Inside Conan: An Important Hollywood Podcast - Sam Richardson Revisits CONAN in Ghana

Episode Date: July 12, 2023

Actor, comedian, and writer Sam Richardson joins Mike and Jessie to discuss traveling to Ghana with Conan, getting his first taste of Improv in Detroit, and how he and Tim Robinson found each other. Plus, Mike and Jessie are joined by long time CONAN Script Supervisor John Crotteau to talk about the ups and downs of living on a tour bus for the Legally Prohibited Tour, why he's called the Conan whisperer, and the last season of CONAN at Largo.Got a question for Inside Conan? Call our voicemail: [phone] or 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. I'm Mike Sweeney, and I'm here with Jesse Gaskell. Hi, Jesse. Hi, Sweeney. I'm here with Jesse Gaskell. Hi, Jesse. Hi, Sweeney. Nice to see you. Oh, you too. Oh, man. What's going on? I haven't seen you in a bit.

I know. We're still striking. Right. And it's summer. It is summer. So, of course, I did take up a strike hobby. Yes, what is that? I'm learning how to play the accordion. Is that true?

I think it is true. Why would you make that up? Wow. Yeah, I'm not doing it for the accolades. Well, is your goal to bring the accordion to a picket line and entertain pickers? Well, maybe, we'll see. It's a very hard instrument, it turns out. It's incredibly hard.

It's basically, I mean, it's two instruments. Yes, it's a keyboard. And then on the other side, there are all those, the dot candy buttons. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's really hard. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's really hard, but it's been fun. I mean, I can only play children's songs right now.

I can play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and Mary Had a Little Lamb. And then the chorus of Aha, Take on Me. Oh, wow. That's fantastic. That's kind of like a baby, like song for babies. It is like a kid's song. Oh, wow. That's fantastic. That's kind of like a baby song for babies. It is like a kid's song. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know why I decided, I just had it in my head. Yeah. Like, oh, I kind of want to learn to play an instrument. And that seemed like something you could play by yourself. Obviously, in my dreams, I get to join a Zydeco band eventually. Of course,

a move to New Orleans. Well, that was my question. What is your musical instrument background? In other words, did you play an instrument in school? I played piano for two years as a kid and that's it. Okay. Is that helping at all? Yeah, a little.

I mean, a little bit. All right. I know how to read music. Oh. It helps a little. But that's giant, I would think. Yeah, yeah. But it's different between knowing what you're supposed to do and actually doing it.

Right, right, right. There was one Conan Ryder guy, Nick Alucci, played the accordion. Oh, really? Oh, cool. Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm sure he was much better than me. You know, I only heard him play it once, and yeah, he was much better than me. I, you know, I only heard him play once and yeah, he was pretty good. I, I just, I forgot too, how long it takes to get good at something. And it's really frustrating to be bad at it.

Yeah. I mean, I'm learning that. It's very humbling. With podcasting. You know, shouldn't I be better by now? I just tell myself baby steps. No, but an instrument is, oh my God.

Do you play for your boyfriend? Is he like, oh, that's great. I love aha. Oh God, no. But I have, my dog is home when I play the accordion and she hates it. She howls the whole time.

It's really. It's a duet. I know. I sent a video to my mom and she thought that she was maybe singing, but I was like, she, she looks too pained. She thought that's such a mother thing.

Like, no, darling, she's enjoying it. She's singing to your beautiful music. I know. No, I think she thinks enjoying it. She's singing to your beautiful music. I know. No, I think she thinks that it's a fire engine or something.

She's baring her teeth and there's saliva dripping down. She loves it, honey. So it is kind of, it's fun to troll the dog with the accordion. Yeah. I would love it if the next time we record if you would even just play one like i'd love to hear the dog howling and you playing the accordion is that okay okay i'll make that happen oh my god can you do it right now um uh well no but i have a video of it. Here, let me pull it up on my phone. Does it sound like she's singing or does she sound in pain? It's a beautiful duet. I would pay to see you two in concert.

But she seemed to stop when you stopped. She does, yeah. It's just the noise that makes her howl. Listen, you're being way too modest. That was one of the best itsy bitsy spiders I've ever heard. But she does that from the moment I pick up the accordion until I stop. So I can't do it without her doing that. Really?

Yes. That's amazing. Well, it's annoying. Well, it's really annoying. I would get rid of the dog. You can't let anything get in the way. No, because I'm going to be an accordion star. Yes, you are.

Well, how do we, how do we top, how, what, who could possibly top that? Who could follow that? I can only think of one person in the world. Really? Yes. And that's actor, comedian, and writer Sam Richardson. Oh my God. Thank God he's on the show today. I know.

Unfortunately, I actually couldn't make it for this interview. I was very sad to miss it. But you were there, Sweeney. You did great. I did the best I could with my limited skills. But yes, when you're not there, I'm sad and lonely. But I had a great time with Sam. Well, yeah. What we didn't mention was that this entire season of Inside Conan,

we're covering Conan on the road. And that means Conan travel episodes, remotes, all the different events that took Conan away from the desk. And Sam, of course, came with us on the Conan Without Borders trip to Ghana. He actually introduced the idea. Yeah. And well, it turns out he is of Ghanaian descent. And he used to visit Ghana when he was like a preteen and early teen years. And he hadn't been back since.

And he's no dummy. He was getting a free trip to visit his homeland. And so it was- Well, and it was actually part of Ghana's year of return, which was they were focusing on black Americans who might have some Ghanaian ancestry

and encouraging people to travel to visit the motherland. And the Ghanaian government also coincidentally invited Conan to visit Ghana to help commemorate the year of return. And so it was a perfect team to visit the country. It was. And Sam is just such a lovely person. He's a great, great person to travel with. He was so much fun.

He was so wonderful. And it was one of my most memorable trips because we got to meet Sam's family in Ghana. And that was an amazing insight to the country that we wouldn the longtime script supervisor for Conan, who went on the road on tour with Conan after The Tonight Show, and he's got some great stories. So without further ado, very talented Sam Richardson. I'm so happy to see you again. I'm so happy to see you, too. Thank you for being on Inside Conan, the parasitic podcast that lives off the awful provided by Conan O'Brien. Well, listen, whatever you have to do to get through these hard times. Yeah, exactly.

It's an ecosystem. No, but thank you so much for appearing. We're so happy. And there's a bit of a bait and switch because the co-host is normally Jesse Gaskell.

Oh, yes. The wonderful Jesse Gaskell. Hilarious, wonderful, much smarter and more organized than me. So, but you're stuck with me. I apologize, but we'll do it with you.

Listen, how bad can it be? Yeah, it's like the Huey Lewis song says, I'm happy to be stuck with you. I wasn't sure which one you were going to pick. It's hip to be square. That too. Back in time. All of his songs, timeless anthems. It's true.

Well, thanks for coming in and we we just um you know we have guests on uh you know a big conan connection and we just kind of love to talk explore that connection and uh you know yeah see how it's affected you or not affected you at all so um i i thought we'd start in the beginning with conan just your first appearance do you remember that and i was wondering had you been on a a late night talk show prior to that um if i'm recalling the the the first time properly as where i did uh a jumping splits. Right. And my, yeah. Did you, did that cause injury?

