Inside Conan: An Important Hollywood Podcast - Conan O’Brien Talks Conan Without Borders: Ghana

Episode Date: November 1, 2019

Conan O’Brien himself returns to talk about Conan in Ghana with Conan writers Mike Sweeney and Jessie Gaskell. They talk about the hilarious Sam Richardson joining the trip and his roots with Ghana, one of the powerful moments of the trip, and some of the meaningful items Conan has brought back from his Conan Without Borders trips that now inhabit in his office.Watch Conan Without Borders: Ghana on November 7th!This episode is brought to you by Vital Farms (www.vitalfarms.com/coupon), Lightstream (www.lightstream.com/CONAN), and Candid Co (www.candidco.com/insideconan code: INSIDECONAN).Check out Conan Without Borders: Greenland: https://teamcoco.com/greenlandCheck out Conan25: The Remotes: https://conan25.teamcoco.com/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, welcome. Hi there. I'm Mike Sweeney. I'm Jessie Gaskell. And we're writers on The Conan Show, and it's great to be back with you. It is. On Inside Conan,

an important Hollywood podcast. And this is our season finale. It is our season finale. Wow, it's 36 episodes already. Yes, I thought

I was going to say years, but it's just 36 episodes. Feels like it. Yes, yes. Zipped by. And we are.

No, it has been fun and I think, you know what, I think we've improved. Uh, yeah. From the beginning. I don't want to go back and listen to the beginning because that's terrifying but i've improved by talking less uh that's always a plus maybe well i was gonna say that too yeah no no no it's been fun and um we actually have we have a great guest today we are going to end our season the way we started it yes with the the host of our show and a guy whose name is in in our title not hollywood

and it's not a it's not a coincidence right they're related yes he employs us conan o'brien's our guest yeah so it's going to be uh we'll talk to con. And then at the end, we're going to do some listener questions. Finally, we've got a lot of good ones. Yes. We've been, for some reason, saving them until now. We've been hoarding them. And we're talking to Conan for a specific reason. Because Conan and Ghana is about to premiere.

On November 7th. Yep. And so we wanted to talk to him about what went into making it. November 7th. Thursday. November 7th. Thursday, November 7th. Good. 11 p.m. on TBS. Yes, on TBS.

Everyone watches the clips online. Yeah, it's also on teamcoco.com. Right, of course. Anyway, here's Conan. What are we gabbing about here, gang? What a treat to get to see you guys. Isn't that great? We're going to talk about the show in Ghana.

It's coming up. We're celebrating the year of return and your trip to Ghana. So let's talk. Yeah. That was fantastic. I had never been to Africa before. And we knew that it would be nice for us to acknowledge the year of return. And it all lined up really nicely uh

obviously those people listening uh uh who are familiar with uh with mike sweeney and jesse gaskell they do a lot of the work along with jose arroyo and uh a couple of other people in making these shows happen so it worked out out really well. I was very pleased. I loved going to Ghana. It was a real fascinating experience. And I thought the people were fantastic. They were great. They were great.

Really friendly. Everyone we'd talked to beforehand who had spent time in Ghana, a lot of people took a year off to just, they'd go there for a short visit and stay a year, and everyone just was like, you're going to love it. Everyone raved about it. And how great the people are. And I had seen this. There's this amazing footage you can see, I think from 1964, when Muhammad Ali goes to Ghana,

and he lands at the airport, and he's the new world champion. He's very outspoken and charismatic. And all of Ghana turns out everyone in Ghana turns out to see this this great man uh get off the plane and then they drive him around in an open back uh like you know truck or jeep and he's seen by everyone and there's just thousands and thousands of people there so I was convinced I would get the same I was I kept thinking when I as the plane was getting close get get ready. Maybe we can't see them now because they're hiding.

Yeah, it's a surprise. They're going to jump out. It's a surprise. And what kind of open vehicle. And what's your Muslim name going to be? Yeah, my Muslim name. I had to figure that out. A lot of work.

So not quite the reception Muhammad Ali got. Trying to remember. Yeah, but I would say somewhat proportional. To your boxing ability. Yeah, to my boxing ability. Let's just say I got the welcome I deserved. Please welcome the champion of his office. Yeah, and we had one of the things that was great was from Veep, this hilarious, he's an actor, improviser, sketch performer, writer, Sam Richardson.

Right. We had found out that, you guys found out that he had roots in Ghana. And so just on a total Hail Mary, we said, is there any chance he would come with me? And he said, yes. He is such a delightful guy. Yeah. He was hilarious. I mean, the second, I had interviewed him before and he'd been great, but you never

knew who someone's really going to be until you're hanging out with them in an airport. Yeah. Yes. You know, airport. Lots of hours of layover. You lay over until you're on a layover. And he was hilarious and friendly right away. Couldn't be a nicer person.

And so quick. I mean, just so fast in his improv. It helped that we paid for his trip. I think that really put a smile on his face. Yeah, he liked it. He got it. I think he, yes. smile on his face. Yeah, yeah. He liked it. He got it. I think he, yes. And,

he hadn't been there in a long time. No, since he was, yeah. I think he was there when he was like 19 or something. It had been a while,

like 15 years. Yeah, and he, and also he, it's funny because you can see in the special that I'm, I have this expectation

that he's going to be my cultural ambassador. And very quickly, I'm like, so tell me, what is this? And he goes, I don't know ambassador right and very quickly i'm like so tell me what is this and he goes i don't know yeah i live i lived in detroit uh and i'm like now tell me of this what do you mean tell me if this is a kfc yeah you idiot he did know that one yeah he knew kfc it was a kfc uh but um uh it's and and he was just the perfect you know, we like to find, as we did in Korea, when we can get someone who's showing me the lay of the land. Yeah, we took Steven Yeun to Korea. you know and both times we got a bullseye with somebody who's

as Steven Yun is as well really funny and savvy and also culturally sort of hooked in

and a great just a great improv partner so he was great and Steven Yun and the sweetheart was similar to Sam

in that he he's like I haven't been here in a while and he he didn't know the language too well right he didn't know the language too well. Right, right. He didn't know the language too well. But he actually, he knew a lot of things.

