Conan O’Brien Must Go Writers Roundtable 49:21

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I can tell that we are gonna be friends.

Hello, I'm Conan O'Brien. Today's a little unusual. Normally, this is the slot where I talk to someone in the world, a fan, and have a nice chat. And I really do enjoy those conversations. Today's a little different. Today is April 18th, which first of all happens to be my birthday. So far, no gifts. Oh, happy birthday. Yeah, thanks a lot. This is your gift. Yeah.

I'm very excited because today we are dropping four specials that I did for Max called Conan O'Brien Must Go. And the format relates to this podcast. How it works is I talk to fans, sometimes the United States and often around the world who listen to the podcast and

We decided it might be fun as I'm chatting with these people in different countries to maybe drop in on them and get involved in their lives and follow up on some of the things they brought up in their podcast interview. And so that's what the show is. Conan O'Brien Must Go is me going to four different countries, Norway, Argentina, Thailand, and Ireland, and surprising fans that talk to me on the podcast.

and then getting involved in their lives a little bit, and then moving on and exploring the country. - Interfering in their lives. - Interfering, yeah. So joining me today are some of the people that were instrumental in helping me

build this show, Mike Sweeney. Hello. Happy birthday. I can't believe you forced us together so we could just say happy birthday to you. Very clever. Anyway, thanks for your help on the show and I'm looking forward to my present. Jesse Gaskell. Hi, Conan. Thank you for being here. And Matt O'Brien, no relation. And then, of course, Jason Chalemi. We call him Chills.

These are the people that were sort of the nuclear core of helping me make this show. And now I'll let you all speak freely about what a genius I am. I've written these comments for you and they're right in front of you. You can read them now. We'll go in order of height. Let me say up front, these are people that I've been working with for a number of years on my shows and they've worked with me before on travel shows.

When I put this project together, I wanted them to to join me and I was very lucky that they did We are here today to discuss the show talk about it and give you a little insight into how this program was made we go to four countries the first one we went to was Norway and Then the second one we went to was Thailand then

And we went to Argentina and we finally ended up going to Ireland each time visiting a fan. And I was impressed. We did manage to surprise most of these people. They didn't know we were coming. And so there was a lot of logistics involved in that because you can't take a plane ride for 15 hours and go to a foreign country and then find out that someone's gone on vacation or moved. Right.

They're in LA. We just don't feel like being on camera. Mike, maybe you could explain how we figured out the way to let them know that we might need them as a follow-up to their podcast interview, but not let them know that I was coming. Well, Jason was kind of... Chills. Chills. I apologize. Chills would have to... Each fan was different. Some were like, I'm going to

going to be here. We would just, you'd, Chills would reach out to them and say, hey. We sent out feelers, yeah. Yeah, we sent out feelers, make sure they're going to be around. Then it was, we came up with a construct that, oh,

Oh, you know what? We might be doing kind of a behind the scenes of some of our fans and we would just send a cameraman there to shoot you for the day. Shoot some B-roll. Yeah. We love your podcast interview with Conan. We want to shoot some B-roll. And we'd leave you out of it. Right. Now, the problem is, and that worked for the most part. Occasionally, I would show up in a country and it would show up on their social media that I was around. Right.

But then, you know, Jason would probably have to put out the word. Chills. Chills. Sorry. Wrong of me. Chills would have to get out the word that, no, no, Conan's in country, but he refuses to meet with you. Because he's an absolute prick. And that, you know, just to sort of really throw them off the trail. He's blocks away. He's right turn around. Hey, I'm looking out my window. He's.

He's two alleys from here. Yeah, yeah. But he wants to peek in your window, but he won't come in. He shoots the B-roll himself. Yeah. People have always asked me, what is it about these travel shows I like so much? I love... There's not much we can control.

And I've had many people say to me, well, that must be terrifying. And I find that to be liberating and really fun. We never quite know what the gold is going to be. And random things will happen. I'll bump into people on the street like in Norway who are just perfect people.

comedy foils we couldn't ask for better people or there's a scene in norway where i'm on a boat and i'm holding something i'm sorry where i'm in thailand and i'm i'm on a river and i'm holding something that i've been handed which is quite obscene and just then a boatload of an american of american family goes by and i quickly but you if you asked if you asked

the greatest comedy directors in the world to try and manufacture that moment. It wouldn't happen because I've looked at that scene and you guys have looked at these things in editing a lot. The timing is perfect because it's an accident. Yes. Or you lose your luggage. I mean, that was just something that made everything, you know. Yeah, I lost my luggage on one of the trips and had to go and I went across the street and this is...

