It was a night of laughter and friendship when comedians Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers, co-hosts of the hit podcast Las Culturistas, sat down with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show. What started as a chat about their long-running friendship quickly turned into one of the funniest behind-the-scenes stories of the year.

From NYU to Stardom

Yang and Rogers, now household names in comedy and pop culture, first met during their freshman year at NYU. “I saw him doing improv and I said, who’s that?” Rogers recalled. “It was star quality.” Both men were the only gay members of their respective college comedy groups, and their friends pushed them to bond. “We were like little gay Ken dolls,” Rogers joked.

Their chemistry eventually led to Las Culturistas, the beloved, caffeine-fueled podcast that TIME recently named one of the 100 best podcasts of all time.

The Infamous FaceTime

But one of the night’s biggest laughs came when Colbert brought up a recent incident: Rogers, while co-hosting “Jenna and Friends” on The Today Show, decided to cold-call Yang on FaceTime—without warning.

To Rogers’ delight, Yang picked up, but the timing couldn’t have been worse. He was in the middle of filming a sketch with Anne Hathaway for her Vogue cover.

“I see Matt calling me and I think, is he in trouble? Do I have to bail him out?” Yang joked. “With my best friend, FaceTime is a whole different vibe.”

The impromptu call quickly turned into comedy gold, even if Yang risked derailing a major shoot.

Bowen Yang’s Viral “Chinese Medicine” Moment

The interview took a more personal turn when Yang shared a story from his recent trip to China, where he visited his father’s childhood home in Inner Mongolia. Posting photos online, he was surprised by the reaction.

“Chinese social media picked it up, and the comments were like, ‘Wow, look how masculine he looks,’” Yang explained, laughing. “Apparently there’s slang—‘taking Chinese medicine’—which means a gay person butching it up.”

With perfect comedic timing, Yang quipped: “As someone who failed conversion therapy, I want to announce that I’ll be doing acupuncture!”

Why Las Culturistas Works

The conversation came back to their podcast, which continues to thrive nearly a decade after launching. According to Rogers, the secret has always been simple: just talk to each other.

“When we started in 2016, we assumed no one would listen,” Rogers admitted. “But during the pandemic, people wanted to feel connection, to hear friendship in action. That’s what kept it alive.”

Yang added his own pitch for Colbert: “If Stephen ever does a podcast, it should be you and Evie going on dates and recording them. That’s the secret sauce—real connection.”

Colbert laughed and agreed: “Done. You produce it. The Las Culturistas empire grows.”