WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.819 Welcome back to the deep dive Okay, so today 00:00:03.819 --> 00:00:07.019 we're turning our attention to One of comedy's 00:00:07.019 --> 00:00:10.339 most let's say candid chaotic and definitely 00:00:10.339 --> 00:00:14.119 complex figures Robert Youngly jr. But you know, 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:16.800 everyone just knows him as Bobby Lee. Yeah, absolutely 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:19.339 and if you like if you've been following his 00:00:19.339 --> 00:00:21.399 career at all. I mean, the evolution is incredible, 00:00:21.460 --> 00:00:24.019 isn't it? From that Seminon sketch comedy stuff 00:00:24.019 --> 00:00:27.260 to basically being a founding father of the Modern 00:00:27.260 --> 00:00:30.420 Video Podcast, his story's got so much more texture 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:32.899 than just the highlights. Totally. And that's 00:00:32.899 --> 00:00:34.759 our mission today, really. We want to synthesize 00:00:34.759 --> 00:00:37.619 the journey, the personal and professional stuff 00:00:37.619 --> 00:00:39.520 that's documented in the source materials we've 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:42.259 looked at. We're going to trace his path from 00:00:42.259 --> 00:00:44.700 his San Diego roots, that really tough youth. 00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:47.939 right up to now, where he's a foundational figure 00:00:47.939 --> 00:00:50.719 in sketch comedy, sure, but also this pioneer 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:53.159 in independent digital media. And what's really 00:00:53.159 --> 00:00:55.000 striking, I think, is that duality you mentioned. 00:00:55.060 --> 00:00:56.780 We're not just taking off career milestones. 00:00:56.880 --> 00:00:59.920 We have to look at the personal resilience that's 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:02.619 right there alongside it all, documented step 00:01:02.619 --> 00:01:05.719 by step, almost. Yeah, it's inseparable. OK, 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:07.340 so let's kick off with the vitals just to set 00:01:07.340 --> 00:01:11.469 the scene. Born September. 17th, 1971, San Diego, 00:01:11.469 --> 00:01:15.030 California. And his work, I mean, it spans standup, 00:01:15.150 --> 00:01:18.390 film, TV, and of course, podcasting. And the 00:01:18.390 --> 00:01:21.090 comedy itself is pretty broad. You've got observational 00:01:21.090 --> 00:01:23.829 stuff, yeah. But he often goes into black comedy, 00:01:24.049 --> 00:01:27.349 blue comedy, tackling really sensitive things 00:01:27.349 --> 00:01:30.090 head on. Like what kind of things? Well, human 00:01:30.090 --> 00:01:33.150 sexuality, American politics, gender differences. 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:37.459 just basic human behavior, but with this, like 00:01:37.459 --> 00:01:39.739 raw candor. And that candor, that's really what 00:01:39.739 --> 00:01:42.159 defines where he is now, right? He's co -hosting 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:44.379 Bad Friends with Andrew Santino, which is massive, 00:01:44.500 --> 00:01:46.959 started in 2020. Huge. And then there's the earlier 00:01:46.959 --> 00:01:49.500 one, Tiger Belly, which is so culturally significant, 00:01:49.560 --> 00:01:51.799 he co -hosted that with Kaleo Lacoon. These two 00:01:51.799 --> 00:01:54.359 shows, they're kind of the peak of that big entrepreneurial 00:01:54.359 --> 00:01:56.439 shift he made. But that shift, I mean, it took 00:01:56.439 --> 00:01:58.340 decades to get there. And the resilience, like 00:01:58.340 --> 00:02:00.480 you said, it really starts way back in his childhood, 00:02:00.620 --> 00:02:02.299 which kind of brings us to section one, right? 00:02:02.299 --> 00:02:04.609 That really unconventional. path he took towards 00:02:04.609 --> 00:02:07.469 comedy. OK, yeah, let's dive into that. Starting 00:02:07.469 --> 00:02:09.650 in Poway, California, that's where he grew up 00:02:09.650 --> 00:02:12.770 with his younger brother, Steve, parents were 00:02:12.770 --> 00:02:15.669 Korean immigrants, Jeannie and Robert Lee. Right. 00:02:15.770 --> 00:02:17.610 And the sources mentioned the local schools he 00:02:17.610 --> 00:02:20.270 went to, Painted Rock, Twin Peaks, Poway High. 00:02:20.770 --> 00:02:23.229 But the crucial context here, I think, is the 00:02:23.229 --> 00:02:25.979 family environment. It was all about hard work 00:02:25.979 --> 00:02:28.659 owning their own business. His parents had clothing 00:02:28.659 --> 00:02:33.659 stores and Escondido and Encinitas. And that 00:02:33.659 --> 00:02:37.039 detail, it feels really pivotal because, you 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:39.780 know, being the eldest son in an immigrant family 00:02:39.780 --> 00:02:42.919 with small businesses, there's often this really 00:02:42.919 --> 00:02:46.800 strong. maybe unspoken expectation that you'll 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:48.780 join the family business eventually take over. 00:02:49.300 --> 00:02:51.280 Exactly. So that sets up this immediate, like, 00:02:51.740 --> 00:02:53.879 fundamental conflict when he decides to go down 00:02:53.879 --> 00:02:56.280 this totally unstable path of comedy instead. 