Inside Conan: An Important Hollywood Podcast - Adam Pally Revisits His Crazy CONAN Costumes

Episode Date: April 15, 2022

Adam Pally joins writers Mike Sweeney and Jessie Gaskell to discuss his love for Conan, getting cut from Late Night bits, the generous genius of Brian Stack, and why Adam decided to wear progressively more insane costumes for his CONAN interviews.Got a question for Inside Conan? Call our voicemail: [phone] and e-mail us at [e-mail] .

And now it's time for Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast. Hello and welcome to Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast. I gave you the last word. I always get the last word. I'm a gentleman. Thank you, Mike Sweeney, for having me on your podcast. Yes, and thank you for having me on your podcast. It's nice to see and hear you again.

We're always each other's guests. You're still holding that. I know. Oh, so I just, I'm going to tell our listeners that I just received our WGA award. It was hand delivered to me. I'm very excited. And what's the WGA? Yeah.

The Writers Guild of America. Of the entire country? Of all of America. Oh my God. That must be a lot of writers. Yeah. So you had it delivered to your house and now- It's delivered and I'm carrying it around. Yes, I have it. Has it left my side? You use it for cooking and pressing clothes. It's very heavy. It is very heavy. I didn't get mine yet. Maybe I won't get it. Maybe they're,

they wised up. Well, I think I know why you didn't get yours. Cause you told me what you do with yours. You, you have some already and they are currently doorstops. Some of them are doorstops. Some are, some are up on prominent display. So. And you had a, you said your son had a cute name for it. Well, I mean, not now cause he's 27, but when it first won, yeah, he called it a rusty stingray. It looks like that. It's sort of a copper color. Yeah. You had to tell me what it is.

It's a pen morphing into a bird. Or a bird morphing. Or a bird morphing into a pen. Coming down to offer its wisdom. Onto the page. Right. This is how I feel when I'm writing. It's like.

Because it turns into a pen. But meanwhile, it's shitting on the rest of the page. Yeah. how i feel when i'm writing it's like because it turns into a pen but meanwhile it's shitting on the rest of the page yeah right because it's a bird i don't think they thought this statue through or maybe they exactly thought it through oh my god what what's it like to be back in the united states now oh it's been so nice. I mean, obviously Paris is a wonderful city. Right. I got to be there for so long. I felt like I kind of lived there. Felt very Parisian. You did. How long were you in Paris for? Was there for seven weeks? Yeah. Wow. And I learned approximately four sentences of French. Well, you were in a bubble with Americans, right? I was.

That's true. I learned more than other people did because I was at least trying to use duolingo. And I got the best compliment. Yes. The last week I was there, a waiter thought that I was Spanish. He thought I was from Spain. Oh. Yeah.

So instead of speaking English to me immediately when I spoke French, he spoke Spanish to me. Really? And then I was able, he spoke Spanish to me. And then I was able to speak Spanish back to him. And then he was really confused because then he was like, wait, where are you from? Because he could tell my Spanish accent wasn't right either. Right, right. And then I told him the U.S. and he was surprised. And I felt really good about that. I'm being a good American traveler.

Yes. I'm representing well. I'm surprising these people. Yes, keeping them on their toes. I'm surprising these people. Yes. Keeping them on their toes. These people. These people. These goddamn continentals.

I call them continentals. So. Hey. We got a great show this week. Remember our show? Right. We have a show. We have a guest.

He's alive. A guest. He's very much alive and he's really funny oh man he's so funny when he was on conan on the tbs show i was like that guy is he's just intimidatingly funny yeah i know because he seems cool yes too he seems like he just seems effortlessly really a funny guy yeah it. It's Adam Pally. We talked to Adam about some of the insane costumes that he used to wear for his Conan appearances.

He was always trying to one-up himself. As a guest, right. Getting cut from late night sketches in his 20s and why he's such a huge Conan fan. Yeah. Finally, I want to know why. What do people like that guy? What is it with you? What's going on?

Name one thing. Here's Adam. Yeah, I think a lot of people didn't know that you used to appear in late night bits. Yes. Maybe they didn't actually air all the time and that's why they don't know. Yeah, I don't think they aired. And I think if they did air, I was in a full head-to-toe costume if it did air. So you wouldn't really see that it was me.

But I got that sweet $4.50 and that was like a huge deal. Yes. And then they reran it. If you were on like a good episode, you got like some residuals, a rerun. That would keep you afloat. And you never knew when those checks would come rolling in.

Those 8-cent checks. Oh, God. Great. 8-cent checks for international rebroadcast. I had already spent the residuals in my head of Conan. I would be at McManus on a Wednesday night at 2 in the morning and be like, It's on me. I did a Conan a week and a half ago.

Yeah. You see that stormtrooper that couldn't like, it's on me. I did a Conan a week and a half ago. Yeah. You see that storm trooper that like couldn't walk straight. That was me. His knees worked backwards. Me. Four 50. It was a glazer bit. I read a vulture interview.

Uh, cause you were a big fan of late night. Yes. It sounds like when you were kind of a little burgeoning comedian. Are we loud? Yes. Yes, of course. Yeah. It sounds like when you were kind of a little burgeoning comedian. A wee lad. Yes. Yes, of course. Yeah, I think, you know, there wasn't like options for comedy to watch, you know, so like the late night shows, if you liked comedy, like that was what you, that was the only

thing you had, you know, because like I had seen literally every hour of programming on Comedy Central, like I had gone through there. Right. You know, I'd seen every kid's in the hall. Yeah. I knew every like pendulet voiceover between commercials. Like I knew, like I knew, I knew it, you know, and like. It's time for Teller to step up.

