Transcript of Ben Stiller Returns

Hi, my name is Ben Stiller. And I feel... About being Conan O'Brien's friend.

Wow.

Devastating.

Fall is here, hear the yell, back to school, ring the bell, brand new shoes, I can tell that we are going to be friends.

I can tell that we are going to be friends.

Hey there.

Welcome to Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend. Got a nice little podcast humming along here. Got Sonia Moussassian joining us. I don't normally say this, but- Matt Gourley.

That was adorable.

Don't you think? It's a nice little podcast we got. Humming along.

We got this nice little podcast Hummingalong here. We do.

That's how I feel about it. I do. I do feel like we got this nice... Nothing grand, nothing fancy, nothing you put this on the lot. It'll be the last car to go. But I think it's a sweet little ride. I like it. I think it's an adorable little podcast, and I'm proud of it. Okay. Yeah. That's cute. Hey, I got a question for you guys. What do you think of my jacket?

I like your jacket.

Okay, let me tell you something. Here's the story of this jacket.

What if I said I didn't like it?

I hate it. I've had people say that before. Not about this jacket, but I've had people be very frank with me.

No, you haven't. Yeah.

There are people, if I'm wearing something, tell me they don't like it. I saw this jacket. It wasn't that much money. I saw it. It's a nice color of brown cordyroy. Let me describe it for those of you who can't see it right now.

It's a very rich- It's got a sheen. It's got a sheen to it. It's got a nap, I believe they call it. What's that? A nap. You can rub it one way and it'll go dark and then rub it the other way. It'll go light.

Keep talking. I'll take a nap. I also want to say this.

I've never said this before. You're absolutely right about that.

Anyway, this is a jacket that it was the day before Christmas, and I saw this jacket in the store, and I tried it on. I thought, That's a nice jacket. So I just bought it, and I drove home, and I handed it to my wife and said, Just give this to me tomorrow. She said, Okay. She said, Should I wrap it? And I went, You don't even have to wrap it. And I thought, Do either of you two relate to that? Is that something that happens? I've been married now, 22 years. No. Is that what happens?

Tack and I send each other exactly what we want, and we don't even take it out of the box that it comes in. I send him the link exactly for what it was.

My son did this as a kid. He was really into tech stuff, and he would send us, Here are the nine things. This is the XC755G, whatever, something board, motherboard. Just click here and it will be delivered. He took all the joy out of... Just click here.

That is joy. You know you're getting exactly what you want.

I didn't use to do that, but I think it's just because I'm now in a different stage of life where I'll see something. This isn't that I'm not splurging. It's a cordyroid jacket. It's perfectly nice. I would like to wear that, hand it to my wife. I think she kept it in the bag. I handed it to her. She might have tied them.

You guys don't want any surprise?

No, I do I want some surprise. How often does a surprise go wrong?

All the time.

It goes wrong all the time.

In a gift from your spouse, it can't go that wrong.

Yes, it can.

Unless she's got diamonds on it, I don't want it.

Oh, wow.

My wife is giving you gifts.

You're the worst. Hello, Zha Zha Gabor, joining us today on the podcast. Jesus. What awful person are you? This is not the person I hired to be my assistant. Unless it's got diamonds on it. You've famous changed you.

No, it has. I'm being Unless it's nice jewelry that marks a very special occasion, I think that's what I was trying to say. That's no better. No, it is. But it's like a 10-year-a-year anniversary. Maybe it gets me, whatever. I don't know. But if it's close You want to get the clothes yourself. I just know exactly what I want, and I don't think other people, including TAC, really know that. I think rather than winging it, here's something I I wanted. Here it is, get it for me. I'm going to be appreciative.

Do you think in any way that emasculates tack? No, because he does that with me. Are you taking his penis away? No. What? Then you have to get a new penis. Then you know what to ask for.

If you get your penis from doing that, then you shouldn't have a penis.

I took your penis away when I bought you this gift. What is it? A penis.

I sold my vagina.

You don't deserve a penis if that's what you need. I sold my vagina to get you this penis. I sold my penis to buy you a vagina. Oh, Henry's worst story.

You get stuff for Amanda and she's like, Yay.

Okay, she does not do that.

Okay, I bet you she does.

She's a very good actress.

Yeah, she is.

No, but when you get her her ninth, look, it's a chess set made of cork. They have only made a few of these in the '30s. What a horrible gift. Does she go, Oh, my God, this is amazing, or do you ever see a single tear?

The one time we got in a fight because I bought her an Espresso machine and she thought it was too extravagant, and she got mad me.

She got mad at you because you spent too much money. Yeah.

Maybe I shouldn't tell this on the part.

No, it's okay. You're keeping it in because that's fine. You know what? We love your wife, and I take her side. But it was really expensive.

As Espresso machines go, it's a mid-level Espresso machine.

But maybe times were tight. Maybe she knew that- We were fine.

Did she like Espresso? Yes.

She has since come to love that machine, but we in a fight that day because she was… I can't tell the story.

That's okay. It's all right. If she gets me an appliance like that, I'll be like, Where do we put it?

Do you know what I mean? That was her big issue.

There's limited real estate in the kitchen, and it's this machine that you got me. It's like a burden, but also- You know what?

I'm going to say this. If I get anything for the kitchen, I know I'm in very dangerous territory because my wife runs the kitchen. If I walk in the door and I'm like, Look, it's a giant juicer that only does pineapples. It's made of quartz. We got a problem. We have to take part of the sink out for it to fit. But if you got pineapples, we got pineapple juice. Then I know we've got a problem. It runs on gasoline. It's true. Old-fashioned gasoline that's been badly I know. I've done that. I've purchased a few things for the kitchen, and I noticed that she was very pleasant about it at the time, and then it went away. It got exchanged for something else.

Our Christmas has slightly decreased where now, since we've had a kid, too, we just three gifts for each other, and that's it. One's little or something. What? We just get three gifts.

What's going on? What is it? The Great Depression? What's What are you talking about? No, with three gifts? What? No, kids are supposed to be... There should be endless- No, not for the kid.

Oh, for each other.

Wait, what are you talking?

How many presents do you get kids?

Kids have to be flooded with presents. I agree. Now, First of all, I'm not saying expensive presents, but I'm sorry, on the holidays, when kids come down, little kids, it has to be so many presents. It's mind boggling. I don't care. I know people are going to say, Well, this is terrible. What if people can't afford it? Steal them if you have to. Kids You have to be just spending hours. I agree. The room has to be filled with crumpled paper when the day is over.

