Inside Conan: An Important Hollywood Podcast - Liza Powel O’Brien Revisits Chainsaw Meet-Cute

Episode Date: January 7, 2022

Liza Powel O’Brien joins writers Mike Sweeney and Jessie Gaskell to discuss how she met her husband (a certain redheaded talk show host) on a Late Night remote. All it took to bring them together was a man with a chainsaw and Mike Sweeney as her wingman. Plus, Liza reveals her upcoming Team Coco podcast!Got a question for Inside Conan? Call our voicemail: [phone] and e-mail us at [e-mail] can watch Liza’s Late Night debut here on Team Coco’s YouTube.

And now it's time for Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast. Welcome back. Happy New Year. Happy New Year. Do we sound different in the new year? I know I don't. Darn it. I always hope there'll be a difference. Yeah, I know.

There's always that glimmer of hope and then... Right. On January 1st, it all goes away. But then I tell myself the calendar is very random. It's just a human invention. That's true. It's a social construct. Thank you. This is Inside Conan,

the important Hollywood podcast. That's right. It vaulted from A, important, to B, important. I'm upgrading us in 2022. The only. How about the only? Because no one else has even tried

to do a podcast about Hollywood that I know of. We never really ever talk about Hollywood. We don't. Anyone tuning in like, I'm going to podcast about Hollywood that I know of. We never really ever talk about Hollywood. We don't. Anyone tuning in like, oh, I'm going to learn about Hollywood is going to be sorely... No, we just talk about trips to the desert.

Right. It could be, yeah, it might as well be an important Tucson podcast. It doesn't... We should change the city every week. Yeah. Yeah, it doesn't really matter. Well, I know I do have a Hollywood thing to talk about this week, though. Oh, okay. Oh't we should change the city every week yeah yeah it doesn't really matter well i know i do have a hollywood thing to talk about this week oh okay oh we should um i'm jesse

gaskell and that's mike sweeney thank you yeah the mike sweeney the mike sweeney and the jesse gaskell that's right um no i wanted to talk about a hollywood thing why by all means please do this is always annoying i I think, when writers talk about this, but it's screener season. Okay. We've been getting screeners. You want to explain what screeners are? Yes. It's where the Academy

sends out DVDs of all the movies that are being considered for awards. And it's a military academy. We should explain that. It's weirdly this. Yes, West Point. Why is the TV Academy send out movies?

I never thought about that. Well, it's the TV and Film Academy. We're members of the TV Academy. I'm not sure why we get them, to be honest. We get to vote in them. Well, no, I don't know why. Yeah, I don't know. Just to throw us a bone. They feel sorry for that we work in television. Yes, no, I don't know why. Yeah, I don't know. Just to throw us a bone. They feel sorry for that we work in television.

Yes, exactly. It's not the movies. Anyway, yeah, so screeners. So that's when a bunch of little packages come in the mail every day during the last couple weeks of December. And you get excited because you get to open them and see what's in there. Sometimes it's a movie that's like, oh, this is also on Netflix. I was going to say, it's a little, it's kind of like, oh, great, a DVD. Oh, that one's on Amazon.

Yeah. It's a hard copy DVD if you still have a DVD player. Let me go get the DVD player out of the garage instead of watching it on Amazon. But I'm glad they kind of cut back because they used to also do, I mean, all the studios would do like a fancy packaging situation. So there would be like layers and layers of plastic packaging and then inside it would be like a little tiny briefcase and then you'd open the briefcase and there would be like a puzzle to solve.

So did you watch anything that changed your life? Well, we watched House of Gucci on New Year's Eve. Yes. Did you watch that one? I did watch House of Gucci. Yeah, I didn't expect the accents to be so robust. Yeah. Well, some people really swung for the fences. They did.

Well, and can I tell you an embarrassing thing? Yeah. It wasn't until after the movie ended. Yeah. So there's this character, this uncle guy, who's basically like, it's sort of marinara face that he's doing. It's very over the top Italian. Oh, I knew, I had a hunch you might go for that character.

Yeah, yeah. Oh, I know what you're going to say I knew, I had a hunch you might go for that character. Yeah, yeah. Oh, I know what you're going to say. I have a hunch. Go ahead. So it was just a really over-the-top, crazy performance. And I was like, who is this actor?

And why did he, why was he allowed to do this? Yes. Against, he wasn't chewing. I don't know what the next level is beyond chewing. He was swallowing it whole.

Yeah. He was regurgitating. Yes. Um, no. And it's so, I mean, his name is basically Johnny pastrami.

He's like the most over the top Italian caricature. And then in the credits, the credits roll and, uh, the name Jared Leto comes up in the credits. And I was like, wait, who was Jared Leto in the movie?

And that's who he was. They had completely transformed him with prosthetics and a crazy bald cap. And I just had no idea. And I feel so stupid that I didn't know that that was him. The only way you would know is if you knew going in. Yeah. Which I did, because I work in Hollywood. You read the trades. I read the trades. No, somewhere I'd seen

that he was in the movie playing, I think I had read a partial review that said, you know, be prepared for Jared Leto. It was an actual warning. Jared Leto. This film may cause Jared Leto, 14. This film may cause Jared Leto. Right.

But yes, it's crazy. Yeah, like my wife had zero idea that was him. Oh, man. That really, it just blew my mind. And it made sense then that this was treated with so much care, this role. Right. I wonder if he demands, like, I will be in your movie, but you've got to,

like, here's a sketch of, you know what I mean? What I want to look like. Because didn't he do that when he played the Joker? Like, it was all about how his transformation. Transformation. So it makes me think he doesn't, I mean, he's a perfectly fine looking fellow, but he doesn't.

He just wants to look worse, I think. Yeah, he doesn't, I mean, he's a perfectly fine looking fellow, but he doesn't. He just wants to look worse, I think. Yeah, he doesn't. And he doesn't know how to physically make himself look worse. Right. I think he needs, I'm assuming he's in therapy, but more therapy where he's okay with his regular puss in a movie. Yeah. Anyway, it's, yeah, it's really worth seeing because it's something no it's no the movies i i

i mean i enjoyed it but i kind of knew it was kind of uh you know kind of pulpy sort of yeah i don't even know what the it's not exactly campy but it's a little yeah adjacent yeah and it's you know it's now that i'm older i actually i'm like oh it's tusc, you know, it's, now that I'm older, I actually, I'm like, ooh, it's Tuscany, you know. Oh, we're in Milan. Yeah. Were they in Cortona at all? No. Yeah.

Yeah. What did you do over the holidays? Well, I watched every Jared Leto movie. We went to Palm Springs for a few days. That's right. For New Year's. I knew we were going to get to the desert. Right.

Yes, we did. We were Tucson adjacent, sort of. No, we're in Palm Springs, which is, you know, a fascinating, strange place. It's like a little Los Angeles. You know what? To me, it's like the San Fernando Valley South. Yeah. Because there's a lot of kitschy stuff.