No, luckily, luckily. What is, no physical at least. Background where you learn that you knew, that you knew that's something you could do. What did you do that for?

I grew up doing martial arts, taekwondo and wachendo and that sort of thing. It's that or cheerleading. It's that or cheerleading. I was waiting for you to go. Yeah, right. That move seems more cheerleading than martial arts or taekwondo, but they're similar. Although that would throw off your enemy, I think.

If you do that, that would make me stop, and then you could like chop them in the nuts or something. Exactly. Like, you know, you do that move. Everybody is distracted and pause a second. Then you write them up. Yeah.

What is that move? Have a name in Taekwondo. Uh, I, that, that move is like split. It's like a leg split. Yeah.

It's just like jumping splits. Do you, have you, had you pulled that out before? Is that like a trick? You you know you've got like up it is it is like when i when i got to high school uh i i showed that i started doing musicals and that's what was so funny like uh i like i was like doing it in when we were like warming up and and the uh the dance uh like the dance coordinator, dance choreographer was like, whoa,

what's that? And so then it became my trick and every musical, I would like do a jumping toe touch or I'd do a jumping toe touch off of a, off of like a, a platform or something.

So it was a jumping splits kick became a jumping toe touch. Right. No matter what the musical. Yeah. Like truly, we're doing like rent. He's doing it in rent.

You know, it's like, they just found out they can stay in the apartment yeah dummy toe touch oh she's dying dummy toe touch what music what what was your favorite musical you did my favorite musical i did was i really enjoyed damn yankees yeah it was like that was like the first musical idea or either that or West Side Story. But I didn't enjoy West Side Story very much because, you know, the premise being

it's the white kids versus the Puerto Ricans. So if you're not either of those, really, if you're not white, then you are Puerto Rican, period. I'm Officer Krupke,

I guess. You're right. Yeah. So I was like, I was Chino, but I was definitely like, they didn't get any fun songs. Really, they are tertiary characters. Right, right, right. So that was my first encounter with racism in the entertainment industry.

You wrote an angry letter to Leonard Bernstein. What the hell were you thinking? Get woke. It's all a sham. I didn't know you sang. It's kind of awesome. Does that come up? Like here and there.

I do love, I'd love to sing. Yeah. I don't know if I've done anything professionally singing. Your voice is hard to peg. You could be a beautiful bass baritone or a tenor. It's is hard to peg. You could be a beautiful

bass baritone or a tenor. It's very hard. It's true. You know, I can hit all of them. Oh my god. Oh, I can hit all of them. Oh my god. You know, it's... You can do all the parts. All of them. And then the split. And then I do a jumping toe touch. You're only listening, but you can't

tell I was doing jumping toe touches the whole time. Three jumping toe touches. Even though you only sang two voices. Yep. One in between. You put English on it. Exactly. I was in a high school musical, Oklahoma. Oh, yeah.

But it was really, it was like for Sunday school. So it was really the bottom of the barrel and they had no money. And they begged me to go out for it because they, so I played the bad guy, Judd. Oh, yeah. And I remember the good guy, the guy played Curly,

like I was already 6'3 and the guy played Curly was like 5'2. Uh-oh. And he had to, so you reminded me, you said choreography, they had to choreograph him killing me. And I remember they're like okay give us a

minute here how do we like maybe like a chair he pulls up it was it was a thing where i had to stumble and accidentally fall on his knife oh yeah yeah yeah so the audience is booing he's like no you've asked us to suspend our belief too much. Can he do a split? No. There's no way he wins this fight. This guy blows. So that was my big, yeah. I was like, I don't know if musical theater's for me.

But wait, how did we, we got onto, oh yes, high school musicals. Oh yes, yes. And then we, that's where the split came into its own. I love it. The origin story of the split. And then you're like, someday I'll do this on a late night talk show. Yeah, first chance I got.

So you're on Conan and that was great. And well, you know what? Just before we get back to Conan, I'm fascinated by, you know, you grew up in the Detroit area and I love that you went into improv. I'm wondering if you ever did even thought about doing standup or you just, or, or did it a little bit, or I'm just curious. It was all, it was always improv. So, so I grew up watching, you know, a lot of Saturday Night

Live and SCTV and like, you know, all the movies that, you know, those people were in. So like, there was just like on repeat. And so finding out there was a Second City or finding out what Second City was, I was like enamored.

And then I found out there was a Second City in Detroit. Right. So I went to see Second City in Detroit and I was like 14. Ah.

And so I like, I started doing improv. Then I like did an improv jam and then got on stage and like got some laughs and I was like, uh-oh. So like, it was jam and then got on stage and got some laughs. And I was like, uh-oh. So it was all about improv and sketch. When you were 14.

When I was like 14, 15. So you saw a show and then went back another time? Yeah. Yeah. I saw my friend's class show. Okay. A friend who I was in musicals with was taking classes at Second City. And so I went to see his show and then they had like an improv jam afterward.

And so I got up and I did the jam. Oh, wow. You know, just like a teenager who has no. No idea. No idea. No idea the risk involved. Exactly. It was like, yeah, it's easy.

Which is the way to do it. And like, I had a good pop and I was like, whoa. Oh, boy. This is it from here on out. That first big laugh. That was four years ago. I don't need that leg split anymore. You know what I mean?

I can save my groin for other things. Exactly. So did your parents have a sense of like, oh, you know what? Not entirely. Showbiz maybe for this guy. My dad is a pretty good patron of the arts, you know, he's like into opera and, uh, you know, uh, shows. He took me to see my first musical, which was Dreamgirls. Uh-huh.

Uh, and so like, he was like, always like, oh, I appreciate this. Yeah. Yeah. It was always very much a hobby, quote unquote, but to me it wasn't. I was like, this is what it's going to be. So after high school, I was looking at schools. And I was like, oh, I'm going to go to theater school. So I almost went to U of M, but my grades weren't good.

And you have to audition for the theater program. It was very complicated. So I went to Wayne State University and got in their theater program. I think it was very complicated. So I went to Wayne State University and I got in their theater program, but I was also doing, I was still involved at Second City and doing shows in, like around Detroit, you know, written through improv

and kind of like local theater. So it was like managing both. And that's how you met Tim Robinson, right? Yes. He was your instructor in a class? He was my level A instructor when I was like 18 years old. That old?

Yeah, I was with a walker, long gray beard. Four years later. Four years, just arthritic improv. How big was the class? That class was maybe about 16 people. Did he tell everyone else to go home? He said, everybody, fuck off.

