- Okay first of all, you're a genius.
Like this whole thing is ingenious.
How did you come up with just,
getting people on your show.
Watching celebrities just be like (yelling).
- Like burn their mouth.
How do they agree to that?
I love it.
- Well, the real genius is my partner in all this,
Chris Schonberger, and he runs First We Feast,
and he came up to me and was like,
"You know I have this idea,
what if we were interviewing celebrities,
but eating increasingly spicy,
like violently hot chicken wings."
(laughing)
While the interview is going on,
and the way it hit my ear was just like,
so funny to me that I'm like, all right,
let's get in a room and bang this whole thing out,
shoot a pilot and go.
- That's amazing!
Who are like some of your most memorable ones?
- Well there are a lot.
We've done almost 200 episodes at this point,
believe it or not.
But if I were to try and get somebody into the show,
it's like if you watch the Paul Rudd episode,
or like the Gordon Ramsay,
or Charlize Theron, Scarlett Johansson.
- [Rita] It's crazy!
- If you like those episodes,
you'll probably like the show.
So those are the ones I recommend.
- Wait so has anyone just ever just like,
passed out, vomited, run to the bathroom,
like any of these things.
- Yeah, check, check.
Yeah we have like a whole,
royal flush, like a whole tic-tac-toe game that we can play.
- Oh my God!
It's like who is gonna make it?
Or what is gonna happen with them.
- Yeah , I always think,
like our first studio was in kind of this office building,
and around the studio, it'd just be people like,
on computers, answering phones, returning e-mails.
And then like, very famous people,
would just come like barreling out of the door.
(laughing)
Like, "Where's the restroom?
Where's the restroom?"
And I always thought it would be funny,
that they must be, "what did they do in that room?"
- Oh my God!
They are like "nobody come in here!"
Oh my gosh.
Do you know anybody that's done this show?
- I know, I mean I know Charlize,
I haven't seen her episode though.
I'm gonna have to check that one out.
- Classic episode.
- Very, I mean like,
you have a couple of Oscar winners in there, yeah.
- Yeah.
(applause)
- So why do you think, do you think celebs go
because they feel challenged?
Like they are gonna conquer it?
- Well I think it is.
- I mean that might be what I'm thinking today.
(Laughing)
- You probably are in that same mindset,
where it's like, I think if you watch it,
there is part of you that wonders,
could I handle that?
- Yes!
- Or how would I handle that spice.
So I think, there are people that,
they're curious about it.
But I think the thing is that,
we really try to extend for our guest,
meet 'em half way with a very thoughtful,
career spanning interview like.
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- We want it to be the most, the most comfortable.
(laughing)
Uncomfortable interview is what we really try to do.
So I think there's a part of you.
- You're throwing them off.
- Yeah, exactly.
- It's hard to keep a wall up when you're like,
hah ha ha ha.
- Yeah, and I think there is something about it,
that interrupts the formality of it all.
Like if you're doing anything,
even if you're trying to like, balance books in your hand,
like maybe there is something about that,
that takes your mind off of the sort of interview,
into a realer place.
- Yes, so you're turning hot ones a game show,
which is brilliant.
- Thank you. (applause)
- Like it's the most brilliant move.
And that one lady on that clip,
legit, ate a wing like a giraffe eats.
Like she put it in and came out just a bone,
I was so impressed. - [Sean] Right.
- And she's skinny, I'm like all right.
I wouldn't have thought that was gonna happen.
But I mean is that, what is the game show like?
- Well I think that if I were to try to connect the two,
because they are very different shows,
- One's like a classic interview show over spicy wings,
the other classic game show over spicy wings.
But the way that I think about it is,
the appeal of the interview show,
is it takes celebrity,
this thing that's inherently, by definition,
some sort of like unobtainable, lifestyle status.
And then it takes that person down,
to a level that everyone understands.
Which is dying on hot sauce.
- Yes - That's so true.
- And then the game show,
takes that person, the person watching,
and exalts them into a hero status,
because they can conquer the wings,
and then make it to the top of this game show, win $25,000.
So that's where I think,
- [Kelly] Yes!
- That's where I think, they connect.
But otherwise, like totally different shows,
different vibes.
- Have you ever done the thing, where,
"and you folks at home can play along too!
Here are the hot peppers or spices,
that we're gonna be using today!".
- I think you just got a good tip for your show!
- No that was,
if you can help us thread that needle.
- He's a great producer!