00:02:56.460 --> 00:02:59.039 Right. Such a different world. Yeah. But even 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:00.879 before comedy, there was this little hint of 00:03:00.879 --> 00:03:02.280 performance. The sources mentioned he was on 00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:04.360 a breakdancing team in high school. Oh, really? 00:03:04.539 --> 00:03:08.520 Breakdancing? Yeah, so it shows maybe an early 00:03:08.520 --> 00:03:12.120 lean towards being on stage, physical performance, 00:03:12.259 --> 00:03:15.360 even if nobody saw it as like a career path back 00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:18.560 then. After high school, he did briefly go to 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:21.039 Palomar College, but well, that didn't last long 00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:23.139 before this big turning point. OK, here we go. 00:03:23.800 --> 00:03:27.240 This is where fate or maybe just circumstance 00:03:27.240 --> 00:03:30.139 takes a really sharp turn. The Stand Up Origin 00:03:30.139 --> 00:03:33.669 story, 1994. It wasn't like he planned it meticulously. 00:03:33.930 --> 00:03:36.409 It sounds almost accidental. Totally accidental. 00:03:36.530 --> 00:03:39.090 He was working in a coffee shop slash restaurant. 00:03:39.530 --> 00:03:42.370 And the sources say it just closed down abruptly. 00:03:42.710 --> 00:03:45.189 He needed work. So he literally just walked next 00:03:45.189 --> 00:03:47.629 door. And what was next door? Let me guess. The 00:03:47.629 --> 00:03:49.469 Comedy Store. The Comedy Store in San Diego. 00:03:49.569 --> 00:03:51.710 Yeah. He started working there just doing odd 00:03:51.710 --> 00:03:54.219 jobs for a few months. Wow. Just being there, 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:56.039 proximity. Right. That's going to be the biggest 00:03:56.039 --> 00:03:57.900 ingredient sometimes in comedy, just being in 00:03:57.900 --> 00:03:59.939 the environment. Absolutely. And because he was 00:03:59.939 --> 00:04:02.319 there, he eventually plucked up the courage, 00:04:02.419 --> 00:04:05.300 got on stage during a amateur night. And that 00:04:05.300 --> 00:04:07.139 first set, apparently, that was it. That was 00:04:07.139 --> 00:04:09.520 the spark. And things moved fast after that, 00:04:09.659 --> 00:04:12.300 didn't they? Unbelievably fast. The sources show, 00:04:12.300 --> 00:04:15.080 like, within just one year, he's getting offers 00:04:15.080 --> 00:04:17.740 to open for pretty big names at the time, Pauly 00:04:17.740 --> 00:04:21.779 Shore, Carlos Mencia. Wow. And that success immediately 00:04:21.779 --> 00:04:24.420 led to him working regularly at the main comedy 00:04:24.420 --> 00:04:27.480 store, the legendary one in LA. So hang on. In 00:04:27.480 --> 00:04:31.100 about a year, he goes from working odd jobs next 00:04:31.100 --> 00:04:34.699 to a defunct coffee shop to being a regular feature 00:04:34.699 --> 00:04:38.339 at the comedy store in LA. That's meteoric. It 00:04:38.339 --> 00:04:40.420 really is. That kind of speed you'd think would 00:04:40.420 --> 00:04:43.079 bring instant validation, right? But actually, 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:44.860 it seems like it kind of made the distance with 00:04:44.860 --> 00:04:47.879 his family even bigger. Which brings us to that 00:04:47.879 --> 00:04:50.000 whole parental support thing, or lack thereof, 00:04:50.019 --> 00:04:52.800 initially. Yeah, and Lee's been super open about 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:54.779 this, about that initial conflict. His parents, 00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:56.399 you know, they had those traditional values, 00:04:56.459 --> 00:04:58.779 the hopes tied up with the family business. Yeah. 