I just want to hang out with this guy. This guy is it. By the way, Detroiters is laugh out loud, hilarious show. And you two are like, this sounds corny, but I think you're like one of the great comedy duos. Thank you. I, you probably hear that a lot, but man, oh man, you two are so just great together. And it's, I just laugh out loud, hilarious show. It's such a rare thing to find, you know, a person who you blend with comedically yeah so perfectly right and we found

that so early and like and not just comedically but just like as friends you know what i mean but because it's such a part of ourselves the fact that those parts meld right well means the other parts right do as well. We both have the same outlook on things. So, you know, lock and step. And then you have that shorthand. Exactly. So then you kind of

need that, I think, too. Because in a way, there's probably times where it's you guys against the world. Or just other outside forces are like, we got to cut this or no, we don't really like that. And you look at each other and probably go, oh no, no, no.

This is actually what the thing is. Trust me, trust me, trust me. No, being in Detroit is kind of important. We're not moving it to Iowa. Little things like that. Well, that's so funny. Cause like also you know in the notes session

when we're like pitching it and like kind of making the show early on there was like a lot of like pushback on like oh these guys need to be in more conflict we're like well no

this is the bit is these guys versus the world internal conflict you see that everywhere and like you can it's there's so many forces that are at play like it's important that everywhere and like you can have it's there's so many forces

that are at play like it's important that these guys are you know that they have each other no matter what right you know and then when there is conflict between them that's what would shake the world right so it can't be every episode that's that because then why do they love and trust each other so much that's i love I love that story. Cause that, that seems like a classic executive thing. Like, well, it's like a playbook. There's gotta be conflict. And you're right. Like you two, I mean,

I think that's why you two are so hilarious. You're, you're both on the same wavelength. It's like, oh, we're gonna, we're gonna put ketchup on our ties before we go into a restaurant. And it's unspoken. We know it already. That's what you do before a big meeting.

Okay. And it's just hilarious. Yeah. And like one of my favorite like kind of bits that we would do in there is like, you know, if Tim is saying something to someone that's like just out of pocket, you know what I mean? He's like, like he's talking to the, uh, the reverend at the funeral afterwards. He's like, oh, I hope you didn't think what you did there was very funny. Those were all priest laughs.

They were laughing no matter what. And it's like, whoa, out of pocket, out of hand. And then I come up later. I'm like, oh, great job. I hope you know you didn't deserve those laughs. They agree on everything. Right, right, right. So you didn't expect it.

It's hilarious. But then it's true when you guys do disagree, like when he's being a bad wingman or you don't like the way he's doing an ad and then you end up doing it. Those are really fun surprises. Yeah. That's the conflict. You can't have conflict if it's always conflict. Right, right, right. Yeah.

I mean, some people attempt it, but then you're just, it's exhausting. Yeah, exactly. No, it's always conflict right right right yeah i mean some some some people attempt it but then you're just it's exhausting yeah yeah no it's it's really funny well i hope you didn't get any notes when you appeared on conan none not a one nobody even talked to me oh no one cared about our show ever i always live when people are like well you guys you know you guys are getting fucked by the executive. And I'm just like, I wish we could say that. Excuse. That would have helped, perhaps. But no, it was all. I think because Conan's such a strong comedic point of view.

Yes. And very large and in charge. Because I noticed it. I mean, I came into Late Night and it was like that. But then going to The Tonight Show and then going to Conan on TBS and just when he's hosted the Emmys or anything, everyone backs off.

They're just like, oh, okay. We're not messing with this. Like he knows what he's doing. He knows the funniest man on television. But he also knows to, I think kind of establish that right with them like he he understood he's smart enough to know like okay all these guys are and and women are gonna be you know they're gonna want to have their own agenda and push so like at least get a get a hand on something so they can say they did something yeah i have a reason to have been there right

so he'd make a strong I think he'd come out of the gate where I was like wow where did the he would just say this is what we're doing

ba ba ba ba ba and then they everyone would be like yeah right we'll talk to you in 10 years good luck with your show

and all your all your guest segments so this season on our And all your guest segments. This season, this is our fourth season, we're talking about Conan on the road. We're talking about Conan traveling, like either to cities in the United States or his travel shows. So, of course, we wanted to talk to you because that was one of our favorite international travel shows was going to Ghana with you.

It was so amazing. I, I, I, it was such an honor to get to go with you guys. Uh, and to, it was true because I, you know, I hadn't been at the Ghana in so long. With working, you know, you never want to take yourself out of the possibility of working. So it's like, if I go to Ghana, that's when Spielberg's gonna call and be like, be the new ET. Right, right, right. Sorry, man. Can't.

I'm not a marketing god. But one of my first things in comedy, that same little TV I was watching SNL on, I was watching Conan. I watched Conan's first episode live. I was in my room on this little TV. Oh, wow. So it's always been, I remember it.

So for being on the show, I was like, this is wild. But then being a repeat guest, I was like, oh, that's crazy to me. When you all asked me to come to Ghana, it was like the best opportunity and the best way to go and like best people to go with. Yeah. It just worked out. It really did. No, and of course, we're like, oh, because you knew how busy you were. And we're like, ah. And when you said yes, we're like, oh, my gosh.

This is perfect. This is great. We were so excited. And then it's funny, you say it was like a privilege or whatever to go with us. For us, like going there and then meeting your family and your extended family, your cousins and your aunt, Letitia, and your mom, Lydia. And that was amazing for us. And that was a real honor because it was such a great, much more intimate way to visit a country.

Yeah. Obviously. Yes. And they were so happy to have you, you know, the red carpet full. They were so excited. And I really appreciated how much you all appreciated it too. You know? Well, you're, I mean, you know, we flew up to Kamasi at one point to meet the queen mother.

And that's where, I think it's the first time I met your cousins, John. And I loved your cousins, John. And I loved your cousin, William. John's fine. Does he live in London, I think? He lives in London. Did he grow up in Ghana or did he grow up in London? So for everybody but me, they kind of split time.

So they would either go to boarding school in London or they'd go to the GIS Ghana international school, you know, kind of between the two. Uh, uh, so I was the only one who, I mean, I did go to school in Ghana for like first and second grade. I went to Lincoln community school, uh, which is like an international school, but everybody else kind of like was there either, either there, uh, at school and they're all year long, or they would be in London for school and they're all year long or they would be in London for school and then be in Ghana the rest of the time. I was there for first and second grade when our grandfather was passing and then after he

passed, but then I came back to the States. And it was so funny because that's when everybody became really Ghanaian was over the years. But for me, I was not there. Right. Right.

So like one year I went back and all of a sudden everybody spoke to me and I didn't, I was the only one who didn't. And I was like, Oh, what? Hey, you guys live without me.

You guys keep on, what's happening? And then they just kind of like, then further like separates, you know? Well, yeah. If you can't speak the language all of a sudden.

Quite literally. I'm sure they lured that over you. I'm sure. Oh, they must have tortured you. Yes. I would have if you were my cousin. You know? We got them right where we want them.

Like already the one who has like the American accent. So, you know, they all have like their... Everybody in my family has an english accent with a ghanaian affectation okay i'm the one who has just an american accent right you know oh my god would they do imitations of you they would oh my god every everyone did my even my auntie they would like make fun of me they'd be like oh Sam oh I'm thirsty can I have oh what's this

it's clear it's clear it's this I'm like oh you want water water oh they it's water

it's water they would bait you they would bait me and I would fall for it because I was a child and you thought butter that was

that was the main one. Oh, butter. Get some butter. Butter. Stupid. It's butser. I love your aunt going after you. Yeah, he's getting out of it.