They lean into the same way I think the valley here in LA does. They kind of, I think, embrace some of their kitschiness. Yeah, there's a lot of lawn flamingos. Yes, exactly. It's very mid-century. Yes. Robust. And then my favorite part was we drove down to the Saltan Sea.

Oh, you did? Oh, good. Well, we were with another couple visiting our old pals from Philly, and they had not, they really haven't spent a lot of time in Palm Springs. So we took them right to the Saltan Sea. I love that you were like, let's leave this beautiful resort area and go to a wasteland. To an absolute ecological

wasteland. Yeah, toxic dump. Right. Did they like it or were they like, oh, Sweeney, you always bring us to toxic dumps. They might have been, you know, you'd have to record them with their friends when they go back to Philly as to what they really thought.

At the time, they were like, this is amazing. As for a place, you know, like Slab City where it's just all squatters. I mean, it's very Mad Max, the whole salt on sea. It is, yes. which is this strange man-made sea below Palm Springs, like an hour south of Palm Springs, that is evaporating now because it has no new source of water and all the fish are dying. Yeah, it's extra salty.

It reeks. Like we got out of the car at this place called Bombay Beach and we had to run back to the car because it smelled so bad. Wait, it's called Bombay Beach? There's a place called Bombay. Oh, Bombay Beach. We had to run back to the car because it smelled so bad. Wait, it's called Bombay Beach? There's a place called Bombay. Oh, Bombay. I thought, oh, it'd be perfect. It was named after another natural disaster.

Yes, that would be. Yes, exactly. Chernobyl Beach. But there was like a little wedding ceremony going on there. Not a wedding ceremony. A church ceremony, like an outdoor. Huh. It was, again, it was very apocalyptic.

Well, that was going on while people were tearing up and down this decimated beach. Did you go back to make sure those church people didn't like do a Nike's and Kool-Aid thing? Yeah. Seriously. We gave that meeting a wide, but weool-Aid thing. Yeah. Seriously. We gave that meeting a wide, but we stayed like 300 yards away from that. Because you're right.

It did seem a little spooky. Unless they know something we don't. Yeah. Just my advice to anyone going to Palm Springs, skip Palm Springs and go to Salton Sea. Yeah. Take a very long detour. Yes. To see something awful. really it really is awful yeah it's i hope it's not a metaphor for the way our country's going depends who you ask right well we've probably blabbed way too much as usual yeah we always do

but we covered jared leto and a dying man-made sea. So, you know. So that's what's up in Hollywood. That's right. That's the latest from Tinseltown. That's the Hollywood Minute. The Hollywood 10 minutes. High salt content. We are barnstorming our way this season through Conan's late night career.

We started that. Exactly. It's more than a career. It's a legacy. And, you know, we started back in 93 and we're hopping around, working our way through the seasons. And we've got some exciting guests coming up.

Yeah, we're gonna get into the sort of middle years. Right. The fat middle years in NBC. And we have some very famous former interns coming up on the show. A certain Jack McBrayer. A Jack McBrayer, not an intern. Yeah, not an intern, but a Jack McBrayer. And then we're going to get into the late night wars.

Right. And then the TBS years. So there's still a lot to come. Yes, there is. And we have some great guests like Adam Pally will be coming along and... Vanessa Bayer. Yep. Vanessa Bayer was an intern. She was an intern. Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes. And there may be other famous interns that we haven't even discovered yet. There's still time for interns to become famous and then be on the podcast. If ever you needed extra motivation

to make it in Hollywood, you can be on Inside Conan. Well, hey, let's get our show started because I love this interview. Oh, yeah. Yeah, this is a fun guest. It's really fun. I kind of can't believe

we got her. I know. She doesn't normally talk to the press. It's quite a coup. Yeah. But she's working on a project.

So, you know, She is. Yeah. So, she, I think, is legally obligated to talk to us. Yeah, it's Conan's wife, the brilliant Liza Powell O'Brien.

Yes, she's really fun to talk to and she's very funny as well. She is. She's super funny. She's a really talented writer and she's going to talk about her new podcast project. But we're also, of course, going to be discussing how she and Conan met on a late night remote that you were at as well. You saw it go down. Yes, I was complicit in some way. You were. I know. You were pimping Conan out. Yes. Anyway, here's Liza Powell O'Brien.

We have a very special guest today. We're here with Liza Powell O'Brien. No relation. No, she is actually married to Conan O'Brien. And they met on set at a remote that was shot. Sweeney, you were there. I was there. You saw it all happen. It was a while ago.

It was the year 2000, actually. And the remote went... Clearly, the remote went very well. The remote was terrible. The marriage is good. The chemistry was great. But Liza was working at an ad agency in New York City that you guys used to help create an ad for...

Yeah, for one of our late night advertisers in Houston. And she was just there minding her own business. That's right. You were toiling away as an advertising copywriter, living the Mad Men. I guess there was no Mad Men lifestyle in 2000, but... No. If there was, I was not living it.

You weren't allowed to smoke indoors then. And so now you're a playwright. Right. Yeah, that's exciting. It is exciting. How do you kind of zero in on what you want to write about when you're writing a play?

You know, often it's something that I can't stop worrying about. You know, that like something I keep trying to kind of resolve it in my head, whether it's an idea of something out in the world or something that I've experienced. And if there's like kind of, if it's an idea of something out in the world or something that I've experienced. And if there's like kind of, if it's stubborn and I can't quite decide how to feel about it or what to do about it, sometimes that'll become, you know, a good thing to try and write about.

Right. It's almost like working out a problem that's... Or even just identifying i mean often um checkoff i think said that writers what writers are meant to do is not answer questions but frame them correctly so even just sort of figuring out what are the forces that are in opposition here that i am struggling to reconcile. Sometimes that is the work of it. And don't worry about the ending. Right. Well, the endings are really, really hard. Ending's always the hard part.

It's hard. Most people fall asleep by that point in the theater anyway. Doesn't matter. It can always be rewritten. Doesn't matter. Just write a good first act. That's right. Well, how did you get into playwriting?

I took a class when i was at um columbia getting my mfa in fiction i took a class outside my discipline in playwriting that was taught by ellen mcclaughlin who is uh an amazing playwright and actor and she was the muse for she's like one of tony kushner's muses and or maybe his only i don't know i don't know him so that's what I've been told but anyway she played he wrote the part of the angel and angels in America for her and um and she was teaching technically at Barnard but I was able to take the class um and it was I it was not I it may have been my favorite class in graduate school. Anyway, I loved it and finished my collection of short stories that no one should ever read and no danger of that happening.