Yeah, for real. Where was his voiceover? Conan and Letterman were like the two guys. Because there was no like Jon Stewart yet or anything like that. Yeah, it was still Craig Kilburn. Yeah, I don't even think there was a Craig Kilburn. Yeah, there's no Daily Show yet. There was no Daily Show.

It was Tom... Right, right, right. Oh, Tom Snyder. Tom Snyder, yeah. Yes. Which was like... Tom Snyder was like the last... Maybe Charlie Rose a little bit,

but like the last dinosaur of that man, that like old white man that for some reason is on television. And is holding forth for an hour. As a kid, I would think that Tom Snyder was like also on the McLaughlin group. Right. You know, like that's how I associated. The 700 Club. Yeah. I couldn't.

I was like, well, that's where the fun stops over there. Yeah. Yeah. club yeah it's like i couldn't i was like well that's where the fun stops over there yeah yeah but and so you were also at that i think that ripe age like right around becoming a teenager where you're kind of like figuring out audience of late night yeah for anything conan related we've discovered yeah for sure that has continued through the years did you know you were interested in comedy or was it a very kind of in a very broad sense at the time just no i was always interested in comedy like okay i would stay up to watch like snls and all stuff with my right dad and stuff and i like very much as a kid in high school would do i got a job doing the morning announcements which is like like super cool. People love that kid.

I had that job too, but it let me do sketches. Right. So instead of doing like morning now, since I would do like crazy sketches and stuff and like, you know, I was like 15 and that became my thing, you know,

it was just like funny. Right. Would people tell you in your high school where people like, Oh, you're, you're going to be on SNL someday. Yeah. Kind of.

I mean, like not, not like as open as that. Cause I think they were jealous, you know, in your high school where people like oh you're you're gonna be on snl someday yeah kind of i mean like not not like as open as that because i think they were jealous you know that would have been like what a black mark to put on a kid like you'll definitely be on snl by your junior year trust me i've seen a lot of people come through this starbucks like but i But I was voted Hollywood. I don't know what the superlative was, but I was not a popular kid per se. And I was not in the plays. I was in the school plays.

Not a Tezbo. No. And I never wasn't in the talent show or anything musically or anything like that. But I was voted Hollywood. Most likely to succeed in Hollywood or something. I think it was was because we have an s corp yeah yeah most likely yeah most likely to know the definition of schedule f but um my high school has a bunch of people who have graduated from it and at the time who graduated from who went on to like succeed and they were pissed they were like him they're like i like

go to new york every day and work with a voice coach like yeah this guy like cuts up south park and puts his voice underneath it like some of them are on law and order like one of them won a tony yeah no like i went to the same high school as chelsea handler and jason. Oh, wow. I never thought of Chelsea Handler for some reason growing up in New York City. She is. Yeah. She's a Jewess from Livingston, New Jersey. Ah, Livingston. I went to high school in New Jersey. I already moved back. Got it. Got it. Got it. My parents, they didn't have their career set when I was born. I was born very young. So they were still actors and in a band until I was like eight. And then my dad went back to medical school, moved the family to Chicago. Then after medical school, I was like 13, 14, moved us back to New Jersey, like 20 minutes outside of the city to start a practice. Oh, wow. But it sounds like you said you'd watch these comedy shows with your dad. So he must have been into comedy.

I mean, that's still all he wants to talk about is like. That's great. Actors and theater and my career and where I fit the pantheon of stars. Pitching you ideas. Oh my God. Constantly. He read. Yeah.

He loves when I, when I book something, he's like, gets offended if I don't send him the script immediately. Oh, wow. That seems like a generational shift where parents used to be like, well, you're going to go into medical school or you're going to become a lawyer. And I swear now it's, well, no, you're going to please tell us you're going into show business. Yeah, no, I mean, my parents also were so cool like i was lucky enough like i wasn't as cool as my parents which i believe is a is a generational thing as well you know what i mean like right my parents generation the first generation like they were fucking cool like my dad was the first face of

levi's button fly jeans he's like so handsome and ripped still oh wow and like my mom my mom their their act like they used to have the funniest like vaudeville like they used to open for joan rivers and like oh my god you know oh wow yeah like so like i was this i didn't have any friends because we're constantly moving around i was like kind of chubby and i i like would like shake your hand with a buzzer be like like you know like you know it's like a weird like joking nelson right you know like right right right and so that was like an odd thing because all my other friends like they were like not as they like their parents were dorks you know right so when i showed like a flair for for my parents were like yes do it like they were like finally he likes something he's not just like smoking weed like at least he has

like a interest they put every like i went to the new york film academy when i was like 15 and learned how to edit on a steinbeck and stuff while all my other friends were like you know off on teen tours and stuff like my parents were like no do it go do it and i rebelled against that by like putting off acting school after high school i was like no i'm not gonna do it i was like i'm going to medical school i was like i'm going to the university of arizona my mom was like no i was like i'm gonna make communications my dad was like no what a threat yeah i was like i'm gonna get a job at one of my friend's dad's offices my mom was like we don't have a son i'm gonna get a pension after 10 years of vesting yeah they just were like i remember that moment

they were like look we're not gonna stop you but we're not like we're not happy about this right yeah we will sit shiva for you so at what point were you then like all right well fine yes you know it was weird like i got to uva and i had a great time like met a bunch of friends and like instantly was not was like this is awesome it's like if you don't go to class you're just on vacation like right you know it's basically just a warm school's famous for party yeah yes and so i did that for like two years and was like on and off academic probation and just like spending all my bar mitzvah money on drugs like just like not you know in the desert cashing out israeli bonds at like a puma county

you know like just like not a great time but i was like at the same time i was also it was young learning about life right i was learning about life. I was also learning, like I felt on the outside, even though I was not on the inside when I was, you know, in high school, obviously. But it was like from giving up on, even for like two years from like, you know, 18 to 20 from like being like, I'm not involved in that. I'm not even seeking out comedy. I'm just like, you know, I'm just like one of the funny guys, you know, like I was really unhappy and like really depressed. And my best friend had hooked me up with another good friend. And, uh, we went to see a show at the

upper citizens brigade. And then I was like, like okay i'm never going back to arizona wow wow you just immediately it all crystallized yeah i was like oh people talk like i had that feeling when i was like a 20 year old kid and i was watching like you know like rob riggle and paul sheer and jack mcbrayer like, my skin was like on fire. I was like, Oh my God. Yeah. And I wanted to walk on stage. Right.