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:01.819 They were distinctly unsupportive at first. He 00:05:01.819 --> 00:05:03.579 talked about it pretty bluntly, didn't he? Said 00:05:03.579 --> 00:05:05.439 something like, for the first few years of his 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:07.079 career, this time when he's actually killing 00:05:07.079 --> 00:05:09.120 it professionally, his parents barely spoke to 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:12.220 him. Yeah. Can you imagine that? Achieving this 00:05:12.220 --> 00:05:14.620 dream, but feeling totally isolated from your 00:05:14.620 --> 00:05:17.660 family. Brutal. But the turning point, the story 00:05:17.660 --> 00:05:20.100 about that, it's such a perfect kind of poignant 00:05:20.100 --> 00:05:22.279 illustration of the gap they were dealing with, 00:05:22.519 --> 00:05:25.139 culturally and vocationally. The reconciliation 00:05:25.139 --> 00:05:27.279 apparently kicked off after he was on The Tonight 00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:30.079 Show with Jay Leno. Right. The legendary phone 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:32.759 call from his dad. Exactly. His father calls 00:05:32.759 --> 00:05:36.240 him up, but not to say great job or anything. 00:05:36.459 --> 00:05:38.939 No, he asks how much Bobby had to pay to get 00:05:38.939 --> 00:05:41.480 on the show. Which just cuts right to the bone, 00:05:41.579 --> 00:05:44.850 doesn't it? That immigrant mindset, maybe? that 00:05:44.850 --> 00:05:48.310 success in this baffling industry like Hollywood, 00:05:49.149 --> 00:05:51.850 it must be about money, not talent. They just 00:05:51.850 --> 00:05:53.670 couldn't wrap their heads around being a comedian 00:05:53.670 --> 00:05:57.089 as a real job. It's not lack of love. Maybe just 00:05:57.089 --> 00:06:00.100 no frame of reference, like you said. But the 00:06:00.100 --> 00:06:02.220 sources do say that after that appearance, his 00:06:02.220 --> 00:06:04.860 dad did apologize, said sorry for not supporting 00:06:04.860 --> 00:06:06.920 the comedy thing before. That was like the first 00:06:06.920 --> 00:06:09.019 big step, you know, healing that divide. And 00:06:09.019 --> 00:06:11.220 that healing eventually led to actual family 00:06:11.220 --> 00:06:13.360 collaboration later on, which is pretty cool. 00:06:13.560 --> 00:06:15.920 Shows they bridge that gap somehow. His younger 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:18.699 brother, Steve, started showing up in non -speaking 00:06:18.699 --> 00:06:22.040 roles on MATV. Mm -hmm. And his whole immediate 00:06:22.040 --> 00:06:24.819 family was even in one specific sketch on the 00:06:24.819 --> 00:06:28.610 show. Wow. And then, get this, in 2007, showing 00:06:28.610 --> 00:06:31.310 how far things had come, he actually pitched 00:06:31.310 --> 00:06:34.810 a sitcom to Comedy Central. The idea was it'd 00:06:34.810 --> 00:06:38.310 be about a Korean family starring his own family. 00:06:38.389 --> 00:06:41.149 No way. That's incredible. From barely speaking 00:06:41.149 --> 00:06:43.209 to pitching a sitcom together, that's quite a 00:06:43.209 --> 00:06:45.670 journey for them. It really is a total transformation. 00:06:45.949 --> 00:06:47.709 Okay, so the family starts coming around, even 00:06:47.709 --> 00:06:50.930 gets involved, and that timeline takes us right 00:06:50.930 --> 00:06:52.990 into the next big phase for him professionally. 00:06:53.160 --> 00:06:55.720 sketch comedy, and making that move into acting. 00:06:56.420 --> 00:06:59.480 Yeah, and obviously, that phase is just dominated 00:06:59.480 --> 00:07:02.480 by MADTV. He joined the cast in 2001, and that 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:04.620 was, like, instantly groundbreaking. The sources 00:07:04.620 --> 00:07:07.339 are clear. He was the show's first and only Asian 00:07:07.339 --> 00:07:09.759 cast member during his entire run. Which meant 00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:12.870 huge visibility, obviously, but also... Man, 00:07:13.009 --> 00:07:14.850 the pressure. Immense pressure. Being the only 00:07:14.850 --> 00:07:16.930 one, especially back then, early 2000s sketch 00:07:16.930 --> 00:07:18.990 comedy, that often meant getting pushed in the 00:07:18.990 --> 00:07:21.430 roles that relied pretty heavily on stereotypes 00:07:21.430 --> 00:07:23.449 for the joke. And this is something the sources 00:07:23.449 --> 00:07:25.810 really bring out, highlighting his own internal 00:07:25.810 --> 00:07:28.889 conflict with it. He got famous doing these characters, 00:07:28.949 --> 00:07:31.490 but he's openly talked about dreading certain 00:07:31.490 --> 00:07:34.050 roles. Yeah, I remember reading that. He specifically 00:07:34.050 --> 00:07:36.310 mentioned playing based on Connie Chung. And 00:07:36.310 --> 00:07:39.850 those average Asian skits. Right. Which, I mean, 00:07:39.850 --> 00:07:41.730 talk about a psychological burden. You're getting 00:07:41.730 --> 00:07:44.889 success, right? Job security, fame, people recognize 00:07:44.889 --> 00:07:48.290 you. Yeah. But the price is playing characters 00:07:48.290 --> 00:07:51.470 that maybe undermine or at least lean into the 00:07:51.470 --> 00:07:54.069 very stereotypes you and your community are fighting 00:07:54.069 --> 00:07:56.910 against. Yeah. Especially tough for a comedian 00:07:56.910 --> 00:07:59.110 whose later work, like we'll get to, is