Ed Helms and Brian Huskey - Wrong Turns with Jameela Jamil

Transcript

BetterHelp Announcer (0:00)

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Brian Huskey (0:01)

Did I talk too much? Can't I just let it go?

Ed Helms (0:04)

I was thinking so much.

BetterHelp Announcer (0:10)

Take a breath. You're not alone.

Jameela Jamil (0:13)

Let's talk about what's going on.

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Ed Helms (0:35)

Can I make my site firmer?

Brian Huskey (0:37)

Can we sleep cooler?

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Jameela Jamil (1:13)

Well, hello, guys. Welcome to Wrong Turns with Jameela Jamil. This is the show where dignity goes to die, where we really bare our souls for the public. You know, because people are out here. Times are terrible. The world's ending and they're feeling vulnerable and they feel bad about decisions they've made. And so we're here to tell them about worse decisions that we've made. Ways in which we have humiliated ourselves in ways they could never even conceive of so that they can feel smug on their morning commute to work. So, people, this is for you. Joining me today, I have an actor, writer, comedian, singer, and world class banjo player, known for such indie projects as the Office, the Daily show with Jon Stewart and the Hangover movies. He hosts the podcast Snafu and is the author of Snafu, the definitive guide to history's greatest Screw ups. He's in the perfect place. It's Ed fucking Helms. Hello.

Brian Huskey (1:59)

Yay.

Jameela Jamil (2:01)

Summary

Wrong Turns with Jameela Jamil

Episode: Ed Helms and Brian Huskey

Release Date: February 5, 2026
Guests: Ed Helms, Brian Huskey
Host: Jameela Jamil

Overview:

This episode revels in the most mortifying, embarrassing, and frankly bodily Wrong Turns of its trio—Jameela Jamil, Ed Helms, and Brian Huskey—showing listeners that everyone’s life is a recurring string of cringe-worthy disasters. No life lessons, no silver linings—just honest, hilarious mutual humiliation. If you’ve ever felt alone in your awkwardness or public mishaps, these stories promise you’re not alone.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. How They Process Shame and Embarrassment

The group analyzes cultural differences in handling shame:
- Brian reveals his Southern upbringing taught him to "ignore shame and humiliation at a pro level." (04:09)
- Ed shares, "So we're so good, we're trained just not to talk about or address any of this stuff or purge any of it from ourselves. And so it does. It just sits and festers." (04:12)
- Jameela brings in British sensibility: “We all die buried with our secrets. I think it’s why we have to drink so much.” (04:41)
- Jameela sums up British and Southern coping: “Bruised fruit makes the sweetest jam.” (04:38)

2. ADHD and Perpetual Life Confusion

Ed opens up about living with intense ADHD, explaining:
"I very rarely know what's going on. I'm honestly, like, constantly trying to construct a narrative of the situation I'm in that makes sense...That is sort of a baseline confusion that leads to a near constant state of mild embarrassment." (06:28)
Jameela and Brian both share their partners have ADHD and describe the constant fires to put out, with Jameela quoting Trevor Noah:
“Time is either now or not now.” (07:12)

3. Micro Humiliations

Ed’s “Corpse Plane Sleep”

Ed describes his unique sleeping style on planes, revealed by his wife:
"I sleep like a rotting corpse on a plane... my head is back and my mouth is just slack open... It looks ghoulish." (08:17–09:24)
The family treats this as ongoing comedy, taking pictures to document Ed’s sleeping “style.”

Office Set Flatulence

Ed recounts farting in a sealed car while waiting to shoot a scene with Angela Kinsey, not realizing she’d be entering moments later:
"She gets in the car and just goes, 'Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.' ...And she's like, God, jeez. And gets out of the car." (13:33–14:04)
Ed takes responsibility, refusing to blame craft services: “A lesser man would have thrown craft services under the bus.” (15:05)

Brian’s Restaurant Nightmare

Brian, re-enacting a Monty Python bit in a Chinese restaurant, accidentally says something racially insensitive:
"I was singing it out to this room of people. And everybody just went by, oh, my God. And I just was immediately, like, deemed as like, racist monster in the eyes of all these people." (19:45–20:41)
The shame is magnified by the “liberal college town” setting: “I really wanted to go. Like, I was writing a personal statement I had to release to my neighbors.” (20:46)

