Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend - Zach Galifianakis Returns Again

Episode Date: May 4, 2026

Actor and comedian Zach Galifianakis feels Zach Galifianakis about being Conan O’Brien’s friend.   Zach sits down with Conan once more to discuss his early days as a busboy at a strip joint, wh...y it’s so important for comics to take on the powerful, and pouring his passion for gardening into his new show This Is a Gardening Show.   For Conan videos, tour dates and more visit TeamCoco.com. Got a question for Conan? Call our voicemail: (669) 587-2847. 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.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:03 Hi, my name is Zach Galafenakis, and I feel Zach Galefinackus about being Coden O'Brien's friend. I have to say, I feel up, Zach Gallowfinack. You don't seem up. Fall is here, hear the yell, back to school, ring the bell, brand new shoes, walking blues, climb the fence, books and pens, I can tell that we aren't going to be friends. I can tell never we are going to be friends. Hey there and welcome to Conan O'Brien needs a friend.
Starting point is 00:00:43 Joined by Sonam of Sassian. Hi. And, wow, let's pop it up a little bit. Hi, hi, hi. I wish you were a voice on Siri. And you're just like, hey, no, blah. Yeah. There'd be no follow-ups for Siri.
Starting point is 00:00:59 What else can I help you with? Forget it, Siri. And David Hopping, you're a cheery chap. Hello? Good to see you. You too. Sonia, you asked me to do a lot of favors. And I want to talk about this.
Starting point is 00:01:10 What? Yeah, you do. You ask me to do a lot of favors. Can you do this for me? Can you do that for me? You know, it's Armenian this week and it's Armenian that week. Can you do a thing for me? And sometimes I want you to know that it's a little much.
Starting point is 00:01:23 You take advantage. Can you do a blur from my book? Can you also write an intro, then an outro? I mean, what's going on? Do you see me and just see a doormat? Is that what you see? Oh, my God. What if I get you a doormat?
Starting point is 00:01:34 Instead of saying welcome, it's just my face because you walk all over it all the time anyway. That's so unfair. I'm so mad. I hate asking you for favors. I know. Well, you don't hate it that much. I'm sorry. How could you hate it that much?
Starting point is 00:01:53 Why are you cackling so hard about it? You're like a bird saying, I hate building a mess. How many times do I tell you Conan agreed to do something for me? Like, never. Hey, guess what? I'm an owl saying, I hate hooting. Who, who. Hoo-hoo, hoo-hoo. I sure hate it.
Starting point is 00:02:08 Hoo-hoo, hoo-hoo. 23 hours later, who-hoo. I sure hate it. Hoo-hoo. I mean, that's my impression. If you were an owl and asking a favor was hooting, you'd be hooting a lot. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it's good for you to explain it.
Starting point is 00:02:24 I hate asking you for favors. There are so many things people ask me to ask you that I specifically say. You filter stuff out? Yeah. How could there be more? What are you talking about? Do you know how much stuff? First of all, it's your fault because you made me, you put me on this podcast.
Starting point is 00:02:42 People know who I am now. I'm attached to you for the rest of your life until you die. Please, that's not for months. Oh, come on. But it comes with, I'm sorry, you did it. It's, it's your, it's you. It's your fault. Your speech champion?
Starting point is 00:02:59 Oh, come on. Listen. Come on. I, listen, I don't begrudge you anything. Yes, you do. I do. You're making fun of me right now. You're making fun of me right now.
Starting point is 00:03:09 Front of the show. Yes. It's a lot. And David, do I do a lot of favors for people? You do a lot of favors for everybody, not just Sona. Yeah. What the fuck, David?
Starting point is 00:03:18 I'm just supporting. I don't ask for that many favors. You do favors for every. You do favors. Raise your hand if Codon's ever done a favor for you. Yeah. The only, I actually never asked the favors.
Starting point is 00:03:29 When your Aquaman's figurine got stolen from your apartment, you asked me to put up posters. and I did. I never asked. Then when your Iron Man got stolen, I put up posters for that. That's right. He offered.
Starting point is 00:03:38 Then when you're several hundred of your other figurines were stolen, you asked me to call the police for you and I did. That's right. It was very nice. I was just saying I never asked for favors, but I know that you would help me out. The only favor I've ever asked you for is when you were in my short film.
Starting point is 00:03:49 And you did it. And it was great. So don't say I, you never asked me for favor. But that was, but in 25 years, I've asked you for one thing. Can I ask you a question? Yeah. To be in a movie you made.
Starting point is 00:03:57 That's a big favor. When you, I'm just saying you can't start by saying I never ask for favors except for that one time when you did me a huge favor. I'm trying to help you in your argument with Sona. Why are you attacking me? Because when I see you, I just see red. Yeah. You're like a, I'm a bull and you're a giant red blankie that's flopping around in the wind. You do a lot of favors for everybody.
Starting point is 00:04:18 And I don't know that you've ever asked any of us for a favor. You know, Baskin Robbins famously, I think, had 38 flavors. I think I do more than 38 favors a day. That's our whole job. Our whole job was doing stuff for you. That's our whole job. You get paid for that. I got you your lunch today.
Starting point is 00:04:34 I ordered you a leave. Can we talk about that? Yeah. Hey, if people know out there that I occasionally take a leave. I don't know what you like to keep secret. No, that's a secret. I think we've all read. No one must know of my leave.
Starting point is 00:04:49 You know, that's why I always, when I throw out my leave bottles, I always try to throw them out in someone else's trash can because no one can can know that I occasionally have some muscle stiff. I don't have time for this bit. I'm angry right now. I'm so mad right now. Are you really mad? Are you done with the Aleve thing right now? Because I want to address this accusation. I'll leave it for now.
Starting point is 00:05:10 Home run. Okay, wait a minute. There's too much to unpack here, as the kids say these days. I hate that saying, but my wife uses it all the time. And sometimes she says it while we're unpacking on the trip. And then I think, okay, whatever. Anyway, let's revisit this later on in the show. and get to our next guest.
Starting point is 00:05:30 Okay. My guest today is a very funny actor and comedian who starred in the Hangover movies. Now you can see him in the new AMC series, The Audacity, and he has a new gardening show called This Is a Gardening Show. How does he come up with these names?
Starting point is 00:05:43 He's truly one of the funniest people I know. Zach Galefinakis, welcome. When I walk into a room, I'm used to people, I mean, even pretty big stars, are like, whoa, it's him, you know? And then I want to be a little bit of them. I walked in today and you, your heart beats like one beat every two hours. You were just sitting there, totally unimpressed
Starting point is 00:06:09 that Conan O'Brien had walked into the room. What would you like one to do when you went up? Jump up. No. I mean, I've got, it seems insincere. Whoa, look at that guy. What up, bra. So good to see you.
Starting point is 00:06:20 Yes. Hey, brah, ha ha, ha, ha, dude. Yes. That's the real me. Well, I mean, we go way back. I've known you for many years. In a showbiz way. Early, early days.
Starting point is 00:06:32 You used to come on. on my show and you were always hilarious. And don't look at your watch. Oh, Jesus. What the fuck was that? Time is moving slow. That's so rude. We can cut this short.