all about 00:07:59.110 --> 00:08:01.410 exploring Asian American identity with way more 00:08:01.410 --> 00:08:05.589 nuance. That MADTV era must have been artistically 00:08:05.589 --> 00:08:07.850 kind of agonizing at times. Must have been. Yeah. 00:08:08.540 --> 00:08:10.959 Despite that he stayed for so long that says 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:13.160 a lot about his talent his commitment. Maybe 00:08:13.160 --> 00:08:15.649 just his professional grit Totally. He was a 00:08:15.649 --> 00:08:17.629 core part of that cast until the show got canceled 00:08:17.629 --> 00:08:20.649 in 2009. That's an eight -year run, solid. And 00:08:20.649 --> 00:08:23.370 he even came back for that brief revival on the 00:08:23.370 --> 00:08:27.990 CW in 2016. Right. And that stability, that platform 00:08:27.990 --> 00:08:31.009 MEBTV gave him, it definitely let him leverage 00:08:31.009 --> 00:08:34.710 that visibility into film roles, TV roles, signaling 00:08:34.710 --> 00:08:37.649 that shift into being a broader actor, not just 00:08:37.649 --> 00:08:40.269 a sketch guy. Okay, let's look at some of those 00:08:40.269 --> 00:08:42.590 key roles and film highlights then. He popped 00:08:42.590 --> 00:08:45.370 up in that 2004 cult hit, Harold and Kumar go 00:08:45.370 --> 00:08:47.429 to White Castle. Oh yeah, Kenneth Park. Kenneth 00:08:47.429 --> 00:08:49.610 Park, exactly. And he came back for the sequel 00:08:49.610 --> 00:08:52.090 in 2011 too. And you also see him fitting into 00:08:52.090 --> 00:08:54.570 other big comedies around that time, right? Like 00:08:54.570 --> 00:08:58.070 Pineapple Express in 2008. And Sacha Baron Cohen's 00:08:58.070 --> 00:09:00.210 The Dictator in 2012 where he played Mr. Lau. 00:09:00.590 --> 00:09:02.509 So he's showing he can move from sketch character 00:09:02.509 --> 00:09:05.370 work to being a reliable comedic actor in movies. 00:09:05.899 --> 00:09:08.659 But his later TV stuff, it feels like maybe a 00:09:08.659 --> 00:09:10.879 deliberate shift, doesn't it, towards more grounded 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:13.679 roles, or at least less, less broad, maybe. He 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:15.799 co -starred in that ABC sitcom, splitting up 00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:18.720 together. Yeah, from 2018 to 2019. But I agree. 00:09:18.840 --> 00:09:20.799 I think the real measure of his versatility comes 00:09:20.799 --> 00:09:22.379 through in some of the recurring characters he 00:09:22.379 --> 00:09:24.500 played later, like Jin Ji -won on the Magnum 00:09:24.500 --> 00:09:26.460 PI reboot. Right. He was on that for a while, 00:09:26.679 --> 00:09:29.639 2019 to 2023. That's a sustained role, kind of 00:09:29.639 --> 00:09:32.000 dramatic, kind of comedic, on a network procedural. 00:09:32.299 --> 00:09:34.440 pretty different. And then you contrast that 00:09:34.440 --> 00:09:37.179 with his role as Dr. Kang on Reservation Dogs 00:09:37.179 --> 00:09:39.720 on FX Hulu, which got a lot of claim. Oh yeah, 00:09:39.899 --> 00:09:42.580 Dr. Kang was fantastic. So cynical, burned out, 00:09:42.759 --> 00:09:44.899 world weary. It was such a nuanced performance. 00:09:45.100 --> 00:09:48.139 Exactly. That character, Dr. Kang, it really 00:09:48.139 --> 00:09:51.080 felt like... like a conscious departure from 00:09:51.080 --> 00:09:53.620 the high energy, sometimes stereotypical stuff 00:09:53.620 --> 00:09:57.139 from MADTV, it showed he had this dramatic subtlety, 00:09:57.200 --> 00:10:00.139 this emotional depth that maybe got a bit lost 00:10:00.139 --> 00:10:02.460 in the earlier work. Yeah, definitely. And during 00:10:02.460 --> 00:10:04.519 this period, he's also doing these side projects 00:10:04.519 --> 00:10:06.039 that, looking back, kind of seemed like they 00:10:06.039 --> 00:10:08.159 were preparing him for the digital thing. He 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:11.340 hosted the MusiCare's MAP Fund benefit concert 00:10:11.340 --> 00:10:15.799 in 2013. OK. And, critically, back in 2012, he 00:10:15.799 --> 00:10:18.720 got hired to reboot Maker Studios' YouTube common... 00:10:18.570 --> 00:10:21.610 channel, The Station. Ah, Maker Studios. Right. 00:10:21.610 --> 00:10:23.649 That experience put him right in the middle of 00:10:23.649 --> 00:10:26.110 that whole emerging world of independent online 00:10:26.110 --> 00:10:29.610 content. Early days still, but significant. Totally. 