Alumni Share an Evening with Dr. Ken Jeong
In the field of medicine, MD is the terminal degree. The pinnacle. The top. But on Feb. 23, more than 1,400 网红爆料, Baltimore (UMB) alumni had a chance to hear the unique perspective of someone for whom receiving his MD was just a steppingstone on a path to becoming one of America鈥檚 most successful comedians and comedic actors.
During the program titled 鈥�An Evening with Ken Jeong,鈥� host and UMB President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, engaged in a freewheeling conversation that ranged from the ways life and experience inform comedy to working in the entertainment business during the pandemic, but always following the unusual path taken by guest Ken Jeong, MD.
Bruce Jarrell and Ken Jeong
Even before Jeong completed his undergraduate studies at Duke University, he says he was 鈥渂itten by the acting bug鈥� in an introductory acting course. He even auditioned and was accepted into Duke鈥檚 drama program but declined the offer to focus on his pre-med studies.
His love of medicine did maintain the upper hand over his love of acting, particularly comedic acting 鈥� for a while. Jeong earned his MD at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. While completing his internal medicine residency in New Orleans, Jeong won the 鈥淏ig Easy Laff-Off鈥� and soon moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of a career in entertainment. Still working as an internist there, he honed his comedic skills performing at the Improv and Laugh Factory and was invited to make several television appearances, from Comedy Central to BET to The View, whose cast declared him 鈥渢he funniest doctor in America.鈥�
鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine being dead serious with a patient,鈥� Jarrell began, 鈥渁nd then be able to turn the switch. How do you split your head to be able to deal with all this?鈥�
鈥淐omedy was kind of my golf. It was my hobby,鈥� Jeong replied. 鈥淲hen I was in my residency, or when I was practicing 鈥� people really saw me as 鈥� kind of an intense, stressed-out doctor. When patients found out that I did stand-up comedy, people in my practice were actually very, very, very happy for me. I remember one of my patients was like, 鈥業鈥檓 so happy because you鈥檙e so stressed out, you just needed like a break sometimes, because you鈥檙e just so intense.鈥� So, if anything, I took that as a great compliment that I was very dedicated to my job and very laser focused on my medicine. So that was my very silly unwinding before me. Now I鈥檓 doing that for a living.鈥�
Jeong got his first chance to play a doctor in front of the camera in the 2007 film Knocked Up, and he used not only his experience but also the personalities of other doctors he worked with for the role of Dr. Kuni.
鈥淚t was really tapping into my own backstory for that, like telling Judd Apatow, the director, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e catching my character on a bad day, a very bad day.鈥� So, in many ways, it was a fun character-actor exercise as an actor where you can, in many ways kind of push those boundaries that you're doing in a fictional character to tell a story that ultimately has a happy ending,鈥� Jeong explained. 鈥淚 remember Judd Apatow telling me and Seth Rogen, who was an executive producer as well as the star, 鈥榃e really believed your anger, and we really believed you felt like a burned-out doc.鈥� 鈥�
The 鈥渓aser focus鈥� Jeong says he learned as a physician made him a big hit in his breakout role two years later as the frenetic gangster Mr. Chow in The Hangover. 鈥淚 remember the director Todd Phillips said he was always very shocked at how kind of quiet and unassuming I was in between takes. And so I wasn't like a method actor, you know, being crazy and naked the whole time. I was a guy who was just dedicated to my craft.鈥�
Since then, Jeong has starred in numerous roles on the big screen, like Crazy Rich Asians, Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon, and Despicable Me. On the small screen, viewers know him as Ben Chang on the NBC series Community and as Dr. Ken in the eponymous ABC sitcom he created. These days, Jeong appears on Fox鈥檚 The Masked Singer and I Can See Your Voice, which he hosts and is an executive producer.
For the benefit of audience members likely unfamiliar with Hollywood behind the scenes, Jarrell probed for some inside information.
鈥淪o, another thing that caught my ear, one of your comments was that as you became more mature as a writer, you would go into the writers鈥� room and help them, quote, 鈥榖reak鈥� a story,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat was a new term to me. What is 鈥榖reak鈥� a story? And how do you 鈥榖reak鈥� a story? Where do you come up with these ideas?鈥�
鈥淏reaking a story really is an outline. Usually in episodic television, like Dr. Ken, we would have usually three stories: an A story, a B story, and C story,鈥� Jeong said. 鈥淎nd it could be anything from, let鈥檚 say, 鈥楧r. Ken can get sued for the first time,鈥� that could be a compelling A story.鈥� The B and C stories, he went on to say, are subplots woven in that help maintain the pacing, introduce opportunities for humor, and bring the rest of the cast into the episode.