They had a lot, but like... I also... The board now- Three a piece? Yeah.

Not for the kid. For each other. For Amanda and me. We get each other. We limited our... This is her idea. Look, I'm not a boy. I want to do more.

This is awful.

But I know.

I would want that. I bet one of them is a Walnut. Okay. Here's your Walnut.

I agree. I like to go big for Christmas. I've been I've tailored back a little bit.

I like to just chill.

I don't like things. I don't want new purses. I don't want new jackets.

Oh, I know that. You've been wearing your Dr. Zaya special for like 20 years now. She's got this jacket. I know, it's come up. I know, but I mean, for God's sake, I'll pay for it. Get a fucking jacket. I get things. I like them. I use them all the time. I know, but that's too much. I mean, it's really- Well, can't I? Can you look at me? What do I need? It looks like you slept in a bus station or something.

For God's sake. I have slept in a bus station.

I bet you have. The question is with who?

By myself.

By yourself, eh? So you were just having a nap. I like trying to still do the sexy leering talk long after the sexy parts over. So you weren't just by yourself having a nap, huh? Yeah. Yeah, I'm wearing a bulky jacket by yourself. That's not Bulky. Why is it Bulky? Listen, I You wear that jacket too long. We're not going to get stuck on that, but get a new jacket. It's a leather jacket. It's nice and broken in.

It's perfect. You have jackets that you've worn forever, too.

I have more than one jacket.

Can I just get you guys to shut up?

I do have jackets I've had for a long time, but I wear them. But I have more than one. If someone stole your jacket, you're free to death. It's the only jacket you have.

Oh, yeah. In Los Angeles.

I don't like purses, and I don't like jackets.

I'm free to death in Los Angeles. It's 67 degrees outside.

It gets cold at night. It gets cold at night into the '40s, some say. All right, listen. I won that one. You guys should do a gift exchange this year.

I'd be so afraid to buy her a gift. She'd get mad at me.

I won't like it.

Oh my God.

I'll email you exactly what I want.

I'm not interested in buying a gift for someone who's forcing me. A gift should be about what another person would think would make you happy. No.

What?

I know. Well, that would make you happy.

You guys are horrible people.

I'm sending him something I know I want. When he gives it to me, I'll know I like it.

But what if it's something you didn't see? I'll go shopping sometime for Amanda, or I'm out and I see- Yeah, and you get her an espresso machine, the whole thing blows up in your face.

I know. I mean, no. You took a chance. It didn't go well.

I am gun-shy since then.

Exactly.

I buy my mom and dad stuff all the time, and my mom has returned 100% of the presents I've given her.

I bought your dad a new mustache, and he wears it every day. Okay.

You know what?

It's more real than the one he's wearing. Won't stand for it. Ridiculous. Won't stand for it.

What are you going to do about it?

What are you going to do? What are you going to storm out?

I'm going to be like, I'm going to stand here, sit here upset about it.

I don't like it.

You won't stand for it? You're literally just going to sit down. I'm going to sit down.

All I have to do when I do an impression of her dad is put a finger under my nose, and there he is. There's Gil right there.

That's not Gil. Gil's cooler than you are. Gil's so much cooler than you are. He is cooler than I am. You have to have the thing, and you have to be cooler, and you can't do that.

You just did it. You just put the finger under your nose of your dad. Don't make me do that.

Put this wrap sign up.

All right, we're going to wrap it up. Anyway, find out from your spouse about presents. Don't buy that espresso machine. It's too expensive. Never wear the same leather jacket for more than 30 years in a row. These are our suggestions. Good night. My guest today is a tremendously accomplished actor, filmmaker, and showrunner. You know him from, of course, Meet the Parents, Zoolander and Dodgeball, and just the tip of the ice boy right there. He's the director and executive producer of Severance on Apple TV+. Season 2 premieres January 17th. I am very excited about it because Severance was my jam. Ben Stiller.

Welcome.

I've contacted you many times through your people. I often get just, We'll get back to you. That's That's why I have people. Yeah. But what's weird. Can I just say something? What's weird? The people sound suspiciously like Ben. It sounds like Ben picking up and he says, Let me get Ben's people. And then the people sound a lot like you.

It's like the guy that Donald Trump had called into the post. Oh, yeah. Whatever that guy's name was. David Barron or John Barron. Yeah.

Well, I've known you a very long time, and I was very excited you're coming in today because you're one of my all-time favorite comedy people. Your body of work is fucking crazy stunning. We're going to talk about Severance, which was my favorite show. That first season was perfection, and I am delighted that Severance is coming back, so much so that your people said, I can watch a few episodes, and they said, You can watch a couple of episodes of this new season. We'll make them available to you. I'm like, No, I'm rewatching season one to watch season 2. I don't want to watch it on a computer. I don't want to watch it. I want to watch it because I think the direction, which is you, is I know some other people direct, but you direct the majority of these episodes is absolutely fantastic. The art design, the acting, the whole thing is through the roof. It's delightful.

Thank you. I really appreciate that. Thank you. No, it means a lot because you know how much I respect you. Seriously.

Well, I'mNo joke. Well, now people think it's a joke because you said no joke.

I know. I said no joke too quickly or something. I don't know. I think seriously was the first place I went to the moment. Then no joke is trying to say it.

Too many qualifiers. We're going to talk about it because anyone who's listening to this right now, if you're not watching Severance, if you didn't see season one, go and watch it. It's just, I think, flawless, and there's so many images in it, moments in it, and it's got me thinking about so many things. So I'm very psyched for season 2. But along those lines, I just wanted to go back to... I'll just touch on it. Met you for the first time. We mentioned this last time, but I think it bears repeating, I met you when you came to SNL and right away was doing one of the funniest things I had seen when you played a grown-up Eddie Monster with the whole outfit, but you're jaded now. You had done a Tom Cruise film, which was a pair of Color of Money, and I looked at that film and I remember thinking, Well, why isn't this? This is what Standard Live should be, which later on, if you look at what Please Don't destroy and a lot of the shorts from Lonely Island, it became more these short films, which are just became more and more of the DNA of the show.

When you first came along, I was remembered, the first thing I saw you do was that short that you had made, I think yourself, self-funded or something.

Yeah, I made it on my own.

Is it before Ben Stiller's show?