Like, I literally remember like that, like my hair, my whole body was like, I'm walking on that stage, you know? Wow. Thank God I didn't.

But like, I, I was like, that's, that's what I want to do. It was the voice of God. Right. Yeah. Kind of. It sounds like fucking wriggle being like, get up. I was like that's that's what I want to do it was the voice of God yeah kind of it sounds like fucking

Riggle being like get up wow and they didn't seem that much older than me right you know like it all seemed attainable

and and Amy was there Amy Poehler I had seen her on her Amy Poehler yeah and I had seen her on her her television show I knew the upper

citizens brigade had a show because i had kept up with comedy central they just get show on tv yeah there you go and so i would like identified her as being on television was like oh it's like a linear it just seemed like grad school i was like i just yeah sign up here and at the time there was nothing else really going i, there was like this alternative comedy scene downtown that was older than me. I didn't get to like pianos and stuff like that. I was too young. I couldn't even go into a bar. Right. I was 20. So I missed that whole thing because I was like, well, this is a school. I can go here at 20, you know? Yeah. Right. And that was it. My parents will understand this. Yeah. And my parents were beyond, they were like, yes, thank God. He's learning a trade.

They were so happy. Oh my God. And they came to every single show from my, from my student show until, you know, up until my mom passed away i think she was going to see like ass cats and stuff like wow oh wow yeah they loved it because they were like they understood it right whereas most parents wouldn't understand it was so easy for them to be like oh my son's on stage getting laughs from a bunch of people underneath the supermarket living out our dreams yeah he's very happy and very good at it like that seems like that's enough you know and there was no pressure to do more than that it was just like very exciting time and that lasted probably way longer than most actors would have

liked so was it during this time that you started getting cast in conan sketches or how did that start happening yes uh that started happening. I probably the way, you know, it was like another crazy thing about that time in New York specifically was the wealth of talent that was just like around, you know, like hanging out completely, not even just hanging out,

just like learning and bombing and drinking and drinking and doing bits in in diners and stuff was like right you could do that every night with a different person who would go on to make over like a billion dollars at the box office right it's true you know i mean that sounds insane yeah everyone in retrospect was famous it's a fact yeah i i was talking about this the other day with paul uh sheer and i was like i think if you really did add up like the amount of projects from the time that we were in new york the amount of people that we that i had uh taken a class with or right done a show with or you name it like been involved in that scene had a flyer that said like this name,

this name, this name. I bet that you would be at probably more than $5 billion. Yeah. Wow. And at the time... At the time, it was like you couldn't throw a stone without hitting one of those people. Yeah. And some of them, I think some people take off where you're like, oh, absolutely. I saw that coming from day one. And then some people you're like, wow, wow. Okay. They're a billionaire. Them, huh? Yeah. comedy in this this job is like you know john ham doesn't break until he's 45 right right it's like if you stick with it if you stick with it and you have something to offer right like you will yeah you will find it it may not be like tomorrow or next week or whatever and it may be something

that you have to like think of it may not be like casting you right if you want to do it like you can do it i think now i had like obviously like the luxury of supportive parents and and and i'm white but right like i think now has never been a better time yeah no i i agree with you i've always thought it's it's kind of an attrition thing where it's like, you know, a lot of people do drop off and end up getting other real careers because they have to get money somehow. But yeah, if you stick in there long enough and you have something to offer, eventually it will probably work out. Sure. The real world example I would use is like, when I got to Upright Citizens Brigade, my best friend had another best friend

who was moving to New York and we got hooked up. And that kid's name is Doug Mant. Doug and I lived together in the East Village and a third roommate lives on the couch, Dan Greger. Now, Doug Mant and Dan Greger have gone on to probably make billions of dollars in television and movies as professional screenwriters. At the time, they were stank Jews

that were like transferred from Brandeis and Skidmore. I've never heard that. And you were living in the East Village. That's your formal title. They got me, even though the rules didn't allow it, a job as a writer on their NYU sketch team called Hammer Cats. Oh, I love that.

Now, I was writing a loophole. I was writing for a group that already contained two people who've made over a billion dollars. Then you had Donald Glover, who was. Oh, wow. Yeah. The star of that sketch group with D.C. Pearson, who has gone on to be a famous author. Dominic Dierkis, who has gone on to make, let's say, twenty25 million worth of television. I don't know what his box office is. He's a TV writer. And these are not what they're making,

but that's the gross. No, no, not their salaries. I'm saying the gross of what they're known for. Right, right, right. So now you have six. Then you have Fran Gillespie, who goes on years later to become the head writer of SNL currently.

