Lilly Singh is
an actress
writer
producer
media empress
Mother of Dragons.
She is the first
South Asian
female
late-night host.
We're just going to hang out today
and I'm going to show her
how we do things here at Patriot Act.
Lilly!
Look, I heard you're scared of dogs.
Yes.
So I brought mine.
No!
Isn't that awesome?
- No, no. - This is Scarbro.
How's is going? Look at him. There you go.
So last night
Hasan's family dog-sat
and you weren't actually informed of this
you just came home and Scarbro was there.
- No, so I was at the office,
I come home
Mhmm.
trying to like, curl up on the couch.
Like he has another man on the sofa.
You know who it is?
It's this dude.
This dude is on the couch
with my wife!
Oh, come on.
And your daughter loved him, and he's great.
You got into late-night,
now you're in it.
Mhmm.
Are you excited?
So real talk, I'm excited and I'm nervous.
- Okay. - I'm excited because
I really am building a show from scratch.
I get to
mess with the format
change things up, break the rules.
That's exciting.
I'm nervous because
I am so out of my comfort zone.
I've never done anything like this.
You know I've got the show going on.
- Yes. - If you could leave me with one thought
that's like
real, real talk
from a mental state
what I might go through
things I might deal with, what's some advice?
- Okay.
Try to figure out
what it is that you want to say
because everything trickles down from that.
That's really good advice.
You love
emotion
feelings
story, all those things.
I love social commentary.
Yeah.
Like on my show I'm going to have lots of social commentary.
Yeah.
Scarbro's definitely going to have
a segment on my show.
- Are you-- - I think he's going to review tech or something.
- Review tech? - Yeah.
Is this whole place yours?
- Yeah, see? - Daaaaang.
- Screens. - Really?
I do not have the budget for any of this.
So, this is the writers' room.
This is a board of our ideas.
This is really organized.
I'm really impressed.
How's the flow work?
Like, they work individually
then they come in and present to you here?
Yeah, so we'll come in here
Mhmm.
Walk in and you're like...
Impress me.
My vibe is more of
this is what I want to talk about.
Okay.
Like, these are the topics that I've been thinking about a lot.
And then we'll try to build around that.
That's dope.
Yeah.
So
what's your format going to be?
I don't know.
Here's the thing
You have no idea?
I have a loose idea.
Are you going to do desk or no desk?
I want to do a desk, here's why.
I hate sitting pretty.
I only want to look good from like here.
But then what are you going to do with all the hand movements?
My hand movements aren't down here.
I'm all the way up here.
I'm taking it next level.
But I feel like if you, if you had
a set like this
Yeah.
- You just-- - This set's dope. I'm not going to lie.
Cause this set's Coachella.
I mean, come on.
Yeah, it's a hip hop video.
This is Netflix giving my boy a budget right here.
I know. I spent it all.
We went to a Best Buy, and we just went ham.
I know I want to
switch up the monologue game.
- Okay - Because obviously
all late-night shows start with that.
This is actually very important,
you've got to know what your tendencies are.
Uh-huh.
So, these are forbidden words that
that I have to stop saying.
Okay, read the first part
and say it like Hasan Minhaj
"The craziest part is"
Is that how you say it?
"Now"
You would probably do this, when you do "now."
- Yeah. - Okay, okay.
"Agenda"
Yeah, you say "agenda" a lot.
That's really good.
I'm going to do that for my show
because I say a lot of things a lot.
"Vibes."
I say "vibes."
Actually, on my last vlog,
one of the top comments was
"Take a drink every time Lilly says vibes."
Okay, what's
what's my
what's my vibe?
Your vibe is this.
I'm going to look at you
Okay...
I'm going to talk
Okay.
I'm going to get really intense when I talk
Okay.
I'm going to throw a little side thing
a little "Oh, this was a joke"
"Oh, you didn't see it coming."
And we'll hold that stare.
Okay.
Just to make sure you're on the same page as me.
- Just to make sure you're on the same page as me. - Alright.
I'm going to look at the camera.
This is terrifying.
What you just did to me
if I'm doing this to other people
there's a big problem.
It feels like a serial killer is rapping at me.
This is our whole graphics team.
Why is Scarbro's picture not up here?
Is Scarbro's picture going to go up here?
We can totally add Scarbro's picture.
I really want Scarbro's picture to go up here.
Between Nelson and Willis.
- Hello, graphics team!
- Hello, graphics team! - Everyone, this is Lilly.
- This is Scarbro. - This is Scarbro.
- Oh my gosh!
Are you feeling the joy in every room?
Every room we come into
everyone is infinitely happier
than when I walk in.
So, this is our previs room.
Before we do the show, we want to
see what does the show look like
from every single angle?
Those are basically all of our shots
that are available to us.
Did you do a tinkle?
Are you doing a bit right now?
No! I think he peed.
My bad, yo.
Lilly!
Sorry, guys.
Do you have paper towels?
I was debating whether or not I wanted to do this.