鈥淚t鈥檚 incredibly hard to think of something that鈥檚 new, that hasn鈥檛 been done before, to try to give the viewer some sense of authenticity, maybe based on my own experiences,鈥� Jeong said. 鈥淢y wife is a breast cancer survivor, and still cancer-free, after 12 years. So I wrote an episode inspired by my wife's journey where my character鈥檚 wife was confronted with the possibility of having breast cancer. And so, in how to make that in a sitcom form and how to make 鈥� you can鈥檛 make that funny,鈥� he added. 鈥淏ut I was always trying to challenge myself to really do dramatic storylines, doing a sitcom format. My ambition was very high, and I really wanted to tackle very difficult storylines.鈥�
鈥淲hat do you think? Did the audience get a message? Do they understand something better?鈥� Jarrell asked.
鈥淵eah, I mean, with the breast cancer storyline, me and my wife in real life, we appeared at the very end of the episode. And we did a PSA [public service announcement] of getting screened and getting a mammogram. And I do a lot of work with Stand Up To Cancer. And so, I contacted the CEO there, she鈥檚 a friend of mine, and we got Stand Up To Cancer to sponsor the episode and to give them their focus as well. So, in many ways, that particular episode was like a mission,鈥� Jeong said.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 pretty phenomenal,鈥� Jarrell said, 鈥渂ecause it鈥檚 so difficult to get these messages out to people, particularly about preventive medicine. Once they鈥檙e sick, they realize it鈥檚 important. When they鈥檙e not sick, they don鈥檛 attach significance and they don鈥檛 get to do this, whatever we get a PSA or whatever, for a mammogram, which I鈥檓 sure is not the most comfortable thing. This is a medium that I don鈥檛 think I would have thought of as a way to get that message across.鈥�
The two doctors also explored the similar themes that run between medicine and comedy, particularly the importance of improvisation.
鈥淚鈥檝e always equated medicine with improv, and I think that in medicine, it鈥檚 if you鈥檙e having a symptom, you have to improvise and go down certain algorithms, and I鈥檓 calling audibles finding a test. And let鈥檚 say there鈥檚 an outcome that you鈥檙e not expecting on that test. And then you have a skill set and you have a playbook that has been cultivated for decades,鈥� Jeong offered. 鈥淚 remember, even our oncologist when we鈥檙e exploring treatment options for cancer, he even said it out loud, just to himself but also to us: 鈥楥ertain aspects of this treatment we鈥檙e going to have to improvise.鈥� 鈥�
Jarrell, a longtime transplant surgeon, was quick to agree. 鈥淵eah, I can tell you being a surgeon has a lot of improvisation at times. Some of you in the audience will remember there was a time when we didn't have ultrasound or CT [computed tomography] scans. When you decided to take someone to the operating room, it was on history, physical exam, and experience. So you didn鈥檛 have a whole lot of script. Nowadays, you have a much better script.鈥�
But for all the serious talk of medicine and writing theory, a certain amount of discussion on just being famous was bound to occur.
鈥淧eople have a tattoo of you?鈥� Jarrell asked, incredulously. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 got to be phenomenal!鈥�
鈥淚 feel like my whole career is an out-of-body experience. Like when people show their tattoos on social media, it鈥檚 mostly Mr. Chow or Community, I don鈥檛 even know what to say,鈥� Jeong replied.
鈥淚 hope it was just your face, though, of course,鈥� Jarrell said.
鈥淚t was just my face, Bruce! Don鈥檛 be Mike Wallace right now. This was just supposed to be a friendly interview. It鈥檚 not 60 Minutes,鈥� Jeong retorted, taking mock offense.
Whatever the audience may have expected from the varying and highly entertaining discussion, they were certainly left with inspiration about the value of self-examination, embracing one鈥檚 gifts, and accepting the guidance of mentors.
鈥淢y medical residency director, he was my mentor. He said that if you do comedy full time, think of it as blending your medicine in comedy and blending your comedy in medicine,鈥� Jeong explained.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a real mentor, a mentor who encourages you to do more than just his or her specialty in medicine, but rather to develop a whole other aspect of your life,鈥� Jarrell offered. 鈥淎nd I guess you look back on that and say thank goodness he didn鈥檛 talk me out of becoming a comedian but in fact encouraged me to make it even richer than I could have made it on my own.鈥�
鈥淵ou know he really gave me a Zen-like attitude,鈥� Jeong said. 鈥淗is words of wisdom 鈥� I was impressionable in my mid-20s 鈥� really resonated with me and really gave me peace that I wasn鈥檛 so strange pursuing comedy and medicine at the same time. It just really helped me enjoy my journey.鈥�
