Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend - Wanda Sykes Returns

Episode Date: March 9, 2026

Actor and comedian Wanda Sykes feels indifferent about being Conan O’Brien’s friend.   Wanda sits down with Conan once more to discuss honing her comedy chops while working at the NSA, being tricked into auditioning for Curb Your Enthusiasm, and her first foray into drama with her new movie Undercard. Later, Conan questions assistant David Hopping’s musical taste after being exposed to his personal playlist.   For Conan videos, tour dates and more visit TeamCoco.com. Got a question for Conan? Call our voicemail: [phone]. 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.

Hi, my name is Wanda Sykes, and I feel indifferent about being Conan O'Brien's friend. Fall is here, hear the yell, back to school, ring the bell, brandy shoes, walking loose, climb the fence, books and pens. I can tell that we are going to be friends. Yes, I can tell that we are going to be friends. Hello and welcome to Conan O'Brien needs a friend, joined by my good friends, and I put that in quotation marks. Oh, come on. I'm sorry, your employees. Sonam obsessing.

Good to see you, Sona. Good to see you, too. And you would be David Hopping, I believe. Yeah, that's correct. Thanks for being here, David. Sitting in for Matt Gorley on paternity leave. And Sona, I'm told that you had kind of an exciting moment recently. You went to...

Exciting moment. You went to Disneyland, yes? Can I say I have been to Disneyland so many times. I've never seen anyone dressed up like Geppetto walking around. Right. And you do this bit about my dad. Your dad has a big mustache, and he looks kind of... It's a normal mustache.

He's a white-haired gentleman with a white mustache. He always has reminded me a little bit of Geppetto, and I used to do a long riff about how he carved your body. brother. Yes. And, well, you know, we had some good times, meaning I was laughing and you were staring at me. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I had a good time and that's called. Well, you also got into like, oh, Danny, my real boy. You're going to be my real boy. You're shortening it now. Danny wanted to be a real boy. Yeah, Danny wanted to be a real boy. Yeah. He carved a puppet and Danny wanted to be a real boy and he was swallowed by a whale. Anyway, that's neither here nor there. Yeah. But you

had this moment, you sent me this picture that blew my mind. Yeah. You went to Disneyland. And tell the tale. Tell the tale. Well, Geppetto is just walking around. I don't know. And you've never seen a Geppetto before. I've never seen a Geppetto walking around. Because it's not a character.

There's Goofy. Oh, there's Goofy. Oh, there's Mickey. Oh, there are some of the princesses from some of the newer movies. Yes. iconic figures. Jepetto. I know.

Jepetto is a tradesman. Chepetto is a woodworker. I know. He's got a, you know. And so I've never. I never seen a Geppetto. Do you see Geppetto much? I actually haven't.

David, you go. I live there. David practically lives at Disneyland. You never see Geppetto. You're walking and you run smack into Geppetto. Yes. And you know, what do you have to do? So I, like, immediately, shockingly, there was no line to go meet Geppetto.

Oh, wow. No one, no one wanted to hang out with the old Italian man who is a day laborer. I know. I'm like, Anna and Elsa are walking around. Moana's walking around. And then they have Geppetto and no one cares about. No, of course. No one. He actually, when he walks into the park, they put him out when they want to get people out. Yes. When it's time to close the park. They say release Chippetto. And he says, I make it the puppet. I'm making the puppet. And people just go streaming out of the park. Yeah, they do. And then, wow, we closed right at six.

Closed early. Yeah. So I ran right up to him. And he's never had anyone do that. Was he curious as to why you were happy to see him? No, I think I was like, Jepetto! And nobody else was saying that. And then I went up to him and I asked if I could take a picture. And I put my arm in, like I interlocked my arm around this.

I'm so happy. And this is the worst thing that I did. And I sent it to you and a few other people. And you said, this is me hanging with my dad at Disneyland. I was so delighted because it proved to me that my riff is actually a pretty good one. This is what your dad looks like to me. I'm telling you it does.

It does. This is what your dad looks like to me. He looks a lot like that guy. He just doesn't have the glasses on the tip of his nose. Yeah, yeah. But, I mean, that's what your dad looks like to me. Well, and then also, I mean, we cut.

Because my eyes turn everyone into a cartoon character. Uh-huh. That's what your dad looks like to me. So we cut him out of this picture. but Mikey ran in with me, even though Mikey had absolutely no idea who this was. And probably frightened. Big fuzzy man. Yeah, well, he just saw this big.

Frightened. Well, he's, in Geppetto, look, look at that guy. That's not something a kid goes, yay, yay. Yeah. He just thought it was his grandpa. Yeah. Oh, my God. I know.

You know, he's a guy who's probably being driven out of business. Oh, no. Yeah, because they're making puppets in China now that are much cheaper. Yeah. So Geppetto is a beleaguered figure now. And the tariffs are making his material really expensive. Tariffs are totally fucking over to Petto. And Chepado's like, what did I do?

This isn't good. And then he goes to the store and there's tons of cheap puppets flooding the market that are from other countries, you know? Anyway, I hate... You hate what? Don't hate your father. No, I love my dad. I love my dad. Why did you say you hate your father?

I said I hate it when I play into... to your bits. And, you know, as soon as I sent that text, I was like, why am I calling my dad Jepetto? You kind of threw your dad under the bus. I did. And I'm sorry to Gil. Well, I win. Okay.

