Being John Malkovich a lot.

Amy Poehler: Yes.

Aziz Ansari: I love Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Amy Poehler: I love Eternal Sunshine.

Aziz Ansari: Those two I visit a lot. I love those. And I love watching just older movies too.

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

Aziz Ansari: Oh, yeah. It never ends.

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

Aziz Ansari: I mean, I got to be honest. Sometimes it's overwhelming. The way people who make films talk about films definitely makes me feel stressed.

Amy Poehler: Oh, I had to go on TCM or whatever. And I was like, hey man, I might get some things wrong here because Scorsese will be like, "And the person that did the craft services here, 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 know how..." Totally. I don't know. I don't know it.

Aziz Ansari: I know. It's just and it definitely feels like that feeling when you have an oral exam in school. I was watching Parks and Recreation and, you know, any Polish kids call disease, I'm sorry, turkey sandwich. How do you remember all this?

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

Aziz Ansari: Sure.

Amy Poehler: Okay, before we wrap, because I feel like the food, your relationship to food ties into the bigger idea of you trying to open yourself up to a lot of stuff in life, like being curious.

Aziz Ansari: Sure.

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

Aziz Ansari: My mom would cook Indian food. And there was a woman that took care of us. Her name was Miss Beulah. And she cooked Southern food. So there would be Indian food like biryani or whatever. And then there'd be chicken and dumplings.

Amy Poehler: Incredible.

Aziz Ansari: Weirdly, I think we'd eat a little bit of both. So I grew up on Southern food and Indian food.

Amy Poehler: 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.

Aziz Ansari: It's interesting you ask because I think people think of me as like, oh, it's easy. And that was all the restaurants. I actually like just cook at home all the time now. I love to cook. And I think it happened a lot 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.

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Aziz Ansari: 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.

Amy Poehler: Oh, big time.

Aziz Ansari: But it's not as good. Wait, do I ever send you those cookbooks I make? I make these cookbooks for friends. I got to send you one.

Amy Poehler: It's all right. No. I'll send you all of them. Wait, so you transcribed your mom's recipes?

Aziz Ansari: 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.

Amy Poehler: No worries.

Aziz Ansari: But yeah, I just, whatever I've been cooking that year.

Amy Poehler: Oh, that's great. I started during COVID and then I just kind of kept it going.

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

Amy Poehler: What makes Indian food for a person just cooking hard to cook?

Aziz Ansari: It's nothing hard. It's just, I would ask when I'm like, "Oh, how much of that coriander powder did you put in?" It's like, "I don't know. I didn't." And you're like, wait, but, but, and you're scared that you're going to mess it up. But it's not like baking where if you put a teaspoon too much, it's not really going to screw it up too much. And the other thing that's super helpful is YouTube because you can watch. There's all these people like 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 is kind of funny. That's what everybody calls it, the Indian grocery store. They call it the Indian store. But that sounds like you're going and buying Indian people. No, you're not. It's just ingredients. Just the food, ingredients. But you just got to get all the stuff, and they keep it in the pantry. And then it's like, oh, yeah, everything's like, 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.

Amy Poehler: 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'll make him chicken 65." That's like Indian chicken nuggets almost. They're little pieces of chicken. Little kids love it. And every kid loves it. And so I made them chicken 65 and he ate it. And then he started going crazy. He just 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.

Amy Poehler: Go crazy.

Aziz Ansari: It got him pumped up. So now whenever they come over, I just make a bunch of chicken 65 and he goes nuts.

Amy Poehler: 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.

Aziz Ansari: Okay.

Amy Poehler: And I get a question, and I just talked to Rashida.

Aziz Ansari: Oh, wow.

Amy Poehler: And Rashida just told us that you made her Chicken 65. She loves it. She was like, "Let's come for dinner again." I was like, "What do you want?" She's like, "Chicken 65." She loves it. And in many ways, we both, Rashida and I, feel like we were your auntie at times on that show.

Aziz Ansari: Oh, of course.

Amy Poehler: And I know Rashida and you guys, and she was talking about how, what we were talking about earlier, that you are what she really respects about you is the way that you're a curious person always trying to learn more about yourself and the world. And her question was, and she was saying you're a very, very good chef.

Aziz Ansari: Oh.

Amy Poehler: Chef or cook? What would you say?

Aziz Ansari: Chef? Cook?

Amy Poehler: Cook.

Aziz Ansari: Cook. Cook, right?

Amy Poehler: Yeah, a little low key.

Aziz Ansari: Chef seems like someone else has to call you a chef. I'm not that good.