Family Flatulence

Brian’s grandmother’s handling of gas:
“She would just irruptively fart... but she would always go, whoops, sorry... and just, she'd call it out, and it would just be there.” (17:39)

4. Big Wrong Turns: Epic Humiliation Stories

Ed Helms’ Bangkok Food Poisoning (Hangover 2 Set)

[24:12–30:57]

Ed caves to peer pressure, eats street food in Bangkok. Immense regret follows:
"I ate something that night that was essentially what it turned into was like a bomb inside of my body and a bomb that exploded with so much intensity and violence that no hole was safe." (26:27)
Is violently ill while filming a riot scene shirtless in the red light district:
"In between takes, I'm curled up on the sidewalk... my co-stars are feeding me Sprite with a straw and gently patting my head." (30:08–30:42)
Production shows little sympathy—advice is to be ready for the next call time:
“Yeah, yeah, I hear you... Your pickup will be 6am tomorrow.” (28:01)

Jameela’s Abscessed Tooth While Interviewing Bradley Cooper

[31:38–35:10]

Jameela had to participate in a live press junket with a “huge abscess in my tooth.”
Pain relief only came from keeping her mouth full of water, which she then had to spit into a bowl between Bradley Cooper and Heather Graham on camera:
“Every time I ask a question, the camera's on me... The only place to put the spittoon for all of my abscess spit is between Bradley Cooper and ... Heather Graham.” (32:44)
“They never wanted to be interviewed by me ever again. ...Every. I never saw either of them ever again in my life.” (34:52)

Brian’s Legendary UCB Fainting Flirt

[37:07–47:12]

During a marathon improv festival, Brian, exhausted, underfed, and a bit stoned, listens to a woman’s detailed account of snapping her toe.
Has a history of fainting and, triggered by her story, slowly “commits to the bit” by fainting, face down, in the middle of a party:
“Instead of sitting down, I just kind of like slowly laid down... creating a little parting of the sea, and just lay down... on this beer soaked, disgusting floor and just was like face down.” (44:19–45:30)
Everyone assumes it’s a comedy bit; he’s left there for 15 minutes before anyone intervenes.
Later rumors swirl that he had blacked out from partying:
“All these stories, all this lore had happened overnight.” (48:11)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Ed Helms (on perpetual confusion from ADHD, 06:28):
“I very rarely know what's going on. ...That is sort of a baseline confusion that leads to a near constant state of mild embarrassment.”
Jameela Jamil (on British stoicism, 04:41):
"We all die buried with our secrets. I think it’s why we have to drink so much."
Brian Huskey (on family gas, 17:48):
“She would just irruptively fart. ...Whoops, sorry. And just, she’d call it out, and it would just be there.”
Ed Helms (on his airplane sleep, 08:17):
"I sleep like a rotting corpse on a plane... it looks ghoulish."
Ed Helms (on Bangkok food poisoning, 26:27):
"A bomb that exploded with so much intensity and violence that no hole was safe."
Jameela Jamil (on British actors discovering American craft services, 15:46):
"It's like, why is he speaking in a British accent? ...My asshole must be open 70% of the entire season."

Timestamps for Key Segments

[01:13] Show intro & guest introductions
[03:17] How do you process embarrassment? (Cultural approaches)
[06:12] Ed’s experience living with ADHD
[08:17] Ed’s airplane “corpse sleep” micro humiliation
[11:38] Ed’s Office on-set fart disaster
[14:24] Jameela’s first year on The Good Place and craft services consequences
[19:45] Brian’s restaurant racial mishap
[24:12] Big Wrong Turn: Ed’s food poisoning ordeal in Bangkok
[31:38] Big Wrong Turn: Jameela’s abscessed tooth live interview with Bradley Cooper
[37:07] Big Wrong Turn: Brian’s UCB fainting story and aftermath

Closing Sentiment

The episode is a masterclass in making people at home feel better about their own everyday humiliations. The trio leans into bodily failings, accidental offense, cultural taboos, and extreme physical discomfort with raucous, self-roasting camaraderie. They reflect genuine friendship through “trauma bonding” and leave the listener with one overriding lesson: We’re all disasters sometimes—and the only sane response is to laugh.

Where to Find Them:

Brian Huskey: Instagram @thebrianhuskey, UCB LA shows Soundtrack & Asscat
Ed Helms: Podcast Snafu, upcoming projects
Jameela Jamil: Substack “A Low Desire to Please”