He had friends that were connected into the social media in Korea. So that helped. Well, and in both cases, I think they helped us say like, oh, you know, I think this is, like we didn't want to ever do anything inadvertently offensive. Right. And so it's nice to have someone who's more familiar. Yes. Right.

But very sensitive, too. Like, oh, I don't. When we're offensive, we want it to be on purpose. Right. On our terms. And we'd like to announce now that I'm going to be shown around France by Gerard Depardieu. Gerard Depardieu, who I hear is a little cranky, but that he can eat 600 eggs in one sitting.

That shouldn't even be a joke. That should be pursued. No, no. Wouldn't that be great? All costs. Sort of a, and Gerard Depardieu not quite knowing who I am and not knowing what this is all about

and being clearly upset about it. And then we take breaks every now and then for him to swallow a giant boiled ham and then lay there like a snake that swallowed a bank safe, just rubbing his belly. We're waiting for him to recover and then he's back up again.

He's constantly, you know, getting us into trouble. Now, that would be great a travel show where we pair up with a total disaster yeah who's not accepted by their country yeah someone who

their own country is not sure or take someone who has not even like go to France with Nick Nolte you know and just

doesn't even have a relationship to the country oh who's here I'm having some coffee brought in. Oh, very nice. Hi.

By an intern on the show who, Mike, is from New Jersey. Oh, that's exciting. And Mike, I bring that up because Mike, anytime New Jersey comes up, he's immediately like, you know. Yeah, I get really super excited. Are you from Ridgefield? Well, I can't talk. There's a dealership near there that sells Kias. I think you're jealous

of my knowledge. Thank you. Near the interstate. Of all parts of Jersey and its infrastructure. Bye. I didn't find out where she was from. God damn it. No, he does. He is obsessed with all, this is me shaking. That's me jumping up. This is me jumping up and down with a full

bladder. If you do a travel show in New Jersey, I will be your Gerard Gepardieu. You know, we should, yeah. You would get us in trouble with your strange riffs. You know, references. What's your coffee drink of choice, Conan? Just a coffee. This is not my coffee drink of choice.

Regular Joe for a regular Joe. Thank you. You guys have a nice, smooth banter. Yeah. That's right. You know, I have to say, I don't. We have to fill the time. We mostly play jazz.

You're filling up. On my podcast, Sona's there and there's just constant. And then Gorley, the producer who enrages me. And so there's a lot of us just getting angry with each other or accusing each other of terrible crimes. And then I come in here and it's this peaceful environment. Very peaceful. Yeah. Talk about eggs.

We do. No, I'm very excited about Ghana. And one of the things that's interesting about this trip is enough time went by between the shooting of it and the putting it together that it's a nice surprise for me. When I'm watching them, I'm pleasantly surprised that, oh, hey. You're like an audience member. Yeah, because my memory is going very quickly. Because we're screening. We screen segments after the regular show to try to get a feel.

Yeah. We'll edit down a version. See what's working and not working. Yeah. And we're always surprised. But yeah, so we had the same experience. Explain why, what the delay was. Because we went to Ghana in June

and then we were working on the show. Right, it was going to air. But then the- Then President Trump announced that he was interested. This is, by the way, President Trump is up to so many hilarious hijinks that this is 600 goofy things that he said or did ago. But there was a moment in time when he announced that he was interested in buying Greenland. So we rushed to Greenland to try and secure the purchase. We threw that trip together in three days.

In three days. We rushed over there, and then that had to air right away before Trump did seven other silly things. Right. He married an Austrian. That was before impeachment. Yeah. Before impeachment, yeah. In the old days, you'd be like, oh, you've got three or four weeks to get that out.

Right, right. In the old days, if Jimmy Carter hit a rabbit with an oar, look it up, kids, it really happened. It happened. He was in a canoe. He was in a canoe and a rabid rabbit, I'm not even kidding, a rabbit that had some kind of disease,

jumped in the water and started swimming directly towards his canoe. And this was when Carter- Because of the Holy Grail. This is like 1979. And Carter really didn't need this kind of publicity at the time because people were questioning, is he, he's not really a cool president

and he seems ineffectual and he seems kind of, you know, we're not buying it anymore. And then there's this great photographers were on the shore and you see Carter whacking at this rabbit that's swimming towards him with little its little teeth out and it's got foam coming out its mouth and and he's whacking at this rabbit now Jesse I'm we're telling you as a as a much younger person there was a time when you could live off that for a year but uh Trump would do that today yeah that would be a meme for a second and every late night

show would do their quick rabbit bit probably us included and then the next day at a formal ceremony he would give an ostrich the congressional medal of honor and then the day after that he would inadvertently fire a gun in the ovalval Office and kill the prime minister to Austria. And you're like, okay. And people would forget about whatever he did the first day. Yeah. The rabbit loved me. It sounds so quaint.

But back to the issue at hand, which is Ghana. We were on Greenland, but then back to Ghana. Yeah, but Ghana was a fantastic trip. And also, I love it when I clearly, I love being a fish out of water. I think that there's two things I really love about this Ghana show. Obviously, there's the comedy of just I am the whitest person ever. And people are just, as we found when we went to Haiti, there are people that just are fascinated with my freckles and my hair.

Your hair was a big hit. Hair was a big hit. And there's this great guy who was talking to us, and he was so fascinated with my hair. And he's like, it's like feathers. It looks like feathers. And then he was looking at my, he was so funny. He was looking at my freckles and he was like, are you well?