00:10:29.990 --> 00:10:32.590 It gave him the blueprint, maybe the foresight, 00:10:32.889 --> 00:10:34.950 for what turned out to be his biggest career 00:10:34.950 --> 00:10:38.009 pivot yet, which is section three, the podcasting 00:10:38.009 --> 00:10:39.870 revolution. He didn't just ride that way. He 00:10:39.870 --> 00:10:42.230 kind of helped build the boat. He really did. 00:10:42.389 --> 00:10:45.070 And his success there is built on this, like, 00:10:45.240 --> 00:10:48.559 dual podcast empire, right? You've got Bad Friends 00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:50.919 with Andrew Santino, the huge hit that kicked 00:10:50.919 --> 00:10:54.080 off in 2020. Massive. But the real foundation 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:56.500 for his indie media career, you got to say, is 00:10:56.500 --> 00:10:58.580 Tiger Belly. Yeah, let's focus on the start of 00:10:58.580 --> 00:11:01.700 Tiger Belly. That began earlier, 2015, initially 00:11:01.700 --> 00:11:05.019 co -hosted with Kalei Lacoon. And even though 00:11:05.019 --> 00:11:07.899 their personal relationship ended in 2022, the 00:11:07.899 --> 00:11:10.460 podcast keeps going, which says a lot about their 00:11:10.460 --> 00:11:12.419 dedication to that shared creation. It really 00:11:12.419 --> 00:11:14.139 does. And the show's important, not just for 00:11:14.139 --> 00:11:16.740 the content, but its whole model, its video and 00:11:16.740 --> 00:11:19.500 audio, usually like 60, 90 minutes. The sources 00:11:19.500 --> 00:11:21.379 point out the team behind it, Gilbert Gallin 00:11:21.379 --> 00:11:23.940 on tech, George Kimmel producing. Right. And 00:11:23.940 --> 00:11:26.500 even the intro song Shadowgook, which he co -wrote 00:11:26.500 --> 00:11:28.700 and performed with Koon. It's just an example 00:11:28.700 --> 00:11:31.200 of the really personal, almost provocative ownership 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:34.440 they take. And the content itself. This is why 00:11:34.440 --> 00:11:36.879 Tiger Belly feels so revolutionary, especially 00:11:36.879 --> 00:11:39.100 if you think back to those NAD TV struggles we 00:11:39.100 --> 00:11:41.720 talked about. The conversations are super personal, 00:11:41.980 --> 00:11:44.840 yeah, they touch on pop culture, but they often 00:11:44.840 --> 00:11:48.940 dig deep into really crucial Asian American issues. 00:11:49.080 --> 00:11:51.299 Like what specifically? Things related to the 00:11:51.299 --> 00:11:54.000 entertainment industry, adolescents, sexuality, 00:11:54.419 --> 00:11:58.039 ethnicity, racism, politics, all sorts of stuff. 00:11:58.120 --> 00:12:00.440 So it's like the ultimate reclaiming of his own 00:12:00.440 --> 00:12:02.750 narrative powers in it. After spending years 00:12:02.750 --> 00:12:05.450 playing roles he apparently dreading, dictated 00:12:05.450 --> 00:12:08.750 by network TV, he co -creates a space where he 00:12:08.750 --> 00:12:11.669 defines how they talk about Asian -American identity. 00:12:12.110 --> 00:12:14.870 It feels like this huge creative, maybe even 00:12:14.870 --> 00:12:17.730 emotional relief. Absolutely. But what's interesting 00:12:17.730 --> 00:12:19.509 is how it actually started. It wasn't even his 00:12:19.509 --> 00:12:22.090 main podcast idea at first, was it? No. He was 00:12:22.090 --> 00:12:23.889 apparently working on a totally different pitch 00:12:23.889 --> 00:12:25.669 with Eric Griffin for All Things Comedy, but 00:12:25.669 --> 00:12:28.210 that kind of fizzled out. Right. Instead, Tiger 00:12:28.210 --> 00:12:30.509 Belly sort of grew out of a personal crisis. 00:12:30.909 --> 00:12:33.350 Kalei Lacoon was starting a podcast while she 00:12:33.350 --> 00:12:34.909 was recovering from heart surgery. Just needed 00:12:34.909 --> 00:12:36.789 something to do. Lee was helping her out. Then 00:12:36.789 --> 00:12:39.409 he started appearing on it. And that just took 00:12:39.409 --> 00:12:41.070 off. It had more momentum than the other idea. 00:12:41.169 --> 00:12:43.549 So he shifted his focus completely to doing Tiger 00:12:43.549 --> 00:12:46.230 Belly with her. So yeah, this thing, born out 00:12:46.230 --> 00:12:48.389 of necessity during recovery, ended up becoming 00:12:48.389 --> 00:12:50.669 one of the most influential video podcasts out 00:12:50.669 --> 00:12:53.309 there. That's wild. Yeah. But running a show 00:12:53.309 --> 00:12:56.149 that's that candid, that open, it means you're 00:12:56.149 --> 00:12:58.409 constantly under the microscope, right? Which 00:12:58.409 --> 00:13:00.409 brings us to that whole controversy thing, the 00:13:00.409 --> 00:13:02.889 Tijuana story that blew up again in 2023. Yeah, 00:13:02.889 --> 00:13:05.870 that was rough. Clips resurfaced in April 2023. 