Inside Conan: An Important Hollywood Podcast - Jimmy Pardo

Episode Date: May 17, 2019

Comedy podcast Godfather Jimmy Pardo of the Never Not Funny Podcast joins Conan writers Mike Sweeney and Jessie Gaskell to talk about how he initially refused the job to be the warm-up comedian for The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, why he thought he would be fired once he did take the warm-up job, and the one time Conan asked him for a note on his monologue.This episode is brought to you by Third Love (www.thirdlove.com/insideconan) and Postmates (code: insideconan).Check out Conan Without Borders: Australia: https://teamcoco.com/australiaCheck 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] Conan videos, tour dates and more visit TeamCoco.com

And now, it's time for Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast. Hi, Jess. Hi, Swain. Hi. You sound very New York-y. I do. Weird you should mention that. I sound very Broadway and 41st Street because we're at the Earwolf.

That's exactly where we are. Studios here in New York City. What a historic street corner. A lot's happened here. Yeah, we came to New York after Jeff's rousing description of the upfront Jeff Ross our executive producer we had to hop on a plane

I needed to see it for myself yeah I was really excited to be back and um we attended the upfront

they started at 10am Conan went up and he was done at 1020 and we left perfect so we have no idea what

they announced all the shows. So you don't know about all of Turner Media's exciting content. It's all going to be a real surprise. How did Conan do? Conan did great. Yeah. Yes, he did very well. And I would say that no matter how he did,

but he actually truly did do well. He does well in these corporate. He's good at that. Yeah. Yeah. He doesn't sweat it, really, and just kind of reads the room. No, he has that attitude of, I'm a little too cool to be here. Yeah, man.

But I still showed up. You're lucky to have me. Yeah. Corporate executives love that. Yes. They like being dominated. They sure do. They want to know that someone's in control.

Yeah. And probably wearing a stiletto heel and standing on their dick. Exactly. Last week, though, we did record an interview just for this week when we were going to be gone with Jimmy Pardo. Yeah. The godfather of comedy podcasts. Yes, it's true. He started a podcast in 2006, which I think is before the telephone was invented.

And he's a big part of our Conan family. Yeah. He was our audience warm-up for a long time and was great. Starting at the Tonight Show. Mm-hmm. And he's been on the show as a guest numerous times, and he's been in a lot of comedy sketches and shot a remote for us. And everyone loves him, and we always love when he's in the building. He's great.

Great energy. There's like a gauntlet of high fives. Yes. And he just runs by and gives a high five from everybody. And he's, if you don't know, stand-up wise, he's really famous for just going out and riffing with the crowd. He's one of the best at it, which is a big claim. He's really hilarious. So it's no surprise that he's very funny on podcasts. No.

And we're excited to talk to him. And he brought his son along as well. Oh, yeah. That was fun. Yeah. I just hit the volume button under the table and I think I've- Nothing happened though. I might've blown out an earlobe. Uh-oh. You're so much more relaxed in New York.

I am? Yeah. Does that mean sloppy? I feel like I'm not even finishing sentences. Okay. Well, without further ado, here's our interview with Jimmy Pardo. Okay. All right. I'm ready. Go.

We are here. Hi. With the great Jimmy Pardo. Legendary. Hello. Legendary. Hi, Jimmy. Very, very excited.

Hello. Thank you guys for having me. Oh, my gosh. Thank you so much. Right? Good to be back in the old digs. Yeah. It's great to have you back. Walk around. I guys for having me. Oh, my gosh. Thank you so much. Right? Good to be back in the old digs. Yeah. It's great to have you back.

Walk around. I say hello to everybody. I hug everybody. Right? The interns have no idea who this old man is that people care about. No. Is this like going back to a high school that you graduated from? No, because I felt welcome here.

Oh, okay. Going back to high school, I did not feel like, again, why is this old man here? Yeah. Wait. What was I going to say? Do you do all three floors when you come back? Like, do you make all the rounds? I did manage to do all three floors.

I start up top and I work my way down. Okay, I like that. And, you know, I run the gauntlet and, you know, some people I try to avoid. Just a high-five gauntlet. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, daddy's back and they're excited to see me. We're the number three behind-the-scenes podcast.

From the show? For TV shows, like, in the 200s of DirecTV. So that's something to be proud of. We're above Property Brothers. That's right. And below? Below Say Yes to the Dress. Yeah.

I don't know what that one is, but I do like those brothers. You've never seen Say Yes to the Dress? No, I don't have any interest in saying yes to any clothing. It's just for the wedding day. You know, we would get that reference, your wife, Danielle. Yeah. Because we used to play a lot of clips from C.S. The Dress on The Dish.

My beautiful wife, Danielle Koenig. Yeah. And she's never exposed to that. That's how I know about it from my wife. We. When we're in a hotel, there's certain shows she'll watch. That's why. Whenever we're in a hotel, we're kind of, we're watching whatever Oliver Griffin Pardo

wants to watch. Okay. That's my 11-year-old son. Law and Order. So you don't get a separate. What? Law and Order? We're watching Deadwood? We're watching, you know. Deadwood. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That's my 11-year-old son. Law and Order. So you don't get a separate... Law and Order. We're watching Deadwood.

We're watching, you know. Mm-hmm. Yeah. You don't get a separate room for Oliver. I'm not making EP money. Okay. You know, I'm just... No, I stayed with my parents until only very recently.

I'm not kidding. Is that true? Yeah. What do you mean by that? I'm 36. Are you really 36? I mean that we stayed in the same hotel room, yeah, until... God, I've known you so long.

Wow. I still think of you as a child. I mean that since... I don't think of you as an adult. How long have you really 36? I mean, we stayed in the same hotel room, yeah, until— God, I've known you so long. Wow. I still think of you as a child. I mean, that's—I don't think of you as an adult. How long have you known Jessie? Eight months. Okay. All right. It's got to be—

She has come a long way since then. Minimum 10 years, right? Yeah, yeah. It was before Oliver was born. No, Oliver was just born. Yes, because that was—so we'll take everybody back. I know Jimmy through Danielle, who we just mentioned. And I shared an office with Danielle when we worked on The Dish.

We were writers. And she, I remember, used to pump in the office because Oliver was just a baby. I tell you, I'm in lift weights. Yeah. By the way, she would do steroids. Right, yeah. She would pump you up. She would do a bad Dana Carvey impression.

That's how few mothers we had on staff here. Yeah, she would. I think that because you're 11. So I guess, yeah, I've known you 11 years. Yeah, 11 years, that's so cool. So you were a child when I met you. Yeah, it was. 25 years of age. Wow.

Were you nervous when you met? My whole life ahead of me. Because he was already, you know, Jimmy Pardo. He was, but I don't think he had his podcast yet. Oh, no, yes, I did. Oh, did you? Yeah, we started in 2006. Oh, my gosh. Wow. Yeah, we started, yeah, 2006, we started the podcast. So we're at 14 years, I did. Oh, did you? Yeah, we started in 2006. Oh, my gosh.