I needed to buy some clothes. And right across the street, there was an absurd shop that only specialized in making traditional costumes, Norwegian costumes that people wore like 200 years ago. And no one's ever bought one. No one. They were so delighted. They couldn't believe someone came into their shop. No. And so I bought one and then I walk out on the street and the first guy

I run into is just so happy to talk to me and tell me what an idiot I am. And not to be mean, but just to be very honest in a very, I'm guessing Norwegian way. Yes. But it was... Everyone there was very straightforward. Very straightforward. Refreshingly matter of fact. Yeah. Not hamming it up. And we had a really good time. The fans, to a one, were great. The fans were... Yes. Because...

One of the things that I've noticed too is there's that second where they're happy, excited to see you. Like, "Oh, Conan, you're here. That's cool."

But then they very quickly are just themselves. Right. Which I like because then they start giving me shit. They're not afraid to point out when I've made a mistake. Yep. And again. They're just hanging out. Yeah, they're just hanging out. And that was. They were all funny. They were all funny. And smart. Yeah. They were just great people.

And I think meeting them on their turf makes them feel a little more comfortable. Well, often, I mean, I think almost every time I go into their homes, with one or two exceptions, I surprise them and then I go right into their homes and start finding things. And again, it's real and it's in the moment and it was really fun. But I have to say...

You know, we've all, you know, worked, done these remote shoots before. All of us have worked on them for years. One of the nice things now is we're working with Max

And they told us, we want this to look really great. Yeah. We got this incredible unit. We have these, these women are spectacular. Emily. Emily Topper. Emily Topper is our director of photography. Yeah. And, and she's fantastic. And Emily Strong's doing sound. Right. And. Brenda. Yes. Is there a second camera? Brenda in, in, in when we were in Argentina at one point, I'm on a horse and we needed a shot of,

And Brenda grabs a camera and jumps onto a horse facing backwards at the camera. Completely unfazed. Completely unfazed and gets the shot. And I thought, who are these three Amazons? She was unbelievable. Kicking ass. She's like, I've done this before. She goes, I'll just sit backwards and follow. Yeah.

the lead horse. I'll just ride the horse backwards and shoot you with no hands. And we're all like, because we were like, do we need a truck, a flatbed? And meanwhile, she's on the horse. Yeah, she's already up there. Yoo-hoo. Yeah, I'm over here solving the problem, you idiots. Yeah, it's a great look. I mean, the

The drones. Drones. I mean, we've never had... Sometimes we messed around with drones, but we got these really good drone operators in every country. And, you know, my thought was a really good travel show should look absolutely gorgeous. And then all of the other ones teach you about the country. Yeah.

And it's very important to me that you learn nothing about the country. That's your guarantee. It removes knowledge. Yes. If you had knowledge about the country beforehand and you watch my show, I do think you'll laugh, but it will erase any useful real knowledge about the country. I love the drone operators in Norway. It was two guys. Oh, my God. They were great. And they're like, they just...

did Succession and we're like, wow. Because a lot of Succession loves to shot in Norway. That's what I was getting at. Just to remind people, the last season of Succession, half the season takes place when they go and... Skarsgård's character. Yeah, Skarsgård's character. I meet with him and they're in Norway. So they shot there and they had just worked on that when we worked with them. And these guys...

Ben, we were, I was like, oh my God, you just worked on Succession and now you're with Conan O'Brien. Like how the mighty have fallen, but they were great. But there's this climactic scene and big scene in Succession, this big yard, this giant party by a river. And I'm watching it. And then I see the drone guys and we're like, oh my God, they made it in. And they're playing drones.

Yeah.

to go to fly so far. And then we usually have to hit the ground running right away. But the minute we get out there and start talking to people, I mean, Ireland, we went to Ireland to visit a fan. Just anyone you bump into in Ireland is a professional comedian. It's not their profession, but they could be. There's just something in the water. In the bones, yeah. Oh man, yes. There are some...

hilarious people you spoke to in Ireland. The other cool thing in Ireland was you, you were walking down the street and, and people were just like stunned. It was you. And then they, they took their, their, their,

Your buds out and said, I'm listening to your podcast. Yeah. Yeah. People. I ran into people in Ireland who were listening to the podcast as I ran into them. And then this made me really happy. We were shooting something on the River Liffey, which is the river that bisects Dublin. It means cuts it in two, Matt. And. Yeah.

