AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Do you ever wish the Oscars were half as long as they usually are and had twice as many jokes? Well, if you are one of those people, Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers have something for you. You've probably already heard about it. It's a spoof award show called "The Las Culturistas Culture Awards." And it started kind of as a gag on their podcast five years ago. But since then, it has snowballed into a televised event with some serious fanfare, some serious celebrities and some not-so-serious award categories.
(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)
MATT ROGERS: In the category of eternal lesbian of the pop culture mind, the nominees are Kate McKinnon...
BOWEN YANG: In the category of most triggered, activated and dysregulated I was this year, the nominees are Christmas Eve - I have no gifts.
ROGERS: In the category of feelings we have and are ready to say, the nominees are - it's you, it's always been you.
CHANG: Here to tell us all about the show and teach us some rules of culture are Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers. Welcome, welcome.
YANG: Hello.
ROGERS: Hello.
YANG: Thrilled to be here.
CHANG: Hello, hello.
ROGERS: So happy to be with you.
CHANG: Oh, my God, so happy to have you. Wait, so I need to ask this because I have been wondering, do contenders for a culture award, like, lobby you guys now? You know, like, the way some movie studios put millions of dollars into Oscar campaigns. Like, have any nominees tried to bribe you guys yet?
YANG: I think with experiences, which we will gladly take, the lovely people at the Barclays Center, which is here in Brooklyn, because they were nominated in the category of most iconic building or structure, Barclays Center, aka Ellie the Elephant's house, we've gotten to go to some great events, including Liberty games, and I think that clinches the win for them, I think.
ROGERS: Listen, just like real awards bodies, we can be bribed.
CHANG: Right. You hope to be bribed. You hope there will be some corruption at the very least, right?
ROGERS: (Laughter).
YANG: Yes.
ROGERS: Listen.
CHANG: I mean, speaking of self-serving conflicts of interest, Bowen I noticed that the movie "Wicked 1" (ph)...
YANG: Yes.
CHANG: ...Which obviously you were in, has been nominated for best movie of all time, not that that's at all a conflict of interest, right?
YANG: Certainly not. And, you know, despite the bribes, this award, this entire award show is still sort of a meritocracy. It is only based on merit, and merit equals money sometimes.
CHANG: (Laughter) Merit equals money.
YANG: So it's because I've been paid by "Wicked," I feel like we had to give them some recognition.
CHANG: But which category would you say has the fiercest competition this time around?
YANG: Oh, that's very interesting. Well, there's - there are a few that we cannot - that are not safe for public radio.
ROGERS: Yeah.
YANG: But I think what...
CHANG: Oh, please go into dangerous territory. We can bleep things out.
ROGERS: You can't forget about the don't repeat this award for rumor we are making up. The nominees are Wordle is collecting all of our data...
CHANG: I believe it.
ROGERS: ...You can swallow gum, and it just comes right out...
YANG: Interesting.
ROGERS: ...Coke Zero has been proven to flush your body of microplastics...
YANG: What a rumor.
ROGERS: ...Sabrina Carpenter and Brian Cox seen canoodling outside of Chateau Marmont...
CHANG: I mean, maybe?
ROGERS: ...And finally, Kamala Omari (ph).
YANG: We want to see it.
CHANG: (Laugher) What?
ROGERS: I don't know...
YANG: Spicy rumors.
ROGERS: ...Which one of those spicy rumors will win the category, but, like, it's hot and heavy this year.
CHANG: I love it. And we will broadcast that to disseminate these very true rumors.
YANG: Thank you.
CHANG: All right.
ROGERS: All will be revealed.
(LAUGHTER)
CHANG: I love how your show recognizes some nominees that never get stage time at typical award shows. People like Will Ferrell or "Summer House's" Ciara Miller, people like that who don't usually get the awards stage.
ROGERS: I think that we have become a little bit, like, colonized in what we are quantifying in terms of the awards. And that's kind of a waste, right? Because there's a whole world of things that we can...
CHANG: Yeah.
ROGERS: ...Talk about and honor.
CHANG: Totally.
ROGERS: And so, I think, and I know Bowen feels, that it's kind of funny when all of these things collide. I think one other element of our podcast is we sort of treat - you know, I'm using air quotes - but "high culture" and "low culture" equally. And I think that people appreciate that because it eliminates a kind of superiority that can be very present and very felt in, you know, a conversation about taste or what is deemed a word worthy.
CHANG: Totally.
ROGERS: And I think that just to be relieved of that is something useful, fun, maybe just makes people feel a little bit more comfortable. And so, really, at the end of the day, what Bowen and I think is the most funny are people that take themselves super, super, super seriously.
CHANG: (Laughter).
ROGERS: So I think that to center a comedic idea and a variety show around this thing that our industry, no matter what realm it is - whether it's music, film, television, et cetera - takes these award shows very, very seriously. And so it's kind of - it feels like we're sort of letting air out of the balloon...
CHANG: Yeah.
ROGERS: ...When people are given permission to make fun of those things.
CHANG: Well, hey, if you guys were suddenly asked to host the Oscars, as the creators of the "Las Culturistas Culture Awards," how do you think you both would try to reinvent that award show?
YANG: Well, that's very interesting. I think we would have to change a lot of the reason for being for something like the Oscars, where - Matt and I have talked about this, where it's like, well, it's a hard gig, not only because you have to, you know, be on stage and perform, but because, as the night progresses, there are more and more losers in the audience.
CHANG: That's true.
YANG: And so the vibes nosedive. And so you do - you have a harder and harder job just keeping the ball up in the air, but the ball just - it just sinks and sinks lower and lower. We have it so good at the "Culture Awards," where it is our sort of creative touch, and it has room for all of that. It has a very wide berth for us to sort of dock all of our ideas into. I think for something that does take itself so seriously like the Oscars, I think a lot of the fundamental things about it would have to change for us to be that successful, maybe?
ROGERS: I think some things are not meant to be reinvented. That's why we have the "Culture Awards"...
YANG: Exactly.
ROGERS: ...Because this is our reinvention of it.
CHANG: (Laughter).
ROGERS: I don't think - I don't - I think if we ever hosted the Oscars or the Emmys or anything like that, obviously, it would be a huge honor, but I wouldn't want to be expected to do that well and also reinvent the wheel with it.
YANG: Exactly.
ROGERS: You know what I mean?
CHANG: Yeah.
ROGERS: Like, the Oscars are the Oscars. They're hosted in a really specific way. And the thing is, like, we're able to do our own send up of it, hopefully as - in a really effective way because we have an appreciation for the processes of these things.
CHANG: I mean, if the Oscars didn't exist, "The Las Culturistas Culture Awards" would have nothing to make fun of, so I hear you.
YANG: That's very true, very true.
CHANG: You need something to push back against and mock (laughter).
ROGERS: Exactly. Oscars should keep doing their thing.
CHANG: Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, the hosts of "Las Culturistas" podcast and "The Las Culturistas Culture Awards," airing tonight on Peacock and Bravo. Thank you both so much for talking with me.
YANG: Thanks, Ailsa.
ROGERS: Thank you. This was fun.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALL THE THINGS SHE SAID")
TATU: (Singing) All the things she said, all the things she said, running through my head, running through my head, running through my head. All the things she said, all the things she said, running through my head, running through my head, all the things she said. This is not enough. This is not enough. All the things she said, all the things she said. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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