00:13:06.389 --> 00:13:08.870 Lee recounting this story involving, as he described 00:13:08.870 --> 00:13:12.250 it, a young adult prostitute in Tijuana. And 00:13:12.250 --> 00:13:16.309 it just ignited this huge online backlash, allegations, 00:13:16.710 --> 00:13:18.809 intense criticism about the content itself. And 00:13:18.809 --> 00:13:20.570 it really highlights that tricky line, doesn't 00:13:20.570 --> 00:13:24.259 it, between dark comedy, shock humor, and how 00:13:24.259 --> 00:13:26.460 people perceive it, especially when it's told 00:13:26.460 --> 00:13:29.019 like a personal story on a podcast. That feeling 00:13:29.019 --> 00:13:32.059 of intimacy makes people. Maybe expect more literal 00:13:32.059 --> 00:13:34.519 truth. Exactly. The perceived authenticity is 00:13:34.519 --> 00:13:36.600 higher. So Lee had to address it, right? He used 00:13:36.600 --> 00:13:38.539 his own platform, Tiger Belly, later that month 00:13:38.539 --> 00:13:41.820 to do damage control, basically. And the clarification 00:13:41.820 --> 00:13:44.059 was key. He had to come out and say point blank. 00:13:44.139 --> 00:13:46.259 The story wasn't true. It was totally made up. 00:13:46.340 --> 00:13:48.700 Yeah, he called it a dark joke, said it was pieced 00:13:48.700 --> 00:13:51.279 together from a couple of awful bits. The fact 00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:53.539 that he had to go on his own show to explain 00:13:53.539 --> 00:13:56.440 that a shocking story was fiction. It just shows 00:13:56.440 --> 00:13:59.340 how intense that accountability is now in the 00:13:59.340 --> 00:14:02.019 digital age. It definitely signals a shift, maybe, 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:05.159 for dark comedy when any clip can be pulled, 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:07.360 stripped of context, and live forever online. 00:14:07.799 --> 00:14:10.179 The risk is your joke gets taken as a confession. 00:14:10.299 --> 00:14:13.039 For sure. And his quick, direct response kind 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:15.200 of underlines how crucial it is for independent 00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:18.120 creators, especially boundary pushers, to actively 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:20.519 manage their own narrative when things go sideways. 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:22.860 And that need to manage your narrative, your 00:14:22.860 --> 00:14:25.419 story. It feels even more relevant when we shift 00:14:25.419 --> 00:14:27.399 into section four. This is where we get into 00:14:27.399 --> 00:14:29.659 the really deep stuff. the personal struggles, 00:14:29.860 --> 00:14:32.139 the resilience, and also the interests that kind 00:14:32.139 --> 00:14:34.240 of ground him. Yeah, and the absolute anchor 00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:36.879 here is the long road to sobriety, which isn't 00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:39.600 just one event. It's this really complex journey. 00:14:40.139 --> 00:14:43.360 Multiple attempts, relapses, often tied directly 00:14:43.360 --> 00:14:45.879 to intense life pressures. And we have to start 00:14:45.879 --> 00:14:48.519 by understanding how early this began. The sources 00:14:48.519 --> 00:14:50.720 say he started using meth and marijuana around 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:54.309 12 years old. Twelve! And heroin by 15. That's 00:14:54.309 --> 00:14:56.950 an incredibly difficult, traumatic start for 00:14:56.950 --> 00:14:59.149 anyone, let alone someone heading into the high 00:14:59.149 --> 00:15:01.029 -pressure world of comedy. Yeah, that kind of 00:15:01.029 --> 00:15:03.250 early substance use, it makes you realize the 00:15:03.250 --> 00:15:06.330 career he built later was basically this decade 00:15:06.330 --> 00:15:09.450 -long tightrope walk over some serious personal 00:15:09.450 --> 00:15:12.450 turmoil. After three different rehab attempts, 00:15:12.450 --> 00:15:16.509 he finally got sober at 17. 17. And that first 00:15:16.509 --> 00:15:19.429 stretch of sobriety lasted 12 years, which is 00:15:19.429 --> 00:15:22.129 huge, especially while navigating the chaos of 00:15:22.129 --> 00:15:24.600 breaking into comedy, moving from San Diego to 00:15:24.600 --> 00:15:27.100 LA, all that rapid success. Absolutely monumental. 00:15:27.340 --> 00:15:29.259 Which makes the story of his first big relapse 00:15:29.259 --> 00:15:31.820 even more impactful. It break that 12 -year streak. 00:15:32.039 --> 00:15:34.879 He relapsed on Vicodin. And the trigger, according 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:37.139 to the sources, wasn't partying or anything like 00:15:37.139 --> 00:15:39.639 that. It was directly tied to his work. He got 00:15:39.639 --> 00:15:42.820 negative feedback from a producer. Wow. That 00:15:42.820 --> 00:15:45.259 detail says so much about the psychological toll 00:15:45.259 --> 00:15:47.539 of that industry, doesn't it? It wasn't a personal 00:15:47.539 --> 00:15:50.190 failure. It was professional rejection. or at 00:15:50.190 --> 00:15:53.470 least perceive rejection, that cracked this decade 00:15:53.470 --> 00:15:56.710 -plus sobriety. It really shows how tied up his 00:15:56.710 --> 00:15:59.389 self -worth must have been in that external validation 00:15:59.389 --> 00:16:02.610 back then. Yeah, the pressure cooker of TV production. 