I mean, and like, that was just that sketch group. Wow. One group. Yeah. You know, and like, there's probably 30 of those groups that where you could go every person, you know, is, has kind of gone on. And so I, you know, that's how I got Conan,

was at a time when there was nobody else. There was like, if you weren't funny, you were decimated and kicked out of the scene. Right. And so they started cast younger and younger from people that they saw. And so when they needed like a bro or something or a bear, a guy in a bear costume or whatever, like that was me. Yeah. I think Donald Glover did one of his first TV appearances was in a bear costume or whatever like that was me yeah i think donald glover did one of his first tv appearances was in a sketch on conan oh wow i'm sure it was yeah yeah it's just like that time those the the lack of other people around besides the most hilarious

talented people yeah right is so um i feel lucky that i like at that time went into that creepy i guess besser was living there and like signed up for that class you know right right he was sleeping in the back uh what do you have early memories of like because that must have been a little bit surreal for you to start doing sketches on late night and you were like, I've been watching this with my dad and now I'm here. You know, what was your thought going in? Was it like, oh, it's... Some people have said it's smaller

than they thought it was going to be. The studio. I spent a lot of time in that hallway, like sitting in these plastic chairs in that hallway, waiting to find out if it was going to go or not. Yeah.

Was like a lot of the time. Like a dentist's office. Yeah. I'm curious, was it a weird, some people get a little intimidated when you're performing and all of a sudden, you know, there's the television cameras with the red tally light on

and were things like that an adjustment as opposed to just doing? No. Not at all? No, I was excited. And again, like i had one gone to a high school that had like some editing booths and i had gone to the new york film academy and like i was ready like for my shot right yeah and it never really materialized into anything

you know but i was like gonna give 150 percent like not scooted in our costume yeah and i never got to luckily i never got to do one of those things. Like I remember my, I don't think he'd be upset if I said that my good friend, uh, Nick Kroll early on in his career got booked to do like a big bit with Conan. Yeah. And he was like on screen and he wasn't in a costume. He was like playing a guy. I, it was like, it could have been like guy in audience or something or like whatever yeah right and that sounds accurate he got to do it with like you know conus are talking to him you know yeah and like i never had to do that and i think that maybe i would have been uh super yeah i could see myself at the time like throwing up in a pocket.

You'd tape something and then you'd be waiting to find out if it was going to air or not. Like what? Like the one bit that I got caught from that did air was there was a call for three young boys

to come in and wear American flag Speedos on a green screen. That wasn't for the show. No, no, this was just for Conan. He just wanted to, it was just like a favor. He still loves that video. And you got cut from the favor. I don't remember what that exact bit was,

but they called my sketch group at the time, which was me and Ben Schwartz and Gil Ozeri, both amazingly hilarious, hugely successful comedians now, actors and writers. And so the three of us were like three young Jewish boys. So they called us in. They put us in the Speedos and everything. And they only used ben and gill and i believe ben actually got to be like hoisted and flown through like on a green screen in his speedo which was awesome and i was it was

so fun but i spent the day in in that speedo in a cropped t-shirt in the hallway waiting to see if it was going to be three boys or two boys. Oh no. I think the reason I got called back was because I was totally happy. I left that day being like, I just got paid my $4.50. Yeah, I didn't get the $12 because I didn't make it on. Gotta keep the speedo. Yeah. I remember

getting... We all got undressed and went to do a show. It was rad. I remember being totally like, okay, thank you. It was feeling awesome about it. Right. I'll be back. Which is delusional. Yeah. Yeah. Which is delusional. No, but yeah. You probably are thinking, okay, this is the first step and I'll be back.

Yeah. It had that vibe. And it, and like, it felt good. Yeah. You know, even though it was bad. Well, and I'm sure like you said, I mean, you're having a good attitude probably meant that they were like, okay, we have a good memory of this guy. We'll call it back. Yeah, it was like, it was nice. I mean, I mean, a lot of people. It's got a good vibe. Like a lot of my friends would make it on like all the time. Right. And at the time you would see a lot of like,

my favorite Conan writers were performers and you know, like I was a nerd about it. So I knew like who was in what sketch and who wrote what sketch and everything. And so then as you got, you know, if you went to ask out on a Sunday, you saw a stack and McCann and Fraser and,

you know, yeah. Miriam, you know, like those, you saw everybody do it, right. You know, and you're like, oh, that it just like, it's all just part of, yeah, you just do this until you do that. And then you do them both at the same time. You know, like it all just seems like it made sense to me. Right. Yeah. And you've mentioned that you're kind of pals with Brian Stack. Did you meet him? Did that all happen kind of organically on Sunday nights at ASCAD or?

Yeah, totally. Yeah. I wouldn't say pals. Like, well, yeah, we're pals. Yes. The theater does have because there's like a little bit of like when young people ascend, there's like a threat. Right. Especially if there's like older people who haven't ascended

it's a threat and so sometimes on sunday nights it could feel there was a tension like competitive yeah yeah you know and so one of my first times like stack was just so nice to me and like so interested in like what i was doing and asking me about stuff backstage or my career and like i wasn't doing ASCAP, like filling in for someone like there was, you know what I mean? Like I was like 24, there was no one literally ever. It was like, everyone was out of town. It was like Stack and Miriam, like, and he was just so nice to me and interested. And then we just kept up this like comedic report because I would see him every Sundayay and then when they moved to la we just kept in touch

you know yeah yeah well when you're in that new environment like that like you're talking about it could be a little this kind of unspoken tension and stuff you're just it's like a moth to a light where if there's one friendly welcoming person there you're just like oh my it's like a lifesaver thrown your way. And just like, Oh my God, completely. I'm going to cling to this person being so generous and nice to me.

And I think he could probably tell that until I was scared. I was scared. Why is he in our home now? Yeah. I think he probably could tell. And like, I've been lucky to have some people, some,

I mean, obviously everyone in their career is like, I've had people be nice to me. I've had some people be not nice to me. But I've been very lucky that for the most part, people like that, that I admire have been very kind to me. And so that I think that keeps you from being jaded about it all. Right. Also that, that must be reaffirming about your own talent and belonging there. When people you admire positively respond to you. That's yeah. That's a nice sign.