Are you okay? And I'm like, yes, these are called freckles. And he clearly thought that I needed a bone marrow transplant. That my immune system was failing. I think people were worried that it was contagious too. Yeah, sure, sure. And it may be. And you were like, do you think I'm dying?

At the seizure scene he goes, maybe. Maybe. He was hilarious. There's stuff like that that's very funny. And you were like, do you think I'm dying at the seizure scene? He goes, maybe. Maybe. He was hilarious. There's stuff like that that's very funny. And then there's also the importance of – one of the things, and there's no – obviously, it's not comedic at all. bumping into, we bumped into a large group of Americans who are descended from people that were, you know, enslaved and taken from Africa forcibly. And they've come back and they were part of this big group. That was incredibly meaningful. Just hearing what it meant for them to come here. They were so impressive, these people.

And there was this woman, I want to say, I don't know if she was maybe 20. There was this woman who, or she may even have been younger. She could have been 18. But she just said how important it was for her to come back to Ghana because she said, my whole life I've been aware every day day of my life, of the color of my skin. And then she said, I came here to Ghana, and I don't think about it. Because, you know. It's the first time she's ever been somewhere that she wasn't.

Right, and I had the experience of, we went once to a nightclub, and I went into it, and I think I was the only white person there. Yeah. And you guys came in behind me, but I remembered walking in. It was also a very hip group. It was a very hip group of these just gorgeous people. And I walk in and I'm the only white skinned person there. And it was, I had this moment of, this is how they feel, you know, if they're in so many different areas of the United States. And I had that feeling of, oh, I'm very aware of what I look like.

And so, I don't know, that was part of this trip that was this added bonus of clearly it was very powerful. We went with Sam to one of the castles. I think they call them castles, but basically it was a fortress where they kept the slaves, the enslaved people, before they were shipped, you know, forced to get into ships. And go across the Atlantic. And go across the Atlantic. And go across the Atlantic. And so we went there and, you know, it was, obviously you can't go to a place like that without it being very powerful.

And I'm there with Sam. And at one point, you know, that was really powerful. This guide said, would you like to go down and see the dungeon where people were jailed, you know, like hundreds and hundreds of, and Sam said, I can't, you know, and I think he had, he had seen it once before. I think he had seen it once before and it was, he just didn't, couldn't go back down there. And, and I was like, okay, this is without getting too heavy. There's so much about people can approach the slavery in this country

as like academic, you know? Yes, I'm aware that between- Theoretic. Theoretically, you know, it was from 15 or from 16, you know, 04 to, and then of course, the slave trade stops, but the slavery doesn't really end until 1864. And then we've got reconstruction and it becomes this very dry, it can become very dry and then you're here and you're like, oh my God, oh my God, it's very, very powerful. And so I was very glad. I like it.

We've had travel shows that are complete silliness, like the trip to Italy with Jordan, and it's all sugar calories. And those are fun and I do love and appreciate those. But when there is an opportunity to sort of be a human being and get to feel things that are that powerful and have that coexist with comedy and have them coexist naturally, I love that. I think that's really cool. Yeah, and have them coexist naturally, I love that. I think that's really cool.

Yeah, it's a nice balance. And I think that's, I mean, that's something that's unique about these travel shows that we've done is we do find that a lot. Right. And try to bring in something that might be, I don't want to say educational,

but just. Right. Well, also, it's not even, because I'm, you know, wary, I think we're all wary, but I'm very wary of being a lecturer. I never want to be that. But there are times when it's so natural to just for me to be learning. It's almost like people are watching me learn and experience something.

And so it's not me lecturing or talking, you know, telling people this is what you need to know. It's, I think it just, I love it when it happens in an organic way, as I think it did in Cuba. There were so many trips that we've taken. Armenia. Armenia. With Sona. With Sona, where you're sort of seeing me get into this situation that is probably 80% silliness and fun, but then, yeah, just as a human being,

you see me confronting past wrongs or pain or things that are also actually really beautiful and not in and of themselves funny, but culturally just amazing. And so I like when the shows, you don't know what you're going to get all the time. And that's, I think, one of my favorite things about the travel shows is that when I come home, I mean, I have a room at home where I have, I always wanted like an old desk where I would one day write my great work. And of course.

On a typewriter. Yeah. And it was the year 2000 book. It was 1994. Paperback. Out of print. Out of print. But no, I always, even when I was a kid in a nerdy way,

I wanted, I used to dream, you know, other kids would dream about, you know, I'm going to hit a home run with the Yankees or, you know, whatever. And my dream was like, I'm going to have a desk where I settle my affairs. I really did want to have, I swear to God, and I would sometimes think about. And a special stamp. Yes. No, I loved, I really wanted to be a mid-level bureaucrat, you know. I'll have a stamp and I'll deny people their papers because it's after five. And I really wanted to be like a mid-level functionary.

What an attainable dream. I know. Aiming high. So, yeah, aim right for the low middle and you will maybe get there. So I, when I finally was able to get a house and there was a room and Liza said to me, this could be your study. I was like, I could have a study?

And she was like, yeah, you could have a study, you nerd. And so I got a nice desk. But the reason I'm bringing all this up is that from every travel show since the first one, Cuba, I've brought things back. And I put them in strategic places around the room. So I really love that my room is becoming, like you walk in there and you see, oh, what are these, all these tin badges? Those are bus driver badges that I bought at a

flea market in Cuba. And they're badges that people that drove the buses in Havana wore in like 1948 and 1950. No, this was actually post-revolution. So it would have been in the 60s. But I have a bunch of those. I have an armband that you're supposed to wear if you're working near the DMZ in Korea that you tie around. Right. The press.

