[bright tone]
♪ hip-hop music ♪
♪ Whoa, yeah ♪
♪♪♪
♪ Yo, all over the globe we stay movin' ♪
♪ Take flight, touch down ♪
♪ Grab the blueprint ♪
♪ Stay' alive, don't need 40 winks ♪
♪ I can barely afford something ♪
♪ Yeah, I'm formulating this ♪
[Romesh] We're back at the hotel.
Leesa and the kids have gone back to England.
So we are in a situation now
where I can't really afford to be forking out
for a big house.
You know, it's crunch time now.
The Greek show is ten days away.
I've just got to really go balls out
and get as many tickets sold as I can,
which at this stage,
if it was even 20 percent of tickets
would be a fucking miracle.
♪ playful music ♪
I want us to think about ideas
of how to just give the show the final push.
- Mm-hmm. - Do you know what I mean?
Mm.
I've been talking to my publicist,
and she suggested I could think about doing something,
almost like a stunt or so--something
that gets people interested, you know what I mean?
You know, ideally like a story that goes viral or...
- So I've got this. - [Shanthi] Yeah.
I throw it to you, you come up with an idea, okay?
That's how we're gonna do it, and we throw it to each other.
- [Shanthi] Okay. - Okay, my idea is
running down the street with a billboard on.
We'll just do quick ideas.
Uh, when I went to the Sri Lankan restaurant,
there's a lot of people come there.
[Romesh] Okay.
So I would love to go to that restaurant
and put pamphlets or flyers or...
- [Romesh] Okay. - Yeah?
[Rags] Have you ever seen, like, in Sri Lanka and all,
where the candidate would go in a van
and say, "Vote for me, vote for me,"
and go around in a van?
I'm just thinking something in that sort of line.
All right, fine, I'll put--I'll put it down.
I don't--but, uh-- by the way, I'm not
saying that I'm definitely doing any of this.
You promise me that you will put-put this into action
instead of writing it down.
I literally just said the opposite.
Yeah, I didn't listen then.
The second before you said that.
- [Shanthi] Okay. - A moving billboard.
How does that sound to you?
Are you pitching the van idea again?
[Shanthi] I am--I am going to see my cousin.
This is--again, this is Sri Lankan.
I'm just gonna put "times two"
by your initial Sri Lankan idea.
Run around naked with billboard one side.
Okay, but again, this is the idea we've already got.
But run around naked. It's a new idea.
Okay, Mum.
[Shanthi] Instead of you standing with a billboard,
I would love to go and approach that Sri Lankan people.
Mm-hmm.
[Romesh] What I was expecting
was, we just come up with too many ideas
that we can't even process.
What happened was,
we came up with three ideas
and played a game of catch while we were repeating them.
Rags, I'll try you. Go.
Let's do it.
Okay, that's not an idea, though, is it?
This is not going to work.
No, it's been very useful.
♪ piano arpeggios ♪
♪♪♪
[Rags] I'm going to
actually show you something really exciting, mate.
[Romesh] All right. All right.
♪ playful music ♪
Ta-da.
Oh, my God.
- Surprise. - This is amazing.
[Romesh] When we were talking about ideas
and you said maybe you could do a van...
- [Rags] Yeah. - [Romesh] ...you had already
- arranged this. - [Rags] You like it?
[Romesh] I love it.
What the fuck is this?
It is a glass box.
No, I know that, but what I mean is,
why is it on the back of this truck?
Well, you're gonna get in there.
I'm gonna take you for a spin.
Then pretty much telling the people that--
- Okay, okay. - You know what I mean?
I knew that there had to be
- a fuckup somewhere. - Why?
I am not getting in a box, Rags.
If we would've just take that without that
- and you not in it-- - It would be great.
It would be perfect. Yes, correct.
It's like a fucking body without a head, mate.
No, it isn't.
The head's right there on the side of the van.
But you got to be in it
to actually sell the tickets, man.
No, you don't.
You just drive around in the van.
It says "Romesh in America."
- Ticketmaster. - Did you hear what I said?
Thursday, 21 December, Greek Theatre.
My face. This is a fucking terrible idea.
- You're mental. - I'm not mental.
You're mental if you think I'm getting
in a glass box in the back of a fucking truck.
[Rags] What the fuck's wrong with you?
