Inside Conan: An Important Hollywood Podcast - Kimmy Gatewood Revisits Her Many CONAN Sketches

Episode Date: May 13, 2022

Actress, writer, and director Kimmy Gatewood (GLOW, Atypical) joins Mike Sweeney and Jessie Gaskell to discuss her many appearances in CONAN sketches, acting with George R.R. Martin, her hilarious interaction with Orlando Bloom behind the scenes of CONAN at Comic Con, and why she almost quit acting before GLOW. Plus Mike and Jessie discuss the recent live Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend  taping, and why Jessie was a perfect fit for the Conan Without Borders specials.Got a question for Inside Conan? Call our voicemail: [phone] and e-mail us at [e-mail]

And now it's time for Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast. Welcome to Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast. Yes, you said it with gravitas. I sure did. Something worthy of Nobel consideration deserves a little gravitas. Nobel more like Taco Bell.

Keep going. What's below the Mexican food chain? What's the other one? Del Taco. Del Taco, that's it. Where are Del Taco and Taco Bell in the, I don't know how they rate with each other. Yeah, in terms of.

I mean, I'm always, I've always been a Taco Bell. Okay. Purist. All right. But I think California, Southern Californians like Del Taco. Is Del Taco only here in SoCal? Maybe, yeah. I don't know.

I don't trust a Mexican eatery where you can get French fries. Oh, I see. I didn't know they had French fries. Yeah, they do. That does seem suspect. No. And lasagna.

And lasagna. Yeah, it's just crazy. Yeah. Did we introduce, did we say what the theme of the show is? Did we say what the premise is or who we are or what this is? You're Jesse Gaskell and i'm

mike sweeney and we're writers on conan turned podcasters right if you couldn't tell against our will no this is fun i love talking to you every week i do too i know oh my god i'm only mildly horrified when i remember that it's being recorded for public consumption. Sometimes I actually forget. I get in that sweet spot. Yeah. Where I totally forget. And I just happen to have headphones on and talk into a microphone.

That's how I normally converse with people now. Hey, so one thing we're doing on this podcast is going through... Mexican food. Is we're tracking Conan O'Brien's late night career from start to bitter end. Right. No, it's still ongoing in a way. Exactly. See, we'll always have a job because he's still alive.

Don't you see? He's still alive, I know. And in fact, he's still doing shows. And he did one last week. You were there. At the Wiltern Theater, very famous, beautiful Art Deco Theater here in Los Angeles.

He did his- In Koreatown. Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, a live version. Yes, he's just kind of been venturing into that. He did one back in November at the Wiltern. That one was really fun. With Will Arnett, you and I were there.

That was fun. And I think he did one with Marshawn Lynch, a smaller scale one with a small audience. And then back to the Wiltern last week. For Bill Hader. Bill Hader, who is, you know, fantastic guest. Great guest. Yeah. So Conan was afterwards.

He's like, well, that just was, you know, delightful because he just zipped through it. Oh, I'm glad Conan had fun. Yeah. Well, he's the host well, that just was, you know, delightful because he just zipped through it. Oh, I'm glad Conan had fun. Yeah. Well, he's the host. That's what's important. So did Duke, too, and so did Matt Gourley. When I heard that they got, I mean, this was a big get for them. Yeah.

They got somebody to warm up the crowd. Oh, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Somebody named Mr. mike sweeney i forgot we had talked the week before about me introducing conan like he right because conan can't just introduce himself right right and then but then i got there and it's like oh well maybe you can go out and kind of focus the crowd oh wow just because you didn't you didn't know you were going to have to do crowd work? No, which is, it's best that way that I don't know. Because then I just worry in front. So I literally had like a half hour notice and that was good for me.

Wow. Well, how was it? Is it like riding a bike? I mean, when was the last time you warmed up an audience? Riding a bike. Yes. When you don't know how to ride one, it was exactly that. I was a total coward.

I ran out there for a minute and then ran. I said, okay, here's the bed. Well, it's, you know, not to overstay your welcome.

I just found it, said hi and told a joke or two. I think I made fun of Netflix or tried. Cause it was part of the Netflix comedy, you know, the whole comedy festival. Okay. They were part sponsors.

Got it. Well, that's yeah. Yeah. Perfect. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But you know, that whole comedy festival. Oh, it was. Okay. They were part sponsors. Got it. Well, that's, yeah, that's perfect. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, you know, yeah, you just try to get the crowd focused because they're all, you know, their attention is wandering. And so, and then I introduced the band with Jimmy Vivino there. And then he did a few songs. And then you go right into the format of the podcast, Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend.

That's great. Yeah, it's great. It's fun. Matt and Sona were there, I'm assuming. Matt Gourley, Sona were there, and Jordan Schlansky was there. Oh, perfect. He did a cameo and everyone, you know, they're like, oh my God, how are they going to top Bill Hader? Jordan Schlansky.

Did you guys go back and do a post-mort mortem afterwards we did do a post-mortem and that was that was fun i mean you know and everyone just said it was perfect great job we laid out all our rubber stamps don't cut a thing oh there was someone there when i left who uh is a big fan of yours. What? I forget his name. He's like, where's Jessie? Where's Jessie? I was like, oh, please. She's very, very busy. He was a fan? Yeah, a big fan of yours.

Yes. He was there on a date. Interesting. Oh. Maybe he's trying to make her jealous. I know. Yeah. My fans do get out there.

They've got game. Your fans have game? Yeah. Really? I like it. I like it. How do game. Your fans have game? Yeah. Really? I like it. I like it. How do you know your fans have game? From the anecdote you just told. Oh, okay. So your fan has game.