It's a press thing. And it says in Korea, like, don't shoot me. I'm allowed to be here. So I have that. I have from Greenland, someone gave me a model of the plane that we flew around in Greenland. Oh, right, right, right. Air Greenland. Air Greenland. So I have that on my desk, this red model of a plane with two-engine prop plane that just says Air Greenland. That's great. No one else has that. No one. Yeah. Yeah, I covet that.

The fleur-de-lis you got from Gerard Depardieu. Yeah. From the big. Yeah. That's coming. The ham bone. It was excreted. Licked clean.

It was excreted. Licked clean. It was excreted. He eats the ham whole and then excretes the bone. And not through his anus. We'll tell you more about that later. Watch the show. Watch the show. But he can detach his jaw just so. That's another thing he can do.

And he just sticks it in like a Flintstone. Yeah, but I really loved, this place is filling up. And I've got this hand fan that a woman gave me in Ghana. And at one point it was really hot and I bought this fan. Oh, yeah, I remember that. I just started fanning this woman. Yeah. And she was laughing because I just stood there fanning her really hard for a long time. And you could tell she was laughing, but also really appreciated this ridiculous figure

fanning her. And I don't know if that's in the show or if we actually just... I don't think so. No. I think it was... Maybe we posted it on Instagram. No, we posted it on Instagram. No acts of generosity.

Yeah, it was very popular, right, on Instagram, just because it was this ridiculous, it was on a loop, like a boomerang of me. And this woman's just laughing, and I'm being an idiot, but actually providing some, finally, some use, briefly. But yeah, that's... Soon you won't leave that room. It'll be like, Dad.

Well, soon I won't be able to leave that room. Right, right. I'll be like a hoarder that's trapped. Exactly. Because my Gerard Depardieu ham fell and blocked the door. Yeah. Yeah, we were trying to think of some funny kind of behind the scenes things. Right.

Because this is called Inside Conan. It is. Exactly. Well, one thing I loved was we tended to eat lunch really late every day. Right. And then we'd just eat on the bus because we were starving. And there's no breaks scheduled usually. No, that's the other thing I will stress that I think would surprise most people is we work really hard. We work around the clock.

And there are so many times where we're standing around a van and we've been told that they've got lunch for you. And it's, and this has happened in many, many, many countries where it's just like, yes, lunch is here. And you look at, it's like a shred of some kind of beef or something. They're like, eat that and shut up. Or like a single slice of cheese. No, and you do. You eat it and you shut up and then you're on to the next thing. But it's go, go, go, go, go.

There's really no time. But, yeah. But in Ghana, we, well, I think it was one of the first days, and we ate at this place called Papaya that was fried chicken, and you would get, like, chicken in this hot sauce. And we just loved it so much. That's all we ate the rest of the week. But then we ordered it for the entire rest of the week.

Yeah, it was, it's a fast food. I think they would consider it fast food, but it's nicer than fast food. Yeah, you sit down and eat there. You sit down, and they bring you your order on a tray. But my God, it was so amazing. And we had it. And then I think they tried to give us something else and we were like, no.

Papaya. Where is papaya? And we need the sauce. And you got hooked on the sauce. Oh, I brought back so much sauce. Right, they shook you down at the airport. It was so sad. Like instead of cocaine or,

it was 600 packets of this hot sauce fell out of you out of literally out literally out of you you're secreted on your body and that's all we have to say it's pretty descriptive um you also i i thought our listeners might want to hear because you i know bring some specific things when you travel. You bring some of your own food, like breakfast food. I did. You know, it's funny. I get on these different kicks, and there was a kick that I was into for a while that, I mean, I always, like, I try, like, the latest diet fad.

Not diet fad, but just nutrition fad. And I'll get really into it. And so there was this time which I think I've kept some of it, but someone convinced me you need to keep your metabolism up at all times, which means you have to have hundreds of small snacks during the day. And you have to drink incredible amounts of water. But it was all about getting your nutrition. I mean, I think there's your body temperature, you know, your metabolism up. So I had these, like, packets of peanut butter and jelly and stuff.

That's what I remember. Right. And they were just, you know, I would have them, like, in my back pocket. And I would have them in my suitcase. And, like, a lizard, you know, would be doing something and be like, it's been 20 minutes and I take out this packet. Give me my goo.

Give me my nutritious goo and I would suck on this thing and go. And then of course, you're just like, oh, I made a pact like, no, I'm not, I don't want to do that anymore. I was wondering, you're saying past tense no no because i don't i've i i don't want to do that anymore i just feel like it's i just feel so lame you're always sucking on pat no no i know but i i i stopped i just was like i'm done i don't

want to do that anymore now look that's not to say that I won't get into some other. Oh, yeah. Something new is coming. I think these entertain me in a way. So I'm sure I'll get into another thing. And it'll be, you know, I need to have veal. I need to have a veal cutlet every 11 minutes. And so I wear these medallions, these veal medallions around my neck on a chain. Raw veal. And I just eat them up, you know.

It's weeks away. Well, but it is. I mean, it's an incredible feat because we're all there and we experienced the same flight that you did. It's always a long flight and you're jet lagged and you're in a different time zone.

Maybe people pick up a virus on the plane, but then you actually have to go in front of the camera and be high energy with strangers. You know what is, and this is going to sound like a joke, and it's not a joke, but I do have a good work ethic, but so does everyone at this table. I mean, frankly, I don't know what your work ethic is. Kevin, our producer. Yeah, Kevin, but I swear to God, I have no idea.

He's a very cool cat. Clearly a millennial. He's never voted in his life. He's vegan. Yeah, I'm sure. No, he really is. He asked me who Jimmy Carter was. I mean, he is young, young, young.

