Inside Conan: An Important Hollywood Podcast - Conan O'Brien Looks Back

Episode Date: October 22, 2021

The boss man himself Conan O’Brien joins writers Mike Sweeney and Jessie Gaskell to preview this special look back season of Inside Conan. He discusses the finale of CONAN on TBS, why he can’t wear shorts in front of Martin Short, how his trip to Italy exemplifies his lifelong pursuit for stupid silliness, and why his upcoming HBO Max show won’t be political. Plus Mike and Jessie answer a listener question about their first days working for Conan.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. Hi, and welcome back to Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast. Season three. Who knew? I didn't know there'd be a season three. I didn't until they sat me in front of a microphone and said, go. We were both drugged and carried to a studio. And here we are now.

Well, Sweeney, it's good to see you. It's great to see you. I mean, I've seen you a bit. Yeah. I guess the last time we wrapped up season two. It was in January. 11 months ago. Yeah. Yeah. And we've had a lot happen since then. Yeah, I guess the last time we wrapped up season two. It was in January. 11 months ago, yeah. Yeah, and we've had a lot happen since then. Yeah. Conan Show came to an end. In June.

We got to do some live shows in the Largo Theater in Los Angeles, which was wonderful. That was exciting because it was a day-to-day situation where would the city of Los Angeles allow live audiences back into theaters to see shows? And they basically allowed it for just that two weeks. Literally coincided with the last two weeks of the Conan show. And then they kind of shut it down again. Just a reminder of what we loved about the show. Where you're getting that constant feedback. Yeah.

From the crowd. Like, oh, this is going well. Keep going. constant feedback yeah from the crowd like oh this is going well keep going and because we had announced that conan was ending the show everyone was like oh my god we got to drink this up while we can and i almost thought for a second because i could see his face and how happy he was i was like oh he's gonna retract the announcement to end the show that's right so what else have did you do anything exciting since the show ended? I did. I ran a marathon.

Oh, that's unbelievable. Not like a professional marathon, but it was 26 miles with some friends. Yeah. And we basically created a race that went from one person's house and hit all of our houses and then ended at another house. 26 miles. We trained like it was a real marathon. We got shirts made. I've never heard of anyone just, did you come up with a name for it?

We called it an LA Marathon. It was not the LA Marathon. Ah. Well, what about you? What have you been up to? I've been doing much, but you know what? I'm thinking of doing a swim that I'd have to train for. Yeah, you're a good swimmer.

Well, no. Well, you always show up wet places, so I assume you were swimming. No, my wife told me about there's Alcatraz shark swim. Oh, I knew that's what you were going to say. Oh, so you've heard of this. I have heard of it. And you start at Alcatraz and you swim to shore. You commit a crime and you get sent to Alcatraz. Right, right. You stay there for five years and then you have to chisel through the wall. Now that I'm saying it out loud,

maybe I'll actually commit to doing it. It's a year from now. It's so cool. Well, I think we should address the elephant in the room, which is, I mean, a lot of people have asked me, how are you doing new Inside Conan episodes when Conan is not on the air anymore? I asked you that two minutes ago. You did. What are we doing? Well, there's still so much to be said about Conan's 28 years in Late Night. And we had a lot of guests we still wanted to talk to and a lot of good stories we hadn't told yet. Plus, we keep getting listener questions about really specific bits

and people wanting to know about certain props and things that we wanted to find the answers to. So this is going to be a little bit more of a retrospective season. Yes. We're talking about Conan's entire 28-year run in Late Night TV. Right.

And we're going to start kind of chronologically with his debut in 1993, all the way through late night, yes, The Tonight Show a little bit, and end with Conan on TBS. Exactly. And we're going to talk about, you know, everyone's wondering about what's happening with Conan and HBO Max. So when we get updates on that, we're going to fill everyone in on the new show as well. Yeah. We're going to cover the 28 years chronologically, but it's... Give or take. Yeah. We might jump to 2007 before we talked about 2003. Don't get mad. Here are some things I'm looking forward to this season. We're talking to Conan's wife, Liza, about how they met. Very thirsty for this story. I'm excited about it too. And if it goes well, we can start interviewing his children.

I mean, sky's the limit here. Yeah, we're going to talk to the writer who actually came up with the iconic character, the masturbating bear. I don't know what more you could want to meet that particular person. We're talking to our legendary prop masters about some of the lengths they went to to get, for instance, a real sheep skeleton. Yes. For a sketch. Yeah. Ordered the night before. Well, ordered is a nice way to say dug up.

Who knew the creation of props could be that dramatic? And then we're going to talk about some of the really famous musical guests on Conan that we haven't really gotten into that yet. And it's been a giant part. The musical guests during Conan's late night career is, you know, David Bowie, Springsteen. Aretha Franklin. The first guest ever. Radiohead. Yeah. Yeah. He was like into Radiohead before they. Radiohead. Yeah. Yeah.

He was like into Radiohead before they were Radiohead. Yeah, Conan was. And a lot of behind-the-scenes stories about guests and how the show is put together. All of this is interactive. Like, we want to hear from listeners

and Conan fans, which is you, what you want to hear about. And what you, if you have burning questions, if something's stuck in your head from when you were a kid and you were up late watching Conan on late night and there was a sketch that you're not sure if you dreamed it or not, but it's still been in your head this whole time. Whether you were traumatized by it or whether you laughed at it.

So that's all coming up this season. Before we travel back to late night next week, today we're checking in with our boss, Conan O'Brien, which is mandatory for us, to talk about the final weeks of Conan on TBS, the upcoming HBO Max project, and some of our personal favorite memories over the years. Here he is. Conan O'Brien.

Thank you for joining us, Conan. Thank you very much. Thank you. For having me. You know, I haven't seen either of you in a while. We wrapped the show in late June, and then I flew east to visit family and take care of various personal matters. Really? On the East Coast? Yes, yes. That's a code for massive facelift.

The East Coast of Bulgaria. That'd be really fun. What would you guys do if I walked in today? Because I haven't seen you guys in a few months. With big plump lips. If I walked in and I just looked insane, and it was clear that I had had major work done, and my face was pulled way back.

And there was all this shit in my lips. And my eyes were a different shape. And I was clearly in pain. And you just wouldn't cop to it. I didn't cop to it. And I was just like, hey, guys, how's it going? I'd be like, maybe the headset's pulling his skin back. I have always wondered who of my friends, if I went and got some crazy radical surgery, who would say something? I know Andy would. Andy would.

Andy would be like, what the fuck? You'd have to avoid Andy the rest of your life. Fuck, it's Richter. I have to put that sack over my head again. Is that something you would want just for future reference? Would you want honesty in that case? Okay, okay. No, no, no.

