- Our first guest couldn't be more true to the storytelling
and the thematic nature of New York,
because she hails from Queens.
She is a rapper, a Golden Globe winner,
and, you know, superstar from like blockbuster hits
like "Crazy Rich Asians."
(audience cheers) I know.
Isn't that the best movie ever?
I've seen that movie 50 times.
She's in the amazing movie "Farewell,"
for which she won a Golden globe.
And she's most recently in the number one film
across the entire globe, "Shang-Chi."
So, I know.
(audience cheers)
Her star just continues to rise,
and you can catch her on her show on Comedy Central,
which I love so much, "Nora from Queens."
Take a look.
- We are hot.
- I look more like Owen Wilson than I do Cameron Diaz.
- Selfie.
- Who's gonna take it?
- Oh.
- Okay, we literally don't have time for this.
We have 23 stops tonight.
Let's go.
- How many stops?
- [Woman] 23.
(Drew laughs) (audience cheers)
- Please welcome Awkwafina!
(audience cheers loudly)
- Hey!
- Hello!
- Hi, Drew.
Yes!
- Oh my God, I love you. - New York in the building.
- Right, I mean Queens.
You are a queen and you're from Queens.
That's fitting.
- Yeah, appreciate that.
- You know, another queen from Queens is Lucy Liu,
and I wanted to ask you because Lucy
had meaning for you back in the day.
And I would just love to hear from you like what that was,
because I love her and I love you
and so I'm like in the middle
just wanting to know how that story came about.
- Lucy Liu and "Charlie's Angels" was like the pinnacle
of like everything to me.
And to see Lucy in a role like that was really momentous.
It changed the way that I looked at myself in the world.
And I will say that I don't think that
I would be where I am truly
without seeing Lucy Liu doing her thing back in the day.
It's good.
- When I watched "Nora from Queens,"
and your storytelling is so strong,
the way, you know, humor to me has to have heart.
It's like, but I want humor to push.
How do you have the bravery to push that humor so far?
'Cause you go there, you don't compromise.
You're such a bad ass.
- You know, I agree.
I think all humor needs to have
kind of heart at its baseline.
A lot of the things that I talk about in my show
are a mixture of reality or like what I would imagine,
you know, my family or like what they would say.
So I try to stick to that.
- What's so amazing is in that very same episode,
you will break my heart and make me emotional.
You know, when you talk about your grandma,
and you did grow up in Queens with your grandma,
and will you tell us about that time of your life?
- She was definitely not, you know, your ordinary parent.
I think like, you know, she really kind of noticed
the spunk in me and I remember I would ask her,
like, I feel weird, grandma.
I feel like I don't fit in.
I feel like, you know, people think certain things about me
and I just feel weird.
And she always told me the weirdness in you
is inevitably what's gonna make you different
and what's gonna make you special.
She always told me that.
You know, she was always a big fan,
but she was also, you know,
like we got into shenanigans together as well.
You know, there was a carnival
that would come to town for instance
and she didn't wanna pay the admissions fee.
So they gave out these bracelets
with like little designs on them and she was like,
let's just buy a marker and white paper
and I'll just tape it to your arm,
and we'll make your admission bracelets.
So I don't gotta pay like 10 bucks to get you in.
(Awkwafina laughs)
- I love that story so much.
And isn't it true when you were like 16,
she also told you something?
- She'd be like, you're 10 years old
so that we can go to the buffet
and you can get a child discount.
And she literally would like slap a backwards cap on me.
And it's like, what is this?
What is a backwards cap just code for I'm a kid?
- Yes. - But it worked.
- Okay, another total juxtaposition
was something I was hoping
that you could share with our audience,
because I just thought it was such a hot tip
and we could all benefit from it.
It's a beauty tip that you gave to Allure magazine
with your gorgeous cover that was so unique and dynamic.
- Absolutely.
So if you ever need a makeup blotter,
or like a face blotter, just go to any airport
and just take a toilet a seat cover,
because that's what that is.
Yes, girl.
Yes, you can put your head through it too.
That's a necklace.
- It's true. - Yes, girl.
- You could, and then you could actually-
- And make it fashion.
- And then-
- There you go.
And it's a bib.
- You changed my life with this tip.
So I just wanna thank you
because I'm never looking at these suckers the same way.
(audience applauds)
(upbeat bright music)