[Ben] You wanted him to think outside the box.
Yeah, and he thought of a box.
How many tickets have you fucking sold
so far?
[sighs]
♪ jazz music ♪
♪♪♪
[Rags] Rom, we're all set now.
You gotta sell yourself, okay?
Come on, man, start talking. Just start talking to people.
Hello, mate, the sunglasses on.
Dude, comedy show.
21st of December, Greek Theatre.
You coming?
This is depressing.
H-here's a couple with a-a camera.
Just make use of that.
Hey, guys, I'm doing a show at the Greek Theatre,
21st of December. It's gonna be amazing.
Whenever you can, do a--
Rags, Rags, how fast are you going, man?
Jesus.
It's working. It's working, mate.
Keep going.
People by the traffic lights,
I'm doing a show at the Greek Theatre
on the 21st of December.
[Ben] You did get a bit of a crowd around it.
Yeah, but they were looking at me like I'm a spectacle.
They weren't going, "Let's go see and his show."
They were like, "Oh, this prick is in a glass box."
Somebody shouted, "Are you the brown pope?"
[Romesh] Okay, can we just go now?
[Rags] Rom, I've gone out of the way
to get this done.
Do your job, okay?
Which is selling the tickets.
Let's just go, please.
I am asking to be released from this prison.
I'm not taking the straps off you
until we've sold at least 4,000 tickets today.
Rags. Rags.
- Rags. - [Rags] Yes, yes.
[Romesh] I want to go home, Rags.
Rags. I want to go home, Rags.
- Stop acting like you... - Rags, Rags, Rags.
[Romesh] I gave it a go, and then I said,
"I don't wanna be in here anymore."
And then he refused to let me out.
Rags, Rags.
[Ben] So what did you do?
[Romesh] I basically got pissed off with him
and started saying nasty things about him
just to piss him off.
Hello, madam, my uncle's driving the van.
He's here illegally. Please let authorities know.
[Rags] Rom.
The man driving this van
recently bought himself a penis pump.
Rom.
The man driving this van likes to go to the beach
and expose himself.
If you don't shut up...
[Romesh] The man driving this van has seven nipples.
He's had two of them removed.
He still has five left.
[Ben] Slightly childish.
Yeah, I mean, it's not the most mature thing I've ever done,
but it's not the least.
People, this man, my nephew-- so-called nephew,
he locked me in the garage every night.
I couldn't even go out to pee.
We had to do that for the safety of the children
in the area.
It was the only way. He's like a pedo werewolf.
[Ben] What's your plan? [stammers]
You haven't really come up with anything that much better yet.
Yes, I have come up with something better:
not being in a box
on the back of a van driving around LA.
There's my idea.
And it's infinitely better than his.
[Ben] Rom, what are you doing?
[Romesh] I'm not-- I'm done with this, mate.
[Ben] It's looking great.
[Romesh] I don't give a shit.
- Rags, I'm going. - You're going?
After spending all this money, mate?
- You know how much it cost us? - I don't care.
- You know how much it cost us? - I don't know. Oh, Jesus.
Thousands of dollars. Get in the bloody car.
My back's hurting. And it's boiling hot.
- [Rags] Honestly, man. - [Romesh] Just go.
Fuck.
All right, enough, bro.
[mumbling indistinctly]
It's a massively...
Do you even know how to drive this thing?
[Romesh] Why are you being like this now?
- [tires screech] - [horn honks]
♪ calm music ♪
[Ben] Rom, where's-- where's Rags?
We decided we need a bit of time apart, so...
God knows.
[Ben] What's going on?
♪♪♪
[knocking]
- Hello? - Hello, how are you?
Come in, come in.
- Good, thank you. - Yeah. Come in.
- Hello. - [both] Hi.
Oh, hi. You guys hanging out?
Yeah, yeah.
Love--lovely to see my own people.
- [Romesh] Yeah. - [Shanthi] And, uh...
Did you guys bring all this?
[Shanthi] Lalith did. Lalith did.
Because he own a restaurant here.
Oh, yo-you're--the restaurant you went to?
I went. I was telling you all about it.
[Lalith] She had hoppers. She had string hoppers.
Everything she want, I made it for her.
- [laughs] - [Shanthi] I know.