Starting point is 00:06:45 I was trying to compliment him about how funny he was. And this is before America had Zach Gallifanakis fever. This is back when they had Conan fever and I lent some of my fever to Zach Galaphanacus and then America had the very contagious Zach Gallifanacus fever.
Starting point is 00:07:01 Yeah, I like to call it sizzle. I still have. I have a sizzle. You sizzled and sazzled all the way to the late 90s, 2000s. Did you guys get my sizzle reel? I sent it over. We got your sazzle reel. It's past tense.
Starting point is 00:07:13 The past tense of sizzle. You sazzled back in the day. I used to sazzle. In the early 2000s, no one sazzled like you. You're not going to like this, but I adore you. I think you're a wonderful fellow. One of my favorite comedy pieces of work is your work on, between two ferns, I think it's absolutely hysterical.
Starting point is 00:07:35 Thank you. And endures. And I resent you for that. Why are you resentful? It does seem, I know you joke about it, but I do think there's a tinge. Oh, it's all real. Yeah, I do think there is a terribly because you are very funny and you are, but, but also. Is it my height?
Starting point is 00:07:54 Is that what you, is that what you wish you were more like me about? I do. I wish I was closer to the, is my size of my head? Is that what you wish you had parking meter? head, parking meter body, whatever this is. Is that what you're upset about? People try and put time in your head so that they can keep their car there a little longer. Is that what happens?
Starting point is 00:08:12 Do you wish you had a seven-syllable last name? I do. No, you are very funny. You're one of the funniest people I know. And yet, you seem grounded. And I don't know how to do that. I mean, this guy, he is of the earth. He seems like he's got it all together.
Starting point is 00:08:31 He seems like he emotionally, wants for nothing, that doesn't seem fair. I mean, yeah, I get some chops, but I'm constantly racked with these roiling seas inside me. Does every podcast turn into like a one-man show? I know. Like, the light should shift. We don't need you to talk during this part.
Starting point is 00:08:51 In fact, you don't have to be here for this. You're just here to get it started and then I do the rest. Have you listened to the podcast? It's pretty much me yimmerin and yammering. I mean, really, it is, you're really taking the full. floor here. Yeah, I am. But I appreciate all that stuff.
Starting point is 00:09:07 I don't know if it's true or not, but I, I, I, I grounded is a good, is an interesting word. I'll be serious for a second. And then we'll go back to my one-man show. You are hilariously funny and then very, I'm, I'm hard pressed to think of anybody who's been less altered by success. You just seem like if all of it went away tomorrow, you'd be very happy and contained doing whatever you're doing.
Starting point is 00:09:31 And I love that about you. I think that second part is correct. I think I feel I am one of these people that feels very fortunate to be working. But the first part about like having success or whatever being known, that threw me for a, that really messed me up. Not in a woe was me, but I just, no one never asked me any questions until I was in a movie with a monkey. Yeah. So I just, I found that to be odd. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:10:01 That switch. Yep. And I was older. And I think I just, the BS of this business or whatever is, it's always been laughable, too. I'm from a small town. I think I have a chip on my shoulder when I moved here. And I don't know. I think that's kind of healthy.
Starting point is 00:10:17 But it affected me for a while. And I feel kind of embarrassed by it actually. But yeah. But I remember at the height of hangover mania, I was, went to some event someplace. And there were a bunch of, it might have been. like on Hollywood Boulevard or I had to go into some event and there were all these people outside the venue. There was like a Spider-Man and there was a Superman, whatever, a Batman. And there was a guy who I thought it was you for a second. And I thought, oh, there's Zach. I'll say hi. And then I realized
Starting point is 00:10:48 it's not you. It's a Zach Galaphanacus impersonator with a fake baby and a baby Bjorn. Dreams do come true, don't they? From the movie. Yeah, from the movie. And it's so, I had the idea that you thought maybe that was me in the outfit that from the movie. I hadn't, but can I tell you something? I didn't clock the outfit right away. I just saw out of the corner my, and by the way, you were known to promote that movie very hard. But, and all the sequels. But no, I just had a moment of thinking, because I know you, I know that that would have bummed you out to your core.
Starting point is 00:11:25 That would have, yeah. But what, you know, what's interesting is as a, I wanted to do this experiment once. And I had the wardrobe. This was many years after we did the hangover movies. I had the wardrobe sent to me because I was in Vegas. And I wanted it to look like how pathetic it was that the actor got into his outfit and was trying to get recognized. And I did it. But no one came up.
Starting point is 00:11:48 It was so embarrassing. No one did it. The experiment failed. But yeah, the hangover was big. That was a big change. Right. But I do think it's good for people to hear from. you that because, and we talk about this a lot on the pod, but...
Starting point is 00:12:05 Are you too busy to say podcast? I am. Yeah. You should do a doc about that. I don't have the tie to do it. I'm fascinated by this idea that there's a lot of envy surrounding this crazy, weird business and people thinking, oh, my God, that would, all your dreams would come true. And what I found is that it's a magnifying lens.
Starting point is 00:12:31 It just magnifies things. So if you're insecure, you will become more insecure. If you tend to be angry, you'll become a rageaholic. If you are someone who's capable of feeling gratitude and appreciate the people around you, those things can be enhanced. But I do think there's a, you know. Maybe so. That's a good way of looking at it.
Starting point is 00:12:51 Yeah. But I was angry about it, to be honest. But I was intimidated by it because I thought as a comedian to not be able to able to observe because you had too many distractions of trying to hide or whatever, it intimidated me and I got weirded out by it. But now that I'm old, like none of it matters and it, you know, who cares? But it's, it was a change. It was a change. Yeah. I've always tried to picture you because I know that your success didn't happen right away. And I knew you for a bunch of years where you'd come on our show and be really funny. But the whole thing had to be. And, you know,
Starting point is 00:13:31 hadn't quite jelled or clicked yet. And then... And I was this busboy at a strip joint until I was 28. Yes. I was going to get to that. Yeah, you were... You were? And I try to picture you in these real jobs... I hope so. Wait, with my briefcase.
Starting point is 00:13:48 Yeah. I do think that's a real job. My canteen. Going to work, honey. No, but I had to wear like a cumberbund. It was like a fancy... And it was a strip joint. Yeah, on Park. You were in New York, probably, At this time, it was called Stringfellows. Yes.
Starting point is 00:14:03 So I worked there. I had a table there. Yeah. I never saw you come in, thank goodness. No, I, I was. And the guy that I moved to New York, New York with, who we went to college together, he was the cashier at the strip joint, and he ended up being Jimmy Fallon's headwriter. Right.
Starting point is 00:14:20 80 miles, if you know 80 miles. That's where all the best headwriters come from. Cool. And then weird? Well, I'm curious because I'm trying to picture you in a situation. where you have the comedy mind that you have, but you're doing a job like that. You're working at a strip club.
Starting point is 00:14:42 You were a bus boy, Bell boy? Bus boy. She'll ring a cumber bun. And it had a crummer. Do you know what a crummer is? No. It's a little metal stick that you take out of your pocket and you get the crumbs off the table for Willett Chamberlain.
Starting point is 00:14:57 If Wilk Chamberlain had gone. I think he came in a lot. Maybe it was another seven foot two legend. His name was Will Chamberlain and he was seven feet two inches tall, but it wasn't that Will Chamberlain. This guy was an accountant. Yeah. And a very good one.
Starting point is 00:15:18 So were you funny at that job? And I bring it up because I know that when I did jobs that weren't comedy related early on, I was deadly serious to the point where we were, when they found out later on, oh, I just got a job writing. I'm leaving. They said, there's no way you're a comedy writer. Because I was just dead, serious, never made a joke, just did my work. That makes sense. I think it comes with maybe being depressed. I don't know. What was your situation? The strippers were not nice to me at all. I was really intimidated.
Starting point is 00:15:54 The men that went in there were not the men that I would want to hang out with anyway. So it was a weird situation. I don't remember trying to be funny. I'm sure with the others, with Miles that was working there. I'll tell the story. I think I've told this story, hopefully not here before, but it's a fractured media. No one's heard it. Go ahead. And no one will. But Miles and I were getting ready for work. There was a snowstorm in New York. It was a blizzard. I'll never forget. And it was in the mid-90s. And I'm putting my cumber button on. Miles had just lost a thousand. from the register. It's mafia owned, or it was, I think. And so he was so worried. He had to go in and face the music. He lost it. Lost it. He wouldn't have taken it. He lost it. So I'm putting my cumberbun on. And as I'm looking over, I lived in his closet. And I look up and Miles is this tying issue. And he says to himself, didn't want me to hear it knowing he had to go face the music. This is worse than Bosnia. Bosnia was going on at the time. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:16:59 And that's what he compared. And I'll never forget how dramatic. He's not wrong. He's not wrong that owing string fellows $1,000 is worse than anything that happened in Bosnia. Well, if you know that the mafia might have. And then what happened, I think what happened, we go to work and the feds came in, they closed it down that day. And that was it. A mysterious tip call came in.
Starting point is 00:17:26 Yes, from a bus boy. Yeah. That's friendship. Yeah. But, no, I was, I was very serious at that job, I think. We shot a bit once in Houston at like two in the morning at a strip club. We'll be right back with the world's worst bragger. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:17:45 We were there to shoot some piece. And so I'm there. I think we were just trying to figure out because my show in Houston at the time, this is like 1995, 96, aired at like three in the morning. So I went to places at three in the morning to fit. figure out if I could see anybody watching our show and who's up and watching TV at three in the morning. And that, it ended up being very funny. I went to a bus station. I went to an emergency room and I went to a strip club. And you walk in and you see these beautiful naked women and, you know, just my head turned into a jukebox cartoon where all the cherries come up. It's like,
Starting point is 00:18:22 ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. And coins came out my mouth. I was like, all the cartoon stuff like steam coming out of the ears. I'm like, I can't believe. I can't leave it within 15 minutes we had a problem with the camera and we're trying to figure it out and this completely naked beautiful woman who would have been my fantasy of every way of 16 completely naked that wearing a stitch of clothing comes up and starts to talk to me and I'm like I'm sorry can you just give us some room uh I got we we got an issue with this camera and I'm kind of you mean who me and you your balls no no me and I am not that polite to my balls to my balls I imagine you were there by yourself.
Starting point is 00:19:02 Can you give us a broom? Yeah. Pardon me, testicles. No, I have a very different relationship with my testicles. But no, I was, remember being kind of irritated, like, can't she step back? We're trying to fix this lens. And I was realizing that, oh, my God, you get inureds. You get used to this right away.
Starting point is 00:19:20 Like, you're in there for 10 minutes, and suddenly it's like, come on, naked, gorgeous woman. Can you give me a break? We need to get this shot. And behind the scenes, there's nothing. Like, the women are talking about how much they hate the men that they have to. Like, they, you know, so it's not, it's not thrilling backstage. It's a whole different scene. That's where, because strippers love me.
Starting point is 00:19:42 They just love me. Oh. Huh. Yeah. What? I just, I think I'm the one guy that when I go into strip club, they're just like, wow. I love him. Conan, when is the last time you've been in a strip club?
Starting point is 00:19:54 1969. Right. I was six years old. Right. What? I was conceived at one. We won't go further into that story. You know what I didn't know?
Starting point is 00:20:08 Why did I not know that you were at Saturday Night Live? You worked at Saturday Night Live for a very... That two-week... Don't they do a two-week trial thing sometimes? They do. Yeah. I hear... I don't know.
Starting point is 00:20:19 That's not how I came in, but I remember thinking that we were on a two-week trial, my writing partner, Greg Daniels, and I thinking that was a two-week trial. But then later on, someone said, no, you weren't a two-week trial, but you were a two-week trial. I honestly, when I got there, I thought I was, I thought I got hired as a cast member, honestly, because I had auditioned twice.
Starting point is 00:20:38 Right. And I was told you're going to go and be a feature person. And I said, great. And I got there and they said, no, you're actually going to write, which either way, it didn't matter to me. I was just so thrilled that I had that opportunity. It was, it was a tough two weeks. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:20:54 Because the table reads, I think even if you're, you know, know, no people there, the table reads can be kind of brutal. Yep. I just remember, I wrote a sketch, and it was, you could only hear the air conditioner in the room. Yeah. I mean, I've been like that on stage, you know, so I'm kind of used to it, but there it was just, and I remember, for some reason, I was sitting next to Tina, Faye, and I just remember her patting my shoulder in a very calm, not even, not in a sarcastic way. It was really calming, and I'll never forget that. It was actually meant a lot to me, but it was rough, but I was thrilled to be there. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:21:28 You don't know what you're doing when you get there, right? It takes a second to figure it out. And it's not so many shows I've worked on since. And I, you know, obviously loved my time at SNO and was so formative for me. But I've very much liked working in late night all those years because it felt like we were all working together a little more. You know, there's so much show to fill. There's, for years, it was, you know, five hours a week, you've got to fill.
Starting point is 00:22:01 There's no elbowing for room or real estate. Do you know what I mean? There's just, if someone has a good idea, everyone's like, oh, my God, that's great, let's do it. No one's, I don't know, that's a really funny idea, but I'm not going to laugh because, and that's, so SNL definitely much more competitive. I don't know if it's like that as much anymore. Might not be.
Starting point is 00:22:17 Because when I went back to host, I noticed, oh, it seemed much more, loose and friendlier. Not that it wasn't friendly in the beginning when I was there for writing, but yeah, it was an honor to do it. I didn't have any bad feelings about it except for, you know, the tumbleweeds going across the writer's room.
Starting point is 00:22:36 Yeah, and that feeling of when you put a sketch in, if it's not working at read through, you can see everybody flipping to see how many pages this is. So you'll have that moment. Are you not supposed to do that? I do that all the time at table.
Starting point is 00:22:51 You know. I'm always like, do I have any more parts of this? Scanning for my name. You're bringing in something that popped in my head, and I don't know if you and I've ever talked about this connection, and maybe he doesn't want us to, but Tommy Blacher wrote on Conan, right? Yeah. Tommy, to me...
Starting point is 00:23:20 One of my favorite writers of all time, yeah. I think he happens to be the funniest person I think I've ever met. Like, he's that funny, and I knew that he left your show to go right for a professional wrestling, right? Yes. He worked with us back in the 90s, and I knew him through Andy Richter. From Chicago, probably, yeah. And he brought, and for a while, Tommy didn't say anything, and he was super quiet.
Starting point is 00:23:45 And I just thought, well, I wonder if this guy's going to work out. I don't know. And then he revealed himself in the writer's room and on paper to be the funniest guy. I gave him a shout out on Stern once because I was on Stern, and Stern was kind of talking to me about, so you must just hire. like Harvard Lampoon guys and I said, no. It was like an army guy. Yeah, I said one of the funniest guys I've ever,
Starting point is 00:24:08 one of the funniest writers I've ever known, I don't think went to college. Are you talking about Tommy? And I was talking about Tommy. And he said, who is that? And I said, Tommy Blacha. So he, uh, really brilliantly funny guy. He, he's on a level that I, I mean,
Starting point is 00:24:26 the same level I would put you on, which is this, we used to do this bit back and forth to each other where it was just really, really just the dumbest person, right? Because Tommy's really good at dumb, and it would be like, what about drinking coffee or something? Like, it was always the most obvious, and it always filled up, follow with, or something. Yeah, or something. So one night, Tommy's had to spend the night at my house, and we were both working together. We had to get up early the next morning for work, and he's in the next room over, and at seven in the morning, I'm up, and I'm just kind of basically waking up. And I hear Tommy
Starting point is 00:24:59 say under his breath as he's waking up, what am I awake or something? And I fell in love with him. I fell in love with it. And I used to beg, like, he would make me laugh so hard. Like, I didn't want to leave him. So he, he, this is one of my proudest happy moments. He, for, I would do all these riffs in the writer's room that outrageous over the top,
Starting point is 00:25:21 where I would almost play this over the top host who's incredibly abusive. And I would come into a room and someone, start to talk and I would say play, yeah. But I remember at a time I was on this jag of saying like, why don't you have a big tall glass of shut up juice? And it was just a really stupid childish put-down that I was doing and I would do it
Starting point is 00:25:41 whenever someone was taking a swig of something I'd be like, oh, a little more, just after they had pitched something, I'd be like, oh, a little more shut up juice, huh? Wet the whistle with some. And Tommy left because he was going to go right for professional wrestling and he told me, hey, you've got to tune in. I wrote this
Starting point is 00:25:59 For the Rock, he's taunting one of his opponents, and he tells him, why don't you go have a tall glass of shut up juice? And I was so thrilled, and I watched it, and sure enough, the Rock was like, hey, I'll tell you something. And he's got the mind. He's like, maybe you should just go have a long, two glass, tall glass of shut up juice. And then they cut your people in the arena, and they're like holding their heads like, the Rock got him. And then I think the following week, someone had a sign that said shut up juice. Oh, my God. And I was in heaven.
Starting point is 00:26:29 Oh, that's a payoff. No one knew. I didn't care if anyone knew that was me or not. And then those are the kind of things that make me super happy. And so Tommy. One of the funniest. Yeah. Such a funny guy.
Starting point is 00:26:41 I'm curious, like you and these other jobs, it's interesting to me that, which I totally understand, you're not being the Zach Gallifanakis that people would know. You're just grimly doing your job and trying to do it well, which would describe probably you in, I mean, I know that you were a nanny for a while. I was a house cleaner. House cleaner. Cleaning departments in New York for a couple years. Yeah, I was pretty, you know, I'm pretty quiet, I think.
Starting point is 00:27:07 And then the comedy scene kind of maybe broke me out of my shyness, I think, somewhat. I performed more. I got a little bit more comfortable with that stuff. But, yeah, those jobs will humble you. I mean, I moved to New York wanting not my, I didn't want my parents to have to, like, send me anything, right? And they never did. And I was pretty independent. But my father, he would send me things in the mail.
Starting point is 00:27:31 I'm like, oh, go run to the mailbox. Oh, God, I hope this is food. I hope this is food. And I'd open it. And it was always irregular underwear. And just open it in the post office. Like, it was light. I mean, maybe he was sitting there being potato chips.
Starting point is 00:27:48 But it was always irregular. Anevaluble was wrapped in it, you know? I don't know. Irregular underwear. Yeah. It's cheap. My dad was cheap. Cheap.
Starting point is 00:28:00 I also think there's something to, I used to think about this a lot. When people get to know me and know my rhythm, this will be a little easier. And I think that would be very true of you. I mean, I always thought you would come on our show back in the day and people didn't know you
Starting point is 00:28:16 and you'd sit at a piano and you would tell these great jokes, but you never winked. You never, you know, shot them a look like. You never in grace. You just completely went in and they had to accept you as you were. And I think you have to do that for a while in order to have people meet you halfway. I think that's a think you're right.
Starting point is 00:28:40 I also think comedically, I should say only. I've always thought it's more interesting if you're just doing a stand-up bit like that, to have kind of a disdain for the audience. You know, I never was like, hi, I'm going to tell us some like that. Friendly. All right. Let's tell us. see stand-ups come out like, what's up, Miami?
Starting point is 00:28:59 God, that's a lot of energy. You don't want to know how Miami's doing. Miami has no concern or interest in you. I respect the audience, but I, the relation, now performers have a real relationship with the audience via social media that, that too I've never participated in. I don't know how to do that. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:29:22 You have something that I'm not too familiar with called dignity. I can tell you a lot of stories that would go against that. Well, I mean, we've talked about it. I won't go into it, but I do think that was particularly helpful to you when you did your famous Between Two Fern's interview with Obama because you're the only person that gave him. I mean, you know, I know that this in any way was just you doing your comedy, but you were so rude as that person.
Starting point is 00:29:58 And it's hilarious because I don't think anyone's talked to, certainly a sitting president or even in this time, no one's talk about it. Well, all the podcasters that have had the president on now, they don't do their court gesture. They don't do it. They just, they suck up to them. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:30:16 So the comedians that have had, that are podcasts that have had Trump on, that's, they're not doing their job. Yeah, yeah. They're, that's not the job of a comedian. You are to challenge. Yeah. You are to make uncomfortable.
Starting point is 00:30:30 You're not to sit there and fake laugh. Yep. That is not the job of the court jester. Yeah. Period. So there is a difference. People were, actually somebody yesterday was talking to me about that, about, you know, political influence through comedy and all that stuff.
Starting point is 00:30:45 I'm more interested in the comedy first. Me too. You know. Yeah, yeah. No, I mean, whatever their, whatever their motive is, fine, but the comedy has to come first. I remember when I interviewed Hillary Clinton, and I could tell she didn't want to be there,
Starting point is 00:30:59 and I totally get that. I get it. But before we had set that whole thing up, they wrote back, well, you can't bring up those emails. And I go, well, we don't have to do the interview. I totally, that's fine. We won't do it.