I would want people to just play along and say, oh, and how are you? And not talk about it. And then the minute I leave the room, you guys are all like, oh my God, he butchered himself. You can see the stitching. He looks like a real housewife. I also love an aging comedian doing that because comedians, we're not supposed to touch our faces.

No, that's not why people want to see you. Right, and no one- No vanity allowed. I never made it in this business because people were like, I got to have some of that. That was not the appeal. Well, at least one person said that, your wife. No, not even. Okay.

She was like, I can work around. He's really funny. He's really funny. I could work around some flaws. The checks are coming in. Right. And as long as we keep the lights off, it'll be fine. But yeah, so it really is nice to see you guys. I rolled into the parking lot and I see

Jesse Gaskell, who I haven't seen for quite a while. And you look fantastic. You really do. You look happy. I haven't been outside in 18 months. I've genuinely missed you, Conan. It's really good to see you. I miss you too. I miss, well, this is our gang most, well, this is a good chunk of our gang that does the travel shows. Right. Sans Jose Arroyo. Jose Arroyo. Who's always with us. And Jason Shalemi.

And Jason Shalemi. And Jeff Ross. And Jeff Ross. I mean, okay, great. But I'm saying the nuclear core, it's the three of us and it is Jose. We're the ones that are always huddled around talking down creative stuff like which hat should conan wear jeff ross is always trying to figure out yeah jeff ross is like trying to figure out where can we have dinner tonight

he's like what why are we here uh what's the best pizza spot in haiti yeah and then um you know and then of course jason Jason Shalemi is the true warrior who's making it all happen in. But, man, I miss shooting those travel shows. And I would like to do more of those because that is my favorite kind of comedy to do is us in a foreign country in way over our heads, sometimes being attacked by angry mobs. Yeah. I'm sure if we've deeply offended a diplomat. Yeah, sure. I'm sure we've caused problems. We always go in like, you know, meeting the president of the country is in the mix and it might happen.

And as each, you know, we land there and they're like, it's going to be the secretary of state. And then like a day later, it's like, the Secretary of State's secretary just canceled. Yeah. You know what happens is there, it's always the president first, and then they start watching YouTube clips. And then it starts dropping down through the cabinet. And then finally, the assistant to the ex-chef will not see you. Right, right, right. But it is really nice to be with you guys. And I have to say the most fun thing about making a show is just the day in and day out with the people.

That's the part I always thrived on. I love the foolishness backstage. I think I laugh harder backstage at some of the nonsense and quips and just absolute tomfoolery. Before the show starts. Before the show starts. Stuff that could never air. Yeah. Right. And things are said that can never be repeated. Right. That's the joy of it. I'm definitely having withdrawal from that part of it and hoping that when we gear up for whatever's next, that we can recreate that.

Yeah. We also could just hang out, I guess. Yeah. I mean, I think what you're describing is friends spending time together. Yeah, except I'm always very conscious that you guys were paid to be there. Right.

I was going to say, I'm getting paid. Oh, you can still pay us to be your friends. I am quite certain. And it's so funny because whenever I would get together socially with people, it was always people that were on my payroll. And I'd be like, oh, isn't this great? I love these people. And they're laughing so hard.

And my wife would go like, you realize that everyone you hang out with are people that you pay. So I'm probably going to just continue to pay you all just to hang with me. I don't have any qualms with that. Andy Richter would point that out. Yeah. And then you could go, wait, I'm paying you as well. I'm paying you to just continue to pay you all just to hang with me. I don't have any qualms with that. Andy Richter would point that out. Yeah. And then you could go, wait, I'm paying you as well. I'm paying you. Yeah, exactly.

That's our Andy impression. We got it. Well, Conan, you mentioned, so we haven't seen you since the end, the final Largo show. Right. final Largo show and we haven't really gotten to talk to you about that that run of shows uh live with an audience at Largo which was really a great way to come out of the pandemic it was Kismet. We got very fortunate that, I mean, the Zoom was just becoming, it really does siphon off so much of the joy of doing a show. And everything that I love, I really, as you guys know, always wanted to be in vaudeville, and I always wanted – when I started my career in television and they put me in a room with some fluorescent lights and said, you know, you and your partner, Greg Daniels, will sit in this room and clack away on ideas and submit them, and you're never to meet or see anybody who's a performer or be involved in any way in the production of the show. I quickly felt like I'm an accountant.

Right. I'm a comedic accountant. And this is not going to fly with me. Yeah. I need to be around lights. I need to be around cameras. I need an audience to be queuing up outside. I want there to be people in crazy horse costumes. I want

special effects that work or don't work. And I want a band. And so that was the dream. And what I really wanted was a Robin Hood gang that would follow me through the forest on these exploits. Wait, I feel you veered off there. I did veer off. And we start robbing. We would take money, steal money. From people who deserved it. Yeah, and we'd wear tights.

And that part I did. That's where the analogy holds, because I have always worn tights under my pants. Under your jeans. So we went through the Zoom, and that was so leaving us feeling depleted and kind of joyless. And almost like technically you're putting shows out like, okay, we're fulfilling the requirement. Yes.

We're doing this. We're doing this and this needs to happen. And yes, okay, I just finished my celebrity interview and I hit all the points. And it's very hard to create that sense of anarchy and fun without an audience. And then lo and behold, we had planned we're going to finish up our run in late June and it just timed out that just in the nick of time when the show was rounding the bend, that final turn, and these big guests are coming in that we had audiences. And it really did feel like we're planning a wedding or whatever you want to call it.

We're planning an event that's very important to us and it's raining and it's drizzling and we're struggling. And then just as the guests start to arrive. A rainbow. Yeah, the crowds part. There's a rainbow. There's sun. Unicorns come out.

And it really was, we had the joy of audiences. The audiences were excited because they knew that something, you know, was happening. Special was happening. Something was ending. and they were fans. And then everybody got to take their masks off, I think, at the end because – At the very end. I think at the very end because they had proof that they were vaccinated. The first week of shows with the audience, it's like, well,

they can take their mask off, right? Can they laugh louder? They had to keep their mask on. They did. It was muffled. What was that like looking at? Was that weird? Like doing a show at a hospital.

It's so funny. It's the nightmare for any performer, which is that you can't see their faces. Their smiles. Yeah, and it is almost like a Twilight Zone nightmare where the comedian goes out to perform and no one has mouths. And they're just staring at him and then Rod Serling says you know he wanted laughter but it wasn't possible yeah exactly uh trapped in a never-ending cycle of no laughter it was amazing how much laughter you could hear even with them wearing masks yeah but then when we got to the final week and, you know, all my favorite people were stopping by and.