Because here's how I win. I got to see you link arms with Jepetto and call him your dad. And you feel badly about it. And so, and your son is scared. I win on every level. Every single level. Well, congratulations. Yep.

Oh, my God. And if anyone wants to see that picture, you can go to Team Coco podcast on Instagram and it'll be there for everyone to see. Yeah. Yeah, it is. That should be your Christmas card next year. It really should. No boys. It's just me and Jepetto from Disneyland.

All right. Well, very excited today. My guest today is an Emmy award-winning comedian, actor and writer who stars in the new movie Undercard. She's an absolute legend. Wanda Sykes. Welcome. But even the universe. didn't want me to make it here today because my car broke down as I was leaving. It wouldn't start.

So the universe was saying, don't do this. Why are you going? Why? Come on, man. Why even? Like the radio came on and music was jamming. It was like, isn't it's cool? Just sitting in your driveway, listen to some shard day. Why are we leaving? So your car has... Then the sun broke through the clouds. It was like, man, you're right. Wow, your car has a self-esteem function. Yeah. Do not lower yourself. She would rather sit in the car than be here. Yeah.

Okay. Well, I want to say you killed me a couple of weeks ago. I don't know when this comes out, but you were on the Golden Globes, and you destroyed me. You were so funny on the Golden Globes. Thank you. And you're just there, and you're accepting an award for, I believe it was Ricky Jervais. Right. I was presenting for Best Comedy Special.

Yes. And you said afterwards, Ricky won, and you had to accept on his behalf. And you said, I accept on behalf of God and the trans community. Thank God. I thank God. Thank God. And did you ever hear from Ricky? I have not.

I have not heard from Ricky. Yeah, yeah. That was just fantastic. But you always are, you're just. But I would hope Ricky would got it. He got a laugh out of knowing him. You know, I don't know him, but knowing his work. No, he got a good laugh about that.

Yeah. Or not. We'll never know. But it's a real gift to just be able to always be yourself. When you get up, you're always Juan da Sykes 100%. I mean, any time I've seen you in your career, your comedic voice is so sharp and so you. And no one else can do that. And I'm thinking when you were first getting up doing stand-up comedy, did you have access to that?

it took me a while to figure out how to be this Conan guy up there. Right. And I'm wondering what early you would have been like. Because I know you were getting up there in probably 86, 87 around then. Right, 87. Yeah. I think we all start out like doing Seinfeld. You know what I'm saying?

It's like observational comedy. And we, that's what I'm not. I was doing. It was all about just writing jokes that I thought, hey, isn't it funny when, you know, this happens or whatever, but it was never about me or, like, into my, you know, persona. It was just what's on paper, the jokes, that's it, you know. Yeah, yeah. It was later in life, I guess, when you get confidence and it also was when I was going through a divorce, that's when it was like, fuck it. You know, then it was more me that came out.

And I was like, oh, this is who I'm going to be. This is who I am. And also, it's easier to just always be yourself. You know, in a way you could say that I'm kind of lazy. Really? Really, right? That's the moral here. Really, I'm lazy.

Tony, let's think of. But that's where really great stuff comes from. Yeah, why give you something else? Yeah. You know, I'm just doing me. I'm just going to do me. But it is funny how I know me early on. I was always echoing what I had grown up watching and what I loved.

And so there'd be times where I'm not me yet. I'm all the things that I really loved. And then it takes a while. All that stuff just gets shed and eventually it gets melted down. And eventually you start to come out. But it's a process. And that's where it just really helps to, get time.

Did you have your like comedy outfit, like your comedy uniform? Like this is where, I have to have this because this is, I'm funny wearing this. Like I will wear hats. I put a hat on and I thought, this is funny. This is good.

Because if I bomb, I can blame it on the hat. Sure. This hat's not funny. So if you were about to go on and you, I think it's, yeah. If you were about to go on and you couldn't find it.

the funny hat, you'd be like, I can't go out there. I can't go on. Keith Robinson cursed me out. Like, I mean, he just ripped me apart because when I moved away from hats, then I needed a sweater. I needed like a, you know, not a Cosby sweater, but like a, but, you know, where people go, ooh, that's a nice sweater. So, Keith and I were, we were in Philadelphia.

I was going to go to the funny bone. And I didn't have my sweater. we went to the movies and then I thought we would go back and get my sweater and they go to the club. He's like, no, we're going to direct the club. I said, I can't go to the club. I don't have my sweater. And he's like, what do you mean?

I said, I need my sweater. He's like, you look fine. I said, no, no, no. I got to get my comedy sweater. And when I said that he just ripped me apart and he was like, I'm not going back. And he took me to the club and I had to go on without the sweater, without the hat.

And I did okay. Yeah. So that's when I was like, okay, I don't need these things. Yeah. Did you have that? Did you have that? You know what?

I think my version of that was my hair. Oh. I think that the reason I was always, when I found out in my teams that my hair was kind of springy and could, I could have this big shelf hanging out over the front. And I started combing it up like that and kind of rockability and just and then, but also part game show host. And I think a lot of that was, don't look at me, look at this. Do you know what I mean?

It was my hat came with me, my comedy hat. And, you know, you look at some of the early late night shows. And there are ones where this thing is coming out like three feet. And it's going way up in the air. And you're thinking, people at home must have just been saying, what is wrong with him? He looks like a fool. Your hair's in everybody's shot.

