This week Aziz Ansari officially became a “master raconteur,†as the guest of honor at 20th anniversary celebration for the Moth, the New York–institution storytelling series that has since gone global, with 20,000 stories told and a podcast that’s downloaded 44 million times a year. And of course that award came with the obligation of telling a story. “Which seems really fucked up, because it seems like I already did that shit and that’s why I got the award,†he said.
The Master of None co-creator (and New York Magazine cover star), decided to tell the real story behind this season’s “Religion†episode, which he said they ultimately decided was too crazy to seem plausible on TV. It begins with him trying bacon for the first time at a friend’s house when he was little: “My mom called and was like, ‘Aziz, when are you coming home?’ And I said, ‘Never. They have this delicious substance called bacon and I’m going to eat it until I die.’†It ends with him finally eating pork in front of his parents and blaming it on his girlfriend at the time. “My parents were really upset,†he said. “But we didn’t talk about it because we’re Indian people and we keep that shit inside.†Enjoy!