Right. Yeah, it was. Yeah. It was a good sign. I mean like, and there were definitely other people that night that were like, Oh,

what is this guy doing? Right. But like Brian doesn't care about that. Especially on stage. Brian is very like you can say anything he's welcoming to anything and that's the whole point in a way generous he's unbelievable yeah and that's the other thing he's so talented you know he can be generous no problem because yeah he has no and he's not like gunning for anything and so exactly it makes doing a scene

with him really great and i yeah I think probably to this day, his vibe is something that I try to bring into any new scene I do. Almost be outside yourself and look at the big picture and go, this is just a little, this isn't a big deal, the grand scheme of things

and just kind of have fun with it. I think you have to. Otherwise you're, I mean, I don't know because I've never been to. Otherwise, I mean, I don't know because I've never been to the heights of grand. I've never performed in front of a ton of people like that. But I would assume that the people that get really, really nervous and it affects their performance are the ones who can't have perspective in the moment.

Right. This is everything. Everything's riding on this. Yeah. Yes. Right. This is everything. Everything's riding on this. Yeah. Yes. Yes. People don't book auditions when they're like that. People don't, you know, do their best job interviews when they're like that. No, it just comes across.

Speaking of auditions, I'm curious when you got cast on Happy Endings, which was like a huge sitcom role. Yeah. Was that based on auditions? Did you already know some people there? I was out in LA doing my sketch show for literally packing the UCB LA and trying to get people there to watch. Representation and stuff.

The hustle. The hustle. And some casting director was there and called me in for community. And I went in for community and I read and met the Russos. And they were like, we were not going to cast you in this show, but we have this other show in a couple of months.

Can you come back to LA and read? And I was like, yeah. And then I went home and I had just gotten married. So I was like, baby, we're moving to LA. I'm doing the other show. I got a promise of another audition. Yeah. In a couple of months You know how they say people move there on a dream Well this is the definition of it This is less than that

Some Hollywood guy named Joe Russo Has promised me A first look No but I had like I had also just felt like You know it was It was enough for me at the time To

Yeah Yeah You had that tingle the spidey sense was tingling yeah i'm ready yeah um and it worked out and then and then i went and i auditioned and again luckily for me like i'm not the best i'm not the best auditioner if you can believe it i'm an acquired taste that's interesting because you seem so kind of chill that I would think that would... Cucumber cool. Yeah.

Yeah. I am very calm in the auditions. I am often wrong for it. Just going to bring up the fact that Jonathan Groff was the showrunner on Happy Endings. It used to be the head writer on Conan. Had you met him before? Or was that just a complete... No. the showrunner on happy endings it used to be the head writer on conan had you was there any had you met him before was that just a complete no i was a complete random connection and um groff will tell you like i nerded out the whole pilot i was just like wouldn't leave groff alone

everything about conan like you know really yeah i was just like wanted to know everything about the writer's room and wanted to know everything about the writer's room and wanted to know everything about those first couple of years and like was going over my favorite bits with him. And you should be hosting this podcast. That's right. No, uh,

Groff's a good guy to nerd out with. Cause he's got an amazing memory. Cause he's a nerd. He remembers everything. He's, he does. He's, he's one.

He was a five time Jeopardy champ. He went five times. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Five times in a row. I was campaigning for Groff when all that was going down for Conan to host Jeopardy! Which would have been the greatest.

Or Andy. Andy, too. That's what Groff said. Andy would be great at it, too. Andy would be great. Yeah, anything more slightly comedic. Right. So I was nerding out with Groff, and then when I got on uh uh happy when happy and he's got on the air groff was like i bet i can get you like on oh he did oh on the booked on the show yeah yeah so how did that happen he just uh well it was precarious when

happy games first like took off there were six young leads who all like got publicists right away uh-huh and there was like this feeding frenzy of people being like i'm gonna do this and i'm gonna do this and i'm gonna do this and i was and i remember being like i just want to do like the late night circuit like i gotta do late night you know and i really want to do late i don't have to go to can but i wanted yeah no it's like i don't need to do the london i remember being like i don really want to do late. I don't have to go to can, but I want to, yeah, I don't need to do the London. I remember being like, I don't need to do like the London upfronts, which everyone is like,

it's such a fun trip. I don't need to do that. Right. And it just worked out that, that I got to do Conan and it was great. It was really good. Well, and yeah,

you did a really smart thing when you started appearing as a guest, which is you kind of had a recurring bit where you'd dress up in costume. Yeah. Did you do that the first time you were on? I wore a tuxedo. Okay. So you overdressed. And I overdressed. Right. And then the second time, I think I was a Buckingham Palace guard. Yes. Right. Right. A beefeater. Yeah. A beefeater. And I didn't over dress, but I got it wrong. Right. Right. Right.

Yeah. Yeah. It's a great, then you were trying to top yourself and you, they got more and more insane. Jim Carrey as the mask, but also Abraham Lincoln. Right. Because I forgot to cancel one or the other. Right. Yeah.

That was a good one. And then Fat Man. Fat Man. The Fat Man suit. Fat Man. Yeah. Right. Yeah. That was a good one. And then Fat Man. Fat Man. The Fat Man suit. Fat Man. Yeah. I've never seen a fat suit that was that fantastic. It was great.

It was the best fat suit. It was almost like a beanbag or something inside. It looked so like pliable. You wanted to grab it. Well, again, you guys are the best. Like I had, I think I had already, Mike, you would know probably better than, than me, but I feel like at the time I had already had a little bit of currency. Right.

And so people were like into the bit. So they, that time I remember they called me and were like, what do you want to do? We can help. And so I, you know, you guys have the best. Great wardrobe people. Yeah. Costume department in Hollywood. And so it was like, when I got there, I was like, oh, this is perfect.

