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TED: They've made us laugh,
[ Cheering ]
They've dazzled us on stage and screen.
Now 16 larger-than-life celebrities
battle it out for "Chopped" supremacy.
On the line, $50,000 for their favorite charity.
This is "Chopped: Tournament of Stars."
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
Their main goal in life is to get you laughing.
Let's get them cooking and see what happens.
Four comedians join us for the third round
of our $50,000 Tournament of Stars competition.
First up, Robert Wuhl.
ROBERT: If you're looking for a champion, look no further.
I am here.
TED: An Emmy Award-winning funny guy who wrote and starred
in HBO'*** series "Arli$$."
Chef Robert is ready.
TED: Next up, she hit Hollywood with her work on "MADtv."
[ Roars ] Ow.
TED: Today starring in the show "Suburgatory," Gillian Vigman.
I'm gonna chop, fillet, dice, and I will win.
Oh, yeah, that's good.
TED: And now the one and only Sinbad.
I'm a warrior. I'm a cook warrior.
TED: He starred in his own TV show and hit movies like
"Jingle All the Way" and "Houseguest."
You give me some knives and thyme and sage...
stuff happens.
That ain't no joke.
[ Straining ]
TED: And finally, famous for impersonating everyone
from Sammy Davis Jr. to President Barack Obama,
the TV show "In Living Color" put him on the map --
Tommy Davidson.
I'm so fast in the kitchen that I'm done already.
Robert, Sinbad, Gillian, you're chopped!
Hey! Jamie Foxx!
[ Laughs ]
Seinfeld!
This is gonna be a great show!
TED: Welcome, comedians.
You're about to find out
that competing in the "Chopped" kitchen is no joke.
There are three rounds -- appetizer, entrée, and dessert.
Each course comes with its own basket of mystery ingredients,
and you must use every ingredient in the basket
in some way.
Also available to you -- our pantry and fridge.
Each round is timed.
When the clock runs out, our judges will critique your work
on presentation, taste, and creativity.
If your dish doesn't cut it, you will be chopped.
But if you are the one who survives three choppings,
you will be in the finale of our Tournament of Stars competition,
where you will have a chance to win $50,000
for a favorite charity.
Right on.
So, what do you think? Should we open these baskets?
I'm begging.
Go for it.
And we have...
Ohh!
This is what I taste every morning when I wake up.
Holy mackerel.
You know, I had this last night.
[ Chuckles ]
Okay, we're setting the clock at 20 minutes.
Whoo!
Okay, okay. You know what I'm doing, man? Okay.
Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay.
GILLIAN: Practicing for "Chopped" has become an obsession.
I start combining flavors in my head
if I can't sleep at night.
I see pickled pig lips,
and I wanted to throw that jar across the room,
rip open my shirt, and set the whole kitchen on fire.
But instead, kind of weirdly enough, I like it.
There's a soft, giving consistency.
So I'm making a spinach salad with a warm pig-lip vinaigrette.
Jealous?
I want to use honey, mustard shallots,
chopped-up pig lip,
and I have got pig-lip vinegar.
I take a drink of it.
TED: What's wrong, Chris?
And I am drunk on pig-lip vinegar.
Gillian just took a big swig
of the brine from the pickled pig lips.
The pig lips are briny and salty.
The texture's a little off-putting.
But if you think about it, I mean, there's so much that can be done.
GEOFFREY: I like what Sinbad is doing.
He's frying them. He's searing his lips.
SINBAD: I'm gonna take this pig lip.
I'm gonna make Sinbad's caramelized pig lip
with them green things -- spinach.
I just cut myself.
Sinbad cut himself.
Oh, really?
I think he's okay.
Pig lips will trip you up.
It can happen to anybody.
But you know what, comedy's a dog-eat-dog world,
and my gift is persistence.
That's the person who doesn't quit.
Dude, I won't stop.
And I refuse to let you beat me.
TOMMY: Before I started stand-up,
I actually worked in kitchens for about eight years.
Food's always been a big part of my life -- still is.
I don't know what to do with these pickled pig lips,
so I, like, rinse it a little bit
so I can see what form they are 'cause I never saw them before.
It's not fair.
I'm thinking that something that's been pickled
doesn't need to be cooked.
So all I'm really doing is heating it.
I don't have to cook it.
I'm making porko lip à la spin sweet,
which is pork lips --
"à la spin" is the spinach in there.
And the "sweet" part is the gummy eggs.
I signed on for "Chopped," you know, which means anything goes.
