Speaker 1: Welcome to another episode of Strictly Business, the podcast where
Speaker 1: we talk with some of the brightest minds working in
Speaker 1: media today. I'm Andrew Wallenstein with Variety Intelligence platform. My
Speaker 1: guest today first rose to fame on YouTube, where she's
Speaker 1: still going strong today. But Lily Sing also as a
Speaker 1: second job you might have heard about as host of
Speaker 1: her own late night talk show on NBC. She must
Speaker 1: be doing something right because A Little Late with Lily
Speaker 1: Sing just got renewed for a second season. So it's
Speaker 1: great to talk with her today about how she juggles
Speaker 1: a career in two different mediums. Congratulations Lily, So is
Speaker 1: this the kind of thing where you were sweating? Is
Speaker 1: renewal or you knew you had it in the bag? Well,
Speaker 1: first of all, thank you, I'm so excited to be
Speaker 1: here chatting about this. Um. Definitely, no, I was sweating.
Speaker 1: I think if I could summarize season one in any way,
Speaker 1: or this whole experience in any way, it would be
Speaker 1: all of the emotion. I am constantly in the state
Speaker 1: of nervousness, being excited, being grateful, being honored, feeling like
Speaker 1: I need to puke a little bit, all of the
Speaker 1: about Well, don't puke now, but I'll try. What I'm
Speaker 1: curious about is when when you hear out late night
Speaker 1: talk show host in their first year, no matter how
Speaker 1: successful they are, it's a tough road. You're finding your voice,
Speaker 1: you're learning the ropes. So what was it like for
Speaker 1: you in your one? I mean, that's exactly correct. This
Speaker 1: is the first time I've done anything like you know,
Speaker 1: I come from the digital world where I am the editor,
Speaker 1: and I am the writer, and I am the on
Speaker 1: screen actress, and I do all of the things. I
Speaker 1: am the standards and practices, and so going into this world,
Speaker 1: if I'm just being really honest with you, it was challenging.
Speaker 1: I did have to learn an entirely new world. Um
Speaker 1: And just like my first video on YouTube, you know,
Speaker 1: there were moments and episodes where I was a little uncomfortable,
Speaker 1: when I was super out of my comfort zone and
Speaker 1: making mistakes and learning from the mistakes and just constantly
Speaker 1: trying to level up. UM was my experience. But I think,
Speaker 1: just like with anything else, it takes practice and it
Speaker 1: takes experience. And I'm really proud of what we did
Speaker 1: in season one, but I'm also super pumped to improve
Speaker 1: and do we even better in season two. And how
Speaker 1: hands on are you in terms of producing the show.
Speaker 1: I mean, as you mentioned from your YouTube days, you
Speaker 1: were probably a one woman show doing a bit of everything.
Speaker 1: So is it a big adjustment you have to sort
Speaker 1: of lose control to some degree? Um, I have all
Speaker 1: of the hands. Let me just say I tried. I
Speaker 1: was actually learning her from me, if I'm being honest.
Speaker 1: When I first started, I thought I'm gonna be involved
Speaker 1: in every single script and every monologue. I'm going to
Speaker 1: have review every single episode. There was a lot I
Speaker 1: wanted to do, and I managed to do a lot
Speaker 1: of it, probably admittedly at the cost of sleep and
Speaker 1: a little bit of sanity, because I interview almost every
Speaker 1: single episode, which is not typical. I think of most posts.
Speaker 1: I sat there in the editing room being like cut
Speaker 1: that with each camera A and will do all that.
Speaker 1: It took me a little bit of time to let
Speaker 1: go of some of that control, But I think that's
Speaker 1: what comes with a learning process and learning how to delegate,
Speaker 1: learning that these people are experts at what they do. UM,
Speaker 1: I'm definitely gonna try to delegate more in season two,
Speaker 1: but I still think in Jet by Nature, I'm a
Speaker 1: pretty hands on person. You know, my name is in
Speaker 1: the show title. It's my point of view that I'm sharing,
Speaker 1: which I believe is an extremely valuable and unique point
Speaker 1: of view in the late night space. And so I
Speaker 1: want to make sure that things have my personal question
Speaker 1: that's important to me. And if that means sometimes sleeping
Speaker 1: a little less, I'm gonna find a balance of doing
Speaker 1: that sometimes. So how involved was the network was? That's
Speaker 1: also something that you hear a lot about first year shows.