Starting point is 00:31:12 When you tell powerful people, no, it's crazy. They were like, okay, well, you can ask. Because it's not that important to me to do it the way they want to do it. it. You have to, if you're going to come in a comedy, you got a way we want to do it. Also, I see this all the time, and I've seen it for years and years and years and years, people not understanding that if they go to the supposedly vulnerable place and have a sense of humor about it, it is magical for them. People see they have a sense of humor. They see that they can take a joke. I mean,
Starting point is 00:31:43 no one walked away from your interview with Obama and thought, wow, you really showed him. He got to be hilarious. He sat there and entered your world of, you know, being intentionally ignorant about who he is, what he does, cutting him off, being insanely rude, and gave it back to you an equal measure. And you looked at it and you said, this is a great piece of comedy. And I know it reflects well back on the president. And our current president would do well to understand that, to understand that, to understand that, you know, if he let himself be the butt of the joke, it's humanizing. I know it is impossible. You wouldn't do it with him.
Starting point is 00:32:21 Yeah. It wouldn't work. It wouldn't work. I'm just saying in an alternate universe, if we're talking about a different human being, they would see that there's this misconception that, oh, the media just wants to go after conservatives, and they don't understand that everyone benefits when they laugh at themselves. That's right. Period.
Starting point is 00:32:42 Yes. Everyone wins. Yes. You laugh at yourself. It humanizes you. And like, pheromones are released and humans think that's a good human. Who, and when you refuse to let that happen, that's not projecting strength. It's projecting weakness.
Starting point is 00:32:58 I agree 100%. There's also the math of comedy to me sometimes where the punching down that the rights seems to do something. And I don't want to get political here. But that's not as funny to me as taking on the powerful. Like, the math of it does. it work for me. Like to take on some
Starting point is 00:33:18 marginalized people make fun of that. Listen, I'm all for humor. I can defend it, but that mathematically so that's why you don't see a lot of comedy that comes out of the, like, the right. I mean, the right. You just, it's hard to do. I'm not saying suggesting you cannot.
Starting point is 00:33:35 It's just difficult to do because of the dynamics. Yeah, yeah. Greg Gutfeld. Oh, hurt. What a hilarious. You got him. I don't know if they'll show up to work again. I always love imagining these people being completely unhinged by a comment on a podcast or, you know.
Starting point is 00:33:59 Someone did a sketch about them on SNL and they're just completely unhinged. I'm sure. They can no longer go longer show their face. But that's all for, that's all for clicks. You know what I mean? It's fake. Well, that's boring. The whole everyone.
Starting point is 00:34:13 commenting on everything. Yeah, and everyone has to wait, did Sabrina Carpenter just slightly misspeak at a performance at Coachella? Or can we make that into something? Yes, we can. And then she'll apologize.
Starting point is 00:34:32 And I think she's a fantastic performer. She makes a lot of people happy. I actually don't think she did anything wrong. She couldn't hear what the person in the audience was saying. There was no harm, no foul here, but people got a 24-hour news cycle out of it. And it's just, I mean, it's stupid. You know, the other thought of that, too, is it's interesting people from the right or whatever
Starting point is 00:34:56 you want to say. They're always like, shut up, entertainers, you're just entertainers. And I kind of get that because I'm from the South and, you know, but I always think, yeah, but you guys say that to us entertainers, but you elect the entertainers. Clint Eastwood, Donald Trump, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Fred Thompson, gopher from the loveboat. I mean, I could go on. It's name is Fred Grandy. I could go on and on. Sunny Bono.
Starting point is 00:35:23 I mean, it goes on and on. So it's always interesting to me that they point that out. But then they fall, then they, they're the ones that hire or elect the entertainers. Yeah. Yeah. I think even more so than the other. side. So I don't know. It's very odd, all of it, but
Starting point is 00:35:42 it was a good run. Oh, no. We're wrapping it up. Are we calling it? We're calling it. Well, 250 is a good time to call it. Oh, man. Oh, yes. 250. I don't feel any, is anybody celebrating? I think they're going to, well, there's plans
Starting point is 00:35:58 to build giant monuments. I think the triumphal arch was going to be for the 250th, I think. Okay, good. We just got to get that thing built. This is going to sound controversial. And I don't When Trump did that Jesus thing, I was the turning point for me. I was like, I kind of like him. Oh, like him. Yeah. Oh, you, you, okay. What do you think? Am I off? No, I think you're off at all. He wasn't Jesus. He was a doctor. Yeah, his excuse was I'm those, I was a doctor who wears a robe and a red sash.
Starting point is 00:36:33 And has like a halo behind it. He was a red crossworker. Oh, man. He's a very good nightclub comic. You know what I was watching your gardening show, and I want to mention this because it's called This is a Gardening Show. And one of the... Like that type. Yeah, he was up all night thinking of that title. And actually, we spent about 400 titles back and forth. Oh, really?
Starting point is 00:37:00 Between two farms. I mean, it was like, you know, all these play on words. It was so... Ben, then the producer emails me and goes, the first thing you say is this is a gardening show. Yeah. Why don't we just call it? I was like, okay.
Starting point is 00:37:14 But yeah, that's how we got to the title. Well, you know what? I love, because I've known for years that you hang out on Vancouver Island and then to get to see you in your habitat is very cool. I mean, first of all, it's beautiful. But getting to see you, I knew that you were a very sort of an outdoorsy guy. I didn't know specifically how. how important gardening was to you.
Starting point is 00:37:38 The show is really funny, and you get to be you, obviously, because you are you, and there's no fixing that now. But just getting to see you in that world, I totally get it. You like to get up in the morning and tend to plants.
Starting point is 00:37:57 I love it. It's strange how much... I mean, I've always been a hobby. It's been my hobby, I guess, for 20-plus years. but now that I have some space, I've been building a garden. And I just do.
Starting point is 00:38:12 I mean, I have a hundred little pumpkin seedlings in my greenhouse right now that when I get back to Canada, I'll put in the ground, and that'll probably produce 200 pumpkins for the year. That kind of stuff, I can't tell you how much I love it. It's a feeling that I feel like as humans,
Starting point is 00:38:31 it's part of us, but we got away from it. Yeah. We, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, because, because technology and convenience has overtaken everything. Yeah. We're pushing buttons is soulless. Yeah. There's nothing there.
Starting point is 00:38:43 Yeah. For me. And I, I, I wanted to do this show for several reasons. One, you know, when you watch documentaries about where we are climate wise, you hear there's 64 harvest left. Okay, maybe that's not true. But what if it is? Right.
Starting point is 00:39:02 What, you know, this is, these is, these are, you know, these are, you know, there's, there's, There's a, there's, these are scientists that are saying this. 64 harvest left. So people, I see some people acting like, oh my God, what are we going to do? What are we going to do? And then I see some people don't care. So I don't know. I'm just going to go with what my gut feeling is, which is maybe kids need to know this stuff.
Starting point is 00:39:20 Yeah. Yeah. Wait till the Russians shoot down the satellites, motherfucker. It's just a quote from the South I heard recently. That I was like, yeah, I believe you. I actually believe. That one I believe. And think about that.