I got a game plan. I do have a game plan.
I'm making a poached egg.
When I used to bake --
always put bacon and butter on everything.
That's the rule of thumb.
Butter tastes better on everything.
Julia Child said so.
And if it's good enough for Julia Child,
it should be good enough for these judges.
[ Laughs ]
So, Chef Robert has decided to call this
pickled pigs lip with polenta and a poached egg --
something that you can find at any bistro
[French accent] or any arrondissement in France.
All right, folks, down to 10 minutes already.
So we are at the third preliminary
Tournament of Stars competition,
and we have a room full of funny people.
How did I lose my flipper?
GEOFFREY: I love the fact that they're comedians and they're stand-up comics.
I guess, then, in this case, you guys are the hecklers.
[ Laughs ]
I was gonna say, you know, they work alone,
and they got to connect with an audience.
Today they got to connect with the three of us.
GILLIAN: There's two different kinds of comedians --
stand-up comedians and what I do, which is improvising.
It's not about you.
It's about making the other person look good.
With ingredients, it's the same thing --
how can I, as an improviser, make this look good?
So I'm like, "Okay, I love creamy polenta."
I'm gonna mash the crap out of this polenta,
and I'm realizing that that stuff is solid.
Like, that will last through a zombie apocalypse.
I don't have that much time.
If I don't figure out what I'm doing, I could be out.
All right, no joke, folks. Five minutes left.
SINBAD: So, I got the pig lips frying up,
and then I said, "Polenta."
I said, "Oh, that must be the cheese."
I've practiced the forward slice.
I just wanted to make sure the judges saw me forward slice.
I'm gonna melt this cheese on these pickled pig lips.
And this ain't melting. My cheese is not melting.
This might not be cheese.
I don't know what that is.
TOMMY: The pressures at the "Chopped" kitchen
aren't any different than the pressures that I face with acting.
All you have is your improv skills, you know?
You know, chicks dig that.
So I decided to bake polenta with these pickled pig lips.
The charity that I'm playing for
is the Down Syndrome Foundation of Florida,
for a good friend of mine whose child has Down Syndrome.
It just helps with education, muscle skills, and awareness.
I'm psyched to see Tommy Davidson in here.
I mean, "In Living Color" was so ahead of its time.
Very, very happy to have Robert Wuhl in the house.
Well known for his comedy "Arli$$," which was hilarious.
Let's not forget.
They're here to play for a charity that they care about.
The Amanda Foundation rescues dogs.
I've always had dogs, always loved dogs.
And my wife, when I first met her --
she judged people on two things --
do they tip and do they love dogs?
I don't think that's a bad rule of thumb, really.
And hopefully, the $50,000 is gonna save a lot of dogs.
Robert's starting the place on fire. Good Lord!
Holy Moley! I've started a fire!
Well, now Robert's laughing, so...
Fire!
Hey, have my driver ready, okay?
[ Laughter ]
Robert's quite obviously lost his mind.
[ Clock ticking ]
[ Blows raspberry ]
TED: Whoo! Fire on Station 1.
ROBERT: Nothing gets your attention like a fire.
He has a pan that's way too hot.
I take the pan off.
Chef Robert has saved the day!
[ Laughs ]
The polenta is staying exactly in the same form it was
when I chopped it, which were these big chunks.
So I have a Plan B.
I cut it into rounds.
Gummy fried eggs?
Son of a [bleep]
I like, in a salad, something that's chewy and soft,
like a fruit, like a cherry or a cranberry.
But I'm like, "That's gonna take the place of my fruit."
I would love to win it for my charity, Go Campaign,
which connects donors directly with grassroots organizations
all over the world that are doing
all these different things for children through education,
through music, through sports.
It's funny because right before we got started,
they were all kind of going back and forth,
and now it is really quiet in here.
And these people must be scared to death
because they're comedians, you know.
They're not saying anything.
SINBAD: What brings me here is the Downtown Dog Rescue in L.A.
They're finding owners for dogs and keeping dogs with owners.
Dogs around the world will talk about me. I'd be a hero.
Gummy fried eggs.
Let me use some agave.
Ohh, this looks genius.
I have sauce -- sweet sauce!
[ Chuckles ] I got stuff going on, man.
Boom, bam, boom.
That's that feeling, like when I do comedy.
Go with it. I start crushing it.
If I didn't start stand-up, I'd definitely still be in kitchens
'cause it's what I love to do.