They're probably like, what room is he in? Okay, watch this. What time is it? Three in the morning? Wake him up. This is going to be great. He's really off his game. If you wake him,

rock him awake. Trust me, he'll say anything and he'll hit that hard R. Different meaning at that time. But I was also like my aunt's favorite and I still am.

My cousins admit like I'm my aunt's favorite. Oh really? By far. And you were back then. I was back then and I still am. My cousins admit, like, I'm my aunt's favorite. Oh, really? By far. And you were back then. I was back then. I am now. You were in absence because you weren't around.

You know, exactly. Why can't you be more like Sam? You know, Sam's here, Sam's here. Okay, wonderful. Even, like, Julie, my cousin Julian, who wasn't there, but that's Julian's, William's younger brother. Okay. And Madeline. They're like, there's no even question about it.

You're mom's favorite. I'm like, yeah, I know. Oh, that's great. That's great. Oh, so that must have been a, so you hadn't seen her or your cousins in quite a while. In quite a while. When you went back with us. Yeah. That's, I don't, I mean, I knew you hadn't been since like early high school or eighth grade or something.

Exactly. It'd been since... I didn't know they liked you. No, I didn't know it was... Yeah, exactly. I didn't know they'd be excited. I thought I was a stranger. Right, right.

But it turns out it was just I hadn't been. They still loved you. Yeah. That's great. That's great. But it was so great because at night or sorry, at day, we would do the segments. Right. And it was so much fun. Right. And then at night, we would do the segments. Right. And it was so much fun.

Right. And then at night, I would go and I would hang out with my cousins. And it was a sip, no time had passed, you know. Right. It was just like right along the side. Oh, that's great. But all of a sudden, we're adults, so we can just go and drink and stuff. That's even better.

You know. Your aunt's there. Set these boys up. Here we go. See, I would be, and I love that you didn't you know were it care like oh who cares about the thing i'm doing during the day i'm going out yeah that's that's kind of great you know still at that like that point where i'm like i've got the bandwidth to do both yeah well the the conan stuff wasn't exactly grueling you know exactly except. Except for that cooking. Oh my goodness.

I had forgotten. Mama Ama. Oh boy. Mama Brown's kitchen. I just remember her show started and we had to cool our jets while she did like a 20 or a half hour opening where she mentioned every product, every sponsor.

Every single one in detail. Right. And I think it was like, hey, you know, can we get, no, no, I've got to mention

that people make my refrigerator, my stovetop, my olive oil. The specific bouillon cube. Oh, it was so funny. Yeah. And then you and Conan

got her to like, I think, start mentioning more. More things. Yeah, more products. Yeah. And she, she didn't even blink. Yeah.

She didn't care whether you were joking or not. No, she's like, I'll say all these products again. Yeah, exactly. I get two checks that way. Yeah, no, that was great. And you know,

the big highlight that's not on the show is the last day your family had us over for it. And they're like, oh, come by. I'm like, come by. And it's a feast. A feast.

A feast. And I ate everything. It was a feast. Yeah. It was like a whole roasted fish. It was a big thing. They did like a pig, right? Right.

And then like duck. Yes. I took the pig with me on the airplane. Yeah, it stunk on that cabin, but it was delicious. I knew not to bring the fish on the cabin. Yeah, yeah. I was like, that's experience, traveling, international traveling. So, exactly, yes.

And you know, after that, I'm watching season two of Ted Lasso. And I'm like, oh, okay. And then you came on and you were playing a billionaire from Ghana. And I don't know, I just was, I was so excited. I was delighted by it. Yeah. I was like that, maybe our trip helped with his research for the character.

It kind of did. Because I did meet like a kind of an Edwin Akufu when I was there. Really? You know, I won't say his name. No. But like... Akufu Edwin.

Exactly. But he, you know, like sort of like this like very wealthy guy who's like tossing money around and like really trying to impress people. I was like, ooh, yeah. Write that down.

Oh, I love that put that in my brain and then so like when uh they asked me if i would come and do ted lasso yeah oh i know exactly who this is oh that's great and then you came back in season three which is great yeah yeah yeah it was really fun to get to go back and do that and like this time you know the first the uh season two it's two episodes. So the first episode and first episode and a half, he's still pretending

to be this benevolent sort of like, you know, I don't believe in billionaires. Nobody should be a billionaire. We shouldn't exist. And, you know, I want this great thing

for you and for this. And then, you know, he's just trying to collect toys and then when he's turned down, you know, like that temper tantrum. toys. And then when he's turned down, you know, like that, that temper tantrum.

So it was fun to get to come back post temper tantrum and like the whole time. Now he's this antagonistic, you know, jerk, which really builds up at the end. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like, oh, but I never knew that Sam, the character of Sam, was based on you. Because your friend John Kelly was one of the creators. Joe Kelly.

Joe. Joe Kelly was co-creator of Detroiters. Right, right. And Jason was an executive producer on Detroiters. Jason Sudeikis. And was in Detroiters. And was in Detroiters, yeah. He's great.

Yeah, it's Carter Grant. Yeah, so great. But he's great as was great. Yeah, it's Carter Grant. Yeah, so great. But he's great as that character. Yeah, it was really fun. I love the way he would just stare at you guys just like before answering. Yeah, like it was those moments like it would give those perfect pauses

like, are you done? Perfect pauses. Yeah, so Joe Kelly and you reached out to him and said wait a minute I was like maybe like two or three episodes in and I was like is

you never want to just like assume like anybody named Sam has got to be me but it's like enough things he's just like affable buoyant sort of guy he's Nigerian but you know close to Ghanaian. Right. Does like splits.

Does lake splits all the time and sings. The signs are there. In every octave. And I was like, hey, buddy, great. The show's great. Is Sam me? And he's like, oh, of course, buddy. Yeah, obviously.

I was like, oh, I guess it is obvious. So am I going to see any money from this? This is a cease and desist. This isn't a friendly phone call. Yeah, exactly. On the line is also my lawyer. This is the other side of my personality.

You can maybe use that for a different character you're going to rip me off for. Yeah, exactly. Prick. That's great. Plus, you got to go to, I assume you went to London, right? Went to London. That'd be great if you revealed they shot the whole thing in Warner Brothers.

Just one background. All green screen. Right, right, right. I got to go to London. I got to see my cousins again. Oh my God. That's hilarious. My aunt Letitia.

So I got to London. I quarantined in the hotel for like, you know, nine days, or maybe two weeks. It couldn't have been two weeks, but I don't know. It was long enough that all the days unmade themselves.

And then I shot for- And this is pre-COVID. That was just the way- It was just because I- That was the way you were. You know what I mean? I just don't like people. Exactly.

Yeah. I mean, people can't see now, but there's, you're in a separate room. Exactly. And in a bubble. Behind a glass booth. And hazmat suit.