Starting point is 00:39:36 Yeah. Right. So all of these, I feel like the safety might not be there for the next generation. So I'm, and this is not an altruistic thing I'm trying to say. It's just a practical thing. Our food, even if nothing happens, even let's say everything stays normal. Well, our food and where we get it and how what we know about it is we don't have a relationship with food, a lot of us. Right, right.
Starting point is 00:39:59 You think about it, birth, death, food, and where it's coming from. We're primal parts of our existence for so long. I mean, they're just, you know, printed into our DNA as we evolved. And then within the last few generations, we've completely removed ourselves from it. And I'm going to be completely honest with you. Like, I know nothing about gardening. I know nothing about where my food comes from. I say to David, I want to get that.
Starting point is 00:40:26 And you're like, all right, and you get it. And it comes, and I shove it in my face really quickly and with great hate. And, but it's the same thing about death. Like, we're not, we're not, people used to live and die in their home and people used to be there for it. And now everything's kind of farmed out. So, yeah, it's. But it's a medicine, too. It's not just not, it's not altruistic.
Starting point is 00:40:49 You do it for yourself. Yes, absolutely. I mean, look, I'm a little chubby guy, but I love eating fresh vegetables and fruits out of the garden. It's like, it's a high for me. It just is. So there's, there's many. elements to it. But I'm saying it's a medicine to be in the garden. Yeah. It's healthy to be. It's also when you talk about you've spoken about this for a while and you mentioned it today,
Starting point is 00:41:12 the kind of allergic reaction you have to the bullshittery of show business. And in some of it, there's obviously great parts of it and then there's parts of it which can actually feel like a toxin. It's poison and honey. Yeah. I felt this. I got a chance. Danny Harrison, George's son invited me to come see George's home, Friar Park, and I went, and so much of it are George Harrisons, were his gardens, where he grew things. And I've seen footage of him in various documentaries just tending to his gardens and tending to his sunflowers and tending to the things he was growing. And I thought, oh, and, you know, Danny said, yeah, he told him once, you know.
Starting point is 00:41:56 Danny said, oh, let's go into town. Let's leave Friar Park and go into town. and his father said, why would we do that? Why would we go out there? It's insane out there. If you look at all the footage of his life in the 60s and 70s, it was screaming in madness. This was the antidote.
Starting point is 00:42:12 Interesting. And I think you've experienced being in the nose cone of the rocket and there are people who are making a living, pretending to be you hanging outside of Planet Hollywood. That's, and like, we got to get us to Zach Gelfinacus for the party. I got one. I got one too. Well, bring them both, you know. So it's such a nice antidote to find those places where you can grow apples. Well, I also think it's possible in the cities. I mean, when you guys all leave today, I want you to pay attention to how much concrete is around
Starting point is 00:42:52 you versus greenery. Just, just think about it. Yeah. It's crazy. It's really crazy. I mean, I think humans' biggest mistake was fighting nature instead of working. We're going to conquer it. No, you're not. No, you're not. It's going to win. And it looks like it's definitely going to win. So you have to respect it and honor it.
Starting point is 00:43:13 If there's a God that made all this stuff, why would, why not respect it? And the other things that this God has made, that's coming from someone that has no idea if there's a God or not. But if there is, why is it the simplest thing to respect the earth and the, the humans and the animals on it. Other than that, what is there? Yeah. I mean, this, where humans are going with AI, I mean, I guess, I don't know if I'm old fashioned or I'm, maybe it's because I'm 56 now, but I think this whole AI thing, and I don't mean for medicine, I don't, it's got a lot of great things. Otherwise, though, I think it's another, like, biblical,
Starting point is 00:43:50 in the biblical term, biting the apple again. I just am very afraid of it. Yeah. The dudes that are designing it. Yeah. There's a real problem. Because these dudes, how do I say it? They have math minds. They have math minds. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:44:09 They have math minds and that's good. But there's very little wisdom coming out of that pocket of the world, almost none. Yeah. And we're just running. All of us are running in that direction. The media loves AI. The media loves social media because it causes more to this. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:44:27 I love when CNN, they'll have a reporter on, they'll do a report on social media and how bad it is for someone. And then after the report, Jake Tapper gets on go, follow me on Twitter. It's asinine. Have you no self-reflection? Well, even how we communicate through text, there's not a sarcastic font, right? Right.
Starting point is 00:44:47 And people are not good enough writers to do it through text. As a comedian, to get back L-O-L is really diminishing returns. I think the way we have let robots do this for us has also made us a little bit off. Yeah. I just do. I worry about the lack of human connection with that stuff. And maybe I'm maybe just, it's not as needed as we think it is. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:45:16 I mean, I really don't know. But this world, this tech stuff has always, I've always thought about it. I've always worried about it, especially when social media came about. and MySpace and all this, when it was done it, you could do it anonymously. That's a weird start for anything. So the weirdos running this thing, and good weirdos, I don't mean they're all bad weirdos. We need to, something, there needs to be a guardrail. And I think politically nothing changes in the States until they regulate the Internet.
Starting point is 00:45:49 Yeah. I do think not. So we can sit here and talk, good luck. It can work for both sides. Right. It just depends on who's going to control it. the messaging, but I see how people scroll on planes. I'm like, that's how people get their new. We're screwed. I do think that if you look at the history of huge technological advances,
Starting point is 00:46:10 including like the printing press, you know, and how that revolutionized things, in the early days, it's rough going when people are handed a brand new superpower. And we are at the beginning of this. And I do think if we survive it, there will be guardrails. There will be people that say, oh, no, you can't have a kid can't have a tablet. We've figured it out. They can't have it till they're 14. And that's a law, you know, or you can't. It's like how a city, like a city can be built and there's like crap in the streets. The sewage is all wrong. And as it ages, they fix the problems. No, we're at the OK corral phase where drunks are punching each other through the swinging doors of the bar and landing in the mud.
Starting point is 00:46:54 People are shooting their guns in the air going knee-hah. That's where we are. But do you think it's going to need a regulation to get to there? Do you think the government? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's going to- But you know what it does?
Starting point is 00:47:05 It comes through just this hard experience. And humans do, if they put their hand on the stove enough times, they learn not, we need a rule about putting our hands on the stove. I hope you're right. I am right. There's an addiction thing here, too, that we have. That's the other thing is the addiction part. And that addiction is designed.
Starting point is 00:47:27 Listen, you read the, have you read the Facebook whistleblower book? No, you need her. It's unreal. I read it twice. It's fascinating. So they know that they're making it addictive. So that's the problem, I think, maybe with the comparing it to the old technology. Sure, you're right.
Starting point is 00:47:46 I think the printing press, of course, it changes the world. technology is what changes humans the most. Political correctness, for example, has always been in comedy for the last 30 years. It just has. The difference is the technology. The audience talks back now. And comedians, you've got to be okay with it.
Starting point is 00:48:05 That's the only thing that's changed. Not political correct. That did not, for sure, it happened many, many years ago. But what really changed is if someone comes and sees you live and they don't like it. And you've said something, they're going to either videotape it or get it. So it's weird.
Starting point is 00:48:25 It's all very strange. Yeah. But then I see people on their computers all the time and like they never do anything else. My mind goes, well, when the end of the world comes, they're the veal. Well, you know what?