But I've seen these gummy fried eggs, and I'm like,
"What the [bleep]"
I'm not gonna be able to do anything with them
'cause they are what they are.
So I'm making them the garnish.
One minute remaining, folks.
Oh, yeah.
Robert still hasn't started using the gummy fried eggs.
Uh-oh! I've forgotten about these gummy eggs.
I'll use this like a garnish.
This is not, obviously, the ideal thing, but hopefully,
with the poached egg, it will all go together.
SINBAD: This is some ugly [bleep] here.
TED: All right, folks, take us to flavor town, please.
Don't throw your towel on my station!
...7, 6...
[ Laughing ] ...5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Time is up. Please step back.
I don't think I'm supposed to be laughing while I do that.
GILLIAN: Looking down at my plate, it's a subdued euphoria,
just the way Xanax makes you feel...
mixed with Percocet.
Pig pickle juice.
[ Burps ] Oh, my God.
It's gonna be with me for a week.
Whatever this ugly mess is, I'm done, and I'm going home.
All three judges are texting their next of kin right now.
[ Laughter ]
This should be entertaining, to say the least.
[ Humming ]
TED: In the appetizer round of this edition of Tournament of Stars,
we asked you four comedians to creatively combine
pickled pigs' lips, polenta, spinach, and gummy fried eggs.
So, Robert, what did you make with that?
Pickled pig lips, polenta, spinach, with a poached egg.
You fry a pickled lip, and it's delicious.
Well, thank you.
Crispiness, the saltiness. The egg is poached well.
Love the fact that you used bacon.
I think that was an amazing idea.
It reminds me of a little riff on,
like, an Italian eggs benedict.
CHRIS: You have the perfect ingredients you had to build egg benedict.
You could have, like, stacked it,
because otherwise, it's just kind of, sort of haphazard.
The candy poached egg.
I don't know what to with this, but...
TED: Do you have any suggestion
on what Geoffrey should do with that?
Oh, I have plenty of suggestions, but that will come, I'm sure, later.
Well done.
This is for charity.
I'm sure these charities mean a whole lot to you.
Yeah, absolutely.
I'm working for the Amanda Foundation, which rescues dogs.
Dogs are great. Unconditional love.
They're fun. They're great. My dog just got back from Paris.
They speak French. [ French accent ] "Woof, woof, bow-wow."
[ Laughter ]
TED: Thank you, Robert.
Certainly.
I made a spinach salad with a warm pig-lip vinaigrette
and a polenta pancake slightly herbed in flavor.
GILLIAN: My mom's always been a really good cook,
so I was always her prep chef growing up.
CHRIS: I got to tell you we get salads
that are not nearly as dressed with a vinaigrette
from professional chefs in here sometimes.
Oh, thank you. Thank you so much.
GEOFFREY: And I'm really impressed with that crunch of the pineapple.
The seasoning is really good.
I think the polenta -- it wasn't really the greatest use.
MANEET: If you would have cut it into smaller pieces
and deep-fried it, it would have been like croutons.
And I wish you had done something more
with the gummy fried egg.
It just seems like you just cut it.
TED: Thank you, Gillian.
And next we have Sinbad.
This is a caramelized pig lip with a hint of leaves.
'Cause pigs run through nature.
What's the story with the towel?
As a kid, I played ball all the time, and I always sweat.
So I used to take my mother's towels.
It's a good look.
Thank you. It goes with everything.
Cheetah. It does.
Okay, getting to the dish.
I like the idea of the sweet and sour.
I think that was a great direction to go.
CHRIS: The polenta that soaked up the syrup
from the melted gummy fried egg is delicious --
like, a pound cake kind of situation.
Oh, cool, I love pound cake.
I really like it, but I feel the complete opposite.
Yeah, it's just...
It's even got, like, some hair.
It's a hairy lip.
You probably got the lower lip.
[ Laughter ]
The upper lip always has more flavor.
GEOFFREY: I think the biggest mistake you've made here,
Uh-huh.
The appearance is important to us.
You just have to work on your plating.
Yeah. Thank you.
All right, thank you, Sinbad.
Finally, Tommy.
That's porko lip spin sweet.
[ Geoffrey laughs ]
And the charity that I'm playing for
is the Down Syndrome Foundation of Florida.
A friend of mine's son was diagnosed with Down Syndrome.
So it looked just like the right thing to do at the right time.
I have a cousin with Downs, as well,
so I appreciate your sentiments very much.
GEOFFREY: There's some good flavors here,
and I give the presentation high marks.
This spinach is delicious.
