Ed Helms Needs a Mouth Medic While Eating Spicy Wings | Hot Ones

yeah this is like this is like a car crash oh wow [Music] hey what's going on everybody for first week feast i'm shawn evans and you're watching hot ones it's the show with hot questions and even hotter wings and today we're joined by ed helms he's an actor and comedian whose credits include some of the all-time most successful comedy franchises including the office daily show and the hangover trilogy his latest project though is true story with ed and randall an original comedy series streaming exclusively on peacock ed helms welcome to the show thank you so much for having me before we get started how would you gauge your level of comfort around spicy food um in my teens and twenties i i took pride in really going for the hot stuff my brother called me asbestos tongue wow because i could i would always order the hottest version of whatever we were eating i haven't done that in a long time and i'm i'm i'm nervous like i'm i'm really nervous [Music] good i mean it's the classic right right [Music] piece of cake i mean quite yummy [Music] so your new show true story with ed and randall is a hybrid scripted unscripted series where regular people tell you and randall park their craziest personal anecdotes which are then brought to life through dramatic reenactments how much of a good story would you say is in what actually happened and then how much of a good story is and how the story gets told well that's a great question [Music] it's it's gonna come down to the balance between the two because something incredibly mundane can be so funny if it's told really well i remember louis black back when i was on the daily show we would be meeting up at a taping somewhere like a remote somewhere and he would just start talking about his trip to the location and about his interaction with the the cab driver that was crazy and then someone spilled coffee on to the dumbest sort of story but he was so funny and he could just kill us with these these simple stories then if you have a really like a story that's inherently crazy then it actually doesn't need a whole lot of top spin where we got really lucky on this show is that the stories themselves are absolutely insane and the people that we got on the show are amazing they're just incredibly warm and hilarious and vulnerable people like they really open up to tell us these stories it's it's really cool [Music] hey i'm getting that garlic um that's number two right holy [ __ ] all right i mean i like it i'm still happy i'm not angry yet i'm gonna take another bite there you go because it is yummy so one of my favorite parts about your conversation on pete holmes's podcast is when that you recognize that the comedy club in crashing is actually a replica of the boston uh since shuddered comedy institution where you began your career thinking back on those days when you were hosting the monday night new talent showcase what about that time in your career do you miss the most and then what's a harsh reality about making a career in comedy that you had to learn the hard way great questions um i think what i miss most about that time was it's sort of hard to articulate but there's this feeling when you're in the comedy clubs as a as when you're really starting out and you're young and there's nowhere to go but up you know you're at the bottom rung and it just feels like anything's possible your dreams are still like tangible and after you're in it for about a year or so and it's down to like a pretty core crew of really committed comedians you really feel a part of something like a part of a comedy freshman class if you will and then you had upperclassmen that that were like slightly more established and then you had like you know the seniors that were out there to like doing big tours and stuff um i don't know i felt part of something it was a special special time calabria very sophisticated sauce [Music] yeah i like it is it true that the bathtub scene and jeff who lives at home came about with the duplass brothers basically just pointing cameras at you and jason siegel and then just letting you riff in a 40-minute long uninterrupted improv session yes um but actually uh that was the whole movie the entire movie was improvised so i remember getting the script and being like oh this script is so great i can't wait to do this this will be so fun and then mark and jay were like yeah but we're not doing any of those lines you're not gonna say any of it what yeah we're gonna improvise the whole thing you and jason are just gonna like this was improvisation in the service of like making the dialogue sound as real and visceral as possible and that was really a fun challenge i'm super proud of that movie i'm glad you brought it up because it doesn't come up very often and and it was a great great project is it true that there were no special effects involved in the missing tooth and the hangover because you actually just never had an adult incisor grow in yes that is true uh some of these sauces are talking back but um it was it was in the script and so right away once we got into pre-production todd the director was like how are we gonna do this or what are you comfortable with and i said uh well let's i don't know we'll talk to the visual effects guys and they said okay we'll try blacking it out so we did a little screen test with just like you know like halloween pirate costume style like just some black on the tooth which actually looks good in person but on camera it looked terrible but i was like i i wasn't gonna say anything but this tooth is actually fake in my mouth and uh and i i can ask my dentist if we could take it out i mean it's been a permanent implant since i was a teenager i went to my dentist and he said oh yeah no problem we can just take the crown off and like put a little little thing in there to keep your gum healthy and i had to go back and shoot the office at the same time and he so he made me a retainer with a fake tooth on it which made me sound drunk because i was like my tongue couldn't form words but we got through it [Music] angry goat pepper company let's do it i thought like maybe i got a very light coating on my wing but upon further investigation but yeah then it it it it sort of has a afterburner right oh yeah still delicious though so some people watching this may be surprised to learn that in addition to being a prolific actor you're also an experienced banjo player and still perform alongside your band lonesome trio which you created in college what's your defense of the banjo to people who lump it in with the accordion or the ukulele or other instruments that don't get the respect they deserve there's no defense they're they're exactly right it there's