My fan, yes. You're one fan. Based on the sample size of one. Do people ever come up to you anywhere? No, not really except for... Tell me. I want to hear hear i had two people who were fans of the podcast come up to me yeah when i was um doing canvassing for elizabeth warren back for the 2020 election and they were also canvassing and it was just a very funny oh that's cross-section

yeah where i thought oh okay there's a there's sort of an algorithm here the venn diagram And it was just a very funny cross section. Yeah. Where I thought, oh, okay, there's a, there's sort of an algorithm here. The Venn diagram. Yes. The Venn diagram of people who live in East Los Angeles and are Elizabeth Warren supporters.

Right. No, not even supporters willing to go door to door. That's a much smaller group. I know. And they also all drove Subarus and. Please. Now you're saying stop being redundant.

Well, hey, we've got a great show for you today. It's Kimmy Gatewood. She's a brilliant actress, writer, director, and producer who has appeared in countless Conan sketches. Yes, that's how we got to first meet Kimmy is she came to the show and started appearing in sketch Conan sketches. Yes, that's how we got to first meet Kimmy is she came to the show and started appearing in sketch after sketch. And she's so talented.

She's a great singer and actress. And now she's directing Glow and other TV shows, Girls 5 Ever. Very successful director. And she mentions this first video that she directed and I watched it and it's incredible. Yes. You would think someone who's been directing for years did it. It's so...

I know, it's so good. Tonally perfect and beautifully shot. And so what an incredible talent. And we're very excited to talk to Kimmy Gatewood. Our guest today is Kimmy Gatewood. Kimmy, we're so happy to have you here. She's been in a million Conan sketches. I want to list some of your appearances

because it's a fun sounding list. Okay. Adele Dazeem. Classic. That's a classic. American Airlines passenger. Arnold impressionist. Yes. The Arnold passenger. Arnold Impressionist. Yes. The Arnold, Arnold Choir.

Oh, I don't remember that. Don't you remember? It was like, I'm sure it was Andre. Uh-huh. Andre Dubuchet. But it was just like all of us wearing choir robes. Yeah. Yeah. Everybody was doing an Arnold Impressionist. He's like, don't make it good. Oh, that rings a bell now. You're like, I got this.

Yeah. Chewbacca wife. good. Oh, that brings a bell down. You're like, I got this. Yeah. Chewbacca wife. Yeah. Oh. Conan's new sidekick. That was my Andy stand-in. Oh, you stood in for Andy once. Right.

Yeah. I see the resemblance. Cora Apple. Oh, yeah. That's in the Apple Sister. Brian Stack wrote the Apple Sisters in. Yeah. Your group, your comedy group, The Apple Sisters.

Erica Sussman. That's very specific. I see Fake Italian Woman. Yeah. Oh, yeah, that was a good one. Halloween Procrastinator. Huh. I bet I know who wrote Fake Italian Woman.

That was Todd Levin. Absolutely. He loves... Fake Italians. Fake Italians. It was like me and Stack and a... Yelling out windows? Yeah, yelling out windows on the back lot.

Oh, that's great. Right. That was for, I think, when we went to New York, maybe at the Apollo Theater. That makes sense. I got this wife. Oh, yeah. Or maybe I got this wife. That was a bit with the writer of Game of Thrones.

Oh, George R.R. Martin? Yes, thank you. Oh, yeah, yeah. It was a bit with George R.R. Martin and it was like, because, you know, you'd be watching a television show and you wouldn't know what it was

and then you have this guy come in and be like, I got this. Oh, right. I'm pretty sure that's what it was. And then I just sat with George R.R. Martin as he explained Game of Thrones to me. Wow. Oh, that's great.

Oh, that is great. Wow. We did some fun stuff on that show. I know. This sounds like a good show. Yeah. Insulin Juice Box Singer? Yeah.

Oh, yeah. That was, what's it? Matt wrote that one. Insulin Juice Box. If you got the type two, you'll love the brand new insulin juice box. Matt O'Brien? Yep, Matt O'Brien. Very nice.

My leg was broken. I broke my leg and they still brought me in anyway. That's how important you were to the show. We didn't even give you time off to heal broken bones. And you were still a triple threat yes even in a cast she can still dance and sing and act it was all arm dancing right i see snazzy napper woman that was my very first bit oh todd levin wrote that one that was based on the um there was some like stupid thing happening it was like you can just nap anywhere

like you just put something on your shoulder you just nap anywhere right so then he came up with um there was sleep rocks where you just put your face around like that and then like uh sleep paint i painted my face blue and then fell in the second nap and And then I put a bag over my head and hit myself with a hammer and that also put me to sleep. So many of our sketches are like, you had to see it for this to make sense. I think that one was also over

a couple of decades. It was like me and Dion and Dan Cole. Someone else probably Dan Cronin or Brian Stack. But yeah, it was us. We had all these great wigs that we got to wear. So this is a good place to pick up.

So this was your first bit that you did for Conan. Did you audition for it? Did somebody know you? How did you come into the fold? How did you come to us? Yes. I was brought in. I never did it in New York, and it was like one of my like

saddest things that ever happened i was like oh my god i'm never gonna be like i didn't do law and order cone what new york was like not my place or something there's oh you have the rest of your life to do law and order there's no rush for that i can be you can still do it was it was a weird thing to be a new York actor and not do it. But I did comedy in New York City, knew Todd Levin, André Dubuchet, Dan Cronin, Brian Stack and Josh and Rob Kuttner. And so we all we all knew each other from comedy, like at the Gershwin Hotel and Luna Lounge. And so when they came out to New York, I mean LA, I had kind of come shortly after you guys, I think.

When did you guys move out to LA? Well, 2009. 2009, yeah. Oh, I had come out just the year before. So I had tested for Saturday Night Live in 2008 and came out to Los Angeles when, spoiler alert, I didn't get it.