[Lalith] She was going, I want this, I want that."
[laughter]
Um, Mum, could-- do you mind if I have a quick--
Just, I need to chat to you about something Rags did.
Of course. Excuse me.
- Sure. - [Romesh] Sorry. Thank you.
♪ lounge music ♪
[Shanthi] What do you want to talk to me about?
[Romesh] What is going on?
[Shanthi] They're having a big event on Saturday.
So I thought this is a good opportunity for you to go
and meet everybody and, you know,
sell more tickets as well.
So...
I want you to come and...
- And do what? - As a guest of honor.
But what does a guest of honor do?
Nothing. Just sit there.
Meet everybody. Mix with them.
Mingle with them. Talk to them.
Be nice to them. Give them a smile.
- Is anything wrong with that? - Yes. E-everything.
- What do you mean? - Have you told them...
No, I haven't told them anything.
I thought I'll get your permission first.
But I'm asking you,
you will do this for me?
Well, let me just think-- let me think about it.
But you haven't told them?
I haven't told them. Okay?
- Okay. Fine. - Okay.
[Romesh] So, yeah, what exactly is the, uh, event?
- It's Saturday. - Yeah.
Uh, it's all cultural Sri Lankan, uh, event.
Live music.
Band--live band is gonna be there, and, yeah.
Yeah, sounds like it could be a lot of fun.
It is fun, yeah, and by the way,
thank you for agreeing to come there.
Oh, no problem.
No problem. I'd be delighted to come.
[man] If you can, you know, though,
you can, like, do some skit there,
- uh, for the people... - Like, do com-comedy?
Like--yeah.
Okay, that sounds great. What a lot of surprises.
- [Shanthi] You like it? - [Romesh] Yes. Very happy.
- That's good. There you are. - Yeah.
Come on. [shrieks joyfully]
[laughs]
[Romesh] Mm.
♪ My head stays spinning like clothes in the laundro ♪
♪ Never lost for words, though ♪
♪ I got that all on track ♪
♪ So you better fall back ♪
♪ If you don't come correct when you rap ♪
♪ Got my lyrics on tap ♪
[Romesh] Hello, it's Romesh.
What's this about Lupe Fiasco?
Publicist called.
It's looking very likely
that I've got Lupe Fiasco on my podcast.
No, no, no-- I was just gonna say
thank you so much and that I'm really grateful.
I think that would be a great get
for the podcast, so thank you.
I mean, I am genuinely-- I'm not just saying this.
I am massive fan, so that is...
that is pretty incredible.
[Ben] Is that that big a deal?
[Romesh] Yes, it's a massive deal.
Pushes me, pushes tickets. It's great.
I just need to go meet him at his gig,
charm him a bit, and then we're in.
Rom, if this doesn't happen,
do you have a plan B?
I think it will happen. It will happen.
But he's relying on the publicist still.
Well, is this worse than being in the back of a van?
Half of the time, he was insulting me
on the microphone to all these people.
No, I wasn't.
- You called me a... - What were you saying there?
...pedo.
What else did he call me? An illegal immigrant.
Seriously, man.
I'm very disappointed in you, calling him all these names.
Be disappointed in him. He's the pedo.
He's not.
I was only messing around anyway.
Shall we celebrate by finishing off our laundry?
Are we ready, are we?
Whose underpants is this?
- Oh, that's mine. Sorry. - Jesus Christ, Rags.
I don't know, somehow it got caught in that.
[Shanthi] Those are very small underpants.
I don't wear this anymore.
I don't know how it got mixed up, but anyway...
You don't know how it got mixed up.
- [laughs] - Seriously.
♪ I keep pushing mummies ♪
♪ Please don't try and tell me nothing ♪
♪ You are not my demographic ♪
♪ I don't care if you say, "Fuck him" ♪
♪ I'm erratic with my rappin' ♪
♪ Give a fuck if you say something about my lyrics ♪
♪ I spit lyrics for the nutter showin' nothing ♪
♪ I be sittin' here ♪
- [woman] Hey. - [Romesh] Katie. Hello.
- I'm Romesh. How you doing? - I'm good.
I think you've been speaking to my publicist.
Thank you very much for sorting out a ticket.
- Um, I do a podcast... - Right.
...called Hip Hop Saved My Life.