Yeah, no, This was before anything. I was in a play called The House of Blue Leaves off Broadway, and the cast, the play was doing really well, and it moved to Broadway. John Mahoney was in it, and Stoker Channing, and Chris Walkin, and all this amazing cast. I made this short takeoff with these two guys, Steve Clayman and Ralph Howard. I put all my money into it that I was making for the show. We made this short, and then we were like, Okay, let's take somewhere. It's just proof of how old I am and we are. Not me.

I met you. I met you when I was four years old. I know.

I forgot.

I'm 39 years old.

But there was nowhere to go. There wasn't anything to upload it to at that point. It was like a video cassette. Lovets had come to the show. He'd seen the show. I reached out to him because he came backstage afterwards and he knew my parents and was very nice. I reached out and said, Hey, I've got this short. Is there any way you could get them to take a look at it? He literally met me in the lobby at 30 Rock and took the video cassette upstairs.

I remembered watching it. All of us were blown away. Your Tom Cruise impression was fantastic.

I couldn't believe that they were putting it on the air because there was nobody from the show in it. It was Jim Downey.

Jim Downey, great. Who's been on this podcast, amazing head writer. When he saw something that was great, he knew this has to just be on. I find it so interesting that people can go back and look at that Color of Money parody that you did, and you should look it up and check it out. But to me, it was saying, it occurred to me today, Oh, this was the way to go. You were ahead of your time, in my opinion.

I don't know. I was just like, honestly, I've probably talked to you about this before, that it was for me trying to do what Albert Brooks, who I think was ahead of his time for sure. Very much so, yeah. In terms of what he did, his first movie, Real Life, which was about reality television and making fun of it and what he had done on the show and watching that when I was younger and wanting to do that thing.

When I first saw you, you were doing a spot on Tom Cruise impression, and then you flash forward all these years with Tropic Thunder. Tom Cruise plays this executive in Tropic Thunder. I've talked to Tom Cruise about it. It is one of the funiest cameos. He comes out of nowhere. I know that he came to you when you... I don't know if you approached him about playing this character. What's the character's name? Is it Lou? Les Grossman. Les Grossman. Yeah. He had two requests. Jewish.

I mean, it's never really stated, but it's implied.

Just occurred to me now, that's a Jewish name. But he had requests, right? He had two requests. Correct me if I'm wrong, or you could say he wanted his hands Yeah, he wanted to have big, thick forearms that were hairy.

He wanted to be Jewish.

And he wanted to...

And he wanted to dance.

And he wanted to dance.

Again, Jewish.

What's crazy to me is that when he said those things to you, you might have been thinking, Oh, what? I don't know. Did you a right away say?

No. I mean, it's a strange set of circumstances the way that this happened. We had done this little short for the MTV Movie Awards where I played as Stunt Man. That's where we... We had met a couple of times over the years before that, but then we had a great time doing that together, and had stayed in touch since then. I had had this idea for the movie for a long time. I had been working on it with Justin Thoreau, and Eitan Cohen came on later. We finally had this script, and I had talked to Tom about it. Originally, I wanted Tom to play my part. Oh, really? Yeah. But I was a little I was really too nervous to ask him to do it because he's Tom Cruise. Sure. He has other stuff to do. We were friendly and hanging out. He was so nice and just the greatest guy. But I didn't want to bother him really with this. But eventually, I sent him the script and he was like, This is great. I'd love to be a part of this. I was like, Well, maybe you could play this like an agent role.

He's like, Well, no, I played an agent before, Jerry Maguire. He said, But it was his idea of this character. He said, You don't have a studio exec in the movie. It was perfect. Yeah. This was three months or maybe two and a half months before we started shooting. Justin and I were like, Well, Tom would like to be in the movie, and he had this idea of playing a studio exec. We went back and came up with Les Grossman, and it changed the whole plot of the movie, but made it so much better. I think he has an amazing instinct about movies. He's so smart. It's crazy how He's a student of movies, and he had this feeling like, you need this element to the story. There was no element of what was happening back in the States the whole time in the Tropic Thunder Story. We came up with this and Justin wrote a bunch of those monologs where he just goes off. But at the end, when he starts- Then he said he wanted to dance.

When he starts dancing. First of all, I talked earlier when we started out about your body of work, and it is crazy. There's so many movies that you've directed which have so many moments in them where I go like, Okay, that's one of my favorite comedy moments. Zoolander, The Gasoline Station fight. When they're throwing gasoline on each other and laughing in slow It's so good. It is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. It delights me every time I think about it. Also, when you and Owen are trying to hack into a computer and you become more or less apes. There's all this-It's a 2001.

But I have to tell you something, because I was actually for another project I'm working on this documentary, I was looking through some of this old behind the scenes footage from Zoolander that I have. This was literally last week, I found an old cut of the gasoline fight. I had forgotten that originally, he lights the cigarette. I think the way it is in the movie, I haven't brought is like, he lights a cigarette, I go, Oh, no, and then, boom, they blow up. But originally, it was, he lights a cigarette, I go, Oh, no, and you watch the flame. He drops the match on the floor and you see the flame track under the car and go up, and then it goes up and it starts engulfing each one of the models.

Oh, Jesus Christ.

It literally goes on for, I'm not kidding, for maybe two minutes where they're just like, dancing in pain. Oh, my But you know what's great?

That is... But you know what's great, Ben. That's a master class in the difference between this way is funny, this way is not. It's awful. You can't really explain why, but the way When you watch it, you see it's awful.

Also, this is like the year 2000. The year 2000. Where for real CG effects, we had three stuntmen doused in those the jelly where they put the jelly on and actually be on fire for real doing this. Then the explosion was a real explosion that knocked the windows out of the buildings across the street because it was bigger than our guy, I thought it was going to be. Oh my God. It's just a different time.

But that is a great... Like I say, if you ever teach a class on comedy, which would sell out, just the idea of, this is the way we showed it in the movie. Yeah, Hey. Let me show you a way that we didn't go with people crying and screaming.

If it bends, it's funny.

Yes. No, it's true.

Yeah. In Tropic Thunder, when you're running across the bridge and when the kid gets thrown, I got on the floor.

It's so wrong in every way. It's so wrong in every way.

There's not anything else that's wrong in that movie.

No, no. There's so much that's- Nothing comes to mind. Nothing comes to mind. But absolutely so Just the body of work, Reality Bites, Cable Guy has so much funny shit in it.

All those are collaborations with people. For me, that's always been the thing. It's like, I love working with people who are funny It doesn't just come from me.