Yeah, no, I could tell. But most of the people I work with have a really good work ethic. I think I have a really strong work ethic that I got from my parents. But I would say the other thing that helps me a lot is I have kind of a neediness that helps, which is I really need

things to be funny. And if I'm not being funny with someone, it really bothers me. And so I think that's the thing because I know when we were in Australia, I've looked at the footage. I got really sick in Australia. Yes. And I had a fever and was sweating through my shirt and getting really bad chills.

I got chills so bad at one point that I couldn't hit the elevator button and I needed you guys to help me. That was still so scary because I thought you were doing a bit. You thought I was doing a bit and I couldn't hit the elevator button and I needed you guys to help me. That was still so scary because I thought you were doing a bit. You thought I was doing a bit and I couldn't stop shaking. And that's how you're going to die is people will think you're doing a bit. Yeah, of course. Like Dick Shawn on stage.

Look it up, kids. This joke, I just got out and took the stairs. I'm like, what is with the shakes? I'm sticking around for this. But anyway. You had to do a live show there which I think yeah we had a live show to do

in front of a giant in a giant giant theater and but I was that didn't help I was but then I've seen the remotes

that I did while I was sick and I have no I'm on the beach I'm running around and I realized that no it's just I'm so afraid

of I get in those situations and I I can't just i don't know i'm i'm i guess what i'm trying to say is uh it's the opposite of a humble brag there's probably something not great about me that for that's not that's a flaw in my character that makes me try really hard to compensate it sounds like like on an interview, like, tell me your greatest weakness. It's that I work too hard. Right.

But you know what I mean. I do have a... You almost find it as a personal challenge, I think, sometimes. If something's not, like, immediately eliciting comedy, then you double down. Then I double down, and then you guys are like, wow, you really worked so hard, and you really tried so hard. And I'll think, yeah, it's not double down then I double down and then you guys are like wow you really worked so hard and you really tried so hard and I'll think yeah it's not

for a good reason there's some amount of ego and also deep insecurity involved well when we hit the ground you kind of

like if you run into somebody who's fun to talk to it just kind of cracks things open right away if we you're jet lagged and you get out there and it's a little slow going somebody who's fun to talk to, it just kind of cracks things open right away. Yeah, yeah. If we, you're jet lagged and you get out there and it's a little slow going initially.

And it's dry, yeah. It's like, it's doubly exhausting. Well, also, there are, you can always, it doesn't happen much, but there are times where we've been shooting a remote in the United States or we're shooting a remote that's right here at Warner Brothers or right at 30 Rock, and you're not getting, you're panning for gold and you're not getting it, and there's this feeling of, you know what, let's walk away,

and it's very little ventured, very little game, but it's like it wasn't a big, you didn't take a big swing, but when you, when everyone gets their passports and everyone goes and gets shots at the doctor and flights are booked and this whole apparatus is put into motion and we all say farewell to our loved ones and then get on six flights and go someplace and cross time zones and land and you're there and you're like, hey, here's a guy. Excuse me, sir. You know, where can I get a hat like that? Where can I get a hat like that? I don't know what to do.

The hat. And we're all looking at each other and then someone's like, well, go over and try and get that guy's hat. And then, no. And then, oh, wait, this isn't clicking. And everyone's looking at each other pure panic i go into a very very dark place of the hat that didn't work and then jose will come up to me and go there's a there's an old one man on there over there in crutches what if you what

if you mocked his hat i'm like i'm not gonna mock a guy on crutches and Jose will be like I didn't know those were crutches he has no legs Jose I didn't see that and then we're just all standing there and then sometimes you just go okay you know what

just tell me what to do you go the other way just tell me what to do and I'll go do it but that's never the case well the point is it's

there always has to be I like my favorite part of a travel show is when you have a couple of good ones under your belt. A couple of good remotes and I feel like. Then you can relax. Then I can relax and then everything we get is gold, is not gold, but it's found. Meaning, if this doesn't work, I know we have a decent show. We already have enough. And even just having only two good segments, it's like, okay, we're getting there.

And that's never, I mean, that never hasn't happened yet. Oh. What a crazy thing to say. This ship will never sink. If we eliminate that from this podcast podcast does the jinx still hold yeah no but I mean it's

you're sort of on the precipice of a cliff every time you know I have an example which is one of my really

probably the original travel show should be considered Finland because Mike Sweeney and I went to Finland this is before you were born, Jesse.

2006. What is Finland? Yeah, 2006. And we went there, and it was this just really funny, amazing trip, this real happening. And it's a long story, but basically I had become part of the news, part of involved in the election. And so we really leaned into it, and then it became a news story in Finland. And then I went to Finland and there was a big crowd

at the airport and there was a big scene and it was really fun. And it was our first exposure to, oh my God, I love doing these silly, this is really, whatever this is, I love this. And I, and, but we had a moment in Finland where we went up to the Arctic Circle. And so Sweeney and I and our camera crew, and Jeff Ross is there. And we go all the way up to the Arctic Circle. And we go to this guy who apparently is like a reindeer. He has like a reindeer. He's a herder.

Herder. And he herds reindeer. Reindeer herder. So we walk out. And just imagine it's the tundra like there's nothing there's nothing and then so nothing even grows there nothing grows there tundra would have been tundra would have been nice this is just this white white white white nothingness and then in the far distance you could see these reindeer and then about a quarter of a mile past you can see for like 20 miles and then a quarter of a mile past, you can see for like 20 miles, and then a quarter of a mile past the reindeer, like a small ridgeline of trees.

And the reindeer are just sitting there, and they're just standing there, and you can barely make them out. And I'm standing next to this man who speaks no English. And remember, he looked like the actor Charles Bronson. It's snowing. And it's slightly snowing, and he's wearing all this, like a fur hat and everything. And Sweeney deposits me next to the guy and then backs away. Of course. Backs away.

