Here is the full transcript of comedian and actor Dr. Ken Jeong’s speech at Tulane 2022 Commencement.
Listen to the audio version here:
TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome and Introductions
Thank you so much. Thank you, President Fitts, Provost Forman, distinguished faculty, the entire Tulane family, and most importantly, you. Thank you, graduating class of 2022. Thank you. Bow down.
And a very special congrats to Dr. Picard, General Berger, and of course the legendary Hank Aaron on being honored for their outstanding legacies and contributions to society. Thank you so much. Congratulations. And it’s an even bigger honor and the highlight of my experience right now, to this day, to talk to right now, future icon, Dr. Ledet. Thank you for inspiring me on this day, my favorite part of this experience.
New Orleans Nostalgia
And it is so great to be back home. New Orleans is home. And it is so surreal coming back here. I never thought in a million years, I would be back here in this context at Tulane, where I got my start. I love New Orleans. New Orleans is the greatest town in the world I have lived. I have. Oh, yeah. I have lived. I have lived and passed out here for many years. Truth.
Personal Background
Ah, the memories I have completely forgotten. And to the Green Wave scholars who just staggered in from the boot, we’re taping this just in case you don’t remember. So all good. Take a nap. It ain’t going to hurt my feelings.
My life was born Detroit. My life — but I grew up in North Carolina. My life may have begun in North Carolina, but my livelihood began in New Orleans.
New Orleans Impact
And I truly owe all of my success professionally and personally to this town, because if it wasn’t for my experiences here, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I did research here at Tulane Med School. I did my medical residency at Ochsner. I cut my teeth doing thousands and thousands of stand-up and improv shows here.
Shout out to Brown, my old improv group. And even got my SAG card here, appearing on the Big Easy in 1997 on the USA Network, playing, you got it, a wacky doctor. So and a special shout out to my good friend Mike Strecker. He’s Tulane’s director of public relations, who I actually started out doing stand-up with.
Congratulations to the Class of 2022
That’s how deep these roots go. So congrats, Mike. Mr. Chow just gave you a national shout out. So stupid. Thank you, New Orleans. Thank you for letting me be me.
And to the class of 2022, a sincere, heartfelt congrats, because like everyone has said today, President Fitts, Dr. Ledet, your class is the toughest class to have ever graduated college in recent history. You started out your sophomore year when the pandemic began. You survived COVID, hurricanes, lockdown, online classes. You’ve gone through vaccines, Omicron, BA2.
You have been through so much and have come out stronger for the experience. And now you’re here. You’re graduating and more than ready to face the real world because you already have. You have persisted and I salute you. Congratulations.
The Key to Success
People ask me all the time, what is your key to success? Is it talent? No. Is it luck? No. Is it even being smart? No.
To the class of 2022, the key to success is persistence. It’s persistence. Michelle Obama once said, “There is no magic to achievement. It’s really about hard work, choices, and persistence.” Senator Bill Bradley said, “Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.”
And most importantly, Chumbawamba once said, “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” and they dance like idiots. My point is, the key to success is persistence. And I’ve learned the art of persistence while living here in New Orleans.
And give it up for President Fitts. I didn’t know he was a DJ, for God’s sake. Geez, Louise, Steve Aoki, give a run for your money. You know what I mean? I mean, you got to persist, right, President Fitts?
That’s kind of a rhyming beat, you know? So, you’re a persister, mister, and so is your sister. Want to get together and play some twister? I better stop. The sun’s giving me a blister.
And scene. The reason why I did that god-awful joke was to prove a point. I bombed, I got back up, I persisted, and I’m moving on from that failure. Real world example. Dig it.
It is all good. We’ll throw in some canned laughter for the live stream and everyone will be none the wiser. Back to the speech. God, I’m day drunk.
Personal Struggles
Now, but this is the place. Am I right? Am I right? I’ve actually never said what I’m about to say right now. A lot of people, they don’t know my New Orleans history.
