- Hey, have a seat.

- [Interviewer] Thank you so much, I'm so glad to be here.

- Welcome to K-Town!

- [Interviewer] And I'm thrilled to ask you 73 questions.

- Me too. I'm very excited.

I'm actually running around since I have some meetings

right now, but I think we're gonna make it work.

- [Interviewer] We're gonna make it work.

But before we do, how should I address you?

You wanna go by Nora or Awkwafina for this?

- That depends on if we're married or not.

- [Interviewer] So how did you

come to land on Awkwafina, anyway?

- When I was 15 or 16 I thought that

the name Awkwafina was great, hilarious.

I never thought anyone would ever call me that.

Cut to now, where everyone calls me that,

so that's good.

- [Interviewer] Did any other names make the list?

- Kimchi g gay, you know, getting Jiggay with it.

I wanted to make Jiggay jokes.

- [Interviewer] Yeah, it doesn't roll off the tongue.

- [Server] Can I clear some room for you?

- Yes, please thank you, Chris.

- I got you, no. - All right.

- [Interviewer] What's the name

that you give on your Starbucks orders?

- I like putting Michelle Pfeiffer,

all F's in the Pfeiffer, throws them off a little bit.

- [Interviewer] What's the biggest difference

between Nora and Awkwafina?

- One has acid reflux. The other one yells a lot.

- [Interviewer] What's the biggest similarity?

- We both love soup.

I love New England clam chowder.

- [Interviewer] Hmm.

What's your favorite borough in New York City?

- I gotta say Queens.

I gotta say Queens.

- [Interviewer] What's the most underrated thing in Queens?

- The food, and the diversity of the food.

And the availability of the food.

- [Interviewer] And what would you say

is the best kept secret in New York City?

- I couldn't tell ya.

- [Interviewer] Cheat answer.

Let's get outta here.

- I'm just gonna go check out if you wanna come with.

- [Interviewer] Let's do it.

So as a born and bred New Yorker,

what's your opinion of Los Angeles?

- I like LA, it's the same weather every day,

I get to drive everywhere, it's great.

- [Interviewer] And what's the best part of LA?

- The best part is being near all kinds of bodies of water.

We got pools, we got oceans, we got reservoirs,

we got a little lake.

- [Interviewer] Look at that,

you got your swimming pool right there.

What's the worst part about Los Angeles?

- I'd say the worst thing about

being in LA is how big it is.

I once tried to walk from Koreatown to Santa Monica,

didn't work out, it's a long day's journey into night.

- [Interviewer] After New York, where would you say

you feel most at home?

- Probably in an abandoned school bus,

hurling insults at trees.

- [Interviewer] Okay.

What's always found in your carry on?

- I love a good facial spritz.

I love spritzing my face when it needs it.

- [Interviewer] Who's your dream travel partner?

- I'd say Jon Snow.

I think he'd be a little reluctant at first

and then he'd be really helpful along the journey.

- [Interviewer] If you had to write another city guidebook

what city would it be for?

- I love Seattle.

I love to explore Seattle.

- [Interviewer] Coffee or tea?

- Matcha.

- [Interviewer] Early bird or night owl?

- I'm a night owl that goes to bed early

and wakes up early, so I guess an early bird.

- [Interviewer] And what's a podcast

you recommend for everyone?

- Criminal, yeah, shout out Phoebe.

It's a great podcast.

- [Interviewer] If you could make a cameo

in any film, TV show, or podcast what would it be?

- What was that show where like

the cousin comes from another country

and he starts all kinds of trouble.

Balcony--

- [Interviewer] Balki!

- Balki! - "Perfect Strangers!"

- "Perfect Strangers," that one.

- [Interviewer] - Love that show, love it. Ok,

so paint me a picture- what does one day

in Awkwafina's life look like?

- One day. - Just a typical day.

- I wake up, probably wearing the same clothes

that I've been wearing.

And then I spend an hour or two crying or laughing.

And then I put on some shoes and get out that door.

- [Interviewer] And how does your day usually end?

- It usually ends with me on Sepulveda

yelling at birds.

Can I have the check, Jamal? Thank you.

- [Interviewer] If you're wearing a mood ring

what color would it be?

- Probably the green brown that all mood rings are.

- [Interviewer] What does that mean?

- It means that mood rings don't work.

Thank you.

- [Interviewer] So what are you most excited about

at this current moment in life, right now?

- I was gonna go to Jimmy Johns,

I love the Big Italian, so I'm excited about that.

But I'm excited to be here, right now, with you.

- [Interviewer] What are you putting off at this moment?

- Probably going to Jimmy Johns, getting that Big Italian.

- [Interviewer] If you could listen to one instrument

for the rest of your life what would it be?