In my snowshoes. He backs away. I disappeared into a snow drift. The cameramen are about 15 feet away with a wide lens. They're like 15, 20 feet away. And then Sweeney's standing behind the camera crew and he goes, okay, have fun. Do it.

Do it. Go. And I look at the guy and I'm like, so, you heard reindeer? And he goes, oh. And I go, you heard reindeer? And he's like, eh, eh. And I'm like, are those reindeer over there? Oh.

And I look over and Sweeney's making a gesture like keep going think of something stretch stretch this is the

you know and I more snows on the way hurry up I remembered I gestured I tried with the guy for five minutes

then I gestured to Sweeney to come over and he comes over what's up and trudges over and he goes what's up and I said you managed to find the perfect comedy vacuum.

Yes. No comedy can exist in this space. Because I've always said, Bulk a dash. One of my first rules for comedy is compression. Like, we're in a small room right now. And this is something I learned from Dana Carvey, but you want comedy compression.

You want a small area so that laughs and humor can bounce off the wall, and it's a chemical reaction. It's physics. You want something to happen in this small space. It doesn't speak English. In the largest open space available, and there was nothing like, let's say there had been a tiny laugh it would have immediately frozen and then been sucked up into the sky.

It ended up being funny. I'm sure. Also it was Andrew Weinberg and Michael Komen, the other two writers. Spread the blame. I am totally spreading the blame. The three of us came over to you and you're like

we're in a vacuum but I will give you a good inside scoop which is because people love inside stuff about the Simpsons one of the Simpsons writers that I worked with who was kind of my boss

at the Simpsons one of my bosses Mike Reese if you're a Simpsons fan you'll know the name but Mike Reese one of the great Simpsons writers of all time

and a hilarious guy. Mike Reese, he and his wife travel everywhere in the world, and his thing that he loves to do is go to places that no one's ever been to before. So he went up to the Arctic Circle, and there's a place that they say is Santa's workshop. Right. santa's workshop right and so he went to santa's workshop with his wife and it's this really obscure place and nobody knows about it and you wait in the long line and then you get to sit not so much on santa's knee if you're an adult but you get to stand with santa and like ask him questions and it's a guy dressed like santa who's from finland and he worked his way all the way up the line and he gets to the santa's throne in this really obscure part of the arctic circle and he looks off and he thinks i've made it and he looks off to the side and there's a

pic a framed picture there of the santa with me and he's like conan what the fuck is conan doing and he's like damn it and he took a picture of the picture and sent it to me and he's like you i can never escape you i just love that and I've had friends that have been to Cuba and gone to that uh restaurant that we went to in Cuba that was right and they go there and they jokingly hunt your photo on the wall and they've kept it up and I've had friends that are like I I snuck in and I I found this really obscure restaurant I went to the top of the stairs and then the first picture is me, you know, grinning like an idiot. Yeah.

I love that. Yeah. I love that Mike Reese wanted his photo taken with Santa. I know. Waited in the long line. Sure he does.

Sure. Who doesn't? All right, well. Anyway, I'm very excited about, we got off the track a little bit, but I think, I do think Ghana's,

It's a special one. It's a special one and they're all different in their own way, but I think there's a lot of, I was just very delighted. I'd love to go back to Africa. I mean, first of all, it's just absurd.

You can't go to one place in Africa and say, well, I did Africa. It's insane. It's like, well, I've done the United States. I went to Orlando. So I, but I really love this episode. And so I hope people. We're very excited about it. Yeah.

Check it out. I love it so much. Yeah. That I had to drop by. Oh. Inside Conan. Contractually. You know what I wish?

I wish I had, I had a colonoscopy a few weeks ago. Yes. Oh my God. So I actually have. You can get that footage. I have footage Inside Conan Oh Clean as a whistle everybody Good

Clean as a Oh congratulations Some diverticulitis Small little pockets But that happens Just avoid those Any polyps? No no polyps

Oh congratulations Yeah thank you They found three Hot sauce packets From Ghana Oh No peanut butter and jellies I'm gonna need those

Yeah don't Trust me I'm having them extracted. They're going to do, they're going to rain through the abdomen to get those for you. Well, you buried the lead. That truly was the best hot sauce I've ever had.

I love, Ghanaian hot sauce is so good. Just settle down. I've never seen you this animated. I'm sorry. She's excited about it. Also, I do thank you for doing this. I love that you guys do this podcast. I think it's very cool.

I'm, as you know, a narcissist. Sure. So the fact that- We try to mention you every 10 minutes. We do. Yeah, the fact that, and I'm sure I know that a lot of my insane dark secrets are spilling forth in the show. And I think ultimately that's good. No, we still work here.

So, you know, that stuff's for another day. Well, I'm getting the sense that you haven't listened to the podcast. No, we still work here, so you know, that stuff's for another day. Well, I'm getting the sense that you haven't listened to the podcast. No, I've heard, I've been steered towards some very good segments. Jeff Ross is like, oh. Oh yeah, the interview, the great interview with Jeff Ross.

Oh boy. Oh boy. Well, thank you, Conan, for stopping by. Thanks, Conan. You're very busy. No, actually. Well, thank you, Conan, for stopping by. Thanks, Conan. You know, I'd like to... You're very busy. No, actually. Yeah.

Clearly. I was in another room talking about myself and my work. A special... When they said, would you like to do that in a room that has microphones? And I said, sure. This is a five-hour Inside Conan. All right. Well, thank you very much.

Thank you. Yeah, thank you. You know, I don't think Conan, talking to Conan was enough. Let's do some listener questions. Yeah, let's hear from people who actually like us. So, Eduardo from Florianopolis, Brazil. Wow. That sounds like a beautiful place, just based on the name and nothing else.

