Revisiting Ken Jeong's college days and medical Odyssey at Duke University while he prepares to feature as College Gameday's guest picker for Week 5
Renowned Hollywood actor and comedian Ken Jeong is returning to his alma mater Duke University. Jeong has been named the celebrity guest picker for ESPN College Gameday week 5 in Durham for the Duke vs Notre Dame showdown.
This is the first time College GameDay is making its way to the home ground of the Duke Blue Devils. They have had a stellar season, riding a four-game winning streak. Hence, their game against Notre Dame could be filled with high-octane action as Ken Jeong cheers on for his former college.
While the Hollywood actor and comedian prepares to make his second appearance with the College GameDay crew, let's have a look at the time he spent with Duke University in his college days.
Ken Jeong College day: Revisiting his life at Duke University
Born to immigrant South Korean parents, Ken Jeong graduated from Walter Hines Page High School, where he participated in various co-curricular activities. He was also elected a member of the student council. After high school, Jeong did college at the University of Duke.
He studied biology at Duke and looked to become an established entity in the field of medicine. He graduated in 1990 and went on to earn his M.D. at the UNC School of Medicine five years later.
However, it was at Duke that Ken Jeong started to put more emphasis on his background and portfolio as a theater artist as well as stand-up comedy.
He would make regular appearances at the Raleigh-Durham circuit and frequently perform stand-ups at two comedy clubs, the Charlie Goodnights and Tootie's Durham Comedy Club.
At the Duke campus, Jeong was the MC for the Comedy Spot series in 1992 and 1993. It was produced by his friend Kendrick Jangh, where Jeong got the opportunity to open sets for notable comedians like Margaret Cho and Jeff Dunham.
While he was at residency at the Ochsner Medical Center, Ken Jeong participated in the Big Easy Laff-Off in 1995 and went on to win the competition.
That led to then NBC President Brandon Tartikoff and the comedy club franchise The Improv founder Budd Friedman to try and persuade him to shift to Los Angeles and enter the entertainment industry.
Jeong moved to Los Angeles in 1998 and practiced medicine for a few years. He was also a regular performer at The Improv and Laugh Factory Comedy Clubs. He would go on to make appearances on shows like The Office, MADtv.