That last week was. And it was really special. And then that final show where we surprised everybody with this Simpsons clip. The cold open. Homer Simpson comes out and gives me my exit interview and getting to go to Fox right next to my old building where I was working at the Simpsons when I got the late night job, when I was told that I would be gettinganeta. And James L. Brooks was there on a Zoom. And so was Matt Groening. And that was magical to be riffing with Dan Castellaneta, who's the greatest improviser.

Yeah, you said he ad-libs. Some of the lines were ad-libs. He ad-libs so many funny lines. And he's such a great... Wow. He and that cast at The Simpsons, they're just such brilliant ad-libbers. But to hear Dan just take the script

that Matt O'Brien and I had worked on and then just bring it up nine notches with his ad-libbing. And it was so much fun. And then Matt and James L. Brooks pitching stuff. And I just thought, this is like make a wish. Like I must be secretly dying and no one's told me. Well, that's why we brought you here.

Because I feel great. A doctor's going to come in and do some bad things. Well, and when you saw that, I'm assuming that was the first time you've been Simpsonized. No. Oh, it's not. No. I see you've done your homework. Nicely done.

No. 97. You just pulled a gaskel. I wasn't born yet. Yeah, exactly. We'll edit this out. No, I was in, there was an episode, I think of The Simpsons in like 94 maybe where Bart becomes famous and he comes on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

And so it was my second go around. Yeah. So that was nice. It was like I did one really early on and then to do- Yeah, little bookends. Yeah, little bookends. Yeah. That's great.

Must have been exciting to know, like you had to do that recording way in advance. Yeah, and actually they put it together very quickly, but I would say we recorded it maybe five weeks before the final show. Wow. They got all that animation together. And isn't it nice to know you have something that cool? Yes.

It almost puts your mind at ease for the last show knowing it's going to start with this great clip. Well, you know, there are times, and it sounds like I'm bragging and maybe I am, but we've been fortunate enough to have, I would say as a staff and as a machine, we always prepared. We always did our homework.

If we went to comic-con if we put together a show that was important to us if we went to another city we would really try and get good guests but we would also really try to top load comedy i think oh yeah and so there were those times where and even in hosting the emm, I remembered us trying, we would work really hard to try and have a cold open that would kind of be a secret weapon. We liked to, you know what I mean? Yeah. You had that great idea in 2006, which was you start visiting, you just pop up in all the big shows. I go from one show to the next.

Yeah. You're trying to get yeah get to the emmy i'm trying to get to the emmys and it was that uh washing up on shore for lost on a beach and i'm and i'm and the cast of lost is there which we actually flew to hawaii to shoot and then i climbed down into the the portal which was the big thing that year was what's underneath the hatch and i climbed down the hatch, and then you see my feet punch through a ceiling, and I'm in the office from the office, and I land on Dwight Schrute's desk. And they're all staring at me.

And they're all staring at me. That's so great. Yeah, it's great. And then I visited this set of house, and I'm just running from everything is attached. It's a lot of work. To catch a predator. Yeah. And he,

I ended up on to catch a predator. And it was a great reveal. Cause I wander into this room and you don't know why I'm there. And then the host comes walking in and I realized I run away. Hi, I'm Chris Hansen. Yeah. And so,

but I remembered being backstage when that was about to hit and knowing, and you were there, like knowing, I think we've got the goods. And I always love that feeling. Obviously you don't, you can't always have that, but every now and then, I mean, that whole week of last shows was so much fun, but then to be there that last night and know we're backstage, we're telling the audience to settle, we're going to turn're telling the audience to settle, we're gonna turn off the lights, and then Homer Simpson's gonna walk in

and talk to an animated me. And that's just the beginning. That's before we get to the other comedy we have, the other surprises, and then Jack Black. And you're like, okay, if anyone's unhappy with this, that's on them. You're not getting your money back. Yeah.

But anyway, so that was powerful to like to do that last show. But at the same time, I was kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop. I kept thinking, when am I going to have the nervous breakdown where I go, oh, my God, it's over. What have I done? After the fact. After the fact. And that never happened. Yeah. You seemed really content that night. I was very happy that I think I had a little bit of a,

I didn't want to hang around too long. You know, I remember I always used to talk about that, like 28 years is a long time. And my favorite thing is we leave. We all get on this like my family and I get on this like American Airlines flight and jump and go to the East Coast because we're going to show my daughter Nev colleges. She can look at campuses. Because of COVID, she couldn't go. So we thought we're going to do that. And we wake up and we're in Connecticut. And I have a voicemail message and it's from Bob Newhart. And he's just congratulating me on a 28 year run. And he said, you know, I have to tell you, I substituted for Johnny Carson, like, I think he said, you know,

60 times or some, some huge number of times. And he said, and I know what a hard job that is. And so congratulations. And I was like, how did this become a reality for me? Right. Because I, you know, like everyone in comedy. How did he get my phone number?

Yeah. How did he get my phone number? But I. Who's doing this impression? Yeah. I am still in that category so often of, I can't believe this person knows my name. Right.

So I have kept that. If I get off the phone with like a Martin Short, I'll- Do you still feel that way? I still feel a little bit like, that was Martin Short. And he knew my name. And he's probably used to that. Yes, yes. And he's, yeah.

And he's not happy to be talking. He's usually calling to criticize me. I'm as stunned as you are, Conan. Oh, trust me, Conan. When did I make this wrong turn? It's not happy to be talking. He's usually calling to criticize me. I'm as stunned as you are, Conan. Oh, trust me, Conan. When did I make this wrong turn? That was such a fun thing. He did this great bit. Oh, so funny.

Was it our second to last show or third to last show? I think it was like four. Cause then you had the Seth Rogen. There were a lot more to come. He had, oh, and Bill Hader with the amazing surprise Paul Rudd appearance. Best of you one last time. Yeah, it was such a great happening that last week. But Martin Short, yeah, that was a great moment.

Yeah, he came, and it's so funny because he came to shoot this bit that I loved. It was a great idea. Todd Levin. By Todd Levin, terrific writer. And Todd Levin had this great idea that in that tradition of Bette Midler singing to Johnny Carson. Last show. Yeah, on his last show in 92, Martin Short would come out and sing a song to me that was all about how I'm the only one asked. There's nobody like you.

There's nobody like you. There never has been. And there's only you. There's only you. And then he starts singing a song and people, I think, in the audience thought, well, this is really sweet. Yeah, it's very.

And I loved, I love that in the tradition of, I think, our show and also Martin Short, no, if you're expecting sentimentality from Q. Oh, and that crowd, they took the hook line in secret. You could hear people going, oh my God. They were really loving it. And then I cut him off and I go, I'm sorry, Marty, Marty. And he goes, is there a problem, Conan?