It's named after one of Lupe's songs, obviously.
Um, I was wondering if there's any chance I could get a chance
to, like, just ask him
to be on the podcast.
Are you an artist? Do you, like, rap?
I'm really into hip-hop.
Like, I used to do a bit of stuff myself
and things like that, so...
You think you can, like, rap for me?
Uh...
Y'all wanna hear him freestyle?
[woman] Yeah, what-what-what you got?
Shit, you want me to actually do it now?
- Yeah. - Yes!
I can't really rap, so I'm just giving it a go, because...
[man] Spit the bars, my nigga.
[laughter]
Uh...
♪ My name's Romesh and I'm hot like Tabasco ♪
♪ I'm at the Belasco backstage at Lupe Fiasco ♪
♪ I love Lupe, but Lupe don't know me ♪
♪ So I'm gonna announce and pronounce my name slowly ♪
♪ Romesh Ranganathan, hip-hop is my heaven ♪
♪ An Uber driver told me I look like I work in 7-Eleven ♪
- Bars. - Thank you very much.
♪ I come rotten like a sheep shaggin' some mutton ♪
♪ My style is super memorable, your style is soon forgotten ♪
♪ It's not on, I rock on ♪
♪ Any track I drop on ♪
♪ Scary like a prison guard about to strap his cock on ♪
♪ But facing away ♪
♪ I come wicked, like the devil's ejaculate ♪
♪ The immaculate conception of my form is uncompassionate ♪
♪ To mediocrity, hypocrisy, or monotony ♪
♪ Stepping to me first in this cypher is false economy ♪
♪ Ask your friends about me ♪
♪ They'll tell you that I'm the nicest ♪
♪ I'm MC Colonel Sanders ♪
♪ I've got flavor like 11 herbs and spices ♪
- [cheering] - [man] Whoo!
[Romesh] Thank you, that's it. That's all I've got.
- [cheers and applause] - Cheers, mate.
[Ben] You were surprisingly good.
[Romesh] Thank you.
[Ben] You were quite lucky that
the venue was called Belasco.
Correct.
Also lucky
that one of my favorite hot sauces is Tabasco.
[Romesh] Thank you. Holy shit.
[laughter]
Oh, shit, what's up, bro?
- How you doing? - [Lupe] What's up, man?
- What's your name? - Romesh.
- Romesh? - Yes, um...
I do a podcast that's named after one of your tunes,
Hip Hop Saved My Life.
Okay, okay. Thank you.
And it would be an absolute honor
if you'd be on it, man. That'd be amazing.
I don't know, man. Um...
I got my mum--uh, my mum was the last guest on it,
to be honest with you, 'cause she likes it.
[laughter]
But she can't really spit, so...
But you can spit, though.
- Uh, well, I gave it a go. - [Lupe] You got some bars.
- You got a little bar. - I used to do a bit, you know.
So look, I jump on on your show.
You come on my show, yeah?
- What, this show? - Yeah, yeah.
I mean, that would be amazing, but I don't know what to say.
That would be amazing.
[applause]
That's mad.
I mean, he dope, right?
- [all] Yeah. - Okay, okay.
I'm buzzing, man. That's so good.
Yeah, yeah, I'm up for it, man.
All right, I'll see you up there, then.
- [Lupe] I'll see you up there. - Cheers. All right, cool.
How you feel?
Oh, my God.
[buzzer blares]
[cheers and applause]
[Romesh] I'm gonna spit the bars.
He comes on the podcast.
Life is great.
It's fucking mad.
[crowd stomping]
♪ calm music ♪
[sighs]
Oh, hi, how you doing, Rom?
- Not great. - What? What's up?
One of the most embarrassing nights of my life.
What do you mean?
So I'm watching the gig from the side of the stage...
[cheers and applause]
[Lupe] Before I came onstage,
I heard some dude with, like, some weird-ass accent,
like, freestyling, right?
[crowd cheering]
Make some noise for my homey Romesh, y'all.
[cheers and applause]
Is he ready to kill it?
And then he brings me up.
I think I'm gonna start, like, rapping or something.
And then...
[sighs]
[all] ♪ If you are what you say you are ♪
♪ A superstar ♪
♪ Then have no fear ♪
♪ The camera's here ♪
♪ And the microphones ♪
My nigga, come on.