Oh, I thought maybe that was a strategy. As soon as I move to LA, I'll probably get it. Because that's how Hollywood works. No, but it was like a big disappointment, obviously, because I love doing sketch comedy. It was just like a call from the heavens above.

Todd was the first one to reach out to me. He's like, do you want to do this pit for Kona? I was like, do I? You know, and so I just come from, you know, New York and I was like working at the City Bakery in Brentwood and, you know, waiting tables and stuff. So this was just like the best job in the world. Like, you know, going on the lot and driving in. The Warner Brothers lot. Yeah, it was really exciting, especially like, I'm sure people talk about this in the world, like, you know, going on the lot and driving in.

The Warner Brothers lot. Yeah. It was really exciting, especially like, I'm sure people talk about this all the time, that green room with like the coffee. We had a Keurig. Yeah, we love to use what's in this fridge. Right, right, right. And then like right before taping.

It's a prop. Yeah, right before taping, like that spread of like cheeses and fruits and vegetables. We had the same one for 10 years always good to fill up right before you go out on stage on cheese cheese and crackers yeah but most like that bit that bit was done that wasn't a live bit that was all pre-recorded so i just came in like the in the daytime and we did it and then i like you can go and i was like oh i'll stay if you want do i have to yeah and i remember todd uh just singing your praises yeah i remember he was the first one and then everyone else it was like oh yeah she's

fantastic so yeah and then you quickly became kind of one of our sure bets where it's like, okay, you need this sketch to work. Right. We're going to call Kimmy Gatewood. And then Conan likes you. Yes. You know, for him, it's like rehearsals, so stressful, you know, and especially a lot of times we'd write stuff and it'd be like, well, maybe we rehearse this one.

I like, don't give him a heads up about it because he might just go, Oh, that's too crazy. So when that curtain opens and not like some, a sketch is starting when he knows all the performers and really likes him. It just, I think it, you already have a leg up.

I did that. I did that Conan's new wife bit with him, which was my first bit that I think I did with him. Do you remember that bit when he was auditioning new wives? Oh, that wasn't a bit. No, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, bit when he was auditioning new wives that wasn't a bit kimmy eliza skinner did a couple other people uh really funny um that was like a bit that i was so nervous and i ended up doing a ray romano impression for him that was like that would have won him over yeah and then i didn't do i didn't really do that many bits with them um until the last thing which was at comic Seems like that would have won him over. Yeah. And then I didn't do, I didn't really do that many bits with them until the last thing, which was at Comic-Con,

that Snickers ad, the live one at Comic-Con. Yeah, you know, I wrote that. So we had, we had to do these integrations, they're called, where they're basically ads that were tricking the audience

into thinking it's a sketch, but it's an ad. And for the first 15 seconds. Yes. And then it's like, wait a minute. That bit killed. It totally killed. It did great.

Kimmy, you were amazing. And do you want to know something? I went out to dinner that night with like a group of friends and then some people I didn't know were there. And they had been at the taping and they told me our favorite sketch was that time traveler sketch with the Snickers thing. And I was like, wait, what? There's no, I was looking around like somebody paid them to say this. There's no way that they could say that was their favorite.

They're all eating Snickers. Yeah, they were Snickers execs, maybe. Maybe we'll get more Snickers for describing the sketch. Can you describe the sketch? Because it's a fun idea. Yeah, can I tell a little story about that sketch, actually? Sure. Please.

So, you know, I was dressed up in, like, they did my hair. They crimped half my hair. Jeffrey, like, crimped half my hair. And then, like, the other half was, like, kind of up. Because you were from the future. Yeah, I was from the future. And I was wearing all silver lipstick. And on that live show, Orlando Bloom was one of the guests.

And out of the blue, he comes up to me and goes, Hey, why are you dressed like that? I was like, wait, what? Who was he hitting on you? That's how he won Katy Perry over. Yes. He thought that I was dressed up like Katy Perry and was going to prank him. Do a punk.

Yeah. Oh, my God. I guess it's all about Orlando. He's very paranoid. No, Orlando. She's in a Snickers integration. Yeah. Get over yourself.

I was like, I have a time trap. Think about it. But I thought that was really funny because i was like why is roland bloom talking to me i thought that was a cool benefit of it yeah maybe he just is attracted to anyone that looks like that yeah he's like do they look like they're from space or the future or a blueberry so wait what was so you came from the future oh yeah i. I don't know. I don't remember. Oh shoot. I don't remember either. Well, part of it was that you were there to warn Conan about something.

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. He was good. Yeah. Cause the bag of sand was going to land on his head. Oh wow. Or a sandbag was falling from the rafters. And it was like, you had told Conan to step to his left and then it falls immediately

afterwards. So that was a little bit. I have the bit right here. I have the bit. Okay. Oh no. Okay. So greeting. So sorry was a little bit. Okay, I have the bit right here. Okay. I have the bit. Okay. Oh, no. Okay, so, greeting. So, sorry, is this 2019?

Yes, it is. Are you Connor? Conan. Conan, that's right. And what's this, a television show? It's a message. Okay, I'm a message from the year 2150, making some jokes about TV.

I have a very important message for you. Oh, but I was too hungry. Like, I needed a pick-me-up to give him this very important message for the future. So you kept stalling for what the message was. Gotcha. I was distracted. I got distracted by all the past, you know, the 2019 stuff. Yeah.

Aha! Now I had a little bite of Snickers. I had to, like, bite and chew specifically. Like, you guys had to coach me on it. That's always the thing with the integrations is they're like, okay, you have to be holding the bar really unnaturally so that you can show the label. There was like a slice in it so that I could just like pull it off. Or I think actually Conan pulled it off. He was like, slink!