But anyway, he, and so- Can we take that out? Can you actually make it play twice? Yeah, loop it. So anyway- Loop reverb. Yeah. So anyway, I'm standing there by the River Liffey and this cab drives by and someone rolls down the window and goes, there was talk of gerbils! One of the catchphrases from the podcast. And I was so happy that my people left-

Left this country. I go back to the actual plot of land that my people had that my great grandfather had. We left in 1871 because, you know, we couldn't make it there anymore and went to the United States.

And all these years later, I've come back and my legacy is that this obscene story about Mickey Rooney talking about Richard Gere having gerbils in his ass. It lives on. The O'Briens come back. There's talk of gerbils, I tell you.

Believe it or not, that came full circle. Yeah, it really did. I can't go into details. It was fantastic. And the other thing that I think was an elevation, I hope people, I think people will like these, but because we got to up the ante a little bit with these, have this nice budget, we could do these set pieces together.

with real costumes and go to real locations. So there's a lot of improvisation and me walking around in my regular street clothes,

being me. But then there are these set pieces that we wanted them and we really wanted them to look like this could be from a movie. It's very cinematic. And of course, because we have Topper and her team, they were able to pull off the look and we had costumes. I mean, Chills, you were a part of that, getting me making sure that

we had everything we needed in the country. - Right, fake mustache. - Yeah, fake mustache. - For the job. - I mean, I carry some with me, but the TSA is always-- - A pipe, a pipe for every occasion. - Yeah, the TSA is always really suspicious when a guy comes through with 35 mustaches. None of your business, let me through.

Ireland, we had a lot of facial hair. A lot of hair. A lot of, yes. Yeah. Oh. We were smuggling it. There was a lot of fake facial hair we shipped in and costumes. And what's really fun is Scott Cronick, who gets the wardrobe together, always comes to my house

like two days before I leave for the country, wherever it is. And he'll come in with all this insane stuff. Options where I'm a Viking or a lighthouse keeper or I'm a, you know. A soccer goalie. I'm a soccer goalie. I'm a gaucho. And you know, all these insane looks and I'm a leprechaun and whatever. He's bringing all this stuff in and dressing me up in them. And invariably my wife will walk in. Yeah.

not knowing that this was going on. And I'm standing there and she's just like, oh, Jesus. Turns right around. Role play. This is what I'm married. Yeah, exactly. Every woman dreams of a sexy lighthouse keeper. But... What a tower. No, but just getting to, getting to recreate something

some of those uh go those do those cinematic moments which we haven't really had a chance to do fully before it was so much acting well i don't know if that's what it's called different forms of shouting yeah i remember the viking makeup woman it's like a two-hour drive to this viking reenactment oh my god center and so i'm just thinking like well we'll you know

she can maybe start stuff on the bus. And she's like, no, no, no. I need... We need to be in a separate room. I need all this space. And she was a real professional. She was like, get away from me. I'll make it happen. Also... Let me do my job. I'll tell you something. It's the difference between all those years when we would do remotes and run and gun quickly. And it was... I would be... The mustache would be in my back pocket. And I'd be in a...

And I'd be in a van and then I'd like slap it on and get out there. And, you know, makeup was done very quickly, if at all. And so this was different because we we went into these travel shows sometimes with that attitude of, oh, we can just slap it on the bus. And these are these look good for a reason because they're saying, no, no, no, no, no.

No, no, no. This is you. You asked for something good. You're going to get something good. Sit down and shut up. Yeah. And it's you know, it's going to take 50 minutes to an hour to do it. But then when you got out of that chair, it's like, oh, my God. Yes. So worth it. Fantastic. I know that was a big swing that whole day because we had really insisted. We always worry when we've insisted on driving for two hours to get somewhere. Make it worthwhile. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, there's always the pressure every mile. There's a pressure odometer. Oh, the pressure's going up. There's always the fear. And it's also freezing cold. Right. Well, it's the same adage of the longer the story, the more pressure on the punchline. Right. And if someone's telling a really long story, or sometimes one can get caught and you realize, this story I'm telling is really going on. Yeah.

God damn it. This punchline better. And that's exactly how it works when you're shooting a remote. If you have to drive for three hours, it basically is how much in Europe, how much petrol did you burn? How much gas did you burn to get here? Mm-hmm.

What was your carbon footprint getting to this place? And then it better really be funny. And so sometimes we have lost that bet. Yes. Sometimes we've won. But especially sometimes you roll out of your hotel with a crew and you're grabbing all getting all this great stuff on the street. And then it's like,

all of a sudden you're in a band for two hours. It's like, wait a minute, why are we doing this again? Your muscles are cooling. Right, right. Well, you need, I like, one of the things I'm proud of is the team that we assembled. People have done such a good job. I mean, you know, unsung heroes like, and I know this, and people say, you know,

We're listening to you guys right now. You don't need to give a speech about everybody, but there are people like Matt Shaw who did such an incredible job. So many people have worked really hard. The graphics look amazing. Matt Shaw was our head editor.