[all] ♪ They want to know ♪
♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪
I don't wanna talk about it.
No, look, come on.
So, yeah, wh-what happened after that?
Well, just all the people--
Did he give you the chance to do it?
♪ Say ha-ha-ha-ha-ha ♪
- ♪ Let me hear you say ♪ - ♪ Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha ♪
No.
Why would he get you onstage and then, uh--you know.
I don't know.
So I just stood there like a fucking backing dancer
for the whole thing.
♪ A superstar ♪
♪ Then have no fear ♪
So he-he'd, like--he'll--
He--I kept thinking he was gonna give me the mic,
but he didn't.
♪ Like lady who sung "Blue" ♪
♪ Go back, whatever you did, you undo ♪
♪ Heavy as heaven, the devil on me, two sons too ♪
Oh, my God.
[all] ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪
- ♪ Yeah ♪ - [cheers and applause]
And then we didn't even, like...
we didn't even sort out, actually, a date
that we're gonna do the pod--
He said, "I'll definitely do the podcast."
But I don't know how that's gonna happen.
You should've had-had Lupe by the throat on the stage, mate.
How would that have helped?
You should've smacked him in the fucking head.
He can't treat you like that, man.
You are bigger than him.
I'm not bigger than him, Rags.
Well, in the comedy world.
He's not a comedian, is he?
I'm sort of at the point now where I just think,
"What is the point of doing this anymore?"
Are you bloody joking me?
What's the point? We're not getting anywhere.
I'm just pissed off 'cause Leesa and the kids aren't here.
And then I think finally I've got, like, a good thing,
and then it just fucks up.
Rom, we did a good thing yesterday.
We don't know what's come out from that.
And then Shanthi's got something planned.
So that could work out.
I tell you what.
I did something special for you.
This was meant to be on the night
that you're gonna do the stand-up.
I was gonna give it to you motivate you, okay,
before the show.
But I'm gonna show it to you now, man.
[Theo] Go.
Have a look at it.
[Rags] Here we are, mate.
- Tonight's the 21st December. - December!
We are at the Greek Theatre, man.
All right?
What is this?
[Rags] This is our big night,
so what I've done, I've written this
amazing rap for you.
Let's go, Theo, now with the rap.
Okay.
[beatboxing]
♪ Dad, I love you, and you're the best ♪
♪ That's why you're like Crawley and headed to the-- ♪
♪ To the west ♪
♪ You look really cool on that billboard ♪
♪ I think Uncle Rags deserves an award ♪
♪ Like an Oscar or-- ♪
Do I really have to say this?
[Rags] Go ahead.
♪ You're the best in-- ♪
♪ Best comedian in the UK ♪
♪ Also in Australia and maybe LA ♪
♪ You will be awesome, so don't feel blue ♪
♪ Maybe I should open the Greek for you ♪
Just think about it, Rom. I'm serious, man. I can do it.
♪ But you're the star, so just remember ♪
♪ You're gonna sell out the Greek ♪
♪ On 21st of December ♪
- Go, Romesh! - Yay!
[Rags] Isn't it wonderful?
That was amazing.
Yeah?
I mean, it was shit.
- I know I can't rap. - But it was--it was lovely.
- It was very nice. - I love you, man.
- [Romesh] I love you too. - [Rags] Yeah, thank you, bro.
♪ ominous music ♪
♪♪♪
All right, should we get this shit done, then?
What do you mean, "shit done"?
- I just mean-- - I have organized all this.
Enjoy, okay? Please.
[Ben] So it's only a week to the Greek.
How you feeling?
I'm about to embark on a massive waste of time.
So not great.
- We see how it is. - Yeah?
But leave early.
I'm trying to sell these tickets out for the Greek show.
So mingle with them and get friendly and--
You know what I think?
You talk about immigration issues.
Because there's all Sri Lankans, right?
And then sell the tickets, mate.
So you want me to just talk about immigration
- and offer the ticket. - Yes.
Maybe sponsor a kid or something. Who knows?
A Sri Lankan kid to come over, you know, like, sign up for--
[Romesh] Come over where?
To LA.
I'm not adopting a child.
They gotta have a reason to like you.
Yeah, but I'm not-- this is--I'm not--
Yes, but I'm not selling
advice on how to get,
like, a permanent work status.