It's simple, sautéed, really great.
But it doesn't seem like you did a whole lot
with the polenta and the pickled pig lips.
And you didn't do anything with this at all.
All four of you did some good stuff,
but three, I think, of the four of you,
really didn't do much with the gummy fried eggs.
So whoever moves on, just try to bring it a little bit more.
Thank you.
ROBERT: Hold on one second. Just want to, uh...
Just want to, uh...
[ Laughter ]
$20?
I'm in a state of shock.
[ Laughs ]
With pickled pig lips,
it's almost like you got to do comedy.
Yeah.
It pushes you into comedy.
I just tried my best to improv on it,
but honestly, that basket threw me off.
All right, now you got to get down
to the serious business of chopping one of them.
I think we're all fans of all of them,
but Sinbad did transform the gummy fried eggs.
MANEET: His transformation of the polenta --
it tasted really good.
But Sinbad really, I thought, didn't understand presentation.
Robert handled the pickled pig lips the best --
fried, crispy.
I thought his dish was delicious.
Egg, polenta, spinach -- it's just a perfect combination.
He went and got bacon. I almost ate the whole thing.
Who I was most impressed with was Gillian,
with the vinaigrette that she made -- delicious.
Tommy will go down as having cooked
the best spinach of the round.
But putting three of those four ingredients on the plate
and doing nothing with them.
Come on, man.
Okay.
SINBAD: Chopping time. Chopping time.
TOMMY: Once I thought back on it,
I found out such sexy ways to make gummy eggs delicious.
GILLIAN: It's nerve-racking.
If I make it past this appetizer round,
I will be *** my pants.
[ Clock ticking ]
The comedians' competition of our $50,000 celebrity tournament
is in full swing, but only three of you
will be laughing all the way to the entrée round.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
Oh, is that mine? Aw.
Okay.
Tommy, you've been chopped.
Judges?
MANEET: Tommy, thank you so much for bringing
your sense of humor to the "Chopped" kitchen.
It comes down to you not transforming
three of the basket ingredients.
So we have to chop you.
TED: Be well.
That was my best dish.
I'm played out.
TOMMY: Hey.
Probably 99.7% of the population has ever even heard of pig lips.
You know, so it's like a trick.
So it kind of just threw me off. That's all.
You know, my passion is cooking, dude.
I cook for real, you know.
So the best thing I can do is just keep it moving, you know?
TED: Robert Wuhl, Gillian Vigman, Sinbad,
please open up your entrée baskets.
And your dishes must include...
SINBAD: Uh-oh. Beer's coming out.
Mine's in rehab.
TED: 30 minutes to do your best work.
Okay.
The judges have kind of schooled us, like,
"All joking aside, I want you guys to bring it."
And I want to show I'm taking this seriously,
and I mean business.
So I am making chicken with beer-honey truffle glaze
and sautéed collard greens with jalapeño poppers.
I'm gonna reduce the crap out of that beer,
and I add truffle honey, tarragon, and some garlic,
and of course, also my prerequisite -- shallot
because I love, love, love shallot.
I like to sleep on shallots like a pillow.
I like to snort shallots.
So, judges, here we have an American backyard classic --
beer-can chicken, where you actually put the can of beer
inside the chicken.
They just took a chicken out of Chickens Drunk Anonymous.
You know, this chicken could have just come from a meeting.
Ohh!
GEOFFREY: The key to this is
how do you take a chicken that is already cooked
and make an entrée out of it?
ROBERT: I'm thinking of making a poulet
with collard green goddess dressing.
So I go to the pantry, need my mayonnaise,
and I need sour cream.
I need some herbs -- thyme, tarragon, some parsley.
$50,000 for that Amanda Foundation.
It's for a good cause. Let's roll the dice.
All right, folks, looking at 20 minutes remaining.
Judges, when we started this chapter
of our Tournament of Stars competition,
these comedians fooled around a little bit.
I think now the reality of this
as a $50,000 competition for charity
is really kind of weighing in, and everyone seems more serious.
Ah, here we go. Here we go. Here we go.
Downtown Dog Rescue is doing some great work,
and I would love to put that check in their hands.
$50,000 for them is crazy money.
That's crazy money.
We reduce olive oil and the truffle honey,
and I'm pouring the sweet serve I made on the apples.
The truffle honey, man, that's flavor and stuff.
So I'm making a honey-crusted chicken.
Maybe the apple flavor will suck up into this chicken
'cause they're both in the oven together.
All right, folks, down to 15 minutes.