Speaker 1: Lots and notes, lots of pointers or do they give
Speaker 1: you free rank. I'm gonna say, ultimately, I'm pretty grateful
Speaker 1: and impressed with NBC in this regard. Of course, some
Speaker 1: episodes where I'm getting a little too risky and they're
Speaker 1: gonna be like, all right, write it back a little bit.
Speaker 1: Every year. Of course, they have stands and practices and
Speaker 1: that was a word in curve. But for the most part,
Speaker 1: they let me be who I was. That was my
Speaker 1: number one concern when I got the Late Night show
Speaker 1: was am I gonna be, you know, encouraged to be
Speaker 1: someone else or or fit a mold? And I can
Speaker 1: genuinely say that that was not the case. Of course,
Speaker 1: people shared with me best practices, their point of view,
Speaker 1: what they thought would work and not work. But at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, no one made me ever
Speaker 1: be something I'm not. Was there any particular joke that
Speaker 1: you remember, or any kind of vein of humor where
Speaker 1: you had to learn that there were some sensitivities that
Speaker 1: you might not have otherwise experienced on YouTube? Absolutely, I think,
Speaker 1: just like you know there's there's you gotta make mistakes.
Speaker 1: I mean, the reality is you have to make mistakes
Speaker 1: when you do things like this or you will never grow.
Speaker 1: And if I reflect back on back on some episodes,
Speaker 1: there were things that I didn't work properly or or
Speaker 1: even the thing mores of the case was there were
Speaker 1: certain times where I did feel like this this humor,
Speaker 1: I think, I'm I'm trying to dive into the late
Speaker 1: night world, and so I'm poking fun at celebrities and trends,
Speaker 1: and sometimes I felt, is this a little bit in spirited?
Speaker 1: But no, it can't be. It's late night. And when
Speaker 1: I watched about this episodes, I think, maybe maybe I
Speaker 1: should have phrased that joke a little differently, And I
Speaker 1: think I had to go through that process to learn that.
Speaker 1: But Um, I think going into season two is something
Speaker 1: I really want to prioritize is positivity and love and
Speaker 1: all the things I stand for in real life and
Speaker 1: kind of feel less of the pressure of Late Night
Speaker 1: being jabby in some ways because it can be a
Speaker 1: little bit like that and install thoses that's okay, but
Speaker 1: by nature that's not necessarily who I am. So that's
Speaker 1: something I definitely learned. So we'll season to be in
Speaker 1: any way different than what you were doing in season one.
Speaker 1: Any any significant changes, Well, I absolutely hope so, because
Speaker 1: I feel like, if you know, for our season one,
Speaker 1: we always said we want to mess with the format
Speaker 1: and we want to really break the multiple we've seen
Speaker 1: on Late Night. We did to a certain extent, but
Speaker 1: at the same time I was learning a whole new world.
Speaker 1: Like I said, so, there's only so much breaking and
Speaker 1: redefining you can do when you're learning the ropes, the
Speaker 1: very basic ropes of that thing. And so I think
Speaker 1: now that I have more experience and I know how
Speaker 1: the game goes, I definitely do really want to just
Speaker 1: break the rules of the format of Late Night. I
Speaker 1: want to have people that we otherwise would not see
Speaker 1: on Late Night in terms of guests, and so I
Speaker 1: definitely want to change things. I think if the first
Speaker 1: episode and last episode of season two looks the same,
Speaker 1: I would consider that not growth and not a great thing,
Speaker 1: and I want metually look differently. So what kind of
Speaker 1: guests might Who's on your dream list? Who do you
Speaker 1: want to have in season two? Listen, sir, we have
Speaker 1: the people that I've always want that just the Beyonces.
Speaker 1: I also have just learned from. You know, I had
Speaker 1: the honor of having Lala on my show, and for
Speaker 1: me personally, that was one of my favorite episodes because
Speaker 1: I got to really dive deep into her work and
Speaker 1: just things I've always wanted to ask her about her
Speaker 1: experiences and turned into this really sweet, genuine and powerful moment.
Speaker 1: And I think there's other people like that, from the
Speaker 1: Emma Watsons to the activists that are local to their
Speaker 1: communities that are doing awesome things. I just want to
Speaker 1: have really good conversations with people. I mean, in some instances, yes,
Speaker 1: it's great to have a shiny celebrity, and other instances,
Speaker 1: I think there's so much power and value and just
Speaker 1: amazing this and having people are still a story. I
Speaker 1: don't really care about their celebrity profile. I just want
Speaker 1: good conversation and good stories. Now, from what I understand
Speaker 1: the way you guys produced in season one, you've already
Speaker 1: you've wrapped your season back in December, and you shot
Speaker 1: multiple episodes per day, and those episodes are sometimes months
Speaker 1: into the future. I would imagine it's meal different this time. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's proms and guns to do that. In season one,
Speaker 1: we shot nine to six episodes in three months. And
Speaker 1: when I tell that to people like you, like you
Speaker 1: just did right now, Yeah, in their face, they're smiling
Speaker 1: with their eyes are saying, you're a crazy person. And
Speaker 1: I see that because, um, yeah, it's there's present con
Speaker 1: It's great because you know, it allows me to fulfill
Speaker 1: from my other ambitions. It allows you to have a
Speaker 1: tight knit crew and and production where everyone is committed
Speaker 1: for a certain amount of times. So there's a lot
Speaker 1: prose to doing that. Now we're at a very unprecedented
Speaker 1: time where I wrapped season one and then unfortunately the
Speaker 1: world was with the pandemic and where everyone else it's
Speaker 1: kind of an ironic joke went back to shooting their
Speaker 1: show at home, something I've done for ten years. I
Speaker 1: was already wrapped and my shows all have a live audience,
Speaker 1: So this really timely conversation around quarantine ing UM is
Speaker 1: so important and everyone else is doing it and I'm
Speaker 1: not able to because my shows are shot and don't
Speaker 1: address the pandemic at all. So it was definitely a
Speaker 1: learning experien It was definitely interesting. UM. We will make
Speaker 1: changes for season two. I don't plan to have that
Speaker 1: schedule for just being topical, my sanity, for sleep, but
Speaker 1: the clearness of my skin, for the grays on my head,
Speaker 1: for all of those reasons. We're gonna extend that schedule.
Speaker 1: But can I just tell you after that, I really
Speaker 1: feel like I can do anything. I truly believe I
Speaker 1: can do it anything. You are battle tested, Yes, I
Speaker 1: am just ready to go here, ready to go. So
Speaker 1: the thing is, I can understand, you know, the appeal
Speaker 1: of actually sort of not having to deal with topicality
Speaker 1: and you know, providing a certain kind of world where
Speaker 1: people don't have to be reminded of the issues that
Speaker 1: are going on. But do you think in this new season,
Speaker 1: with this new schedule, you'll be able to be a
Speaker 1: bit more topical at times? And what kind of topics
Speaker 1: do you think you'll touch on. Well, that's definitely the goal.
Speaker 1: UM as much as we can be topical, that is,
Speaker 1: of course the gole. I don't know if it's gonna
Speaker 1: always be possible, but we're gonna try to make it possible.
Speaker 1: In terms of topics, I have never particularly been someone
Speaker 1: who discusses politics. There's a few reasons for that. I mean,
Speaker 1: of course I understand the importance of voting and the
Speaker 1: importance of being informed, but it's a little bit of
Speaker 1: an interesting situation because I myself cannot vote in the
Speaker 1: country I live in. I'm a Canadian. Whether the Late
Speaker 1: Night show, hav instaid that there are issues I'm very
Speaker 1: passionate about and that I'm very vocal about. Whether it's
Speaker 1: gender equity, whether it's about legislation regarding women's bodies, whether
Speaker 1: it's about um education. There's things that I'm very passionate
Speaker 1: and I will continue to talk about through comedy because
Speaker 1: I think comedy is a great vehicle for doing that.
Speaker 1: But yes, I do think to a certain extent, having
Speaker 1: content that is evergreen and does help people skip is
Speaker 1: also important because if people are like me, they want
Speaker 1: to be informed, but they also sometimes want to escape
Speaker 1: after a long day and I want that option to
Speaker 1: also exist. You know, there's lots of places you can
Speaker 1: go to get informant and here drugs about politics. I
Speaker 1: feel like less and less there are places where you
Speaker 1: can go where you are not reminded of that. So
Speaker 1: I want to find it out. You mentioned being Canadian.
Speaker 1: That's just one of the ways you're different than pretty
Speaker 1: much just about everyone in Late night. For starters, you're
Speaker 1: not a man, Yeah, you're an Indian descent, you're bisexual.
Speaker 1: There's all these different things than what you see from
Speaker 1: the standard host. Do you think that's help you cut
Speaker 1: through the clutter? Um? Yes and no. You know, it's
Speaker 1: a really complex thing because obviously my late night show
Speaker 1: was announced, a lot of headlines said just that, you know,
Speaker 1: it's that Canadian. The hyphen it's were extreme. Headlines were
Speaker 1: this one Canadian Indian person with long hair, it's long
Speaker 1: about it went on and cut and on about who
Speaker 1: I am. And of course I'm proud of that because
Speaker 1: I really truly do believe representation matters. And I think
Speaker 1: when you see an episode with me and Minty Kaling
Speaker 1: and we're making references about things from our upbringing that
Speaker 1: are so unique our culture, that's beautiful and awesome, but
Speaker 1: at the same time, I don't want to be defined
Speaker 1: as that, and I'm kind of, from being honest, I'm
Speaker 1: stuck in a little bit of a loop, right, don't
Speaker 1: quite know how to handle it because when I'm doing
Speaker 1: a monologue and I'm talking about my experience, at one hand,
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm so much more than all those hychmiths.
Speaker 1: But at the other hand, my point of view is
Speaker 1: so influenced by those hype of its. So um, it's
Speaker 1: kind of this weird pattern of being defined by it
Speaker 1: and not being defined it. So I'm honestly still trying
Speaker 1: to figure it out and what it means and how
Speaker 1: to navigate it. My solution is to truly just be myself.
Speaker 1: Everything is from my point of view, and my point
Speaker 1: of view happens to be those hypimiths. So got it?
Speaker 1: And of course, you know, in addition to everything that
Speaker 1: you're doing on NBC, there's that whole YouTube career that
Speaker 1: is going. How do you how do you balance the two?
Speaker 1: If you're doing twelve our shoots, you know, from nineties
Speaker 1: six episodes, how do you have time to keep video
Speaker 1: coming to your channel? Very poorly, very poorly. Um, it's
Speaker 1: you know, before season one started, I remember being like, Oh,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna bank a bunch of YouTube videos. I'm going
Speaker 1: to keep uploading during the season one. Then season what
Speaker 1: happened and I was like, Oh, this is a lot
Speaker 1: of work and I really want this to be good,
Speaker 1: and so this YouTube needs to take a back seat.
Speaker 1: I don't have the answer of how we gonna navigate
Speaker 1: and this in season two. I just know that YouTube
Speaker 1: continues to be a huge priority for me. I mean
Speaker 1: that is where my community is, as what my core
Speaker 1: fan base is. I believe in the digital space so much.
Speaker 1: I'm going to try to figure away. And I think,
Speaker 1: going back to your question about the schedule, I think
Speaker 1: expanding the late night schedule will allow me to insert
Speaker 1: some days where I can do YouTube. But no, definitely,
Speaker 1: I feel like I have three full time jobs all
Speaker 1: the time. Um, it's super stressful and exciting, and when
Speaker 1: I have any other way, absolutely not. I think busy
Speaker 1: is a blessing and I think I recognize this opportunity.
Speaker 1: I recognize what an honor it is. And I think
Speaker 1: the one thing that will change, if I'm being honest
Speaker 1: in season she is I don't think I'll feel guilty
Speaker 1: about it. I think season one I felt really guilty.
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, I didn't post like YouTube video.
Speaker 1: I into this. I really want this show to be great.
Speaker 1: I understand the path that could pay if I understand
Speaker 1: the opportunity I have. I'm gonna try my best to
Speaker 1: balance both. But we need to teeter from backseat to
Speaker 1: baccine and I'm gonna do that. Okay, Well, did you
Speaker 1: ever get counsel or advice from I don't know, an
Speaker 1: agent the network to say like, listen, you gotta just this.
Speaker 1: This whole YouTube thing's gotta go. You're a TV star now. Um,
Speaker 1: No one really says that to me. The thing about
Speaker 1: people counseling, and I'm in such a unique space. You know,
Speaker 1: other late night closts didn't necessarily come from the digital space.
