Inside Conan: An Important Hollywood Podcast - Glenn Boozan

Episode Date: July 17, 2020

Conan writer Glenn Boozan stops by to talk with fellow writers Mike Sweeney and Jessie Gaskell about working freelance ghost writing jokes for a 12 year-old ventriloquist before getting her writing job at Conan, her first Conan sketch about a Scottish Law Firm, her time working in the art department of Broad city and The Onion, and why being specific with your goals is important. Plus, Mike and Jessie share their favorite Conan characters/sketches from over the years. Glenn’s first Conan sketch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3W2Zeet7eU Got a question for Inside Conan? Call our voicemail: [phone] and e-mail us at [e-mail] For Conan videos, tour dates and more visit TeamCoco.com

And now it's time for Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast. Hello, everybody. Welcome to Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast. I'm Jesse Gaskell. I'm a writer at The Conan Show, Conan at Home, Conan at Largo. I'm Mike Sweeney, also a writer on Conan at Largo, although we're just calling it Conan. But it does add credits to my resume. I appreciate that part of it. That's very smart. Sweeney, we just got to watch the writers of Conan do a stand-up show over Zoom. Comedy club called Flappers in Burbank. That was a great show.

It was very funny. Yeah, it was so much fun. I was really curious to see what a Zoom comedy show was like. I haven't... Have you attended any of those? No, I'm ashamed to say I haven't. I always used to say parking was the excuse, but I guess it wasn't. No, but it was really easy.

You just log into Zoom and you can either be visible or not visible. It was fun to get out of the house via Zoom last night. Yeah, there was still a two drink minimum here. You were drinking something and I was like, were you drinking wine or what were you enjoying last night? Yeah, I was drinking a night, a crisp rosé. I like that. That was perfect. Very nice. Yeah, it paired with my blue apron meal. Oh my God, our lives are sad.

Anyway, we have a really fun guest this week. We do. I can't believe we got her. It's the second newest writer on our show because we actually just hired another new writer. We thought we'd give him a little time to settle in before we put him on the spot. Yes, yes, yes. But this is Glenn Buzan, who started with us last fall. She has a great resume. She'd written for Lights Out with David Spade, I Love You America with Sarah Silverman. And Adam Ruins Everything. Yeah, she had a lot of great stories. And I thought she had a lot of great stories and I thought she had a lot of great advice. Yeah. So here's Glenn. We're here with Glenn Buzan. Hi, Glenn.

Hi, Jessie. Hi, Glenn. Hi, Sweeney. This feels very formal all of a sudden. I know. Even though we talk to you most days, right? Yeah. We do.

Glenn, you used to be the newest baby writer and you're no longer the baby anymore because we decided a new writer. I know. Now I'm throwing little tantrums because I'm not getting as much attention. Yes. So I've gone. You have been acting out. Yeah.

I've gone back to bedwetting for attention. You wrote a joking email that, yes, you're now. A joking company-wide email. I know. I do forget how many people are on that company-wide. Is it one email address sent to maybe 200 people? Yes. I totally forget. All the employees past and present.

Yes. And they all know a way to needle you. And you served it up to them on a silver platter. I did. That's good. But you served it up to them on a silver platter. I did. That's good. But you are still relatively new. It feels new. Everyone feels very new at Conan for a long time.

Yes. Yeah. I still feel like, you know, Tinder hooks. I feel like I'm on probation all the time. Yeah. I'm going to get fired any moment. Right. So how, yes.

When did you start? Time just flows. I have, you may have been here five years or five months. September, I think October, September. 2019. No, no, no. October because I dressed up as Matt O'Brien for Halloween. Oh, the head writer.

Yes, I did. So what did that involve? Just a boring shirt and boring pants. I did. Curly hair wig. No, I really did the bare minimum. I wore a button down shirt in my front pocket, carried around two tool tickets for a tool concert. He is a real tool head. It's all in the details. It was spot on impression. Sure. Well, that's pretty bold for a new writer.

Yeah. Were you like, this is either going to cement my place here in Conan history or I'll get fired? I guess I didn't think about it that much. Maybe I'd been there for a month already because that razzed me. So I was like, oh, this is like a razzy environment. Cool. Awesome. And it was such a little costume. I should have gone meaner, honestly, looking back.

