Tiger King and I
This is a major phenomenon
the the the Tiger King is
massive, I think it's one of the biggest
documentary explosions uh in certainly recent memory.
It's been a gusher for Netflix.
Then they decide to do a show
uh talking about that show and interviewing some
of the people from the show.
And you get to host it.
That's fantastic, how did this happen?
Well, I don't know,
I think Ted Sarandos who runs Netflix
lost a bet of some sort.
No ah it was Ted Sarandos,
I worked for Netflix a couple times,
and I had a show on there at one point
and he was just very nice, and uh asked me if I would do it.
And to which I did uh you know I looked like a
loosey sketch saying yes and uh I cause I was
a I was I liked the series and to be you
know to just have a tiny little part in it and
interview some of these people was really fun.
And then people gave me such shit ah for
asking if Joe Exotic should be in jail.
Right.
And I was like, that doesn't seem
like a real hard-hitting question.
They thought that was a rude question?
They were like, how dare you.
How dare you.
And I was like 19 felonies, uh animal abuse, I was like.
And they, it was a weird thing because
I think people see them as characters
and not necessarily as human beings.
One of the things, questions I had for
you was uh you know, you actually getting
to talk to these people and be around them a lot,
do you find yourself starting to
empathize with them a little bit?
To the point where you think, hey,
I've got a little property, I could have,
I could own a tiger.
Do you see yourself going that way in the near future?
I, yes, I only want like
tigers that are two and a half years old.
Right.
I want them to be full grown, young, and very dangerous.
And let them out, anywhere really. Uh
(laughing)
I, I mean why not, uh.
You know what, I want to be the guy in L.A. who's known,
who has incredibly old tigers.
Like tigers that have lost their,
they've lost their teeth, they're about,
I don't know how long a tiger lives,
but they're like in their late 60's.
And they're losing, they've lost chunks of hair.
I would go to this zoo.
They sit around my house all day long,
and they just, we feed them soup.
That's the, those are the tigers I want.
I would, that zoo should would be popular I think.
Uh could you imagine like the tour guide,
just going "uh well that's Benny and
uh well he's still asleep and."
Still asleep,
He is.
he's been sleeping for 15 hours,
and then also no danger and
No.
The big thing about that that zoo
uh in Tiger King is they're constantly
having to feed them massive amounts of protein. This
Yep.
any time I go to them with a bowl of soup
the tiger would be like,
"I'm good for now, I'm good, I'm a little nauseous."
And I'll be like, alright, alright,
let me know, I'll let you know.
And then you come back and its like,
it's your favorite, its the soft noodles.
(laughing)
You've been doing some uh promotion,
and I want you to explain this.
Okay.
This went viral online, this is your promoting the show.
Mhhmm
Is this um, is that your your body,
and then I believe you've, looks like you've
shaved your lower area and written
"NETFLIX" down towards the...
Ya, I shave my entire body twice a day,
cause it grows so fast. Ya, I'm sor- I just ya, look.
What is that
I am
This is pornography.
How dare you, uh some people like to
promote their shows, and uh.
So I've heard.
And so I, look, you've been, as you
know you've been on television since 1955
when you took over for Steve Allen.
Ya.
And uh I, this is my one shot and so does
cut to me at 8 o'clock or 9 o'clock in the
bathroom trying to write "NETFLIX" on my stomach.
You did this? You wrote this yourself?
I did uh
That's impressive.
I shot that alone in a room,
like a serial killer,
and I felt very much like it was Silence of The Lambs.
And then the next day my kids saw me with my shirt off
and it said "NETFLIX" still, cause I was proud,
and they didn't even say anything.