And then we had this big move from New York to LA for The Tonight Show. And so that took up a lot of time and energy and we had little kids. And then finally, I was able to kind of sit down and write again after a lot of time and energy and we had little kids. And then finally, I was able to kind of sit down and write again after a couple of years away from it. And I realized that I wanted to be writing plays. That's how it happened. Which of course, like what idiot moves away from New York City and starts to try and work in the theater? That would be me. Well, one thing we were, i don't know if you've ever talked about this probably not on a podcast but is how you and conan met and um it was all sort of memorialized on video did little snippets of video and in your memory mike sweeney that's right i was there

sweeney was there yes so i am I am the objective third party who saw everything. You're the eye of God. Back in the late 1990s, you know, Conan, I had Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Show was on at 1235 everywhere. Except for some reason in Houston, Texas, the show at first came on at 2.40, 2.40 in the morning. They would show reruns of like Ricky Lake and all these other shows, Entertainment Tonight,

anything to put off the Conan show coming on. It came on at 2.40 and then I think in the year 2000, it got moved up to 2.10 a.m., which was like a giant half hour victory. And to celebrate, Conan was looking at like, oh, let's see who our advertisers are on our show at 2.10 a.m. in Houston. And it was, you know, there were a lot of great low-budget commercials going on at that time, including there were two commercials for different furniture companies. And Conan had a contest to see, ask our fans, which one of these commercial sponsors do you like the best? And everyone loved this guy named Hilton because he did an ad with a chainsaw

and he would just tear up the furniture with a chainsaw. So Conan, we had the idea to bring him to New York and give him an advertising makeover because his ads needed, could use some sprucing up. And I was running this remote and I had to pick an

advertising agency. And I had a list of the top advertising agencies in New York. And one of them was Footcom and Belding. And I don't know how we zeroed in on Footcom and Belding, but that's where we decided to go. We went with Hilton. It was an act of God. It was an act of God and Conan. And you, Liza, were one of the creative people that we interviewed about how to make a new commercial for Hilton. Yes, I was. Yes. So how did that happen? How did you get to be part of the team that was going to be part of this late night remote segment. Do you remember? Yes, I do remember.

And what I love about this is that, you know, when you're married or you're a couple, people say like, how did you meet? And I love this whole story. And so I would always go, okay, so the affiliate in Houston and Cohen would be like, just stop it. Just get to like do a summary overview. But so I really, we're, you know, and we're mucking around in my favorite weeds right now. But I, on a Friday afternoon, was called into my creative director's office. I was a copywriter. And he said, and I

think my partner, Jen, came in with me. And they said, maybe a couple of other people. And they said, you need to come in at nine on Monday morning. And we were like, what? Because creative people don't come in till 10. Why are you calling us in early? What is this? And they said, we can't tell you what it's for. And then someone said they heard a rumor that it had to do with a mattress store who was like a client and something to do with the Conan O'Brien show. And so we all went home for the weekend worrying about how we would be mocked on national television, basically. And so we came in Monday morning not knowing anything about what was going to happen. And they put us in this room,

and we waited for you guys to show up. And I think, I don't know, you were not there at 9 a.m., but... No way. No way. No. So I'm not sure what that was all about. We showed up at 10 a.m. at our office. Yes.

And he was really sick that day. He like had a bad cold. And so he was grumpy and didn't want to be doing a remote and didn't want to be there, you know, early on a Monday morning. And so...

He being Conan. No, he being Conan. That's right. The capital H. Sorry, you. Um, the capital H. Sorry, you couldn't hear the capital H. I don't remember. I don't remember that. Oh, you don't?

Yeah. Because he's always grumpy. Yeah, exactly. That's right. It didn't distinguish it for you. Um, and then, uh, it's hard to know what part of my memory of the event is the video of the event. You know, it's blended over time.

But I remember we were all in a corner office and you guys were telling us what was going to happen. And I also remember being out in like the reception area wearing safety goggles and this part's in the remote and Hilton is carving up furniture with his chainsaw right there. Right. I don't know.

I guess we brought that chair. I don't know if we brought that chair or just said, hey, we'll pay you back. Probably. Yeah, it was probably the latter. And then you never paid them back. Yeah.

Yes. You know why it's probably also cranky is because it was a show day. Uh-huh. And shooting a remote on the same day where then he's got to go back and prepare for that night show was a real, it was a drag. It was like an extra imposition. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I remember because I remember when we were done, it was around noon. And that's really late to be wrapping up a pre-tape and get back to do the show that day.

But he was not in a rush to get out of the room. No, he was not. I think we know why that is. Yeah. Right. So, yeah. So, there were like five people, I think, on our side who were called into that room. And I don't remember every single one who was there. I know my partner, Jen, was there? And you guys were great and said, you know, the point is not to make you the butt of the joke and we're going to bring this guy in and you're going to watch his commercial

and then you're going to give your expert opinion. And so, you know, we did all of that. And then... You also have to be nervous because you're there. Was your boss in the room as well? I don't think our bosses were in the room. Okay. All right. But yeah, no. nervous because you're there was your boss in the room as well i don't think our bosses were in the room no right um but yeah no and i so we were more nervous about like a tv camera like that was a very you know in the late 90s you never saw one of those in your room you know now everyone's

got cameras everywhere but um anyway so we were self-conscious and stuff. But you guys were very nice to us. And so it took, I don't know, a couple hours, maybe three hours. And I remember at one point, Conan said something to me. I can't remember the first thing he said to me that felt kind of like, wait, what's happening here? Is this guy flirting with me? But he asked, like, where I'd gone to school. And I think it was when the cameras were not on. And all of a sudden, it was like, we were sort of on a date in the middle of this room full of other people.

And he was like, what did you study in school? And what was your thesis? I mean, we were having this full-on first-day conversation out of nowhere. And literally, every other person was looking at each other going, what? Should we go? What's going on? Right, right. So then... But he could kind of fit it in under the guise of like, well, you know, I'm just trying to warm up the room and put everyone at ease. That's right. Only talking to this one woman. Right.

And I had this, I didn't know him. I didn't know, you know, I just think he's- Well, I was going to ask that. Did you, because you said you knew the show was on TV. That's right. I didn't know that. I had heard of him. But you didn't have any impressions of Conan before that?

None. I had no idea if he was, you know, like, what brand of celebrity are we talking about here? And so I was like, well, so if he is... Like what brand? Yeah, like, I'm, you know, I'm the young blonde in the room and maybe that's all this is. He's just like, this is the chick. I had no idea how seriously to take it. Right.

So, and I felt kind of of dumb actually for for taking it seriously at all because i i was like i maybe he just does this every time he walks into a room and i'm you know the idiot who thinks that it has to do with me so right right right oh you mean after he was started when we chat a lot of questions yeah Yeah, exactly. Is that even flirting? Yeah, yeah. For us. I know, with cameras there. Super hot, yeah. A sound guy and everyone's wearing mics.

Talk about thesis, literature, yep. No, I remember at the end, I think we were done. I don't know if we're out in the reception area or down or downstairs in the lobby. Yes. And you guys were chatting away. And I've been on a lot of remote with him and that had never happened, especially on a show. I knew something. Yeah.