Yeah, yes, Marty. This is the same song you did when David Letterman left the CBS show five years ago. And he's like, and I go like, look at the tape. And then we did a tape. And Marty, of course, was nice enough to come in and do like nine costume changes. He came in the day before. It was a Sunday.

Yeah, he came in. And shot all these pre-tapes. So he shot all these pre-tapes. So it was all a setup. And so then we show him on Letterman singing the exact same song, The Letterman. And he's saying, it was always you, only you, you're the only one. And then we come back and Marty says, well, you know, it's David Letterman. He's a legend.

And I went, yeah, I know, I know. But he also- How do you explain this? How do you explain this? You were on, it was Magic Johnson's talk show. And you showed him, they showed him singing to Magic Johnson. Who did 20 episodes of his show.

Yeah, and then- Like Maury. And it's the exact same. And then the one I just, I absolutely love was I, he goes like, well, you know, it was magic and, you know, there weren't that many. And so I figured I should do it. But then he goes, I say, okay, well, what about the fact that you did this show?

And it was Jerry Springer. And it was real footage of Jerry Springer's show while there's a massive fight. And women are pulling at each other's hair and screaming. And he said it talks in that one. And people are throwing chairs. And in the middle of it, it's Martin Short in a tux singing, there's only you, it's only you. It's the stupidest looking thing. You know, I was just. And he played it great.

Like coming out of each pre-tape, he's just like. Oh, well. Well, that does ring a bell. It does ring a bell. And then, of course, another behind-the-scenes tidbit is, so it's the Sunday before, and I'm driving to the theater because we're going to shoot all the pre-tapes. And I'm driving in to the Largo Theater. It's really hot because it's June. It's a really hot day.

And I suddenly realize I'm almost at the theater and I'm wearing cargo shorts. And I never wear shorts. Yeah. And I immediately thought, shit,

Martin's shorts gonna tear me apart in front of everyone. I actually had that thought. Of course. Marty is gonna be vicious. Why did I wear shorts today? Why?

And then I park and I walk in and Marty's not there yet. And I go up on stage and we're all chatting. And all of a sudden I hear, ah, young Conan. And it's Marty. He always calls me young Conan, which is nice. That is nice. It's nice when you're 58 and someone's calling you young anything. But, ah, young Conan.

And he goes like, ah, shorts. And then just a machine gun. And, of course, all the writers, everyone's there howling. Oh, yeah. Howling and saying pretty much, get him, get him. Oh, yeah. And he's like, no, no, no. We'll hold him down for it.

Yeah, no, seriously. And it's just like, no, no, no, no. We'll hold him down for it. Yeah, no, seriously. And it's just like, no, no, no, no, listen, it's always nice to see spam rolled into, like whatever, just going after my freckled legs and who knew that you had an autoimmune disease? And he's just like going, I mean, vicious body blows and everybody. How cathartic for everyone.

Yeah. All of you loving. Sure. Great. Conan's getting torn apart. Because you do that to us. Oh, I would never do that.

Another thing that happened that week that I haven't talked to you about was with Seth Rogen on the show. Yeah. You took a little hit off of a marijuana cigarette. Yeah. How was that? Well, you know, it's really interesting because I didn't know that was a surprise. I did not know. Oh, really? You know, people always think, well, what happened was.

People assume everything's planned. Yeah, everyone assumes everything's planned. I had heard that Seth might smoke out there, and I'm fine with that. I think I had been told he may hand it to you. When I'm saying I'm told this, I'm being told this, like, the band's playing. Yeah. And I'm being told this. That's usually what playing. Yeah. And I'm being told this. That's usually what happens.

And usually you're told things at the very last second. I mean, famously, I mean, I don't even know if people know this, but Yoko Ono was on our show in the 90s. And I remember the band's playing. Yeah. They came out and they said, she's going to bring a bag out and she's going to try and get you to get into the bag. And the band's playing. And it's Yoko Ono. You don't say no to Yoko.

Go do a monologue. Yeah, yeah. And so my rule is if something is presented, you have to do it. You have to. It's the yes and, the ultimate yes and. Yeah. Especially with the cameras on. So Yoko, I remembered her kind of daring me to get into this bag with her.

And I think she thought, well, the uptight talk show host isn't going to do it. Right. And I said, let's go. And I get in the bag. And so I'm in a bag with Yoko Ono. And then she whispered to me, we both have to hand out a piece of clothing. So I took off a shoe and handed it out. And she took off her shoe and handed it out. I love her running a schmaltzy bit from inside the bag

producing it i was like we need to keep going and she's like no no just the shoe and i'm like oh no you may know how oh no oh no yeah you you may know how avant-garde artworks i know how comedy works yeah more clothes have to come in. Yeah. Right. So I, she didn't do it, but I just started handing out more clothes. Oh, I love this was happening in the bag. And it was happening in the bag.

And then I think I step out. And I think I- You're in my bag now, Yoko. Yeah, exactly. And I think she was like, oh my God, this is not what I thought was going to happen. But I, that was a huge moment for me anyway. Yeah. It was probably her ninth bag of the day.

She had just done it with Jerry Springer. That's right. Springer didn't have to hand out his clothes. That was two hours ago. So here I am. Seth takes out the cigarette, the joint, and he hands it to me and I take it and the crowd is obviously like, you got to do it. Yeah. And I'm thinking, I got to do it.

Yeah. So the first thing I do, which is real, is I don't smoke pot. Right. And not to say I haven't tried it. I have tried it and I've been around, people have offered me and it just has just has never been my thing yes i have no issue with anyone doing it at all i encourage everyone to do it but it's not my thing and so i go to put up my mouth and the crowd's chanting wrong end and i'm that's how much i don't know as i don't i didn't know which end right i had the wrong end and that wasn't you don't want to put a lit Yeah Yeah

That was a real Seth crowd Yeah Oh they all knew Yeah I mean I think in the back row They knew that's the wrong end So I flip it around And then he lights it up

And I take a deep breath And I let I got it in my lungs And exhaled it And then Passed it over to Seth Who passed it to Andy And of course Andy's a pro

Andy was like Yeah yeah, gimme. Yeah. Andy had to put away his joint in order to take the joint in his mouth out in order to take the one from Seth. Just a minute. Hold on. God damn it. Two joints already going.

And a fifth of Maker's Mark. Now, just hang on. God damn it. No one told me. Two joints already going. And a fifth of Maker's Mark. Now just hang on. So we all do it, and then we throw out a commercial, and Jeff Ross comes running out. Right. Jeff Ross comes running out. I was like, what are you doing? What are you doing? We can't show that on TV.