No, you're selling your tickets.
- Yes. - Just psych yourself up.
I will do anything for you guys.
Blah, blah, blah.
Just hammer it, mate. Sell the tickets.
Get the fuck out of here.
Yeah, I'm just not particularly sure
about how effective this is as a promotional tool.
[Rags] What other ideas have you got, man?
You got some other plans?
Uh...no.
[percussive music playing]
♪♪♪
[indistinct chatter]
[vocalizes drum rhythm]
[Shanthi] Lovely music, eh?
'Ey!
Hello, hello, how are you?
I'm fine, thank you.
Hello, how are you?
- This is my son Romesh. - Nice to meet you.
There you go.
[joyful shrieking]
[Romesh] I went in,
and I sort of wasn't expecting much.
Well, first of all, there are loads more people
than I thought there were gonna be.
So that was a pleasant surprise.
Then what tends to happen at these things panned out.
My mum starts dragging me around,
telling people about me, which is fine.
I'm trying to teach him all this culture, and, uh--
Ask him
what are the Tamil words he know.
Uh...
But then she just sort of
seemed to forget why we were there.
You want to learn Tamil?
[woman] I can teach you.
"I love you, Mum." How...
And you can te-- learn from him, in Tamil.
I've got no idea how to say that.
I don't know any, sorry. I'm very bad.
He will teach you.
[Romesh] She just started going, "Aw,
I just want him to learn
a bit more about culture.
Can you speak in Tamil to him
just so maybe he can learn it?"
As if I can pick up the language
during the course of the afternoon.
Why are you trying to get me Tamil lessons?
Are you joking?
Why not? Why not?
You have been in Sri Lanka for three months.
[Ben] But you don't speak--you don't speak any Tamil, then?
Well, the main word I know is pundai.
[Ben] What's that mean?
Who teaches you all this dance?
Um... our dancing teacher.
- Or you learn by yourself? - No.
[Shanthi] Yeah, Romesh can--we-- I'll take your number, then.
Then I will contact you, then we'll sort it out from there.
Mum, can I just have a quick word out here?
- [Shanthi] Over there? Okay. - Yeah.
Lovely to meet you. Take care.
Nice to meet you.
[Romesh] Mum, you do realize that the Greek show,
which is basically the most important show of my career,
is less than a week away, right?
Yeah.
This is utterly pointless, Mum.
You've gone out of control.
Just, "Oh, darling, this, darling, this.
Watch him speak Tamil. He can dance..."
I said, "Say something in Tamil
to the gentleman."
You go, "Mm, I don't know anything."
Because I only know rude words.
What do you want me to say to him?
Why did you learn rude words?
Because that's the best words to learn.
That's how you always start learning a language.
Are you kidding?
What do you want me to say to him?
"Speak some Tamil." "Pundai."
[stammers] Don't say that.
I'm just saying, is that what you want me to say?
- You know what does it mean? - What?
The lady's thing that is.
This is what you learn in Sri Lanka for three months?
Well, I learned that early on, and then I just kept saying it.
You-you--it's my fault that I didn't teach you the language.
- Correct. - Yeah.
I'm only doing my best,
here and there, for you to learn
the culture and the language.
We're not promoting the Tamil.
Have faith in this, Romesh, please.
- Be grateful. - I'm grateful.
But I'm just saying,
this is not a good way to sell tickets.
Come on, let's go.
Time for your speech. Come on.
What speech?
You're going to give a speech, aren't you?
I'm not doing a speech, pundai, okay?
Oh, my God, Romesh.
[indistinct chatter]
[feedback whines]
Hello, everybody.
[applause]
We wanna thank you all for coming.
And we wanna give a very warm welcome
to Shanthi, Romesh, and Rags to LA.
This is our LA gang. Come on, everybody.
[cheers and applause]
[Rags] Um...
the reason we're here, actually,
is just to--you know, there is always these
immigration issues with migrants, right?
Is that correct?
You know, like, I mean, look at your president now.
I mean, he want to shut everything down.
You know what I mean?
So... [laughs]
So, guys,
- we know all about... - What is he doing?
...how difficult it is for immigrants.
And I actually had, you know,
a bit of a chat with Rom,
and he's also very passionate about this.