Starting point is 00:48:39 It's soft. Soft meat. It's a soft meat. So we might need them. No. We're going to eat. All the veils up in Silicon Valley. We're coming to eat.
Starting point is 00:48:48 eat you boys. The way you describe it, we're going to eat very well. I mean, I want this to happen sooner rather than later. Just you and I. But also, we're humans, we're animals, right? Like, we need to move and think and talk and blah, blah, blah. This is, it's too much. It's making people nuts.
Starting point is 00:49:10 It just is. I think it's making people mentally, I do. I think it's making people mental. Oh, 100%. I mean, I do things now where I like, like brick my phone. Well, the rest of it is a device called the brick where you can turn off a bunch of apps so that in order to go turn them back on, it's called the brick.
Starting point is 00:49:27 And I use that all the time now. Do you have an email on your phone? I do. Take it off. It's too late. Oh. No, you can take it off. No.
Starting point is 00:49:35 I can't imagine having an email on my phone. It's so, like, that's asinine to me. What about, and you're including text, too. No text. If I knew how to get read a text, I would. I don't know how to get rid of it. We're in a time of overcommunication. Right.
Starting point is 00:49:49 So my brother... He says on a podcast. My brother... Well, exactly. But my brother's like texting me over Christmas. Got those paper tells you. I don't need you to text me that you got them. I don't need that update.
Starting point is 00:50:04 It's insanity. You know, I've asked too, is that someone will text you. Like, how's it going? And if you don't text them, it's the person who maybe 20 minutes went by and they're like, what the fuck? You alive? You're like, I was... It was three in the morning.
Starting point is 00:50:18 What's going on? Because they're so used to getting an immediate dopamine hit. Yes. That they forget they're talking to someone who isn't walking around looking at their phone all the time. I see. So I get a lot of my texts are, did you die or something? And it's like, well, no. I mean, I see teenagers on planes and the mental illness that they're doing with their faces, like changing it.
Starting point is 00:50:41 For three hours staring at a phone. Yeah. You know, you're supposed to be bored. You're supposed to be. It's good for the brain. Well, it's actually, and really good, I remember saying this when my kids were little, we got to keep the boring parts. Because I remember when I was, I would get so bored when I was a kid. And that's when my, you know, we weren't allowed to watch TV if there was school the next day, which meant most of the week.
Starting point is 00:51:06 We had none of this technology. And that's when my mind started to do weird things. And that's how I make my living now. So you got out. God, I thought this was going to turn into a masturbation story. I think we all did. That's what it... I just took the air out of the room.
Starting point is 00:51:25 That's... The story's not done. That's what I was... You cut me off. You're right. I wish somebody had. Yeah. That is what I was getting to.
Starting point is 00:51:34 My mind started doing weird. Yeah. And my hand. Yeah. And then I said, and that's how I make my living. And then I became a writer. I became a professional masturbator at the circus. Is it?
Starting point is 00:51:51 What is it? Would you say to me? No, nothing else. Did you just accrues me of murder? No. No. I was going to say, is there a comp, is there, I don't, no, never mind. I don't want it to be in the case.
Starting point is 00:52:00 Is there a masturbator at the circus? No, is there, is there, is there is. I hope so. Eduardo. I don't know. I'm not looking this one up. No, he just meant Eduardo. He didn't even know you had a computer.
Starting point is 00:52:15 What's going on this week? Edward. In the Valley. Let's just say Eduardo is very skilled It is so lovely to talk to you And you really are A remarkable individual
Starting point is 00:52:31 And I wish we could all be more like you So you got my text I just read exactly what you wrote Thank you very much I read exactly what you texted me Thank you for putting that in there And you're a great lover What the fuck is this?
Starting point is 00:52:45 You misspelled lover Yeah, two Vs always. I love, I've been, I checked out, this is a gardening show, I really like it. I especially love when you incorporate kids in it and you're talking to them. It's the easiest thing, isn't it? I know, it'd be so funny doing it. And also, you're in a series, The Audacity, which is getting raves. So congrats to you, that's on AMC.
Starting point is 00:53:08 And you, I mean, anytime you're in town, you want to come by and talk to us about anything. Tomorrow's not good for me. Okay, the next day. No, I'm here Saturday. Starting in six years from now. Okay. Is what I meant. Did you end up going to Greece for your?
Starting point is 00:53:24 No, we haven't gone to Greece yet for the travel show, but I do want to go there. It's the best. Would you go with me if I went? I would pay for half of it. Love to go. I'd pay for half of it. But I might take my gardening show there next time. But if you do go, please call me because I can point you in, like I have first cousins that are still there.
Starting point is 00:53:42 So I can point, they can help you. You should check out the Parthenon. Thanks a lot No they were going to take you The hard rock in Athens And I just quote There's not a hard rock cafe in Athens You know there is
Starting point is 00:53:56 They're better I don't think No the Greeks has to be The Greeks are not They're not They're not capitalist that way Good They're not good
Starting point is 00:54:02 They actually during the European Union They got really They got really hurt Yeah Yeah By northern Europe I've never been to Greece In my life
Starting point is 00:54:12 And I would love to go there They know how to live They know how to live And so do you you. And so do you. Zach Galfanakis, thank you for being here. I treasure you. I really do. Those aren't cheap. Could you put it back? No, I'll put there's a...
Starting point is 00:54:25 So you just grabbed one of our... By the way, I was asking the... There's a comment box here, right? We took it down just for you. Okay, well... We'll put it back the minute you're gone. I'll take it to Twitter. Okay, look, there's some bad blood out here. We have to take care of this.
Starting point is 00:54:50 Yes. I brought up... Sona that I do a lot of favors for you. I mean, I do a lot of favors for everybody, but you get more than your share. Oh, my God. Let's revisit this topic, okay? Ugh, okay.
Starting point is 00:55:04 Sona, you know I love you. I adore you. You're the best. But you're just this bloodsucker. Oh, my God. It's draining me dry. You're awful. You're awful.
Starting point is 00:55:16 You're awful. Are we getting content or not? We are. But you know what? Every coolest gamer, Do you take that game home with you? Oh. I would say no, actually.
Starting point is 00:55:27 Maybe only like half the time. Yeah, 85%. 85% of the time when you do a clueless gamer for a cool game, you get the game. How is he a favor? Because you get some benefit out of it. That's not direct. That's what I'm saying. We all get a lot of fun stuff from this job.
Starting point is 00:55:42 All I'm going to say is he does a lot of favors for you, but you do the greatest, but you, but you, but you, but you do the greatest favor for him. You make him cool. Oh. That's the greatest favor you're doing for him. I don't know. Am I doing that? You do. You do. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:55:56 I think, no, people do get excited. You're a cool person and you, you know, me, yes. I guess I'm cool and that I pop a leave every now and then. I also drink a lot of water with it. You've got to make sure you flush out the system. That's a recommendation that's on the bottle. But, um, oh, wow. No, but I mean between my leave use and your.