Well, I could always tell that because all those years when I was doing the late night show, through all your different stages, you would always show up and say, Okay, let's do something. You would come with ideas, and then you would spend a long time making this great idea come to life, working with other people, working with us. Then you would do this thing, and it would be on it 12: 50 at night on NBC, and you either saw it or you didn't. This was before internet.

It was great. It was just great. For this documentary, I've been working on, I've been looking at some of that old stuff, and it's just, I'm like, what was I thinking? Because it's such a commitment I mean, besides just looking at myself 30 years ago, whatever it is, and just my attitude and coming in with like, Hey, I'm going to be funny. You know what I mean? Or I'm going to have an attitude with you. Yeah. But you were great. When you played along and you were always so open to it and you were always like, Okay, let's go for it and let's do it.

Now I look back on it and I think, Wait a minute. We were doing a 12: 30 show and Ben Stiller would come by and work all day on doing a nine-minute comedy piece for us. But I was thinking- How did that happen? I did something right in a previous life.

But also, I was thinking about it because I had to do a talk next week, and I was thinking, Okay, what am I going to do? I should think as well. Then I'm like, We'll talk and we'll be fine. I'm just like, I don't have the energy for that at all anymore. Yeah, exactly. I'm like, It'll be good. We'll come over.

No, That's the problem is a late night host now would look at like, Oh, no, I saw you. You did Jesus Christ Superstar with Konan. We thought maybe you could do a thing where you're Godzilla and you're like, No, I just want to come out in a good Tom Ford suit, chat about my work.

Yeah, I'm tired. I heard you were working on a documentary about your parents.

Yeah, that's- I wanted to talk about that because I grew up watching your parents, the great Ann Mera, Jerry Stiller, and I remember they were ubiquitous when I was a kid. I thought they were really funny. I'd see them on Love American Style, or they'd be in ads. I just knew, Oh, these are these really funny people, but I didn't know exactly who they were. Then later on, they came on the show in their own right. Of course, your dad was on Seinfeld, got very well known that way.

Yeah, they were a comedy team.

An old-school comedy team.

Old-school comedy team from this They started in the late '50s, early '60s. We're two young actors who met and fell in love, got married really quickly, and then became starving actors in New York. After five or six years, tried to figure a way that they could make some money. My dad was the guy who always wanted to be a comedian, grew up during the Depression, idolized Eddie Cantor, people like that. My mom just wanted to be a serious actress, but she was really funny and really talented. My dad had this idea that they should do an act, so he pulled her into it. Interesting. Yeah.

Did they do like Sullivan and all those shows? They did.

Yeah, they did. Ed Sullivan, I think it's 30, I always get it raw. It's like 36 or 37 times. It made their career. Yes.

That's a big- I had a memory. I have a sense memory of them because there was that era where a comedy team could come into people and talk about like half the country would be watching them do a routine.

No, I mean, that's part of the story is that the pressure that was on them as live performers, which a pressure you know as doing what you do. But for them, every Every time they went out, they had to get re-invited back by Sullivan, and they had to do well. They had to do like five. It wasn't like two minutes. It was like six or seven minutes.

It's hard for people to know now because there's 75... There's an infinite number of outlets. There's no such thing as, Well, I came on Conan. I came on one of Conan's late night show a couple of years ago, and he wasn't pleased, so we're through in the business. Well, no. There's a billion other places to go. There's no such thing as, You're through, kid. You displeased me. But this was a different era where if Sullivan didn't like you and there was a problem, that was it.

That could be it. Yeah. Luckily, he liked them. They did a number of different sketches every time they come out, but then they finally hit on this one sketch where basically they played off the fact my dad was Jewish, my mom was Irish Catholic, and they had these two characters meeting off of a computer dating, and it was Hersey Horowitz and Mary Elizabeth Doyle.

Funny now. It's still funny.

It was controversial at the time because they didn't know if people would go for it. But Ed Sullivan's wife, he was Catholic, but his wife was Jewish. Oh, wow. He loved it. That was... He kept on inviting them back. But you're in the documentary because there are so many of these talk show appearances. I'm also looking at it through the lens of, for me, over the years, being asked about them. Yeah. So many times and really trying to figure out, what was it like being their son? Who were they? What's the core of what my experience was with them as parents and stuff I never really questioned until you start doing something like this and you start looking into it. But we went on with you once, and there was a bit that I was sick and my mom was taking care of me, and my mom and dad came out with me on the show. Yeah. It's so funny. It's so great.

No, I mean... Then I have to tell you another Yeah, it's interesting too.

I've been working on this thing for four years. As a documentary develops, you start to... I've never made a documentary before. What I'm learning is that as it goes along, you start to figure out really what it's about through the process editing. Then you think it's one thing for a year or two, and then you realize, Oh, no, I got to have more of this story, or I have to have more. For me, it's been more of personally, really getting into what's my experience with them because I'm the one making the movie. We figured out this part of it that I've always felt, which was my dad on Seinfeld, he was so angry. That was so funny. It was to see him blow up and scream.

So funny shouting.

Yeah, amazing. I always felt it was because he had all this suppressed inner rage in him that he kept down... He loved my mom. He was the most loving, generous guy, but he had to sublimate a lot. Over the years doing their act together, the dynamic between them was that she would shut him up a lot. Like, Jerry, stop talking, stop talking. I have all these clips from the '70s of them on all these talk shows doing that. I I thought, when he finally hit it on Seinfeld, it was because he was able to let out all of that inner... All that inner-Makes sense. I was trying to find a sound bite to explain that, where he talked about it, and I couldn't find one. I was driving home. This was literally a month ago. I'm driving home, and I put on your serious XM station. It's literally my It's a clip of my dad on your show, and you're asking him about Kistanza and why is he so funny? My dad said... This was literally, he says as I turned it on, he says, It's because I had all this inner rage. Jesus. Oh, my God.

I literally pulled the car over and texted my editor. Yeah, isn't that insane?

That's fantastic.

We pulled the clip out, and it's in the movie, along with the other thing.

Well, I don't give you permission to use it. That's actually why I'm here. I'm editing this part out of the podcast. Let's come up with a number, gang.

I need a code.

That's great.

Honestly, I felt like it was my dad and the Ether or something, just like this moment was happening.

Well, first of all, I love that. I love that. I do think that it was so nice that your dad got to have that role. Then he's in King of Queens after that. He has this whole- Yeah, a change.

He needs his life.

There's a whole generation that knows him from that stuff. You know what I mean? Which is sweet.