Yeah, exactly. Every time I turned around the guest, Mr. T would get hit in the face. It's just so funny how everybody that's this self-hating thing, which is very natural, but we don't think we're good enough, especially when you're that, when you're starting out, and you think I have to, I need all this extra stuff to be able to go up there. And then later on, now I've been going to these different clubs to try out Oscar material. And I'll just, I don't even know what I'm wearing. I'm just wearing a T-shirt sometimes. I'm not fixing my hair. I'm not doing anything because it took me decades to say, okay, I'll just be me.

But I mean, it took a long, long time. Yeah. Well, here's the other thing, because I do the same thing. If I'm working out material, like I'm working on my next special and, you know, at the the Braille improv, I'm going to go just like this. Yeah. Because I don't want the audience to have expectations. Like if I put on something nice, then they're going to be like, oh, we're getting the real show.

Yeah. But if I just come like this, nah, I got a not a notepad. I just walked off the street. That's why I'm doing the Oscars. Yeah, I'm just, yeah. I'm going to host the Oscars in a slank it. In the breaks, I just lie down. You know, I never knew this.

I mean, I was thinking about you. yesterday and today and today and doing my recent. That's why your car wouldn't start. That makes me very uncomfortable right now. Thinking about you and where do you live? Where do you live? When they said, hey, Wanda's here out in the parking lot. Then you started thinking about me.

I don't like that. No, no, no. I'm good about this stuff. Okay. But your dad's a, was an army colonel. Yes. And so you grow up in mom a banker. So you grew up in strict family.

Not necessarily. That's what, I mean, that would be the cliche, I guess, is that they'd be strict people. I mean, I grew up in a strict family. My dad was like an academic and scientist and my mom's a lawyer and strict in the sense that one of us going into comedy wasn't maybe their first choice. Right. But beautiful, lovely people, but real good Catholics, church people. So I'm just curious if you had that experience. They were, you know, black people in the South.

So there was always some type of structure. And they were strict. But we had fun. You know, they were, my dad would, was serious about his job. But when he got home, he'd take his uniform off. And, you know, he was dad. And also my dad hustle, man. He had side jobs and everything.

you know, that's how I fell in love with bowling, I guess, because he would, on weekends, clean the lanes. Yeah. So, yeah, so it was strict from that, you know, looking on the outside, but yeah, inside it, you know, yeah. They were just, like you said, a lot of values, church, all of that. So, no, someone saying, hey, I'm going to go do comedy. Yeah. Their question was, so what was that college I paid for? What was that about?

Why did we do that? Yeah. Yeah. That's natural. And now my mother, I talked to her yesterday. It was so funny. And she said, you know, I don't understand. Like, when you went in college, why did you just take, like, performing arts?

Why didn't you go in? I'm like, oh, so now, you know, you putting it back on me. Like, I wasted, you know, it's still going back to college. Like, I wasted college. What did you study? Marketing. Marketing. I was like, I didn't know what I wanted to do.

But I was like, no science. Yep, marketing. That's me. That's it. And then you worked for the NSA for a bit. That's really funny. And okay, here's my question. Because a lot of us, before we get out in front of people and start trying to be funny,

we have these jobs where you're kind of funny at work. Were you funny at the NSA? I was funny at the NSA. But I was funny at the NSA. I killed. Think of the huge security breaches. Think of the terrorists that weren't caught because you were busy joking around. Uh-huh.

Yeah. Yeah. So you're funny at work. And did you have people around you saying, hey, you got to get up there? You got to go. I did. Yeah. I did.

But, you know, I was serious about the job. But it was, you know, we have a good time. But I also knew it got to a point where I was like, I can't do this. This is not going to be my life, you know. Because you will see, you know, the people who was on their way out to that retirement thing. And one dude, he would just look at the stocks. That's all, you know, all day.

And I was like, saving America, aren't we staying? You know, it's like, here we go. Saving America. That's right. So what was your big break? You're doing comedy. And then you did a, was it a contest you entered? Or was it a, the Coors Light.

Hors Light Super Talent Showcase. Yeah. Showcase. They're a radio station in D.C., sponsoring it. And I was like, you know, I should, let me all write some jokes and go audition for this thing. So you're still at the NSA at this point. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And so you go up, you do this. You enter. And how did it feel? Did it feel right away? It did. Yeah. It felt right.

Like, you know, oh, wow. Okay. These people, you know, you get that first laugh. And it's like, oh, okay. This is, this works. Yeah, I didn't win, but I was really happy with the way it went. And it felt like I belong here. And Andy Evans, he was the emce.

And he was like, where did you come from? I haven't seen you in the comedy clubs or. anything. I was like, yeah, I don't have a mental comedy club. And he was like, okay, you know, he just became my mentor. He would show me around comedy clubs and would work with me on material and stuff. So, yeah, and just everything just felt right. And then I know that you... Then I bombed silly the next time. Right, right, which is classic. Like, bomb. Like, people turn their chairs around, you know, it was... And they were bolted to the floor. Yeah, exactly.

It's just like, I gotta get up. You can just get up and turn around. No, no, no, no, no. Fam, you could just leave. No, I got to make a real statement. When do you, you start opening for Chris Rock? Is that right? You do it for a while and then you,

was that a bit of a little? of a level up for you? Yes. Yeah. By that time, I left the NSA and was living in Jersey, I guess, to be closer to New York. And I opened for Chris Rock when he was, he was about to do, bring the paint. Yeah. Yeah. And that, yeah, that was a big come up for me, I guess, because he remembered me when he got his talk show. Yeah. And Chris Rock show. Yeah. And asked me to submit writing samples. Yeah. So you were a writer on the Chris Rock show, which was great.