Speaker 1: They were on TV and then they now migrated into
Speaker 1: the digital space. I am in a very unique position
Speaker 1: with There's very few people like you ask for in
Speaker 1: terms of advice, because I have one foot on each ladder. Really,
Speaker 1: to be honest, there were other people that gave me
Speaker 1: other sound advice, you know, Trevor know what. I keep
Speaker 1: referencing this because it was the most beautiful piece of
Speaker 1: blatant and blunt advice. And you know, he said, everyone's
Speaker 1: gonna tell you that you'll be able to do other
Speaker 1: things during the show, and you'll have balanced during the show,
Speaker 1: and you should know that's a lie. You should know
Speaker 1: that you're gonna go to the show and it's going
Speaker 1: to consume your entire life and it will take up
Speaker 1: every moment of your day. And I was like, huh,
Speaker 1: but he was not wrong, and that's exactly what I
Speaker 1: needed to hear. Um. I think anyone that says to
Speaker 1: me that don't worry about YouTube on TV now is night.
Speaker 1: I think digital space is such it can't be more.
Speaker 1: We're not in living in the time anymore where you
Speaker 1: can just say YouTube, YouTube, and it's just no. That's
Speaker 1: how a lot of people consume content. And it's um
Speaker 1: the line between traditional digital and definitely blurring. You know,
Speaker 1: there's been a lot of Internet stars that have tried
Speaker 1: to make this resition transition and have not made it work.
Speaker 1: What do you think has enabled you to dodge something?
Speaker 1: You know, there's been others that have really stumbled with this.
Speaker 1: I mean, listen, I can only speak to my experience.
Speaker 1: I what I can say, and this has just been
Speaker 1: being like looking straight into my webcams super candid. It's
Speaker 1: really hard. It is super super hard to do. There's
Speaker 1: been countless times where I have been pretty close to
Speaker 1: giving up, if I'm being honest, because you come from
Speaker 1: a world where you are your own boss, where you
Speaker 1: have these rigid schedules uploading things, and that's really tiring.
Speaker 1: I know people think about ten minute YouTube video, how
Speaker 1: long can that take? But those are that's just a
Speaker 1: lot of energy and social media seven job, and so
Speaker 1: you already have that, and then to try to transition
Speaker 1: into something else on top of keeping up with their
Speaker 1: socials and doing brand partnerships and doing events and doing
Speaker 1: all of these things. It is a lot. And then
Speaker 1: when you go to late night, especially for me, I
Speaker 1: had all of these ideas that I wanted to do,
Speaker 1: which there's so many reasons you can't do them a
Speaker 1: late night because of because of unions and because of rules,
Speaker 1: because of standard of practice. That's not't a bad thing,
Speaker 1: it's just a different machine. And so I really did
Speaker 1: feel like the dumbest person in the room a lot
Speaker 1: of times where I thought, wow, I have to learn
Speaker 1: a whole new set of everything, and I could see
Speaker 1: in that moment how people would be like, why am
Speaker 1: I doing this? Let me just be my own boss
Speaker 1: again on YouTube? And it's really hard. It's really really hard,
Speaker 1: if I'm being honest. There's some days on season one
Speaker 1: where I left feeling that was a great episode, this
Speaker 1: is amazing, I'm so proud. Is exactly what I wanted
Speaker 1: to do. But just like anything else, there's some days
Speaker 1: where I literally cried for hours in my green room
Speaker 1: being like, I don't know what to do and I
Speaker 1: don't know how to deal with this. I don't know
Speaker 1: how to navigate this, and actually just give up. So
Speaker 1: I have nothing besides positive energy towards anyone who has
Speaker 1: ever stumbled in this process, because it's a doozy for sure.