Wow. Yeah, we started, yeah, 2006. So we're at 14 years, I think. Starting 14 years. You basically invented the medium. Yeah. Yes. But then here comes Marc Maron.

Oh, that newbie. I love that he's the newbie to you. Here comes the VHS to take over for Beta. Beta's still the better format. Beta, better, more convenient, looks better, sounds better. But then here comes Marc Maron as the VHS. Yep. Hard pass.

Yeah, you're going to give him VHS status? If I had to give him anything. All right, there must be some intermediate format. I don't know. He's kind of the guy that leads the pack, right? I mean, he had the president on, for Christ's sake. You can't dismiss that. VHS is also two formats ago from now.

That's true. So I think that is accurate. But I'm comparing it to the, again, I'm the beta. I'm the guy that started it. Here we go. Right, everybody? Hey, podcasting, part of it's the greatest. We owe you everything.

Yeah. Did you try a lawsuit like in 2008 to stop other people from starting podcasts? I did try to stop the San Francisco Comedy Festival from having other podcasts and then it was like a thing like, well, I can't do this. Because there was a time where I was the only one. Right, right. So they were like, hey, we're going to have another one. I'm like, don't you kind of think that steals

our thunder? They were like, yeah, we do. More than one podcast? Watch this. And then all of a sudden, year three, you know, I'm one of 49 podcasts. Wow. Oh, wow. So I did try to put a stop to that. My attorney is a guy named Michael Cohen, who is not able to do anything at the moment. I've got to tell you something.

Especially this week. Yeah, I said, boy, you see him in a tough way. I tried to get a hold of him all day Monday. I got nothing. That guy will not return a phone call. He was en route. He was traveling. It was a travel day.

He must have been in a tunnel then or something. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. Oh, man. Thanks for having me. Bye-bye, guys. Thank was en route. He was traveling. It was a travel day. He must have been in a tunnel then or something. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. Oh, man. Thanks for having me. Bye-bye, guys. Thank you, yeah. Committed to doing it.

He actually left. You really did. Just note that he took his headset off and feigned leaving. But now he's back. But so when did you start working here at Conan? Oh, the whole reason I'm here for this. Well, no, I mean, it's— I started here day one.

Here's what happened. And I don't know if Mike remembers this. I got a phone call. My manager called me up and said, J.P. Buck, who, of course, you guys have spoken to, I think, on this program before. Yes. He said to explain...

The comic booker. ...many reasons why Dan Slosser's been on the show. Is that his name? Did I get the name right? Almost. I just tried to point any... I panicked and tried to pick any comedian's name. So they said they want somebody to be the warm-up comic for The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. Right.

And I immediately said, I have no interest in doing that. I don't want to be a warm-up comic. And they said, and my manager's like, well, just at least take the meeting. And I was like, I don't know if I want to do that. And then I was like, well, what are you talking about? It's The Tonight Show and it's Conan O'Brien. Those are two wins. Why would you even consider not taking the meeting?

It's a guaranteed seven-month gig. So I said, I'll take the meeting. So the very next day, I came down here. And here's what happened, Jessie. I'll walk you through it. Okay. So I meet Alison Fleur, who was the mono writer coordinator. Oh, writer's assistant, yeah.

I met her, and she made me laugh right away where I said, hold this drink. And she put her hand out like that, and then I put the drink on her hand. And it's kind of like a platter. Her hand was like a platter. And then she carried my drink like that into the office. And then she said, okay, we're just going to wait for Mike Sweeney to come here. And I'd recognized Mike, of course, his name and image from his appearances on Caroline's

Comedy Hour. And it's 100% true. Three appearances. Even at the improv, maybe. Thank you very much. But I think it was Caroline's Comedy Hour that I remember you. With the 3D glasses from Playboy Magazine Centerfold. Right? Wasn't that one of your jokes? That was one of my jokes. A great joke that I have tried to steal

and can't remember a single word to do. You just stole it. Because you don't feel enough shame just finishing up and taking those glasses off. Right? Isn't that the premise, kind of? Yeah, sure. That's it. It's a great joke. So then Mike came in. What a mean man.

Honest to God, if I had $50 on me right now, I'd buy it from you. That's how much I like that joke. I'll front you the money. Wait a minute. So you're going to front me the money and the bit. And the bit. It's a win.

Okay, good. So he sits down on a beanbag chair that's in his office. Yes. And the beanbag chair does not support him. And again, remember, I came here going, I'll hear them out. I don't want the job. Yeah. I'm not a warm-up.

I'm Jimmy Pardo. I'll have my own show. Yeah. Which only made you more desirable. Well, to that, I think... Sexually. Of course. I'm very attractive, very handsome.

Remember, my son is here. Yes. Oh, sorry. So the beanbag sure did not support him, and he kind of fell off of it. Oh, no. But then stayed in that position for the rest of the interview. Yes. And as that was happening, I was like, you'd be an a-hole not to take this job.

If that's the kind of fun that's happening here, why would you not want to be a part of this? And so, but yet I still kept on going, I don't want it. I don't want it. I don't want it. So then Mike goes, well, let's go down and talk to Jeff Ross. I'll sell you my beanbag bit too. You know what? 75, you have both. 75 for both chunks? Yes. I'm in. All right. So he said, let's go down and talk to Jeff Ross. Now, unbeknownst to me, they're already waiting for me to come down there to talk about stuff. So it's Jeff Ross,

Brian Kiley was in there because I knew Brian from the road. They knew the beanbag bit was going to sell you. They knew that was going to be there. They just needed to push me over. It was a honey trap. Steve Hollander, who's down there, stage manager. Yeah. Steve Hollander. And you say to Jeff, he doesn't want it. And Jeff goes, well, what do you mean?

What do you mean he doesn't want it? What do you mean he doesn't want it? What do you mean? I mean, we're offering him to try to do a show. What do you mean? And I was like, you know, I don't really know. And so then he's kind of like, literally like, I don't think anybody's ever told Jeff Ross no before because he didn't know how to handle that information. Yeah.

So he's like, well, okay. So then he picks up the phone and goes, he doesn't want it. He doesn't want to get down here. He doesn't want it. Hangs up. And then Conan, who I'd never met, walks in. And there's no, well, okay. So then he picks up the phone and goes, he doesn't want it, doesn't want it, get down here, doesn't want it. Hangs up. And then Conan, who I'd never met, walks in. And there's no chairs in the room. And so he looks around.

He's like, I don't know. And then he just sits. In 2019, we have to say crisscross applesauce. And he sits next to me on the floor, you know, crisscross applesauce style. And says, what do you mean you don't want the job? And then the second he sat down crisscross applesauce, I was like, again, you have to take this job. Like this is, everybody is treating you like a king

and they don't even effing know you. And what happened was Mike had said, look, here's the deal. Here's why you're here. We asked around and Andy Richter said. Andy recommended you. Andy, and I remember it because it was the nicest compliment.