Real talk, I came to New Orleans in personal turmoil. I was in med school at UNC. Boo. I went to Duke. And the reason why I came to Tulane was because I was burned out.
I wasn’t doing well in med school, and unlike Dr. Ledet, I was close to failing out. In fact, I did fail. I had not only failed my first step of my medical board exam, I also failed my second step. It was the first time I really failed in my life when it counted.
Overcoming Failure
Twice. And I was taught all my life as a kid not to fail. If you fail, you’re a failure. You’re a failure. And I tell you, those standardized tests are culturally biased, okay? Against people who don’t study very hard. Now, it’s a criminal. It’s a criminal.
I didn’t know if medicine was the right roadmap for me. I was at a crossroads. I was thinking maybe I don’t have what it takes to be a doctor, so I really had to figure out who I was.
So I took a year off.
A Second Chance
I did a year of independent study at Tulane Med School, working with Dr. Roy Orlando, head of the gastroenterology department here at Tulane Med School. He was also my mentor at UNC Med School. When he came to Tulane, he invited me to do research in his department. And quite honestly, he saved my career.
I worked in his lab for a year. I got published in the Medical Journal of Gastroenterology. I even got UNC Med School credit for it. Long story short, I was able to hang in there just by pure persistence.
Persistence Pays Off
And at the end of the year, I retook both steps of my board exams here in New Orleans at the Superdome and passed, and ultimately was able to graduate medical school. I got a second chance in life. Got a second chance. Got myself back on track.
And true to God, I love New Orleans so much, I decided to stay here and do my internal medicine residency at Ochsner to become a full-fledged physician here in New Orleans. And it all began with Dr. Orlando and Tulane Med School for giving me a second chance in life. And from the bottom of my heart, thank you, Tulane. Thank you so much.
And yet at the same time, this is New Orleans. This is like magic. This opened a whole new life for me. I discovered the wonder and joy that is the city. And I had such a blast. I did everything. I would like, I did, I moonlighted on, I emceed. I had a job emceeing on weekends at the Caps Meow. Karaoke bar.
Comedy and Performance
Real talk on weekends. Honestly, I wish I worked there right now because as a graduation gift to you, I would let you all sing Mr. Brightside one by one all night long. And I am sick of that song. And that’s how much I love you guys.
So New Orleans was where I was really cultivated and deepened my love, not only in medicine, but in stand-up comedy, improv. I first started doing acting and theater at Duke, and I fell in love with it. And I pursued it way more deeply here. I performed at so many venues that they’re not here anymore.
Comedy Roots in New Orleans
But I give a shout out to Movie Pictures, Mid-City, where I performed with Brown every Saturday night for years. It’s one of the most inspiring times of my life. I made lifelong friends. And at the same time, I was learning and immersing myself in the art of stand-up, improv, and comedy.
And although there wasn’t a comedy club per se in New Orleans at that time, I did so many multiple one-off spots. They have a shout out to Rest in Peace to Amberjacks on Lakeshore Drive, and True Brew Cafe in the Business District, and all over like various venues all over Metairie and West Bank, constantly heckled by drunks who just wanted to hear some jazz.
Now, ultimately, in ’95, like President Fitz said, I won the Big Easy Laugh-Off at the Orpheum Theater, and the judges were Bud Freeman, founder of the Improv Comedy Club, and the late Brandon Tardikoff, former NBC president.
The Big Break
And that, here in New Orleans, was my big break. And because of that, I got to perform in Hollywood. Two years later, I moved to LA, fully qualified, thick-skinned, and ready to pursue my comedy dreams as well.
So, if you think about it, it’s only because of New Orleans I was able to persist and become both a doctor and a comedian. I always had the potential to do both. I had the tools, but it doesn’t matter if you have the tools. If you don’t know what to do with them, it’s useless.