And then you guys win the Emmy, which is still very bitter for me. I'm sure. We were nominated. And then Chris gets up and says, well, I think Conan should have got this. And I wanted to stand up and say, then why can't I have it? Oh, my God. But when Chris said that, we all went, shut up, Chris. Shut up, Chris.

But if, yeah, you don't. You can't be bitter when the Chris Rock show wins. You just can't be. It was so great. And so I, that must have. Not if you want to win that AA-C-P image award, you can't. That would slip right through your fingers, too, didn't it? I was so close, but I stood up in the audience and I said, why?

Why? And then I think I said on camera, when will the white man get a break? Oh, no. Which was a mistake. Remember that? And then you were like Conan. And I'm like, you're right. Oh, you should be on that.

That was a bad idea. It's been thousands of years. When is it our turn? Oh, wow. But anyway, you, people are now looking. Did I really say that? No. What did you learn working in a writer's room?

Well, yeah, I can make it look like you did. Do it, do it. Do it. When did you, because I always think, I don't know if you had the same experience, but once I got into a writer's room, I felt like I had been fish that had been flopping around in the desert

for the first, you know, 20-something years in my life and then someone put me into a pond. That's what it felt like to me. Did you feel that way about being in a writer's room? You know what? I was the only female writer, and the guys that I was with, they were so supportive.

So, yeah, so I kind of just, felt like I was at home. You know, they, actually, you know, was a really big help because I would, I would write things and they were just like these long monologues. And Louis C.K., he was on the show. And he looked at my stuff.

He was, Juan, you have a lot of jokes. And he knew me as, you know, from stand-up. Right. He said, instead of writing these long rants, he said, look at the newspaper and just write a joke on an article. That's all. He said, this is what this is.

He says, and then, you know, if you got a sketch bit, do that. Okay, great. And then every week I was just getting jokes in. You show up and you think, oh, it's, I'm writing for Chris Rock. So I need to write this big long monologue. You don't think that it's just a throwaway jokes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. I need to write like this thing that goes on for a couple of pages.

Right, right, right. So then once I got it, I'm like, okay, you know, I can follow directions. I got it. Yeah. What's a real discipline to? too, because on Saturday Night Live, they used to say, we do all our weird sketches in the week. And then on Saturday, they would say,

come in on the morning and write weekend update jokes. And just to supplement, you know, whatever, Herb Sergeant and whoever was at the update desk was doing at the time, it was Dennis Miller, I think. And you'd sit there and you'd just be going through the news, and I started to learn, right, this is something I hadn't really done before. but I see the game, there's a game to this

and you just got to try and figure it out. But it was a great discipline. And so you do that, and then what happens, after you're done with the Chris Rock show, what was the next step? Steve Martin had a show, the Downer Channel.

And I had a meeting with him, and I'm like, is Steve Martin, I'm going to do it. And when he pitched me the idea of the show, I was like, Oh, God, this is awful. This is going to be awful. And I don't even know if I'm right for this.

I'm like, but it's Steve Martin? So I was like, yes. And we did the Downer Channel. And then from there, I forgot what happened after that. You lost a whole 15 years. It says here you were in a coma for a while. I think I worked on my hour. That's what it is.

Yeah. I went back to stand up and I was working on my hour and that's when I think tongue untied probably came out. Yeah. That process of getting an hour I don't think people realize

because now the way entertainment works and streaming, the minute someone has an hour, sometimes even before they really have an hour. Before they have an hour. Before they have an hour. When they have 20 minutes,

they need to come out with their hour special. And the minute it comes out, people can say, that was great, where's the next one? Right. And it used to be, if you think about the history of this whole thing, people would develop vaudeville.

They'd develop their hour and do it for 40 years. 40 years, yes. And now it's, that was great. Yeah. And so it's like a band that has their first album and it's everything they've been playing all those years. And people like, that's fantastic. We need the next album in six months.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And they're like, huh? I can't. So that's a huge. achievement to get that first hour. Yeah. And I'm, you know, I take at least three years. I think three years is the shortest time that I've turned around and did another hour.

I usually take at least four or five years. You know, it tore with it. You got to, you know when it's special. I mean, sometimes there's hours and then it's special. And I remember when I shot my first hour, the advice Chris Rock. gave me. He said, make sure it's special. Don't go up there and do a set, do a special. Like, okay, all right.

Well, and then, you know, thinking about it, okay, now I get what he was saying. Because, you know, you can watch some stuff. He'd go, okay, that was an hour. Yeah. It was an hour. You legally met the requirement. Yes, exactly. Great job.

It clocked in. Here is your certificate. Yeah. Clocked in. You have had this really great career where I stand up's your first love and your Until now. Until terrific. But what are you talking about?

What are you talking about? Oh, this. Oh. Oh. Look, present dip accepted. This is a low point. This is a low point. I bounce back from this.

When people do the podcast, I can see them often texting their agent while I'm talking to them. And it's usually what happened. Yeah. Or we need to talk. It's time for a comeback special. For a comeback special. Everyone does their comeback special after the Conan podcast. So about that dancing with the stars.