there's very little redeeming about a banjo [Music] i love the banjo and i love to play it i consider that a curse it's obnoxious it's it dominates it's very hard to play well so most of us play it kind of badly i have some little gene or um clump of brain cells that is drawn to it and i can't explain it but uh i would never try to defend a banjo i never try to convince someone that banjos are great either like it or you don't well i appreciate the education at are you ready to move on here to the midway point los calientes rojo that's enough about bluegrass helms shut up about the goddamn banjos let's eat some wings all right uh where are we lois calientes rojo okay somebody somebody in the crew just moaned because they're scared for me right now i feel like when you take that first whoa where'd you take that bite and you're like okay all right it's kind of like when you sit on a roller coaster and the lap bar comes down and you're like okay all right no big deal you're going up the hill and then once the sauce kind of like hits your hits the whole your whole mouth that's when the it expresses itself right you know all right and we have recurring segment on our show called explain that graham we do a deep dive on our guest instagram pull interesting pictures that need more context so we'll pull the picture over here on the monitor and then you just tell us the bigger story great can you give us one highlight and one low light from competing in the malibu triathlon that's hilarious the low light uh of the malibu triathlon for me was that i was entered in the celebrity heat and what that means is that you know that the heats of the triathlon are go from fastest to slowest so the first heat is actually the professional triathletes and then they get slower from then out but they stick the celebrity heat second okay so the celebrities doesn't matter how fast or slow you are as a celebrity you're in the second heat and i'm a really good swimmer so i actually did pretty well in the swim but then for the bike and the run portions the entire rest of the time i was just getting past the whole time and really humiliated everyone's like seriously helms you can't even keep up at this point like but i just was uh i was doing my own thing moving at my own pace this next one is the queen majesty coco ghost okay oh chocolate i like right not what you're not the kind of chocolate it's like coco ghost is like coke chocolate yeah but like a cereal or something coco ghost but then ghost is scary i don't know it's yummy it's it's yummy and it's hot but it's not kicking my ass yet this one isn't oh that's such a that's a rather poetic segue into this question you know sometimes when guests come onto the hot one set and they're they're really confident or think that it won't be a big deal there's a degree to which i sit here knowing that they don't realize that the game has more or less been rigged to ensure that they fall into a trap at some point and i'm wondering if you think there's a connection that could be made between that and doing daily show field pieces like to what degree are you guys playing 3d chess where even if you go in there and who you're talking to knows what you're there to do maybe it's just still impossible to stop so you're telling me that i'm gonna die that's what you're saying you're telling me that i'm i have a i now have a false sense of security the last chapter has not been written yet um no actually um it really felt like you were you were churning a lot of gears to draw that metaphor but it's good it's a good one because shooting a daily show field piece it was always surprising to me first of all that certain people were just willing to talk to us the other thing that surprised me was that every time someone thought that they knew the show really well and that they could sort of like outsmart us in the interviews kind of like me like i'm like hey i can handle some hot sauce that's they would fall the hardest because they just they really don't have any idea like how we do it like what our techniques are in the interview and especially in in the edit like what we're able to do and that and it's like the more hubris the harder they fall that's what i've found too i sometimes i make the analogy it's like a professional wrestler you know when you start showboating that's when somebody smashes a chair over the back here sure you know yeah well speaking of are you ready to move on to the next wing this is 13 angry scorpions jekyll and hyde oh wow i mean couldn't it be either or like 13 angry scorpions feels like enough of a name but you have to also be jekyll and hyde all right i mean if it's if it's dr jekyll we're fine this one's hide this this was hot this okay this is uh mr hyde all right here we go oh and this has got a lot on it it's shiny oh yeah this one's shiny [Music] i feel like this is like 20 or 30 scorpions i don't know if they told you but i have to go do another interview after this i can tell because of like where the time slots are you know what i mean like the one o'clock start i'm like oh well they probably have more to go after this i'm gonna be a disaster or no i think it'll be better it'll be better as a result you're right you're right we're gonna provide the rocket fuel for the rest of your press day yeah that's that's got a lot of that's got a lot of kick so i've heard you describe the process of creating the andy bernard character as one of the most thrilling creative endeavors of your life was there a particular andy bernardism or piece of backstory that helped you crack the code on that character early on i'm i love that character so much and i'm so proud of that the work on that show um but uh we might need to call a medic just saying if there's like a mouth medic like somebody who's specific no dom just hover over the button like i feel like maybe a like i could sit in front of a fire hose and just that that would feel good right now um the most exciting part about the creation of that character was the tit for tat between performing and the writer's writing so they would endow andy with something really funny and then i would put some top spin on it when i was improvising during a take or something they would see that like that and add more to that and so it really was this feedback loop and uh in that first season we just he became a very rich and complex nuanced character very quickly because we were just having so much fun kind of psychoanalyzing this guy that's how the eight episode deal turns into six seasons that's right yeah all right ed how are we doing how we doing we're good i mean my nose is sprinting but let's do this [Music] beyond insanity and it actually has a biohazard symbol on the label here we go oh yeah oh wow oh that's different