So you quarantined. I quarantined. And then, you know, I went with my, my cousins took the quarantine and then uh you know i i uh i went with my my cousins took me out and then i went to see my auntie leticia and she but it was a surprise she didn't know i was in town so i so she was in the back room i was i came in as pretending to be a construction worker or the contractor and i'm like oh well oh, well, can't do this, man. The wall's got to come out.

It can't come out. It's load-bearing. And she's like, who is this? So she came out and she screamed. She's like, Sam! And I was like, who is this Cockney guy? Not a great accent. Who says butter, but with an American accent. He says a really hard R on that butter.

I know that R. Oh, that's great. I love that. Nice surprise. And now you're, this is super exciting because you're in After Party. Yes. Which I loved.

Oh, thank you. I know there was, oh, sorry. No, no, please. No. Oh, please, more compliments. Yeah, no, I keep them coming. No, but you know what?

That was like a great ensemble cast. Really great. But I, and again, I'm very partial to you. I'm like your Aunt Letitia. It's like, it's my Sam. No, but I just like, you are just the star of that show. But you are so, but also, you know, it's such a perfect, I think,

for all your talents because each episode is from a different point of view and a different genre. And I just feel like you're so versatile in terms of, like,

if someone came in here right now and asked you to do, you know, an interview in 10 different genres, you'd be like, yeah,

what are they? No, you don't have to, I don't need to see them in advance. You just do it. So, I, did you know, an interview in 10 different genres. He'd be like, yeah, what are they? Let's do them. No, you don't have to, I don't need to see them in advance. You just do it. So, did you like,

did you enjoy that? I really loved it because, yeah, the sort of like the premise of the show being that everybody's like recalling,

like talking to a detective to recall the events of a night of a murder and then everybody's retelling is told through a different genre of film and

like through their different perspective like sort of russian style yeah uh so like with that the the fun of sort of interpreting what their point of view is of how you see this character but also like to to like really dive into the tropes and the genres right yeah these things it's really like a fertile playground. It's fun to get to do an action movie or then in this one, Elizabethan drama. You get to play, pretend all in the same time as opposed

to doing a whole other production five months to then put this... You can paint these different coats of paint on your character and then put this, you can paint these different, like, you know, coats of paint on your character. Right, right. And then, like, put that aside and then do another one immediately.

It's like, for a person like me who's, like, always wanting to do something, it's like a perfect activity. Activity, yeah. Activity playpen. Oh, that makes me think of something I'm curious about. So, you know, like, a lot of the scenes take place at this, you know, fantastic penthouse

on the ocean, but also at a high school because it's a high school reunion. Like, so the high, let's just say the high school reunion shots. Would you just be camped out at that high school and shoot all the episodes and all the different genres before leaving that location?

Yes. So for the first season, it was the high school reunion. So we had a set for the house, but then we were in the actual high school. I think we're in Monrovia. So we would shoot all the episodes and all the stuff that was at the high school, we would shoot in the high school. Uh, so the first half of shooting was at that high school and like, you know, oftentimes, you know, Chris Miller directed all the episodes at first season. So you would go back and like, kind of do the other genres, you know? So like the first one

would be like, all right, we're doing the scene in the rom-com style but then you change the lightings and then do it in action movie style you know and this scene again because it's all set up to be this already right uh and then we would shoot all the house stuff together and then like the exteriors stuff like the very last week did you did you ever get shell-shocked like keeping it it was hard that's a lot to keep it really is and like the heart but the fun thing would be when you would do uh the stuff back to back because you could like really turn the dials because you can like remember exactly what you'd done before you know uh and also fresh it's fresh you know but also chris is so it's such a marvel because he keeps it all in his head so you can can ask him, he's like, well, wait, what was I doing here? He's like, oh, this because of this and this and this and this and this.

It's like he's got all the- He had it right there in his frontal lobe. He had it all right there in his head as wild. He'd been with us for like 10 years. He originally had written it as a movie. Oh. And then they turned it into a show because as a movie, you probably can't serve all the characters. You know, it becomes eight episodes.

Everybody gets their point of view across very clearly. Yes. As a movie, it would probably have been like, you know, six minutes with each person. So for the second season, the season that comes out July 12th on Apple TV Plus. Perfect. We shot it. There's many directors. I believe five different directors

in 10 episodes. So, you know, we would be shooting two episodes at a time. So cross shooting, but not, you know, you wouldn't be doing 10. You'd know that you were on the hook for episodes one and episode five, you know what I mean five or episode two and four

so it's great to be able to narrow that down and really focus but at the same time you're also shooting it out of order so I'm like we're shooting episode five but we haven't done three yet what did I do in three and they'd be like I don't know

I'm only directing two fuckface yeah like face and shove me really hard in the chest right? You know? And they'd be like, I don't know. I don't know. It's not my job. I'm only directing two fuckface. Yeah, my face. And shoved me really hard in the chest. I don't think that's a good way to, I'm surprised I had that director back.

Yeah, now that I'm remembering, this is a problem, probably grievance. Yeah. Oh my, yeah, at least the first season,

one guy had it all, you know, but that does sound even more complicated. And the scope of everything is grown so much in the second season. Right. So like what was in the first season. It's a wedding.

It's a wedding, you know, and it takes place over the, first off the event takes place over the course of a weekend. But now with this one, you're meeting new characters. Right. So there's backstory. Right. That's being told over the course of, you know, some of them, you know, decades and like these great, like depending on the genre of these sort of like, you know, big narratives. Right. So, uh, with the scale being bigger and like, it's, it's more of a challenge, but a fun

challenge to kind of get those things. And you're the star again. No, but seriously, I think it's, it's great. Cause it is like a, it's pretty, I was wondering, I was like, how are they going to bring back a lot of these people? Like, that just seems problematic. And then I saw the trailer and I'm like, oh, okay. Yeah. A lot of new people.

Yeah, almost all new people, except for myself, Zoe Chow, and Tiffany Haddish. Yes. And Zach Woods is in it. Zach Woods is in it. He's hilarious. Oh, yeah. You know what? I saw him at UCB once.

It was just an improv show. And I knew him from Silicon Valley. I was like, oh, yeah. And I was like, I love him in Silicon Valley. But wow, was he great. I walked out of there like, you ever see somebody perform and you're just like, I'm their fan for life.

If anyone ever says anything bad, I will fight them. I will fight because I just was like, oh, he's really great. He's top tier talent. Like I remember I was like, I know Zach Woods. I know I've seen him.

Oh, he's very funny. But I saw him do a UCB show. And I was like, wow, this guy's a titan. Because it's unfair. For him, it's unfair because he's, first off, he's hyper intelligent. Yes. His reference level and his verbiage, all these things are just at the highest level. It was crazy.

But then he's also bone funny like he can say he can it's like you don't get to be smart and like yes you know and like dumb funny but he's right both and it's unfair it is very you know i've just turned against him yeah he. He, I, I want to get him now. I don't want to defend him. Yeah. He should be destroyed. No, I, I had the same reaction.

