Comedian Bobby Lee Went From Working at the Comedy Store to Hollywood Star

Stand-up comedian and actor Bobby Lee started performing in 1994 when he went to The Comedy Store in San Diego to get a job after the coffee shop he worked at next door closed and the rest is history. Bobby went from barista to entertainer nearly overnight when he was offered gigs opening for Pauly Shore and Carlos Mencia within a year of doing stand-up.

Now, Bobby is gearing up to star in the Lost Book of Creation film franchise, proving he’s come a long way from his roots. From stand-up to sketch comedy to movie roles to podcasting, Bobby has grown to be a prolific Hollywood figure throughout his 30-year career. But what is his net worth?

After years in the spotlight, it’s no surprise that Bobby has amassed at least $10 million of net worth, if not more. He got his first film role in 1999 as an unnamed “Chinese Man” in The Underground Comedy Movie, but his dedication to the industry got him far. By 2004, Bobby got his big film break as Kenneth Park in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, and in 2008, he played Bobby in Pineapple Express.

Now, Bobby is mostly a podcaster, focusing on the TigerBelly podcast with his ex-partner, Khalyla Kuhn. In 2020, he also began co-hosting the Bad Friends podcast with Andrew Santino, another beloved stand-up comedian turned podcaster. In 2024, he went on the Joe Rogan podcast, where they had a “wholesome” interaction (interspersed throughout Joe’s political rants). And he still takes on roles in various projects, such as in 2023’s History of the World, Part II.

But some die-hard comedy fans remember Bobby most from his MADtv days as the show’s first and only Asian cast member in 2001. He played several memorable characters, including Kim Jong-il, Connie Chung, “The Blind Kung-fu Master,” Stewie Griffin, and many more. However, he was fired from the show in 2009 after he relapsed.

Although Bobby has gained some wealth through his prolific comedy career, his career has also been riddled with bouts of addiction. Bobby first experimented with marijuana and meth when he was just 12 years old and he got into heroin by the time he was 15. At 17 years old, he got sober after three different rehab trials, and he maintained 12 years of sobriety until he got negative feedback from a producer.

This led Bobby to Vicodin, although after he was fired from MADtv for a second time, producer Lauren Dombrowski’s belief in him was a wake-up call to get sober again. Bobby has said that he’s a recovering alcoholic and that he still struggles with it from time to time. When his father died in 2019, Bobby relapsed again, but his openness about this journey to his fans is just one of the many reasons we love him.