I don't know what else you could add to that costume. He's pretty bare bones. I know. He's got a glamour shirt and jeans and the tool tickets. Yeah. That's the only thing that distinguished me from him. You could also go around telling people the meeting is canceled. Yes.

That's a head writer classic yeah things come up and then you got to push your meeting how did that feel when he took over were you just like oh great or were you like how did you feel when that happened i i uh i was a head writer for a really long time for 15 years and when i finally stopped doing it, yeah, it felt great. Like I've filled in from a few times when he has to, you know, some personal matter comes up or tools in town and you can't run the show. And I have to say, it's like one day of doing it. I'm just like, Oh God, this is the worst job ever. I could never do it more than a week. It's so good.

Wait, Sweeney, you did it yesterday and you canceled the meeting beautifully. Thank you. Thank you. I like a pro. Yeah, it was a really great cancellation of the meeting. I thought it was wonderful. Do you like the way I waited till the possible last minute? Yes. Some people were already in the meeting. Groomed. People got groomed for it and put on their Zoom writers meeting clothing. And that's when I strike. Well, so Glenn, it's probably still fairly fresh in your mind, I guess. Maybe you could walk us

through what the hiring process was like and submitting to Conan. Oh, gosh. It was unlike any other. Is that true? No, not really. Well, it was more chill than it. I mean, I was unemployed at the time. I think I applied in like January. Yeah, so I guess I didn't have a job at the time. It was January. What had been your most recent comedy writing job before that?

I had been working freelance for a 12-year-old singing ventriloquist who had won America's Got Talent. And I had been ghostwriting jokes for her tour. Oh my God. That's fantastic. She was on tour. Her name is Darcy Lynn and she's a blonde, cute little girl from Oklahoma. Who's also a ventriloquist.

I think she won the X factor. America's got that. One of those. I was contributing jokes to her Christmas special I think at the time I just gotten off that yes contributing so she had a team of writers I think it was me and a couple of

I really it was really freelance like yeah what was your shtick I mean when you're 12 what kind of jokes could you make so not the kind that I'm good at writing right they had to be very g-rated um i think the most flavor you were allowed to write like she was on whatever the x factor thing she was on heidi klum was a judge i remember there was

one joke i still don't know which show that is i know i don't either she has one joke where she does she's a mouse puppet who's like very shy but like has a crush on people i think is his like he's like a nerd in love very very easily falls in love during the x factor he had some joke about like he was always hitting on heidi klum and he was like why wouldn't you want to date a mouse you've already dated a seal so that was like oh that was kind of the most blue you can go but did someone write that joke for her i mean i think she kind of writes some of her own jokes but like there's no way a 12 year old remembers when heidi klum dated seal so i have to imagine that even has ever heard of seal

i know yeah wow so that was not the answer i expected to the job that you know for that right well so that was that was the job that I had when I applied. And that was like very good. And then I got... Did you have to consider whether you would leave that job to come to Conan if you got hired? No, that was not... There were like truly maybe six months

where I didn't hear back about the packet I had submitted. So I had another job in between. That was just the job I had when I submitted. I had a totally different job after that. I think that we got like four or five hundred submissions. So then Matt started reading them all and realized that he wasn't going to be able to fill it that year. Yeah. Yeah. So which is crazy that because usually for jobs I've gotten previously, the packets are sometimes read by like producers who are like non-creative

producers, semi-creative producers. And then those piles are passed on. So, which is as a writer, that's scary where it's like, Oh, somewhat not the writer. So it's crazy to me and very cool that Matt like took the time to read all of them personally. You read every 10th submission and you happen to be, but that number 400 submissions is, is insane. I think the most prior to that was around 150, maybe for a job or between that and 200. So I think when I got hired, there was one. You're in. If you're willing to do it, we'll take you. Please, please. Wait. So you had a whole do it, we'll take you. You're right. Please, please. Wait, so you had a whole nother job.