00:16:03.230 --> 00:16:06.169 Rejection hits hard, and self -medication becomes 00:16:06.169 --> 00:16:09.289 the coping mechanism. But the sources also document 00:16:09.289 --> 00:16:12.570 the flip side, the second chance. His sobriety 00:16:12.570 --> 00:16:15.330 getting another boost, again tied to the industry, 00:16:15.649 --> 00:16:17.769 but this time through support. Right, this is 00:16:17.769 --> 00:16:20.759 a story he told on Comedy Central's. This is 00:16:20.759 --> 00:16:23.200 not happening, yeah. He got sober again after 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:26.320 a MAD TV producer, Lauren Dombrowski, really 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:28.279 went to bat for him. This was after he'd apparently 00:16:28.279 --> 00:16:30.399 been fired from the show for a second time. Imagine 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:32.740 that. In an industry known for being pretty cutthroat, 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:35.000 someone believes in you enough to advocate for 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:36.940 you, give you that second chance. That moment 00:16:36.940 --> 00:16:39.340 of mentorship likely saved his career, maybe 00:16:39.340 --> 00:16:42.299 more. But the journey, as they say, it's never 00:16:42.299 --> 00:16:44.919 really linear, is it? He admitted later on Tiger 00:16:44.919 --> 00:16:47.779 Belly episode 224 that he'd relapsed again. Yeah, 00:16:47.799 --> 00:16:50.559 much later in life. And this time, the trigger 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:53.379 was even more profound. The death of his father 00:16:53.379 --> 00:16:57.179 in August 2019, his dad passed away from Parkinson's. 00:16:57.399 --> 00:17:00.379 So that later relapse tied to grief, it just 00:17:00.379 --> 00:17:02.480 further humanizes the whole struggle, you know, 00:17:02.659 --> 00:17:04.960 shows that recovery is this ongoing thing, vulnerable 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:07.019 to life's biggest hits, like losing a parent. 00:17:07.940 --> 00:17:09.859 After that, he went back to rehab, got sober 00:17:09.859 --> 00:17:12.579 again, and he stayed open about it, identifies 00:17:12.579 --> 00:17:15.029 as a recovering alcoholic. and that repeated 00:17:15.029 --> 00:17:17.230 ability to use his own platforms, like Tiger 00:17:17.230 --> 00:17:19.650 Belly, to talk about these wrong moments, vulnerability, 00:17:20.069 --> 00:17:22.750 addiction, recovery, it almost transforms his 00:17:22.750 --> 00:17:25.069 personal battle into something shared, something 00:17:25.069 --> 00:17:27.670 communal. It's an act of service, maybe, but 00:17:27.670 --> 00:17:30.490 also just incredibly resilient self -documentation. 00:17:30.910 --> 00:17:33.450 Definitely. OK, turning briefly to relationships 00:17:33.450 --> 00:17:35.529 and family connections, we mentioned his 10 -year 00:17:35.529 --> 00:17:37.490 relationship with Kalyla Kuhn, his Tiger Belly 00:17:37.490 --> 00:17:40.880 co -host, ended in 2022. The fact that they decided 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:42.779 to keep co -hosting their very successful show 00:17:42.779 --> 00:17:44.660 after breaking up, which is pretty remarkable, 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:47.160 shows a real prioritizing of the creative partnership. 00:17:47.460 --> 00:17:49.359 Yeah, over the personal friction, which can't 00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:52.220 be easy. And his younger brother, Steve Lee, 00:17:52.740 --> 00:17:55.619 he's still around, active in media too, musician, 00:17:56.039 --> 00:17:59.039 podcaster, comedian himself. Still an important 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:01.099 part of his world, creatively and personally. 00:18:01.500 --> 00:18:03.829 Right. And finally, just to round things out, 00:18:04.029 --> 00:18:06.029 we should touch on his personal interests and 00:18:06.029 --> 00:18:08.890 hobbies, because they offer this necessary contrast 00:18:08.890 --> 00:18:11.049 to all the intense professional demands we've 00:18:11.049 --> 00:18:14.029 been talking about. He's apparently a huge, long 00:18:14.029 --> 00:18:16.269 -time supporter of Arsenal Football Club. Ah, 00:18:16.390 --> 00:18:19.509 a gooner, okay. Yep, and also a really avid fan 00:18:19.509 --> 00:18:21.670 of video games, especially the long, immersive 00:18:21.670 --> 00:18:24.549 ones. He often talks about stuff like FIFA, Stardew 00:18:24.549 --> 00:18:27.269 Valley, The Elder Scrolls, Red Dead Redemption 00:18:27.269 --> 00:18:29.630 2, The Witcher series. You know, when you think 00:18:29.630 --> 00:18:31.410 about the kind of work he does, The constant 00:18:31.410 --> 00:18:34.289 public vulnerability, the energy needed for two 00:18:34.289 --> 00:18:37.230 