He said the person who could do anywhere from zero minutes to an hour off the top of his head with the same sensibilities as this show is Jimmy Pardo. And you then said, so we looked at one clip of yours, we were like a minute and a half into that, Conan said, that's our guy, everybody agreed, let's get him in here.

That's so flattering. So then I heard all of that, still said no, no, no, no. And I don't know what kind of hardball I was playing. I really don't understand it. I know. You were angry when you came in with me. I was not angry. I was like, shit, I have to do the beanbag trick because this guy is so angry and hostile.

I was not angry. It's the only way to mollify him. I think, I don't know what the word mollify is, and don't show off in front of my kids. You have to make me look a fool. Mollify. M-O-L-L-I-F-Y. Standard spelling. He knows more than the fool. Mollify. M-O-L-L-I-F-Y. Standard spelling. I'll admit that's what I mean.

He knows more than I do. I'm dumb. He's the smart one. He and my wife are brilliant, and I'm just a clown. But I took the job. And, you know, as my friends were saying, you know, it's like you got a job for life. You know, they're never going to get rid of the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. No way.

You know, you're going to as long as. It's an institution. I also thought, like, well, I'm getting, you know, Conan and I are similar in age and a lot of the staff is. It's like, well, I'm not even like too old for the gig. Like everybody's kind of, like if Conan continues doing this until he's 70, I'm also going to do it until I'm 65. It's like, we're all going to do this together.

And then like seven months later, something really went sideways. Yep. But I don't remember what that was. You guys probably talked about it on the show. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Why rehash that? I remember when everything blew up.

I had a weird reaction. I was like, this is exciting. I just thought it was fun. What was funny, the day that it was officially decided, like Jeff Zucker showed up, and he's shaking hands in the hallway. This is at the old Universal lot. I don't remember that. You weren't there because you were on stage because the show was happening.

And so he shows up and I was standing next to David Kissinger. And I forget who else was in the hallway. And Kissinger goes, look who's here. And it's like, you got to be kidding me. And he's glad-handing everybody. And it's like, we all know that he's the Grim Reaper. We know why he's here. Right.

Because of the rumors on TMZ and everything. And it's like, how dare you walk in here and glad-hand you son of a- Well, when you think about it, the Grim Reaper doesn't, he's not shy either. He shows up. That's true. And gets the job done. But he's got a hood on. He's got to come in with-

That's true. And go, ow, right? He has some anonymity. Right. But here comes Zucker. Hey, hey, hey, how you guys? And he's shaking hands. Wow.

And so then when you read Bill Carter's book, it's like, and he talks about when Zucker came that day, it's like, I literally was standing right next to him for that entire chapter. Like, it's really bizarre. Yeah. And so to speak, what you said, it was oddly exciting. Yet, this job that I thought I'd have until I was 65 years old is about to go away. I mean, it was very upsetting.

Yeah. But when it was in that two-week state of flux where we literally didn't know what the outcome was going to be. It was. Then here comes the People of Earth letter to take the wind out of the room. It was crazy times. It was. And I wasn't good at it, Jesse. At what?

At doing warm-up. Oh, I was just going to bring that up. You were great at doing warm-up. No. At the Tonight Show, I was not that great. I was finding my footing. I was kind of doing an impression of a warm-up at the Tonight Show. I didn't like that studio.

Oh, it was horrible. We flew out, and it was formerly studio number one that they had raised to the ground. And they showed us the footprint. And the second I saw it, I'm like, oh, this is too big. It's too big. Because my experience is a TV studio can't be too small. Like so many – The biggest mistake I think you can make is feel like, oh, we're going to pack in 500 people.

Stupid. No one cares. No one at home cares. You just want good laughs. You want a good crowd. Tight. 200 people. Comedy compression. Vax. Yeah. You want a good crowd. Tight. 200 people. Comedy compression.

Back. Same as a comedy club. Yes. Low ceiling, tight room. Yes. Stop it with these 600 seat comedy venues. Low ceiling. Exactly.

Dirty floor. I felt the same with the Tonight Show. It's like, this is, so when I first started doing the warmup, again, I was doing an impression, I felt like I had to be in the audience going up and down the stairs. And it wasn't working because if you're on the stairs on stage left. You were too far an impression, I felt like I had to be in the audience going up and down the stairs, and it wasn't working, because if you're on the stairs on stage left... Too many steps. You were too far away. Of course I didn't have my Fitbit with me. Yeah.

All the way to the right, it was like, they have no idea who I'm talking to over here. Right. So I finally anchored myself, basically, you know, at the mono spot, and did my warm-up from there, and then that's kind of when it flipped and started working. But it took a little while. It sounds like it was your fault we got in trouble.

Well, I was going to say, I don't think you should take the blame for the Tonight Show ending. I'm going to take, I'll take the most of the brunt of it. Yeah. I do remember one time. What's he doing going up the aisles?

Well, he's doing an impression of a guy over at the sitcom Mom. I, one weekend, this is very early on. What's the holiday? We started June 1st, right? June 9th. Something like that. So what would be a holiday coming up right after that?

We would have been gone for three days. Father's Day? Harbor. But it was a Friday, Saturday. We had a three-day weekend for some reason. Memorial Day? Fourth of July. Oh, no, it was June. Maybe Fourth of July, Saturday. We had a three-day weekend for some reason. Memorial Day? Fourth of July. Oh, no, it was June.

Maybe Fourth of July, maybe. Maybe. And so on that Thursday show, I let an F-bomb go. And I remember Richter, as if he's my dad, came over and he goes, you can't. And I go, I know I can't. It just kind of happened. And he's like- Wait, really?

Why can't you? Wait, was he being serious? Yeah. What? Oh, I thought he was just busting your chops. Yeah, no. Why can't you?

It's not even on TV. It's not on the air. Well, I remember panicking about it and saying to Mike, hey, just so that you know, I said, I would say it,

but my son is here. I said, F. Yeah. And he said, and Mike said, what do you mean? And I said,

I said, oh, because here's what happened. Some guy said, some guy was like talking and I said, hey, what's going on? He goes,

I'm just telling my friend how funny you are. I go, you're damn right I am. I'm effing great. Right, right. Yeah. And then Richter's like, you know, you really can't swear like that. It's NBC. But I panicked for three days.

And I wish that wasn't gratuitous. That was like a funny use of that word. Yes. It was perfect. Yes. But I hear I got Grandpa Richter on my ass. Well, now he's in trouble. Such an SJW.

Now it's his fault, The Tonight Show. Yeah. Because of Richter's. No kidding. Ad SJW. Now it's his fault, The Tonight Show. Yeah. Because of Richter's- No kidding. Admonitions. Yeah. So then I- But I remember-

But I was cool there, right? When you came up to me, I was totally cool. You were cool about it, but I still texted you, I'll say, 4,000 times over the weekend. No, no. I did. Really? I texted because I- So you really thought your job was on the line at that point?