ah that's there's nothing redeeming about that it's not it doesn't taste wow wow so i always think it's funny when things like boiled peanuts from the methodist men of inglewood church in north carolina become coveted items and the gift guides of fancy food magazines oh my god [Music] as an atlanta raised polite southern boy yourself what role did roadside boiled peanut stands play in your life are you seriously trying to do this interview still like this has turned into like a uh [Applause] yeah this is like this is like a car crash oh wow that is so brutal wow roadside boiled peanut stands was very much a part of like southern back road or highway culture and uh my dad loved boiled peanuts he's from alabama and i just grew up eating boiled peanuts out of paper bags a lot on road trips and i loved it and i missed it and there's not much more to that story are you happy now for the uninitiated what is a pimento cheese sandwich and then what distinguishes a good one um okay a pimento cheese sandwich i mean it's amazing how good you are just staying on track so i'm just gonna try i'm gonna rise to your level i'm gonna try to answer these questions connect waveforms even though i'm gonna need a defibrillator very soon dom get that medic there is no bad pimento cheese i've had the gamut like my elementary school would give commencement sandwiches on field trips and it was like wonder bread with like the crappiest ingredients delicious i loved it and then my mom would make like this exquisite recipe with like all kinds of spices and stuff also amazing um i'm throbbing my face is the front of my face is throbbing this is doing permanent damage like this is doing damage to my mouth and it's doing neurologic damage like i can't think straight i'm unable to like carry on a clear conversation with you equally ruling i think things are coming out of my mouth i can barely feel it oh man this is also bringing out like the inner masochist in me like i'm having fun like i do want to keep going oh i should have taken a pepsi before this oh yeah um okay extra mean green pucker butt great name [Music] well i couldn't tell you what it tastes like or what it feels like is completely not that's the blessing that's the blessing of the bomb that's the blessing of the bomb but uh but just having something in my mouth is a little bit soothing so i'm gonna take another bite wow putting on a show how would you describe your complicated relationship with acapella music you once told new york magazine that it's the most paradoxical art form there is it is right when people are performing acapella music there's there's like even even if they're the most benevolent wonderful kind human beings it just comes across as kind of like smug and self-indulgent i don't know why that is it's a weird thing that said it is the most fun thing to do like if you're in a good a cappella group which i was in college shout out to oberlin oberlin overtones we were so tight it was so fun like it just is really fun to do um so yeah it's a weird i think anyone who's into a cappella music kind of understands that that uh paradox [Music] all right ed yeah are we shaking it up [Music] you don't have to if you don't want to of course i'm not going to buck a tradition are you kidding me [Music] seriously like two drop that was like four drops and and and you were like just looking out for the rest okay good thank you i'm gonna trust you cheers ed what a ride hey yeah this is super fun and cool and harmful here we go again the lap belt's coming down i don't know what ride i'm in for you yet this one it billows a little bit it grows a little bit but don't worry because while you enjoy that wing i have a nice long a nice long wind up for you because at long last we can call for the check here on our bizarre dinner date with the wings of death and if we've learned anything along the way add your man of many talents from stand-up comedy to acting to playing the banjo but i know that it all began the roots of it all were in commercial narration people might be surprised to know how prolific you were as a voice over actor but have you ever done an ad read with a billion scovilles coursing through your body today just maybe if you'll humor me i have some ad copy for you and i'm hoping that we can close out the show today with some throwback ed helms commercial narration yeah well you did your research by the way you've asked some very like uh some sort of deep cut questions here i'm very impressed and yeah not a lot of people know i used to do voiceover for commercial but but i did and i will do it for this if you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma you you may be entitled to financial compensation mesothelioma is a rare cancer linked to asbestos exposure exposure to asbestos in shipyards mills heating construction or the automotive industries may put you at risk call that 800 number right now wait a minute look at you ed helms did i just endorse something at some like ambulance chaser law firm or something what just happened taking on the wings of death and living to tell the tale and now there's nothing left to do but roll out the red carpet for you this camera this camera or this camera let the people know what you have going on in your life ah well thank you very very much this was super fun and uh we but yeah i have a new show coming out on peacock it's called true story with ed and randall randall park and i sit down with real people and we hear real true stories from their lives it is incredibly funny it is incredibly warm hearted and uh poignant it's just a fabulous show and i'm incredibly proud of it and uh so proud that i would even drink all this hot sauce just so that i get 10 seconds to talk about it well lucky for us [Applause] cheers all right thanks so much yeah cheers cheers thank you super fun and you did it you did it thanks for doing so much research you guys really like you got into some like obscure stuff i appreciate it well you know if we're going to have you eat these wings then we got to meet you make it worth it make it worthwhile absolutely and we're going to package up those bosses don't bother hey what's going on hot ones fans sean evans just want to say thank you so much for watching today's episode and if while you were watching you thought to yourself you know what i would love to try that at home well guess what now you can because the season 17 hot ones hot sauce box is now available heatness.comheatness.com.com to get your hands on the sauces look at how it looks on the inside so pretty well we got boom mic problems the box is so big and you know what always with the cautionary tale be careful around the eyes hot ones season 17 the full sauce lineup now available at heatness.com [Music]

