Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend - Fanhausen Revisited

Episode Date: April 2, 2026

To celebrate the WWE debut of the very first CONAFan guest, Conan revisits his conversation with professional wrestler Danhausen.   Wanna get a chance to talk to Conan? Submit here: teamcoco.com/apply Get access to all the podcasts you love, music channels and radio shows with the SiriusXM App! Get 3 months free using this show link: https://siriusxm.com/conan. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, we have come up on a very nice anniversary. Hard to believe, but five years ago this month, we did our very first fan episode. And it's been five years. I can't believe it. And I really love these segments. And the very first one featured a fan of mine named Danhausen. Now, Danhausen is a wrestler. And he explained to me when we did this very first fan episode that he had loosely based

his character, his wrestling. character on me if I was an interdimensional demon, which seems redundant to me. And Dan Housen and I had a great conversation. We talked about comedy, performance, the love of entertaining people. And what struck me, and still, I remember this to this day, Dan Housen told me that he had been grinding away for the past eight years, driving 12 hours every weekend, just be able to get up in front of people and wrestle. And this is a guy who just applied an incredible work ethic to his passion. And I was so impressed with this fellow. Well, now it's five years later. And I am thrilled to report that Danhausen has recently made his WWE debut to rave reviews. And this is proof again

that if you can marry hard work to your passion, you can go places. So on behalf of myself and all of us here at Team Coco, massive congratulations and mad respect to Danhausen. And I'm so proud of you, happy for you. And I just should mention, because your character is based on me, I'm getting 20%. Oh, are you getting 20%? Well, I will once I unleash my interdimensional demons, Rick Rosen from William Morris Endeavor, and the blackest, blackest heart of all. Gavin Pallone. I mean, when they're done with Danhausen, he's just going to be some flesh clinging to a battered vertebrae.

Anyway, I'm just thrilled for him. So here, this is unusual for us. We're going to revisit my chat from five years ago with the one, the only Danhausen. Enjoy. Conan O'Brien needs a fan. Want to talk to Conan? Visit team cocoa.com.

Conan. Okay, let's get started. Hey, everybody. Conan O'Brien here, and we're going to try something a little different in the short time that I've been doing. Conan O'Brien needs a friend. I've just been delighted. I'm having an absolute blast, and it's working. I'm actually making some nice bonds and friendships with a lot of different people. But what occurred to me is all these people have one thing in common. They're celebrities. And I thought it might be might be nice to try making friends with average folk, people out there in the world, civilians, not celebrities, just talk to the people who make this great country we call the United States America or even people from other countries. It doesn't matter.

Let's just talk to some regular folk and then hope, hope desperately that they become celebrities. Oh, my God. That's the concept. What do you guys think, Matt? Yeah, I'm always in. Why is that horrible? It's very important to me that eventually they become celebrities. So you don't have time for anybody that would live their whole life as a regular Joe.

As a folk. Who would do that? What kind of monster would choose that life? No, seriously, I really do, I do want to, and especially, I have to say, a lot of this comes out of this last year. Let's get outside this bubble, this celebrity bubble that we're trapped in. I'm not trapped in a celebrity. No, I'm not even a Jason too. Oh, God, no, I didn't mean either of you.

Oh, God, no, no. Oh, please. Oh, oh, oh, how embarrassing. Oh, I'm covering my mouth. I'm laughing. Because, I mean, we don't even do a podcast with a celebrity, so how would we do? Oh, snap. Snapity, dappity.

Ouchy, wouchy. I'm looking it up. I'm looking it up. I am looking it up. Yes, I am a celebrity. I just looked it up. You Googled it? Yeah, I am a bee-lister, but I am a celebrity.

So of, oh, okay, you. I am a solid bee. I'm a solid bee-list celebrity, and I'm proud of it. And if Love Boat were still on the air, I could, I could potentially be a guest. Oh, God. Not the first guest, but like the third guest, who's the comic relief guest, who's stowed away. I would kill to see you on Love Boat. Yes, and, but anyway, this is something I want to do, and I'm really,

looking forward to it. And I don't know. We're just going to give it a try and see how it goes. Yeah, this is Conan O'Brien needs a fan, and it'll be out weekly in addition to the regular episode. So just an extra special treat. And we might as well get to our first guest. Are you guys ready?