I really did. Oh, no. And Mike's like, finally on Sunday, you're like, dude, I'm not kidding. There's no problem here. Yeah. He's like- Stop texting me. If you're like, dude, I'm not kidding. There's no problem here. Yeah. He's like, if anybody bothers you, tell them to talk to me. And it's like, in my head, I was like, well, you could have said that text on Thursday,

but I'll take it now on Sunday. Oh, okay. Well, you know, I let you stew a little bit. He doesn't let things go. Well, no, you were the guy who was like, I don't want the job. I don't want the job. Well, at that point, I was like, I hope they don't fire me. All of a sudden, they sent me F word. I didn't think anything of it I don't want the job. Well, at that point, it was like, I hope they don't fire me. All of a sudden, they said the F word. I didn't think anything of it

until Richter yelled at me. I wouldn't have cared. I wouldn't have been like, nobody heard it, first of all. Except the security guy. A little salty with the language, huh? Shut up, Jack,

whatever his name was. I don't remember his name. But it's a pretty easy gig, right? Once you're like, oh, I'm just going to do the monologue. Well, like 10 minutes, and then you're done. You both have done warm-up for this show. I did it back in the 90s.

You did it in the 90s. Then was it Brian McCann after you? Brian McCann. I did it from 95 to 2000. All right, so then he did 2000 to 2000-whatever? Nine. That's nine years, and that's a long time. Yeah.

Point out the exits. You're an important part of the show. Sure. Counting feeds off your energy. But it sounds like before you, Jimmy, they had someone internal to it. They did. Just probably to save money. I don't know.

I would imagine that's A, knowing this company. And you were the first one that they hired that didn't already work. Yeah. And they did say to me in my interview, like, here's the deal. It was basically Brian McCann would do his work and then run down and do it. But now that we're The Tonight Show, we want a guy where this is, his focus is on this. Right. And that was my, my focus was on that when I wasn't focusing on not getting fired.

Over the weekend. And then eventually it. Well, and was there any way for you to prepare? Or it's really a job that you just kind of do... Well... Like you said, it's crowd work, so... And eventually it was crowd work. Again, I was doing it...

I seriously was doing an impression of a warm-up guy. Oh, yeah. You know, like... And I can't even put into words what that was. And then eventually when I became me, the very funny Jimmy Pardo who I was hired to be, that's when I started getting good at the job. Right.

And then, you know, what happened? And then shortly after, yeah. Yeah. But then TBS was better. Yeah, and then you came back. It was a smaller studio, which we talked about. Yes, much more intimate. Also, people were there.

Conan was a folk hero for a year and a half. So these audiences were- Right. Yes, that's right. They were kind of more focused. Yeah. He grew the beard. And out of the Universal tram. Boom. They wanted to see bearded Conan. Yep. Yeah. And not off the universal tram.

Boom. They wanted to see bearded Conan. Yep. Yeah. Which I hated. Yeah. Oh, I hated bearded Conan. Is that true?

Oh, my God. I forget that he had a beard for like a couple of years, I guess. Yeah. It reminded me, and I told him this, it reminded me of failure. Because he grew it in that little hiatus where he was let go. So that beard reminded me of failure. Because he grew it in that little hiatus where he was let go. So that beard reminded me of failure. It was kind of a sad divorce beard.

As he walks in, I think I'm growing my beard again, fellas! Well, now it's a victory beard. That's right, he's a winner. Right, guys? Take it podcasting by storm! Well, so I understand why you said yes to the Tonight Show gig, but what was your excuse for saying yes to the show here at TBS?

Money. Okay, good. You know, here's the truth. I loved being here. Yeah. I loved being. It's a fun place to be. It's a fun place to be.

I mean. Yeah. And I've done, I've worked, I've had my own show. I've had the pilots. I've had the Jimmy Pardo. I've had my own series. And I've never, even when it was,'ve had my own show. I've had the pilots. I've had the Jimmy Pardo. I've had my own series. And I've never, even when it was, you know, funny money starring Jimmy Pardo, I was treated better here than I was by those networks where like they always keep you on your toes.

Like, you know, any given moment you can take this away from you. It's like, why don't you want your star to be comfortable? Whereas here, even when I was, when I was finding my footing, nobody ever made me feel like, you know, if he doesn't pick it up, he's gone. Yeah. And I hit it off with Todd Levin and Josh Comers and Dan Cronin right away and Mike. Oh, so you met those guys here

on the Tonight Show. Week one, Todd Levin came down and said, my name's Todd Levin. I'm one of the writers. I listen to your podcast. I think you're great. And then it was like, I now have a place to go visit every day. And so then I would start hanging out with Todd and then Josh. And of course I knew Andy from the UCB and stuff like that, but not enough to really hang out or bother him, but cause he was getting ready for the, you know, stand by a podium. But when TBS came along, it's like, at that point,

I did the writers special for TBS. Right, in Chicago. I was part of that in Chicago. You played a really hilarious character on the show that why don't we do it again? When you played Andy it was time for Andy to get his own sidekick and you were his sidekick. Yes, people still tell me that that's

one of their favorite things of the show and I find that to be bananas because the show's got a lot of great... We should do that again. We should. I don't know who you need to talk to. First of all, you of the show, and I find that to be bananas. Oh, yeah, we should do that again. We should. We should. I don't know who you need to talk to. First of all, you've got to talk to me, and I'm out. Yeah. You finally learned your lesson. Bring in the beanbag, guys.

Get the beanbag out. He's five years old. He likes beanbags. He likes to be wooed. It was great. It was just a great bunch of people, and that whole thing that went down. And the pressure was off at that point too. With TBS, I mean, with that show, then kind of being a little more autonomous, I think everyone

probably felt like, okay, we can breathe a little bit here. Also the people from TBS, I remember I stopped by one day when, you know, the stage was still getting ready and and i walked in and conan's like hey what do you think the stage and the people from tbs were there and and they i literally heard them go jimmy parto just came in like it's excitedly like yeah like can you believe parto's shopping stopping on an off day so like i felt welcome like it was it just was it's i think a lot of it has to do with the fact that most came from New York. And it was like this New York family vibe as opposed to this BS LA hell that we all live in. Yeah.

And so, again, it felt more like a family than a show where everybody has to mind their P's and Q's. People who are marooned from New York. Yeah. We've got to huddle and stay together. Yeah. You've got to find the good pizza. I felt like that, too, even though I was a local hire. I kind of felt like we're all on this island by ourselves for a little while.

But do you really feel that way in L.A.? Like, you have tons of friends here now. I mean, that idea of— I think you mean about the business more than the people. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just the business of— It's cold. It's cold.

It's cold. And everybody is—I got eyes on John. You got eyes on John? Yeah. Walking in John. Yeah, John knows how to walk from his trailer to a door. Does he? I'm talking about John Cryer.

The answer is no. No, I'm kidding. John's a great man. You know John. I do know John. He's a nice man. All right, okay. Very nice man.

Now, I used to come out here in the 90s and- To do Evening at the Improv. Yes. No, but I would hightail it back to New York because this town scared the wits out of me. It just seemed very cold. There are too many attractive people. I think that's a big part of the problem. Well, that's an issue for me anywhere. Wow, you're very handsome.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You got that salt and pepper. Oh, sure, yeah. That's what people go nuts for. Don't they? Look at Richard Gere. Yeah, hair color that denotes you're near death. Anderson Cooper.

