I’ll Try Anything Once
In this series host Touré accesses fascinating worlds, notching up a bizarre array of challenges as he goes. Game for anything, like lumberjacking or sumo wrestling, he’s armed with little more than his curiosity and a sense of humor as he’s welcomed into diverse communities, given a challenge and then sets about learning the ropes. Touré will try anything once.
Episode 1
Die-hard New York subway rider Touré couldn’t be more out of his element when he travels 500 miles to rural Indiana – the heart of demolition derby country – to apprentice with 100-time crash and bash champion Larry Staats.
Episode 2
Touré enters the world of human bull bait in Cody, Wyoming, when he gambles life and limb to become a rodeo clown.
Episode 3
Rats, bees, raccoons, hogs and snakes are just some of the creatures that wildlife remover Johnny Vincent deals with everyday in his Florida pest control business. Can Touré survive removing such extreme prey?
Episode 4
Kim Kahana of Groveland, Florida, is a stuntman legend. At 78, his resume reads like some of Hollywood’s greatest actors. Can Touré learn how to pull off the perfect fake fight, while he confronts his serious fear of heights?
Episode 5
Urban culture and music expert Touré heads far into the woods in Northern Wisconsin to spend four days pursuing the sporting side of America’s most dangerous jobs – lumberjack.
Episode 6
Touré travels to Arizona to train for and play a full-contact game with the fastest and most furious femme pigskinners in the West, The Tucson Monsoon.
Episode 7
Touré spends a week with New York City sanitation workers. From a diaper-filled trash pit to a mountain of garbage, Toure comes nose to nose with a side of New York he’s never had to face. Can he stomach the work and clean up the Big Apple?
Episode 8
Touré has four days to learn four very different acts from the bawdy world of burlesque. Can he pull it off in front of an audience? More importantly, can he take it off, as part of a high class strip act?
Episode 9
Touré braves sharp knives, burning oil, dirty dishes and a screaming chef as he attempts to go from kitchen lackey to gourmet chef in a fast paced New York City restaurant in just one week. Can he take the heat?
Episode 10
Touré never jumped from a plane before and his first solo run comes close to catastrophe. But he has to learn fast if he wants to stay alive and join the highly skilled skydivers in a final formation dive.
Episode 11
Can a hardcore city dweller survive in a snowbound wilderness? Touré’s street smarts won’t do him any good out here. And with temperatures well below freezing, his biggest test will be whether he can make it through the night.
Episode 12
Is the cowboy’s life all its cracked up to be? Touré takes to the saddle and learns the realities of a cowpoke’s life: roping, riding, and lots of castration.
Episode 13
Touré takes on the ancient Japanese art of sumo wrestling, with the help of his mentor, 700-pound “Tiny” Yarbrough. Toure must grapple with complex rituals, traditions and martial art moves if he wants to step into the ring with the big boys.
Photo by Jonathan Mannion
CNN.com: Touré Says ‘Don’t forget blackness, but don’t limit it’
Touré discusses the theme of his 2011 book, Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness?, named a New York Times notable book of 2011.
