Ken Jeong gives his wife all the credit for his Netflix comedy special’s title

Ken Jeong (You Complete Me, Ho)

May 20, 2019 5:40 PM PT

Ken Jeong thought he might title his first stand-up comedy special “Full Circle” or “First Date,” owing to the fact that it was filmed at the Ice House in Pasadena, the comedy club where his wife first saw him perform.

Netflix execs had other ideas, asking Jeong to put a little more pop in the title. Which is how “Ken Jeong: You Complete Me, Ho” came to be.

For those who haven’t seen the special, Jeong’s wife Tran’s maiden name is Ho and much of his material is devoted to his spouse, including her fight with breast cancer. So the title has a little more sentimental value than you’d expect at first glance.

And in case you were wondering, Tran was the one who came up with the name. So he didn’t have to run it by her.

“No, my wife is the one coming up with the copy for me,” Jeong said during a recent video interview at The Times. “She deserves moral credit — not financial.”

Jeong, best known for his turns as gangster Leslie Chow in “The Hangover” trilogy and his work on the television comedies “Community” and “Dr. Ken,” talked at length about the special, which mixes outrageous comedy with moving stories from his life.

He also had much to say about his work on “Crazy Rich Asians,” the hit film he calls “this generation’s ‘Joy Luck Club.’” And again, his wife loomed large.

“She said, ‘Ken, if they make this a film, you’ve got to be in it,’ ” Jeong said of the movie, directed by John Chu, who also helmed Jeong’s stand-up special.

“This is important to me,” Jeong said of the film’s representational power. “I have twin girls, 11 years old. If they want to get into the arts, they won’t have to get into overacting comedy like me.”

You can watch the entire conversation below.