Speaker 1: Well what did you think it is in terms of
Speaker 1: is there something about the nature of the appeal of
Speaker 1: YouTube stars or stars and other platforms that possibly doesn't
Speaker 1: translate to TV that maybe you figured out how to navigate? Um? Yes,
Speaker 1: and no, I feel like the style and the way
Speaker 1: in which we do things doesn't necessarily translate to TV
Speaker 1: because now you have a crew of so many people,
Speaker 1: and the more people you have, the more complex processes
Speaker 1: get I think it's easier to do a jug kind
Speaker 1: of video and execute something when it's you want a
Speaker 1: smaller prove in some ways, to be honest when it's
Speaker 1: mean my YouTube prow I do feel like we move
Speaker 1: at a different pace, but the quality of our product
Speaker 1: doesn't compare to the quality of a TV show at
Speaker 1: the same time, So there's definitely pros and cons. I
Speaker 1: think what it is is that, more than anything, it's,
Speaker 1: like I said, learning a new set of rules. I
Speaker 1: don't think that the talent doesn't translate. I don't think
Speaker 1: that the energy doesn't Hansley. I think it's learning a
Speaker 1: new world. That is what you know, hurdles people to
Speaker 1: be honest. Well, let me ask you this is is
Speaker 1: YouTube Lily and NBC Lily the same? Because when I
Speaker 1: watch both I see some differences. No, definitely, I wish
Speaker 1: the answer to this question was yes. I want to
Speaker 1: sit here and tell you, yeah, let's same. But I
Speaker 1: know that they are not um or Season one NBC
Speaker 1: Lily and first YouTube video Lily the same. Yes, they're
Speaker 1: both trying their best. There you can see glimpses of like,
Speaker 1: oh that's when we go. It's really funny, but you
Speaker 1: can tell they're still learning being done, which is why
Speaker 1: my main sentiment going into season two is like, again,
Speaker 1: like I said, I'm so proud ninety six episode three months,
Speaker 1: the things we did, I'm really proud. But for people
Speaker 1: that have been like you know, I feel like your
Speaker 1: monologues are not kind of like you on YouTube, You're
Speaker 1: right because I'm sitting there learning in front of three cameras,
Speaker 1: in front of a live audience, with notes from a studio.
Speaker 1: I'm I'm gonna have to learn and make mistakes. And
Speaker 1: so if you ask me this question four seasons from now,
Speaker 1: I'm confident my answer will be yes, that YouTube really
Speaker 1: who is the real Lily? And NBC Lily was also
Speaker 1: the really? But learning, that's my goal. When you say
Speaker 1: something like four seasons from now, I'm curious, are you
Speaker 1: looking that far ahead? And you know, the thing about
Speaker 1: late night TV is it is not uncommon to have
Speaker 1: careers at last decades. Are you in it for the
Speaker 1: long haul? I'm in it to win it, baby, I
Speaker 1: really want. I really believe that I can mold this
Speaker 1: show into something that consistently excites me and other people
Speaker 1: and means a lot to myself and other people more
Speaker 1: so than it already does. Um. I always know, it's
Speaker 1: just they never say never. You don't know what the
Speaker 1: future holds. I think right now in this time, we
Speaker 1: know that, know that more than any other time. But no,
Speaker 1: I really am grateful to NBC and my fan base
Speaker 1: for this opportunity. I know it's bigger than myself. I
Speaker 1: know that, you know. I remember there's one episode with
Speaker 1: me and cal Penn and we're Indian restaurants. Remember so
Speaker 1: many comments under that episode being like I have never
Speaker 1: watched the show where two people are making Hindi or
Speaker 1: Bollywood references talking about this, and I remember reading that
Speaker 1: like this is why and it's not just because of that.
Speaker 1: I don't want to say that it's just for Indian people,
Speaker 1: but it's the fact that it's a point of view
Speaker 1: that we don't see. And I think that's bigger than me,
Speaker 1: and I'm in it to win it. I am gonna
Speaker 1: if I have to cry in my green room for
Speaker 1: a couple more seasons to figure it out, then I'm
Speaker 1: gonna do that. You know, you mentioned ethnic jokes, and
Speaker 1: the thing is there's criticism that comes with that when
Speaker 1: you do that kind of humor. People are going to
Speaker 1: get annoyed. Even if you think it's brilliant and hilarious,
Speaker 1: and you've gotten your share of criticism, both on YouTube
Speaker 1: and on NBC. Do you have a thick skin that
Speaker 1: you've grown as a result of this or do you
Speaker 1: feel it again? I want my answer to say, yes,
Speaker 1: I have thanks care, But I being honest, of course
Speaker 1: it gets to me. If you care about something, when
Speaker 1: someone criticizes it, it's gonna get to you. You know.
Speaker 1: It's why people are very protective over their children. This
Speaker 1: show is my child, and so of course I get
Speaker 1: affected by it. Um Am. I used to it in
Speaker 1: terms of it's not my first rodeo, of course, and
Speaker 1: make YouTube's for ten years about all the comments. But
Speaker 1: I think for me is what I'm learning is I'm
Speaker 1: gonna I'm gonna try my best to make sure I
Speaker 1: have an inclusive, positive, wonderful show. Is it gonna be
Speaker 1: everyone's cup of tea? Absolutely not. That's impossible. That's truly impossible.