What was the other job? Yes, because there were six months in between. Yeah, so the other job I wrote for Lights Out with David Spade, rest in peace, the show, not Spade. He's still alive. As of this taping. As of this, yeah. Yeah, I worked on that and I did leave that job for Conan. But that show is no longer around. So

I guess I don't feel too bad. It was a fun show to work on. But yeah, I Yeah, was that tough to have to quit? I mean, how long had you been at the show when you put in your notice? Yeah, so I had been there for about, oh, gosh, two three months, I think. It was the first season. We were maybe halfway done. I'm somebody who there's like a lazy river of guilt running through my body at all times, just sort of like shame and guilt for disappointing people or the possibility of disappointing people. So, because Conan was very nice and he was like, look, I don't want to poach you from

another show. And I was like, well, I love Conan, the show, and I've loved his work for a long time so i was like no i'd really love to work for you and i'd like to go and so my manager's like well you have to call the head writer of spade and ask him yourself and i was like oh god i can't you do it i know it's like isn't that why i pay you but because i respected the head writer and i think he thought he was really great and i was like oh and he was kind of like this father figure on the show too. Cause he was this like kind of Razzie sort of like old, old, not old, but like this like Italian dad type, which like, I was like, Oh,

he reminds me of my dad. And like, I don't want to disappoint him. And so I had to like, Oh my God. I think it's heavier in my head. Cause the head writer was so cool about it. His name is Frank and he was super, super cool about it. And He was like, good luck on your journey. Like you're going to have a long career, like blah, blah, blah. He was very supportive. So I was like shaking, dialing the phone. You mentioned that Conan, you talked to Conan when the job was offered to you. No, I didn't meet Conan. I still had my job. So I took a day off and I left. I took an interview

with Matt O'Brien and we just kind of sat in his office and he was just like, Hey, what's your deal? Blah, blah, blah. And I was like, Oh, that's my deal. It was like 20 minutes. It seemed cool. And then I left and didn't meet anybody else. And I don't think I then heard back for a couple of weeks. Yeah. It was a very easy interview. So did you think that you had gotten the job after the interview? I don't know what I thought. I think it was kind of that like set it and forget it kind of mentality. Cause I had applied so long ago. You were probably ready for another seven months to go by. Yeah. I think I was like, this will, I'll never hear back.

I think I just didn't think about it at all, which is weird for me, but they called and my manager's like, they want to offer you the job. And I was like, Oh my God. And then immediately my excitement was like, but they don't want to give it to you because you already work at Spade. So they're going to hire somebody else. That is the, I mean, it's always been, oh, we can't take someone from another, if they already have a job. Cause it's the term you use is called poaching. And yeah, it's generally not considered cool. So I'm sure when he called you, he didn't know. He probably thought you were still working for the ventriloquist.

Oh, they didn't mind poaching from her. Right. Exactly. Yeah. She's 12. She's underage. I had a similar situation when I got hired at Conan,

where I was working on another show and I had just started there and had to quit. Wow. You just started. Well, it was, I just started there and had to quit. Wow. You just started? Well, it was, I just started the season two and you know, it just was like, everyone was making plans for the whole season. And then I, I had to quit. What show was that again? It was a Hello Ross. It was Ross Matthews talk show on E was very fun to work there. But yeah, I felt really guilty. Was there a big delay between when you submitted? I don't remember.

Between when you submitted and you got a call? Yeah, it was a few months, I think. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Not as long as Glenn. Sometimes people would submit monologue submissions. We have writers who just concentrate on monologue. And there would be a couple of pages of topical jokes. And when the, a job position would come up, you'd be reading jokes that were over a year old. And you'd literally, you could tell when they, even without looking at the date, you'd be like, oh, this, this was a year ago, January. Cause you know, Prince Andrew was in the news or whatever. Coney 2012.

Oh, Kony. So Glenn, what was the first time that you met Conan? Do you remember that? It was before the first writers meeting or after? I can't remember. I think I was in Matt O'Brien's office just talking and then Conan came in and he was like, hey, nice to meet you. And then I think he was like trying to figure out what my riff would be. He was like, what's your deal? Who are you? What's what's going on? What's

a, what do you like to do? What do you know? He was trying to figure out who I was so he could make fun of me appropriately. Did he come up with a riff for you? First of it was that I was young was which I'm like, I'm younger than him, but I'm not Skylar's younger than me now. So that should be his thing. Whatlar's a new writer. What was it after that? Oh, that I reminded him of Ruth Buzzy was one for a minute, which is an old character. For those of you born after 1958.