Yeah. I am very ready. Conan, please meet Donovan, who is a minor league professional wrestler. Wow. Donovan, very nice to talk to you. Where are you coming from, Donovan? Where are you? I am in Michigan right now from Montreal.

Do you consider yourself a Canadian? No, no, I'm from Michigan. Oh, you're from Michigan. Yeah, sorry, I probably said that wrong. My wife is from Montreal. Wait, I'm confused already. You're from Michigan. You've married someone who's from Montreal.

Yes, exactly. Okay. So I'm in the process of getting my permanent residency there. Oh, okay, you're going to move to Montreal. I'm going, yes. Okay. Well, that's all the time we have. Thank you.

So, Donovan, you are. Are a professional wrestler, is that right? Yes. Okay, now, help me, because I know of a type of professional wrestler that has a character, and I don't know, are you a professional wrestler who's really wrestling and using wrestling moves, and it's not that fun to watch, or are you a wrestler who's also kind of a performer and has a character? I am a character. Actually, I have a picture if you want to see it.

It's a, that's me. Oh, my God. Okay. Well, we are a podcast, so I'm going to describe it. Yeah. You're sort of demonic looking. You just showed me a picture of what looked like a very fierce, evil, demonic wrestler. Yes, so I go by the moniker, very nice, very evil, because nobody likes somebody who's too evil.

So I introduced the nice part of it, so then they buy into it and I can trick them. Okay, very nice, very evil. Often I get described if somebody, a demon possessed you, actually. Oh, a demon possessed me. If Conan O'Brien was possessed by a demon, that's what it gets described as, because I'm heavily influenced by you rather than other wrestlers. Yes. You mean, of the wrestlers,

I'm the one that's influenced you the most. Yes, yes, of course. That's fantastic. Describe then a demonic Conan O'Brien as a wrestling character. Are you using some of my moves? Is it my attitude? Does your character have, you know, sort of little beady eyes and thin lips

and sharp cheekbones? Yes, yeah, I don't have the height, but I have, I utilize, so I pour teeth in my opponent's mouths to disorient them. Pour what in their mouth? Human teeth. You pour human teeth into the mouth.

What's crazy. I love how that's, people see that and go, oh, that is so Conan. That is. No, no, no. It's just, I think it's the presentation because I take a lot of like Simpsons reference, and references from you in just 80s horror movies.

And I pull it all together. Because these are the things that I like. So I included it into the character because wrestling should be fun. Yes, wrestling is saying, it shouldn't be worth. Yeah. No, no. So, okay, one of your standard moves

is to pour loose teeth into the mouth of your opponent to confuse and disorient them. What are some of your other moves? Pick them right in the mouth. I have the go to sleep, which I call the good night Housen. I had Housen. My wrestling name is Dan Housen, and I add Housen to everything to make it all about me.

That's very Coney. Okay. That's very nice, Matt. Yeah. I love that. You just add Housen to things. So Good Night Housen is like a good night move. Yes.

And I pop them up off my shoulders and I need them in the face. Okay. Well, you need them in the face, Housen. The face, yes, exactly. Sorry. Like, if I were talking to you, I'd call you Conan Housen. I had Housen to the end of anything. Uh-huh.

Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh, this is fantastic. Uh, you're, I'm delighted by you. You're, I'm delighted by this foolishness and, uh, that you've, like me, dedicated your life to, uh, absolute idiocy. Uh, this is fantastic. Now, are you a good wrestler? Are you a good athlete? Yeah, but that doesn't matter. Uh, no one cared when I was just a good wrestler. They cared once I switched and put on makeup and started acting goofy and doing Simpsons references in the middle of matches and like a stole the Mr. Burns hop-in. I brought a tiny airplane to the ring, and I told my opponent to hop in,

and I had three, four hundred people chanting hop-in at this guy. How successful have you been? It sounds like, is this growing? Do you feel like Danhausen is becoming a bigger and bigger character? Yes, absolutely. Since I've switched this, which is about two years ago, and about a year full of doing this actual character, I've been wrestling for eight years.

since I've switched this, it's just like snowballed more and more and more. And now I have a shirt and hot topic. And I've gotten signed to like a TV company. And they're just like, go do your weird stuff. Like, do it. Have fun. Be Danhausen. That's what we need.