Andy Cooper looks great. Oh, Andy Cooper. He does look great. Chris Cuomo's getting some salt and pepper. Sure. Let's go down the whole CNN track. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wolf Blitzer, you buried the lead.

And he's got that beard. With a name like Wolf. Yeah, we thought he'd be gone right after the Iraq War. Iraq War, yeah. Yeah. Right? All right. Wolf's literature.

Wolf always brings things to a scratchy screaming hall. We can take out the awkward pauses. When I got hired to do the warm-up in New York, I wasn't a writer yet. Oh, I did not know that. So I was brought from the outside. Oh, okay. Yeah. And then they said, oh, do you want to submit to be a writer? And I was terrified that I wouldn't get hired because I loved going there to do the warm-up.

Right. It was 10 minutes a day. I did stand up. And so I did, you know, like that money, I needed it. It was nice. Yeah. I was never asked to submit, by the way. So I appreciate you bringing that up and throwing that in my face.

We're going to cut this out. I don't know if they ever, did they ever hire a new person? I mean, they barely ever hire people. While I was here? Yeah.

Hundreds. What? Are you kidding me? Some came and went to the time that I was here. There was a crazy turnover while you were here. Which let me tell you,

I'm not a great writer. So I would have panicked if you would have said, hey, you know, we'd like you to submit. I would have, I probably would have turned it down. Maybe you could improvise your packet. Are you coming to do a little shtick?

Yeah. What's your name? Standard spelling? So you heard probably there was an opening, but you're too shy and reticent to say, hey, you know what? I'd love to submit. Because I would not have loved to submit. Ah, so. No, that would.

I'm a performer. Right, exactly. I'm a performer. And if you would have said, hey, do you want to be on staff and be here every day just to make us laugh and sit around, which is kind of what I was doing anyway, I would have said, yes, I'll show up at 10 o'clock every day and do that for double the money, maybe even triple the money. I could see how, though, you also wouldn't want – you wouldn't want the offer to submit. You would just want the job offer. No, I would have been fired instantly. I'm not a good writer.

You're a great writer. Of course you are. I'm a funny person. But you write things down sometimes. Yeah. You must. Oh, no.

I've seen you do at least one written piece in your act. Yes. Of course. Just keep multiplying. But I never wrote it. I just said it out loud

over and over and then never tweaked a single word of it. It's the way to do it. We're creating such lore around you right now. So stand up. You're going out. I read you're going on tour in the next few weeks. Tour is a very strong word. Well, you're doing gigs.

I go out once a month. But I thought it was cool. I saw the listings and they're all in the Midwest. Is that your favorite? Do you have a favorite regions you like to perform? I guess it is the Midwest. Okay. You're from Chicago?

You're from Chicago. I'm from Chicago. And, you know, so I cut my teeth in all of those cities. But for some reason, those clubs are still great clubs. And what's the reason? I think what we described earlier, they're small, low ceilings, smaller 200-seat places. And luckily, I could fill that. Right.

And people seem to care enough to fill that size room for me. I think anything bigger, I might have some empty seats. But audience-wise, do you just feel like you connect better? You work off the audience the whole time. I do. You find them, they're better, they're more fun to work with. They know what you're talking about

when you say pop instead of soda. Well, I don't. I work hard to get rid of pop but I say soda. But they do get Styx references and R.E.S.B. Wagon references. Oh, yeah.

That's right. The West Coast may not because they, are you big into, I forgot, oh, you love Chicago. Chicago's my favorite band. Yeah.

The band Chicago. Yeah, that's right. That double album, one of their first albums Was a classic Is it still a classic? The first three are double And the fourth one is a

Oh wow Quadruple Okay you know them very well And then you got a single With five Quadruple And a single with six Yeah it's a four album live

No one should do that Did you I assume you saw them When they were touring A couple years ago Oh the band Chicago? Yeah Yeah

I mean just recently Yes Okay but Yes How do you feel about the new incarnation? I think. It's a lot of new people. They are, and I've been seeing that since 1980 is the first time I saw them. They are tighter and better than ever. That's the truth.

They just sound terrific. And I was very lucky that they interviewed me for their, they did a documentary on the band and they interviewed me. Oh, cool. And I'm in it for like 30 seconds, which is 30 seconds more than I should be in their documentary. But I was very flattered. So now when I go to the shows, I'm, you know, I don't, I'm not 100% sure they remember my first name, but they'll go, Pardo's here.

There's Pardo. They think that is your first name. Why were you in a Chicago documentary? Just because you bought their albums? Yes. Or you know, I went to Just because you bought their albums? Yes. Or you know, I went to music He's their most

famous fan. I'm curious. I'm curious of your connection. Did you ever travel with them? Peter Pardini. Do you do audience

warm up for them? Yeah, I do warm up. I go out and do a little. Peter Pardini, who was the director of the film, he had heard me on the Adam Carolla show

talking about how Chicago was my favorite band. And so it was basically that. Joe Mantegna and myself are the two most famous Chicago fans.

So he's like, why don't you come down and I'll interview you for a little bit. And it was like, well, I don't know why, but okay. And I was, again,

very flattered and I didn't think I would make the cut of the movie because why would I? And then I gave him the perfect soundbite of the fact that

when I discovered Chicago, they kind of were having the resurgence in the 80s. And I kind of saw them start Chicago, they kind of were having the resurgence in the 80s. Right. And I kind of saw them start over again. Kind of as I was discovering music, they were discovering a new life and that I went along with them on that path.

So basically, Chicago was literally the soundtrack to my life. Wow. And you just saw every producer's head go, we got it. That's it. We got our sound bite. And so I say that. I go, there was, I literally, so I see that and I say, they're the sound jack to my life. And I pause and I go, you're welcome.

You're welcome. And they kept all of that in the book. And that's how the documentary ends. Yes. And then I wave goodbye and sign some autographs. Wow. So now do you expect backstage passes? Every show.

Really? I expect to stand up there and hit a triangle. I should be on the stage. I don't know why I'm not being asked to introduce him live on every show. I'll go out and do a couple of minutes. We have a guy in the show who is obsessed with the band Rush, and his dream came true. He got invited on. Jordan Schlansky.

He got invited to be on stage with him? With Rush, and I think literally they gave him one little thing. I think they thought it was a make-a-wish, though. If Chicago thought I was a make-a-wish and gave me a triangle for one song, I'd play along with it. Yeah, yeah. That seems unfair. The make-a-wish people don't really need that. I don't know if any of the, you know, I don't know how many, because it's mostly, oh, God, this is a sad road to go down.

Yeah, what are you doing? I don't, I'm regretting it. By the way, the make-a-wish thing was your premise. I know, I know. I think it was very funny. As it was coming out of my mouth, I was regretting it. Well, don't be. It's us following up on it.