And basically, he had one other editor working with him, which I think is very unusual for something of this scale. It looks unbelievable. Yes. Brad Roland. Brad Roland. Incredible. I was thrilled about the mystery narrator we got.

for the show, who we have a gentleman's agreement not to discuss. But most people that work with me don't want it mentioned. He was insistent on that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But anyway, I love it. I love it. I've drawn up a contract. Maybe it's AI. Who can say? No one knows. But I'm very happy. And I

I just basically, I always love those, uh, travel shows that we did in the past. And it felt like we had unfinished business there. And then, uh, when we had the notion that, well, what I'm really passionate about now is this podcast. I absolutely adore doing it. It's really fun. And it feels like the natural evolution of what I was doing before or de-evolution, whatever you want. But, uh,

The idea that we married the two, meaning it really, it starts from the podcast and then takes off into this world that I've explored before. But now there's a reason to go in country.

I'm showing up and I'm visiting a pen pal. Just, I don't know, the whole thing has been really fun to make. - Well, you know, there's often a mission there too, 'cause people have been sharing things about their lives with you on the podcast. And then you show up and it's like, oh, I'm gonna help you achieve this goal or fix this problem for you. And then you maybe don't. - I don't. - Yeah. - Or just waste time with you. - At Amica Insurance, we know it's more than just a house.

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Do you remember that dinner we had where you could choose from a prefix menu and it was all appetizer was cod and then the entree was cod. They have a lot of there's a lot of cod in Norway. They're very, very proud of it.

And you specifically have to ask them not to put cod on your ice cream cone. You have a cod allergy. Is this an allergy? Okay. So what kind of cod can we use? No, no cod. We have hypoallergenic cod. I have to say, Argentina, the man...

Something happened in Argentina. I don't want to give away too much, but we visited our fan, who's a terrific artist. And one thing led to another, and it led to kind of a happening, which since then has gotten some traction online. And that's one of the aspects of the show that I really enjoy is these little Easter eggs. We don't even intend them always, but in Ireland and in Argentina...

we helped, um, we helped make something happen that ended up later on getting noticed by people who didn't know anything about the show. Yeah. And then suddenly it's online and people are saying, why is this exist? Yes. And, uh, anyway, there's, uh,

I just love the idea of traveling the globe and confusing people. And leaving people who are really... But you know, I did. This is a true story because the thing we did in Argentina, which the artist helped us create, we left behind. And then I think it got picked up and then it landed on some very prominent soccer blog. Yes. And it got a lot of traction. Yeah.

And it started to pop up everywhere online. And people were sending it to me saying, what's going on? What's going on? Did you approve this? And I was kind of playing. We were in Ireland. It was while we were in Ireland. We were in Ireland when it was blowing up in Argentina. And so with my friends, I was just saying, well, I guess you never know. I just was playing it. So then I get a call and it's Jake Tapper. Oh. Oh.

Who I know, it's Jake Tapper, and I'm thinking, oh, I know Jake Tapper, and he calls me sometimes, and we both love Eisenhower trivia and shit like that. He's calling me, and I go, what's up? And he goes, this thing in Argentina, what's going on? And so like any of my friends, I just played it off as, well, I guess you never quite know. And he went, no, cut it out, really, what is it? And I forgot, oh, I'm talking to a journalist. And he was like, what is it? And I went, okay, and I explained, and he went, got it, and then hung up.

It's like you're Banksy. Yeah, I'm the Banksy of comedy. Only it's not worth anything. And we had something made in Ireland that I just saw turn up this week in social media. Oh, that's awesome. And there's a sequence in Thailand that I really love.

where I'm roaming the streets at night that was a very cinematic sequence where I've ingested some street food and then I have a fever dream. A fugue state. And that I'm not giving anything away because you need to see that. It's quite strange. It feels like a weird foreign film. Yeah. Well, my favorite part of that scene

shoot was that we were going against Jeff's wishes because he wanted us to get back. Oh, Jeff Ross. Jeff Ross. Yes. We had a dinner reservation. We had a dinner reservation. He's like, you'll be out there for like five hours. Yeah, there was this one thing we wanted to get. Five hours. He was like, we have a dinner reservation. Jeff, Jeff, we'll go and grab and then we'll go to dinner. The dinner reservation's at 630. It took a long time to get. And Matt's very calm. He's like, we'll

we'll be done in 25 minutes. Yeah. He's like, oh, okay. Oh, yeah. I've never seen that before.