Glenn, do you remember what your, the first sketch you wrote that got on the air was? Yes, I do. It was, oh my God, it was the dumbest thing. It was one of the dumbest things I've ever written. It was, it was a story of, there was a story in the news about like a priest, a Scottish priest found like a treasure pot of gold underneath the Catholic church in Scotland. And I was like, that's the most Scottish thing I've ever heard in my life. And then the Church of Scotland sued him. And so the premise was like, I wonder what that

law firm was like. This is the most Scottish case I've ever heard. And so it was just an ad for a Scottish law firm that was just like people. It was Scottish. It was really funny. I remember. Oh, thank you. And that came... I feel like you wrote that on your second day on the job. It was Scottish. It was really funny. I remember. Oh, thank you. And that came, I feel like you wrote that like on your second day on the job. It happened really quickly in my memory. Yes. You seem very relaxed right away in a great, in a great way. I was like, has she been working here two years already? Just very at home. Well, I have to say you,

the writers and the whole team, especially the writers are very warm and welcoming. And that's the thing I noticed about the Conan room that was different is like, in a lot of rooms, there's kind of like an undercurrent of like, everybody's got to get something on and a little bit like every person for themselves sort of mentality, like not overtly, but a little bit, maybe like I'm going to get fired fear or like, but this staff in particular is very supportive when another person does well. I really, really was pleasantly surprised by that when I, when I first started working here. Well, it's all, it's very selfish really. When you think about it, it's just, right. Because you know, it's like, Oh, a slot was filled on the show. Right. So keep encouraging that person it's like, oh, a slot was filled on the show. Right. Let's keep encouraging that person so I can do less work. I know. Yeah.

It's a really high tides float all boats mentality. It's a very advanced approach when you think about it. It's a kind of manipulation. I appreciate it as a new writer. And I think it's also, we all have to bond against conan so we yes because the fellow prisoners exactly he's gonna get us oh that's nice that's nice to hear nice to hear i was very grateful for that yeah you guys were and are awesome I think some people are also surprised to hear, like with the monologue jokes on the show, we have great monologue writers, but when Conan sees the jokes, there are no initials on them.

And that's also so writers aren't in that mindset you're talking about where, oh God, I'm going to get fired. Because that can really mess with your mind. And it's kind of like, I mean, obviously no one ever stops worrying about, oh God, I'm going to get fired. But just knowing a host is reading the jokes, not going, oh, so-and-so's initials aren't on here today. Because the other theory is everyone has good days and bad days so you know it's to cut everyone a little slack that's so it's that to me also just engenders more like creative thinking yeah it's so much better than the punitive like sort of like well i you only got five mono jokes in last month like you better keep it up it's like that's never right some places operate like that and the same thing with the sketch ideas the head writer it was a tradition going back i guess to the beginning maybe with the sketch ideas, the head writer, it was a tradition going back, I guess, to the beginning, maybe for the most part is not saying who wrote the idea.

Oh, I really like that. I love that. Our own sketches. Have you worked on shows, Glenn, where you had to come in and pitch your own sketches? Every show. Every other show. Oh, like you had to do it yourself in the room. They would usually put it up on a screen and like read the paragraph out loud of your pitch, or you would just go around the room

and just say it. I feel like we've been spoiled. I know. That's a good skill to learn to be able to defend your own work in that way. Oh boy. That's a whole set of armor. It's also funny because you realize like sometimes there are writers who on the page are the funniest person in the room, but they pitch they're not very funny verbally right and you just can't get the idea across and so and then there's some people who are very funny verbally but they can't write a sketch to save their life and so it's so you'll end up getting a lot of ideas passed that are like not like so they don't, even if it's really funny on paper, if the person's shy about presenting it, that kills it? A lot of times. Yeah. Wow. I mean, it's a good skill to

have. And if you're going to be in any other room that you'll need to do that. But I've noticed with the way we do it is to me, it feels like very equally every writer gets almost the exact amount of stuff on. So like, it's like, there's no, I the exact amount of stuff on so like it's like there's no i haven't noticed a trend of like oh this one writer always gets stuff on and this other writer doesn't like it's like exactly one week like dan will get a lot of stuff on and one week jesse will get a lot of fun and like it's very it seems very balanced it does seem really balanced uh yeah there's no dead weight for sure no i feel like it's a really tight group where we're like when we're all hanging out together everyone it's kind of an equal joking zone just in meetings as well just kind of yeah