He, you're right. He had all these great references, but, and was hilarious. It was hilarious. Cause like usually, you know,

an improviser, you know, like they sort of becomes a crutch. Like usually they stand still and like sort of spout out these. Yes. Funny things or funny references. Right. But like, but then like, you'reout out these funny things or funny references. Right. But then like, you know, like you're not.

And it's not super organic. It's not organic. Yeah. But he's able to do that and be organic and be present. And you're like, oh, how is it? Oh, it's not fair. Be dumb like me. I don't think I want to work with you.

You know what I mean? Oh, he. Well, yes, I picked him out and, but I, everyone looks great and I'm excited to watch it. I love the first one. I thought it was such a great idea. And I bet you the creator, like when he switched from being a, I'm talking about season one,

from a movie to a TV show, he's probably almost like a Eureka moment where, I think so. Like the way you're saying, oh,

I can really just expand. Give everything its time, you know, like, like fully realize these stories and like really give these characters each their perspective right and then so let's the audience also sit with this character and like really invest themselves in them right which is great

for a murder mystery because now you know everybody's a suspect but then like if you empathize with them right you don't want anybody to be the one who did it. But then, you know, somebody had to. Right, right, right. Which is great. Well, thank you for appearing. This is great. It's really great to see you again.

Oh, it's been so much fun. It's so wonderful to see you. Okay. Yeah, true. Thanks. Thanks again to Sam Richardson for joining us. And don't forget, season two of the hilarious The After Party is premiering July 12th on Apple TV+. So be sure to seriously check it out.

Yeah. Honestly, I usually don't listen to you when you tell me to watch things, but this one I am going to watch. I never tell you. Just kidding. You give good advice. I do. Go home and watch all your accordion videos.

And that's an order. And now we also have another special treat for you because in lieu of a listener question, we sat down with our script supervisor, longtime Conan script supervisor, John Croteau. So here's John. Well, hey, thanks for coming to our podcast, John Croteau. Hi, John.

I'm a fan of Inside Conan. Wait, really? I'm a listener. You listen? Yeah, haven't missed one. Can we do medical experiments on you and find out what's going on? John, we want to tell the listeners what your role was at the show. You were at the show for a long time.

Yes. And John, you went to, I mean, you were always on the road with the show. You really were an indispensable part of the show. Did you, first of all, were you ever sick? I mean, did you ever call in sick? I don't even know what we would have done if you had. No, I never missed a day. You never missed a day. Mm-hmm. No, I never missed a day. You never missed a day. Not once. I had, what do you call it when you get bit by a tick?

Lyme disease. Lyme disease. I had Lyme disease. What? Oh, no. I had 104 fever, and I was just sitting in the control room with my sweatshirt pulled over my head, and I was, oh, that was so miserable. Where was this? That was late night in New York. I'd gone tubing that weekend.

Yeah. Well, you, wow. And you were there, now you're speaking of late night, you were there for a lot of the clutch cargos, which those were the moving, you know, the live lips on a kind of a static photo of a celebrity. And we would gangwrite, usually start gangwriting those the night before and then revise it in the morning and then rehearse it. And then there'd be usually a lot of changes.

And that, don't you think that, that i mean that's the latest we'd ever start was because of the rewrites for those no no no no not the latest you'd ever start you've mentioned it before oh jeff and coven started at the moment the show started regardless of anything else that was happening right like it one time time. Sometimes they'd, they'd push it. Like they'd be like, Oh, they, they, well,

you know what? For a while there, they'd give like, okay, we'll give you five minutes or something, but then you're right. Then it was like, you know what?

We're starting on time. Regardless. I remember the first time that it happened where I was reading over cue cards and, and Jeff Ross said, are you going to be ready? And I said, no. And he said, well, talk. I thought he was looking for information

to make a decision. He was like, no. He was just letting you know, like, well, you're not. He was just making idle conversations. Just making idle chit chat. Because the show would start, the band would be playing

and Robert would be handwriting changes right to those cargos yeah and and you'd think like okay i have seven minutes right the show is going and i've got seven minutes to get this out to the director right and he's probably thinking oh i just have to finish this before the show starts but then you still have all these things to do once he's done yeah Yeah. And the show had started. Conan was doing his monologue. Oh my God. I remember a few times.

Absolutely. And he'd be doing the changes right with the other cue card guy. Those were my favorite times when things were still being worked on while Conan was doing the monologue. A lot of times it would be editing of a pre-tape bit. And I would just be glaring at Steve, the stage manager, because he has to give me the thumbs up when the tape was up from editing the machine and yes a lot of times like conan would be doing his last joke in the monologue and i'd be like oh i still haven't gotten the thumbs up and then it would be like while conan was walking over

from the monologue to the desk. Thumbs up. It always came through though. Always, always, always done. You know, Sweeney, I've been called a Sweeney apologist. I got all my detractors. That sounds like an exhausting full-time job. And I loved it. But I did learn from you. You even said recently, a couple of years ago,

when we were screening one of the Conan Without Borders, and there was about two minutes left, and people were all mad at you. Why isn't this ready to air? We're going to screen it. And you said, well, if I was given this amount of time, wouldn't I take all of the time given? And so where I've worked subsequently, people are so irritated with me because they're like, well, why isn't it done yet? And I'm like, we're still, there's always time to work on it. Yeah. Do you want a worse product? Yeah, exactly.

I feel like you're just describing a procrastinator. Oh, exactly. I feel like you're just describing a procrastinator. Well, I was always impressed, John. I mean, you had the difficult job of managing, keeping track of the changes. And you had a lot of people, I mean, especially with the writers, sometimes we would go off and make changes on a different version of the script. And you had to always keep track of what was the most recent and correct change. I mean, did you have issues with writers just sending you something kind of going rogue or going around you? Or did people kind of eventually figure out the system? No. No one ever changed. I respected every one of you and each one of you getting to know

your personalities were different. That was part of the job was I won't name names, but if someone in the morning said, all right, I'm definitely going to do this and you'd think, they're not going to do that. I don't have to spend energy prepping for that because I know them and they're going to do this other thing.

I think that was part of it was, and, and I wouldn't notice that was happening until we had, we'd have great interns come in and work with the script department every semester. And they would hear someone say, this is happening. And they'd say,

why aren't we doing that? And I'm like, that's not going to happen. And that was, I think that was part of it was knowing the rhythm of each person. Which I liked. I liked working with you all very much. Yeah.