Half your time's gone.
GILLIAN: I would love to win for my charity, Go Campaign.
The donor money goes directly to children.
I'm married, and I have a 4-year-old son.
And being a mom, it's all about empowering children
to become better people.
The jalapeño -- it's smoky, but it's spicy.
And I put some pancetta in there.
And there's the cheese.
I can make a cream of collard greens
with, like, the pop of the cheese.
I would love to pass on my love of cooking,
my passion for food to my son.
[ Humming ]
Jalapeño poppers.
It's almost like a chili relleno.
Usually filled with cream cheese or cheddar cheese.
Yeah, it's good Sunday football food.
Where's the microwave? Over here?
I hate jalapeño poppers.
I think there should be a constitutional amendment against them.
Ugh!
And when I become president, it's gonna happen.
[ Chuckles ]
So the best thing to do is throw them in the microwave.
I'm going to make a butter-bleu cheese sauce
for the top of the chicken.
10 minutes left on the clock, folks. 10 minutes.
Sinbad cooking down one-inch links
of the stems from the collards with a lot of onion.
The stems are something a lot of people just throw away.
Why can't you eat this part? I mean, it's like celery.
It looks like celery.
You know what, Miles Davis was at "Star Search,"
and you know what he said to me?
He goes, "New comedy is jazz.
"You're not following no rules,
but I know the rules, and I've bent the rules."
Just like cooking.
I put potatoes in because my wife told me
you can't go wrong with potatoes.
There's some starchy food. Boom.
This is me. This is me.
All right, looking at five minutes remaining, folks.
So I take my chicken, which I've shredded,
and I kind of saute it with this truffle-honey beer glaze.
And there's nothing prettier to me than purple.
So I'm gonna make a side of Peruvian purple potatoes.
As an artist, I think that cooking makes absolute sense.
It's living art.
You get to experience it
as you cook it and then while you eat it.
The one thing that food and comedy have in common
is the instantaneous response.
Ooh!
You present something, people taste it,
and they give you an immediate response.
With comedy, someone tells a joke or a monologue,
there's instantaneous response.
TED: 30 seconds.
I look at the clump of peppers, and I just want it to be wet.
So I threw them in chicken broth.
If you want to be great at something,
forget what you are today,
and think about what you want to become.
TED: Stay calm and plate on, folks.
Suddenly, I said, "Oh, my God,
I've forgotten the truffle honey."
TED: 10...9...8...7...
6...5...4...
3...2...1.
Time's up. Please step back.
[ Applause ]
GILLIAN: This is a plate that a senior citizen could eat
if they had no teeth.
Ohh, have you ever...?
So I'm feeling kind of like a [bleep] amateur at this point.
How's it going, Sinbad? How is that finger ***?
SINBAD: It's good. I'm not gonna get pregnant.
You won't get pregnant. I'm not gonna get pregnant.
Everybody's protected.
SINBAD: As my mama said, "Eat it, unless you've got something better."
I did the best I could do. Don't say nothing.
[ Clock ticking ]
It was so entertaining to watch
three famous comedians in this Tournament of Stars
as they made entrées using beer-can chicken,
jalapeño poppers,
collard greens, and truffle honey.
So, Gillian, what did you come up with?
A chicken glazed with beer and truffle honey
with a collard-green mélange
of pancetta, jalapeño popper, and some shallots.
I am so happy to see
each and every basket ingredient transformed.
You heard what we were saying,
and you actually executed on that.
This is really creative.
GEOFFREY: Especially, like, reducing that beer.
I would never have thought that you would have done that.
There's a really great sweet and salty kind of satisfaction
that comes from the truffle honey,
but maybe the chicken didn't have to be broken down
quite so much where it kind of looks like it came out of a can.
I am such an amateur.
I'm such an immature amateur.
But I'm willing to make a fool of myself
or try something to see if it works.
The charity that I'm playing for today is called Go Campaign.
It's all for children.
And they have what they call local heroes in every country
who are spearheading soccer clubs, education orchestras,
and so I will do whatever it takes here today.
Love it.
Thank you, Gillian. Next up, Sinbad.
It's called the honey-crusted chicken with collard greens.
MANEET: The collard greens...
delicious.
Seasoned perfectly.
You know, I can't believe
that the same person made the first course.
It's such -- such a drastic difference.
And also, you've got a lot of moisture that you packed
back into this chicken 'cause that's really juicy.
I picked up the honey, and I like that.
The issues I have --
there's a lot of oil on the bottom of the plate.