yeah it's funny because i've been on like not that my other jobs weren't bad but like i have had some bad jobs and so when people complain on this staff about like oh yeah yeah, we got it. I'm like, Oh, I know. I feel so cushy. I really feel like the alley dog who like got adopted by a rich family. And now it's like, Ooh, I'm eating tuna tonight or whatever. Like, I completely agree. Yeah. Anytime anyone complains, I'm like, all right, get, get out there then. Yes. Well you, and you've written on a ton of shows i mean your resume is amazing oh thank you maybe not a ton but yeah you wrote on i love you america with sarah silverman and adam ruins everything what was that what adam ruins everything did you have to doesn't he research kind of problems and and the whole half hours about what so would

you get involved in the research of that? It's kind of educational. Yeah. Yeah. Edutainment is what they call it. Yeah. So there was a set of writers and a set of researchers and you would get paired up with a researcher for your episode. And you could do a little research if you want and if you found something particularly interesting.

But the researcher was in charge of, I mean, I viewed each episode as a collaborate, a full 50, 50 collaboration between the researcher and the writer. Like, I think the researcher should have gotten writing credit. They were incredible. And a lot of them were funny themselves. Like I worked with a researcher, Kate Doyle, who was like just as funny as every other writer. And she like would write funny things like in this, she would give me funny metaphors and ideas and stuff. So Alison Silverman, who was a writer on late night, I think started out working on a,

who wants to be a millionaire last year. She was nominated for five Emmy awards from five different shows. Wow. And she helped create the Colbert report when she left late night. Oh, well, there you go. Yeah.

But she started out, I think, or what was she on jeopardy i think it was who wants to be a millionaire but anyway i started out writing for the e true hollywood story so that's right that's right oh my gosh also research well glenn when you did you always know you wanted to be a comedy writer or did did you have other different career paths before you arrived here? And, and was your family always supportive? Yeah. Yes. I think this is going to sound weird because I grew up in LA,

so this shouldn't be a case, but I didn't really know that like comedy writer was a viable job. Like I didn't understand exactly how TV got made. I knew there were writers, but I was like, I don't know how I would, like in my head, to be a comedy writer, they just like took boys from Harvard and just come in a room, which is kind of, it's kind of true. I thought that too. That was the thing for me. And so I didn't know what path I could possibly, and then I don't have, I didn't have family in the business to like help me or to give me advice and like how you would go about that. Right. So I didn't even understand what the path to help me or to give me advice on how you would go about that. Right.

So I didn't even understand what the path would be to a job like that. And so in high school, I was in the theater program because there was no theater writing program. I was acting and stuff and doing plays. And I was like, this is kind of fun, but not exactly what I like. But it's the closest thing at school to what I like. But I didn't know it yet. Then I wrote some sketches for a theater module we had. I was like, Ooh, I like this. What's this? This is fun. And then I went into college and I joined the improv team at my

school. And then I was like, Oh, and we, then we started doing sketch and I was like, okay. And then I started learning about like UCB and IO and second city and what that was. And I slowly started realizing, oh, this is a job I would want is to write comedy. And then halfway through, I went to Boston University. And then halfway through, I realized I was like, okay, well, I really want to do comedy. I was studying psychology at the time, which if you're a basic brunette white girl, that is very popular. It's mandatory to be a psych major. Better communication. No blogs. Yes, exactly. Communications are... I really, I was in a psych club, my psych 101, and I looked around and

it was all women who looked exactly like me. And I'm like, I got to get out of here. Future therapists. Yeah. Yes. Right. I applied to this thing called the Comedy Studies Program at Columbia College. That was Second City does this thing.

I think it's still running called the Comedy Studies Program, where you get college credit for taking courses all about comedy. So sketch writing, directing, improv, physical comedy, history of comedy. Like it was the most fun I'd had out of school ever. And then after a semester of that, I, so during that semester, I applied to Parsons in New York. Oh, because also around this time, I realized that I was really into graphic design. Two things happened at once is I realized I wanted to live in New York and also I wanted to do graphic design and that that was my safe job. My graphic design was my like, your fallback. My fallback, yeah. But I also love doing it. So I was like, well, if I'm a graphic designer for the rest of my life, that's kind of fine. And graphic design,

you can work in comedy. Like I worked in the art department for Broad City and I worked at the art department for The Onion. So like at the art department for the onion so like i would design props and like props and paper goods so like if you need like a fake liquor bottle in a scene right and you have to like you can't use like a budweiser can like i would design like a beer that was legally usable or clearable or whatever right the beer label is that called greeking about greeking something yeah i don't know I don't know what the origin of that term is. Maybe using language you can't really read, so it's Greek to me, sort of? I think so.