You know? That's so viewers would know how to use it. Yeah. pulled it out he's like slink you know uh that that's so viewers would know how to use it but that bit i was uh you know uh oh very nervous because it's like you know in front of live crowd it's a big live crowd too i mean that's a huge audience 2 000 people and you're yeah you're doing a snickers ad i'd be scared as well yeah i'd be terrified and then like ben schwartz and um i think middle ditch were there i think and like they were doing that bit where they dressed they cosplayed as conan and andy and i'm like hey guys i'm from the future yeah i'm doing this knickers

yeah were they like why are you dressed like that yeah why are you dressed like that? Yeah. Why are you dressed like that? You and Katy Perry? Orlando Bloom sent us. Yeah. You blew them off. Yeah, that bit was, that was really fun. And I had to be a local hire for that one, so I drove myself down. Oh, no. We always did that. It was fine.

My friend was there anyway. He let me stay in his hotel room. But those, like, I love Comic-Con. Those parties are so fun. They are fun. Oh, right. There are no hotel rooms available. It was like booked up, too.

Yeah. They're like, you can just drive down and drive back. And I was like, no. Guests of Conan sleep on a park bench in San Diego. I think I was doing Glow at that point, too. So Betty Gilpin was there doing something and so i got to like you know i threw on my my glow swag i was like i was like hey i'm on the cv show so i got to go to all the parties so that was oh yeah yeah and they're like you're that girl from

it was so great when you uh i started watching glow and i was like oh kimmy kingwood's on glow yay it's that's a fun thing when you know someone who's on a show or god forbid in a movie and it's it's just oh yeah no but it makes it a little more fun to watch wait so i read and i mean we can we'll come back to conan stuff but um since we started talking about Glow, you obviously have a starring role. But I had read something that you said you were ready to quit acting. Oh, yeah. Right? When that happened? Yeah. Yeah. I was like... I mean, basically, the only thing that was keeping me in the business

was honestly doing bits on Conan. It was the thing thing that was like keeping me alive you know it was qualifying for health insurance you guys were all so nice and i just i love doing it so much but i was like like nothing was really like clicking so i'd been working um like doing day job stuff like hulu maker josh kind of like these um you know the digital enterprises. And so I got an interview to be the, like, I forget what the title was. It was an executive producer at Earwolf. And I interviewed, interviewed, and then I, they're like, all right, come to New York and we're gonna, you know, we'll basically like, you're probably going to get the job. And that's when the glow audition came. And I was like,

all right, I'll just, I got, I'll be there next week if that's okay. And then I got a call back for glow. And I was like, well, this is hilarious.

Just give me two more days and I'll be in New York. Oh, that's so amazing. And then I got the job and I was like, Oh, wow. Sorry. Podcasts aren't going to make it anyway.

Honestly, I don't know if I made the right decision. You might. You would be our boss. That's right. That was such a switcheroo, like interviewing to be a producer on a podcast. Yeah.

Did you have background in producing things as well at that time? Yeah. Yeah. You know, obviously, like when you're in comedy, you have to have like 10 side hustles, you know, to kind of make it happen. So I just learned how to do everything I could and would kind of follow what was happening. I was always like, I was like the first one to do like a Snapchat series or like, first Comedy Central. I did YouTube series. I did, you know, whatever. I just would like follow the new medium. And so I was doing Not Safe with Nikki Glaser. I was hired to be a digital producer on that show. Okay. Did Snapchat and I ran her podcast and I would do like ran her social media content, basically.

So I had been kind of gathering those skills. I did an interactive series, you know, like a Choose Your Own Adventure style thing. And then I, you know, I've just done like a bazillion different weird projects over the years. And we mentioned the Apple Sisters before, which was your comedy group. And there's some incredible videos that, that you did that are so well produced and acted. I mean, they're very funny, but, but when you were doing those, were you observing how everything was put together because.

Oh, I did all of that, sweetie. Ah, okay. Wow. All right. Yeah. That was all. I thought that's where we were going. I was specifically headed towards, and we'll get to it, your current big career as a director.

So I was just wondering, were you directing those early videos then as well? Actually, my husband was directing a lot of the videos early on because he knew he wanted to be a director like from the minute like he left college after studying like he did some something academic and was like I want to be a director but we both met in sketch comedy so I just feel like we were the people that were always scheduling putting things together right we were like the ones like building the barn in which to perform the sketch comedy in. Okay. So I made a documentary in 2005. Yeah.

It was at South by Southwest in 2008. It's called Nerdcore Rising. And I taught myself how to operate a camera and how to run sound because we didn't have the money. We had like $15,000. So we borrowed one camera. We bought a camera. And then I taught myself how to use sound. And how did you teach yourself at that time? Because I mean, it wasn't like there were

YouTube videos to watch. How did you do that? Well, my friend was working at this like public access station in New York City. And so he's the one who kind of gave me the crash course. And there was a lot of like little like public access things happening where people were, you know, doing comedy. Right. For example,

I didn't stand up for a blip. And the person who recorded my comedy set was Ed Helms. Oh, wow. $50 to record my set. Was he doing that as a side hustle early on? Oh, I didn't know that.

That's great. So you learned sound editing from Ed Helms. From Ed Helms. That's hilarious. He used to just record people's sets like 50 bucks and then he totally forgot to give me mine so he's like, you can have your $50 back and here's your tape. It was like two years later.