But really, the main thing is
the fried jalapeño popper --
by putting it in the broth,
you made the breading all really soggy.
Damn, I messed that up.
TED: So, Sinbad, who are you playing for?
I'm playing for Downtown Dog Rescue.
They're not just a shelter -- they're no-kill --
but they're also trying to keep dogs with families.
And I have three rescue dogs. They are great dogs.
All right, thank you, Sinbad.
Finally, Chef Robert.
This is Chef Robert's poulet à la poppers
with collard green goddess and butter-bleu cheese atop chicken.
CHRIS: There's some good stuff here.
The green-goddess dressing -- love it.
GEOFFREY: It's a very vibrant flavor,
but I thought it would have been better on this over here.
I think that these sauces,
for me, I would have liked flipped.
I wish there was a little bit more transformation
when it came to the honey truffle and the poppers.
I get where you're coming from, totally,
but the poppers freaked me out so much 'cause I don't eat peppers.
And to me, I didn't want it ruining everything else.
Okay, some successes, some mistakes.
The judges need to sort it out. Thanks.
I'm gonna tell you something. This was fun.
They told us, like, "Let's see your game.
I want to see it better. I want to see you guys serious,"
but I have to say I feel like we focused so hard.
I'm proud 'cause they ate my food.
That's what it's about.
So, judges, did these funny people show you
a different side of themselves on those entrée plates?
Gillian crushed it in this round.
She made a great hash with the collard greens.
She brought pancetta to the party, which is a great move.
Served us just enough of the truffle honey
to kind of counteract the heat from the jalapeño.
I was really impressed
at how Sinbad worked with the collard greens.
The seasoning was perfect.
And I think that as far as transformation,
I would probably put it a little bit in the camp with Sinbad
'cause he actually did slow-roast the chicken,
put some truffle-honey glaze on top of that.
Sinbad [sighs] simmered his jalapeño poppers in stock,
which is a terrible idea,
but at least it shows initiative to try to do something.
Robert -- all we watched him do was walk over to the microwave,
Ugh!
The chicken -- he didn't take it off the bone or do anything with it.
And Robert just opened the truffle honey
and just sprinkled it all over the plate.
But Robert's sauce, with the collard greens,
it was a spectacular sauce.
It was really good.
We had parsley, garlic,
put some mayonnaise in there.
But wasn't Robert's green goddess
better than anything that Sinbad did?
ROBERT: It's 50-50 between me and Sinbad,
but I'm glad they liked the green-goddess dressing.
I liked the butter with the bleu cheese.
Chef Robert feels pretty good.
SINBAD: It's "Chopped."
Chop your head off. You gone.
[ Dramatic music plays ]
[ Clock ticking ]
Robert Wuhl, Gillian Vigman, Sinbad, unfortunately,
one of you won't be able to spend any more time here.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
That's me. [ Chuckles ]
Robert, you've been chopped.
Judges?
Oh, man. Ohh.
CHRIS: Robert, your green-goddess dressing
we thought was absolutely delicious.
Oh, thank you.
But the jalapeño poppers --
just sort of reheating them in the microwave
is not really doing a whole lot to that ingredient.
It was a tough decision, but we had to chop you.
Thank you very much.
I had a great time. Keep going.
Best of luck to both of you.
By the way, do you guys validate?
[ Laughter ]
This is New York parking, baby!
[ French accent ] Chef Robert feels misunderstood.
[Spits] on Americans.
New York parking is not cheap. You know that?
[ Laughter ]
Gillian Vigman, Sinbad, this is the last round
of the third installment of our Tournament of Stars.
You ready to go?
Yeah.
Please open your baskets.
And your desserts must include...
[ Laughs ]
GILLIAN: Oh...
Oh, my Gosh!
SINBAD: Jesus!
Holy...
30 minutes on the clock.
That's how it's gonna be?
Oh, my God.
All right, judges,
even though both these people are professional jokesters,
they're completely head-down focused.
It's cool. It's cool.
Yeah, and they have changed from the first round.
It's like they have turned it on here.
It's amazing.
Tina Fey was one of my improv teachers at Second City,
and I remember her saying, like,
"You have to just go with what's in front of you."
And I think, especially on a show like "Chopped,"
you open that basket, and in a way, you're set free.
I look over at those cupcakes,
and I'm like, "They'd be perfect for a trifle."
I am making an apple-cinnamon trifle with a cheese-curl dust.
Growing up, my mom made a lot of trifles.
So I dedicate this trifle to my mom.