He always wanted that. He had so much success with my mom, but then there was a period of time after when being a comedy team was not something that was as viable in show business. As you go into the '80s and the '90s, it's not like there are shows that are like the Merb Griffin show or that Solven show. It's just so they were having to figure out their careers separately. Then Seinfeld happened for him in his 70s, and it changed. It just fulfilled everything that he had wanted. My mom wasn't as important to her because she was, I think, happier to stay at home and write and read biographies, do the Sunday Times crossword puzzle. But my dad, he was so connected to the audience, to being recognized. It meant so much to him because he was so deprived as a kid. His parents, he had such a tough child. His dad was a cab driver. They moved 13 different times when he was a kid over the course of a few years. He was just both loving and needy, but in the most generous way. Someone would come up to him on the street and recognize him.

He'd be with my mom, and he'd talk to them for 15 minutes. My mom would be like, Jerry, let's get the fuck out of here. Come on.

This guy knows me. Exactly. I'll do a dance for you, whatever you want. Boy, do I relate to that?

I I didn't get any of that, by the way. It's funny because I know you did early on, you were a musician, drummer. Well, just so early on.

Super early on. But did you ever think that was going to be it or did you always know?

No, I was not a great drummer.

I was a terrible drummer. I know you were in a band called Capital Punishment. Capital Punishment. Right. I was in a band called the Bad Clams, and I was a drummer. Then I told them, I'm out. I don't have time for this. I've got other things. I remember thinking, Good luck without and they replaced me with a drum machine. Can we do that on this podcast? People were just like, whatever. It's better. It's keeping time correctly. But yeah, that was a moment for you. It was really good. Yeah.

I had a friend in high school who was the band leader, and he was really talented. We're still friends, Chris Robling. But I was not a great drummer. I really wasn't great at keeping time. What is that documentary about Ginger Baker?

Ginger Baker, From Cream.

Yeah. There's a great documentary about him, and he's so hard-ass in terms of you got to... Like, either you have time or you don't have time.

Oh, and in that documentary, they're saying things like, You mean great? Like a great drummer, like Keith Moon from the Who and he goes, No, I'm talking about real drum. I mean, people are mentioning icons to him or John Bonham from... He's like, No. I mean, a real drum. Then this guy who thinks of maybe three people in the universe are real drummers, and everyone else is just Yeah. You have just, in addition to these movies you're directing, and you had all this crazy success as an actor, and then you've made a conscious decision to step back a little from that, I'd say in the last five, seven years and say, Okay, what I really want to do is craft things, direct, produce. Was that a conscious decision?

Yeah, it was a moment that hit me. I always loved directing since I was a kid. Then I was directing a lot of these movies I was in over the years. But I never, except for Cable Guy, I'd never directed anything that I wasn't in. But I always thought of myself more as a director than an actor, really. I felt like that was more where I was... I thought I was better at that. Definitely not a live performer for my short time on SNL. It was so nerve-wracking for me to be... It's still any time doing something live, it's like I don't enjoy it. I'm happy when it's over, and if it goes well, it's great. Directing, to me, was always a comfort area and just happy. It just made me happy. It was really after Zoolander 2 came out. That was the inflection point where it's like the movie didn't do well. It was not well received. It was this moment in time where I was like, Oh, man, what am I going to do? What do I want to do next? I had some space just to think about it. Then this project that I'd been developing right when the movie came out, Escape at Danamara, this limited series about this prison escape in New York that happened in 2015, I think.

That was there, and I had the time to work on it because I wasn't doing other stuff.

First of all, let's give it down to Mara. I love that. To me, it's about you get to craft something. You get to take some time I know how much telling a story visually is important to you, and so you get time to, let's get this exactly the way we want it. And I always think the plus and minus of doing things that are live or done quickly is we'll grab it, it may not go our way. Sometimes when it goes well, you get the rush. When it goes badly, it's over and it's time to do another one. But if you get to really craft something, it's a very different feeling, I would guess. Over a long period of time, you get to think about, what is this going to look like? How am I going to tell this story?

Which is daunting, too, because it's like, all right, how do I do this? But it's also, to me, it's the most subjective thing where you just, okay, how do I see this? How would I want to see this? I think when I just got to the idea of basically, what would I want to see? Because I do love comedy, and I loved comedies growing up, but I also really love just dramatic movies. Sure. Yeah. I just started thinking, Well, what would I want to see? With the escape of demo, I was like, Yeah, I would love to see this. If it was a movie, limited series, whatever. The vibe and the feeling, I think for me was so much... It was so clear. Yeah, then you just take the time and work, again, collaboratively with people who you think are really talented and you have a similar sensibility. You have these partners, you're a cinematographer, production designer, costume designer, Dan Amora was Michael Tolkien and Brett Johnson, these two great writers. The truth of what happened in that story was, to me, was what I was most interested in because it scared me, too, because I'd never done a prison escape movie.

I was like, All right, well, I have no idea how to... How do I do this and make it real? How do I make it feel authentic? I just went to the real facts. The more I learned about what actually happened and got to the real places, I just said, All right, I'm just going to go for the real thing, because that was what was fascinating to me about that story was that how could a prison escape like this happen in 2015? It feels like something out of escape from Alcatraz or something.

You don't think it's possible anymore.

Yeah. Then you realize, oh, there's the system that's in place at this old prison There's so many places where things can go wrong and also the hierarchy of how it works there in terms of with the guards and the prisoners. The dynamics in a prison, it's a It's a huge prison, too. It's like its own little city or something. The more I talk to real people who experienced it and got the details, that was really fun for me. Then, cinematically, yeah, it's fun to figure out how to do something that hopefully look cool and be intriguing.

Did you ever consider being imprisoned for several years? I'm sorry. If he really wants to capture the story, I think he should have... If you took it seriously, I think he done three years in prison. Years? If you want. You know what I mean? Not like days? I thought you did a fantastic job. But think about what you could have done if you had been in prison.

If I'd actually experienced it.

Would you ever consider going to prison for three years?

I would like to be put in prison. Many of our listeners want me in prison right now. Well, this leads me nicely to Severance because I'm lucky enough to be friendly, friends with and encounter people all the time, especially in the comedy world and acting world. I semi-know Adam Scott, and my wife and I watch Severance when it comes out. Shortly after that, I see Adam Scott, and I said, That was the best thing that's been on television in memory. That was fantastic. He was like, Oh, thanks a lot, man. I was like, No, no, no. I think I put my hand on his chest. No, no, no. Jesus. You don't understand. Why? I know there's a show business thing. Have you felt his chest? Adam Scott's chest?