Oh no. He had bigger fish to fry. Very first, like, films that I made were on my parents' VHS camcorder. And I would just, like, record and then pause and then change the scene, push pause, you know, that way. And then in college, I learned how to edit on the reel-to-reel things. Oh, wow. I've been collecting these skills. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You've always been directing in a way. Yeah. That's what I was really curious about. So obviously that was in your brainstem back in high school even. So half your brain, I guess, was just observing and learning how all this was done, which is really cool. I think it comes from impatience mostly because I'm like, I don't want to wait for somebody else to do something. When I have an idea,

I like the spirit, like the power of comedy compels me. I must like record it and get it done. You want to get it made. Yes, I want it to happen, which is why Hollywood is so frustrating sometimes. But thank God we have these funny outlets like, you know, YouTube and social media. Right.

Like we have these comedy outlets that are just like. Right. You can tell when I'm bored because I make a short film. Is that true? Well, speaking of new skills, when you got the job on Glow, you had to learn how to be a wrestler. I sure did did you have any sort of physical training prior to that or that you were starting completely from scratch well um they said are you athletic and i said yes you know i mean i'm fine but sure oh yeah that's like the you

always say yes to everything like of course i can horseback ride yeah i'm always like trying to figure out i was, did I ever wrestle on Conan or something? Played a lot of nurses and wives. I didn't know how to wrestle, obviously, but I am a physical comedian by trade. The Apple Sisters,

my character, Cora, is the one who pratballs all the time. I do this really stupid bit where I carry a banana peel around and I'm like, you don't know what I'm going to do with it. Lovingly place it down and then intentionally slip. Yeah.

Like I've just always been very physical comedy and those are the comedians I admire the most. And so wrestling came very naturally. In fact, I was the best wrestler. Oh, I love that. That's awesome. You can just say flat out, I was the best wrestler. Oh, I love that. That's awesome. You can just say flat out, I was the best. Did you guys ever really kind of wrestle?

Like, you know what? We've got some doubt. Let's really wrestle and see. Well, we did. We loved it. No, it's all like, you do some, the way that you practice, you do chain wrestling. So you just like do, you practice moves on each other and like, right. You hurt, you can absolutely hurt yourself, but it's all choreographed,

but you have to know how to kind of catch each other if something goes wrong, you know? But you know, you have to pick each other up and you use, it's more like dancing than anything. It's choreographed. There are moves that people know so that they don't actually break their necks like pile driver, even though it's really dangerous. But I'm tortured to watch that. I hate it. But we watched a guy we went to a wrestling match and this guy

these guys were doing a tag team and they were wrestling and this guy like he just miscalculated where the turnbuckle was and he banged his teeth into the turnbuckle and we thought he broke his teeth but his teeth went up into his head.

Oh, that's much better. No, I'm kidding. That's awful. And there was blood everywhere. It was crazy. Were you like, you know, maybe I'm not going to do this part. You have to be a good clown to be a wrestler. Which is so, I really liked that aspect of it.

And I think that's where like Rebecca and I, my, my best friend in real life and real life, uh, Apple sister partner. And she, she was one of the glow wrestlers too. Yeah.

We got cast together. That had to be great. That's great. Yeah. So we just got to do bits all the time. So we came up with the beat down biddies, which were supposed to be, um,

one episode. And then they were like, Oh, then we'll change it. And they were like, we are obsessed with these beatdown biddies which were supposed to be um one episode and then they were like oh then we'll change it and they're like we are obsessed with these characters and wrote them into everything oh that's great that's so smart i mean and that i it seems like that's something you've done a lot is keep creating more work for yourself by showing up and coming up with material for people it's the yes and improv improv. It's like if you see an opportunity where you could enhance somebody's already great work. And just like any art, like the directing. It's like nothing's made of... Art's not made of stone.

Comedy's not made of stone. Right. It's like pliable. We're just doing something for the first time ever and then never doing it again. Right. So we should just experiment a little bit. Do you feel like doing Conan stuff helped at all to prepare you? I mean,

cause doing live sketches on Conan is pretty intimidating at first. Although you had already been a live performer before that, but do you feel like that helped with setting you up for, I don't know, just being a little more fearless or you learn any skills basically. Come on, throw us a bone do we we've got we have an agenda we have to connect this back to going right now i mean i think i think for me at least it's like it taught me definitely how to it's like show up and listen be patient do the job

like how to really be on set all the time, I think was really good. And like, I mean, I would use live things. I would have like things were cut. Like it just taught me more, I think more in a much more safe and compressed way of how the business actually works. Like you get cut out of movies all the time. You get cut out of television shows, your book gets thrown away. Like, you know, just watching you guys all work as writers, I think, was so informative to see how it goes from the page to that. And all the writers were directing, too, which I liked to watch. And just kind of watched everybody's style and picked up stuff where I could. I liked how fast it was.

I think that it worked more like a soap opera speed than it did like traditional television so it was just like you gotta show up you gotta know your lines you gotta be the you know do it because you can't you can't do it again i you know especially the live stuff yeah so and i hadn't worked with um cue cards really before so that was fun oh yeah i know we're some of the only one of the only shows that was using cue cards still. Yeah. Because there's no technology now. Yeah. Because I think the same reason Saturday Night Live still uses it because so many people's sight lines are not into the camera. So you need the cards. And from having worked with teleprompter before, too, it's less... I mean, we're changing things right up until the show starts.

And with teleprompter, a lot of times it's like, no, it's cut off at this certain time. You can't make changes after that or it ruins everything. I'm getting some prompter nightmare memories right now. Oh, my God. Do tell. Prompter nightmares. Just like working on different types of shows where Kodam is doing something, there's a prompter and you're thrown in with this prompter operator and they all have different personalities. Why are they all so surly?