Anyway, he was disappointed when we walked into the restaurant on time. You could see him deflate. The restaurant hadn't opened yet. Yeah. We're not open for four hours. She was like, it's nice to sit here. It's a nice place. They have air conditioning. It was, I think we were shooting, sadly, with global warming. This record will probably be broken soon, but it was like the hottest thing

It had ever been in Thailand. And we were shooting and we were out on the street and there's a part where I'm kickboxing and we're not inside in an air-conditioned gym. We're in an outdoor facility with no air conditioning. I'm no spring chicken and it's my birthday today. So let me tell you, I'm only getting older. And I am...

I am throwing kicks, punches. I'm going as hard as I can. And at one point I stopped and I asked Jeff Ross, do we have a defibrillator? And he was like, what do you mean? What do we need a defibrillator for? I'm getting us a restaurant reservation. And I'm like, because I know I could go down. I'll make sure the restaurant has one. I was sweating so much during that segment. I'll make it a smaller reservation. And yeah. Well, that works. Let me know.

They don't have a table for five, but they have a table for four. That works out great. You guys happily eating. Well, I'm in the morgue. More family style for each of us. He's gone. We might as well enjoy. We got enough of the boxing, right? Oh my God. The funniest thing is when...

because writers always want, can you do something again? They always want it again. Can you give it another shot? What if we do it from another angle? Because- You mean professionals? Sure, yeah, professionals. Obsessive, compulsive professionals. But if you're doing something, it's always cracked me up when I'm doing something, especially at my vintage, and I'm just wailing and kicking and punching, and it's 108 degrees. And I've been-

you know, I'm jet lagged and I'm wet and people are like, ha ha, that's great. Okay, let's do another one where we put more, we put more lead on your boots. There are a few times too where it's like, no one's yelling cut. And it's just kind of, you know, he's just going through a training session. And you finally just go, okay, I think,

I think we got it. Yeah. That was, uh, we put you through the physical ringer in Thailand. Thailand was, uh, was, was a workout, but, um, I do, I have to say, I do come home from all these countries was specifically, uh, Thailand with, because in, in, in some of the, in some of the setups I'm getting, uh, you know, I'll go to someone who makes great, you know, uh,

original tie costumes, custom, and they're gorgeous. And I put them on and they're in the show. And then they come home with me and they're mine. And then I'm thinking, I'll sometimes look in my closet and I have like two pairs of chinos, two pairs of jeans, some t-shirts, some of the nicest tie. And a silk suit. Silk suit. And I don't know where to, where can I wear these? I don't know where to wear them. I'm going to dress like a Viking today.

Yeah. I remember you bought those knit pajamas in Norway. It was like a full body. Oh, I've worn those. Have you worn those? Because it does get cold in LA and I put them on once and I came downstairs and it's so funny. I just look like a giant stuffed animal. Boy, those. Yeah, they're beautiful. They're hand knit. They were hand knit and they're the warmest, most comfortable things I've worn in my life. That's

But you know what those sock monkeys, you know those? Yeah. I look like a sock monkey when I put them on with a red pompadour. Not even because there's actually a cap you can put on too that just isolates your face. I should just wear that and walk around LA until someone photographs me.

Yeah, they'll think that you're... I've lost my mind. Kanye, yeah. Do you? Yeah, exactly. I should wear that and then go up when Kanye's next out with, what's his lady? Right, what's her name? She dresses in a very provocative manner. Anyway, the next time those two are out together and she's wearing something with no butt on it and he's just wearing an REI tent, I'm going to run up along... He's photobombing. I'm going to photobomb them.

dressed as a giant sock monkey and put my arm around both of them and see if I can get that photo out there. Kanye's taking a second, bro. That'd be a great promo for this show. Yes, it would. Gotta get the word out. We need stunts, publicity stunts. Conan, what are you gonna do? Oh, I've got this knit thing I can wear and I'll find Kanye.

You already have all of Kanye's fans in your pocket. You're right. Talk about redundancy. Total overlap. You like Kanye? You'll love this show.