- I'd say a flugelhorn.

- [Interviewer] You play flugelhorn?

- No, I don't have the lungs for it.

- [Interviewer] Who always makes it onto your playlists?

- Jamiroquai.

He always wiggles his way in there.

- [Interviewer] If you could choose someone

to cover one of your songs, who would it be?

- The B-52s, I love them.

- [Interviewer] Oh, that's a good one.

I love The B-52s.

- I just, I gotta go up to my room.

Are we good on time?

- [Interviewer] We're totally fine,

we have like another 10 minutes.

Don't worry about it. - Okay, awesome.

- [Interviewer] So what's a rumor you think

would be funny to start about yourself?

- That Awkwafina is the best and she has no flaws.

- [Interviewer] What's the last emoji

that you remember using?

- I like using the ambulance or the rocket

that is aggressively blasting off.

- [Interviewer] And would you find yourself

using Twitter or Instagram more?

- I love, I'm more active on Instagram.

But I like to get the tea and the news from Twitter.

Thank you, love you Chris.

- [Interviewer] Now I remember watching your music videos

when they first came out, how did it feel

getting attention for the first time?

- It was like a panic attack,

reliving it over and over again.

But also like very exciting.

- [Interviewer] That must've been exciting,

you were getting a ton of buzz.

Were you anxious or hesitant starting out,

putting yourself up on the internet like that?

- There are several voices in my head.

One was like, oh my god, are you really gonna do this?

And the other one was like, don't do it.

And the third one was like, I mean just do it.

And so I listened, and I did it, and here we are.

- [Interviewer] Do you ever read the comments on YouTube?

- I once met an old wise man under a tree,

the tree had pickles, and he said, never read the comments.

So I listened.

- That's pretty specific. - Yes.

- [Interviewer] So Awkwafina, you're a rapper,

an actress, internet personality, comedian,

an author, a host, what do you most identify with?

- Probably DJ photographer.

- [Interviewer] What or who inspires most of your lyrics?

- The stars at night, the sound of waves

softly crashing onto one another, your voice.

- [Interviewer] Ah, thank you.

So what comes first, the beat or the lyrics?

- I gotta say the beat, the beat.

It all starts with the beat.

- [Interviewer] Is is easier for you to write raps or jokes?

- I would say jokes, knock knock jokes.

- [Interviewer] What was the most memorable job

that you had while getting your comedy up and running?

- That would be the vegan bodega.

Taught me a lot about customer service,

a lot about retail.

- There ya go. - Wanna come in?

- [Interviewer] Yeah, let's do it.

- All right.

- [Interviewer] And what was your favorite job?

- My favorite was probably working

at the video store when I was 16 years old.

- [Interviewer] What film did you rent the most from there?

- "Beaches." - "Beaches."

Bette Midler.

- Deep cut. - Sad movie.

By the way, beautiful view.

- It is, check it out.

- Look at that. - It's gorgeous.

- [Interviewer] Los Angeles.

So Awkwafina, when did you realize

you could first make people laugh?

- I developed humor as a defense mechanism

when I was like four, actually after the passing of my mom.

I wanted to be an emblem of joy,

and not an emblem of sorrow.

- [Interviewer] That's touching.

Was there a particular moment you realized

you wanted to be a comedian?

- When I was about five or six,

I had this crowd rolling, right.

And I remember going home at night, sitting awake,

as a child, and wondering if like

the laughs were real or if they just felt bad.

- You were so young. - Yeah.

- [Interviewer] But there's also so much

heart in your "SNL" monologue.

- Thank you.

- [Interviewer] What did that experience feel like?

It must've been surreal.

- It was amazing to be able to deliver

a monologue that, you know, took more of a serious turn.

I think it's one thing to imagine being on that stage,

and another to imagine tearing up.

And that's what that moment meant to me, for sure.

- [Interviewer] Well have you met

Lucy Liu since that monologue?

- No, I'm meeting her on Saturday.

I'm really nervous.

What do you wear to that, you know?

She's so cool, I don't know what I'm gonna do.

I'm gonna be like shivering, I don't know.

I don't know.

- [Interviewer] That's so exciting.

What does it mean being a woman in comedy?

- What it means to be a woman in comedy,

I think being a woman in comedy means

kind of building up that collective comradery

with the truths, the sometimes sad

and funny truths of being a woman.

But also, using it to empower,

using it to encourage, using it to laugh.

To further improve womanhood in general.

- [Interviewer] Are you annoyed

of being asked that question?

- I mean it's fine.

It's fine.

- [Interviewer] I've heard through the grapevine

you're creating your own show right now.

Are there any spoilers you can reveal?

- Yeah, at the end everyone dies in the spaceship.

- [Interviewer] What three words are used