It was a show day. You know, we've wrapped, right? Right. Yeah, exactly. You get to leave. Yeah, no no we did we ran into each other in the lobby as i was going out to get lunch and uh and i you know i didn't know anything about the way your days worked or anything i was like you want to you want to come

you want to go get lunch i mean right now i know he has never once in his life gone and gotten lunch on a work day ever so you know no maybe. No. Maybe. Wait, did he say yes to lunch? He did not. He was, he had to regretfully decline that offer. We did have a crazy conversation in which I said, I cannot believe, yeah, I said this to him the first day we met and I was 29 at the time. And I don't know how we got on this subject, but I swear to God, it's not as out of the blue as I'm making it sound. But I said, my gynecologist has told me I need to have all of my babies out of my body by the time I'm 34. So literally, that sentence came out of my face. And he didn't run away, which says something about him.

Yeah, normally that's kryptonite. Yeah. So, you know, somehow we were having some sort of subterranean discussion on a profound level or I was a crazy person and he just happened not to care. So. Or he was ready to settle down. I think he was getting ready. He was like, yeah, I've just been looking for... He got his marching orders. Yeah.

Kind of. Well, Liza, so then did you go back to the office and talk to your coworkers about this? Yeah. Did you tell people? Yeah, I didn't tell people, but the people who had been in the room literally came in my office and were like,

what the fuck was that? And I said... Oh, so everyone sensed it. Yeah, I don't know. It was weird. It was really, it was, yes, it was palpable. And I said to, you know, the two people that I had to talk to about it, I was like, I feel like an idiot for, I can't take this seriously, right?

Like, he's on television. What? Right. Yeah, normally it would be like. He's not a real person. Right. Yeah. And I completely understand your perspective of, oh, this probably happens all the time

and I'd just be the flavor of the week. That's right. Because you didn't know him. That's right. And know that that was not possible for him. That's exactly right. Yes. I quickly learned that that was not his style.

But at that point, I didn't know. So, yeah, I talked about it. And then there was a follow-up to The Remote a couple of weeks later or maybe a week later. Right. Well, The Remote, the second part is you guys presenting the commercial. Right. So, we put together like an improved version of the commercial that we were pitching, which was like a, you know, total fantasy. We ripped footage that we could never, you know, whatever.

It was not a real commercial. And then you guys edited it for us, right? I think I gave you a script. Oh, yes, I think we did. And you made it, which I was like, oh, this I like. Now this very nice guy named Mike Sweeney seems to be like my editor.

And that I can get on board with. We put it together. And then we came back, right? Yeah, you came back and you showed it to us so that we could, and him and Hilton. I think he came back to New York. Yes, he came back to New York. Yeah. And so we showed him this ad that we had made and he was like, that looks good. And probably would, you know, if you ever ran that out, it would cost two million dollars for one airing but conan was there for that too right he was and then so what happened anything happened that time because i don't remember anything oh really you don't remember him saying now's the time in a at the end now's the time when we all go out for beers afterwards. Oh, yeah. And you looked at him and you said, what?

And he said, you know how we always do. And the camera guys were like, what? I did forget about that. You did? And then we went to a bar, all of us.

Oh, right. And we all, and you guys were all sitting there like, can we please leave? This is such a charade. Why do we have to be part of this? Well, we knew it was going on. But I can't tell you what a testament this is to you.

I have to tell you, the idea of him on, again, a show day, carving personal time out. It just never... No kidding. It didn't happen for anything. You're ticking biological clock. All of it. Uh-huh. Could have gone so wrong. I'm horning in on his work time.

No, I did everything wrong. Everything wrong. No, like, I do remember alarm bells just in terms of, like, this is totally upending the cart. This is crazy. It's happening. And I'm not the host. I was like, this is totally upending the cart. This is crazy. It's happening. And I'm not the host.

I was like, what's going to happen to the show today? Exactly. He's going out for a beer. He's lost his mind. And even the first time, talking in the lobby, I remember talking in the lobby just thinking like, oh my God, he doesn't have time for this. Well, there's a moment in that section of the remote too that commenters on YouTube have found where he says your name, Liza.

And he thinks you're the only person whose name he says. So people have zeroed in on that, I think, in hindsight. Well, that's pretty accurate. I'm sure. Well, those commenters might like to look at the raw footage because I believe I ruined 85% of what we shot because I kept laughing over like I would laugh at every single thing he said. And I ruined everyone else's lines. Well, I was curious about that because the way they edited it, I mean, I don't know when the last time you watched the remote was. It's been a while. It's been a while. And you know,

he's never watched it. He won't watch it. Oh, wow. Oh, really? He wants to remember it instead, which is sweet, but also like, are you afraid you're going to reconsider? Like, I don't know what really at this point. No, he's probably just going to be embarrassed of it that he was.

He says he prefers his memory to whatever the truth is, which is fine. But it's pretty, I mean, if you just want to put the remote, it's all very subtle. It's only in hindsight. It's very subtle. But they edited it so that you are not laughing at him, Liza. You're just stone-faced. I know. And I was wondering if you really did find him funny in the moment. No, I was obnoxious.

I was absolutely obnoxious at how funny I found him. Yeah, I edited all that out. Yeah, no, I'm a terrible straight person, especially for him. What about the other people in the room? Were others laughing or was it just you? Yeah, no, others were laughing, but I think I was loud is the problem. Other people might have been a little bit more. I think it was the solution, actually.

It did work for him, I think. I think it did. He didn't mind terribly, no. So I guess I'm assuming then after the beers happened, the beers with many onlookers, that you two exchanged information or somehow? Well, things continued. Not right away, which was interesting. Yes.

So he said, do you guys want to come to the show to watch this whole remote air in front of an audience? And we said, yes, of course. It's a tradition. We always have the remote. Right, right, right. So we did.

What a smooth operation. Oh, my God. I know. You should have said, hey Right, right, right. What a smooth operation. Oh, my God. I know. You should have said, hey, it's on TV. Why would I go all the way to the studio? Yeah. So, we did. We went and we watched from the green room or something.

And then he came and said hello afterwards. And I was wearing a baseball hat. I don't know why. And he walked into the green room. I don't think you were there for the swings. And he looked at me and he said wearing a baseball hat. I don't know why. And he walked into the green room. I don't think you were there for this, Sweeney. And he looked at me and he said, take that off. And I did. Like, I don't know. It was so weird. But anyway, and then he said, why did you do what I said? So, yeah, we were off to the races don't. I was getting the full show day treatment. Now, that was show time.

That was his show persona. Yeah, so he's kind of wound up. He had to be on. Yeah. Telling people to remove their hats. Yeah. For no apparent reason. That's right.

That's how he warms up for the show. Right. And then shitting on them when they do what he asks. Yeah. And then, so that happened. And then, and then I had to go to LA for work. And the thing,

and it was super cool. And then it aired while we were out here. And then that was kind of it. That was like the end of our alliance. And there was no excuse anymore. And Sweeney, I don't know if you remember this, but I called you because I had your number. Right. And I said, this feels really dumb, but would you pass a note to him for me? Because I didn't know how to get him any communication.