Curb your enthusiasm. Obviously, you have such a strong, undeniably unique comedic voice. And I can tell, like, you will. with Larry is just, if someone, long before you did it, if someone had just said Wanda and Larry, I'd have been like, oh, yeah, that has to happen. Is that how you felt when that came about? You know, a big fan of the show.

Yeah. And I knew that one of the producers on the show, and she said, we got to get you on there. I'm like, okay, I would love to. I said, but look, I can't audition. I said, I'm horrible in the audition process. And I said, and I don't, it'll just kill me if I, like, just not funny in front of Larry David. I can't.

So please don't put me through that. I said, I'm just going to be a fan of the show. She's like, okay, all right. And then she said, hey, we're shooting around the corner, you know, from you. So why don't you come over to this car dealership because we're shooting here. And Larry just wants to say hi. I said, oh, I get to meet him. She's a, yeah, yeah.

I'm like, okay. So I walk in and there's a Larry. and Larry goes, hey, Wanda, I know that tush anywhere. I was like, what the fuck did you just say? And I said, why would you say that? And we would, and we just got into it. He goes, you got the job. I'm like, what?

Like, she tricked me into auditioning. Hey, by the way, we were rolling. What is so funny, that's hilarious. But also, when you hang with Larry, you're in the show. He is that guy. And you can be with him just hang out at a party and he'll come in with a plate of food and you're talking to people and be like, don't you kind of hate it when people interrupt you when with a plate of food when you're,

and you're like, you're doing a bit. You're doing a bit and say, no, no, no, I'm just saying. You're like, there's no camera here. But it's delightful because you get to be, if you're in his life, you're on that show in some way. Okay. Yeah. That's how it feels like. But yeah, you were just perfect.

Yeah. I enjoyed it, but I don't like being around him, though. Honestly Nobody does Right? Nobody does He likes making you feel uncomfortable Like at lunch

I'm walking in And I see him coming And I'm like oh shit You know I don't want to sit with him I don't want to eat with Larry He always just to eat alone I don't want to eat with him

I go sit on with the grips I'm like I'm not No I'm not No, we should make it clear. No one wants to hang out with him. Okay. He's always alone.

Okay. He's always alone. All right. Because I think he loves to be, he loves to be annoying. He just loves to, I mean, he loves that, hitting that frequency. And he's so good at it. He's the best. The best at it.

I want to talk about your personal life for a second, because I find it interesting. I know you talked somewhere about how you thought coming out was important. It helped you get. up in front of people and you felt like be more honest or before you had been holding back a little bit. Is that the case? Yeah. Yeah. Before, you know, it's, I knew I, that I had this, you know, secret or whatever. And so I had to have somewhat of a, you know, protection. And, and it's just sitting there in the back of your brain, you know. So it's like, I don't want to push too much because somebody might yell out, you know,

you're a lesbian or hey, you're gay. So it's like, okay, I don't, let me just, at arms distance, let me, you know, protect myself. But once I came out, it was like windows down, you know, move back, you know, let's let's go. So I just felt, you know, I just liberated that there was nothing that I had to hide, you know. Yeah, it's like you were carrying something,

you put it down. Yeah, yeah. Or it's like a version of the fun. money hat or the sweater. It's just like, no, no, no, this is me. And, um, yeah, there's nothing you can say now to, you know, that that would, you know, hurt me or whatever. Yeah. People shout that at me a lot. A lot. You're a lesbian. You're a lesbian. It's usually just Sona. It's usually Sona. Sona follows me in the clubs. Well, maybe you shouldn't have gotten a tattoo. And, um, I know I've met your wife. She's

French. Yes, she is. And is there a culture clash there because with the French, you know, just like your wife, she's from this very different, what situation, how does it manifest itself in your relationship? I mean, everything. I mean, even from like just, I mean, food alone, it's, you know, there's no snacking. So, yeah, snacks. They don't do that. I got to like sneak and get my snacks. You know, you know, there's no snacking. So, so. Yeah. Snacks. They don't do that. I got to like sneak get my snacks. You know, like, I would like go on the car eat a couple of tapes.

And I'm coming to house. She was like, is that, uh? I smell, uh, is that chips? Is she smoking? I'm sorry, I saw you do. She doesn't smoke is just how I see her. I see her. She has an invisible space cigarette.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That is fantastic. But she, yeah, it's, it's, it's, three meals, but they're great meals, you know, because it comes with wine and champagne, you know, and there's like a little pre-meal, you know, pre-snack before the meal. Maybe if you had wine with your potato chips, she would be, she would be okay with it. We've done that with champagne. She's like, time for your apparel, you know.

And there's a little, like some pistachios, maybe a little saucy zone and some champagne. I said, oh, I can get down with this. This is. Now we're talking, you know, and then you have your lunch. And then you get to do that again for dinner. You get to have a little pre-game for the dinner. They know a thing or two in France about how to live. Yeah.

It's. That we haven't figured out. Right. We were in Mexico and she wanted to buy these bowls. And she was, you know, just, you know, going back and forth with the guy. She also speaks Spanish. So she was going back and forth with a guy, you know, the boat guy was like 700. And she was like, no, four.

And the guy was like, all right, you know, four. So, and I heard, he asked her where she was from. She said, oh, Belgium, right? So, like, why she said she's from Belgium? So we get outside. And I'm like, why did you tell that man, you're from Belgium? She's like, well, I didn't want the French to look bad. I didn't want anything badly of the French.