Finding Your True Self
So, to the class of 2022, find out who you are first, just like I did in New Orleans. I cultivated both, all because of New Orleans. And some of you are probably thinking, you ultimately became a comedian anyway, so why does it matter that you even became a doctor?
It matters everything. Because in life, if you quit one thing, what’s to say I wouldn’t quit my next thing? What’s to say I wouldn’t quit being a comedian? There is so much rejection and failure in Hollywood, far more than in any other profession.
The Power of Persistence
It’s not comedy. Persistence is my greatest talent. Never give up. Never close the door on your life. Always persist. I don’t defy myself by my job. I’m not just a doctor. I’m not just a comedian. I’m not just an annoying over-actor.
I persisted in annoying the world for decades. And the world relented, yo. I’m just me. And in New Orleans, I discovered my fully integrated sense of self. And my mentor at Ochsner said, you never have to choose between comedy or medicine. He predicted I would blend both worlds. And that’s exactly what happened when I created Dr. Ken, showing ABC, although it was based on my medical life.
New Orleans Influence
And I co-created it with one of my best friends from my improv group here, Mike O’Connell. So in a real way, New Orleans helped me create the most fulfilling project I’ve ever done in my life. Something that fully integrated my true self.
And for me, Dr. Ken is New Orleans. It symbolizes the persistence and cultivation of what I learned here. Cultivate. Never give up. You never know what can happen.
I’m just a person who learned how to persist when times were tough and be stronger for the experience. And that trait exists to this very day. In fact, I am practicing what I’m preaching right now.
My life is this speech. I couldn’t attend last night’s honorary degree recipient’s dinner because I’m filming a TV series in L.A. Sorry, I cannot disclose what it is. After party on Apple Plus season one currently streaming.
But I was determined to get here this morning no matter what. I took a red eye flight. I am operating on zero sleep because nothing is more important to me than talking to you now. Persist. Never give up. Then pass out on your return flight.
I challenge you, the graduating class of 2022, to find your toughness, cultivate your love for what you do, and never give up. This world is tough, has obstacles. People get in their own way of their own success all the time.
I see it so many times. I’m telling you, don’t get in your own way. How? Persist. Look at me.
There’s always second chances. If I can do this, so can you. You will find your own New Orleans. You know what I mean? You’ll find your own New Orleans. I mean, sorry, I keep saying New Orleans a lot.
I’m sure there’s some dudes in the back going, “Bro, I am in New Orleans. I’m graduating from a college in New Orleans.” So what do you mean, Mr. Chow? Find your own New Orleans? To which I reply, “Hey, bro, back off. Commencement speeches are hard. You think this is easy?”
Now, my point is, as you move forward, there are a lot of obstacles that can get in your way. Don’t let it. Don’t let yourself get in your own way. Don’t be afraid to fail. Michael Jordan once said, “I have failed over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed.” New Orleans helped answer all those questions about myself.
The Power of New Orleans
Do I have what it takes to do both comedy medicine? Yes, because in New Orleans, I never would have been a full-time doctor. I practiced seven years in LA. I never would have met my wife, who’s also a doctor and encouraged me to do comedy full-time shout out to the Ho. That’s my wife’s last name. Back off sensors, Dr. Ho dig it. And I’m her pimp for life.
Now I never would have had the worldview I have about COVID, the importance of vaccines and the importance of critical thinking in general. And believe me, our society needs critical thinkers like you more than ever. And if it wasn’t for New Orleans, I never would have been a comic.
I never would have done hangover, crazy rich Asians, community, Dr. Ken, my own Netflix. None of that happens without New Orleans. Everything I’ve done in my life is a result of persistence.
Final Challenge and Farewell
And I challenge all of you to do the same. We have all had a New Orleans education. I lived here for four years as well. Cultivate what you learned, make something special out of it and never give up. Thank you. Congratulations. And all my love for the graduating class of 2022.
Thank you. And in the words of Mr. Chow, toodaloo groon way. Thank you.