It did feel like I was having a heart attack like yeah the weight of the suit was like so heavy and was like when i sat down it was resting on my chest so much oh wow that i was like oh my god i can see how this is a hard existence it's actually giving me heart disease yeah did you ever like halfway through or during any of the costumes you wore halfway through an interview were you kind of like um why did i wear this did you ever have regrets about picking something out no i once it was going i mean like honestly again like conan yeah and andy and i had known and. He would sometimes do ASCOT and stuff. And then he came on Happy Endings early on as a favor to Groff and really helped us out. And so we became friends from that. Like I knew that at the very least, Andy wasn't going to let it go bad. Right.

Right. Even if like Conan hated it and was like, at least I knew Andy was going to keep me afloat. Right. There was a couple times like the Daredevil costume or I keep getting it. It's not even Daredevil. Oh, it's Daredevil. Deadpool. Deadpool. And then you took the mask off and you had the Daredevil

mask underneath. Yeah. That one, again, like your makeup was so amazing. that they had gotten the exact uh like black contact lenses oh oh for the dead oh cool wow they put them in my eyes and like i was like i can't see anything like yeah too realistic i can't see anything you gotta get these out of my fucking eyes you gotta i was like that tim robinson sketch it was like there's too much shit on me and like they had to come in and like pull them out and then and then right from there i went right on and it was like a little scramble

but oh wow but no i mean like even that was like yeah that's part of it that's like fun oh no conan love it you could tell he loved all of them because his favorite thing is having a funny guest. He'd always say like, oh, having a funny guest who's actually thought about. Oh, yeah. Their appearance. Yeah. Come with an idea. It's just, it's like a gift to him.

It's literally like walking in with a gift. Like the next five minutes you can kind of relax. He's one of the only ones that lets you do that because of that. I think there's a certain security that he has in his own. I mean, Conan knows he's the funniest person on the planet. He knows that inherently. And so no one,

no one's told him. Yeah. I know no one's told him, but he's decided. And so like, you know, like he's so comfortable in that. Right.

And knows that he's not worried about that. Right. And knows. Right. He's not worried about someone upstaging him. Ever. No. Whereas I do think, I'm not gonna like name names. I do think there's a certain element of like, don't,

let's not do anything nuts here because this is our, we do this show like this and this is what we do here. And this is how we get our clips out the next day. Right. And this is like, you know, and to me that's fine. And, is how we get our clips out the next day. Right. And this is like, you know, and to me, that's fine.

And, and those shows are allowed to have their, and Triscuits has already bought this segment. So we have, yeah, exactly. Totally. It's like,

and that is the way to piss them off. Not big week. You don't want to pick up. Right. Right. Right. No, no,

no. But like, yeah. So like Conan is always like, yeah, do it because I like it right you know it's like amusing and i always took i talk about this a lot with graph and i feel like i've talked about conan but like i take those talk show appearances like very seriously and like workshop stuff

on stage and like i think about that stuff and write it and rewrite it and go over it and think about how i'm gonna play it for like weeks when i get a talk show appearance because the people that i love the careers that i look at those talk show appearances are part of their when you ask me like what do you love about will Ferrell? It's not just the movies. Like, I love when he came out dressed as a leprechaun. Yeah. That bit. And you could find it online. Like, that's...

I love that. Yeah. And so I wanted to do that. And some places will let you and some places won't. And Conan, it could only be good. Even if it's bad, it can only be good. Right, right, right. He also loves anarchy.

Yeah. And I think you two together are perfect for that because I think you also kind of love... Thrive in chaos. Right. Yeah. Create a little discomfort before the things get really out of control. Yeah. I think it's why when we spent time alone personally, we don't always hit it off through the roof.

And he would say the same thing um because i do think like we both i think we are dangerous together in a way it's like two negative batteries right so you have to keep things tamped down yeah which is the thing i love about it because like we there haven't like when jeff garland was there uh-huh it was really fun because it was one of the only times that i've been on conan where i wasn't the idiot and it was it was just great because it was like you could see conan once jeff got involved in my bit and it was like conan was really excited to not have to make me the idiot and then we could do it together right

and it became i could feel the electricity go up again this is gonna could get someone killed right right right yeah yeah i i see what you're saying or it's like we could never date because we'd be too yes the chemistry would be too intense and i would not you need a mediator yeah you need someone to be like no no, no. It sounds dreamy. I'm glad to hear you though. I like hearing that you prepare for those appearances because I think it demystifies a little bit of like, people think like, oh, people just show up and they're funny. But the reality is being good and funny on TV requires preparation and planning.

It's not just... Yeah. I mean... A lot of work. It's like all that pre... The pre-interview is such a big deal it's so hard it's really like you guys do a great job at it but it's really challenging to like you know you never met the person you're about to talk to most of the time or you have and

you know it's like and then you're the things you're going to talk about are like basically cues yeah so like that's what when you see like celebrities backstage at a show and they're going over their note cards to go out on late night you're like what are they looking at it's like they're looking at the punch line to the joke that's going to be set up by the host that they've rehearsed right and that's good and okay i don't want to bomb on late night i want it to be special right is this a conan quote i don't know i I feel like it's a Conan quote about when late nights started to like shift into social media. And it was like, you just want good moments. You don't want like, you want to have a good moment.

That makes a successful segment. It's like a good moment. Something memorable. Something memorable. Because so much of it is like a step and repeat at times. Right. Right. Yes. Just make sure that whatever bit you do, even now I try to do it and some places will,

some places won't. I try to be like, well, I want, it's like something memorable. Right. Yeah. So it rises above the fray a little bit. Right. Yeah. Because why, what else is there in life?