I have not.

Well, you haven't lived then. Okay. You know the way there's a It's this thing of, Hey, man, I saw your thing. It was really good. You'll say it about me at some point.

That's so sad.

It'll come out naturally. We'll edit it in. I'll touch your chest.

It was very important to me to let him know, No, I'm not doing that thing.

I'm doing this other thing. He was appreciative, I think, and then just wanted to get away. But the quality of the storytelling, the intricacy of it, the respect it has for the audience, it's so smart, and there's so many layers to it that there's what... I've gone into deep dives where people discuss just various levels of it, and it all holds up because when you put that much thought into something, it's really beautiful when people appreciate it and see it and start to go like, Oh, wait a minute. What do you think is going on? The whole concept of severance is fantastic.

Yeah, that's great to hear in that the trust you can have for the audience, which you have to take a runner on and just go, Okay, I'm going to believe that they're going to get this. But you never go bad when you don't underestimate the audience. You know what I mean? Because people are smart, and especially now, people watch television so closely, and they appreciate it so much, and they look forward to it. That's a great thing to know that people will pick up these little things. But we made the show in a bubble during COVID. You make the whole series, and then you put it out, so there's no feedback.

You don't know. You've basically built this giant contraption and you put it out there and you don't know, is it going to work? What if people watch the first episode and say, I don't care?

It's not the opposite of doing a late night show or something, where you're getting feedback every day.

Every second.

It was a great experience making it. Then near the end, I was like, Oh, wow. I hope people get it. I hope they like it. We've been working on this thing for a couple of years. This could be either good or it could just be like, Oh, maybe nobody's going to even see it.

The reaction was- It was great.

Insane. It was great. It's as great as anything I've been a part of. Being in the business so long, you never know how people are going to react to stuff. When it's great, it's so great. When it's not great, it sucks. But it's not that different, the experience of whatever you make, it was something that gets well received or not. You're still putting your all into it.

Well, I've always said it takes a lot of talented people working really hard to make something shitty. Meaning when you see something and everyone sits around and hate watches it or says, This is bad. That was a lot of, oftentimes, very talented people working really hard, and it just didn't come out quite the way they wanted it to, or it came out at the wrong time, or whatever. Whatever it is. Whatever it was. Then those So same people can work on something, and it can be absolutely amazing.

You're all in on it the whole time, so you can't go back. And it's just like, Okay, so this is it.

There are these moments. I talked to you earlier about there are always these moments in your work where I remember them. They're really fantastic. There was a moment... There's so many moments in the first season of Severance that were, first of all, the look of it. There are moments where I think you as a director, the use of corridors and ceilings. When I watch this show, I feel like I'm down underground and I'm in that place. It's a very specific... The lighting, the look of it, the vibe, You've got these great wide flat shots sometimes, and it does feel a little bit like a Kubrick or something. It's just like all the references are absolutely incredible, and bears rewatching. You can rewatch it over and over and over again. It's really hypnotic. But there's There's a moment with the actor he plays Lance. Is it Tramel Tillman? Yeah. There's a moment, I'm not giving anything away, where he goes into a dance in this first season. It's my favorite moment in television of that year because it's not part of his character. But then he goes into this dance, and the way you shoot it, and I think I've watched it 20 times.

I don't know this gentleman. I please tell him I'm his biggest fan. But that was my favorite moment. It came at me in such a weird way from the side. You know what I mean? It came through my peripheral vision, and it was so fantastic. The way it was scored, the music, and the tension building while he's doing this, it was supposed to be a joyous thing. It's David Lynch. It's everything. It's like 15 different flavors.

Yeah, it was a confluence of events that came together. I didn't even know he was going to dance like that.

It's dancing. This dancing is fantastic.

It's the same thing Tom Cruise dancing. I didn't know Tom Cruise was going to dance like that.

Did this guy have in his contract?

No. But that was also one of those things where it was just like, I felt the same way watching it. I was like, Oh, this is so cool. I love watching this. I could watch it over and over again. I think as a director, you... It's not like you want to say, Oh, my work is great. It's like you're almost like an audience. You have to act as an audience, and you're the... You have to make the choices based an audience that you're projecting would be watching something. I love it, too. I love watching. I was like, Oh, this is really fun. I could watch this all day.

At the heart of this show is this concept. Again, this isn't giving anything away because anyone who's listening to this, and you need to watch this show, but you also, if you haven't seen the first season, watch that. The concept is people working at this company, and to go into this company, they descend and they're disassociated from their previous life. So their work life and the person who's above ground, they're the same person, but- Yeah, there's just a chip that's inserted into their head, and it gets triggered when they go in the elevator down to work that they don't remember who they are upstairs, and they just know their reality at work.

Then when they believe the chip gets triggered again and they don't remember what happened to work.

You see there's a subtle thing you do with the lens when Adam Scott is going down the elevator. I don't know what it is. I don't technically understand it, but something happens where you can see the focal point change just a little bit enough to know that they've gone through a transformation. Everyone's severed from what's happening to them in the top of the world. There are so many analogies to that, which is why would these people choose to do that? One of the things, and I might be fishing here, but it very much felt to me like, oh, this is like alcohol or drugs, people that something happened in their life, they want to disassociate from it. Anyone who's had issues with drugs or alcohol knows that there's a reason you're doing that. You want to be somebody else because being who you are and feeling that's too painful. It's just really, I mean, there's like 35 different scholars could talk about all the different things that are brought up in one way or another in Severance.

That's all Dan Erickson, the creator, the writer, who was the first script that he had produced. It was a spec script he had sent around. And Jackie Cohn at our company read our, read it, and thought it was good. And I write it. That's a spec script? That was a spec script, yeah. That's crazy. It's good to know, right? For aspiring writers. He had this amazing idea and this amazing facility in terms of the tone of his writing. But I agree with you. There's that analogy. Just the idea for me also of these people are coming into work and doing their thing and having their banter and It's very like an office comedy vibe, but they don't know who they are, they don't know why they're there, and they don't know what they're doing. To me, that's the life analogy. That's where we're all here. We get settled in and we figure out how to get through and do, but we don't ultimately know what it's all about. I thought that was what always resonated for me.

The work they're doing is so... I mean, it's really funny. The work they're doing on their computer screens is hilariously... I mean, It is analogous to how a lot of people feel about their jobs. I'm here moving these numbers around.

Kind of widgets. Widgets.