I'm like, that's the kind of shit French people do, you know? That's exactly what French people would do. You know, I'm not going to take responsibility for that. No. Now, you've got teenagers, twin teenagers. Do they think you're funny? Will they give it up? My kids, my kids are very wary of giving it up for me.

Yeah. And I get it. They're like, they're very happy to put me down. And rightfully so. They do it. They love doing it. Olivia was like two, about two years ago. Yeah, Mother's Day.

She gave me a pet rock. I haven't heard of those. I think those were big in like 1976, the pet rock. Yeah. And you could decorate it. You could put like the googly eyes on it and little crazy hair on it. And she was like, isn't that great? I was like, you know, my mother would have thrown this at me.

It had given her a rock. I said, you are a very blessed little girl right now. But she thought it was funny. But, you know, to do that. So it's that type of thing where they know what I do and they know that people know me. So to them, they feel like it's their job just that, just to bring you down a little bit, just to chop you down a little bit.

So, you know, I get it. They did come to a show this summer. I did a little European tour and they came to the show in Paris. And they were the first two backstage and they were like, oh, mom, that was so cool. That was great. Oh, good. Wow. You know, so they enjoyed the show.

Yeah. But mom at home, no, I'm not funny. Yeah. Yeah. They don't give it up at all. Yeah. It's better that way. I think so, too.

Wouldn't it be creepy if they're like, you're just so funny? Yeah. What? Yeah. No, I would be. Yeah. It was so funny. Lucas went through a little phase when he was like maybe 10.

Because, you know, we're down in the streets and some people, you know, like, hey, Wanda, you know, Wanda Sykes. What's up? And they would go, why are they, why are people young? I said, I don't know. They just, you know, maybe somebody went to school with or whatever. I would try to downplay it. Lucas went through this phase for like three months.

Whenever I walked in the house, he would go, wind the size. Get it up. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Make some noise. You just said, that's how people do it. So he said, why on the size? That would be creepy. Yeah.

That would, yeah. Yeah. Let's talk about the movie because this is, I was saying your stand-up is your, feels like that's your lifeblood, but you're a good actor. You are a very good actor. And this opportunity to do this film, how did it come about? Undercard. Tamika Miller, the director and co-writer of the script, she reached out to me.

And she's like, look, I have this project. it's for you. I wrote it with you and mine. I would love to send you the materials. I'm like, okay, all right. And I read the script and looked at the materials. I was like, oh, and I said, this is good. And so I called her.

I said, so Queen Latifah said, no, right? And she's like, no, I'm telling you. I had you in mind for this. So I was like, you know, I don't know if I can pull it off. I said, I've never done a drama. And she's like, believe me, I think, just trust me, you can do this. And, you know, we met and kind of like went through the script. Yeah.

And I was like, okay. And, you know, she just had so much faith that I could do it. And I'm like, well, I'm going to prove her wrong, you know. Really? You have faith in me, huh? Well, watch this. I show you. Yeah, but you do a very good job.

And your character, whose name is No Mercy, that's her nickname, you have this world weariness that seems real. Like you're dealing with a lot. Your character is dealing with a lot. And you're getting evicted and you're going through some intense stuff. And you're going through intense stuff with your son. And you aren't putting any comedy air quotes around it at all. Do you know what I mean? which I think is that's another scary thing to do.

Right. But you did it really well. Thank you. And I don't know. What is it like for you to sit and watch yourself in this situation where you are so not going for laughs? Did that feel scary at all to you? Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.

I know, like after a take, she would say, okay. And I said, you sure? She's like, yeah, I got it. And I'm like, yeah, but what, you know, that? Is there something else that you need? She's like, Wanda, I got it. Let's come on. Let's move on.

But for me to go back and watch, I couldn't go watch the takes, you know. And I'm glad she didn't say, you want to see it, you know. So I didn't see it until it was, until it was, you know, completed. And then my notes, a lot of my notes were more about, we were just, you know, the story, moving the story along. Yeah. Yeah.

It's so interesting because you go along in a situation where you know, when something's working because you hear this very specific sound, but then you're in a situation where that is not the goal anymore. I mean, in the limited experience I've had doing any kind of acting, it's been, well, where's the laugh? You're like, there isn't one, you moron. Yeah, yeah. You're moron.

There's no, and you really needs to shed all of that, put it away, because that is not the point of what we're doing anymore. Right. And it says nothing to do with that world. that world. And so that's always a new level of terror because, you know, especially when you're trying these things and, you know, you're not, you're not 25. You're like, okay, I've done some stand-up and now I'm going to try this. It's just a whole, you've been relying on a certain rhythm for a really long time and now it's this. It's, I don't know, I found it terrifying. Anytime I've had to

be in that kind of situation, you know? Yeah, yeah, it is. But I knew. I couldn't do it. You know, as I, as I, Wanda, you cannot, I do the wink at the camera. You can't. You can't. You can't, you know, you just, yeah, you have to lock it. It's the only way this thing is going to work. And the crew, everyone who worked on that film, they were, you can see them, like, rooting for me.

Oh, that's nice. The cast, everyone, you know, after that first, they didn't. It was like, oh, this bitch can act. Okay, come on, y'all. Let's move faster. Hey, hey, hey, come on. Come on, she ain't bullshit. Come on.