Well, but, and you were, you just had a steel trap mind. Like you, I can't, there were so many times, like a lot of times there'd be so many changes and I'd be going through it and I'd forget some of the changes and you'd be like, that's now going to be blue and da-da-da. And you just would save the day again and again and again. And I was always so, I had an altar made to you because you, no, you saved the show so many times. And you were always like a big hero. And, you know, I would always sing your praises, but still, it's kind of like, it's a job. It's kind of hard to point to like you would prevent things from

blowing up you'd prevent disasters that you were like a safety uh officer it's just amazing yeah and i just always relied on you to interpret conan's notes too because we'd be in rehearsal and conan often would give notes very quickly or there were kind of, we'd go back and forth on something and you'd leave and be like, wait, where did we land on that? I don't know what he wanted. And I feel like John always knew, like he was the Conan whisperer and he was like, no, no, no, this was the one he wanted. No, John was great at knowing, well, no, that was, we were going to do that, but then we switched over to this, but then actually we ended up at, you know, point E and that's where we're at. It's point E and yes. And you had great authority. I think it's easier when you don't have skin in the game because everyone listens to the feedback based on, oh, that's, why did he want to cut that joke? That was my favorite.

That's interesting. You know, he's going want to cut that joke? That was my favorite. That's interesting. You know, he's going in a direction that I didn't initially, but so it's easier for me to just hear it flat. You were the one objective person out there on the floor. You're right.

And all the writers are like, yes, like maybe they were half listening because early on in the conversation, like something they loved just got cut. And so their brain is burning. God damn it. They're distracted a bit. Yeah, absolutely. That's a really interesting observation. You were just, yeah, totally nonplussed by all of it. And at the end of Largo, that last show, Conan kicked everyone out of his dressing room. And he said, everyone's got an angle.

Everyone wants me to say this or do that. I'm just going to talk to you about what I want to say. Oh, so this is right before the show. Oh, the very last show. Yeah. Right before the very last show, he kicked all the writers, producers, and it was just you and Conan in his dressing room.

Yeah, so go ahead. And just what you're saying, I don't think I had an angle or an agenda, and he just wanted to talk it out. That's great. And have me record it and sort of... And it was a great moment. It was a nice way to...

That's a really nice way to end. And that was such a memorable speech he gave too. Yeah. His retirement speech. Ha ha, LOL. Right, ha ha. And so you made bullet point. And also you,

like towards the last few years at TBS, all these crazy disasters or people dying or just some sort of calamity where Conan would have to kind of address it at the top of the show. And I think you'd often work with him on that as well, right? Just like working on the bullet points. Well, I didn't do much more than just facilitate what he was doing, but, um, but I had a folder of tragedy addresses that he had done. Yeah. And you know, you kind of,

you sort of the rhythm of what's been done in the past. And then he, the most recent time, I can't remember what it was. That was what he said. He came out and he said, you know what dawned on me today? I met with the person who gives me my tragedy folder of things that I've said. Can you believe that that's the state that we're in?

Oh, wow. It was probably after another mass shooting. Right. Exactly. That was the telling part. It was crazy the last 10 years of the show that how many times it was like we you either don't do it things were so bad something so massive had happened that it's you either you just have to dress it up top and even that's hard because then you have to be like a five minute talk and then we'll be right back now here's our sketch comedy yeah yeah i mean he'd usually just i think throw it a commercial and then come back and try to wipe the slate clean a little bit but we did we did shows

in texas on the road and i think one of the new characters were two squirt guns. It was some ridiculous, silly thing that had nothing to do with violence. Was it the gay guns? Was that not the bit that aired? Probably not. I don't remember. There was a mass shooting in Texas

minutes after, not near us, but minutes after we finished taping. So we had to do a pickup in the theater and cut that part out of the show. It affected a lot of things often. Yeah. We learned our lesson. No more gun humor. Yeah, that's true.. No more gun humor. Yeah, that's true.

That week. That week. No, I like, if you look at late night, there were so many comedy bits involving guns. And then,

yes. That was always our joke. If we didn't know how to end the sketch, it was like, oh, we'll pull out a gun and shoot somebody. Pull out a gun,

kill the character, get a SWAT team in there, throw it a commercial. Yeah. I I loved that job I loved working with you all but in terms of outside Conan I went on the tour right right so after the tonight show abruptly ended Conan went on a live tour and legally prohibited from being on television right so you went on that tour tour. The legally prohibited from being on television tour. Right. So he went on that tour. From being funny on television. Oh, from being funny. Excuse me. See how precise he is? Exactly. Language

matters. Has to be the right words. Yes, go ahead. And there's so many... What a wild experience. You go into television and you're working late at night and then you're living on a bus. Right. It's something you'd never expect. And I've been watching Hacks,

which was written by a former, co-created and co-written by a former late night intern, Jen Statsky. Oh. Oh, she was an intern at late night? Yeah. Oh, wow. And so in this season,

the characters are going on a comedy tour. And so it's been helping bring back all these memories. But being on the bus was a very cool experience. Reggie Watts, who of course went on to be the band leader at Cordon, was on the buses with us. And I was on there with Blay. Yeah, what was the atmosphere? Was it a party atmosphere I was on the buses with us and I was on there with, with Blay and.

Yeah. What was the atmosphere? Was it a party atmosphere where people just tired all the time? Was it like, I don't want to talk to anybody because we're here together all day, every day. It got dark after a while. I mean, you really 24 hours a day and it messes with your cycle.

Like you, the show would be done and then everything would load up. It'd be one 30 in the morning and dark. And you'd go and sleep in a little coffin sized bed bunk. And then, but you were actually sleeping on the bus. Yeah. Yeah.

Oh, wow. On the bus. And so it would be driving from city to city. Like you do a show, get in the bus, climb up into your little coffin bed, pull the curtain shut and wake up in the next town.

That's a hard pass for me. Oh, really? Absolutely not. Yeah, no. I love sleeping up. Not doing that with coworkers. I think I'm ready for the afterlife because I enjoyed the little coffin beds. I thought they were kind of cozy.

The worst part of your rhythm would be sometimes you'd wake up four floors underground in a dark parking deck of a casino. And so you had gone to bed at night, you pulled the little curtain over and it's still pitch black. You're in a totally another city. You don't know what time it is. That was always the most disorienting thing. And so it was taxing in that way. But then it's morning and then you just now have to work for the day. Yeah, exactly. And then do it all over again. But the casinos, I learned this, I love this part with traveling with Conan. I'm sure Sweeney, you know more about this, that the casinos want the name there,

but they don't want, they don't want people at the casino to go watch the show because they're not losing money at that time. And so I remember the first casino show we had, there was Conan had one at like nine 30 and then one at midnight. And the casino owner was saying, okay, what's the show going to be? And he said, well, it's about an hour and a half. And he was like 9.30 and then one at midnight. And the casino owner was saying, okay, what's the show going to be? And he said, well, it's about an hour and a half. And he was like, it's going to be 40 minutes. And Conan said, well, I mean, these people paid,

they want to come. And he was like, you're not going over 40 minutes. Like get them in, get them out. I don't want people watching your stupid show. I don't remember. That's hilarious. I don't remember cutting stuff from the casino shows, but we must have. You would know. Absolutely. Okay. And Kony did too. Yeah.

And the midnight show would be weird people strolling in. Oh, I can't imagine. Trying to wrap their head around a masturbating bear. Right. No, there's nothing worse than casino crowds because a lot of them are comped. They're given the tickets for free. They're just like, oh, free show with the masturbating bear. I'll check it out. So they just come in and everyone had a quizzical look on their face. I mean, obviously, there'd be a lot of fans in there, but it was different from every other venue was a theater and it was packed with rabid Conan fans, except for the casinos. And it was very with rabid Conan fans, except for the casinos. And it was very sobering.