Florianopolis. Yeah. Hey, Jesse and Mike, I've been watching the show for over 10 years now, and every now and then Conan will joke about budgetary limitations. With that in mind, what are the most expensive elements of the show? Is there anything that would be surprising from the viewer's standpoint? Oh. Well, the ties.

Yeah. Conan's nightly ties are, and then extrapolate from there. Imagine what his underwear costs. Socks. It's ridiculous. There is a prop that just busted a budget. Yes, props can be expensive.

They can be very expensive if they're handcrafted. In the Ghana show, we make a fake movie trailer. Yes. Based on a movie poster. It's a long story. It's a lot to explain. Sort of we make a fake movie trailer. Yes. Based on a movie poster. It's a long story. It's a lot to explain.

It's sort of you had to be there. Yes. But it'll make sense if you watch the Ghana show. It will make sense. And if you watch a show, you'll see a giant dinosaur bird puppet. Of course that would be in the Ghana show. But anyway, we had that made. Well, you ordered it.

In an email. But then there was sort of some miscommunication about it. There was no communication. He said, oh, you know, it was over break. It's like, just a heads up, and we'll get back into this after the break. But an eager beaver over the break ran with it and made a giant puppet of a dinosaur bird. Like full scale, pterodactyl size. It was supposed to be kind of full scale, but there were pulleys and levers to make its wings flap and to make its mouth go and to make the tail go.

And they had to pay people overtime, I think. Exactly, because they were rushing it. Yes. Even though we didn't need it for, it turns out, for three months. How much did it end up costing? I think it cost like $15,000. And when you see it, let's just say, I don't know if the money is on the screen. The money is somewhere, but not on the screen.

So that was, we got. So now we, Jeff keeps telling us we have to find other ways to use the bird. Jeff, our executive producer,

has, yeah, had a field day. I think he kind of relishes when things go right like this. He does. The money's worth it to him just that he can

shit on you for it. Yes, which he's been doing. He's been sending me almost every day photos of the bird backstage. So, it's been debilitating for it. Yes, which he's been doing. He's been sending me almost every day photos of the bird backstage. So, it's been debilitating for me.

Well, yeah. So, props cost a lot. And then I was going to say casting also. Casting can get really expensive. Because we pay the actors to come in for the day. Right.

And if you have a big group scene or something, that can really get up there. Yes. Which is actually why we end up casting so many of our staffers and stuff yes besides the fact that they're often performers themselves and already in the building but that's why so you don't have to pay them to show up to work that day

right exactly you can just put them in uh yes uh and that's the other thing sometimes we'll cast something with a lot of people and rehearse it, and then it'll be like, oh, you know, we don't have time for it today. Yeah, and then it gets cut. And then, ugh, that's a lot of money down the drain. So casting, go into acting. And you have to buy the actors lunch and stuff. Yeah, yeah.

They always really milk it. Yes. So you can make a good living as an actor and never get on TV. Yeah. If you go to a show. If you play your cards right. If you work to a show. If you play your cards right. If you work on a show that doesn't have their scheduling. If you only get cast in my sketches.

Worked out. Ha ha. That's not true. Okay, here, do you want to read Jonathan Day's? I'm just checking this one out. He's asking about an old character. The character was a cactus playing We Didn't Start the Fire on a violin. It was just so silly that I laughed and laughed, and I've literally been hooked on Conan shows ever since.

If you can't remember, no big deal. Of course we remember. You're the one who doesn't remember Jonathan Day because it was a cactus chef, not just a cactus. It was a cactus wearing a chef hat playing We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel on a flute, not a violin. Darn it. That's so embarrassing for him. Oh, Jonathan. Went to all that effort.

I mean, a violin, actually a violin sounds good too. That was a bit Conan did a lot during the aughts where he'd be like, tonight we're going to do, you know, really trenchant probing, our usual trenchant probing political comedy. And not, you know, stupid, silly sophomore comedy that doesn't do anything for anyone. Isn't that right? Cactus chef playing, we didn't start the fire on flute. And then we'd cut to that. So, we had other, those were all written by Andrew Weinberg. Oh, okay.

He's a very, very funny writer. And was he just trying to think of the most? Well, then that was the first one, and we had a giant cactus made with its arms up playing a flute. That's so fun. It's pretty great. And then so then he did more. I think there was DJ Fidel Castro rabbit. Oh, I have seen that one, yeah.

Right. And then there's like a llama and an iron lung. You know, there were all different, yes. So, he would pick an animal or a plant and add a hat. Right. That was kind of his formula. Playing, oh. Not just the animals and plants.

There was also an air purifier, oscillating air purifier that wearing Slash's hat. Okay. Yes. But the hat is consistent. The hat, yes. There's a hat in every character. Well, anyway, Jonathan Day, I don't even know what your question was, but we talked about your letter

what's next okay hi Mike and Jesse I've always wondered about the late night sketch where it turns out the whole show has been an elaborate

FBI sting in order to catch Conan's brother did something occur behind the scenes at that time which inspired the sketch that's Pat from Astoria

something did happen that inspired the sketch well just to clarify so it is like an elaborate thing and did happen that inspired the sketch. Well, just to clarify, so it is like an elaborate thing, and at the end of the sketch, they basically tear down the set, all the FBI agents tear down the set, roll up the

carpet, and... Yes, and the show, the whole, Conan was on the air, the conceit was Conan was on the air for four years solely to be an elaborate sting operation to catch his brother, who was wanted by the law. And once he showed up in the audience, they nabbed him. And yes, as you just said, they undid the entire set, and Conan was left alone.

Just in the spotlight. Yes. And the ending to it's great. That was by a hilarious writer who we've mentioned before in the show, Brian Rich. Oh, yeah. And you're saying, did something occur behind the scenes? Yes, something did. And that was he was paid to come up with comedy ideas or not get paid.