It doesn't make sense. When I watch it, it doesn't make sense. But when someone does it, they're like, Good for you. You did it. I think many people, many Americans watching it would say, That's what it feels like at work.

My daughter was role-playing going to work the other day. I said, What do you do for work? She goes, I push buttons. She's going to go far, that kid.

Well, Dan worked at a door factory when he came out to LA, and that was where he got the idea because he was just going crazy every day working at this door factory, and he wanted to forget about it.

To me, it's also a great message for people that there are a lot of people that say, Oh, it's all who you know. It's like, no, if you have a really good story to tell and a great idea and you write it, the cream does, the truth does out. The cream does rise to the top. If you put something out there that's a real quality, it's going to bounce around and someone like you was going to find it.

Yeah. I mean, it's hard. It's hard to get the access for people to get that script in someone's hands. But I feel like in this business, everybody's always looking for that next thing. It's always looking for talent, looking for something that they're going to read and is going to excite them and feel new and different. That's just always going to be.

Also, this cast you have. I mean, I mentioned Adam Scott and Brit Lauer. It is amazing and incredible in it, but also you've got John Turturo, you've got Christopher Walkin. There's something really fascinating about this show, which is that people naturally, when they work together, want to create community. There's something happening here at Lumen where they really don't want people talking. They don't want people getting too close to each other. That's another mystery. I think the reward of a show like this is that you get really smart fans online, and there are so many of them that are all arguing about what does this mean. And Eduardo, when I came in, Eduardo was... No, but no, Eduardo, you said, Don't fuck this. Don't fuck this up. This is Severance, man. Don't fuck this up. Not my quote. Ben Stiller has been around a long time, and we could shoot the shit about a lot of things. And I do intend to spend half the time talking about Severance. You're like, You don't fuck it up.

But By the way, Eduardo, I totally get it. I know Cohn in a long time.

He's seen me fuck up a lot of stuff. But I read an interview with Patricia Arquette, who's amazing in the show, and she has this quote about you as a director. It was just about your tenacity, how hard you work, how important it is to you that you get it right. It was really lovely.

Yeah. Oh, that's nice. Well, she's amazing. I mean, yeah, I think we're all going through life and try... I feel like a kinship, seriously, to you, Konan, because I know how you work and how much it means to you, but you're also trying to figure out the work-life balance, which is part of the show, too. That's important, too. I hope over the years, over the, I don't know, last, whatever, 20 30 years that I've figured out that a little bit more because there's a point where you work it and work it and work it, but then you also have to also then be able to step back and go, Okay, I can only control so much. Yes.

I haven't gotten to that point yet. But I've heard tell you can only control so much.

I know. I have learned the hard way.

But I will say on a personal note, when you walk in the door, you seem happy. I know that you're someone who... Maybe the subtitle of this podcast could be, Sometimes I want it to be, be careful who you envy. I want to talk to people and let everyone know everyone's got shit. Everyone has got things that they're dealing with. Predominantly, I get to talk to people like yourself who are very talented and have done this amazing work, and you're trying to figure out most of the things that everyone else is trying to figure out. When you walked in after all these years to see that you look great, you seem happy, this is incredible work you're doing. I love that you're able to say to yourself, yeah, I can go back and be in something again. I think you're going to go back and maybe do a cameo.

I'm doing Happy Gilmore. Happy Gilmore. I've got this little movie I did with David Gordon Green called Nut crackers. It's on Hulu. We did super low budget and it was It's really fun.

But you can dip into that when you want, but you can enjoy this and also enjoy your life.

Yes. Well, that's the big part of it, enjoying your life.

You and I are talking about it as if we don't know what that is. I know, exactly. We've heard tell of this life thing. My agent tells me my children are thriving. You guys are severed. We are severed. We don't know what's happening. I think I'm told I have kids. I have to go up in the elevator No.

It's... Your kids are older, too. My daughter's 22, my son's 19, and they will tell you. They'll give you feedback on how you're doing. I appreciate it. We've Actually, working on the documentary, I interviewed both my kids and Christine, and we talked about stuff that's worked in our lives and stuff that hasn't worked in our lives. My kids were very honest with me about times when my work was... I put my work in front of the family. I'm very grateful that I'm in a place now where I still have these relationships with them that we can work on and talk about that stuff and adjust because it's true. It's a cliché, but it's true. But at the end of the day, that's what it's all really about. My joy comes from working and being creative, but sharing that with my family and going home and not having anybody to share that with. I've had because Christine and I were separated for a few years. If that's the right thing for people, sometimes that's the right thing. But for me, being together with her and our family being together, I'm so much more appreciative of it.

I feel really grateful.

Well, I am delighted for you. I'm really delighted.

I figured it all out. I have no problems.

Why are you crying? You're crying as you say it, and it's tears of blood. It's just fucking weird. I just figured it all out. Ben, just an absolute joy to see you again. You too, man. I'm so delighted for you. I really am. I'm genuinely... I have a Very nice, funny little memory of I lived predominantly on the Upper West Side for years, all those years I was doing late night. For some reason, I would always run into your mom on the Upper West Side, and she was so lovely to me and such a real person on the Upper West Side. Such an West Side.

And a fan of yours. She loved it.

She was absolutely... We, Catholic, have to stick up for each other.

By the way, I just have to say also there is one scene at the end of the last episode of Season 2 of Severance that I'm really looking forward to you seeing. Because I feel like you, of all people-I will text you. Yeah, we'll appreciate this little scene. Okay. It might even seem to others who watch it maybe weird or indulgent, but I feel like it's made for you.

If it's weird and indulgent, If it's weird and indulgent, I'm going to love it. That's what you are, weird and indulgent. Okay, I think I spelled it out enough. Hey, Ben, thank you so much, and congrats on Severance.

Great to see you. Thanks, man. Okay, we found that something very interesting happened with a fan of yours, and more specifically, some merchandise from this podcast.

This comes from Instagram. We're going to take a listen to it or watch it if you're watching this on YouTube.

Okay, let's take a look.

I fought a burglar for wearing my 'Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend' T-shirt. There was a man in my house. Then I told him, This is my house. Get out. Then I saw he was wearing my 'Conan O'Brien' T-shirt. I ordered him to take it off. He did not I did a stupid thing and I went up to him, I pushed him a little bit, and yanked the shirt right off of him. You might be thinking, Yeah, that is stupid. Why would you react that way? It's just a shirt. I think it's partially because what that shirt represented to me at that time. All the comedians I had watched, I told them they saved me. When I saw I am wearing a shirt that represented why I like living. I love laughing, I love combi. I love all of that, all the friends that I made, I snap. Oh, my God. The happiest day of my life. I did meet him. Best day of 2024. He still doesn't know the story because he just signed my shirt, took this picture and left. It was like midnight.

