12 Guys Walk Into a Kitchen

A stand-up comic’s collection of stories offer a humorous and sincere exploration of culture and family, as one of twelve children raised in a multiracial family.

Growing up as a white kid with six Black brothers, two white brothers, two from Vietnam, and one from China, comedian Ryan Conner’s family gave him a unique perspective on what it means to be American, one that he brings to the stage and now, for the first time, to the page.

In 12 Guys Walk Into a Kitchen, Conner tells hilarious stories that also tackle assumptions too often made about race, culture, and identity—and offers powerful and funny insights on the unifying power of family, empathy, and redemption.

Read his stories of refugee flights, adoption hardship, love overcoming hate, factory closures, leisure suits, bullying, comedy icons, what happens when a kid who's never broken a rule goes to college and works for a drug front, the life of a comic, poverty, the worst wedding toast in history, ambition vs family, and maybe an orgy. Wild and heart-filled anecdotes are told against the backdrop of a home life that made their lives ordinary in every meaningful sense.

Through sharp, comedic storytelling, discover a message of hope in these divisive times: that diversity isn’t a burden, it’s our greatest strength. And at the end of the day, nearly everything but family is meaningless.

For fans of David Sedaris, standup lovers, and those seeking an optimistic story that bridges cultural divides, 12 Guys Walk Into a Kitchen is the humorous but heartfelt antidote to the wedges that threaten to lie between us. Timely yet timeless, this autobiographical collection of complementary stories invites readers to laugh, to listen, and to see beauty in the differences that make us who we are.