Do you remember? Of course I remember this. And I was just like, I thought it was adorable. I was like, sure, I'll pass the note. I think I charged you a reasonable fee. Yes, which I still owe you. Is it compounding interest? Yeah. And so I just wrote a note saying like, you know, it was really nice talking to you.

And if you ever want to continue the conversation, here's my number. By the way, he hates this part of the story. He hates this part of the story so much that he's trying to get me not to tell it. Yeah, well, he's going to edit this. Yeah, well, it'll be lost to posterity. That's fine. Why does he hate this part of the story? I think because I was so impatient, which I am. I'm very impatient and I can be a little bossy. And he didn't like that I was beating him to the manly punch. Well, that's what I was going to guess, that he knows he should have been the one to do it

and he's embarrassed that he wasn't. Well, it wasn't that he was embarrassed so much as he was getting there. And he was like, slow your roll. But I was like, dude, I, you know, I don't, he said, I said, I didn't know if you would, I was about to change jobs. Right. And, and I didn't. So you, and, and, you know, sometimes people didn't know how to spell my last name because it only had one L. And I was like, what if you couldn't find me?

And he said. And there was no Facebook. Right. Yeah. Well, there may have been, but I was not. But he said, I have an entire department of people who do nothing but find things for me. I would have found you. It's fine. I was just like, well, whatever. I asserted myself and I'm proud of that. I remember I brought in the note. I didn, I just like, you know, I didn't say anything. I said, here you go. I think you probably wrote something humorous or something that tickled him in the note

because he was like, he's just like, she wrote me a great note. I don't know if it was great. I think that might have been. I remember that. I remember that. He was just like.

Must goggles or something. I don't know. I remember that. He was just like... Must goggles or something. I don't know. I don't think it was that great, but I like that he liked it. He was... Yes, he was... I just remember him being like really impressed and I was like, wow, okay, this is...

Because, you know, well, I'd been working there like, I don't know, four years. But I'd been on a lot of remotes with him. Nothing like this had ever happened. Right. So, it did stand out. Yeah.

And then you guys were on hiatus for like two weeks or something. So, it took a while still even after that. His mom was having some health issues. He went home to Boston, whatever. So, there was a little bit of an ellipsis of time after I sent the note. Oh, yeah. So were you just biting your nails over it? Yeah, sort of like, I may never hear from this person again.

I didn't know. I could see, you know, like there's such a connection there. Him almost being afraid to dive in. Right. You know, because it's a little scary, I think, when you meet someone with that intense connection. Absolutely. And especially when they're talking about childbirth. They've got a timeline. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. He probably was trying to buy himself just a little bit more freedom.

Right, right, right. But then when he finally did reach out to me it was like he called me at like 11pm on a Tuesday or some crazy thing like that and I better than a Friday or Saturday did he say

I just want to make sure you're watching the show tonight yeah exactly how hard did you laugh oh did you feel like I don't mean to interrupt the calling you story, but did you feel like, in the meantime, like, I better start watching this guy's show? A little. And you know what happened? Yeah. So I was, and I was enjoying it. And then we had our first conversation.

And did you like him more or less after that? You know, it's so different. Like, it's so different to, you know, encounter someone through their performance on television versus in person that it was almost adjacent. It, like, wasn't, it didn't really impact it either way. And when he finally called, we talked till, like, two in the morning. We were 30 blocks apart. I could literally almost see his apartment from mine. And we just talked for hours. And then that happened a few more times over the next few weeks. And it was actually really amazing. I was really glad we kind of had that almost pretend long distance relationship because I think it his show, I found myself getting really resentful that I couldn't talk back to him, that I'm watching the show and he's communicating to me, but I couldn't participate and I had to stop watching. That's so interesting. That's a good excuse. I know. Yeah, well. It was too complicated from a communication standpoint. So I'm no longer a viewer.

No. But that's probably better. Well, I try to say that. I try to say like, listen, if I was just like some rabid fan of yours, your public persona, that would be weird. And he's like, I could handle it.

He'd love it if I was a fan. You could have a few more tattoos of me on you. Seems like every step of this was really authentically you being yourself and him being himself, and it just worked, which is so sweet. No, it was really sweet to kind of watch it just naturally unfold. Well, I'm glad that you were there. And then I'm glad you were at the wedding, as was Hilton. Oh my God, Hilton?

We invited Hilton to the wedding. And he came. Did he cut the cake with a chainsaw? That would have been really good. No, he was there with his wife and his kid like his two year old kid or one and a half year old kid anyway

it was very sweet that he came that is very sweet no that was a great wedding it was a great wedding thank you have your kids ever seen the remote where you met their dad

they have they watched it a few years ago for the first time and that was fine. They really kind of didn't care. Were they like, cringe, mom? No, they kind of didn't. I don't know. When I was a kid, I was obsessed with looking at my parents' wedding photos and

pictures of them when they were dating. I don't know. I don't know if it's generational, if these kids are so used to everything being memorialized in photographic form that they don't realize it's rare or special or you lose a lot. I don't know. They're like, okay. But also their dad's on TV every day. So it's just like, more from his show. Okay.

Yeah. It happens to include you. Yeah. I don't know. It's a funny thing with kids where they're like, you're not at all exotic to them. You're the definition of not interesting. And so why would they be more interested in you in a different format? They would not. But they could come around to that.

Maybe. Maybe 10 years from now. Later on. Yes. It'll hit them. Maybe. Once they start going through similar things in their lives, they'll probably be like,

oh my God, that tape's crazy. They were people just like us. Yeah. Or if that guy had not sawed his furniture up with a chainsaw, we might not exist. I know. Right. Well, and so you left advertising. You got an MFA in fiction writing.

Yep. And then you became a playwright, which is so cool. The theater did not have a great COVID time. Oh, man. That's right. Yeah. And there's a lot of like, you know, sort of social justice readjustments happening in the theater world, which are long overdue and very exciting.

Right. But it's not. Productions are scarce at the moment, to put it mildly. Wow. The backlog in the theaters want to honor commitments to playwrights, but then, you know, they're also trying to sort of shift priorities in some

instances. It's a really fascinating and kind of awful time in some ways there. But you do have a new writing outlet, which we want to talk about. I do have a new writing outlet. Yes. Speaking of nerdy, which is a podcast about... I don't think those are going to work out. Yeah, I will. This one, you know, we'll see. It is called Significant Others, and it's basically trying to look at people who are influential

in the lives of well-known historical figures that may be sort of less, not appreciated, but lesser known. So overlooked spouses of successful people. Not only spouses, not only spouses, also, you know, their parents or friends or relatives. So they happen to be mostly spouses to start because those are the most glaring examples. But yeah, it's probably no mystery how I arrived at this subject. But I do not feel... You had this idea for 21 years. That's right. Exactly. Well, I weirdly have been collecting these stories for a really long time, not because of the circumstance that I'm in, but because I've always been just sort of curious

about, you know, I remember watching the documentary on Frank Lloyd Wright, for example, and they talked about how, you know, he was super ambitious. And his wife, I think they had, I don't know, they had a bunch of kids. And his wife really loved hanging out with all the kids. And he was like, yeah, that's not going to work for me. And like went down the street and took up with a neighbor. And, you know, so that kind of story has always been really interesting to me. People who are engaged in sharing a life and the two sides of that experience are vastly different. That's interesting.