Like where you can just like get in a suit and walk on. Right. Great. You did it. Like everybody else. Yeah, you did it. Like it a suit and walk on right great you did it like everybody else yeah you did like it's so easy for someone to make you look hot like yeah we're all sitting here right now we could all look hot walking out as a guest if we wanted to there were a few things i could have done to spruce things up but yeah of course but you know what i mean if you've done all the prep and it goes really well it all looks like

there was no preparation at all and it was all just ad-libbing you know which is which is the hope yes and a lot of times in conan and isaac would get there because it was like right it would just be like too hard not to comment on what was going on you know like when i get really good improvisers that makes sense right yeah and also like. You know, like when I start re-instructing. Yeah, and two really good improvisers, that makes sense. Yeah, and also like, you know, when the Jim Carrey one, like, those teeth were so big, I couldn't breathe. Like, what's he gonna do? Be like,

tell me about Sonic the Hedgehog. That's what amazed me. Like, are you distracted by the weight or just the heft of these costumes? But I guess once you're out there... I mean, yeah, you are. But that's the fun of it.

That's like... Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. For me, it came to a point where I could identify the skill set used to do a late night appearance as something that I had been trained to do my whole life. Right. something that I had been trained to do my whole life. Doing five minutes, owning five minutes with no material is something that like I've been perfecting. Like that's where I've got my thousand hours. That's the morning announcement.

Yeah. You know, like for my whole life. Like that's, I've literally been doing that. So I identified it very early as like something that felt like, oh, I understand what this is. This is like when you go on a casting, right. You know,

like I, or like when you're pitching, sometimes it even feels like pitching, you know, cause you're like talking about a project. Like I identify that feeling. And so I wanted to like, not do anything like that with Conan.

Cause it would be a waste. Yeah. You know, like it would have been a waste. Yeah. You know, like, it would have been a waste. Like, I would come off of a Conan show and be like, whoa, holy shit.

You know, so excited. And like, the emails would start coming in on the East Coast and then, you know, I'd start getting them. Right. Like, what the fuck

is wrong with you? And I'd be like, yes. You know, like... Mission accomplished. For me, that's everything. That's the whole point yeah but also i love the arc to all your guest appearances like if you edited them together like you start with the tuxedo and then you just kept building from there and that i think that's

kind of a neat it's heightening yeah you could almost do a cool montage of them and just see how you kept topping yourself each time, which is kind of, that's a huge challenge. Yeah. There was talk of one. I don't think we never got to do it, but I had talked to Damon Wayans Jr.

And what we were going to do was he was going to go out and do the whole interview with Conan as me. And then I would stay after and overdub it with my voice. Oh my God. And so there'd be a moment where Conan would be like, Adam, is that you in there? And I would be like, yeah,

Conan, I really went for it. Your makeup team's incredible. Yeah. That's great. Well, I hope Conan comes back in some form. So we get to see another,

you have to top yourself yeah no i would be so lucky to be or i just want you guys to start fucking off camera either way well like there'll be times like conan i told the story once but conan i had an office in sherman oaks uh and conan would come into the sushi place sometimes. And, and then sometimes she'd come to the counter, which was across the street. Yeah. And on the day that Donald Trump was elected, I was eating at the counter alone because it was horrific.

Three milkshakes. A horrific day. And Conan walked in and sat next to me. And I was like, I know I have to do a bit, but I feel so decimated. Right. So I turned to him and I said, hello. And then I went back to eating as if I didn't know him. And he was like, Adam, Adam.

The whole restaurant. We've met. The whole restaurant turned around. It's me, Conan. And then we sat and that was the only bit we did. And we sat and we didn't talk the whole lunch. We just were pretty silent. Yeah.

And then we emailed that night after the final call. And we were like... I think I wrote him like, we are now forever tied to each other. Yeah. He wrote back, no, we're not. But honestly, that's, I feel like you're describing his interactions with his best friends where it's like, it's just a bit. It's a bit. And then that's it. And then it's over.'s it's all a bit it's just a bit it's a bit and then yeah that's it and then it's over i operate that way so i yeah i look at that lunch is like one of the greatest days of my

life even though it was the trump election but like i did a bit with conan that carried into email right you know and like that's and you both committed the whole one i love it's like we'll eat in stoney silence no one said anything to each other we just sat there because I was like and we just sat there and he ate his like grilled chicken sandwich or whatever he made weird concoction that he put together at the counter fake healthy thing yeah it's like I never

saw someone take so long to fill out a burger custom burger menu let's go dude that was a bit too, right? Well, Adam, thank you so much for coming on the show. Do we,

before we wrap up, is there any Conan memory? I mean, you've already given us a lot, but anything that you haven't mentioned, a favorite Conan memory could be on or off screen

if we haven't already talked about it. I'm trying to think of like my favorite, like there's so many bits from when I was a kid, like, you know, old timey baseball or, you know, that like really stand out for me as formative, especially with like the idea of like talking head comedy. Right. I think the one where he was a Mountie or he went to be a Mountie.

Right. In Toronto by the Canadian border and was helping. That was 2004. 2004. So that bit, maybe my favorite Conan bit. Oh, I love him on the road with people.

Right. It's like, I don't have to worry about what Channing Tatum's movie is about to get Conan being funny. I can like, yeah, I think that's my favorite Conan. I don't have a memory of like what my favorite memory was.

Cause I, I look at all of them as the same thing. Right. They're all, they're all the favorite. Yeah. It's like, you can't look at the last one without the first one.

You know, it's true. Right. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Thank you, Adam.

Thanks, Adam. Great chatting with him. Yeah. Hey. Yeah. Guess what? I don't know. We've got a listener question.

Right, right. That's what we do after the interview. You could have guessed that. Yes. Hey, should I go ahead and read it? Please read it. Yes. Jesse and Mike, I was wondering what the show's protocol was in response to an event in which the show wanted to make a statement about. Does Conan write the statements himself or does the writing team put together something for him? Did the writing team ever proactively create statements if a major event is imminent, whether world event or celebrity passings? Thank you for your time and all the memories you've shared. Tim S.