Do you get to enjoy yourself on these trips? Because it is work. Hey, thanks for finally, someone asked me a question, which makes my job a lot easier. Yeah. Thank you. Happy birthday. I wanted to give you a chance to talk. That was my gift. Yes, here you go. No, but seriously, because it is, you know, we let, we, like you said before, we hit the ground running and then it's nonstop till boom, we're back to the airport. So if I think that what we're making is funny, I am like a kid at Christmas. And,

And I'm very happy. And I really do love the camaraderie. I like, I have to say, Jeff Ross is not wrong. When we have worked hard all day and I think we have good stuff in the can and then we go out to dinner, I love that. I love that feeling of, I think we found something today that

And I'm happy with it. And now we can debrief and we can sit and we're in this exotic country. We're eating Italian food. No matter where we are. Remember, we went to Armenia once for a travel show for a travel show years ago. And Armenian food's really good. But it's you know, they it's a there's a lot of like it's a lot of chicken. It's it's very good. But it's we kept going. Grape leaves.

Yeah, things like that. And so we kept having that over and over and over again. And it was really good. But then I remember there was one night where I was like, well, we got to break this up. And we found out there was like a small mall in Yerevan and an Italian restaurant. There was basically the Grove. Yeah. We went to the Grove in Yerevan. The one in Glendale. Yeah. And then...

Ordered pizzas and we were just like, oh, this is... We're being the ugly American. But for the most part, when we're in country, I have to say, talk about we shot something in Dublin where I go looking for Bono. I'll just tell you that. It's called Searching for Bono. And I go looking for him in a park and it's a... I don't think I'm giving away too much, but it's basically a wildlife section of the documentary. And...

We had so much fun shooting that. I was giggling the whole time. And then everyone had great ideas. And Jesse, you were an impetus behind this. That's right. Jesse Gaskell. And then we all started thinking of different... And I just kept...

thinking of fun ways to make it sillier and stupider um and and i was i was just in heaven the whole time we were doing that and so to answer your question i have a lot of fun right doing these there are times when i get run down or there were times where we're someplace and i think we're not getting it this isn't it this is going to show up on the edit on the edit room floor and

And those can be dispiriting and long van rides can be dispiriting. I think I have a hard time in a van because I'm very kinetic. And when someone says, okay, that was great. Now get into this very small space and sit in the back.

And sit in traffic. And sit in traffic. In the dark. And we'll poke you in four hours and you need to be at hitting... Hit the ground running. Hit the ground running. I have a hard time with that. I think you have... Matt has some great photos. Matt has photos of me having a nervous... Of you just losing your mind. I lost my mind in the back and I'm doing crazy bits, faces. I'm just basically having a complete psychological meltdown. The courts are going to...

want those for me. Yes, that's fine. And it's in this very- No, the New England Journal of Medicine wants them. But we had such a good time for the most part on these that it, those, I find those moments just drift away. I completely forget

those moments. And what I remember is the fun. And I remember the fun of... And everywhere we go, I mean, the people were in each country were uniformly just so much, such a great sense of... They seem to be happy with what we were doing. Yeah, that's my favorite thing. And they seem to like that... I don't know, the joke is usually on me and they're cool with that. And they seem to understand...

It's fun to just go and explore the comedic rhythm in each country, and it's different in each country, but they're all funny in their own way. Right. And they're not afraid to give me a hard time, which I love. ♪

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It's amazing that you can go outside of Los Angeles and there's just hilarious people everywhere. I mean, we're working at more. Guess what? They're not in L.A. That's why you go on these trips. There are other places and they have normal jobs. Yeah. And they're just, you know, happy to meet somebody, meet a stranger and have a nice interaction. Or maybe they know you from TV. They're very... They're kind of unfazed by the camera. I know. They're very unfazed by the camera and they're...

um just uh so happy to go with it and um they all seem to pick up right away on oh i get it yeah something's wrong something's wrong with this man yeah something's wrong with this man but he seems harmless and uh it is amazing how everyone could take him yeah and that was an old lady

There's an old lady in a wheelchair. I could take him. Will me overdo him. Yeah. It was really fun to make and it's an interesting process because we go and we shoot them. Then we come back. You guys do these rough assemblies. Matt Shaw does these rough assemblies and then you guys go in and it's

I've always said the way we approach these, whether it was a remote for the old late night show or the TBS show or travel shows, it's like a chef doing a sauce. Cook it down, get the reduction, add some more broth, cook it down, cook it down, cook it down, cook it down. We just keep cutting and cutting and cutting and cutting and having different screenings and reducing it. And then you get to this final part and you look at it and they're- It's all flavor.

Ooh, it's burned at the bottom. Well, I didn't say it was a good sauce. All I meant was that it was short. In my analogy, it's just that they're shorter. It's broth. It's still broth. Dense. Still dense. Very salty. Your doctor recommends you don't have it. It ruins the taste of the food you're eating.