And so I asked two people for advice.
Okay.
One of them was you
Okay.
and one of them was Dwayne Johnson.
This is so funny to me.
The only reason I asked Dwayne was because
he's the smartest person in the world.
And what did Dwayne say?
Dwayne said...
I love that you--
it's a first name basis.
I said
I have a fear that if I do this
will I be put into a bucket
and not be able to do other things?
And he said, "Listen"
"I was a wrestler"
"then I became a movie star"
"then I did TV, now I produce."
"If you"
"want to do all of those things"
"then you will define that"
"and you are the one that makes the rules."
And I was like
This is why I love your personality when your shirt is off.
And then I asked you
because you were on a late-night show
and I wanted to see if your career was like a failure post that.
So I was like
"Yo, are you struggling?"
"like, are you eating?"
- Uhuh. - And that's what I wanted to know.
And you, you spilled the tea and you were honest with me
and you said, "No, it's been amazing."
- Yeah - "If anything, its helped me."
Did anyone give you any advice
that was amazing, that helped you that you can tell me now?
- So - Can you pass on
the advice
like a sweater in a brown family?
Alright so I remember when I joined The Daily Show
I wanted Jon to give me so much advice.
- Mhmm - Like, I was just like
"Jewish Yoda,"
"I am a Padawan."
"Please, I'm here to learn."
He would give me no notes.
None!
He would just be like
"That's great."
You're like, "So now, I have no advice for you."
He would basically just ask me questions
of like
"What are you interested in?" or "Why does that bug you?"
but he would never give me specific advice.
And the note of having no note
was the best note.
You're going to be you.
Stephen is going to be Stephen.
Oliver is going to be Oliver.
Everyone is going to do their own
version of who they are.
So, it goes back to just
really figuring out what I want to talk about.
It's the no note.
That's really good advice.
Okay so this is the thing that I've--
I actually
want to get advice from you.
Mhmm.
So this is the most
I've sort of, been out there.
Like, putting stuff out
people are responding back.
You've been living
that life for a long--
at least ten years now.
Yep.
Since 2010.
You've been living in your own
self-imposed Truman Show.
You're like "What's up? I'm Lilly Singh."
Yep.
I'm Truman.
Mhmm.
Do you read the comments?
Do the comments get to you?
How have you
not let that destroy you?
Here's the thing
I have let it
get to me.
There was a period of time where I was really upset
because some people on the internet were saying mean things to me.
Yeah.
And in my mind I thought
everyone in the world is talking about me
everyone hates me
my life is over.
Like, I truly felt that way.
Within that time, I went to the NBA All Star game.
You were there.
Yeah!
- This was that time. - This was that same time?
This was that time.
And I'm sitting there watching the game
and someone
across the court starts waving at me.
I had no idea who it was.
Humble's like, "Yo"
"Do you see who's waving at you?"
and I'm like
"Yeah, why is this guy waving at me?"
He's like, "That's Dwyane Wade."
- Oh yeah. - And I'm like
"Oh!"
He comes across the court with his son.
He's like, "We're big fans."
and takes a picture.
And I remember this.
Yeah, yeah.
D. Wade came from the popular
- lunch table - Yeah, whatever.
- all the way to your table - Oh, yeah yeah, yeah.
And was just like, "Hey, I just real quick"
"I know I'm the captain of the Miami Heat"
- Yeah - "But like"
"I just want to say it's like a huge honor to take a picture with you."
For me that was a lesson.
Because I was like, "Oh, you've been beating yourself up"
"because you were convinced"
"that these few people were the entire world"
Yeah.
and that's the danger of our job.
Is that, we're so driven by numbers
we're so driven by comments
that we think that's a reflection of the whole world
but it is truly, truly not.
There have been these moments in your career
where you have
broken the internet
- Because I feel like you've - Uh oh.
added something, in a good way.
When you talked about
sexuality
- mental health - Mhmm.
and dogs
three things
- that are not discussed - Also probably like
- in the South Asian community! - Also probably like
minor one
the treatment of women
might also
- treatment of-- okay, okay - kind of be
- if we want to - treatment of women
gender equality
You're a global embassador.
Four!
Think about that
you are every uncle's worst nightmare.
I truly am, and trust me it feels that way.
- For real? - Yes.
I feel like
whenever something happens to you you have two choices.
One choice is to
be scared and let fear drive your decisions
which is
a lot of times what I feel like
the South Asian community does.
You know it's a culture full of secrets
it's a culture of what old people think
as you know
log kya kahenge
- Yeah - You say it all the time.
And then the alternative
choice is
if we share this
there's a potential to help people.
I am a big believer that when you share stories
and storytelling
brings people together
there-- that's magic.
and that's medicine
and that is what our culture needs.
Yes.
And so
if this isn't progress
- This is a huge - I don't know what is
This is a big, big deal.
Good for you.
Good job everyone!
Hi, buddy.
Look, he loves you!
I don't like this.