Don't touch you.
Dude, we at the dessert round.
What you gonna do?
I'm making my mom's homemade ice cream.
She had four boys,
so we were building slave ice-cream turners.
I got my milk and cream and my eggs, and I love apple cider.
This is apple cider right here I'm drinking right now.
Sometimes the cooking gods are with you.
And it's the 15-minute mark, folks.
Halfway through your time.
GILLIAN: I grab little glass ramekins
because this is gonna be a trifle.
I can use these spongy cupcakes like you would a ladyfinger,
and, holy [bleep] punch me in the face.
I'm gonna use the frosting for, like, heavy cream,
add mascarpone and lemon zest.
But now what's gonna be my fruit?
And I realize, "Well, duh, I've got this apple cider.
I have to get apples."
I'm also adding bourbon.
And cinnamon and apples are so delicious together
I want to throw some cinnamon chips in.
Damn. Damn, that's crazy.
You know a secret guilty pleasure of mine
is these cinnamon chips?
It's cinnamon, dry milk, sugar.
They hold their shape like a chocolate chip.
I cannot resist them.
Cinnamon chips -- I'm like, "Okay, we can melt this."
And I'm grabbing chocolate.
I'm gonna put that on the ice cream.
I'm gonna make it, like, a chocolate sundae.
Yeah, that's good.
Cheese curls -- I got to get in there
and emulsify this with my hands.
Got these vanilla cupcakes --
I'm pushing it in there with the cheese curls.
And then I said, "No, man, throw that chocolate on these curls."
If you take the first step, the rest will come to you.
And it's kind of sexy.
GILLIAN: I grab cheese puffs, coconut, and some sugar to make,
like, a cheese dust.
And I grab one of those mix things,
[ Blender whirring ]
I'm surprised she knows how to shake it and make --
actually, that's what you do, you know?
She's, like, very comfortable with it.
SINBAD: Whoa! Whoa! Man down!
And I'm realizing, "Oh, my gosh, apples and cheese go together.
People eat cheddar cheese with apple pies."
It's like solving a mystery of, like,
what is going to connect all of these ingredients?
That feeling is so exhilarating.
And five minutes remaining on the clock, folks.
Dash off to the ice cream.
That's it.
Oh, not enough sugar.
It's okay, but I ain't panicked.
I got more chocolate.
Now, let's go ahead and put this chocolate on it, man.
Cover my butt with some chocolate on it
'cause everything's good with some chocolate on it.
This ain't bad, bro. This ain't bad.
GILLIAN: I feel great, and I feel, like, jacked up.
Winning would be beyond my comprehension.
I would be giving $50,000 to Go Campaign,
a charity that I believe so much in.
It would be amazing.
Sinbad is, like, looking at the clock every 30 seconds.
He is so concerned now with his place and where he is,
and he is in this to win this.
TED: We're about one minute away from filling the third seat
in our celebrity tournament.
SINBAD: I'm looking at the clock.
I chop the top off these four eggs.
TED: Is he making egg cups?
I go rinse them out, and I get shot glasses.
And I pour apple cider.
I got skills, man. I got skills.
I got to be honest with you.
I thought Gillian had a huge lead and that Sinbad was, like, in deep trouble,
and from what I can see, he's making a huge comeback here.
Hells, yeah.
And these stakes are high, high, high.
All right, folks, no fun and games.
No more jokes. Let's get it on the plate.
TED: 10...9...8...7...
6...5...4...
3...2...1.
Time is up. Please step back.
Yeah!
That is gorgeous.
GILLIAN: I look over at Sinbad's dish.
There is this beautiful bowl of ice cream.
And I'm like, "I'm dead.
I'm dead."
Shoot.
SINBAD: No matter what happens in this round, I'm good.
I made my mother's homemade ice cream.
I'm kind of feeling myself.
TED: For the third competition
of our $50,000 Tournament of Stars,
only two comedians remain.
Gillian Vigman, Sinbad,
congratulations for doing your best
with cinnamon chips, cheese curls,
vanilla cupcakes, and apple cider.
So, Sinbad, what do we have here?
This is my mother's homemade ice cream.
Mama's surprise. This is my mom's thing.
My mother throws down.
Apple cider.
I transformed. I'm a transformer.
You were behind, in my mind, coming in to this round,
and you needed a really strong effort.
This was a very strong effort.
So you're back in the game, baby.
Thank you. I'm an assassin.
MANEET: The ice cream is delicious.