We can't show any of that. And he's really panicked, and I was thinking, wait a minute. Am I wrong? Or it's like, isn't it legal and aren't they selling it right at Walgreens now can't you get this at Whole Foods then I just started talking to the crowd like I'm just being told by my producer we can't show that and we ended up airing that too we can't show it but what what are you talking about it's just this but it wasn't didn't TBS actually say, oh,

wasn't there in a, in a way he was sort of, maybe I'm not remembering this correctly, but TBS was like, oh, we're not sure if we can show this. No, no, they weren't sure they could show it.

Right. But then they ended up, it was fine. Yeah, because it's, it's like, it's legal. No,

it literally is like, it's up there with chewing gum now. Right. It's not that Jeff was wrong. Right. It's just that it was easily fixed. Right, right, right. And also, you know, yeah, Jeff comes from an era where you get arrested and spend a night in prison if you've got, you know.

So, you know, he fought. And imagine two joints in your mouth. Yeah. He was freaked out, but it all worked out. You had a great live energy. Yeah, it was great live energy because, and also, think for better or worse, people know me and they know that, yeah, I put some English on the ball and I exaggerate some things. But I am that guy who would put the wrong end of the, I'm not. It's on brand.

Yeah, you're not faking it. I'm not faking it. Yeah, and it all lined up but also you love when thing you kind of love when things go off the script and you're yes well i think that almost calms you like oh it oh chaos and disaster no no i am you know i grew up you know one of six kids and we were all packed tightly together and I am comfortable around chaos. It's very interesting because I'm a planner, I'm a worrier, I'm someone who is no stranger to anxiety. And when everything's going according to plan and going just as it should, for some reason I'm not thrilled.

And then when I have all those qualities, but when things start to go to shit or when something goes wrong, I'm in hog heaven. Well, it's probably a relief because it allows you to just go with it and not have to expect perfection. It's a huge relief because what am I gonna do I'm not in control

right you know it's one of the reasons why it's really fun to be a guest on shows you know the times that I've

you're welcome most shows shows with you know what no but like I really when I get to go on

when I've been invited Stephen Colbert has had me on his show and I go on and it's just you know I think people can tell I love not being the one

that has to get us to commercial right I love not being the one you don't have to be the babysitter you get to be the baby you get to be the baby.

You get to be the one that's throwing shit. And you're literally next to someone who has that mantle of all the worries about on late night of the 28 years of doing late night television i was always just overjoyed when people went off the rails because and when a sketch went off the rails yeah because suddenly it's not right my there's what can i do right except enjoy it yeah and hope it gets worse right you know that was really nice the last, were you ever outside of your body, like, or were you just like, once the show started, the final show at Largo, were you just like. You seemed hyper-focused. You were in the groove of doing another. Yeah. Do you know what I mean?

Yeah. I was not outside my body. I was not. And trust me, I'd love to get outside this body. But I was very, this is what I do and I'm going to do this. And it was important to me that we try and stick the landing and that it have the right tone, which was celebratory, really fun and then a little moment at the end where I could sort of in my own you know brief way try and explain what the idea was that the show really did start with a almost religious belief in silliness and Robert Smigel and I both believing in this very specific kind of comedy and wanting

to at the very end kind of say yeah there's this intersection of the silly and the smart and it's we don't often hit the mark but when we do hit, that's the point of what we're doing here. And so I was very happy that I was able to kind of say that succinctly. Yeah, I was really, because that's daunting to have to articulate your mission. Yeah, I wanted it to end with, by the way, there was an idea here, and I think we stayed true to it. And that's very satisfying to me i one of the things that's just happened in the last it's really started to happen more and more in the last five years or so is that all the mainstream really popular comedians that i love right they'll they always want to talk to me about things that happened on our show in the 90s and they were in grade school and they'll tell me how much it meant to them and that was just delightful to me i'm so grateful

i'm just and i keep telling them the same thing which is for so many years in the 90s i would walk into a restaurant and you know people who were who were baby boomers then people in their 50s and stuff, would look at me and go, oh, it's that guy. You know? We have kids who are in bed by the time this shows up. I didn't know that there's like

a fifth and sixth grade John Mulaney and Bill Hader. Yeah. You know, there's this really- Seth Rogen. Yeah, all these kids watching who I didn't know. And I'm always saying to them,

couldn't you have gotten to me sooner? I would have felt better. Fifth grade. Line up some fifth graders to vouch for that. Yeah, fifth graders with a time machine would have been really nice. But that was, you know. That was really nice,

all these people kind of coming forward. I know. And it was very natural. There was a huge outpouring, yeah. Right. It seemed very organic. We didn't do press. I didn't want to do a big press thing.

We did one – I did one interview with this guy, Joe Adalian, who was a friend of the show in like 94. Right, since the beginning. Since the beginning. And – 93, actually. Wow. And he was always there in our corner so i talked to him that's nice um but the idea of didn't want it to be this big push of any kind wanted to just be natural uh and organic somehow and then uh that was really nice and i was glad

because we shot the show at the largo theater we able to – there's a courtyard and we were able to have this kind of impromptu party. The last night. And the last night. And that was really nice because that felt – That was great. I mean, to do a show and the first thing we did is we all went up – I went up to my dressing room and then called for the writers to come up and we all, all you guys came up and some of you had drinks

and we were hanging around no it was nice, we were hanging around in this tiny dressing room at the Largo Theater while a big party was going, not a big party, but a party was going down in the courtyard and we were just having this really nice moment together because

the engine room of the show. Everybody was together. And some writers who were no longer with the show came back. John Groff was there. John Groff was there. Berkeley Johnson. He was the head writer for so many years. And Berkeley Johnson, still the best looking writer

I've ever seen. So beautiful. Just a beautiful man. Gorgeous man. And hilarious writer. Very beautiful, just a beautiful man. Gorgeous man and hilarious writer. Very beautiful. Oh my God. My bit with him for years,

everybody would be in the room pitching ideas and Berkeley would be sitting on the couch and Berkeley is a very good looking- He's like a Fabio type. Yeah, well, no, I wouldn't say that. An intellectual Fabio. Yeah, but he's very thin. Yes. But he's very thin. Yes.

But he's very good looking. And then he has this like long flaxen hair that's parted in the middle and he wears it long, sort of like a surfer dude. But he'd be sitting there wearing flip-flops and people would be pitching things and then Berklee would go, you know what we could do?

And I'd go, Berkeley spoke. Everyone quiet. And my whole thing was that I was in love with Berkeley. And I'd be like, yes, Berkeley. Go on. Go on. And everyone would be laughing and it'd be like, well, I just think, whatever it is, we'll do it. Oh my God, the way the light is hitting them.

Highlights in your hair. And so it was, I mean, what a weird bit for the host to have with one of his male writers is that he's in love with him and makes everyone shut up whenever Berkley starts to say something. But yeah, it was really nice because John Groff and Berkley

have all gone on to bigger and better things, but then they came back and that was really sweet. And it was, and then we all went downstairs. You know, the one thing I didn't do that night that's unusual for me is I – you'll back me up on this, I think, Sweens. I am a stickler for if there's a crowd outside. Right. I always go out.

