One Way to Turn Your Acting Skills Into a TV Hosting Gig

The following Career Dispatch essay was written by Dan Ahdoot, an actor who is also the host of the new competition series “Raid the Fridge,” premiering on the Food Network Dec. 28. 

“Act because you love to act, not because you’re trying to make money or be famous.” —Every Rich and/or Famous Actor

I never considered myself a particularly good actor. I’ve been in shows where I’ll be acting alongside a great actor, and I catch myself observing the scene from afar being like, “Wow, this guy is awesome,” as the director screams “cut” and tells me to snap out of it.  

In fact, my first scene on “Cobra Kai” was the iconic meeting between Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso. We had to reshoot way too many times because I kept stumbling over my lines. The 10-year-old boy inside me was shellshocked, being within breathing distance of his two childhood icons.  

(Wait. “Breathing distance” sounds creepy. Whiffing length? Nope, more creepy. I hope Billy Zabka and Ralph Macchio don’t read this.)

I’ve been able to make some fine inroads in acting. Who could forget my iconic role as Falafel Phil on the Disney show “Kickin’ It”? Not me, unfortunately.  

Stand-up comedy is my first love. I’ve been doing stand up for about 20 years now. My first decade in stand up, I was the top-booked college comedian in the country for three years, zigzagging through states and performing at over 400 schools. All those random colleges you see on March Madness brackets? I’ve performed in all of their cafeterias.  

After a particularly brutal year of touring, I decided to take some time off and immerse myself in my other passion: cooking. I interned at a Michelin-starred restaurant, learning everything I could about the kitchen. In turn, I became more passionate about restaurants and turned into an all-around food geek.  

I read somewhere that it’s way easier to succeed if you’re really good at two things, rather than great at one. Well, I’ll never be as funny as Ali Wong or Chris Rock, but I’m pretty funny. And I’ll never know more about food than Ruth Reichl or Ina Garten, but I know a fair amount.  

But! I might just be the funniest comedian who knows a lot about food. I decided to combine my two passions and start a comedic food podcast called “Green Eggs and Dan.”  I shopped the idea around and got nos everywhere. “There’s no market for food and comedy,” I was constantly told. I finally found a network to take a chance on me, and the show quickly became the No. 1 food podcast in America. 

I started to do more food-centric jokes onstage, and much to my surprise, crowds loved it. I wrote a couple chapters of a potential comedic food memoir, and after a bidding war, partnered up with Crown Publishing for my book, “Undercooked,” coming out next fall. Finally, the Food Network approached me to do a show for them, and “Raid The Fridge” was born. It is the network’s first foray into comedy.  

Passion can’t be faked. It’s infectious. Find two things you love and give it everything you got, so that one day you can lecture people from a Lamborghini about how you don’t do it for the money.