Playing chicken with hubristic celebs makes them ‘one of us’
I don’t remember when I first heard about Hot Ones, a YouTube show in which celebrities are asked 10 questions while eating 10 chicken wings coated in ludicrous levels of increasingly hot sauce. But after watching one episode some years ago, I quickly found myself in a dayslong internet rabbit hole watching dozens of episodes and made the rare decision to click the subscribe button.
Hosted by a nice, young, clean-cut Chicago native named Sean Evans, the 30-minute weekly show has become, since its inception in 2015, an anomaly in a digital age peppered by fads and internet challenges that quickly disappear. Nearly every celebrity from the worlds of pop music to film, television and American sports has made the pilgrimage to the show’s iconic but simple set to pit themselves against Evans’ questions and his “wings of death”.
More than any appearance on Stephen Colbert, Seth Myers, Jimmy Fallon or the Daily Show, an invitation to Hot Ones has become the most sought-after ticket among celebrities.
That’s down to a combination of simple but effective elements that have remained consistent over the past eight years and given the YouTube channel First We Feast — the production company that makes the show — more than 12-million subscribers to the show’s 300 episodes. Most episodes have views in the millions and some, such as the one featuring Gordon Ramsay and Billie Eilish, have been watched more than 100-million times.
The show’s disarming premise has also filtered down to more mainstream formats where segment’s such as “Day Drinking with Seth Myers” and “Vanity Fair’s Lie Detector”, attempt to create situations that try to show us that celebrities are just like us.
What makes Hot Ones different is the quality of its research, exhaustively conducted beforehand by Evans’ brother Gavin, which allows the host to ask deep-dive questions that most shows don’t have the time or capacity to prepare, and which in an unusually professional manner, don’t stray too far from the subject of the guests’ work and professional careers.
Of course, there is the simple lure of competition, which in the ruthlessly ambitious celebrity world is like nectar to bees.
Witness a recent episode featuring Succession star Kieran Culkin, in which the actor went on a tangent about his friend and fellow actor Michael Cera’s appearance and his intention to outdo him. Turns out Culkin did not quite have the no-sweat chops of Cera, but he certainly made a game attempt. Many interviewees have mentioned the dramatic breakdown of DJ Khaled — who when faced with the spicy wings was reduced to sweaty tears and had to throw in the towel.
Finally there is Evans, who has a uniquely easygoing ability to get his guests to drop their guard — even if he does receive a lot of help from the chicken.
The fact that he participates in the eating along with them serves to give the show a comfortable intimacy that pays off for guest and viewer.
What started as an idea two potheads might have come up with has somehow managed to become a popular stalwart of internet entertainment. It has also spun a secondary cottage industry of memes and GIFs that keep it alive, long after each season has ended.
As Evans recently told The New York Times, Hot Ones has survived “through like four different new media generations, and we’ve been able to ride those rocky waters in the smoothest way”.
Even though, after watching a few episodes, you can pretty much predict how a new one will play out, Evans’ questions keep you watching until the end.
What generally happens is that the first few wings — ranging from a few hundred to tens of thousands Scoville heat units, the international scale of chili heat developed in the early 20th century by chemist Wilbur Scoville — will be consumed with ease, much to the relief and surprise of the guest.
Sauces change every season but there’s always the inclusion of the show’s secret turning point sauce, “Da’ Bomb Beyond Insanity”, which measures over 100,000 Scoville heat units, and has a slow burn that you see reflected in the quickly uncomfortable and reddening faces of its victims.
From there it’s off to the races as irascible guests rush through the last few sauces that run to hell-fire levels of heat, before finishing off their final wing with a dab of sauce that has a 2-million Scoville rating, hastily thanking Evans, telling viewers what new projects to look out for, and rushing off to find the nearest bathroom.