Everybody, come on, come on. I mean, everyone. I mean, everyone just like, oh, shit, all right. We might have something here. Let's go. So are you interested in doing more? That's always the question you'll be getting a lot. Is the acting, you know, just film acting, you know, doing this kind of.

It's going to be project by project based on that. I'm not looking for another dramatic role. You know, I like making people laugh. Yeah. Yeah, comedy is my, that's my love. So I, you know, that's what I'm looking for next. Wanda, congrats. You're getting great reviews.

Undercard is in theaters now. And I want you to come back soon because I love talking to you. You're hilarious and you're also, I know you to be a really great person. So it's always a delight to hang with you. Thank you, Colin. And I hope now you're no longer indifferent. Well, you know, I love you, but we'll see. All right.

Now, David, you very kindly last night drove me out to Covina. Yeah. I am trying out some material, and I went to the chatterbox, which is a terrific comedy club that Lori Kilmartin told me about out in Covina. And so you said, hey, I'll give you a lift, very kindly. and you and I were driving and I tried to play my tunes through your car.

Yeah, you said you wanted to be the DJ. I wanted to be the DJ. And you said, well, just use my phone because it's already hooked up. Yeah. So I got a brief glimpse. It was the biggest regret of my life.

I got a brief glimpse, you know, because I see all of my, you know, I have my DJ list. Yeah. And it's all rockabilly songs and then the clash.

And then, you know, it's just this, It's all this different stuff, stuff from the 90s, but it's pretty fast rock. And, you know, sort of jet-fueled rock and roll, percussive. And then you said, just use my phone. And you hand me your phone. Why, I did this, I don't know. And I could see your Spotify.

Yeah. And what did I see? The first thing I saw. First thing, I handed the phone and I just hear, oh, my God. Oh, no. What was the very first thing? It was a Hillary Duff play. And then I recently went to the Pantages to see The Notebook, The Musical.

So I was listening to it. The very first thing I saw was The Notebook and then like seven songs from the Notebook. Yeah. And then... It's a great soundtrack. It is. It is a great soundtrack. I'm not aware.

Oh, okay. Is that the, what are the songs? Like, is Notebook a song? No. Notebook. I feel you with my thoughts. You're a notebook. Nixon was a crooked.

You were a notebook. Okay, so what? It's based on the movie. It's not a musical about a notebook. It's based on the movie is an opportunity. It's a beautiful musical. It's like picture if you and Ryan Reynolds were singing and that bit you did with him for the notebook. Where I made out with Ryan Reynolds.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, listen, that was, first thing I saw, then there's a lot of Hillary Duff. Yeah. Who I think is lovely. I love Hillary Duff. Who does it? Yeah.

And then I started flipping through. You just had a... Oh, well, I'm going to see the Backstreet Boys next week. So I had them on there, too. All right. You know, it was fascinating. A quick glimpse into how we're different. A little bit.

A little bit. Just a little bit. Just a little bit. And no, it wasn't, I wasn't, I don't judge. I'm not a judge. Oh, you're not judging. Oh, who are you talking to? I'm sorry.

Let's take a poll. Who thinks Conan judges? I am not a guy who judges. No. I don't see how we're different. I only see how we're the same. Who is this guy? This is the guy I wish I was.

Is it the guy I... I don't know. No, it's not. I hate this guy. No. Yeah, I was... How long... I mean, what else would I have found

if we had gone through? Seriously, let's talk about what else I would have found if I'd kept scrolling. Oh, God. Well, you had found some audiobooks. I'm listening to one called You'll Never Know. I think you'd like it.

What's that about? It's like a murder, mystery, kidnapping. book. It's really good. Okay. You would have found some like, you know, any music that a 15-year-old girl. Yeah. Some Sabrina Carpenter.

So I get the most excited text from you the other night because you got last minute tickets to go see Hillary Duff. And you lost your mind. Which was very sweet. I like that. There I say it was the greatest night of my life. But you've seen me perform. Oh, dare I say it was the greatest night in my life.

That's quite a dare you just took. It was in the same venue I've seen you perform at the Wiltern. Oh, she did a show at the Wiltern. So you said you saw her and that it was transcendent. It was like the crowd was incredible. She was amazing. She did all the throwbacks and some new ones from the unreleased album that you guys are all excited for. We should get her in here.

I act like I could just summon her. No, this isn't one of those things where I, that's so sad. David just looked like. I've arranged to have her here? David, who do you think I am? Aren't you like the Oprah of comedy? No, I'm really not. That's so funny.

You looked for a second like, oh my God. Well, David, guess what? We have a surprise for you. Oh, my God. I can have a publicist try to get her on the podcast and she'll probably say no. No, love to have her here. But she was a big part of your growing up.

Everything, yeah. All her music. What was the show she was on? Lizzie McGuire. Lizzie McGuire. And they were supposed to bring it back and then it didn't happen. We're all devastated. Oh.

The Lizzie McGuire movie, a classic. Okay. She was also in Agent Cody Banks. Agent Cody Banks. And then you've watched. How do you know Agent Cody Banks? How did you know that? I was a big investor.

Oh, okay. All right. Put everything I had into it. Oh. Did okay. Yeah. No. I don't even know why I know that.

I just remembered her being in that movie. We were traveling somewhere and it was on. Oh, I think I watched it. It's one of those movies where I watched some of it over someone's shoulder on a plane without sound. So creepy. Conan! That's a weird thing to say. Everyone does that.