Speaker 1: I've learned that. Um there's times when I make jokes
Speaker 1: about my ethnicity where people don't like it, and then
Speaker 1: there's times if I don't make jokes about my ethnicity,
Speaker 1: people think I'm not representing, So it truly is you
Speaker 1: can't please everyone. I just want to be myself, be
Speaker 1: true to who I um. And that's literally the only
Speaker 1: solution because you will not please everyone. And I can
Speaker 1: tell you truthfully on any situation or any issue, there
Speaker 1: is a loose, loose scenario and in some way, so
Speaker 1: to stop paying attention to it, be who I am.
Speaker 1: If people like a great if not, Luckily, there's so
Speaker 1: many other things that you can watch, so it's great.
Speaker 1: It's a great time of content. So, as you mentioned,
Speaker 1: you wrapped back in December. Uh, what have you been
Speaker 1: up to in I know right now, like everyone else,
Speaker 1: you're probably homebound. Uh. You know everyone's lives have been
Speaker 1: sort of disrupted by the pandemic. But you've actually done
Speaker 1: some interesting things online, some interesting charitable efforts. Talk about
Speaker 1: what you've been up to. Yeah, I mean I've done
Speaker 1: a game of things online, from supporting causes in India
Speaker 1: to supporting the Global Citizens Cause Stronger Together. There's there's
Speaker 1: been many things online I've done, and I think it's
Speaker 1: so important just because it's crucial to remember this pandemic
Speaker 1: does not affect people equally. And I've always been the
Speaker 1: person to at least try to check my privilege. You
Speaker 1: know that the thing about privileges, it's so hard to
Speaker 1: check because it seems like it doesn't exist, but it
Speaker 1: does exist. And I'm constantly the process of checking my privilege.
Speaker 1: And this pandemic has been just that. Knowing that in
Speaker 1: India people some parts of it. In other parts of
Speaker 1: the world, people can't socially distance, knowing that a small
Speaker 1: business is going to suffer more than a bigger, mega company.
Speaker 1: You know, it's moments like this where I really try
Speaker 1: to focus on the silver lining, which is, yes, people
Speaker 1: are suffering, the world is struggling. But for me, the
Speaker 1: silver lining is the world is also coming together in
Speaker 1: a way which really really makes me restore my faith
Speaker 1: in humanity. I think people are there for each other,
Speaker 1: people are willing to support each other, and I want
Speaker 1: to be a part of that through and through and
Speaker 1: through because at the essence, that's what I love about humanity,
Speaker 1: like I love people, and this right now is what
Speaker 1: I love about people, is that we innately do care
Speaker 1: about each other, even though sometimes when we're not in
Speaker 1: the pandemic, we like to pretend that we don't and
Speaker 1: we get distracted by things. But when moments like this,
Speaker 1: you really see at the core that people can be
Speaker 1: there for each other. I saw on your YouTube channel
Speaker 1: you actually interviewed Dr Fauci about a month or so ago.
Speaker 1: What was that like? Super cool? I mean, it's a
Speaker 1: huge honor to to be interviewing someone going straight to
Speaker 1: the source because and that was really important for me
Speaker 1: because maybe you can relate. I was in so many
Speaker 1: groups with so many people who were what's that doctors
Speaker 1: who were sending articles and sending facts, and it was
Speaker 1: creating fear, and I thought, you know, I had this
Speaker 1: opportunity to interview Dr Faucci. There's so many different directions
Speaker 1: I could go. Of course, I could get politically do
Speaker 1: all these things, but I'm like, I think it's really
Speaker 1: important to just get the facts about this virus and
Speaker 1: let people know to try to alleviate some fear and
Speaker 1: try to alleviate some misinformation. We I do think this
Speaker 1: information is really as just so much more pain into
Speaker 1: the world right now, And so that was really cool
Speaker 1: to do with myself and two other creators. I got
Speaker 1: to do it, and I thought it was a huge honor.
Speaker 1: He was very cool and very willing to talk to me,
Speaker 1: even though I, you know, I don't know any terminology
Speaker 1: or anything about science or anything about anything he does.