I want to be a part of Danhausen's world. You know, don't you see that, Matt and Sonal? Like I want to maybe do some sort of, I want to tape a video. I seriously want to do something where you're in the ring and then I appear. and I'm either for you or against you. Do you know what I mean? Or you're my long-lost son. We've got to somehow get into,

I want to get into the lore of Danhausen. Do you know what I mean? I want to be part of it. What would you do with me? Oh, with you, I would call us both legendary ladies for one. Guess what? There's a lot of those now.

There's literally like 600 in America. So he might want to come up with something cooler. This character is all about him. He's all about making sacks of money, I call them. I carry around a money sack. I pulled it out after I won my contract on TV. And I revealed it from my cape. I pulled a $20 bill and I said, look at these millions and they threw it.

Would we actually fight? And first of all, you know, I know how to handle myself. Wait a minute. Oh, come on, Sona. I'm fairly athletic. I can take a punch. And I love to fake fight. And so if I entered the ring,

would we start out being friends, but then I would think that you had gotten too cocky and I would attack Danhausen? What would happen? Maybe. I think I do this thing where I try to punch people in the groin right before the bell rings so I can just pin them without doing any word.

So I don't think I would do that because people know that I love Conan. Right. Like as a character, it's very public that I love Conan. And that's one of Danhausen's idols. So I don't think they would think that. They'd probably be taken back if you did it. Okay, how about this?

Let me pitch you this because I'm really into this. All right, so Dan Housen, you're fighting your foe. He starts to get the better of you. He starts to win. He grabs the bag of teeth and starts to pour them into your mouth. He steals your sock of money. He punches you in the groin. It's all going badly when all of a sudden the music changes,

fog machines go on, and I come down on wires. and it's me and I'm there to save Danhausen. I think the crowd would go nuts. I hope so. What if the crowd's just like, all right, okay, there's Conan, I guess. Let's see what he's got. All right, let's go. If we go early, we can beat the traffic.

In my mind before I go on, that's what I think. That's the reaction I always think I'm going to get. If I leave now, I can beat the traffic. I want in on the Danhausen world. I really do, Donovan. Yeah, well, I would love that if that's a possibility. That's like the ultimate guest for Good Nighthousen with Dan Housen. You know what?

I've always said, if there's a way that I can be involved with Good Night Housen with Dan Housen, I want in Housen and right now, Housen. Not tomorrow, Housen, but today, Housen. I'm not fucking around, Housen. I'm serious, Housen. So let's make this happen, Housen. Let's sign a contract, Housen. I want to get paid, Housen.

Yes, we'll pay you in a one. Sacks of human money. There's only one kind of money. There's only human money. No animal uses money. He has no idea. Uh-huh. He just knows it gets you power.

Yeah. Wow. That's very exciting. Well, you know what? I think you're going to do well. I love that you're going to Canada because I don't say this just to suck up to Canada, but I love Canadians. And I think they're like the funniest, one of the funniest countries in the world.

They're really funny people. So I think, and they really love nuanced, like, weird, kooky comedy. And they've always been so nice to me. So I love that you're going to Montreal. I think that's great. Thank you. Yeah, it's been exciting and a lot of work. Donovan, you have my blessing.

And I will figure out a way to enter the world of Danhausen. I will. Please do. I would lose my mind and so would my fans. I'd be crazy. All right. Well, Sona, you make sure. Oh, I will follow up on this.

Yes, we'll follow up on this. I will follow up on this. I will follow up on this. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Thank you for doing this. Yeah, yeah, no problem. Hey, really nice to meet you, Donovan. Nice meeting you too. Nice meeting all of you. All right. Bye-bye. Thanks, Donovan. Conan O'Brien needs a fan with Conan O'Brien, Sonam of Sessian and Matt Goreley. Produced by me, Matt Goreley. Executive produced by Adam Sacks, Jeff Ross, and Nick Leow.

Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino. Take it away, Jimmy. Supervising producer Aaron Blair, Associate Talent Producer Jennifer Samples. associate producers Sean Doherty and Lisa Berm. Engineering by Eduardo Perez. Get three free months of SiriusXM when you sign up at SiriusXM.com slash Conan. Please rate, review, and subscribe to Conan O'Brien needs a fan wherever fine podcasts are down there.