I’ve noticed that comedy folks tend to do well on Celebrity Jeopardy. Robin Thede, Lisa Ann Walter, and Patton Oswalt all had strong games, and of course Ike Barinholtz. The MADtv alum won the celeb version in 2023, then came back the next year to play in the Tournament of Champions. CB and I were both blown away by how smart he is! Anyway, Ike is also a frequent collaborator with Mindy Kaling, and that includes co-creating the new basketball comedy series Running Point, out now on Netflix. He also co-stars in The Studio on Apple TV, with Seth Rogan, Catherine O’Hara and Kathryn Hahn.
Ike just appeared on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast to promote the show, and the two middle-aged men (Ike is 48, Dax is 50), talked about how they think they’ve each grown into their looks as they’ve aged. Dax noted he thought his hair in particular looked better now than when he was in his 20s, which prompted Ike to reveal that he gets platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections to help out his own mane. But they’re painful, so he uses laughing gas to get through the procedure:
“Some men, it gets a little bit easier. You don’t look as bad as you get older,” Barinholtz said.
“Relative to your peers, you start looking better,” Shepard said. “If [you’re] taking any care of yourself.”
“All you gotta do is wait it out,” Barinholtz said. “Everyone’s gonna get old and ugly, and you’re gonna still stay the same.” That prompted Shepard to reply, “This hair was thin in my twenties, but it ain’t bad in my fifties.”
“Hello?” Barinholtz said, sharing he’s had “no plugs, just a little bit of PRP. I do the PRP,” which Shepard said he hasn’t tried.
PRP, or platelet-rich plasma injections, use the patient’s own blood to create a serum that can either promote healing — such as an injured joint — or help stimulate hair growth and treat male pattern baldness, John Hopkins Medicine explains.
“I went the first time, and it hurt so much,” the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire winner said. “It’s just kind of waking stuff up [in your scalp]. And then I went back. I just remember it hurt so bad, and the nurse was like, ‘I forgot. Do you like the laughing gas?’ And I was like, ‘That’s a f—ing option? Yeah. Yes. Yeah.’”
“So now when I go, you suck on [the laughing gas tube],” he said, adding in a slurred voice, “and you’re like, ‘Do you guys watch White Lotus?’”
“Meanwhile, you can hear all the popping,” he said, referring to the injections, “but you can’t feel it.”
“[White Lotus creator] Mike White is a genius,” he added with the same slurred voice. “I’m just like, ‘Give me the good stuff, baby.’ It’s so nice. It’s the only time you can do it legally.”
“And with medical supervision,” Shepard said. “It’s like you’re free to get as high as possible, and there’s a staff to bring you back.”
I thoroughly enjoy hearing two grown men candidly discuss their thoughts on beauty and aging and personal maintenance regimens. At the same time, I reserve my right to feel a bit conflicted over the fact that looking better as you age is a grace so easily afforded to men. It works both ways! Men care just as much about their appearance, and women continue to become even more fabulous as we age. Stepping off my shea butter soapbox now.
As for PRP, it seems to mostly be used for sports injuries and hair loss. (I wonder if a certain former Football Association president has heard of it.) My own curly hair is my greatest vanity, so I don’t begrudge Ike for seeking treatment with the means he has available to him.
Photos credit: Gregg DeGuire/Image Press Agency/Avalon, IMAGO/Jeffrey Mayer/Avalon, Getty
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection is another word for stem cell injections. I fully endorse this treatment. My mother needed a hip replacement and a knee replacement and would not survive the surgery. The stem cell injections are minimally invasive and gave her immediate mobility and she could walk better immediately after the treatment. It’s a miracle and improved my mothers quality of life by helping her re grow cartilage. The con: it’s very expensive and not covered by insurance even when using it for non cosmetic purposes.
I heard it’s most effective in helping with pain, less so in a cosmetic sense. In particular, I’ve seen mostly negative reviews for hair regrowth.
I had it done on my face years ago in conjunction with microneedling. It was ok…but not sure it was worth the cost $$$.
His hair does look fabulous. Good for him. His body, his choice. It is sad that money stands between poor people and excellent healthcare. Everything is relative, but hairloss is deeply distressing for some people.
I might sound a little silly to some but he should be careful with that cavalier attitude about nitrous. That’s what Kanye is apparently abusing at the moment and I had a friend who ended up in the hospital after using it recreationally as a kid.
My dentist uses the gas and it is such a help, I have anxiety about dental procedures and finding my dentist has helped immeasurably. For me it’s sort of like a “waking” sleep. I know what’s going on, he explains everything, but I have no pain or fear. I had a root canal last done week and listened to a book the whole time. I was a little mad when the dentist finished because it came at a crucial time in the book and I wanted to hear who the murderer was!
I’m the same. I’ve had so much dental work over the years, I got almost phobic over cleanings. I have oral lichen planus, which causes a lot of pain with cleaning. So I got laughing gas for about a year, which really, really helped with the pain. Then I switched to CBD pills and that was similar. Such relief!
Ha! I live in Texas so no such luck as CBD for me!
I’ve done PRP for hair loss (thanks Covid and menopause!). It is one of the most painful things I’ve ever experienced. I’ve always had a ton of beautiful hair and watching it fall out was traumatic.
The laughing gas did nothing to dull the agony of the shots, but sucking it in gave me something to focus on instead of the feeling of having acid drilled into my head with a hot nail. I haven’t had the nerve to go back since a nurse decided that delivering the treatment in 25 excruciating shots was somehow better than my doctor’s normal, and barely tolerable without passing out, 10.
Maybe one day though. It really worked.
Good to hear that PRP seems to work for hair loss. I’m still on the minoxidil/finastiride regimen and it seems to work good enough, no bald spots and my hairline looks okay.
I use that too and it seems to have stopped the thinning I was starting to experience at the crown of my head. I also have been taking biotin, which I think has contributed to keeping my hair looking good, even though my doctor said it doesn’t work for everyone.
ok, just want to say that TWICE during my inductions (two different labors) I asked for laughing gas during the agonizing foley bulb insertion, and both times the tanks were empty… which they realized when I was trying to breathe through the mask. But… good on Ike’s doc to have a full supply…
PRP is really accessible where o live so I try to go every few months. I lost hair at my hairline from decades of natural sunscreen use – they suspect it’s titanium dioxide shutting off the hair follicles but don’t know.
My hairline is growing back but I don’t use sunscreen anymore on my forehead.
Simultabeously was losing hair throughout my scalp due to mold illness that screwed my hormones. PRP def helps w both but there is no laughing gas here. I just sit through it and plan around my cycle. If I do face or neck injections I use the lidocaine cream before.
Hair loss suckssss- I had no idea how it would impact me so I feel for anyone especially women experiencing it.
47 year old woman here. I began losing my hair in my early 20s. No doctor has ever been able to say why other than, I swear it’s true, bad luck. I wear a wig at this point but it would be pretty great to have my own hair back. Wigs are a pain.
Used nitrous for a uterine biopsy and it was a lifesaver. I can see how it could be addictive.
Ike Barinholtz is one of my top celebrity crushes. So cute, so funny, so smart. Chicago Party Aunt was absolutely hilarious (Netflix).
I’m always amazed at the magnificent heads of hair on a lot of older male actors. Just as I’m amazed at the smooth jawlines and necks of most older female actors — and the fact that so few have double chins or even “looser” skin under their chins.
It’s easy to forget, sometimes, that they’re all getting hair treatments and subtle plastic surgery. I just don’t buy that every woman in Hollywood was blessed with a chiseled jawline. 😀