Yes. And I sign every single thing people want. You do. And that's just my rule. Yeah. And I sign every single thing people want. You do. And that's just my rule. And sometimes at Comic-Con, there's a massive amount of people who are after some of these shows at the Chicago Theater, and they've got pop dolls, and they've got stuff, and I will just go until there's nobody left.

And a lot of times there's stuff you're supposed to be doing for the next day's show. Yeah. And everyone's kind of, you know, but it's like, no, this is part of the job. Yeah, people are here. It's part of the job. The one time I broke the rule was the last show. There was a big crowd waiting

and we had this really nice show and then this really nice time with our group and I looked at my wife and I was like, I don't think I can do it. I just can't go out tonight. And sign pop toys. I just don go out tonight. And sign pop toys. I just don't have it. Yeah, sign pop toys.

In the box. And I think by signing them, I actually devalue them. If you have one that's not signed. Is that erasable? I went out in back and my wife and I left. And the writers had given me this beautiful print of a still of me and Homer on the set from the cold open. And all the writers had signed it and framed it. And it was really lovely.

And so I just, I grabbed that and I walked right out and got in the car and said, I just have to go home. You threw that to the mob to distract them. Yeah. You tore down the road. Right. I'm feeling emotional again. Remember? I mean, that was, it was a special night because it didn't feel, like you said, it felt organic.

It wasn't like we had hired, you know, this like catering, cater waiters. And it just was a very sweet. I think in a weird way, you you know there was a lot that was mandated by uh covid so yeah it's not like we could have done all of that and i'm thinking in a way things happened the way they should have happened so we were only at largo because of covid right there was that energy in the room because um everyone had been vaccinated and masks were just coming off. And it was before Delta.

And there was this pocket of time where- We had two weeks, basically. I swear to God, we threaded some sort of cosmic needle. And I think- It's great when you get a virus to cooperate with you. They were big fans as well. Everyone's got a price. You know how hard I had to work to get the virus created several years ago? Conan is very organized.

I plan. That's why I'm a planner. He's a good planner. What we need is it's got to start in China. No paper trail. That was really nice. And, you know, now it's very strange because I do the podcast. I do my podcast.

Right, right, right. And then- That kind of, there wasn't even much- Oh, there's no break. Yeah. I mean, we had taped a few in advance just so I could have July so that I could spend time with, you know,

getting my daughter around to campuses. But other than that, I had to get my ass back here and then get around to campuses. Right. Other than that, I had to get my ass back here and then get back to work. But the day in, day out, you know, go to the theater,

practice the comedy, all that. It's, uh, I think it still hasn't dawned on me. Are there ever, I was wondering if you ever read stories. I mean,

it's only been a few months, but if you'll read a story and think like oh damn we would have had a really good a new take on that i have to say this i have to say my answer to that is no because and i am not kidding the news this summer has been so bleak and i don't even want to get into all of it. But every day I would turn on CNN and it's just a litany of horrors. And it really does feel like end of times. And I would think I would have exactly the opposite reaction. And also.

It's so relieved. I know our show. Our show was never. We would do topical stuff, but only in the silliest way. And when the news got too dark, we would revert to robots, dog puppets, aliens, a man in the audience who's afraid of three inch bees. Whatever we had to do, we would live off of the weirdness in our minds. We would block out the outside world and live off of the absolute insanity that fueled us. And whatever I do next will be silly and probably not reflecting what's going on.

Maybe not topical. Yeah. Well, I mean, I loved, you know, as both of you know, because you went on so many of those Conan Without Borders, I mean, on all of those Conan Without Borders shows around the world, I really liked the comedy of the universal. So, I mean, you can watch the Cuba episode today. You can watch any of those episodes today, and they're not aggressively topical. They really are just— They're still communist. Yeah, exactly. They're fish aggressively topical. They really are just- They're still communist. Yeah, exactly.

They're fish out of water. They're just all fish out of water stories. And it's me trying to, just rubbing up against completely foreign cultures and doing my awkward thing. And that's the comedy. And so, man, that episode with Jordan Schlansky in Italy is I think one of my, maybe my all-time favorite because it's completely pointless.

And it is a complete dose of insanity. Fart sound effect. Insanity. You and this guy who works on the show. Yeah. Wait, are in Italy all of a sudden? I take a guy who works on the show who annoys me. Because he likes Italy.

Because he claims to like Italy. And I take him and that's it. Right. And we have all these adventures. And I lose my mind a little bit. And it's all recorded. And it is. We did lose our mind.

Yeah. That was done in four days. Long shoot days. And traveled half the length of the country. And it was pretty brutal. And you were in very tight quarters with Jordan. And the truffle hunt. Oh, my God.

When we go on the truffle, we go on a truffle hunt. That's my favorite. That's my favorite, too. It is so late. It was late in the day. We had been working, working, working all day. We hadn't eaten. We're exhausted. We're supposed to go and do a wine tasting,

which we're kind of looking forward to, it's getting a little chilly out, it's cold. It was off season and the sun is going down. But before we lose the light, you guys said, well, we're supposed to do this truffle hunt with these two guys that have truffle hunting pigs. No, truffle hunting dogs. Truffle hunting dogs.

And so I'm punch drunk at this. I'm just, I'm tired. And I had that thing I get sometimes where I'm in the van and I'm falling asleep and thinking I can't do it. And then suddenly I rouse myself and I say, I've got to just go right now and do this truffle hunting thing. We've got to make it work. And I got this kind of crazy energy. Manic. Manic energy.

So we head into the woods, and I'm not having it. Like, the guys are trying to be cute and pretend to find truffles with their dogs that they clearly – It was all planted. It was all planted. It was all set up. They had planted them beforehand. It was a tourist trap. And I snap. It was all planted. It was all set up. They had planted them beforehand. It was a tourist trap. And at one point, I'm hopping around like a bunny.

And I'm plotting with them to kill Jordan. They don't speak any English. I'm howling and baying at the moon. I'm exposing them for the scam of hiding truffles. I'm shouting. I just completely lost it. We shot. And it's clear they didn't really speak English.

They didn't speak English. They didn't know what was happening. I'm keep confiding in Jordan that the jig is up. This is, we're being scammed. It all happened in real time. It was so much fun. And then I think we went Nate. My favorite thing happened years and years ago.

You weren't around, Jesse, but Mike, when we went to Finland. Yes. And, you know, it had started organically where someone noticed a fan in Finland. They saw the show a day later there. And this is on NBC in, you know, the 2000s. It was a bit we did where you would insult somebody's country for them. And people wrote in requesting. And you were working through every country.