It is fun to see the number of hours you start with of footage and then know that you're cutting it down to under an hour. And then even when you think you can't cut anymore, there's still some you can cut. And yeah, it was even in the finishing room when we would watch the final finished cut. It was like we all had like, oh, just one little second here, you know. But I think that

Oh, I was showing a clip. I went to South by Southwest. I went to South by Southwest and I showed a clip from a segment in Ireland in the gas station that was...

got this big laugh in this giant room and I was very happy. And then I just saw it. The clip went on for a couple, a couple of seconds, a couple, a couple of seconds afterwards. And the crowd was like, okay. And I'm up on stage. I'm up on stage thinking, why is that still in there? That's like, no, no one, no one was,

No one was thinking about it. It was a second for someone to just take an inhale, but I was like, why is that there? It's a palate cleanser for the home viewer before they jump into the next segment. We want people to be laughing continuously with no pause. You know what I love? So they can hear the show over themselves laughing. Exactly. You know what I love, too? Anyone listening to this who checks them out and goes, this is nothing but fat. These guys are like, these people are like patting themselves on the back.

We reduced and reduced and reduced till... And then they're watching it and it's just... Was the stove on? This should be four minutes. There was no heat. Oh, yes. Leave it on another ten hours. Just...

Because there are comedic- Shut the gas off six months ago. There are bits where the joke is that I'm, there are bits where the joke, wherever country I'm in, is that I just keep going and I refuse to stop. Yeah. And I could see anyone listening to this or any reviewer saying, what are they talking about? I saw some trips. That idiot. Anyway, it was-

Well, I was I mean, I think people might want to know how we landed on the countries that we went to. Oh, OK. Yeah. It's it's interesting. It's it's like you're looking for it's like these two circles and you're trying to see where it's where it's the best place where they intersect, meaning talk to people around the world. And some people seem like, oh, I got to talk to this person. Like, for example, Yarla in Bergen, Norway, who just he's he's this.

sweet kid to me anyway he's a kid he's like 22 years old and he's telling me and he's the whitest kid I've ever seen and he's telling me he's got a hip hop duo with his friend in Bergen Norway and so I'm there's part of me that's naturally curious and then it's

you know, if he had been in Trenton, New Jersey, I would have said, okay, I don't think that's a show, but he's in Norway. And I think, yeah, Norway, I want to go there. So basically if it's,

Is the fan interesting and seem fun? And am I intrigued? And is it a country I'd like to go see? And so if you can satisfy both of those, then I'm on my way. But, um, and we've had some other fans too, that we just, you know, we, we, uh,

They asked for four specials, so we did four. But there are other fans around the world who've got some very intriguing stories. So, you know, if there's a lot of other criteria, I mean, just in terms of what what is it like to get film permits there? And can you write quickly? You know, can you quickly film things? Yeah, there's exactly there are.

where it's more difficult to get permission. Also, another thing, we've just learned things over time, but

Sometimes we're more ambitious about traveling within a country and then you realize you do want to do that. But if it's a vast country and let's say you went to Australia and you wanted to make sure that you did Sydney and Perth, but you also wanted to go up to the barrier reef and you also wanted to get into the outback, you realize that.

breaking down camera equipment and shipping it around, you're burning time. And so you want to make sure that you make the right calculations. So yes, get on a plane and travel within country or get on a train

if you really think you're going to get something good. But if you're zipping around too much within a country, you risk – you just lose days. Yeah. So you really – it's a cost. It's just figuring these things out. And one of the things that is –

It's fun and interesting as we sit around and Jason's a big part of this, but we'll sit with and, you know, we'll talk to chills and we'll say this is what we're interested in. And then we have these conversations where we have a map of the country and we have lists of comedy ideas we could do. And itinerary literally like a yarn going from one pin to another. I'm like, OK, so we'd have to go straight.

you know, 210 miles to get this gag. How much do we love it? And then we all get into it. And then sometimes we say, you know what?

it's not that funny. It's not 210 miles funny. And sometimes you think, I think it is 210 miles funny. And you are onto me. You know, I lie. I always, I'm like, I think it's a 50 minute drive. Yeah. And you're just like, fuck you. Yeah. That's my commute home. That's my commute back to Brentwood, asshole. Oh, two hours and 50 minutes. Yeah. But, uh, but I love, um,

It's the making of these things. I like to make things. I like to make things with smart, funny people. And I've enjoyed working with you guys as well. Bye.

We all do. Happy birthday indeed. Happy birthday indeed. And he wonders why he got no gifts. No, I sincerely, just we have a great crew. Chills, we've been doing this together. Chills has been with me on every adventure going back to Finland. And Mike. And Mike. You've been with me since the beginning. Before that, because...