Channel: First We Feast

Views: 3,237,257

Keywords: First we feast, fwf, firstwefeast, food, food porn, cook, cooking, chef, recipe, cocktail, bartender, craft beer, complex, complex networks, spicy food, foodie, burgers, food documentary

Id: A5YxwFgRRCI

Length: 25min 14sec (1514 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 03 2022

Reddit Comments

[u/gormlesser]

“And we’re gonna pack these up for the sauces for you.”

“Don’t bother.”

(24:21)

[u/DoctorDannyTanner]

Great interview, great questions. Ed Helms seems like a super genuine guy

[u/andrew_a7]

The boner champ himself…legend! Riiidddiiitttdddiitdidooo!

[u/Ralph--Hinkley]

HA! What a great episode that was! Ed was super funny and appreciative of their research. I'd love to hear some of his bluegrass, I dig the banjo.

"We're gonna pack up those sauces for you to take home."

"Don't bother."

[u/Notalabel_4566]

Nard dog still hot it.

Andy just laying down the charm.

[u/wil555]

It's so funny when you see a new episode and think "oh, yeah, I guess that person has never done hot ones...how'd it take this long?" I've been watching loyally since season two and it seems like Sean's interviewed everyone by now!

[u/grawktopus]

Beer me that milk Sean!

[u/arya_is_that_biitchh]

“this is super fun, and cool.. and harmful”

i think Ed summarized this show beautifully :)

[u/DocMaas]

Anyone know what shoes Sean is wearing in this episode? They kind of look like Nike SB but I can't place them.