I feel like every prompter person I've worked with is really... Cue card guys are nice, always. They are nice, yeah. Why are your teleprompter guys so mean? I don't know. Some of the prompter people are very nice. I have to say it was a case-by-case basis. But yes, some of them would be

like, oh, you know, I can't change that now. And you'd be like, oh, no. It's too late. You have... Well, we have to work this out because it's got to be... Sometimes a show would be... Some people were lifesavers. They'd be showing a tape roll and he's like, okay, while they're showing this tape, I can

put these changes in. And it's like, oh God bless you. Yeah. God bless you. Kimmy, you brought up getting cut from things and having to learn how to get cut out of sketches. Do you remember specifically any, any moments when you got cut from something or any times when you were really disappointed that something got cut?

Oh man. I'm like, I'm, I gotta go back to my my emails i gave a spreadsheet no no i'm like i like never throw i never get rid of emails i don't know why but um there was like a like a bit where i think i sent you guys a picture it's like where i had like a refrigerator in my... I hid a cooler in my pregnant belly. Oh, my God. That was mine, too. Oh, no. Oh, you two.

You just traumatized me. Kimmy has a new best friend. I was so bummed about that because I tried... I don't think it ever ended up airing or did it? Wait, what was this bit? It never did. It never aired. It was like...

It was a real product that I wanted to market. It was an ad parody. But no, but it was... I was like, was a real product that i wanted to market that parody um but no but it was i was like this is an actually good idea that needs to go on shark tank it was so that women can take things into like stadiums and stuff it's a fake pregnancy belly but that's also a cooler right and so you can stick a whole six pack in there. That's a great idea. It was so funny. I tell you, one of my favorite bits was getting to be a walking dead zombie. Right. And me and Lilan did the first zombie lesbian kiss. Right.

Right. We made television history. Is that in the Guinness Book? Yeah. It must be. Did you have to do makeup for a really long time? Were you just sitting for hours? Yeah, we did.

And I think we got a real, like an expert in zombie makeup. It was the real deal. It was all the Walking Dead people. And then the guy, Norman something or other, he was there. Norman Reedus. Norman Reedus. Lelon and I got a picture with him. And then we ended up in some magazine.

It was great. Oh, really? Oh, that's great. Yeah. It was like Norman and two zombie lesbians. Yeah. Making history. Norman's used to posing with zombies.

Yeah. That's not. Yeah. That was one of a couple of zombie bits that I did. There was something where Scott Gardner directed something, I think. Maybe Andre wrote it. Oh, Scott Gardner. Yeah.

Chad Fogelman was in the sketch too. So many funny bits. I'm looking to see if there's any good, I don't, you never really sent me scripts. I wouldn't know what I was doing until I showed up most of the time. That's great to know that perspective. So how would you usually find out about getting cast in a sketch? Was it like that day? Yeah, usually the day before they'd be like, are you around tomorrow? And would you be like, why? I'd be like, yeah, of course. No, always yes. I was so excited to go every time. There was never a time I was not excited. And yeah, so then I would,

sometimes I would know, but most of the time, no. And I would show up and I'd be like, hey, does anybody have a script? Like, you haven't got one yet? All the time. Every time I would go. Yeah.

Like, no. There's no script yet. How dare you? I was always. Isn't it enough we called you yeah have some cheese before i even knew i was doing a bit sometimes costume would call me and i'd be like oh i got the bit like you know they were doing it yeah um because they would call to either tell me to bring something or they just wanted to be reminded like i mean they knew my size is that like you know after the 18th bit but yeah yeah

and then and then i was always delighted when i'd get a script and then instead of like a character name would just be like kimmy andre andre would do that all the time he'd just like write my name in the script which i was very touched by yeah you'd made it into character name yeah fame it was always um like there's sometimes you guys would call me day of. And when I wasn't available, I was so sad. In fact, there was one time I was like, I'm just going to take an exercise class, which I hadn't done in a while. And like I like missed a call from Rick and they had already moved on to somebody else. Oh, no.

And I was so sad. And then I started taking my. You never exercised again. That'll teach you. I started bringing my phone to exercise class. Oh, no. Oh, that's relaxing. Oh, this is so stressful.

Ready, coach? I'm putting it in. Yeah. It's like a yoga class or meditation. Completely silent. I'm so completely silent I'm so sorry you should have exercised in the early evening that way like while they're taping now they couldn't possibly call me this late

or could they oh my god we need you for tomorrow morning it's four in the morning we need your sizes we need you in 20 minutes I have so many good memories from the show morning. We need your sizes. We need you in 20 minutes. Yeah. I have so many good memories from the show and like if you guys call me tomorrow, I would

say absolutely say yes no matter what. That's what this is leading up to. We have your sizes. I know. The masturbating bear got to do a bit with masturbating bear, which I thought would never happen. A dream come true.

What are you playing? What did you do? The Masturbating Bear was hardly ever on the TBS show. It had to be... Masturbating Bear's wife. Very specific. Exactly. She was great as Chewbacca's wife. It seems like the next logical step. No, I was a nurse. It was a live bit. I was a nurse and Gordo was in the suit, which I was like, Gordo's in the suit! He always was in the suit. He was the masturbating bear. He was always in the suit, even when we weren't doing a sketch.

That's right. He always came camera ready. Oh, I have to give a shout out to Jose, too, who always used to write me in bits all the time, too. Jose Arroyo, yeah. Yeah, all the time. Jose Arroyo, yeah. Yeah, all the time. Jose Arroyo, yes. Did you feel like you started to have a type that you would play in sketches? Or was it all over the map?

It was kind of all over the map. I mean, I played like a prostitute. I played like some kind of telephone operator at some point. Nurses, wives. It was all over the place. Often bubbly characters, I think. Right. Yeah.

Just kind of. Yeah. Yeah. In the face of disaster. Yeah. And some singing gigs. Right. There was.

Yeah. I sang for Jimmy a couple of times, too. Just like randomly. Jimmy Vivino. Yeah. He was the music director. And I did, oh, there was one bit I really loved. They don't think it aired at first, and then it aired. It was Todd wrote it.