Tim. Thanks, Tim. Tim wants to know if we pre-write obituaries for people. Tim hates comedy, but he loves- He loves- He loves when we- Somber statements. Deal with world tragedies or personal tragedies on the show.

Well, it is an interesting question because that did come up a lot. Yes, it did. And it- It seemed like it started to happen a lot more. It did. And it kind of bummed everyone out because- Yeah. I mean, I think that's a great question because, yeah, for years, I mean, Johnny, I don't think Johnny, who knows?

I don't think late night shows normally had to comment on what was going on in the world. On national tragedies. Right. That was part of, as far as I know, like, I think it all changed with 9-11. It always goes back to 9-11. And, you know, everyone... Ruined everything. And David Letterman was the first one to comment on it, and then everyone else commented. And then, after that, there would be world events or tragedies where I think all the talk show hosts felt like it was just so serious that it seemed weird to just come out.

To go on and do sketch comedy. Yeah, or a monologue that just ignored it. And then talking about something serious and then going, okay, now, you know, here's... The fart machine. Meanwhile, let's see what George W. Bush is up to today. Like that seemed like a weird left turn. So then it like, yes, there were events where Conan would just come out and address what was going on that day and then say, okay, but you know, we're doing a show and our guests are here. So like, you know, we jettisoned the written prepared comedy and then do the interviews because it's just a more somber situation. But it was a little hard to know what would kind of meet that right criteria because it's i mean especially in

there are a lot of gun violence tragedies exactly and it started becoming like oh how many sadly people you know how many casualties that was the other awful part where everyone gets numb and then you're just like uh it was only eight people just you know but it's literally that crazy metric all of a sudden it's all the time it's just an indicator of yeah how numb everyone gets but and to answer your question i for these serious where conan was going to be talking about something he would he would go off in the early afternoon and write something himself usually yeah yeah i mean you know i sometimes just talk like we'd be in a group or there'd be a group of writers or whatever and you just kind of talk out the event because it was try to process yes yeah conan always would just be like you know i'm gonna go off and i'm gonna chew this over and write something and yeah and then

he'd send it to our script supervisor john croteau and it would be on cue cards right before the show and that's when we'd all see it and go oh i mean it was usually he's a great writer turns out he is yeah yeah it turns out he's a great writer. Turns out he is, yeah. Yeah, it turns out he's a great writer, whether he's being, you know, obviously hilarious, but when he has to be serious. He could do that too. He's like a laser, I think, yeah. So, you know, inevitably we'd be like,

oh yeah, that's, you wrote something great. And I think those kinds of speeches would resonate. If they did resonate with people, which I think they did. It's because I think the key was it was truly from Conan and from his heart. Yeah. And happening in the moment. Yeah. And just it was his take and thoughts on the situation.

The other part of the question was when there would be a celebrity death. Right. And this also would change the makeup of the show. If some, if a person who had been on the show or kind of important to the show died, then we would rush to put together a tribute montage. Right. And that, again,

that didn't happen until the last few years. Cause part of that, everyone was still alive. Yeah. But you know what? Because he's been interviewing and meeting people since 1993, things are catching up where all these friends of the show are passing away. Yeah. That's a weird turn of events. Like when Norm Macdonald died,

that was just. That was really sudden. Or someone like David Bowie who had been on the show a few times. And I think Conan felt like, was delighted having him as a guest because he was funny and personable. And, you know, you saw a different side of him.

And probably a hero. And yeah. Cause he wrote a song named heroes uh yeah yeah if it was usually if it was somebody sort of who was a big comedy presence or right was particularly important to the show or to conan personally yes it wasn't like oh madeline albright died and now we're gonna have have our Madeleine Albright montage. She was never on the show. Yeah.

In her memoir, it was one of her great regrets, I remember. And she saved it for the last most potent chapter, my things I wish I could fix. I could have been on Conan with John Goodman, and I said no. Well, I hope we answered that question. I think we did. I think we answered the question. Well, so that's our show for the week.

Sorry to end on such a somber note. It was kind of a somber note. How do we... But we're always circling towards death anyway. Yeah. I mean, that's always the subtext of any podcast. I mean, the true crime ones are so... Yeah, those are very on the nose.

They're so blatant about it, but we try to be a little more subtle, but of course death is always lurking. Yes, that's why we all went into comedy in the first place. Exactly. And if you guys have questions about death or about the Conan show, you can submit them. You can call us. We have a

voicemail line. Right. 323-209-5303. That's with a plus one area code. Can I do the voicemail line. Right. 323-209-5303. That's with a plus one area code. Can I do the email address? Yeah, yeah. You can do the email, Swede. You can write us at insideconanpod at gmail.com.

Thank you. Oh, good job. You did great. I'm obliged to say that if you like the show, you can support us by rating Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast on iTunes and leaving us a review. Sure. Yeah. If that's how you want to spend your time.

Knock yourself out. And hey, in the meantime, until we talk to you again, don't die. Right. Because you know what? We love you. Oh. Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast, is hosted by Mike Sweeney

and me, Jessie Gaskell. Produced by Sean Doherty. Our production coordinator is Lisa Byrne. Executive produced by Joanna Solotaroff, Adam Sachs, and Jeff Ross at Team Coco. Engineered and mixed by Will Becton.

Our talent bookers are Gina Batista and Paula Davis. Thanks to Jimmy Vivino for our theme music and interstitials. You can rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts. And of course, please subscribe and tell a friend to listen to Inside Conan on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, or whatever platform you like best. It's the Conan Show. Put on your hat. It's the Conan Show. Try on some spats. You're going to have a laugh.

Give birth to a calf. It's Conan. This has been a Team Coco production.