And then I got to Finland and someone pointed out you look just like the president of Finland, who's a woman. And it turned out if I put on glasses, I looked exactly like the president of Finland. So we started doing bits about that. And then there was an election going on in Finland. And they were seeing it the next day of Finland. So we started doing bits about that. And then there was an election going on in Finland and they were seeing it the next day in Finland, my show. And this became a big thing in Finland because no one has ever talked about them before.

And so every night this American show was talking about Finland and the president of Finland and the host was putting on glasses and pretending to be the president of Finland and they were losing their fucking minds. And it started to affect the election. They were having an election. Yeah.

So then the New York Times wrote a piece that the opponent was complaining that this NBC late night program that's shown the next day is influencing the election, which is against the law. And then it took off and we were like, I announced on the air I'm going to Finland. And before that, you started making – Commercials. You made commercials to get her reelected because you were like, this is money in the bank for me looking like her. It's great. I've got to get her reelected. Yeah.

So we made ads to get her reelected. In Finnish. And I'd speak phonetically. So then the next thing I announce is I'm going to Finland. I get on a plane, we fly, we land. And then I remembered someone gets on the plane when we land in Helsinki. They're like, well, how are you going to deal with the situation? And I said, what situation? They were like, you don't understand. There's a huge crowd outside the airport. It was like 4,000 people. 4,000 people.

And you're going to need to address them. And I'm like, what? And then Chalemi scrambled and he got a megaphone. And they also said, you're going to need a ladder. And I said, why? And they said, no, you don't understand. It's 4,000 people. So I make my way out.

Madness outside the terminal. they're getting violent yeah and i get up and i address them all in uh you know i think i had a speech but i i tried to just address them all and uh turns out fortunately a lot of them do speak uh english better than us better than we do and no more American history than we do and then we jump in a van and they're chasing us in vans and then there's remember we tuned

into the news and there was around the clock coverage yes on three different channels like literally people with microphones outside your hotel

outside the hotel and people no outside the hotel and a guy saying well we are told that Mr. O'Brien is sleeping now

it is now two o'clock in the morning. He will reappear in the morning, but we'll stay here and keep you posted. There's you peeking through the curtain of the window. I was supposed to meet the president of Finland on Valentine's Day. And I remembered that we decided that I should get her like a big box of chocolates and some flowers. Because, I mean, when I say the entire press was there, I mean, everyone with a camera in Finland. Helsinki today.

Yeah. And it was at the presidential palace. And it was at the presidential palace. So I go. They take all these pictures of me greeting her and handing her flowers and chocolates. And then I'm brought into a special room where we chat briefly. And then I walk out and there's a giant – and I'm led down these steps. And there's a big iron gate and behind the gate

are thousands of people I look at them and I just said we did it and the whole crowd cheered and I remember saying to myself fucking did what? What the fuck did we do? We didn't do anything and then I said this is the

essence of what I love my favorite thing in the world is it's meaningless I mean Italy was meaningless there's so much that we've done perfect metaphor in comedy it is like the masturbating bear is there any meaning or purpose to any of it? No. And I love that stuff. And I think comedy obviously has become much more political and people are upset and there's a lot of, and I think I've always gravitated towards where's the giant bee? Where's the bear in a diaper? Where's the completely meaningless diplomatic trip to Finland that accomplishes nothing? I just want more.

Just waste everyone's time and money. There's more countries, right? Let's keep doing this. A trip to Italy where I expose two down on their heels truffle hunters. Well, that was my favorite thing in Finland. It was the Finnish version of the Truffle Hunters. You were ushered into a dark soundstage, and there were two blonde, like, 10-year-old boys who had pre-written questions that they asked you in phonetic English. They spoke no English.

They spoke no English. And you just lost it and started going after them in English. You can see me lose my mind. They're two little blonde boys. They both look like kids that would be in The Omen. Right. So imagine two little boys with blonde hair

and like little black turtlenecks and they're very severe and they have these questions and it was this weird show that they had in Finland that was conceptual. And I sat behind them. I sat between them. And they'd look at each other after they read the question. And their questions were things like, you say that it's television you do, but do you think your mind is there too?

And they didn't know what they were saying. They were just phonetically reading things. And I start- Once you realize I couldn't understand you. I start going mad. I go completely mad on camera. And I said, I said, I said- Welcome, murderers.

I said, welcome, welcome. It's so nice of you to have me to your little Nuremberg trial. And it's like, they're not laughing because they're just on to the next question of, you know, you say that darkness is light, but is light also darkness? And it was this insane fever dream and I lost it.

It was so great. I break down. And afterwards, it's one of those things where, because you were, it wasn't planned to be part of the show that we were shooting. I was doing them a favor. You were doing them a favor. And it was one of those things where the second we were done, we would run up to them and go, okay, you can get us a copy of this, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And they're like, oh, yes, yes, yes. It's like, no, we have to. No, no, we're leaving with it. In fact, we're taking the boys until we get the footage. We didn't leave the building until we had it. It was just like, we've got to have it. So great. Well, I think there's still an appetite for this stupidity, and I hope there's more to come.

What is clear, and I believe that you have spoken to my wife, is that I cannot hang around the house. It is very clear that my work is not done. And I hope that there'll be some appetite for it. To me, it's a lifelong religious pilgrimage that only ends with my death, which is I must keep going places and making nothing happen of any consequence that benefits humanity in no way. But pays some bills.

Yeah. Well, thank God that you're still not sated yet. I just want to say to people, if my show taught you anything, then it didn't do its job. Go back and watch it again. That's great. Yeah, watch it again in real life. You're just watching a man's mind unspool. What's wrong with you?

A lot of people are asking me, like, what's the HBO Max show going to be? And then I don't know how this happened, but when it was first announced, the descriptor was it's going to be a new variety show starring Conan O'Brien. That cracked me up. A format that I think peaked like in 73. With Charles. Yeah. Well, I know exactly why that happened, which is someone in the machinery somewhere, I think, at the network threw the word variety in there because we're in the variety comedy category.

Which is an old term. That's just an old term, comedy variety category. Really broad. So literally, I think a lawyer just said, Tony's going to work on a, and then he said, I'll take care of this. This will legally cover us no matter what we do. And what's it, why don't you have a. This will legally cover us no matter what we do. And what's it?

Why don't you have a louder? I'm having some water. Oh, sorry. You haven't talked enough? I don't do that. I don't. When I do a podcast, I'm not making goulash as I do it. It's your daily calm with pouring water.

Anyway, literally a lawyer at somewhere in the bowels of some massive, I'm thinking, you know, building in Mordor said, oh, what do we call it? Well, it's comedy variety. So just say a variety program. So anyway, that hit the press. And I had friends saying, so you're bringing back the old variety show. Seriously? Yeah. And so this is a true story.