That was probably the problem. Could have just let the laugh happen and moved on. I shouldn't have brought up Jordan. That's always. By the way, of all my years working on it, when I'm on the road, people always say, you know, I love when you were a metal detector, Mike, or Andy's sidekick. And then they literally don't care about anything I have to say. They'll go, is Jordan Lasky really like that?

Yes. Is that how he is? Is he really like that? And I go, yeah, yeah. Because I don't know what else. Yeah. Because A, he is. Right.

And B, it's like if you say no, doesn't that ruin the illusion? Yeah, right. No, no, he actually walks around like a hobo. But they don't want it to be real, I think. They want some version that a brain can comprehend. Yeah. I would love to see you deal with him on a podcast because we had him on. How'd that go?

Oh, yeah. I felt like there's that spider wasp that injects a spider and then lays its eggs. Like, I felt paralyzed. And we talked about this. I think we both just, we both. I literally shut down and he was just talking

and I was like, He just monologizes at you for so long. And I gave up and left my body. It starts to be physically painful. Yeah. I know it would be,

I would like to see how Jimmy, because Jimmy is a, Yes. the grandfather of podcasting. And I don't want to make that. Why do I have to be the grandfather? Okay. Well, because the Chicago stuff made really HB.

Maybe HB badly did it. That makes sense. Until then, you're just the dad. But you're an expert podcaster. And I don't know how you would handle. Well, first things first, I don't book them. You wouldn't book them. Yeah.

I solve every problem by not having that dullard on. I wish we had thought of that. I know. I need to talk about high-end coffees. You're a genius. I need to talk about charging stations. Scram. We'd love it if we tried to get him to talk about those.

He wouldn't do it. He wouldn't do it. He wouldn't do it. That's more relatable. Yeah, it's much more relatable. But while we're on the subject Yeah Maybe you do have Some tips for us

Yeah Because we are a new podcast We're novices I know it's hard to believe Unlike Conan We're willing to admit That we might have You know

Some things to work on You just take You just take the boss down That would just happen Which by the way I don't disagree with Yeah Somebody should talk

Right Sit him down for 10 seconds We've at don't disagree with. Somebody should talk to him. We've at least talked about the chance. Of course we've talked to him. You're one of the few that can, right? Are you one of the few that can give a legit note? Looking at me? Directly at you. Oh.

I can't. If I had any, I'd be secretariat if I was looking anywhere. I'd give you a note, but I think you're perfect. Yes, sure. But I, you're perfect. Yes, sure. But I, you know, he's so perfect. I'm just waiting for the something to happen. Oh, sure. You get the opportunity.

You know, I'll give you your advice off the air. Sure. Because I have a lot. Oliver, go get the scroll. This is why I came on this show. Something you said made me think about when Conan one time did ask me for a note. Oh. And-

What a trick. It is a trick. And I just went, and I knew it was. And just, so then I came up to you and I said, I go, Mike, Conan just wanted me to give him notes on the monologue. And you said, well, what'd you do? And I said, it was great. And you said, yep, you're a corner man. That's it. You're a corner man. I didn't say that. Great job, champ. And then keep moving. That's exactly what you said, well, what'd you do? And I said, it was great. And you said, yep, you're a corner man. That's it.

You're a corner man. I didn't say that. Great job, champ. And then keep moving. That's exactly what you said. Wow. And it was great. Because then from there on, he would.

Yeah. And then occasionally he would say, stop just saying what I want to hear and give me some notes. Right, right, right. Which, again, I thought was bizarre. But I would say to him, I thought this or that. I forget what they were specifically. But it's like at some point, you can't just lie. No, no.

He appreciated it. All joking aside. He doesn't ask everyone for that advice. So he really admires your performing. I mean, I think that that's what that meant. I think it was too, Jada. And I appreciate you saying that. But I think that's what it was because like Todd and Josh would go, he doesn't ask us for it.

No. Right. Yeah. So I think he's coming to you because he kind of sees you as a safe little haven where he can get legit feedback. Absolutely. And also he understands. He does ask people who are experts in different fields for advice on different things. And I think what Jesse said is right.

It's because, you know, he really admired you as a stand-up. And so getting feedback from you was important. Listen, I sat the kid down. I told him how to talk. Right, right. But you just reminded me. Yes. The thing I always had to deal with after doing the warm-up was I would be the last person to talk to him before he goes out.

And so were you. Yeah. And I'd go back and some nights the crowd would be awful. Always the night I had a piece in the show, I'd be like. Right. I would try a little harder. Yeah.

Jazz it up a little bit. Yeah. Get him a little hot. But no, if they were bad, you have, if they're on the fence, you don't want to get in his head and go, oh, they're not that great. No, if they're on the fence, you kind of had to say, you know what, they're great.

They're good. They're good. They didn't really like me that much, but they're ready for you. Right. Right, right. That's exactly what you had to say. Corner man. Right.

But if they were bad. You had to tell them. You've got to tell them. You've got to let them know. Because otherwise, oh my, you immediately think it's just me. Right. As a comedian, it's only me. They loved everyone else.

Not me. There was one time. So didn't you, it's an every night decision. Every night, you'd go back and you'd have the 30 seconds where you would, you know, Conan grabs your shoulder. Hey, what's up, Chopper? What's going on, Chopper? Hey, Chopper.

Hey, Chopper. Punch, punch, punch. Punch, punch, scram. So I would then give them the note and then i would go and sit on the stairs to watch the monologue i enjoyed watching the monologue i love that from you uh right behind the producer's podium and if the crowd was atrocious he and i would make this eye contact like this i was the only other guy performing up until that point so we'd have this little bond about how awful they were and it was kind of magical.

But then sometimes when they were really bad, like he would look over, and it wasn't a bonding look over. He'd be like, what's going on in here? What'd you do? Yeah, what'd you, why'd you sandbag me? Oh, man. Or I would. Why did you bring up Make-A-Wish? I didn't.

You did. Why'd you say F? Richter told me. But there were times, like you said, where they were on the fence and I may have sold them a bill of goods. Sure. Where it's like, oh, they're ready for you. And then they weren't ready for him. Right, right. And then he would look over at me.

He's like, I thought you said they were. So maybe one or two times only in the seven years that I worked here did he then come over afterwards. During the commercial break. During the commercial break and say to me, hey, they're not great. What did you? And I go, I'm not going to tell you the truth. Yeah. Right. I thought you would get out – I literally thought they would like you.

Right. And they didn't like me at all. Right. But I thought that's because they were here to see you. Yeah. And my mistake, they weren't. Why were they there? I mean, that's what I wonder.

Why are bad crowds bad? I am fascinated to this day about – even at a comedy club, it's like, so would you all get together and decide to be shitty? Yeah. Well, I know why. I know why. Oliver's okay. I know why audiences could be bad here a lot of times. Oh, I do too.

Well, yes. Your thoughts. Yeah, I want to hear both of them. One obvious one is if we had a new, a band on. And if it's a new band, you know, they're LA based. They have a fan base. They send out to all the fans. Yeah, they're here to see Iron Dragon.