I love how you've taken the cheese curls
and the cupcake with chocolate
and made it into this crunchy layer.
You melted the chocolate correctly,
and you tempered the egg and all that.
But you left out sugar.
If you made this again -- a little sweeter --
I'd go with more sugar.
I want to win for those dogs.
I want to win this for those dogs
and for people that want to keep their dogs.
I, myself, actually have a dog
that was rescued from a homeless shelter.
GILLIAN: Although I love what Sinbad's doing,
I do love dogs, but I do think I love children more.
But I love dogs.
My charity, Go Campaign,
is supporting children all over the world.
These children will help these dogs.
And these dogs get those children if they're lost.
When those dogs need to be fed, these children,
who are so well-educated, will take these dogs in.
TED: All righty.
And finally, Gillian.
I did a little bit of a play on a trifle.
It is an apple-cinnamon trifle with a dusting of cheese curls
and a little bit of coconut.
Growing up, my mom made a lot of trifles.
So this dessert is definitely an ode to my mom.
CHRIS: This is a really pretty dessert,
and I think your idea's so creative.
It's just awesome.
Apples go so well with cinnamon, apple cider, and cheese.
You got the mascarpone.
But I wish you had used less sugar...
...because sugar is in each and every layer.
She's absolutely right.
This is just so crazy-sweet.
TED: All righty.
Thank you both.
Oh, my God. I can't believe -- I can't believe we did it.
I don't know what you did.
They're talking about coconut and cheese.
I said, "What? What?"
Thank God I plugged my mom.
My mother would love the fact that I did the ice cream.
What I feel like we're gonna take away
from this experience on "Chopped" is that
it's reminding us that food and recipes
and the way we look at food is passed on
from generation to generation.
I think you saw a couple of really credible desserts.
Well, Sinbad made his mom's ice cream, which is fantastic.
And Gillian -- I mean, a trifle?
She's a comedian, for heaven's sakes.
She made a trifle.
She took the cupcake frosting and whipped mascarpone in it,
and then she used the base, or the cake,
to soak in that trifle of the apples.
Really delicious.
Using cheese curls with coconut -- fantastic idea.
But then she went and got more sugar,
and she crossed the threshold
of it being really, really, really sweet.
CHRIS: Sinbad made us a sundae.
It's the kind of dessert that speaks to me.
The cheese-curl-chocolate thing on the bottom.
It was sort of like a biscuit.
It was very good.
Sinbad's first course --
they gave me, you know, an enormous, hairy pig lip.
But Sinbad did really good
transforming the gummy fried egg.
Gillian's gummy fried egg --
she just kind of chopped and threw in there.
But the vinaigrette that she made
with the brine was delicious.
We told Gillian in the first round
that she didn't transform ingredients,
and she went on to the entrée round
adding pancetta to the collard greens.
That was very, very creative.
Yeah, and Gillian's chicken was really good.
Presentation was a little clunky,
but overall, it was a very good entrée.
Sinbad's entrée was nice and juicy.
I love the way he actually used the truffle honey
to put over the chicken.
And his collard greens -- delicious, but very greasy.
And that was something I didn't enjoy.
This is an incredibly tough decision.
[ Sighs ]
GILLIAN: I really want to win money
and hand a big fat check to Go Campaign.
It would be amazing.
SINBAD: The game's over.
I'm good. I guess I've won.
TED: Sinbad or Gillian Vigman?
The judges have decided.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
Who made that crap?
[ Chuckles ]
Sinbad, you've been chopped. Judges?
Sinbad, thank you for making us aware of Downtown Dog Rescue,
and we just love you and we just had a great time.
Every round, you did better than the next.
You should be really proud of yourself.
You got out-cooked.
That's all it is. You got out-cooked.
But you got out-cooked by a cook.
You guys are great. I had so much fun.
I'm taking this with me.
[ Smooches ]
I made the dessert round on "Chopped"?
I have nothing to be ashamed of.
I walked away with knowledge. I learned stuff, man.
If you respect the food, food will respect you back.
TED: And that means, Gillian Vigman,
that you are the "Chopped" champion.
Thank you.
Thank you guys. Whoo!
Oh, my God! Thank you, guys! Thank you!
We are thrilled that you are gonna be coming back
for the big finale competing for $50,000.
Can't wait to see you again.
I'm gonna be the spokesperson for lips --
for pickled pig lips.
I am that much closer to winning this championship.
Congratulations.
Giving $50,000 to the Go Campaign
to help children all over the world --
nothing could make you feel better.