It's an all Greek to me, sort of. It's got to be that. Yeah. But yeah, so I would do that. I did that for a long time. Well, that's a cool path. I like that. I mean, it's so interesting always to hear how people ended up getting into writing. And it's nice too, to have like, okay, you can be sort of adjacent in a,

maybe a different segment of television and then make that crossover. I think the thing, because a lot of people are adjacent, but never make a crossover to the thing they actually want to do. Like sometimes people are development people, but actually want to produce or sometimes people are, you know, producers, but actually want to like write or whatever. And I think the thing, cause I was designing stuff, I was in the art department. And I think the thing I realized was that like to make the leap to the thing you want to do, like, nobody's just going to come and ask you like, Hey, sorry, do you just want to come right? Like, no, like you have to just do the thing that you want to do.

And let everyone know you want to do it.. And let everyone know you want to do it. Yes. Let everyone know you want to do it. And then if the place you're working at has no intention of hiring you, like if they're always hiring from outside places or whatever, then I think it's up to you to be like, all right, I got to go somewhere else and to somewhere that will. That's really great advice. I've heard that before. And I had that will. Yeah. That's really, that's really great advice. I've heard that before. And I had

that experience. I was doing standup comedy and I was working at Caroline's comedy at club in New York city and they had a comedy show and they had sketches on it. And I was the, the guy ran the club also produced a show. And I was like, well, he'll ask me to be a writer. And I just waited and waited. And then I was very disappointed. He never came. And I finally said to him, I said, Hey, could I submit to be a writer on that show? And he's like, Oh, you want to be a writer? And I'm like, it was a whole different, I have no idea. Like a cross. Wait, but you do shot put you want to do. Okay. When up and coming writers ask me for advice

and they do quite often. I'm glad you brought this up, Glenn, because we always end our shows by asking people to give advice to someone who wants to do what you're doing. And now we don't have to ask the question. Yeah, so go ahead. So if someone wants to do what I'm doing, I say, turn back now, Don't. Find something else.

No. The biggest thing, and I have a ton of advice, and I love to give it. You just held up a cigarette in a long cigarette holder. I did. Yeah. I'm in my house coat, my robe. No. The one mistake I see a lot that drives me crazy is somebody who's... When you go to their website or go to their twitter bio or their instagram bio it says like hey i'm blank uh producer slash writer slash actor slash podcaster slash web designer slash and they have all these slash ceo slash i also can walk your dog or whatever and i'm like whoa if i'm hiring for a show, the analogy I make all the time is like, if I'm looking to cut my steak, I'm not going to reach for a Swiss army knife.

I'm going to reach for like a nice knife that is specifically meant for cutting steak. So like, if I'm looking for a writer, I'm going to be more hesitant to hire somebody who's like writer, producer, director, actor, ventriloquist, blah, blah, blah. Because somebody who just wants to be a writer in my mind is doing writing more often and getting more experience in that thing and specializing themselves to do that and wants to do that more than the other things. Right. You take it more seriously at first. Yes. I think you can edit and direct and whatever. You can do all the things. But when you're marketing yourself in the public eye, because once you're a writer, once you're a

director, once you're an actor, you can do all the other things if you want. Like you can pivot and do that. But I think to me, you need to be specific in your goals. Yeah. And I think that also helps people to help you because it's really hard when you kind of put it all out there. I just want to be in entertainment or I just want to work in TV. There's not enough specificity for people to remember

to refer you for things. But if you're like, I want to write for late night television, then if that job comes up, people will remember you. That's a good point. So they appreciate the focus. I think they want to think you're focused and not just also some people are like,

oh, I like being in show business. Yeah. Or I want to be famous. Yeah. Well, that underlines it too a little, which is scary. Do the research on the job you want and kind of gear towards that. Well, cool. And then dress like the head writer once you get hired.

You're all set. Such a ballsy move. I love it. Well, Glenn, thank you so much for being on the podcast. Thank you for having me. It was really nice to chat with you. And hopefully we'll see you at the meeting later today. Yes.

Oh my gosh. Unless it gets canceled. 90 minutes from now. Oh, is that, when is that? Was that at two? Two o'clock, I think. It's at two, yeah. Okay, well.