Yeah, I think about that all the time, too, that nothing we have on this planet would have been possible without somebody doing childcare and maintaining the day-to-day of a home so that someone else can go out and invent things. Yeah. Yeah, and heretofore, you only get one side of the story. That's right. Yeah. History is written by the victors and

people with wives or maids. For child care, yeah. No one else has time to sit at a typewriter. Well, Liza, before we go, I wanted to bring up, I was sitting behind you at the final Conan show at largo

which we luckily got to do a few live shows before the show ended and the last one at largo was really emotional and it was so sweet at the end conan had a long list of thank yous to people and he gave a really sweet and heartfelt thank you to you. He did. So I was wondering how you felt at seeing that show, if that was emotional for you. It's making me emotional now. I know. It's funny because I was completely unprepared for that. You know, he's so, there's like, I call it the separation of church and state, like in our life, there's like his private life and then his job. And they've just always been very delineated and that makes a lot of sense. And so it does seem like,

you know, if there ever were going to be a moment where he would talk publicly about something personal, you know, it's going to be a moment like that. But I still was sort of surprised by it. I did not anticipate it. I didn't know he was going to say anything about anything in particular. I was really glad I had happened to take a shower that day because they were putting the camera on us. Your hair smelled great thank you i don't know i i um it was an emotional uh it's so the whole thing's so weird to to have wound down at the end of that strange covid period was really weird and um so i don't know it all felt very organic and authentic to him and I liked that and I loved

you know I loved that I wasn't the only one being singled out you know I loved that Sona got in there and right and

he was trying to embarrass a lot of people that's exactly right yes I was in good company yeah so no he did a big wind up

but it was like but the one person I have to thank the most and I was like okay this a big wind up, but it was like, but the one person I have to thank the most. And I was like, okay, this better be. I thought it was going to be Bill Tall from prom. I mean, I literally, it could have been his mother and I wouldn't have been surprised. You know, I was not even at that point in the wind up, I was like, okay, let's see what this is going to be about. I don't know. So yeah,, very, very sweet of him, though. Well, they had to ask the network for more time because...

I know. Wow. The thank you, you know, it was supposed to be a half hour show, and I think it ran 40 minutes, 10 minutes gushing about you. I know. That's true love. Yes. How has it been having him home a little bit more?

Well, again... I can answer that one. Fantastic. It's been great. What? Again, I think if we hadn't just had that weird lockdown period to sort of break us all in, it might have been stranger. But there hasn't been that big a change. And, you know, he's still going off to do podcasting stuff and he's still, you know, bothering Mike Sweeney a lot and Matt O'Brien a lot. So I, for years, was terrified of the loss of that structure, you know, that it really was

such an organizing principle in our lives. And we relied on it in a way, even though, you know, it could be like too confining sometimes. But it hasn't been a huge shift. And also, you know, we're at a point in our family life where it's great that he's around to like drive someone somewhere if I need help with that. Or, you know, I've been kind of like only doing the domestic stuff for so long that to have him a little bit more available for some of that is amazing. Not too available. We don't want to teach him how to do things. Yeah. Well, yeah. I mean, I think my nightmare is that he'll realize that everything I do

is really not that hard at home he leaves the house and then hands the keys off to someone he's hired to drive the kids that's right

yeah well no we used to compare notes because back when I was head writer it's when you're the head writer you're kind of like

the show wife yes yes so that's right yeah it's when you're the head writer, you're kind of like the show wife. Yes. Yes. So. That's right. Yeah. It's a bit. You two have a special connection.

Well, and it's kind of a hot potato of, oh, thank God he's giving Mike a hard time right now, because that means I'm out of the glare. And now it's Matt O'Brien. So now. That's right.

Oh, yeah. The new, the new sister wife. No, he's like a bigamist now. I'm like the older wife. You're the one you don't have to worry about him coming into the bedroom at night. Right.

He's respectful to me, but his eyes don't light up the way they used to. What can you do? But the cute thing, I have to say, the cutest thing right now is with Sona's babies. We haven't even met them yet. But he, when they, like in the final week or so of her pregnancy, maybe a few weeks, he was like a grandfather. He was like, I can't believe they're going to be born when I'm out of town. I think I need to be there. I was like, you do not need to be there.

She does not want you there. She wants nothing to do with you right now. But he's so excited. He shows me pictures of those kids more often than I think he may have ever looked at pictures of our kids when they were that age. They're so cute.

Oh my God. It's amazing. Yeah. So that's a very sweet kind of foreshadowing, I think, of how he might be as a grandparent. As a grandparent. Yeah. What a sweetie pie.

Oh, isn't he just a bundle of love? I'm not really coming around on him. Yeah. He's just all sweetness and light. No. You know, it's funny. Whenever we're together and you're there, he just softens and relaxes.

That's nice. Yeah, it's true. I always want you around. Liza, would you ever want to collaborate on something creative with Conan? You know, we collaborated on naming our children. And I was like,

oh, I see what everyone has been going through with this one because he's got such an unbelievable work ethic slash self-hatred that there is no happening upon the right answer early in the process. It's just by definition can't be the right answer if you've hit on it early. Right.

It becomes too easy. It has to come at the end of a long and agonizing process. And so, and I was very new to the scene when this was all happening. I'd only known him for a couple of years. And so I was like, we got a good list. We got like five possibilities that we kind was like, we got a good list. We got like five possibilities that we kind of like, you know, and I'm four months pregnant.

And he was like, oh, no, no, no, none of these will be the names. And he was like, we've got time. Totally. We can wait until the very last second. He was pitching up until she was born, literally. Until the child is one year old. Yeah, right. So I think that maybe it's best if we want to keep liking each other for us to have our own

separate spheres and leave it at that. Do you have any other memories of, you know, the time of the... The early time. Late night show years, either on or off the stage?

Oh, my God. What are some of your favorite memories? I think that this meant a lot to Conan too. I think that when you really work in a place for a long time, it all gets very complicated and becomes a real mixed bag. But I never got over the thrill of Rockefeller Center.

I never... I couldn't believe that he worked there. Like he, you know, was paid to show up there every day and he did a show in this sort of like iconic, you know, landmark building. That and the energy in that building is really,. And the way the hallways would be full of crazy costumes and bizarre celebrities. And the photos lining the walls were amazing. And you never knew who you were going to run to in the elevator. That was all.