It was like some Ikea bit, and I got to be like the Ikea lady who would talk in like some kind of weird Swedish accent. Oh, I remember that. That was great. I love that bit. And I remember a triumphant moment where I feel like everybody lost their mind. It was just some stupid laser pen that Dan Crona wrote.

Maybe it was Dan and Andre or something. It was just this laser pen that I can't remember the exact bit, but everybody was just like, we've done it! We conquered comedy. There was just like, we've done it! We conquered comedy. There was just so much happiness all around.

Oh, that's the rub light. Your rub light! You can rub it on this, you can rub it on that. That still holds up every time I come across that. It is a masterpiece. So funny. And I feel like everybody was like conan's in the best

mood because of that rub light oh that's so funny you know a lot of times a head writer would like like you know if you have four or five things to rehearse that day hopefully it's like what order are you going to show them to Conan? And you kind of like, do you lead with the best thing or do you, or do you save it for last? Save it for last because it does affect his mood. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Rub light was knocked out of the park. Oh my God. All the sketches made it in after that. Yes, exactly. Okay. We haven't talked about your directing yet, which is such an awesome...

Do the fans even care about it, though? Of course. Oh, my God, it's so exciting. It's so exciting. And I mean, I think a lot of people, including myself, really admire your career because you've done everything, but now you're directing TV, which is amazing.

How did that come about? I mean, what was the How did that come about? I mean, what was the first thing that you directed? Conan kind of was an influence on my directing career. Because I don't know if you remember, but I submitted to be a writer on the show. And at the time, Sweeney was so nice. Who did you submit to? Mike Sweeney. Yes, I did. No, you were so nice.

You pulled me aside. Because I was performing all the time. And you really were so nice you pulled me aside because I was like performing all the time and you like really like you know we're so so nice telling explaining you know why and and you're like we really are looking for somebody who's like I can't remember the words like a filmmaker I think is the word that you used and and I think and that at that moment I was like huh I was like I'm gonna go get be a filmmaker so I can go right on Conan that's why I said it I knew what i was doing i knew how to inspire you and so that kind of like thank god you didn't get hired because yeah oh my god what a

dead end just be like us yeah that's right hey here's our third co-host kimmy gatewood yeah so my first um dga gig because i have been doing, like I mentioned, my documentary, I've been doing shorts. I did a lot of YouTube stuff. Right. That mixed, combined with all of, like I've done Just Add Glow, which gave me a new awareness in the industry. And all of my prior directing work, I'm in my first DGA gig on Just Add Magic, which is an Amazon show. Ah. I mean, we're so happy for your success

and just proud to have known you way back when. Yeah. Before we wrap up, do you have any, were there any final Conan memories that we didn't get to that- Or any advice? Like a favorite memory for you? I mean, I definitely, advice,

you know me. Or advice. Keep your head up. Keep going. Be nice to everybody. You could be on a podcast with them 10 years later. That's right. Watch out. No, but it is. I feel like you're the best example of

that. Yes. That it really makes a difference when you're just pleasant to be around. People want to keep hiring you because you're a joy to have in class. Thanks. Yeah. Thanks, Mom. Yeah.

I have so many just awesome memories. And I just, like, there's just little things like just going in, being, like, escorted, like, through the office. Or, like, people are like, hey, Kimmy. And then walking me through, like, the writer's office. You go through like, Hey Kimmy. And then walking me through like the writer's office, you go through and see everybody working in there. And then you go down the stairs and then up to the green room, you know, or they sometimes take you through the elephant doors.

That's a mood booster. It's like, those people are miserable. I feel better. I feel so much better now just getting out of that office. Yeah. I mean, I mean,

every little, every little moment really sticks with me. Like, you know, Yeah. I mean, I mean, every little, every little moment really sticks with me. Like, you know, them having my name at the gate. That was even like a thrill.

Right, right. Yeah. Being the park in the garage and walking, walking across the, walking across the street inevitably with like

some stupid hairdo because I just, I was like, just leave it. Just leave it. Oh, going home like that. Yeah.

Maybe I should go out like this and not rush home. I did. After my time traveler bit at Comic-Con, I just had them leave my hair and there was a red carpet picture of me with my hair like the time traveler. Oh, that's great. Oh, that's great. Oh, we have to find that. Oh, because you went to a glow event after that? I just went to like the Entertainment Weekly party afterwards.

I would love if the next week there were other people doing that hairdo, like what we saw on the red carpet. Right, right, right. The women of Glow like it. It's the latest thing in Paris. I look back and I was like, that was a bold move. I can say it. Well, who has $1,500 to spend on a glam squad. Indeed.

Glam squad. Yeah. Yeah. That'll be our next integration. Thank you, Kimmy Gatewood. That was great getting to chat with her. It was. And what a rising star.

I'm so excited for all the things she's doing now, all the directing. And I love how she had one eye on that from the beginning. It was just absorbing everything that would lead to that path for her. And I think figuring out what kind of set she would want to run.

Yeah. And I think that she has this great energy that that would make people want to work with her and and have her in charge yes she's great and she's confident but but just in a very kind of natural just a natural way yeah exactly yeah hey just remember this is fun let's make a show with cameras. Yeah. We have a fan question. We do. Yeah, it's kind of- We always do.

Aimed at you. I'm gonna read it. Oh boy. Hi, Jesse and Sweeney. Big fan of Conan, the podcast, and the work you both do for it. I hope this question doesn't come off- I feel acknowledged.