Unless it gets pushed the way Jesse mentioned. All right, I'll see you tomorrow at four. Yeah. Thank you. Bye. Bye. Okay. That was Glenn Buzan.

No, that was fun. We have a listener question. We do. Yeah. From someone named Jed. Jed P. Just to distinguish from the other Jeds. I haven't heard the name Jed in a while.

Here's what Jed wrote. Hi, Jesse and Mike, two exclamation marks. I love the podcast, two exclamation marks. Lifelong fan of Conan and therefore you as well. I didn't know it worked that way, but sure. I've really enjoyed being able to go back in the archives. And also I've found old recordings of the show, taking trips down memory lane with bulletproof legs.

These are all characters. Riz Tulk, Bill Clinton interviews, the hurricane interview. I think we interviewed a hurricane once and the eye talked. And even more recent characters like WikiBear. What are some of your favorite characters or sketches that made you laugh out loud cheers jed he's british or he loves the show cheers uh jesse any favorite characters i mean i love all of andre dubachet's characters he's kind of like phil hartman-esque where the second he pops up on screen you're just like oh okay get ready to laugh yeah but i love the uh

the wall burgers guy i think his name is leslie actually that was revealed in a later sketch there are multiple installments but basically at the height of the popularity of game of thrones this guy would appear in the audience dressed in like full Night's Watch garb and talk about how he was very excited about something headed our way. It starts with a W and it's Wahlburgers. Turned out he was a huge fan of the show Wahlburgers, which is the reality show about Mark Wahlberg's family's burger restaurant. Anything Andre's in is great. What about you? Anything come to mind?

Yeah, no, there's so many characters over the years. I was thinking about one that I always loved. It was deliberately nonsensical on purpose. And I think it's one a writer, Andrew Weinberg, came up with. And it was called Cactus Chef playing Billy Joel's We Didn't Start the Fire on flute. Six foot tall. We actually had it sculpted. I don't know. It just made me laugh every time. But you know what? It made me think there are all these great props that were made for the old show. And I'm wondering, I mean, obviously they're the property of NBC, but I wonder if they're in Indiana Jones warehouse somewhere and someone could try to rescue them.

Maybe that could be a remote on the show, a heist story. There's another one I thought of. We did rejected Star Wars characters. It was characters cut from a Star Wars movie in like 2005. And one of them was Jabba the foxworthy it was java the hut we had this beautiful java the hut modeled and made with jeff foxworthy's hair and of jeff foxworthy mustache he did stand up about you know you're a hut if there's one character conan hated and it he always still brings it up it's called um reverendis K. Dribbles, which is John Glazer dressed in a rubber hound's dog mask and dressed below the neck as a reverend. And he would dribble a basketball, but immediately the ball would just fall down and roll away.

And it lasted six seconds. I think we did it three or four times. And every time Conan did it under duress, he hated it. He goes, there's no reason for that to exist. But there is a reason for Cactus Chef. Exactly. Well, that would be- It's all arbitrary. It's so arbitrary. It's so arbitrary. What's the origin of Bulletproof Legs that Jed mentioned? Oh, yeah. There's so many great characters that Brian McCann did.

And one of them was bulletproof legs. You know, the whole story is it's a man who comes out and sings a song about how you can't hurt him because his legs are bulletproof. And then he's immediately shot in the chest and dies. That's the whole bit. I mean, a lot of those things happened after 10 p.m. because we were there till midnight and people were just throwing food around the room.

And I'm sure he just stood up and started doing the character. And then the head writer would just approve something so everyone could leave. Exactly. We'd need it for the next day. A lot of these feel like comedy Mad Libs. You could just put a list of nouns into a bowl. Well, that could mean anyone could do it. Anyone could cook these wacky characters up.

Well, that's our show. We love hearing from you all. And you can email us at insideconanpod at gmail.com. Or you can leave us a voicemail at 323-209-5303. Yes, we still have not had anyone call in and breathe heavily. That we know of. Well, that was fun. Thank you all for listening. And we'll be back next week.

Bye-bye. We like you. Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast, is hosted by Mike Sweeney and me, Jesse Gaskell. Produced by Jen Samples. Engineered and mixed by Will Becton. Supervising producers are Kevin Bartelt and Aaron Blaire. Executive produced by Adam Sachs and 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. This has been a Team Coco production in association with Earwolf.