And that it was three subway stops from our apartment. That was exciting. And also, I think think on top of that, like show business in New York City seems like less of a thing than it is obviously out in Los Angeles. So it seems more special. Yeah, it's more that like, I guess it's just more old fashioned feeling,

you know, here and here. It's kind of like people do amazing things here, but they're all kind of siloed. And there it feels like there's this big rush of, you know, broadcast entertainment. And you're like swimming in that river somehow. And in that great building where it all kind of started out, you know. Yeah, with the mural and the, you know, terrazzo floors, like it's just, and the tourists and the tree, like it's crazy to me that that was his workplace, you know, and I would bring the kids when they were really, really little. And I just think, you know, I didn't do it a lot because I didn't want it to feel too regular to

them, you know, I wanted it to feel special. That's smart. And I thought, well, what a cool imprint this must be making on their little brains, you know? Yeah. Well,

thank you so much, Liza. This has been so much fun. You're so welcome. Thank you, Liza, for joining us. That was really fun. Yeah,

it was great talking to her. I know. And having it all recorded for a change. That was really fun. Yeah, it was great talking to her. I know. And having it all recorded for a change. Yeah, and having her spill the beans. Yeah. Ooh, that's a big, a written podcast. That's such a big undertaking. I know.

It's already kind of a nightmare just recording yourself. I know. That's not what I'm thinking. I know. It's already kind of a nightmare just recording yourself. I know. That's not what I'm thinking. I know. Yeah. It's exciting. It's a cool idea though. It is really cool. I know. I wonder how she came up with it. Hey, no.

We actually do love doing this podcast. I know I make it sound like we don't. But we do. And we hope that you doing this podcast. I know I make it sound like we don't, but we do. And we hope that you like it too. And you can support us and tell us that you like the show by rating Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast on iTunes and leaving

us a review. And we read them. Yes. You read them. Yeah, I read them. Every night before bed. Right, right, right. Feel alive. Yeah. And we have a listener question this week.

We do. Yeah. This one's directed at us. What? I'm told. That's what I. Yeah. Hey, Jesse and Mike.

There you go. What more proof do you need? Oh, my gosh. You're right. I have a question. I'm not sure if you've answered before. I'd love and love is in all caps, of course. Oh my gosh, you're right. I have a question. I'm not sure if you've answered before. I'd love, and love is in all caps, of course.

Oh, wow. That's why we're answering this one, because love is in all caps. I'd love to hear the origins of the Inside Conan podcast. Whose idea was it? No idea. I think you'll have to listen to Inside Inside Conan for the answers to this. That's coming out soon.

And how did you two become the hosts? Oh, boy. How do you get the wonderful guests? And what's the story for the long gap between seasons two and three? Where the fuck were you guys? It goes from love. This is a lot of passion in this there really is um and this is from jeff ewing in new jersey wow or wait no it might be jeff in ewing new jersey oh sorry i didn't see is ewing new jersey a place it is okay this is where my upbringing

in new jersey really finally pays off. I mean, his last name could also be Ewing, but... Yes, it's Jeff Ewing from Ewing, New Jersey. He's the founder. Or Jeff New Jersey. Anyway, whose idea was it? I don't know. I have no idea. You asked me to do it,

I think. I asked you to do it. You referred me for it. Jeff Ross came to me and said they want to do a behind-the-scenes podcast. This was just when the podcast wing of Team Coco was just getting off the ground. And I think they were like, we need a way to practice making podcasts. Right, right, right, right. We need someone to test out our equipment. Yes, our experiments.

And Sweeney doesn't seem that busy. So I immediately was like, oh, it's going to extra work. No, but so I said, yeah, I'll do it. And then they're like, how about a co-host? And I thought of you immediately. I mean, well, yeah. Thank you. Yes.

Well, just I feel like we've been through a lot together. And I just love talking. Yeah, we have. I love chatting with you. So it seems like a no-brainer to me. You knew that I wouldn't overshine you on the podcast. That's important. Exactly.

Because I hired you originally, so I knew. Wait, but I can't undo any of that. You did hire me. I think we've had really good chemistry since that interview. No, I thought of you because you'd overshadow me. And I was like, oh, good good then i don't have to i don't have to work as hard thank god and then that turned out to not be the case i feel my plan worked so uh yeah kudos to me and uh yeah i mean i don't i'm trying to remember well i definitely remember

when i first met you and you interviewed me for writing job on the show right well and this is something i've asked you about but in the interview because i had submitted a packet and i was really excited to get called in for an interview right and then i sat there and you in your office and you told me that there was no opening, that there was no position open. Oh. But you said, I still just wanted to meet with you and chat. Yeah.

And I didn't know if that was, in retrospect now, I don't know if that was a strategy. Were you trying to make me feel more comfortable? I don't remember saying that to you. You definitely said that. Or maybe it was a joke and I didn't even get it. Maybe it was a joke. It might have been a joke and i was like oh okay well anyway nice knowing you

and i think i started to walk out the door well i i think the reason you didn't get it is because it's a really if i did say it it's a really bad joke it's not well it's tough when you've just met somebody and they're right they don't know your sense of humor yeah yeah in quotes uh no but it actually did kind of put me at ease because i thought oh well then you know oh yeah who cares oh yeah that's my brilliant interview strategy. And I was already in a little bit of a who cares position because of just things that were... My personal life was in turmoil. So I think I played it very cool in that interview, which I would like to think got me the job. No, you were really silly and funny.

And I was struck by how relaxed you were. Because I didn't think there was a job opening. Right. I'm incredibly intimidating. So, no, but I felt like we just had a fun, loose conversation. Yeah, we did. It's so weird how you spend the same day in the writer's room with this i know we've talked about this the same 10 people and so there really is this kind of chemistry and everyone's kind of got a to get along on all these different levels like the same sense of humor but also i think personally it just always it always kind of work it's weird how that always seems to have worked out well and it sort of forms

it creates and then right especially as you are helping each other and right kind of building on each other's comedy right I think that act

maybe brings everybody together but then there are those always those moments where we're procrastinating and don't want to do the task at hand, where someone will talk about something from their past and everyone's just riveted. And also, it's kind of... So, over the months, it's a very organic way to really learn about each person you're working with.

And usually in the writer's room, people tell, they tend to be confessional stories, I think, because they're usually embarrassing, awful things. Because there's sort of an unspoken code of, it's like attorney-client privilege in there. Right.

That's true. You can confess to murder and it doesn't count. Yeah. There's been some great stories coming out of that room that, yeah, maybe you don't want to repeat. But I think you and I probably really became friends and not just co-workers when we started doing the travel shows. Right. friends uh and not just co-workers when we started doing the travel shows right and then we were you know on long plane rides and on long bus rides and just in hotels at midnight kind of trying to re make a plan for the next day after something had gone wrong right Right. Yes. That, yeah, no, that's, that's a very intense

way to get to know each other. And it's like you, me, and Jose Arroyo. Yeah. And Jason Shalemi, our producer, and of course,

Conan and Jeff Ross. I mean, and, and that was basically the, the team. Yeah. Other than the crew that shot everything.