I think he was probably happy to only do 40 minutes in hindsight. Yeah, exactly. And talking about the rabid fans, these big theaters, they're packed. And of course, Robert Smigel has come up a lot on this uh podcast and he's the the voice and puppeteer of triumph the insult comic dog and um before the tour aaron blair went to robert's hotel room and they filmed a thing where uh where triumph would say hello welcome to you know i'm happy to be in right blank and then he'd insert it you know jersey city you guys sure eat a lot of pizza or whatever whatever the local dishes yeah yeah oh we had to do those every day for every town i i remember it was like ah you know what this show's

written this going on tour is going to be a snap and then it was like we wrote all local commercials for every town like making kind of what we'd find out like kind of the quirky landmark quirky landmarks that everyone in that town knew about and we'd write an ad for it and andy would read it and but so we were banging out new stuff almost every day plus triumph would have new lines for every town we're in so that those two things i i feel like kept you really busy probably right there you couldn't just relax on that tour no it was there was no relaxing it was loading in. I mean, that was cool to get to see the inside of these arenas and theaters.

You'd show up and there'd be a basketball court on the floor and you'd watch them take the court up and put the stage down. Yeah, that's so weird. Or like hockey ice. Yeah. Yeah. And the tour manager, Gus, he manages the tour for the Foo Fighters principally. And there's lore that he is the person

that put the green M&Ms in the tour rider, which is often cited as rock stars being greedy and vain. Yeah. But his point is that it's a 50-page document with lots of safety issues in it. Right. What do we do when it rains and you're outside with a mic in the water,

all these things. And so he says, if you show up and they didn't do the simple stuff like the green M&Ms, then they didn't read the document. Oh, that's kind of a test. You have to worry about the trussing and the safety thing. Right.

Right. It was all a ruse. Well, that seems reasonable. It's very reasonable. It's genius. The rider is fascinating. If you go to smokinggun.com, you can see,

I don't know if that website's still around. Yeah. You can Google one of the riders. Is Google still around? You can do. You can Google one of the riders and it's Google still around. You can do an internet search of one of the riders. And it's fascinating. I didn't know before going on tour, you really don't have life and you don't have any opportunity to shop or anything like that.

It's every single day. And so it would say if your town is hosting the Wednesday show, then you have to provide 14 pairs of socks. And if it's the Thursday show, you have to provide 10 new DVDs for them to watch on the bus. And we've already seen these DVDs. And it seems silly, but then once you're in it, once you're doing it, you're like, I don't have a chance to go out and buy socks. And I've seen every piece of entertainment there is. And if you're Foo Fighters and you're doing it, you're like, I don't have a chance to go out and buy socks. And I've seen every piece of entertainment there is. And if you're Foo Fighters and you're doing it for 18 months in a row, I mean, you do this thing. Saturday is the new Valtrex supply.

It was one fun experience on the bus. It took us a few days to figure out where there was a clipboard with just lines on it. And it took us days until one of the roadies told us what it was. You could write anything on the board, on this clipboard. And when you got back on the bus at the end of the show, like one in the morning, whatever you wrote on there would be on the bus. Oh. And we were like, this seems like a trick.

And so the first day we started with red vines. That was Scott, the costume and wardrobe were like, this seems like a trick. And so the first day we started with red vines. That was Scott, the costume and wardrobe was like, let's try it. And then there were red vines. Step in gingerly with red vines. Yeah. A couple of days later, my belt broke and I put that in. And then by the end, it was like, I don't know, we want Patron, 10 bags of ice. We want our own individual buses.

And no one ever said no, it just showed up. Yes, it was never questioned. I love that. You realize you've given your life over to this. At first it was like, well, I don't want to be greedy or something. You're like, no, I deserve this. I genuinely do need toothpaste. We're just fucking patrolled.

It's breakfast. Well, John, thank you so much for all of your great stories and for coming so prepared. Yes, thank you. I had a great time. It's nice to be on. It's really nice to see you. Ever since I was invited, it's been fun to have all these memories and want to share them. Oh, and you know what?

I'll give a shout out to your new job. Yeah, I know. It seems like a really cool job. You're producing the Howard Stern wrap-up show. Yeah, that's right. The Conan show wrapped up and a position came over on the Howard Stern channels. And I was excited to do that.

I was always a fan of Howard when I lived on the East coast. And, um, the day I signed my paperwork and started at Sirius XM was the same exact day that team Coco announced their, um, acquisition. That they were becoming part of the SXM family. Wow. So you were like,

I can't shake these guys. They're on my tail. Yeah. And it's been great. I've had such fun experiences. I was working in the New York offices and the Team Coco group was there. And Ruthie, who people know from

the travel shows, came running into my office and she said, you know, I just don't understand. We are doing this on a Tuesday and they're going to fly us out on a Wednesday. And then she took a beat and looked at me and said, I totally forgot we don't work together anymore. I'm sorry. There was just these relationships for years and years and years that just, that's great. That continue. I'm sorry. And walking away. There was just these relationships for years and years and years that just continue. It's great. Yeah. Well, that's so cool. It was fun to see you in

your corner office in the Time Life building. Well, it helped me because last month, Conan came in. Again, y'all weren't there. And he came into my office and he said,

I want to show you a trailer that hasn't been released yet. Oh, cool. Yeah. And when Conan comes into your office at SiriusXM, it gives you, I got a little bit of cred

for a day or two around there. It was nice. Oh, that's great. Oh, he showed you the trailer for the Mac show. For the travel show, yeah. I thought it was for this movie he did a part in. Oh, that's great. Oh, he showed you the trailer for the Mac show. For the travel show, yeah. I thought it was for this movie he did a part in. Oh.

Yeah, which trailer? Right, right, right. Don't worry. It was the wrong edit. It was still... Oh, okay. So you had notes. Right, great.

Well, thank you so much, John. It's great to see you. Thanks, John. Thanks again to Sam and John for joining us. A two-header today. We know that, I guess it's a double-header. We know there wasn't a listener question. I'm sorry.

But if you do have one, we'd love to hear it. So give us a call at 323-209-1079. Or you can email us at insideconanpod at gmail.com. And if you like the show, and we hope you do, that's why we're doing this. You can support us by rating Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast on iTunes and leaving us a review. And what else am I forgetting? I think it's time to review your emotions. That's right. I give it five stars and a we love you. Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast is hosted

by Mike Sweeney and me, Jesse Gaskell. Our producer is Lisa Burr. Team Coco's executive producers are Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross, and Nick Liao. Engineered and mixed by Joanna Samuel. Our talent bookers are Gina Batista and Paula Davis with assistance from Maddie Ogden. Thanks to Jimmy Vivino for our theme music and interstitials. You can rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts. And of course, please subscribe and tell a friend to listen to Inside Conan or an enemy on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, or

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