They're, the entire crowd would be fans for Iron Dragon. Yeah. And you could tell immediately, like they would just stone the monologue, all the comedy. And then come and be like, well, tonight,

you know, Tom Cruise is on the show. Quiet. Ah. Yeah. Just two great acts. And then he'd mention. Iron show. Quiet. Just too great act. And then he'd mention, are you a dragon?

Yeah. Standing ovation. Place goes bananas. And then you're like, oh. And I would tell him that too. I would go out and I would say, because you would know that. They're a band crowd.

Because I would say, on the show tonight, we got so-and-so, so-and-so. And Imagine Dragons. And then a band I'd never heard of until they were on the show. And the place went crazy. And I would come back and I'd go, they're here for the band.

So, yeah, you have to tell them that. Because that's a death sentence. Yeah. Unless it's a – there are certain bands where there's synergy. Well, when Pearl jams on. It's like that. Of course they're excited that Pearl jams here. Yeah.

But when it's, you know, Bastille, it's like, oh, Bastille's here. The crowd goes crazy. It's like, I, Bastille's here. The crowd goes crazy. It's like, I've never heard of this band until I read it off a cue card. And then they're going nuts. So it's like, you better let them know. They're all foreign. Yeah.

Yeah, they're foreign indigency. Do you ever do a show where I, the Comedy Cell in New York City, I used to go up there and emcee at nine o'clock. And some nights the entire crowd was from another country. Never. Yeah, unbelievable. Not a single American.

And not just like just from Denmark, just places where it was all second language. Why were they there then? What made them go in to watch American comedy? It's just such a tourist center, epicenter. And they would get, back then they'd get people to kind of come from upstairs to come down. Sorry.

Do you have any other thoughts on what makes a bad crowd? I mean, is it the weather? Well, the weather certainly, when we would have those 130 degree days, which we had, you know, like for two weeks we had when I was here. Remember that? We had a little two-week stretch

where they handed out popsicles and stuff like that to try to keep the crowd cool. People were like maybe at risk of fainting. Yes. Yeah. So that was part of it. And then I think what kind of happened towards the end of my reign, and I say reign, was I think that

some people were tourists and not necessarily Conan fans and that they like, oh, we didn't get tickets for Elle and her mom. Oh, let's go see Conan. Let's see if Conan has some seats. Oh, they have two seats. You've got to go to a taping. Yeah.

And so I think that that could also be a- Who's this fellow starting out saying the F word? This isn't for us. Oh, by the time TBS, I was saying F every show. Are you kidding me? That wasn't NBC, right? Yeah. Space and cable.

Let's F it up. That's the only benefit. The other one is rainy days lead to bad crowds, which I think it's true, but I don't, the connection isn't that. It's sort of a small weather window where there's a good crowd. It's like 68 to 72 degrees. Yeah. Right, right. But I think the rain here, it's like, because they have to wait, these people have to wait

outside before they get in here. So if it's too hot, it's awful. If it's too cold, it's awful. because these people have to wait outside before they get in here. So if it's too hot, it's awful. If it's too cold, it's awful. So it does have to be in that little window. Also, I think the guest does have something to do with it. When you announce three names, especially back in the Tonight Show days where sometimes it was three people from a Disney show or two people from a Disney show that nobody really knew. Right. Or at least the audience didn't.

They think they're going to see Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise and these names. And, you know, here's somebody from, you know, junior VP or whatever. Yeah. And so I think that they're like,

oh, what a bummer that we're here on this day. So that could bum them out. Yeah. I think audiences totally get off on who's going to be on the show. Oh, I think so. I mean,

and again, I would, but I would use that to my advantage in the warmup is like to get them energized of, and on the show tonight, but that was a hard sell. I hate this rundown too. You have to make.

Are you as angry as I am? Let's get out of here. Come on, let's go. Let's go see Mike and Molly. That was a show on the lot here for a while. It was, yes. So do you think you'll ever do Warm Up for another show? No. Well, I did it for Sarah Silverman.

She asked me to do it. Seriously? I turned her down for season one because I swore I would never do it. And then when she got season two, she called me up and she's like, I'm personally begging you to do it. And I did it, and then they didn't get a season three. I think I'm the kiss of death.

What have we learned today? Yeah. But I did it, and then they didn't get a season three. Uh-oh. I think I'm the kiss of death. What have we learned today? Yeah. But I enjoyed doing it for her. It was just 50 people in the audience. Oh, that's great. And they were all there, like-minded politically, so you could kind of say anything. Yeah, they were all Trump supporters. I'd go out there with my red hat.

Yeah. And, you know, do my hand signals, and they knew where I was coming from. They got it. They knew your dog whistle. Yeah. And, you know, do my hand signals. And they knew where I was coming from. They got it. They knew your dog whistle. Yeah. It reminded me, I did some bad shows in New York. Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? I was getting married.

I had no money. And it's a kid show. Right. And it was all sixth graders. It was a live taping? Yes. Oh, my God. And they would have an adult go out and do

comedy? Yes. You know me. I'm not good with children. Or likable. No, not likable in any way. Right. Oliver's nodding over there. Kids pick up on my creepy vibe immediately and run.

And so they hired me. It was awful. But you did a lot of warmup. I did. I did that in the Maury Povich show. And that was also awful because they'd go, you know, go out and, you know, get them going. But then right before, warn them that the show's about people dying from cancer. Right.

No, Maury, that was all over the map, too. It was all over the map. Some days it was test results. Yeah. Other days it was more watchable than that. Yeah. Yeah. But I did it for Craig Kilbourne.

Oh, yeah. When he had his show, I did stand-up on his show, and I got off, and very nicely, they said, you're the best stand-up we've had on, which I find hard to believe because I know what they had on. We want to offer you a job and the only job we have is fill-in for warm-up. Would you want to do that? And I said,

yeah, because I wanted to kind of get off the road. And so I did it. I did a total of four shows. The first one was atrocious. The middle two were great. The fourth, but I would go to work with a knot in my stomach every because it was like, you had to do the commercial breaks, you had to throw out candy,

you had to do all that. that's hard. So the very last show was, they, they did not like me at all and they went out of their way to hate Craig. They hated Craig.

And so I'm doing, why were they there? Right, why were they there? Who was the band? They were a bus tourist group that all were just on Hollywood Boulevard

and all had just been given tickets to come and see a live taping. There were three Spidermans. So they, it was right in the street, whatever, you got a Wonder Woman there. So Craig is literally in the middle, so he does his monologue to silence and then goes over to his desk and he starts the desk piece and the desk piece is crap in the bed. And and he points up at the he didn't have a band he had

a guy that would just play music and he and he just he's literally in the middle of a sentence you go in other news play the music play the music play it and nobody knows what's going on and he uh and he points at me and he goes come come here. And I go, okay. So I go into his dressing room. And by the way, I'm already hating this job. Like I've already got a knot in my stomach. And so I go into his dressing room and he won't look at me. And he's kind of got his, he's kind of like looking down.