So, yeah, you really, we really got to know each other. Yeah, and you kind of have to drop a lot of... I mean, especially in a situation like that where you're sort of under fire and having to make last-minute calls on things and like run and gun, we would always call it. Yes. Where you're just out on the street

with a camera following Conan. And I think that that pressure forces you to really start to trust each other and be honest with each other. And it's like, okay, even if you're, especially with our jobs, a lot of what we do is reassuring Conan that everything's under control. But then we could come back to each other and be like, no, this is not going well. Yes, yes. I need help, please. Right, right. Yeah, because he can smell

fear and indecision and insecurity in a second. So you smile at him and say thumbs up and then you turn back to the group. Yes. Oh, we lie to him before we shoot something.

It's like, we vetted these people.'re gonna be great everything now get in there they were like yeah come on we're lying cornermen you know i know it yeah but hey it works it it does it does seem to work rarely there are times where things go wrong, where we're all just... He hasn't been killed yet. Right. Yes, we lower our expectations. Then it's like, well, you're still alive.

Is any of this funny? No. We're going to... The other thing is, you know, we'd have... You know, you're talking about running and gunning. We also always set up more things than we know we can shoot.

So a lot of times we're like, oh, we have to either cancel this or move it to later tonight. So there's a lot of chess pieces we're moving around. So it's very intense. I would always joke. I mean, it seemed like in every single travel episode, we'd have something involving school children. Yeah.

And like some sort of sweet moment that Conan was going to go and do something with school children. And then like for even for reasons beyond our control, that element would always get canceled. And then we'd be like, oh, Jason, we have to tell the children that we're not coming.

And the children were probably like, we don't care. We don't know who that is anyway. Right, right, right, right. I'd feel bad for, I mean, it's just, oh, well, you know what? I remember we canceled one thing and I just like, I'm going to donate to this group. I just sent the money. That's right.

And I did that too. So maybe that was their strategy all along. But you and I, I'm trying to think of, you know what, to me, one crazy thing. Do you remember when we were in Haiti? I mean, yes, in general. Yes. And the last night, I was sleeping on the floor in the basement of this house we were staying in. And then I think the last night, you and I had to split a bedroom. Yes, that's right. I do remember.

I was terrified. I was just like, oh, boy. That was the scariest part of the trip for you. It was. It was. They were two beds, and I was like, how far apart can we be? They were on like opposite sides of the room. Yes, yes, yes.

But I was worried about snoring. All I was worried about was like, oh God, what if I snore? And you're going to tell all the other riders. What if I wet the bed? Right, exactly. Yeah, I mean, I don't even remember. I feel like I went to sleep before you and then woke up

and you were already gone. It was like nothing happened. Yeah, I think I woke up early and was like, all right, get the fuck out of here. I ran out of the room. Go back to the basement. Yeah, exactly.

I know, I'm trying to think of other... Yeah, what other... Crazy. There were so many crazy... Oh, yeah. So speaking of having to lie to Conan and tell him everything's okay. Right.

There was that time when we were in Japan and we had flown across to Conan Town, which was a real town. Yeah, right? Right. They changed the name. It celebrated the fictional character Detective Conan, an anime character. Yeah, but we had flown to the wrong airport. And so as soon as we got, as soon as we landed, just there was a look on our local fixer's face that kind of told us everything.

He was, well, there was going to be, we were told there was a giant, all these newscasters, news reporters, and a band and a parade had all traveled to the airport to greet us. At the other airport. Yes, we get off the plane and our fixer, who is very low key,

was just like, he literally just said, we're at the wrong airport. Yeah, and then we had to talk to Conan and be like, so we're gonna get in a bus and then we're gonna go to the other airport. Then we're gonna pretend that we landed in that airport. I don't actually think that we ever were pretending. No. I think we

tried to... I think then we made it part of the show. Yes. That's the thing. Like, you just go, oh, okay. Well, this is part of the story now. I mean, the thing is, when I heard we were at the wrong airport, I thought, oh, that's it. We're fucked. But then I found out that the other airport

both airports were around 50 minutes from conantown yeah so i i knew we because conantown had a giant the mayor was giving conan a key there was there was all there was a giant burger barbecue for Conan. Like we had to get to that town. So when I knew we could barely get there in time, I was like, okay, now let's just get there. But at first, when you hear wrong airport, I think I'm thinking like United States where it's like you're supposed to be in Phoenix.

No, we have to get back on the plane. You've landed in Minnesota. But it was more like we landed in Scottsdale. Yeah. Yeah, but it was terrifying. That was terrifying. Yeah, the modes of transportation were usually the places where things were the scariest. Because there were a lot of...

Well, one thing that always cracked me up so we would get into a van and then in certain places the local police would create like a couple cops would go out on motorcycles in front of us and make it possible for us to go through heavy traffic because there's a lot of traffic

in a lot of other cities around the world. In Armenia, I remember it in Armenia. Yeah, the motorcade. Yeah, it was. I felt guilty, but I also wanted to hire them to come back to Los Angeles. I know, to just have that all the time. Oh, my God.

To have a police motorcade. Oh, man. That's got to go to your head. We were in another location where they said, oh, when the president motorcade comes through, they don't stop. They said it's on the citizens. It's their burden to know to get out of the way. They do not. Right, right. Yeah. So you could hit a person and it's just completely illegal. It's like presidential right away.

It's a presidential casualty. Yeah. Wait, did we answer the question about how the podcast came about? I think we did. I think we did a really long time ago. Yeah. But I mean, oh, you know, he asked about what was with the gap between seasons two and three. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Seasons two and three.

I mean, I don't know exactly. To be honest, I think that it might have been partially COVID related. And then it was also just that Team Coco was starting so many other podcasts. Yeah. And maybe they didn't have the bandwidth. Plus, it felt like, what else do we have to cover with Inside Kona? But then we discovered we have more. There's still more.

There's more to talk about. We didn't know House of Gucci was coming out. If we had known that, we would have started Season 3 sooner. Well, thank you for that question. And if you're still listening and you have listener questions, the number to leave us a voicemail is 323-209-5303.

And you could also send us an email and or you could send us an email insideconanpod at gmail.com and that's it. That's our show. Yes. Thank you for listening. Truly. Thank you. It's a new year. Same us, but we're all in

this together and other cliches. Right. It's a new year. You're getting better. I'm going in the other direction. And we'll see how that plays out. You have to maintain a balance. Yes. Thanks for listening. We like you.

Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast, is hosted by Mike Sweeney and me, Jesse Gaskell. Produced by Sean Doherty. Our production coordinator is Lisa Byrne. Executive produced by Joanna Solotaroff, Adam Sachs, and Jeff Ross at Team Coco. 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

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Give birth to a calf, it's Conan! This has been a Team Coco production.