Starting point is 00:56:20 coolness factor. I think we make a good duo. I don't think they're favors. I think you are paying me back. What? Oh. Yeah. For all the things I've done free. So that means I don't have to pay you financially. No, you should still do that. But I also, I don't know for something. You know what? I don't resent these favors for you. I like doing it. And I will say, look, I needed a segment. So I came out swinging. Yes. And it worked because you got really mad. And also, is there some truth in it? Probably. Because in most of my bits, there's a little bit of truth. This is my nightmare. And I do a lot of favors for people.
Starting point is 00:56:54 You do. We have to do a favor for Sona today, for instance, at the end of this bit. Oh, is that true? Yeah. What's happening today? We have to, I don't want to write it out. No, no, we get to. That's right.
Starting point is 00:57:03 We get to do a favor for something. You know that I like doing things for the Armenian community. You know I like doing that. They're the ones. You took me to Armenia in 2015. I tried to leave you there. You know, that was the plan. The plan was to leave you there.
Starting point is 00:57:15 And then I was like, shut the door. Shut the door. And the pilot. The door. You didn't shut the door fast enough and you squirted into the plane. And you were like, where I had it back? But the plan was to leave you there. Well, thank you for doing that.
Starting point is 00:57:28 But you shone a light on my beautiful homeland. And since then, you've been kind of an honorary Armenian. They're very excited. You know what? I will say Armenian people are always very happy to see me. Yes. And they say, berev, and I say inch pas sec. And then they say lavem and we have like a nice thing going.
Starting point is 00:57:45 Yeah. So that's always nice. Yeah. I meet a lot of them in steam rooms. I don't know what that's all about. Several times I've been in a sauna or a steam room, and the naked men in there have been Armenian, and we have a nice chat about Armenia.
Starting point is 00:57:56 Oh, that's nice. Yeah. That's a nice. See, that's the thing. If you hadn't taken me to Armenia, I don't think you would have been getting as many asks. And I filter a lot. But there are some that I...
Starting point is 00:58:07 And we're doing one today, which is important. It's good. And it's an important event. What is it? It's the Armenian Heritage Walk Gala in Philadelphia, and I'm emceeing it. How do you emcee a gala? Oh, you're going to...
Starting point is 00:58:20 I'm going to Philadelphia. Oh, I see, there's a benefit and you're going to be up there saying, all right, our next auction item or that kind of thing? No, no. It's going to be like honoring people who help them do it. It's this permanent installation
Starting point is 00:58:31 by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Do you have jokes written? I'm not you. I don't... Well, we know that, but I mean, what about... The bar is really low for me. No, but you've got to have some material. You can't, you can't emcea gala and not have material.
Starting point is 00:58:44 That's true. What kind of jokes do they like? I haven't written anything yet. When is it? Soon, right? It's like really soon. Okay, you have to write material. Maybe I would help you. Another favor.
Starting point is 00:58:54 But let's... You can't offer to do something and then say you're doing me a favor. I can say yes to things and then resent them because that is my true hobby. I say yes to stuff and then I resent it. You know, we got to think of some jokes, you know, about... I have some. Like what? About pomegranates and what is it about?
Starting point is 00:59:12 I don't want to tell you I'm nervous. Let's hear it. I think, well, one of the honorees, no, this is. This is stupid. I can't do it. No, we know. We have to now. We have to. All right. So one of the honorees is an Armenian man who's an astronaut. He's, and so I'm going to say, you know, within the last six months, we've had one of the greatest moments in space when Katie Perry went up for 10 minutes. That's a good joke. That's a good joke. That's a good joke. It's a misdirect.
Starting point is 00:59:39 That's a good joke. Because everyone's going to think I'm talking about Artemis too. Are you explaining to me how a misdirect work? Yes. This is what comedy is Conan O'Brien. No, but you know what? I think that's a funny. joke. You know, it's another good joke? I-A-N is added to every Armenian name, right? Yeah. So you could say there's some other great celebrities who are Armenian, Katie Perian, you know, Tom
Starting point is 01:00:03 Cruzian, John Travoltyan. Yeah, okay. You know what I mean? Yeah. I mean, this is a good Sabrina Carpenterian. I mean, you know, you could go into that whole thing. Okay. And you could list a whole bunch of celebrities real names before they shorten them.
Starting point is 01:00:20 You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Okay. I like that. Conan O'Brienian. Not so good. It didn't roll off the tongue. And also there's already a lot going on with your last name.
Starting point is 01:00:28 And you do jokes about some of the other, their true famous, like Dr. Kovorkian. Well, there's six honorees. So I'm coming up with bits for each one. Hey, I'm going to kill it at this Armenian gala, even more than your previous host, Dr. Kavorkian. Oh, God. Right? Oh, God. Yeah. Conan. That's a good joke. He killed people. I know. Okay. I know. Yeah. He's the pride of the Armenian people. Don't say that. Did he drive around in a van and do it? I forget how he did it. You know what? Nowadays, euthanasia is not looked at as poorly as it was before. He was a pioneer. Well, his name was Dr. Death and he drove around in a van. But yeah, you're right. He was a pioneer. No. Ending people's lives is all cool now.
Starting point is 01:01:10 They wanted to end them. They were all, weren't they all terminally ill? All right. You're taking us down a dark road. I'm a cavort. I'm a cavort. I'm a Kavorkin Apologist. I'm going to kill it up here. I'm going to be Armenian host who kills it the fastest since Dr. Kvorkean. That's funny. That's a good joke. Oh, God. And then you say, by the way, other, you know, famous and then it's Dr. Perry, you know what I mean, you know.
Starting point is 01:01:31 The singer Sia, Sia Sian. There's a good one. I mean, we're coming up with good material right here. You're going to kill it this thing. I know. Oh, I could come out as a character. What? Yes, I could be a character.
Starting point is 01:01:43 I could come out like as an old Armenian lady. and then, you know, and I do a character. That won't be offensive at all. No, it's not going to be a lot. Can I hear you hear your old Armenian lady? Oh, hello. It's nice to be here. I dried the apricots and flattened them and they were eating them.
Starting point is 01:01:59 I knew it was going to be a dry fruit thing. It would kill. Yeah. And guess what? I'm going to fly out. I'm going to write this material and I'm going to do this on the gala. And then I'm really going to resent you. I know you are.
Starting point is 01:02:10 Those who are given much are expected to give much. Oh, God. And it's clear that I've. been gifted with some divine powers. And so I must spend my time on this earth doing favors for Sonom of Sessian. I think that's the rule here. But you know, I love you. You know, I care about you. Do you? Do you? As a bit, I do. Oh, that's nice. Well, thank you. I love you too as a bit. Love you as a bit. Bye. Conan O'Brien needs a friend with Conan O'Brien, Sonam of Sessian and Matt Gawley.
Starting point is 01:02:43 Produced by me, Matt Goreley. Executive produced by Adam Sacks, Jeff Ross, and Nick Liao. 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 Jennifer Samples. Engineering and mixing by Eduardo Perez and Brendan Burns.
Starting point is 01:03:06 Additional production support by Mars Melnick. Talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Batista, and Britt 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 SiriusXM.com slash Conan.
Starting point is 01:03:33 And if you haven't already, please subscribe to Conan O'Brien needs a friend wherever fine podcasts are downloaded.

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