Yeah, that's right. I hope this question doesn't come off as rude, but Jesse, Jessie, can I ask how you ended up being on the crew that traveled with Conan on the Conan, had been with Conan for a long time at the time, but you were still a bit newer at that point. Did you just, quote, work your way up the ladder quickly? Or was it simply a situation where you were the only one up for the travel? There are other factors that played into it. Thanks, guys. Chris Moran. Oh, I love this because it reminds me especially after i got hired as a conan writer yes when i would see other people in the comedy scene i would often get the question how did you get that right oh that's a classic in my head i don't know if i was hearing it this way or if

this was really in their intonation but it really came off like how did you get that real always yeah i mean always that's how did you get that? Always. Yeah. I mean, always, that's how you would perceive it. That's how you perceive it. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, I think a little bit it was there. How did you get that?

Yes. Literally underlined over their heads. Yes. In a thought balloon, the word you. So, I'm going to answer, Chris. Okay. How I got that. Yeah.

Well, this is to the best of my memory, and maybe you can fill in the blanks. I have my opinion about this as well. Well, so the first Conan Without Borders wasn't really a Conan Without Borders series. No. Initially, we were just going to Cuba. Right. And that was your idea, Mr. McSweeney. Let's go to a Caribbean island.

Yeah. Well, no, it was, they had just announced. Obama had. Obama had announced, President Obama had announced that we were opening up relations with Cuba. Right. And people would be allowed to, Americans would be allowed to go there again. And the idea was that Conan would go and sort of be the first late night host to visit Cuba and do a show there. And so you guys had talked about it.

Conan really loved the idea and wanted to assemble a small crew to go. Right. And Jose Arroyo and I happened to be the only writers who spoke any Spanish. Correct. I speak some Spanish because I was born in Panama. And I actually learned Spanish at the same time as I learned English. Because my family lived... We moved all over Latin America. Right.

And so I had experience living in Latin America and doing a lot of travel overseas. And so I think it seemed like I had a valid passport, all those things. That was the whole reason. That was the clincher, yes. Yes, it was absolutely that fact. Yeah. You just seemed eminently qualified to go to Cuba.

And I felt like it was, I had been training my whole life for that moment. Yeah, exactly. Yes, and you didn't realize it. And here it was didn't realize it and here it was and so off we went and and we i mean a pitchy idea and we literally i think did it like a week later i think there was that paranoia of like oh god someone else is going to think of this yeah which i mean people did start doing travel shows but i don't think anyone was thinking about going to cuba at that point i i i don't think anyone was thinking about going to Cuba at that point. I don't think so. But there was kind of like, let's jump on this and let's just throw it together.

And then Jason Shalami, our producer, found a fixer in Cuba, a local producer, and it all fell into place quickly. There was a lot of travel restrictions because even though we were technically allowed to go, we still had to travel through Canada to get there. Yes. Yes. There were many restrictions and many, uh, and I remember being really worried cause we had all our filming equipment and it was like, are we gonna, you know, it, that just always arouses a little bit of suspicion, even though we had, we technically had like the paperwork that we needed. That is, uh. So that was how the first one came about. And I mean, we had an amazing time putting that together

and. Yes. We were only there three days. Is that all? I believe so. I feel like it was. Well, I went a day earlier because we were doing, we had a B-roll day where we were just filming exteriors with, we had a B-roll day. Oh, okay. Where we were just filming exteriors with the crew. That was the best day.

Yeah. I went down with Conan. Before you and Conan came. Yeah. Right. Of course. Always. Once those assholes show up.

Party's over. Yeah. But then we, I feel like we banged everything out in three days and got back. And, you know, it was a topical subject, so we edited it as quickly as we could. And TBS said, oh, let's make it a primetime special. I mean, all that stuff, none of this was, it just happened organically.

It wasn't planned, yeah. No. And then after that, it was kind of like, Conan was like, well, I liked the little Cuba team because the next stop was Armenia. I think at Conan there tended to be a like oh if it ain't broke don't fix it yes sort of with yes when when he likes something yeah he's comfortable or maybe it's a little superstitious even like let's yes he can let's

just keep it the same and then we don't have any let's boat. There won't be no surprises. Right. Unless, you know, Jose, Sweeney, or Jesse fritz out. So then when we assembled the next travel show, it was the same team and then it kind of just kept being the same team after that. And that's it. That's the answer. And that's it. I mean, sorry to

disappoint you, Chris, but I guess I fucking earned it. Yeah. You worked your way up the ladder to quote Chris in his letter. but thank you for interest. And thanks for trying to get in there and divide the team. Thanks for your gotcha questions. No, I mean, you know, I think that a lot of things are, are that way where you don't at the time see where, what the future is on a certain path.

You're just kind of forging the path and you don't know what the outcome is going to be. Right. And it's on, it's not until hindsight that you look back and think, Oh, okay, well that did end up being the travel team.

But at the time it was just one travel show. Right. It wasn't a whole series. Yeah. And Hey, if you like the show, you can always support us by rating inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast on iTunes and leaving us a review.

And you can submit your listener questions. Please voicemail at 323-209-5303, or email us at insideconanpod at gmail.com. Oh, and one more thing. What's that, Jesse? It's my Columbo line. We love you. Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast, is hosted by Mike Sweeney and me, Jesse Gaskell.

Produced by Sean Doherty. Our production coordinator is Lisa Byrne. Executive produced by Joanna Solotaroff, Adam Sachs, and Jeff Ross at Team Coco. Engineered and mixed by Will Becton. Our talent bookers are Gina Batista and Paula Davis. Thanks to Jimmy Vivino for our theme music and interstitials. You can rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts.

And of course, please subscribe and tell a friend rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts. And of course, please subscribe and tell a friend to listen to Inside Conan on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, or whatever platform you like best. It's the Conan Show. Put on your hat. It's the Conan Show. Try on some spats.

You're gonna have a laugh give birth to a calf it's conan this has been a team coco production