The first one was really Ireland. 1998 or 99. I was there for that too. Chills went on that too. That was two days. We were there for two days. We shot everything in two days. We have a good crew here and we get a lot of help in each country. That's important too. Y'all and Jennifer and Maritza and Marcella. All their teams. It's phenomenal. That is worth mentioning is that we need to when we go to another

another country, we can only do so much. And then we have to find what's called fixers, people in country who say, you don't want to go here, but you do want to go there. And yeah, people say that that's funny, but it's really... That's going to offend people. Don't do that. That's actually against the law. You can't urinate in that rare book library. Conan P's in a rare book library I thought was a natural. So...

You can't do anything on this list. We hit one in every country. But those people are invaluable. And what's funny is we meet them. We always meet them at the airport or right when we get to the hotel. And then there's this second of...

How are we all going to get along? And then very quickly, you can see that they take our temperature, we take their temperature, and then we're off. And we get really close to these people. And we owe them a lot. I mean, they're a huge part of how these shows work. Well, chills picks up. And you get it. You're like...

You do a vibe check. I have a feeling. I get a feel. I talk to three people. I think it's, I think this is the one. And then you make best friends. I mean, you stay in touch with people. Well, he also has affairs with them. Chills has children in every country. Whatever it takes. I know why he picks these picks. I like this one. She didn't seem that great. Oh, shut up.

She's never worked in show business. And they're all women. She doesn't speak English. No, anyway, it was, I enjoyed the doing of it.

And then it's just extra sweet that we get these shows out of it and I'm excited for people to see them. Me too. Me too. Yeah. And we have shown them to a bunch of people we really trust who like them, who have full permission to tell us this is shit. Right.

And have in the past told me I'm shit. But they were getting, I have a good feeling about it. I laughed so hard during editing that I went into labor. That's true. That's right. It's true. Yeah, and you weren't even pregnant. That's the crazy part. A baby came out. You made a baby. You laughed so hard. That was my favorite behind the scenes story. People need to be very careful. Yeah, behind the scenes stories. Because we're all hanging out in the conference room one day.

Yeah. You, during the making of these shows, you... I got pregnant. Got pregnant, which I think involves sex. And then... Chills. We'll explain it to you later. Yeah. And then...

So that was part of, it's crazy that that was part of this process is that is, no, it was, it was, it was happening alongside as we were making the shows because the shows were delayed by the writer's strike. So otherwise we would have made these a lot sooner, but you would have never even known I was pregnant. Exactly. It's like, but, but you, what was really crazy is at one point where in editing,

I was 37 weeks pregnant. Yeah. And you were laughing really hard in the edit and we were joking that this laughing would induce- I was peeing my pants laughing. Would induce pregnancy as a joke. And then we all get a photograph in the morning of you- 7:00 AM in the morning. 7:00 AM in the morning of you holding Dottie. A baby. Yeah. Not your baby, another baby. No, of you holding Dottie.

And it was like the joke. No, I know. I was like, they're not going to believe that this is real. I thought it was a prop baby. Yeah. Well, I really was like, oh, I'm peeing my pants laughing. And actually, my water had broken. Right. At work while we were there. Oh, wow. But you've been using that excuse for years. I just wet myself because of a baby. And then she disappeared for two months. Yeah. Ah.

No, that was... Oh, that made me so happy. Well, yeah, Dottie's the... We got four shows and a baby. Yeah. We got four specials and Dottie out of this, which is really nice. We actually got another baby from a fan. Oh, my God. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's part of the show, too. Yeah. So look for that. Anyway, Conan O'Brien must go.

We like them. We cooked them down. Yeah, they're coming out. Dropping right now on Max. Go watch now. Plus, this is something cool. The good people at Samsung TV+.

They air a Conan O'Brien show, basically Conan O'Brien TV channel. And they put together our best stuff. Yeah. They've put together a bunch of glorious moments from my career. And in there, they've also put an exclusive 10 minute sneak peek of the

of the new Conan O'Brien Must Go series, and it's for free. So you can see that if you check out Conan O'Brien TV channel exclusively on Samsung TV+. So we'll see you there.

Take it away, Jimmy.

Our supervising producer is Aaron Blair and our associate talent producer is Jennifer Samples. Engineering and mixing by Eduardo Perez and Brendan Burns. Additional production support by Mars Melnick. Talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Batista and Brit Kahn. You can rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts and you might find your review read on a future episode.

Got a question for Conan? Call the Team Coco hotline at 669-587-2847 and leave a message. It too could be featured on a future episode. And if you haven't already, please subscribe to Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend wherever fine podcasts are downloaded.

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