I met someone who was trying to get in touch with me who's a juggler and a magician. Oh my God. Who said I would be perfect for your new variety show. Finally, a variety show. And I've been waiting 30 years. And I think that people thought that I'm gonna, you know, it's gonna be

bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, it's the Conan show. Put on your hat, it's the Conan show. Try on some spats, you're gonna have a laugh. Give birth to a calf, it's the Conan show today. And that there'd be

all these dancers with red wigs on and then I'd come out, it's Conan! And I'd come out and go like, hey, how's it going? And I had a tuxedo on.

Giant Conan letters. Yeah, we got a great show today, but first of all, bum-ba-dum-bum-bum, and then I do a song. And then you birth the calf. Yeah, exactly. And then, you know, it's my first guest from Dynasty, John Forsythe. We're going to pretend to be cabbage patch dolls. We're on this shelf and no one's buying us.

And I'm not buying this bit. And anyway, that is completely not what's going to happen. What did that person say when you told them? They were juggling as they asked me. And when I said there'll be no juggling, they dropped all the balls. And the chainsaw. And now his name is Lefty. But what I'd like to do is something that does not come on every night obviously because

and I've just I've been thinking we have this this world now in this streaming universe where people can make fewer of something and maybe it comes on once a week and I'm thinking I really want

to double down on the things that I love that we've talked about on this show which involves getting out of the studio and combining a bunch of the elements that I think maybe make me a little different because whatever I do I don't obviously I'd like it to be something that might contribute or feel like it's needed. There's so many late night shows now, and I've done so much of that. I feel like it should be something that is more unique to me and something that maybe we can spend a little more time crafting.

And I have a lot of ideas. I have a lot of very specific ideas. And you'll be seeing this coming your way. Oh. In no time. Oh my goodness. Keep your eyes peeled and if you don't have HBO Max yet, don't get it until my show shows up.

And then get the free trial and then watch them all. Yeah, exactly. Then cancel it. I think that was a good plug. The show's gonna be called Watch Me on the Free Trial Only. Part of me does now that I've just made fun of it

wanna come out with a full-on giant swing variety show. Yeah, I know. I was gonna say, now you're telling me. Conan's gonna crack it. Grab your red wig, it's the Conan show. With Kristen Wiig. I just rhymed wig with wig. Please have a fig.

It's the Conan show. Cher's your first guest. Yeah, Cher's my first guest. On her farewell tour. Man, that's coming out any day now. Yeah, sure. We have started asking everybody at the end of every interview if they have advice for someone trying to do what they're doing. And we were actually wondering if you have advice for yourself when you started all this, this business, now looking back. Do I have any

advice for myself? Young Conan O'Brien in 1993 or even earlier. I'm very hard on myself. I really take it very, very seriously. And I wish if I could go back to visit myself when I'm starting my career in 85, or especially when I'm starting the late night show in 93, I wish I had been able to say to myself, like, you, you have less to lose than you think you do. You know, I really thought if this late night show doesn't work out that I'm dead, I will die. And I made the stakes that high for myself. And I think working hard and taking things seriously and being intense certainly has its place. But I also got really lucky. I think we survived because we were really lucky, and that had nothing to do with my intensity.

So I wish I had been able to understand back in 1993 that even if this thing doesn't work out, something will. Whatever happens now, we've put some work out there that i'm proud of and we had good intentions and so now we're playing with house money a little bit like go continue to go and be silly but don't think you know it's all do or die right all right great thank you great great great you Conan Thank you Thank you Oh yeah That's great It was fun

It was fun It was fun My goodness And no one got hurt Alright that was Conan O'Brien It sure was Right? Believe it or not

We're gonna push our luck And do a fan question Yeah On our first episode back We love them so much. We're going to tackle one right now. This question comes from at Tim Yu underscore Ing. Tim Young.

Tim Young. Yeah, that's what it is. Maybe. What was the most challenging thing about starting your job at Conan? Oh. It was all challenging. Well, I think for me, it was. Yes. It was all challenging. Well, I think for me, I was so intimidated to be among the funniest people I'd ever met,

including Conan himself. Right. And sitting in that writer's room, it's almost like you go up to do double-dutch jump rope or something, and you're sitting at the edge, and you're waiting for the rope to hit the right spot, and you just keep waiting and waiting to jump in. And I had such a hard time jumping in to the improvising that was happening because it was so fast and it was so funny. That's a really good analogy. My memory is the exact same thing, terrified.

Because you're just literally put in with this group and they already have this amazing shorthand with each other. Yes. So my thought was, I'm going to keep quiet for a bit and try to get a sense of the rhythm. But then you're like, oh my God, you're supposed to be talking. It's that weird balance. Right. And you're like, do people notice that I haven't spoken in four weeks? You know what helped me?

I started the same day with another writer who jonathan groff and we knew kind of knew each other from stand-up comedy like i remember the end of our second day we're at the elevator together and we just looked at each other and started crying no we did he's like he's like are you absolutely terrified and i was like oh yes I'm so glad you said that like I would have felt so alone if I didn't have that other person just acknowledging that to me because it was it's really yeah I don't want to build it up too much but it's it's a scary new situation I idolized the show too before I got there so it was like this is my literal dream job right And what if it doesn't go well? Or what if they hate me? Right.

I get fired right away. Right. So you're so in your head. And it's also, that's like the worst place to be when you're trying to be funny. And it's so funny because when you came in, you just seemed like you were totally at home with the crew. Really? Yes. I was faking it so hard.

That's funny to hear all that. It is funny to hear. Part of that feeling of, oh God, I shouldn't be in here. Some of that doesn't really ever totally go away. So I think, speaking for myself. Totally. And then when you find out all the people you idolize are also feeling insecure, then you think, okay, well, I guess I'm on the right track.

Right, right, right. I'm with like-minded, miserable people. There's solace in that. Well, that's a great question. Thank you. And we are going to be doing this all season long. So ask us more questions, please. Fire away. You can email us at insideconanpod at gmail.com or give us a voicemail at 323-209-5303. And we're also going to post on social, maybe we'll tease some of our upcoming interviews. And that way, if you have questions for specific guests, that would be fantastic too. And less work for us to do or

to prepare. Exactly. If you have guest suggestions, if you want to write an intro for us. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next week. That's right. And wait, one more thing, Jessi. Oh yeah, that's right. We like you. Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast, is hosted by Mike Sweeney and me, Jesse Gaskell. Produced by Sean Doherty. Our production coordinator is Lisa Byrne. Executive produced by Joanna Solotaroff, Adam Sachs, and Jeff Ross at Team Coco.

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