He's like, you got to get them to laugh. You got to get them to laugh. I don't care what you do. Even if you have to yell into the microphone. Break their necks. Laugh, you dumb MFers. You get them to laugh. And so he's yelling you do. Even if you have to yell into the microphone. Break their necks. Laugh, you dumb MFers. You get them to laugh. And so he's yelling at me, but he's not looking at me.

So he's just yelling and ranting and raving. So I just went, you done? And I legitimately was asking if he was done. I was kind of defending myself, but at the same time, just kind of saying, are you done? And he goes, yeah, I'm done. And then I walk out and I see the line producer and I went, I quit. Oh, great. And I wasn't even in the tea and quit where he goes, fire him.

And I felt good that I already had quit. Yes. And so then it's over and the writers all come down and they literally like- They carry you on their shoulders. They literally carry Rob like, you stood up to him. Yeah. Good for you. Good for you.

And I was like, yeah, but I quit. I'm out of a job, you guys. Like, you're our hero. Who cares? You're our hero. We'll pay our bills. Anyway, we're going to get back to kissing his ass. Now, that said, I ended up doing stand up on there two more times.

Like, he still liked me as a comic and he still liked me as a performer. He just didn't want me in that job. So, that was. So, good for for you it's sort of a losing i mean it seems like you get blamed a lot for yes just circumstances yes i got fired at where in the world is carbon san diego i left that part out see well because i i made fun of like you know i started making fun of the teachers that were there with the students. Because they were the adults. And the kids loved it.

Of course. So I said one guy was dressed like John Gotti or something. And maybe the kids didn't love that one as much. But the next day I got called into the office and they're like. Really? They're like, Mike, you know, what you said yesterday was out of control. And I was like. Out of control? I said, what are you talking about? And they said, you said that man was dressed like John Gotti.

I said, yeah. And they said, you compared him to a convicted murderer. And that was it. For comedy. That was it. I mean, it's all right. You did okay. Yeah.

You did okay. You got a house. You're fine. Yeah, yeah. You've got art on the walls. You're going to be good. Sure. Yeah. Some would argue that that was probably fortuitous.

Yes. That you got fired from that. Yes. It was all part of my master plan. Yeah. I'd agree with that. Thank you. I know.

You have a house as well. I do. That's true. And art on the walls. Very little art. Who's counting? Do you have Oliver's art on the wall? Oh, oh.

Oliver, do we have any of your art on the wall? A little. I guess I've just been told a little. We have a you have Oliver's art on the wall? Oh, oh. Oliver, do we have any of your art on the wall? A little. I've just been told a little. We have a little of Oliver's art. Do you wish they should put more up probably, right? Well, he's not in preschool with a macaroni paper plate. I don't know. I don't know what the art program's like in school anymore.

Well, he uses penne. Listen, I'm not good at talking to kids. He might mosaic. I don't know. Do you think he's dressed like Gotti? Look at him to kids. He might mosaic. I don't know. You think he's dressed like Gotti? Look at him over there. Casual Gotti.

Casual Gotti. That's yacht Gotti. Hunt and Fish Club Gotti. What if that was your go-to reference for every time? Hey, look at this guy dressed like Gotti.

Gotti Jr., right? He's got a lot of Gotti stuff. He's got his Gotti truck. All right. Thanks for having me. Oh, yeah. We're being told

around the time. No, you felt it. Kevin wrapped it up. You felt stuff. All right. Thanks for having me. Oh, yeah. We're being told around the time. No, you felt it. Kevin wrapping it up. You felt it. Kevin is all business. Can I plug my new podcast? Oh, yes. Can we do all that?

In addition to Never Not Funny, the award-winning podcast Never Not Funny, which you could get at nevernotfunny.com. 14 years of awards. 14 years coming up on 1,000 episodes. Oh, my God. Wow. Season two of my game show, Playing Games with Jimmy Pardo, starts on the 12th?

14th. They moved it back two days. Why not get people excited? Psych them out. Yeah. The premiere of season two. Okay. Cool.

Very exciting. And Jamila Jamil is on the first episode of season two. Oh, wow. And she is wonderful, and all the episodes are great. What is it? You play games with people.

It is a quick interview with a celebrity. And then basically just no reinvention. It's a game show with me talking to three people on the telephone. They answer some Q&A. I make fun of them. I comment on their gaudy behavior. And then we give a prize away. And then that's it.

See you next week. That sounds fun. That sounds like a lot of fun. It is fun. It's a way to kind of – it's the two hours of Ever Not Funny truncated to the 30 minutes using the game show as a format to show our nonsense. That sounds great. Cool.

Yeah. Good. Well, yeah. I'm going to check it out. Well, thanks for having me here. Thank you. Thank you, Jimmy. It's always a pleasure.

Oh, are you kidding me? Again, there's nothing I love more than coming to stage 13. Oliver, you got to put up doing homework. Do you have homework tonight? No. Good. Okay, good. Good.

Irresponsible dad. He has no homework because it's test week. They're doing testing. Oh, wow. Oh, okay. I remember those days. So they don't have homework. Okay, got it.

Yeah. All right. Well, good luck on the tests. Good luck on your tests. Yeah. You're going to do great. You are. He looks smart.

You did? It might be the glasses. I don't know if those are prop glasses. They're impressive to do great. You are. He looks smart. Your dad says you got all the smarts. I don't know if those are prop glasses. They're impressive. Yeah, he's Greg Proops. He's Charles Nelson Reilly. They're gag glasses. He would make a good Charles Nelson Reilly. He starts early.

He would make a good Charles Nelson Reilly? Is that what you tell an 11-year-old? You'd be a good Faye comedian. What are you doing? Were you allowed to 11-year-old? You'd be a good Faye comedian. What are you doing? Were you allowed to say Faye in 2019? It wasn't an insult. It certainly wasn't. Yeah.

Seriously, Oliver, stick around. I'll show you my beanbag bit. I think the kids at school will love it. You'll have a meeting out of your hands. Thank you, Jimmy. Thank you for having me. Thanks. thank you Jimmy thank you for having me thanks that was our interview with Jimmy Pardo

he was fantastic yeah he was I felt like we were in capable hands yes I wish he was here right now I know but we're in New York

and we're while we're in New York we're taking advantage of being here. And we're going to talk to a lot of people who worked on Late Night. Yeah. Former writers. Back in the day. And we'll be rolling those out down the road. Yeah.

So look for those. We got some OGs. Yep. Brian Stack. Yeah. Plenty of others. Many others. So, yeah. Yep. Brian Stack. Yeah. Plenty of others. Many others. So, yeah.

Yet to be named. They won't return our calls. And maybe Stack won't even show up. We'll go directly to their home. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wake them up out of bed. So that's our show this week. Thank you very much.

Yeah. Thanks for listening. And we'll talk to you next week. And 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. And Team Coco. And Colin Anderson and Chris Bannon at Earwolf. Thanks to Jimmy Vivino for our theme music and interstitials.

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