This comes to us from an Instagram username, True Travels of Hope. My first thought is that were you the burglar just trying to get the shirt?

Yes, I do try to reuse merchandise as much as possible because we know where our merchandise is sent. I try to go there. I'm often in my downtime, patrolling the Midwest, the Southern States, the Southwest, and the Pacific Northwest, looking for people wearing Conan Merchant, and I just try to reclaim it as best I can so we can sell it a second time. That's what it was. I do sometimes take other stuff while I'm in the houses.

Might as well. I noticed because she's wearing one of those shirts for the podcast that say, I feel blank about being Conan O'Brien's friend. There's a spot where you can literally fill it in with a marker, and she has not done that yet.

She's still not sure how she feels. Well, what do we think of this story?

First of all- I really wish she wouldn't have confronted this robber.

Yes, I'm going to say that, too. I think, and I want to say this to all my If someone... First of all, let me start by saying to this woman, true travels of hope. I want to say the true travels of hope that I very much appreciate that you're a loyal fan and that our nonsense has meant something to you. This comes from the bottom of my heart. Our merchandise is not worth risking your life for. No. This is very shoddy material. It's often repurposed.

Some of it might be toxic and endangering your life.

Exactly, yeah. That's an old Friday Night light shirt that we spraypainted over using really an out-of-date spray paint. No, do not risk your life. Do not approach a burglar. If anyone approaches you and says, Give me that Conan O'Brien merch, just give it up. Just give it up.

It's funny. You should say that she shouldn't approach him because I feel like the first thing you would do- I would absolutely approach him.

Not for a Conan O'Brien shirt.

No, No.

But if someone was wearing your share shirt and it's stolen it.

If someone was in my house and first of all, he just put a shirt on?

I know. Also, here's another thing. She said she ripped it off. He's a stripper. It's a tear away shirt.

I think the shirts are so threadbare and cheap that you can just rip them off.

Or most people that own Konan merch are so, and I'm going to speak about myself in the third person, so love Konan that they rarely take it off and it becomes Red Bear more quickly, hence easily to tear. I think that's a possibility. I don't know. I don't think people should be risking their lives for Conan merch. No. Especially the mugs. I mean, the mugs often explode. That's been proven.

Mugs could be good weapons. Yeah.

No, not our mugs. They just turned to powder the minute you hit someone. But it's nice. She did say we met, but she doesn't say where we met. She said it was midnight, and I can't tell from the picture where were. Maybe it's when I broke back into the house to get the shirt back after my initial failed attempt.

It would have been really funny if you were just an absolute dick to her. If you were just like, I don't like taking pictures.

But that's the opposite. Dumb fans. He broke back into the house so he could get a selfie and so he could force her to sign it.

You realize I'm the guy that asks people, Would you like a selfie? Yes. When often they don't even have a phone.

The sirens are down the street and he breaks back in going, I haven't signed your Would you like me to sign it?

That would be more likely. Okay. I'm glad she got her shirt back.

I'm glad she's okay.

I'm glad she's okay, but I do think we should take a lesson away from this that, look, if it's Marvel merchandise Guys, yes, fight for your life to get it back.

That's the weird thing. What's the motivation of the burglar? This is what they decide to take?

Well, first of all, okay, now you're being a dick.

Well, I'm on this podcast, too.

What I used to steal. I used to just be like, Can I do it? Oh. It wasn't about what I was stealing. It was about... Also, I got very arrogant. I would wear a bracelet in the store, and I'd just be like, I'm going to walk out wearing the bracelet.

I remember once, Sona and I were in Worcester, Massachusetts, and there is an armory there. There's an armor museum, a museum of Flemish, British, French armor from 18th and 19th century. We were in there, and this is during Sona's, let me see if I can get away with this phase. Sona walked out wearing a full suit of armor.

If you act like you were wearing it in, they would just be like, Oh, she's He was leaving in the outfit.

It was from 1622, and it had all this fancy filigree on it. The guy said, Excuse me, miss, I think you... She was like, What? I was wearing this on the way in. You're racist. Oh, my Remember when you said you're a racist? No. You had the visor down, so he didn't even know. He didn't know who you were.

Look, I liked just showing, Hey, I just took it. Most of the time, if you walk out confidently, people are just going to be like, Okay, it belongs to her.

It was a suit of armor that you stole from Worcester, Massachusetts, and you should give it back.

That was such a build up to what you were going to say. There was so much just information.

Well, that's What museum did we go to? Can you look up the... What's the Museum of Armor?

We're fact-checking this? Yes. This is a fake story?

What is happening? It's not fake. It really happened. It really happened. Worcester, Massachusetts, Museum of Armor. Come on. What do you mean I'm working on?

It'll be- Once I had a headband. Higgins Armory? Yes.

Higgins Armory. It was the one thing when I would go visit my cousins. Every time my aunt would say it would be raining out, we would be like, We She got nothing to do. What is there to do in Worcester? She'd say, Go to the Museum of Armor. Oh, my God. We'd drive over to the Higgins Museum of Armor. There was no attempt to make it look interesting. Just literally a giant warehouse, and someone had lots of suits of armor that they just laid out. They didn't even put mannequins in them.

I feel like you would enjoy that, though. Did you act like you weren't excited because you didn't want your cousins to think you were- Truth be told, greatest days of my life.

Boy, did this little orange-haired boy love a suit of armor?

Oh, look, it's Dutch. Hey, Luke. Hey, Neil.

I found one that's Dutch.

And then the beatings commenced. Anyway, take care, fans. Don't stop crime and visit the Higgins Armor Museum in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Conan O'Brien needs a friend, with Conan O'Brien, Sonam Ofsessian, and Matt Gourley. Produced by me, Matt Gourley. Executive produced by Adam Sacks, Jeff Ross, and nick Liao. The Team Song by the White Stripes. Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino. 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 Brenda Burns. Additional production support by Mars Melnik. Talent Booking by Paula Davis, Gina Batista, and Brit Kohn. 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 Konan? Call the Team Coco Hotline at 669-587-2847 and leave a message. It too could be featured on a future episode. You can also get three free months of SiriusXm when you sign up at siriusxm. Com/konan. If you haven't already, to Konan O'Brien Needs a Friend wherever fine podcasts are downloaded.