Everybody watches. You're on an airplane flight and someone usually on the other aisle, like one or two rows up is watching a movie. And you're too lazy, that being me, to like, I'm supposed to. go find which movie I'm going to watch, but I just start looking over someone's shoulder, and they're usually about a third of the way in, and I just start watching it without sound and trying to figure out what's going on.

No one else has done this here? I've done it. I've done it. I've definitely people to see what people are watching. I peaked over, but I'm not like full on watching. No, I'll kind of watch it because you kind of try and figure out what's going on and, oh, okay, I see. Cody's got to get his way out of that volcano.

Oh, look, there's Hillary Duff. She must be the love interest. I don't know. You just watch those things. I've watched many movies like that. It's also way better than what happened to you on a plane where someone was watching you and saw you on a plane. I've had that experience where someone was watching a monologue of mine

and looking over and if the joke was good, they would turn and give me a thumbs up. I can't hear it because they've got their headphones on. Oh, God. And they were watching my monologue and I had, this is a bunch of years ago. And they were watching it was when they have the, you know, it's TV. Yes. So they're watching the show that was dropping right then that I had taped a few hours before.

And this person kept, they would turn around and I can just see me making stupid gestures and looking like a fool. And then you can tell my rhythm and then I hit the punchline and the person turned to me on the first one and gave me a thumbs up. And I'm like, oh, well, that's good. And then I saw them, I was trying to rack my brain because just a few hours later. What was the second joke? Was the second joke any good? And then I kind of had a bad feeling and I can see, I know my timing and I see that I finish that joke and the person turns to me and did the eh gesture.

And I'm like, are we going to do this the whole flight? Good one, not so good one. Anyway, so I had that experience. But I really do like watching someone else's movie and trying to figure it out. My last flight, so I don't get this. I was watching heated rivalry, but I like, I'm on a, So I, like, sat with my phone like this, covering everything. Blanket over you.

Wait, so you're basically watching, is it porn? It's not porn. Stop taking away from the show. I'm not trying to... It's tender and it's sweet. Yeah. But it's also... The first two episodes especially has nudity.

There's butt. Well, we talked about it. Yeah, we talked about that. And I think everyone's talking about heated rivalry now. They don't need any help from us anymore. I think we got them safely launched. You did it all? We did in a way.

movie you can comfortably watch or a show you can comfortably watch on an airplane. Yeah. Same thing happened to me with, I'm watching the show, Industry, which I love right now. And there is, and it's kind of all going fine. It's about finance, but sometimes there's some sex scenes. And there is a, all of a sudden, a reveal where she's wearing a huge strap on. And I, I, like, jumped forward in my seat to block. But the people next to me saw what I was watching.

Yeah, yeah. Well, they probably just thought, you know, suspicions confirmed. Yeah. But, El Cripo in seats. It's way better than the time where so the Dark Night Rises had just come out. And it was that time where it was on planes, but you couldn't watch it anywhere else. It was out of the theaters but wasn't on streaming. And I just really, I spent, I'm not kidding, probably an hour and a half just watching the Bain

scenes because it's just over and over. And then I realized what I was doing and I looked over and the woman next to me was horrified, like trying not to look at me. And I realized, oh, yeah, I've just been watching Bain for an hour and a half. Why were you just watching He's cool, man? Bain's cool. Wait, what?

You would just like finish it and then just rewind to that? Yeah, because, yeah, exactly. I was molded in the dock. What? You just forwarded to the scenes with Bain? Yeah, those are the cool scenes. Bain's cool. Come on, guys.

I'm not the only guy who thinks Bain's cool in here. Not at all. All right, well, I think we're out of time. The Rapplet is on. That lingers. That is weird. Rapp line. It came out.

The cave of Zim. Okay, so, Wow, I completely derailed that. No, that's okay. I'm sorry. No. I thought we were all sharing that. I thought we were all sharing scenes.

I thought we were sharing stuff of us on planes. When I rewatched heated rivalry, I forward to the sex scenes like a normal person. But like I just didn't know people forwarded to like all Bain scenes in the in the dark night. Not everybody. Bled. All right. Listen, I'm proud of everyone here. I don't even know why I said that.

Oh, this is just a segment, right? Yeah. Okay, so there's no fun thing at the end where I go our next guess. No, you just say bye. I so don't know what happens on this thing anymore. That's okay. Listen. You know what?

You should be proud of your set list of music. Thank you. You know what I mean? It's yours. It means something to you. It means nothing to me. No. And I judge you for it negatively.

You're welcome for driving you to Covina. It's just literally a few streets away from my home. Peace out. Two bucks. Conan O'Brien needs a friend with Conan O'Brien, Sonam of Sessian and Matt Goorley. Produced by me, Matt Goreley. Executive produced by Adam Sacks, Jeff Ross, and Nick Leow. Theme song by The White Stripes.

Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino. Take it away, Jimmy. Our supervising producer is Aaron Blair, and our associate talent producer is General. for samples. Engineering and mixing by Eduardo Perez and Brendan Burns. Additional production support by Mars Melnik. Talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Batista, and Brick Con. You can rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts, and you might find your review read on a future episode. Got a question for Conan? Call the Team Coco hotline at 669-587-2847 and leave a message. It too could be

featured on a future episode. You can also get three free months of SiriusXM when you sign up at seriousxm.com slash Conan. And if you haven't already, please subscribe to Conan O'Brien needs a friend wherever fine podcasts are downloaded.