Speaker 1: But he spoke to me like a real person. That
Speaker 1: was great. Well, but I think what's great about you
Speaker 1: doing that kind of interview is particularly on YouTube or
Speaker 1: your your fan base is probably young and not necessarily
Speaker 1: attuned to the news. You in effect becomes sort of
Speaker 1: something of a news person. It's you're reaching an audience
Speaker 1: with serious information. Do you feel that kind of responsibility
Speaker 1: in that instance? I definitely did, you know, because we're,
Speaker 1: like I said, in an extraordinary time where information is
Speaker 1: so valuable. So yes, um, otherwise and other times in
Speaker 1: my life yes and no. You know, it's an interesting
Speaker 1: balance you have to play when you have a platform,
Speaker 1: because of course you want to have a sense of
Speaker 1: responsibility where you are spreading positivity, information, education, knowledge. But
Speaker 1: you can't do any of that well if you yourself
Speaker 1: are not a happy, productive, healthy person. And that's where
Speaker 1: we go over here, and to be happy, healthy, productive
Speaker 1: you have to be true to yourself. So and you
Speaker 1: can't do that if you always feel like you're responsible
Speaker 1: for the masses. You always feel like you are living
Speaker 1: for other people and delivering to other people. Now, it
Speaker 1: is crucial, and I think people really need to understand
Speaker 1: that all these people that have a platform, their platform
Speaker 1: is gonna mean nothing if they're not doing well for themselves.
Speaker 1: And so I think it's important to find the balance
Speaker 1: of doing stuff for themselves and for the masses. You know. Also,
Speaker 1: we're you know, certainly when you're talking about NBC, you're
Speaker 1: talking about an American audience, but YouTube it's a very
Speaker 1: global audience that you've got there. Um, how do you
Speaker 1: sort of cultivate audiences outside the US US and resonate
Speaker 1: with them? Uh? Is there is there sort of a
Speaker 1: difference in your appeal and say India or the UK
Speaker 1: or wherever, uh, compared to what you're resonating with here
Speaker 1: in the US. Yeah, that's a great question. I think
Speaker 1: that's also why I'm pretty keen on making sure that
Speaker 1: some of my material is evergreen and it's not topical,
Speaker 1: because we do need to remember that a lot of
Speaker 1: these topical episodes are topical to Americans. You know. It
Speaker 1: is a very catered to cater to an American audience,
Speaker 1: which is why in season two I want to prioritize motivation, positivity,
Speaker 1: evergreen comedy because those are universal languages. And I think
Speaker 1: that's why my YouTube channel is so appealing to people worldwide,
Speaker 1: because you don't need to live in America to be
Speaker 1: down one day, watch a video and film motivated. That's
Speaker 1: a universal concept. Um, if a joke is funny, universal concept.
Speaker 1: So again, it's about directing that balance. And I do
Speaker 1: think that is a little unique to my position because
Speaker 1: I did come from a world where I have a
Speaker 1: good blocks. I had a huge audience in India, and
Speaker 1: it's very important to me when I do my late
Speaker 1: night show that I'm not excluding them. I want them
Speaker 1: to be part of that conversation, especially because the show
Speaker 1: gets screamed. It gets streamed in India, you know, and
Speaker 1: the clips go on YouTube, which is for the world,
Speaker 1: and I want my show to be for the world.
Speaker 1: Like I said, I'm Canadian. I know what it feels
Speaker 1: like to be raised. I moved to l A five
Speaker 1: years ago. I know what it feels like to feel
Speaker 1: like everything is scared to an audience. Um. Of course
Speaker 1: the audience is huge and has a lot of power.
Speaker 1: Doesn't mean that the rest of the world doesn't deserve
Speaker 1: to see content that they can well literally, congratulations again
Speaker 1: on the second season. Uh, you're keeping busy now on YouTube?
Speaker 1: Until when does the new season start? By the way,
Speaker 1: I have no idea what productions it will look like
Speaker 1: because everything is currently shut down and pause. But what
Speaker 1: I can say, just as a final thought, is, in
Speaker 1: case it didn't come through, my effort is going into
Speaker 1: this show. Extremely grateful to NBC and everyone who's supported me. Um.
Speaker 1: I can't wait to learn more, come back stronger, come
Speaker 1: back from more experience, and tell well that supported me.
Speaker 1: Please keep at it because it means a lot. Folly,
Speaker 1: I'm here right now. We're here right now, So thank you,
Speaker 1: thanks for your time, really, thank you. Bye. This has
Speaker 1: been another episode of Strictly Business. Tune in next week
Speaker 1: for another helping of scintillating conversation with media movers and shakers,
Speaker 1: and please make sure you subscribe to the podcast to
Speaker 1: hear future episodes. Also leave a review in Apple podcast
Speaker 1: let us know how we're doing.