So he came up with this idea. And it was everyone's favorite for a long time. And, you know, with Conan. It's a big swing that actually pays off. We're putting a lot of this old stuff back online. And that is a classic. That should be. It might be.

I don't know if it's up yet on Conan 25, but we'll look into it. And also those non sequitur, the ones we were talking about earlier, like Cactus Chef. Yeah. See if those are going. The Hat Runner. Okay. Here's the next one. Oh, hi, guys.

Question for Jessie. Do you want to be the head writer at Conan? I like this. Wait, who sent this in? It's from our current head writer, Matt O'Brien. It sounds like he wants that. Oh, no. No, it's from Chris Brunner.

It's coming from inside the building. It's coming from inside the building. You'd be a wonderful head writer. Oh, well, that's generous. Yes. But you know what? The answer is no. No, it's an awful, awful job.

Well, and I was a head writer once. Oh, right on the- I was the head writer of The Dish, which was a spinoff of The Soup. Mm-hmm. I was the head writer of The Dish, which was a spinoff of The Soup. And it was such a bummer to go from being a writer, which I loved. Right. And it's fun to come up with, to be just writing creatively all day. It's rewarding. It's rewarding.

And that's kind of what I got into this to do. And then when you become a head writer, it's actually a lot more management. Yes. And it's just administrative. Yes. So you're like. And traffic cop. Yeah.

And you're just fielding emails from writers who want to miss a day. Right. For various reasons. Like that was most of the job. Yes. No, you have to keep your eye on everything. Everybody at all times. Yeah.

And sometimes you add a line to something and you're like. But you get no credit. No. Yes, no, you have to keep your eye on everything, everybody at all times. And sometimes you add a line to something and you're like, but you get no credit, no acknowledgement. Yeah, it's mostly editing, which also can be fun and rewarding, but not as much. And you take home the job in a way that, I mean, I take this job home too. Right, of course. But I wouldn't want to do that more than I'm currently doing. Right, like if you don't have something on the show for a couple of days, you can kind of, I used to call it living the grid-free lifestyle. Yes.

You can kind of relax. You recharge. Yeah, you recharge a little bit. You rejuvenate. Yeah. But when you're the head writer, you're always, every single thing is on you, and the pressure just seems outrageous. It's bad. Sunday nights are bad. Yeah. And Sunday night's like uh do i we're screwed

tomorrow do i ruin everyone's sunday or just wait till monday morning like i like what's the least worst way to bother everyone right no i mean i i know you're supposed to i i feel bad that i'm not more ambitious but right i just don't. I like my job currently. Yeah, no, it's. It's enough. It's great. Yeah, there's also too much. In America, we put too much pressure on always striving for more.

Yes. And sometimes you have enough. And by we, we mean our parents. Yes. Without our parents, no one would ever seek a raise. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, it's just like, no one would ever seek a razor. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, it's just like, just wait

till they hear the news. What's that? Oh, there's one more. Okay. This one says, Dear Concerned,

this is Mike at Beotrol. We are manufacturer and exporter of solid surface sheet, tile, slab, countertop,

bar top with high quality materials. Here we are attaching some picture of our material used for Decorate Hotel project. Welcome inquiry if you have interest. Thanks, regards, countertop bar top with high quality materials here we are attaching some picture of our material used for decorate

hotel project welcome inquiry if you have interest thanks regards Mike's son okay yeah well thank you Mike

and you knew our nickname concerned this is great no we did we got a lot of spam messages

as well oh we did okay I think we should get back to Mike. I think he's the only person we should respond to. Yes. I would love to see some of their solid surface sheets. I didn't open the photos of the picture of our material for Decorate Hotel Project. I wonder what part. Oh, it says bar top.

Yes. Okay. So it's countertop bar tops. All right. I wonder if he has a nice marble. Well, we use a table when we do this podcast. We do, so he must have understood our needs. We could convert this into a bar and, yeah. I hope he doesn't get in trouble for wasting his time. On the job.

I wonder how many true crime podcasts are getting letters from Mike's son about surfaces. I don't know. I'd like to think it's just us. Right. Well, that's a good one to end, I think, the Q&A on. Just a real downer. We should send him Cactus Chef playing We Didn't Start the Fire flute. It seems the appropriate response.

It does. I feel like both of them were created by bots. Yes. Okay, well, that's it. Okay, thanks for sending in. And we'll let you know when we come back. Right. If we come back.

This was their. Oh, wait, we can tell you guys to help us out, I think. Sure. Click your feet. No, no, that's not it. What do people do? No, you can, if you want to hear more inside conan you could go on twitter and tweet at earwolf you could tweet at team coco um you can whisper

things to us when you meet us in the street and we'll pass it on uh if you want to hear more great uh emails from people who make materials for hotel lobbies, I think this is the podcast for you. Or if you want, if you prefer, we just go back and destroy every episode. Yeah, that's an option, too. We can do that as well. We really want to please you. But either way, tweet at Earwolf about us.

Yes. And we hope they just don't read the content of those tweets. Not the destruction part. So we'll let you know if we're coming back. Yeah. And in the meantime. We're going to Europe. Stay cool.

We like you. Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast, is hosted by Mike Sweeney and me, Jesse Gaskell. Produced by Kevin Bartelt. Engineered by Will Beckton. Mixed by Ryan Connor. Supervising producer is Aaron Blair. Associate producer, Jen Samples. Executive

produced by Adam Sachs and Jeff Ross. Jeff Ross. Jeff Ross at Team Coco. And Colin Anderson and Chris Bannon at Earwolf. 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.

Ta-da! This has been a Team Coco production in association with earwolf