Is that he comes in here
like an ambassador for the immigrants.
- How's that? - [cheers and applause]
- You know what I mean? - Mum, Mum, Mum.
Like, he's here, man, to support us and help us.
And I'm gonna support this guy.
And we're gonna make sure every immigrant who comes
whether by boat or jumping over the wall
or whatever they do,
they are most welcome in LA.
- [cheers and applause] - All right?
[Ben] I mean, Rags was incredible, wasn't he?
I-I very much enjoyed Rags' speech,
for the first sort of tenth of it.
This country is built by immigrants.
It's not
the Native Indians who run this country, man.
And also is Trump.
He comes from--where is it?
Like, his background is from Germany or something.
- [man] Boo! - You know what I mean?
Boo, Nazi stuff. You know what I mean?
- No, I don't mean that, guys. - Oh, my God.
I mean, arguably he got slightly carried away.
I tell you what.
We are here to show it to him
that immigrants are gonna stick together
and we are gonna win this war, all right?
And Rom is gonna take a big part in that,
and he's gonna help all of you.
Okay, guys?
[Romesh] I'm watching that,
and I think, "Holy shit, that's incredible."
Then Mum steps up,
and I think, "How's she gonna top this?"
[Shanthi] Hi, everybody.
I'm going to ask you,
all of you, to do me a favor.
I'm begging you, actually.
And please take up-- take your--
all your mobile phone out
and, uh, buy a ticket.
It's, uh--what's it, Romesh? That...
Ticketmaster.
Ticketmaster.com.
[Rags] Come on, let's do it.
Let's do it, come on, come on. Please.
♪ heroic music ♪
[Romesh] Mum basically stepped it up.
And she did it in the only way she knows how,
which was to force them to buy tickets immediately.
♪♪♪
I'm just thinking, "Holy shit,
I've done all this radio stuff,
I've done podcast stuff,
done, like, printed it everywhere,
and she smashes it out of the park
by just forcing people to buy a ticket."
She's like the Pied Piper of Sri Lankans.
Lovely to meet you all. Thank you so much.
[cheers and applause]
Well, I've got-- I've gotta say...
- Yeah? - ...I am actually
quite impressed.
- You are? - Yeah.
I felt like the German people might have an issue
with some of what you said, but apart from that, very good.
Based on the fact that you pretty much forced people
to buy tickets,
I think it's probably our most successful sales day yet.
Because we probably sold about 40 tickets
just off the back of...
- 40 or 50? - ...what you did, yeah.
- So well done. - That's good.
- Thanks. - [Shanthi] Thank you.
- But you did make me think. - Yeah.
That whole sort of immigration angle,
people did get passionate about it.
[Romesh] As it turns out,
being here has given me the big idea
that I need.
- [Ben] To promote the show? - Correct.
It's almost like
they're gonna come to the show
because they feel like we're a cause.
What if
we made the promises of-of-of, like, getting a cause together
but we actually delivered on those promises?
Basically, I'm thinking I need an idea
that goes big, goes viral,
gets me on the national TV, gets coverage from the press.
And I'm thinking, "Well, what is
the hottest kind of immigration-related topic
today?"
And that is the Mexican border wall.
So my idea
is, we go down to the border,
we build the wall,
and then we knock the prick down
as a protest.
[Ben] Hold on, are you saying
you're putting the success of the Greek
and your future career on building a wall?
Yeah.
I'm gonna build Trump's wall.
- [Rags] Oh, my God. - [Shanthi] Oh!
♪ hip-hop music ♪
♪ Life is full of setbacks and knock backs ♪
♪ Snot rags and drop backs ♪
♪ Dogs, rats, and bobcats ♪
♪ And Grotbags in top hats ♪
♪ Rock boats and stop tracks ♪
♪ Shot wraps like hotcakes ♪
♪ Hot stacks in a stock tape ♪
♪ With a blocked nose and a hot plate ♪
♪ Head spins from my whippings ♪
♪ Dead things on my bedsprings ♪
♪ Red rings round the good stuff ♪
♪ And I puff piff till my breath stinks ♪
♪ Put it big bold in the text print ♪
♪ Let's drink to the next link ♪
♪ We care not what the rest think ♪
♪ And we kill shit till it's extinct ♪
♪♪♪
[bright tone]