Amy Poehler: Yes.

Aziz Ansari: I'm not that great.

Amy Poehler: If you get the right hat, you become a chef.

Aziz Ansari: Yeah. You just put it on.

Amy Poehler: But as a cook, she wanted me to ask you, what is your favorite thing to cook?

Aziz Ansari: 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 like the mean cooks? Like, who can I learn from?" And I stayed for a couple of days with some people that were a little bit distant relatives, like my aunt's sister or something like that. And they showed me so much stuff. They were cooking in their home and showed you?

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

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

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

Amy Poehler: In season two of *Master of None*.

Aziz Ansari: That's right.

Amy Poehler: 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 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, OK." And then they let me work in the kitchens. And I learned a lot from these people that were there and they were so nice. And it kind of gave me some confidence to start with the Italian food. And then there were 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, "OK, I'm going to keep pushing this."

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

Aziz Ansari: Repetition is the father of learning.

Amy Poehler: Yes.

Aziz Ansari: Lil Wayne said that.

Amy Poehler: He did?

Aziz Ansari: He did.

Amy Poehler: Amazing. I mean, I don't know if he was quoting someone else.

Aziz Ansari: Maybe. We'll see. We'll look it up.

Amy Poehler: What are you laughing at these days? What are you watching, reading? I know you're not addicted to your phone. You have a flip phone. But what do you do to laugh? Where do you go for a laugh?

Aziz Ansari: I know. What did I watch to laugh recently? It's kind of hard when comedy is your job. You don't watch as much comedy sometimes. And 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, that was funny." It's a different thing. What was I laughing at recently? Every now and then my wife will show me some silly Internet thing. She showed me something like a meme of a dolphin looking happy. And it was like, "Me letting the flight attendant know I'm ready for a snack." And it was a dolphin. Just stupid stuff like that.

Amy Poehler: Let's look up that dolphin. I think it... I love a meme. Yeah.

Aziz Ansari: Those kind of things. Movies and stuff. I mean, I love some of those old movies like *The Apartment*. Those things just make me laugh so hard.

Amy Poehler: You don't go on TikTok or anything like that, right?

Aziz Ansari: No, I've never really been on TikTok. 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.

Amy Poehler: It's not him. It's not him. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, it's like a cookie. That's pretty close.

Aziz Ansari: 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.

Amy Poehler: Do you watch anything? Are you watching any shows right now? It's an interesting time right now for comedy. I mean, *Good Fortune* is a great example of there not being a lot of straight comedies out there in the world right now. To have an original idea that's a comedy in theaters, to have even one of those three now is wild.

Aziz Ansari: It is. And Seth and I were always talking about this, how we wanted the movie to be theatrical. I remember going in New York when I was in school to see *Anchorman* and *The 40-Year-Old Virgin*, all these movies, and being in a packed theater and just dying. I think that's something I miss, and I hope it comes back. 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. If you go to a live show like a UCB or a stand-up tour, there are so many people there. You don't realize how much the other people's experience is part of it. If you come see me do stand-up at a theater, we're having a great time. But if I just came to your house and started doing stand-up and you were sitting by yourself, it would be much worse. I'd be like, "How did you get into my house? This is not a good experience." Streaming a movie and being on your phone at the same time is not the same thing.

Amy Poehler: 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 got to tell you, whenever I was like, "OK, we got to do this press tour for the movie," I was like, "Well, I know one thing I'll be looking forward to very much, and that was this and spending time with you."

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

Amy Poehler: Turkey sandwich. I'm so happy that you came. [Pause] Hold on one second. Hey, Watson.

Watson: [Unintelligible]

Amy Poehler: Yeah, yeah. I'm just finishing up the pod. OK. I'll see you there.

Aziz Ansari: What? How does he know what?

Amy Poehler: No, I haven't seen Archie and Abel in a long time. What? I don't know. I think they're in their 20s. All right. Take care, Watson. Bye. Thank you, Aziz Ansari, for coming by and hanging. It was so great to see you and to go down memory lane and talk about all the good things ahead. And now it is time for our Polar Plunge. And today's Polar Plunge is presented by BMW Certified. In a world full of uncertainty, BMW Certified Pre-Owned vehicles are the real deal. They come with a BMW Certified warranty, genuine BMW parts, and an additional three years of 24/7 roadside assistance. Visit bmwusa.com/certified-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 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," sweeping it across the thing. You don't even have to take out your credit card. My phone 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 at bmwusa.com/certified-pre-owned. Thank you, Aziz. Thank you for everyone listening. Good hang, and we'll see you again. Bye.