big podcasts, touring stress, these hobbies make 00:18:37.230 --> 00:18:39.569 a lot of sense, don't they? Whether it's the 00:18:39.569 --> 00:18:41.750 focused distraction of watching football or just 00:18:41.750 --> 00:18:44.230 getting lost in these huge narrative RPGs like 00:18:44.230 --> 00:18:47.009 Witcher or Red Dead, it probably serves this 00:18:47.009 --> 00:18:50.410 crucial psychological need. Stability, escapism 00:18:50.410 --> 00:18:52.490 from the pressure. Yeah, grounding the chaos 00:18:52.490 --> 00:18:56.089 maybe. So, okay, we've covered a lot. This whole 00:18:56.089 --> 00:18:59.779 extraordinary zigzagging journey. What does it 00:18:59.779 --> 00:19:01.880 all mean when we try to synthesize the documented 00:19:01.880 --> 00:19:05.390 evidence for you, the listener? Right. Let's 00:19:05.390 --> 00:19:07.470 boil down the key takeaways. First, you just 00:19:07.470 --> 00:19:09.710 have to highlight the sheer adaptability across 00:19:09.710 --> 00:19:12.289 his career timeline. He starts as a club comic, 00:19:12.410 --> 00:19:15.130 becomes a TV sketch stalwart for almost a decade, 00:19:15.150 --> 00:19:18.109 and then pulls off this incredible pivot to independent 00:19:18.109 --> 00:19:21.150 media, co -founding Tiger Belly in 2015, then 00:19:21.150 --> 00:19:23.910 Bad Friends in 2020. That shows such a sharp 00:19:23.910 --> 00:19:26.150 understanding of how media was changing. Totally. 00:19:26.569 --> 00:19:28.470 And second, that theme of resilience. It's just 00:19:28.470 --> 00:19:31.289 unavoidable. The documented evidence of his long, 00:19:31.410 --> 00:19:33.349 hard road with sobriety, starting with drug use 00:19:33.349 --> 00:19:36.190 at 12, navigating that very specific relapse 00:19:36.190 --> 00:19:39.009 triggered by producer feedback, then the grief 00:19:39.009 --> 00:19:40.910 relapse after his father's death, doing all that 00:19:40.910 --> 00:19:43.170 while staying so public. It just hammers home 00:19:43.170 --> 00:19:45.670 that his success was won through these constant 00:19:45.670 --> 00:19:48.670 really intense personal battles. Yeah, he basically 00:19:48.670 --> 00:19:51.230 spun an accidental job next to a closed coffee 00:19:51.230 --> 00:19:55.130 shop into this decades -long career. He navigated 00:19:55.130 --> 00:19:57.609 the cultural stuff with his parents, survived 00:19:57.609 --> 00:19:59.609 the industry pressures that fueled addiction, 00:19:59.970 --> 00:20:02.130 and evolved from, you know, performing roles 00:20:02.130 --> 00:20:04.630 he dreaded to be becoming this indie media force 00:20:04.630 --> 00:20:07.289 who sets his own terms. It really is the ultimate 00:20:07.289 --> 00:20:10.170 story of reclaiming your own narrative, which 00:20:10.170 --> 00:20:12.690 I guess leads us perfectly into our final provocative 00:20:12.690 --> 00:20:14.710 thought for you to chew on after this deem dive. 00:20:14.910 --> 00:20:16.750 Okay, so considering everything we've discussed, 00:20:16.869 --> 00:20:18.950 especially those specific struggles documented 00:20:18.950 --> 00:20:21.190 early on, like the conflict with his parents 00:20:21.190 --> 00:20:23.369 about his career, that internal dread he felt 00:20:23.369 --> 00:20:25.569 playing certain racial characters on MED TV, 00:20:26.309 --> 00:20:29.089 what does his pivot to hosting Tiger Belly really 00:20:29.089 --> 00:20:31.359 signify? Yeah, because Tiger Billy is this platform 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:34.720 he co -created built specifically to talk about 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:37.220 Asian -American issues, sexuality, ethnicity, 00:20:37.539 --> 00:20:41.279 racism, all completely on his own terms. Does 00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:44.059 creating that kind of long -form, self -controlled, 00:20:44.440 --> 00:20:46.880 really intimate media, does it fundamentally 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:49.599 change the game, change the relationship between 00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:52.019 the artist and the audience? Is it like a vital 00:20:52.019 --> 00:20:55.599 tool now for processing, controlling, and ultimately 00:20:55.599 --> 00:20:57.900 maybe mastering your own complex life story? 00:20:58.079 --> 00:21:00.019 Something to think about for sure as you appreciate 00:21:00.019 --> 00:21:02.220 the layers and the complexity of comedy today. 00:21:02.519 --> 00:21:04.339 Thanks for joining us for this deep dive into 00:21:04.339 --> 00:21:06.720 the truly resilient life and career of Bobby 00:21:06.720 --> 00:21:08.519 Lee. Yeah, we hope you had a deep appreciation 00:21:08.519 --> 00:21:11.119 for not just the comedian, but the survivor and 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:13.460 the media entrepreneur behind it all. Until next 00:21:13.460 --> 00:21:13.619 time.